Nobody Is In The Wrong

I was never a foreign-language movie fan because I believe that one would usually lose the authenticity and true emotions if one can't understand the language of the story being told. Reading English subtitles is never the same as hearing the actors in our own language. But, more recently, I've been changing my mind and I'm now increasingly convinced that I should give foreign movies a chance. This was particularly true when I saw this year's Best Foreign Language Film from the Academy Awards, A Separation, from Iran.

Foreign-language movies always demonstrate greater artistic subtleties and often reflect their countries' unique cultural nuances. But A Separation is brilliant because the plot and dilemmas faced by the characters in the movie could apply to any culture. This was the first time I saw an Iranian movie and I was struck by the simplicity and stark morality of the film. The plot is simple - a couple's family begins to disintegrate because the husband and wife cannot come to an agreement: the wife wants to move to America and the husband refuses becauses he wants to stay in Iran to take care of his elderly Alzheimer-stricken father. The 11-year-old daughter is caught in between the parents she loves and life is becoming increasingly difficult for her.

This had to be one of the lowest-budget movies I've ever seen - no big stars, no big productions and shots of very simple everyday life in a busy city. But things are never as they seem. As with every separation or divorce anywhere in the world, there were already underlying problems to the couple's relationship before the wife wanted to move to the U.S. And the husband's reluctance is not as simple as just taking care of the ailing father.

What I also like about the movie is that there's really nobody in the wrong here: the husband is trying to be a dutiful son, making an honest living at the bank and helping his teenaged daughter with her homework. When he apparently saw elderly abuse, he lost it. The wife, as a strong woman in the Iranian world, wants to build a better life for the family by emigrating to the U.S. and she only wants the best for her daughter. Feeling guilty about what she's about to do, she has arranged for alternative help at home so that her father-in-law can be looked after. The poor housekeeper risks dishonouring the family (by helping wash an old man suffering from Alzheimer's without getting her husband's prior consent) because she wants to help out her neurotic and debt-laden husband. The teenaged daughter is just a normal, bright student wanting to lead a happy life, but, instead, finds herself caught in the web of conflict, lies, hatred, guilt, deception and justice.

In the end, we understand that Iranian women are the most honest souls beneath their burka-clad attire. In spite of the conflict between the two families, the two children have become friends. And, very often, throughout the movie, we see the world through the eyes of the two kids. The movie, like all other forms of great art, leaves us with an open ending that invites the audience to figure out what could be the conclusion. I've spoken to four friends who have seen the movie and some of us may agree while others have totally different interpretations.

When Iran is in the middle of such controversial confrontation with Israel and the rest of the world, such a win at The Oscars was best summarized by Asghar Farhadi, the director of A Separation, at the awards ceremony, "..at the time when we talk of war, intimidation and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture....I proudly offer this honour to the people of my country, a people who respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment."

A Flat Oscar Evening

The Oscars, sometimes, is just a necessary evil on a Sunday night every year. You've watched almost all the movies and you've heard all the rumours and bets about who's going to win. Seldom were there any surprises, and so was last night's event.

I'm glad that Billy Crystal was back as the host - although he's not spectacular, I don't think anybody could have done a better job. Why can't there be any younger, classier actors or comedians who can succeed Crystal? Last year's James Franco and Anne Hathaway were disastrous, but the Academy should keep looking and not simply give up on the young, promising talents. There are a lot of gifted and funny comedians in Hollywood, but none of them is as classy as Crystal. David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Chris Rock have all tried and failed. I'm not sure if Eddie Murphy hadn't backed out, he could have done a better job. Ricky Gervais is funny, but his jokes would have been too irreverent for a formal and traditional ceremony like The Oscars. Why don't they try Jerry Seinfeld next year? Here's a comedian who's classy and quick on his feet, and if I may add, a celebrity whom everybody loves.

I was thrilled that The Artist won three awards - Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor. If Jean Dujardin lost to George Clooney, that would have been the biggest insult in his entire career! So I was in a great mood until we came to The Best Actress Award being handed to Meryl Streep. But I guess I can live with this one 'loss' for me so long as The Artist swept the rest. I was, of course, delighted that Woody Allen won the Best Original Screenplay even though I think Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist should have won that as well. And typical Woody - he just chose to snub The Oscars again by not showing up.

A couple of likes and dislikes: a lot of impressive gowns on the red carpet - Natalie Portman, Cameron Diaz, Gweneth Paltrow, Rooney Mara, Angelina Jolie and even J.Lo looked stunning. I don't know why Tom Cruise deserved to give out the Best Picture Award at the grand finale, but even he looked amazing at 50! Esperanza Spalding looked and sounded amazing when she took us through who passed away during the last year.

The sharing of experiences with short anecdotes from stars didn't quite work for me. They were neither charming nor funny. But one of the worst moments for me last night had to be Angelina Jolie shamelessly strutting her stuff on stage - one hand on her waist and one leg out of her gown's slit - what's that all about? Her bad taste was shared by Will Ferrell and his sidekick Zach Galifianakis who behaved like bozos and totally out of place on that stage.

