Oscar 2011 - Supporting Actors

Generally I don't like writing about actors because unlike other categories here I don't have much else than subjective appreciations. And that's a very good reason to be shorter today, especially given the hour when I'm writing and the lack of time :) This year I preferred talking about supporting actors because for the leading ones the things are pretty settled (and besides that, here I managed to see all the movies, in the other categories not). And because we have a series of common titles, I said myself that it will be less time consuming to group the nominees on movies. So, what we have here ...

"Animal Kingdom" has Jacki Weaver as nominee for supporting actress, in a role which is sort of like a modern Godfather version placed in the context of suburban Australian organized crime. More precisely she plays the mother of an entire gang who "adopts" also one orphan nephew. The movie itself is pretty harsh/grim as general feeling. I can't say also that is pretty good. It has plenty loose ends and some scenes which seem far from credible. And these among others confirms me once again a not very good opinion about the australian cinema (well .. there are exceptions, but not this one). I think that the casting is the best part of the movie, and the nominated role is excellent played. That good that this should be a pretty solid reason to watch the movie. I can't say much more without giving spoilers but there is a point where there is a total character transition from warm to a very scary cold attitude. For more details, see the movie :)

In "The Fighter" we have three nominees for supporting roles. Two for supporting actress - Amy Adams, the main character's girlfriend and Melissa Leo, the mother. One for supporting actor - Christian Bale, the brother, a former drug addicted boxer. The cast is excellent and I think it's the best in a last year's movie. I'm pretty sure that the both Oscars will land here. Although I like Amy Adams, for supporting actress I'm pretty sure that the award will be taken by Melissa Leo. She does a role that has some similarities with the one nominated in "Animal Kingdom", it's also about a mom who tries to offer some false affection and behind lies a pretty big dose of cynicism. And if for supporting actress there might be another nominee to be considered as favorite, for supporting actor I don't expect any surprise. I've already written in the blog entry about "The Fighter" that this is the best career role for Christian Bale. Probably this is not very visible in the next clip, but I didn't find another one to include all the three nominees ...

"The Kids Are All Right" it's a type of drama that wants to be a bit of a comedy (but it doesn't really work). The subject is placed around two kids of a lesbian pair meeting their father, former sperm donor. I'll write more about the movie when I'll reach the final Oscar entry for Best Picture ( .. yes, it has a nomination also there ). Here the nomination is for supporting actor - Mark Rufallo - the father. What can I say is that the movie, as the previous cases above and also like "The King's Speech" has as it's best point the cast... and that's pretty much all. However, I think that not even this part can reach the first half of potential Oscar winners from all the nominees.

"The King's Speech" has two nominations here - Helena Bonham Carter as king's George the VIth wife and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the former actor employed for speaking lessons. If for supporting actress I think that's the weakest nomination, for the role of Geoffrey Rush is probably the most close to the one that will get the Oscar. Even so, the chances for a surprise here are very small. The winners for acting this year, excepting supporting actress are pretty clear already from my point of view.

"The Town" is the third movie this year (along with "Animal Kingdom" and "Winter's Bone") to have an action context placed around an outlaw "family" with scary and more scary than scary members. In "The Town" the part of the scariest bad guy is played by Jeremy Renner - the best friend of the main character (Ben Affleck) and also the most violent member of a Boston gang specialized in bank heists. The movie is pretty much at the same level with "Animal Kingdom" but it's ... american = here the bad guy seems to be a good guy after all - in the other one it's not, here the love story seems to last forever .. in the other one it abruptly ends (and I won't say more because I'm already close to give some spoilers), etc. Getting back to the nominee:

In "True Grit" the nominee for supporting actress is Hailee Steinfeld for the role of the girl who tries to avenge her father. It was a very pleasant surprise I might say, and she actually has some chances to the Oscar. Like I said I think it's the only category where the dices aren't yet rolled. However, I'm sticking to the opinion that both awards for supporting actors will go to "The Fighter". Well, for the moment a short clip from "True Grit" :) :

And I reached the last from the list - "Winter's Bone". I was saying above about a pleasant surprise. I got one here too. I had no idea who is John Hawkes prior to this movie. He plays the role of Teardrop here, the uncle of the girl who's searching her missing father. Again we have a role of a guy with a police record and apparently quite a grim & scary character, but unlike the nominees for supporting actress here the role has a transition from absolutely cold to a more fatherly attitude. And the actor manages this in a very well done manner.

