If you live in the Silver Spring area, then you probably know that the AFI Silver Theater is a great theater, but it's not exactly very cheap. However, this Summer NIH is sponsoring the Science in the Cinema Film Festival. Every Wednesday night at 7 PM from July 9 to August 13, AFI will screen a free movie relating to science and medicine. They all sound great, and every film got incredible reviews.

This link will bring you to summaries of the movies. I have summarized them quickly below. The links lead to each film's page on Rotten Tomatoes, a movie review site.

• July 9 - Away From Her - A critically acclaimed movie, Away From Her details the journey of a elderly couple when the wife is affected with Alzheimer's disease. The movie has been praised for its three dimensional characters and accurate portrayal of Alzheimer's Disease. Trailer.
• July 16 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - A true story, the Diving Bell and the Butterfly was a originally memoir recited by Jean-Dominique Bauby. The author, an editor of the French Fashion magazine ELLE, suffered a massive stroke and woke up twenty days later only able to move his left eyelid. He dictated the entire story by blinking his eye. Rotten Tomatoes writes "It is staggering that this biopic about a paralyzed writer would contain such breathtaking visuals and dynamic performances." Trailer
• July 23 - Canvas - This semi-autobiographical film tells the story of a 10-year-old boy with a schizophrenic mother and an apathetic father. The movie has been hailed for its amazing acting and beautiful soundtrack. Trailer
• July 30 - The Quiet Duel - The most obscure movie of the six, The Quiet Duel is a Japanese film made in 1949. It outlines the heartbreak of an army doctor who contracts syphilis from one of patients and consequently decides to break up with his fiancee. In Japanese with English Subtitles. Sorry, no trailer.
• August 6 - Life Support - This mostly unknown film stars Queen Latifah as Ana, a character based off AIDS activist Andrea Williams. The main character works to repair herself, her community, and her broken family. Trailer
• August 13 - Reign Over Me - When Charlie Fineman loses his family in the September 11th attacks, he is emotionally shattered, and comes down with a serious case of PTSD. By chance he runs into his old college roommate (played by Don Cheadle, who played the main character in Hotel Rwanda), and begins to leave behind his tragic past. Trailer

I'll be at Away From Her, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Reign Over Me.  Email me if you're interested in one of those movies.  See you there!

Vencedora do Oscar, continuo achando Cotillard a melhor atriz de 2007 por sua magnífica atuação em Piaf - Um Hino ao Amor. Mas ontem pude constatar que todos os prêmios que Julie Christie levou pra casa foram igualmente merecidos.

"Away From Her" (título original) é um filme mais que emocionante: tristíssimo. Olympia Dukakis e Kristen Thomson merecem ser citadas por suas ótimas atuações como coadjuvantes deste filme que tem uma trilha sonora delicada, discreta, sublime, com direito a Johann Sebastian Bach e Neil Young, autor da música dos créditos, brilhantemente interpretada por k.d. Lang.

O texto é primoroso, da própria diretora Sarah Polley, que foi indicada ao Oscar pelo roteiro mas ganhou mais prêmios pela excelente direção, pela qual não foi indicada à estatueta. Curiosidade: a intenção inicial de Polley, atriz canadense que com este filme faz sua estréia na direção de um longa metragem aos 28 anos, era filmar um roteiro que tinha como protagonista uma adolescente que atuava numa série de televisão. Por não ter conseguido financiamento para o projeto, acabou decidindo adaptar um de seus contos favoritos, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain", de Alice Munro, e o orçamento do filme foi de apenas US$ 3,4 milhões. Polley declarou que escreveu a personagem Fiona para que fosse interpretada por Julie Christie. Valeu a pena.

Alzheimer é um tema que por motivos pessoais me comove muito, mas o filme é tão bem construído que guardei todas as lágrimas para o final, impressionantemente hipnotizado por Julie Christie e Gordon Pinsent (canadense que recebeu prêmios em seu país natal por esta atuação). Vai ser muito difícil esquecer estas interpretações arrebatadoras. Vale destacar que o filme tem um mérito importante e cada vez mais raro nas produções atuais: termina na hora certa. Recomendo, e leve seu lenço.

Venetian Blinds and Slide Projectors

I’ve been in this apartment in Taipei for four years now. I can hardly believe it’s been that long. When I think back, I can barely remember the beginning. I’m constantly surprised when I come across old emails and journal entries talking about this or that thing that happened. In some ways I’ve done a lot to the place. I bought a lot of furniture and other things (second-hand or Ikea, so not exactly luxurious). However, there are some things I never got around to doing, and now I wish I had.

For one thing, there is a big set of windows in the living room. They aren’t exactly nice windows, and they don’t offer any kind of a view, but they do let in light and it would be nice to be able to see them and see out of them from time to time. However, there is a big Venetian blind over the windows and this blind has been broken from the very beginning. I talked to my landlords twice about getting it fixed or replaced. They made noises about doing so, but it never happened and I never pushed. If shopping in Taipei were easier, I imagine I’d have purchased a new blind myself, but with the language barrier, such purchases are a problem especially when you work full time and only have the weekends free. I also didn’t worry about it that much because, as I said, there isn’t much of a view. In fact, all you can see is the fence separating my part of the roof from the next part, some metal stairs leading to a water tank, a few ragged plants, and the rooftop building next door. Plus, my landlords and their family walk back and forth to the laundry area quite frequently and they walk right past this window. As I sit here at my computer, I’m looking right at the window, and if the window were open they could see me and we’d end up waving at each other all day long. Still, I’d like the option. Today, for instance, the sun is out, and I’d like to be able to let in more light.

Another thing I wish I’d done earlier was purchase a good slide projector. For a while, there really was no need to have one. When I got to Taipei four years ago, I had no money and a substantial debt to pay off. There was no question of buying things like slide projectors. And at the time, I had no slides here and I wasn’t really taking any new pictures. Then I started to miss all my slides that I had left behind in storage in Canada. I got the idea of having some shipped over here and scanning them. I wasn’t really thinking about projecting them at that time. I was thinking about putting them on a photo site on the Internet so that I could see them from anywhere in the world. I eventually did that, though the whole world of scanning never appealed to me much. It was simply too difficult and too time-consuming. And after all of that effort, the results are always mediocre. Even on my monitor (a half-decent one) the picture never looked anywhere near as good as the original slide. And on most other monitors, they looked awful. I’d almost prefer not having the scans.

I made noises from time to time about getting a slide projector, but once again with the language barrier it was difficult. I found some used Leitz Pradovits in camera stores here, but they were fantastically expensive. I also found one new Kodak Ektagraphic, but it was also too expensive. They still wanted the original purchase price for it, which was in the neighborhood of $700 US. In the end, a co-worker leant me his slide projector. He had switched over to digital cameras and never used his projector anymore. I appreciated the offer and was glad to have the use of the projector, but it never quite satisfied me. The picture quality wasn’t great, and I only had two reels for it.

Finally, a month or two ago, I found a place that sold used projectors. I found it with the help of a Taiwanese co-worker. I bought two projectors that used Kodak trays, and then I bought two new lenses on Ebay. One was a 50mm Golden Navitar, and the other was a 60mm Schneider pro-Cinelux. And last weekend and then this weekend, I spent some time rearranging furniture to set up the projectors. I had also purchased a slide projector screen, but so far I haven’t had much use for it. Instead, I’ve been projecting directly onto the wall. The problem with the screen is that it is so big and unwieldy that I can’t get it far enough away from the projector. The projected image is too small to satisfy me. Projecting onto a wall was the only way to get a big enough image.

