85th OSCAR WINNERS (2013)

If 10 years ago, you said that Ben Affleck someday will compete with Steven Spielberg at Oscar, they will laugh at you. What? That pretty boy can direct a movie? But thiz is happening. Ben Affleck’s “Argo” has just won over Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” for Best Picture. Personally, it’s very satisfying to see that, since some said Ben Affleck may have been snubbed for not getting a nominee in Best Directing.

Daniel Day-Lewis also makes history for being the first to ever win Best Actor three times, after previously won in “My Left Foot” (1989) and “There Will Be Blood” (2007).

In summary, my favorite movie “Life of Pi” won 4 Oscars, including prestigious category in Best Directing (Ang Lee). “Les Misérables” and “Argo” got 3 Oscars. “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” got 2 Oscars. And the rest each got 1 Oscar: “Silver Linings Playbook”, “Amour”, “Anna Karenina”, “Skyfall” and Pixar still proved its domination in animation with “Brave”

We also got a tie. It’s very rare to happen but “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty” have to share the trophy for Best Sound Editing.

Enjoy the evening!

• Best PICTURE:
Amour (2012)
Argo (2012) – WINNER!
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Django Unchained (2012)
Les Misérables (2012)
Life of Pi (2012)
Lincoln (2012)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

• Best ACTOR:
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012) – WINNER!
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables (2012)
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012)

• Best ACTRESS:
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012) – WINNER!
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)
Quvenzhanné Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Naomi Watts for The Impossible (2012)

• Best SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Alan Arkin for Argo (2012)
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained (2012) – WINNER!

• Best SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012) – WINNER!
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

• Best DIRECTING:
Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
Benh Zietlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012) – WINNER!
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

• Best ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Amour (2012): Michael Haneke
Django Unchained (2012): Quentin Tarantino – WINNER!
Flight (2012): John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom (2012): Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal

• Best ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Argo (2012): Chris Terrio – WINNER!
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi (2012): David Magee
Lincoln (2012): Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): David O. Russell

• Best ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Brave (2012): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman – WINNER!
Frankenweenie (2012): Tim Burton
ParaNorman (2012): Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012): Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): Rich Moore

• Best FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Amour (2012): Michael Haneke (Austria) – WINNER!
Kon-Tiki (2012): Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg (Norway)
No (2012): Pablo Larrain (Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012): Nikolaj Arcel (Denmark)
War Witch (2012): Kim Nguyen (Canada)

• Best CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Anna Karenina (2012): Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained (2012): Robert Richardson
Life of Pi (2012): Claudio Miranda – WINNER!
Lincoln (2012): Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall (2012): Roger Deakins

• Best FILM EDITING:
Argo (2012): William Goldenberg – WINNER!
Life of Pi (2012): Tim Squyres
Lincoln (2012): Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg

• Best PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Anna Karenina (2012): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright
Les Misérables (2012): Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi (2012): David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln (2012): Rick Carter, Jim Erickson – WINNER!

• Best COSTUME DESIGN:
Anna Karenina (2012): Jacquelinne Durran – WINNER!
Les Misérables (2012): Paco Delgado
Lincoln (2012): Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror (2012): Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Hunstman (2012): Colleen Atwood

• Best MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:
Hitchcock (2012): Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane
Les Misérables (2012): Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell – WINNER!

• Best ORIGINAL SCORE:
Anna Karenina (2012): Dario Marianelli
Argo (2012): Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna – WINNER!
Lincoln (2012): John Wiliams
Skyfall (2012): Thomas Newman

• Best ORIGINAL SONG:
Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph (“Before My Time”)
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane (“Everybody Needs A Best Friend”)
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayashri (“Pi’s Lullaby”)
Skyfall (2012): Adele Adkins, Paul Epworth (“Skyfall”) – WINNER!
Les Misérables (2012): Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boublil (“Suddenly”)

• Best SOUND MIXING:
Argo (2012): John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Jose Antonio Garcia
Les Misérables (2012): Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes – WINNER!
Life of Pi (2012): Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln (2012): Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins
Skyfall (2012): Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson

• Best SOUND EDITING:
Argo (2012): Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained (2012): Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall (2012): Per Hallberg, Karen Baker Landers – TIE!
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Paul N. J. Ottosson – TIE!

• Best VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer, Donald R. Elliott – WINNER!
The Avengers (2012): Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
Prometheus (2012): Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill
Snow White and the Hunstman (2012): Cedric-Nicolas Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson

• Best DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
5 Broken Cameras (2011): Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers (2012): Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, Estelle Vialon
How to Survive a Plague (2012): David France, Howard Gertler
The Invisible War (2012): Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
Searching for Sugar Man (2012): Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn – WINNER!

• Best DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
Inocente (2012): Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine – WINNER!
Kings Point (2012): Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine (2012): Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart (2013): Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption (2012): Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill

• Best ANIMATED SHORT:
Adam and Dog (2011): Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole (2012): PES
Head Over Heels (2012): Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
The Simpsons in “The Longest Daycare” (2012): David Silverman
Paperman (2012): John Kahrs – WINNER!

