85th Annual Academy Awards Recap

Last night's Oscars proved once again that the Oscars are exactly what they are: the Oscars. Nothing more, nothing less and likely never will be anything else. Seth MacFarlane as host was neither a success nor failure. He was there to fill space. He was energetic about being on stage and held a great charisma throughout but didn't commit to being a real host. He was a meta-host.

His 17-minute opening montage brought on a Star Trekked William Shatner from the future telling him he would be panned as the worst Oscar host in history in tomorrow's headlines. The self-referential moment to the skepticism around his hosting gig was a cop-out from him taking on his hosting duties 100 percent. Splashed in between, however, were fun dance routines by the inspired pairings of Charlize Theron and Channing Tatum and then Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe. And that "We Saw Your Boobs" number was playful enough.

Throughout the rest of the show, however, introducing presenters and cracking small jokes, MacFarlane fell flat. He tossed out jokes as if he was still testing them, and nothing stuck. And a crack about Rex Reed and Adele was borderline uncalled for, and this was followed by a series of repetitive jokes about how long the telecast was running. We get it. The Oscars are long and boring; stop pointing it out to us.

Meanwhile, the show actually ended right on time. Exactly three hours...plus 30 minutes. And it ended right after Ben Affleck gave a frantic but heartfelt acceptance speech on behalf of the widely expected best picture win for "Argo." This was preceded by Jack Nicholson appearing on stage to present the award, which has a fun side note all its own. The last time Nicholson presented the final award of the night was in 2005 for "Crash" when Ang Lee won best director for "Brokeback Mountain." That was the last time we've seen a best picture/director split as it happened again this year with Lee's director win for "Life of Pi" over Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln."

First lady Michelle Obama was the surprise presenter who appeared above Nicholson's head on a screen in a live stream from the White House. She gave a moving speech about importance of the arts before ripping open the envelope and revealing "Argo" as the winner.

All of this was a fantastic finish to the 85th Annual Academy Awards telecast. But no. Our host teamed up with a screeching Kristen Chenoweth to close out the show with a horrific musical number commending all the night's losers, a wholly unnecessary exercise in bad taste and ignorance after an otherwise very classy end to the evening.

With best picture, "Argo" also took awards for best editing and Chris Terrio's surprise win for best adapted screenplay over close competitors David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." With a total of three awards, the film tied with "Les Miserables," which had wins including Anne Hathaway's predicted best supporting actress win along with best makeup/hairstyling and sound mixing.

"Life of Pi," however, walked away with the most awards of the night at four total. Along with Ang Lee's best director win, the film won best cinematography, visual effects and score. "Skyfall," "Django Unchained" and "Lincoln" all tied with two wins each.

"Silver Linings Playbook" got only one award, which went to Jennifer Lawrence for best actress. The humbled Oscar-winner took the stage in a flurry of an acceptance speech just after tripping on her way up the steps. Undeniably precious.

In a tribute to the 50th anniversary of James Bond, a montage was followed by a performance from the 76-year-old Shirley Bassey who belted out "Goldfinger." Adele later appeared to sing her Oscar-winning "Skyfall" for best original song, but unfortunately a sound issue muffled her performance. Her bubbly acceptance speech made up for it later, though.

Best sound editing marked the second award for "Skyfall," which it shared with "Zero Dark Thirty," that film's sole win of the night. The tie in the category marked only the sixth time a tie has ever happened in Oscar history.

Daniel Day-Lewis accepted his best actor win for "Lincoln" with a great speech we would know to come from the three-time Oscar-winning actor. The second win for "Lincoln" was for production design over expected front-runner "Anna Karenina." The latter won for best costume design. Disney's "Brave" took the award for best animated film over "Wreck-It Ralph" while "Amour" won best foreign language film and "Searching for Sugar Man" won best documentary.

Best supporting actor went to Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" while Quentin Tarantino took the award for best original screenplay over Mark Boal's "Zero Dark Thirty" who took home the WGA last weekend.

The telecast's theme was the movie musical as the night paid tribute to the past decade's musicals, of which there were apparently only two. Jennifer Hudson performed her show-stopping number from 2006's "Dreamgirls" unleashing her voice which felt even more seasoned than when she originally sang the tune. Catherine Zeta-Jones, on the other hand, lip-synced her way through a rendition of "All that Jazz" from 2002's best picture winner "Chicago."

The live singing redux of "One Day More" from "Les Miserables" was a musical highlight of the night bringing the cast all together again. The academy producers were clearly salivating over the idea of a nominated musical to revolve the night's theme around. The reliance on the returning cast of "Chicago" sure was heavy-handed, and one couldn't help but wonder why Renee Zellweger was acting like that?

Perhaps the most bizarre moment of the night was somebody's apparent decision to make the cut-off music of acceptance speeches to be the "Jaws" theme. Talk about campy and tasteless.

What's really left of last night's telecast is a feeling of deflated hopelessness for the Oscars to never be truly exciting again. Maybe we really do just need Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host everything from now on. Lord knows that joke was required to be made last night, too -- and so early on, yeesh.

But hey, at least it truly was a great year in film, an unexpected awards race for most of the way and a night that closed on FLOTUS nailing best dressed without even being there and a tearful, choked up Ben Affleck getting the acknowledgement he deserves. I'm going with pretending that last musical number didn't happen. I think it's really for the best.

85th Annual Academy Award Winner Predictions

Sunday's telecast of the 85th Annual Academy Awards is guaranteed going to give us some surprises.

Could Ang Lee top Steven Spielberg for best director considering he took a novel widely considered to be unadaptable and turned it into an Oscar-nominated triumph?

Could best supporting actor go to Robert De Niro for a veteran actor who hasn't seen a good role in years?

The screenplay categories are also very much up in the air. In adapted, either David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" or Chris Terrio for "Argo" could grab the win away from assumed front-runner Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." And in original, don't be surprised if the love for "Amour" sneaks into a win out from under Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."

And speaking of "Amour," there's always the possibility of votes for Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence canceling each other out allowing Emmanuelle Riva in for the win.

In spite of all the crazy dark horse possibilities, I've nailed down my final predictions below.

Best Picture: All signs point to "Argo."

Director: With Ben Affleck down for the count, looks like Steven Spielberg is the favorite to take it for "Lincoln."

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln"

Actress: Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook"

Supporting Actor: Tough call between Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" (BAFTA win) and Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln" (SAG win), but I'm going with Waltz.

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables"

Animated Feature: Kind of open, but recent Annie wins say "Wreck-It Ralph."

Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained"

Adapted Screenplay: Tony Kushner for "Lincoln"

Sound Editing: "Skyfall" because respected action movies always take it.

Sound Mixing: "Skyfall" for the same reason.

Film Editing: "Argo" because it'll validate the best picture win.

Documentary Feature: "Searching for Sugar Man"

Foreign Language Film: "Amour"

Cinematography: Claudio Miranda for "Life of Pi"

Makeup & Hairstyling: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Costume Design: "Anna Karenina"

Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"

Original Song: "Skyfall" by Adele

Original Score: Mychael Danna for "Life of Pi"

Production Design: "Anna Karenina"

Documentary Short: "Inocente"

Live Action Short: "Curfew"

Animated Short: "The Paperman"

With only two wins, "Argo" will take the top prize of best picture along with best editing -- funny because it'll tie "Anna Karenina" for two wins. It will be topped by "Lincoln," which I predict will win three awards: best director, supporting actor and adapted screenplay. This also means "Skyfall" and "Life of Pi" will each land at three wins for technical awards.

