Sad Movies that I Have Watched Recently

Hello Everyone,

Over the last few weekends I have watched some sad, sad movies. My wife says that I watch depressing movies; this is true, but they are are still very good. MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Two weekends ago, I watched Children of Men, which my wife bought for me on boxing day; that is how backlogged that I can get with my movies. I knew that it was going to be a sad movie, so I waited until my wife feel asleep and then I bought it on.
Children Of Men
I consider myself to be a Clive Owen fan; it would have been really cool to see him play James Bond, but it would have to have been like 10 years ago when Brosnan was playing Bond. The film depicts a bleak, terrorist-filled world (much like the world of today; with all the fanatics), but still features a glimmer of hope. The decay of society (buildings, morals, people) is done stylistically in a sort of home video type way; I do not think that it was shot on digital video though. This type of depiction of the future is a change from the Back To The Future 2/Minority Report type future that is very slick. It is sad, but is decently done and is worth a viewing. I do not think that it is a great film, but it is a good film.

Casanova
I bought this Heath Ledger film along with Ned Kelly (remake) and Candy because there was a good sale on amazon.ca in January on Ledger's films; I got the 3 of them for 47 bucks USD. This was a cute little romantic comedy starring Ledger (obviously), Sienna Miller (HOT; rent Layer Cake), Oliver Platt (he is always funny; see Huff Season 1) and Jeremy Irons (bad guy from Die Hard 3: sucking hard [it was a big disappointment]). There are cute little instances of mistaken identity and shenenigans. I do not like the fashions of the time mid-late 1700s; I am not a period piece fan; it's too old. I thought that I would give the movie a try and it is pretty much what I expected. Cute little film. Ledger was always great.

The Ice Storm
My wife has been telling me for a few years that this was a good film and I am a fan of Ang Lee (Eat Drink Man Woman, Brokeback Mountain, The Hulk [it was not his fault, it was the stupid studio and the screenwriter and the stupid special FX for absorping man [Nick Nolte] and that whole fight at the end of the movie was crap, crap, crap. I digress. My wife told me that this film was about a bunch of couples that go to a key party during which a tragedy occurs (I am not saying that the tragedy occurs at the party but one occurs). Knowing this, I could really see the the tension building; I could tell that something tragic would occur. The film teased you with options as to what it could be, who it would happen to or who would perpitrate the act. What happened was not what I expected; I expect something a little bigger, but it was very dramatic and epiphanic for some of the characters involved. It was an interesting look into a very uncertain period in American society (1970s). The film showed that it was a period of questionable morals, uncertain politics and general unease; it was as it the free love of the 60s was being paid for in the 70s. All the excesses of the 60s came to a head at some point in the 70s about the time when this movie takes place or a little before that time. Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver all put in good performances. Katie Holmes and David Krumholtz (Freaks and Geeks, Superbad, TVs Numbers) have brief parts. Tobey Maguire provides voice-over narration ocassionally during the film which helps to shed light on how to view the characters in the story; using The Fantastic Four characters as a metaphor for his family; interesting. Christina Ricci and Elijah Wood show how good they were as young actors and their parts are important to the message of the film. I recommend this to fans of American Beauty cause I get a bit of an American Beauty vibe from this movie, but it sadder than American Beauty gets so be prepared. The decision for characters to change their ways comes at the end of the film, so you do not get that move to change their lives to make themselves happy that you have in American Beauty.

I hope you have enjoyed my brief fore into sad sad films. Thanks for reading. Leave questions, comments or suggestions if you like.

Have A Good One.

Fanboy Dave

Crazy Movie Weekend

Hello Everyone,

This weekend my wife and I watched 6 movies; Horton Hears A Who, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Into The Wild, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, August Rush and Atonement. I would like to talk about each individually; I will try an avoid giving the films away but they MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

Horton Hears A Who
Some of the principle reasons why I wanted to go and see this film were that it features a lot of celebrity voices (steve carrell, jim carrey, jonah hill, seth rogen, isla fisher and others), the CGI looked pretty cool and I knew it would be well written because it was based on a Dr. Seuss story. It was a cute little film; I was entertained, I laughed and the film did not go on too long unnecessarily. The moral of the story is pretty obvious to any viewer over the age of 10, but it is a Dr. Seuss story, so you expect that, but it is not too preachy like some of the Disney films can be. Anyone can enjoy this film; not everyone will want to or needs to go to the theatre to see it, but I believe everyone can enjoy this film.

