Cinemann January 2011

Cinemann

January 2011

Table of Contents

10 4

Black Swan

6

Little Fockers

Somewhere

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True Grit

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Weeds

Golden Globes

The Movies that Rocked 2010

Cinemann: Volume VI, Issue 5

Editors in Chief

Andrew Demas Maggie Reinfeld Senior Editors

Matt Taub Alexandra Saali Faculty Advisor

Associate Editors

Katie Cacouris, Tucker Caploe, Jessica Chi, Zoe Kestan, Staff Writers Alice Taranto, Sam Torres, Charles Sherr, Emma Specter

Deborah Kassel

Contributing Writers

Rachel Buissereth, Anise Charles, David Feuerstein, Jacob Frackman, Abigail Greenbaum, Bennett Heller, Noah Margulis, Jay Palekar, Savannah Smith, Rachel Simerka-Smith, Henry Warder

Letter From the Editors Dear Reader, With a plethora of incredible movies in theaters, this issue of Cinemann surveys some of the very best. From the haunting Black Swan to the cheerful Somewhere, these feature films have been defined by brilliant performances. Daniel Ehrlich takes us through a survey of what movies were outstanding in 2010.

We hope you look through these reviews with great anticipation for the Academy Awards.

Follow our magazine at issuu.com/cinemann.

If you would like to write for Cinemann please contact us!

Yours Truly, Andrew Demas and Maggie Reinfeld

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by savannah smith

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Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream), is a psychological thriller about a dancer whose role in Swan Lake completely consumes her and drives her to the point of insanity.

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a delicate ballerina in the New York City dance company who, after spending years in the background, finally receives the lead role as the Swan Queen. Having the principle role is not easy, though. Nina, who is perpetually striving for absolute perfection, receives criticism, pressure, and sexual signals from her creepy artistic director, Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel), who continually voices that while she perfectly embodies the White Swan, her interpretation of the Black Swan is far from flawless. She also faces competition with the other dancers, most specifically Lily (Mila Kunis), who epitomizes the Black Swan and is also in Leroy’s good graces. As Nina tries to find her darker side to fulfill the part, she finds herself going through all sorts of changes that eventually lead her to madness.

The story of Black Swan parallels that of the renowned ballet that it features. Swan Lake tells the story of a White Swan, symbolizing purity and innocence, who must fall in love with a prince in order to find liberation. She does, but before she can marry him, the seductive and cunning Black Swan tricks the prince into falling in love with her instead. Out of sorrow, the White Swan kills herself and in doing so, finds freedom. The movie, in a sense, tells the same story – but with a twist.

Don’t let the ballet fool you; this movie isn’t for the lighthearted. The film is filled with profanity, drugs, lesbian love scenes, blood, and terror. The entire movie has you confused as to what’s going on in Nina’s head versus what is actually happening. It has you clutching your seat and screaming in fear of what’s on the screen. Aronofsky uses his previous film techniques, such as tight close ups and short shots that work to keep viewers clutching their seats throughout the entire movie, and yet enjoying another of his films about the total destruction of a human being.

Portman and Kunis performed excellently, both having to train six months beforehand to obtain the body types of professional ballet dancers and to practice the steps required for the film. Portman performed particularly well, portraying a very difficult role that required not just dancing, but also insanity.

Nina’s role is extremely complex, and Portman played it to absolute perfection.

Black Swan received three Golden Globe nominations: Best Supporting Actress (Kunis), Best Director (Aronofsky), and Best Picture) and one win for Best Actress (Portman).

If you can look past the terrifying and confusing bits (which, I will admit, is hard to do), Black Swan is twisted, yet oddly beautiful. Ballet is depicted in an entirely new light – one with dementia, ferocity, and horror.

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Somewhere focusfeatures

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by hannah jun Hollywood is where stars are made. But over the years, the place itself has become a star; it is an idol everyone wants to be with, know about, and emulate. In Somewhere, Hollywood isn’t just a setting, but a character. Directed by award-winning director Sofia Coppola, Somewhere tells the story of a jaded but not unkind famous actor, Johnny Marcoh (Stephen Dorff ), who has lost the meaning of his life. He coasts through with little consequence or consciousness in his black Porsche. But when his eleven-year-old daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning), arrives back in his life, the two begin an adventure that changes Johnny.

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Hollywood probably has the largest and most vocal role in Somewhere. The atmosphere of Hollywood and the famous Chateau Marmont create the world of the film. The quaint eccentricities like singing waiter Romulu Laki and Johnny’s blistering irresponsibility combine to form a clear view of what Hollywood looks like, at least in the perspective of Coppola.

Hollywood enables Johnny to be a lifeless drone because he is a celebrity. He does not get punished for his transgressions and is coddled by the people who profit from his success. But fame also keeps him severely emotionally isolated. He wakes up in the morning alone,

and yet it always seems to surprise him. Then one day, Johnny wakes up to see his daughter right by his side.

Before Cleo comes, the film is purposefully silent. Life is quiet and with few pleasures (those that come from room service). But with Cleo, Johnny’s world seems a little brighter, with more words and fewer harsh silences. The two seem to have a very happy relationship due to Cleo’s docile and good nature.

Cleo never burdens her father or forces him to make her a first priority. It is easy and fun for Johnny to be a father because she never forces him to be a real one. Elle Fanning plays Cleo as a mini adult

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who is both charming and mature.

But when Cleo reveals she is still a fragile and sad eleven-year-old child who has an absent father and now an absent mother, her physical transformation during the scene is breathtakingly sad. Elle Fanning continues to prove she has her own distinct talent as an actress.

The film’s premise has all the formulaic components of a heartwarming romantic comedy. Instead, Coppola shows us something murkier, but perhaps more precious. The end of the film feels both complete and settled in a perfect conclusion, yet it still leaves the audience shaken out of their comfort zone and left with a question

mark as to the actual ending and the meaning behind it. So when you finally glean meaning from the ending, you take away something that is uniquely yours. This, in my opinion, makes a great conclusion.

Being a second generation Hollywood director, Sofia Coppola has had a lot to prove. She displayed her skills in Lost in Translation, and she again shows her consistency and proficiency as a director in Somewhere. It is an excellent artistic piece with warm Californian hues that balance the utter coldness and distance the movie creates. This balance leaves you visually warmed and yet feeling cold and melancholic in your seat.

However, compared to Lost in Translation, Somewhere misses a continuing rhythmic beat. This stilt in the movie could be part of the raw emptiness that it tries to portray, but even so, it is not used effectively enough. Though overall, Somewhere is a complex and subtly beautiful story. And perhaps, more importantly, it is a movie to which one can relate. Just as Johnny Marcoh sits in the dark trying to sort through his seclusion and lack of life, we all have the same loneliness inside us. And like Johnny, we all must find a way to get out of the car and get somewhere.

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True

by ross karetsky In trying to understand True Grit and its significance in the history of American Western films, I watched several old well-regarded westerns. The differences were shocking. Although True Grit is a remake of an older version with the same title, the two movies have a very different feel. While the two movies shared the same script, scenery, and a lot of other particulars, the newer version was much darker and more depressing than any of the other movies I have seen in this genre.

The Searchers, Stagecoach, and the original True Grit were three films I used for comparison to the new True Grit. While The Searchers shared some of its brutality, sadness, and plot featuring a manhunt for those responsible for the death of the main character’s family members, there is a lot of happiness and

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smiling in The Searchers. This is a trend I noticed in all of the old westerns that I watched: while they may have had sad plots of revenge, casualties and fatalities of innocent women and children, the old westerns all had happy moments when the cowboys smile, and maybe even laugh or chuckle.

The Coen brothers are known to go their own way with film technique.

Maybe being different was good, but it certainly was not completely enjoyable.

Most westerns leave the audience with a warm feeling inside, after the cowboy has killed off his nemesis in a duel, or saved his young blonde from an evil tribe of savage Native Americans. Both of these endings were displayed in the old Westerns that I watched, and in many ways the most stereotypical western films.

True Grit may have felt sad only because of the plot, which doesn’t exactly finish off with a happy couple skipping down the streets or a cowboy galloping off onto the prairie victoriously. This movie has dim lighting, and the second half feels dark and cold, even in the beautiful scenery of the woods, prairies, and mountains. The original movie had much brighter colors, and the characters smiled at more than just Mattie and her horse going for a swim across the river.

One of the other things that bothered me about this movie is Josh Brolin’s being listed as a star, when in fact he has only about eight minutes or so on screen. Nonetheless, he did do a remarkable job in those eight minutes.

