February 2009 Archives

Slumdog Mil lionaire wins! Hauling a total of eight awards, this movie about a slum dweller turned millionaire dominat es this year's Academy Awards. It took home the best Directing (Danny Boyle), S ong ("Jai Ho"), Musical Score, Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Cinematography, Adap ted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy of "Full Monty") and of course, Best Picture. Tha t's eight out of 10 nominations (including two nominations for best Song). Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan (co-director in India), Slumdog Mil lionaire was shot in Mumbai. Adapted from a novel written by Vikas Swarup, th e movie juxtaposes reality and fantasy, pain and suffering with joy and love. Y es, it's a love story but with a twist. Slumdog Millionaire has been hauling awards from other award-giving bodies (inc luding 7 awards from BAFTA and four from the Golden Globes), and has been antic ipated as a big winner in this year's Oscars. If you haven't watched the film, here's a brief summary of the story from Fox S earchlight Pictures:

The story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18 year-old orphan from th e slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a stagger ing 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how coul d a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their advent ures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latik a (Freida Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jam al's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the sho w's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is t his young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Ins pector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its sto rytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know ab out life and love.

Here's another interesting liveblog from the Oscars. Check it out.

SLAMDUNK FOR SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE WINS. Steven Speilberg introduces the nominees for best picture. +++ So far, Slumdog Millionaire has hauled six awards including best in Directing +++ Sean Penn wins for his role in Milk. Penn acknowledges fellow nominee Mickey Ro urke who played an aging wrestler in The Wrestler. +++ We're now hearing all the best actor nominees being introduced by fellow best a ctor winners... +++ So far, here are the winners of the 81st Academy Awards. +++ Kate Winslet wins! +++ Quotable quote from Ben Stiller doing a Joaquin Phoenix: "Slumdog was totally s hot on a cellphone." +++ Slumdog Millionaire wins best adopted screenplay. Before that Milk get the orig inal screeplay award.

by Paula Bustamante Agence France-Presse HOLLYWOOD--Penelope Cruz created a piece of Hollywood history here on Sunday af ter becoming the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar for her performance in t he Woody Allen comedy "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." The 34-year-old's victory in the supporting actress category represented a glit tering recognition of an acting talent that has seen her appear in two Oscar-wi nning foreign language movies. However it was her scene-stealing performance as Maria Elena, the neurotic wife of an artist, in Allen's steamy Barcelona-set comedy that finally saw her stri ke Oscars gold. Born in Madrid in 1974, Cruz appeared destined for a career in the entertainmen t industry almost as soon as she could walk. As a child she entertained family members by mimicking popular television commercials. Her initial creative outlet was dancing however, and she was soon en rolled at Spain's National Conservatory where she studied classical ballet for nine years. At 15 however, she was nudged towards acting after beating 300 othe r girls to win a contract. That led to a string of roles in Spanish television shows as well as music vide os, and before long she was acting in full-fledged feature films. Her breakthrough performance came in Spanish director Bigas Luna's "Jamon, Jamo n" in 1992, which received critical acclaim and was notable for its erotic scen es featuring a 16-year-old Cruz and Javier Bardem. That was followed soon afterwards by "Belle Epoque," which went on to win the O scar for best foreign film, Cruz playing the role of one of four sisters vying for the love of an army deserter. The next major milestone in Cruz's career however came in 1997, when she was ca st in her first film by Pedro Almodovar. "Live Flesh" marked the beginning of a decade-long collaboration between Almodo var and the actress which has included roles in another foreign language Oscar- winner, 1999's "All About My Mother," and "Volver." "Working for Pedro was my dream, I was obsessed with him," Cruz said. "My bigge st dream ever was receiving his telephone call." While Cruz has achieved critical success in Spanish-language films, she has fou nd it harder to establish herself in mainstream Hollywood. She achieved a rare but unwanted feat in 2001 when she received three nominatio ns in the "Golden Raspberries" Oscars spoof, which salute the film world's "wor st of the worst," in a single year. Cruz earned Razzies for "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," "Blow," and "Vanilla Sky, " a film which saw her star opposite Tom Cruise, who was to become her boyfrien d for three years. Cruz has yet to score a genuine box-office hit in English, with recent flops in cluding "Gothika" and "Sahara." However she reminded everyone of her talents -- and picked up an Oscar nominati on to boot -- with 2006's "Volver." The fiercely independent Cruz, who has been romantically linked to compatriot a nd "Jamon Jamon" co-star Bardem, is also wary of being type-cast simply for her striking physical beauty. "The most difficult thing in the world is to start a career known only for your looks, and then to try to become a serious actress," she says. "No one will ta ke you seriously once you are known as the pretty woman."