The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
I believe that this film was robbed of a Best Picture Oscar Nomination; I am glad No Country For Old Men won, but this film should have been nominated. The story is about Jesse James as seen through the eyes of his assassin Robert Ford, whose brother ran with Jesse's gang. Robert Ford idolized Jesse James as a child and young man, but then he begins to see how trouble Jesse is a person, a father and a husband. Casey Affleck was great as Robert Ford and was worthy of the Oscar nomination that he received for his performance in this film. This film also had a beautiful score that should have been nominated for an Oscar; I am not saying that if nominated that it should have won, but the score for Atonement (which won for best original score) was annoying, predictable and totally unspectacular and should not have won. This film is pretty long (2 hrs. 40 mins) and does drag a little at times, but the performances are always great (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell in particular). The first 40 minutes of the film features some great landscape shots; great cinematography. The voice-over that pops up every 5-10 minutes was great and detailed thoughts and feeling of some of the characters. The voice-over only enhanced the film that was already pretty well written. This is likely the only film (with the possible exception of Horton Hears A Who) that I watched this weekend that I intend to buy in the near future and by near future I mean payday, which is Thursday (sweeeeeeet). If you consider yourself a reasonably patient person then you will get through the slower points in this film. One of the best films of the year, which is really last year (2007).

Into The Wild
The true story of a young man (Chris) who decides to give up a possibly meaningless material existence for a life on the open road; a road which he plans to take to Alaska. Emile Hirsch (Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog, The Girl Next Door) plays Chris, who travels America and has random, but meaningful encounters with other people on his journey to Alaska; Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn, Hal Holbrook play the main characters that he encounter on the road. It is a very sad and tragic story, but it totally worth seeing. The film is capably directed by Sean Penn and features great music composed by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Kaki King and Michael Brook. The music enhances some of the emotion behind some of the principle scenes of the film. Worth a watch.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
My wife Veronica wanted to see this film and I did not really want to see it, but I thought what the hell; I watch movies so why not give it a try. It was cute and magical; in more of small scale way then something like Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (the original). It was also a little unexpectedly sad, but not cry your eyes out sad. If you want to see it, you want to see it and if you don't you don't. Dustin Hoffman does his wacky Willy Wonka type character, but is not as extreme as that and the film does not necessitate him to be any more extreme in his performance than he is. Jason Batemen and Natalie Portman are very capable in their performances of the not totally fleshed out characters that they play. The young boy in the film that helps out at the store (Eric) is a very cute, wise, original and somewhat odd little kid that adds to the film and helps keep the story going when it seems like the film may be over to a sad end for the store and some of the people who tend to it.

August Rush
This film was, I think a very underrated and rarely seen film; almost a sort of indy film; it had a limited release and was only playing in one of the two theatres in my hometown. The story is about an orphan boy who desperately seeks to find his parents and seeks to call to them with the music that he plays and music which he eventually composes. His parents played by Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (great actor, great singer/musician) who had a chance encounter, but were never a couple and who both seek each other out when each has a sort of mini-epiphany. Keri Russell finds out from her father on his deathbed that the child that she was carrying did not indeed die when she was hit by a car 11 years earlier, but was illegally put up for adoption by him (he forged her signature). She rushed to find him as he is trying to find her and his father with his music. The music in this film is great. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers who has an Irish Country band with his family needs to start his own band and start releasing albums because he is a great potential rock star; great voice, good guitar player and he played Elvis in that TV movie that was on in 2005 (I think). If you are into music or like Jonathan Rhys-Meyers or just want to see a good flick check it out.

