Chaska Herald - 2007 Oscars - Comments

Several movie updates for

Mollee Francisco — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:57:37 -0600

Several movie updates for you as we edge closer to the 2007 Oscars. I'm not going to be able to see everything nominated but I think I'm going to get closer than I've ever gotten before.

The Departed: Call me a prude but I can do without hearing the F word every two seconds. This is by all means a guy movie. There is blood, violence, deception and a lot of swearing as two "cops" work on and for the local mob. It kept me guessing on the outcome until the end but I had little sympathy for any of the characters.

The Queen: Surprisingly well-done. It takes a simple seven-day period (following Princess Diana's death) and provides and inside look at what the British Royals were going through as the country mourned. In that short week, the monarchy and centuries of British tradition and honor were challenged by a country hungry for change. It made me think long and hard about how strange it is for a country's taxes to go toward maintaining a monarchy if for nothing more than show. But as far as the film is concerned, Helen Mirren is "the queen" and will likely be awarded for it on Sunday night.

United 93: This is by far, the best movie I have seen during Oscar season and it was the one I was resisting the hardest. I had no desire to relive any of the events of 9/11. Five and a half years later, it still seems like just yesterday. But United 93 is successful in recreating that shocking morning without opining about it. Events unfold in real time. Characters have no back story. The confusion and chaos of that day comes through as if you were another passenger on the flight. You learn of the hit on the Twin Towers as everyone else does. And despite knowing how that fateful flight ended in a fiery mess in a Pennsylvania field, you are riveted until the very end.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

I wanted a movie that would

Mollee Francisco — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:41:59 -0600

I wanted a movie that would pack a punch on my Oscar ballot this week so off to see Babel it was (seven nominations).

I had been dragging my feet on this movie almost solely due to its running time (2.5 hours) and the previews which seemed to indicate that the subject matter would be depressing.

"I just recommended this to a couple of friends," the ticket-taker said. 'It's pretty depressing stuff but it's so real."

Oh great. Is Little Miss Sunshine playing here by any chance???

Turns out, I had been dragging my feet unnecessarily. The sit time was unnoticable and the story was engrossing.

Much in the vein of last year's Oscar darling Crash, Babel is composed of four interweaving tales: an American couple traveling in Morocco, a Mexican nanny working for a white family in San Diego, a deaf-mute girl coming of age in Tokyo and a disjointed family of Moroccan farmers. All struggle to communicate effectively and suffer staggering losses in the process. It is most definitely a movie with a message.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett may be the headliners but the supporting cast steals the show here (two of which secured Best Supporting Actress nods). The score is also of note as the music punctuates with each change of location and serves well to illustrate when people aren't communicating with one another.

Overall, a worthy Oscar contender. There are certainly some cliches in Babel but it makes for a good and interesting story of connectedness and disconnectedness.

On my quest to see as many

Mollee Francisco — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:52:43 -0600

On my quest to see as many Oscar-nominated films as possible before the awards, I caught The Last King of Scotland last night.

Yeah, it only knocked one nomination off of my list but what a well-earned nomination it was. Forest Whitaker, who is up for Best Actor, inhabited the role of Ugandan president/dictator Idi Amin.

His portrayal of Amin is complex. Amin is at times inescapably charasmatic and jovial while at other times his paranoia turns to sheer ruthlessness. The result is a film that keeps the viewer on edge. One cannot trust Amin any more than Amin can trust anyone around him.

A warning for the faint at heart: this film is very much along the lines of Hotel Rwanda. Images of mass genocide and gross forms of torture are hard to stomach. It definitely makes me wish there were more Little Miss Sunshines on my must-see list.

Ok, I saw Pan's Labyrinth on

Mollee Francisco — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 14:17:40 -0600

Ok, I saw Pan's Labyrinth on Saturday. Can you believe there were lines at the Uptown Theatre for the 2 o'clock show? I've never experienced that there before.

In any case, what a weird and wild movie. The story is solid but it is the visual elements that will have people talking. There are images from this movie that I will never be able to shake, the most notable of which is the Pale Man with eyeballs on his hands. Sooooo creepy.

It's true, I wanted Ofelia (the main character) to spend more time in her fantasy world and less time in the real world but I suppose that was part of the point. The real world was so horrendous that Ofelia had to create a more tolerable world to inhabit, even if only for moments at a time.

