Gone Girl

David Fincher’s Gone Girl operates on a premises Americans see far too often through our media based news.  Broadcasts show a pretty, young woman who disappears under suspicious circumstances and the whole country goes to pieces searching and mourning for her.  The explanation for her disappearance, more often than not, is her significant other disposing of her in some cruel, depraved act of violence.  The media has a field day with each new case of our sweet, lost girls and the viewers find it all the more sensational.  But I promise, what you witness in Gone Girl is more intense, provocative and twisted than what you will see on the news.

Our missing girl is Amy Dunn (Rosemund Pike), a blonde beauty who enjoys leading her husband on treasure hunts on their anniversary.  Her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck), seems a bit clueless and emotionally detached lately.  He is annoyed about figuring out Amy’s clues for this year’s treasure hunt, vents about his latest marriage woes to his twin sister at the bar they own.  When he returns home, he finds a strange scene and can’t find Amy anywhere.

He calls the police and things get exponentially complicated.  Volunteer search committees are formed, candlelight vigils are held, both Amy and Nick’s face are stamped on every news break.  The longer Amy is missing, the worse it looks for Nick, who claims he had nothing to do with her disappearance.  Soon he is seeking the help of an attorney (played by Tyler Perry) who seems to specialize helping the husbands of missing women that the media has taken to destroying.

There are amazing flashbacks and clues, like ex boyfriends and a diary Amy wrote, that draw us deeper and deeper.  But I cannot bear to say anymore of the plot. This film is such an enjoyable thriller and a mystery that hinges on a few amazing twists.  It was done so well that I believed this film would earn Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay.  Sadly, it was snubbed.  And for those who have read the book, I have heard from many sources that the film is much more enjoyable.

The acting throughout this film is superb.  Pike makes Amy such an amazing woman, we are spellbound by her, the mystery behind her and we can see how Nick could so easily have fallen in love.  Her nomination for best actress is well deserved.  Neil Patrick Harris becomes a scene-stealer in his minor role that leads up to a moment in film that is impossible to erase from my mind.   And while Ben Affleck is far from one of my favorite actors, I did enjoy his performance as well.  Maybe I just like how his character is cornered and squirming the whole time.

In October, I predicted that Gone Girl would be hailed as one of the best films of the year.  I went to see it on a Wednesday night, and the theater was nearly sold out.  The audience got very into the film, gasping, jumping and grimacing at all the right moments.  I walked out of the theater counting on my fingers the Oscar nominations I guessed were coming the film’s way: director, adapted screenplay, actress, and picture felt like sure bets.  Boy, was I wrong and disappointed.  Pike’s acting was the only thing to receive any recognition by the Academy.

“Nick Dunne.  You’re probably the most hated man in America right now.  Did you kill your wife, Nick?”

Oscar Predictions 2012

I guess I can’t put this off anymore.  The Oscars will be presented on Sunday and this year I believe I have seen more nominees than in any year since I began this blog, (29/53 total nominees).  However, this feels like one of the most unpredictable years I have ever witnessed.  So, here are my somewhat informed, probably completely wrong Oscar predictions:

Cinematography

Life of Pi, no other film comes close to its visual beauty.

Costume Design

Haven’t seen 3 of these nominees…Why not Anna Karenina? Pretty dresses often help in this category.

Sound Mixing

Leaning towards Les Mis, mostly because of the mix of cannons and singing.

Editing

Zero Dark Thirty, I just feel it.

Sound Editing

Django?  I mean come on, how many westerns have won this category?

Visual Effects

The Hobbit, maybe because I saw it in HFR 3D.

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Hobbit again.  Did you see all those crazy beards?

Original Song

Skyfall for Skyfall because Skyfall.  Anyone else psyched for a the Academy’s tribute to Bond films?

Original Score

Life of Pi, mostly because I really didn’t notice the other scores much and found this so beautiful.

Animated Short

Head Over Heels.  Inventive, imaginative and a lot of heart.