A long time, I had taken a whole bunch of 8.5X11 pieces of paper and taped them together to make a white screen on the wall. Yesterday, I started adding pieces of paper to make the screen much bigger. After I added the first section, I finally came to my senses. I went out to a store and purchased some huge pieces of white paper. Only four of these pieces of paper together made a nice screen seven feet wide and five feet high – a perfect size for this room and my lenses. Last night, I had everything set up. I had also gone through my slides from Palawan in the Philippines and selected 200 of the best ones and put them into Kodak trays. (I’d purchased about ten trays when I got the projectors.) I looked at these slides, and for the very first time I was somewhat satisfied. The picture was huge and crisp and clear and vibrant and bright.

The only problem – and I don’t know the exact source of this problem – was the focus. I’m used to slides being slightly out of focus. It’s very difficult to get an entire slide into focus. The central area can be focused generally, but then it gets unfocused out toward the corners. If you bring the corners and edges into focus, the center goes out of focus. I always blamed this on the poor quality of the projectors I was using. Now, however, I have a much better projector than I’ve ever had, and two high-quality lenses, but the focusing problem is worse than before. Oddly enough, the poor focus doesn’t make the image unpleasant. It just looks like that is the way the picture was taken. The parts that are out of focus just have that soft look that one gets when you are shooting with a narrow depth of field. In fact, on many of the pictures I didn’t even realize it was out of focus until I started trying to set the focus. I had one picture in particular of the mountain road ahead of me on Palawan. There were trees and hills and other objects at various distances from me. I found that as I played with the focus on the projector, I could bring every one of these items into focus one at a time starting in the foreground and working my way all the to the furthest point in the background. It was oddly precise. I could bring everything in the picture into focus one object at a time, but only that one object. Yet, the entire slide was in focus. I just couldn’t project it that way.

I wondered last night if the problem was my lack of understanding of the lens. I was using the Schneider, and it has parallax correction. I have no idea what this is to be honest. I play around with the rings and I don’t know what it is doing. Today, I am going to try the same setup with the Golden Navitar and see if I have the same focusing problem.

Anyway, the point I was going to make is that I am very happy with the end result. I am finally able to enjoy these slides as they were meant to be enjoyed. I got so much pleasure out of going through the Palawan slides last night. It just makes me wish I had made the effort to get this set up like this earlier – like two years ago. It’s just that I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in Taipei. And when I leave here, I can’t see how I can take all this stuff with me.

Away From Her

I watched a movie on DVD last night called Away From Her. I’d had a copy of this movie for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to watching it. I’ve been busy, but the movie also didn’t jump out at me as something I’d really enjoy. It was about a woman who developed Alzheimer’s and how her husband of 44 years dealt with it. I thought it would be extremely dramatic and emotional, perhaps melodramatic– something of a TV movie of the week.

However, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it very much. It was directed by Sarah Polley and was based on a short story by Alice Munro. Julie Christie played the woman and Gordon Pinsent played the man. The story was obviously a sad one, but it was directed with a cool and professional air. It was anything but melodramatic and I totally bought into the story and into the characters themselves.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that it was shot in Ontario and much of it took place in winter. You don’t often see movies set in the winter, and I like to see winter and snow just treated normally as part of life. In the end, it wasn’t the story itself that sold me on the movie, but the acting. The characters were perfectly vivid and real to me. Olympia Dukakis was also in the film, and she was great. There’s something about her. I love her strength and solidity. I also appreciated that it was a thoughtful movie that gave its audience some credit for intelligence. It didn’t dumb things down as most movies do. All in all a fine film.

Computers, Speakers, and Headsets

Does anyone else have this problem? It seems to me that I must be missing something. I have a USB computer headset. I use it to talk to people on Skype and Messenger. The problem is that I can no longer use the speakers. There is no way to switch from the headset to the speakers. I can only use one or the other. If I want to listen to music on the speakers, for example, I have to unplug the headset and reboot. Then the computer will notice the speakers and I can play music over them. However, I can’t then just plug in the headset and use them. To use the headset, I then have to turn off the computer, plug in the USB cable on the headset, and turn the computer back on. This obviously makes no sense at all. There must be a way to simply switch from one to the other, but I don’t know what it is.

Motley

I’ve been noticing for a long time that I read words and use them without really knowing what they mean. I think I know what they mean, but when I look them up, I realize that I don’t.

While writing above, I described the plants on the roof as “motley.” I think I wrote “a set of motley plants.” It occurred to me that if someone asked me what exactly I meant by motley I wouldn’t really know. So I looked the word up, and I concluded that I was using the word incorrectly. For one thing, I don’t think one thing can be motley. I don’t think you can have a “motley plant.”

I looked up the word in my new and wonderful electronic Sharp dictionary (thank you, Cindy), and it said, “incongruously varied in appearance or character; disparate.” Therefore, you have to one more than one thing for it to be motley. I could have said “a motley set of plants.” This would mean that all the plants in the set were different from each other in ways that made the whole set look strange and odd. Yet, this wouldn’t convey what I was trying to say either. I wasn’t saying that the set of plants was incongruous. I was trying to say that each individual plant was ragged and uncared for and half-dead. Each plant could be flourishing and beautiful and still, the set of plants could be motley.

It’s interesting that the heavy metal band Motley Crue is using the word motley correctly - assuming that ‘crue’ is just a deliberate misspelling of ‘crew’. A ‘crew’ is a group, so you can have a ‘motley crew.’ However, though they used the word correctly, I wonder if it is actually accurate in this case. I don’t know much about the band, but I assume all the members are somewhat alike in dress and character. They’re all heavy metal musicians after all, and they probably look and act and dress somewhat the same. Therefore, the various band members probably aren’t incongruous at all. Then can you say that they are motley? Synonyms for motley include assorted, miscellaneous, diverse, varied, mixed, contrasting, and dissimilar. Do these words accurately describe the members of Motley Crue? Or did they mean something else like rough, ragged, tough, unkempt, or wild and crazy?

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- O MELHOR AMIGO DA NOIVA

Título original: Made Of Honor

Gênero: Comédia; Romance

Ano: 2008

País: EUA

Duração: 101 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: 12 anos

Diretor: Paul Weiland

Elenco: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kadeem Hardison, Chris Messina, Richmond Arquette, Busy Philipps

Sinopse: A história gira em torno de Tom e Claire, que mantém um amor platônico por mais de dez anos. Ele é um namorador inveterado, enquanto ela pensa em se casar. E quando ela finalmente anuncia seu casamento, ainda o convida para ser seu padrinho. Tom, ainda que relutante, acaba aceitando apenas para colocar em prática seu plano de atrapalhar tudo e poder ficar com ela.

