The Help (****)

A feel-good movie about southern racism. This is a tricky task by any standards, but somehow The Help balances that fine line beautifully, albeit a bit too safe at times. Here is a movie where the greatness is entirely thanks to the cast. The large ensemble is perfectly assembled, and each actor makes the most of the script, one that relies too heavily on those 'feel-good' movie cliches.

This was a movie I was not entirely positive I wanted to see. Sure, Viola Davis was unbelievably powerful in her pivotal, Oscar-nominated role in Doubt, but aside from that there wasn't a particularly huge draw for me. Sitting down one night to watch it months after its release date, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself completely involved. By the end I even had a few tears trickling down my face. The movie takes the conventional wisdom employed in The Blind Side: a movie about white people helping less-fortunate black people is a sure-fire way to win at the box office. It's so very true. Yet while The Blind Side completely disregarded its central black character, The Help relishes in making these maids layered and beautiful characters. Is this a racist movie? Arguments could be made for or against it, but I would say no (even if the entire plot is that it takes a white person to help black people solve their own problems).

As previously mentioned, the casting is great. Even Emma Stone, a relatively light comic actress, delivers a powerful turn as a modern woman bent on changing her deeply-racist home town. The stars of the movie, though, are Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Here are two experienced actors at the very top of their game. Spencer delivers a moving though more humorous role, while Davis has a character deep with backstory and heartbreaking scenes. Her greatness I found is fueled almost exclusively by her eyes, showing an endless range of emotions in the smallest moments. Davis's character is one we love like a mother, and to see the agonies she must go through is absolutely resonant with audiences. During a time when there was so much hatred, here is one woman who is so filled with love.

The movie is not without its flaws, seen mostly in the relatively safe screenplay. Before seeing this movie I would have brushed it off as a small summer movie with no Oscar chances, but with the box office and critical reaction demonstrating enormous support for the film, I am crossing my fingers that some Oscar nominations are on the horizon. (Should they snub everything else, I sincerely hope Viola Davis receives the recognition she deserves for her amazing performance.)

(Awards potential: Best Actress (Davis), Best Supporting Actress (Spencer), Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, Best Original Song - 'The Living Proof')

Jane Eyre (****)

A classically crafted retelling of a timeless story, Jane Eyre does not disappoint. Though it takes itself very seriously, with wonderful performances and memorable embellishments, this faithful adaptation is a pleasure to watch.

The performances are the real strength of the film, as they should be. Mia Wasikowska - a new but increasingly recognizable face (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right) - is an excellent fit in the title role. The part by no means showcases her beauty, but Jane is not supposed to be beautiful. Wasikowska manages to portray Jane's soul and spirit to near-perfection and with surprising depth for her age. But the real scene-stealer here is Michael Fassbender as Rochester. Fassbender gives Rochester a nearly tangible charisma and endless layers of character; a performance worthy of and actually fairly likely to receive recognition. He and Wasikowska also have terrific chemistry, their scenes together always tense and riveting. And of course, Judi Dench is immaculate as always as the kind Mrs. Fairfax.

Other good things about the film are most notably the score, costuming, and cinematography. Dark, creepy, and memorable, the beautiful sets and grim lighting set the serious tone  from the opening scene. The flashback-style setup of the screenplay is effective and different. The costuming, though perhaps not award-worthy, is very appropriate and does not try too hard. Something that may very well be award-worthy, however, is Dario Marianelli's (of Atonement fame) heartbreakingly beautiful score. I personally found it to be on par with his work for Atonement, which won the Oscar... Don't be surprised to see Marianelli's name a contender for one of the top five spots this year as well.

Though this may be one of the best adaptations of Charlotte Brontë's novel, it's certainly not a perfect film. A bit slow, dragging, and honestly dull at times... humor and wit are largely sacrificed to maintain the most faithful adaptation of the book possible.

Jane Eyre is a good fit for serious, art-loving moviegoers who can appreciate a classic story and old fashioned great acting. The classic genre addressed here is tastefully done and a breath of fresh air in the shoot-em-up, effects-based entertainment industry today. Certainly worth seeing at least once.

