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My Predictions For the 2019 Academy Awards

Jon The Blogcentric

Chocolate Oscar

It’s interesting that this year’s Oscars are being held the second Sunday of February. Usually they’re held the last Sunday or the first Sunday of March in a Winter Olympic year. It was pretty evident will all my cramming of my Best Picture reviews. I didn’t start until three weeks to go and I didn’t think I could review all nine in time. But I did! The last of the Best Picture reviews I posted on Wednesday. Next year they’ll be going back to the last Sunday of February. So hopefully reviewing them all will be a lot more relaxed.

Anyways I’m able to make predictions for this year’s Oscars. I’m even able to make some calls for what should win in some categories. I’ve seen enough films to make up 96 of the 124 nominations. They range from single-nomination films like Knives Out to Joker with the most nominations with eleven in total. Most categories have been very predictable with the same film or same effort winning film award after film award. That could help me with my Oscar bingo I’ll be playing once again this Sunday! However there are a few that appear unpredictable. So without further ado, here are my predictions for the 2019 Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

Oscar nominees

All credit to Olly Gibbs for that excellent image of this year’s nominees. This year has a wide range of film among the nine nominees. Two are set during World Wars. Two are written and directed by a Hollywood couple. Four have had a domestic gross at the box office of over $100 million. Two are films that got moved to NetFlix after an initial box-office release. One is done by a master of gangster movies and another is done by his heir apparent, but not a gangster movie at all. One is a modern-day adaptation of a classic novel. One is a fictional account of a cartoon villain. One is of car racing. One is of a failing marriage. One if of classic Hollywood. One is of Hitler through a child’s eyes. One is a possible answer to a popular whodunit. One is of a journey during war. And one is of an impoverished family trying to break free. All are seen worthy of being nominated in the Best Picture category this year. So here is my rundown of the Best Picture nominees:

1917 – War movies usually win the Academy over, as long as they’re done well. This has been the darling of most awards shows. I predict this as my Will Win pick. I myself admire it for its cinematography and it’s storytelling, but it’s not the film I most want to win Best Picture. Usually for Best Picture, I feel it should have much of the best of the year in the three top categories: acting, directing and writing.

Ford v Ferrari – Very rarely do auto racing movies get nominated for Best Picture. This is more than an auto racing film. It’s about those that were behind the big moment and the family relation of the racer who was shunned behind. Definitely a crowd-pleaser, but it doesn’t look like an Academy-pleaser.

The Irishman – What can I say? This is the film in which I most want to win because this is a film that went above and beyond what I expected out of it. I admire films that go above and beyond what I expect. Plus it had top-notch acting, directing and writing. However it lost a lot of its energy it had back in November. That’s why I think it won’t win.

Jojo Rabbit – This is one movie that would normally not be Best Picture material. I have to say of all nine Best Picture nominees, this is my favorite. This is the most entertaining of the nine. However I know how to separate my personal favorite from the films I feel are the best. Besides I know how stodgy the Academy is towards comedies.

Joker – Last year was something how a superhero movie finally got a Best Picture nomination. This year is a case of a story of the genesis of a villain won crowds and won movie awards. This is an impressive story too. However I feel that it faces stiff competition in the Best Picture race from other films.

Little Women – To think this is the first Little Women adaptation to be nominated for Best Picture! I can’t complain at all as the film took some different twists and it came out a winning story. I admire the way it was directed, written and acted, but there are films that have more boost in this competition.

Marriage Story – Sometimes all it takes to win people is a story that connects with people. That’s the magic of Marriage Story. This film’s best qualities are the acting and writing. However this is another film that appears prone to fall under the weight of bigger competition. Plus this being on NetFlix may be an additional reason why its chances were hurt.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood – This is one salute to the Golden Age of Hollywood with a twist. Also it will cause a lot of people to reassess their definition of what a Quentin Tarantino movie is. I know my parents still think Tarantino movies are all ‘blood and guts’ but this film shows a side of Quentin most people overlook. I do rank this as a film in the Top 3 most expected to win, but it’s not my top pick. I think its summer release may have caused it to lose much of its buzz.

Parasite – This is definitely the foreign-language film of the year. Undisputed! This is my Should Win pick because this film has accomplished more than any of the other nine Best Picture nominees. It’s a case once again that the best film of the year is not in the English-language. However I’m very doubtful it will win. I remember last year Roma was the best film but it lost out to Green Book. That solidified my belief the Academy will never make a foreign-language film a Best Picture winner.

I know a lot of people often think the Academy Awards are a case of Hollywood patting itself on the back. One can say an excellent example of this was last year when Roma lost Best Picture to Green Book. If Once Upon A Time In Hollywood wins this, then it will further prove their point. I am very doubtful Parasite will win. However if 1917 wins, it won’t look like Hollywood patting itself on the back because it’s a British film!

BEST DIRECTOR

Should Win: Bong Joon-ho – Parasite

Will Win: Sam Mendes – 1917

I chose Bong Joon-ho naturally. Most people feel the common belief that The winner for Best Director should be the director of the Best Picture winner. It happens over 70% of the time at the Oscars. As a result my Best Director pick for Should Win is from the same film as my Should Win for Best Picture. I feel it’s right since Parasite is the film I admire most and it’s Bong who made it happen. I feel it will go to Sam Mendes because of his past awards success this year. Nevertheless I would not be disappointed if it did because 1917 is a film that’s worth admiring.

BEST ACTOR

Should Win and Will Win: Joaquin Phoenix – Joker

What can I say? It’s not just about being widely praised as the acting performance of the year but of the movie role of the year. Nobody — not even the most loyal of Batman fans — expected Joker to be the film that it is. It’s a film that not only tells the story of the emergence of the Joker, the chaos of Gotham City and the genesis of Batman, but it takes one into the mind of Arthur Fleck. One knew that Arthur would snap any minute. What can I say? One could argue that it’s Joaquin that single-handedly made the work!

BEST ACTRESS

Should Win and Will Win: Renee Zellweger – Judy

I never reviewed Judy in my blog after I saw it back in November. It’s an excellent story of a period in the last year of Judy Garland’s life. It focuses on her attempt for a comeback and how it appeared showbiz took everything out of her. It also flashed back to her childhood and how she was raised to think that a normal life that the other girls were having is for mortals. Renee was excellent in embodying Judy as she looked like a person who just couldn’t come to terms with herself and even feared what she would mostly be remembered for. Renee was spot on in epitomizing Judy from the voice, to the singing to the hostile attitude to the troubled personality to even writing left-handed.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Should Win: Joe Pesci – The Irishman

Will Win: Brad Pitt – Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

One thing about this year’s acting nominees. A lot of people talked about the lack of racial diversity. That is true, and I even reminded people in social media of Spielberg saying the Academy is like a member-only club.

As for actors, another lack of diversity is that only six nominations went to performances from five actors who were never nominated before. For Supporting Actor, this is normally a ‘newbie-friendly’ category but all five have been nominated before in the past and only Brad Pitt has never won an Oscar. That appears likely to change as he is the heavy favorite to win for his scene-stealing in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Actually Brad has enough screen time to qualify for the Best LEAD Actor category! However I would be likely to go with Joe Pesci for his portrayal as a mob boss who appears like a father figure. Nevertheless Sunday will be Brad’s moment.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Should Win and Will Win: Laura Dern – Marriage Story

Some performances nominated for Supporting Actor/Actress are usually lead roles that are ‘politicked’ as supporting roles, like I I mentioned about Brad Pitt earlier. Some supporting acting nominations and wins are because they’re good at stealing the show from the lead actors. And some nominations and wins in the supporting acting categories can also be because they do an excellent job of character acting. That’s why I have no problem with Laura Dern winning. She made you hate Nora! She did an excellent job as the manipulative sly-talking lawyer and she made her character of Nora almost look like she was a snake!  Actors are taught about even using animal-like behaviors to enhance characters. This award is Laura’s for the taking. And on the day before her 53rd birthday to boot!

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Should Win: Boon Jong-ho – Parasite

Will Win: Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

If there’s one major category that I feel will be the hardest to predict, it’s actually both screenplay categories. Lately some of the award shows have given alternating views on who they think is the best. I agree with what Bong Joon-ho said in his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you’ll be introduced to so many more amazing films.” I agree, but I doubt if the Academy agrees. Roma may have won last year, but I don’t think they’ll make it two in a row.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Should Win: Steve Zaillian – The Irishman

Will Win: Greta Gerwig – Little Women

It’s interesting that Greta and her common-law partner Noah Baumbach are both nominated for screenplays this year. I had to go with The Irishman on this one because it’s a complex story that Zaillian is able to make work. I think they will give it to Great for putting a new twist to a story that’s been adapted numerous times. I think the biggest upset could come from Jojo Rabbit, but I’m still set on Little Women.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Will Win: Toy Story 4

This year I did not see any of the nominated films. I only saw three animated films and none of them got nominated here. Even though Klaus won the Annie Award and the BAFTA, I have a feeling Disney is going to take it again. This is the one category Disney wants to win most. wouldn’t that be something if Toy Story 4 loses to a NetFlix film?

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Should Win and Will Win: Parasite (South Korea)

For those wondering, this is a new title for the category that used to be called Best Foreign Language Film. This year I saw four of the five nominees in this category, which is extremely rare for me. The others I saw are Pain And Glory, Honeyland and Corpus Christi. That means I can also make a ‘should win’ judgement in this category. It’s safe to say Parasite is the foreign-language film of the year. Also Honeyland makes history as the first documentary to be nominated in this category.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Will Win: Roger Deakins – 1917

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Will Win: Jacqueline Durran – Little Women

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Will Win: Honeyland

BEST FILM EDITING

Will Win: Yang Jin-mo – Parasite

BEST HAIR AND MAKE-UP

Will Win: Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker – Bombshell

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Will Win: Hildur Guðnadóttir – Joker

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Will Win: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – Rocketman

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Will Win: Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh – Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

BEST SOUND EDITING

Will Win: Ford v Ferrari

BEST SOUND MIXING

Will Win: Ford v Ferrari

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Will Win: 1917

SHORT FILM PREDICTIONS

For my reviews of the nominees and predictions of the wins for Best Animated Short Film, Best Live-Action Short Film and Best Documentary Short Subject, click on this paragraph.

JUST ONE MORE – TOP OSCAR UPSETS

Here are the five upsets I anticipate are most likely to happen. In category order:

  • Taika Waititi for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit
  • Klaus for Best Animated Feature
  • Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland for Best Film Editing for Ford v Ferrari
  • American Factory for Best Documentary Feature
  • The Lion King for Best Visual Effects

And there you go. My predictions for the winners, and possible upsetters of the 92nd Academy Awards. Having a hostless Oscars last year was such a success, they did it again this year. Will it be as entertaining? Will there be some shock winners like Olivia Colman was last year? It will all be decided Sunday night.

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Oscars 2019 Best Picture Review: Ford v. Ferrari

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment
Ford Ferrari
Matt Damon (left) is Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale (right) is Ken Miles in the racing drama Ford v Ferrari.

At first you’ll think Ford v Ferrari is about cars. It is, and about car racing. However, you’ll be surprised how much more it’s about.

The Ford Motor Company is going through an image issue in the mid-1960’s. For decades starting at the very beginning of the 20th Century, Ford under the genius of Henry Ford manufactured cars that completely redid the way Americans travel. Ford is still on top and currently led by Henry Ford’s grandson Henry Ford II, but it’s trying to win over younger buyers of their cars. It’s a bit harder because young people have recently developed an interest in racing cars and see Fords as their ‘parents cars.’ In 1963, Vice-President Lee Iacocca recommends to Ford they strike a merger with the cash-strapped Italian company Ferrari. It seems like a good choice as Ferrari has been a big winner in racing. In fact Ferrari cars have won the most recent 24-hours of Le Mans races since 1960.

However over at the meeting at the Ferrari office, the meeting does not go well. Enzo Ferrari tells Ford that he accepted a deal with Fiat that’s more lucrative and allows him to keep the Scuderia Ferrari racing division. In the meeting, Ferrari insults the Ford cars and Henry II as ‘not Henry Ford but the grandson of Henry Ford.’ That infuriates Henry Ford and he plans a revenge on Ferrari. The revenge is actually one to take the Ford Car company into the future. He plans to have a Ford car designed to win auto races. He hires Carroll Shelby who won the Le Mans in 1959 but had to retire because of heart problems: a problem he consistently takes pills straight out of the bottle. Since retiring racing, Shelby devoted his time to developing cars for auto racing through his company Shelby American. Carroll Shelby is close friends with 47 year-old Ken Miles: a British auto racer who is infamous for his bad temper and struggles as a mechanic with owning his garage in Los Angeles. This is a burden not only to him, but his wife Mollie and young son Peter. Especially since the IRS is on his case.

Miles is Shelby’s first pick in his Cobra team to test out his cars. Miles’ racing style and car know-how allows Shelby to make good decisions. He is always very honest with Shelby whenever he notices something that needs an improvement or when something’s a weakness. However, the choice of Ken Miles does not go well with Henry Ford, especially since he feels Miles’ personality and notorious temper doesn’t fit the Ford image. Ford elects to send Phil Hill and Bruce McLaren to the 1964 Le Mans instead. Miles predicts none of the Ford participants will win the race, and he ends up right. Once again, the race is won by a Ferrari driver.

Despite the big loss at Le Mans 1964, Shelby tries to reassure Ford that one of the Ford drivers hit 218 mph on the Ford GT40 and that made Ferrari nervous. Meanwhile it’s back to the drawing board. Shelby continues development on the Ford GT40 Mk II and he has Miles test the cars with Peter watching frequently and Ford unhappy about the arrangement. On one practice run, the brakes fail and cause the car to crash in fiery manner, which Miles is lucky to escape.

In 1966, Ford takes an extra step in the efforts of their racing cards by creating a racing division of their company and has Ford’s Senior Vice-President Leon Beebe run it. Beebe wants the program a case where Miles is not a part of any of it, not even the testing. Shelby meets up with Ford on an opportunity and offers to take him into his car. Ford accepts, and Shelby drives like a racer on the track which scares Ford almost to death. It’s right there he convinces Ford that Miles is the best man to win Le Mans. Ford agrees, but with a compromise; Miles needs to win the 24-hours At Daytona first before he can race at Le Mans. Shelby visits Miles at a street corner near his house after he’s finished grocery shopping to tell him the news. That infuriates Miles so much, he has a fist-fight with Shelby at the corner, which wife Mollie watches entertainingly.

Shelby and Miles continue with the racing and testing as Peter continues to watch and Phil Remington is the mechanic doing the fixing. Beebe is hoping Miles doesn’t win as he has puts in a second Ford entry in Daytona with NASCAR team Holdman-Moody supporting it. The Holdman-Moody team is faster at pit stops, but Shelby allows Miles to push his car to 7000 RPM. The result: Miles wins Daytona. It’s Miles’ first win in five years. Miles also has continued success later by winning the 12 Hours Of Sebring. Le Mans will be Miles’ chance to win the rare Triple Crown of endurance races.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966, Miles is there as is Shelby, but so is Ford and Beebe. So is Enzo Ferrari in hopes of this being victory #7 for the Ferrari car. Ferrari has just released his latest racing prototype, 330 P3, and his best hopes in repeating rest with Italian driver Lorenzo Bandini. Mollie and Peter are listening to the race on the radio as Peter will be going through the race on the Le Mans racetrack he drew.

The race starts and Miles has problems on the first lap as the passenger door won’t close; he has to steer with his right hand and hold the door with his left. At the first lap, Miles alerts of the problem, which Remington fixes with a sledgehammer. Miles gets back to driving and has a lot of ground to make up. With each lap, he breaks the track record and passes numerous Ferraris as he gains ground on the leaders. However, as he’s pursuing Bandini, brake problems occur. At the pit stop, the team replaces the brake system, which infuriates Enzo Ferrari. He feels it’s against the rules, but Shelby is able to successfully convince race officials that the brake replacement is within the rules. As the race continues, Bandini is in hot pursuit by Miles, but Bandini is the last Ferrari driver in the race. As they duel again on the Mulsanne Straight, Bandini blows is engine and is out, making this the first Le Mans since 1959 Ferrari won’t win!

There’s still one more act of the drama. Three Ford cars lead the race nearing the finish with Miles leading them all. What should be a normal racing situation actually becomes a publicity opportunity for Henry Ford. He envisions all three Ford crossing the finish line simultaneously and even Beebe gets Shelby to tell Miles to slow down and set up for the opportunity. Miles is furious about this as this could put his Triple Crown in jeopardy and responds by setting more lap records, but eventually agrees with it. Miles does slow down and the three cross the finish simultaneously. However, it’s not a shared win as Ford driver McLaren is declared the winner. Shelby is mad that it ends all chances of Miles’ Triple Crown, but Miles is not down. Miles is just grateful for driving at Le Mans and giving the crowd a show.

That race would be Ken Miles’ last ever race. One day while testing a J-car, and with Shelby and Peter around, Ken crashed near a turn. It was a ball of fire and he didn’t get out. The fatal crash happened in Peter’s view. Some time later, Shelby goes to visit Mollie and Peter. He sees Peter still hurt but gives him words of comfort about his father and gives him a wrench Ken threw at Carroll years ago. As for Mollie, he just waves back from a distance after she waved to him. Then he drives off like a racer.

The film is unique as it is more than just a story about racing. It’s also how one race depended on taking a solid American business and a business legendary in making automobile travel the new norm for the USA into the future. Because of it, or maybe not exactly because of it, people still drive Fords today. Ferraris are still the most expensive sports cars today but Ford is still one of the biggest auto manufacturers in the World. The film also gave us some reminders about sports business. Businesses don’t simply look for sportspeople who win all the time. They also look for those with a marketable image. Michael Jordan may be a case where one of the best sportsmen ever becomes the most marketable ever, but it’s not always a guarantee. Seeing how a great racer like Ken Miles was shunned by everybody except by his family and those involved with Shelby American is one example. Also how Henry Ford looked at him was also unpleasant to see. I remember one person said that Henry Ford simply not liking you was enough for him to fire you. Goes to show he was cruel to whoever as he was to Ken Miles.

The story isn’t only about racing or even about a remarkable race. It’s about an auto racer whom at an age most would retire from the sport at was having the most successful year of his life. It was his love for his family. He wanted to win for them. And he especially wanted to be seen by his son as someone to be proud of. It was also of a friendship between Ken Miles and Carroll Shelby. Miles was the one person Shelby can best trust for an honest opinion about his cars, or should I say Ford’s cars. Shelby saw a lot of qualities in Miles most others overlooked. The friendship was strong, but it wasn’t without its friction as both men were temperamental and fighters. But the friendship was still very strong.

One thing about this film is that it doesn’t compromise in being an auto racing film. Being such, it knows that it has to make the audience feel like they are part of the race or they are in the driver’s seat. The camera angles as well as many of the scene shots helped greatly in creating the experience and intensity and leaving the audience at the edge of their seat. The film also does a great job of putting the audience in the races too. Despite the intimate story, the story does not forget what it’s about and makes the audience feel the moments too.

