The 86th Academy Awards

Well, there we have it folks; Award's season is officially over for yet another year.

With the help of energy drink, snacks, and friends I managed to stay up until 5am to watch the live show unfold, and wow was it a good one!

Here are some of my thoughts on the night...

First of all, obviously, dresses. Everybody went crazy for Lupita Nyong'o's dress and rightly so - it was gorgeous. But I think that there were quite a few beautiful dresses that trumped her, such as Jennifer Garner and Angelina Jolie's:

Jennifer Garner

Angelina Jolie

But my Oscar for best dress of the night goes to... Cate Blanchett, look at it! It's beautiful:

Cate Blanchett

I really didn't want to do a 'worst dress' because it just seems so mean... However, upon seeing Elsa Pataky's dress I couldn't sit back and not say anything. She looks beautiful and radiant but that dress is unforgivable. On the other hand, Chris Hemsworth is rocking the purple and without a doubt gets the Best Dressed Male Oscar from me.

Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth 

Alongside Pataky, Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde also had their bumps to think about at last night's ceremony, and my Oscar for Best Dressed Bump goes to Olivia Wilde, who kept it chic and simple as she somehow managed to trump her incredible emerald gown from the Golden Globes earlier this year.

Olivia Wilde at the Oscars

Wilde also won battle of the bumps at the Golden Globes

 Now onto the Awards.

Overall I managed to guess 17 out of 24 categories correctly. Four of the ones I got wrong were the ones where I hadn't seen a single nominee (Animation short, live action short, documentary, foreign film) and just randomly guessed by the sound of their names, so really we can say that I got 17 out of 20... Right? Also, I don't have a clue why I put Captain Phillips down for Best Film Editing because I didn't think for a second it would win a single award, I think I confused it with my 'Who I Want to Win' ballot...

Overall I am happy with the results, my absolute highlight of the night was Jared Leto winning Best Supporting Actor. Although I do love Barkhad Abdi and thought his performance was outstanding, Leto was in an entirely different league to his fellow nominees and it was his triumph that really made my night.

I did want Martin Scorsese to win Best Director and The Wolf of Wall Street to win Best Picture (I didn't think either of these would actually happen). I am also still dreaming of the day that Leonardo DiCaprio will win his well-deserved Oscar, but I did know that he wouldn't be getting this year... To be honest, I have kind of given up hope of him ever winning it, so that didn't really surprise me. The best thing about last night's ceremony was that American Hustle didn't win anything and considering it is one of the worst films I saw this year and it really shouldn't have even been nominated, that is more than enough for me.

Speech wise, I think Jared Leto and Lupita Nyong'o win that one. Jared emotionally recounted the story of his mother's plight in raising himself and his older brother, Shannon, on her own and as a teenager whilst his proud mother looked on and then Lupita moved Benedict Cumberbatch to tears as she thanked her character's real life counterpart Patsey. Other notable mentions go to Frozen's frankly bizarre thank you for best picture, 20 Feet From Stardom's Darlene Love bursting into song and Matthew McConaughey's confusing tale that I am sure made sense to him... Oh, and how Cate Blanchett didn't get played off while accepting her Best Actress award is beyond me, I'm sure that was the longest speech of the night!

However, the real talking point of the night didn't come from the speeches, the performances, or even the winners. No, the real star of the show was pizza.

Who knew that watching Brad Pitt dish out paper plates whilst stars such as Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey and Meryl Streep tucked in to some greasy fast food would be so entertaining?  Perhaps it's just because it serves as a gentle reminder that they may be at the glitziest event of the year but actually, they're all kind of normal really.

Kevin Spacey tucks in

Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep get a slice

Brad Pitt gets a taste after helping serve the other guests

Finally, a new record was broken last night as host Ellen took one of the most star-studded selfies ever in a bid to get the most Twitter retweets, which she succeeded in doing before the show was even over and it is now hovering around the 2.5million mark. Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep are among the famous faces in the picture, but a special shout out to Lupita Nyong'o's brother, who managed to sneak his way in and get himself a new Facebook profile picture for life!

Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ellen Degeneres, Kevin Spacey, Bradley Cooper, Brad Pit, Lupita Nyong'o, Angelina Jolie, and... Lupita's brother.

All in all, it was a fantastic show and I am already super excited for next year's event! 

What the next 12 months hold for the world of film is to be anticipated, and I can only wonder which ones we will be championing for a prestigious Oscar this time next year. One thing is for sure though, I can't wait to find out!!!

Love,

Just me and some pals hanging out at the Oscars....

THE MONUMENTS MEN

I was lucky enough to go along to the London premiere for The Monuments Men earlier this month. As a true story that I hadn't heard a single thing about prior to the film's trailer, I was incredibly excited to watch the film and find out more. However, I was a bit concerned - was it going to be just another boring war film reminiscent of history lessons of yesteryear? Well, fortunately not!

(Sidenote: in case you missed my previous post, the delay in getting these latest reviews up is down to technical issues!)

George Clooney directs and stars in this fascinating true-life story of a World War II platoon that gets given the task of rescuing stolen art, which has been taken from the Nazis. This is the ultimate hook of the story, and the fact that all of this actually happened makes the film impossible to dismiss. After all, who knew that in World War II seven brave men were assigned the specific task of rescuing the World's greatest masterpieces from the Nazis? These men risked, or in some cases gave, their lives in order to protect the work of Michelangelo, Picasso and various other artists great and small, which the Nazis were stealing for the Führermuseum that Hitler was planning to open once he won the war.

