SHERLOCK HOLMES - Review

I haven't reviewed anything for a while, but I have seen a few things I'd like to review, so I'll start with a bit of RDJ loving.

SHERLOCK HOLES: A GAME OF SHADOWS picks up a littl after the first one left off with Watson preparing to marry and Holmes deep in his tangled web of Moriarty madness. There are plenty of rubbish sequels around at the moment, but this isn't one of them.

Guy Ritchie has kept the elements of the first film that I loved and he's made them more intense and dramatic like the artillery fire scene in the woods. That scene is just one of many step by step fight scenes that are so fun to watch - especially when they involve RDJ!

The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson is magical. It's like siblings, lovers and friends all rolled into one. They have truly developed and grown into the characters they established in the first film and I'm sure they'll continue to follow the same path in film number 3. I must also mention Jared Harris' Professor James Moriarty, a superb adversary for Holmes and their chemistry is almost as good as that between RDJ and Law. Almost.

Noomi Rapace who you would know from the Swedish version of the Millenium films does an excellent job as the gypsy in this SHERLOCK installment and I am looking forward to seeing her in some more English speaking roles (and she has a few of those coming up).

The ending of this film is perfectly set for the third installment and rumor has it they are working on the script already and I for one can't wait!

Whilst this is a great film for the big screen with the surround sound and the cinematic environment, it wouldn't be so bad at home, so if you don't get a chance to see this one on the big screen don't worry. I'm sure your home entertainment system with the 50+ inch screen and sound system will suffice!

3.5 out of 5

2012 Oscar Nominations

Below is the list of 2012 Academy Award nominations with my predictions listed in pink.

There are a few obvious snubs like Tilda Swinton for her amazing role in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Ryan Gosling for DRIVE and in fact DRIVE itself. 50/50 I think should have got a bid in the Best Original Screenplay category and the Fass (Michael Fassbender) should have got a bid for his role in SHAME. I'm certainly not the only one who has issues with the final list, however it is what it is and I've chosen what I think deserves to win from it.

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
"The Tree of Life"

Best Actor
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Actress
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Director
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Best Animated Feature
"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse," John Williams

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Achievement in Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Costume Design
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

Best Documentary Feature -  I've only seen PINA so I chose it, but I can't really make a sound judgement here as I haven't seen any of the others!
"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

Best Documentary Short Subject - I haven't seen any of these at all, but I like the sound of TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM, so I chose that 
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"

Best Achievement in Film Editing
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

Best Achievement in Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Best Live Action Short Film
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
"Drive"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Trailer Watch

I've got some chick flick trailers for you today...most look pretty cheesy, but that's what you want from a trashy chick flick right?


FRIENDS WITH KIDS - Jennifer Westfeldt, Maya Rudolph, Adam Scott, Chris O'Dowd, Jon Hamm &  Kristen Wiig

Now just because half the cast of BRIDESMAIDS is in this film doesn't meant it's got anything to do with it. It's not a spin off or a future tale or anything like that, it's a totally separate film. The premise is alright - two friends decided to skip over the marriage part and have a baby together so they can keep their romantic lives going without the strain a child can cause - but I think it's going to be the cast that makes this movie. They're funny individually and we saw in BRIDESMAIDS that Kristen, Maya, Jon and Chris have great chemistry together, so whilst I think the film itself is going to be trashy and that critics will hate it, it probably will be a lot of fun.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING - Elizabeth Banks, Cameron Diaz, J-Lo, Denis Quaid & more

With a very odd ensemble cast, I'm not sure how this film is going to work. Inspired by the bestselling book of the same name this film looks at 5 couples who are preparing to become parents. It looks good, but not great, and I get the impression that the funny bits are all in the trailer. Opens in Australia May 10 this year, it may be worth a look, but I'd probably wait til it comes out on DVD.

THE LUCKY ONE - Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling & Blythe Danner

A man sees a photo on the ground, goes over to pick it up and his life is spared when a bomb goes off right where he'd been standing. Then he goes to look for the woman to thank her, or something and one thing leads to another and well then there's an outdoor shower scene. Of course there's a child and the father of the child and the mother and the secret of the photo...Scandal, drama and trash. What more could you possibly want? Oh and it's an adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks novel (THE NOTEBOOK, DEAR JOHN etc). Opens 19th April this year.