The film marks another great success for director James Mangold. This is his sixth film to earn Oscar nominations and his first ever to be nominated for Best Picture. Although he missed a Best Director nomination, he creates a great film that delivers just as good a story as it delivers in racing excitement. The story by brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth along with Jason Keller becomes more than a racing story with a simple plot. It’s a deep plot with three-dimensional characters and reminds the audience that the story is as much about the man, the friend, the husband and the father as it is about the racer.

The film marks another great performance for Christian Bale. Again he succeeds in getting into character and delivering a deep role. Not a false note about the character nor the father-son relationship. Matt Damon was also great as Carroll Shelby. His role may not have been as deep as Ken Miles’ but he added dimension and character to the role. The other standout of the film was Noah Jupe as Peter Miles. Noah made the father-son relationship work as well as Christian did. Other standout efforts include the cinematography from Phedon Papamichael. He knew the shots he needed for this racing film and he delivered, especially in some of the most intense scenes. The visual effects were also excellent and perfect for the film. Also the score by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders added to the excitement of the film.

Ford v Ferrari is the remarkable story how a driver and a race depended on the future of the Ford auto company. It’s also a story about a friendship between two racers few of us knew of. And a reminder of an overlooked great in the sport.

VIFF 2015 Review: Cop Car

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment
A corrupt cop (Kevin Bacon) had his car stolen by two eight year-old boys in the dark comedy Cop Car.
A corrupt cop (Kevin Bacon) had his car stolen by two eight year-old boys in the dark comedy Cop Car.

What do you get when you mix two eight year-old boys, a corrupt cop, a crooked man, a female witness and an empty cop car all out in the middle of Colorado? You get a bizarre dark comedy called Cop Car.

The film starts with two eight year-old boys, Harrison and Travis, walking along the Colorado farm land cussing and having fun. During their fun, they notice an empty sheriff car not running and nobody inside. They go in to check it out and find the keys. They’re able to turn it on and the two start their fun.

We found out how it got there. A corrupt sheriff named Kretzer appears to have killed two men; there’s one lifeless in the trunk and one Kretzer buries in a hole. Kretzer returns to where his car was parked only to find it gone. All that remains is his empty beer bottle. He goes to town to try and steal a car for himself. Nobody can know of his plot. Once he steals one, he goes to town and alerts the police of what happened. Meanwhile the boys are driving superfast on the highway and catches the eye of a passing motorist who questions what she sees. She reports it to police but they think she’s crazy. Even she’s seen sitting at a diner questioning what she saw.

Kretzer believes it and sends the boys a radio message letting them know they’re in trouble. But they don’t hear it because they’re playing around with the police tape and assault rifles in the car. All of a sudden, they hear a thump coming from the trunk. The other man is alive and scared as hell. However he’s shocked to see two boys looking at him. The two help free the man from his ‘shackles.’ Sheriff Kretzer sends another message to the two boys, this time more comforting. They boys say to meet him at a location but it’s at the gunpoint of the man who threatens them and their families if they don’t do as he says. Then he goes with the two assault rifles hiding behind the windmill right in the remote rural highway.

SPOILER ALERT: The ending of the movie will be revealed from this point on. If you want it a complete surprise, do not read any further.

Sheriff Kretzer arrives. He sees the two boys in the car but suspects something suspicious. Coincidentally the witness is driving on that same highway and bumps into the sheriff car again. She gets out relieved that she is not as crazy as they say she is but ready to give those two boys a good talking to. However she’s shot and that’s when the shootout between Kretzer and his hostage occur. The hostage is dead. Kretzer is badly injured and the two boys are scared as hell. They shoot the car window down by accident and Travis is accidentally shot. It’s up to Harrison to drive back to town for safety. But not without one last pursuit by Kretzer which proves fatal for him. The film ends with Harrison still driving over 70 mph with the lights flashing and the sirens on.

I don’t think the film was intended to give a social message. I don’t need to see this film to know how corrupt a lot of cops can get. What I think director Jon Watts and co-writer Christopher Ford are trying to do is tell a story and have fun with it. They have fun showing the wonders of what it’s like to be a child to the point their cussing and diarrhea joke seem like a disgusting but charmingly funny reminder of how we were kids. They have fun showing the two boys having fun in this bizarre and even dangerous situation. They have fun with a corrupt policeman whose stuck in the middle of his crime right and tries to ‘set things right.’ They have fun with the witness who questions what she saw. They have fun with the hostage in the trunk who doesn’t seem to have a clue what’s going on.

They also have fun with the audience. One of the elements in making it a dark comedy is that they have us at the edge of our seats. They show two boys driving off in the sheriff’s car shouting ‘this is our cop car!’ and leaving us the audience nervous and afraid of what will happen next. They show police tape by the car as Sheriff Kretzer sends the boys a message only for us to learn the two boys are having fun with it. They show the boys playing with the guns, even the assault rifles, leaving us afraid a bullet will go off any minute but it doesn’t. They show the hostage threatening the boys and demanding they relay Kretzer a message only to appear clueless in what he’s about to do. I think that’s one thing Watts and Ford try to do: play with our fears. I know I was afraid as hell what would happen next. Even that scene at the beginning of the boys trying to crush the snakes in the snakehole was the first sign of the fun Watts and Ford were going to have with us.