That's all bout this category. I'll be back to areas where I'm a bit less "unauthorized" next time :) = cinematography

Oscar 2011 - Music - Score

As I said last time, I'm still staying on the audio area and I'll try today to go through the score nominations. And because my intros are usually too long & boring I'll just cut directly into the subject ...

John Powell got his first nomination this year, for "How to Train Your Dragon". This is during a career that started (for big screen) since '97 with "Face/Off". And I think that "Face/Off" still holds the top position in his CV. That movie, at least from my point of view, has one of the best scores I've ever heard in an action movie. Going back to "How to Train Your Dragon", it doesn't sound bad at all. One main thing to say is that we have here a score that matches very well the setting = viking world. In brief, it's a mix between some "epic" sound, northern influences, and classic animation music that usually has a more calm melodic line (but here it gets some speed-up). The result is excellent. However I think we will have another winner here. For me "How to Train Your Dragon" is among the top 5 animations I've ever seen, and I think in top 3 of the movies watched last year. It's the story of a young viking who is supposed to become a dragon hunter (or at least that's what he wants in the beginning). But I'm not telling more. This should be watched, not talked about it. The movie is probably the best DreamWorks ever produced, and for me was like a breath of (very) fresh air. I remember that I had a bad day when I've seen it, which lasted until seeing it :) I would really like for "How to Train Your Dragon" to get an Oscar this year, but in another category where it deserves it much more than here.

The first of the two big favorites at this category is Hans Zimmer for "Inception". I would like to see the Oscar going here (and it has pretty good chances) but I'm totally subjective on this one :). Unfortunately I cannot stop thinking at "Ubik" by P.K.Dick ( = book :) ) when I'm talking about "Inception". I'll try to detail more on that when I'll reach the best movie entry. In brief "Inception" has quite some P.K.D. elements in it. And for the current topic, the idea is that I find the score in "Inception" to be very appropriate to accompany a P.K. Dick book (even if it's not actually the case here). I could actually recommend something. If somebody would ever like to read a book by the aforementioned (very good SF by the way & I think what I'm suggesting here fits more than just "Ubik"), just try read it with the "Inception" soundtrack as background. The only problem would probably be to match the more slow or more alert tracks with the book's paragraphs :) I don't think I can completely describe what I want to tell, but if somebody tries will get it :). About the movie, it's probably the score that gives the most of the entire feeling, compared to the other nominations. But again, that's the point of view of a declared fan for this SF niche :). However, I should mention that there are some tracks here which are true gems talking about composition. And it's not the first time when I hear something like this from Hans Zimmer. I gave the final track in a clip below as example. If you listen carefully you can notice that you might be able to split it in a series of distinct unrelated tracks which are overlapped in the final one having different entry points. Each one of these has a pretty much looping melodic line and varies mostly on the tonality. The whole catch is how these are combined as volume gain & loss into the final one. I think that the result is extraordinary, given the fact that the technique doesn't seem very complicated ( but .. I'm far from being an expert :) ). The same thing you can hear in the DaVinci Code theme also by Zimmer - "Chevaliers de Sangreal" - and actually there it's more obvious than here, because there are only 3 or 4 tracks which seem to be overlapped (and in case it's not yet very clear what I'm rambling about you can just listen "The Bell" by Mike Oldfield - it's like a small tutorial for this type of composition). Ok, to much talking, better :) : ...

I think that Alexandre Desplat for "The King's Speech" is the weakest nominee in this category. And it's actually quite far from the other four, although I can't say that it doesn't fit the movie = keep a relatively calm line, not very spectacular, music that shouldn't get in front to much so to speak. What I think that's pretty weird is that Desplat (who I started to like since some time although he alternates good with not so good scores) had a much better score last year in "The Ghost Writer". And actually, if I remember well got nominated for some awards for his composition there. Well, I don't now what else to say. The music:

A.R. Rahman returns with "127 Hours" after the success had with "Slumdog Millionaire". We don't have a soundtrack as good as two years ago - when it was close to exceptional, but it's good. I already said it in the blog entry about the movie not very long ago. It gives pretty much to the entire feeling, especially on the alert/high tension parts. I think it's a pity that from what I can see no director except Danny Boyle works with this guy. The rest of his CV is full of Bollywood movies. Well, if after "Slumdog Millionaire" wasn't obvious enough that he can leave the typical Bollywoodian rhythms (or better said "rhythms") apart from what's composing, maybe this time is pretty clear. I'd really would like to hear his score in some other movies.

And we reached the final nominee here - Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails) & Atticus Ross for "The Social Network". I didn't hear about Atticus Ross until now, but what's interesting is that Trent Reznor is at his first movie. He did film music and also for video games before, but at least based on what's written on IMDb he doesn't have any other normal length feature film as main composer before. Despite all these, I think that "The Social Network" has the best chances this year for an Oscar - about 50.1% vs. 49.9% for "Inception" :) ( although personally I hope this gets reversed until the Awards :) ). However, being as objective as I can, I think that I would also give the Oscar here. Zimmer is good in "Inception", and the soundtrack for me at least gives more feeling to the movie than the one in "The Social Network". But this happens also due to the final mix - check my previous blog entry. More exactly the sound mixing in "Inception" emphasizes the soundtrack and the one in "The Social Network" does exactly the opposite - tries to put a limit to it to hold it a bit more discreet. Actually, if you listen to "The Social Network" soundtrack separately from the movie closely after you've watched it, you might have the surprise of not remembering all of the tracks from when you've seen the film (although those were there). Even so it manages to give quite an atmosphere to the movie. It's a soundtrack that it's worked mainly on synthesizer, stuff that it's not any more really mainstream/often done since quite a while. I might actually say that it's the best synthesizer/electronic processed music based soundtrack I've heard since Brad Fiedel (although of course there are different styles). As a parenthesis, for who doesn't know who Brad Fiedel is (unfortunately retired now), it's the composer who worked with James Cameron (when Cameron was doing less ... "blue" movies) = "Terminator" 1 & 2, "True Lies", "The Serpent and the Rainbow", "Fright Night", etc (the last two are not related with Cameron but are important as a reference for Brad Fiedel's scores). Well, going back to "The Social Network" ...

I'm wrapping up for today mentioning that I have no idea for how long the links above will last on YouTube (copyright issues of course) - for the moment are working. Next time I think I'll try to write a few words about supporting actors ...

Oscar 2011 - Sound Categories

Up to last year I was very proud with myself 'cause since I don't know how long ago I was able to predict the winners for at least one of the two sound categories - sound editing & sound mixing (especially since not many people know even the difference between these two). Well .. as I said, up to last year .. when I somehow managed to miss them both. So, this time I'll try to add some more professional description besides my own "unauthorized" thoughts. And this is thanks to a small group of people who have a site dedicated exclusively to the sound design in movies - SoundWorks Collection, and also have produced a series of "behind the scenes" clips on the topic.

But before getting on to the nominations I'll detail a bit about the two - editing & mixing. Sound Editing refers mainly to sound effects. More exactly the recording and processing or finding and getting the right samples from external sources for the film parts which lack the necessary sound (because usually the live recording during the film shooting is not enough). Sound Mixing implies getting the final mix track, meaning the assembling of the live recorded material, the sound editing extra output and the score in a single piece which is the final form you hear. Usually there is a lot of interaction between the two .. "departments" (and sometimes is only one) and therefore you can find movies nominated at both categories quite often. Let's check the situation for this year ...

