Review: Viggo Mortensen is a Kingpin in Cronenberg's "CRIMES OF THE FUTURE"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2022 (No. 1861) by Leroy Douresseaux

Crimes of the Future (2022)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Canada (with France, Greece, and UK); Language:  English
Running time:  107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong disturbing violent content and grisly images, graphic nudity and some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  David Cronenberg
PRODUCERS:  Robert Lantos, Panos Papahadzis, and Steve Solomos
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Douglas Koch (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Christopher Donaldson
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore

SCI-FI

Starring:  Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Don McKellar, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué, Lihi Kornowski, Nadia Litz, Tanaya Beatty, Sotiris Siozos, and Kristen Stewart

Crimes of the Future is a 2022 Canadian science fiction film from writer-director David Cronenberg.  The film focuses on a performances artist who showcases the metamorphosis of his internal organs with the help of his partner who performs surgery on him during the performance.

Crimes of the Future opens sometime in the future when humanity has experienced a number of biological changes and evolutionary changes to human physiology.  The film introduces Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and Caprice (Lea Seydoux), a performance artist couple.  Saul's body is afflicted by “accelerated evolution syndrome,” which forces his body to constantly develop new vestigial organs.  Tenser is in constant pain, and he relies biomechanical devices in order to sleep and to eat.  Using a “Sark autopsy module,” Caprice performs surgery on Saul before an audience as an act of performance art, performances which have made the duo world renown.

Saul and Caprice's performances have started to draw official, governmental, and law enforcement interest.  They meet Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart), the two bureaucrats in charge of the “National Organ Registry,” which catalogs and stores newly developed and evolved organs.

Not everyone is excited about “body-growth” and consider it a “body-crime.”  Cope (Welket Bungué), a detective with the “New Vice Unit,” a governmental police agency, wants Tenser to infiltrate the worlds of evolutionists, the people that want to accept and encourage “accelerated evolution syndrome.”  After he meets Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman), a grieving father, Saul goes so deep into the world of this new human evolution that he might discover something about himself.

Some consider Crimes of the Future to be both a science fiction and horror film, but I consider it to be only a science fiction film.  However, I do recognize how much the film travels into the realms of the genre of “body horror.”  In that, Crimes of the Future does share many similarities with David Cronenberg's last science fiction-horror film, eXistenZ (1999).  Both are set in a world where biotechnology invents new machines that can directly interface with human bodies and control those bodies.  In both films, public performances of man-machine interfaces are both popular and controversial, and a diverse group of entities:  law enforcement, fetishists, secretive agencies, rebels, dissidents, and subcultures seek to control the future and future-tech.

In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg presents a world in which the evolutionary change is spurred on by technology and other man-made efforts.  Once this new evolution starts, it is free to do as it pleases, outside the considerations of humanity.  As in many of his films, a lead character, group of characters, and/or society and the world at large struggle to adapt to that change.  To one extent or another, they are against it, afraid of it, and some ultimately, even if reluctantly, embrace that change.

Two things hold this film together, David Cronenberg's vision and his muse, actor Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser.  Cronenberg and his collaborators have created a world in which biotechnological and evolutionary changes take place in drab and rundown settings.  In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg does not need flying cars and off-world colonies in order to communicate to his audience that the world and mankind are in a future undergoing radical transformation.  True to his ways, Cronenberg is both provocative and exploitative and visionary and elegant as he executes a story of a world in which evolution forces humanity to live in the world it made.

Crimes of the Future has a number of eccentric performances.  Lea Seydoux makes Caprice grow … and evolve, and Kristen Stewart is impish and mysterious as Timlin.  However, Viggo Mortensen is both the center of this film's narrative and the outer boundaries of its ideas and ambitions.  He holds it together both as one afflicted by evolution and as an explorer of the world of evolution and new humans.  Mortensen's gift is to make people buy into the idea that he is indeed the character he plays and that what he does as that character is authentic and not a contrivance of a really talented actor.

Once again, David Cronenberg offers a film that examines horrifying change, and he does it without nostalgia and sentiment, but with a superb score by the great Howard Shore.  Yeah, Cronenberg is a genius, and Crimes of the Future is his latest masterpiece.  The ending, which feels like a quick wrap-up, is the only reason I won't call this film perfect, but it would be a crime of the present for me to quibble about that.

9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Thursday, August 25, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Spotlight" Deserved All the Praise it Received and More

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2017) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Spotlight (2015)
Running time:  128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – R for some language including sexual references
DIRECTOR:  Tom McCarthy
WRITERS:  Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy
PRODUCERS:  Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, and Michael Sugar
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Masanobu Takayanagi
EDITOR:  Tom McArdle
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore
Academy Award winner including “Best Picture”

DRAMA with elements of a biopic

Starring:  Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Brian d'Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup

Spotlight is a 2015 drama from director and co-writer Tom McCarthy (The Visitor).  Part biographical, Spotlight is based on a true story and is a dramatic retelling of The Boston Globe's efforts to uncover child sex accuse in the Boston area that was perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests.  At the 88th Academy Awards (Sunday, February 28, 2016), Spotlight won the Oscar as the “Best Picture of 2015.”

Spotlight focuses on the editors, reporters, and employees at the venerable newspaper, The Boston Globe, which has a small group of journalists known as the “Spotlight” team.  Spotlight is the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative unit in the United States.  The Spotlight team works on investigative newspaper articles that take months to research and write before they are published.

In 2001, The Boston Globe hires a new editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber).  Baron meets with Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), the editor of the Spotlight team. Baron had read a Globe column about a lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci), who works with adults who were victims of childhood sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests and also the parents and their children who are currently being abused.  Garabedian says that the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law (Len Cariou), knew that the priest, Father John Geoghan, sexually abused children and did nothing to stop the abuse.

Robinson gathers his Spotlight team:  Michael Rezendes (Mike Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d'Arcy James) and begins the investigation.  However, they discover a scandal of child molestation and  a cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese that is massive, widespread, and older than they could ever imagine.  In order to uncover this conspiracy, the Globe and Spotlight will have to shake the cultural, political, social and spiritual foundations of a city and a church that is determined to keep its darkest secrets hidden.

Spotlight is one of the best films that I have seen over the first 16 years of this 21st century.  I do remember early in my “career” as a “serious” movie watcher reading the writings of people who took American films seriously, and they often talked about “important movies.”  Such films focused on topical or historical matters of importance to America; or were based on true stories that once resonated with Americans or still did to some extent; or they were about racism, bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination based on skin color, sexual orientation, gender, religion, ethnicity, etc.; or they were about terrible events in history, such as wars or genocide (in particularly, the Holocaust).

Then, there seemed (to me at least) to be a backlash against “serious movies.”  Audiences supposedly hated movies with messages or movies in which the filmmakers used the characters as mouthpieces for their believes and agendas.  To me, the result was fewer films like Silkwood, The Killing Fields, and Platoon and more escapist fare like Back to the Future, Armageddon, and Pirates of the Caribbean and like films which have dominated movie theaters for the better part of four decades.

Well, the important movie is back and the result is Spotlight, a film that not only concerns something of great importance, but is also greatly entertaining.  By now, dear reader, you have heard that Spotlight is supremely directed, excellently written, superbly acted, and just an all-around great freakin' film, and that is all true.  I could not stop watching Spotlight.  I think director Tom McCarthy's biggest achievement in this film is to give this story a hypnotic power that holds the viewer in vice-like grip until the credits role and the end of the film.

However, I think Spotlight's true power and achievement are in its indictment of us.  How does great evil “get away with it” in the end?  The fault is not only on the institution which commits and covers up crime, in this case the Roman Catholic Church in general and the Archdiocese of Boston specifically.  The fault is also with basically an entire society, in this case Boston, as the social, political, and economic order down even to the personal level either looks the other way or mitigates the fact that horrible crimes are being committed against that society's most vulnerable members, the children.

It seems that much, if not all, of Boston found a way to avoid punishing, to say nothing of stopping, a group of men (priests and bishops) who basically had the faith, respect, and worship of everyone from raping and sexually abusing children.  The Spotlight is not on why it happened, but is (1) on the people who let it happen, let it keep happening, and let it go unpunished and (2) on the people who decide that it is time to stop the abuse, the abusers, and their apologists and sympathizers.

10 of 10

Tuesday, December 6, 2016


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.


