2010 - Toy Story 3

After a 14-hour flight yesterday, I'm writing this from the sunny climes of Los Angeles. Long-haul air travel is excruciating, of course, but the silver lining is always the chance to watch as many movies as I can cram in between take-off and landing. This time, I managed four, and it was an eclectic bunch. I caught up with a couple of recent films I missed at the cinema (Kinds of Kindness and Civil War) and threw in a couple of classic comedies to boot (Beetlejuice and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). A half-day well spent.

Before I left Sydney, I watched the next nominee in 2010's Best Picture race...


Toy Story 3
Director:
Lee Unkrich
Screenplay:
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Starring:
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf
Academy Awards:
5 nominations
2 wins, for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song

With Andy (Morris) heading off to college, all his old toys, except for Woody (Hanks), assume they are to be thrown away. Despite Woody's attempts to convince them otherwise, the other toys sneak into a donation box bound for Sunnyside Daycare, where they dream of being played with by many different children. Reality soon sets in, though, as the toys experience the chaos that is toddler playtime while also having to deal with Sunnyside's de facto leader, a villainous teddy bear named Lotso (Beatty), who kidnaps Buzz Lightyear (Allen) and resets him to factory settings.

In preparation for watching Toy Story 3, I rewatched the first two films in the series, and similar themes popped up each time. In all three stories, the predominant driver of the plot is that Woody is afraid that Andy doesn't want to play with him anymore. In the first one, he thinks Buzz is going to replace him. In the second one, he worries that Andy is getting too old to play with any of his toys. And in this one, there's a genuine fear that all the toys are going to be thrown out altogether. Toy Story 2 and 3 also share a similar antagonist: an older authority figure who appears sweet at first, but turns out to be evil. Despite the similarities, this third instalment is more intricate than the first two, which were relatively straightforward. The series seemingly matures along with Andy.

Speaking of maturity, not only does Toy Story 3 contain the usual jokes aimed exclusively at the grownups, a signature of Pixar's output, but there are also certain elements that feel almost unsuitable for children. While the horror scenes can clearly be identified as parody to an adult audience, they could easily scare the little ones. Additionally, there's a genuinely traumatic sequence of existential peril (pictured), a scene that draws the viewer in with its immense realism, which is no mean feat considering it's a movie about talking toys. Then, of course, there's the good old Pixar heartstring-pulling at the end, which is sure to go over the kids' heads.

Ultimately, though, despite the more mature tone, Toy Story 3 remains at its heart a family film, full of wholesome entertainment and barrels of laughs for the kids. And they pulled out all the stops when it comes to the cast. Along with the regular funny voices of Hanks, Allen, Ratzenberger, Rickles, Shawn, Cusack and Harris, we are now introduced to Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid) as Barbie and Michael Keaton as Ken. Ned Beatty is brilliant as the evil Lotso. Plus, in smaller roles, we are treated to the comedy stylings of Jeff Garlin, Kristen Schaal, Richard Kind and Whoopi Goldberg. It's quite the stacked ensemble.

2010 - 127 Hours

Awards season is fast approaching, but as yet, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of buzz around any of the films that have already been released. By this time last year, we had already experienced the phenomenon that was Barbenheimer. This year, however, there's Dune Part 2, which will likely pick up several Oscar nominations and maybe one for Best Picture, like its predecessor, but it seems much less likely that it will actually win. Another sequel, Inside Out 2, might enjoy the rare achievement of an animated film finding itself in the Best Picture race, but again, it's certainly no front runner for the top prize. Other potential contenders are Civil War and Challengers, which also seem poised to get some acting nominations perhaps. In any case, still to come are plenty of Oscar bait movies attempting to garner buzz, including some more sequels of previous Best Picture nominees (Joker: Folie à Deux and Gladiator 2). There's also an upcoming film from Oscar royalty, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, which surprisingly seems to have very muted anticipation from awards prognosticators, despite its pedigree. But we shall just have to wait and see which films emerge as serious contenders over the next few months.

Meanwhile, let's begin our trek through 2010's Best Picture contest with...


127 Hours
Director:
Danny Boyle
Screenplay:
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
(based on the book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston)
Starring:
James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan, Kate Burton, Treat Williams
Academy Awards:
6 nominations
0 wins

In real life, we all read about canyoneer Aron Ralston's harrowing ordeal. He was trapped by a boulder, alone for five days, eventually amputating his own right arm in order to escape. Since it was headline news, spoilers were aplenty before this film was even released, so I'll assume, dear reader, that there's no need for me to be coy about the film's final moments.

