Jack's Movie Review: Exit Through the Gift Shop

So, I’m going to be honest, I have a problem with some documentaries, they seem to have a funky rhythm as far as pacing goes that bugs me from time to time. I have seen some documentaries that I really liked, “Up the Yangtze,” a documentary about the effects of an electric dam in China, comes to mind. Then I saw a documentary on Hulu the other day called “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” a film by the infamous street artist known as Banksy. It recently was nominated for Best Documentary by the Academy Awards (Which I find hilarious considering Banksy’s anti-political/social being). That being said, I’ve wanted to see it for sometime and having found it on Hulu, I wouldn’t pass the opportunity up.

The film follows Thierry Guetta, better known as Brainwash, and his constant videotaping (seems like a good idea, if you consider running your camera into Jay Leno to be normal). He soon finds his way into the art of street painting, and meets many prolific street artists. He then gets to meet Banksy and they begin a friendship of getting Banksy’s artistic antics on tape (there is a prank they do in Disneyland that is quite memorable). After tailing so many artists, he then becomes one himself, which leads to his big art show that finalizes his evolution into Brainwash, gaining what he wanted but with polarizing results from his artistic peers.

This film shows street art in a fashion I have never truly been able to see, and it is quite fascinating. Banksy truly gives us a real, inside look into street art and it captivates you from the opening video montage, to its climatic (in a sense) conclusion. Narrated by Rhys Ifans, the movie moves at a pace where you never truly lose interest, but thanks to Hulu it became a pain

when I had to wait. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this film as the testament Banksy envisioned it to be about street art, and the impact it has on the artistic culture. Banksy has a reputation for never showing his true identity but rather letting the art speak for itself. I think he has done a masterful job letting his art do just that in this amazing documentary. On a side note, I'm pretty sure this will not win Best Documentary, but I am keeping my fingers crossed cause Banksy winning an Oscar would be hilarious, in my opinion.

Jack’s Rating:A

Oscar Mishaps? Jack's Thoughts: 1998

Hello, before I begin my predictions on who is going to win the Oscars come late February, I thought I would take a look back at some Oscar Picks I didn't really think was honestly the best move, today I will talk about the Best Picture winner of 1998:

71^st Academy Awards: Films of 1998

Nominees for Best Picture:

Elizabeth

Life is Beautiful

Saving Private Ryan

Shakespeare in love

The Thin Red Line

Initial Thoughts: You don’t generally come across foreign language films being nominated for best picture (Life is Beautiful and Il Postino were the only foreign films nominated in the ‘90’s, Crouching Tiger and Letter’s from Iwo Jima in the ’00 decade). It was a good film, but I don’t think it was necessarily best picture material, though definitely deserving of foreign film Oscar. I am rather disappointed Truman show was not nominated; it was definitely one of the year’s best, if not one of the decade. You can’t deny Terrence Malick’s genius; Thin Red Line is definitely a deserving. For Saving Private Ryan, the first half an hour deserves enough of best picture glory, but Spielberg continues with amazing film making. Cate Blanchett was amazing in Elizabeth that alone gives it my vote for a best picture nomination. American History X is also a missing piece, though not horribly missed; it was good but not amazing. We also saw a brilliant job from Ian McKellen from God’s and Monsters which was awesome.

Oscar’s Pick: Shakespeare in Love

Reaction: I am actually rather surprised. Not saying Shakespeare in Love is a bad film, I just didn’t really consider it a “best picture.” I personally would have gone with either Saving Private Ryan or the Truman Show. With Saving Private Ryan, more so being nominated, it was a movie that was really fantastic in the way it showed warfare. It made you feel like you were in the middle of the siege of Normandy. Spielberg won a very deserving Oscar for best director that year. This is one of the few years where best picture did not win best director, or even film editing (which apparently has also been a big signifier in picking best picture). I think Saving Private Ryan will be remembered more so than Shakespeare in Love in the future, which I think is what makes a best picture what it is (they age like fine wines they do). So, I am rather surprised and somewhat disappointed in the Academy in picking Shakespeare in Love over other great films. As a side note, if they bumped the best picture nominees to 10 like they did last year, would Big Lebowski be nominated (food for thought)?

