Watchmen

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
I saw this at the Entertainment Cinemas in Leominster on March 14

I really enjoyed this movie. I haven't read the graphic novel but I thought there were a lot of strong characters including Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, and the Comedian who had very good roles and pulled them off well (did anyone else think the Comedian looked a lot like Robert Downey Jr?).

I thought a lot of the visuals and lighting were well done. Rorschach's mask was pretty cool and I want one.

The mood was set well. I liked the lighting and the staging of both the sex and violence really set the tone well.

I thought the story was told fairly well. The history of the Watchmen could have been addressed better but, in genneral, I think flashbacks were used effectively. I think the message and the ending were very good (even though I'm told it is different from the graphic novel) although I think Adrian's (the genius) role should have been developed more to create a more satisfying climax.

My major beef with the movie is that the trailers did not represent the movie at all. A theme in the previews was "Who watches the Watchmen" but that was barely a passing question in the movie. The previews also hinted that it was a world of superheroes (or at least a lot of them) but that wasn't even remotely true. Would have gotten a 7.5 or an 8 if that had been consistent.

Oscar predictions: How did I do?

So how did I do?
Best Picture: Nailed it
Best Director: Got it
Best Actor: Got it (although I actually did predict that Mickey would win right before the award was handed out so that's only a half win)
Best Actress: I was WAY off on this one (but this one I had come around and realized that Kate Winslet was going to win before they presented the award.
Best Supporting Actor: Duh
Best Supporting Actress: Got it wrong in this prediction but right on the night of
Best Score: almost
Best Song: Yessir
Best Animated Feature: Duh
Best Animated Short: Grrr, I got it right
Best Live Action Short: Got it
Best Foreign Film: Wow, shocked I was wrong
Best Documentary: Didn't really make a prediction but I guessed it right night of

Scorecard
In the post: 8 of 12 or 13 (depending on whether you count my rant against the category of documentary)
Night off: 10 of 13

Not great but not bad. A decent year for movies but not spectacular.

The Class

Rating 7.5 out of 10 stars
I saw this on February 16 at Coolidge Corner

I'm not sure if I'm rating this too highly or too lowly. I always have a hard time rating movies about teachers and schools because I have a special place in my heart for them.

I think this movie would be extremely interesting to any teacher. It doesn't follow the hollywood script (ala Dangerous Minds) where a teacher changes everyone's life. I appreciated this movie because it just follows one teacher (Mr. Morin) who there isn't really anything too special about. He has run ins with students, gets push back, has successes and failures. It's just real and I really appreciate that. I wish the movie would have focused on Mr. Morin more. From a personal point I think it would have been good to see him mood outside of work fluctuate with what is going on in the class room.

Overall it was a very good movie and I'm glad I went but I would especially recommend this to teachers.

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

I saw this on February 10 at Coolidge Corner

I'm not going to rates these individually or as a group but I will discuss them all. I will say up front that they didn't need to include the honorable mentions in my opinion. Maybe I just think this because the showing I went to started at 10 PM.

Oscar nominated

Lavatory - Lovestory: This was pretty good and amusing but the animation made me feel as if I was watching and animated New Yorker or funny paper cartoon. It was stylistic yes but at the end of the day it was just too simplistic. The search for love as a lavatory attendant was kind of cute but a little boring. I think this one could have been shorter and done just as much.

Oktapodi: This was short but really cute. The animation was cool. It had a Pixar meets Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" music video feel. I really liked the animation and I think choosing Octopi as the creatures trying to help/save one another was a great choice. Very few people seem to use sea creatures but I think this worked really well and was funny and interesting.

La Maison en Petit Cubes: This is my vote for boring/kind of lame heart warming movie that the academy might love to give the Oscar to cause it's the "right kind" of movie but I found it only ok. The animation seemed old/dated like that British Christmas movie (about a snowman I believe). The concept was ok. Old man can trace his life through the rising water levels and keeps building his house up. Overall though I thought this was overly sentimental without much of a purpose.

Presto: I thought this was hilarious and Pixar does a great job. Maybe simplistic in its story but extremely well animated and hilarious. It's like a new age looney tune. For those who don't know this is the cartoon shown at the beginning of Wall-E.