The film begins as Aron (Franco) hastily prepares for a hike in the canyons of Utah, failing to notify anyone of where he's going. On his travels, he encounters two women (Mara & Tamblyn) and explores the area with them for several hours before they go their separate ways. Alone again, Aron ventures into a more isolated area, and as he continues climbing, a large rock gives way underneath him, causing him to fall. As he recovers, it becomes clear that the falling rock has trapped his arm against the canyon wall. Unable to dislodge the boulder, Aron uses his ingenuity and the minimal supplies in his backpack to explore different ways of escape. Rationing his limited food and water, he records several video diary entries on his camcorder before eventually succumbing to the inevitable conclusion that if he can't remove the rock, he'll have to remove his arm.

As is evident in that synopsis, 127 Hours spends a large proportion of its running time tracking a solitary character in a very confined space. That may sound dull and tedious, yet in practice, it's absolutely captivating on account of the solid direction by Danny Boyle, as well as an inventive script that includes some flashbacks and hallucinations. Similarly, since we know this is a story about a man who eventually cuts his own arm off, one might expect that prior knowledge to undermine any potential tension, but in fact, I became so emotionally invested in Aron's plight that, every time he attempts to shift that boulder, I found myself genuinely hoping he would succeed, despite knowing that he obviously wouldn't. And all those screenwriting gurus that tell you that you absolutely have to personify your antagonist - well, in this movie, the antagonist is literally a rock. It's a great example of how flouting conventions can sometimes reap dividends.

Carrying the movie (on his own for most of it) is James Franco (pictured), who is perfectly cast. He instils Aron with a cavalier sense of adventure but the wherewithal to survive adversity, a perfect balance of humour and sobriety. Franco also portrays Aron's anguish with heart-wrenching aptitude - both the emotional anguish on display when he records what he thinks is his final video message to his family, and also the physical anguish during the amputation sequence, which, I might add, is most definitely not for the squeamish.

Franco scored his only Oscar nomination to date for this role. The film also garnered five other nominations, including for its remarkable screenplay, but went home empty-handed on Oscar night.

Best Picture of 1958

We've reached the end of another year of Oscar nominees, so once again, it's time for my verdict. I must say this wasn't a clear-cut decision. There's something to love about all these films so it wasn't immediately obvious to me which one I'd select as my favourite. So let's break it down, shall we?

The nominees for Best Picture of 1958 are:

• Auntie Mame
• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• The Defiant Ones
• Gigi
• Separate Tables

Of the five nominees, only one is an original screenplay, while the rest are based on a play or a novel or both. Two films are stylishly extravagant spectacles full of brightly-coloured fashion and lavish sets. Two others are dramatic stage adaptations, intimate and emotional.

Let's deal with the spectacles first. Both Auntie Mame and Gigi are entertaining and a feast for the eyes (and, in Gigi's case, the ears). Gigi's toe-tapping music helps to make it my pick of that pair, and while I don't fault the Academy for selecting it as their Best Picture, it's not my favourite of this bunch. The stage adaptations are harder to separate. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Separate Tables are both powerful explorations of the human psyche with captivating performances. But again, as intensely moving as they are, there's another picture that edges them out in my estimation.

With its socially conscious themes mixed with adventure and drama, as well as a top-notch cast and script, The Defiant Ones is a brilliant piece of engaging cinema. As such, it can now officially be named my favourite Best Picture nominee of 1958.

Best Picture of 1958
Academy's choice: Gigi	Matt's choice: The Defiant Ones

Your choice:


Don't agree with me? Make your voice heard by voting in the poll above. Meanwhile, we're moving on to the most recent year this blog has yet tackled. In fact, it'll be the first time I've reviewed films that were released after I began this project.

And the nominees for Best Picture of 2010 are:

• 127 Hours
• Black Swan
• The Fighter
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• The King's Speech
• The Social Network
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winter's Bone

Stay tuned...

1958 - Separate Tables

In the intro to my last review, I wrote about my binge of the Mad Max movies. I followed that up with another 80s franchise that has a current sequel. Recently, I rewatched the first three Beverly Hills Cop movies, before tackling the new instalment, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

I enjoyed them all but, as I think seems to be the general consensus, there was somewhat of a decline between each film in the original trilogy. The latest addition to the franchise is, I feel, a perfect example of a nostalgia sequel. It captures the tone of the original while still finding a way to make it contemporary. Eddie Murphy slips back into wisecracking Foley wonderfully, and I loved seeing all the old faces (Reinhold, Ashton, Reiser, Pinchot) as well as the new ones (Gordon-Levitt, Bacon, Paige). Even the soundtrack mixes 80s hits with modern tunes. Sure, it probably won't end up on anyone's top 10 list, but for me it hit all the right nostalgic buttons.

You might also be surprised to learn that this franchise has garnered two Oscar nominations. The original was cited for Best Original Screenplay, and the second film snagged a Song nod.

Now, back to the task at hand. The final stop on our trip through 1958's Best Picture nominees is...


Separate Tables
Director:
Delbert Mann
Screenplay:
Terence Rattigan, John Gay
(based on the play by Rattigan)
Starring:
Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Burt Lancaster, Gladys Cooper, Cathleen Nesbitt, Felix Aylmer, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton
Academy Awards:
7 nominations
2 wins, for Best Actor (Niven) and Best Supporting Actress (Hiller)

At the Hotel Beauregard in coastal England, long-term resident Major Pollock (Niven) is well liked, particularly by shy Sibyl (Kerr), until a newspaper article outs him as a fraud and, worse, guilty of sexual harassment. Led by Sibyl's mother, the no-nonsense Mrs. Railton-Bell (Cooper), the other residents discuss what to do with this information, eventually putting pressure on the hotel manager, Miss Cooper (Hiller), to evict the Major.

Meanwhile, Miss Cooper's fiancé John (Lancaster), is visited by his ex-wife Anne (Hayworth). The two argue about their failed rocky marriage, though Anne's lascivious intentions are clear. Well, clear to everyone except John.

At the outset, Separate Tables introduces us to an array of characters and storylines, which had me thinking this was going to be a sort of Altman precursor. However, as the plot moves forward, the story focuses in on the two main threads. As it happens, the film is based on a pair of one-act plays, so this screen adaptation has simply merged those two stories into one. As is often the case with stage adaptations, there is plenty of talking, but it's always captivating, despite sliding into melodrama at times.

Perhaps the most fascinating part, though, is how the picture managed to get some of the content past the censors. I talked about how the same year's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was forced to obscure some themes to its detriment, but here, the sexual allusions are hard to misunderstand. For example, when the young Charles is studying for his medical school exams, his sweetheart Jean attempts to persuade him to go for a romantic walk in the garden. He rebuffs her by saying, "How can I possibly mix anatomy with romance?" Jean gets a cheeky look in her eye and responds, "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult."

As witty and engrossing as it is, the script also remains relevant to this day. Its exploration of sexual harassment, for instance, feels particularly apposite given the reckoning we've been through as a society in the wake of the Me Too movement. (Though, I'm not sure what it says about our progress knowing that these same discussions were happening 70 years ago.) When the hotel residents come together to consider Major Pollock's fate, there are about as many opinions as there are people in the room, and twice as many questions. By the end, you'll find at least one character's opinion that you agree with but it might not be the character you thought you'd be agreeing with. The characters we assumed were decent seem to have dismissive viewpoints and vice versa. This cognitive dissonance is another master stroke of the screenplay, presenting the uncomfortable truth that nobody is purely good or purely evil. There's a lot of grey area. Indeed, the more uncomfortable truth is that even the accused must be seen in that light, too. That said, the film's ending remains a product of its time and the ambiguity the screenplay had been fomenting is set aside for essentially a clear-cut redemption story, despite the fact that Major Pollock does nothing substantial to warrant such redemption.

The cast handles these weighty themes with aplomb. Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth are both fantastic, working well opposite each other. There is some overacting from Deborah Kerr, though admittedly her final breakdown is incredibly moving, and the Academy gave her a Best Actress nomination for it. Two other cast members converted their Oscar nominations into wins. Wendy Hiller deservedly picked up Best Supporting Actress for her turn as the stalwart hotel manager. And David Niven (pictured) is superb, straddling the line between creep and charmer, earning himself Best Actor. Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to mention fellow Aussie Rod Taylor in an early role. He and Audrey Dalton are charming together, providing much of the film's light relief.

1958 - Gigi

In an attempt to fill some embarrassing gaps in my watch history and to avoid being an unpatriotic Australian, I finally got around to viewing a classic Aussie franchise. Yes, shamefully, until last week, I had not seen a single Mad Max movie. (Well, it's possible I saw Beyond Thunderdome as a teenager but I have no recollection of it.) I've yet to see the current instalment, Furiosa, and I fear I may have just missed my chance to see it on the big screen, but I viewed the previous four films in rapid succession and what struck me most is the clear evolution present in the series. Obviously, that's expected between the third and fourth movies since there was a gap of 30 years between them, but even the first three films, which were all released within a six-year period show a distinct progression from one to the next. The budgets evidently matured each time, but so did the filmmaking. Even the stories themselves are quite disparate.

Fury Road is the only one (so far) to receive love from the Academy, taking home six Oscars from ten nominations. One of those nominations was for Best Picture, so it will appear on this blog at some point. I know, I could just write about it now, since I've just watched it, but I'm in the middle of another review year and my organised brain refuses to do things out of order, so it'll just have to wait. 

Speaking of our current review year, next on our trip through 1958's Best Picture contenders is...


Gigi
Director:
Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay:
Alan Jay Lerner
(based on the novel by Colette)
Starring:
Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans, John Abbott
Academy Awards:
9 nominations
9 wins, including Best Picture and Best Director

Life in Paris at the turn of the 20th century appears to be full of parties and romance, especially for wealthy young men like Gaston (Jourdan). While his uncle Honoré (Chevalier) encourages Gaston to enjoy his womanising lifestyle, Gaston considers everything to be a bore. With the pressure off, he is happy to keep the company of family friend Gigi (Caron), an irrepressible young woman who, while being taught how to behave like a courtesan, scoffs at the thought of actually becoming one. After a lost bet, Gaston takes Gigi on a weekend holiday, and finds himself questioning whether there might be something romantic between them.

As a modern viewer with modern sensibilities, the first thing that slaps you in the face about Gigi is how casually chauvinistic it is. I mean, I understand it was made seven decades ago and set another five decades before that, but when a film's opening musical number is a 70-year-old man singing about little girls, it certainly raises an eyebrow or two. I also understand that the high society of early 20th century France was spectacularly patriarchal, so the film is merely depicting the norms of the time, but it's somewhat jarring nonetheless.

That said, there were moments towards the end of the picture where I began to suspect the whole point of the story was to critique those misogynistic norms. Gigi is portrayed as an independently-minded woman, intent on bucking traditional courting practices. Rather than accepting her subjugated fate, she spurns her courtesan education and quite literally laughs in the face of the albeit kind man who is pursuing her. And even when she relents and agrees to play her submissive part, Gaston has second thoughts after experiencing a social night out with her. I had hoped that was leading to a moment in which he expresses how he fell in love with the free-spirited Gigi, not this obsequious doormat she was forcing herself to be, so she should return to being her inimitable self, but he stops short of that emotional confession. He does however drop the idea of keeping Gigi as his courtesan, which suggests he at least understands how demeaning such a submissive role can be. Ultimately, though, the Hollywood ending prevails, and rather than applying his newfound understanding to all women, he simply realises that Gigi alone is too good for that courtesan life and should be his wife instead. So, alas, a condemnation of patriarchy it is not. Indeed, Gigi seems to be delighted at Gaston's proposal mere moments after he rather rudely, and without explanation, walked out on her.

Now, if you can look past all that - and frankly, I wouldn't blame you if you can't - you'll actually find a charmingly entertaining movie. The orchestral music is bubbly and toe-tapping. Like fellow nominee Auntie Mame, the sets and costumes are extravagantly gorgeous. It feels like a resplendent Broadway production (and, as it turns out, it was adapted for the stage, somewhat unsuccessfully, several years later). In short, it's simply old-fashioned escapism, designed to put a smile on your face.

With legendary duo Lerner and Loewe in charge of the songs, it's not all that surprising that Gigi is heavily reminiscent of one of their other works, My Fair Lady, which had only opened on Broadway a couple of years earlier (though the film adaptation, also a Best Picture winner, was still to come). In both musicals, Loewe creates memorable tunes, while Lerner masters the art of clever rhyming lyrics. There's a decent amount of talk-singing in Gigi, paving the way for Rex Harrison. The number "She's a Girl" provides a very similar plot device in Gigi as "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" does in My Fair Lady. And to top it all off, "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" was actually originally written for My Fair Lady but removed before it got to Broadway, so the pair reworked it for Gigi instead.

There's no denying the pure charm of Maurice Chevalier (pictured), which is no mean feat considering my earlier observation about "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". His welcoming grin helps to create a character with an air of gentleness and an unabashed love for life. And Chevalier is just one part of a fabulous ensemble, featuring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Hermione Gingold, all delivering naturally engaging performances. Disappointingly, despite four acting nominations at the Golden Globes (including a win for Gingold), none of the actors received an Academy Award nomination (though, Chevalier did receive a special Honorary Award that year for a lifetime of entertainment). However, in a way, the lack of acting nods helped Gigi to set a unique record on Oscar night. With nine Oscars, not only did it become the most honoured film up to that point, but it secured those wins from nine nominations, a 100% strike rate. It didn't hold the "Most Oscar Wins" record for long as Ben-Hur took home 11 Oscars the following year But its "Highest Clean Sweep" record took 45 years to break. After The Last Emperor merely matched the record in 1987, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King finally stole the crown in 2003 when it won all 11 of its nominations.