"Inception" has nominations on both of the categories. For Sound Editing it's pretty hard to try a guess this year for the winner. In case of "Inception" we have various effects added, starting with the producing source diversity up to the sound propagation/reverb in various locations, and even .. "time flow" (so to speak) leaves some marks on the sound. If it would be to go along the common general impression I might say that this is the favorite title for Sound Editing (and probably it actually is), but for me there is another title which .. sounds better :). However on Sound Mixing it's simpler. I'm pretty sure that "Inception" will get the Oscar for this category and it's deserved in case it happens. It might have one serious rival on Sound Mixing, but the final mix track in "Inception" is among the best I've heard during the last years (not at the same level with "Slumdog Millionaire" but quite close). It's built in such a way to sense that the score is there (and the score gives a lot of the general feeling on this movie), to hit you at the right time with effects to keep the tension up, and also manages to emphasize on the voice where this is needed (well, what I'm rambling about here is actually what every final mix track is supposed to do :) but this one actually gets it quite nicely). I'll better leave it to the next clip for more details ( sorry, this one seems it doesn't allow embedding, but from what I've found available is for sure the most detailed regarding the sound here .. so probably it worth an extra click :) ):

"The King's Speech" has one nomination on the Sound Mixing part, and this is the movie which I think it's the closest to "Inception" (but still the 2nd). At a first look, it doesn't seem to be something very noticeable here, but it is a movie which as part of the main idea relies quite much in getting a view on the speaking problems of king George VI. Colin Firth actually does a pretty good job on the stammering part, so I don't think to much editing was required for that. But to get something in the final that is supposed to get well by the viewers ear, that's a whole different matter. And because of this, I personally think that technically speaking the final mix track is the best part of this movie. Even so, it probably won't get over "Inception". Unfortunately I didn't find any clip from SoundWorks to give more details here, but I went by something quite interesting. However it requires distributed hearing :) and it's also quite a big spoiler. It's a comparison between the final speech in the movie and the real one - this is one more criteria which brings some points here = the effort to obtain a close replica to the original (the clip version is the actual track with the score and volume switches according to the filming camera place):

I was planning to write an entry about "Salt" (on my Ro blog version) last summer when I've seen it .. but that was actually before watching the movie = I had it planned as the possible weekly topic. In the end I didn't write the entry and I looked for another subject. The reason is that from my point of view this movie is the worst from the entire filmography of Phillip Noyce ("The Quiet American", "The Bone Collector", "Clear and Present Danger", "Patriot Games", "The Saint", etc). At the middle of the movie I actually figured out the final, besides the part that the final isn't actually the final and leaves enough room for another final. Oh well .. more details on the subject in the next clip. It has a certain Cold War spy thriller air, as some older movies had, but it's far from the best titles in this area. Getting back to the Sound Mixing, where it has a nomination, I can't say I see(well .. hear) anything out of common about this title. It's a movie with lots of action and the final mix demands quite some work indeed, but it's not different from the usual case on this genre.

"The Social Network" has a nomination for Sound Mixing, probably as unexpected as "The King's Speech". The difference is that (at least for my ear) the final mix in the Facebook story doesn't sound as convincing as it's British rival. Yes, we have plenty of dialogue, we have several scenes with noisy background, but the result is not extraordinary at all. Besides this, the final mix gains a lot from the score quality here (about which I'll talk more next time) and this doesn't actually count for mixing. On top of all as it's said at some point in the next clip, the sound may actually lose itself at some moments - it's not noticeable anymore (and inherently brings down the score), and I'm not a very big fan of such results .. although it might be a matter of taste.

"Tron: Legacy" is an interesting nomination for Sound Editing, especially considering it didn't get one for VFX. It seems the audio ones were more appreciated. And I can say that it seems quite good here. We have the robotized voices part + a lot of pre-recordings processed for all the kind of effect from vehicles to explosions, etc + ADR Automated Dialog Replacement as mentioned in the next clip = this works as a dubbing/re-recording after shooting the movie on top of the original voice. In this case also the score makes the final track to gain a lot, and I sincerely regret not seeing Daft Punk nominated there. However, the category we talk about here is not Sound Mixing, so the fact the score adds to the impression for the final mix doesn't cut from the Sound Editing value. Maybe I'm a bit subjective, considering I liked the movie (well, forgetting for a while all about my IT background). Anyway, as I've said in the start this year the competition seems to be pretty fierce on Sound Editing, and Tron probably falls somewhere on a middle placement in a potential top.