Even though Billy Crystal did an okay job as host, The Oscars remains one of the longest and most boring events that we have to sit through once a year. It's definitely high time for the Academy to come up with innovative ideas to jazz this up next year in order to do justice to all the award recipients!

High-Touch Movie In A High-Tech World

The silent movie The Artist turns out to be such an exquisite pleasure to watch. How on earth did it ever lose to Tree Of Life as The Best Movie at The Cannes Festival last year? Silence is not only golden, but it teaches every single member of the cinema world a lesson - why put words in actors' mouths when acting skills speak the loudest? On top of that, a black-and-white movie trumps all colour and high-tech 3D productions of the contemporary world!

Movie critics everywhere love this production by French director Michel Hazanavicius. There are some spoken words and subtitles, but they are kept to the minimum. All expressions are on the face and in the eyes! And even though I'm not a pet lover, I couldn't help but got smitten by the dog superstar in the movie - Uggie!

The acting in this movie is just beyond excellent. I hope Jean Dujardin (a Clark Gable look-alike in the movie) will go on and beat George Clooney in the Best Actor Award category at The Oscars next month. His leading lady Berenice Bejo (the Argentinian-born wife of the movie's director) deserves equal accolades. Supporting actors including John Goodman and James Cromwell (famous for his role in Six Feet Under) are equally impressive. Also, perhaps Merryl Streep can take a lesson from this silent film about "Making Way For The Young?"

There are a lot of movies on the big screen which pull the audience's heartstrings, but this one does it with class, wit and close to perfection. It makes you wonder why the rest of the world can't accomplish such great feats with spoken words?

Annoying Flashbacks In The Iron Lady

Watching The Iron Lady is like seeing a documentary with annoying flashbacks. I would only wish that they just reduce all the flashbacks to just a couple, but then, I'm not a director! As a feminist, I would have loved to support a movie featuring one of our first women political leaders in history, and directed and written by women as well.

However, the movie is very mediocre. I wasn't surprised because director Phyllida Lloyd also directed Mamma Mia which I intensely dislike. The key takeaway from The Iron Lady is that no matter how smart and powerful a woman is, she, like others, has to face dementia and old age towards the end. There's a constant effort to make this production as poetic and tragic as Shakespeare's King Lear, but somehow it didn't quite work that way. The irony is that even though Thatcher was hated by so many Brits during her reign, what she has fought for turns out to be quite true now, e.g, her fierce reluctance to have Britain join the EU. Look what a mess the euro and Europe are in right now!

I've never doubted Merryl Streep of accomplishing just anything as an actor. And this movie is no exception. In fact, having just won the Best Actress Award at The Golden Globes, she's probably going to win another Oscar again. But like many other baby boomers, Streep should really contemplate stepping aside and making way for others to win awards. Otherwise, when would other brilliant, but younger, actors such as Michelle Williams stand any chance when they're competing with Streep? And do we have to sit through another look of shock and disbelief on her face again when the Awards presenters read out her name?

When I watched the film in Naples, Florida, the entire cinema audience applauded again, just like their reaction when watching The King's Speech  last year. Well, don't expect too much - I think North Americans, including Canadians, just can't help but adore anything British!

A Sexy Thriller

Mark Wahlberg's Contraband only scored an average of 2.5 star ratings among professional film critics. But as a Marky Mark fan, I was not disappointed. Once again, we can't probably question the plausibility of action movie plots - heroes always come out alive in spite of numerous gunshots and dangers.

This flick is a remake of the 2008 Icelandic movie Reykjavik-Rotterdam and is also directed by Icelandic artist Baltasar Kormakur. Without being a spoiler, all I'm going to say is that the entire movie is about smuggling - drugs, currency and even a Jackson Pollock painting. The rest of the story really doesn't matter and, of course, as always, you can't trust anybody in gangster movies.

I'm a huge fan of Wahlberg's, so needless to say, there's plenty of him larger than life in this one. But what I like about the movie is the sexually-charged music and cinematography. The film score written by Vancouverite Clinton Shorter (famous for his music in District 9) is simply outstanding. The soundtrack is just a grabber throughout the movie - particularly with Crawling King Smoke John Lee Hooker, the king of blues! Then there's the city of New Orleans and Panama City where all the crimes are taking place. You wouldn't even recognize that it's New Orleans if you don't read the reviews. And I just learned that parts of the port of New Orleans are disguised as Panama City as well. If you like ports, ships and containers, you will marvel at the beauty of the vessels and cargo in this movie.

The supporting cast is all good except for Kate Beckinsale - when was the last time we saw her in an intelligent role? So the good guy continues to be even better; and the bad and slimy ones are all creepy villains - Ben Foster as Sebastian; Giovanni Ribisi as Tim; Caleb Landry Jones as the useless brother-in-law; and JK Simmons as Captain Camp, the ultimate comic relief in the film. Even Mark Wahlberg's older brother Robert has a very minor, but impressive, role.