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- EFEITO DOMINÓ

Título original: The Bank Job

Gênero: Suspense

Ano: 2008

País: EUA

Duração: 117 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: 16 anos

Diretor: Roger Donaldson

Elenco: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore

Sinopse: A trama se baseia no lendário roubo a banco na Baker Street, rua do centro comercial londrino, em 1971. Por uma determinação do governo, a história permaneceu sigilosa por 35 anos. Trata-se do maior assalto da Inglaterra - ninguém foi preso nem o dinheiro foi recuperado. A história gira em torno principalmente dos segredos de um cofre, os escândalos que se seguiram ao caso e as vidas que se perderam na tentativa de manter o caso em segredo.

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- LONGE DELA

Título original: Away From Her

Gênero: Romance; Drama

Ano: 2006

País:Canadá

Duração: 110 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: 12 anos

Diretor: Sarah Polley

Elenco: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Deanna Dezmari, Alberta Watson, Grace Lynn Kung

Sinopse: Fiona e Grant são casados há mais de 40 anos e vivem um sólido relacionamento. A rotina do casal se transforma quando ela começa a sofrer com o Mal de Alzheimer e decide que é momento de ir para um asilo.

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- 5 FRAÇÕES DE UMA QUASE HISTÓRIA

Gênero: Drama

Ano: 2008

País: Brasil

Duração: 96 minutos

Língua: Inglês

Classificação: 16 anos

Diretor: Armando Mendz, Cristiano Abud, Cris Azzi, Guilherme Fiúza, Lucas Gontijo e Thales Bahia

Elenco: Luiz Arthur, Gero Camilo e Cynthia Falabella, Cláudio Jaborandy, Jece Valadão

Sinopse: Um fotógrafo obcecado por pés femininos; um homem que se projeta em situações vistas na TV; um apático funcionário público que recebe uma proposta de um juiz corrupto; um trabalhador de um matadouro com o casamento em crise; e uma secretária desiludida no amor que sonha em se casar. Estas cinco personagens terão suas vidas modificadas a partir de um quente final de semana.

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Veja mais:

Cannes aplaude filme de Fernando Meirelles por cinco minutos.

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Let me remember...

MEMORY!!!

Movie to watch about memory.

Beautiful debut by Dir. Sarah Polley, touching and tragic as it is funny and inspiring.

A story about Grant and Fiona, and how they have to deal with Alzheimer's in their love life. Great visual metaphors in the beginning as well. It takes you to the the emotional highs and lows of the characters and let's you feel what they feel.

I wanted to do a related string post like I normally do, but fuck it, i'm lazy.

I just went to see I'm From Barclonea this week, and it was so so so happy, it was like o'd'ing on sunshine, or some shit like that. Think of the lamest happy thing you can think of and magnify it by 40 million times...

Moral of the story, go see them live if you can!

Great company, fun show.

One more image for ya... much more to come over summer, come one see me if your in the MA (north adams area).

P.S. If this was blog was a job, A) it would be awesome B) I'd be like written up or fired.

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Ci sono film che fanno male al cuore.
Away from her,Lontano da lei,è uno di questi.
Una storia d’amore,ma una volta tanto di quell’amore vero,quello che i sacerdoti consacrano sull’altare con le parole “nella buona e nella cattiva sorte”
Grant e Fiona sono marito e moglie da quasi mezzo secolo;vivono in una bellissima casa,tra i boschi innevati dell’Ontario.
Si amano ancora,come tanti anni fa.
Ma un giorno Fiona si rende conto che qualcosa in lei sta cambiando;alle volte dimentica le cose,i suoi pensieri non sono più lucidi.

E’ il primo sinistro segnale di una malattia terribile,il morbo di Alzheimer.
Grant,che ama la moglie di un amore totale,rifiuta di arrendersi alla malattia,cerca di tenere la donna con se.
Ma un giorno è costretto a portarla in una lussuosa clinica per malati terminali.
Inizierà così il suo personale calvario,con una donna che pian piano si allontana da lui,persa in una malattia che cancella il bene più prezioso dell’esistenza,la memoria di quello che eravamo,di quello che siamo.
Grant continuerà a seguire la moglie,anche quando questa non lo riconoscerà più,e si legherà,come fanno le persone senza un passato,ad un altro ammalato della clinica.
E a Grant toccherà vedere la moglie usare gentilezze e premure verso un altro uomo.

Ma lui non lascerà mai quella donna,la seguirà nel suo personale calvario,verso lo stadio finale della malattia.
Un film che tocca temi difficili,come la capacità delle persone di restare vicini ad ammalati terminali assolutamente incapaci di comunicare con le persone che un tempo amavano.
E lo fa con grazia e dignità,senza un momento di sdolcinata emozione epidermica,ma badando a mostrare,alle volte freddamente,con distacco volutamente chirurgico,il percorso di Fiona nei meandri bui della perdita della memoria.
Un percorso,quello di Fiona,che mostra come le persone possano annientarsi nel nulla con una malattia,una malattia devastante,che annichilisce se stessi,ma non solo.
Si trasforma in un calvario per coloro che amano quei poveri esseri destinati a diventare dei vegetali,seguendo un progresso degenerativo senza cura e senza soluzione.

Ma questo film è anche una straordinaria prova di dedizione e d’amore.
Grant,pur allontanato da quella donna che è solo il fantasma di quella che amava,le resta vicino,con abnegazione.

Perché il vero amore travalica ostacoli,supera le montagne dell’in differenza e dell’egoismo.
Sarah Polley,la trentenne regista,debuttante,sceglie la strada della sobrietà,senza inseguire le scorciatoie del fazzoletto.
Un esordio folgorante,proprio per la sua capacità di andare dritta al centro del problema,raccontando una storia qualunque,con pochi attori,lentamente,come un’antica tragedia che però ha un’immagine forte in se.
Un bianco abbacinante,quello della neve che fa la sua parte decorativa onnipresente,quasi a simboleggiare il candore delle due vite e dei due destini.
Un film basato sul dialogo,in un’epoca ipertecnologica,un film che parla di una malattia,in un momento in cui il cinema sembra aver finalmente riscoperto i temi forti, lasciando da parte il pietismo e raccontando i fatti,gli episodi.

Nelle foto:Julie Christie e Gordon Pinsent

Anche con parole semplici,comprensibilissime e umane come quelle che dice Fiona alla sua infermiera:
“Ora se non le dispiace vorrei salutare mio marito, non ci siamo mai separati per un mese in questi ultimi 44 anni”

Una menzione particolare per Julie Christie.
A vederla,sembrerebbe davvero alle prese con la malattia,tanto riesce a rendere,visivamente,i vari stadi della malattia.
Con un viso che esprime,meglio delle parole,il distacco dalla vita,dai ricordi,dagli affetti.

(Away from Her)

Un film di Sarah Polley. Con Julie Christie, Michael Murphy, Gordon Pinsent, Stacey LaBerge, Olympia Dukakis, Deanna Dezmari, Alberta Watson, Grace Lynn Kung, Wendy Crewson. Genere Drammatico, colore 110 minuti. - Produzione Canada 2006. - Distribuzione Videa - CDE

La regista Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley -  Lejos de Ella (Away From Her, 2007)

A causa del Alzheimer, Grant Andersson (Gordon Pinsent) deberá verse obligado a internar a su amada esposa Fiona (Julie Chistie) en Meadowlake, un centro de asistencia médica para ancianos, una suerte de fusión entre asilo y manicomio, donde ella deberá separarse del hombre con quien compartió, ininterrumpidamente, 44 años. Lejos de ella, interesante y conmovedor drama sobre el sentido del amor y la persistencia, es la ópera prima de Sarah Polley, escrita, además, por ella misma.

