Anne of the Thousand Days

Trying out a new approach to this thing. I'm writing some segments before I actually watch. Now you'll be able to see how little I know about some of these movies before seeing them, makes my tenses easier to work with in the "why I'm watching" portion, and hopefully will keep me honest. Let's see how it goes!

Why I'm watching:
1) Best Picture nom from the 60s I haven't seen with the most noms
2) I love media set in Tudor England (I debated a while on what word to use there. "Movies" wouldn't have covered books or TV shows, so I needed something more general. "Stuff" or "shit" seemed too colloquial. "Culture" too pretentious. "Media" seemed specific and detached enough)

What I know going in:
The 1969 movie is based on the play of the same name. It's about Anne Boleyn in some capacity; I'm gonna guess the titular 1000 days refers to how long she was queen. Cromwell is a character...at least he is in the play - my dad played the part in high school! For history buffs, this is Oliver Cromwell's ancestor.
I'm expecting great period costuming and art direction. I know that I'll recognize the lead actor when I see him - can't remember who plays him (Richard Burton?). I assume the lead male is Henry VIII.

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)
Noms: Picture, Actor (Richard Burton), Actress (Genevieve Bujold), Supporting Actor (Anthony Quayle), Adapted Screenplay, Score, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Costume Design, Art Direction
Win: Costume Design

So I remembered right, it is Richard Burton (go me!). And the above picture caught such an amazing expression, I had to pick it. That's not Anne Boleyn, but Catherine of Aragon by the way - who is fierce and has become one of my favorite historical characters. Irene Papas, who plays her here is awesome, but I first fell in love with the character on The Tudors where she is portrayed by Maria Doyle Kennedy.

I really enjoyed this one. The acting is great. The costume and production design is beautiful and lush; I especially loved the various blue gowns Anne Boleyn wore -wow! But the standout for me is the script. The way the characters speak is so wonderful: accessible, yet elevated. I learned after watching that, like the play, some of the film is in blank verse. How cool is that? And appropriate for the setting! Also, the most complete account of the Anne Boleyn story I've seen thus far. I'd seen most of the elements before, but not all in one package. Anne prior engagement to Percy (Amaranthine - a play by a fabulously talented friend). Henry's affair with Mary Boleyn (The Other Boleyn Girl). The Tudors had a lot of the rest, but I don't recall those two major elements.

I've already gushed over Richard Burton before, so seeing this just reinforced my perception of him. Genevieve Bujold, on the other hand, is a new discovery. She is fierce. She really shows off all the facet of the Anne Boleyn character that have made her such a fixture in our collection imagination. Bold, cunning, smart, girlish, proud, alluring, stubborn, mysterious, etc. Her shifts in the way she carries herself throughout the movie are impressive and awesome to watch.

Next up: Either Shine or Spirited Away probably....

A Passage to India

A Passage to India (1984)
Noms: Picture, Director (David Lean), Actress (Judy Davis), Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Score, Art Direction, Cinematography, Sound, Costume Design
Wins: Supporting Actress, Score

Why I watched it:
1) of the Best Picture nominees from the 80s I hadn't seen, it had the most nominations/wins
2) yeah, that's pretty much it

Interesting story. Strong performances, I especially liked Victor Banerjee (Aziz) and James Fox (Fielding). Stilted script in a lot of places though; It was effective at conveying the racism of the British colonists. Peggy Ashcroft is so sweet - by FAR the most likeable character.

There is a lot of plot in this movie, and I think the film suffered for how much was included. The set up for the actual plot - the day trip to the caves - takes longer than the incident and the entire fallout. While it painted a picture of the culture surrounding the incident well, it felt off to me, and lessened the impact of incident itself. The huge shifts in Adela's relationship to Aziz happened so quickly, it lessened the impact of the character's decision to tell the truth. Something just felt weird about the pacing.

Spoilers/trigger warning: In general, the character of Adela came off to me as a terrible person by the end. As far as I can tell, she falsely accused someone of rape or fabricated being raped completely. You don't really find out what happened. I only mention this, because I don't think it was the intent, but it's definitely what I felt. Ambiguity can be good, but it is possible to be too ambiguous.

I didn't know Alec Guinness was in this movie until the opening credits. Star Wars might be the only movie I'd seen him in, so I wasn't sure what he looked like under his Obi-Wan Kenobi-beard. I spent the rest of the movie trying to spot him. Towards the end, I thought he must be the lawyer for the prosecution. I was so wrong. As the credits rolled, I saw that he actually played Godbole, the Indian professor/mystic. "What in the damn hell?!" It never would have crossed my mind that they would cast a white guy as a Hindu Brahmin. For a film that explicitly discusses cultural prejudices, this seems such a blatantly stupid casting choice. Come on!

"da fuh?": In addition to his casting in general, Godbole's moment seen from the train by Mrs. Moore was a stand out moment of utter weirdness in a movie filled with odd moments. Other moments had some mystery, like the scene where Adela is chased from the ruins by monkeys, but this seemed to be trying to be foreboding and came off as silly. Especially when I realized it was Old Ben.

Surprise appearance: Other than Alec Guinness obviously. When I looked up the actor who played Fielding, I realized why he looked so familiar - he was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (among other things)!

The Impossible

The Impossible (2012)

Nom: Best Actress (Naomi Watts)

Why I watched it:

1) Didn't have a DVD of my own when I went to donate blood, but the blood clinic had it from Netflix

2) I was more in the mood for a disaster movie than the other options I was looking at

Not an easy movie to watch. Not because it's made poorly, but because it portrays the horrific aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia so vividly. The absolute devastation wrought by the tsunami and the ensuing efforts to recover are at the heart of the movie. The tsunami happens suddenly and quickly, without much screentime being devoted to it, which makes sense because, as I understand it, that is precisely why tsunamis are so destructive. The effects were really impressive, made even more so because they were largely created without using computers.

More than the disaster, the movie really does tell a compelling story of a family working through impossible odds to reunite. Amazing, but true.

Naomi Watts is a fabulous actress and I've loved her work in a great number of movies, 21 Grams comes immediately to mind. That said, I don't get why she got a lead actress nom for this movie. For starters, she didn't really have that much screentime, and a lot of what was there consisted of her in a sick bed. Acting sick, while a definite feat of acting, has never done anything for me. So much of what sells the illness is makeup and production design, not the craft of the actor. Her performance was great as a part of the film, but in terms of Oscar-worthiness, it did nothing for me. I have similar feelings about Emmanuelle Riva in Amour - don't hate me.

"da fuh?" - Naomi Watts coughing up what looked like a plant was incredibly gross. It's one thing to watch something shocking like that in the comfort of one's own home, but it is a whole new experience to watch that while not being able to move. I had to just restrain my visceral response and watch, though after it was over, I did that I had sunk into myself as much as possible. I also caught a glimpse of my reflection in the television and my expression of horror.

Did I cry?: Yep. SPOILERS - when Ewan McGregor is reunited with his boys, the tears began to fall.

(got a tad behind in my updates - working on getting caught up)