Sunday, March 23, 2014

Divergent

☆☆☆
+
In this action-packed thriller, Shailene Woodley (Academy Award nominee for "The Descendants") gives a strong performance as Tris, a young woman who doesn't properly fit into any of the factions developed by society based on human virtues. Tris is unique...and in this world unique isn't good.
-
The expectations may have been a little too high.

Rated PG-13
2 hr. 20 min.



Monday, March 17, 2014

The Grand Budapest Hotel

☆☆☆1/2
+
Wes Anderson's visual treat..."The Grand Budapest Hotel"...is one of the best films of his career. It's fun and well-acted. Ralph Fiennes stars as the crazy concierge of the hotel.
-
It is definitely worth seeing...I am just not a fan of quirky, screwball comedy.

Rated R
1 hr. 40 min.

Visit the website and watch the trailer.



Blue Jasmine

☆☆☆☆1/2
+
Cate Blanchett turns in an Academy Awarding winning performance as Jasmine, a New York socialite who loses everything and tries to start a new life by moving in with her sister Ginger (excellent performance by Sally Hawkins) who lives a much less glamorous life in a modest San Francisco apartment.
Blanchett convincingly captures the mental breakdown her character suffers from the stress of her loss.
-
May be seen as an unhappy movie with performances that have a tough time keeping-up with Blanchett's.

Rated PG-13
1 hr. 38 min.

Visit the website and see the trailer.



Sunday, March 2, 2014

Oscar Winners 2014


* Denotes starmoviereviews.com Prediction


Best Picture 

"12 Years a Slave" *


Best Director 

Alfonso Cuaron -- "Gravity" * 


Best Actor 

Matthew McConaughey -- "Dallas Buyers Club" * 


Best Actress 

Cate Blanchett -- "Blue Jasmine" * 


Best Supporting Actor 

Jared Leto -- "Dallas Buyers Club" * 


Best Supporting Actress 

Lupita Nyong'o -- "12 Years a Slave" * 


Best Original Screenplay 

"Her" -- Spike Jonze * 


Best Adapted Screenplay 

"12 Years a Slave" -- John Ridley * 


Best Animated Feature 

"Frozen" * 


Best Foreign Feature 

"The Great Beauty" (Italy) * 


Best Music (Original Song) 

"Frozen": "Let it Go" -- Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez * 


Best Music (Original Score) 

"Gravity": Steven Price * 


Best Cinematography 

"Gravity" -- Emmanuel Lubezki * 



Best Costume Design 

"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin * 


Best Documentary Feature 

"20 Feet From Stardom" * 


Best Film Editing 

"Gravity" -- Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger 


Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews *

Best Production Design 

"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn * 


Best Visual Effects 

"Gravity" * 


Best Sound Mixing 

"Gravity" * 


Best Sound Editing 

"Gravity" * 


Best Short Film, Live Action 

"Helium" 


Best Short Film, Animated 

"Mr. Hublot" 


Best Documentary Short 

"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life" * 


Saturday, March 1, 2014

Oscar Predictions 2014



Best Picture 

*"12 Years a Slave"

"The Wolf of Wall Street" 

"Captain Phillips" 

"Her" 

"American Hustle" 

"Gravity" 

"Dallas Buyers Club" 

"Nebraska" 

"Philomena"

Best Director
*Alfonso Cuaron -- "Gravity"

Steve McQueen -- "12 Years a Slave" 

David O. Russell -- "American Hustle" 


Alexander Payne -- "Nebraska" 

Martin Scorsese -- "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best Actor
*Matthew McConaughey -- "Dallas Buyers Club"

 

Bruce Dern -- "Nebraska" 

Chiwetel Ejiofor -- "12 Years a Slave" 

Leonardo DiCaprio -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 

Christian Bale -- "American Hustle"actress

Best Actress
*Cate Blanchett -- "Blue Jasmine"

Amy Adams -- "American Hustle" 
 

Judi Dench -- "Philomena" 

Sandra Bullock -- "Gravity" 

Meryl Streep -- "August: Osage County"

Best Supporting Actor
*Jared Leto -- "Dallas Buyers Club" 



Barkhad Abdi -- "Captain Phillips" 

Bradley Cooper -- "American Hustle" 

Jonah Hill -- "The Wolf of Wall Street" 

Michael Fassbender -- "12 Years a Slave"

Best Supporting Actress
*Lupita Nyong'o -- "12 Years a Slave"

Jennifer Lawrence -- "American Hustle" 


June Squibb -- "Nebraska" 

Julia Roberts -- "August: Osage County" 

Sally Hawkins -- "Blue Jasmine"

Best Original Screenplay
*"Her" -- Spike Jonze 


"American Hustle" -- David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer 

"Blue Jasmine" -- Woody Allen 

"Nebraska" -- Bob Nelson 

"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack

Best Adapted Screenplay 

*"12 Years a Slave" -- John Ridley

"Before Midnight" -- Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater 

"The Wolf of Wall Street" -- Terence Winter 

"Captain Phillips" -- Billy Ray 

"Philomena" -- Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Best Animated Feature
*"Frozen"


"The Wind Rises" 
 

"Despicable Me 2" 

"Ernest & Celestine" 

"The Croods"

Best Foreign Feature
*"The Great Beauty" (Italy)

"The Hunt" (Denmark) 

"The Broken Circle Breakdown" (Belgium) 
 

"Omar" (Palestinian territories) 

"The Missing Picture" (Cambodia)

Best Music (Original Song) 

*"Frozen": "Let it Go" -- Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez 


"Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom": "Ordinary Love" -- U2, Paul Hewson 

"Her": "The Moon Song" -- Karen O, Spike Jonze 

"Despicable Me 2": "Happy" -- Pharrell Williams 

"Alone Yet Not Alone": "Alone Yet Not Alone" -- Bruce Broughton, Dennis Spiegel

Best Music (Original Score) 

*"Gravity" -- Steven Price 


"Philomena" -- Alexandre Desplat 

"The Book Thief" -- John Williams 

"Saving Mr. Banks" -- Thomas Newman 

"Her" -- William Butler and Owen Pallett

Best Cinematography 

*"Gravity" -- Emmanuel Lubezki 


"Inside Llewyn Davis" -- Bruno Delbonnel 

"Nebraska" -- Phedon Papamichael 

"Prisoners" -- Roger Deakins 

"The Grandmaster" -- Phillippe Le Sourd

Best Costume Design 

*"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin 


"12 Years a Slave" -- Patricia Norris 

"The Grandmaster" -- William Chang Suk Ping 

"American Hustle" -- Michael Wilkinson 

"The Invisible Woman" -- Michael O'Connor

Best Documentary Feature
*"20 Feet From Stardom"

 

"The Act of Killing" 

"The Square" 

"Cutie and the Boxer" 

"Dirty Wars"

Best Film Editing 

*"Captain Phillips" -- Christopher Rouse

"Gravity" -- Alfonso Cuaron, Mark Sanger 

"12 Years a Slave"-- Joe Walker 
 

"American Hustle" -- Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten 

"Dallas Buyers Club" -- John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
*"Dallas Buyers Club" -- Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews


"The Lone Ranger" -- Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
"Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" -- Stephen Prouty 



Best Production Design
*"The Great Gatsby" -- Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn

"12 Years a Slave" -- Adam Stockhausen and Alice Baker 
 

"American Hustle" -- Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler 

"Gravity" -- Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard 

"Her" -- K.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena

Best Visual Effects 

*"Gravity"

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" 

"Star Trek Into Darkness" 

"Iron Man 3" 

"The Lone Ranger"

Best Sound Mixing 

*"Gravity"

"Captain Phillips" 

"Lone Survivor" 

"Inside Llewyn Davis" 

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best Sound Editing 

*"Gravity"

"All Is Lost" 

"Captain Phillips" 

"Lone Survivor" 

"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Best Short Film, Live Action
*"The Voorman Problem"

"Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me)" 

"Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just Before Losing Everything)" "Helium" 

"Pitaako Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)" 



Best Short Film, Animated
*"Get a Horse!"


"Feral" 
 

"Mr. Hublot" 

"Possessions" 

"Room on the Broom"

Best Documentary Short 

*"The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life"

"CaveDigger" 

"Facing Fear" 

"Karama Has No Walls" 
 

"Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall"