U:Talk Film

A Single Man

Tom Ford was famous for his fashion merits and saving Gucci. Now he is a filmmaker and I am very happy he is. A Single Man has to be one of the finest debuts ever, certainly the best since last year's 'Moon'. It is a testament to his obvious natural ability behind the character that he could put together such a gifted ensemble and bring out such a performance from Colin Firth. You may have noticed I didn't put an adjective there to describe Mr Firth, that's because it is hard to describe it to any justice. It has to be one of the finest performances I have ever seen, and definitely the best of the year. It saddens me greatly that he is not the favourite for the Oscar, although I still have my fingers crossed for him. Then again, it may be a performance but it feels real, the moment when he hears of his lover's death is so devastating I was mesmerised. He is supported well by Julianne Moore (chenneling Patsy from AbFab mixed with Grace gone bad from Will & Grace) with a pretty decent English accent, and the surprise here was Nicholas Hoult, seemingly just a student out to seduce his professor yet obviously so much more than that as the film progresses, they provide each other with hope and understanding and it translates beautifully on screen.

I have heard criticisms of the film that it is overly stylised, yet to me that seemed to fit the tone of the film well. George (Firth) is very conscious of appearances and how things look, he talks of 'becoming George' every morning, as if he has to play a part in his everyday life, yet you never once think Colin Firth is acting. I can't praise this film highly enough. It is beautiful and devastating and should be seen immediately.

Valentine's Day

I'm a rom-com girl.  I admit it. Even the worst tosh out there I can normally find a couple of scenes that don't make me regret spending the money. This film is nothing special really, which is odd considering the cast. I am surprised they could fit so many names on a poster! More starry than 'He's Just Not That Into You' and trying to be the LA version of 'Love Actually' it is not as good as either but has it's moments. If you don't like rom coms, stay clear. If you fancy any of the cast members then you might enjoy it more. The worst thing about this film is the waste of the talent it has, almost half the cast are Ocscar nominees and most of them are given very little to do. Perhaps it could have been better if some of the characters had been taken out but it is fun nonetheless and at just over 2 hours I was never bored. The best interaction has to go to Bradley Cooper and Julia Roberts, sharing conversations on a long plane journey with one of the most touching turnouts of the film. Enjoyable enough but could have been better.

Alas, no reviews on last week's show but on the next show there will be a review of Precious.

Week 4's show was predominantly about awards. I was very happy to hear Kathryn Bigelow got herself the Director's Guild Award for The Hurt Locker. Her direction on that film was truly stellar and she deserves to get every award going and for the most part she seems to be getting them!

The Oscar nominations were released last week- it's the time the best the film world has to offer get named and there weren't many surprises. However, even though it may seem that a lot of the categories seem sewn up I would say that the Oscars have a tendency to surprise in at least one of the big categories so wait and see. Plus, there is over a month of more awards and more buzz building to go so what may seem certain now may be very different come March 7th!

For a full list of the nominations have a look here:

http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2010/oscars

I love the Oscars. They are one of my favourite occasions of the year (as are the BAFTAs) and I am also very excited about this years' hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. They should make a good duo, both veteran hosts of SNL and Martin has hosted the ceremony before with a great ease and comedy so there should be some good gags. I will be watching the whole thing live so keep an eye on this page for up to date commentary on the night!

As for the Best Picture candidates there are ten nominees this year, I have seen all of them and if I was choosing The Hurt Locker would win, with Inglourious Basterds a close second. I liked Avatar, I really did but it should get the techinical awards, not the Best Picture in my humble opinion. However, at the moment Avatar is the one to beat in that category. There were some glaring omissions from the Best Picture lineup- Moon should have been there, and so should Sam Rockwell for the Best Actor category. I would also have liked (500) Days of Summer to get some love but alas, it didn't even get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay whicvh I thought it would.

Most of the acting categories seem pretty locked up but as I say, things change. It's going to be interesting in particular to see how the race for Best Actress goes as it's a race between Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (which unfortunately isn't released here until 12th March) and Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia. More on this race as it develops... I keep changing my mind because they are two of my favourite actresses, I just wish I could see The Blind Side to help me make the decision!

The Razzie nominations were also announced :http://www.razzies.com/history/30thNoms.asp

Sandra Bullock has the 'honour' of being the first actress to be nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year and she has said that if she wins the Razzie she will show up to collect it in person! That just makes me love her even more.

That was about it really, tune in next week for more movie news, a review of Precious and some chatting about Valentine's or anti-Valentine's movies!