Tune in to watch the telecast of the 85th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Winners

The Golden Globes turned out to be more of a prognosticator for awards season as this weekend reaped more awards for Ben Affleck's "Argo." The Best Picture nominee which, after Oscar nomination morning in the wake of Affleck's Best Director snub looked down for the count, is now the easy front-runner to win. And this comes after the film's win from the Producers Guild of America and Sunday night's Best Ensemble win at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

While a Best Ensemble win at the SAGs doesn't always mean a boost for Best Picture potential (see last year's win for "The Help"), it certainly does mean something when the picture is busy picking up other accolades, as well. And also when it was widely expected that other more actor-oriented films like "Lincoln" or "Silver Linings Playbook" would've nabbed the top SAG prize. "Argo" is giant right now and could likely become the first film in a very long time to win Best Picture without its director not only winning but not even earning a nomination.

Now it's pretty much guaranteed Ben Affleck will also be winning the Directors Guild of America, too. Where does that leave the Oscar director race? David O. Russell? Steven Spielberg? Ang Lee? Hard to say.

Three acting categories are locks after Sunday's ceremony. Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables" will take Best Supporting Actress, Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" will win Best Actress (in a tight race against running-mate Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty") and Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln" will win Best Actor.

Tommy Lee Jones winning Best Supporting Actor for "Lincoln" gives him a boost while Christoph Waltz for "Django Unchained" (not nominated for a SAG) won the Golden Globe. It's pretty much a toss-up between the two as I could see the academy going for either.

I'm thrilled about the awards success of "Argo." It's a great movie, Ben Affleck deserves the praise as a young and talented actor-turned-director (especially in light of that impossible-to-ignore Oscar snub) and it makes for a wild comeback story for Oscar history.

Check here for a full list of winners from the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

70th Annual Golden Globe Award Winners

Let's start this off by stating the obvious: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, as expected, proved to be the best awards show hosts in recent memory. They absolutely killed it. Their opening monologue was full of quick one-liners and jabs that still stung but were always in good humor coming from them. This included zings at Kathryn Bigelow when Poehler said she hasn't been following the controversy of "Zero Dark Thirty," but "when it comes to torture, I trust the woman who spent three years married to James Cameron." James Franco was also targeted when Fey said to Anne Hatahway, "You gave a stunning performance in 'Les Miserables.' I have not seen someone so alone and abandoned like that since you were on stage with James Franco at the Oscars." Poehler then began describing the HFPA as HPV, and Fey labeled Quentin Tarantino as "the star of all my sexual nightmares."

As a hosting duo, they were consistently funny, self-deprecating with great timing, just enough bite and really made the biggest Hollywood party of the year feel like exactly that. Case in point, Seth MacFarlane has the toughest of acts to follow with his hosting gig at the Oscars.

As it was at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday, Ben Affleck walked away with Best Director while his "Argo" took home Best Drama, which only continues to baffle the mind as to how the academy skipped over him for a director nod.

"Les Miserables" topped the night's wins with Anne Hathaway winning Best Supporting Actress, Hugh Jackman for Best Actor Comedy or Musical and the film taking the top prize of Best Comedy or Musical over "Silver Linings Playbook." Jennifer Lawrence represented the comedy with her Best Actress Comedy or Musical win while Bradley Cooper got beat out by Jackman. Such would be expected, however, as the HFPA is notorious for loving musicals. The love for "Les Miserables" here is no indicator of a push toward Oscar.

"Django Unchained" tied "Argo" for two wins as Quentin Tarantino had the surprise win for Best Screenplay over Tony Kushner for "Lincoln." This marks his lock for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars while Kushner can still take home Best Adapted. The other "Django" win went to Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor, which gives him a small Oscar boost as he was not nominated for a SAG award.

"Zero Dark Thirty" cashed in on just one win in the category of Best Actress Drama for Jessica Chastain's portrayal of female CIA agent Maya. Likewise, Daniel Day-Lewis represented the singular win for "Lincoln" for Best Actor Drama with his embodiment of Abraham Lincoln.

The night clipped along at a relatively fine pace with plenty of GIF-able moments throughout, which is always the sign of an entertaining awards show. This included Taylor Swift giving what looked like the stink eye to a bubbly and radiant Adele as she accepted her award for Best Original Song for "Skyfall," a win that will thrust her to Oscar gold.