By Clarence Yu Contributor DIRECTOR Ron Howard has once again proven his mettle with his latest Academy-no minated effort, Frost/Nixon. Based on the London and Broadway plays of the same name, Michael Sheen (The Queen) and Frank Langella (Dave) reprise their roles as David Frost and Richard M. Nixon. While not as seriously dramatic as Oliver Stone's Nixon, the film is a great an d successful attempt at educating and entertaining audiences on a particular pi ece of celluloid history that has become the stuff of legend for political junk ies, the infamous Nixon interviews that took place in 1977. Michael Sheen plays David Frost as the talk show/television host who yearns for more credibility and fame, and Frank Langella gives a powerhouse performance a s the disgraced President Nixon who, well, wants his credibility and fame resto red. It is the comedy of it all that makes the film work. Witness the film's first h our or so and you will find that the film does not attempt to be serious politi cal drama but rather a behind-the-scenes look at how Frost tries to set up an i nterview with Nixon. A passionate James Reston, Jr. played by Sam Rockwell, liv ens up the comedy even more. Kevin Bacon surprisingly brings in a watered down performance as Nixon's chief of staff Jack Brennan as he doesn't really bring anything refreshing to the fil m. The film notably highlights Richard Nixon's political skill and the ethics of c heckbook journalism. Small details such as several surprised looks on Frostâs f ace and the irresistible personal charm of Frank Langella's Nixon are exploded onto the screen with such vividness that I could not help but laugh at it all. Whether this is intended or not, these help propel the film from a mere politic al film to something really worth watching. I haven't seen the play but I think that Ron Howard has been successful in this transposition from stage to screen . The youth of today are encouraged to see this film to get a glimpse of how it w as back then before reality TV and how deeply America was scarred by the only r esignation of a President in office. Hopefully one day, Bill Clinton's scandals can be rightfully made into a film in the same vein. A word of caution however--all must be taken in context. David Frost went on to become somewhat of a more serious journalist, finally earning a knighthood, an d Richard M. Nixon became a somewhat respected elder statesman in his later yea rs before finally passing away in 1994. Finally, Frank Langella's performance as Nixon rightfully deserves its Oscar no mination. He doesn't look anything like Nixon, but by the end of this highly en tertaining movie, you are convinced. Anything but boring, this movie is a must see.

By Clarence Yu Contributor

I donât know who you are. I donât know what you want. If you are l ooking for ransom, I can tell you I donât have money, but what I do have is a p articular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, t hat will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you donât, I will look for you. I will find you. And I will kill you. WITH these few lines of dialogue, the stage is set for Taken. You pretty much k now where you are going to end up as you step into the theater. But this is a k ind of movie where you want to go along for the ride nonetheless. Directed by Pierre Morel, Taken stars Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, presumably an ex-government agent who retired in California to live close to his daughter. H e wanted to make up for all the lost time while he was away on active duty. Mills is a loving father who is estranged from his wife (Famke Janssen) but wan ts to be there for his daughter. When his daughter decides to go on a trip to Paris, that is the time when things change. The retired agent springs back into action to rescue his o wn kin. That is basically the premise and the story of the entire movie and hun dreds of other action movies before this. The notion of Neeson playing action hero--with all these gun-toting, car-chasin g, thrashing actions and assassinations (think James Bond)-- is quite dubious. It leaves a big question mark in my mind. Make no mistake. There is no question about Neeson's acting capabilities. But one has to see films like Michael Coll ins, Rob Roy and Love Actually to know that this is an actor who is certainly o ne of the best at his craft--the kind of character actor who seems to be Shakes pearean-trained. So to find out that Mr. Neeson stars in a relatively generic action movie will catch some people by surprise. Thankfully, this wall-to-wall action film is sal vaged by Neeson's dignified presence. And those first lines of dialogue could n ot have been uttered with more seriousness or authority than Neeson himself. The action is also not that bad. It never stops as you are kept to the edge of your seat, thanks to the script and production by Luc Besson of the Transporter series fame. But it would be hard to imagine watching this film in the hands of a less capab le actor than Liam Neeson. And to think that audiences would have had to wait f or 2011 for his rumored portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in collaboration with Stev en Spielberg. Taken is definitely worth watching for both the action and the lead actor. Liam Neeson has proven that he, too, can take up the mantle of an action hero and g ive others a run for their money. If you are tired of seeing plot-twisted actio n movies that leave you scratching your head while you long for a straight-ahea d action film, see this soon. See the movie's trailer he re.

By Clarence Yu Contributor SOMETIME ago when I heard that Oliver Stone was making a biopic of President Ge orge W. Bush, something just didn't feel right inside my stomach. After all, wh at else can you expect from the director extraordinaire who brought us Nixon, J FK and Platoon, among other films? Then maybe I thought he had a conspiracy the ory thing going on, which would shed light on what really happened these past e ight years. Then I read initial reviews about the film--it was indeed a true-to-life biopic , so how could one get serious with it? Turns out, there are plenty of reasons. History will probably judge George W. Bush as one of the worst presidents ever, and, at best, one of the most controversial. Stone however, doesn't want us to have any more of that. We know it. We've been seeing the news, reading the pap ers, and watching all the comedians. Instead, he gives us George W., the frat a nd party boy, the alcoholic turned born-again Christian, the man who for the mo st part of his life stood in his fatherâs shadow. As President, George W. is on the eve of the Iraq War. The movie the n goes back to his initiation rites as a frat man at Yale. Throughout the whole film this back-and-forth device works wonderfully to emphasize just what exact ly he might have been thinking, or what could have influenced his thinking, whe n he started the decision making path into the war. Josh Brolin is in fine form as the title character. Though not exactly dead-on humorous as, say, Will Ferrell, Brolin is able to capture the mixture of innoce nce, swagger, and phallic confidence that the real George W. so often displays. The ensemble cast includes Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Richard Dreyfus s as Dick Cheney, and Scott Glenn as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. All wer e great but not exceptional, James Cromwell included, as George H. W. Bush. This is not a movie you would like to treasure in the same vein as Nixon or Bor n On The Fourth of July, but it definitely showcases, with alarming frankness, the state of affairs in the White House during that period, and with some tende rness, the struggles that George W. did have to go through in life before becom ing President. No doubts however. Stone did not make a movie to explain or defend President Ge orge W. Bush. He cleverly uses his life story as a backdrop to show audiences t hat he too, can make an ordinary, clever movie. Try to catch this in theaters. Watch this trailer: