Million Dollar Baby

It was back in November when I heard about Million Dollar Baby, a time when The Aviator was going to rule them movies, and Jamie Foxx could already touch the Best Actor Oscar which was sure to be his. Then the rumors started about a Clint Eastwood directed movie that was the best movie of the year, and I checked what it was about, and it was a boxing movie with Clint, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. I didn't read any critic's reviews other then their headlines, which pretty much all of them said Best Movie of the Year again, and now that I've seen it, a whole month after its limited release, I agree, Million Dollar Baby is the best movie of the year, and sorry to Martin Scorsese, but Clint and the movie deserve that Oscar.

I wont describe the plot now because I'd have to give away the whole movie, so I'll just say that it's a powerful human drama set in the world of boxing. No need to say more, as it is the performances what make this movie so great.
Clint Eastwood, who didn't show his face last year in Mystic River (his previous movie, which won his star Sean Penn an Oscar) is back in front of the screen and he's great. He didn't get a Golden Globe nomination, and he also got kind of forgotten by the rest of the critic and their awards, but when Oscar called his name last week and put his name in the list of Best Actor nominees, Jamie Foxx's sure bet just didn't seem so sure. Clint's performance here ranges from warm and paternal to unstable and devastated. It's an epic performances, which Foxx also gave us so whoever wins, it'll be deserved.
Hilary Swank won the dramatic Golden Globe this year, and many of the critic's awards, and though I haven't the other two frontrunners to get the Best Actress award (Vera Drake's Imelda Staunton and Being Julia's Annette Benning) I just can't see how they can be better than Swank's performance. Another powerful character that Swank makes perfect from beginning to end.
Then we have the beloved Morgan Freeman, whose performance is once again great. His counseling and advising seems like something he's played before, but it's so much deep here.
Still, if one of this movie's actors needs to be left out on getting an Oscar, this is it. Not because he's not as good as Clint and Hilary, but because his part is smaller, and I think it lacked the final punch that the other two delivered.

Clint Eastwood knows he's a genius, and he got the best of the best for this movie, and nobody better than him, Swank and Freeman to make this perfect. Perfect direction, perfect acting, a perfect score that Eastwood himself composed, and a perfect story adapted by Paul Haggis from stories by F.X. Toole.
The movie ends violently and heartbreaking, though not in their conventional ways, and it ends with a big punch that hit me, and it hit me hard.

Bad Education

With La Mala Educación, Pedro Almodovar brings us a erotic story about two friends reuniting after 16 years to remember their troubled past which included catholic school and sexual abuse.

But it's not so easy, as Almodovar goes into Mullholland Drive territory and merges two storylines about the same people: the actual story of the two former lovers reconnecting, and the story one of them wrote about them reconnecting but in a different way.
The stories move simultaneously to the point when it gets confused to know which story it's actually happening at some points, but the ending explains it and leaves everything connected and very satisfactory. Almodovar writing is perfect for these bizarre and rich characters.

The two friends are Fele Martinez, who's worked with Almodovar before in 2002's Talk to Her, and was also seen in last year's multiple times delayed Darkness who had a Spanish production; the other, and the lead, is the so excellent Gael Garcia Bernal who had a great 2004 with Oscar worthy performances both here and in The Motorcycle Diaries. His work here is outstanding, specially as the transvestite Zahara who is part of the story Garcia Bernal's other character, Angel, wrote for Martinez's Enrique who is a filmmaker and is currently in search of a new movie to make, and so decides to make Angel's movie called "La Visita" ("The Visit").

Yes, it is still a strong movie to watch (it's Rated NC-17 but don't worry, there is no frontal nudity), but wonderful performances, and Almodovar's complex, fantastic story, this is a movie not to miss.

The Chorus

Les Choristes is the 2005 Oscar nominated film from France, that despite using an old formula, ends up winning our hearts with its magical music and warm performances.

The formula is that of Dead Poets Society (and The Emperor's Club, and Mona Lisa Smile to name some), with a teacher going to a boarding school in 1949 France where troubled kids at first don't like him, but then he ends up, through music, teaching them about life and winning their hearts too.

Gerard Jugnot plays Clement Mathieu, a former music teacher who gets this class of kids that are not the usual ones (well, they are in these types of movies), because despite being around 12 to 15 years old, they're more dangerous than many adults as they smoke, drink and harm people to the point of almost killing them.
After seeing how Rachin (the school director) played by Francois Berleand, punish the kids because of their behavior, Mathieu decides to help them by creating a choir and teaching them to sing.

The music they perform is excellent (a professional choir dubbed the kids' voices) raging from the kids' songs mocking the teachers, to original songs Mathieu wrote (like the Oscar nominated "Look To Your Path [Vois Sur Ton Chemin]") to well known songs by famous authors.
Add to that the dramatic performances of Jugnot and Berleand who are excellent, as well as most of the kids like Jean-Baptiste Maunier are, and you have a wonderful movie with music that finishes on a high note.

Hide and Seek

I'll start with the big buzz behind this movie's twist, which Fox shipped separately from the movie to the theatres so that people wouldn't seen it earlier (than regular early screenings at least) and nobody would spoil it for all the rest. And don't worry I wont, but I do have to say that this is an excellent horror movie up until that twist happens, and so when the movie ends you end up with so many inconclusive stories that you kind of not like the movie, though you were loving it 20 minutes ago.

