Ang Lee Works His Magic Once Again!

There are only two Canadian writers whose Booker-Prize-winning novels were adapted and made into movies. Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient not only won The Booker Prize in 1992, but the film, directed by the late Antony Minghella in 1996, also won nine Academy Awards. Now, French Canadian author Yann Martel's Man-Booker-Prize-winning Life of Pi (2002) will probably experience the same glory at the Oscars next February. Award-winning director Ang Lee (one of my favourites) once again works his magic behind the camera and, lo and behold, Life of Pi shot in 3D is such a visual feast!

Everything, good or bad, is beautiful and visually stunning in the movie - the storm, the zoo, the sky, sunset and sunrise, even the animal-kill-animal scenes. A lot of people and critics have juxtaposed this movie to Avatar in terms of visual and technological supremacy, but because I haven't watched James Cameron's movie, I cannot compare. I cannot simply imagine Life of Pi shot without 3D technology. How else can anybody capture the wonders of God's creation?

For somebody like me who never have any particular affinity or interest in wild animals or even pets, I'm in awe of all the animals, mammals, fish and birds in this flick, particularly the tiger. Ang Lee has disclosed in many media interviews that he has used four real Bengal tigers for the movie, but for most of the tiger shots on the lifeboat, they are CGI creations. Teenaged principal actor Suraj Sharma plays the 16-year-old Pi extremely well given that he has never had any acting experience prior to this movie. Apparently, he didn't even intend to go for the audition but accompanied his brother instead. At the end, Ang Lee picked Sharma out of 3,000 other teenagers.

But what's most intriguing about the movie is the faith of Pi in God. He's raised a Hindu, believes in Christ and practises Islam as well. To Pi, all three faiths can merge and co-exist as one. During Pi's struggle for survival, he constantly converses with God. The movie also has numerous metaphors relating to the Christian faith - Noah's ark immediately comes to mind.

Towards the end of the movie, we all draw our own conclusions as to what really happened during the shipwreck. But as a Canadian, I'm proud of Yann Martel's inspiring novel and the movie's location shoots in Montreal in addiiton to India and Taiwan. I'm even more proud of Chinese-American director Ang Lee, who, in his own modest yet confident demeanor, presented another accomplishment as a multi-talented director and artist. The enthusiastic applause from the audience indicates that this movie is not only a critics' favourite, but also a cinematic work of art appreciated by all.

Hitchcock: A Focus On Strong Actors

Watching Hitchcock is like watching the movie A Week With Marilyn. Because everybody knows what really happened to these iconic characters in Hollywood, we, as the audience, form our own views as to whether this movie is true to reality or even whether we like it or not as an art form. But you don't have to like or know Alfred Hitchcock to really enjoy this movie. The focus is on the strong actors, from principal to supporting - Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson and Toni Collette.

Hopkins is hardly recognizable with his prosthetic makeup and fat suit, but he still gives a very strong performance. Helen Mirren, as Hitchcock's wife Alma Reville, once again outshines everybody and her performance might earn her another Oscar nomination. Johansson already looks the part with her blonde wig, but I still have to give her credit for playing Janet Leigh, the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis, with such charm and glamor. In those days, movie stars do look like movie stars! On the other hand, why would a talented actor like Toni Collette accept the role of Hichcock's assistant Peggy? Michael Stuhlberg's performance as the big Hollywood talent agent Lew Wasserman is a bit weak, and Andrew Garfield would have been more convincing as Anthony Perkins than James D'Arcy. Jessica Biel never strikes me as a good actor and she even looks tired as Vera Miles in this flick.

The film is not about the director Hitchcock. Its emphasis is on the love story and relationship between the renowned director and his wife Alma. Their relationship came to a crisis when Hitchcock was shooting the movie Psycho. We learned that even a successful box office director had to be at the mercy of the big Hollywood studios and behind the success, his pride, ego, insecurities, jealousy, obsessions with his characters and fantasies for blonde screen sirens almost engulfed him in his own artistic world. Hitchcock's determination to make an unusual movie best demonstrated that the best artists are those who take risks and experiment with new, innovative ideas and approaches no matter how high the stakes are.

Having the character Hitchcock play Prologue and Epilogue to the movie is an interesting approach. But having the real psycho Norman Bates appear throughout the movie does not work as well unless the director Sacha Gervasi wants us to think that Hitchcock himself is a bit of a psycho himself!

Ben Affleck Matures As Director

It's the time of the year when everybody is talking about which movies would be considered as Oscar contenders. The Master, Lincoln and Argo are all on the favourites' list. All three are based on true stories or events although The Master is a fictional depiction of a true-life cult religion leader.

I haven't seen Lincoln yet, but Argo would definitely win some Oscars if not the Best Director award for Ben Affleck. At the time when tension, once again, arises in the Middle East, particularly in Iran, this real story which happened in the '70s is very timely and relevant.

I was never a fan of Affleck's as an actor, but I saw all three of his feature films which are all excellent. Gone Baby Gone and The Town both took place in small towns near Boston and have a melancholic tone to the story treatment. But Argo is history - a very funny and suspenseful portrait of a real event. As one could imagine, nobody could probably film in Tehran now, so most of the movie was shot in nearby Turkey. In addition to Affleck, who plays CIA agent Tony Mendez, a cast of veteran actors support him - Canadian Victor Garber as the Canadian Ambassador to Iran; Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Mendez's CIA boss; John Goodman as Hollywood makeup director John Chambers; Alan Arkin as Hollywood producer Lester Siegel; and Tate Donovan (Damages) as the leader of the U.S. embassy staff in Tehran.

The movie keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The attention to detail is superb - from the hairstyle to the props and furniture to the wardrobe. The real protagonist Tony Mendez, I read, was very involved in the production of the movie and has now become a good friend of Affleck's. Canada had a huge role to play in the successful rescue of the embassy hostages and, in spite of some criticisms from Canadian media about the movie's disproportionate emphasis on the heroism of the CIA agent, I thought due credit has been given to the Canadian Ambassdaor who made this whole escape possible.

Chris Terrio, who wrote the screenplay, deserves an Oscar nomination. Not only are the dialogues funny, witty and tense, they also absolutely form the important skeleton to the entire movie. Dirty politics are still at play here, but at least all hostages have been rescued due to a silly but brilliant idea.

Ben Affleck has come a long  way from his Good Will Hunting and JLo-love-affair days. Film critics have even been calling him the Warren Beatty of the 21st century. He has definitely matured as a feature film director who deserved the thunderous applauses at most Argo screenings here in Toronto!

Best 007 Movie In 50-Year Bond Franchise

By now, almost every single review I've read on Skyfall is beyond excellence. Having watched the first show in Canada, I cannot but agree! Not only is it engaging, exciting and sexy, it's visually stunning and as close to reality and logic as a movie on James Bond could ever get.

Kudos first go to director Sam Mandes whose training in classical theatre, including Shakespeare, probably explains why this is the first Bond movie that's poetic not only in storyline and screenplay, but also in its visual glory and structural perfection. This is the first Bond movie that is not related to any previously-published Ian Fleming James Bond short story or novel. In fact, Mendes said that Skyfall does "not connect" with the two previous Bond movies - Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. That's why the film is so much more creative and full of pleasant surprises.

Second to the director, credit should go to the script and screenplay writers - award-winning Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) and John Logan (RED, Hauptmann and Never The Sinner). The screenplay is so witty that in spite of all the tensions created between Bond and the villain, the sense of humour makes you laugh throughout the movie and marvel at the writers. In an interview with CNN, Daniel Craig revealed that he had a lot of input on the screenplay and the writers actually listened to him and took some of his suggestions.

A lot of questions have come up about where the 25th Bond movie was shot. Well, the correct answers are Glen Etive, Highland, Scotland; Smithfield Market, Holborn, London, England; London, England; Shanghai, China; Surrey, England; Adana, Turkey; and Istanbul, Turkey. The rest were either studio shots or digital recreations. This is also the first time that a Bond movie has filmed in China.

If anybody has doubts about the cast, let's take a look at the number of individual Academy Awards from this film's cast and crew. Sam Mendes won an Academy Award from American Beauty; Javier Bardem who plays an impressive villain (Kevin Spacey was offered but turned down the role) has two nominations and one win (No Country For Old Men). Ralph Fiennes as M's new boss has two award nominations while Albert Finney and Judi Dench each has five nominations. This leaves only Daniel Craig and Ben Whishaw (as Q) with the thinnest resume. Everybody raves about Bardem as the villain Raoul Silva in this movie, but I actually think we should give both Craig and Whishaw their deserving credit. The latter was proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation and I thought his performance as Q is funny, cute and outstanding!

I read that Daniel Craig was worried about the delays in the film's production as he feels that, at the age of 43, he is already getting too old for the challenging physical demands of the stunts. Well, not only should he not have anything to worry about, but I thought he's, by far, the best Bond ever. I've not seen any other actor in as excellent a shape as he's in. Apart from wearing his Tom Ford suits well, Craig's six-month pre-film preparation and the daily two-hour workout put him in absolute top form!

Among all the actors in the movie, talented Ralph Fiennes and the two Bond girls are disappointments. The former has considerably aged and his character really doesn't need the skills of such a gifted actor. The latter two continue to play sex objects to men - what's most disturbing is that in this day and age, shouldn't they find a Bond girl who is both attractive and intelligent? Perhaps CIA Director David Petraeus's mistress Paula Broadwell (minus her jealousy) could be considered for a future role?

What's most impressive about Skyfall is that Bond is portrayed realistically as an aging and vulnerable spy in the 50-year-old film franchise instead of being the ultra-invincible and indefatigable MI6 star agent. Relevant to our times, Bond is now sensitive, vulnerable and even tormented from his childhood pains! But because of this evolution of his character, we, the audience who grew up with him, tend to relate to him even more! The flick is definitely worth an ecore for me at the IMAX theatre before it retires from the big screen.