My Favorite Film of 2010

After the fact/Honorable Mention: Black Swan
The only, ONLY, reason this film did not make my list was because I had seen this film this past Saturday, long after I had made my list. But Darren Aronofsky, the remarkable director of Requiem for a Dream and the Wrestler, delivers yet again with another brilliant psychological film. This time, he teams up with the always wonderful Natalie Portman, who truly delivers as a social awkward ballerina who goes to every measure to be the best. The cast is amazing, the visuals are astounding, this film is fantastic.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for, my favorite film of 2010 is:

1. 127 Hours

For awhile, the Kid’s are All Right was my favorite for the year and it couldn’t be beat. Then I saw 127 Hours. I sat not only throughout the end credits, but for a couple minutes after that. I was simply amazed at what I saw. James Franco gives one of the best performances I have seen not only this year but in a long, long time. Danny Boyle, who is one of my favorite directors (quite possibly my most favorite), crafts such a beautiful film based on a screenplay by him and Slumdog Millionaire writer Simon Beaufoy (which Boyle also directed). This, to me, tops Slumdog Millionaire and will probably make my list for not only the best film of 2010, but for the entire decade.

This is not simply a story about Aron Ralston's struggle to survive an accident pinning him into complete isolation with his hand caught under a boulder. This isn't simply a biopic of the man, but more so a movie about the human psyche being pushed to the limits under horrible circumstances. In the end, Ralston does the unthinkable and cuts off his own arm in order to survive (not much of a spoiler, trust me). People will find the ending to be a bit grotesque and unwatchable, but I feel that the scene isn’t worth overlooking this film. Five minutes of gory dismemberment, which I personally found nothing wrong with, shouldn’t dissuade you to see such a terrific film.

The story shows not only the extent a man will go in order to survive, but how dependent we truly are with everyone around us. In the end, without telling anyone where he was going, Ralston realizes that he truly needs people in his life. There is an ascending shot in the film, focused squarely on Ralston, which truly shows his isolation and struggle, only adding to the films strength. In the end, Aron learns that without friends and family, then when something befalls us, we are truly alone, which the film shows flawlessly.

This film is utterly fantastic all around. Boyle, Franco, they are at the top of their games. The scenery is gorgeous, the visuals are amazing. This is also one of the only films, Black Swan being the other, in which I really felt the pains and emotions being represented on screen, which is no small feet. All in all, its a true masterpiece, and very deserving as my choice for best film of 2010.

Best Films of the Year part 3

Hi there, and welcome to part 3 of my top 10 for 2010. As I got closer to number 1, it got a lot tougher to distinguish which film was better than the rest. Also, I ran out of honorable mentions, but I do plan to play some catch up with films I missed from last year. That being said, here are more of my favorite movies of 2010:

4. True Grit

Jeff Bridges is spectacular, Matt Damon goes out of his safety net and truly delivers, Josh Brolin is quite haunting, but its newcomer Hailee Steinfeld that really makes the film as strong as it is. The film takes a different perspective compared to the John Wayne film, which in my opinion doesn't quite compare to this adaptation. This film, to me, had a great scope and definitely stayed true to the story of a girl seeking redemption for her slain father. The original, to me, felt too John Wayne central that the movie, to me, lost its focus in parts. Also, I would take Matt Damon over Glen Campbell anyday, and I think Hailee Steinfeld is going to be a star, no doubt about it. With a script by the always brilliant Coen Brothers, who also directed and produced, this film is the best Western since Unforgiven (which is one of my absolute favorite films).

3. The Social Network

People often write this film off as the film simply about the creation of facebook. I have a few things to say about this. First, that is only partly true, its also about the lawsuits and the cultural impact facebook had on our generation. If anything, this film is about our generation. Facebook might be considered an invasion of privacy, but think also that it gives you freedom of expression, so who is truly at fault for invasion of privacy? I, personally, understand the risks of facebook and nonetheless accept it not only for what facebook is but also how it defines our generation, and the film explores that very well.

This film, beyond the simple facebook invention, is amazing. The cast is amazing, Andrew Garfield being my personal favorite, David Fincher’s visionary skills as a director are undeniably strong here, but it’s Aaron Sorkin’s script that really elevates this film into the masterpiece that it is. I would be surprised that not only both he and Fincher get nominated, but go for the win, it’s theirs to lose. Also, with the soundtrack, done by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, might be my most favorite film score in a long, long time, this film is great.

2. The Kid’s are All Right

While Aaron Sorkin created the best script of the adapted sort; Lisa Cholodenko created the best “original” script of the year. Her oscar-caliber script, on a family whose parents happen to be a lesbian couple, is funny, powerful and in no way has a preachy message which says a lot. The cast is amazing, particularly Annette Benning, who I believe deserves an oscar for this film. I relate this film a lot of the time to one of my favorite films last year, “The Hurt Locker.” I know that might sound like a bit of a stretch, but there is a reason. That being is these are films that don’t strive to slam some message down our throats, whether it’s a film of war or homosexual relations. These are films that try to simply show a film which involves a specific bomb squad in Iraq, or a family going through marital problems, the parents being a lesbian couple. I think this film definitely works, it is a truly amazing film.

Check back soon for my number one pick of 2010...

