Awards Season 2022: Razzies Nominations

What's that I smell in the air? Could it possibly be the whiff of cinematic feculence? 

Ah yes, it's that time of year again when the Golden Raspberries seek to dishonour the worst films of the previous year. 

So here are the full nominations for the 42nd Annual Razzie Awards:

WORST PICTURE

Diana The Musical

Infinite

Karen

Space Jam: A New Legacy

The Woman In The Window

WORST ACTRESS

Amy Adams (The Woman In The Window)

Jeanna de Waal (Diana The Musical)

Megan Fox (Midnight In The Switchgrass)

Taryn Manning (Karen)

Ruby Rose (Vanquish)

WORST ACTOR

Scott Eastwood (Dangerous)

Roe Hartrampf (Diana The Musical)

LeBron James (Space Jam: A New Legacy)

Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen)

Mark Wahlberg (Infinite)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Ben Affleck (The Last Duel)

Nick Cannon (The Misfits)

Mel Gibson (Dangerous)

Gareth Keegan (Diana The Musical)

Jared Leto (House Of Gucci)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams (Dear Evan Hansen)

Sophie Cookson (Infinite)

Erin Davie (Diana The Musical)

Judy Kaye (Diana The Musical)

Taryn Manning (Every Last One Of Them)

WORST SCREEN COUPLE

Any Klutzy Cast Member & Any Lamely Lyricized (or choreographed) Musical Number (Diana the Musical)

LeBron James & Any Warner Cartoon Character (or Time-Warner product) He Dribbles on (Space Jam: A New Legacy)

Jared Leto & Either His 17-Pound Latex Face, His Geeky Clothes or His Ridiculous Accent (House of Gucci)

Ben Platt & Any Other Character Who Acts Like Platt Singing 24-7 is Normal (Dear Evan Hansen)

Tom & Jerry (Tom & Jerry: The Movie)

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL

Karen

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Tom & Jerry: The Movie

Twist

The Woman In The Window

WORST DIRECTOR

Christopher Ashley (Diana The Musical)

Stephen Chbosky (Dear Evan Hansen)

Coke Daniels (Karen)

Renny Harlin (The Misfits)

Joe Wright (The Woman In The Window)

WORST SCREENPLAY

Diana The Musical

Karen

The Misfits

Twist

The Woman In The Window

WORST PERFORMANCE BY BRUCE WILLIS IN A 2021 MOVIE

American Siege

Apex

Cosmic Sin

Deadlock

Fortress

Midnight In The Switchgrass

Out Of Death

Survive The Game

With a staggering nine nominations, Diana The Musical leads the pack with nine. Tone-deaf "thriller" Karen (about a hysterical racist white woman who terrorises her new Black neighbours) and Rear Window rip-off The Woman In The Window tie for second place with five apiece. 

Frankly, if any performance did belong on this list, it's Jared Leto. Whilst the whole of House Of Gucci is slightly "heightened", his performance comes from the Joe Dolce School of Acting and feels like it belongs in an entirely different film. It's jarring, annoying, and I genuinely don't understand why Ridley Scott didn't rein him in. 

There's also a very real possibility- although I really hope not- that we might be looking at Leto getting a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod tomorrow (which will echo Glenn Close last year for her turn in Hillbilly Elegy).

A slightly dodgy claim to fame here: Infinite, which gets three nods, was partially filmed in Cardiff (with a section of Newport Road [a main road in the city centre] closed for several days in October 2019).  I have been meaning to check the film out, just for that scene, but I mightn't bother now...

Also, considering lockdowns and everything that went on, part of me is slightly impressed that Bruce Willis featured in enough cinematic crap to get his own category. 

As is tradition, the Razzies will be handed out the day before the Oscars, meaning that we'll see which of these stinkers walks away with the prizes on Saturday 26th March 2021. 

As is also tradition, I'll be posting my predictions for the main six categories for the 94th Academy Awards a little later today, ahead of the announcement tomorrow afternoon.

Review: Justice League (UK Cert 12A)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

After the death of Superman, the world seems to be a place without hope. When an alien threat arrives and places the planet in danger, Bruce Wayne (with the help of Diana Prince) decides to track down others with superpowers to help fight against this new foe. 

