Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
Wild At Heart
This past weekend I went to check out "The Hobbit: Desolation Of Smaug". I was a huge fan of the LOTR trilogy and must admit that while the new Hobbit movies share that same gorgeous look, the first 2 movies feel a bit padded. I would have been more open to a two-part film but I cannot totally be upset by their decision. The films are still better than most epic fantasy films of this type and are just beautiful to watch. In this film, the amazing Elf kingdom, the forest with the giant spiders and even Laketown are just fantastic locales. My favorite things about this film are the addition of Lost's Evangeline Lilly as the sexy elf Tauriel who takes over every scene she is in and the dragon Smaug who just embodies the evil villain. He is so smug and confident as he interacts with Bilbo and the Dwarves that he just takes over and has me excited for the third installment. Sure, these films are a step down from LOTR but they are still fun to watch.
I have always prided myself in being a big movie buff and the past few years have made a solid effort to see all the Academy Award nominated films before the next years awards. The only exception I make is short documentaries because they are really hard to find. From last year's crop, I am short 4 films from that category and the foreign film "Kon-Tiki" which is at the local libraries so it is just a matter of time before I catch it. So with the Golden Globes out, I was almost mortified that I had only seen four of the films nominated, 2 being animated films ("Croods" and "Despicable Me 2"), "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (best song nominee) and the only real contender "Gravity". However, a lot of these films haven't been released on the big stage yet so I still have time to catch up on the potential big films of this year Academy Award season.
For local film buffs, the Detroit Film Critics Society announced their picks for 2013 and I was surprised by their pick of "Her", a Spike Jonze sci-fi film starring Joaquin Phoenix as a man who forms an interesting relationship with a advanced operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). I haven't seen this film yet as it hasn't opened here but I loved his movies "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" so I have high hopes here. I am also looking forward to "American Hustle" and "Dallas Buyers Club" but as always this should provide some good viewing opportunities for Detroit area film fans. Here is there list; so enjoy.
THE NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS FOR 2013 PICKED BY THE DETROIT FILM CRITICS SOCIETY (alphabetical order)
Winners are in red
1. BEST PICTURE
12 YEARS A SLAVE
BEFORE MIDNIGHT
GRAVITY
HER
SHORT TERM 12
2. BEST DIRECTOR
ALFONSO CUARÓN - GRAVITY
PAUL GREENGRASS – CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
SPIKE JONZE - HER
DAVID O. RUSSELL – AMERICAN HUSTLE
MARTIN SCORSESE – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
3. BEST ACTOR
LEONARDO DICAPRIO – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR – 12 YEARS A SLAVE
TOM HANKS – CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY – DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
ROBERT REDFORD – ALL IS LOST
4. BEST ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS – AMERICAN HUSTLE
JULIE DELPY – BEFORE MIDNIGHT
ADÈLE EXARCHOPOULOS – BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
BRIE LARSON – SHORT TERM 12
MERYL STREEP – AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BARKHAD ABDI – CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
JAMES FRANCO – SPRING BREAKERS
JARED LETO – DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY – MUD
STANLEY TUCCI – THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
SCARLETT JOHANSSON - HER
JENNIFER LAWRENCE – AMERICAN HUSTLE
LUPITA NYONG’O – 12 YEARS A SLAVE
JULIA ROBERTS – AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
JUNE SQUIBB - NEBRASKA
7. BEST ENSEMBLE
12 YEARS A SLAVE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
BLUE JASMINE
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
8. BEST BREAKTHROUGH
LAKE BELL – IN A WORLD… - DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAY, ACTRESS
RYAN COOGLER – FRUITVALE STATION – DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAY
DESTIN CRETTON – SHORT TERM 12 – DIRECTOR, SCREENPLAY
MICHAEL B. JORDAN – FRUITVALE STATION - ACTOR
BRIE LARSON – SHORT TERM 12 - ACTRESS
9. BEST SCREENPLAY
DESTIN CRETTON – SHORT TERM 12
SPIKE JONZE – HER
JULIE DELPY, ETHAN HAWKE, RICHARD LINKLATER – BEFORE MIDNIGHT
DAVID O. RUSSELL & ERIC SINGER – AMERICAN HUSTLE
TERENCE WINTER – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
10. BEST DOCUMENTARY
THE ACT OF KILLING
BLACKFISH
THE SQUARE
STORIES WE TELL
THE UNKNOWN KNOWN
If you are more into music, here are a few shows worth catching:
Tuesday (12/17) - Cage The Elephant w/Blue October and Iamdynamite @ The Fillmore
Wednesday (12/18) - Delbert McClinton @ the Ark
Friday (12/20) - Kem @ Fox Theatre, Twistin Tarantulas @ Magic Bag
Saturday (12/21) - The Sights @ Magic Stick, Aretha Franklin @ MotorCity Casino, Mannheim Steamroller @ Fox Theatre, Atavan opens for Search The City @ the Pike Room