• Best LIVE ACTION SHORT:
Asad (2012): Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys (2012): Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Curfew (2012): Shawn Christensen – WINNER!
Death of a Shadow (2012): Tom Van Avermaet
Henry (2011): Yan England

Experience your life through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

Attend Oscar Events:
84th Oscar (2012)
83rd Oscar (2011)

You can also see My Other Favorites:
50 ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVEE
10 ALL-TIME FAVORITE DIRECTORS
10 ALL-TIME CREEPY MOVEE
10 ALL-TIME ROMANTIC MOVEE
10 FAVORITE MOVEE OF 2011
10 FAVORITE MOVEE OF 2010

ARGO (2012)

Generally, there are three themes that tend to be favored by award community and film critics, the winning themes are about humanity (“Schindler’s List” {1993}, “The Shawshank Redemption {1994}, “Slumdog Millionaire” {2008}, etc.), patriotism (“Saving Private Ryan” {1998}, “Black Hawk Down” {2001}, “Lincoln” {2012}, etc.) and the world of cinema itself (“Cinema Paradiso” {1998}, “Hugo” {2011}, “The Artist” {2011}, etc.). Well, thiz movie has all three of them. Producer, Director and Actor Ben Affleck is smart enough to realize it and takes advantage of that. Ben Affleck is Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who is responsible for covert operation to extract six American embassy employees out of the rage of Iran revolutionary by pretending to be Canadian film crew. It seems that Ben Affleck has done a tremendous job as the Director. He starts with an effective prologue to provide sufficient information and every time the scene heats up, particularly when the scene of American embassy is invaded, he cleverly adds relaxing piano instrumental music to cool things down and doesn’t try to provoke audience into infuriated reactions. Thiz is his third feature films behind the camera after “Gone Baby Gone” (2007) and “The Town” (2010). For the acting, Ben Afflecks looks cool, calm and confident. John Goodman, Bryan Cranston and Victor Garber give brief but consistent performances and the last but definitely not least, Alan Arkin creates a powerful and believable emotion as fearless Hollywood Producer. I also have to put some credit to the Production Designer Sharon Seymour who successfully makes everything look like 1980s such as costume, hairstyle, glasses, car, furniture, television, telephone, everything! How they put attention to detail is undoubtedly amazing. Personally, for me, the power of thiz movie is in the last half hour. Thiz is a good example of what you can get when great script and great editing are perfectly combined. My heart nearly stopped while watching thiz final scene which takes place in Iran airport. They use almost all aspects to create tensions from ticket, telephone, soldier, bus, you name it and they have done it. When it’s over, there will be some satisfying and gratifying feelings. In the closing scene, when the camera pans over the toys of Star Wars, Planet of the Apes and other sci-fi movies one by one. It simply wants to remind us that they are not only inspirational icons in our pop culture, but also they have ever saved lives. Great movie, great story, great moviemaker!

Stars : 8/10
Experience your life through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

"Argo f*ck yourself!"

CLOUD ATLAS (2012)

What you might feel after watching thiz movie? You may be confused, you may be disappointed or if you watch closely enough, you may find a hidden philosophy inside. Thiz movie has six stories with six different time periods, from little island in South Pacific to the post-apocalyptic Hawaiian Islands, from the primitive year 1849 to far in the future 2321. The stories come from any direction and finally meet at one point. The story is meant to be connected to one another, however, don’t be surprised if you eventually find that the connection is very minor. In point of fact, you may miss the connection if you’re not careful. “Cloud Atlas” is the latest project from Tom Tykwer and The Wachowskis, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Jim Broadbent, Ben Winshaw, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant, Doona Bae and Xun Zhou. All Actors have more than one role during different time periods. As a matter of fact, some Actors are so buried underneath their makeup that we could hardly recognize them. To make things even worse, some of them are seemingly drawn into comical performances such as Hugo Weaving, James D’Arcy, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant. The better performances come from Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Ben Winshaw. And the scene stealer is definitely Doona Bae who depicts a genetically-engineered clone named Sonmi-451. Doona Bae delivers a complex and inspiring character. On the directorial side, Tom Tykwer carries out 1936’s, 1973’s and 2012’s segment. On the other side, Andi and Lana (used to be Larry) Wachowski handle 1849’s, 2144’s and 2321’s segment. Personally, I prefer Wachowskis’ direction. They can keep up the pace of their stories and prevent it from being boring. It reminds us of how good The Wachowskis really are when depicting futuristic tales, just like what they did in “The Matrix” (1999). On the other hand, even though I love the previous Tom Tykwer’s works such as “Run Lola Run” (1998), but thiz time, he seems to have put anything one-dimensional. In other words, Tom Tykwer’s direction is boring. If it’s not because of the intriguing futuristic tale of Sonmi-451 which is directed by The Wachowskis, thiz movie will undoubtedly become an unnecessary B-Class movie. In the end, thiz is something bigger than you think. It’s all about a belief in the universality of mankind. Basically, there is no difference between countries, races and even genders, where white can become black, black can become white and white can become Asian. We are all one, we are all the same, learning and strive to a better condition.

Stars : 7/10
Experience your life through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

"Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future."

10 ALL-TIME ROMANTIC MOVEE

Happy Valentine!

