Four Oscar Wishes

As a confirmed movie addict, I can hardly wait to watch the 86th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony, which will be televised by ABC on Sunday, March 2. However, instead of making any predictions this year, I decided to focus my cyberspace energy on the four Oscar-nominated films that also ended up on my Top Ten List of 2013. Below are my wishes for these wonderful movies.   

FIRST WISH: I wish Gravity would win Oscars in all of the ten categories it's nominated for! That includes BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR (Alfonso Cuarόn), BEST ACTRESS (Sandra Bullock), BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST VISUAL EFFECTS, BEST EDITING, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN, BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST SOUND MIXING, BEST SOUND EFFECTS EDITING. Why? Because this thrilling space adventure bowled me over with its stunning combination of technical magic and strong emotional pull. In fact, while viewing the film, I felt like I was actually floating in space and suffering through the terrible mishaps faced by the two astronauts played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. And I wasn’t even watching it in 3-D! Gravity is truly a groundbreaking movie, one that deserves Academy Award acclaim.
   

SECOND WISH: I wish The Broken Circle Breakdown would take home the Oscar for BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM. Bluegrass music never sounded as good to me as it does in this heartbreaking romantic melodrama from Belgium. Performances by Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens as the lovers who share a passion for each other as well as for American music are first rate, and it’s one of the few films I’ve seen where switching back and forth in time seems to make perfect sense.      

THIRD WISH: I wish Frozen would receive the Oscar for BEST ANIMATED FILM. As the world’s most avid movie musical fan, I always like to include a current musical on my “Best Films” of the year list and feel very excited when one receives an Oscar nomination. Although the pickins’ were lean during 2013, Frozen came along during December and made me a happy camper indeed. Disney released this delightful adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Snow Queen,” and it’s a gem. The screen absolutely comes alive because of the film’s splendid animation, great music and outstanding voice talent, especially by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.     

FOURTH WISH: I wish The Lone Ranger would win the golden statuette for BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIR STYLING. Yes, I know this hilarious Western flopped at the box office, but it’s the most fun I had at the movies in years!  Although the horse Silver captivated me every time he came on camera, Johnny Depp – bizarrely decked out and made up as a new version of Tonto (whose facial expressions when watching his sidekick do stupid things) -- was nothing short of priceless here. Plus, just thinking about Armie Hammer’s amusing portrayal of the Lone Ranger as Tonto’s sidekick instead of vice-versa still starts me laughing.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed! But no matter who wins in all 24 categories, it’s always fun to watch the glamour and glitz of Hollywood’s Big Night. With Ellen DeGeneres as host, I think we’re in for an entertaining show. Check your local TV schedule on Sunday, March 2, for the correct time. Then, on Tuesday, March 4, come over to Movie Addict Headquarters for our OSCAR RESULTS ROUNDTABLE where film critics Diana Saenger, Mack Bates and A.J. Hakari will be ranting and raving about this year’s Academy Awards show. The live episode airs on BlogTalkRadio at 4 p.m. Eastern Time, and an archived segment will also be available. Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/movieaddictheadquarters/2014/03/04/oscar-results-roundtable    

Silver Upstages Johnny Depp

I love movies with horses or with trains or with Johnny Depp. Because The Lone Ranger offers all three of these delights, I expected to enjoy this rollicking Western action comedy. However, how much I enjoyed it is a big surprise to me! First of all, the horse Silver captivated me every time he came on camera. And those many exciting train sequences really had me on the edge of my seat (cliché, I know – but true here). Then there’s Johnny Depp – bizarrely decked out as a new version of Tonto – whose facial expressions when watching his sidekick do stupid things are nothing short of priceless. Yes, you read that right. The Lone Ranger, played amusingly by Armie Hammer, gets more help from Tonto than vice versa in this comical take on the legendary duo.

W.C. Fields warned actors not to work with animals or children, and The Lone Ranger proves his point. Silver steals this movie. All he has to do is turn his head, look over his shoulder, gallop on top of a train with the speed of light and we can’t take our eyes off him. Who plays this marvelous creature? An 11-year-old quarter horse named … wait for it … SILVER!!! According to veteran horse trainer Bobby Lovgren , Silver is “a quiet, patient horse with a lot of personality.” Lovgren, who worked with Silver and three other horses helping to play the role, says that director Gore Verbinski  knew how to showcase Silver’s personality. I think Verbinski did this so well that both Depp and Hammer must know they’ve been upstaged by a remarkable white horse.

Verbinski also deserves kudos for the film’s thrilling set pieces involving trains. My favorite? Two rushing locomotives with people running and fighting on top of them. And congratulations to cinematographer Bojan Bazelli for the awesome Western vistas showcased in many scenes plus the lovely opening and closing shots of a Ferris wheel at night. I would be remiss not to mention Hans Zimmer’s stirring background music, for it added considerably to my enjoyment as did the clever screenplay by Justin Haythe and those two Pirates of the Caribbean scribes, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.

Actors Depp and Hammer project a humorous chemistry with each other as Tonto and Jack Reid/Lone Ranger. Their characters here are a far cry from the ones played by Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore. But Tonto and Reid are both still out after a bad guy (played with gusto by William Fichtner), and they want justice to prevail in the Old West. I found it great fun retuning to the days of yesteryear -- when out of the past comes a fiery horse, a cloud of dust and a hearty “Hi, Yo, Silver, away!”

(Released by Walt Disney Studios and rated “PG-13” by MPAA.)

Review also posted at www.reeltalkreviews.com.