THE OSCARS
What SHOULD Win
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Lee Daniels, Precious
Best Actor: Colin Firth, A Single Man
Best Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Best Supporting Actress: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Best Documentary: Food Inc.
Best Foreign Language Film: Ajami
Best Short Live Action: The New Tenants
Best Short Animated: Logorama
Best Animated Film: Coralline
Best Adapted Screenplay: In the Loop
Best Original Screenplay: The Messenger
What WILL Win
Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Bastards
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Documentary: The Cove
Best Foreign Language Film: The Secrets in Their Eyes
Best Short Live Action: The Door
Best Short Animated: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Animated Film: Up
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air
Best Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker
OPENING THIS WEEK:
Ajami
This Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Langauge Film co-directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian chronicles the lives of a variety of residents in the title town
Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton re-imagines Lewis Carroll’s classic story with his friend Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and his finacé, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen.
Brooklyn’s Finest
The opening scene of this contrived and uninvolving cop drama has Carlo (Vincent D’Onofrio) talking about “righter” and “wronger.” He spins a yarn about being caught in a compromising situation and how doing the wrong thing turned out to be right at the time. It’s a theme that runs through the entire wrongheaded film directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day). A trio of cops each face a moral conflict in which breaking the law could benefit them. Eddie (Richard Gere) is a disillusioned burnout case with a week before retirement. He is assigned to train rookies–all of whom look more like models than cops–in a high crime area. Of course, a situation arises that forces him to make a tough decision. Meanwhile, Sal (Ethan Hawke) is a cop with good instincts who does some very bad things. He kills people and steals money because he needs to move his large family into a new, larger house. The third story concerns Tango (Don Cheadle), an ambitious undercover cop working a drug bust. He is promised the long due promotion he wants, but only if he sells out Caz (Wesley Snipes), the friend who once saved his life. Brooklyn’s Finest may have its characters grapple with their redemption or downfall, but viewers will have little investment in the parallel storylines. Eddie is a mediocre officer, so naturally, he gets one last chance to do something good. His drama is as clichéd as his one-sided relationship with Chantel (Shannon Kane), a gold-hearted prostitute. (The film gets downright laughable when he sings her “Sea of Love.”) Meanwhile, Sal is a weasel whose colleague Ronny (Brian F. O’Byrne) actually stops and tells him how lucky he is to have a family–and asks, why does he want to screw that up? And Tango’s good intentions ultimately turn into the expected bad/tragic situation. The film, which unfolds slowly, offers few surprises. If it allows Gere, Hawke, and Cheadle to all get a turn to emote intensely, that’s not necessarily a good thing.
M. Hulot’s Holiday
Before Mr. Bean, there was M. Hulot. Jaques Tati directs and stars in this classic French comedy from the fifties–gorgeously restored–about a man on vacation in a beach resort. This genial slapstick farce is episodic, and yet, the one-two delivery of set-up and punchline still delivers some smiles. Hulot is a bumbling innocent who manages to cause mild chaos without really trying. He accidentally wipes another man’s mouth on his own sleeve reaching across the dinner table, and when he fixes a tilted painting, he causes other artworks to tilt or fall off the wall. It’s all very charming. There are some terrific sight gags, such as a boy caught in a steering wheel on a crowded bus, or one featuring a man taking a picture who is mistaken for a Peeping Tom. Of course, not all the jokes work–one comic set piece about a boat that resembles a shark falls flat. But M. Hulot’s Holiday, Tati’s first screen appearance as the title character, is a pleasant diversion, and a fine introduction to those unfamiliar with the French comedian.
AroundPhilly Staff