Glenn Close played in on the fun as the hosts reappeared later in the evening announcing how drunk everyone was getting and then cut to the actress doing some sort of weird drunken jig in her seat. The best of the presenters were SNL veterans Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig who, while announcing the nominees for Best Comedy or Musical, hilariously improvised made-up plots for each movie pretending like they'd never heard of them.

Jodie Foster received her Cecil B. DeMille honor and gave a speech both very moving and heartfelt but also mystifying. Apparently it was widely expected, since this was considered a "lifetime achievement award," that she would use this as a coming-out speech. And while she broached the topic and jokingly sidestepped it, she also simultaneously hit it head-on and addressed matters of privacy in the public eye for celebrities. It was a mysterious speech that delicately told young viewers everywhere to be who they are without ever really saying it at all. And then there was teary-eyed Mel Gibson just staring at her intently. It was a very weird moment in the night that also unfortunately got accidentally(?) muted by the network during a crucial line. She then concluded with a beautiful message to her mom who suffers from dimentia and noted a potential turn in her own career. It almost sounded like she was retiring from acting, but later in the press room she corrected that implication.

The pseudo coming-out speech prompted Poehler to close the show with this: "We're going home with Jodie Foster!"

Jessica Chastain gave a tearful acceptance speech while a flu-ridden Jennifer Lawrence was pleasantly humbled as usual, and Anne Hathaway took time in hers to pay tribute to her fellow nominee, Sally Field, in a classy nod to a veteran actress.

What does all of this "Argo" and Ben Affleck winning mean for the Oscar race? Well, things are getting interesting. If Affleck were nominated for an Oscar, we'd be looking at an easy front-runner. Instead, we're left questioning the possibility of a Best Picture winner not having its director nominated. It seems unlikely and puts a lot of weight on the announcement of the Producers Guild winner, the Directors Guild winner and the winners of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Long shots set aside, the more sensible choice appears to still be between "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" for Oscar. And yet, the "Argo" momentum is hard to ignore. Is it really possible to have been stonewalled by the academy?

On the television side, I have to mention the triumphant win of 26-year-old Lena Dunham for not only Best Comedy Actress but also Best Comedy for her HBO comedy "Girls." So well-deserved, and it really marked the evening as one for progressive and funny women in television.

85th Annual Academy Award Nominations

This morning's announcement of the 85th Annual Academy Awards sure had a lot of surprises to keep us on our toes. As they did last year, the academy went with nine Best Picture nominations: "Argo," "Lincoln," "Les Miserables," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Silver Linings Playbook" and Best Foreign Language nominee "Amour" for the ninth slot, which beat out other contenders like "The Master," "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Skyfall."

"Lincoln," as it has been with the rest of awards nominations, led the pack with 12 nominations closely followed by "Life of Pi" with 11 and then "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Les Miserables" each with eight.

The biggest shake-up came in the Best Director category where the academy really wanted to show off their love for "Amour" and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" as both Michael Haneke and Benh Zeitlin made their way into the category. Joining them was Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln," David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Ang Lee for "Life of Pi." This left room for major snubs including Ben Affleck for "Argo" and Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" who were both widely predicted to get in. Also left out were Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" and Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained."

The "Beasts" and "Amour" love continued into the record-setting Best Actress category as both the youngest, Quvenzhane Wallis at 9, and oldest, Emmanuelle Riva at 85, nominated actresses made it in. Joining them were Naomi Watts for "The Impossible," Jennifer Lawrence for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty." Marion Cotillard for "Rust and Bone," widely expected to get nominated, was left hanging.

Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master" ended up getting his nomination for Best Actor alongside the front-runner of Daniel Day-Lewis for "Lincoln," Denzel Washington for "Flight," Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables," and Bradley Cooper for "Silver Linings Playbook." This left out John Hawkes for "The Sessions," predicted to make it in the category over Phoenix.