This was definitely an all-star cast, with great performances from both Matt Da-

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mon and Jeff Bridges. However, I prefer John Wayne’s 1969 Rooster Cogburn to Jeff Bridges’, which may just be because I favor the classics.

This is a movie to see if you are a western fanatic, but otherwise you will probably just leave the theater a little depressed and disturbed by all the gore.

There wasn’t a whole lot of exciting violence, just a fair amount of slow shootouts that led to an abundance of blood.

Two amputations in one movie was a bit much for me, personally, and watching one of them was even worse.

I definitely enjoyed some aspects of True Grit, but mainly because I like movies that take the viewer into another time period. I also liked the idea that unlike in your typical western, a girl took the role of the hero and got to play the bravest and most reckless cowboy in

the movie.

True Grit makes for a real Debbie downer of a movie. It was a dark dramatic action film and was more than a little disappointing. Go out and see it, or rent it, next time you want to feel sad or empty inside. This may sound exaggerated, but it was definitely how I felt on the walk home from the theater. Yet at the same time, I was intrigued. It wasn’t boring, and the time went by fast, but that may have been because I was waiting for a decent fight seen, or something else that could have pulled me in. I realized as the credits rolled that this hollow feeling could also have been the ending’s purpose, as much as it didn’t work effectively. It left me fascinated, but not satisfied.

This movie definitely symbolizes the decline of the western. It seemed

so unique when ads came up on TV: a Wild West film, in this day and age? Nobody watches those anymore. It’s a dead genre. What was once a glorious Era is now a dusty old trend that has gone out of style. True Grit didn’t do much more at the box office other than beat Little Fockers out, which I have heard isn’t saying much. Western is a lost genre, and while I respect the Coen brothers for trying to recessitate an old American tradition, I would rather see a classic western any day than go to the movies for a modern adaptation like this one. Some things are better kept unchanged, and I believe that most filmmakers agree with me. Westerns are no longer popular and True Grit is probably the last one we will be seeing for quite a while.

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Little

How Little Fockers appointing End to Fran by charles scherr First we met the parents in 2000. Four years later, we were introduced to the Fockers. And for the third, and hopefully final time, we were introduced to the children in Little Fockers, the third film in the franchise that has long gone bad since its first mega-hit. Although not entirely bad – with some great lines from the all-star studded cast including Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbra Streisand – the film was a major step down from the previous sequel, and even that is hard to accomplish.

The seemingly never ending feud between father-in-law Jack Byrnes (De Niro) and son-in-law Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Stiller) reaches new heights in the third installment of the blockbuster franchise.

It takes 10 years for our favorite male nurse to finally “get in” with his father-in-law, but this doesn’t last long, as the old and all-too-familiar misunderstanding, spying, and above all, staring, come roaring back. Plain and simple, the familial comedy that was fresh and funny in 2000’s Meet the Parents totally evaporates in 2010’s Little Fockers.

The movie’s central question (whether or not Greg Focker can muster up enough admiration from Jack Byrnes to become the “Godfocker”) runs dry, not to mention repetitive. This is just one of the seemingly thousands of plots present in the movie, also among them Sustengo (an erectile dysfunction pill), the twin Fockers’ birthday party, building a new house, and getting the twins into private school. The list goes on and on, and sadly never gets

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s Capped Off A Disthe Once Promising nchise any more interesting. The plot and comedy seems tired, and it most likely is after its run through the first two movies.

However, all of this is not to say that the movie was entirely terrible and that the theatre didn’t even chuckle once. Obviously, a cast this good, no matter how bad the script, can produce some funny lines. The cast is far and away the greatest upside to the film. Owen Wilson, in his loved role as the exfiancé, did a superb job in being just as funny as he was the first two times around. And watching him attempt to make out with Barbra Streisand was interesting, to say the least. Jessica Alba was a nice addition, yet unfortunately she too was sucked into the immature humor that plagued Little Fockers.

Meet the Parents was young and refreshing when it came out. Seeing a plot unfold that pitted the father-in-law against the son-in-law and a battle over the “circle of trust” was genius. Although not as much can be said for Meet the Fockers, the addition of Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as earthy, smoochy, Jewish parents mixing with their Irish-Catholic in-laws made the movie still respectable and fun to watch. However, nothing can be said about this final hurrah for the Focker franchise. Why was it made? We don’t know. Probably to expand on the 800 million dollar profit the first two made. But regardless, it was a pitiful ending to what was once a clever and smart comedy. Sadly, it’s time for the series to get the fock out.

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weeds

by nicholas mccombe Weeds chronicles the plight of widowed suburban drug dealer Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker). The series is great from a viewer’s standpoint, but mediocre from that of a critic. However, I can turn off the critical part of me while watching and just enjoy the show for its absolutely inspired comedic appeal.

Over the course of nine seasons, the Botwins have paraded around the North American continent like a pack of animals.

There is no real sense of direction, and it seems as if the Botwins are perfectly fine with not having a plan and letting the narcissistic matriarch of the family poke and prod them over state boarders in a seemingly endless continuum. A good portion of the subject matter revolves around Nancy’s parental failures from a responsible perspective and her success from the opposing viewpoint. I find Ms. Parker’s parental fecklessness amusing at times. She is miraculously able to raise not one, but two problem children. Shane is a murderer educated up to just middle school and Silas dabbles in drug dealing, taking after his mother and two of his ex-step-fathers. Over the course of the series thus far, Nancy has managed to kill off two husbands and indict the third. I love the series, but it’s clear why it’s an open target from a critic’s perspective.

And yet I love to watch it because of the balance it strikes between the gravity of the drug culture and the levity of the family’s stupidity. But I can’t help thinking that this show was written for people without opin-

ions, as virtually every sentence the characters utter is downright disagreeable toward society. For an intellectually relevant topic, the show is not intellectually stimulating whatsoever. It seems to be written for people who live miles away from a Wal-Mart and even farther away form a Target.

The reason Weeds has been so successful is because it has ridden a cultural wave in America where people have become interested not only in the legal slices of American life, but increasingly, the illegal. It’s no doubt why; a show about criminal acts always has the prospect of being more fun than one that isn’t. In fact, short of Sesame Street, one might be hard-pressed to find a series where the characters don’t at one point do something the law might frown upon. In the real world, the movement to legalize cannabis has spurred people’s interests in the topic. Not an episode goes by where the gears of political action committees don’t turn to produce a speech alluding to the benefits of legalization.

However, the show is not interested in exploring the drug culture from which it draws its plot but only seeks to expose the already obvious hypocrisies of American culture. The drug world as a whole has a huge effect on our lives. This show in particular is about marijuana, and later cocaine, but the themes expressed are prevalent throughout the entire industry. This show is built around this culture and what it does manage to dig into is how the substances we consume change our minds and our lives.

There is a lot in the way we consume moodaltering substances, and it is interesting to see changes in the ways we interact, from a restrained manner to a much more open and honest form of discourse.

I would akin Weeds to a restaurant like Chipotle juxtaposed against a McDonalds.

Underneath their facades, they are both fast food restaurants with low quality meals you still enjoy eating. Weeds shares this junk food characteristic with most TV shows.

You know it’s bad for you, but you’re addicted. People watch The Real Housewives because it entertains in a very basic and human level, but watch too much and your brain might turn to mush. Chipotle is an upscale version of McDonalds with a creative twist; Weeds is the type of junk TV where the writers and producers have tried hard to make you think you aren’t watching an amended version of Jersey Shore.

However, Weeds does have a creative setting and interesting power dynamics, combined with the fact that the producers care. It is hard to keep a good level of writing up over nine seasons, but they have done a pretty good job (even though it’s been worsening recently).

Overall, I absolutely love it, sophisticated junk and all. In truth, I could say the same thing about 90% of shows on television. How good the program is cannot be judged off of how far it is from your ideal show; it must be judged off of what it out there. Compared to most shows on or that have ever been on air, I adore Weeds.

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The Movies Tha by danny ehrlich

Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky is one of my favorite directors, so I can’t say I was impartial going into this one. However, it was more incredible than I could have imagined. It was an overwhelming experience, a true cinematic roller coaster ride. It blended the intense character study of Aronofsky’s previous film The Wrestler with the frenzy and paranoia of his early films Requiem for a Dream and Pi. Some people have called Black Swan a horror film, but if all horror films were this psychological and atmospheric, the genre would have far more respect. Natalie Portman’s performance is mesmerizing, really conveying her character’s breakdown from vulnerable innocence to passionate insanity. I could go on and on, but I feel like the words would do no justice. So I’ll just say that by the time the credits rolled, my jaw was dropped.

I was genuinely stunned.

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127 Hours

I’ve never seen the original, but after seeing the remake, I’m excited to see John Wayne strap on his boots in the first version.

Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld does a great job alongside actors Barry Pepper, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, and Jeff Bridges, who give good performances themselves. I’m not much of a Western or Coen Brothers fan, so if this film was extremely entertaining for me, it says a lot about its strength.

I already reviewed this in a previous issue of Cinemann, and my review was glowing, to say the least. It’s really a terrific film: a cocktail of strong emotions, slight bits of humor, and great direction. James Franco’s performance was absolutely incredible, arguably the best of the year. Additionally, Danny Boyle manages to pull off quite a lot around a man being pinned by a rock for five days.

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at Rocked 2010 The Social Network

The Fighter

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Here we go again… This is another overrated flick. No explanation of the story is necessary, as all surely know of it by now.

It was a well executed, breezy, fun, and occasionally deep film, with a great script

by Aaron Sorkin, good direction by David Fincher, and nice acting, especially by Justin Timberlake. However, it’s only that. It wasn’t extremely insightful or the essential film of our generation, as many would claim. That said, it’s still an intriguing and thoroughly entertaining flick.

Catfish

This film is a conventional boxer movie: a down-and-out fighter meets a girl and gets back on track. However, the real ingenuity of this film is in its exploration of the relationship between protagonist Mickey Ward and his family. All involved give great performances, including Amy Adams as Mickey’s girlfriend, Melissa Leo as his mother, and the best of all, Christian Bale as his crack-addled brother. The acting alone makes this film worthwhile, and the story elevates it further.

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Sofia Coppola really reaches to her roots as a filmmaker.

She often focuses on character, much like her father used to do, and the theme of fame. This movie is no exception, revolving around a disillusioned actor and his daughter (Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, respectively). It’s a quiet, introspective type of movie that probably won’t be enjoyed by all people, but I found it surprisingly moving.

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You may have heard of this film just because of the controversy surrounding it.

Going into the plot would spoil the surprise, but many have accused the supposed documentary of being a farce due to its incredible twist towards the end. However, what is clear is that this movie gives an interesting view of our generation as well as the potential, both well intentioned and manipulative, that Facebook provides for different people. It is a morality tale of the modern age.

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The King’s Speech

This film has been heaped with praise, but honestly, it’s overrated. It’s a good film, but not a great one. The best aspect by far is the acting, which is just about superb.

Colin Firth gives a stellar performance as the stuttering King of England, but the best performance of all perhaps is that of Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist.

The film is poignant and at times funny as well. Overall, it’s an inspiring, though conventional, period piece. It is an Oscar frontrunner, which disappoints me because I fear it will be forgotten quite quickly in the years to come (à la The English Patient).

Inception

Youth in Revolt

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Only Christopher Nolan could develop a highly intelligent, claustrophobic, and deep experience in a blockbuster this effectively. It was by far the best of all this year’s big-budget popcorn flicks. The concept of a dream heist was full of possibilities and Nolan took advantage, creating a film as layered as the dreams within the film. The only other thing left to be said is that he makes the most out of his actors, with memorable performances

by Ellen Page, Michael Caine, and Leonardo Dicaprio, among others.

After being delayed for so many months, this film probably came as a pleasant surprise for those who suspected that the postponements were due to its quality. Michael Cera is quite often typecast, but here, his common role as an awkward teen really hit its stride. Seeing him play the daring alter ego, Francois Dillinger, of his meek Nick Twisp was a hilarious change of pace for the actor. Overall, the film is a light, enjoyable, and ultimately heartfelt, mixing an element of fantasy with a realistic portrayal of the feelings many modern adolescents experience.

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Why couldn’t this movie have been more successful with mainstream audiences? This is the kind of superhero movie we need: a bold mix of humor, action, and interesting characters who aren’t afraid to push boundaries. In short, it was the best superhero film since The Dark Knight.

geous life of NFL player Pat Tillman, who enlisted in the war in Afghanistan. The film is thought provoking in its exposure of the corruption in the government’s handling of Tillman’s death and it definitely left me questioning.