THE VOW - Channing Tatum & Rachel McAdams

Sadly for Rachel McAdams she seems to be getting cast in these trashy movies over and over, which I'm sure is good for the bank accounts, but it's not good for her street cred. This is one of 5 films The Chan has coming out this year and whilst I don't think he's the greatest dramatic actor or romantic lead, he does have a certain bogan charm about him. This film hits screens on Feb 9 and I will be watching it purely for the trashy, romantic teary goodness I'm sure it's going to give me. Not for everyone and certainly not for the critics!

That wraps up this ladies edition of trailer watch.

2012 GOLDEN GLOBE Winners

And so the Globes are over!! Three magical hours of boring speeches, trying-too-hard-to-be-funny lines and Ricky Gervais in all his hilarity. I spied a few red carpet hits and more than a few misses!!


 Below are the nominations for film categories in the 2012 Golden Globes, with my predictions highlighted in pink and the winners noted in green. Only 2 of my predictions changed over the last couple of weeks now that I've seen the film in question - BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL - now THE ARTIST instead of 50/50 and BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL - Jean Dujardin for THE ARTIST. I would still love JGL to win for 50/50, but I don't think he will. 


I got 7 out of 14 right and I had said for a few that who I predicted probably wouldn't win, but it's who I though deserved to win and in most cases the person who I thought might win instead did - Tilda Swinton and Meryl Streep are a prime example. Now we should have a better idea of what might happen at the Oscars...I've got a few more films to see before I can confirm my Oscar predictions. 



BEST DRAMA
The Descendants - WINNER  I mean it - go and see this film. It's great!
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

BEST COMEDY or MUSICAL
50/50
The Artist - WINNER Again a little pang that 50/50 didn't win for JGL, but it is an amazing film
Bridesmaids
Midnight In Paris
My Week With Marilyn

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
George Clooney - The Descendants - WINNER gorgeous George for the win. You should see this film if you haven't
Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Ryan Gosling - The Ides of march
Brad Pitt - Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis - The Help
Rooney Mara - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo\
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady - WINNER Tilda Swinton was robbed!! Robbed I say!! 
Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY or MUSICAL (I would still love Joseph to win, but don't think he will)
Jean Dujardin - The Artist - WINNER He was brilliant in it, although part of me is a little gutted for JGL because of my Hollywood crush on him!
Brendan Gleeson - The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 50/50
Ryan Gosling - Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson - Midnight In Paris

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY or MUSICAL
Jodie Foster - Carnage
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn - WINNER Kristen Wiig was robbed and as far as I'm concerned this film was neither a comedy or a musical!
Kate Winslet - Carnage

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer - Beginners - WINNER Well deserved, he was amazing!

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet Mc Teer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help - WINNER Well done Octavia! She did a great job in this film as did Jessica Chastain so good on both of them!
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin - WINNER In my opinion the Ghibli film was much better and didn't even get a look in!
Puss In Boots
Winnie The Pooh
Arthur Christmas

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Flowers of War
In The Land Of Blood and Honey
The Kids With A Bike
A Separation - WINNER In beating THE SKIN I LIVE IN this film can certainly be proud of itself!
The Skin I Live In

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen - Midnight In Paris
George Clooney - The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo - WINNER I only saw this on Friday, so I couldn't judge it before then, but it was pretty amazing and deserving of the win. 

BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen - Midnight In Paris - WINNER This was my second choice film for best screenplay, so well done Woody
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beua Willimon - The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius - THE ARTIST
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxwon, Jim Rash - The Descendants
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Hello Hello - Gnomeo & Juliet
The Keeper - Machine Gun Preacher
Lay Your Head Down - Albert Nobbs
The Living Proof - The Help
Masterpiece - W.E. - WINNER I haven't heard this song, so I can't pass judgement

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludovic Bource - The Artist - WINNER  This score is fantastic you should listen to it!
Abel Korzeniowski - W.E.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore - Hugo
John Williams - War Horse