(Awards potential: Best Actor (Fassbender), Best Original Score)

The Beaver (**)

The Beaver looked to be one of the first great movies of 2011, possibly a film that would kick off the award season earlier than normal. Sure, the plot seemed ridiculous, but Mel Gibson appeared to be back at the top of his game with Jodie Foster returning to the director's chair. I regret to say then that The Beaver is none of those things. It is simply a misguided, disjointed, rough assembly of a film that MAYBE had the potential to be good had several things changed.

The film opens on Mel Gibson's character Walter Black, a depressed, tired man - the problem is the audience has no idea why he is like this to begin with. He has a great family and a seemingly high-paying job. Shortly after the film begins, he moves out, finds a puppet in a dumpster, then moves right back in to rekindle his broken family. Are problem marriages really that easily solved?

His son, Porter, is a student who makes hundreds of dollars at a time forging papers and speeches for lazy students at his school. Then he falls in love with the Valedictorian, and for the life of her she can't write her own graduation speech. Hmmm. Walter's youngest son, Henry, is ignored and bullied at school, but why? There is never any resolve for his character, and we are left to assume that after this whole ordeal, he was bullied even more for being that kid with the 'crazy dad.'

The film seems to function solely as one that is striving for awards glory, but it tragically falls short. There is no way that two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster is doing her best directing work here. The film lacks a solid tone, switching from comedy to drama with a sprinkling of thriller near the end. For me, audiences didn't know when to laugh or when to be serious, and that is actually a problem. They ended up giggling at parts that we all knew were meant to be serious, and didn't laugh at parts that were.

Unfortunately, Mel Gibson won't be receiving his first acting Oscar nomination for this film, and Jodie won't receive her first directing. The wait is back on for quality films to reveal themselves for the 2011 season. Happy hunting.

(Awards potential: No awards potential)

83rd Academy Awards - Reactions

(The Royal Lineup - Colin Firth and Tom Hooper now have a matching set)

Well, as quickly as they came they have gone again, and the 83rd Academy Awards (as well as this year's awards' season) has passed. One of the shortest Oscar ceremonies in the past 30 years, the show still seemed to drag on if only because of a lack of any upsets. In fact, practically every category went according to plan.

Why did MoJo fail to get a perfect score, then? (We correctly predicted 16 of the winners) For one, the Oscars come at the pinnacle of the season, and here comes the last chance to award the most deserving. If there is a chance for an upset anywhere, the Oscars is the final place for it to occur. Unfortunately, the plethora of predictions, critic's awards, and smaller award shows practically assure you of the final winner, weeks before the Oscars even occur. Why predict Roger Deakins to win his first Oscar for Best Cinematography? Because we believe that 9 nominations is far too long a wait to win, especially when compared to the nominees he was up against. We interpret Oscar as having a heart - when in reality he's ruthless, cold, and calculated.

On the whole, then, the Oscars were fairly enjoyable to watch, if only because we could rest easy on many of the night's bigger awards going according to plan. Anne Hathaway and James Franco will most likely not be asked to host again, especially Franco, who quickly became one of the most bizarre, distanced, and boring Oscar hosts in history (Possibly stoned, too). What a shame for Hathaway too, because while her energy was exuberant, her teaming with Franco was uncomfortable and completely off-putting to say the least.

The night slowly progressed, bogged down by an unnecessary amount of film homages, introductions, and lengthy presentations (But how cute was Kurt Douglas?) For instance, why was it deemed necessary for Anne Hathaway to introduce Hilary Swank who immediately introduced Kathryn Bigelow to present Best Director? I'm assuming Hilary is contractually obligated to participate in the Oscars in some way, and this was the best they could come up with.

As expected, Melissa Leo finally won her Oscar in a corny amount of exuberance and utter shock. Melissa, didn't you know you were the front-runner the entire season? Why so surprised? Not as expected, Leo became the first Oscar winner to utter the 'F' word during an acceptance speech. It seems that the Best Supporting Actress category was not a complete letdown in terms of shocks, then.