Atonement
I am not a fan of Ian McEwan's novels, but I have never read any of them, so I gave this movie a chance. I am also trying to watch all of the Best Picture Oscar Nominees (There Will Be Blood will be the last one that I have to watch still) of this year and make a final decision as to what film is/was the most deserving of the Oscar; it is coming up No Country For Old Men still. This film won for Best Original Score, but sadly this was an unworthy win. Unfortunately, I did not see 3:10 To Yuma, The Kite Runner or Ratatouille, so I cannot judge from those films which score should have won the Oscar, but as previously mentioned, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford should have been nominated in this category. Keira Knightley is not a bad actress and pulls off a fairly decent performance, although I prefer Natalie Portman because she is a better actress. James McAvoy pulls off a much better performance of the two, possibly because he is just started to get recognized by Hollywood (see him next in action flick Wanted with Angelina Jolie) whereas Keira has been around Hollywood since Bend It Like Beckham gained international acclaim in 2002 and I worry that her best days may be behind her. Prove me wrong, Keira. The protagonist of the story, Briony played by younin' Saoirse Ronan (she is only 13) annoyed me and I do not really understand Saoirse's Oscar nomination, but I think whenever a young child is nominated for an acting award, I am always stunned or caught unawares; I do not understand how they decide that some of these young children deserve the nomination; I guess that I believe they are deserving of the nominations...sometimes. The story was part love story, part war epic, part coming of age story. There were a few good twists towards the end of the film, but for me it fell flat. My bias though I think is that I am not a fan of any sort of modern filmed war epic love story (The English Patient) films. I believe that I am more of a fan of the black and white 40s and 50s war epics such as the coming home subtype as seen in The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946). The film is very sad, a little sappy, boring at times and was unworthy of the nomination; I mean Atonement, if you lost me there. Every year at the Oscars there is one or two films that were off in their nomination for Best Picture. In 2005, I believe that Capote and Goodnight and Good Luck were unworthy of their nominations and I was disappointed that Brokeback Mountain lost, but still excited that Crash won. If you really want to see this film then by all means see it, but all I can tell you was that I did not enjoy it and I really did not have any expectations for the film, so I was pretty open to it and it did very little for me.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading this insanely long post and that you make an effort to see one of the films that I have reviewed, discussed or bitched about; maybe not Atomenent. Take care everyone and thanks Denise for telling me that people were unable to leave comments on my blogs; I have resolved this or at least tried, so you should now be able to freely leave comments. If any of you would like recommend films to me that you believe I should see, please feel free to let me know.

REVISED
Since posting this blog originally, I have read Atonement and rewatched the movie. I still stand by what I said about Keira Knightley. I am looking foward to seeing more of James McAvoy in the pictures; possibly as an action star; his next film is Wanted with Angelina Jolie; I know that I already mention that in this blog entry. There are things about this film that annoy me, like how this young girl's unreliability ruins McAvoy's character's life. But it is a good story. I am not usually a fan of the war epic type pictures, but it is very dramatic and sad and I like those sort of elements in films. I now feel that this film's nomination for best picture was deserving but I think that it is the third best film of the 4 of the 5 that I have seen that was nominted (1; No Country For Old men, 2: Juno, 4: Michael Clayton; these ratings may change slightly as I have not seen There Will Be Blood yet; if this happens I will update, you the readers.

Take Care Everyone.

F&nb0y D@vE

My Foreign Film Collection

Hello Everyone,

I just bought Lady Vengeance (the second part in the Vengeance Trilogy; I think it is the second part anyway) the other day and thought that I would do a rundown of my entire foreign film collection, which depending on whether I get rid of my cheaply purchased copy of Ameile is between 28 and 29 in total. I thought Ameile was cute but I do not know how much I would want to watch it in the future, so I think that I will give it another try. I however hate Jean Paul Jeunet's Alien Resurrection, which is in my eyes and the eyes of my friend Chris, the only truly crappy Alien movie, because Alien 3 is not bad, not great, but not terrible. Anyway, I go off on tangents, but no more I say, no more (sorry). The following may contain spoilers. I try to be as general as possible to just give, you (the readers) a general idea about what to expect if you were to watch any of these foreign films as well as my feeling about them. Enjoy.