Robert DeNiro plays David Callaway, a widower moving with his daughter to upstate New York to start a new life away from the memories of his wife's recent suicide. His young daughter Emily is played by Dakota Fanning, that super cute little 11 year old who we all love.
But Dakota is different here. She has dark hair, and she's crazy, Crazy Dakota I was named her, because she had a creepy way to stare at things and people and ultimately she was just awesome.
She's having lots of problems coping with her mom's death, and that's when the creates this imaginary friend named Charlie, and also when strange things start to happen around the house. The title Hide and Seek comes from the game Emily and Charlie play all the time.
Elisabeth Shue plays neighbor Elizabeth, who makes friend with David as she has a niece the same age as Emily and they're trying to get them together. Famke Janssen is Katherine, Emily's psychiatrist and also an old student of David who is also a psychiatrist.

Like I said, there's the big twist, which was ok, but what happens after it is the problem, as there is so much stuff unanswered, and even a handful of subplots that were put there just to play with our speculations, as they don't serve any purpose to the main story other than make us jump. And about that, it happens a lot, which is why I'm ending up supporting the movie, because is a horror movie, and its purpose is to scare us, and at least at that succeeds.

Oscar Nominations 2005

Oscar Nominations 2005

PICTURE
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment GroupInitial Entertainment Group and Warner Bros.) A Forward Pass Appian Way/IMFIMF Production

"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Richard N. Gladstein and Nellie Bellflower, A FilmColony Production

"Million Dollar Baby" (Warner Bros.) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production

"Ray" (Universal)Universal Pictures/Bristol Bay Production

"Sideways" (Fox Searchlight/20th Century Fox) Michael London, Producer, A Sideways Productions, Inc. Production

DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator"
Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
Taylor Hackford, "Ray"
Alexander Payne, "Sideways"
Mike Leigh, "Vera Drake"

ACTOR
Don Cheadle, "Hotel Rwanda"
Johnny Depp, "Finding Neverland"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Aviator"
Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby"
Jamie Foxx, "Ray"

ACTRESS
Annette Bening, "Being Julia"
Catalina Sandino Moreno, in "Maria Full of Grace"
Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"
Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"
Kate Winslet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Alda, "The Aviator"
Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways"
Jamie Foxx, "Collateral"
Morgan Freeman, "Million Dollar Baby"
Clive Owen, "Closer"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "The Aviator"
Laura Linney, "Kinsey"
Virginia Madsen, "Sideways"
Sophie Okonedo, "Hotel Rwanda"
Natalie Portman, "Closer"

ANIMATED FILM
"The Incredibles" (Buena Vista) Brad Bird
"Shark Tale" (DreamWorks) Bill Damaschka
"Shrek 2" (DreamWorks) Andrew AdamsonAndrew Adamson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Before Sunset" (Warner Independent PicturesWarner Independent Pictures) Screenplay by Richard Linklater& Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke - Story by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Screenplay by David Magee
"Million Dollar Baby" (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Paul Haggis
"The Motorcycle Diaries" Screenplay by José Rivera (Focus Features and Film Four)
"Sideways" (Fox Searchlight/20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Written by John Logan and Warner Bros.)
"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman (Focus Features) Story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth
"Hotel Rwanda" (United Artists in association with Written by Keir Pearson & Terry George, Lions Gate Entertainment through MGM Distribution Co.)
"The Incredibles" (Buena Vista) Written by Brad Bird
"Vera Drake" (Fine Line Features, Alain Sarde and UK Film Written by Mike Leigh Council in association with Inside Track Films)

ART DIRECTION
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Warner Bros.) Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Art Direction: Gemma Jackson, Set Decoration: Trisha Edwards
"Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events" Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs, (Paramount and DreamWorks) Set Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik
"The Phantom of the Opera""The Phantom Of The Opera" Art Direction: Anthony Pratt (Warner Bros.) Set Decoration: Celia Bobak
"A Very Long Engagement" Art Direction: Aline Bonetto - (Warner Independent Pictures)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Robert Richardsonand Warner Bros.)
"House of Flying Daggers" (Sony Pictures Classics) Zhao Xiaoding
"The Passion of the Christ" (Icon and Newmarket) Caleb Deschanel
"The Phantom of the Opera" (Warner Bros.) John Mathieson
"A Very Long Engagement" Bruno Delbonnel (Warner Independent Pictures)

COSTUME DESIGN
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Sandy Powell and Warner Bros.)
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Alexandra Byrne
"Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events" Colleen Atwood, (Paramount and DreamWorks)
"Ray" (Universal) Sharen Davis
"Troy" (Warner Bros.) Bob Ringwood

DOCUMENTARY
"Born into Brothels" (THINKFilm) Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski - A Red Light Films, Inc. Production
"The Story of the Weeping Camel" (THINKFilm) Luigi Falorni and Byambasuren Davaa - A Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München Production
" Super Size Me" (Roadside Attractions/Samuel Morgan Spurlock Goldwyn Films) A Kathbur Productions/The Con Production
"Tupac: Resurrection" (Paramount) Lauren Lazin and Karolyn Ali An MTV - Amaru Entertainment, Inc. Production
"Twist of Faith" Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt - A Chain Camera Pictures Production