Predictably, general critical response to Justice League has been middling to poor. At the time of writing, it currently stands with a 41% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes (although, tellingly, an audience rating of 84%). Film is an artform, not a science. It's not something that often deals with facts (other than those concrete verifiables like box office receipts, cast and crew, any awards hype, and so on). It thrives on opinion. And that's all that film criticism is: it's someone's opinion. Art is ultimately subjective and the opinions of those of the viewing public- who pay to put their bums on seats and watch the film- are as valid as those of the professional critics.  

My opinion is this: I thought Justice League was a lot better than I feared it would be. 

So what's good? Well, the cast are pretty strong (although Affleck doesn't seem as comfortable here; more on that later). Of the new characters, it's Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash who comes off the best. Socially awkward, quite geeky, he takes to this brave new world of heroes like an enthusiastic puppy. He also gets a lot of the humour. He gets a particularly good scene opposite Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg where they attempt to bond over digging up Superman's coffin. Fisher is decent as Cyborg, although the character feels less developed than the others. Jason Momoa is an imposing, charismatic presence as Arthur Curry/Aquaman and also gets a nice scene where he unwittingly gets a bit too close to the lasso of Hestia. 

Henry Cavill is as strong as he always has been in the role of Clark Kent/Superman. He obviously doesn't make an appearance until just after halfway through and his frenzied fight against the League is pretty impressive. Luckily, there's a deus ex machina to stop him from pummelling them into the dirt (and it isn't as ridiculous as the 'Martha' moment in Batman V Superman). Gal Gadot is assured and powerful as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. She's a de facto leader to the group and the film lifts whenever she's on screen. 

As for the supporting cast, generally strong although with such a large cast, some do get shortchanged. Amy Adams doesn't get much to do as Lois but she's good (although they've inexplicably cut the rather tender scene shown in the trailer where Clark mentions the ring). I did want to see more of J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, although he did get a particularly good one-liner which I enjoyed. Jeremy Irons is still wonderful as Alfred whilst there's a nice cameo by Billy Crudup as Henry Allen (Barry's father). 

The slow-mo effects on The Flash are amusing (imagine the 'Time In A Bottle' sequence from X-Men: Days Of Future Past or the 'Sweet Dreams' bit in X-Men: Apocalypse and you're on the right track). Danny Elfman's score is powerful and positive and has a few nice little Easter Eggs for those who care to listen. The scene of Superman's resurrection is probably the best sequence in the film. Also, the lighting seems to have improved; there's not a lot of gloomy darkness and I could actually see what was going on most of the time. 

That's not to say the film is perfect. It's far from it. The script is uneven and occasionally very info-dumpy; it does have to properly introduce three new characters who the audience have only ever really seen in passing, but it all feels a bit clunky (especially Aquaman's little tete-a-tete with Mera). It would perhaps have made more sense to have had at least the Aquaman and Flash solo movies prior to the release of Justice League (to cut down on this). And just an FYI- London doesn't have city blocks!

Also tonally, the film is a bit of a mess- Joss Whedon's and Zack Snyder's directorial styles are very different and you can tell what's been added and what's been reshot (the farrago over Superman's CGI upper lip notwithstanding). It's why Ben Affleck feels a little less comfortable in the role than he did in Batman V Superman. There he was the tortured, brooding Batman; here, he's cracking wise. There's also an over-reliance on slow-mo (understandable when you're talking about The Flash, but it soon becomes wearying). 

However, my main complaint against the film is the villain, Steppenwolf. The CGI on him is massively shoddy (he looks like a mid-2000s Playstation character) and the motivation he's given is paper-thin. Plus, the curse of the DCEU strikes again with a massive CGI blow-out final battle which is difficult to keep track of. Bizarrely, it also feels like there's very little at stake: the human consequences of the alien invasion are pinned onto one Russian family who are barricaded into their home as the Parademons swarm. There's no jeopardy.

So yes, the film has its issues. Given the circumstances of Snyder having to withdraw due to a dreadful family tragedy then Warner Bros hiring Whedon to finish/reshoot the film, it was always going to have issues. But it's nowhere near as bad as some reviewers would have you believe. It is a superhero movie. It's two hours of- dare I say it?- fun. Not as good as Wonder Woman, but head-and-shoulders above both Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Arrival (UK Cert 12A)

Twelve spacecraft appear across the globe, speaking an unintelligible language. In the US, the army draft linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) to help interpret and communicate with the alien visitors and- on her insistence- take her to Montana so she can communicate with them directly. Alongside theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), Louise begins to speak to the aliens to discover the purpose behind their arrival.