Feature Documentary

So, I thought I saw all of them this year (it would have been my first year to do so!) but I kinda accidentally skipped The Gatekeepers and saw The Imposter instead.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  So..The Gatekeepers! Cause it would be just my luck to miss out on the best.

Foreign

Amour, duh.  Did Up or Toy Story 3 lose best animated when they were also up for best picture?  No.  It’s in the bag.

Animated Feature

Ok, let’s break it down: ParaNorman and Frankenweenie seem to be treading in the same territory and may step on each other’s toes.  Pixar didn’t bring their best work with Brave, that may cost them.  Wreck-It Ralph depends on pop culture too heavily.  Therefore, The Pirates!

Best Actor

As much as I loved the other performances, especially Cooper’s, I bet Daniel Day-Lewis gets this.  He was a phenomenal Lincoln.

Best Actress

This feels like such a weird category this year.  Seriously, our ladies’ ages range nearly 80 years.  But I think it will fall in the middle, on Jennifer Lawrence.  She was such a force in SLP.

Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway.  Nuf said.

Supporting Actor

This is tough, partially cause I’m still waiting for DiCaprio to be nominated.  But it might be De Niro.  He owned his scenes.

Original Screenplay

As much as I want to root for the sweet, quirky and wonderful Moonrise Kingdom, I feel like Django will take it.  And Tarantino’s speech will be awesome.

Adapted Screenplay

SLP had such a great script, I loved every conversation.  I really hope it takes this one….and more.

Director

First…the camera might just pan over Affleck as whoever is presenting is blathering on for irony.  Poor Ben.  Honestly, I’m happy if it’s David O. Russell or Ang Lee. If I had to bet on one, it would be Lee.

Best Picture

In the 3 years that I have been keeping this blog, it hasn’t been this hard to pick a favorite for BP.  There was only one film I didn’t really like (Lincoln) but it’s still so good.  Honestly, you might have better luck tossing the names on a dartboard and blindly throwing to pick it.  Lincoln, Argo, Django, Les Mis and ZDT all have some historical elements and could split that vote.  Then again, Hollywood loves stories of itself in their movies (remember the Artist and Hugo last year?), therefore I can’t count Argo out just yet.  Amour isn’t easy to digest.  Beasts is really indie.  That leaves Life of Pi,  SLP and Argo.  Now that is tough, two of these 3 are my favorites.  However, there has been a curse lately that director follows picture…so there goes Argo.  Now, I’m predicting Lee to win director, so naturally his film will take the cake.  There, Life of Pi to win best picture…but I’m not sure.

Also, Seth MacFarlane will use his “Stewy” voice no less than 8 times.  And I will make it a drinking game.

Let me know what you think and enjoy Oscar night!

Argo

In 1979, Iranian revolutionaries storm into the US embassy, taking many hostages.  However, six Americans escape and find refuge in the Canadian embassy.  The CIA is given the task of getting them safely out of Iran, but there seemed to be no good ideas.  The best of these bad ideas comes to Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck, who also directs) from his son’s love of sci-fi movies: claim that the six are part of a film crew in Iran to scout out locations.  To pull this off, Mendez will need help from Hollywood, the president, the media and lots of luck to make them look like a real Canadian film crew.

Before you scoff at the absurdity of Hollywood aiding the CIA, remember that this is based on true accounts.  Mendez was a real CIA agent, who was later awarded for his efforts in this mission and the whole operation was deemed classified until the late nineties.

Alan Arkin plays Lester Seigel, a seasoned film producer helping Mendez make his fake movie look real.  He comes across as cantankerous old man, comfortable with himself, knows the ins and outs of the film industry with a hidden heart of gold.  While I love Arkin’s performances, this one didn’t scream Oscar status to me.  Sure, he does it well, but it doesn’t feel like anything new or exciting.  However, he does deliver the best lines in the film, like always.