This Way Up: This was great but it started to lose it near the end for me. I love the animation (similar to Oktapodi) and I think the beginning of the journey with the casket is quite amusing and the two funeral home guys are really funny characters. The hell scene was well done but that's when it seemed to start getting a little out there for me. The animation was still great but it was a strange turn for the story that would've been fine if they'd have led into it better.

I bet the old man cartoon will win but I like better/ground breaking animation and better stories so I hope Presto, Oktapodi, or This Way Up wins.

Honorable Mentions

Varmints: A great story about urban sprawl, destroying the environment, etc. but entirely too long. It could've been more focused and better and half as long.

John and Karen: Funny idea (A penguin and a polar bear dating and working out their relationship problems) but not executed well. Boring and not that funny or interesting.

Gopher Broke: This was really funny and animated well. Could have done more with the gopher temper tantrums. I think Blur Studio may be one to watch in the future. With good stories they have what it takes to make feature lengths. They'll probably get bought by Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks though.

Skhizein: Really neat idea (man struck by meteorite and now appears 91 centimeters away from where he "actually" is). I thought the blocky/clay looking animation was really cool and unique to this years class and it was just a neat, well done concept.

Hot Dog: This was terrible. Dated, kitchy animation and an uninteresting story about a dog who wants to work for the fire department. Just below the curve in story arch and animation. Truly irritating.

Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts

I saw this on February 10 at Coolidge Corner.

I'm not going to bother rating them either collectively or as a unit but I will give my thoughts on each.

On the Line - This was good, deep at times and interesting. The main guy was good although I found his facial expression off-putting. I didn't care for the girl who played Sarah, which is a shame because I think it was a good role. I'm torn as to whether I would have liked the main character to admit that he'd seen the beginnings of the assault and not done anything. There is a case to be made for that and for how they actually ended it. It definitely seemed to be worth a nomination but it didn't blow me away or anything.

New Boy - I really enjoyed this one. It may stand a chance to win. Maybe a smidge to short to develop as much as needed but I liked it. The flashbacks to the boy's past could have happened a bit more and been a bit more vivid but I like how it was mixed in with the current school scenes and the mean kids in his class. The little girl was good too. And how can you not love Irish kids?

Toyland - I bet this will win because it seems a very "academy-esque" film and holocaust features always seem to do well. It was good but it also seemed like a less deep knockoff of Life is Beautiful. A kid with a Jewish friend wants to go to the camps with them cause his parent (mother in this case) told him they were going to Toyland.

The Pig - I really enjoyed this one. I hope it wins. The main character's attachment to the pig as his guardian angel struck a chord with me. I thought his daughter was a good, forceful role. I also have a personal bias towards stories of butt surgery. It was amusing and off beat and I think was just solid overall. The twist at the end was cute and funny.

Manon on the Asphalt - This one grew on me near the end but overall I found it probably the most irritating. The perspective (person dying narrating how her friends and family will react) seems like it would be a good idea on paper but wasn't that interesting to me.

I wouldn't be disappointed if any of them won because they were all pretty good and the quality overall was quite high in my opinion. My guess is that Toyland wins but I hope the Pig wins.

MIT: Bolt

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
I watched this at home on February 7th

Bolt was an enjoyable movie with a fun plot. Disney did a great job with its main characters. Bolt was interesting and the cat and hamster add interesting little bits. I don't think it had the same impact and value as Kung Fu Panda or Wall-E but still heart warming and worth seeing.

Waltz with Bashir

Rating 10 out of 10 stars
I saw this on February 2nd at Coolidge Corner

This movie was excellent! The animation and style was interesting and innovative. The storytelling was brilliant and captivating. The artistic direction and some of the shots they used were breathtaking. Great panoramic shots, panning landscapes, dream like shots make this movie truly stand out.

The music was an amazing fit as well and added a music video quality to the surrounding destruction that was very powerful.

Many movies have several of the things I've mentioned but this movie not only had them all but sacrificed not a drop of story telling ability, interest, and power. This is probably my favorite movie of 2008.