Directed with flair by Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Prisoners, Incendies), with a screenplay by Eric Heisserer (adapted from a Ted Chiang short story entitled 'Story Of Your Life'), Arrival is a thoughtful, mature slice of sci-fi.

Let's address this right now. Amy Adams' performance was utterly superb and I can see exactly why there were cries of 'snub' when the Oscar nominations were announced. She can most certainly count herself unlucky to have missed out for one of the strongest performances she's ever given. She carries the emotional weight of the film- she is the heart and soul of it- and is just heartbreaking in certain scenes. Louise is fragile, but not weak; compassionate, but not a bleeding-heart; assured, but not arrogant. Another brilliant performance from one of the best actresses of her generation. 

Renner is also strong as the geeky, easy-going Ian. There's a really strong chemistry between Renner and Adams which helps to sell the interactions between Ian and Louise which is always good. Whilst the story is very much focused on Louise as the main character, Renner shines when he's on screen. There's strong support by Forest Whitaker as Colonel Weber, who helps recruit Louise in the first place; what could have been a fairly generic, by-the-numbers Army role is lifted by Whitaker's warm and sympathetic performance. There are also nice turns by Michael Stuhlbarg and Tzi Ma as an unsympathetic FBI agent and a bellicose Chinese general respectively. 

Technically, the film is very accomplished. The visual effects, from the design of the spacecraft to the design of the aliens and their linguistic symbols, are all superb. The score, by Johann Johannsson, is also sublime. 

The reveal of what the aliens' purpose is will probably make or break the film for you. I personally liked it, and found it interesting, but I can understand why some people might not agree with it. I found it raised some interesting psychological and philosophical questions which have stayed with me long after the film. 

If you like your sci-fi a little more cerebral, a little deeper than standard, then definitely give this a go. Also, don't be put off by the awards hype- it is truly deserving of the accolades it has received.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Nocturnal Animals (UK Cert 15)

Nocturnal Animals is the second film from fashion-designer-cum-director Tom Ford (after 2009's A Single Man)

Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is a Los Angeles art gallery owner whose privileged surroundings are providing her little comfort as her marriage is breaking down and her husband is sleeping with another woman. She receives a manuscript of a novel called Nocturnal Animals, written by her ex-husband Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal) whom she cruelly mistreated then dumped. She begins to read the manuscript, a violent revenge thriller in which a young family are terrorised by a brutal gang of rednecks. 

Honestly, this film was one of the most pretentious piles of bilge I've had the misfortune of sitting through this year. Now, people who know me know I quite like films that certain people may describe as 'pretentious'. But this... this takes the cake. And then frames it badly on camera and gives it a lingering close-up to show how deep it really is. 

I don't know what's worse: the poor camerawork, the heavy-handed symbolism, the shoddy editing, the awkward and obvious juxtapositions or the facile script that has characters either spouting inane platitudes or fortune-cookie bon mots. The most egregious thing is A Single Man was a subtle, nuanced, occasionally very beautifully shot film. What happened? There's no subtlety here. No nuance. You are sledgehammered over the head with every piece of imagery- even down to casting Isla Fisher as Tony's wife Laura (because she looks so much like Amy Adams, don't you see? Isn't that clever?)- and, when you need to put a blatant jumpscare in to check whether your audience hasn't actually slipped into a coma, you're on shaky ground. Also, I have major issues with the opening which depicts several obese naked women doing a drum majorette routine in slow motion. Quite what is this supposed to mean? Is it a metaphor for the grotesque and soulless world of Los Angeles? If so, there are perhaps more appropriate and more tasteful ways to do it than to go down the route of fat-shaming. 

Performances are a mixed bag, to be fair. Amy Adams is an extremely talented actress that will undoubtedly win an Oscar one day, given the right role. And God love her, she's trying here. She's trying in earnest to turn this rotten sow's ear into a silk purse but there's only so much you can do with a script with the emotional depth of a stagnant puddle. Still, she tries to imbue Susan with some semblance of character which the script is sorely lacking. 