"Toy Story 3" has a nominee for Sound Editing. "Toy Story 3" is the reason for I'm running a small boycott this year - I'm not going to write about Best Animation. So more (or less..) on the "Toy Story 3" subject on another occasion. Strictly speaking about sound effects, I've always had the opinion that animations are on a totally different class from feature films. Because the percent of the final sound which comes from the sound editing activity is overwhelming. You don't have any live recording here as you have when you shoot a normal scene in a movie. But, anyway, as I said this year I have a small problem with "Toy Story 3" :) and I'm not going to praise it more than it's the case. And if you think at the Oscars given two years ago, when "Wall-E" didn't get it here (which for me was one of the biggest Oscar surprises ever) I don't see how TS3 will grab it now ...

I don't have much to say about "True Grit". It has nominations on both the categories, but I really doubt it has any chances on any of them. For Editing we have the usual western effects ranging from gun shots to horse galloping. A short sequence can be seen/heard in the clip below (unfortunately here also I didn't find any extended entry from SoundWorks). All around it's ok, but that's pretty much of it. As a final track mix it sounds quite nice but again we have the same problem as in "The Social Network". I really think it gains a lot on the impression from the score (which didn't even get nominated), and not from integrating the score but actually from the music.

And I finally got to the last title on this long list - "Unstoppable". It seems that Tony Scott (who IMHO currently is one of the best action movie directors) after pretty much flopped with the "Pelham 123" remake, changed the line but not to far - from the underground to the surface. Another film, other trains, the same Denzel. I never was very attracted by "catastrophe" movies (= volcano eruptions, tunnel explosions, world's end next year, etc). And also not very attracted by movies based on real facts. Well, this one is both = we have the story of a loose speeding train carrying some very unhealthy substances. As a surprise (for me at least) it was quite watchable, even with the whole specific chessy lines present. In two words: adrenaline rush ! (think on "Speed" on rails .. well without any bad guy in command). And one of the things which adds a lot to this sensation I think it's the sound editing. You don't have a lot of variation on the effects range. Pretty much all is train related - wheels, sirens, etc. But these are very well processed = obviously the work is not limited only to live recordings. I would personally give the Oscar here for Sound Editing, but "Inception" is quite strong on this area. So we'll see...

Next time - the soundtrack section ...

Oscar 2011 - Art Direction

I'm not really in the mood for writing ... It seems I have to deal with some older liver issues these days (no, it's not excess vodka) and I probably should be sleeping at this hour (in case it's not obvious this intro should work also as a disclaimer on this entry's quality :-p). But, I pretty much made the plan on how many nomination categories I can cover this year. Somehow either I did succeed in watching too many movies during the winter holidays or the Academy wasn't flexible enough in choosing the titles, and it seems that if I really want to stick to the plan I should at least have two entries/week. Let's see if I can manage ...

So, if last time I suppose that VFX was quite clear in what it means, on Art Direction I should probably say a few more general words. Art Direction = Production Design + Set Decoration - it's a 2 in 1 category. Production Design refers to the general visual aspect of the movie and covers pretty much all starting from the location settings to the paper drawn concept art about a scene. As far as I know, and I hope I'm at least a bit right, the production designer works as a "link" between the director, or more exactly the director's vision and what I mentioned above. Meaning applying it in practice and also coordinating other departments for doing so, like vfx, costumes, etc. The idea is to obtain a consistent look & feel for the movie and not to get into situations where the vfx crew dreamed green aliens and the director wants blue ones. The Set Decoration relates with effectively constructing the scenery for the filming location = decoration, props, etc and is of course in tight relation with the Production Design. Ok, I think it's enough as a quick description ( and I don't know what else to write :) ) so let's get to the nominations ...

