Guardians of the Galaxy

(Go to full size to see the trailer) 

Tay's rating- :D :D :D :D :D 

Interesting facts: 

-When Dave Bautista found out he got the role of Drax the Destroyer, he broke down in tears, overjoyed at getting a Marvel comic-book role. He immediately signed up for extra acting classes in order to prepare for the role.

-Chris Pratt apparently stole his Star Lord costume from the set, for the sole purpose of having it available so he could show up in costume to visit sick children in the hospital who might want to meet Star Lord.

-Vin Diesel recorded all his lines in several different languages, including Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, German and French so that they could use his real voice in the film around the world.
-According to Vin Diesel, his performance as Groot helped him through a dark time in his life; he was dealing with the loss of his best friend and "Fast and Furious" co-star Paul Walker: "It was the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does was very nice."

-Bradley Cooper claimed to Howard Stern that he was paid more for voicing Rocket in this movie than for starring in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Hangover (2009) combined.

-Vin Diesel would record his lines wearing stilts so he could get a sense of how large Groot actually is.

-As of August 2014, this movie holds the record for being the widest August release in over 4,080 theaters, breaking the previous record holder, which was G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) with 4,007 theaters.

-HIDDEN MICKEY: At the very end of the film, as the ship is taking off, you can see three suns in the distance; looking very much like silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head.

-The highest grossing Marvel film of 2014.

My Review: LOVE IT! LOVE IT! I am mostly speechless and this all I can say. Overall, the film was great. I saw this film when it came out awhile ago. Chris Pratt was perfect for the role. I am a fan of Chis Pratt's work. The cast was well picked and they all did great on their roles. The color palate of the film was continuous throughout the film. Cinematography was well done. 
 I am excited for the sequel coming up. I believe its either in pre-production or in production. (date: 3/23/16) 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

(Go to full size to see the trailer) 

Tay's Rating- :D:D:D:D:D

Interesting Facts:

-Johnny Depp was Wes Anderson's initial choice for the role of M. Gustave.

-Wes Anderson's seventh collaboration with Bill Murray.

-The birthmark in the character Agatha's cheek is in the shape of Mexico, as was stated during the film.

-The first Wes Anderson movie to win an Oscar.

-Gustave's prisoners number is 112, the emergency response number for most of Europe.

-Skotak from Moonrise Kingdom (2012) is also seen in this film playing Otto the new lobby boy.

-Every male character has facial hair of some sort

My Review: This film is one of my favorite films ever. TGBH was directed by one of my favorite director, Wes Anderson. Wes' work is amazing and the cinematography....OMG. The color palate, Wes knew what he was doing. 

TGBH cast was well picked....seriously. I know some people may get annoyed by Wes picking the same actors for his films. I personally think the actors fit perfectly for their characters. 

TGBH's storyline was interesting. The plot had the flow that the film needed. The cinematography............AMAZING. I LOVE Wes' trademarks in the film. The panning, color palate, actors, symmetry framing, and the plot flow. 

GOLDEN GLOBES PREDICTIONS! Plus the winners :D

This is one of the exciting nights of the year. Its the Golden Globes Awards! At the same time as I am typing this, I am actually drinking my coffee  in order to stay awake. I am not a coffee person. Lately I have been falling asleep by 8:30pm to 9:30....Not good especially for awards night so coffee time! I might have to DVR the GGA show anyways. Plus coffee time again for the Ohio State University National Champion game tomorrow.... GO BUCKEYES! 

I will list the nominations and I will put my pick in Bold. This year nominations were I would say interesting but I wished some nominations were better choices. Overall, I am satisfied with the ones I have chosen.  Now the guessing game starts! 

UPDATE: I will make the winners in red letters and if its in bold and red meaning my guess was right!

Best Motion Picture, Drama

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama

Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
David Oyelowo, Selma
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture 

This one was a tough one so either of these three. 

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K, Simmons, Whiplash

Best Director

Ava DuVernay, Selma
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel (PLEASE PICK WES ANDERSON! He's my favorite!).......... :( :( 

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, Birdman
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture

Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Gillian Flynn, "Gone Girl"
Alejandro González Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., "Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical        

Birdman
   
The Grand Budapest Hotel
  :D :D  
Into the Woods
   
Pride 
   
St. Vincent

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical 

Either any of these three choices, I LOVE them all
This was a fail hahahaha but I will watch Birdman though

Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical

Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Helen Mirren, The Hundred Foot Journey
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie (I would not be surprised if she wins.....) 