El paisaje de la nieve fundiéndose al calor de la luz del crepúsculo es como el telón de fondo que envuelve la larga vida que Grant y Fiona han compartido juntos, amándose, y ahora, por la fatalidad del destino, ella mentalmente empieza a dejar de estar con él. Lejos de ella es la descripción de la declinación mental de una mujer que empieza a perder la memoria; es también el retrato palpitante de la desesperanza e impotencia del hombre que la ama, pero que, como el agua del río, debe dejarla ir. Lejos de ella, además, es la confirmación de que nuestras emociones íntimas se fijan imborrables en el fondo de nuestras almas, huellas que ni el tiempo ni la pérdida de las facultades mentales logran disolver.

Lejos de ella propone muchos temas, pues presenta además un paralelo entre los que son internados y el drama de las parejas de éstos, que están fuera pero que pareciera tuvieran una vida más dolorosa al ser testigos de la decadencia de sus seres queridos. Por otra parte, es una cruel ironía sobre la paulatina, pero absoluta, irreversible y dolorosa partida hacia la nada. Por eso, en un momento, Fiona le dice a su marido: «Aún no me he ido, pero me estoy yendo.»

Lejos de ella conmueve más de una vez. Cuando llega el momento de internar a Fiona, la escena de la despedida entre los esposos tiene una virtud interesante, y lejos de sucumbir en la sensiblería, es un conmovedor retrato del amor en su faceta más triste. Gran escena.

Lo mismo ocurre cuando Grant, leal y tenaz amante, visita diariamente a su mujer que está internada, mientras ella va olvidando quién es su marido. El sufrimiento de Grant viendo cómo todos sus esfuerzos por ir a verla, llevándole flores o libros, son inútiles pues ella parece tener otra vida, se hace patente en las charlas con una de las asistentes, en las interrogantes que se hace sobre por qué, en el fondo, su amada lo ha olvidado, en hallar la forma de ayudarla a salir adelante. Grant nunca desmayará en su propósito.

Ahora bien, una película como Lejos de ella, donde una mujer pierde la memoria y el esposo debe hacerse cargo de ella, internarla, cuidarla y pasar por la terrible experiencia de ver cómo frente a sus ojos está perdiendo a su amada, implica un trabajo magistral de parte del actor que hace de Grant, es decir, Gordon Pinsent. Él está bien y su actuación convence, pero en medio de todo el drama, salvo las breves sonrisas que se permite, nunca cambia de rostro. Siempre, desde que empieza a notarse la enfermedad de Fiona hasta cuando la va perdiendo y es víctima de una desolación terrible, luce sombrío pero imperturbable, sin los altibajos emocionales que de hecho exigen su papel, sin que su postura se agrave, se contraiga o desfallezca.

La película, desde el comienzo, nos plantea dos situaciones en su estructura narrativo temporal. En una se va detallando el avance de la enfermedad de Fiona, su posterior internamiento y la aceptación de la nueva realidad; en el otro —es la primera escena de la cinta— Grant se acerca a una mujer cuyo marido estuvo también internado, y con quien Fiona tuvo un acercamiento muy especial. De ambas situaciones se desprende un paralelismo entre la vida de las dos parejas, que desnuda conflictos, remordimientos, pasiones, confusiones, encariñamiento.

Y aquí está quizás el mayor tropezón de la cinta, al convenir un totalmente arbitrario idilio entre las parejas de los que padecen la enfermedad y son internados, pues el ritmo en que transcurría la cinta se trastoca por completo y se desvirtúan las intenciones.

De cuño clásico

En Lejos de ella encontramos a una Julie Christie de avanzada edad, de rostro consumido, pero con una sobriedad y una elegancia dignas de su mejor época, con su mirada azul diáfana e intacta y sus formas corporales inmarcesibles. El retrato que encarna Julie Christie es, pues, muy complejo, y ella está a la altura de lo que se le exige. No hubiera sido nada injusto que su nominación al Oscar este año como mejor actriz principal le signifique la obtención de la estatuilla dorada —sin por ello estar descontentos con quien se la llevó, Marion Cotillard.

Con sus 66 años bien llevados, Julie Chistie, una de las grandes proezas del cine británico de los años 60 y 70, sigue sorprendiendo, pues desde que se estrenó Billy, el embustero, en 1963, su figura no ha dejado de inspirar respeto. Darling, en 1965, le valió un Oscar, y Doctor Zhivago, ese mismo año, fue una cinta por la que hoy en día más se le recuerda. Además, Julie Chistie trabajó con directores de la talla de François Truffaut, en Fahrenheit 451, o Robert Altman, en Los vividores, película que le valió una nominación al Oscar.

La belleza y carisma de Julie Chistie, una actriz de cuño clásico, la ha hecho inolvidable, y es un referente para muchas actrices del cine contemporáneo que admiran su filmografía, que sigue creciendo pues aparece ocasionalmente encarnando roles secundarios en cintas muy variadas. Con Lejos de ella, esta vez Julie vuelve al estrellato, haciéndose del protagonismo de un film que realmente conmueve y provoca reflexiones sobre si vale o no la pena amar y esperar por la persona amada.

Un acertado debut

A mediados de los años 90, una adolescente canadiense abandona sus estudios, se involucra en los ideales políticos de la izquierda y apoya a un partido socialista de su país. Años más tarde, esta misma adolescente, de nombre Sarah Polley, terminaría protagonizando películas independientes de grandes directores como David Cronenberg o Isabel Coixet; Mi vida sin mí, de esta última, en el 2003, es el film por el que más se le recuerda. Pero Sarah ya antes había dirigido cortos, y es Lejos de ella el proyecto con el que se anima al largometraje, una película regada de lo que aprendió con los numerosos directores con quienes trabajó, y acaso más con Isabel Coixet. Y vaya que le fue bien: para una directora primeriza, que además escribe la película, tener dos nominaciones al Oscar —mejor actriz principal y mejor guion adaptado— no es poca cosa.

Es saludable que una joven con el talento y la mirada que Sarah Polley tiene del mundo ingrese al universo de la dirección de largometrajes por la puerta grande. Pues Lejos de ella, además de todo lo que se ha dicho, es una cinta que ofrece una mirada femenina sobre las relaciones entre hombres y mujeres. Una película marcada con el sello final de la auténtica lealtad.-

Tito Jiménez 

(2007)

Written & directed by Sarah Polley, this is the script that coaxed the still-smashing Julie Christie out of retirement.

Nominated for 2008 Academy Award for Best Actress, and winner of the 2008 Genie Awards for Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

Also stars Gordon Pinsent, Wendy Crewson, Olympia Dukakis and Michael Murphy.

Executive Director, Atom Egoyam.

• AWAY FROM HER

Janet Maslin writes:

Eventually, in a novel that has a strong scientific component, Seth begins conducting research into the EOA-23 gene. He wants to understand not only what has happened to his mother but also how long a shadow her fate casts. He wants to know why, if his parents thought he was doomed to Alzheimer’s, they ever wanted Seth to be born.

