RECENTLY VIEWED: THE NUTCRACKER & THE FOUR REALMS

It's hard to imagine that Christmas movies are already coming out, but that is what is happening! This past weekend I took my daughter to see The Nutcracker And The Four Realms. Sadly it looks like the movie is not doing well in the box office, (It made $20 million in its opening weekend off of $125 million plus budget), but I found it to be pretty good. It does not compare to last year's Beauty And The Beast, but this was a fun movie to take my six year old to.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a fantasy adventure film directed by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston and written by Ashleigh Powell. It is a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and Marius Petipa's The Nutcracker, about a young girl who is gifted a locked egg from her deceased mother and sets out in a magical land to retrieve the key. The film stars Keira Knightley, Mackenzie Foy, Eugenio Derbez, Matthew Macfadyen, Richard E. Grant, Misty Copeland, Helen Mirren, and Morgan Freeman.

All Clara wants is a key - a one-of-a-kind key that will unlock a box that holds a priceless gift from her late mother. A golden thread, presented to her at godfather Drosselmeyer's annual holiday party, leads her to the coveted key-which promptly disappears into a strange and mysterious parallel world. It's there that Clara encounters a soldier named Phillip, a gang of mice and the regents who preside over three Realms: Land of Snowflakes, Land of Flowers, and Land of Sweets. Clara and Phillip must brave the ominous Fourth Realm, home to the tyrant Mother Ginger, to retrieve Clara's key and hopefully return harmony to the unstable world.

Mackenzie Foy was really good in the female lead playing Clara. She best known for appearing as Renesmee Cullen in the 2012 film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Also veteran actors like Morgan Freeman and Helen Merrin are their usual bests. They never put in a bad performance in any rule. However, the stand out for me was Keira Knightley as the Sugar Plum Fairy. I never really thought much of her as an actresses, but she was unrecognizable in her role, and she really did a great job on her character.

The movie is not perfect. I feel that the poor box office is due the movie being released too early in the holiday season. Also, i think that more explanation is needed for how the Four Realms were created. However, to a six year old and her father (who is always trying to make time for his beautiful daughter), this film was great. I had a tear in my eye during some parts of the movie, and as the lights came up on the movie theater I walked out with my very independent daughter, and she grabbed my hand to hold. I think this movie did it's job...

MY RATING: 8 OUT OF 10

AFRICAN AMERICAN ACTORS AND THE OSCAR

With the Academy Awards ceremony on the 22nd of this month, I thought I'd take a look at the history of the various major categories in which black artists are nominated this year, starting with the Best Actor Oscar.

April 13th, 1964... Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Oscar for his role in Lilies Of The Field.

He also holds the record for the the youngest black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, at age 37.

This would be Poitier's second nomination for the award; the first being for his performance in The Defiant Ones, 5 years earlier.

It would take another looooong 38 years before another black actor would win the Best Actor Oscar - Denzel Washington, in 2001, for his performance in Training Day. And coincidentally, that win made Denzel the oldest black actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, at 47 years old. That was in 2002.

Since then, 2 black actors have won the Best Actor Oscar - Jamie Foxx for his performance in Ray in 2005, and Forest Whitaker for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland in 2007.

In total, black actors have been nominated just 20 times for the Best Actor Oscar (including Chiwetel Ejiofor's nomination this year for 12 Years A Slave), and won on only 4 occasions, all listed above.

Denzel has the most Best Actor nominations with 4, followed by Morgan Freeman with 3; though Morgan has never won it! (Freeman did win a Best Supporting Oscar though).

Given last year's lineup of black actors in potential Oscar-contender leading roles, it looked like we might have seen as many as 4 black actors nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award, which would set a record if that happened - including Ejiofor, Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom),Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels' The Butler), and Michael B. Jordan(Fruitvale Station).

Needless to say, that didn't happen, as Chiwetel's eventually got separated from the pack, and received a nomination. I never once believed that all 4 actors would be nominated in that category. Nor even 3 of them. At most, I would've guessed 2.

There have been 3 occasions in the history of the Oscars, when more than 1 black actor has been nominated in the Best Actor category: 2001, Denzel Washington for Training Day and Will Smith for Ali; 2004, Jamie Foxx for Ray (he actually received 2 nominations that same year, the first and only time it's ever happened for a black actor; he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Collateral) and Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda; and finally in 2006, when Forest Whitaker was nomination for The Last King of Scotland and Will Smith received his second nomination in this category for The Pursuit of Happyness.

The Oscars have come a long way since the 1939's win by Hattie McDaniels, but the Academy still has a long way to go to recognize the many gifted African American actors and actresses in Hollywood...

SOURCE

RECENTLY VIEWED: THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

I was so happy to sit down and finally be able to watch an adult movie. I was beginning to forget what live action people look like on the screen. I recently rewatched the masterpiece The Shawshank Redemption (1994). I have always loved the movie, but I had only seen it twice before at least ten years ago. It was about time I gave the film another viewing. Although I have it on DVD, I watched it on  the A&E network - and despite the edits and commericals, it made for a very nice Sunday afternoon viewing.

Adapted from the Stephen King novella "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption", the film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation. Despite a lukewarm box office reception that barely recouped its budget, the film received favorable reviews from critics, multiple award nominations, and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on cable television, VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray.

Directed by Frank Darabont, he secured the film adaptation rights from author Stephen King after impressing the author with his short film adaptation of The Woman in the Room in 1983. Although the two had become friends and maintained a pen-pal relationship, Darabont did not work with him until four years later in 1987, when he optioned to adapt Shawshank. This is one of the more famous Dollar Deals made by King with aspiring filmmakers. Darabont later directed The Green Mile (1999), which was based on another work about a prison by Stephen King, and then followed that up with an adaptation of King's novella The Mist. Rob Reiner, who had previously adapted another King novella, The Body, into the movie Stand by Me (1986), offered $2.5 million in an attempt to write and direct Shawshank. He planned to cast Tom Cruise in the part of Andy and Harrison Ford as Red. Darabont seriously considered and liked Reiner's vision, but he ultimately decided it was his "chance to do something really great" by directing the film himself.

 In 1947, banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, based on circumstantial evidence, and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at Shawshank State Penitentiary. Andy quickly befriends contraband smuggler Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), an inmate serving a life sentence. Red procures a rock hammer for Andy, allowing him to create small stone chess pieces. Red later gets him a large poster of Rita Hayworth, followed in later years by images of Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch. Andy works in the prison laundry, but is regularly assaulted by the "bull queer" gang "the Sisters" and their leader Bogs (Mark Rolston).

In 1949, Andy overhears the brutal chief guard Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown) complaining about taxes on a forthcoming inheritance, and informs him about a financial loophole. After another vicious assault by the Sisters nearly kills Andy, Bogs is beaten and crippled by Hadley. Bogs is sent to another prison and Andy is not attacked again. Warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton) meets with Andy and reassigns him to the prison library, to assist elderly inmate Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore); a pretext for Andy to manage financial duties for the prison. His advice and expertise are soon sought by other guards at Shawshank and from nearby prisons. Andy begins writing weekly letters to the state government for funds to improve the decrepit library.

In 1954, Brooks is freed on parole, but unable to adjust to the outside world after 50 years in prison, he hangs himself. Andy receives a library donation that includes a recording of The Marriage of Figaro. He plays an excerpt over the public address system, resulting in his receiving solitary confinement. After his release, Andy explains that he holds onto hope as something that the prison cannot take from him, but Red dismisses the idea. In 1963, Norton begins exploiting prison labor for public works, profiting by undercutting skilled labor costs and receiving kickbacks. He has Andy launder the money using the alias "Randall Stephens".

In 1965, Tommy Williams (Gil Bellows) is incarcerated for robbery. He joins Andy and Red's circle of friends, and Andy helps him to pass his General Educational Development examinations. In 1966, after hearing the details of Andy's case, Tommy reveals that an inmate at another prison claimed responsibility for an identical murder, suggesting Andy's innocence. Andy approaches Norton with this information, but the warden refuses to listen. Norton places Andy in solitary confinement and has Tommy murdered by Hadley under the guise of an escape attempt. Andy refuses to continue with the scam, but Norton threatens to destroy the library and take away his protection and preferential treatment. After Andy is released from solitary confinement, he tells Red of his dream of living in Zihuatanejo, a Mexican Pacific coastal town. While Red shrugs it off as being unrealistic, Andy instructs him, should he ever be freed, to visit a specific hayfield near Buxton to retrieve a package.

The next day at roll call, on finding Andy's cell empty, an irate Norton throws one of Andy's rocks at the poster of Raquel Welch hanging on the wall. The rock tears through the poster, revealing a tunnel that Andy had dug with his rock hammer over the previous two decades. The previous night, Andy escaped through the tunnel and the prison's sewage pipe with Norton's ledger, containing details of the money laundering. While guards search for him the following morning, Andy, posing as Randall Stephens, visits several banks to withdraw the laundered money. Finally, he sends the ledger and evidence of the corruption and murders at Shawshank to a local newspaper. The police arrive at Shawshank and take Hadley into custody, while Norton commits suicide to avoid arrest.