Gyllenhaal plays a dual role, as Edward and as Tony, the main character in the novel which is handily dramatised for our viewing... well, I'd usually say pleasure but in this case I'm gonna have to make an exception and say endurance. As Edward, he's sweet, naive, sensitive. As Tony, he's all of those things and then he isn't as the cruelty of the world breaks him. That is literally what this film is like. I'm really hoping one day Aaron Taylor-Johnson will look back on this film and cringe. Like I did, every time he was on screen. He's the leader of the redneck gang that intimidate Tony and his family and his performance is just dire. It is buttock-clenchingly, sphincter-tighteningly bad. He's about as intimidating as a wet paper bag and has clearly been directed to go for wide-eyed crazy as a default. 

However, there are some saving graces. Laura Linney is superb in her cameo role as Susan's ghastly, materialistic mother whilst there's a certain amount of gravitas to Michael Shannon's performance as Detective Bobby Andes, the taciturn and morally flexible lawman who helps Tony get some kind of justice for his family.  

I didn't enjoy the film. I found it boring, pretentious and convinced of its own worthiness. Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Seriously, if you watched Noctural Animals and liked it or enjoyed it or 'got' it, feel free to leave a comment below or drop us an e-mail and let me know what I'm missing. Because I genuinely couldn't see it. 

Frankly, if this is the best he can come up with, then might I respectfully suggest Tom Ford sticks to fashion design (which he knows a lot about and is very good at) rather than film-making. 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (UK Cert 12A)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

Let me preface this review with a remark. This movie is essentially critic-proof. It doesn't really matter that it currently has a critic score of 28% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing; the audience score is currently 72%. It's already made over $424 million worldwide so it's not going to make the slightest bit of difference whether I say 'this is the greatest film ever made in the history of cinema' or 'watching the entire Twilight saga in one sitting is preferable to this inane pile of garbage'. What I will say is this: there was a lot I liked in the film, and a lot I didn't. 

The film has, since its very inception, been a polarizing one. When this project was announced at Comic-Con in July 2013, it broke the Internet. Reactions ranged from 'best thing ever' to '#ruined' and the furore only intensified when Ben Affleck was cast in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Over 30 petitions sprung up online, ranging from removing him from the role to trying to make it illegal for Affleck to play either Batman or any other superhero on film. Unsurprisingly, when the casting of Jesse Eisenberg and Gal Gadot were announced as Lex Luthor and Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, there was more vitriol online. Eisenberg was neither old enough nor imposing enough; Gadot was bizarrely too small to play an Amazonian princess. Rumours abounded a month or so ago that the studios were 'nervous' about the film, which was instantly pooh-poohed. As it turns out, they had a right to be nervous. 

With a film that's offering the potential of two of the greatest superheroes in the whole of comic book history coming together for an epic smackdown, you might expect to feel exhilarated, thrilled, engaged, your heart in your mouth and your bum on the edge of your seat. You don't expect to feel bored. And I did. For quite a lot of the film. 

The script- by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer- is so portentous (occasionally dropping into pretentious), so doom-laden and so without nuance or subtlety that it's a tough watch in places. You're never left to intuit how people feel; the characters tell you blatantly and outright. There's an over-reliance on dream sequences- albeit Batman's fevered hallucination of what would happen if Superman isn't checked is visually interesting- and do we really need to see Bruce's parents being killed again? Apparently, we do, because it's important that we know that Bruce Wayne's mum was called Martha. This becomes vitally important later on as it's the only reason Batman doesn't stomp Superman's face into the dirt. Because their mums have the first same name. Frankly, that's shoddy and lazy writing that a creative writing student would be embarrassed to hand in. 

I guess one of my other major issues with the film is that I don't really get on with Zack Snyder's style of direction. One of my major criticisms of Man Of Steel was that the final fight sequence was too big, too frenetic, too hyperactive. Well, it's the same here, especially the final smackdown between Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman against Doomsday. I gave up trying to figure out who was doing what to whom in most of the fight sequences (not helped by the fact that there's some really dreadful lighting choices made throughout). I get that the worlds of Metropolis and Gotham are supposed to be gritty and dark, but Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy conveyed that same atmosphere without decimating the lighting budget. There's so much shaky handheld camerawork- which always makes me feel nauseous- and there's some really odd editing choices too. 

It also doesn't help that the already laden dialogue is further weighted down by a ridiculously bombastic score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL. This did have one saving grace however: the majorly kick-ass theme for Wonder Woman, whose electric violin riff brought some much needed life to proceedings. 

That said, it's not all bad. Generally speaking (with one major exception), I enjoyed the acting. For all those naysayers who criticised Affleck's casting and derided him before he'd even said a line of dialogue, you're wrong. He works really well as Batman, as a grizzled, older, more world-weary fighter who's had 20 years of fighting and for what? He also makes a particularly good Bruce Wayne and the script manages to drop a couple of interesting hints which will hopefully be explored in the standalone Batfleck film. Henry Cavill remains as stoic and dignified as he was in Man Of Steel, whilst Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane were all solid support. 

My two favourite performances came from Gal Gadot, whose sensual yet determined Diana Prince added a much-needed spark throughout and who commanded the screen as Wonder Woman in the last battle, and Jeremy Irons who was frankly born to play Alfred. Here, he's a slightly more sarcastic and abrasive but is still the faithful old retainer, delivering slightly heavy-handed speeches to Master Bruce. 

The bum note is Jesse Eisenberg who was so annoying as Lex Luthor that I wished my superpower was to be able to reach into the screen so i could slap the irritating little runt. He wasn't menacing, he wasn't imposing, he wasn't any kind of credible threat. He was mooning around on screen with a performance full of quirky tics rather than any real characterisation and basically acting like a spoiled little brat. As much as I actively dislike Kevin Spacey's performance in Superman Returns, at least his Luthor felt like a threat.

I also liked the cameos from the other nascent members of the Justice League which provided enough of a hint of what's to come without feeling too much like a cynical ploy (although there are a few bits, especially at the end, where the fact that this is now going to be its own franchise is celebrated a bit too blatantly). There are a couple of very striking visuals as well, such as Superman saving the little girl from the fire during the Mexican Day of the Dead. 

Ultimately, this film was underwhelming for me, which was a disappointment. I do feel like some of the criticism that the film has come in for has been a little harsh, but there's only so much you can do to detract from a film's inherent flaws. That said, I am still intrigued to see where the DC Expanded Universe goes from here. I'm really looking forward to both Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman. 

Rating: 3 out of 5

Tez

Review: Big Eyes (UK Cert 12A)

If you're outside the US (as I am), you may not be familiar with the work of Walter Keane. In the late 1950s, his paintings of big-eyed waifs took the American art world by storm. The critics hated them, found them kitsch, but that didn't matter- the American public loved them. There's just one small problem: Walter didn't paint a single one of them. His wife, Margaret, painted them all and he passed them off as his own. The truth only came out years afterwards when Margaret took Walter to court. Now, the story of one of the art world's biggest frauds has come to the big screen in Big Eyes.

It's an intriguing little curio, a thoughtful, funny piece, made by two brilliant performances.

Amy Adams plays Margaret, firstly as a wide-eyed ingenue then world-weary and embattled. She's swept along by Walter, initially upset that he would take credit for her work, but then reluctantly buying into the lie as the paintings start to sell. Such is the power of Adams' performance that you never turn against Margaret for her complicity in the lie, nor are you ever left feeling frustrated or angry with her for staying (when others may have left sooner). It's not a showy performance, no look-at-me moments, but it anchors the entire film. It's yet another excellent performance by Adams who surely can't be too far from that Oscar win.

Christoph Waltz is perfectly cast as Walter, a wolfishly charming man. Even when he's being unpleasant or cutting to Margaret, he retains an air of this charm. There are moments of vulnerability, when this facade falls, and you almost feel for him. Almost. When things don't go Walter's way, he acts out like a petulant teenager. That's why he's never a serious threat. His outlandish claims that he could have Margaret 'taken care of' if she reveals the truth never ring true. It's bluster, pure and simple. The final scene in the courtroom is a masterclass of comic performance as Walter chooses to defend himself. In lesser hands, Walter could have been a cardboard cutout villain or even a cipher but Waltz' broad performance  is a great counterpoint to Adams' calmer, more rational Margaret.

Other great supporting roles comes from Danny Huston as newspaper columnist Dick Nolan, who initially helps Walter's rise to fame and provides an arch narration at some points (making the point that the 1950s were good 'if you were a man'), Krysten Ritter is good as Margaret's friend DeeAnn, and there's a lovely arch cameo by Terence Stamp as art critic John Canaday who derides Keane's work. Delaney Raye and Madeleine Arthur give great performances as the younger and older versions of Margaret's daughter Jane who provides much-needed support for her mum. I'm often a bit wary of child performances in films, lest they come off as precocious or saccharine, but here, it works. 