"Alice in Wonderland" - if last time I said that on VFX is ok, on the art direction for my taste at least it's not. It looks excessively colored for me and not very consistent/unitary as look even for a Tim Burton movie (why am I not surprised that it has the same production designer as "Avatar"). Well, again like last time, also this part is pretty much in the same semi-chaotic tone which makes the subject lose itself among the rest. The idea of Alice being back to Wonderland to save it from the Queen of Hearts is present actually all the time, but somehow it seems that it should be written in a corner of the screen just to be sure that you won't forget it even if you have it in front of your eyes. On the set decoration part, almost all of the job was done on the pc, so it goes to the vfx section ... One clip with one of the few scenes that might have some real decoration/props:

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" - it's the opposite of Alice. If on VFX was bad here is quite good. And that's probably because they managed to keep the same Art Direction crew since the first HP. You can see that the whole series has quite the same visual look & feel, with some variations given by the cinematography (were unfortunately they didn't keep the best name they had on the list). The dark tone in the scene composition is kept and the tension created is completed by the chosen locations, which are quite various, and I always liked that. I really think that the Art Direction part is the best aspect from the last Potter. But it has some serious competition at this category. Anyway if it keeps the line for Part 2 maybe it can grab an Oscar. Until then, one clip which explains the "Deathly Hallows" from the title and also carries us a bit through the settings present in the 7th HP:

"Inception" is the serious competition I was saying above and also from my point of view the Oscar favorite. I'm still keeping some more detailed thoughts about the movie for later entries, maybe the last one :) (Like I said I have written last summer a detailed post in Ro but I'm too lazy to translate it or even re-read it). On today's topic, for the set decoration the things are made quite simple usually, and this keeps you on the real side of the movie which gets into the other/dream one by applying vfx to an apparently normal scene. The locations also help on the transition quite a lot not only directly but as a feeling also, you have a diversity in choosing settings which actually brings you closer to the base idea of "everything is possible in a dream". You get from indoor to outdoor, from sun to snow, etc. More on this in the next clip:

"The King's Speech" got lots of nominations this year, but I'm not very sure how many will turn into an Oscar. It's a movie with a subject that covers the first years of George VI as the monarch of United Kingdom. It seems that the guy had quite some issues with public speaking - more exactly a stammer, and he went through some therapy for a pretty long time, being helped by a former Australian actor - this being the main topic of the movie. More on the subject in future entries. About the Art Direction, I would place it at the same level with Alice but not because I didn't like the result here. I just find it too .. common. Yes, we have what is wanted - the period is surprised quite well, but this in not the first movie to do that, and I can't say it has anything special in achieving this. I recall now about "Atonement" which was also nominated for this category some years ago, and it's not very far, as many many other UK made films. They have quite an experience on recreating early XX century, or the Victorian age. But this is actually what makes that the final look to lose itself among many other titles. Besides that, 90% of the movie scenes are indoor which also diminishes the value on this category reported to the other nominations (well .. except Alice). Some idea about the decoration and also the ambiance of that time is discretely surprised in the next sequence:

I think "True Grit" is somewhere between "King's Speech" and "Harry Potter" for the Art Direction. I'm not getting into details about the movie - it's a western about which I've written around a month ago on my blog - more there. Well, I'll probably write a few general lines when I'll get to Best Picture category. For the moment, considering the genre, we have the same characteristic as in "King's Speech" = the movie must give a feeling as close as possible to a past time, in this case probably the end of the XIX century, but .. we have something extra - quite many outdoor scenes. Well, there isn't the diversity met in Potter or Inception but we have night scenes, day scenes, forest scenes, cave scenes, field scenes = we are pretty much carried through all the wild west terrain forms :). How they managed to recreate also the air of the old west town .. see below:

Next time .. I think I'm gonna take a break from the visual stuff and get to the sound ;)

Oscar 2011 - VFX

I'll start with the visual effects section, considering that for the moment is a bit more fresh in my head than the others. I actually had in mind to write a combined post including also the art direction, but I don't have enough time now for both of them. And besides that ... I think I'm gonna try to let a series of clips to "comment" more than I will (for sure it will bring more accurate info than I'm able to)