However both Watts and Ford do set a moment where the fun ends and things become more serious: right at the shootout. The carefree fun even ends for the boys as it finally sinks into them the danger they’re about to face. I think the moment when it gets darkly serious was timed right.

The film shows a lot of surprises. Firstly we’re all surprised not to see the two boys land the car in any dangerous hill. We’re also surprised the hostage in the trunk is alive right while the boys are playing around. We’re surprised to see the witness actually bump into the site of where the boys are with the car. We’re surprised of the hostage’s plans of his own on Kretzer. We’re surprised the sheriff not only survives the shootout but is fit enough to drive. We’re surprises that Harrison is able to turn to avoid the truck while Kretzer smashes into it. We’re also surprised to see despite playing around with the car and the guns, the moment Travis gets shot is when he uses it for help. We’re also surprised to see the best driving of the boys come from Harrison as he’s rushing back to town for safety in the pitch dark and the police lights flashing.

The film is full of ironies. However one of the best qualities of the film is not just of what we know but of what we don’t know. In fact the film will leave us asking a lot of questions. Why did Kretzer kill one man and hold another hostage? What exactly was the hostage after that he was trying to kill Kretzer? Why did the witness have to get shot? I think it’s trying to have us decide for yourself why things were this way. Even the ending leaves us asking a lot of questions. Will Travis be okay? Will Harrison drive back to town safely? I think that was the quality of the ending. I believe it lets us create our own ending to the story.

Watts and Ford delivered a good fun dark comedy. I wouldn’t call it a stellar movie but it’s hard to notice the imperfections. Kevin Bacon’s performance as the corrupt Sheriff Kretzer may be Golden Globe worthy but I don’t think it’s Oscar worthy. He made the right comedic choices in his character for it to work and fit with the story. Shea Whigham was funny as the bumbling hostage. Camryn Mannheim made the most of her brief appearances in her minor role. The two boys, Hays Wellford and James Freedson-Jackson, owned the show. It’s funny how they cussed, played dangerously and told a crude joke but still managed to maintain the innocence of childhood.

Cop Car first got a lot of good buzz at the Sundance Film Fes5tival and has been an attraction at various film festivals this year. It was given a box office release in August but only grossed up to $150,000. That’s odd for a film starring Kevin Bacon.

Cop Car is a surprise treat. I’ll admit the movie left me so nervous and afraid of what will happen next, I wanted to walk out. Nevertheless it was a delight to watch.

Movie Review: Ender’s Game

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment
Asa Butterfield plays child genius Ender Wiggin in the family sci-fi thriller Ender's Game.
Asa Butterfield plays child genius Ender Wiggin in the family sci-fi thriller Ender’s Game.

Very rarely do I go to see a live-action family film nowadays. There isn’t usually one that makes me want to go out and see it. However Ender’s Game was one that caught my eye. It’s based on the novel written by Orson Scott Card.

It’s the future and the Earth is under threat from alien Formics. They’ve already attacked in the year 2086 but their advances were halted by a small reserve force which involved an attack which had commander Mazer Rackham sacrifice himself in the battle to win. The International Fleet or IF was created shortly after to protect the Earth from the Formics.

Years later, IF commanders Colonel Hyrum Graff and Major Gwen Anderson are screening out teenage cadets as part of their next battle. They’re impressed with the intelligence and strategic thinking of cadet Andrew Ender Wiggin both with his playing of virtual games and his ability to deal with rejection in a fake dismissal. Ender is a complex boy. He’s smart as he can deliver what it takes to win virtual games but has a sensitivity as he feels like a misfit because he’s the ‘third born’ and frequently confides with his older sister Valentine. However it’s when Graff and Anderson visit the Wiggin household that things change. They offer him a place in their battle school. It’s after an intimate talk with Graff that Ender accepts because: “it was what he was born for.”

On the trip to the school via the shuttle, Ender and the other recruits or launchies are given lessons of the school by Sargent Dap. Ender further impresses Major Anderson when she asks him to create a mind game for the sake of analyzing recruit’s emotional states. He creates a mouse and giant game where he causes a surprise win to Anderson’s amazement.

The intrigue on Ender continues to grow. Ender is then promoted to the Salamander Army headed by Commander Bonzo Madrid. Bonzo is a fierce trainer with an unlikeable personality. One of his top students, Petra Arkanian, takes a liking to Ender and teaches him how to shoot free time. Bonzo starts a feeling of dislike to Ender especially after he cheats with Petra during a training game and they win with a surprise attack. Ender continues with his mouse mind game where he also has a Formic, an image of his sister, a snake he kills off and his brother in the game. The military are further amazed with Ender and switch him to the Dragon Army. To everyone’s surprise, he defeats the other two army’s including the Salamander Army headed by Bonzo in a weightless battle contest.

Despite Ender amazing the heads of the military, things start to take a turn for the worse. Bonzo is infuriated with Ender after his army loses and challenges him to a fight. Ender seriously injures Bonzo in self-defence leaving Bonzo badly injured enough to return to Earth. The emotional toll weighs in on Ender and demands to be flown back to Earth and leave the army. It’s right after Valentine convinces him to stay and fight that he continues on.

Ender learns of his mission through a travel to a Formic outpost of the IT. It’s there through the image of the deceased Mazer Rackham that he learns of his mission and of his most deadly devise on their ship. Ender then becomes a commander and assembles the best launchies and trainies he’s been working with. They continue training up for a ‘Graduation Day’ exercise. Gaduation Day turns out to be a game but it turns out to be a lot more. After the outcome, everybody is happy with Ender and themselves for what they have done, except Ender. He’s remorseful and it’s only after meeting with one of the Formics in his mind that he makes clear what his next mission is.

The movie is intended to be both a sci-fi action film for the family and the first book of a potential series. The film shows Ender Wiggin as a fighter who triumphs via brain more than brawn. It was once said in a US Marines commercial years ago: “To compete, you have to be strong. To win, you have to be smart.” Ender’s that smart competitor who’s able to make his mind do incredible things even to the point of the supernatural in the virtual world. That was the type of hero Orson Scott Card intended with Ender Wiggin. However Ender is unique in terms of his sensitivity and feeling for others, including his enemies. In fact a unique quote from Ender appears at the beginning of the film: “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” It’s there where we understand Ender Wiggin and how he’s able to do what he does. He’s a very unique protagonist in both how he thinks and how he feels and how someone so young can do all this.

You may remember how back in the summer I talked about big-budget action thrillers losing at the box office. I figured that the fall season would provide a better picture for them. It has been better but the outcome has been better for the more established movie franchises like Riddick, Insidious and Thor. Ender’s Game is a sci-fi thriller that is the first of the trilogy of Ender Wiggin novels. Any hope of future films rode on the success of Ender’s Game. The film debuted at #1 but with a weekend intake of only $27 million, it was questionable whether it would hit its $110 million budget. The latter weeks have shown it wouldn’t as it gained less and less. It now stands at just $55 million. It’s unfortunate that the success didn’t pan out, especially since this is 28 years in the making. However all is not lost. If there are no additional films, it may be turned into a television series.

Harrison Ford did a good job as Colonel Graff, even though I’ve seen him play better and stronger action roles. He shows that even after three decades he can still make the thriller. Viola Davis was probably the best scene stealer as Major Gwen. She showed that she’s able to upstage Harrison at times. Asa Butterfield was also very good as the protagonist Ender Wiggin. Actually he’s a major reason why I saw this. He impressed me in Hugo and I was looking forward to seeing how he would do in Ender’s Game. He did a very good job of playing a child soldier that was both an outside soldier and an inside soldier. Also he was able to give Ender more dimension with his sense of emotions and feelings. Asa helped make Ender a unique character. Ben Kingsley was also good in his role of Mazer but lacked scene-stealing qualities. The young supporting characters were also very well done. Haille Steinfeld made Petra likeable, Abigail Breslin was very convincing as making Valentine the source of Ender’s mental strength and Moises Arias was very successful in making Bonzo dislikeable.

Gavin Hood did a very good job in terms of directing. The screenplay was also done well but I feel the ending could have been done better. His best effort is the South African film Tsotsi which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film but he already has experience in directing sci-fi with directing X-Men: Wolverine. The movie’s qualities that most stand out are its visual effects and the score by Steve Jablonsky. The film did have some controversy as Orson Scott Card’s opposition to the same-sex lifestyle and gay marriage has caused outspoken critics and pundits. Card has defended his views each time. As for my feeling, I feel Card’s opinions should not matter in terms of this film because his opinions are not made present in the film anyways.

Ender’s Game is an impressively smart sci-fi film for families and young adults. It’s a very smart story that’s very well-done. However it does fall prey to the box office because of its lack of buzz and tight competition of other sci-fi releases this November.

The Rob Ford Fiasco

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Rob Ford, always a controversial figure, faces his biggest controversy thanks to Gawker.
Rob Ford, always a controversial figure, faces his biggest controversy thanks to Gawker.

Most of you outside of Canada or even Ontario have a bit of an idea about the Rob Ford fiasco happening there but aren’t too clear who Rob Ford is. Us Canadians on the other hand can’t walk away from it. It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere. But what is it and why should it matter for all of Canada? Even for a Vancouverite like myself?