NOTES:
2016 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, and Blye Pagon Faust) and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy); 4 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Mark Ruffalo), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Rachel McAdams), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Tom McCarthy), and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Tom McArdle)

2016 Golden Globes, USA:  3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Tom McCarthy), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer)

2016 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Original Screenplay” (Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer); 2 nominations: “Best Supporting Actor” (Mark Ruffalo) and “Best Film” (Steve Golin, Blye Pagon Faust, Nicole Rocklin, and Michael Sugar)

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Academy Announces Eligible Music for 2016 "Best Original Score" Oscar

145 ORIGINAL SCORES IN 2016 OSCAR RACE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 145 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2016 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 89th Academy Awards®.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:

"The Abolitionists," Tim Jones, composer

"Absolutely Fabulous The Movie," Jake Monaco, composer

"The Accountant," Mark Isham, composer

"Alice through the Looking Glass," Danny Elfman, composer

"Allied," Alan Silvestri, composer

"Almost Christmas," John Paesano, composer

"American Pastoral," Alexandre Desplat, composer

"The Angry Birds Movie," Heitor Pereira, composer

"Anthropoid," Robin Foster, composer

"Armenia, My Love," Silvia Leonetti, composer

"Assassin's Creed," Jed Kurzel, composer

"Autumn Lights," Hugi Gudmundsson and Hjörtur Ingvi Jóhannsson, composers

"The BFG," John Williams, composer

"Believe," Michael Reola, composer

"Ben-Hur," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers

"Bilal," Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer

"Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk," Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers

"The Birth of a Nation," Henry Jackman, composer

"Bleed for This," Julia Holter, composer

"The Boss," Christopher Lennertz, composer

"Bridget Jones's Baby," Craig Armstrong, composer

"The Bronze," Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, composers

"Captain America: Civil War," Henry Jackman, composer

"The Charnel House," Todd Haberman, composer

"The Choice," Marcelo Zarvos, composer

"Collateral Beauty," Theodore Shapiro, composer

"The Conjuring 2," Joseph Bishara, composer

"Criminal," Brian Tyler and Keith Power, composers

"Deadpool," Tom Holkenborg, composer

"Deepwater Horizon," Steve Jablonsky, composer

"Denial," Howard Shore, composer

"Doctor Strange," Michael Giacchino, composer

"The Dressmaker," David Hirschfelder, composer

"Eddie the Eagle," Matthew Margeson, composer

"The Edge of Seventeen," Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer

"Elle," Anne Dudley, composer

"Eye in the Sky," Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian, composers

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," James Newton Howard, composer

"Fences," Marcelo Zarvos, composer

"Finding Dory," Thomas Newman, composer

"The First Monday in May," Ian Hultquist and Sofia Hultquist, composers

"Florence Foster Jenkins," Alexandre Desplat, composer

"Floyd Norman: An Animated Life," Ryan Shore, composer

"The Founder," Carter Burwell, composer

"Free State of Jones," Nicholas Britell, composer

"Ghostbusters," Theodore Shapiro, composer

"The Girl on the Train," Danny Elfman, composer

"Gleason," Dan Romer and Saul Simon MacWilliams, composers

"Gold," Daniel Pemberton, composer

"Greater," Stephen Raynor-Endelman, composer

"Hacksaw Ridge," Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer

"Hail, Caesar!," Carter Burwell, composer

"The Handmaiden," Cho Young-wuk, composer

"Hands of Stone," Angelo Milli, composer

"Hell or High Water," Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, composers

"Hidden Figures," Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch, composers

"High-Rise," Clint Mansell, composer

"How to Be Single," Fil Eisler, composer

"Hunt for the Wilderpeople," Lukasz Buda and Samuel Scott, composers

"The Huntsman: Winter's War," James Newton Howard, composer

"Ice Age: Collision Course," John Debney, composer

"Independence Day: Resurgence," Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers

"Indignation," Jay Wadley, composer

"The Invitation," Theodore Shapiro, composer

"Ithaca," John Mellencamp, composer

"Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," Henry Jackman, composer

"Jackie," Mica Levi, composer

"Julieta," Alberto Iglesias, composer

"The Jungle Book," John Debney, composer

"Keeping Up with the Joneses," Jake Monaco, composer

"Kicks," Brian Reitzell, composer

"Krisha," Brian McOmber, composer

"Kubo and the Two Strings," Dario Marianelli, composer

"La La Land," Justin Hurwitz, composer

"Land of Mine," Sune Martin, composer

"Landfill Harmonic," Michael A. Levine, composer

"The Legend of Ben Hall," Ronnie Minder, composer

"The Legend of Tarzan," Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer

"Life, Animated," Dylan Stark and T. Griffin, composers

"The Light between Oceans," Alexandre Desplat, composer

"Lights Out," Benjamin Wallfisch, composer

"Lion," Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka, composers

"The Little Prince," Hans Zimmer and Richard Harvey, composers

"Live by Night," Harry Gregson-Williams, composer

"Loving," David Wingo, composer

"Maggie's Plan," Michael Rohatyn, composer

"Me before You," Craig Armstrong, composer

"The Meddler," Jonathan Sadoff, composer

"Midnight Special," David Wingo, composer

"Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates," Jeff Cardoni, composer

"Miracles from Heaven," Carlo Siliotto, composer

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson, composers

"Miss Sloane," Max Richter, composer

"Mr. Church," Mark Isham, composer

"Moana," Mark Mancina, composer

"Money Monster," Dominic Lewis, composer

"The Monkey King 2," Christopher Young, composer

"A Monster Calls," Fernando Velázquez, composer

"Moonlight," Nicholas Britell, composer

"Morgan," Max Richter, composer

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2," Christopher Lennertz, composer

"The Neon Demon," Cliff Martinez, composer

"The Nice Guys," John Ottman, composer

"No Letting Go," Alain Mayrand, composer

"Nocturnal Animals," Abel Korzeniowski, composer

"Now You See Me 2," Brian Tyler, composer

"O.J.: Made in America," Gary Lionelli, composer

"Off the Rails," Steve Gernes and Duncan Thum, composers

"The Other Side of the Door," Joseph Bishara, composer

"The Ottoman Lieutenant," Geoff Zanelli, composer

"Ouija: Origin of Evil," Taylor Stewart and John Andrew Grush, composers

"Our Kind of Traitor," Marcelo Zarvos, composer

"Passengers," Thomas Newman, composer

"Paterson," Carter Logan and Jim Jarmusch, composers

"Patriots Day," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers

"Pelé: Birth of a Legend," A. R. Rahman, composer

"Pete's Dragon," Daniel Hart, composer

"Po," Burt Bacharach, composer

"Queen of Katwe," Alex Heffes, composer

"Race," Rachel Portman, composer

"The Red Turtle," Laurent Perez Del Mar, composer

"Ride Along 2," Christopher Lennertz, composer

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," Michael Giacchino, composer

"Sausage Party," Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz, composers

"The Secret Life of Pets," Alexandre Desplat, composer

"Silicon Cowboys," Ian Hultquist, composer

"Sing," Joby Talbot, composer

"Snowtime!," Eloi Painchaud and Jorane, composers

"Southside with You," Stephen James Taylor, composer

"Star Trek Beyond," Michael Giacchino, composer

"Storks," Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers

"Suicide Squad," Steven Price, composer

"Sully," Christian Jacob, composer

"Swiss Army Man," Andy Hull and Robert McDowell, composers

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows," Steve Jablonsky, composer

"10 Cloverfield Lane," Bear McCreary, composer

"10 Days in a Madhouse," Jamie Hall, composer

"13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," Lorne Balfe, composer

"Trolls," Christophe Beck, composer

"20th Century Women," Roger Neill, composer

"Warcraft," Ramin Djawadi, composer

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," Nick Urata, composer

"X-Men: Apocalypse," John Ottman, composer

"Zoolander 2," Theodore Shapiro, composer

"Zootopia," Michael Giacchino, composer

A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements.  The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.  Scores diluted by the use of preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs or any music not composed specifically for the film by the submitting composer, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.