Best TV Series, Drama 

The Affair
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones :(
The Good Wife
House of Cards

Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama

Claire Danes, "Homeland"

Viola Davis, "How to Get Away With Murder" (SHONALAND!!) 

Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"

Ruth Wilson, "The Affair"

Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Best Actor in a TV series, Drama

Clive Owen, The Knick
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Dominic West, The Affair

Best Comedy

Girls
Jane the Virgin
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent

Best Actress in TV Series, Comedy

I just started watching Girls. There was only season two available so I was like whatever that I am behind and watched it. I liked it. Its interesting but Lena is amazing. On the other hand....Taylor Schilling is great in OITNB. I am excited for season three already hahahaha. 

Lena Dunham, "Girls"
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"
Gina Rodriguez, "Jane the Virgin"
Taylor Schilling, "Orange is the New Black"

Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy

Louis C.K., "Louie"
Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"
Ricky Gervais, "Derek"
William H. Macy, "Shameless"
Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"

Best TV Movie or Mini-Series

Olive Kitteridge
Fargo
The Missing
True Detective
The Normal Heart

Best Supporting Actor in TV Miniseries or TV Movie

Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Colin Hanks, Fargo
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Best Supporting Actress in TV Miniseries or Movie

Tough one again....love them both hahaha

Uzo Aduba, "Orange is the New Black"
Kathy Bates, "American Horror Story"
Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey"
Allison Janney, "Mom"
Michelle Monaghan, "True Detective"

Best Actor in a TV Miniseries or Movie

Martin Freeman, FargoWoody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew Mcconaughey, True Detective
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

Best Actress in a TV Miniseries or Movie

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story 
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Frances O'Connor, The Missing
Allison Tolman, Fargo 

Best Animated Movie 

Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

Best Foreign film

I never saw any of these but I am part Polish so I picked Ida hahahhahaaha

Force Majeure (Sweden)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (France)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)

Best Original Song 

Love them but it's hard to pick one 

"Big Eyes," Big Eyes, Lana Del Rey
"Glory," Selma, John Legend and Common
"Mercy Is," Noah, Patty Smith and Lenny K
"Opportunity," Annie
"Yellow Flicker Beat," The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I, Lorde

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannson, The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Let the best man win!

UPDATE: Woooowwww.....This GGA was full of firsts. First nominations and first wins. I was sad that Wes Anderson didn't win best director but Its understandable that Richard Linklater (Boyhood) won because its a unique film since it was filmed in literally 12 years. That's dedication right there. Another reason why I LOVE award shows, it is because it motivates me to watch the films or shows that I have not seen or they won. 

Some of the speeches during GGA was sweet. BUT Common......**SPEECH HOG*!! I felt bad for John Legend who didn't speak that much as Common did. BUT Common's speech was meaningful though. My favorites were Matt Bomer's, George Cooney's,  Gina Rodriguez's, Michael Keaton's, Eddie Redmayne's (he just got married! so sweet!!),  and Wes Anderson's nervous speech was sweet. 

I do have some funny links to add:
1- Important Moments!
2- Best Jokes
3- Gotta check out the red carpet fashion!
4- This is the "Full of firsts" that I was talking about.
5- BAMM!!
6- Some of these were true with me hahaha
7- These should be the next year GGA hosts....
8- Alright....Common's speech is excused out of my dislikes list and understandable..

Updates!

Oh my gosh, I have not been on this blog in a long time. I need to keep this blog updated. What happened in the last 7 months?

-I traveled a lot over the recent summer of 2014

-I changed my major to Film Studies

-I am currently a third year

I will write up my reviews on some of the films I have seen during my Documentary Film class. I will write a post about my predictions for the Golden Globes Awards and the Academy Awards. 

So sorry for not posting lately, 

-Taylor (#collegestudentproblems) 

School's over!

Now since school's over weeks ago, I have been watching so many movies and it's hard to pick one to write about hahahaha I know that I will post many more over this interesting summer.

Toodles! :D 

Vertigo

(Go to full size to watch the trailer)

Tay's Rating- :D :D :D :

Interesting Facts:-Uncredited second-unit cameraman Irmin Roberts invented the famous "zoom out and track in" shot (now sometimes called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot") to convey the sense of vertigo to the audience. The view down the mission stairwell cost $19,000 for just a couple of seconds of screen time.

-There is a 25 year age difference between James Stewart and Kim Novak, who were 49 and 24 respectively when the film was shot in 1957.

-The Empire Hotel where James Stewart eventually finds Kim Novak is (as of 2009) the Hotel Vertigo (formerly the York) located at 940 Sutter St. in the heart of San Francisco. Novak's character lived in Room 501, which still retains many of its aspects captured in the film.

-Alfred Hitchcock reportedly spent a week filming a brief scene where Madeleine stares at a portrait in the Palace of the Legion of Honor just to get the lighting right.

-Kim Novak does not speak until more than a third into the movie.

- Audrey Hepburn expressed an interest in playing the dual roles of Judy and Madeleine.

- The word "vertigo" is only spoken once in the movie, towards the beginning by Scottie to Midge. After that it is never uttered again. 

My Review: For class, we picked our own choice of a Hitchcock film so I picked Vertigo. I thought the film Vertigo was interesting. It had the unique story plot in a way. It definitely had some climaxes and twists. Vertigo was a great example for some of these chapters from the book. For an example, acting, directing style, and cinematography.

            The acting for the cast was unique. I felt that Vertigo was the first classic film that was “real” or realistic out of all of these classic films back then. It was the Hitchcock style that made it realistic. Vertigo really reduced the typical classic film traits like the overdramatic acting. It was simple and real but it had its dramatic moments. I liked the cast in Vertigo with Kim Novak and James Stewart. There was about 25 years age difference but it worked out for the movie. James’ drawl voice worked for his character Scottie.

            The directing style was a big part of this film because obviously of Alfred Hitchcock. He made this film Vertigo unique and separate from other films. Vertigo was a psychological thriller film because of Scottie’s fear of heights. I thought that was interesting because it was sorta the same as Birds in a way. Hitchcock’s ways in films are the twists in the plot also known for making psychological thrillers and suspense films.

            The cinematography was the main part of Vertigo because of the filming techniques. Here’s an interesting fact that I learned filming Vertigo, the camera zoom called "contra-zoom" or "trombone shot" part when Scottie was walking up the stairs to the top of the tower cost $19,000 for only a few seconds of screen time. I thought that was interesting because that’s how madness the filming in the movie industry. It can take so much for one part or scene. I thought the color palate in the whole film was different too.

            For my opinion for Vertigo is I liked it but I didn’t love it 100%. I loved the story plot twist of the character of Madeleine Elster/Judy Barton. I am a fan of psychological thriller films and I would put Vertigo on my list of favorite psychological thriller films. The cast was well picked. I am a fan of the cinematography of Vertigo and the techniques were used to film vertigo. 

The Artist

(Go to full size to watch the trailer)

Tay's Rating- :D :D :D :

Interesting facts: -There is not a single 'zoom shot' in the entire movie because Zoom technology did not exist in the movie's time period.

-Jean Dujardin became the first ever French actor to win a Best Actor Academy Award when he won an Oscar for this film.

-All the dancing sequences were performed by the actors themselves through heavy rehearsals.

-This movie is considered to be the most ever awarded French Film in film history.

-The first Academy Award Best Picture winner to be presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio since Marty (1955) won this Oscar fifty-six years earlier.- Jean Dujardin said in an interview that the movie was shot in just 35 days.-The first spoken word of the film is 'Cut' whilst the final spoken word is 'Action'.

-Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) does not have an audible spoken line - despite being the talking movie star.

Review: This film The Artist was an “Americanized silent movie” I would call it. It was an interesting concept to do a modern version. If I saw this film before this class, this is what I would say. I have seen silent movies before. I noticed a few traits from the silent movies have in The Artist. Also in The Artist have a few traits of modern filmmaking. The cast and the story were interesting.

            The way it was filmed was used by a modern film camera. At the editing process, it was edited heavily because of the black and white also the slightly out of focus filter like the silent movies have. The Artist added the same lighting technique the silent films used. It was the harsh hard lighting. But some parts had soft lighting too.

            The cast was interesting because it had some American actors and some foreign actors. John Goodman was one of the American actors. Jean Dujardin is a French actor. It had the mixture which made it interesting. The story plot was a mixture of a typical silent movie and a touch of modern Hollywood story.