About a month ago I watched The Room for the first time and as expected it turned out to be the worst movie ever. I didn't care much though, after all I only watched it to really understand James Franco's The Disaster Artist, the comedy of the year, according to lots of people. The film is based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell's novel of the same name and is pretty much The Room's behind the scenes.
In 1998, Greg Sestero (Dave Franco), an aspiring film actor, meets Tommy Wiseau (James Franco), a weird and mysterious guy, in an acting class. Greg is immediately drawn by Tommy's fearless and the fact that he just doesn't care about what other people think of him. They soon become friends and they move to Los Angeles to pursue their dream of becoming famous movie stars. Rejection after rejection, they decide to make a film together, The Room, but it won't be all roses.
Unlike in Tommy Wiseau's movie where literally nothing happens after the second sex scene, The Disaster Artist has an engaging and fun plot that doesn't waste time with useless subplots. To those claiming that Amber (Greg's ex-girlfriend) didn't move the plot forward and added absolutely anything to the film, you're wrong. As little as her part in the story was, she highlights how important the friendship with Tommy was for Greg. Even despite their clashes.
The behind the scenes, the story of Tommy Wiseau, this mysterious forty-something Easter European who passes himself off as a twenty-something from New Orleans, and the heartwarming friendship that forms between him and Greg all are tremendously fascinating, the latter also being the heart of the story. A heartfelt and kinda moving story that encourages the viewer to chase one's own dreams, to never give up because there will always be something or someone that will try to stop you from doing what you want to do.
The Disaster Artist also manages to be insanely hilarious. There's a lot of stupid but exhilarating humour (some requires the viewing of The Room to work though) that has its charms, and the imitation of scenes from The Room works wonderfully. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I watched a movie and laughed so hard my stomach would hurt.
A24, Warner Bros. Pictures
And I'm yet to talk about my favorite part of the film and probably its best part as well. The acting. James Franco gives the performances of his career. His portrayal of Tommy Wiseau is simply magnificent. He captures all the weirdness and eccentricities of this mysterious individual without being offensive. He delivers every single line as the real Wiseau would do. He has the same posture, the same weird and inconsistent accent, he walks like him and he laughs like him. Franco did such a marvelous job that when I showed my mother clips from both movies she thought it was the same guy. Also, his performance is consistently amazing both in comedic and dramatic scenes, the latter being the most powerful.
The other big star of The Disaster Artist is James Franco's little brother, Dave. He comes nowhere near James (he's never been and will never be at this level in my opinion), but he does a really good job as Greg, the more grounded and normal of the two, and their chemistry is unsurprisingly perfect. A special mention goes to some actors having nothing but a cameo in this, both playing characters from The Room. One is Jacki Weaver as Lisa's mother, the other is Zac Efron as Chris-R. He is in the film for like 5 second but he is very intense. Who would have thought he could impress me so much.
The Trader [Sovdagari] (2018) The Trader [Sovdagari] debuts February 9
Gela sells secondhand clothes and household items from the back of his minibus while trekking across the Eastern European country, Georgia in search of potatoes. Money is meaningless in this market, potatoes are lucrative. Young and old peer in the truck, their eyes lighting up at the sight of modern conveniences like sponges and lint brushes. It's a riddle that pits rural value against urban valuation, dirt versus gold. Directed by Tamta Gabrichidze, it is part of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival shorts program.
An American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and musician, Armisen is widely known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2002 until 2013. He has portrayed characters in comedy films, including EuroTrip, Anchorman, and Cop Out. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen is the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series Portlandia.
More than 10 years ago I bought Joseph Joffo's A Bag of Marbles. I was supposed to read it for school but I never finished it because I wasn't a big fan of reading at the time and I didn't like the book at all. I've given it another try a couple of weeks ago and, while I finished it this time, it wasn't anything special. Just an average novel about the horrible fate of Jews during World War II and therefore I didn't have high expectations for A Bag of Marbles (French: Un sac de billes). Somehow it still managed to let me down.
The film tells the story of 10-year-old Joseph (Dorian Le Clech) and 12-year-old Maurice Joffo (Batyste Fleurial), two Jewish brothers, who are forced to separate from their family in order to escape Nazi-occupied Paris. On their journey, they meet all kinds of people, good and bad, and in a way or another, they'll help them reunite with their family.
It's not a fictional story, but Joffo's memoirs and he wrote down what he could remember so I won't complain much about the fact that the story doesn't flow very smoothly and jumps from place to place, although this being a film I was expecting a better job. But I will say that director Christian Duguay and screenwriter Jonathan Allouche were able to make the story unengaging and not so interesting to me.
However, what really bugged me about A Bag of Marbles is that it's a story about the strong bond between two brothers who can rely on each other and cannot trust anyone else; the film doesn't deliver that. Their relationship is bland, far from being the soul of the film as it was for the novel. These kids manage to survive in a world of adult, war and anti-semitism because of the strong bond between them but it just doesn't come off in the film.
Gaumont Film Company
Another aspect that doesn't quite come off is the differences between the two brothers. Joseph is naive and has a hard time understanding the reality of war, Maurice, on the other hand, is intelligent and mature. In the film, they barely emerge. Joseph is whimpering all the time because he misses his parents, while Maurice looks pissed all the time.
There's some very enjoyable about this film though, it's Patrick Bruel's performance. He plays Roman Joffo, the father, with such passion and commitment, and delivers the love and pain of a father who must separate from his kids. His scenes are quite emotional.
It's the last Thursday of the month and you know what that means? It's time for another Television Edition of Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. This week we are asked to pick TV series that were adapted from books.
Without further ado, here are my picks:
Game of Thrones (2011- ) based on A Song of Ice and Fire by R. R. Martin
In the mythical lands of Westeros, several powerful families fight for the control of the Seven Kingdoms. There are dragons, psychopaths, a lot of sex and betrayal in this one. It has decreased quality over the seasons but I still enjoy watching it.
Is it a good adaptation? Kinda. As I said, I really like the show, but I've read the book (only the first one so far) after watching it and it's better. If I had read the book first I would have probably been disappointed.
House of Cards (2013- ) based on House of Cards by Michael Dobbs
It follows congressman Frank Underwood as he makes his way to the White House. Mainly by killing people. Literally. This is one of my favourites shows. It's clever and has a great cast. Although I'm a fan of Spacey, I'm really looking forward to the new season without him. Finally Claire gets the screen time she deserves.
Is it a good adaptation? Yes. It's even better than the books which I loved but I just can't seem to bring myself to read the 3rd one. I'm kinda ashamed of myself for that because I bought it almost 3 years ago.
Mr. Mercedes (2017- ) based on Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
A psychopath drives a stolen Mercedes into a crowd of job seekers at a job fair and retired cop Bill Hodges tries to bring him down. The plot isn't very strong but the show is thrilling and it the cast does a very good job.
Is it a good adaptation? Yes. I've been waiting for this series for years, literally, and the wait did pay off. It isn't always faithful to the book but it's good enough to make me excited for season 2 which is going to be based on Finders Keepers, the second book of the trilogy.
Recently AMPAS announced the nominations for the 2018 edition of the Oscars honoring films released in 2017. The announcement was made by Tiffany Haddish and Andy Serkis; Haddish performance was not really adequate to be reading the most famous, most expected award nominations where names mean everything for those being honored with an Oscar nomination.
Nevertheless, Haddish and Serkis announced online the nominees in 11 categories at 5:22am PT, with pre-taped category introductions by Academy members Priyanka Chopra, Rosario Dawson, Gal Gadot, Salma Hayek, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Molly Shannon, Rebel Wilson and Michelle Yeoh. Haddish and Serkis announced online and live TV in many countries of the world, the remaining 13 categories at 5:38 a.m. PT. Will not deny that highly enjoyed the format of the first part where categories were introduced with a short video exemplifying what the category was all about and starring female actors. Perhaps because was the first video or maybe because I like Gal Gadot but for me her video was the best category presentation.
As the nominees were announced had some gasps with unexpected nominees but before the second part started already knew (and confirmed what everyone was expecting) The Shape of Water was going to have the most nominations as was collecting noms in almost all craft/tech categories. So, nope, no surprise when film was named leader of the pack and perhaps was a bit surprised of the 13 nominations and the distance to number 2, Dunkirk which collected 8.
There are so much to say about the nominations as there are many notable issues, so will have to order my thoughts to be able to mention a few. Believe none is more notorious than having a female cinematographer nominated for the first time ever! Which means that in the past 89 years of Academy Awards there was NO female cinematographer nominated!!! As her work in Mudbound is remarkable, Rachel Morrison absolutely deserved this and more honors that no doubt will come her way. Then there is also very-well-deserved nomination to Greta Gerwig, who becomes the 5th female director to be nominated in 90 years of AMPAS history and the first female director to land a nomination with her directorial debut. Most remarkable are Mary J. Blige who becomes the first woman to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Song in the same year.
This edition has also a remarkable milestone as is the first time the Academy honors a trans director, Yance Ford with his documentary Strong Island and there is a film starring a trans actress with a nomination, Daniela Vega in The Fantastic Woman. So, not only in gender there were broken barriers but also in a LGBT minority.
Even if I question the reason why Christopher Nolan got a nomination for Dunkirk, will not deny the fact that is about time Nolan gets a nomination! Yes, it's the first he ever gets. Unbelievable, isn't? There are a couple of his films that deserved his nomination as more clearly showcased his directorial outstanding skills, but well, the Academy is famous for doing this kind of honor for the wrong film. Sigh. Yes, Meryl Streep becomes the actor with the most nominations breaking once again her own Oscar record; it's her 21st Academy Award nomination. But as much nods Streep has she's not the top individual with Oscar nominations, the title belongs to composer John Williams who just got his 51st nomination.
If we go on with people records there is one that's notable as no one doubts the outstanding cinematography by Roger Deakins -in so many films- who just earned his 14th nomination and has won NO Oscar. That's odd, isn't? One of the biggest surprises was Paul Thomas Anderson nomination, who now becomes the most nominated non-tech filmmaker without an Oscar as there is no writer, director or actor who has more nominations (8) without a win.
On top, age had a milestone as none other that Christopher Plummer (88) becomes the oldest Oscar acting nominee in history. Also 22-years-old Timothee Chalamet is the youngest Best Actor nominee in almost 80 years as record-holder 19-years-old Mickey Rooney got a nomination in 1944.
There are more first-ever like Logan being the first live-action superhero movie nominated for its screenplay, Lebanon gets it's first-ever nomination, Octavia Spencer became the only black actress to follow up an Oscar victory with two nominations, and more, but will stop here.
The major snub for me is in the documentary category as is hard to understand why Jane was not nominated after getting so-many honors in current awards season -still I'm hopeful now Faces Places could win and Agnes Varda will become the first person to win an Honorary and a Competitive Oscar in the same year. Fatih Akin's In The Fade got snubbed after collecting some honors, sigh. Alright there was no spot left but yes, agree with those who say Florence Pugh's powerhouse performance in Lady Macbeth deserved a Best Actress spot.
Will not get into who will win as hope to do traditional Oscar predictions, but we all know there are some categories that have to be locked and we all know the winner. The only disruption to sure-things is the inclusion of Phantom Thread, which have to figure out how could influence Academy voters decision.
