Never Had To Fight » The Hurt Locker http://www.neverhadtofight.com verbing the adjective noun since 1902 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:53:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Best Picture Nominees http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/best-picture-nominees/ http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/best-picture-nominees/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:41:48 +0000 Adam M. Anklewicz http://www.neverhadtofight.com/?p=511 Avatar (20th Century Fox)
I didn’t end up seeing Avatar, honestly I’m not disappointed by  this fact. It looks kinda shitty and I have better things to spend $20 on. Also, I’m slightly bitter that Celine Dion won the Oscar over Elliott Smith. I blame James Cameron for that.


The Blind Side (Warner Bros.)
The feel-good movie of the year that will make you want to puke. Oh, fucking god! Another sports film. Not even that, the worst sport in the history of man, football. So, some random bloke drops two kids off at a private school, says, “here take them.” They take them, his wife doesn’t want one of the kids (who isn’t their own) and so they turf him. Rich chick finds him, invites him into the family. Make him play football. That’s about the whole story, after the first five seconds we never see the Dad who brought him to the private school, or the OTHER black kid.

There’s supposed to be some tension in the teaser where we see the football-playing-kid being interviewed for something we assume he did wrong, to hook the audience, but theres not enough tension there to be of interest, or of any reason why we’d need to see what happens two years before the majority of the film takes place. Those events then make sense when the film catches up to the teaser, but it’s a minor point that is the catalyst for the major dramatic tension. He runs away, he runs away, but within about five minutes all is resolved and good.

Simply the movie isn’t strong, it’s a boring docudrama about a boring subject. I’m sure this man is a wonderful football player, and a wonderful person, but who cares beyond that?


District 9 (Sony Pictures Releasing)
I saw adverts for this film on bus stops proclaiming “this bus stop for Human’s only.” That pissed me off, we’re Toronto, we accept people of all countries, why should we say no to those from outside of Earth. I assumed it was some lame action/sci-fi film that the genre had degraded into, then I heard that it was about apartheid, I went to see it that day.

It was a fantastic film, it was graphic and told an interesting story in an interesting way. It was what I thought science fiction should be, but rarely ever is any more. I will admit that the film isn’t the slightest bit subtle in how it treats the topic at hand, but it did what it set out to do well.


An Education (Sony Pictures Classics)
“You have no idea how boring everything was before you,” says Jenny to David in this incredibly creepy film, about a child and the man she falls for. While Jenny is truly an exceptional young lady, she’s a child in many ways, only slowly becoming a woman.

Also, that’s what a Jew looks like? That’s like getting an Italian to play a Mohawk.

The relationship between Jenny and David is well acted and, though very creepy, interesting.

Overall, I’d say it’s a rather incredible film, but it does suffer slightly from the 30 seconds of voice over during the end of the film. It is unneeded and deters from the emotion of the film.


The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
War films are a very touchy subject, especially when the war in question is still raging. M*A*S*H and Full Metal Jacket do what I believe a war film should do; combine humour and drama in a manner to show the horrors of war, while simultaneously making it easy for the audience to digest. Instead of that, The Hurt Locker is instead more interested in portraying a group of bomb disposal soldiers, who have little conscience, little knowledge of local language or culture, little care for the country they invaded, little care for the lives of others, and little care for their own lives.

This film could have been reduced in time by at least half an hour, forty-five minutes perhaps. The extra running time, and what seems to be an overly ambitious film maker hurt the film, making it suffer from trying to accomplish too much, but accomplishing nothing. It takes the film far too long to get to the meat of the story.

In the end, I don’t know if they’re trying glorify, if so, that’s kinda hideous.


Inglourious Basterds (The Weinstein Company)
This is the last film of the group I saw. Fortunately the Bloor was showing it the day before the Oscars. I was very reluctant to see it, because I’ve never enjoyed a Quentin Tarantino film. This is the exception, Tarantino’s really grown as a filmmaker since Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. It was definitely a great film, and I think needs a second viewing. The film is often hilarious, often horrid, and often beautiful. The suspense is impressive of a modern film that displays so much gore.


Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lionsgate)
Some of the best films I have ever seen in my life are extremely difficult to watch. Precious is among those. The story is of Precious, a teenage girl who’s education can best be described as atrocious, her relationship with her home life, a nightmare. Through this story she finds strength, knowledge, guidance and a life, but the past is impossible to comprehend.

I’m completely at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say about this film, but you must see it. It’s difficult to watch, but do it anyway.


A Serious Man (Focus Features)
Now I have to remember which was A Serious Man and which was A Single Man. Oh yeah! Serious was the good one, and Single was the incredible one. Looks like I’m talking about the good one, sigh! So, I understand why this is nominated for an Academy Award, Jews will like this film. I’m a Jew, I like this film, we control Hollywood (shh, don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret). However, are there people who like this film and aren’t Jews? Do any non-Jews understand this film?