What the film excels at, and shows off at the end, is how accurate the film’s setting and characters are.  It seems that a lot of attention was given to making the characters on screen look nearly identical to their real life counterparts over thirty years ago.  Iconic photographs of the time are recreated in the film, including the moment the embassy wall was breached, a man hanging from a construction crane and the deteriorated Hollywood sign.  However, the Hollywood sign was reconstructed in 1978, a year before this film’s setting begins, but I see Affleck’s idea incorporating that image to show how the film industry had lost its golden age luster and in need of reinventing.

While I appreciate this film and think that it was done to a high standard, I didn’t find myself connecting with it well.  It was taught, smart, visually compelling and kept me wondering how they would pull off the next round without getting caught.  There was just something missing that left me emotionally disconnected.  Perhaps the film didn’t get us close enough to the six hostages, or Mendez himself.  Or maybe that disconnection comes between the safe, pretend world of Hollywood and the harsh, volatile world of revolutionary Iran.  Bringing the two together is so jarring, and blurs boundaries.

Argo is nominated for seven Oscars.  While the film has a large following, I would not bet on it winning Best Picture.  Lately the film that wins Best Picture also wins best director, and sadly (leaving much of film community shocked) Ben Affleck was left out of that race.  But hey, this could break that long standing curse.

“Bad news, bad news. Even when it’s good news, it’s bad news.  John Wayne in the ground six months and this is what is left of America.”

Good Will Hunting

Will (Matt Damon) is a young man with hidden genius, but no motivation or direction in life.  He grew up as an orphan in southern Boston, works as a janitor at MIT and hangs around with a gang of punk Boston boys (including Ben Affleck) who beat up their old kindergarten bullies.  Their most intelligent conversation contains about five profanities within it over a few pints.  It’s easy to see where he’s held back.

One day at work, moping the hallway, Will spies an equation on a chalkboard and nonchalantly solves it.  Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) displayed it hoping that one of his students would be able to solve it by the end of the term.  Lambeau tracks down Will and takes it upon himself to help him reach his genius potential.

But there’s more to Will than hidden genius, he’s got some deep psychological issues that keep him in a dead end job and getting into trouble with his friends.  He finds holding a blue collar job honorable, even romantic, and who’s to say that’s wrong?  After a few fun scenes messing with some therapists, Lambeau sends Will to Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), his close friend and great therapist.  Right away, Sean realizes Will is a tough egg to crack and nearly loses his cool at first.

Their second encounter is where we find the meat of the story.  Sean elegantly rips Will apart alongside a lake watching swans, “You’re just a kid, you’ve never even been out of Boston.”  It’s the first time Will realizes that he’s just book smart with no experience.  And it’s not practical experience Sean brings up, but experiencing culture, beauty, love and life in general.  Will has never taken a chance to do something positive with his life, but in which direction is it?

Trying to help Will is like that thing about a horse and water, you can’t make him drink.  The harder Lambeau pushes, the more Will resists and Sean knows that Will might be seeking more than Lambeau’s definition of success.  It nearly feels like Will has closed his ears to the world until his buddy Chuckie tells him, “You’re sitting on the winning lottery ticket and too much of a pussy to cash it in.”

Is there a right and wrong path for Will?  Is it his duty to use his gift of intelligence or does he simply need to find meaning in life?  Director Guss Van Sant has a way to be preachy while lacking general opinion.  The film can argue and preach the opposing view points over and over, but a strong conclusion is never fully revieled.  For some viewers, that’s a good thing, keeps everything subjective.  Others may get confused or angry wanting a clear answer with no conflict with Will’s end decision.
Good Will Hunting went to the Oscars nominated for nine awards and came back with the best original screenplay (written by Damon and Affleck) and Robin Williams winning best supporting actor.  Not bad against the unsinkable, but I’ve never cared for Matt Damon’s acting anyway.

I would say that Good Will Hunting is inspired in an uninspiring way.  It’s roots are smart and dwell deep under every characters exposed skin, yet leaves me wanting more.  There seems to be an extra mile that lies beneith I can only imagine, yet I have no idea where it could lead.  I guess the unanswered questions nagging me at the end are just a matter of unresolved philosophy and an elegant way of keeping their amazing Will an enigma.  Everyone is more interesting when they’re an enigma.