Larry Karaszewiski and Scott Alexander's script is tight, there's very little padding or anything that feels superfluous, and there's some lovely cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel. The film is directed by Tim Burton but this isn't your typical Tim Burton film, there are only minimal flourishes of whimsy (such as a scene where Margaret is in the supermarket and starts to visualise people with big eyes).

I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was quirky and interesting, and told a great story that I didn't know about. Well worth a watch.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Her (UK Cert 15)

There's an 2012 episode of The Big Bang Theory called 'The Beta Test Initiation' which, as a subplot, has the hapless Raj fall in love with and start dating Siri, his iPhone 'personal assistant' (I should just clarify that, in the US, Siri has a female voice whereas in the UK it's done by the bloke who does the voice-over for The Weakest Link). The reason I bring this up is just to point out that it's a very similar premise to the plot of Her, Spike Jonze's latest movie.

Set in the year 2025, Her is a love story with a twist. Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) spends his days writing emotional and love-filled letters for other people. He's a lonely everyman figure, in the last stages of getting divorced from childhood sweetheart Catherine (Rooney Mara). He gets a new operating system with artificial intelligence which can be personalised to the user. After a few questions, the OS initialises. She calls herself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). She's smart, she's funny and she's eager to learn about herself and the world. Their relationship starts to grow and Theodore finds himself falling in love with her...It's a great premise- and, in some ways, quite high-concept sci-fi- but I just didn't find myself falling for it.

I will admit that a part of my nonchalance towards the film stems from the fact that I don't like Joaquin Phoenix as an actor and, if I'm honest, I never really have. So to sit through a film where he is in virtually every shot is a bit of a trial. So why did I go and see it? Well, the film has a very interesting premise. Going into a Spike Jonze movie- he previously directed Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.- you know you're in for something slightly off-the-wall, slightly weird, a bit oddball. But there were points in the film (and I don't want to give any spoilers) where things just got a bit too weird for me. 

Performances vary from passable (Phoenix), to good (Chris Pratt as Theodore's workmate Paul, providing a bit of comic relief) to pretty damn amazing: Mara only has one scene of dialogue- there are many scenes which are cut together where dialogue is muted or not shown (which started to get very irritating very quickly)- but she shines as she tries to comprehend Theodore's new relationship. Amy Adams provides able support as Theodore's friend Amy who follows a similar story arc to Theodore. But the standout performance comes from Johansson who is just superb as Samantha. It's a nuanced and quite brilliant performance, made all the more extraordinary for her not being seen on screen. 

Ultimately, how you view this film- how you view any film- comes down to personal taste. Her has an intriguing premise and there are some knockout performances in it. It's received widespread critical acclaim and garnered a load of award nominations and wins- such as the Golden Globe and the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the AFI's Movie Of The Year. However, for me, it also has an air of trying to be quirky, trying to be out-there, setting itself up as a truly original concept (which it actually isn't) and trying a bit too hard, which did grate on me. There were others in the screen who absolutely adored it and were enraptured and gushing about it afterwards; there were others who saw it as a pretentious waste of time. I get the feeling this is going to be a real Marmite film- sadly, for me, I wasn't keen.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Tez

Programme 35: 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle, Last Vegas and Anchorman 2

The Watchers Film Show Ep 35 from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.

Our latest show is now available to view!

In the first show of 2014, we look at awards heavyweights 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle and comedies Last Vegas and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.

Enjoy!

Awards Season 2014: Golden Globe Winners

Last night, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced the winners of this year's Golden Globe Awards, for both television and film, in a ceremony hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the second time.

Here is the full list of film winners.