Nominations for the 89th Oscars® will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

The 89th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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Review: "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" is a Fantastic Ending to a Joyous Trilogy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux (support on Patreon)

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (2014)
Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
WRITERS: Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro (from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien)
PRODUCERS: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Carolynne Cunningham, and Zane Weiner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Lesnie (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jabez Olssen
COMPOSER: Howard Shore
Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE with elements of drama

Starring:  Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Luke Evans, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Sylvester McCoy, Ryan Gage, John Bell, Peggy Nesbitt, Mary Nesbitt, and Benedict Cumberbatch (also voice)

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is a 2014 fantasy-adventure film from director Peter Jackson.  The film is the third of three movies which are based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (better known by its abbreviated title, The Hobbit).  Set sixty years before The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is the story of a curious Hobbit who joins a company of 13 Dwarves on a mission to reclaim their homeland from a powerful dragon.  The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies centers on the struggle to control the Lonely Mountain.

As The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies begins, Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch), the dragon that ruled over the Lonely Mountain, attacks the human settlement, Lake-town.  Now, only Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans), who is practically an outcast among his fellow humans, knows how to stop the dragon, but can he actually do it?

The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), has helped the Company of Dwarves, at last, reclaim their homeland, Erebor.  Having rid themselves of Smaug, the Dwarves settle into their ancestral home.  However, their would-be king, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), decides that he wants to keep the vast, uncountable treasure in Erebor for himself.  He seals off Erebor, even as the human survivors of Lake-town seek refuge in the nearby ruins of Dale.

Bilbo soon finds himself caught between different groups that want a share of the treasure of Erebor.  Bard, now the spokesman and ostensible leader of the humans, wants the share of the treasure Thorin promised to the humans if they helped him; now, Thorin refuses to honor that promise.  Meanwhile, the Wood-elves and their arrogant king, Thranduil (Lee Pace), have arrived in Dale, seeking the white diamonds that belong to the Elves.  While Dwarves, Elves, and humans squabble, the blood-thirsty Azog the Defiler and a war party of Orcs marches toward the Lonely Mountain like a rising tide of darkness, prepared to conquer and to kill.

When I heard that Tolkien's The Hobbit would be adapted into two films by Peter Jackson, the guiding force behind the Lord of the Rings films, I was quite pleased.  I have loved The Hobbit since I first saw the 1977 animated television film adaptation, and I have read Tolkien's original novel at least three or four times.  I was ambivalent when I heard that the two-film adaptation would become a three-film adaptation.  After seeing the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, I was suddenly quite interested in the third film again.

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies did not disappoint me.  I do think that the word, “war,” is spoken too many times in this movie (for my taste).  Other than that, I love The Battle of Five Armies unconditionally.  The Hobbit reminds me of a grand adventure that a boy or a young man has with this friends.  Soon, the adventure is over, and he must say goodbye to his friends – some for only a short time, some for a long time, and others forever.

The filmmakers retained the sense of friendship throughout the trilogy.  The undertaking of an adventure that becomes a coming-of-age adventure also permeates The Hobbit film trilogy.  However, The Battle of Five Armies most personifies themes of friendship and obligation, and the sense of a bond between companions is strong in this movie, making it poignant as well as thrilling.

In the end, I thank Peter Jackson for his efforts.  I find it hard to think critically about this film individually or The Hobbit trilogy as a whole.  I felt The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies in my heart, and yes, I teared up quite a bit, especially during the goodbyes.  I wish there were another adventure to come, but I can always revisit this one.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, May 18, 2015


NOTES:
2015 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Brent Burge and Jason Canovas)

2015 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Special Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and R. Christopher White)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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114 Films Compete for 5 "Original Score" 87th Oscar Nominations

114 ORIGINAL SCORES IN 2014 OSCAR RACE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 114 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2014 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 87th Oscars.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:

"American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs," Vivek Maddala, composer
"Anita," Lili Haydn, composer
"Annabelle," Joseph Bishara, composer
"At Middleton," Arturo Sandoval, composer
"Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?," Elia Cmiral, composer
"Bears," George Fenton, composer
"Belle," Rachel Portman, composer
"Big Eyes," Danny Elfman, composer
"Big Hero 6," Henry Jackman, composer
"The Book of Life," Gustavo Santaolalla and Tim Davies, composers
"The Boxtrolls," Dario Marianelli, composer
"Brick Mansions," Trevor Morris, composer
"Cake," Christophe Beck, composer
"Calvary," Patrick Cassidy, composer
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Henry Jackman, composer
"The Case against 8," Blake Neely, composer
"Cheatin'," Nicole Renaud, composer
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," Michael Giacchino, composer
"The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them," Son Lux, composer
"Divergent," Tom Holkenborg, composer
"Dolphin Tale 2," Rachel Portman, composer
"Dracula Untold," Ramin Djawadi, composer
"Draft Day," John Debney, composer
"The Drop," Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
"Earth to Echo," Joseph Trapanese, composer
"Edge of Tomorrow," Christophe Beck, composer
"Endless Love," Christophe Beck and Jake Monaco, composers
"The Equalizer," Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
"Exodus: Gods and Kings," Alberto Iglesias, composer
"The Fault in Our Stars," Mike Mogis, composer
"Finding Vivian Maier," J. Ralph, composer
"Fury," Steven Price, composer
"Garnet's Gold," J. Ralph, composer
"Girl on a Bicycle," Craig Richey, composer
"The Giver," Marco Beltrami, composer
"Godzilla," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"Gone Girl," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
"The Good Lie," Martin Léon, composer
"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"The Great Flood," Bill Frisell, composer
"Hercules," Fernando Velázquez, composer
"The Hero of Color City," Zoë Poledouris-Roché and Angel Roché, Jr., composers
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies," Howard Shore, composer
"The Homesman," Marco Beltrami, composer
"Horrible Bosses 2," Christopher Lennertz, composer
"How to Train Your Dragon 2," John Powell, composer
"The Hundred-Foot Journey," A.R. Rahman, composer
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," James Newton Howard, composer
"I Origins," Will Bates and Phil Mossman, composers
"The Imitation Game," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"Inherent Vice," Jonny Greenwood, composer
"Interstellar," Hans Zimmer, composer
"The Interview," Henry Jackman, composer
"Into the Storm," Brian Tyler, composer
"Jal," Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh, composers
"The Judge," Thomas Newman, composer
"Kill the Messenger," Nathan Johnson, composer
"Kochadaiiyaan," A.R. Rahman, composer
"Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return," Toby Chu, composer
"The Lego Movie," Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
"The Liberator," Gustavo Dudamel, composer
"Life Itself," Joshua Abrams, composer
"Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed," Pat Metheny, composer
"Lucy," Eric Serra, composer
"Maleficent," James Newton Howard, composer
"The Maze Runner," John Paesano, composer
"Merchants of Doubt," Mark Adler, composer
"Million Dollar Arm," A.R. Rahman, composer
"A Million Ways to Die in the West," Joel McNeely, composer
"Mr. Peabody & Sherman," Danny Elfman, composer
"Mr. Turner," Gary Yershon, composer
"The Monuments Men," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"A Most Violent Year," Alex Ebert, composer
"My Old Lady," Mark Orton, composer
"Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," Alan Silvestri, composer
"Nightcrawler," James Newton Howard, composer
"No God, No Master," Nuno Malo, composer
"Noah," Clint Mansell, composer
"Non-Stop," John Ottman, composer
"The One I Love," Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, composers
"Ouija," Anton Sanko, composer
"Paddington," Nick Urata, composer
"Penguins of Madagascar," Lorne Balfe, composer
"Pompeii," Clinton Shorter, composer
"The Purge: Anarchy," Nathan Whitehead, composer
"The Railway Man," David Hirschfelder, composer
"Red Army," Christophe Beck and Leo Birenberg, composers
"Ride Along," Christopher Lennertz, composer
"Rocks in My Pockets," Kristian Sensini, composer
"Rosewater," Howard Shore, composer
"St. Vincent," Theodore Shapiro, composer
"The Salt of the Earth," Laurent Petitgand, composer
"Selma," Jason Moran, composer
"The Signal," Nima Fakhrara, composer
"Snowpiercer," Marco Beltrami, composer
"Song of the Sea," Bruno Coulais, composer
"Still Alice," Ilan Eshkeri, composer
"The Tale of the Princess Kaguya," Joe Hisaishi, composer
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," Brian Tyler, composer
"That Awkward Moment," David Torn, composer
"The Theory of Everything," Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer
"This Is Where I Leave You," Michael Giacchino, composer
"300: Rise of an Empire," Tom Holkenborg, composer
"Tracks," Garth Stevenson, composer
"Transformers: Age of Extinction," Steve Jablonsky, composer
"22 Jump Street," Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
"Unbroken," Alexandre Desplat, composer
"Under the Skin," Mica Levi, composer
"Virunga," Patrick Jonsson, composer
"Visitors," Philip Glass, composer
"A Walk among the Tombstones," Carlos Rafael Rivera, composer
"Walking with the Enemy," Timothy Williams, composer
"Wild Tales," Gustavo Santaolalla, composer
"X-Men: Days of Future Past," John Ottman, composer

A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements.  The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

To be eligible, the original score must be a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring, and must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.  Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music, diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled from the music of more than one composer shall not be eligible.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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Review: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" is a Sensation

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 55 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Running time: 161 minutes (2 hours, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images
DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
WRITERS: Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro (from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien)
PRODUCERS: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Carolynne Cunningham, and Zane Weiner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Lesnie (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jabez Olssen
COMPOSER: Howard Shore
Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE with elements of drama

Starring:  Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, and Benedict Cumberbatch (also voice)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a 2013 fantasy film from director Peter Jackson.  The film is the second of three movies which are based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (better known by its abbreviated title, The Hobbit).  Set sixty years before The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is the story of a curious Hobbit who joins a band of Dwarves on a mission to reclaim their homeland from a powerful dragon.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug finds Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) still in The Company of Dwarves, led by would-be dwarf king, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage).  These 13 dwarves are on a quest to reclaim their homeland, Erebor, from the dragon, Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch).  Their goal is the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug slumbers.

Along the way, Bilbo and the Dwarves are pursued by Azog the Defiler and a party of Orcs.  They also encounter the Wood-elves and their arrogant king, Thranduil (Lee Pace), and are eventually pursued by two elves, Legolas Greenleaf (Orlando Bloom) and Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), who are proficient at killing Orcs.  Meanwhile, the wizard, Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), investigates the growing evil at the ruins of Dol Guldur.

I gave the first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a grade of “9” out of 10 on my rating scale, although I had complaints about the movie.  My biggest complaint was that it was too long, with the first hour meandering like a drunken narrative looking for a bottle of plot.

I have no complaints about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  I love it.  I have seen it once, and watched most of it several more times on different HBO channels.  Like the prior films based on the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien,  The Desolation of Smaug is a glowing spectacle.  It is not trapped by the “middle chapter” narrative difficulties that afflict the middle films of some movie trilogies, like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.  [By the way, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was the middle film in a trilogy and did not at all suffer from middle chapter problems.]

Perhaps, for me, The Desolation of Smaug is personal.  I feel for the characters, and I am a champion for their causes, examining the stakes and decisions from every angle.  Director Peter Jackson is in love with The Hobbit, and it shows in this wonderful film.  I cannot pick out particular thing that stands out as great, although I love Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug.  It is as if all elements come together to make a great film.

Over the years, I have read The Hobbit many times, and I am happy that these Hobbit movies, especially this one, are connecting with me in ways I never expected.  If you are already a fan of the previous Peter Jackson Tolkien films, you will be a fan of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  Or like me, you will fall in love with it.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, and Tony Johnson), “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and Eric Reynolds), and “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Brent Burge and Chris Ward)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  2 nominations: “Best Make Up/Hair” (Peter King, Richard Taylor, and Rick Findlater) “Best Special Visual Effects” (Eric Reynolds, David Clayton, Joe Letteri, and Eric Saindon)
Tuesday, December 16, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "High Fidelity" is Endearing, Refreshing (Happy B'day, Nick Hornby)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

High Fidelity (2000)
Running time:  113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some sexuality
DIRECTOR:  Stephen Frears
WRITERS:  D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg (based upon the book by Nick Hornby)
PRODUCERS:  Tim Bevan and Rudd Simmons
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Seamus McGarvey
EDITOR:  Mick Audsley
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore
BAFTA Award nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: John Cusack, Iben Hejejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joan Cusack, Tim Robbins, Shannon Stillo, Joelle Carter, Lili Taylor, Alex Desert, and Bruce Springsteen

The subject of this movie review is High Fidelity, a 2000 comedy, drama, and romance from director Stephen Frears.  The film is based on the 1995 novel, High Fidelity, from author Nick Hornby.  High Fidelity focuses on a record store owner, who is a compulsive list maker, as he recounts his top five breakups, including the one that just occurred.

After seeing Identity, I decided to go back and see some John Cusack movies that I hadn’t seen.  I can call them “John Cusack movies” in the sense that Cusack’s personality pretty much dominates almost any film in which he stars.  He’s presence is simply quite dynamic and magnetic.  When he first came on the scene, many predicted that he’d be a huge star, and for some reason, his star isn’t as big as it should be.  However, few actors of his generation have a combination of tremendous acting talent and the sense about him that the camera loves.  Some have one or the other, but having both is rare.

In High Fidelity, John is Rob Gordon, owner of Championship Vinyl, a record store the specializes in collectible LP’s, emphasizing vinyl over compact disc, although the store does have a selection of hip and cool cd’s.  As the movie begins, his current girlfriend, Laura Lydon (Iben Hejejle) is leaving him.  So Rob, the film’s very dominate character and a compulsive list maker recounts his top five breakups, all the while trying to regain Laura’s companionship.

The film is based on a novel by Nick Hornby (the film About a Boy is also from one of his novels) and co-written by four writers including Cusack.  Although the film has a director with a pedigree, Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters), and a Hollywood hotshot as one of its screenwriters Scott Rosenberg (Con Air), this is John Cusack’s show.  In the beginning, the character Rob is a little hard to take.  It’s easy to see why he’d have problems with women, although Rob seems to think that his problems stem from his girlfriends.  Cusack builds Rob Gordon slowly, layer upon layer, before our eyes.  Rob talks a lot, and quite a bit of him is a mystery, but Cusack brings us in really close.  He totally breaks the mythical fourth wall between fictional character/performer and viewer, and though Rob remains something of an enigma, we learn enough about him to love him and to root for him.

There are quite a few interesting characters in the film that we don’t see more of because this is Rob’s show.  They might strengthen the story, but the storytelling is still excellent solely because of Cusack’s Rob.  Laura remains as elusive as Rob is, so we might need her version of High Fidelity to get her side of the relationship.

The film is funny, touching, and in its own quirky way, very romantic.  The supporting performances give Cusack’s Rob room to do his thing and give us enough to make Rob’s environment beyond his musings interesting.  High Fidelity could have been a disaster because in many ways, Rob ain’t going anywhere.  He doesn’t have any plans, and he is unsatisfied with his life, but not enough to do something – to act, so we could have brushed him off as a loser.  I didn’t because I want to hear every word he has to say.  Kudos to Cusack for making Rob so endearing and this film so refreshing.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2001 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (John Cusack)

2001 BAFTA Awards:  1 nominations:  “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink, John Cusack, and Scott Rosenberg)

2001 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Supporting Actress” (Lisa Bonet)

Updated:  Thursday, April 17, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Videodrome" Still Dazzles (Happy B'day, David Cronenberg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 31 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Videodrome (1983)
Running time:  87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – R
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  David Cronenberg
PRODUCER:  Claude Héroux
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Ronald Sanders
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore

SCI-FI/HORROR/THRILLER with elements of fantasy

Starring:   James Wood, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky, Les Carlson, Jack Creley, and Lynne Gorman

The subject of this movie review is Videodrome, a 1983 Canadian science fiction and horror film from writer-director, David Cronenberg.  Possessing elements of the “body horror” genre, this film focuses on a sleazy cable television programmer who acquires a new kind of programming for his station then, watches as everything, including his life, spins out of control.  The film received eight Genie Award nominations (once Canada’s top film award), and won four, including a best director honor for Cronenberg (who shared the win with Bob Clark of A Christmas Story).

Although the term “visionary director” is bandied about so often (even more so now with so many movie reviewers and film critics crowding information space via the Internet, print, and televised media), Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is truly a visionary as displayed in his film Videodrome.

Max Renn (James Woods) is a low-level cable TV operator who runs a television station and is looking for new material when he stumbles upon a kind of “snuff film” and porno TV broadcast called Videodrome.  Max wants to acquire the rights to Videodrome, but has a hard time finding out who owns the rights or from where exactly the program’s signal originates.  He finally discovers the creator of Videodrome, only to learn there is a larger conspiracy involved, and that watching Videodrome also causes the viewer to experience strange hallucinations.

The film has the usual characteristics of a Cronenberg production:  bodily invasion and penetration, body alteration, hallucinations, rape paranoia, and altered realities.  While certainly heavy with sci-fi and horror themes, Videodrome is firmly rooted in everyday reality.  The film deals with how television and video images can physically, as well as mentally, alter and affect the human body.  Cronenberg’s most successful experiment in this film is to make the viewer as totally lost and confused as Max Renn is.  We truly don’t know anymore than he does, and he holds no clues secretly in head from the viewer.

The film’s third act is one of the most brilliant film portrayals of altered perception, as it becomes almost impossible to say what is the real world and what is imagination and hallucination.  Even more brilliant, Cronenberg creates this sense of detachment from reality without loosing the viewer.  We may never know what is meant to be “real,” as this film draws to its shocking finale, but we can’t look away.

Videodrome does drag a little in the first act, but Cronenberg is a smart filmmaker of smart films that unveil slowly and intelligently before our eyes.  It is a dazzling examination of how TV has and is changing humanity – truly a movie masterpiece of the late 20th Century.

9 of 10
A+

Updated:  Saturday, March 15, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"The Hobbit" Part 2 Soundtrack Arrives December 10, 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 2 CD Set Due December 10th from WaterTower Music

Featuring Original Music by Academy Award® Winner Howard Shore

With An Original Song I See Fire Performed by GRAMMY-Nominated Singer-Songwriter Ed Sheeran

2 CD Special Edition Soundtrack Also Available

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music today announced details of the soundtrack to “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), the second in a trilogy of films by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013, three days before the December 13 release of the film, and will be available both digitally and as a 2 CD set. A Special Edition soundtrack, featuring twelve extended tracks, a bonus track, expanded liner notes and interactive sheet music will also be available. Fans will be able to preorder the album at both iTunes and Amazon on November 5.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features the music of Howard Shore, one of film music’s most respected, honored, and active composers and conductors. “I’m looking forward to introducing you to Smaug,” exclaimed Shore, who previously worked with director Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Jackson added, “Howard Shore's music soars and enriches way beyond its connection to our images, a unique sound like no other. He truly has created an epic musical world of his own.”

Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy has been performed in numerous concerts internationally. In 2003 he conducted the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings Symphony in Wellington, New Zealand. Since then, the work has been performed nearly 300 times by the world’s most prestigious orchestras, and has been the subject of a book, The Music of The Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores.

Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy stands as his most towering achievement to date, garnering three Academy Awards® for his music for those films, two for Best Original Score, and one for Best Original Song. Shore has also won numerous other honors for his film work, including four Grammys and three Golden Globe Awards, the Career Achievement for Music Composition Award from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, New York Chapter’s Recording Academy Honors, ASCAP’s Henry Mancini Award, the Frederick Loewe Award and the Max Steiner Award from the city of Vienna. He holds honorary doctorates from Berklee College of Music and York University, and is an Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Canada.

Included on the soundtrack is I See Fire, a new song created for the film by Ed Sheeran, the 22-year old British singer/songwriter and multi-platinum global phenomenon who was nominated in the prestigious “Song of the Year” category at this year’s 55th Annual Grammy Awards. Sheeran is also a two-time BRIT Award winner and recipient of the highly esteemed Ivor Novello award for best song musically and lyrically in the UK. “It was such an honor working with Peter Jackson on this song,” Sheeran says. “Not only is he one of my favorite directors of my favorite films, The Hobbit was the first book I ever read as a child, so it means a lot that I get to produce music for the motion picture.”

Elaborating on the collaboration with Jackson, as well as filmmakers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, Sheeran stated, “I was allowed complete freedom to create what I thought was fitting for the film, which is very rare, and Peter, Fran and Philippa were always on hand to give notes and pointers. The entire team down in New Zealand was out of this world. The film is amazing, I'm still geeking out that I've done a song for a Peter Jackson film set in Middle-earth!”

“Ed Sheeran is a true Tolkien fan, and also happens to be a brilliant singer-songwriter,” offered Peter Jackson. “I See Fire is Ed's emotional response to the film. It's perfect.”

“It is an honor to once again work with the tremendous Howard Shore, who has created the musical voice of Peter Jackson’s iconic The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings films from the beginning,” stated WaterTower Music head Jason Linn. “And we are thrilled that the stars aligned for this collaboration with Ed Sheeran and his truly inspired original song for our soundtrack. WaterTower anticipates another exciting and successful soundtrack journey with these two exceptional musicians.”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released on December 10, 2013. The track list is as follows:

DISC 1
1. The Quest for Erebor
2. Wilderland
3. A Necromancer (Bonus Track) *
4. The House of Beorn **
5. Mirkwood **
6. Flies and Spiders **
7. The Woodland Realm **
8. Feast of Starlight
9. Barrels Out of Bond
10. The Forest River **
11. Bard, a Man of Lake-town **
12. The High Fells **
13. The Nature of Evil
14. Protector of the Common Folk
15. Beyond the Forest

DISC 2
1. Thrice Welcome
2. Girion, Lord of Dale **
3. Durin's Folk **
4. In the Shadow of the Mountain
5. A Spell of Concealment **
6. On the Doorstep
7. The Courage of Hobbits
8. Inside Information
9. Kingsfoil
10. A Liar and a Thief
11. The Hunters **
12. Smaug **
13. My Armor Is Iron
14. I See Fire performed by Ed Sheeran

* Bonus track available on Special Edition Soundtrack only

** Extended Versions of these songs Available on Special Edition Soundtrack only

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

Under Jackson’s direction, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” was shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second and will be released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX®.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. www.thehobbit.com

WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros., has been releasing recorded music since 2001. Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “Gravity,” “Man of Steel,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings,” among others.

"War Witch" Tops 2013 Canadian Screen Awards

by Leroy Douresseaux

War Witch was named the “Best Motion Picture” of 2012 at the 2013 Canadian Screen Awards. Kim Nguyen, director of War Witch, won “Achievement in Direction.”

This was the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards, which honor achievements in Canadian film and television production, as well as achievements in digital media. In 2012, the formerly separate Genie Awards (for film) and Gemini Awards (for television) merged into a single ceremony, the Canadian Screen Awards.

War Witch, which is also known by its French-language name, Rebelle, swept away nearly all competition at the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards broadcast gala Sunday night (March 3, 2013). The Congo-set drama about child soldiers won in 10 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated.

War Witch’s teen star, Rachel Mwanza, won “Actress in a Leading Role.” Mwanza once lived on the streets of Kinshasa (the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Now, she is earning accolades internationally for her performance as Komona, a child forced to kill her parents and join a local warlord’s band of soldiers

The 2013 Canadian Screen Award winners:

Film categories:

Best Motion Picture: War Witch

Achievement in Direction: Kim Nguyen, War Witch

Actor in a Leading Role: James Cromwell, Still Mine.

Actress in a Leading Role: Rachel Mwanza, War Witch.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Serge Kanyinda, War Witch.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Seema Biswas, Midnight’s Children

Original Screenplay: Kim Nguyen, War Witch

Adapted Screenplay: Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children

Art Direction/Production Design: Emmanuel Frechette and Josée Arsenault, War Witch.

Make-Up: Colleen Quinton, Kathy Kelson, Michelle Cote, and Martin LaPointe, Laurence Anyways.

Costume Design: Xavier Dolan and François Barbeau, Laurence Anyways.

Cinematography: Nicolas Bolduc, War Witch.

Editing: Richard Comeau, War Witch.

Music - Original Score: Howard Shore, Cosmopolis.

Music - Original Song: Howard Shore, Emily Haines, James Shaw, “Long to Live” (from Cosmopolis)

Overall Sound: Claude La Haye, Daniel Bisson, Bernard Gariepy Stroble, War Witch.

Sound Editing: Martin Pinsonnault, Jean-Francois, B. Sauve, Simon Meilleur, and Claire Pochon, War Witch.

Feature Length Documentary Award: Sarah Polley and Anita Lee, Stories We Tell.

Short Documentary: Ariel Nasr and Annette Clarke, The Boxing Girls of Kabul.

Live Action Short Drama: Miranda de Pencier and Stacey Aglok MacDonald, Throat Song.

Animated Short: Dominic Étienne Simard and Julie Roy, Paula.