The cast at the London premiere

The fact that the plight of these heroes went unnoticed for so long is unforgivable, especially when you consider their three-year mission helped to recover an estimated five million pieces of art! Perhaps my sentiment towards these men has been heightened due to the special guest at the premiere; Clooney and co. welcomed the last surviving member of the Monuments Men to the stage, and seeing the real-life counterpart of the men depicted in the story was humbling as well as extraordinary.

The strong cast are the making of the film. George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, and Hugh Bonneville are just a few of the talents who make up the Monuments Men, with Cate Blanchett also shining in a supporting role. What makes the cast so spot-on, and aids the film's delivery tremendously, is their chemistry. The men bounce off each other and seem to be genuine best friends; it is clear that they all had fun making the film and that high energy transfers through the screen to the audience, making the film enjoyable to watch.

Despite the sensitive wartime setting, the tone of the film is relatively light hearted and there is very little depiction of the real tragedy of war. The story is very much about the men, not about the war, and I have seen this as a point of criticism for others, although I will beg to differ. Referenced by some as merely 'Oceans 11 in WW2', mostly due to its light-hearted dialogues and, admittedly at times gratuitous, attempts at comedy. However, these one-liners and comedic jibes actually help diffuse the tension in what would otherwise have been a very serious and intense film. Clooney's decision to add an element of humour to the film is in fact a decision that I applaud as it avoids the film from being stuffy and 'just another war film', instead making it something that can appeal to people of all tastes and ages, whilst still achieving the overall mission to get the story of the brave young men told.

The real life Monuments Men

The humour also brings the reality of war closer to home as it makes the men much more relatable. They aren't just serious-faced men in khaki helmets and holding guns; the incessant bickering, brotherly camaraderie and light-hearted take on serious matters makes them seem much more like everyday people who you could meet walking down the street today. The time period becomes irrelevant and the men become modern.

My main criticism of the film comes through the unsurprising overriding theme of patriotism throughout. A few times I was suddenly jolted out of the story because the nauseating 'AMERICA IS AWESOME' notion became a little too ridiculous, and increasingly hard to swallow. When you consider the fact that the Monuments Men were not solely American soldiers it makes the film appear as though it has an ulterior motive - something that isn't exactly unique for an American wartime film, but still a bit tedious none the less. Despite these occasional blips, Clooney always manages to reign the story back  in - much to the film's benefit, - and once you take away the propaganda you are left with an enjoyable and surprisingly easy-viewing film.

So long as you don't go into the cinema expecting the movie equivalent of a high-school history lesson, there is nothing not to like about the film. The fact that it is such an incredible true story makes for an interesting watch and the cast's high-spirited energy and Clooney's take on the storytelling makes it easy to digest and holds your attention. Although stylistically it may not have the makings of a cinematic masterpiece, it is informative and entertaining. What more can you ask for than that?

★★★☆☆

The Monuments Men is in cinemas nationwide now!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

BLUE JASMINE

Blue Jasmine is a film that I had only heard good things about. Not only were the critics raving but even the usual internet trolls appeared to have put away their claws for this one as a whisper of 'Oscars' seemed to encase it. I'm an advocate for 'slice of life' movies and for me, films don't have to have a 'point' in order to entertain me - a snippet or an insight into a person or a family's life is usually a sure win, so although when I watched the trailer I didn't really 'get' what it was going to be about, I was still excited for it.

However, this isn't just a 'slice of life' - director Woody Allen has a point that he is trying to make and that is one thing: The rich are corrupt and lonely and losers, it is the seeming underdogs who are really winning at life. A very poignant and heartfelt message, sure, but an hour and a half of Cate Blanchett trying to sound like Samantha Jones as she teeters on the edge of a mental breakdown was not what I needed to see in order to learn this.

Jasmine (Blanchett)  is a New York City socialite. Troubled and in denial following her divorce from elite business man Hal (Alec Baldwin) she moves in with her dippy, free-spirit sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco and tries to rebuild her life.

The performances are strong, the pace is slow, the story of her marriage unravels in a series of samey flashbacks that became uninteresting and predictable before long. Cate Blanchett gives an undeniably powerful performance, but in doing so she creates a character so intense that she becomes borderline nauseating and you can practically hear Blanchett's mind screaming 'Oscar' as she overacts her way through the film as a character reminiscent of neurotic, drama queen Vanessa Gold in BBC soap opera EastEnders.

Whilst the majority of the supporting cast were good, I took a particular liking to Ginger, some characters were so stereotypical and simple they became parodies of themselves which had the audience laughing at times where I don't think Woody Allen intended them to be.

I'm always a fan of an open ended film and this may have been one of the best moments for me, however it isn't as poignant or powerful as I was lead to believe it would be by critics and viewers alike. In fact, it was pretty plain. For an hour and a half long film, it really dragged and in all honesty perhaps one of the reasons I welcomed an open ending was because if it were more conclusive I would have had to sit through longer.

Blue Jasmine is an average film, the characters lacked depth which made it difficult for the audience to connect with in any way, and although films don't have to have a point, this one really was in the same place at the end as it was when it started out. I found myself becoming impatient and bored and Blanchett's performance became more and more over-the-top and irritating as time went on. The narrative is pretentious and similarly to Silver Linings Playbook (a film that I truly detest), it's concept makes people think that it is much more poignant and exciting and interesting and entertaining and revolutionary than it is. Almost like a taboo where any film that toys with the idea of mental health gets immediate critical acclaim despite the quality of the story, and this is a habit that I hope is quashed sooner rather than later.

All in all, Blue Jasmine was vaguely enjoyable to begin with but lacked excitement and, to be honest, entertainment. For these reasons it gets ★★☆☆☆

Blue Jasmine is in cinemas nationwide from 27th September!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you like!

Love,