“Where there is love there is life.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

My Top 10 Romantic Movies of All-time. What's Yours?

1. Far and Away (1992)

2. The Notebook (2004)

3. [500] Days of Summer (2009)

4. Titanic (1997)

5. Nae Meorisokui Jiwoogae, a.k.a. A Moment to Remember (2004)

6. Before Sunrise (1995)

7. Moulin Rouge! (2001)

8. True Romance (1993)

9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

10. Ghost (1990)

Sorry, there’s no “Twilight” and there’s no Julia Roberts ^_^ It’s just all about candlelight dinner, a rose, chocolate and good romantic movies.

Experience your Valentine through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

You can also see My Other Favorites:
50 ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVEE
10 ALL-TIME FAVORITE DIRECTORS
10 ALL-TIME CREEPY MOVEE
10 FAVORITE MOVEE OF 2011
10 FAVORITE MOVEE OF 2010

THE IMPOSSIBLE (2012)

Frankly, I had been experiencing some obvious pains while watching thiz movie. The movie gives you an actual situation of one of the deadliest natural disasters of the 21st century. It was the mega tsunami that hit most of Southeast Asia in 2004. To be more specific, it’s based on the incredible true story of the Belon family consists of a father, a mother and three sons, which at that time were on vacation in Phuket, Thailand. The father Henry is played by Ewan McGregor. McGregor’s character went through a lot of struggles to find his wife and son. It’s a very complex character. However, he can translate thiz character pretty well. But personally, for me, it’s the mother Maria who is played by Naomi Watts that delivers some powerful and heart-shattering performances. Watts can bring her character to life, with great emotional depth and effective improvisation. The other strong performance comes from the role of the eldest son Lucas which is played by Tom Holland. Holland creates a brilliant chemistry with Naomi Watts. The other two younger brother Thomas and Simon are played by Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast. Thiz movie is directed by young Spanish Director Juan Antonio Bayona who previously known for “The Orphanage” (2007). I can guarantee you will be in awe for the first 45 minutes of the movie, but after that, the storyline seems kind of lost. In addition to the impressive performances from the Cast members, thiz movie also provides breathtaking Visual Effects. It directly drags you into the middle of the situation. The giant tidal wave is frightening and believable. The sound of how tsunami debris hit and tear up the body is even more terrifying. There is always a meaning behind every tragedy. I appreciate the moral values in thiz movie. There is a scene, when the mother Maria tells her eldest son Lucas to help other victims though they themselves are in distress. It is praiseworthy deed and so amazing to see humanity is still alive. It’s true, nothing is more powerful than the human spirit. That’s the time when the impossible become possible.

Stars : 7/10
Experience your life through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

"Close your eyes and think of something nice…"

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (2012)

“A person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behaviour.” That’s the definition of the word of psychopath from Oxford Dictionary. Thiz movie comes from the Directors of “In Bruges” (2008) Martin McDonagh. McDonagh is the kind of Director who can make an effective black comedy with roller coaster storyline and interesting characters. He also shows promising signs of becoming one of the cult movie Directors. The story revolves around a psychopathic screenwriter (Colin Farrell) whose seemingly nice girlfriend is a psychopath (Abbie Cornish), makes friends with a psychopathic dog kidnapper (Sam Rockwell) and his psychopathic assistant (Christopher Walken) who unfortunately stole a shih tzu which belongs to a psychopathic gangster (Woody Harrelson) whose unfaithful girlfriend is also a psychopath (Olga Kurylenko). Meanwhile it’s also about a mysterious psychopath (Tom Waits) who carries a white bunny all the time. Well, I just used the word “psychopath” so many times. If you feel confused, it may be true. The first 30 minutes of the movie will probably make you confused. If you feel it’s kind of weird, yes, the movie is very weird and comedic as well. The dialogue is interesting and alive. Everything just flows to the right direction. And I almost feel like there is a time when thiz movie criticizes itself. The three main characters are amazing. Let’s start with Colin Farrell. Farrell depicts an alcoholic screenwriter who looks like a peace lover but sometimes looks more like a coward in many situations. It’s great to see Colin Farrell can bring a different kind of character. And the next one is Sam Rockwell who rocks pretty well. Rockwell’s character is the one who sets fire in thiz field of gasoline. He looks confident and believable. People can hate his character but surely will love his performance. Personally, Sam Rockwell’s performance is the best performance in thiz movie. Last but not least, it’s Christopher Walken. Walken goes back to his roots, bringing an eccentric character, it simply reminds me what he is good at, just like the old times when he triumphed in “True Romance” (1993), “Last Man Standing” (1996) or “Kill the Irishman” (2011). Thiz movie just made me realize that all thiz time, most of my favorite movies has psychopathic characters in them, such as “Pulp Fiction” (1994), “Fight Club” (1999), “Trainspotting” (1996), “True Romance” (1993), “Natural Born Killers” (1994) and many more. Just because we like movies about psychopaths doesn’t mean we are also psychopaths, right? Or are we?

Stars : 7/10
Experience your life through movee :>
Jonny Fendi

"You didn't think I was serious just because I carry a rabbit around?"