The first title on the nominee list (which is always alphabetical ordered) is "Alice in Wonderland". In a top for the Oscar favorites on this category, this movie probably would be the 2nd, meaning there are a few chances. The problem is that the effects, which are almost 90% of what you see on the screen, are on the same line with the specific Tim Burton "chaotic" style. Style, which I don't know how is perceived by other people, but on my case it manages to annoy me (well.. not every time, but in this case it does). I think that "Alice in Wonderland" was the perfect subject possible for this guy through the story/context nature, due to his directing style. And actually the result was pretty much as I expected. Shortly put - exaggeratedly dispersed out of the main storyline direction, which is quite lost among the whole mess. Maybe more on this in the next entry, because now I don't have enough time. Going back to the effects, even if, like I mentioned, these actually "carry" pretty much the whole movie, I think that in the same time also manage to make it a bit harder to watch. Maybe it's a matter of taste ... Anyway, to get to more objective info, the most parts of the film were shot in studio + computer generated. More on this in the next clip:

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" .. left pretty much of the effects for Part 2. It looks quite weak on this side, not that any from the whole series was in any way exceptional. Not only this, but also as a movie is probably among the worst of all the HP's. It suffers from the same problem as the rest actually. I don't have anything against J.K. Rowling but you can see from a mile away that she didn't have a clue about what she'll write in the 7th volume when she wrote the first. And this won't be a problem if it would be for a series, like I don't know .. Agatha Christie's Poirot novels, let's say .. where besides the main character you don't have any other connection between the books. But in case of Potter, it's completely different, we have to deal with a soapy saga from the first episode to the last. And of course we get the same result as in any script where the author doesn't know what he/she'll write after the next two episodes = weak, flawed & not very credible. More exactly in each Potter we get all sorts of new elements in the action, and these in theory are supposed to be known/exist from the first part (or even before), but until the current movie were probably classified as top-secret material = nobody mentioned anything about them. In this Potter we have the almighty/allpowerful/alleverything "Deathly Hallows" falling exactly in the mentioned category. But ... this topic was about VFX, wasn't it ? Yep, only that about VFX I don't have much to say, and I doubt that the Academy will have too. There is an aerial chase in the beginning of the movie (which I didn't found on YouTube to give as sample), some animation that is quite good where is placed (but I don't know if that matters as effects) and pretty much all the rest is about throwing lightnings from the wands accompanied by a la Gollum goblins. And this can actually be seen also in the next clip:

"Hereafter" ... just let me write it one more time ... I hope it's clear now. It's not ? Then -> ... It's the last Eastwood movie and as a movie is ok. Shortly put, is a drama with some romance touch in the end, centered on the idea of "what happens after you move your residence in the underground". Or more precise, about the perception of the living on the subject between "". Again, as a movie is fine, especially if you're in the mood for a slow-paced drama (although for the "afterlife" subject I personally prefer something more like "The Jacket") but ... it doesn't have effects ! Well, ok ... it has ... one scene/sequence in the beginning that consists in a tsunami sweeping an entire beach and beyond that. And this is actually quite nicely done, being pretty "immersive" so to speak :) for the viewer. However, a nomination for that ... I'm pretty sure that even the VFX team is more than happy with what they already got and don't expect more. Unfortunately (or maybe not) I can't give a spoiler with the single important effect in the movie - the tsunami, because I didn't find any clip .. so I'll go for the trailer:

I've written about "Inception" last summer on my Ro version of the blog ( sorry, no translation :) ) so I'll be a bit shorter on this. Anyway, I'll talk more when I'll get to some other categories. So, strictly related to VFX, I'm pretty convinced that here is the Oscar destination. Besides the fact that it actually helps the viewer to get "more deep" into the story (unlike "Alice" for example where the chromatic might actually make you close your eyes sometimes), "Inception" is also quite innovative on the VFX. From all the 5 nominees I think it has by far the many original elements, not necessarily in technical terms, but visually not seen very often before. Probably the next clip will set this more clearly:

"Iron Man 2" doesn't bring much original stuff on the VFX. I think the first "Iron Man" was better on this chapter. And in the second we pretty much have what we had in the first in terms of effects + some new CGI. Again, about the movie I've already written last summer on my Ro blog ( and again, sorry no translation :) ). In a few words - you may want to watch the film only if you really really like super-hero movies and you don't mind the eternally overused good-hero-almost-dying-but-then-rises-and-kicks-ass tagline or the lack of credibility of some hilarious Russian scientist played by .. Mickey Rourke. I think this is more than enough to say .. oh, and a clip about the VFX:

Back next time with Art Direction ;) ...