Best Motion Picture (Drama): 12 Years a Slave

Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): American Hustle

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)

Best Actor (Drama): Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical): Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Actress (Drama): Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical): Amy Adams (American Hustle)

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)

Best Screenplay: Her

Best Original Score: All Is Lost

Best Original Song: 'Ordinary Love' (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)

Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty

Best Animated Feature Film: Frozen

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Woody Allen

There were a number of surprising results- a lot of people were expecting Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o to win Best Actor (Drama) and Best Supporting Actress respectively for their performances in 12 Years A Slave instead of McConaughey and Lawrence. The Golden Globes are usually a good barometer for what's going on with the Academy, so it may mean that the Oscars are a little more open that people expect. Whilst I wasn't in love with Gravity as a whole, I was blown away by the technical brilliance of the direction so Cuaron is a worthy winner. I'm also glad to see Cate Blanchett's win for her stunning turn in Blue Jasmine.

Next up with Awards Season will be the Razzie nominations this coming Wednesday (15th January), and I will also share my predictions for the Oscar nominations.

Tez

Programme 32: Superman Special

The Watchers Film Show: Ep32 Superman Special from The Watchers Film Show on Vimeo.

The Watchers Superman Special is here!

In this programme, we take a look at the Superman movie franchise from Superman: The Motion Picture (1978) to Man Of Steel (2013), giving our thoughts on each classic instalment- and yes, that includes Superman Returns (2006)- and then turning our eyes onto Man Of Steel. But is it a worthy successor to the films that have gone before? You'll have to watch to find out.

Enjoy!

Review: The Master (UK Cert 15)

I wanted to like The Master; not only like, but enjoy. I've enjoyed some of Paul Thomas Anderson's other films (Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood especially) and it has two actors that I like (Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman). On paper, it seemed like a cert. The reality is somewhat different.

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a man with a few issues. Demobbed from the Navy after the end of the Second World War, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he is truly damaged goods: a violent borderline alcoholic who can't hold down a job and has sex on the brain. He stows aboard a ship which is being used by 'The Cause', a pseudoscientific cult led by Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman). Rather than throwing him overboard, Dodd takes Quell under his wing, seeing a chance to redeem him.

Quell is a fundamentally unlikeable character which made it difficult for me to have any empathy towards him or even care about his 'journey'. It didn't help that Phoenix's performance felt a bit hammy in places; the constant slurring and mumbling got annoying as well. As things dragged on, my patience with Phoenix's mugging and mumbling wore out so- by the time of the final meeting between Quell and Dodd, which should have been a real powerhouse (akin to the end of There Will Be Blood)- I couldn't have cared less what happened.

Hoffman is miles better as Dodd, a charismatic orator with a mass following. The Cause seks to use what seems to be past-life regression to deal with present-day issues and Hoffman at least makes the cod philosophy Dodd espouses sound believable. There are two moments where The Cause is challenged; one by a sceptical onlooker at a gathering and the other by a member of The Cause over the use of the word 'imagine' rather than 'recall' (maybe giving credence to Dodd's son's dismissive statement that he's making it up as he goes along). Both times Dodd explodes. There's a dangerous underswell in Dodd which isn't really utilised. In the final scene, Hoffman manages to make 'Slow Boat To China' seem tender and sinister at the same time.

Perhaps the best- and most surprising- performance in the entire film comes from Amy Adams, who plays Dodd's wife Peggy. There are some intriguing hints that she is 'the power behind the throne' and is a staunch supporter of Dodd's ideology almost to the point of fanaticism. She is underused, perhaps, but makes an impact every time she's on screen. It's a performance full of steel and ice, miles away from the family friendly good girl of Enchanted or Julie & Julia.

The 'processing' scenes at the beginning are quite intense and filmed well, but several other 'treatments' (such as Peggy reading sexually explicit prose to Quell, and Dodd asking Quell to walk back and forth between the wall and the window) seemed baffling to me. There was some controversy when the project was first announced that it was inspired directly by Scientology; people with a better grounding in those practices than I could probably point out the deeper similarities, but there does appear to be at least a passing correlation between Scientology and The Cause.

My main issue with The Master comes from the script: in places, it has the turgid, pretentious air that can sometimes come when you have an auteur behind the lens. Plus there's too little that is adequately explained- don't get me wrong, some ambiguity can provoke interest (whilst spoon-feeding the audience can be patronising and unwieldy) but there is such a thing as being too elliptical. There's some surreal imagery which doesn't add anything and Jonny Greenwood's jarring, intrusive and atonal score got to be very irritating.

Sadly, some good performances can't redeem this muddled mess of a film.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2013: BAFTA and Razzie Award Nominations

This week's a pretty busy one when it comes to the awards season. The Golden Globes will be announced on Sunday (13th January), whilst the nominations for the Producers' Guild Awards, Director's Guild Awards and Writers' Guild Awards have been announced.

