Oscars

So, I’m not going to mouth off about this too much, but:

Slumdog won Best Picture and Best Director (amongst MANY others – some deserved, some surprising).

Now I’m torn about Best Director. I absolutely adore Boyle, and I think he’s one of the best directors out there, but he just has NOT made a remarkable film. Of all of his films that are closest to greatness, Trainspotting is it. I love Shallow Grave, and I think 28 Days Later is easily the most intelligent zombie related film you’ll ever see. So, on that basis I suppose we can say he ‘deserves’ it. But then, what about Aranofsky? Pi, Requiem, The Fountain, The Wrestler? Doesn’t he on that basis ‘deserve’ it? Either way, I can’t argue much about Boyle. He’s a really good director, so here’s to hoping he sooner rather than later makes a mind-numbing film.

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire.

That left me gobsmacked. I should’ve expected it, but fucking hell. Now make no mistake, I like the film, but Best Film means a film that changes you, that inspires you, a film that when you watch a decade from now will still stir whatever is inside of you. SDM is good, but it is NOT that.

The Wrestler was that, maybe even Milk. But Slumdog? Maybe I keep missing what the ‘criteria’ for Best Film seems to be. I mean after all, Crash won it a year or two ago as well didn’t it? Good, but not great films. There were times when SDM was obvious and almost seemed to charter Bollywood territory – and not good bollywood. It seemed to also be packaged for Hollywood specially (I dunno if that was Boyle’s intent or not).

Not to mention that two of this year’s best movies weren’t even nominated; The Wrestler and Gran Torino.

Best Actor: Sean Penn.

Again, as with Boyle, Sean Penn is a fantastic actor, and probably ‘deserves’ an oscar in his lifetime. This year, though, Mickey Rourke was so far above his competition it wasn’t even funny. It really, really rankles my mind sometimes.

I can only hope that this time around Rourke intends on staying around…

RocknRolla

Okay, for starters, what’s up with the title? Has to be amongst the shittest movie titles I’ve ever read. Put me off for the longest time – though the fact that I confused it with a bollywood movie (the one about ‘rock music’, whichever one that was, didn’t help.

Anyway, I realized it’s by Guy Ritchie and thought I’d give it a shot. One thing that was obvious even before I’d finished, um, downloading the movie, was that it was going to be like Snatch/Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. That is, it’d be a crime/comedy flick with entwining characters and multiple story archs that start out separate but all mould into one last sequence where, like a disgusting epiphany you have on the commode, everything falls into place.

There are lots of directors that are complete hacks (Michael Bay, step away from the CGI effects. NOW), but few are hacks yet at the same time rather good at what they do. Ritchie, happens to be one of them. He’s a one trick pony, without a doubt, but what a trick it is. If ever there were  brilliant popcorn flicks, Snatch/Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels/RocknRolla must be amongst them.

The humour, as always, is top notch. The movie has some Russians in it too, and I don’t know if it’s just my mind being warped for some inexplicable reason, but I find Russian rather sexy – in a non-gay way – on men. They’re harsh, and worn, but unlike German it’s filled to the brim with emotion and well, the toils of Russian winters. German accents are – to be stereotypical – mechanic, bereft of emotion; a German man speaking furiously isn’t frightening. But Russian, well, that’s a different ballgame. It’s almost as if all their collective experienced harshness in the Gulags, in building St. Petersburg, in Stalingrad, in 1917 had all coalesced and given them the timbre and pitch in their voices and accents.

Anyway, the movie is pretty good and definitely worth watching. Not least because Thandie Newton is utterly gorgeous.

oh, and one more thing, is ‘Archie’ (Mark Strong) supposed to be Andy Garcia?

Flight of The Conchords

What a show.

“I feel like a prize asshole, no one even mentions my casserole”

“Did you watch the movie Pretty Woman?”
“No.”
“It’s about this prostitute…called Richard Gere.”

First episode from season 2 over at Joost

These are (well the youtube videos anyway) songs from the show, but the non-musical material is very very good too.