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
"Autism Is a World" Gerardine Wurzburg - A State of the Art Production
"The Children of Leningradsky" Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski - A Hanna Polak Production
"Hardwood" Hubert Davis and Erin Faith Young - A Hardwood Pictures and National Film - Board of Canada Production
"Mighty Times: The Children’s March" Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston - A Tell the Truth Pictures Production
"Sister Rose’s Passion" Oren Jacoby and Steve Kalafer - A New Jersey Studios Production

EDITOR
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Thelma Schoonmaker and Warner Bros.)
"Collateral" (DreamWorks and Paramount) Jim MillerJim Miller and Paul Rubell
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Matt Chesse
"Million Dollar Baby" (Warner Bros.) Joel Cox
"Ray" (Universal) Paul Hirsch

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"As It Is in Heaven" Sweden, A GF Studios Production
"The Chorus (Les Choristes)" France, A Galatée Films/Pathé Renn/France 2, Cinema/Novo Arturo Films/Vega Film AG Production
"Downfall""Downfall" Germany, A Constantin Film Production
"The Sea Inside" Spain, A Sogecine and Himenóptero Production
"Yesterday" South Africa, A Videovision Entertainment Production

MAKEUP
"Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events" Valli O’Reilly and Bill Corso, (Paramount and DreamWorks)
"The Passion of the Christ" Keith Vanderlaan and Christien Tinsley, (Icon and Newmarket)
"The Sea Inside" (Fine Line Features and Sogepaq) Jo Allen and Manuel García

ORIGINAL SCORE
"Finding Neverland" (Miramax) Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" John Williams (Warner Bros.)
"Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events" Thomas Newman (Paramount and DreamWorks)
"The Passion of the Christ" (Icon and Newmarket) John Debney
"The Village" (Buena Vista) James Newton Howard

ORIGINAL SONG
"Accidentally In Love" from Music by Adam Duritz, Charles Gillingham,
"Shrek 2" (DreamWorks) Jim Bogios, David Immergluck, Matthew Mallery and David Bryson, Lyric by Adam Duritz and Daniel Vickrey
"Al Otro Lado Del Río" from Music and Lyric by Jorge Drexler
"The Motorcycle Diaries" (Focus Features and Film Four)
"Believe" from Music and Lyric by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri "The Polar Express" (Warner Bros.)
"Learn To Be Lonely" from Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
"The Phantom of the Opera" (Warner Bros.) Lyric by Charles Hart
"Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from Music by Bruno Coulais
"The Chorus (Les Choristes)" (Miramax) Lyric by Christophe Barratier

ANIMATED SHORT
"Birthday Boy" Sejong Park and Andrew Gregory - An Australian Film, TV and Radio School Production
"Gopher Broke" Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller - A Blur Studio Production
"Guard Dog" Bill Plympton - A Bill Plympton Production
"Lorenzo" Mike Gabriel and Baker Bloodworth - A Walt Disney Pictures Production
"Ryan" Chris Landreth - A Copper Heart Entertainment & National Film Board of Canada Production

LIVE ACTION SHORT
"Everything in This Country Must" Gary McKendry - A Six Mile LLC Production
"Little Terrorist" Ashvin Kumar - An Alipur Films Production
"7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Mañana)" Nacho Vigalondo - An Ibarretxe & Co. Production
"Two Cars, One Night" Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner - A Defender Films Limited Production
"Wasp" Andrea Arnold - A Cowboy Films Production

SOUND EDITING
"The Incredibles" (Buena Vista) Michael Silvers and Randy Thom
"The Polar Express" (Warner Bros.) Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard
"Spider-Man 2" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Paul N.J. Ottosson

SOUND MIXING
"The Aviator" (Miramax, Initial Entertainment Group Tom Fleischman and Petur Hliddal and Warner Bros.)
"The Incredibles" (Buena Vista) Randy Thom, Gary A. Rizzo and Doc Kane
"The Polar Express" (Warner Bros.) Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis Sands and William B. Kaplan
"Ray" (Universal) Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa
"Spider-Man 2" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Joseph Geisinger

VISUAL EFFECTS
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson (Warner Bros.) and Bill George
"I, Robot" (20th Century Fox) John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash and Joe Letteri
"Spider-Man 2" (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier

My Comments:

Well, a few surprises, mostly No Paul Giamatti, Alan Alda for supporting actor, and Shark Tale for Animated Feature.

- That Paul Giamatti is not there is a travesty. If they were to leave someone out to put Clint in there then it should have been Johnny Depp.

- Alan Alda beating fifth place Supporting actors favorites Peter Saarsgard and David Carradine. I guess thats fine, not a total shock but I feel that Alda's performances wasn't as good and big as the other two left out.

- No House of Flying Daggers? what do these people have to do to get a nomination NOT BE POPULAR like Hero was in 2002? "Oh no, you got your movie released, be happy with that don't even think about a nomination".

- What the fuck is Shark Tale doing there??? I know that The Polar Express was kind of a fealure but at least it had a bigger known team behind it and besides, shark tale was a piece of shit.

- Sophie Okonedo was my sixth pick as best supporting, but just cause I was supporting Kate Winslett. But not a shock, Okonedo's performance was excellent and the nomination is well deserved.

- Catalina Sandina Moreno, again not a shock. Kind of expected. I wanted Uma there though.

- Mike Leigh beating Marc Forster, Michael Mann and Mike Nichols for that last spot for Best Director. Vera Drake is pure great performances so I guess its no shock it could've been any of them I would've gone with Mann just for using the handled camera.

- No Sky Captain for Best Visual Effects. I mean, the nominated ones are fine but Sky Captain is revolutionary.

- No Mick Jagger's "Old Habits Die Hard" from Alfie and no Wyclef Jean's "A Million Voices" from Hotel Rwanda??? What the fuck happened there?.

Oscar Nominations 2005 Predictions

The Golden Globes are behind us, and this Tuesday 25th of January we'll have the Oscar nominations. Here are my predictions for the big categories, with the possible sixth choices and some surprises:

Best Supporting Actress: Although this is the category with the most better performance every year, this one wasn't the case, as there were only 5 supporting performances to talk about, and they have been nominated for everything.
We have Virginia Madsen (who has won almost every single critics award) for Sideways, Cate Blanchett for The Aviator, Laura Linney for Kinsey, Natalie Portman (who won the Golden Globe) for Closer and Kate Winslett for Finding Neverland.
Then we have the women of Ray (Sharon Warren, Regina King) and Hotel Rwanda (Sophie Okonedo), and even Meryl Streep for The Manchurian Candidate who was nominated for a Golden Globe, but they won't make it.

My Predictions:
- Virginia Madsen
- Cate Blanchett
- Laura Linney
- Natalie Portman
- Kate Winslett


Best Supporting Actor: there's always lots of great supporting performances but this year we've had just six that are worth mentioning: Thomas Haden Church for Sideways, Clive Owen for Closer, Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby, Jamie Foxx for Collateral, Peter Sarsgaard for Kinsey, and David Carradine for Kill Bill vol 2.
Carradine's Bill is the best and most popular character of the six, but is also the one with less screen time. Jamie Foxx is going a lock to win for best actor so maybe they won't vote him for supporting since he has no chance to win it, plus they'd have space for someone else. And that someone else could very well be the number 7 in my list: Freddie Highmore, the kid from Finding Neverland, who had an excellent performance.
Between all those we have 3 locks: Haden Church, Owen (who won the Golden Globe but wasn't nominated for the Screen Actors Guild) and Freeman. Then Foxx is the strongest of the rest (his performance should have count for lead actor though) and the fifth spot is between Carradine, Sarsgaard and Highmore.

My Predictions:
- Thomas Haden Church
- Clive Owen
- Morgan Freeman
- Jamie Foxx
- Peter Sarsgaard


Best Actress: same as the supporting, the leading ladies race has been easy to predict. Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby and Annette Benning for Being Julia won the Golden Globes, and they will battle for the Oscar in a rematch of the 1999 race. Imelda Staunton (for Vera Drake) won most of the critic's awards, and then we have Kate Winslett's Eternal Sunshine performance which is the most loved of all of them.
The fifth spot will go to Kill Bill vol 2's Uma Thurman, one of the most popular performances of the year, and Catalina Sandina Moreno for Maria Full of Grace which was a terrific performance too.

My Predictions:
- Hilary Swank
- Annette Benning
- Imelda Staunton
- Kate Winslett
- Uma Thurman


Best Actor: this is the best race of the year. With so many to choose from, and all of them being excellent. Jamie Foxx for Ray is a lock to in the Oscar, so we only need four more. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator was amazing, and he won the Golden Globe, so we can count him in. Then Paul Giamatti for Sideways is in too. He wasn't nominated two years ago for American Splendor, so they own it to him this year, and his performance in Sideways is amazing and deserving of a nomination.
Johnny Depp will take the fourth place for Finding Neverland which was the early favorite before December, and the fifth nomination is between two of the stronger ones: Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda and Javier Bardem for The Sea Inside. From these two, Cheadle has the best and more powerful movie so I'm going with him, but don't be surprised if Barden gets it, or Liam Neeson for Kinsey, or even Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby. Everybody is talking about the movie and Swank and Freeman, but some are saying that this is Clint's best performance and that he could be the surprise.

My Predictions:
- Jamie Foxx
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Paul Giamatti
- Johnny Depp
- Don Cheadle


Screenplays: it doesn't matter who gets nominated. Lets just sit and enjoy Sideways' Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor's speech for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Eternal Sunshine's Charlie Kaufman Original Screenplay win.


Best Director: Martin Scorsese makes a new movie (this year The Aviator), Scorsese gets a nomination. Clint Eastwood won the Golden Globe for Million Dollar Baby, another lock, and Alexander Payne for Sideways is the other sure bet.
The other two are up for grabs between Taylor Hackford for Ray and Marc Forster for Finding Neverland, the two frontrunners for those two spots, but Mike Nichols for Closer, Michael Mann for Collateral and Bill Condon for Kinsey are fighting them. Michel Gondry for Eternal Sunshine is my favorite one, but nobody talks about him, Zhang Yimou could be the surprise for House of Flying Daggers, as well as Terry George for Hotel Rwanda which has been getting lots of buzz lately.

My Predictions:
- Clint Eastwood
- Martin Scorsese
- Alexander Payne
- Taylor Hackford
- Marc Forster


Best Picture: as with the Directors, we have three locks in The Aviator, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways, with Finding Neverland in the fourth position. The last spot will go to either Ray or Hotel Rwanda. I'm predicting that one will get Director and the other one Picture, and since Hotel Rwanda is the more important movie, I'm going with it for the fifth spot here.
Eternal Sunshine is the best movie of the year according to everybody minus the critics, because it was released too long ago. Still, it could fight for the fifth spot but I just don't see it happening.

My Predictions:
- Million Dollar Baby
- The Aviator
- Sideways
- Finding Neverland
- Hotel Rwanda

Beautiful Boxer

When someone described Beautiful Boxer for a few weeks ago, I could only laugh. "It's about a Chinese guy who's a kickboxing champion and at the same time a transvestite who wants a sex change", was the description. After laughing, I remembered that I love Asian movies, and I really like kickboxing, so this could actually end up really good. And it did.

We follow the true story of Toom (though he was really called Parinya Charoenphol), a little boy from Thailand whose life changes drastically when he finds a lipstick. At first he puts it on and just makes a little theatre for his family for laughs, but then he really likes it, and he keeps using it as he grows up.
As a teenager, a friend of his, takes him to a fair to see a dance (her friend's knows about Toom), but on their way there, they also stop at a kickboxing ring where other teenagers, including Toom's brother, where preparing to fight, and after some confusion, Toom himself ends up scheduled for one of the fights. Despite having never fought before, he ends up winning, and as the crow cheers him up, he gets really happy, and loves it, and decides to keep doing it.

Some time later, while in boxing camp, a female resident friends learns about Toom, and decides to help him, via make up. Then the trainer sees him in makeup, and thinking it'll help distract the opponents, encourage Toom to wear the makeup while fighting, and that's when the Beautiful Boxer was born.

The movie is filled with great kickboxing fights, some very nice shots of cities from Thailand and Japan, very good performances (Toom is played as a teenager by Asanee Suwan), and a touching story about a boy fighting because he wanted to be a girl.

The Assassination of Richard Nixon

Inspired by true events, The Assassination of Richard Nixon is the story of Sam Bique, a man against the system who plotted against President Richard Nixon back in 1974.

Sean Penn plays Sam Bique, a failure man living a pathetic life, lying to himself about a job in sales which he can't perform, because he doesn't like lie, so his boss (played by Jack Thompson) while teaching him how to do it, also treats him like shit and with no respect.
Sam also has a family, but he and his wife Marie (Naomi Watts) have been separated for a year now and she's starting to move on with her life, which Sam knows but still tries to get back with her.
The last subplot comes from his relation with his friend (his only one it seems) Bonny (Don Cheadle). They're trying to open a business together, but since Bonny is black, Sam is the one taking care of everything, particularly asking for a bank loan, which we know from the start its going to fail.
And that's the theme of Sam Bique, failure, even the climatic story, which concerns President Richard Nixon.

While everything in his life was falling apart, Sam was watching President Nixon on TV, telling the people about the American Dream, and how everything was great, and how everything was going to be even better.
Nixon was on a lot (a lot!) on TV, and Sam watched him with a priceless face of disbelief and an ever growing hate for the American way of life and the system.

That's when he starts to rebel, first in a very funny sequence in which he tries to convince the Black Panthers to convert to the Zebras, which would be like the Black Panthers but also for white people who were against the system.
When that of course fails, Sam makes a plan to crash a plane into the White House. And it's no spoiler to say that it never happens, as Sam once again fails in a very intense climatic scene.

Sean Penn is terrific, following his Oscar winning Mystic River with another devastating performance likely to be overlooked by the Academy because of the great competition between leading actors this year, but mostly because of the studio behind the movie, ThinkFilm, a very small independent company (that's been getting attention this year with the releases of Being Julia, Primer, and the documentary Born into Brothels) that hasn't had the power to create strong enough buzz to get Sean Penn into the Awards season.
Despite some slow pacing at parts, the movie is strong, and Penn's performance is stronger, reason enough to give this movie a try.

House of Flying Daggers

After Director Ang Lee opened the doors for Asian epic stories with the magnificent Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, other masterful director, Yimou Zhang, decided to make a few and so in 2004 we've been honored with two true masterpieces. First was Jet Li's Hero, which I though was kind of slow paced, but the cinematography was just so beautiful that it was impossible not to love. That movie was originally released in 2002 (when it was an Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Film), so since then, he worked hard to bring us a (hardly to image) better movie in House of Flying Daggers.

We follow the story of Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Leo (Andy Lau), police captains, and friends, during the end of the Ming Dynasty in China. They learn that the new dancer at the local brothel, a blind girl named Mei (Zhang Ziyi), is supposedly a member of a revolutionary organization called The House of Flying Daggers.
After arresting her, Jin and Leo plan to use her so she can lead them to the Flying Daggers and they can take the General's troops and fight them. For this, Jin rescues her from jail and faking to be on her side, they embark on a journey north through the country in search of the revolutionaries while Leo follows close behind with the troops.

After an amazingly choreographed dance sequence, beautifully colorful battle sequences with spectacular effects, and a wonderful and brilliant climatic fight for love, House of Flying Daggers is a marvel not to be missed.

Ray

2004 was no doubt the Year of the Biopics. Naturally, the lead actors were what made these movies great, because all of them were great. Kinsey's Neeson, Finding Neverland's Depp, The Aviator's DiCaprio, Beyond the Sea's Spacey, The Sea Inside's Bardem, Hotel Rwanda's Cheadle and the one in my favorite biopic this year, The Motorcycle Diaries' Garcia Bernal. There's one missing there, because for some stupid reason, it took me all this time to watch it, and while it's not the best movie, it's the best performance of them all.
My father and I were in the theatre when we first saw the trailer for this movie, and the minute it finished he said: "Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles is going to win the Oscar", and you can bet on it.