Yet “The Story of Forgetting” is as true to the anguish of these questions as it is ablaze with love and vitality. In the end, without false optimism, Mr. Block taps into the life force that gives Seth a human, heart-wrenching answer.

“The Story of Forgetting” is a fresh, beguiling novel in what is sure to be the rapidly expanding genre of Alzheimer’s literature. As medicine alters life expectancy and genetic testing for the disease predicts destiny, these subjects invite new attention.

I can't tell you how happy I am to have young people turning their creative energy toward the issues/concepts/realities of dementia. The press will undoubtedly ask WHY? like they did with Sarah Polley, when she selected Away From Her for her directoral debut at age 28.

But why wouldn't young artists and writers be drawn toward the topics of love, family, and country in the time of forgetting? The legal, emotional, spiritual, economic, and physical ramifications of dementia in an aging population are enormous.

I can't wait to read this book.

Sarah Polley wrote and directed Away From Her, the Genie Award-winning Canadian film which debuted at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie is based on a short story by Alice Munro entitled The Bear Came Over the Mountain. Shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Away From Her picked up an Oscar nomination for the film’s star, the wonderful Julie Christie. The picture was also greeted with enthusiasm from critics, as the greatly positive reviews ranked it among the best films of the year (2007, according to its broader release date) on many top lists. Roger Ebert had the film ranked as his sixth best of the year and Dana Stevens from Slate ranked it as the second best.

Away From Her stars Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent as Grant. Grant is married to Fiona (Julie Christie). Grant and Fiona have been married for over 44 years and have grown old together. They are very much in love and this is evidenced in the way the couple live with one another. Grant has never been away from Fiona for even one day. As time passes, Fiona begins to lose her memory and it becomes sadly obvious that she is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Fiona and Grant have a very intelligent approach to life and this approach leads Fiona to be admitted to a nursing home before her symptoms get much worse.

One of the rules at the nursing home pertains to a so-called adjustment period in which the newly admitted patient must not have any visitors for 30 days in order to adjust to his or her new surroundings. Grant loathes the rule, but Fiona insists that it will be okay and admits herself to the nursing home. When the 30 day period is over, Grant eagerly visits the home and Fiona. To his distress, he discovers that she has all but forgotten him and has turned her affections to Aubrey (Michael Murphy), a mute cripple. Grant continues to visit Fiona, despite her lack of understanding as to his role and her attachment to Aubrey. As time passes, Grant must make a choice between his wife’s happiness and the traditional roles of marriage.

Away From Her is an incredibly moving film. Its power lies in the strong performances from Christie and Pinsent, the latter of which also deserved an Oscar nomination for his heart-rending portrayal of a man on his own suffering with the realities of his wife’s condition and his immense love for her. Christie is excellent and all of the buzz about her performance in the film is dead on. She acts with control and precision, limiting herself and straying from the standard “tug at the heartstrings” stuff of movie mythology. Instead, her portrayal of Fiona and her suffering with losing her memory, her mind, and her love is very poignant and real.

Polley’s direction is impeccable. Polley has directed some shorts and a small bit of television before, but she is primarily thought of as an actress. Still young at just 29, one can expect great things from her. Polley’s direction is simplistic and sets her film up in bright focus, using the winter and the crunch of the snow as an elegant backdrop. The strong sunlight infuses almost every frame, as characters walk down halls through the nursing home or through the snow near Fiona and Grant’s cottage. I can’t recall a single night-time scene in the film, which is a purposeful approach that strays away from the common notion of setting such a dismal tale in darkness.

Away From Her tackles Alzheimer’s disease and aging with a grace that is rarely seen. While other films tackle the condition and draw it in as a part of a greater story, as in the romance of The Notebook, Polley’s film functions as an observation of the condition and a broader look at the human condition. It looks boldly and clearly at the fallout of Alzheimer’s and of the aging process. It looks at the suffering involved with putting a loved one in a nursing home, examining carefully the distance and the confusion that is so often involved with aging and life’s decisions.

The pain here comes from the fact that death almost seems to be merciful in the case of Fiona and Grant. With no memory of her love for Grant, Fiona still seems happy and still seems well-adjusted to her new existence in the nursing home. Here, it is Grant who really suffers. In the “outside world,” it is Grant who is “away from her” and Grant who doesn’t know what to do. It is Grant who needs mercy and it is Grant who must watch idly as his wife moves on with her life. Is she getting some form of revenge for past transgressions? Is it all a game? The questions wrack his mind, drive him insane, and fill him with fear and remorse.

Away From Her is a film that resonates with gentleness, compassion, and admiration for its characters and for the sufferers of Alzheimer’s and general adventurers on the road of age. It treats the elderly and those with memory loss with respect instead of reducing their condition to a sideshow or a caustic backdrop. With Polley’s incredibly moving and heartbreaking film, the characters matter and their existence is looked upon with affection, sorrow, and a small glimmer of weakening hope.

10/10

Trailer:

Η παρουσία του Atom Egoyan στην ομάδα της παραγωγής έχει αφήσει μερικά καλά στοιχεία στην ταινία (κάποια πλάνα με χοντρό κόκκο, κάποιες αναπάντεχες στιγμές στο μοντάζ), η Julie Christie είναι καλή και το υπόλοιπο cast τα πάει μια χαρά επίσης. Αν και στην Αμερική σκιστήκανε γι'αυτή τη ταινία, εγώ τη βρήκα μόλις υποφερτή και θα την προτιμούσα ως αξιοπρεπή τηλεταινία.

Η ταινία που θεωρώ πρότυπο στην καταγραφή της αρρώστιας είναι το Κραυγές και Ψίθυροι του Ingmar Bergman. Φυσικά είναι πολύ παρακινδυνευμένο να γίνονται τέτοιες συγκρίσεις, αλλά γιατί να ανεχθώ την μετριότητα όταν ήδη δεκαετίες πριν δημιουργοί σαν τον Bergman βρήκαν τις λύσεις στον χειρισμό ευαίσθητων θεμάτων όπως είναι η αρρώστια;

Oh my. Away From Her is one of the loveliest films I've seen in a long time. Low-key, yet utterly involving. Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis are names and talent that go without explanation, but Gordon Pinsent as the husband riveted me, and broke my heart. I know I have seen him in other projects but they are dim memories. Very rarely have I seen on film a married couple who had such a great understanding of one another and shown with such economy that it seems utterly natural. If I had been the wife watching my husband succumb to Alzheimer's and falling in love with someone else, I don't know that I could have survived it. What a marvelous meditation on love, commitment and letting go.

This quiet, emotionally stirring movie was about 40% exactly what I thought it would be, and 60% beyond what I felt it could be.

My expectations were for a story about the heartrending struggle of watching a loved one slip into the unforgiving emptiness of dementia.  It certainly was that, but the "what's more" is what really got me.  The glimpse of the troubled past of a now loving, solid, perhaps co-dependent marriage; the cheery detachment of the nurses and administrators; the endeavors of a devoted, guilt-stricken husband to grasp the few recognizable remnants inside the shell that used to be his wife. 

It is real, and it is heartbreaking.  I dare you not to break down at the elevator scene toward the end, when the play-by-play announcer walks past.  Yes, it's the most contrived moment of the movie, but it worked.

The performances are perfect.  I mean, when Olympia Dukakis, who is wonderful, gives the least affecting performance, you know you've got something special.  For the life of me, I cannot imagine why Gordon Pinsent wasn't nominated for an Oscar or Golden Globe, or a million film critics' awards.

Obviously I recommend this movie-- just remember to remove your mascara before you watch, and keep a box of tissues nearby.

"I think I may be beginning to disappear." - Fiona (Away from Her)

Last night was a deeply emotional night for me.
For the longest time I've put off watching a movie called Away from Her
based on the Alice Munro short story called, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain", a tragic but uplifting tale of a husband and wife of 50 years coming to grips with Alzheimer's Disease.
It was all too familiar territory for me and I knew instinctively why I hadn't seen it in the theater.
Sometimes I hate when I'm right.

The internal walls I'd previously built for emotional protection were deteriorating rapidly, waiting patiently to be torn down.
New and stronger walls were waiting in the wings.
Seeing yourself in virtually every scene of a movie is a powerful (and devastating) experience and something has to give.
My already shaky walls began crumbling before my very eyes.
Seemingly insignificant scenes were like storms in the night, moments of illumination exposing moments of denial, the mind's premeditated closing of the eyes.
I was watching my mother and father on the screen as years of pent up heartbreak gently poured out of me.
And truth be told, it felt like prayer, a long forgotten Hail Mary . . .
I've written much about my mother's many moments of clarity, the small gifts I believe are given to us from up above.
The last minute of the movie contains such a moment, an incredibly beautiful moment.
I could only sit and watch the credits roll by,
letting this "thing" happen, if that makes any sense.
I apologized to my wife for being so weepy.
She hugged me as I knew she would and said, "I understand. It's okay."
All the ancient walls inside me came crashing down and as of this morning I've already begun new construction, my Extreme Internal Makeover, if you will.
This post isn't so much about my tears or my outward showing of intense emotion.
It's about the willingness to ultimately set some of my shadows free.
And so far, it's all good.
You'll have to watch the movie to understand the significance of the post title.
I'm not giving anything away . . .
~m

Best Picture -- No Country for Old Men

No surprise there.

Best Directors -- Joel & Ethan Cohen

Finally these guys are getting the recognition they deserve.

Best Actor -- Daniel Day-Lewis

Again, no surprise. Day-Lewis completely deserved the award and none of the other actors could even hold a candle to his performance in 'There Will Be Blood'.

Best Actress -- Marion Cotillard

Though Julie Christie was favoured to win the award, Cotillard swept in and stole it. I was really hoping that Christie would win it (although she has won before, 42 years ago for 'Darling'), her performance in 'Away from Her' was amazing. And the film was written and directed by Canadian Sarah Polley, so of course I had to root for it. However, Cotillard did an amazing job portraying Edith Piaf in 'La Vie en Rose' and she definitely deserved to win as well.

Best Supporting Actor -- Javier Bardem

 No surprise here. Truly one of the best actors in Hollywood.

Best Supporting Actress -- Tilda Swinton

This was a huge surprise. I was really expecting Ruby Dee to win, and felt that her performance in 'American Gangster' was 100 times better than Swinton's.

Now for me, Sunday was deja vu because of one day at the Toronto International Film Festival. I was reading about Sarah Polley's nomination for best adapted screenplay and Julie Christie's best actress nominations for Away From Her. I had seen Away From Her at Ryerson at 9 AM on September 12, 2006. I was really looking forward to seeing Sarah Polley's directorial debut of a feature film. It is a very good movie and Toronto native Sarah Polley got the biggest applause of any person at the 23 movies I saw that year.

Now one movie is not enough to give me deja vu, but two are. The other thing I saw yesterday was the ad for Bonneville staring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Joan Allen. Talk about star power, twelve Oscar nominations and three wins between the three of them. I saw this at noon of the same day in the same theater just after Away From Her.

What I don't understand is how come Away From Her was released, albeit limited, May 4, 2007 and this is being released February 29, 2008.

Here is the trailer from Bonneville,

I was lucky enough to hear the Q&A with the director and screenwriter. The most memorable question and answer was when one of the audience members asked about how does a young man write such great roles for older actress, which are few and far between in Hollywood. The screenwriter had the very easy answer, he based it on three important women in his life, his mom, his aunt, and one of their friends (I think those were the three people, it has been 18 months, so if I am off, apologies).

SPOILER ALERT BELOW

You can pick up on some of the premise from the trailer. I am not going to give away anything major, but provide more of the background story.

The plot revolves around Jessica Lange's character. Her husband of 20 years dies while they are on a trip to Bali. She has him cremated and brought back to Idaho where they live. His daughter, her step-daughter, shows up at the wake. She is pissed, she plays the bitch role perfectly, she didn't want him cremated, she wants him buried next to her mom in California.

Now the house in Idaho is very nice, and in the will is to be left to the bitchy daughter. Apparently he had updated the will to leave to Jessica Lange's character, but they can't locate it. The daughter use this to force Jessica to bring the ashes to California to be buried next to his first wife, in exchange she will let Jessica have the house. I told you bitch.

Jessica decides to take the ashes in person and her two friends played by Kathy Bates and Joan Allen decide to join her for support. The rest of the movie is really their journey to California. I really liked the movie and recommend it highly. My friends have been wondering when/if it will ever come out.

-Josh

I figured I’d do a quick Oscar run down since some pretty serious upsets went down last night despite the big ones (Movie, Director, Actor) going as planned. I think it’s safe to say now that the general consensus of the academy is that No Country for Old Men was the movie of the year, taking home statues for Supporting Actor (my boy Javier pictured below enjoying the festivites), Adapted Script, Direction and Movie of the Year. The Coen brothers each took home 3 Oscars last night, although they could have won a record breaking fourth in one year. Apparently the Oscar nominated editor of No Country named Roderick Jaynes in the credits is simply an alias for said brothers. The Coen boys have had a wonderful career of interesting movies with The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou? and their latest masterpiece, No Country for Old Men, topping my list of favorites. Congrats bros. I’m glad There Will be Blood didn’t rob you of your year.

I really loved last night’s upsets. Julie Christie was thought to be a lock by most for her portrayal of a woman succumbing to Alzheimer’s in the beautiful and heartbreaking Away From Her. I couldn’t have been happier to see the coveted statue handed over to Marion Cotillard for her portrayal of Edith Piaf through all stages of her life in La Vie en Rose. This little seen movie will now have its DVD stamped with the approval of the academy’s two Oscars and therefore will be viewed by the masses. This little known actress, who I have loved since her role as the comforting wife to a heartbroken man losing his father in Big Fish, will find her career blossoming in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Most notably her paycheck will quintuple for her next movie and the trailer will don her as 'Academy Award Winner Marion Cotillard.'

I don’t know if I could really call this an upset, but I certainly expected one of the tunes from Enchanted to win for best song despite the performances really sucking it up at the Oscars. Not only was the performance of 'Falling Slowly' from the perfect little indie Once quite magical last night, but they also handed the stars of the film the Oscar for their song. If you haven’t seen Once yet, be sure to rent it. It’s short, original and has some songs that will stay with you long after the credits roll.