Visual Effects: Dennis Beradi, Jason Edwardh, Matt Glover, Trey Harrell, Leann Harvey, Jo Hughes, Ethan Lee, Scott Riopelle, Eric Robinson, and Kyle Yoneda, Resident Evil: Retribution.

Television categories:

Dramatic Series: Flashpoint.

Comedy Program/Series: Less Than Kind.

International Drama: The Borgias.

Lead Actor in a Dramatic Role: Enrico Colantoni, Flashpoint.

Lead Actress in a Dramatic Role: Meg Tilly, Bomb Girls.

Lead Actor in a Comedic Role: Gerry Dee, Mr. D.

Lead Actress in a Comedic Role: Wendel Meldrum, Less Than Kind.

Reality/Competition Program: Dragon’s Den.

News Anchor: Peter Mansbridge, CBC News The National.

Sports Host or Analyst: Brian Williams, London 2012 Olympic Games.

Host in a Variety, Lifestyle, Reality/Competition, Performing Arts or Talk Program: George Stroumboulopoulos, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

Previously announced awards:

Claude Jutra Award for Best First Feature Film: Jason Buxton, Blackbird.

Cineplex Golden Reel Award: Resident Evil: Retribution

Academy Special Film Award: Victor Loewy, former head of Alliance and Vivafilm.

2013 Canadian Screen Awards - Film Nominees

by Leroy Douresseaux

The Canadian Screen Awards honor achievements in Canadian film and television production, as well as achievements in digital media. In 2012, the formerly separate Genie Awards (for film) and Gemini Awards (for television) merged into a single ceremony, the Canadian Screen Awards.

The 2013 Canadian Screen Awards are scheduled to be held on March 3, 2013, to honor achievements in Canadian film and television production in 2012. This will be the first-ever Canadian Screen Awards ceremony. In addition, the new Canadian Screen Awards will include awards for achievements in digital media.

The 2013 Canadian Screen Award nominations were announced on January 15, 2013. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Martin Short.

I am posting the nominations in the feature film, documentary film, and short film categories. Visit the Canadian Screen Awards website for a complete list of nominees.


FEATURE FILMS: NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY
BEST MOTION PICTURE / MEILLEUR FILM (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Comweb Group / William F. White International Inc.)
L'AFFAIRE DUMONT - Nicole Robert
INCH'ALLAH - Luc Déry, Kim McCraw
LAURENCE ANYWAYS - Lyse Lafontaine
MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN - David Hamilton
REBELLE / WAR WITCH - Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin
STILL MINE - Tamara Deverell, Jody Colero, Avi Federgreen, Michael McGowan

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION / MEILLEURE RÉALISATION (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Pinewood Toronto Studios)
MICHAEL DOWSE - Goon
XAVIER DOLAN - Laurence Anyways
DEEPA MEHTA - Midnight's Children
KIM NGUYEN - Rebelle / War Witch
BERNARD ÉMOND - Tout ce que tu possèdes / All That You Possess

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
JAMES CROMWELL – Still Mine
PATRICK DROLET - Tout ce que tu possèdes / All That You Possess
MARC-ANDRÉ GRONDIN - L'affaire Dumont
DAVID MORSE - Collaborator
MELVIL POUPAUD - Laurence Anyways

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN PREMIER RÔLE
EVELYNE BROCHU - Inch'Allah
GENEVIÈVE BUJOLD – Still Mine
MARILYN CASTONGUAY - L'affaire Dumont
SUZANNE CLÉMENT - Laurence Anyways
RACHEL MWANZA - Rebelle / War Witch

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION MASCULINE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
JAY BARUCHEL - Goon
KIM COATES - Goon
STEPHAN JAMES - Home Again
SERGE KANYINDA - Rebelle
ELIAS KOTEAS - Winnie

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE / INTERPRÉTATION FÉMININE DANS UN RÔLE DE SOUTIEN
SEEMA BISWAS - Midnight's Children
FEFE DOBSON - Home Again
ALICE MOREL MICHAUD – Les Pee Wee 3D
GABRIELLE MILLER - Moving Day
SABRINA OUAZANI - Inch'Allah

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY / MEILLEUR SCÉNARIO (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund)
JASON BUXTON - Blackbird
XAVIER DOLAN - Laurence Anyways
KIM NGUYEN - Rebelle / War Witch
MICHAEL MCGOWAN - Still Mine
BERNARD ÉMOND - Tout ce que tu possèdes / All That You Possess

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY / MEILLEURE ADAPTATION
DAVID CRONENBERG - Cosmopolis
JAY BARUCHEL, EVAN GOLDBERG - Goon
ANITA DORON - The Lesser Blessed
MARTIN VILLENEUVE - Mars et Avril
SALMAN RUSHDIE - Midnight's Children

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN / MEILLEURE DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE
EMMANUEL FRECHETTE, JOSÉE ARSENAULT - Rebelle / War Witch
ARVINDER GREWAL - Antiviral
ANDRÉ GUIMOND - L'affaire Dumont
DILIP MEHTA - Midnight's Children
ANNE PRITCHARD - Laurence Anyways

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY / MEILLEURES IMAGES (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Christie Digital)
NICOLAS BOLDUC - Rebelle / War Witch
PHILIPPE LAVALETTE - Inch'Allah
GILES NUTTGENS - Midnight's Children
BOBBY SHORE - Goon
BRENDAN STEACY – Still Mine

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN / MEILLEURS COSTUMES
XAVIER DOLAN, FRANÇOIS BARBEAU - Laurence Anyways
PATRICIA HENDERSON - Mad Ship
WENDY PARTRIDGE - Resident Evil: Retribution
WENDY PARTRIDGE - Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
ÉRIC POIRIER - Rebelle / War Witch

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE
RICHARD COMEAU - Rebelle / War Witch
RODERICK DEOGRADES – Still Mine
VALÉRIE HÉROUX - L'affaire Dumont
SOPHIE LEBLOND - Inch'Allah
KIMBERLEE MCTAGGART – Blackbird

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP / MEILLEURS MAQUILLAGES (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Lancôme)
KATIE BRENNAN, KAROLA DIRNBERGER, PAUL JONES - Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
BRENDA MAGALAS, LORI CAPUTI - Goon
CATHERINE DAVIES-IRVINE, TRASON FERNANDES - Antiviral
MARLÈNE ROULEAU, ANDRÉ DUVAL - L'affaire Dumont
COLLEEN QUINTON, KATHY KELSO, MICHELLE CÔTÉ, MARTIN LAPOINTE - Laurence Anyways

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE / MEILLEURE MUSIQUE ORIGINALE
NOIA - Laurence Anyways
BENOIT CHAREST - Mars et Avril
DON ROOKE, HUGH MARSH, MICHELLE WILLIS – Still Mine
HOWARD SHORE - Cosmopolis
E.C. WOODLEY - Antiviral

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG / MEILLEURE CHANSON ORIGINALE (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Slaight Music)
EMILY HAINES, JAMES SHAW, HOWARD SHORE - Cosmopolis - Long to Live
ERLAND & THE CARNIVAL - Rufus - Wanting
ERLAND & THE CARNIVAL - Rufus - Out of Sight

ACHIEVEMENT IN OVERALL SOUND / MEILLEUR SON D'ENSEMBLE (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Deluxe Toronto Ltd.)
SYLVAIN ARSENEAULT, STEPH CARRIER, LOU SOLAKOFSKI, DON WHITE - Midnight's Children
OLIVIER CALVERT, PASCAL BEAUDIN, LUC BOUDRIAS, DANIEL BISSON - Mars et Avril
CLAUDE LA HAYE, DANIEL BISSON, BERNARD GARIÉPY STROBL - Rebelle / War Witch
PHILIP STALL, IAN RANKIN, LOU SOLAKOFSKI, JACK HEEREN - Antiviral
ZANDER ROSBOROUGH, ALLAN SCARTH - The Disappeared

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING / MEILLEUR MONTAGE SONORE
• PIERRE-JULES AUDET, MICHELLE CLOUTIER, THIERRY BOURGAULT D'AMICO, NATHALIE FLEURANT, CÉDRICK MARIN, NICOLAS GAGNON - L'affaire Dumont

• MARTIN PINSONNAULT, JEAN-FRANCOIS B. SAUVÉ, SIMON MEILLEUR, CLAIRE POCHON - Rebelle / War Witch

• STEPHEN BARDEN, STEVE BAINE, KEVIN BANKS, ALEX BULLICK, JILL PURDY - Resident Evil: Retribution

