Hugo

Movies to See This Week

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Writer-director Asghar Farhadi's real life daughter Samina plays the daughter at the center of A SEPARATION

In a sizzling performance, Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt and brutal LA cop trying to stay alive and out of jail in Rampart.

The searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation won the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Joshua Marston, writer-director of the brilliant Maria, Full of Grace has made a fine drama set in Albania, The Forgiveness of Blood, which opens this weekend.

Safe House is a fine paranoid action spy thriller with Denzel Washington and the director’s pedal jammed to the floor. Thin Ice is a Fargo Lite diversion.

If you still need to catch up on the Oscar winners, you can see the Best Picture Oscar winning The Artist and the rockem sockem thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,

I have also commented on Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic The Iron Lady, the feminist action thriller Haywire and Ralph Fiennes’ contemporary adaption of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick of (last) week is the fine political drama The Ides of March with Ryan Gosling, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and George Clooney.

Looking foward to this year’s Oscar Dinner

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The Movie Gourmet's culinary tribute to 127 HOURS and WINTER'S BONE

Every year, The Movie Gourmet watches the Oscars while enjoying a meal inspired by the Best Picture nominees. For example, last year’s highlight was the ice sculpture of severed hands for 127 Hours and Winter’s Bone. We also had Appletinis for The Social Network, cowboy beans for True Grit, and steak and organic roast vegetable salad with a Petite Syrah from The Kids Are All Right. (I decided not to skin my own squirrel for Winter’s Bone and not to recycle my urine for 127 Hours.)  You get the idea and you can read more at Oscar Dinner.

The pickins are slimmer this year, but fortunately I have found food and/or beverages referenced in or inspired by the Best Picture nominees.

You may remember George Valentin’s uneasy breakfast with his wife in The Artist, or the ruined crop in War Horse, or Jessica Chastain serving up some 50s  fare to Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life.  One thing for sure:  Minnie’s chocolate pie from The Help will make an appearance!

 

Movies to See This Week

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Oscar nominated Berenice Bejo in (and married in real life to the Oscar nominated director of) THE ARTIST

It’s Oscar Weekend, your chance to catch up with the magical silent romance The Artist, Director Alexander Payne’s (Sideways) family drama The Descendants with George Clooney, Martin Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale Hugo, the rockem sockem thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation.

Safe House is a fine paranoid action spy thriller with Denzel Washington and the director’s pedal jammed to the floor.  Thin Ice is a Fargo Lite diversion.

I have also commented on Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic The Iron Lady, the very odd fable Albert Nobbs, the feminist action thriller Haywire and Ralph Fiennes’ contemporary adaption of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

I haven’t yet seen the Woody Harrelson police corruption thriller Rampart, which opens this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick of (last) week is Drive starring Ryan Gosling, a stylishly violent noir tale unfolding on a brilliantly filmed canvas.

Movies to See This Week

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George Clooney and Shailene Woodley in THE DESCENDANTS

The best films in theaters are the magical silent romance The Artist, Director Alexander Payne’s (Sideways) family drama The Descendants with George Clooney, Martin Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale Hugo, the rockem sockem thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and the searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama A Separation.

I have also commented on Steven Spielberg’s War Horse,  the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic The Iron Lady, the very odd fable Albert Nobbs, the feminist action thriller Haywire and Ralph Fiennes’ contemporary adaption of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick of the week is Drive starring Ryan Gosling, a stylishly violent noir tale unfolding on a brilliantly filmed canvas.

Movies to See This Week

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A SEPARATION

Some of the year’s very best films are in theaters now. I especially recommend these four:

The Artist: A magical romance given us through the highly original choice of an almost silent film.

The Descendants: Director Alexander Payne’s (Sideways) family drama is set in Hawaii and contains a brilliant performance by George Clooney.

Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale of an orphan living in the bowels of a 1920s Paris train station who strives to survive by his wits, keep his independence and solve the puzzle of an discarded automaton.

Best Movies of 2011. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse has also been nominated for Best Picture.

I highly recommend A Separation, the searing and brilliantly constructed Iranian drama, but it’s a tough watch.  It’s a cinch for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.

Here are my comments on some other current films, the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic The Iron Lady and the very odd fable Albert Nobbs.

This week’s lightweight pick is the feminist action thriller Haywire.  My heavyweight pick is Ralph Fiennes’ very fienne contemporary adaption of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.

I haven’t yet seen the Denzel Washington spy thriller Safe House, which opens this week. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

Movies to See This Week

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THE ARTIST

Some of the year’s very best films are in theaters now. I especially recommend these four:

The Artist: A magical romance given us through the highly original choice of an almost silent film.

The Descendants: Director Alexander Payne’s (Sideways) family drama is set in Hawaii and contains a brilliant performance by George Clooney.

Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale of an orphan living in the bowels of a 1920s Paris train station who strives to survive by his wits, keep his independence and solve the puzzle of an discarded automaton.

Best Movies of 2011.  Steven Spielburg’s War Horse has also been nominated for Best Picture.  Roman Polanski’s Carnage is a fine comedy.

Here are my comments on some other current films, the sex addiction drama Shame, the biopic  The Iron Lady and the very odd fable Albert Nobbs.  Plus, I liked the lightweight feminist action thriller Haywire.

I haven’t yet seen A Separation or Pina 3D, which open this week.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

 

Few big surprises in the Oscar nods

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The Oscar nominations are out, and there are few of the head scratching inclusions and omissions that we frequently see.  Of the Best Picture nominations, The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo and Midnight in Paris all made my Best Movies of 2011.  Although they didn’t make my Best of the Year list, War Horse and Moneyball are very good movies that I recommend.  I haven’t yet seen The Help, which is, by all accounts, a fine film.  Although I hated The Tree of Life, it was the biggest art film of the year and much praised by mainstream critics.  The one jaw dropper is the critically scorned Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which exploits 9/11 in the pursuit of a three hankie weeper.

My biggest disappointments were the snubbing of Michael Shannon’s performance in Take Shelter and the innovative screenplay by Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman for Young Adult.

The acting categories seem a little light to me this year with the exception of Best Actress, with two performances for the ages by Michele Williams in My Week with Marilyn and Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady.

Hugo: Scorsese’s revelatory 3D tale

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Martin Scorsese’s Hugo is both a delight and a lessons in the possibilities of 3D in the hands of a master filmmaker.  The story follows a young orphan living in the bowels of a 1920s Paris train station who strives to survive by his wits, keep his independence and solve the puzzle of an discarded automaton.

Scorsese’s use of 3D is revelatory.  We feel entirely transported to WITHIN the worlds of the station, of its industrial inner workings and Paris itself.  When the orphan walks into a bookstore, we are immersed ourselves in the many stacks of books.  Scorsese’s 3D always works to advance the story, not to distract us with assaultive gimmicks.

As an extra treat for movie lovers, the very story becomes one of movie making, film as art and film preservation.  We see the early movie magic of George Melies, especially his 1902 A Trip the Moon. We also see Lumiere’s 1896 The Arrival of a Train, and the main characters even sneak into Harold Lloyd’s 1923 Safety Last.

Sacha Baron Cohen is very, very funny as the boy’s foil, the bitter and preening station policeman.  The cast is very good, with the most pleasing turns by Emily Mortimer, Helen McCrory and Richard Griffiths.

Hugo makes my list of Best Movies of 2011.