Best Films of the Year pt. 2

Hello again, now for the second part of the top 10 of 2010. I have to say, once I got down to the top 5 it was really tough, this was a strong list. Needless to say, all these films were strong for their own reasons and in the end, 2010 proved to be a great year for films. So, with that in mind, my picks for 2010 are:

Another Honorable Mention:

The Ghost Writer: Ewan Mcregor and Pierce Brosnan give their best performances yet in this well crafted political thriller by the masterful Roman Polanski (the genius behind the Pianist). This was yet another one that just barely missed my list, but I would recommend any day, truly a great film

7. The Town

Ben Affleck has shown that while he might be hit or miss as an actor, as a director, he is a master. Here he crafts a strong film based on crimes and robberies going on in Charleston located in Boston. Jeremy Renner, hot off a rather deserved Oscar nomination for Hurt Locker, will probably be looking at another nomination for this film, he is utterly fantastic. The cast, as a whole, bring the film’s caliber up a notch, they are all spectacular. This is quite a strong film, and has definitely helped shape Boston into its own form of movie genre after other great films such as Mystic River and the Departed. The Town delivers on such a level as such films, it’s really great.

6. Toy Story 3

Pixar gave us quite the gem with “Up” last year and I felt that it was the best Pixar has given us since Toy Story. Well, here they’ve done the unthinkable (at least to me); they were able to one-up themselves again with yet another masterpiece. Toy Story 3 not only brings back characters we know and love, but also give us a story that is not only strong, but really speaks true for those of us who have been with Toy Story from the very beginning (I was 6 when it first came out). Now, with the story focusing on what happens when their owner goes to college, Pixar creates a story of nostalgia, comedy, and the utmost sensitivity (The last 10 minutes or so are quite the tear-jerker). Toy Story 3 is fantastic on all levels and, I’ll say it again, one of Pixar’s best.

5. Winter’s Bone

Jennifer Lawrence gives an oscar-caliber performance and the cast is uniformly strong behind her, particularly that of Dale Dickey and John Hawkes. The Cinematography is very bleak and utterly beautiful, as is everything going on, which is frightening to the point where you can’t watch. You really feel the pain of Lawrence’s character as well as the raw intensity of the film as a whole. Filmed on a budget of just 2 million, set in the Ozarks, Winter’s Bone is quite an achievement and a very strong, powerful film.

Part 3 coming soon...

Best Films of the Year part 1

Hey Everyone, I know I have been lazy in my movie reviews, so with it being a new year, I decided to quickly run over 10 films that I felt were the best of the year, in my opinion, and yes I did place them in order of which I enjoyed more, enjoy:

Honorable Mentions:

The Fighter: for having a strong cast (particularly Christian Bale and Amy Adams) and for being quite a strong boxing film, which really is a hard feat considering its competition (Rocky, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby).

Get Low: Bill Murray and Robert Duvall are amazing in this indie film, I would highly recommend seeing if anything simply for their performances.

Kick Ass: My most favorite guilty pleasure film of the year, I would recommend this any day

Now, for part 1 of my 10 favorite films of the year

10. Inception

Christopher Nolan pens another brilliant script, with a strong cast, led by the terrific Leonardo DiCaprio, this film is fantastic. I did have some problems with some of its editing, and the fact that they had a character written for exposition sake (granted I guess with this material it was kind of needed), but this is just me being nit picky. The score is good, you can really feel the strength of Hans Zimmer’s work through every scene, its really strong, won’t be surprised to see this up for a few Oscars down the road.

9. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I have two big reasons why I loved this film: 1) it was written/directed by Edgar Wright (who has so far done no wrong in my book with the hilarious Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), and 2) I had read the graphic novels and they were utterly amazing. Edgar really harnessed the spirit of the novels and the ideas Bryan Lee O’Malley had in mind for the series and it really came through with this film. The cast is brilliant, Kieran Culkin steals all the scenes he’s in, and his 7 evil exes are perfect (Brandon Routh was my favorite but I am rather bias in that his story was my favorite novel). This was also quite the love letter to ‘90’s garage bands, the music was excellent. This is seriously a film that shouldn’t be overlooked. Also, it taught me the greatest lesson of all, vegan powers, coolest thing ever. Movie rating: Awesome.

8. The King’s Speech

Colin Firth was my pick to win the Oscar for Best Actor in A Single Man, but he did not win, but I saw it coming. With this film, he not only deserves another nomination, but he should dominate the awards season (or someone I will mention later). He is also perfectly matched with the great Geoffrey Rush as his therapist, their scenes and chemistry is terrific. Helena Bonham Carter also has a strong performance in this beautiful historical piece whose art direction should get some award recognition. All in all, the film (directed by Tom Hooper, who is known for working on the John Adams miniseries), is gorgeous and well crafted.

Check back soon for part 2...