Oscar Watchlist 07

Personally I thrive for Scorsese's mainstream stuff and i'm not afraid to admit that, those who say they've been loyal followers from Taxi Driver etc... well I'm not... but I live for movies of this calibre. Its perfect in its own right. Apart from all the refrences to "Cock" this movie is an outstanding piece of cinematic history. Its got the legend that is Nicholson as the notorious gangster, something he carries off effortlessly as if his entire persona is sleaze and corruption. Matt Damon, someone who is constantly overlooked to prove himself... totally does it in this movie. Actually watching him would keep any audience member on the edge of their seat as his corrupt American dream humanity is constantly competing against DiCaprio's entire professionalism. In my eyes this is probably Dicaprio's hiatus role. His performance as out-of-luck undercover cop with the venerable side is captivating and I haven't seen a performance this good in many movies. The direction is effortless, it flows beautifully, and how separate lines of story merge together so completely makes this one of the best directed movies I've ever seen. My hat especially goes off to Mark Wahlberg, an actor who I'm not really interested in, for proving me wrong and being very memorable in this. Violent! Snappy dialogue. Outstanding performances. Effortless direction. Perfect.

Forest Whitakers role as save Idi Amin shows him for the powerful actor he can be. However his performance in this is more of a supporting one as a lead character, no doubt more screen time Whitaker would have made his already haunting performance, terrifying!
The plot is summed up before the opening credits have had chance to finish, consisting of a newly educated/frustrated doctor travelling to Uganda to do missionary work. Whilst there he grows restless and befriends Amin and upgrades to his personal advisor... and from there on out he becomes trapped. He experiences at first hand the destructive paranoia of Amin's conscious and his brutal ways of dealing with people, making him one of the world's most vicious tyrants.
The pace of the movie is unstoppable and the fact that it plays on the concious of McAvoy's character being in denial only prolongs the tension to an almighty violent climax. I did actually respond to all the character's, all except Amin's due to the lack of depth into his character, and the clever direction of the movie kept you interested in what was going to happen to them. The direction of this movie is also clever in the way Whitaker gives such a strong presence of Amin without exploring the character, alienating himself to deliberately show the audience how malignant he is.
Often hard to watch especially near the end because of the tension the movie provides. Great performances all around, including the very very short appearance of Gillian Anderson.
A movie that shows two actors worthy of recognition both Whitaker and McAvoy and a fairly loose history lesson, but nothing outstanding.

This movie has a quiet charm that has unfortunately been overshadowed by other major releases. What past critics have said about this movie has been right, and it will stay with you. A highly character driven piece of cinema with incredibly naturalistic performances. Personally I found it a little dull in places but Gosling did pretty well to keep it all together. Not an outstanding movie but some pretty amazing content within it.

For a basic road trip movie this is one of the best movies I've seen in ages. All the character's are diverse and interesting. Typically no matter how different they are they end up bonding together. Personally loved Steve Carell taking a back seat from the exuberant comic factor but still ends up being rather funny in his own unique style, also showed him totally pulling off a more serious role. Still think he's underrated as an actor but in this he's great. In fact all performances in this movie are what make this movie. That along with the very witty and cleverly written script making this seem like a parody of a "family" film by dealing with a lot of adult issues. Great message of how you don't have to achieve your dreams because life is already everything you could ever want. Extremely watchable feel-good movie !!!

Not half as good as 21 Grams no matter who says so. This movie lacked depth... drive... and character rhythm.
Mr Ptt and Miss Blanchett's scenes just didn't have any captivating spark and there was too much left unsaid about their characters for an audience to actually care.
Rinko Kikuchi stole away the entire movie with her minimalist performance and added a new dimension to every scene she was in and truly hammered home the message of the movie.... despite her several nude appearances.
The concept of the movie works in the sense that you don't have to understand what the characters are saying to each other, and the performances are strong enough through simple arts of body language, gestures and eye contact... for the story still to be told. However when you are constantly thinking for a good two and bit hours this can be mentally daunting especially with the film's extreme lack of pace.
For a film where the story mainly consists on the ways in which we interpret each other and the prejudices that we can face everyday because of them... its just an all too familiar theme that has just been explored time and time before... and because of it... this movie seems to lack some of its originality.
Clever stuff but not the powerful whirlwind of gripping emotion that the hype would have you believe.
Possibly one to avoid...

With every minute that passes on this movie it becomes a minute harder to watch. A movie that strongly focuses on the people affected by 9/11 is always going to be a sensitive matter, but this movie is made with such sensitivity that it is amazing. Like World Trade Centre it is a movie event more than it is actually a movie.
Starting off with the terrorists getting prepared while the whole country goes about its daily routine it poses the audience to remember where they were when 9/11 happened. Greengrass's clever Writng/Producing/Directing and use of unknown actors makes this situation as real as it could possibly whereas more news and movies were focused on the Twin Tower's this film focuses strongly on peoples reactions, the reality of the situation and the crisis everyday people had to contend with and emphasis on those who died.
Each performance adds realism. Each growing moment increases the tension. The camera work makes you believe you are actually there. The direction is stunning when you think about all the issues this movie has had to deal with. The inevitable end is touching. Definitely not a movie you enjoy but one you experience and later admire.
The very last scene, is so real. It only proves how strong a director Greengrass is and will be personally of the most haunting movie moments in years to come.