The Nominations
Best Motion Picture of the Year Call Me by Your Name Darkest Hour Dunkirk Get Out Lady Bird Phantom Thread The Post The Shape of Water Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year The Boss Baby The Breadwinner Coco Ferdinand Loving Vincent
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Una Mujer Fantástica (A Fantastic Woman), Sebastián Lelio, Chile قضية رقم ٢٣ (aka قضية رقم 23) L'Insulte (The Insult), Ziad Doueiri, Lebanon Нелюбовь Nelyubov (Loveless), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia Testről és lélekről (On Body and Soul), Ildikó Enyedi, Hungary The Square, Ruben Östlund, Sweden
Best Documentary Feature Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Steve James, USA Visages, Villages (Faces Places), JR and Agnes Varda, France Icarus, Bryan Fogel, USA Last Men in Aleppo, Firas Fayyad, Steen Johannessen and Hasan Kattan, Denmark and Syria Strong Island, Yance Ford, USA
Achievement in directing Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk Jordan Peele for Get Out Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water
Performance by an actress in a leading role Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water Frances McDormand in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Margot Robbie in I, Tonya Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird Meryl Streep in The Post
Performance by an actress in supporting role Mary J. Blige in Mudbound Allison Janey in I, Tonya Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water
Performance by an actor in a leading role Timothee Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Performance by an actor in a supporting role Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the World Sam Rockwell in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Adapted screenplay James Ivory for Call Me by Your Name Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for The Disaster Artist Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Mike Green for Logan Aaron Sorkin for Molly's Game Virgil Williams and Dee Rees for Mudbound
Original screenplay Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani for The Big Sick Jordan Peele for Get Out Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor for The Shape of Water Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Achievement in cinematography Roger A. Deakins for Blade Runner 2049 Bruno Delbonnel for Darkest Hour Hoyte van Hoytema for Dunkirk Rachel Morrison for Mudbound Dan Laustsen for The Shape of Water
Achievement in visual effects John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover for Blade Runner 2049 Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus for Kong: Skull Island Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanian and Chris Corbould for Star Wars: The Last Jedi Jon Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist for War for the Planet of the Apes
Achievement in film editing Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos for Baby Driver Lee Smith for Dunkirk Tatiana S. Riegel for I, Tonya Sidney Wolinsky for The Shape of Water Jon Gregory for Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Achievement in production design Beauty and the Beast Blade Runner 2049 Darkest Hour Dunkirk The Shape of Water
Achievement in costume design Jaqueline Durran for Beauty and the Beast Jaqueline Durran for Darkest Hour Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread Luis Sequeira for The Shape of Water Consolata Boyle for Victoria & Abdul
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick for Darkest Hour Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard for Victoria & Abdul Arjen Tuiten for Wonder
Achievement in sound editing Julian Slater for Baby Driver Mark Mangini and Theo Green for Blade Runner 2049 Richard King and Alex Gibson for Dunkirk Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira for The Shape of Water Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce for Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Achievement in sound mixing Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis for Baby Driver Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth for Blade Runner 2049 Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo for Dunkirk Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier for The Shape of Water David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson for Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original Score) Hans Zimmer for Dunkirk Jonny Greenwood for Phantom Thread Alexandre Desplat for The Shape of Water John Williams for Star Wars: The Last Jedi Carter Burwell for Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original Song) Mighty River from Mudboud Mystery of Love from Call Me by Your Name Remember Me from Coco Stand Up for Something from Marshall This is Me from The Greatest Showman
Short Films
Best live action short film DeKalb Elementary, Reed Van Dyk, USA The Eleven O'Clock, Derin Seale, Australia My Nephew Emmett, Kevin Wilson Jr., USA The Silent Child, Chris Overton, UK Watu Wote: All of Us, Katja Benrath, Germany and Kenya
Best animated short film Dear Basketball, Glen Keane, USA Garden Party, Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon, Florian Babikian, Vincent Bayoux, Theophile Dufresne and Lucas Navarro, France Lou, Dave Mullins, USA Negative Space, Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, France Revolting Rhymes, Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, UK
Best documentary short subject Edith+Eddie, Laura Checkoway, USA Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, Frank Stiefel, USA Heroin(e), Elaine McMillion Sheldon, USA Knife Skills, Thomas Lennon, USA Traffic Stop, Gina Kamentsky and Julie Zammarchi, USA
To check nominations at official site go here (pdf file) or here. Active members of the Academy (7,258 as of 12/21/17) are eligible to vote for the winners in all 24 categories beginning Tuesday, February 20 through Tuesday, February 27.
The Oscars hosted by Jimmy Kimmel will be held on Sunday, March 4, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood and will be televised on ABC at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT. The awards show will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