• SYLVAIN BRASSARD, STÉPHANE CADOTTE, ISABELLE FAVREAU, PHILIPPE RACINE - Laurence Anyways

• ALLAN SCARTH, BOB MELANSON, ZANDER ROSBOROUGH, CORY TETFORD - The Disappeared

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS / MEILLEURS EFFETS VISUELS
• DENNIS BERARDI, KEITH ACHESON, MICHAEL BORRETT, WILSON CAMERON, MICHAEL DICARLO, TOM NAGY, BRITTON PLEWES, SCOTT RIOPELLE, MATT WHELAN, WOJCIECH ZIELINSKI - Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

• CARLOS MONZON, MARTIN BELLEAU, DOMINIC DAIGLE, NATHALIE DUPONT, GAËL HOLLARD, BENOÎT LADOUCEUR, VIVIANE LEVESQUE BOUCHARD, JÉRÉMIE LODOMEZ, ANNIE NORMANDIN, ALEXANDRA VAILLANCOURT - Mars et Avril

• DENNIS BERARDI, JASON EDWARDH, MATT GLOVER, TREY HARRELL, LEANN HARVEY, JO HUGHES, ETHAN LEE, SCOTT RIOPELLE, ERIC ROBINSON, KYLE YONEDA - Resident Evil: Retribution

• ÈVE BRUNET, MARC MORISSETTE, ALEXANDRA VAILLANCOURT - Rebelle / War Witch

• RALPH MAIERS, DEBORA DUNPHY, JOHN FUKUSHIMA, PATRICK KAVANAUGH, BILL MARTIN, CHRIS PHILIPS, JEREMY PRICE, KENTON RANNIE, LAUREN WEIDEL - Midnight's Children

THEATRICAL DOCUMENTARIES & SHORT FILMS: NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY

TED ROGERS BEST FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY AWARD / PRIX TED ROGERS POUR LE MEILLEUR LONG MÉTRAGE DOCUMENTAIRE (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Rogers Group of Funds)
ALPHÉE DES ÉTOILES - Hugo Latulippe, Eric De Gheldere, Colette Loumède
INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE - Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky
OVER MY DEAD BODY - Brigitte Poupart, Virginie Dubois, Stéphanie Morissette
STORIES WE TELL - Sarah Polley, Anita Lee
THE WORLD BEFORE HER - Nisha Pahuja, Ed Barreveld, Cornelia Principe

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE DOCUMENTAIRE (Sponsor / Commanditaire : Hot Docs)
THE BOXING GIRLS OF KABUL - Ariel Nasr, Annette Clarke
THE FUSE: OR HOW I BURNED SIMON BOLIVAR - Igor Drljaca
KEEP A MODEST HEAD / NE CRÂNE PAS SOIS MODESTE - Deco Dawson, Catherine Chagnon, Craig Trudeau
LET THE DAYLIGHT INTO THE SWAMP - Jeffrey St. Jules, Anita Lee
THREE WALLS - Zaheed Mawani, Andrea Bussmann

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT DRAMA / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE DRAMATIQUE
CHEF DE MEUTE - Chloé Robichaud, Fanny-Laure Malo, Sarah Pellerin
FROST - Jeremy Ball, Lauren Grant, Robert Munroe
LE FUTUR PROCHE / THE NEAR FUTURE - Sophie Goyette
PREMIÈRE NEIGE / FIRST SNOW - Michaël Lalancette
THROAT SONG - Miranda de Pencier, Stacey Aglok MacDonald

BEST ANIMATED SHORT / MEILLEUR COURT MÉTRAGE D'ANIMATION
BYDLO - Patrick Bouchard, Julie Roy
DEMONI - Theodore Ushev
EDMOND WAS A DONKEY - Franck Dion, Richard Van Den Boom, Julie Roy
PAULA - Dominic Étienne Simard, Julie Roy

2013 Claude Jutra Award (best feature film by a first-time film director):
Jason Buxton, Blackbird

2013 Golden Reel Award (presented to the Canadian film with the biggest box office gross of the year):
Resident Evil: Retribution

http://www.academy.ca/awards/

2013 Grammy Nominations in the Top Catagories - A List

The Grammy Awards (or Grammys) are given out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States. The Grammy is an accolade that recognizes outstanding achievement in the music industry. It is the music industry equivalent to the Academy Awards for film, the Emmy Awards for television, and the Tony Award for stage.

There are currently 81 categories, up from 78 at the 54th Grammy Awards. The three new categories are “Best Classical Compendium,” “Best Latin Jazz Album,” and “Best Urban Contemporary Album.”

The 55th Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show will be broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will be hosted for the second time by LL Cool J. Nominations were announced on December 5, 2012

Nominees in top categories for the 55th annual Grammy Awards:

Record of the Year:
"Lonely Boy," The Black Keys
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Kelly Clarkson
"We Are Young," fun. featuring Janelle Monae
"Somebody That I Used To Know," Gotye Featuring Kimbra
"Thinkin Bout You," Frank Ocean
"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," Taylor Swift.

Album of the Year:
"El Camino," The Black Keys
"Some Nights," fun.
"Babel," Mumford & Sons
"Channel Orange," Frank Ocean
"Blunderbuss," Jack White.

Song of the Year:
"The A Team," Ed Sheeran, songwriter (performed by Ed Sheeran)
"Adorn," Miguel Pimentel, songwriter (Miguel)
"Call Me Maybe" Tavish Crowe, Carly Rae Jepsen & Josh Ramsay, songwriters (Carly Rae Jepsen)
"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," Jorgen Elofsson, David Gamson, Greg Kurstin & Ali Tamposi, songwriters (Kelly Clarkson)
"We Are Young," Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (fun. featuring Janelle Monáe).

New Artist:
Alabama Shakes
fun.
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Frank Ocean

Pop Vocal Album:
"Stronger," Kelly Clarkson
"Ceremonials," Florence & The Machine
"Some Nights," fun.
"Overexposed," Maroon 5
"The Truth About Love," Pink

Rock Album:
"El Camino," The Black Keys
"Mylo Xyloto," Coldplay
"The 2nd Law," Muse
"Wrecking Ball," Bruce Springsteen
"Blunderbuss," Jack White

R&B Album:
"Black Radio," Robert Glasper Experiment
"Back To Love," Anthony Hamilton
"Write Me Back," R. Kelly
"Beautiful Surprise," Tamia
"Open Invitation," Tyrese

Rap Album:
"Take Care," Drake
"Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album, Pt. 1," Lupe Fiasco
"Life Is Good," Nas
"Undun," The Roots
"God Forgives, I Don't," Rick Ross
"Based on a T.R.U. Story," Chainz

Country Album:
"Uncaged," Zac Brown Band
"Hunter Hayes," Hunter Hayes
"Living For A Song: A Tribute To Hank Cochran," Jamey Johnson
"Four The Record," Miranda Lambert
"The Time Jumpers," The Time Jumpers

Latin Pop, Rock or Urban Album:
"Campo," Campo;
"Dejenme Llorar," Carla Morrison
"Imaginaries," Quetzal
"Electro-Jarocho," Sistema Bomb
"La Bala," Ana Tijoux

Jazz Vocal Album:
"Soul Shadows," Denise Donatelli
"1619 Broadway: The Brill Building Project," Kurt Elling
"Live," Al Jarreau (And The Metropole Orkest)
"The Book Of Chet," Luciana Souza
"Radio Music Society," Esperanza Spalding

A top category that does not get enough attention, as far as I’m concerned:
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical:
1. Dan Auerbach
2. Jeff Bhasker
3. Diplo
4. Markus Dravs
5. Salaam Remi

Of concern to movie fans are the film music and soundtrack categories:

Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (best movie soundtrack)
1. The Descendants – Various Artists
2. Marley – Bob Marley & The Wailers
3. Midnight In Paris – Various Artists
4. The Muppets – Various Artists
5. Rock Of Ages – Various Artists

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media (best original music-score for a film)
1. The Adventures Of Tintin - The Secret Of The Unicorn – John Williams, composer
2. The Artist – Ludovic Bource, composer
3. The Dark Knight Rises – Hans Zimmer, composer
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, composers
5. Hugo – Howard Shore, composer
6. Journey – Austin Wintory, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media (best song for film or television)
"Abraham's Daughter" (from The Hunger Games)
T Bone Burnett, Win Butler & Régine Chassagne, songwriters (performed by Arcade Fire)