Director Taylor Hackford has been working on Ray for more than 15 years, and he finally got it made the year Ray Charles passed away, not before watching (hearing it actually, since he was blind) the finished movie, and giving it his approval.
The movie is great, with wonderful acting, an amazing soundtrack with Ray Charles' signature songs, and a beautiful cinematography that make this movie an Oscar contender.

The rest of the cast, specially the women, are terrific too.
The studio (and Jamie Foxx at every awards shows he's been) has been praising Regina King's work, who played Ray Charles' chorus girl, (and lover) Margie Hendricks. Her performance is great, specially when she gets to sing with Foxx, but the other two women in the movie are the worth mentioning: Kerry Washington and Sharon Warren.
Washington plays Della Bea Robinson, Ray's wife, who had to put up with all the drug problems, and her countless love affairs. It wasn't an easy job, and Washington is excellent.
The second best performance of the movie comes from Sharon Warren playing Ray's mother Aretha Robinson. Sure, she's not in most of the movie, but she has two Oscar winning scenes that shouldn't be overlooked. First, as she cries for the death of her youngest son (Ray's little brother George), and then, when young Ray loses his sight, she must teach him how to survive without seeing, and we see her staying still and not helping Ray when he falls to the floor and starts crying not knowing where he is. Her face alone in that scene deserves an award.

But it's all about Foxx though, whose work here is just perfect. He's got all of the Ray Charles' moves right from the self-hug to that winning smile. And it's no secret that Foxx used prosthetics during filming, and also off camera, so he could adapt better to not being able to see. That's how committed he was.
Oh yeah, he also used to play the piano when he was younger, so he practiced again for the movie and learned how to play and sing Ray's songs.
His is the only performance I had left that I wanted to see before predicting the Oscar nominations, but thanks to Foxx now I don't need to, because his is one of the Best Performances Ever, and the Oscar will undoubtedly go to him.

In Good Company

In Good Company is Paul Weitz's follow up to one of my favorite movies ever, About a Boy. A movie that really touches my heart every time I see it, and not because of a romance or a loved one dying, but because it makes me happy, and it's so well done that I can't help but love it.
In Good Company, had the same effect in me, so my admiration for Weitz's work is way up right now.

Like with About a Boy, he wrote it and also directed it, using the same style, starting by his amazing camera work. He particularly does an excellent job when transitioning between scenes happening with different people in the same room, and is also worth noting his awesome close ups to the character's faces. It's really fun and entertaining to watch.

There's somebody in this movie that needs to be praised, and that's Topher Grace. He's leaving That 70s Show this year and if he sticks to this kind of movies, he's sure to please the ones claiming he is 'The next Tom Hanks'. He can totally do it. The guy is just so likeable, and he has an incredible comedic timing.

Though his work is over shadowed by Topher, the headliner here is Dennis Quaid, and he does a very good job too. Scarlett Johansson is also great plus she has an awesome chemistry with Topher. I'm stating the obvious when I say that she's one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen. And she's only 20.

Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a 51 year old ad executive whose company was just bought, so he's demoted, and his position is given to (meaning his new boss) Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a hot shot 26 year old whose personal life is actually not so hot as he faces divorce from his wife Kimberly (Selma Blair). He's alone, as he's so compenetrated with work that he has no friends or family.
At the same time, Dan learns from his wife Ann (Marg Helgenberger) that they're having a new baby, and that Alex, his daughter, is moving to the city to go to NYU.
Carter soon meets Alex, and they secretly start dating behind Dan's back.
The three characters are great, and the way they interact with each other is wonderful.

The music is also fantastic with songs from some favorites of mine like The Shins and Iron and Wine (both from Garden State fame).

Weitz has created a touching story with great characters that is instantly one of my favorites, and one I will sure watch, together with About a Boy, every now and then as it sure to put a smile in my face.

The Woodsman

There's been a lot of talk about The Woodman lately, first because is Kevin Bacon's best performance ever, true Oscar worthy; and second because of the story.

Bacon plays Walter, a child molester who is in parole after recently getting of jail. We don't know exactly what he did, but he's been after 12 years.
He's 'ok' now is what he says, as he tries to live a normal life despite the no easy task of having his ultimate temptation across the street, as he lives in front of a children's park.
Hiding his past, he gets a job in a sawmill from Bob (David Alan Grier), who does know about his past but gives him the job as a favor to Walter's father. There he meets Vickie (Kyra Sedgwick), a tough woman coworker who takes interest in Walter.
Mos Def plays Sgt. Lucas, the cop assigned to visit Walter every couple of days to check on him.

Bacon's acting is powerful, but he'll probably get ignored by the Academy this year, as the movie's subject hasn't been easy to market. The movie is uncomfortable to watch, and nothing happens, but the dialogue is so smartly written and the actor's expressions are so well done that it's not easy to watch.
Sedgwick's is also notable, particularly when Walter tells her about his secret. She doesn't believes at first, and then she's obviously shocked and finally breaks down.

One of the best dramatic scenes I've ever seen comes near the end, when Walter is in the park sitting in a bench when Robin (Hannah Pilkes) comes and sits next to him.
Robin is a little girl, eleven years old, and we saw her before in a previous scene when Walter met her while she was watching birds. But they're alone now, and Walter has just been terribly upset after he was once again insulted and treated like shit by Sgt. Lucas. We are scared about what could happen.
They just talk though, there is no physical contact at all, but the conversation is about physical contact, about molestation, and we know that Walter could go crazy any minute. It's a nerve wrecking scene, sometimes even sick to watch, and it's just dialogue.

That's the kind of movie Writer and Director Nicole Kassell made, so well acted and filmed that even with this subject, we just can't look away from the screen.

Elektra

I'll start with my background regarding this movie: I really liked DareDevil, the only complain I had was Kingpin when Michael Clarke Duncan was cast, and then again when the last fight was so lame, but overall I really liked it. I also love Jennifer Garner, and though I've never seen a single episode of Alias, I've loved her in everything else. Loved 13 Going on 30 last year.
I've never read an Elektra comic book, basically because I just don't read comic books. Despite that, I knew little about the character of Elektra before the DareDevil movie, while I knew everything about DareDevil and lots and lots of the Marvel heroes.
Finally, the trailer for Elektra was kinda stupid (the tiger getting out of a man's body), I still had hopes for the movie. There were supposed to be Ninjas and it had Jennifer Garner, Elektra could be good... but not. It's one of the worst movies I've seen in my life, and it's probably the worst movie we'll see this year, I'm predicting it right now. It's pure shit.

The story is just like the trailers showed us: Elektra is sent to kill a guy (Mark) and his daughter (Abby), but they befriend her. The bad guys then send other assassins, and Elektra needs to defend Mark and Abby from them.
Of course, there's a twist, I mean, why would someone want to kill Mark and Abby? and what happens is just so bad that it was really painful to watch. It wasn't even funny.

And the Ninjas? Well, there are only two ninjas that actually fight Elektra, and they're so lame that the first one dies even before starting the fight.
Then we have the real bad guy, the one behind it all, Roshi, played by the guy who played Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat (!). He's ok, but just cause he's in the movie for 10 minutes. He's old to fight now, so we have his son, and the son's posse: a black guy that appears to be holding a candle in his hand all the time, and he walks weird; a big fat Chinese/black guy whose body is made of stone as bullets nor Elektra's Sai Daggers do anything to him; a woman who sucks life out of living things; and tattoo, the one guy in the trailer, with (of course!) tattoos in his body. He has the ability to bring these tattoos to life and they (a bird, snakes and a wolf) can attack Elektra or whoever is in front of them. This guy is one of the worst characters ever made.
And the ways they die is just stupid, no cool fights or anything. Elektra just breaks their necks while they're doing yoga, or she throws a Sai from a mile away and it hits them in the head and they die. They're supposed to be this big badass enemies, but they're just lame.
Roshi's son is pretty lame too, he fights Elektra twice, and he kicks her ass, but then of course she hits him just once and he dies. And how do they die? Same as Mortal Kombat again (seriously, this could've been MK3 if they had named the main character Sonya Blade), this green smoke comes out of their bodies and they disappear.
But the even worse character in the movie is Elektra's sensei. I can't remember his name right now but every time he talked it was just awful. Horrible lines giving advice or predicting what was going to happen. Just pathetic.

Finally Elektra herself, as I mentioned before, I loved Jennifer Garner last year in 13 Going on 30, she was radiant with beauty, funny and totally adorable. Here she's this really pissed off girl who's got this angry face all the time. From start to end. She just smiled twice in the movie after 2 kissing scenes that are there just to show us that she's not a robot since there's not relationship at all, and she laughs also twice in the movie, after a joke with Abby (to a friendship between the two of them) and then again with Abby at the end of the movie.

Overall, it's laughable and also painful, with nothing worth noting, just horrible to watch from start to end.

The Dreamers

It feels like an insult to call The Dreamers movie, it's a film, and a Bernardo Bertolucci film (who won an Oscar in 1988 for The Last Emperor). And I also feel ashamed it took me so long to see this true piece of art.

We follow the story of Matthew, it's 1968, and he's an American student in Paris. He doesn't know anybody, but his passion for the French cinema takes him to the Cinemateque every day, where he joins other cinephiles as they call themselves, and watch films, good, bad, old and new, and always sitting as close to the screen as possible, so they could be the first in the theatre to feel the scenes.
He soon forms a friendship with Isabelle and Theo, French twins who are cinephiles like him, and they're also devoted to politics, with Bertolucci re-enacting the student revolution of the times, as the Cinemateque was being closed by the government.
There's also erotism (at times via explicit sex), as the young friends share their passion for cinema, their sexual awakening, and love. I really loved the games they played, when someone would perform a scene of a film, and the other two then have to guess the name of the film, or they would be penalized, usually having to do some sexual act. But Bertolucci makes the scenes performed more special, as he shows us images of the actual film they're performing, usually from the 30s, 40s and 50s, wonderful films I'm afraid I'll never get to see.

The performances are excellent. I knew Michael Pitt from Larry Clark's also sexually charged Bullit, and he was good again in Murder by Numbers, before being wasted last year in The Village. But he's amazing here.
The French twins are Eva Green, a newcomer who had only worked in theatre before, and Louis Garrel, son of Director Phillippe Garrel, an old friend of Bertolucci's. They're both so good here, with Eva Green being a true discovery. She's so strong and sexy, and at times so vulnerable and fragile, specially after one of the first sexual scenes.
The three actors have an amazing chemistry, and you can see the passion and love in their faces.

Don't be turned off by the sex and nudity (and watch the director's true vision which is NC-17, don't waste it going for the R-Rated version), Bertolucci loves cinema, and he's giving us this true masterpiece, a must see for anyone who calls himself a film lover, a cinephile.

Hotel Rwanda

I'm going to open this by saying that Hotel Rwanda is the most powerful movie of 2004, after The Passion of the Christ though the latter for different reasons.
Writer/Director Terry George created this masterpiece based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, who saved more than 1200 people during the Rwandan genocide in the 90s.

Paul is played by Don Cheadle, who gives such a strong performance, that I was picking him as the surprise to get the Oscar for Best Actor. Of course, I that was before seeing Ray earlier today, so now he could still surprise, but I don't think Jamie Foxx is going to lose.
But Cheadle plays it so great, keeping it together to manage the hotel, but also concerned about protecting his family, and then everybody else. Really excellent.
Sophie Okonedo also gives a strong performance as Tatiana, Paul's wife, and Nick Nolte and Joaquin Phoenix play small roles to put some known names in the movie, and they're good.

There are many heart breaking scenes in the movie, and it all looks so real that you can't help but get goosebumps, or even shed a tear, starting with the scene when the American troops come to rescue all the Americans and they leave all the Rwandans behind, including little children.

I compare Cheadle's performance here and his chance to win the Oscar to Adrien Brody's win a few years ago for The Pianist, a movie that much like Hotel Rwanda, is based on a true story about people suffering a genocide.
I also predict Hotel Rwanda to get the fifth spot for Best Picture of the year after The Aviator, Sideways, Million Dollar Baby and Finding Neverland.

White Noise

Batman and Beetlejuice had something in common (besides the genius of Tim Burton), and that was Michael Keaton. The guy is a genius. Sure, he had lots of misses in his career, but he's great. And he's back with horror movie that delivers. It's good.

The trailer for White Noise was good, it explained what E.V.P. (Electronic Voice Phenomena) was and showed a few of the scares in the movie (via E.V.P. examples), but other than that, there was nothing about the actual story in the movie, and that was great, cause we go into the movie eager to learn about E.V.P., and what's Michael Keaton doing with it.

Keaton's wife dies, and starts communicating with him via E.V.P., and at the same time and using the same medium, she shows him scenes from other crimes so he can stop them and help.
I have admit though, that I didn't understand lots of stuff, specifically about the ghosts, since they didn't have anything to do with the crimes, and the ending doesn't explain it.
People are comparing it to Kevin Costner's Dragonfly, and yeah, it's a good comparison, but the E.V.P. makes it more interesting. Also, I'd like to name The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake a few years ago, which I loved, mostly because it just kept me electrified the whole running time, and White Noise, despite a few scenes of Keaton just staring at the static in the TV, works in the same way.

Overall, the story works, it keeps you watching the whole time, the E.V.P. stuff is scary, and Keaton rules, which adds up to a good, worth seeing movie.

Kinsey

The tagline for this Bill Condon written and directed biopic is "Let's Talk about Sex", and that's great, but when the movie doesn't talk about sex, it becomes boring, despite its great performances.

Liam Neeson plays Alfred Kinsey, who leave his passion for gall wasps (some insects) aside, and start researching about sex. The movie has brought up so much controversy, as Kinsey researched about, taught about sex to students, and even wrote best selling books, but always having problems because of the barriers he was breaking.
Neeson is great, as is Laura Linney who plays his wife Clara. Also great is Peter Sarsgaard, who plays Kinsey's assistant Clyde, who at one point was his and Clara's lover.
There's a bunch of good performances besides those three like John Lithgow who plays Kinsey's father, Chris O'Donnell and Timothy Hutton who also play assistants, and Oliver Platt and Tim Curry playing Kinsey's colleagues in the University.

Kinsey's story is a good one (despite him saying in the movie that it would be stupid to make a movie about himself) and for the first hour is great and entertaining, as Kinsey teach his students about sex, and see him and his assistants researching. Also good was the chemistry between Neeson, Linney and Sarsgaard which made their scenes together very good.
After that first hour, the movie slows down, as Kinsey starts having problems because of is books, and also having health problems, which made the movie end in a more serious note that kind of made me not completely like it.
There was another great performance towards the end, which should've been how the movie ended, and it was Oscar Nominee and Golden Globe Winner Lynn Redgrave, who appears in the movie for a very powerful scene that puts Kinsey high up there and makes him a true savior.

Earlier today I filled out an Oscar Predictions card, and I nominated the leads of Kinsey: Neeson for Best Actor and Linney for Best Supporting Actress. None of them winning. I also put Saarsgard as my 6th Supporting Actor with David Carradine (Kill Bill vol2) getting the 5th spot. I hadn't seen the movie when I filled it out, so I was just talking using reviews and word of mouth as reference for them three. After watching the movie now, I still think it'll go that way, with Neeson being the one who could probably be left out. His performance is great, but the second half is too problematic which made it not so enjoyable, and there were many other great to excellent performances this year.