The Dark Knight Rises (Jo***)

Jo Says:

At 2 hours and 45 minutes and nearly 5 years in the making, The Dark Knight Rises had all the potential to be one of the best movies this decade, bringing closure to one of the most acclaimed film series and concluding perhaps the best superhero/crime film of all time: The Dark Knight. Of course expectations for this film were undeniably high, perhaps too high to match, but ultimately I can't help but feel that the final Batman installation was flawed from its inception.

Set 8 years after the second film (and absolutely void of any reference to the Joker (luckily)), the film finds Bruce Wayne a recluse along the lines of Howard Hughes, shut in by the loss of his love Rachel as well as the ever-decreasing crime rate in Gotham. Harvey Dent, now honored with his own holiday, is remembered only as the hero Batman and Commissioner Gordon intended. Of course, the arrival of Bane, the new antagonist, brings Batman out of retirement, and it is no surprise what 8 years can do to a body. Literally taking over Gotham and closing its borders, Bane expels Batman and tells Gotham citizens to 'take back their city.' Of course scenes are reminiscent of the Occupy movement from the past year, and Nolan's script undoubtedly attempted to incorporate many current political issues.

Among the many characters introduced are Selina Kyle, a 'cat' burglar who has one too many encounters with Bruce Wayne. Her presence in the film is a mere hindrance, and her allegiance to either side is never quite known. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Blake, a young cop who is mentored by the aging Commissioner and becomes involved with Bruce Wayne, casually letting slip he even recognizes him as the caped crusader from years past. Miranda Tate rounds out the newcomers as a new corporate head of Wayne Enterprises and a possible love interest for the humbled Bruce.

Without spoiling any of the film's plot, I simply believe too much was crammed into one movie to fulfill the eagerness of the waiting audiences. Christopher Nolan has undoubtedly made one of the best trilogies of all time, but his final installment feels overweighted by plot, characters, information. The excitement and pure entertainment felt by The Dark Knight is almost all gone, exchanged for an increasingly dark and complex plot. Yes, the Joker and Bane are two entirely different villains with different goals, but the two movies as companion pieces simply feel imbalanced.

Bane, as a villain, is terrifying: intense, brute, straight-forward, and intimidating. How much of this is lost, then, when we see Bane cry? Or when we learn his back story? Attempting to create more depth for his character almost works to weaken his screen presence, humanizing him nearly to the point of sympathy. Then again, who is the true villain of this film, and how do we find balance between them? Not to name names, but perhaps this film could have functioned perfectly fine without the inclusion of certain characters who's own back story work merely for shock value and nothing more. How many villains does one superhero movie need?

Technically, the film still upholds the fine standards the rest of the series holds, and there are surely applause-worthy moments, namely our re-introduction to Batman, himself. For such a lengthy movie, though, one would almost wish for more Batman and less Bruce Wayne. Afterall, isn't the movie called The Dark Knight Rises and not "Bruce Wayne Rises?" Hours could be spent discussing each character and plot piece, discerning their purposes and whether or not they are warranted in the film. Maybe instead of leaving me wanting more, the film instead left me wishing 'what if?'

Will this movie be the juggernaut it's predecessor was? The answer is almost undoubtedly no. Only so rarely does a movie come along that works on so many levels as The Dark Knight, and Christopher Nolan should only be so proud to have such an impressive film repertoire. Technically the movie is astounding, but for a fan of the film series that began so many years ago, perhaps Nolan lost sight of the ultimate goal he set out to reach with these films and pushed the envelope one too many times. The film is great, but it is nothing extraordinary.

(Awards potential: Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Editing, Best Original Score)

84th Academy Awards Reactions

Yet again, the awards season has come and gone, and the Oscars are already long over. In a year of remarkably few 'great' films, the Academy was able to determine perhaps the best in each category, making this year seem much better than it actually was. The show itself went on with relatively few shocks, a nice easygoing atmosphere, and the usual sense of dragging on (especially in the last half hour). The shocks that did occur, though, were significant enough that they threw even MoJo off guard. If you hapened to have used our predictions for your awards games, congratulations, as you probably won. MoJo was correctly able to predict 20 out of the 24 final winners, with misses only due to major upsets or wins we simply did not see coming.