Perhaps the most 'up in the air' category of the night was Best Director, which ended in a photo finish with Tom Hooper prevailing over David Fincher. Although Hooper did win the DGA, his lack of other accolades was still enough to put a shred of doubt in my mind as to his Oscar chances. Never again. From now on I know, when DGA speaks, I MUST listen!

While the King's Speech did end up winning 4 of the 'Big 5' awards (Picture, Director, Actor, (Actress), Screenplay), a feat not accomplished since American Beauty over 10 years ago, it still failed to pull off a true 'sweep,' and we were left with Alice In Wonderland, Inception, and The Social Network pulling off many of the night's early wins. Just like this season, though, the King Speech picked up steam in the final stretch and pulled off a well-deserved victory.

Overall, I still enjoyed the Oscars. It's hard not to. Despite the utter lack of shocks, I believe many, if not all of the winners were truly deserving. If there's one thing that Oscar has taught us this year, though, it's that no one likes surprises.... So they just don't allow for any.

*OFFICIAL 2011 ACADEMY AWARDS PREDICTIONS*

Ok folks... THEY ARE UPON US. The 83rd annual Academy Awards. After extensive discussion and analysis, these are what we have come up with, and we are convinced they are the most accurate predictions available. Feel free to exploit them at your Oscar parties... but just refer everyone to this blog after you win.



BEST PICTURE
1.) The King's Speech
2.) The Social Network
3.) The Fighter
4.) True Grit
5.) Black Swan
6.) Inception
7.) 127 Hours
8.) Winter's Bone
9.) Toy Story 3
10.) The Kids Are All Right

The PGA, SAG, DGA, and BAFTA's do not lie. The days of Social Network's domination have seem to come to a close. Expect the King's Speech to sweep.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
1.) Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
2.) Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
3.) Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
4.) Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
5.) Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

What chances Annette Bening had of pulling an upset seem to be getting less and less likely with each passing day. Natalie Portman has won every major award so far this year and it doesn't look like she'll stop at the Oscars.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
1.) Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
2.) Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
3.) James Franco (127 Hours)
4.) Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
5.) Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

The biggest lock of the night.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1.) Christian Bale (The Fighter)
2.) Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)
3.) John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
4.) Jeremy Renner (The Town)
5.) Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)

Some seem to believe a Geoffrey Rush upset is possible, but it seems unlikely considering he's competing with Christian Bale's career-best performance.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
1.) Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
2.) Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
3.) Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
4.) Amy Adams (The Fighter)
5.) Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdon)

The toughest acting category to call this year. Melissa Leo's uncomfortable campaigning choices this season have left many voters with a bitter taste in their mouth, an act that could ultimately benefit Hailee Steinfeld. For now though, Leo is still technically our front-runner.

BEST ANIMATED FILM OF THE YEAR
1.) Toy Story 3
2.) How To Train Your Dragon
3.) The Illusionist

The Academy can finally honor the Toy Story franchise with it's first Oscar (and Pixar's zillionth).

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1.) The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
2.) Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt)
3.) True Grit (Joen & Ethan Coen)
4.) Winter's Bone (Debra Granik & Anne Rossellini)
5.) 127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)

Aaron Sorkin's screenplay is too smart and witty not to take this, especially considering the plethora of awards he has already taken, not to mention a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Writer's Guild trophy.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1.) The King's Speech (David Seidler)
2.) Inception (Christopher Nolan)
3.) Another Year (Mike Leigh)
4.) The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko)
5.) The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver & Paul Tamasy)

While Inception's story is arguably the most original piece of the year, The King's Speech will easily take this. The story of David Seidler and his devotion taken to writing the screenplay is almost as inspiring as the film, itself!

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
1.) The King's Speech
2.) Inception
3.) Alice In Wonderland
4.) True Grit
5.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

An incredibly close race between The King's Speech, Inception, and Alice In Wonderland. We predict 'Speech' to take it as part of it's Oscar sweep, but any of these three could easily win.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
1.) True Grit (Roger Deakins)
2.) Inception (Wally Pfister)
3.) Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
4.) The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
5.) The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)

After 9 Oscar nominations and no wins for Roger Deakins, it seems like it is finally his time to win gold. Although True Grit definitely doesn't stand as Deakins' best work behind the camera, expect him to take the award over the Guild winner (and better-photographed) Inception.

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
1.) The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
2.) Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
3.) True Grit (Mary Zophres)
4.) I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
5.) The Tempest (Sandy Powell)

The second category where The King's Speech faces close competition with Alice In Wonderland. While 'Alice' has much more flashy costumes (which the Academy loves), The King's Speech could win based on name alone.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
1.) David Fincher (The Social Network)
2.) Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
3.) Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
4.) David O. Russell (The Fighter)
5.) Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

An incredibly close race. While Hooper won the DGA (the season's BEST forecaster for Best Picture and Best Director), his lack of other accolades throughout the year makes his win seem like more of a fluke. David Fincher, therefore, seems poised to receive his first Oscar. This looks like it will be the 4th time since 2000 that Best Picture and Best Director split.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
1.) Inside Job (Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures))
2.) Exit Through The Gift Shop (Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures))
3.) Gasland (Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC))
4.) Restrepo (Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films))
5.) Waste Land (Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects))

While Exit Through The Gift Shop would provide a well-deserved and enjoyable win, all signs point to Inside Job.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
1.) The Wolfman
2.) Barney's Version
3.) The Way Back

There is really no appropriate way to determine the winner. Each of these film's received this sole nomination and none are extremely well-known. When in doubt go with the most noticeable work, in this case, The Wolfman.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
1.) The Social Network (Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall)
2.) The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
3.) Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
4.) The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
5.) 127 Hours (Jon Harris)

Once Inception failed to receive a nomination, (in MoJo's opinion one of the worst snubs of the year) the next most logical choice was The Social Network, whose constant cross-cutting between time and location fits the bill for 'best-editing-of-these-5-nominees-but-not-necessarily-of-the-year.'

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
2.) In a Better World (Denmark)
3.) Incendies (Canada)
3.) Biutiful (Mexico)
4.) Dogtooth (Greece)
5.) Hors la Loi (Algeria)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
1.) The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
2.) The Social Network (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
3.) Inception (Hans Zimmer)
4.) 127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
5.) How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)

The score for Inception and The Social Network were both about as memorable as they come, but with 4 previous nominations and a very traditional score (which the Academy usually goes for), Alexandre Desplat may very well win his first (and extremely well-deserved) Academy Award

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
1.) "Coming Home" from Country Strong (Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges & Hillary Lindsey)
2.) "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 (Music and Lyric by Randy Newman)
3.) "I See the Light" from Tangled (Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater)
4.) "If I Rise" from 127 Hours (Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido & Rollo Armstrong)

Toy Story 3 is the predicted 'front-runner' on many pundits' lists, but Best Original Song rarely goes to the most popular film. Voters screen clips from each film to see how each song is incorporated and works within its respective film, so solidly predicting a winner is difficult. 'Coming Home' seems as good a choice as any.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
1.) Inception
2.) TRON: Legacy
3.) True Grit
4.) Unstoppable
5.) Toy Story 3

The logical choice

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
1.) Inception
2.) True Grit
3.) The Social Network
4.) Salt
5.) The King's Speech

True Grit could pull an upset, but Inception seems too well-locked in these technical categories to bet against it

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
1.) Inception
2.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
3.) Iron Man 2
4.) Alice in Wonderland
5.) Hereafter

Inception. Duh.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
1.) Strangers No More
2.) The Warriors of Qiugang
3.) Poster Girl
4.) Killing in the Name
5.) Sun Come Up

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
1.) Day and Night (Teddy Newton)
2.) The Gruffalo (Jakob Schuh & Max Lang)
3.) Let's Pollute (Geefwee Boedoe)
4.) The Lost Thing (Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann)
5.) Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) (Bastien Dubois)

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
1.) Wish 143 (Ian Barnes & Samantha Waite)
2.) Na Wewe (Ivan Goldschmidt)
3.) God of Love (Luke Matheny)
4.) The Confession (Tanel Toom)
5.) The Crush (Michael Creagh)