Oscar's Virtues: Survival, Free Enterprise, and Freedom

Well, our pursuit of the Oscar nominees continued in and around the "snowpocalypse" that hit our town last week.  We watched 3 movies over the past 2 weekends.  Here are our thoughts:

Movie #1:  Gravity (2013, with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney)

“Space….the final frontier”  Well, this certainly put “final” into a whole new perspective.  I watched this separately from Jason and Kathy due to a schedule conflict.  Luckily, our local Carmike had brought back this movie for a limited time.  I went to a late showing and was the only one in there other than a couple at the very back.  In the darkness, it was if I were solely isolated because of the silence and emptiness of the room that does not typically accompany most movie viewings these days.  Seeing the whole of space illuminated on the screen in front of me, I completely felt like I was living what Sandra’s character was living in this movie.  What do you do when it’s just you, floundering in space—no one to help, no way to stop it.  How do you summon the grit to keep trying to find a way to somehow survive and return to earth?  And when you finally think you’ll give in to the inevitable and stop pushing….what is it that makes you try just one more time at the last minute?  What motivates us to LIVE?  To SURVIVE?  To FIGHT?  It’s different for everyone, I’m sure.  We all have different loves, interests, desires.  But in all of us, there is something or someone that will make us push ourselves past all else to give it just another shot. That’s what this movie is about.

I’m a Sandra Bullock fan… I’ve always pretty much liked her.  I have to say… this is her best performance.  She is definitely a serious contender for the Best Actress Oscar. 

Note:  As I was walking out of the theater to my car, I did have a thought though—they could’ve solved the whole problem so easily… They could’ve called The Doctor and had the TARDIS come save the day.  For, as my favorite Doctor said… Space and time…. It’s a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey….thing. (Love you David Tennant…. Wherever you are)

Ratings:  Jason—4;  Kathy—4.5;  Me—4.5

Gravity marks the 200th movie we've seen since we've been documenting our adventures.  Here's to 200 more!!!

Movie #2:  The Wolf of Wall Street (2013, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, et al)

Reader Attention:  This movie is not suitable  for minors or anyone grossly offended by graphic sex, excessive drug use, and/or obscene and prolific profanity.  Seriously….. I mean it.

Now that I’ve given the disclaimer…. On to the movie.

Leonardo DiCaprio (heart flutter, heart flutter) must have been on a Red Bull IV drip to do this movie!  Honestly—he was in EVERY scene, except two, and he was as hyper as one of my best friends (you know who you are, girl!) on a one-month sugar high—and that’s HYPER!  This movie is three hours long, and half-way through Kathy was leaning over saying she felt like she’d had a workout and was worn out from just watching him jump around and shout and plot and scheme.   He plays a sneaky scoundrel who’s fleecing Wall Street along with a number of like-minded associates during the ‘80s and ‘90s.  He’s obscene, he’s unethical, he’s a scam-artist---and you LOVE him despite that.  You want him to win!  Also, the movie is just filled with great comedic moments.  Think of this movie as a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off if you will… just for adults.  It has that same type of feel.  Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) often has little asides and conversations with the audience…. He serves as the movie’s narrator, just like Ferris did in the ‘80s for high-schoolers everywhere.   You could also kind of look at this movie as a Gatsby of sorts… on a crack, booze, cocaine, and Quaalude overdose (‘ludes are B.I.G. in this movie)….

I would also like to note that I do not generally like Martin Scorsese’s films; however, I really enjoyed this one (unending profanity, colossal drug use, and fetishist sex scenes aside).

What We Loved:  1.) We loved Matthew McConauhey’s cameo at the beginning of the film as Jordan’s mentor and entre into the vice-laden world of 1980’s Wall Street.  He was fantastic.  2.) Leo is flawless in his portrayal of this complete villain that you don’t “love to hate”… you just love.  3.)  We loved how ridiculously OVER-THE-TOP this movie was.  That, coupled with the comedy, kept it from being offensive/repulsive.  You could overlook the extreme behaviors because it was just completely ridiculous. (There’s even a mini-disaster movie in the middle of it—much to Kathy’s sublime delight).  It was a fun ride.

Interesting Notes:  1.) It is rumored that the F-bomb was dropped over 547 times in this movie.  I didn’t count them…. But it kinda felt like that was a reasonable estimate….   2.) The vast majority of this film was actually improvised.  3.)  The chest beating and humming Matthew McConauhey does in the movie is actually a ritual he does before acting.  Leo saw him doing it and made him include it in the movie.  4.) During the kissing scene between Leo and Joanna Lumley (Aunt Emma), Leo was so nervous that it took a rumored 27 takes.  And 5.)  Julie Andrews had been considered for Aunt Emma, before the part was given to Joanna Lumley!!!!!  Not Mary Poppins!!! GASP!

Ratings:  Jason—4.5;  Kathy—4;  Me—4. 

Movie #3:  12 Years a Slave (2013, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch)

This is a hard movie to watch—movies about the subject of slavery typically are.  What I took away from this movie was similar to my impression of Gravity—what makes someone hang on to hope when it looks as if all hope is lost?  What fuels that desire to survive beyond all the impossible odds? 

This is the story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man from Saratoga, New York.  A talented musician, he takes an unexpected and lucrative job to make money while his family is away.  However, in the span of a week, everything he knows is turned on its head, and he must now face an unimagined life as a slave in the deep South.  The movie chronicles his struggle to survive long enough to somehow find a way back to his family and his freedom.  The cruelties of slavery are exposed to him up close and personal during his journey, but among all that, he does experience rare moments of kindness and compassion.  It seems that these brief, yet positive encounters, manage to keep him going despite the likelihood that freedom may not be his again. 

The performances in this movie are spectacular.  The actor who plays Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is absolutely spectacular and a likely candidate for the Best Actor award.  Michael Fassbender plays the role of malicious and sadistic slave-owner almost flawlessly, and he also manages to show that a lot of his behavior seems to be stemming from two motivators—his absolutely hateful and evil wife (played by Sarah Paulson) and a definite form of mental illness, as opposed to others in his class like Paul Giamatti’s absolutely vicious and capitalistic slave-trader.   Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of conflicted plantation owner well…being torn between compassion for Soloman and his financial obligations.  He does a magnificent Southern accent, and you do not see “Sherlock Holmes” when watching him in this movie.  He is Ford—respected and fairly benevolent Southern gentleman and plantation owner.  Of all the supporting characters in this movie, Michael Fassbender has a Supporting Actor nom.  Although Jared Leto won that at the Globes, Fassbender’s performance is definitely going to be a hard one to beat.  The only other nominee is for Supporting Actress by Lupita Nyong’o in her portrayal of Patsy—which was heart-breaking and consuming.

Things we didn’t like:  This movie was very slow-paced.  There are a lot of very long still shots that go on for several moments when you are just looking at moss blowing in the breeze, or someone’s eyeball staring off into the distance.  My best guess was that these are an artistic endeavor to show the passage of time in the story… but we all agreed that they were a bit bothersome and made the movie drag quite a bit. 

Interesting note:  This movie is based on the autobiography 12 Years a Slave written by Solomon once he regained his freedom and was reunited with his family.  He was a member of the abolition movement and worked with the Underground Railroad.  The very sad thing about this whole story is that after all he went through, nothing was ever known about how or when he died, and there is no known grave for Solomon Northrup.

Ratings:  Jason—4; Kathy—4;   Me—3 (because of pacing and the long still shots)

Tonight we’re watching Oscar noms for Best Picture Blue Jasmine and Dallas Buyer’s Club.  Stay tuned to see what we thought….