The show was off to a dangerous start, sidestepping the usual supporting acting Oscar to instead present Best Cinematography. The entire year, everyone knew one thing: The Tree of Life was guaranteed to win this award. It was one of the only sure things of the night. Apparently not, as a surprised Tom Hanks read off Rob Richardson for Hugo. Immediately, the night was off to an uncertain start, as Hugo began to rake in more and more technical awards. It seemed like the film could even be on track to win Best Picture by the night's end.

But, just like our precursor awards, The Artist began to pick up steam, with wins in Costume Design and Original Score (though Editing was won completely out of the blue by Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Wasn't Rise of the Planet of the Apes supposed to win Best Visual Effects? Nope, as MoJo pointed out, this award has ALWAYS been won by the Best Picture nominee of the group, in this case, Hugo. Coupled with that fact that Hugo had already won the Guild award for the same category? Sealed.

The second most surprising and completely thrilling upset was, of course, Meryl Streep winning her long-awaited third Oscar for her brilliant turn in The Iron Lady. Beating out a clearly thrown-off Viola Davis, Streep accepted her award with humility and her ever-present sense of humor. At long last (and 29 long years later), Streep has broken her losing streak to become tied as the second most awarded actor in the Academy's history.

Of course, the Artist concluded the night with 5 wins (tied with Hugo), and all else went according to plan. Will The Artist be remembered in years to come as one of the great Best Picture winners? Most likely not. Here was a film with a simple plot that was pure entertainment. The Academy rewarded a feel-good movie (and the first movie NOT rated R since Million Dollar Baby in 2004) and in the end, it feels like the right choice. We thank everyone for staying with us this Awards season, and will continue to keep updates in the hopes that 2012 will be even better!

Final Oscar Predictions

The time has come. The Oscars are mere days away, and we have finally assembled our predictions for the likely winners to be announced this Sunday. Unlike last year, many of the top races are still wide open, and there are many opportunities for upsets and surprises. Without further ado, here we go!


BEST PICTURE

The steam has continued throughout awards season, and The Artist faces virtually no competition for the top prize. There is almost no possibility for an upset at this point.

1. The Artist
2. Hugo
3. The Descendants
4. Moneyball
5. Midnight In Paris
6. The Help
7. The Tree of Life
8. War Horse
9. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

BEST DIRECTOR

As we learned last year with Tom Hooper's final victory, it is futile to predict against the DGA Awards, in this case the winner being Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist. If The Tree of Life would have had a stronger showing in nominations, perhaps Terrence Malick could have pulled in a surprise.

1. Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
2. Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
3. Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
4. Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)
5. Alexander Payne (The Descendants)

BEST ACTOR

This could be one of the closest races of the night. Coming up to the awards season, George Clooney was the clear frontrunner with Brad Pitt serving as a possible upset. However, with the recent awards given by BAFTA and SAG, Jean Dujardin seems poised for a well-deserved win.

1. Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
2. George Clooney (The Descendants)
3. Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
4. Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
5. Demian Bichir (A Better Life)

BEST ACTRESS

Is there a chance for Meryl Streep to FINALLY win her coveted third Oscar? Perhaps, but the chances are slimming with each day as Viola Davis inches closer to becoming only the second black Best Actress winner in history - and a well-deserved win it would be, too. Interesting fact, Viola Davis is only the second black actress to receive a second Academy Award nomination (the first being for Doubt). The other woman to accomplish this was Whoopi Goldberg, who won on her second nomination for Ghost.