"Learn Me Right" (from Brave)
Mumford & Sons, songwriters (performed by Birdy & Mumford & Sons)

"Let Me Be Your Star" (from Smash)
Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, songwriters (performed by Katharine McPhee & Megan Hilty"

"Man or Muppet" (from The Muppets)
Bret McKenzie, songwriter (performed by Jason Segel & Walter)

"Safe & Sound" (from The Hunger Games)
T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams, songwriters (performed Taylor Swift Featuring The Civil Wars)

Nominees in the three new categories for the 55th Grammys:

Best Classical Compendium
1. Partch: Bitter Music - Partch, ensemble; John Schneider, producer
2. Penderecki: Fonogrammi; Horn Concerto; Partita; The Awakening Of Jacob; Anaklasis - Antoni Wit, conductor; Aleksandra Nagórko & Andrzej Sasin, producers
3. Une Fête Baroque - Emmanuelle Haïm, conductor; Daniel Zalay, producer

Best Latin Jazz Album
1. Flamenco Sketches – Chano Domínguez
2. ¡Ritmo! – The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
3. Multiverse – Bobby Sanabria Big Band
4. Duos III – Luciana Souza
5. New Cuban Express – Manuel Valera New Cuban Express

Best Urban Contemporary Album
1. Fortune – Chris Brown
2. Kaleidoscope Dream – Miguel
3. Channel Orange – Frank Ocean

Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is An Unexpected Pleasure and Treasure

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 98 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Running time: 169 minutes (2 hours, 49 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening
DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
WRITERS: Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro (from the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien)
PRODUCERS: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Carolynne Cunningham, and Zane Weiner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Lesnie (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jabez Olssen
COMPOSER: Howard Shore

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Manu Bennett, and Andy Serkis

The subject of this movie review is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, a 2012 fantasy film from director Peter Jackson. The film is the first of three movies which are based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (better known by its abbreviated title, The Hobbit). Set sixty years before The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is the story of a curious Hobbit who joins a band of Dwarves on a mission to reclaim their homeland from a powerful dragon.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on the 111th birthday of the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). He has decided to write down the full story of an adventure he took 60 years earlier as a memoir for his cousin and heir, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). Sixty years earlier, the younger Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) was a homebody Hobbit. He gets an unexpected visit from the wizard, Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), who promptly tricks the Hobbit into hosting a party for a band of dwarves.

Still, Bilbo is shocked when the dwarves show up and eat every scrap of food in his home, and almost tear down the place. When Gandalf returns, he informs Bilbo that these dwarves are on a quest to return to their ancestral home, Lonely Mountain, and to reclaim it and the treasure there from the great dragon, Smaug. The Company of Dwarves numbers 13, including the leader, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Gandalf’s biggest surprise is that Bilbo has been recruited as the dwarves’ “burglar,” who will help them steal back their treasure. Now, this curious Hobbit is on an unexpected journey that will find him facing killer Orcs, a legion of mountain trolls, and a little fellow named Gollum (Andy Serkis), who is in possession of a mysterious ring.

I am giving The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a “9” out of 10 on my rating scale, which may be surprising because of my complaints about this movie, especially the big one. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is too long; in fact, the first hour meanders like a drunk narrative looking for a bottle of plot. I dosed off three times, and, at one point, thought about leaving and just waiting to see the rest of the movie on DVD.

However, the movie eventually came alive, but I’m still not sure when it turned for me. I think it may be the moment when the Orcs attack Bilbo and the Company of Dwarves on a rocky plain. At a point, the movie just explodes with surprise appearances, breathtaking vistas, blood-chilling confrontations, and heart-pounding action. Things were happening so fast, yet my mind couldn’t wait for the next thing to happen.

In many ways, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is like the return of an old friend, specifically The Lord of the Rings movies, although LOTR is a sequel to The Hobbit. I didn’t know what to expect before I saw the movie. I had waited so long for The Hobbit to reach the silver screen as a live-action film, yet, in a way, my expectations were so high because of I loved LOTR so much. When Gollum shows up in this movie, my expectations were satisfied. Andy Serkis and the CGI artists behind the character actually improve on their great work from the Ring trilogy films.

There are things about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that I did not expect, some of them disappointing. But by the end of this movie, I so did not want the adventure end. I wanted that enough to give an imperfect movie a near-perfect score.

9 of 10
A+

Saturday, December 15, 2012

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Review: "The Two Towers" is the Best of the Trilogy

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 172 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Running time: 179 minutes (2 hours, 59 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for epic battle sequences and scary images
DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
WRITERS: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Peter Jackson (based upon the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien)
PRODUCERS: Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, and Fran Walsh
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Andrew Lesnie (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Michael Horton
COMPOSER: Howard Shore
Academy Award winner

FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, and Andy Serkis

The subject of this movie review is The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a 2002 fantasy film from director Peter Jackson. The film is the second of three movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s three-novel cycle, The Lord of the Rings (1954-55), specifically the first book, The Two Towers (1954).

As the second installment of the Ring Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, begins, the hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his companion Sam (Sean Astin) continue alone to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, as the Fellowship (the group of heroes who were to accompany Frodo) is broken. The Uruk-hai (Orcs) have captured their fellow hobbits, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd).

Meanwhile, the shadow of the Dark Lord Sauron spreads across the land as he hungers for the One Ring, which he once wore and that gave him great powers. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the elfin archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) make friends with a race of humans called the Rohan. Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), thought to be dead, returns as Gandalf the White. The two towers that are between Sauron’s Mordor and at the corrupt wizard Saruman’s stronghold Isengard are united in their lust for destruction.

Aragorn and his companions join the Rohan king Théoden (Bernard Hill) at the Rohan fortress Helms Deep to fend off a grand Uruk-hai army created by Saruman (Christopher Lee) to destroy mankind and Middle-earth. Frodo and Sam meet one of the Ring’s original bearers, Gollum (Andy Serkis). The creature had been stalking the hobbit pair in hopes of recapturing his “precious,” the name by which he calls the Ring, but Frodo and Sam capture Gollum and use him to lead the way to Mt. Doom, the only place where the Ring can be destroyed.

Those who liked The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the first installment, will very likely love this one as much if not more. I certainly found The Two Towers to be a superior film, which is no mean thing, as TFOTR is also a fantastic and great film. It’s an epic war story, which director Peter Jackson fills to its brim with traditional romance. In fact, it is a great romantic film, in the mold of the classic adventure films that combined intense drama or melodrama and powerful emotions.

I did find some of the special effects and computer-generated effects to be a bit weak and lame. The best SFX/CGI achievement is Gollum, who is CGI; however, Gollum actor Andy Serkis apparently acted the part out in whole – emotionally and physically. The CGI people then took his actual work and made a CGI character. Serkis also provided Gollum’s voice. Many thought Serkis was deserving of an Academy Award nomination because the CGI was “merely” copying his work, as if they simply drew over his filmed performance. Alas, Serkis did not receive a nomination.

That doesn’t matter because The Two Towers was the best film of 2002, and is arguably one of the best fantasy films ever made. Its three-hour running time goes by quickly. From TTT’s overwhelming and powerful battle scenes to the deeply, heartfelt moments between the characters, this is a film experience not to be missed, especially if you’re the kind of viewer who can understand and absorb a film of strongly fantastic elements.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Sound Editing” (Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins) and “Best Visual Effects” (Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke); 4 nominations: “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Grant Major-art director, Dan Hennah-set decorator, and Alan Lee-set decorator), “Best Film Editing” (Michael Horton), and “Best Picture” (Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson), “Best Sound” (Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek)

2003 BAFTA Awards: 3 wins: “Audience Award,” Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke), “Best Costume Design” (Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor); 8 nominations: “Best Film” (Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson), “BAFTA Children's Award Best Feature Film” (Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh), “Best Cinematography” (Andrew Lesnie), “Best Editing” (Michael Horton and Jabez Olssen), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Peter Owen, Peter King, and Richard Taylor), “Best Production Design” (Grant Major), “Best Sound” (Ethan Van der Ryn, David Farmer, Mike Hopkins, Hammond Peek, Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, and Michael Hedges), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Peter Jackson)

2003 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Peter Jackson) and “Best Motion Picture – Drama”

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