Today saw the nomination announcement of two very different film awards.

Firstly, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced their film award nominations. Here are some of their choices:

BEST FILM

Argo

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Zero Dark Thirty

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Anna Karenina

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Les Miserables

Seven Psychopaths

Skyfall

LEADING ACTOR

Ben Affleck - Argo

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

LEADING ACTRESS

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty

Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone

Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

Helen Mirren - Hitchcock

Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Alan Arkin - Argo

Javier Bardem - Skyfall

Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - The Master

Judi Dench - Skyfall

Sally Field - Lincoln

Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

Helen Hunt - The Sessions

DIRECTOR

Ben Affleck - Argo

Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

Michael Haneke - Amour

Ang Lee - Life of Pi

Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

A full list can be found here. 

There are some interesting choices here- notably Ben Affleck as Best Actor for Argo (in all other award nomination, he's been up for Best Director), the choice of Michael Haneke for Best Director and Javier Bardem and Judi Dench in the Supporting categories for Skyfall. As you can imagine, there is often a skew towards British films and talent in these nominations (it is the British Academy, after all).

The BAFTA Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday 10th February.

* * *

Today also saw the nominations announced for the Golden Raspberry Awards (a.k.a. Razzies). 

Dishonouring the very worst in cinema in 2012, these nominations seem strangely familiar yet oddly comforting at the same time. The Razzie panel have always taken a fairly extreme dislike to a) Adam Sandler; b) Eddie Murphy; c) The Twilight franchise and d) Nicolas Cage, and this year's been a banner year for all of them.

Worst Picture

Battleship

The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure

That's My Boy

A Thousand Words

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Worst Director

Sean Anders - That's My Boy

Peter Berg - Battleship

Bill Condon - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Tyler Perry - Good Deeds / Madea's Witness Protection

John Putch - Atlas Shrugged: Part II

Worst Actress

Katherine Heigl - One for the Money

Milla Jovovich - Resident Evil: Retribution

Tyler Perry - Madea's Witness Protection

Kristen Stewart - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II / Snow White and the Huntsman

Barbra Streisand - The Guilt Trip

Worst Actor

Nicolas Cage - Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance / Seeking Justice

Eddie Murphy - A Thousand Words

Robert Pattinson - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Tyler Perry - Alex Cross / Good Deeds

Adam Sandler - That's My Boy

Worst Supporting Actress

Jessica Biel - Playing For Keeps / Total Recall

Brooklyn Decker - Battleship / What to Expect When You're Expecting

Ashley Greene - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Jennifer Lopez - What to Expect When You're Expecting

Rihanna - Battleship

Worst Supporting Actor

David Hasselhoff - Pirannha 3-DD

Taylor Lautner - The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Liam Neeson - Battleship / Wrath of the Titans

Nick Swardson - That's My Boy

Vanilla Ice - That's My Boy

Worst Screen Ensemble

Battleship

The Oogieloves in Big Balloon Adventure

That's My Boy

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Madea's Witness Protection

Worst Screenplay

Atlas Shrugged Part II

Battleship

That's My Boy

A Thousand Words

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Worst Remake, Rip-Off, or Sequel

Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance

Pirannha 3-DD

Red Dawn

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Madea's Witness Protection

Worst Screen Couple

Any two cast members from Jersey Shore in The Three Stooges

Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part II

Tyler Perry and his drag in Madea's Witness Protection

Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester, or Susan Sarandon in That's My Boy

It's quite a surprise not to see John Carter or Prometheus on the list as they were both pretty dreadful. Anyway, the Razzies will be handed out on Saturday 23rd February (the day before the Oscars, as is traditional).

* * *

The 85th Academy Award nominations will be announced tomorrow (Thursday 10th January) so it's time for me to get off the fence and work out my Official Oscar Nomination Predictions. I'll post them shortly.

Tez

Programme 9: The Muppets, Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance and Oscars 2012

Programme 9 is available to view at VideoMajic.tv!

Check out our thoughts on The Muppets and Rhys' review of Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance! Two very different films, but we're all about diversity here at The Watchers!

A podcast version can be found here, and here, as can an exclusive podcast discussion of the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

Hope you enjoy!