After serving 40 years, Red receives parole. He struggles to adapt to life outside prison and fears he never will. Remembering his promise to Andy, he visits Buxton and finds a cache containing money and a letter, asking him to come to Zihuatanejo. Red violates his parole and travels to Fort Hancock, Texas to cross the border to Mexico, admitting he finally feels hope. On a beach in Zihuatanejo, he finds Andy, and the two friends are happily reunited.

The cast is excellent from Tim Robbins to Morgan Freeman - I can not picture anyone else playing their roles. Jame Whitmore also was great as the aging prison inmate. Another great role in the film was Warden Samuel Norton. Character actor Bob Gunton was perfect as the corrupt warden. I first noticed him when I saw the mini-series Sinatra, and he played bandleader Tommy Dorsey perfectly. I never read the Stephen King book, but I can not picture it being better than this movie, and this is rare. It is amazing that a movie about prisioners and the jail system in the 1940s and 1950s can tug at your heart strings, but this film does. I love King's horror novels, but I have to say I would love for him to write more sentimental books like "The Shawshank Redemption". Hollywood has a history of not getting movies right that they take from a book, but in this case, they certainly did...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

MY FIVE FAVORITE FILMS OF THE LAST TWENTY YEARS

Everyone who reads my blog knows I love my top five lists, and this is the first entry in a 7 part series of my five favorite movies. I am doing it by decade. For this first article, I am doing my five favorite movies of 1992 through 2012. In my opinion, the quality of movies have truly suffered in the last decade. Special effects and CGI graphics have made movies exciting but not necessarily good. So here are my five favorite movies of the last two decades:

5. LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006)
This little independent movie is the most recent movie on my list, but it is definitely a future classic. The film is about this dysfunctional family lead by a delusional father played by Greg Kinnear. The funny thing about the movie is is that by the end the family realizes by the end of the movie that they are not that dysfunctional at all. Alan Arkin deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor award for his scene stealing role as Kinnear’s aging father. Steve Carell is excellent as well, in a more reserved role, as Kinnear’s suicidal brother in law. A great little movie that proves that a good movie can be made in this modern digital era.


4. GLENGARY GLEN ROSS (1992)
This movie barely made the cut since it turns twenty years old this year. The movie has a small cast of about six male actors – but what a cast: Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, and Ed Harris. The whole cast should have been nominated for an Oscar – but only Pacino was and he lost. The film is a truly realistic look and real estate brokers and how cut throat they were. In my opinion this is one of Jack Lemmon’s best roles, and his role as Shelley Levene, a truly poor soul, is one of my favorite roles. The movie did not do much business at the box office, but it is a cult favorite now.

3. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)
Adapted from the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”, the movie starred Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. The film tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, and finds himself protected by the guards after the warden begins using him in his money laundering operation. Despite a lukewarm box office reception that barely recouped its budget, the film received favorable reviews from critics, multiple award nominations, and has since enjoyed a remarkable life on DVD and cable.


2. THE GREEN MILE (1999)
This is another adaptation of a Stephen King novel, and like The Shawshank Redemption it proves that King can write more than horror novels. The film starred Tom Hanks and the late Michael Clark Duncan, and it was about prisoners and prison guards in a 1930s jail for death row inmates. Duncan is an inmate accused of murdering two children but in actuality he had a special gift where he could he people. When he was caught with the dying children in his arms, he was in fact trying to save them. Unfortunately, in the 1930s a backwards and uneducated black man did not have much luck for a fair and balanced trial, and he was placed on death row. Tom Hanks played one of the kind guards that realizes that the backwards prisoners had a gift. It is a great movie, and one of the few movies that was as good as the book...if not better.

1.  BIG FISH (2003)
Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors, and not because he makes great films. He really makes fun films, even though in recent years he has become the remake king. This movie was a really big departure for the quirky director. The movie is about a son (Billy Crudup) who all his life has felt distant from his father (Albert Finney). He only remembered the tall tales his father used to tell. In the end while his father is dying the son realizes all of those tall tales had truth behind them. In addition to Crudup and Finney, the cast included Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Danny Devito, and Helen Bonham Carter. On a personal note, the movie came out at a time when a lot of my favorite people in my family were passing away, and for awhile I could not watch the movie. The film is not only a great fable, but it is a fun movie to watch, and I think by far it is the best movie of the last twenty years...


I received a lot of grief from my brother in law for not having a list with Goodfellas (1990) on it. However, my list is for the last twenty years. Here are some honorable mentions though: Forrest Gump (1994), Being John Malkovich (1999), Beyond The Sea (2004), Crash (2005), and Sweeney Todd (2007).