I liked this film, the characters were interesting, and in the usual Coen brothers fashion, it was hilarious, but also stark and grimy. However, it definitely was one of their lesser films, it doesn’t compare to the likes of Fargo, or O Brother Where Art Thou? or No Country For Old Men.


Up (Walt Disney)
Now here’s a film that hands-down deserves respect. Pixar was able to make one of the best features of last year with Wall-e, and unfortunately it didn’t even get nominated for best picture, it obviously should have. Up continues with one story concept that Wall-e succeeded so well with, they delivered so much emotional content without dialogue. When Carl’s story is being told, the audience falls in love with this man, they smile at his achievements, they cry at his heartache and they cheer for him… and this is only within the first half hour of the film. The story is fun, and amazing, but the heart behind the story is incredible, and I think Pixar made one of their best films with this one, and that says A LOT.


Up in the Air (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
As Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have two words for you ‘BOR-RING!’” Up In The Air is an okay film about characters who have nothing that the audience can find redeeming. There is no emotional connection, the characters are two dimensional, the story is paper thin, and why it was nominated for such a prestigeious category, I have no idea.

Who Adam wants to win: Precious
Who Adam thinks will win: Avatar

]]> http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/best-picture-nominees/feed/ 3 February 2010, in review http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/ http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:38:38 +0000 Adam M. Anklewicz http://www.neverhadtofight.com/?p=654 In December, I set goals for myself, how many films to see this year, how many shows to attend, how many records to purchase, and how many books to read. This is the standings, as of the end of February…

Books I read (2/10 – 20%):
Heaven Is Small by Emily Schultz | Originally published 2009

Films I saw (19/52 – 36.5%):
Whip It | Originally released 2009
24 Hours On Craigslist | Originally released 2005
The Princess And The Frog | Originally released 2009
The Secret of Kells | Originally released 2009
An Education |  Originally released 2009
Invictus | Originally released 2009
The Blind Side | Originally released 2009
The Hurt Locker | Originally released 2009

Albums I bought (22/52 – 42.3%):
Next Year In Zion by Herman Düne (vinyl) | Originally released 2008
Realism by The Magnetic Fields (CD + vinyl)
The Beatles Stereo Box Set | Originally released 2009

Shows I attended (7/52 – 13.5%):
The Magnetic Fields (w/ Laura Barrett) @ Queen Elizabeth II Theatre; February 8, 2010
The Hidden Cameras, Owen Pallett, Thomas, Kids On TV, The Barcelona Pavilion, Mean Red Spiders, Neck a.k.a. Christiana, Boars @ The Garrison; February 14, 2010

]]> http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/feed/ 2 Performance by an actor in a leading role http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/performance-by-an-actor-in-a-leading-role/ http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/performance-by-an-actor-in-a-leading-role/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:59:06 +0000 Adam M. Anklewicz http://www.neverhadtofight.com/?p=515
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (Fox Searchlight)
I was disappointed with this film, it was basically The Wrestler, but with a country singer. Jeff Bridges did have a good performance as Bad, but I think the film was just a too cliché.


George Clooney in Up in the Air (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Fuck you! Batman does not have nipples!

Sorry, wrong film. The character is two dimensional and boring. He can do better, we’ve all seen him do better… we’ve also seen him do worse (see above comment).


Colin Firth in A Single Man (The Weinstein Company)
Holy Crap, this is an incredible film, and Firth’s performance is unforgettable. While I write this section of the post, I haven’t yet seen the following films, so I can’t speak to those, but my hope is for Firth to win this (Freeman will win it, he’s playing Mandela for god sake). Firth’s character goes through so much drama in this one day, and the audience is taken along with him on this journey so effectively due in large part to Firth’s performance.


Morgan Freeman in Invictus (Warner Bros.)
I don’t like sports movies, but I do like politics. I felt that the film, especially during the last few minutes fell into cliché after cliché, fortunately that wasn’t Morgan Freeman’s fault, that was Clint Eastwood’s.

Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela, you might have heard of him, he was a freedom fighter/terrorist who fought for an end to South African apartheid, he was the President of South Africa for five years, and united both black and white South Africa into a united country. He’s also an honorary Canadian citizen.

So apparently a big part of his unification plans was to get South Africa to win the Rugby World Cup. I unfortunately don’t know too much about South African history, Canadian history is what I mostly focus on (probably because I live here), because of this, I don’t know if any of this is true, or how much is a stretch, but it was an fun film with good political pressure to help it transcend being a mediocre sports film.

I enjoyed Freeman’s role as Mandela, but it seems like he’s just mimicking the great man, rather than trying to create a role. I cannot imagine how great of a responsibility it is to not only play one of the most important men in recent human history, but also a man you’ve met, a man who’s still alive. Freeman took on this responsibility and I was willing to believe I was watching Mandela and not Freeman.

Either way, good, but not best.


Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
His performance was good, but doesn’t make up for a shitty film (see the upcoming best picture post).

Who Adam wants to win: Colin Firth in A Single Man
Who Adam thinks will win: Morgan Freeman in Invictus

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