Not often do series that are suddenly cancelled have a chance to wrap up in such a perfect way, but for “Raising Hope” they got that chance.
The series finale of this amazingly underrated show saw the return of Jeffrey Tambor as Virginia’s father. He came back to Natesville to try and make amends and marry his partner, Oliver. The family is tepid until he offers to pay for Hope’s college.
With three days to plan and Arnold’s credit card, Virginia took the rains to plan the wedding of HER dreams.
Meanwhile, Maw Maw, with the hunch that Arnold is up to no good, recruits Frank who is a professional “stocker” to spy on him.
On the wedding planning front, Virginia and Arnold hold auditions for a Kenny Loggins impersonator, while Burt prepares Hope for her college experience, beer pong, fake ID, and all.
The best part of this montage is that it combines the ridiculousness of the writing with the quirkiness of the characters we have learned to love. Everything from dancing Dan trying to be Kenny Loggins to the “Footloose” background music was pitch perfect. Of course, there were the well timed Hope reaction shots.
Virginia is ready to smooth things over with her father after he admits that he has enjoyed his time planning the wedding, until Frank and Maw Maw discover that Arnold does not have a partner nor is getting married.
However, in a twist, it is revealed that Arnold was using the fake wedding to allow Virginia to plan the wedding of her dreams, since she didn’t get it because she was pregnant with Jimmy. Virginia doesn’t buy it until Arnold gives Virginia the Princess Diana dress she dreamt of. Spoiler Alert: it’s as ugly as you think.
At the “royal wedding” ceremony, Burt promises Virginia that he would punch anyone that hurts her. Then, the pope, I mean, pastor, I mean lawyer, pronounced them still man and wife.
Then, in typical “Hope” fashion, Kenny Loggins appeared to perform “Danny’s Song”, which was performed by Virginia and Burt in the pilot to put Hope to sleep. Jimmy admits that this song gave him his first lesson as a parent, that’s where the emotional part starts.
It’s all good until Arnold reveals that he sold his condo in Sedona, which was used as collateral for the college tuition. However, he sold it to pay for the wedding. Burt punches Arnold in the face per his promise.
Jimmy offers Arnold his old room since he had no place to stay and tells his mother, “if you really want him to be a better father, you’re going to have to give him a chance at being a father.”
Kenny Loggins finished his song as the family dances and sings along.
At the end of the series the entire family is seated around the table for breakfast the next morning. Jimmy’s voiceover brings the series’ arc to close. “Not everyone becomes a parent at the perfect time. Some of us do it way too early. Some of us do it way too late. The important thing is when you get the chance you make the most of it.”
Then, Maw Maw walks in to try to stab Arnold, then make out with Jimmy. The ridiculous end to the perfectly ridiculous series, which ensures us that for the Chance family, life goes on.
SPOILER! If you haven’t watched this week’s episode of The Good Wife stop now! Seriously.
MVP: Josh Charles
Television has hit an odd age. It’s not the Golden Age of television that we hear so often, but the “Dark Ages” (I came up with that one). This year alone we have experienced countless shocking events and deaths that leave us screaming at our televisions and cursing the world, however we may have found the most shocking death of the year.
Will Gardner has made his way to the big courtroom in the sky. Yes, the male lead on “The Good Wife” was killed off in last Sunday’s episode appropriately titles “Dramatics, Your Honor”. Although I, and many others, were expecting the actor Josh Charles to leave the show at the end of the season.
Now, I have to try to be objective in my review of the episode. Yes, it may have contained one of the most ballsy moments of the year, but there was still an episode the surrounded that moment.
So, let’s start from the beginning. The first shot of the episode is of Jeffrey Grant (Hunter Parrish), a college student we are introduced to earlier in the season, who is accused of murdering a fellow student. A strong rock instrumental is playing in the background while Jeffrey is looking around the courtroom during the prosecutor, Finn Polmar (Matthew Goode), is delivering his opening statement.
Now, when “The Good Wife” first started out I never looked at it as an achievement in directing, however across the last couple seasons they have actually refined the look and feel of the show. Each episode is impeccably shot and scored. David Buckley doesn’t underscore the each episode, he drives the mood and matches the feelings of the characters.
Let me just say that it was a genius way to set up Jeffrey’s slow mental deterioration. Most of the episode revolved around Will’s attempts to prove his defense of touch DNA, which would explain why Grant’s DNA was under the victim’s finger nails.
This brings him across several theories from exchanging the DNA on a book, coffee shop, and gurney. However, what is more wonderful is the dynamic between Will and Kalinda and actors Josh Charles and Archie Panjabi. The actors portray the characters’ relationship and trust so well on the screen.
Another story point was Kalinda’s decision to leave the private investigator business and this is where the writing because absolutely wonderful. It was such a well placed red herring for fans who were aware of the gravity of the episode to chase. It also allowed for Archie Panjabi to have some material in an otherwise weak season for the character.
The storyline also allowed for one last drink for Kalinda and Will, where Will offers the parting words to convince Kalinda to stay in the business: “That feeling you get when you figure something out? You live for that. Anyway, I’ll miss you. There aren’t many people I like left there. Is that a better pep talk?”
This episode is also the third installment in a group of episodes that involved Peter’s voter fraud case. In this episode Alicia gives a voluntary deposition to determine what the investigator (Eric Bogosian) would ask Will if he decides to question him. And it was essentially Alicia at her absolute best. Julianna Margulies has grown so much with the character that even when she is being sarcastic, it feels in character.
This finally brings us to THE scene. Will calls for a sidebar with the judge to ask for time to pursue a new lead. The entire court begins to lose interest, the jury ignores Jeffrey, the witness on the stand pulls out his phone, the lawyers and the judge look like they’re having a conversation rather than discussing the case.
The music that played in the opening scene returns, Jeffrey begins to lose it. Hunter Parrish proves that again what a wonderful actor he is. There is so much pain in his face that you can’t help but feel for him. He notices that the courtroom officer’s gun is unholstered.
The genius of the scene comes when we cut to Diane in a different court in the same building as the first shot is fired. Then, the second. Without hesitation Diane finds Kalinda and tells her to check on Will. When she gets to the courtroom Jeffrey is still firing (exactly 6 shots, which was appreciated). The shooting ends and all Kalinda can focus on is a lone shoe and a pair of feet. This is my one gripe with the sequence. There was a few too many shots of the lone shoe and the pair of feet.
Jeffrey is behind the judges bench with the gun pointed at his throat pulling the trigger of the empty gun, which was probably one of the most heartbreaking images of the episode, then we see Finn grasping an unconscious Will as Kalinda screams for paramedics. I was a little tepid toward Panjabi’s Emmy win for the first season, but with this episode she proves she deserves to be back in the Emmy pool.
The final sequence happens in the Emergency room where Diane and Kalinda wait for news on Will and decide to call Alicia, not before finding his body on a gurney. There was no goodbye, no deathbed confessions, just the real world of death.
Kalinda calls Alicia, but before we can hear what she says it cuts to black.
What started off as a great “Good Wife” episode quickly turned into an inspired goodbye to a beloved character and an incredible episode of drama. (A)
SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t watched this week’s episode of “The Good Wife” stop reading now!
MVP: Julianna Margulies
Emmys! Emmys for everyone. No, but seriously. Usually after a major death on a television show there is an episode where the characters grieve. Sometimes it’s the funeral, the hospital, or even six months later (a la “Downton Abbey”). However, the writers of “The Good Wife” had the episode surround the events immediately following Will Gardner’s death.
I don’t know if this is my place to say this, but this episodes is one of the greatest “grief” episode to ever be aired on television (although “All Alone” from “Six Feet Under” and “The Son” from “Friday Night Lights” still surpass it). The writers of the show have captured such an honest reaction to death and also in turn created such a beautiful episode for the character of Alicia.
Much of the episode surrounded the different ways each of the main characters dealt with the death of Will Gardner. For the sake of organization I’m going to split this review up into each of the characters’ story lines.
Cary was in an interesting position regarding Will at this point in the series. He had a respect for Will that couldn’t be taken away, but he also had a drive to take him down. That is what made his reaction to Will’s demise so surprising. With the absence of Alicia, Cary had to handle a deposition involving a wrongful termination suit that was introduced to us in the episode “Hitting the Fan”. During the deposition, which the opposite attorney threatened to delay if they didn’t do it that day, Cary went on a rant saying that he wanted to “get out his anger and aggression by destroying [the defendant].” First of all, Matt Czuchry was never one of the standouts from the series, but here he absolutely proves he can play in the big leagues. He also was fortunate to get the single greatest line of the episode.
Diane was also in an interesting position. Although she had just lost her best friend, she still had an entire firm to run. She had the uneasy task of notifying the partners of Will’s death, then also dealing with clients that were looking to jump ship. Diane made all her decisions by asking herself what would Will do, which led to some tension between her and David Lee (Zack Grenier also did a wonderful job here). When one client demanded that he has a meeting with Diane regarding his future with Lockhart Gardner, she allowed him to come in. However, it wasn’t an easy welcome. Not only did Diane fire him as a client, she also called other firms to ensure that they would not pick him up, and told him that no one likes him. Christine Baranski has always been an incredible presence on the series, but she was merely that, a presence. This episode gave her the material she needed to break out and hopefully finally win her deserved Emmy for this series.
Kalinda spent most of the episode doing what she does best and that’s investigating, however this time her investigation hit way too close to home. She tasks herself with discovering whether Will was killed by Jeffrey Grant (Hunter Parrish), or was hit in the crossfire. After listening to testimony from the courtroom officer (who is equally guilty in my eyes) and Grant and his new attorney, her investigation leads her to the conclusion that Jeffrey Grant indeed killed Will. With the help of Detective Jenn Villette Kalinda gets to the cell where Grant is being held, where in Kalinda fashion shows him his belt and tells him to kill himself, but just as he reaches for the belt she pulls it away telling him that he should feel the guilt everyday of his life. Not only does Archie Panjabi do excellent work here, Hunter Parrish is absolutely incredible. I really hope Emmy voters don’t forget about him come Emmy season.
However, Alicia was of course one of the most affected by the death. Her storyline was what set this episode and series apart from any to ever air. Most of her storyline focused on her attempts to find out what happened in the courtroom and why Will left a mysterious voicemail for her. However, before all this happens Margulies is allowed to give such a great amount of emotion and grief. Throughout the episodes she pictures why Will said in the voicemail, ranging from anger to a truce. Throughout she also has memories of Will. Nothing specific. No flashbacks, but simply images. The writers were so genius is keeping everything so real and emotional. There is one scene, when she goes to the hospital and she pictures Will coming up to her saying that they misidentified the body because it was shot in the face, but again it faded away. The writers were able to show so much of what people go through when they grieve that it feels so familiar.
The best scene of the episode was between Alicia and Grace who talk about heaven and hell and whether they exist. Such a realistic and beautifully executed piece of writing that anyone would think about following a death.
After a lengthy scene with Finn Polmar (newly minted series regular Matthew Goode), she comes to her own conclusion that Will was calling to profess his love for her. Bad news for her, she comes to this realization as she is embracing Peter. Bad news for us, that is where the episode ends.
It was truly an incredible piece of work. I don’t think any network drama attempted anything close to what “The Good Wife” just did. They showed what true grief is like and they showed it so intimately through these characters. The rest of this season is shaping up to be an incredible piece of television. (A)
There was something odd about this week’s episode of The Good Wife. It wasn’t anything to do with the quality, although it was a significant improvement over last week, but with its forward momentum. In the grand scheme of the season it felt like a stagnant episode that didn’t have any clear lead up to the next week’s season finale.
This episode’s case of the week concerned a Florrick/Agos billionaire client who makes insensitive comments about holocaust survivors, Italians, Greeks, and the poor, while in the middle of a wrongful termination lawsuit involving a gay employee. Yeah, the guys seems like a bundle of fun. It seemed appropriate considering the recent influx of discussion about the line between freedom of speech and discrimination.
It becomes shockingly familiar when we consider Donald Sterling’s recent comments that were released after the wrap of shooting on The Good Wife. The Kings have always had a knack for providing their own commentary on current issues and this episode is no exception. However, the case never made the full impact that was written into the potential of the storyline, possibly because if focused so much on Alicia and Cary’s struggle to win the case in voir dire.
The one part of the episode that I found completely refreshing was Alicia taking pictures with Zach in his graduation gown. In fact, I think it was the best scene of the episode. Why? Because it humanized Alicia, something that I think the writers attempted in the last episode yet forgot what character they were writing for. Alicia is a lot of things, a lawyer, a mother, but what she isn’t is a woman who is lost. This episode brought her back from the sloppiness the previous episode pushed her in to.
The episode also bring us to an anti-climactic end to Finn’s struggle with the Jeffrey Grant case. Although he was found to be uninvolved with the cause of the shooting, the blame ended up going to State’s Attorney Castro, he is instantly pulled into some mud involving his campaign. Shortly before Peter was to announce his endorsement of Finn, Castro brought him a picture of Finn leaving Alicia’s apartment. Scandal. Somebody call Olivia Pope.
The issue was quickly extinguished when it was explained that Finn was simply meeting Alicia to discuss their strategy for the Jeffrey Grant scapegoat case, but what came of it was much worse for the characters of the series. First of all, Eli learns of the arrangement between Alicia and Peter. Second of all, Peter’s attention is drawn to a new redhead working in his office.
This is the one piece of forward momentum that I found in the episode. Well this and Canning’s crusade against Diane at Lockhart Gardner & Canning. With such an event heavy season I was expecting to have a shocking finale, but I have a feeling that we may be let down. The one “big event” that I can see coming is Diane possibly being pushed out of the firm. Maybe even joining up with Florrick/Agos. Either way, I think it would be impossible for the Kings to completely fail us at the end of what is making to be a terrific season of television.
Peter Dinklage ended up being the absolutely worthy winner of Game of Thrones’ only acting Emmy so far in the series’ run. From the beginning of this season, it looked like his storyline was going to put him in line for yet another Emmy, but it wasn’t until this week’s episode that this hunch came to fruition.
The episode “The Laws of Gods and Men” found Tyrion at his absolute lowest, which for Dinklage is a high point. While on trial for murder Dinklage gets to perform his usual one-liners and quips, but it’s the end of the episode that could bring him gold.
In season one the actor won for the episode “Baelor.” He was able to make up lack of screen time and absence from the first half of the episode with a drunken emotional speech about a whore that his father and brother paid to sleep with him. It is a known fact that Emmy voters love speeches. Last year’s Emmy winners Anna Gun and Jeff Daniels can attribute their wins to emotional speeches in their submissions.
Dinklage was fortunate to receive yet another speech, but this time even bigger in scope. He essentially took a lifetime of hate, for his father, for his sister, for the people of King’s landing, and regurgitated it in an anger filled emotional speech, complete with gasps, yells, and dramatic close-ups. Will it be enough to win him his second Emmy?
It could be. Game of Thrones is at the top of its popularity and acclaim and its success at the Emmys thus far doesn’t hurt. However, Dinklage has one thing in his way: Aaron Paul.
Paul is already one of the few actors to win twice in this category. He has also has a watershed submission that could rival Dinklage’s speech. What Dinklage does have above Paul is time. By the time Emmy voting starts, Breaking Bad will have been off for nearly a year, so Dinklage will of Thrones’ fresh buzz.
And finally the campaign is in full swing. We start off with each of our favorite Veeple speaking to Selina’s newly acquired campaign volunteers. Of course, each person has something different to say. Gary of course describes how the Veep likes her coffee (she likes Peppermint, but thinks its Chamomile, don’t ever tell her though). Amy reassures them that even though Selina will ignore them, she knows they’re there. Dan goes the inspiration bullish!t route and Sue basically sums it up: “don’t f**k up.”
Amy and Dan continue their competition for campaign manager. Campaigning for campaign manager if you will. Little do they know Selina was meeting, or “not meeting,” with a potential new campaign manager who tells Selina to fire everyone, which throws Selina in the best way possible.
This could put Mike on the chopping block considering he hasn’t been exactly present. During a run in in the bathroom, we learn the Mike and his wife are doing in vitro fertilization, which Mike was “supplying for” in the bathroom at work. When Selina asks where he was, she asks if his mind was thinking about her, to which he swiftly responds no, much to her dismay. About her campaign… get your minds out of the gutter people.
After thinking Selina might let Gary go because he would be unable to hold a bag anymore due to his injury, he lets slip, or frankly says with much intent, that mike is masturbating at work. Let me insert here that Julia Louis Dreyfus is the master of facial expression.
This episode finds Selina out in the country… fishing. Yeah, you can just picture it. She is meeting with Former Secretary of Defense Maddox to (a) dissuade him to run, and (b) offer him something lucrative like state. I should also mention that Maddox hired Jonah as his bag boy.
This is where we get the best scene, hands down, of the season. Maddox and Selina talk about the “prestige” of the position of Vice President. Then, Maddox and Selina offer each other the position to which Selina responds: “I’d rather be shot in the f**king face, than serve as Vice President again.” Genius.
Back home, Amy hosts a dinner for the staff to campaign for campaign manager. She of course sets a seating chart for everyone. One of Veep’s best running gags is and will forever be Amy dealing with people.
This episode sets Selina’s competition. We have Maddox, Danny Chung, and Joe Thornhill, a former baseball team owner. During the last few scenes, a few thoughts passed my mind about the future of the series:
1. Is there going to be a Dan and Selina affair? He talked about being with older women and how his relationship with the Veep had to be intimate.
2. Is Selina going to lose the election and become Veep under Maddox?
3. Joe Thornhill has to play some bigger role in the scheme of the series. Just like Chung did starting off in season one.
This episode reminds me so much why I love Veep. It handles forward momentum so well with hilarious one-liners and characters that constantly remind us how incompetent those in Washington are. Now that this campaign is in full swing, I can’t wait to see who, in the words of Sue, f**ks up.
And finally the bubble burst. It was bound to happen, I didn’t expect every post-Will Gardner episode of The Good Wife to be perfect and we finally found the one that wasn’t. The reason, at least for me, was in the storyline. The “case of the week” involved a college student with cerebral palsy, and the son of a Lockhart, Gardner, & Canning client, who is accused of working with Silk Road. Yes, THE Silk Road. Tackling current topics like the NSA or cyberbullying is something that The Good Wife always did well, but this episode didn’t do it for me.
It also didn’t help that the episode tried way to hard to be funny. Now The Good Wife is no stranger to some humor, sometimes hilarious humor, but they never tried hard at it. Usually it was always situational, take for example the call between Alicia and Will in“Hitting the Fan”, it was awkward and that’s the best type of humor, but the buffering on Alicia’s Netflix going backwards and the “wow, you really are bored” comment when Alicia decided to have lunch with her mom were a little cringe worthy.
It also didn’t help that the writing was incredibly shoddy with lines like “it feels like he’s still there” and “I don’t what to do with my life, mom.” It all felt so insincere when usually the show is actually really natural with their dialogue. The weird, and slightly forced, storyline of Alicia having the day off, something that we all know is not a good idea, didn’t work for me. Or at least, it didn’t reach its full potential.
The one good part of Alicia’s storyline was her subtle romantic subtext with a juror she met during void dire. Alicia wasn’t conducting the void dire, she was on jury duty. The reason this storyline worked? Alicia always had some underlying sexuality that she always exuded and this storyline went in line with that, but when she professes to her mom that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a lawyer I was confused. I thought the point of this day off was to show that being a lawyer is wired into Alicia’s brain, but then they went back on that.
The storyline with the juror did bring us some clarification on where Alicia is right now. If she got anything out of Will’s death, it is her finally cutting any ties to Peter emotionally, but she still needs some type of companionship whether she likes it or not.
We do get some payoff from the storyline when Alicia breaks down with her mother as she realizes without any companionship, she doesn’t know who she is, but it still feels like a step backwards.
I haven’t spoken much about the Silk Road case because there was nothing really to note, it was just a cut and dry Good Wife case. Although it did produce the line: “Kalinda, how do you always get into crime scenes”, she responds “you know, cops like me.”
Overall, the episode was underwhelming and a little sloppy. The serial story elements didn’t seem to fit into the trajectory of the series other than Finn’s campaign storyline, which was elevated by Alan Cumming, but even that felt incomplete. With two episodes left, I’m hoping the show can recover and stick the landing.
I’m not going to speak to the manner of Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s death. I find that unnecessary. I am going to speak about his accomplishments in his 46 years of life that ended too early today.
He is one of the greatest actors of this century. He brought us such memorable roles as Truman Capote, Father Brendan Flynn, and Lancaster Dodd. What makes him one of the greatest actors of this generation is his dedication to his roles. He immerses himself.
He doesn’t have to changes his voice, or his appearance, there is something underneath that makes its way to the surface and takes over his body. He becomes a different person.
He may not have been a household name in every house, but in my house he was a cherished part of American cinema and theatre. He rarely took roles in blockbusters, although his most recent turn in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire could qualify him as such. Even then, he opted for films like Doubt, The Master, and Synecdoche, New York. These are films that I watch and make me believe in the magic of movies again.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman was a man that truly embraced his art. This year, the world of cinema lost a giant.
Thee Oh Sees’ Drop… this is one that’s kind of hard for me to review because of all the stuff that has been going with these guys in the past year or so. John Dwyer (vocals/guitar) has gone on to do his synth-related solo project Damaged Bug, and before that it was announced that they we’re taking an indefinite hiatus to work on other things. Then THIS THING comes out of nowhere and… you get it, they’re weird. But that’s what expect from Thee Oh Sees, right? Weird, loud, fun antics that are captured through noise and shouting “woo” all the time, right? Well….
This release, surprisingly, is a lot more tame than the others. I came in listening to “Floating Coffin” and had so much fun with all the distortion and reverb and psychedelic elements while still grinding out some face-punching riffs and basslines. But to come to this, AND look at the cover of the album, it’s not as crazy as one would imagine. Songs like the opener “Penetrating Eye” and “Savage Victory” are slow meanders through weird landscapes made by off-putting effects. “Savage Victory” has this delay on a scratched guitar that makes it sound like a door creaking open to reveal something sinister in the next room.
The other moments on this album that do have a little more energy like “Drop” and “Put Some Reverb on My Brother” seem to be dying down even in their own right. The guitar solos are becoming less coherent and more noisy, but not in a very good way. Do they grind? Yes. Do they screech? Yes. But are they enjoyable to listen to? No, they’re like nails on a chalkboard. This is coming from a guy who LOVES Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, but where have riffs and elements that experiment with sound, this doesn’t and leaves me somewhat deaf.
This doesn’t mean that the album is all bad. “Encrypted Bounce” sounds like Austin Powers’ pad if he lived in the 90’s and in a basement where all of his friends and swingers gathered around in That 70’s Show. “King’s Nose” is progressive enough and reminds me that these guys aren’t just noisemakers and are actually musicians. “Transparent World” takes the cake in experimentation with a 9/4 time signature and wispy vocals that seem like ghosts whispering in your ear.
The other thing I have to commend is the production on the whole album. They maintain a way, somehow, to produce songs that are grindy enough to grit your teeth, and smooth enough with the drums and the basslines that keep you swaying with a pout like you’re a bad boy.
Final verdict, is this their best? No, not by a long shot. If this is what they want to go out on, then it’s a calm after the whipping maelstroms that are “Carrion Crawler/The Dream”, “Floating Coffin”, “Castlemania”, and “Putrifiers II” If you want to go ahead and listen to some calmed-down punk (if that’s a thing?) go ahead and check this album out. But if you really wanna hear the raw power of these Californians, check out something else these guys have done.
TWO-SENTENCE REVIEW: Although Darren Aronofsky’s biblical epic has been shrouded with controversy, the visionary director was able to walk a very thin line to please both the religious and the regular movie goer. Bolstered by strong performances by the entire cast, strong visuals, and a filled out script, “Noah” may be one of the better biblical adaptations.
THE GOOD: The visuals. Aronofsky is always careful to capture a film in the best way possible, but “Noah” may take the cake. From the beautiful cinematography to the stunning effects, he was able to capture the beauty of the landscape, while also showing its danger.
The performances. Every single actor is at the top of their game, particularly Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, and Anthony Hopkins. Each actor was able to deal with material that may not have been as deep as it needed to be and added so many layers. Watson is heartbreaking as Noah’s adopted daughter who must deal with the ramifications of the needs of the mission and shows that she is an actress that can past a decade long role. Connelly is wonderful as always, but Hopkins returns in a role meant more for comic relief, but does so well with it.
However, the biggest feat for the film must be its careful screenplay, which allowed room to please those who are spiritual, religious, or simply looking for an entertaining film. There is a blanketing theme of doing what is right even thought it hurts, but also makes it’s way into the territory of sin and forgiveness. Aronofsky was able to include something for everyone.
THE BAD: The dialogue. There is some questionable dialogue. Not too many cringeworthy lines, but there is enough for one to take notice.
There are small directorial mistakes. One of the more prominent is that the family uses incense to put the animals on the ark to sleep, however it doesn’t affect any humans even it was able to put a full grown elephant to sleep.
THE UGLY: Unnecessary violence. This was one of the points of controversy and it shows up more than I would have liked. In an early scene Noah has a lengthy and highly choreographed fight sequence with a group of thieves who he eventually kills. He kills the men because they killed an animal. Noah then uses this to explain justice to his children, which is fine, but the fight was out of place.
SHOULD YOU SEE IT?: Yes. It’s a great night at the movies and it also makes you think and feel, which is lacking in today’s movies.
Who will take the top prize in Hollywood? Find out tonight on the 86th Academy Awards
I will be live blogging my reactions to the 86th Academy Awards. Refresh this page for my latest thoughts (and frustrations) on winners, the ceremony, and all things Oscar.
Check out my predictions here to see how I’m doing, and check out Craig Ismali’s predictions here! Check out my twitter more frequent updates (https://twitter.com/karl_delo)
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Update 45: Overall it was a boring year for the Oscars. Almost every single frontrunner ended up winning, which screwed with my predictions. The great thing is that the deserving winner won most of the time, it was a good show and I’m happy for most of the winners. Check out our full thoughts on Indecent Disclosure on 91.3 FM on Wednesday @ 6pm.
Update 44:Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave.From the minute I heard about the movie I know it was going to win. It is pure Oscar bait, but also a phenomenal movie.
Update 43:Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club.I couldn’t buy into the hype. Does anyone ever know what he is talking about?
Update 42:Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine.Gasp, I’m shocked. Great speech. Class act. That’s it.
Update 41:Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity.And the sweep is complete. He is a visionary director. Again, I have to say, I know a lot of people credit the film’s success to the visual effects, but he kept the film grounded (heh) in something human.
Update 40: The legendary Sidney Poitier should have presented Best Picture, but Best Director works too. For a kick I would definitely watch his Oscar win, it’s lovely.
Update 39:Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her.Can I be Spike Jonze when I grow up? Literally the perfect balance between awkward and charming. He really deserved this, it was the most ORIGINAL screenplay of the year, it just so happens to be laced with emotion and heartbreak and humanity.
Update 38:Best Adapted Screenplay:John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave. BOOM! 12 Years just sealed the deal with that one I’m pretty sure. Although I would have loved it to have been Before Midnight, it is still a deserved win.
Update 37:Best Original Song: “Let it Go”,Frozen.Get that EGOT Bobby! And that was a freakin’ Oscar speech. Hands down the best of the night, closely followed by Lupita.
Update 36:Best Original Score: Stephen Price, Gravity.I knew he was going to win, but I was still holding on for Her to take it.
Update 35: THAT IS HOW YOU GIVE AN OSCAR PERFORMANCE! Idina Menzel killed it in her performance of “Let it Go” from Frozen. #datbeltdoe
Update 34: We have lost some giants this year. This generation has some enormous shows to fill. Thank you for all the memories.
Side note: That is how you do an In Memoriam segment. For once it was well ended and fascinating to watch.
Update 33:Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby.This is one of those cases where I should have gone with my gut opposed to my head.
Update 32: That was odd. I don’t understand these “tributes”. A song and a clip package don’t seem like that’s the due that these films (The Wizard of Oz this year and James Bond last year) deserve.
Update 31:Best Film Editing: Gravity. I tried to be ballsy with my prediction and it nipped me in the bud.
Update 30:Best Cinematography: Gravity. A well deserved win. I know a lot of people say that this is a CGI film, but there is still no film without the photography. And the Gravity train keeps on rolling.
Also, what a touching and simple tribute to Harold Ramis from Bill Murray.
Update 29: I must also mention that with that loss American Hustle lost what little chance they had left at winning Best Picture.
Update 28:Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave.A well deserved win and standing ovation. For once the Oscars did something right. I don’t care if you never watched the movie, you just can’t help but love the woman. I wish her all the best in her career.
Update 27:Best Sound Editing:Gravity. Shocker x2.
Update 26:Best Sound Mixing:Gravity. Shocker.
Update 25: Most epic selfie ever.
Update 24: I really appreciate what U2 was trying to do with “Ordinary Love”, but I really need “Let it Go” to win. However, with that standing ovation I’m not so confident now.
On a side note, what the hell happened to this Heroes theme. It’s mentioned twice and that’s it.
Update 23:Best Foreign Language Film:The Great Beauty. Eh.
Update 22: Kevin Spacey doing Frank Underwood on the telecast gave me life.
Update 21:Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom. A good documentary, but compared to the crop of nominees this year it feels like a bit of a safe choice.
Also, where the hell did that come from?
Update 20:Best Documentary Short Feature: The Lady in Number 6. Such a great and worthy winner with a great story to tell. I’m just sad that “the lady” couldn’t be there. RIP.
Update 19:Best Live Action Short Film:Helium. Damn it. I wished I called that one. It was such a simple prediction, but everyone was going for The Voorman Problem.
Update 18: That was an absolutely gorgeous performance of “The Moon Song” from Her by Karen O and Ezra Koenig. That was literally every hipsters wet dream. Now, why didn’t they think of letting the song nominees perform before?
Update 17:Best Visual Effects:Gravity. And let the sweep begin.
Update 16:Best Animated Feature:Frozen.Finally happened for Disney. A well deserved win. It was beautifully animated, written, and if you don’t love the song “Let it Go”, we might not be able to be friends.
Update 15:Best Animated Short:Mr. Hublot
Update 14: Harrison Ford wins the award for most disgruntled elderly Oscar presenter.