And now for the best upset of the evening: Tilda Swinton! I’ve always had a lot of respect for this fascinating actress. She’s had lots of small roles that have really stuck with me in some of my top tier films. Tilda doesn’t appear in Vanilla Sky until 2 hours in, yet her 5 minute monologue is a scene that has always struck me as one of my favorites: “The Lucid Dream is worth the risk. And what is any life if not the pursuit of a dream? The dream of peace, the dream of achievement, the dream of hearing someone say these words when they really, truly mean them. I love you David. Te quiero. Roam free David. Most of us live our whole lives without any real adventure to call our own. It’s hard to comprehend, but they laughed at Jules Verne too.” I loved her business exec in Adaptation, her struggling mother in Thumbsucker, and her conflicted litigator in Michael Clayton was certainly Oscar worthy. To top it all off she turned her thank you speech into a joke about George Clooney. He’s got serious dedication to his art (because he keeps that Batman suit with the pointy nipples on all the time, both on screen and off). Hopefully we’ll get to see more Tilda Swinton now, perhaps in some starring roles.

- Rich

Last night we at Reptastic blogged live from the Red Carpet (by red carpet we mean the blood-stained carpet in our Seattle apartment) to bring you all the goings-on of the 80th Academy Awards. It was a night with a few surprises and some superb cinema, heightened by the deft touch of Jon Stewart who showed an uncommon level of sincerity in his role as host. A lovely night, some lovely winners, let's relive it:

5:31--"Welcome to the make-up sex."
Master of ceremonies and political funnyman Jon Stewart takes the stage to start us off on this long, arduous journey which is the Academy Awards telecast. He instantly amuses by asserting the proceedings would provide an amorous end to the writers strike.

But with this being a Hollywood crowd obsessed with back-patting, some of Stewart's best material actually receives scattered groans from the crowd, including the priceless line, "Even Norbit got a nomination this year which I think is great. Too often the Academy ignores movies that are not good."

His monologue was decidedly short though, betraying the obvious time crunch for him to complete it in the short time since the writers strike. It could also be that the higher-ups at the Academy want to keep this sprawling mess of a show under 5-hours, let's see if they're successful.

5:42--"The First Oscar of the Evening"
Oh, Jennifer Garner your sharp comedic timing is astounding! No wonder they gave you the honor of presenting the prestigious "Best Costume Design" award. Is it just me, or does Miss Garner seem a whole helluvalot like the character she plays in Juno? I think that role wasn't a great stretch for her.

Anyway, the Oscar goes to the 4-time nominee Alexandra Byrne for "Elizabeth the Golden Age". A great honor for her and she offered an amazingly great, short, to the point speech. But one thought enters my mind drowning out all other thoughts in my head and that's "wait, you're being awarded for best costume design? look what the hell you're wearing, maybe you should learn to dress yourself." Anyway, congratulations to our first Oscar winner.

5:44--"Hello Gorgeous"
Babs Streisand fondly recalls her famous Oscar win before we go to the first commercial break of the telecast. We see a clip from the past when she came to the stage she stared longingly at her new award and simply said "hello, gorgeous." And a generation of cross-dressing men were like putty in her hands. Truly a great Oscar moment.

5:49--"Let's take a look back at 80 years of Oscar"

The oh-so dreamy George Clooney takes the stage back from the break to charm the pants off of us. Literally, I mean, my jeans are now balled up in the corner and I have no idea how it happened, that's how charming Mr. Clooney is. He presents us a quick look back at the Academy Awards of yesteryear to let the crowd revel in the revelling of past Oscars. I may sound cynical or sarcastic right now, but in all sincerity, it was a great clip package with genuine moments and it was effectively brief. I'm sensing this is becoming a theme in this year's Awards: effective, impactful, and brief. Well, brief, until somehow Kanye West bum-rushes the stage to say he should have won not only best actor but best actress as well, that's how good he is. Oh Kanye, you arrogant fucking bastard.

5:52--"This isn't the documentary category? Shit."

Anne Hathaway and the always hilarious Steve Carrell (always doesn't include Evan Almighty), join-up to present Best Documentary, or at least that's what Steve believes he is doing, until Anne sets him straight that the films he's describing aren't searing indictments of restaurants or animal treatment, instead they're animated features. In a moment not caught by the FCC or ABC Standards and Practices, Carrell let's slip with an S-Bomb.

Carrell recovers from his sickening embarrassment at not understanding the films he was to present, while Hathaway reads the nominees. And the Oscar for best animated film goes to...Ratatouille! A charming film starring Patton Oswalt as a foodie rat who takes Paris by storm with his culinary expertise.

5:56 "I'm sorry I'm a bit nervous"

In the understatement of the century, Kathryn Heigl admits her nervousness as she appears on the verge of tears while she presents the award for Best Make-up. All I can think is "Please be Norbit! Please be Norbit!" But my hopes and dreams are dashed. I just really wanted to see one of the worst films ever get an Oscar, instead it goes to La Vie en Rose.

6:00--"Oh, we have professionals to do this"

Amy Adams performs the first Academy Award nominated song of the evening from the movie Enchanted. It's a terrible song, but Amy Adams is quite cute, so I don't mind it too much, I just mute it and make do.

6:07--"Do you smell what the Rock is presenting!"

That line above is my own reaction to seeing Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson present the award for Best Visual Effects. The winner is...The Golden Compass, a film that admittedly I've never seen. Let's just move on.

6:10--"Best Art Direction"

The awards just keep coming fast and furious as another technical award is presented and the winner for Best Art Direction is Sweeney Todd and the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

6:13--"Let's give you an idea of the past winners of Best Supporting Actor"

Thus begins another clips package showing us all of the greats who've won best supporting actor. As they show some of the leading lights of film winning the award we prepare for another to be inducted into the illustrious group. This year boasts a brilliant crop of nominees: Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, and Tom Wilkinson. Wilkinson seemed an absolute lock for this Award in the fall, but then came the transcendently brilliant performance of Javier Bardem as he played one of the greatest villains ever to appear on the silver screen. The Academy recognized this brilliance and rewarded him according with the Oscar. So far, Reptastic's Oscar pool is looking mighty good.

6:23--"Thank god we didn't have to show that"

Had the writer's strike not been resolved, Jon Stewart informs us that the show would have been padded with more montages, such as the one he shows, "Oscar's Tribute to Periscopes and Binoculars." After seeing the clips package we're reassured by Jon that thank god the writers came back so we didn't have to watch such a thing. So true brother, a writerless world is not a world I want to occupy.

6:29--"To present Best Short Film, Owen Wilson"

I mean this when I say I'm glad we're seeing Owen Wilson on the stage at the Academy Awards and not during the In Memoriam. We at Reptastic are big Owen Wilson fans, and we're happy to see him well. The winner in the categoy is a Frenchman with limited English skills and it all becomes appallingly clear that with a few of these categories so far the Academy has selected winners whose native tongue is not English as a cynical attempt to keep acceptance speeches short. Well, it's working, we're just whisking through speeches at breakneck speed.

6:35--"This is a very encouraging thing"

In a lot less distinguished race than Best Supporting Actor, the Award for Best Supporting Actress goes to Tilda Swinton for her first-rate performance as the cold-hearted bitch of a lawyer in Michael Clayton. In an odd twist she credits the award to her agent and takes a funny jab at George Clooney asserting that he wears the nippled Batsuit under his other clothes when he works on films. A pleasantly funny remark which George took in stride and lightened up a usually stodgy broadcast; good on you, Tilda Swinton, you cheeky Brit.

