The Oscars Preview: Part 2 – My Picks

I waited to write this column until I saw A Serious Man, the last of the bigger Oscar nominees I had yet to see. Ummm yeah…I shouldn’t have bothered. I haven’t included every category because I feel I couldn’t appropriately address everything, and while I love original scores, the music wasn’t fresh in my mind for a lot of films and as such felt I couldn’t give an informed opinion. However, I would like to note that Abel Korzeniowski & Shigeru Umebayashi’s score for A Single Man is beautiful and everyone should check it out if they enjoy that kind of thing.

Anyway, here’s my selections for nominations, and again, picks for what I would personally choose as my best of the year in bold. And this includes my Top 10 of 2009. Have I egregiously left anything out? Let me know and fire back in the comments below.

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.

Lifting the Curtain.

When I was a little kid I used to think about how it was physically possible for a film to be made. I thought maybe it was shot in real time and that everything on screen was occurring simultaneously and filmed in one swift motion to create the complete motion picture. Crazy, yes, but I was a kid, and what did I know?

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.

The “Just Missed” List & Looking Ahead.

Here’s the final 73 that round out my top 100 of the decade. In compiling the overall list I went through the weekly release schedule for every year since 2000 and picked out the best. Then, from the best of each year, I picked out the cream of the crop and went from there. It’s hard to imagine if I really missed anything, and if I did, it’s likely the case that I haven’t seen it. Either way, if you feel I’ve neglected anything, let me know in the comments section and voice your own opinion for why you feel a certain film has been ignored.

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.

The Future of Cinema: Avatar Revisited.

Okay, I know it’s been less than a week since I professed my undying love for giant blue aliens in the form of a college length essay, but I’ve got more to say. In my Avatar review I stated that it’s one of the most important films in the history of cinema. A statement like that needs to be explained.

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.

Review: AVATAR.

James Cameron has done what I thought to be unachievable. Never did I think it was possible, nor had I even entertained the thought of it happening. But he’s done it. James Cameron has created a likable Michelle Rodriguez character. Bravo, Mr. Cameron. BRAVO.

Ok, seriously. (Although I was being serious about Michelle Rodriguez. I have never liked her before in anything she’s been in, she was capable of borderline ruining a film for me.) I was lucky enough to snag tickets to a 3D IMAX preview of Avatar on “Avatar Day” (August 21st). I was extremely pumped as anyone else would  be who has been following the progress of the movie for quite some time and hearing the rumors of the technology and 3D immersion. It was just under 20 minutes long, and it was a few different sequences cut together, completely out of context. I had not watched the released trailer yet, because I felt it would spoil the IMAX experience. I was also seeing District 9 right afterwards and was able to go from seeing the IMAX 3D preview of the Avatar trailer to the regular 2D trailer running prior to District 9.  I knew right away that anyone comparing the two, or knocking the 2D trailer for it’s realism or “wow” factor were vastly uninformed. There’s no comparison to seeing it in 3D. This is not opinion, it’s fact.

Read the rest of the article at my domain, www.cineastejohn.com.