Update 13:Best Makeup & Hairstlying:Dallas Buyers Club.Looks like they won an Oscar and a pair of Globes.
Update 12:Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin, The Great Gatsby. A well deserved win for a terrible movie.
The craft category winners tend to give cut and dry, and sometime awkward, speeches, but Martin did a great job.
Update 11: Points to Pharrell for wearing his infamous hat during his performance of “Happy”. Extra points to Lupita Nyong’o, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams for their dances. Bonus points for getting the crowd to actually get up and dance. The Oscars are now not mediocrely dull.
Update 10: I’m liking the fact that they actually are somewhat carrying through with their theme this year, other than having Catherine Zeta-Jones lip synch to a badly choreographed version of “All the Jazz”.
Update 9: Leto gave an absolutely inspiring and emotional speech. That was a damn good speech. He thanked who he needed to thank and delivered it with eloquence.
Update 8:Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club.Shocker.
Update 7: Ellen Degeneres gave a solid, but safe monologue. I did find the line: “Option #1: 12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture, option #2: you’re all racists” absolutely hilarious.
Update 6: Ellen looks like she should jump on a horse and yell “the British are coming! The British are coming!”
Update 5: Watching Kevin Spacey speak without his southern accent is the oddest experience now. I kept on expecting him to turn the camera and say: “What fools. They think they can join the elite group of Oscar winners so easily. I pity them.”
Update 4: In other news, Tyson Beckford called Julia Roberts “Jessica Roberts.”
Update 3: Jennifer Lawrence fell… again. She really needs to learn how to walk.
“The Great Beauty” is the frontrunner for Best Foreign Language film
I feel really bad about this category. Not because it’s a weak category, or because there is a lack of competition. Mostly because I haven’t watched the majority of the nominees.
Either way, I must trudge on and attempt to predict. The general sentiment is the Italy’s “The Great Beauty” will take the category and I agree. I see no reason why it wouldn’t. It is one of the two nominees that I actually watched and while I found it a bit pretentious, I understand the appeal.
The film I would say has a good chance to upset also happens to be the other film that I watched from the category. “The Hunt” already won the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is similar in its dark tone and sheer brutality to last years winner “Amour”.
Check out my predictions below and my other Oscar predictions here!
Will Win: “The Great Beauty” (Italy) Could Win: “The Hunt” (Denmark) Should Win: “The Hunt” (Denmark) Should have been nominated: “Gloria” (Chile) (Picture a spanish “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”)
Will “Inside Llewyn Davis” follow in the footsteps of musical films like “Les Miserables” and “Dreamgirls” and win Best Sound Mixing?
This category is pretty much locked up. “Gravity” probably will and deserves to win. Even I, a complete idiot when it comes to sound design, can tell that the sound mixing is something to marvel at.
If I had to pick a spoiler, I would go with “Inside Llewyn Davis”. Music films tend to do well here (“Chicago”, “Ray”, “Dreamgirls”, “Les Miserables”). The only reason I don’t have the winning is because of the film above.
Will the Academy spread the love and award “Captain Phillips”?
I am no expert in Sound Design, but I see an upset brewing in this category. “Gravity” is expected to sweep 6-7 awards, possibly up to 8 if it wins Best Picture. However, I think that “Captain Phillips” has a good chance to upset.
Often we say the biggest set wins Best Production Design, the most elaborate costumes win Best Costume Design, and the loudest movie wins Best Sound Editing. In this case, wouldn’t “Captain Phillips” be the winner? It has the sounds of the oceans, creaks of the boats, sounds of gunshots. The entire movie is almost tailor made for this category.
I still think “Gravity” is the frontrunner, but it’s not the lock that it is in Best Sound Mixing.
Will Win: “Gravity” Could Win: “Captain Phillips” Should Win: I’m no expert, but “Captain Phillips” sounded great to me Should have been nominated: “Pacific Rim” (The roar of the monsters scared the sh!t out of me.)
Could a film with “Jackass” in the title actually win an Oscar?
This is an interesting category. All the nominees are very understated, but there is one that stands out.
Usually the general rule of thumb is if you’re nominated for Best Picture, then you have an advantage in any given category, but I don’t think Best Picture nominee “Dallas Buyers Club” is going to take.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” is going to win an Oscar… what has the world come to?
Will Win: “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Could Win: “Dallas Buyers Club” Should Win: “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” Should have been nominated: “American Hustle” (Just for that comb over)