"Skyfall" wasn't able to crack any of the major categories, as the greatest hope was for Javier Bardem to sneak into Best Supporting Actor. Instead, the nominees were Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook," Tommy Lee Jones for "Lincoln," Alan Arkin for "Argo" and Christoph Waltz got in for "Django Unchained" over Leonardo DiCaprio or Samuel L. Jackson.

The Best Supporting Actress category included Anne Hathaway for "Les Miserables," Helen Hunt for "The Sessions," Sally Field for "Lincoln," Amy Adams for "The Master" and filling the fifth up-for-grabs slot was Jacki Weaver for "Silver Linings Playbook." Weaver's inclusion in the category means that "Silver Linings" is the only movie to have an actor nod in each category.

John Gatins for "Flight" received a surprise nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category along with Michael Haneke for "Amour," Wes Anderson for "Moonrise Kingdom," Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained" and Mark Boal for "Zero Dark Thirty." Left out was Paul Thomas Anderson for "The Master" and Rian Johnson for "Looper."

Best Adapted Screenplay included Chris Terrio for "Argo," Tony Kushner for "Lincoln," Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," David Magee for "Life of Pi" and David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook." No surprises in there.

"Skyfall" wasn't completely left out as it nabbed five technical nominations including Roger Deakins for cinematography, Thomas Newman for score, Adele's theme for song and then sound mixing and editing.

It's also curious that with all the love for "Beasts," the score from Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin didn't get a nomination.

What does all this mean for the race to Best Picture? Well, "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Argo," the front-runners before today, can now be both counted out as each of those directors weren't nominated. Simple logic tells us the new front-runners are "Lincoln" and "Life of Pi" as they received the most nominations. "Pi" is still a far cry, however, as "Lincoln" has always had the awards momentum from the beginning. It was easier to ignore before, but now with other top contenders having lost their steam, Steven Spielberg's historical drama is now the one to beat.

The real competition for "Lincoln" comes from David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook," which received a huge boost with its collection of nominations nabbing nods for all four actors, director, editing and writing along with Best Picture.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards air live at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. on ABC hosted by Seth MacFarlane. Check here for a full list of nominations.

19th Annual SAG Award Nominations

David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" made an impressive appearance this morning with four SAG award nominations during the announcement for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Both of its leads, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, as well as a supporting nod for Robert De Niro and a Best Ensemble nomination made up the four total. Tying at four was Spielberg's "Lincoln" with nominations in the same categories for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and the cast.

Along with "Silver Linings" for Best Ensemble, the nominated films were "Lincoln," "Les Miserables," "Argo" and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" which gives the latter film a slight edge toward a possible (but still long shot) Best Picture nomination. The obvious snub here is for "Zero Dark Thirty" which has otherwise been getting plenty of accolades.

The Best Actor nominations here pretty much affirm what we'll see for the category at the Oscars. That is, the usual suspects with John Hawkes for "The Sessions" and Hugh Jackman for "Les Miserables" getting in over the likes of previous contendor Joaquin Phoenix for "The Master."

Best Actress got a bit of a shake-up with Helen Mirren for "Hitchcock" and Naomi Watts for "The Impossible" re-emerging over two major snubs for Quvenzhane Wallis for "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and Emmuanelle Riva for "Amour." Somehow I can't see this overlook happening come Oscar nomination morning.

And it looks like we may have our very first Bond villain make its way to an Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. Then again, never before has a Bond villain been played by the entirely capable Javier Bardem. The actor received another nod for his turn in "Skyfall," extending his reach to Oscar potential. This, however, meant that Matthew McConaughey for "Magic Mike" got edged out.

Sneaking their way into Best Supporting Actress were Maggie Smith for "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," which is a fine inclusion to the category, but then also Nicole Kidman for her raunchy, twisted turn in "The Paperboy." That's a tiny miracle for the film, and there must've been a big campaign behind her. This meant not including the possible contendor of Ann Dowd for "Compliance," but more notably a pretty big snub for Amy Adams in "The Master."

The biggest thing we can walk away with here is that "Zero Dark Thirty" suddenly just hit a wall with only one nomination for its lead, Jessica Chastain. This, however, could all get rectified come Globe nominations tomorrow morning.

Check out the full list of nominations, and be sure to tune in to the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, January 27 at 8 p.m. on TNT and TBS.

LINCOLN Review

There's a point in watching Daniel Day-Lewis as our 16th president of the United States where you realize you're not just watching an actor portrayal. You are watching a man disappearing behind a historical figure, an icon of American history. You stop seeing Daniel Day-Lewis. You see Abraham Lincoln. Never again will an on-screen representation of him be so close, so real and so accurate. And it all starts with that voice. The voice Day-Lewis decided to inhabit the president with is nothing short of brilliant. The legend and lore of Lincoln brings to mind a deep, booming voice. History tells us otherwise, and the master method actor brings this richly to life. Before this film, Lincoln was a figure, a representation, an idea. Now, there's a man to go with it.

Instead of the painterly, picturesque puffery of last year's "War Horse," Steven Spielberg directs "Lincoln" with refined understatement. He allows the densely packed script from Tony Kushner ("Angels in America," "Munich") speak for itself, which was expertly crafted from Doris Kearns Goodwin's "Team of Rivals." Full of monologues, heated debates and strategic discussions, the movie documents the final months of Lincoln's presidency leading up to the passing of the thirteenth amendment and his tragic assassination at Ford's Theatre. The beauty in the collaboration is that it works like a time machine transporting audiences effortlessly to the 19th century, a time when the Civil War raged on and worry surrounded Lincoln's re-election.

Longtime Spielberg cinematographer Janusz Kaminski shoots "Lincoln" full of dark interiors and light spilling in through windows and curtains. Only a few shots are outside, and the only piece of battlefield action is in the film's first fleeting moments. For the majority of its two-and-a-half-hour running time, the film is a lesson in history -- and I mean that in the best way possible. It's smart, and you feel smart watching it. It can drag and does take a bit to get settled in with its vast cast of characters and familiar faces, but once we first enter that House of Representatives, the rewards for your attention and perseverance are immense.

The supporting crew is a laundry list of names and faces audiences will recognize. The main players are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Lincoln's eldest son, Robert; David Straithairn as Secretary of State William H. Seward, Lincoln's right-hand man; Tommy Lee Jones as the hot-tempered radical liberal Thaddeus Stevens, a fervent advocate of black rights; and Sally Field as Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd. But that's only the beginning. James Spader, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Lee Pace, Jared Harris and  Michael Stuhlbarg among many other actors play strong supporting roles to give this moment in history real drama and life.

Casting Sally Field as the impassioned Mary Todd was inspired, as the veteran actress shows us the 16th president's wife as both indignant toward and admirable of her husband. Likewise, Tommy Lee Jones brings a weathered yet tough energy to Thaddeus Stevens whose private secret reveals his personal connection to Lincoln's cause. Both of these seasoned performances will be nominated alongside Day-Lewis.

All of this, all of "Lincoln," it all circles back to Day-Lewis. The scenes of him speaking to his Cabinet are captivating. He plays Lincoln with a quicksilver spirit that is ideal to the president's lore and how well-loved and appreciated he was by his party members. He has all the patience in the world, idling by and telling long stories -- but he also has his moments where he doesn't see what he knows needs to be done getting done. And when he slams that fist of his down on the table and asserts his power, you'll get chills. If nothing else, Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" could likely restore your faith in American politics.

Archive: 'There Will Be Blood'

Movie Review
There Will Be Blood (2007)


"There Will Be Blood" will be attacked with the same ferocity that it presents. This is a movie that left me feeling like I just got punched in the gut. My best advice for viewing it is to just sit back and let it engulf you in its monstrous beauty. The resonant and hypnotic voice of Daniel Day-Lewis helps to draw you in, and his character is a man with such bruising relentlessness that you won't believe it. This is a man who, in the first minutes of the film, falls down a mineshaft and breaks his leg only to get right back up to start again. He is a raging force of brutality that intensifies as the movie progresses through the first three decades of the nineteenth century. After the epic is over, you will feel pummeled, having to take a moment to get your head clear again. It's worth the effort.

This is a large departure for director Paul Thomas Anderson who also made "Boogie Nights," "Magnolia," and "Punch-Drunk Love." The movie is very loosely based on the 1927 Upton Sinclair novel "Oil!," but don't go expecting that same muckraking spirit. There's still an attack on society, but something much different is being implied with Anderson's highly original and visionary work. There's something murky and dark lying beneath the American success story, and it's shown in full detail here. As an enthralling American epic, this one intrigues, disturbs, shocks, and provokes with stabs at the worst of corruption of power and exploitation.

Sitting resolutely in front of an audience made up of a small rural town, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) exquisitely states, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am an oilman." His greed in the business begins when a young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano from "Little Miss Sunshine") visits him unexpectedly and tells him where oil can be found. He leads Plainview to his father's goat farm, and Plainview easily buys the land from the old man for cheap so he can begin drilling. There is another son, though, Eli Sunday (also Paul Dano), who is identical and is a devout preacher wanting to raise money for his church, the Church of the Third Revelation. This other son puts religion directly in Plainview's path, and when Plainview ignores Eli's wish of a blessing upon the drill, a lifelong feud ignites.

Daniel Plainview is a man with no lover, no friends, and no remorse for anything he does. The only piece of family he carries with him is his son, H.W. One day, there's an accident, and the oil well blows over and bursts into flame. Plainview's son is deafened by the blow of the explosion, and he immediately becomes a burden. Plainview ships him off to school, that is, until he realizes a new way to exploit his son. He needs him as a prop, and even when H.W. tries to forgive his father many years later for what he did, Plainview still responds with a vileness that cannot be compared. He does show some sympathy, however, when his supposed half-brother comes to help him in his endeavors. But even then, Plainview discovers a lie and turns on him. "I look at people and see nothing worth liking," he states.

"There Will Be Blood" is magnificently bleak, strange, and brilliant. It not only tells the haunting story of an indestructible and soulless man, but through Paul Thomas Anderson, there's huge attention to detail, making for amazing execution in storytelling. It's yet another astonishing look at the barren landscape of Texas, similar to that of "No Country for Old Men," with shacks and derricks dotting the horizon. When an oil well erupts with black smoke billowing from tall flames, there's a certain poetic feel to it. In its style, the movie transcends its own historical context because for a story that takes place in older days, its terrors are relatable to the modern day. And for telling a story with such a time span, the focus is shockingly intimate and breaks the boundaries of the contemporary.

In Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day-Lewis provides a horrifying character who is blackly comic. He delivers a powerhouse performance, one that is more than intense, explosive, volcanic, or all of those words combined. It's the performance of the year, and Day-Lewis will certainly win a nomination if not the Oscar. His preparation for the role involved him refusing to leave character even when the camera wasn't rolling. You can't help but wonder why someone would want to dive so deep into a character who's so dark, and yet, it worked damn well. For somebody so revolting, he's endlessly fascinating. He's a dangerous man who's moody and usually drunk, and comes alive with fury, anger, and hatred. And Paul Dano is almost equally frightening as Plainview's sole formidable opponent.

To fill the voids of silence within the film, there's the searing musical score by guitarist and composer Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead. On the surface, the music doesn't fit the scene at all, but in the context of the film's style, it's perfect. It builds with a demented tension that rises and falls with the action of the film, and it's like nothing we've ever heard before. The juxtaposition to that is the intermingling of music from Johannes Brahms that, when introduced, signals some of the most key moments of the film, such as the explosive ending.