NOTE: I’m sure there are many Torontonians and Ontarians that will find my article too simple. Fact is I have many followers from around the world. The point is to explain the situation to those who don’t know who Rob Ford is and what the fiasco is about. Besides I’m from Vancouver so I’m not all too familiar with Rob Ford myself.

Rob Ford was elected mayor of Toronto back in 2010 and assumed office in December of that year. He was a Toronto City Councilor for Etobicoke North the previous ten years. Rob comes from a political family with his father owning the business DECO Labels And Tags (which Rob, his mother, and his other three brothers direct) and a former Member of Provincial Parliament and his brother Doug Jr. has assumed the role of Etobicoke North City Councilor upon Rob’s election of Mayor of Toronto. He’s a huge favorite of popular hockey voice Don Cherry who was at his mayoral inauguration in a pink suit.

Ask any Torontonian and they will tell of Ford’s controversial politics as mayor. At his best, he’s against excessive government spending and calls for the ‘end of the gravy train’. At his worst, he will make opposition to policies leaning more to the left much to the chagrin of many Torontonians. He’s been long known for voicing his opinions leaning towards the right, much to the annoyance of a highly liberal city like Toronto. However it’s been his attitude and his outspoken comments and actions that had already made Ford notorious even before the whole recent Crack-smoking scandal. Having his own talk radio show on Toronto air waves may have something to do with it. As for his political verbal outbursts and such, hmmm, where do I start:

  • In 2002 he got into a fight with fellow councilor Giorgio Mammoliti and called him a “Gino-boy”, leading him to charges of racism.
  • In June 2006, he spoke out against a city donation of $1.5 million to prevent AIDS by responding: “If you’re not doing needles and you’re not gay, you wouldn’t get AIDS probably.”
  • In March 2007, Ford made comments about cyclists use of roads saying: “Roads are built for buses, cars and trucks, not for people on bikes. My heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”
  • In March 2008 he said at a council meeting: “Those Oriental people, they work like dogs. They work their hearts out. They are workers non-stop. They sleep beside their machines. That’s why they’re successful in life. I’m telling you, the Oriental people, they’re slowly taking over.”
  • He’s been involved in many publicized incidents while driving including reading and talking on his cellphone.
  • He asked city officials to approve drainage and road repairs outside the DECO Labels And Tags headquarters before it’s 50th anniversary party in August 2012.
  • He was accused by CBC political comedian Mary Walsh for saying the F-word during one of her impromptu interviews with him.
  • In May 2012, he was accused by news reporter Daniel Dale of cornering him and threatening to punch him. He’s frequently referred to journalists as ‘scumbags.’
  • Even a month ago, he blurted out the F-word after accidentally being hit in the face by a camera. It was caught on camera and was shown on The Jimmy Kimmel Show.

Okay now you know what he’s like as a reckless politician. Now to see where all this crack-smoking fits in. Ford has had his brush with substances. He was arrested in 1999 in Miami for DUI and marijuana possession during his mayoral campaign. In 2006, Ford was accused of getting drunk at a Toronto Maple Leafs game and verbally assaulting the couple in front of him. In March 2013, former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson accused Ford of touching her inappropriately and even suggested in a radio interview he was on cocaine. Even a Toronto City Councilor ask Ford to leave a function two weeks later because he appeared intoxicated.

Hard to believe all this that happened was just a forerunner to the ultimate, thanks to the website Gawker. Gawker claimed they had a video of Ford smoking crack cocaine from a Toronto Star reporter taken from a smartphone. Gawker said it appeared to show Ford in a clearly lit room although they also claim they can’t verify the authenticity of the video. Gawker even claimed the reporter asked for $200,000 for release of the video. Fact or fiction, the news sparked a heatwave of debate and talk all over Toronto. The heat could have come either because there’s so much opposition towards Rob Ford in Toronto or since it comes on the tails of another Canadian political scandal: senator Mike Duffy’s resignation after an expense controversy. Even Ford got into the act by claiming that the video is not true. Nevertheless this is rare for a scandal in Toronto politics to have all of Canada watching.

UPDATE: The last 48 hours have consisted of even juicier news on this. The man who reportedly showed Gawker the alleged video was recently murdered. Many councilors have since resigned over the controversy yesterday in which Ford called: ‘business as usual.’ This could lead to a bigger scandal than one thinks and could lead to Ford’s resignation in the future.

What will happen to Rob Ford after this incident and the aftermath remains unclear. He is still mayor of Toronto and shows no signs of resigning. The video is still unseen and still continues to make news. More news is expected to continue to unravel over the next days or weeks.

However the next election could tell the results. Ford might even resign before the election. I’m sure with Toronto having 2 1/2 years of experience with him, many thousands have already made up their minds should ford run for re-election. Also this incident shouldn’t really matter for all of Canada but it does show we can have some crazy politicians of our own.

WORK CITED:

WIKIPEDIA:Rob Ford. Wikipedia.com. 2013. Wikimedia Foundation Inc.  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Ford>