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honorable mention The Tillman Story Kick Ass This documentary encapsulates the coura-

The Golden Globe Awards

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by matt taub The 2011 Golden Globes were standard fare: no surprising winners, plenty of unworthy nominees, and lots of bored celebrities in attendance who appeared indifferent to the results (except for Helena Bonham Carter, who looked genuinely pissed off when she did not win Best Supporting Actress). I did expect more from Robert De Niro’s Cecil B. DeMille speech, but oh well; he still deserves the recognition and may just be the “greatest actor alive,” as Matt Damon called him in his lukewarm introduction. The Globes have always been a fun holdover on the road to the Oscars, so you just have to not take them so seriously (giving The Tourist a Best Picture nomination in the Comedy or Musical category? It wasn’t good, and it wasn’t a comedy or a musical!). With that in mind, I guess the Globes were as successful (albeit bland) as they are any year. Let’s take a look at the winners and should’ve-been winners: 1.Best Motion Picture – Drama: Black Swan The Fighter Inception – should’ve won The King’s Speech The Social Network – did win I thought all of these nominees were at least very good. That being said, Inception

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was the only of the five that transcended the typical movie-going experience and truly transported me into another world.

It may have lacked performances of the same caliber as, say, Natalie Portman in Black Swan or Christian Bale in The Fighter, but with Inception, director Christopher Nolan achieved any filmmaker’s ultimate goal: to truly make us forget about the real world while being absorbed in his and to want to go back to it again after we have left. It is that definitive, extremely rare cinematic experience that only comes around once in a long while.

2.Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical: Alice in Wonderland Burlesque The Kids Are All Right – did win Red The Tourist I won’t say which film should’ve won in this category, as I only got the chance to see The Tourist. I will say, however, that I’m glad it didn’t win.

3. Best Director – Motion Picture: Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan David Fincher – The Social Network – did win Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech

Christopher Nolan – Inception – should’ve won David O. Russell – The Fighter Nine out of ten people will tell you that David Fincher deserved this award. The Social Network was an entertaining, wellacted, interesting film, but Fincher didn’t leave me thinking. My greatest criticism of his film is that it was terribly one-dimensional and it took the easy way out in telling Mark Zuckerberg’s story, portraying him as the wrongdoer without providing any alternative viewpoint. If you want provocative filmmaking, Christopher Nolan will leave you awestruck while pondering about reality and existence. Also, let’s not forget those slow-motion, gravity-defying fight scenes in Inception that only a truly great filmmaker could realize.

4.Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama: Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network Colin Firth – The King’s Speech – did win James Franco – 127 Hours Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter I have yet to see 127 Hours, so I will not say who should’ve won in this category. I will saw, however, who should’ve won out of the four nominees I saw: Ryan Gosling. Colin Firth was exceptional, no

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5.Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone Natalie Portman – Black Swan – did win Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine In this category, I saw only Portman and Williams, both of whom were fantastic, but I’m glad Portman won. It has to be difficult for an actress to play the role of someone lost in her own reality, but Portman did it with grace and achieved in her performance that very balance between technical precision and pure emotion that Black Swan studies.

6.Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical:

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doubt about it, and I’m happy to see him win, but Gosling delivered the kind of performance in Blue Valentine that distinguishes a good actor from a great actor.

In a film that cuts constantly between different points in time, Gosling effortlessly transforms from a young James Deanesque lady’s man to an old(er), balding, borderline alcoholic in a role that had him showcasing enough chops and charisma to remind me of a young Marlon Brando.

Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland Johnny Depp – The Tourist Paul Giamatti – Barney’s Version – did win Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack 7.Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical: Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right – did win Anne Hathaway – Love And Other Drugs Angelina Jolie – The Tourist Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right Emma Stone – Easy A For this category too I only saw The Tourist, and am again grateful that it was not awarded anything.

8.Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Christian Bale – The Fighter – did win Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Andrew Garfield – The Social Network Jeremy Renner – The Town Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech I did not see The Town, but it’s really hard for me to imagine anyone but Christian Bale winning this. His was my favorite performance of the year.

9.Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Amy Adams – The Fighter Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech Mila Kunis – Black Swan Melissa Leo – The Fighter – did win Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom I haven’t seen Animal Kingdom yet, but I would’ve been happy with any of the other four nominees in this category taking home the prize. They were all great, but if I had to choose I would probably have chosen Leo, too (though Kunis is a close, close second).

10.Best Screenplay – Motion Picture: Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle – 127 Hours Christopher Nolan – Inception Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right David Seidler – The King’s Speech Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network – did win I haven’t seen 127 Hours or The Kids Are All Right yet, and though I’m not the biggest Social Network fan, it deserved this award. If we’re talking dialogue and narrative structure, this is a great script.

The film lacks depth, but I think that’s more of a directorial fault.

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