I am going to start this alphabetically starting with the two 3 Extremes compilations. I first saw one of the segments in my Theories of Generic film class at the University of Toronto. The segment was called Going Home (Directed by Peter Chan) and was about a widower police officer and his son moving into a soon to be demolished apartment building. Strange things begin to happen when the officer's son disappears and he begins to suspect the only other tenant in the apartment block; a man who wheels around his comatose wife and frequently carts leaking garbage bags to the dumpster. This episode is very eerie, sad, intriguing and I think very beautiful. Both of the 3 Extremes DVDS feature 3 episodes from Asian filmmakers (Peter Chan, Ji-Woon Kim, Nonzee Nimibutr, Fruit Chan, Chan-Wook Park and Takashi Miike). I prefer Going Home and Cut (directed by Chan-Wook Park). Cut is about a film director that is being held hostage by a sadistic extra who has been in all of his films, but has remained unnoticed by the director. Beautifully set decoration in this sick and twisted horrific hostage and torture situation. Various Asian Countries.

I am now just realizing that this entry is going to go on forever. The describes of the other foreign films in my collection will be much briefer.

Audition (dir. Takashi Miike) is probably the most horrific film in my collection. It is sort of a very twisted Asian version of Fatal Attraction. There is more to it than that but I am trying to be concise. Japanese.

The Barbarian Invasions (dir. Denys Arcand) won the foreign language film Oscar a few years ago and is the sequel to Arcand's earlier film The Decline of the American Empire. It is a rumination on how Quebec society is changing and becoming more technocratic. It is also a story about what makes up a life etc. French-Canadian.

Cache (dir. Michael Haneke) is a bizarre film about a family that keeps receiving videotapes of someone spying outside their house and their efforts to find out who it is. I did not really get this film; I think that I missed something; I only watch it once and need to give it another try. Some of my fellow students in the University of Toronto Cinema Studies department kept talking about it so I rolled the dice and decided to buy it when it came out and give it a try. French.

The Celebration (Festen; its Danish Title, dir. Thomas Vinterberg) is a great dramatic thriller (yeah I made that up) that masterfully constructs a style by taking away many of the tenants that make up a film's style in a Hollywood film. One of my top five films of all time. Danish.

Chungking Express (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is a mosaic narrative about the love lives of two Hong Kong police officers and the females that they interact with in their daily lives. Also one of my top five favourite films of all time. Chinese.

Cinema Paradiso is a great Italian film about cinema, growing up and love. Possibly my favourite Italian film of all time; I think that The Easy Life is my most favourite Italian film. Italian.

Crazy (dir. Jean-Marc. Vallee) is a coming of age story about a gay man as he grows up in a religious French-Canadian household. Great film; my second favourite French-Canadian Film.

Days of Being Wild (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is a film about a reckless youth who is trying to find his origins in an attempt to understand who his relationships with women are so damaged. Very good. Chinese.

The Decline of the American Empire (dir. Denys Arcand) is sort of a French-Canadian precursor to The Big Chill (I have heard and read this but I cannot confirm because I have not seen The Big Chill). It is about the sex lives of a bunch of Quebec Intelligensia University Professors as is discussed and shown over the course of a cold, Quebecois winter. Very funny and thought provoking.

Eat Drink Man Woman (dir. Ang Lee) is about the love lives of three woman and their father and the different romantic circumstance that each find themselves in. Very cute little movie. Taiwanese

Fallen Angels (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is the companion film to Chungking Express. Wong Kar-Wai often pairs films together (see also In The Mood For Love and 2046). It is a mosaic narrative love story; on one side about a hitman and his handler who he has never met, but she seems to be in love with him and on the other side about a mute and his father who he hassles [very funny segment]. I love it second only to Chungking Express. Chinese.