1. Viola Davis (The Help)
2. Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
3. Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
4. Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)
5. Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christopher Plummer has locked himself in for the win, which will be his first Oscar win in his illustrious career. Out of all the acting categories, this is perhaps the most locked. Max Von Sydow could provide an upset (interestingly, both men are 82 and would become the oldest acting winners in history), but his lack of other nominations suggests otherwise.

1. Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
2. Max Von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)
3. Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
4. Nick Nolte (Warrior)
5. Jonah Hill (Moneyball)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Octavia Spencer has won a slew of awards and is the technical lock. However, depending on the support for The Artist, Berenice Bejo could be swept in and win in an Oscar upset. The same could be said for Melissa McCarthy, winning for a comic turn a la My Cousin Vinny. The problem is (like so many other dark horses) is the fact that they have all failed to win any major precursors. Thus, Spencer is our winner.

1. Octavia Spencer (The Help)
2. Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
3. Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
4. Jessica Chastain (The Help)
5. Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Probably the toughest category to call, as a case could be made for virtually every nominee. Woody Allen has won this award every time the film has also been nominated for Best Picture (Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, etc), so should we bet on him? Then again, the Artist is the Best Picture winner, thus is it the presumed front-runner? Or will they truly pick the 'best' and award A Separation? Any of the top three are viable contenders, but Woody should be the safest bet.

1. Midnight In Paris
2. The Artist
3. A Separation
4. Bridesmaids
5. Margin Call

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Again, there is a two, potentially three-horse race in this category, with The Descendants, Moneyball, and perhaps Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy standing to be the victor. As praised as the Moneyball script was, The Descendants won the Writer's Guild Award, thus boosting it to a frontrunner status. Either could still win and as of now it's an incredibly close call.

1. The Descendants
2. Moneyball
3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4. Hugo
5. The Ides of March

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Rango. Case closed.

1. Rango
2. A Cat In Paris
3. Puss In Boots
4. Kung Fu Panda 2
5. Chico & Rita

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Separation currently sits on rottentomatoes with a perfect 100% score. It is also the only other foreign nominee with an additional Oscar nomination (for the screenplay). Then again, the Academy sure loves the Holocaust subject matter as seen in In Darkness...

1. A Separation
2. In Darkness
3. Footnote
4. Bullhead
5. Monsieur Lazhar

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

At long last, Emmanuel Lubezki will win his much-deserved Oscar for the absolute best photographed film of the year. There is no chance of upset here.

1. The Tree of Life
2. War Horse
3. Hugo
4. The Artist
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

BEST EDITING

Best Picture and Best Editing usually align, so by process of elimination The Artist should be our winner. All of the nominees would be deserving, but no film seems to stand a chance in this category.

1. The Artist
2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
3. Moneyball
4. Hugo
5. The Descendants

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Interesting fact-ever since this category's creation, the best picture nominee of the group always wins. Always. That bodes well for Hugo, but the clear love for Apes leads many to believe otherwise. After all, Weta Digital is the juggernaut in this category... Hugo's win at the guild awards, however, makes it a fairly clear pick.

1. Hugo
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. Real Steel

BEST ART DIRECTION

Bigger is usually better, and with Hugo's elaborate train station set alone, this category seems all locked up.

1. Hugo
2. The Artist
3. War Horse
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
5. Midnight In Paris

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

As we have seen from past winners, the Academy doesn't care about the quality of the film here, just how many goddamned frills they can fit on a costume (i.e. Elizabeth The Golden Age). So, could W.E. win the category, after recently taking the Costume Designers Guild Award, or Anonymous? (what movie was that again?) Jane Eyre seems like the next best bet after The Artist, which has picked up awards from many major groups already. It's anyone's guess, though.

1. The Artist
2. Jane Eyre
3. W.E.
4. Hugo
5. Anonymous

BEST MAKEUP

This category seems like the only viable chance Harry Potter has at winning an Oscar (for any of the 8 films). However, it has never received a makeup nomination before and there's nothing too different in this film. Albert Nobbs is too subtle and not the type the Academy usually rewards. The Iron Lady is the only clear winner, as it transformed Meryl Streep into a believable elderly woman very much like past makeup winner La Vie En Rose did for Marion Cotillard.

1. The Iron Lady
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
3. Albert Nobbs

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

For a silent movie, music is everything, and for The Artist, its score was one of its shining aspects. John WIlliam's two nominations will cancel each other out, and not much has been said about Tinker Tailor or Hugo in terms of musical aesthetic.

1. The Artist
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. War Horse
4. Hugo
5. The Adventures of Tintin

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

This category truly needs to be eliminated or seriously reformatted. Out of all the songs from this past year, these are two of the weakest. Muppets wins or this category simply loses all respect. Listen to 'Real In Rio' and you'll understand the frustration.

1. 'Man or Muppet' (The Muppets)
2. 'Real In Rio' (Rio)

BEST SOUND MIXING

Hugo has won key sound awards this season, thus it seems like the logical choice.

1. Hugo
2. War Horse
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
4. Moneyball
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

BEST SOUND EDITING

Hugo again, but any of the top three could be victorious.

1. Hugo
2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
3. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
4. Drive
5. War Horse

BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

After Project Nim's shocking omission, this category was thrown into the air slightly. Pina has been praised for its unconventional documentary style and 3D, but Undefeated has Weinstein support and a feel-good attitude. Then again, Paradise Lost 3 could prove to be a bigger contender.

1. Undefeated
2. Pina
3. Paradise Lost 3
4. Hell and Back Again
5. If a Tree Falls

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
2. La Luna
3. A Morning Stroll
4. Dimanche
5. Wild Life

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1. The Shore
2. Pentecost
3. Tuba Atlantic
4. Raju
5. Time Freak

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1. The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
2. Saving Face
3. God is the Bigger Elvis
4. Incident In New Baghdad
5. The Barber of Birmingham

John's Favorite Movies of 2011

1. Drive
2. Hugo
3. Moneyball
4. The Descendants
5. A Separation
6. The Artist
7. The Tree of Life
8. The Help
9. Take Shelter
10. Beginners

Take Shelter (****1/2)

Perhaps no movie released in 2011 was more carefully paced than Take Shelter, a little-seen but important film that addresses many issues so carefully that it never once feels laden with plot. Here, suspense is built so carefully that it would undoubtedly put Hitchcock in a state of unease. Slow moving but ever forward, the film works to understand the mind of a man who may be losing it, or perhaps has become simply misunderstood.

Michael Shannon stars as Curtis, husband to his wife Sam and father to a hearing-impaired child. His life plays out in the rural settings of nowhere America, and his life revolves around work and his family. Strange visions begin plaguing his life, filling his dreams, forcing him to seek medical help. He sees almost apocalyptic images of storms, attacks, and death, all involving the people most important to him in his life. That he loses sleep is a given, but the level of skill Shannon demonstrates as an actor playing out each moment is astonishing. Never before have I understood what it is like to wake up out of a night terror until seeing it perfectly captured in one small moment. Already an Oscar-nominee for Revolutionary Road, Michael Shannon undoubtedly is at his career-best.

Jessica Chastain, in one of her many brilliant 2011 roles, is humbling as the concerned wife who only cares for her family's well-being. Seeing her husband begin construction on a storm shelter in their backyard when other expenses seem more pertinent certainly raises issues, but never does she neglect her duties as a mother.

There are few scenes that will shock you, and perhaps many will find this film boring. The ending is ambiguous to say the least, and in the best way possible. Is it possible for the last moments of a film to completely change everything we have seen up until that point? Take Shelter most definitely fits the bill. A story of almost biblical proportions and ideas, here is a movie that will make you think and become actively involved. Unfairly denied mention at this year's Oscar ceremony, but no less potent for it. This is a film that will definitely have people talking for years to come.

(Awards potential: Best Actor (Shannon), Best Supporting Actress (Chastain), Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score)