Overall, a very creative movie worth seeing. The only complaint I had was the seemingly over-the-top violence. Coming off of seeing the brutal Apocalypto not too long ago, I was not eager to see people being sliced, diced and tortured so ruthlessly. What can I say? Give me some audial cues that people are being hurt, killed or mangled and my imagination will do the rest.

I was somewhat surprised to

webMonkey — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:41:48 -0600

I was somewhat surprised to see Little Miss Sunshine stand among the other movies nominated for Best Picture. Although I have yet to see the rest (there's plenty of time left before the Oscars) it just seems to be a much more light-hearted movie (comparatively). Another shock was that it showed up there after Dreamgirls won the Golden Globe in the Best Comedy / Musical category in which Little Miss Sunshine was also nominated.

In any case, I really enjoyed the movie and am glad to see it stand next to all of those heavy hitters.

The nominations are in! Here

Mollee Francisco — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:54:34 -0600

The nominations are in! Here are just a few of the highlights from this morning's announcement. For a complete list of Oscar nominees, go to www.oscars.com.

BEST PICTURE

BABEL

THE DEPARTED

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

THE QUEEN

BEST ACTOR

Leonardo DiCaprio – BLOOD DIAMOND

Ryan Gosling – HALF NELSON

Peter O’Toole – VENUS

Will Smith – THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

Forest Whitaker – THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

BEST ACTRESS

Penélope Cruz – VOLVER

Judi Dench – NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Helen Mirren – THE QUEEN

Meryl Streep – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

Kate Winslet – LITTLE CHILDREN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan Arkin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Jackie Earle Haley – LITTLE CHILDREN

Djimon Hounsou – BLOOD DIAMOND

Eddie Murphy – DREAMGIRLS

Mark Wahlberg – THE DEPARTED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Adriana Barraza – BABEL

Cate Blanchett – NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Abigail Breslin – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Jennifer Hudson – DREAMGIRLS

Rinko Kikuchi – BABEL

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro González Iñárritu - BABEL

Martin Scorsese - THE DEPARTED

Clint Eastwood - LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Stephen Frears - THE QUEEN

Paul Greengrass - UNITED 93

I'm dying to see Pan's

Mollee Francisco — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:04:25 -0600

I'm dying to see Pan's Labyrinth this weekend. Has anyone viewed yet? Pan himself (actor Doug Jones) will be on hand at the Uptown Theatre (2906 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis) tonight (Friday, Jan. 19) to answer questions after the 7 p.m. show and to introduce the 9:30 p.m. show.

That movie really boasted

Mark Olson — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:51:56 -0600

That movie really boasted Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey, Jr. at their wackiest. (Particularly noteworthy is a discussion involving the number of gears on a bike.) It is hard to follow at places, but it's a good sci-fi flick and well worth a rental.

I'm excited about composer Ennio Morricone winning an Honorary Academy Award. He's written some terrific scores for movies such as "The Mission."

However every knows him for his most popular work -- the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. There aren't too many people that couldn't whistle the "ah-e-ah-e-ahhhh" from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."

I think "A Scanner Darkly"

Leah — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 13:58:05 -0600

I think "A Scanner Darkly" should win something this year, best director or screenplay. I really liked the movie, but I'm not exactly sure what category it would fall into since it has that freaky animation style.

I caught Dreamgirls last

Mollee Francisco — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:38:24 -0600

I caught Dreamgirls last week. The movie itself was decent (no Moulin Rouge - one of my all-time musical faves). The music is catchy - especially that dang Dreamgirls song (which I find myself humming constantly) and the gut-wrenching And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going (the best song of the film).

But the buzz around former-American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson (as jilted diva Effie) is no joke. That girl can hold the camera's gaze like no other and her voice chills down to the bone. I had to laugh a little at the irony of Beyonce Knowles (as Dreamgirls lead singer Deena) being the intended star vehicle for Dreamgirls only to be upstaged by newbie Hudson. I never was a Beyonce fan anyhow.

Dreamgirls is recommendable for Hudson's performance alone and I will have no gripes about her inevitable Oscar nod but Eddie Murphy also turns in a fun performance as James "Thunder" Early. His frenetic stage energy and showmanship is delightfully magnetic. So go for Hudson and Murphy but don't expect great things from Beyonce.

2007 Oscars

Mollee Francisco — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 12:59:44 -0600

Have you seen a film or performance this year that was Oscar-worthy? Buzz about it here.