Posts tagged with “Javier Bardem”
Let’s Talk About: Oscar Wrap Up
We're guessing the Academy goes a different direction next year.
From: Rebecca
To: Sarah, Kimberly
Some thoughts on the best and worst last night!
BEST
Fashion: I thought there were some fabulous gowns on the Red Carpet. Can’t wait for Joan’s team tonight on Fashion Police!
Opening Inception Montage: Cute in the Billy Crystal tradition. People at my party laughed.
Best Actor/Best Actress Intros: Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock seemed genuine and personal toward the nominees.
Christian Bale: Recognizing and plugging Dickie in the nose bleed seats!
Actual Telecast Length: It helps to have presenters give out two awards each.
British Acceptance Speeches: They do it so well! Witness Colin Firth and Tom Hooper. Read more »
Javier Bardem Gives Masterclass in Acting
BIUTIFUL (2010/In Theaters) This very moving film is the fourth from Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and his first screenplay created without his writing partner Guillermo Arriaga. The two famously created Amores Perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003) and Babel (2006). This time the story centers around one character—Uxbal, played to perfection by Javier Bardem—who is a devoted single dad to his young daughter Ana and her brother Mateo and who scrapes by each day in the poor sections of Barcelona. Uxbal learns early in the film that he is dying of liver cancer and has only months to live, at best. We join him for his final days on earth as he desperately tries to prepare and to make sure his children will be OK. The style of the film, and the camera work, will feel familiar to anyone who has seen Inarritu’s earlier films. It has a close, gritty feel—we are absolutely brought into the day to day lives of the characters. Uxbal is fundamentally a good guy, but he is beset on all sides. He makes his small living in part by communicating with the recently deceased on behalf of their loved ones and moreso by helping dark-skinned Senegalese men sell fake handbags to Barcelona tourists. The bags are made by illegal immigrants from China who are working in a Barcelona-based sweatshop. Read more »
Let’s Talk About…the Oscar Nominations
What happened to his eyes?!
From: Kimberly
To: Rebecca, Sarah
Happy Oscar Nomination Day, guys! I assume we all started our mornings with the traditional refreshing of our Oscar lawn statues? It’s a good way to get in the mood. So what do you think? I was thrilled to see Winter’s Bone get so much love, particularly the acting nods for tough girl Jennifer Lawrence and the always fascinating John Hawkes (who is long overdue for some red carpet action). I predict a surprise win for him over critical (but not Academy) favorite Christian Bale. Very odd that Ryan Gosling’s work in Blue Valentine was ignored–maybe his outspoken accusations of misogyny in Hollywood (related to the NC-17 controversy) rubbed too many people the wrong way? Keep your mouth shut, pretty boy! I’ll be rooting for Jesse “Cat Lady” Eisenberg for Best Actor because I love an underdog. (And a cat lady.) And a personal thanks to the Academy for nominating The Fighter–it’s good to work at least one nap into the Best Picture Showcase.
Any thoughts on big snubs? Was DiCaprio good enough in Inception to have deserved a nod?
Lylas,
Kimberly
Trailer Trash: “Ninjas. Damn.” Edition
Come join us for a discussion of the trailers we’ve been privileged to experience over the last month or so. Are they tantalizing nuggets of the hits of tomorrow? Or harbingers of Knight and Days to come? We do not know! But we will assume that we do, because it is our way. Have YOU seen a trailer lately? Do tell. In the Comments, please—we can’t hear you from our cubicles.
Kimberly: I am truly baffled by Paul (is it for children? Will there be alien farting?), and frankly, I’m not a fan of Simon Pegg’s Edgar Wright-less work (see How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Run, Fatboy, Run—wait, don’t! I was kidding!). But Greg Mottola is a pretty skilled comedy director, and loves buddies, so I guess I am cautiously optimistic? Choosing Seth Rogen’s voice may have been a mistake, though—all I can think is “That’s the voice of the Green Hornet, debonair newspaper publisher by day, masked superhero by night! Swoon!” (Sometimes I watch that trailer when I’m feeling blue—instant laughs!) Small compliant: Why don’t they give Jane Lynch props in this? Isn’t she famous and beloved by all now?