La Femme Nikita (dir. Luc Bresson) is about woman junkie who is discovered at a crime scene and is train to be a hitman or hitwoman, whichever you prefer. Very good spy/espionnagesque action film. Probably Bresson's best film. French.

Goodbye Dragon Inn (dir. Tsai Ming-Liang) is about the final screening at a movie theatre in Taiwan before it is to be torn down (the movie being screened is an old swordplay/marital arts film that was filmed in Taiwan when Taiwan was still part of Mainland China; the film is called Dragon Inn). The film basically a lamentation on the lost lustre and prosperity that Taiwan once had when it was part of China, but has since lost and has never gained back. This is all told as you observe the lives of the people watching the film and running the theatre. There is no dialogue in this film for the first 40 minutes or so; movie is only about 80 minutes but seems longer because of the lack of major action) This is a watch for only those who have more an average amount of patience. I believe there is a pay off if you sit through the entire film, but others might disagree. Taiwanese.

High Tension (Alexandre Aja) closely resembles the first 100 pages or so of a Dean Koontz novel entitled Intensity (see my brief blog entry on this from Jan. or Feb.). It is a slash film with a cool twist set in the French countryside. One of my favourite horror films of the last ten years. French.

Irreversible (dir. Gaspar Noe) is a hard to watch thriller told in reverse chronology about a woman's rape and the violent actions that her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend take to 'payback' the responsible party. French.

Infernal Affairs (dir. Andy Lau) more commonly known as the film Martin Scorsese adapted with his recent Oscar wining film The Departed. The story is pretty much the same, although there are differences (the ending and others). The acting is great and story is well written; it is just a great foreign cop film. Chinese.

Intacto (dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo; also 28 weeks Later) is a interesting little film about group of people that gamble away their luck and try to get it back before they end up dead. Spanish, but has English dialogue at times. An interesting little watch.

Jesus of Montreal (dir. Denys Arcand) is about a group of struggling French-Canadian stage actors who perform a controversial Passion Play (about Jesus, the cross and all that business) that upsets some church leaders because it attempts to humanize Jesus Christ to a level that they are uncomfortable with. Probably my favourite French-Canadian Film.

Lady Vengeance is another revenge film (apparently the last in the Chan-Wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy; the second is Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance) from Korean director Chan-Wook Park. It is not as violent as Oldboy but it is still pretty disturbing, but worth seeing. I prefer Oldboy. The performances are all very good and the protagionist for Oldboy is also in this film, but this time around he plays 'the bad guy'. I need to see it again to piece everything together in my head better.

MPD (multiple Personality Detective) Psyho was a miniseries that aired on TV in Japan in 2000 and is based on a popular Japanese manga comic. It is about a detective who hunted and killed a serial killer who can transfer his soul in the bodies of others through phone lines. The detective developed a second personality that has taken over his life since a sad and drama encounter between the killer and the detectives wife. The film continues with him hunting this serial killer and trying to stop his transfer into other bodies. It is much weirder than you think. I need to take it in all again. Japanese.

Oldboy (dir. Chan-Wook Park), I thought was going to be a cool revenge film with a lot of violence (there is violence in the film), but turned out to be a much deeper film than I thought, with a really nice glossy polish to the film (what I mean to say is that the film has a reasonable budget and looks like a really well made film). I highly recommend this film. Korean.

Pan's Labyrinth (dir. Guillermo Del Toro) is about a young girl's glimpse into a dark, but magical fairy tale world while she is in the Spanish countryside with her pregnant mother and new Spanish Commander stepfather during the Spanish civil war in 1944. Very dark but very good. If you are a horror fan then give it a rent. Spain.

Run Lola Run (dir. Tom Tyker) is about a woman who races to help her boyfriend recover a mobsters money that he has lost. Three possible versions of her struggle to help him get the money back make up the film. Very cool, fast-paced and entertaining film. German.

To Live (dir. Zhang Yimou) is about a family and how they are affected by the changing society in China from about the 1930-1970s. A very good brief overview of China's history. Slow paced at times but is a very good foreign melodrama. Chinese.

Tout Va Bien (dir. Jean-Luc Godard) is a film about the changes in French society in the late 1960 involving the May 1967 protests in France involving the death of a protestor at the hands of the French Police Department. The narrative shifts between a couple and how their politics are pulling them apart, protestors at a supermarket and workers hold the head of a factory hostage in his office to get higher wages and breaks during their workday. Film had a very interesting narrative structure. Good foreign film about the turbulent decade that was the 1960s. French.

Yi Yi (dir. The Late Edward Yang) is about a family from Taipei who in different ways reflect on and question their lives and their place in the world around them. Very long but a very good foreign film. My favourite Taiwanese film. Taiwanese.

I hope that those of you reading this blog entry have seen or aim to see some of the films I have briefly discussed; I think they are worth seeing.

Looking forward to spring coming soon,

FaNbOy DaVe

I love That Poster!

Hello Everyone,

I do not know about those of you reading this, but I love movie posters. I love finding unused poster concepts on some of my DVDs, such as Batman Begins. I find that a lot of times the better posters are the ones that were not used or those that were used in Europe.

I am a big James Bond fan, but at first I did not like the teaser posters for Quantum of Solace, but now I love it. A shadow of Bond with a machine gun set against the stone ground. It nicely shows how the storyline from Casino Royale will continue into this new film.

I just saw the Official Iron Man poster earlier this week; check it out online. I think it looks like a Star Wars posters, not like most of the basic Superhero posters.

I really love the US One sheet of Blade Runner. Rachel Rosen smoking a cigarette in the middle to the right, Harrison Ford in the middle of the poster with his gun held up at the side of his head and a futuristic looking building at the bottom of the poster; very noirish.

The 1997 Re release of the original Star Wars films I thought were great looking; even better than the original release posters.

I absolutely love the Donnie Darko posters with the Frank the Bunny mask that is composed of images from the film. I love it so much that I bought it and have it in an ikea frame in my house.

Back to Star Wars. The newer Star Wars films had posters that practically mirrored the format of the 1997 Re released posters for the original Star Wars films. The advance/teaser poster for Phantom Menace I thought was great; anakin as a boy with his shadow appearing on a sand house as the shadow of Darth Vader; really nice. The US Banner for Revenge of the Sith with Anakin's cape forming the vader's mask was really interesting to see and seems to continue the idea from the Phantom Menace advance poster.

The Terminator 2 poster with Arnold as the Terminator on the motorcycle all done up in leather is one of the great action film posters of all time.

The European poster for The World Is Not Enough is so much better than the US release poster for the film; the European ones are usually better, but not always.

The Dark Knight poster with Ledger as the Joker painting 'Why So Serious?' in blood on a transparent screen is great looking, as are all the posters with Ledger as the Joker in them.

I also loved the Casino Royale (2006) poster with Bond at the casino table; that would be a great poster to frame and have in one's home; ah maybe one day.

The Pan's Labyrinth posters were very eerie, but also very beautiful looking, appealing to both the dark and fairy tale qualities that exist within the film.

Well I hope that you enjoy my brief discussion of movie posters that I love. Are there movie posters out there that you love? If so, leave a comment on my blog. I would love to hear your opinions etc.

Take Care everyone. Winter is almost over.

FaNbOy DaVe

Oscar Agreements and Bereavements!

Hey Everyone,

I do not know how many of you reading this watched the Oscars. I did; it is the only awards show that I watch anymore. Here I will list my agreements and bereavements for the winners for all the categories; some of my comments will be very brief and others lengthy (like a good hallmark card). Enjoy.

Costume Design - Elizabeth: The Golden Age won in this category. I have no problem with that. I heard that the Elizabeth movies were good, as I have not seen them but maybe someday I will give them a try.

Animated Film - Ratatouille won in this category. I heard it was good and I heard that it was not so good, so I do not know what to think. I guess I should see it. I actually did not see any of the nominees in this category

Make-Up - La Vie En Rose won in this category. I suppose they did a good job because they made a relatively hot women (actress Marion Cotillard) look like Edith Plaf, who in my eyes was not attractive; not ugly just not attractive.

Visual FX - The Golden Compass won in this category, which mildly upset me because I thought that Transformers had great visual effects and should have won, but I do not cry myself to sleep about it...anymore cause it has been almost a week.

Art Direction - Sweeney Todd won in this category. This seemed to be worthy of the win with the sets, costumes etc ( I am not really sure what this category means). I still have to see this film; OUT ON DVD APRIL 1.

Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Me) won in this category and it was a much-deserved win for him; everyone in that film was great.

Short Film - Les Mozart Du Pickpockets won; way to go. I never see short films, so any fight here.

Animated Short - Peter and the Wolf won and I think this film was based on a children's book. Way To Go.

Supporting Actress - Tilda Swinton won this Oscar; she is great in whatever she is in and I supposed that she did a good job; I have mixed feelings about Michael Clayton though.

Adapted Screenplay - No Country For Old Men won in this category and as I read the book before I saw the film, I am in a prime position (which is rare) to compare the two and The Cone Brothers did a great job adapted the amazing book by Cormac McCarthy; only minor things were changed in the translation from book to film.

Sound Editing - The Bourne Ultimatum won this Oscar. They did a good job with all that sound edition stuff.

Sound Mixing - The Bourne Ultimatum also won for this category; again they did a good job with all the sound mixing stuff.

Actress - Marion Cotillard won for her portrayal of Edith Plaf, who I think was a French singer in the 40s. I am guessing here. If you know better please let me know. I had no pick for this category, but it would have been cool for Canuck Ellen Page to win or even Cate Blanchett who did win for the other Elizabeth movie (90 % sure).

Film Editing - The Bourne Ultimatum won for film editing and I feel this film deserved it; there were little to no clunky bits for story or character development that slowed down the plot of the film to any annoying level.

Foreign Language Film - The Counterfeiters won for foreign language film; I wished I lived in Toronto, so I would actually have a chance in having seen any of the films nominated in this category maybe next year I will try an see some.

Original Song - Falling Slowly ('Once'); After hearing all the nominated songs, I was glad that this song won because I felt that it was the most deserving. I have heard also that the film is very good so I aim to try to rent it in the near future.

Cinematography - There Will Be Blood won for cinematography; I still have to see this film.

Original Score - Atonement won for original score; still have to see the film. I thought that I had not seen any of the film nominated in this category but I did see Michael Clayton but released it was nominated after I saw it and did not get a chance to see it again and decide whether or not the music was any good. I think a lot of the film scores that I enjoy were not nominated or if they were did not win Oscars.

Documentary Short - Freeheld; Sure it deserved it but again never saw it.

Documentary Feature- Taxi To The Darkside won for best doc. I wanted Sicko to win but I have more confidence in the doc, and animated film categories that those most deserving win the Oscars. Maybe I am being to trusting. I do not know.

Original Screenplay - Juno won for this category; I thought it was a good story. So hats off to you Diablo Cody; Crazy, Hot name. She is hot did you see her? She used to be a stripper, so she has to be or should be pretty nice to look at naked or not.

Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis won for his performance in There Will Be Blood; again I did not see this film but I thought that it would be cool if Viggo won or even cooler if Johnny Depp won or really nice if Tommy Lee Jones won for in the Valley of Elah (very good movie; I recommend).

Director - The Coen Bros won for best director(s). They are pretty awesome. I have only seen No Country For Old Men, Raising Arizona and the Big Lebowski.

Best Picture - No Country For Old Men most deservedly won for best picture. I did enjoy Juno, but Michael Clayton was a disappointment (it was good but I had higher hopes because it was nominated for best picture; in the valley of elah would have been a more deserving nominee) and I did not see the remaining two films. I would have been really upset if any film other than No Country For Old Men won. I cannot wait for the DVD release. This film masterfully deals with tension and action in story (see also History of Violence). Great performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Woody Harrelson can be seen in this film.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on the Oscar winners. take it easy. watch a lot of films and tell me about them.

FaNbOy DaVe