Taking place in a bowling alley in Daniel Plainview's home, the climax is a final confrontation between him and a blackmailing Eli. This last sequence turns into a bloody mess, keeping the promise of the title. Several audience members around me were shaking their heads in what I would guess to be disgust. I would be curious to ask these people, how possibly else would they have liked it to end? After witnessing all that has happened, I couldn't possibly think of a more suitable ending, as terrible as it is. Paul Thomas Anderson is unconcerned with expectations, bashing all Hollywood clichés. "There Will Be Blood" is actually quite the anti-crowd pleaser, and that's what makes it so good.

Lingerie, Italians, And Singing

Nine


I've seen but all of five minutes of Fellini's "8 ½" from 1968, so please allow my review of "Nine" to have no judgment calls based on this source material from which this musical is so strongly influenced. It is also based off the 1982 Broadway musical that won the Tony Award for best musical. Both are mashed into director Rob Marshall's ("Chicago," "Memoirs of a Geisha") own adaptation which takes the same story of the Italian director Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) who is stuck in a creative block and is overwhelmed and surrounding by the pack of women in his life. It's in 1960s Rome, and although he's made great movies before as his co-workers call him Maestro, he's stuck in a rut selling publicity about some epic called "Italia" that doesn't really exist yet even on paper. This is all meant to be interesting as we follow the moping, chain-smoking Guito in his self-discovery, but it isn't. Guido's no hero. He's a scumbag.

Casting Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido was the first misstep. Isn't he too old? Breaching into your fifties, any sort of mid-life crisis isn't endearing or fascinating, it's just pathetic. Sure, Day-Lewis does what he can with what he's got, but when singing his accent entirely changes from sounding a whole lot less Italian, and why, may I ask, why do all these women adore him? Some dimension of his character is sorely missing. First there's his wife, Louisa (Marion Cotillard), and then his mistress, Carla (Penélope Cruz). Claudia (Nicole Kidman) is the woman Guido always casts as the leading woman in his films, and even they have a history. Meanwhile, a Vogue reporter (Kate Hudson) is throwing herself all over him. An Italian prostitute (Fergie) from Guido's past as a boy also sneaks into the mix. Keeping Guido in check is his costume designer (Judi Dench) and the memory of his mother (Sophia Loren). The actresses who play these women are all Oscar nominees or winners of some sort, and it's surprising to see them all together in this mess. It was all obviously meant to be something better.

Marion Cotillard being as talented as she is actually presents one of the biggest problems to "Nine" as a whole. Her character's hatred for Guido is so intense and fierce that we as an audience end up hating him more perhaps than we already did. She's that good and a stand-out amongst an otherwise shrug-worthy movie. Penélope Cruz is also effective, and that includes scenes aside from her rolling around in skimpy lingerie. Nicole Kidman is barely there, and her musical number is instantly forgettable. Kate Hudson's meant-to-be show-stopper, "Cinema Italiano," is catchy, sure, but embarrassing if you actually listen to the clueless lyrics. Numbers such as hers had a majority of the movie feeling like the runway of a Victoria's Secret show.

I personally enjoyed some of the musical numbers, though, especially Fergie's "Be Italian" and Cotillard's moment of revelation, "Take It All." The problem, though, is that Rob Marshall uses the same technique for his songs here as he did in "Chicago," except it actually worked then. Every musical number exists in a fantasy set alone on a stage, except in the case of "Chicago," those moments always worked to either explain a character's mindset or progress the narrative even if just a little bit. Not the case here. The songs feel claustrophobically stage-bound, and even though they may be nice to look at, it becomes tiring knowing that we're just going to have to return to the plot without anything advanced. It essentially becomes a list of mostly ho-hum songs strung along by a thin and boring plotline about a man with whom we don't even sympathize.

You can't knock this movie for not having ample amounts of passion. But to what cause? It's an ultimate misfire, a musical full of razzle-dazzle that doesn't add up to anything more than just a two-hour preview for the movie it wishes it were. In the credits, they show all the actresses performing their musical numbers with flashes to shots of them rehearsing these musical numbers not all jazzed-up. It's a clever move considering "Nine" is a film about making a film, which is essentially meant to be the film we just watched, but it's an issue when watching those credits was my favorite part.