Yesterday samena and I went to the Oscar Festival in Amsterdam, which is an annual event happening the weekend of the Academy Awards, where buying a pass allows you to watch any nominated film you want!

I had a great time, despite the fact that I got sick and had to leave early at 11PM (after putting in a solid 12.5 hours of moviegoing). This seems to be a regular occurrence with me, as it happened last time I visited the festival 2 years ago. I put it down to food poisoning last time, but maybe my system just isn't built for a full day at the movies. IDK.

Anyway, we went to see 'A Single Man' (Best Actor Nominee: Colin Firth), 'The Young Victoria' (Best Costumes winner, Best Make-Up nominee), 'Sherlock Holmes' (nominee for Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects, some other technical ones I forget), 'Julie & Julia' (Best Actress Nominee: Meryl Streep), and 'The Lovely Bones' (Best Supporting Actor Nominee: Stanley Tucci), though as I said, I only saw half of the last one. The good half, according to most reviews I've read.
I really wanted to see my girl-crush Carey in 'An Education', but we were too late to secure seats for that one, as the festival was sold out and everything was PACKED.


A Single Man: Possibly the best out of the ones I've seen. Colin Firth is absolutely phenomenal as George, a middle-aged Brit living in 60s America, who loses the will to live after the love of his life, Jim, dies in a car crash. Them having been a gay couple in an era and country where this is not done, he has no way to express his grief, bottles it all up, and grows detached from everything and everyone around him as he meticulously plans his to take his own life. We follow him on what he plans to be his last day, and experience what he calls his "moments of absolute clarity", which are brilliantly illustrated by making the lighting, colouring and, indeed, clarity of the images much brighter, sharper, and livelier. His moments of loneliness and depression are filmed in dull, greyish tones, where the camera is mostly stationary, whereas his moments of clarity are all shot in warmly coloured and sharply textured tones. Some reviewers have said it looks like a live-action page from Vogue Magazine (a jab, no doubt, at the debuting director's previous career as a fashion designer), but I think it works very well, and underlines just what an amazing talent the film's leading man is. HE WAS ROBBED, I TELL YOU.

The Young Victoria: I have always found the story of Victoria and her Albert one of the most genuinely moving royalty romances. Both were just pawns in the hands of their royal relatives, but the very fact that they did fall in love as everyone intended, enabled them to shake these off and go their own way. Combine that with the tragic death of Albert at the young age of 42, and how Victoria never got over the loss of her beloved, and you've got the recipe for the greatest romantic story of all time. The film did not disappoint in that aspect: romance and intrigue and love overcoming the odds: it is all there. The young leads do very well, though none of them really stand out. Jim Broadbent does a great turn as the dying King William, Paul Bettany makes a nice Lord Melbourne, and Miranda Richardson gets to wear more period frocks again as Victoria's mother. And those frocks got a very well deserved Oscar nod, because each and every one of them was GORGEOUS.

Sherlock Holmes: I liked it more than I thought I would, having heard the mixed reviews. Yes, I realise that it is neither historically nor canonically accurate, but who cares? It's a fun, fun romp. Robert Downey jr. is very good as the great detective, playing him with wit and flair and more than a hint of the piratical. Jude Law tries his best, but mostly ends up looking indignant a lot. But they have great chemistry together, and both are hot, and after just five minutes of seeing them together on screen I declared that they are the most prime slash material of the year. The film itself is spectacular, with loads of explosions and people falling off high things and generally defying the laws of physics. The plot... um... oh look, Robert Downey jr. is licking a rock!

Julie & Julia: As samena so accurately described it: "it's Meryl Streep playing a real person by putting on a funny voice". There's little else to it, I'm afraid. The film is based on two autobiographies: one by Julia Child, the other by Julie Powell, and it draws some (often anvillicious) parallels between the two women at a juncture in their lives. We switch back and forth between Julia in the late forties/early fifties, trying to give meaning to her life by getting a French cookbook published in English, and Julie in 2002, trying to give meaning to her life by starting a blog and writing about cooking all the recipes in said French cookbook. Both experience thrills, setbacks, crises and disappointments, and both emerge victorious at the end. But it feels like the whole film is building up to them finally meeting each other, and they never do. Meryl Streep plays the more famous person, and thus gets the best moments, but I symphathised with Amy Adams's character more, probably because she, like me, is an aspiring writer who is unsure of her abilities and wastes her life getting shouted at in a call centre (I did laugh at some of the customers she got, because, sadly, they were very representative of real life customers: "do you have any power? I want to speak to someone with power!"). But the film itself... it was okay, but that's it.

The Lovely Bones: I don't think I'm entitled to a real opinion on it, since I've only managed to see half and was mostly concentrating on trying not to be sick during that. But I liked what I saw. Peter Jackson admirably restrained himself from indulging in graphic bloodshed (which we all know he LOVES) while filming a book about a girl who gets brutally raped, murdered and chopped to bits. Instead, he focuses on the dreamy inbetween world she ends up in after she dies. Sometimes a bit too much, though, as we get to watch Saoirse Ronan frolic about in CGI-New Zealand while we just want to know what's going on with her family. She watches from her heaven as she sees her mother drown in grief, her father grow obsessed with finding her body, and her siblings and friends grow up without her.
Of course, I'd have to see the whole thing to judge it properly, but I don't think it can rival the heart of the book, even if it does exceed the imagery.


When I got home from the city, I took a long hot shower, after which I felt significantly better, so I decided to give it a shot and watch the Awards. I am sad to say that it was rather dull. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were mostly quite unfunny, and there were no major surprises apart from the fact that James Cameron LOST, which made me giggle. 'The Hurt Locker' took home 'Best Director' and 'Best Film', both of which he was also nominated and heavily tipped to win in, and they were snatched from under his nose by his ex-wife. AWKWARD.
Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan both lost in their respective categories, which makes me sad not only because I'd bet on them, but also because they were ROBBED, ROBBED, I TELL YOU! Okay, Jeff Bridges is fantastic, but Colin was exquisite. And Sandra Bullock? For real? I mean, even she sort of said in her speech that she only got it because it was lobbied so vigorously.
'Up' won Original Score, which happies me. And Best Animated Feature, but we all knew that.
Can we have Hugh Jackman back next year, plz? Or maybe Dom and Billy. THAT WOULD BE EPIC.

Tags: award shows, fangurgling, sally sparrow is awesome
Current Mood: apathetic