But I think it's time for Wahlberg to come out of his comfort zone - the constant productions of The Italian Job kind of movies are just not innovative. As his fans, we all understand that the Marky-Mark-turned-Hollywood success story needs to be told, but he's done that enough already. Let's move on! He can do much better!

Busy, Loud and Lousy Sherlock Holmes Sequel

Here's where I once again disagree with most of the professional film critics - Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows is a lousy sequel to the first one also directed by Guy Ritchie. Not that the first one was really better, but at least it's more entertaining with great cinematography of ancient London.

This sequel features a glorious cast of thousands, even among the supporting roles. Apart from Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law still in the leading roles as Holmes and Dr. John Watson respectively, we now have the famous Stephen Fry (best known for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde) as Holmes's brother; Jared Harris (best known for his role as Lane Pryce in Mad Men); and, of course, Swedish actor Noomi Rapace (Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Swedish version). Rachel McAdams has a really small role as Irene Adler as a continuation of the first movie.

Similar to its predecessor, A Game of Shadows is entertaining all right. But none of the plot makes any sense and the whole movie is extremely busy, loud and complex. While the first Sherlock Holmes movie was, at times, funny, this one is even stretching it on the humour side. I never consider cross-dressing men funny and there are plenty of such unbearable scenes in this flick.

Nevertheless, there are a few improvements from the first movie. The makeup is remarkably a huge progress in this sequel except for the scenes when we have to witness the heavy use of cosmetics on Downey's face whenever he disguises himself as a ridiculously-looking woman. His fake British accent is also a much better attempt than his previous effort which I recall was hardly comprehensible.

On the actors, Jude Law is always delightful to watch even though the role of Dr. Watson doesn't capitalize on his talents. The same applies to Noomi Rapace whose role as a gypsy can be given to any other actor. And, frankly speaking, after watching both the Hollywood and Swedish versions of The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo, I embarrassingly mistook Noomi Rapace for Rooney Mara when I saw this movie. Unlike other women, I've never been a huge fan of Robert Downey Jr. - I think similar to Leonardo DiCaprio, he overacts in every single role. Stephen Fry's challenge is that he will always be Oscar Wilde to me. I also confused Kelly Reilly who plays Mrs. Watson with Jessica Chastain. So that leaves only Jared Harris who is probably the best in this movie as the ultimate villain. I always find him creepy as Lane Pryce in Mad Men, but without his glasses in this flick, he further communicates his villany with his eyes. I wasn't even aware of his lineage - he is Richard Harris's son!

Towards the end, I can only concur with The Chicago Tribune film critic's one-star rating for this movie.

A Strong Character Study

Young Adult was a pleasant surprise after reading all the negative reviews from Canadian film critics. I saw it at the movie theatre anyway because I always like Charlize Theron as an actor and as an independent woman.

Director Jason Reitman has a strong track record of making great movies - Juno, Up in the Air and Thank You for Smoking - and Young Adult is a bit low-key, but still amazing. This is the first time that Reitman collaborates with fellow Canadian, screenwriter Diablo Cody since Juno which won the latter an Oscar in 2007. I don't think this movie will win any Oscars for the talented pair, particularly for Cody, but it's still a good movie because it's so non-traditional.

The movie is really about a character study of the protagonist Mavis (played by Theron) who is very unhappy from beginning to end. Ever since high school, she has been searching for the unattainable, and, as a result, she is mean to everybody and suffers from a chronic depression. Most heroines, no matter how mean they were at the beginning of the movie, become much better at the end. But not this one, and the ending is as depressing as the beginning. Reitman makes the audience follow Mavis inside her mind - her goal to leave small town Mercury for a city life in Minneapolis; her failed marriage; her unhealthy relationship with her parents; the lack of girlfriends or any friends in her life; her alcoholism, mental imbalance and self denial. Theron is one of the best contemporary actors we have and once again, she's proven herself to be capable of going anywhere on the big screen in spite of her super glamorous looks.

The only sort of 'friend' of Mavis in the movie is Matt, the 'hate crime' guy in the movie (played by Patton Oswalt). He is the only companion who lectures Mavis about what's right and wrong, and is the voice of reason in the entire movie. But the irony is that Matt is also grossly misunderstood - he's severely beaten up when he was at high school because his school mates thought he's gay but he really isn't. Only Mavis understands him and even speaks up in his defence for more than once. The two unhappy souls console each other throughout the movie during difficult times and try to outdrink each other. It's tragic to see Mavis eventually sleeping with Matt after unsuccessfully trying to seduce her highschool sweetheart Buddy (played by Patrick Wilson). Is that out of sympathy or just because she's frustrated and drunk?

The key takeaway from this movie is that happiness is really derived from very simple things in life - it's a state of mind and the importance of mental health is, as always, underrecognized.