Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Seventy-Seven: Bad Bad Bette

Returning to the 1942 ceremony here with the third and final collobaration between Bette Davis and director William Wyler. Wyler and Davis worked on Jezebela and The Letter, which I will watch eventually but The Little Foxes would see their relationship crumble. The film itself concerns the Hubbard family brothers Oscar and Ben and sister Regina, played by Davis. Regina has married the wealthy Horace becaue, as a woman, she isn't considered equal to her brothers. Meanwhile Oscar has married the dippy Birdie who is extremely kind but Oscar has broken her spirit and she drinks regularly. Oscar married Birdie for her family's land and he and Ben now plan to build a cotton mill on that land. However they are short and come to Regina for the rest of the money, she says she will get it from Horace but she wants a larger share than her brothers if she does. Horace refuses to give his wife the money so the brothers concoct a plan to steal Horace's bonds from the bank enlisting Oscar's simpleton son who works there. When Horace finds out he doesn't tell the police instead letting the brothers take the bonds which enrages Regina who wants to use the theft to bribe her brothers. Just then the sickly Horace has a heart attack and Regina leaves him instead of getting his pills. He dies and she manages to bribe her brothers and get her larger share in the business but in the process loses her daughter Alexandra who is upset about her father's death and absconds with her suitor David.

I would say The Little Foxes is a film you could definitely define as a 'women's film'. The male characters are either greedy (Oscar and Ben), thick (Leo) or kind but sick (Horace). In fact the character of David had to be created to add another sympathetic male to the story but even David isn't perfect and can't hold his tongue over his hatred of the Hubbard family. The three female leads all recieved Oscar nods again Davis plays a monstrous woman who is battling for equal rights for women but going about it the entirely wrong way. Teresa Wright's Alexandra is the film's moral compass, as Alexandra she is grown out of a childlike admiration for her mother and realises that her family isn't as perfect as she once though. While Patricia Collinge as Birdie gives a multi-layered peformance of a very sweet women who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown thanks to her husband Oscar's constant berating of her. In her final scene she has a mini-breakdown and it is one of the film's best and most heartbreaking scenes. The sets are brilliant with Regina and Horace's house particularly lavish however this is where Davis and Wyler fell out as she didnt think that a family who had money problems would afford a place like this. Davis did eventually quit the picture but when Wyler threatened to sue her for the cost of the film she came back and finished but didn't do a splashdash job at all. The film got eight nominations but won none of them and this was another film that lost out to the inferior How Green Was My Valley. A very good melodrama its a shame that Wyler and Davis never worked together again because this film is expertly made and brilliantly played.

Review: The Karate Kid

Were the 1980s that long ago that all the T.V. and films from that era have to be re-made? It seems so with a Footloose remake on the way and the A-Team movie already out another popular franchise has been re-made or 're-imagined' and that being the Karate Kid. The plots of the 2010 Karate Kid and the 1984 original are very similar: a boy moves out of his home with his mother to a new home, there he meets a girl he likes but angers a local gang who beat him up, he is saved by the quiet janitor who knows martial arts, they are challenged by the trainer of the bullies to a fight at the tournament so the janitor trains the young boy up so he can compete. However the similarties end there because the film feels a lot lighter and more innocent than the original thanks to the difference in age between Ralph Maccio and new Karate Kid Jaden (son of Will) Smith. Because Jaden is only 12 in the film, the romantic aspect is taken out and replaced by a cutsie friendship between Smith's Dre and young violinist Mei Ying. Usually a friendship like this would make me physically sick but Smith's charm means that it is lightly done and is never rammed down the audience's throats. However the main difference is that instead of the move across America, Dre and his mother have moved to China and also that the original film's karate has actually been changed to Kung Fu but again this doesn't really matter as the film's basic structure remains the same. Finally the janitor Mr Miagyi has been replaced by Jackie Chan's Mr. Han, again an old man who is skilled in the martial arts and at the same time has some secrets in his past.

I have to say I enjoyed The Karate Kid a lot more than I thought I would. A lot of that is down to Jaden Smith who is on screen throughout, he shares his dad's skill of being quitely cool and charming at the same time and if he picks the right roles should make the transformation from child to adult actor with ease. But it is Jackie Chan that is the revelation, it is the first time that I have seen Chan portray a mostly dramatic role in a Western film. He gives almost a subtle performance to begin with and I barely recognised him in his opening scenes. Both Smith and Chan are able to give a lot of warmth to the relationship between Han and Dre which is at the film's heart and possibly the film's best scene is where Han breaks down and tells Dre what happened to his kids. The film's not perfect, at over two hours long it could do with trimming about 15 minutes off its runtime. For me there were far too many sweeping shots of Chinese landscape and I also found the character of Dre's Mother, played by Taraji P Henson, to be underwritten basically becoming a one-note character whose job it was to yell at Dre at regular intervals thorughout the film. We also never found out what happened to Dre's father who died before the film began, I felt this revelation would have added to the narrative and given more depth to Dre's character.

Overall though this film reminded me of the films I watched when I was growing up. Unlike most other films aimed at teen males, this one doesn't seem to exist purely to sell merchandise instead telling a story with themes of family, friendship and belonging and almost teaching its audience certain values. As this did so well at the Box Office in America a sequel is still being touted with rumors of Will starring alongside his son. Here's hoping that that does happen and that Smith sr. performs a cover of the Peter Cetera classic The Glory of Love.

Review: Toy Story 3

It seems that the Pixar group are on a bit of a roll as of late with 2008's sublime Wall-E and 2009's heartwarming Up, this year they are returning to where it all began with the third in the Toy Story trilogy. The film's central theme is what happens when we grow up and saying goodbye to the things and people we love. It is particularly apt as the Toy Story audience will have grown up with the films, indeed I was 11 when the first film came out 15 years ago and now I'm... not. The basic plot sees Woody, Buzz et al worried about their fates when Andy goes to college, thinking they'll be thrown away they organise it so they get sent to the Sunnnyside Daycare Centre. But Woody believes that Andy still needs them so tries to get back home while the other toys discover that Sunnyside isn't quite what they think it is. The film combines styles at its heart it is a coming-of-age story and a film all about friendship and what the toys mean to each other. But director Lee Unrick and new screenwriter Michael 'Little Miss Sunshine' Arndt combine a variety of styles so families can enjoy it together. The film borrows from a lot of different prison break films and indeed there is one scene with a talking telephone which is just hilarious. There is also some hints to the Zorro films and to horror movies in general which work into the story so well rather than feeling forced, something that happens a lot in the Dreamworks films.

The old characters don't change that much, apart from Buzz whose controls get changed at least twice in this film with hilarious results. Another character who is more prominent in this film is Estelle Harris' Mrs. Potato Head who is played as an always-complaining Jewish housewife and works very well with Don Rickles' Mr. Potato Head. There are two central new characters who join the franchise for the final film, the first being Ned Beatty's Lotso, a large pink bear who smells of strawberries and is in charge of the Daycare centre. The second is Michael Keaton's scene-stealing Ken who claims he is not a girl's toy yet marvels in dressing up in various outfits. Ken is a character that both children and adults will get to laugh at, kids will love his frantic manner while the adults will enjoy some of the more grown-up dialogue. A lot of other reviews have mentioned an emotional ending but, although I thought it was quite sweet, I think the end is about new beginnings rather than goodbyes and the Gypsy King's version of You Got a Friend in Me was a great way to end the film. As for the 3D element, I believe the technique has been used as an enhancement to the visual rather than anything else. You certainly don't notice it as much as you did in Avatar or Alice in Wonderland which may be a good thing but I don't know if I felt involved because of the 3D or just because of the perfectly crafted film.

You know by now what you're getting from a Pixar film, while I don't think its as good as the other two Toy Stories its still an excellent animated film which no-one will be disappointed to have seen. Full of warmth, wit and animated glory this is definitely a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Seventy Six: Post-War Blues

Even though all these films are over sixty years old some of them still resonate and are relevant in today's environment. That's especially true of the winner at the 1947 ceremony, The Best Years of Our Lives, which does in fact share some similarities with the final scenes of this year's winner The Hurt Locker. The film follows the post-war lives of three men who meet on a plane flying back to the small town in which they all live. They are Sergeant Al Stephenson played by Frederic March, Captain Fred Derry portrayed by Dana Andrews and navy man Homer who lost both arms during the war and now has hooks as replacements. Fred returns to find that Mary the girl he married just before the war has moved into an apartment of her own and is now working in a nightclub. Fred struggles to find work eventually returning to the drugstore where he was once employed he earns a pittance and finds himself working under the man who was his assistant before the war. The only joy he finds is in meeting Al's daughter Peggy who helps him when he has nightmares, he falls for her but thinks he has a duty to Marie. After getting fired from the drugstore and finding out about Marie's other man he moves away and ends up helping at a building scheme to turn old scrapped airplanes into new buildings. Meanwhile Al has developed a bit of a drinking problem but is helped through it by his long suffering wife Milly, played by Myrna Loy, as wel as his two children. Al is promoted at the bank where he works because of his military service but later gives a loan to a former soldier who has no colaterall and is criticised by his boss. Homer's story is possibly the most interesting although he has lost both of his hands he still wants to be as indepedent as possible. His family and his 'girl' Wilma both try and act like they're find with what has happened but are both secretly upset. One of the film's most heartbreaking scenes is where Homer shows Wilma how helpless he his without his hands and that he always needs someone to help him before he goes to bed. This is meant to warn Wilma off but she decides to stick with Homer and the final scene is their wedding where Al and Millie are guests and Fred is the best man. The final shot is of Peggy and Fred's eyes meeting across the room and finally embracing as the film ends.

The film's title The Best Years of Our Lives refers to a line in the film spoken by Marie in which she tells Fred that she gave up the best years of her life for him. But I think generally it refers to the time that three men spent in the war, that was the best years of their lives and now they are struggling to get their lives back on track. I mentioned The Hurt Locker because it resonated with the final scenes in which the Jeremy Renner character decided that he couldn't live his mundane life and decided to return to action. And indeed the men here find their lives mundane and things have changed a lot. The performances are faultless with two of the three leads winning Oscars for their roles. Frederic March won the Lead Actor Oscar however I would argue that Dana Andrews possibly desreved it more because Fred's journey is a lot bigger than Al's and Andrews gives a stunning portrayal of a man who just isn't coping. Harold Russell, as Homer, won Best Supporting Actor and also a Special Award for bringing hope and comfort for veterans who had been injured in the war. In fact Russell wasn't a professional actor and was spotted in a documentary about wounded serviceman by director William Wyler. Having found that out after watching the movie I'm suprised as Russell's performance was absolutely captivating, and he is only one of two non-actors to win an acting Oscar, the other being Haing S Ngor for The Killing Fields.

After the last two Oscar winning films I watched turning out to be fairly ordinary or overly theatrical its nice to watch a film that truly deserved all of the accolades that were given to it. A truly amazing piece of work that I would recommend to anyone.

Review: Knight and Day

If you put a big dollop of Roger Moore era Bond, add a pinch of some of the Bourne films exterior action shots, pepper in a bit of Romancing the Stone's comic dialogue and the bit where Tom Cruise rides the motorbike in Mission Impossible and you kind of get the idea of what Knight and Day is trying to do. Although this is a spy film and its very much about Tom Cruise's Roy Miller, possibly the most American name ever, most of the film follows Cameron Diaz's innocent bystander June. June and Roy meet on a plane which crashes after Roy shoots everyone on it, because they're after him he then drugs June. The next day June's life starts to unravel as she is chased by the FBI and then tracked down by Roy as he tries to outrace both the bureau and some international arms dealers. Like with The A-Team there is a ridiculous MacGuffin, this time its a battery that can control the energy of the whole world or something and its kept in a little tin knight, hence Knight and Day. But this film is mainly about the shooting, the glamorous locations (Austria, Spain, the Tropics) and the chemistry between the two leads. Cruise and Diaz do have a little something going on which may be because they worked together almost ten years ago on Vanilla Sky. Cruise is actually fairly impressive almost revisiting his Top Gun days as he adds an ounce of boyish charm and even a slice of wit to Roy. But Diaz isn't on form and at times outdoes Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man in terms of whining on at a leading man in action film. The fact we have to buy into the premise that Diaz is a mechanic who restores old cars in the first place kind of drizzles away when we find out how stupid and underwritten the character is.

However there is a sense of fun throughout the film which both The A-Team and The Losers lost in their second halves. The international locales allow for some novel set pieces including a fight on a train involving some sausages, a rooftop scurmish over Austria and a car chase during the Running of The CGI Bulls in Spain. The supporting cast has been comprised of actors, such as Paul Dano, Viola Davis and Peter Sarsgaard, who are more known for their roles in weightier films which does earn the film a little bit of pull. The script is incredibly lazy, the entire motivation for what most of the characters do is given as expositional speech for Tom Cruise to deliver in about two minutes. Roy also drugs June from time to time, and she always ends up in a different location, which for me means that the screenwriter couldn't think of any way from getting the characters from one location to another. But if you don't think too hard and want just a brainless summer romp I would recommend this over any of this season's offerings so far but I think that may change when The Expendables is released.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Seventy-Five: It's all a bit mental

Although many people consider Alfred Hitchcock to be the greatest director of all time most of his most famous works, such as Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest and Vertigo, were never nomianted for Oscars. Instead only four of his pictures made betweeen 1940 and 1946 were nominated for Oscars. This was the period in which Hitch was working for David O Selznick something that he hated doing and eventually left to set up his own production company. The first of the four films was his only winner - Rebecca and the last of the four is the focus of this entry, that film being Spellbound. Spellbound focuses on Green Manners Mental Instution and specifically on Dr. Constance Peterson, played by Ingrid Bergman. Green Manners is having a change of direction as the head of the instution Dr. Murchinson is being replaced by a younger model in Gregory Peck's Dr. Edwards. However it soon emerges that Peck isn't who says he is and is a man with amnesia moonlighting as Edwards. Peterson decides to help Peck's character escape and try and find out what he's hiding and who he really is. She does this with the help of her old mentor Dr Brulov, played by an Oscar-nominated Michael Chekhov, who specialises in analysing dreams and piece by piece the puzzle comes togteher. To say anymore would be to ruin the film for those who haven't seen it however I would like to highlight two scenes. One is a dream that Peck has which Brulov and Peterson then analyse. The whole dream sequence is a masterclass in surrealism and responsibility for the scene was handed from Hitchcock over to surrealist Salvador Dali who brilliantly depicted someone's psyche although one of the scenes featuring Bergman as a statue didn't make the final cut. The other scene sees one of the characters pointing a gun at someone else, the shot is focused on the gun and as the character who the gun is focused on leaves the room we follow the gun as it is rotated around and pointed at the head of the person who is holding it. When the shot is fired the screen then goes red, the film's only splash of colour, which gives the death about significance.

Another thing that should be highlighted is Miklos Rosza's Oscar winning score, which is able to capture both the romantic and dramatic elements of the film and almost dominated the entire film at some points. Neither Bergman or Peck were nominated, although Bergman was nominated for another film, I think Peck overall didn't demonstrate his full potential as an actor while Bergman's performance was decent enough given Constance a cold edge which was easily thawed with the appearance of Peck. One of my main criticims is that I didn't really buy their romance which was one of the points that the film's narrative focused on and overall this film wasn't one of Hitchcock's best. But I'm glad I watch Spellbound as its one of the only Hitchcock films I've never seen and even though it's not one of Hitch's best its still a very well made and well concieved picture.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day Seventy-Four: Love is in the Air

Back to the 1940 ceremony again where there were still ten films in the running for Best Picture which meant there was still a lot of filler. Although 1940's list of films did have a lot of worthy contenders the next film on my list, Love Affair, just seems to be making up the numbers. The film is directed by Leo McCarey who previously won a Best Director Oscar for The Awful Truth and here is reunited with its female star Irene Dunne. Dunne stars as singer Terry McCay who meets French painter Michelle Marnet while on a liner across the Atlantic Ocean. Both are engaged to be married but after some screwball-comedy like banter they fall for each other and their relationship is blessed by Marnet's grandmother when they visit her while the liner is docked. They agree to meet at The Empire State Building but on the way there Terry is hit by a car and may be crippled. Terry is then tended to by Ken, the man she was engaged to, who knows she is still in love with Manet even though Ken is also love with her. Terry then starts to work at an orphanage teaching the little ones how to sing and helping them out at a Christmas concert. It is around that time that she and Ken got to the theatre and by chance Manet is also there. Manet thinks that Ken and Terry are together so blanks her but later on Christmas Day he goes to see her and in the film's final scene they reunite.

Love Affair is a very odd film, in the first twenty minutes or so it seems like McCarey, who also directed Ruggles of Red Gap, was going for another knockabout romantic comedy but then when Terry is hit by a car the mood dramatically changes. I always associated the meeting at the top of The Empire State Building with An Affair to Remember and later with Sleepless in Seattle, maybe this film isn't metioned in conjuction with that landmark because the lovers never get there. I thought Dunne and Charles Boyer both did a good job and the McCarey's Oscar nominated original story flowed along fairly nicely but that was about it There was also too much singing for a romatnic melodrama this was especially true when Terry starts teaching the annoying orphanage kids to sing. Overall then a fairly average romantic piece which really hasn't stood the test of time.