6:45--"Technical Awards"

Jessica Alba trots out on stage to sex-up the normally boring recap of the Technical Awards which are presented at an earlier date. But it doesn't work. Yawn.

6:47--"That was my Nicholson. I'm sorry Jack, that was a terrible impression, I'll buy you a drink later"

I didn't remember this until yesterday when I caught the movie on cable and was shocked to see that co-starring alongside Sean Astin, as the hunky, older brother in the movie Goonies was none other than No Country for Old Men's Josh Brolin. Surprisingly, Brolin wasn't nominated for best Actor this year, perhaps because of his Goonies ties, but he does get some stage time, presenting Best Adapted Screenplay. And it is an astonishingly strong group of nominees with No Country, There Will Be Blood, Away from Her, Atonement, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But there could only be one winner and that's the Coen Brothers for the fantastic No Country For Old Men, adapted from the novel by legendary writer Cormac McCarthy.

7:03--"Dame Judy Dench and Halle Berry"

Not quite the Dame and Halle, we see Jonah Goldberg and Seth Rogen are forced to fill in for the lovely Oscar winners and argue over who gets to be Halle. Jonah asserts he so much more encompasses that Halle aura and we at Reptastic couldn't agree more, after all, their boobs are roughly the same size. Johan and Seth cut out their bickering long enough to present the Bourne Ultimatum with two awards for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

7:13--"The first upset of the night"

Oscar surprises again as the winner for Best Actress goes not to Julie Christie or Ellen Page but to Marion Cotillard for her performance in La Vie en Rose, once again proving that for a beautiful woman to win an Oscar, they must slap on a bunch of makeup to make themselves look ugly. Hey, it worked for Charlize Theron, why not for Marion Cotillard. I don't want to belittle her Oscar though, this is one film Reptastic hasn't seen so we can't truly pass judgement, we're just glad Ellen Page didn't win because her performance and film is the most overrated of the year.

7:18--"Colin Farrell slip-slides into our hearts"

As Colin walks to the podium he nearly takes a dive slipping on an inexplicable puddle by on the stage; perhaps someone needs to clean that up or perhaps Mr Farrell needs to get back into rehab. More importantly Farrell introduces the fourth nominated song of the evening--and in Reptastic's opinion the best--Falling Slowly by Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard from the film Once.

7:31--"The star of the untitled 2010 Nicole Kidman project, Nicole Kidman"

After watching the Bourne Ultimatum receive a third Oscar, 98 year old Robert Boyle is presented with the Honorary Oscar. He may be 98, but looks a spry 98 and his honor is very deserved, being the point man for many of Alfred Hitchcock's great films as his production art director.

7:49--"Falling Slowly"

After listening to a third song from the movie Enchanted, we finally get the announcement for the winner of Best Original Song, and thankfully the winner is Marketa and Glen who were truly overcome by emotion at their victory. So far this is Reptastic's favorite moment of the night's ceremony; it's a touching thing to see two young outsiders win this award after making one of the best movies we've seen in the past year and the recording one of the most heartwarming, beautiful songs. After the break, Jon Stewart lets Marketa, who was cut off by the music during her remarks, come back on the stage to finish her remarks and we're glad he let her as she made a moving speech about hope and daring to dream.

7:55--"In Memoriam"

There Will Be Blood wins for Best Cinemetography which oddly is a fitting segue into this year's "In Memoriam." This segment is a morbidly fascinating display in appreciation of those in the Academy who have passed this year. It's always interesting to see who receives the most applause as the go through the assorted collection of actors, directors, editors, make-up artists and more. Heath Ledger was obviously the most heartbreaking of the "In Memoriam" segment as he was the last name flashed on the screen.

8:06--"Best Original Score"

This category should be totally disregarded this year because Jonny Greenwood was inexplicably not nominated for his score for of There Will Be Blood which featured one of the most original and innovative scores of the past 10 years.

8:26--"I think I'm sane and everyone else is crazy"

That was Reptastic's reaction when Diablo Cody won for Best Original Screenplay for Juno. Michael Clayton was a far superior film and much better written. Juno is the most overrated film of the year and if you want to see Reptastic's full opinion on the matter you can read our original review here.

8:30--"And now the most inevitable moment of the evening"

Daniel Day Lewis is simply one of the finest actors of his generation and his performance as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood is one of the most intense, engaging roles we may ever see. Despite George Clooney's extraordinary turn as Michael Clayton, he simply stood no chance to the gale force wind that swept through the Academy this year which was Daniel Plainview, so it was no surprise to see Lewis collect the Oscar for Best Actor.

8:41--"Academy Award-Winner Martin Scorcese"

Martin has still got to be getting used to hearing himself called an Academy Award Winner. Sure, he probably can't believe that he won for the sub-par work that was The Departed, but we all know it was a lifetime achievement award because Martin should have won a statue well before that night just one year ago. This year it's Martin's honor to present the Oscar to the director who will join this exclusive fraternity. In Reptastic's heart of hearts, despite how much we love No Country for Old Men, we hoped with all hope that the Academy would honor PT Anderson for There Will Be Blood, because by god, he deserves some sort of formal recognition for his sprawling, searing epic. However, Joel and Ethan Coen pick up another award for No Country for Old Men and you really can't argue that they don't deserve it.

8:45--"The Coup de grace"

As the final award of the night approached a lot of the drama had gone out of the telecast. With both the writing and directing honors going to the Coen brothers, it seemed inevitable that they would also pick up the honor for best film. A few moments later our suspicions are confirmed as No Country For Old Men takes it's fourth Award of the night winning Picture of the Year, which is an especially high honor as 2007 was the finest year in cinema since the landmark movies of 1999. You can read Reptastic's review of No Country here.

And this concludes the 80th Academy Awards, where in all truth, for the most part the Academy got it absolutely right except for the notable exception of honoring Juno. Goodnight from Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, this has been your official Reptastic Academy Awards blog.

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)

Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent)

Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)

Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal)

Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)

Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)

Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)

Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)

Ellen Page in “Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)

Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)

Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)

Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Brad Bird

“Surf’s Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction

“American Gangster” (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino

"Atonement” (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

"There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins

"Atonement” (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins

"There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design

“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky

"Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran

“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne

"La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen

"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel

"Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman

"Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature

“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins

“Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara

“Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner

"War/Dance” (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject

“Freeheld” A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth

"La Corona (The Crown)” A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega

"Salim Baba” A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello

“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley

Achievement in film editing

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal): Christopher Rouse

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling

“Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes

"There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year

“Beaufort” Israel

"The Counterfeiters” Austria

“Katyn” Poland

“Mongol” Kazakhstan

"12″ Russia

Achievement in makeup

“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

"Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

"The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias

“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard

“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

"3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova

"Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

"Raise It Up” from “August Rush” (Warner Bros.): Music and Lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas

“So Close” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year

“Atonement” (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

"Juno” (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

"Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Best animated short film

“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin

"Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

"Même les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

"My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov

"Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film

“At Night” A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth

"Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema It