The Film:

Amelia Earhart is one of the most legendary American pioneers to this day. Among the many accomplishments, aviation records she set, and barriers she broke down for future female pilots; the most notable is her solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Her career achievements have been studied many times, but the 2009 release of the movie “Amelia” explores a more detailed side of Earhart’s life. Hilary Swank (Amelia Earhart) plays a dominant role along with Richard Gere who plays a very charismatic and infatuated George Putnam.

There are’t many movies based on legendary figures that catch the personal side of life as well as the professional side. Swank delivered an almost perfect performance with Earhart’s desire for freedom and adventure as well as her loving but dominant personality within her relationships. The chemistry that Gere and Swank shared on the screen as business partners and spouses were one to be remembered. Even though these types of films are typically not my first choice when I’m at the movies, I was generally interested throughout the majority of the film. The only thing that I would have liked to see in more detail were the interactions the Earhart had with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). To be more critical, the movie could have featured a few more details of how deeply Putnam was suffering as a result of his relationship with Earhart. Those are still relatively minor details even though they could’ve added to the plot.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video

The audio is crisp and clear and the video was beautiful.

Special Features:

Deleted Scenes

A behind the scenes look at the making of Amelia.

There is also a special on Earhart’s influence on society back then as well as today.

A detailed feature on the work to get an actual plane that Earhart used on her last flight, Elektra to be in the film.

A look at the production design and locations of the movie.

Also there are actual pieces of footage from different events and points in Amelia’s career.

Throughout, I was entertained despite a lack of true detail into her private life.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Film:

Although her latest effort, Amelia, was a flop both critically and commercially, the Criterion Collection’s recent release of Mira Nair‘s Monsoon Wedding reminds us of Nair’s enormous talents. The film is wonderfully unique, a cultural smörgåsbord with an endless supply of gorgeous visuals. The clothing, the music, and the dancing might seem foreign to an American audience, but the joyous heart of Monsoon Wedding is universal.

The film begins informally by simply thrusting us into it’s world. There are well over a dozen characters we meet early on, and it’s up to us to sort out who is who. Slowly, we begin to pick up on the key players: Aditi (Vasundhara Das) and Hemant (Parvin Dabas) are the couple participating in an arranged marriage, Aditi’s parents are Lalit (Naseerudin Shah) and Pimmi (Lillete Dubey), and the event coordinator, P.K. Dube (Vijay Raaz) is smitten with the family’s beautiful maid, Alice (Tilotama Shome).

The way Nair weaves together all of these narrative threads is a massive juggling feat. Although the film can be confusing in it’s developing moments, we begin to not only learn each character’s relationship with the family, but what distinguishes them from everybody else. The screen may be crowded, but somehow Nair still finds time to explain each character with such a thorough tenderness that each personality can be easily reflected to someone in our own family.

Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married owes quite a bit to Monsoon Wedding. Although the former film is much darker, the family dynamics of the two films are very much the same. Each film also smartly balances melodrama with a vérité-style documentation of it’s wedding rituals.

Monsoon Wedding perhaps begins to lose itself in it’s final act, but it’s a film of such vivid life that each narrative hiccup is easy to forgive. The film is simply a pure joy – a lavish feast for the eyes and the soul.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Presented in the film’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and in 1080p, the Monsoon Wedding director-approved transfer is up to Criterion’s high standards. The film was shot using 16mm and then blown up to 35mm, and considering that hindrance the transfer is still mostly void of blemishes. Although the image isn’t as detailed as some of the company’s best transfers (Pierrot le fou), it’s the best the film has ever looked on home video. The audio track is sharp and dynamic, making the most out of the film’s lively soundtrack.

Audio Commentary: The commentary was recorded in 2002 with director Mira Nair. It’s a decent track, particularly beneficial in thoroughly explaining some of the cultural details that will likely go right over a Western audience’s head. There are dead spaces now and then, but Nair does do a commendable job at keeping things fairly active throughout the entire runtime of the film.

The Laughing Club of India: For some reason, this short is isolated from the rest of the shorts on the disc. It’s a charming documentary about people who get together and laugh out loud together. They laugh every day, forty minutes a day, and specialize in several specific forms of laughter as if it were a dance or aerobic class. The group has even brought their ideology to elementary school, where dozens of children laugh and flail happily at their desks. Nair claims that her editing technique in this short was a huge contributory factor in the editing of Monsoon Wedding (35 min, 4 min introduction).

Naseeruddin Shah: This feature was shot exclusively for Criterion in 2009. In it, Mira Nair talks to one of the film’s leads, Naseeruddin Shah, about his memories of the film. Shah begins by discussing what drew him to the material initially. The two also discuss the casting process thoroughly, which was plagued with roadblocks such as actors dropping out on the day of the shoot (21 min).

Declan Quinn and Stephanie Carroll: Another feature shot exclusively for Criterion in 2009. Cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll discuss the initial production process of the film, and how they achieved the film’s unique and highly spontaneous look. They’re both so articulate and specific that it’s upsetting they couldn’t have contributed to the commentary track (11 min).

Theatrical Trailer: The Blu-ray disc features the film’s theatrical trailer (2 min).

Short Films:

I. Documentary

a. So Far from India: In the introduction, Nair discusses what drew her to documentary film making having had her roots in theater. After graduating Harvard, she found the subject for her first documentary at a newsstand in Harlem, New York. The man, Ashok Sheth, is in Indian immigrant that left his newly-married wife and son after their arranged marriage in India. The film explores the cultural differences between India and America, and the subjects (Ashok’s family) are highly bitter about the western world. Although a bit dry, the film is an interesting character study that’s well worth the time (50 min, 7 min introduction).

b. India Cabaret: This film studies the line separating “good” and “bad” women in Indian society, contrasting the strippers at a Bombay club and a frequent customer and his wife. Focusing on the hypocrisy and double standards in the culture, “India Cabaret” is a fascinating character piece about dancers in a society that isn’t quite as forgiving as the west as it regards burlesque shows. I’ve never seen a world quite like this one represented on film, and the seedy club itself is a location that’ll stick with you (60 min, 8 min introduction).

II. Fiction

a. The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat: South Africa’s Communist Party leader, Chris Hani, was assassinated in 1993, causing enormous fear amongst the country’s white community. The short film studies a specific white family that flees the country following the event. A bizarre, but captivating effort (12 min, 5 min introduction).

b. 11’09:01 – September 11 (Segment: “India”): A young Pakistani man from Queens, Salman Hamdani, disappeared on 9/11 and was then accused of being a terrorist. The film, adapting the true story, involves a mother trying to salvage her son’s legacy. It’s a dense short that successfully paints a unique and effective portrait of Pakistani families in post-9/11 world (12 min, 3 min introduction).

c. Migration: A beautifully shot short about the AIDS epidemic in India. A man leaves his village for the city and ends up contracting the disease. It’s a bit preachy (at one point, a street performer lectures a crowd on condoms), but a fairly compelling work. The short stars the great Irrfan Khan, who was terrific as the father in Nair’s 2007 effort, The Namesake (19 min, 4 min introduction).

d. How Can It Be?: This short was one of eight commissioned by the United Stations for a compilation film about global society. In it, a woman decides to leave her family and follow her heart. It’s a loaded short, perhaps the most intellectually stimulating of any of the fictional shorts on here. Beautifully shot, well acted, and fully-realized, How Can It Be? is an exceptional effort (10 min, 5 min introduction).

Conclusion: This is one of Criterion’s best releases of the year. The film may not be for everybody, but the extras are simply extraordinary. Not all of the shorts are worthwhile, but I found the three lengthier documentaries to be fascinating. This is a must have set for anyone even mildly interested in Mira Nair as a filmmaker.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
The Blu-ray: Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

“Saw VI” was not able to go and bring out its typical group of horror audience lovers into the theaters, only able to take in $14.8 Million. This “Saw” sequel brought in the lowest amount of revenue, making it the worst weekend opening of any of the films in this franchise. The other three films did not garner enough attention either, with the kid friendly “Astro Boy” only taking in $7 Million, “Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” bringing in $6.3 Million and the one Oscar potential feature “Amelia” only $4 Million. Read the rest of the list below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (October 23-25)

1. Paranormal Activity  ($22 M)
2. Saw VI  ($14.8 M)
3. Where the Wild Things Are  ($14.4 M)
4. Law Abiding Citizen  ($12.7 M)
5. Couples Retreat  ($11 M)
6. Astro Boy  ($7 M)
7. The Stepfather  ($6.5 M)
8. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant  ($6.3 M)
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs  ($5.6 M)
10. Zombieland  ($4.3 M)

On Wednesday for two weeks only, the Michael Jackson rehearsal footage film “This Is It” goes into theaters on October 28th. Halloween is literally a day away when the new batch of movies are released on October 30th, starting with the NY and LA limited release of “The House of the Devil”. The rest of them include limited releases of “The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day” and “The Gentleman Broncos”.

One reader from OneMovieFiveReviews stated in regards to the trailer:

“I attended a screening of Amelia tonight, (reviews coming Friday), and much to my pleasant surprise they showed a brand-new trailer for the hugely-anticipated Avatar. This over 3-minute trailer has gotten me more excited for the film than the original teaser-trailer and 16-minutes of “Avatar Day” footage put together. It explains the story very well for those who don’t already know what it’s about, has a very classy type-font that looks like something right out of a ‘70’s blockbuster, and best of all reminds people of James Cameron’s impressive filmography.”

Source: OneMovieFiveReview

Freckle-faced, prairie-voiced and fiercely independent, Hilary Swank’s depiction of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair’s biographical film “Amelia” is of a high order. It ranks with recent real-life portrayals of Ray Charles by Jamie Foxx and Truman Capote by Philip Seymour Hoffman and could be similarly awards-bound.

The classically structured bio will appeal to grown-ups, history buffs and lovers of aeronautics, but in showing how the flier was one of the most lauded celebrities of her time, it also might appeal to youngsters. Smart marketing will expose the film to students and educators, and Swank’s sparkling portrayal could help attract younger women.

Stephanie Carroll’s handsome production design re-creates the 1920s and ’30s vividly, and Stuart Dryburgh’s cinematography captures the wild sensation of being alone high in the sky. Composer Gabriel Yared’s orchestral score — muscular in the aerial scenes, jovial where it needs to be and foreboding in its evocation of Earhart’s fate — ranks with his Academy Award-winning music for “The English Patient.”

The screenplay by Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan is based on two books about Earhart — Susan Butler’s “East to the Dawn” and Elgin Long’s “Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved” — and is almost old-fashioned in its linear path. It provides as much information as is needed for those not familiar with the character without expositional clutter while taking time to show the woman’s no-nonsense approach to intimacy as well as the business of flying.

(The rest of the review can be read here: THR)

Aside from the film’s rave review, has the damage already been done with “Amelia”? Is it already knocked off most people’s Oscar lists, or can the once presumed nominee become a dark horse?

Hollywood Actor Award: Robert De Niro, “Everybody’s Fine”
Hollywood Actress Award: Hilary Swank, “Amelia”
Hollywood Supporting Actress Award: Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”
Hollywood Director Award: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Hollywood Producer Award: Ryan Kavanaugh, “Brothers,” “Nine”
Hollywood Screenwriter Award: Nora Ephron, “Julie & Julia”
New Hollywood Award: Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Hollywood Comedy Award: Bradley Cooper, “The Hangover”
Hollywood Breakthrough Screenwriter Award: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, “(500) Days of Summer”
Hollywood Animation Award: “Up”
Hollywood Cinematographer Award: Roger Deakins, “A Serious Man”
Hollywood Composer Award: Alexandre Desplat, “Cheri,” “Coco Before Chanel,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “Julie & Julia,” “A Prophet”
Hollywood Costume Designer Award: Colleen Atwood, “Nine”
Hollywood Editor Award: Dana Glauberman, “Up in the Air”
Hollywood Production Designer Award: Rick Carter, “Avatar”
Hollywood Visual Effects Award: Scott Farrar, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Source: IndieWire

Source: InContention

An Education: Winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, An Education is the one of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race, with across the board praise for its female lead Carey Mulligan, and raves for lead actor Peter Sarsgaard, and supporting performance by the under appreciated Alfred Molina. At this point, Carey Mulligan is the biggest front runner in all the races combined with an assured nomination and possible victory.

The Lovely Bones:  Peter Jackson‘s highly anticipated return comes in the adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel The Lovely Bones.  The film tells the story of a young woman who is brutally raped and murdered and watches from heaven, as her family tries to cope with the loss, and try to solve what or why it happened.  One of the biggest front runners in this year’s Oscar race has already been screened  a  few times, and is slowly loosing steam as reviews come in saying the film is magnificent, but plays more as a thriller, rather than solid drama.  Keep a look out for technical nominations, as well as nominations in lead for past Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan of Atonement, and supporting nominations for Rachel Weisz, as with as the big ones for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

Avatar:  To put this film, as being highly anticipated would not do the film justice with fans and fanboys, to see what the master filmmaker has conjured up with his first feature length film since 1997′s record breaking phenomenon Titanic.  Oscar prognosticators seem to be at odds whether the film will be a Best Picture nominee, with the Academy changing to 10 films, but those  who have seen cuts or scenes from the film overwhelmingly believe it can.  Expect the film to sweep the technical categories.

Precious: Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire :  Already the front runner for a Supporting Actress win, Mo’Nique seems to be on every one’s radar at the moment, since the film’s reception at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where the film went on to win the coveted Grand Jury Prize, along with the Audience Award.  The film has been slowly gaining steam towards a Best Picture nomination, as well as, a nom for Gabourey Sidibe as the film’s lead playing an overweight black woman who is pregnant with her second child, and under pressure from her cruel mother (Mo’Nique), while seeking guidance from a social worker (Mariah Carey).

Nine : On the Oscar train since the film’s announcement; Nine marks the return to the musical for Chicago director Rob Marshall in an adaptation of the Broadway play of the same name.  The film stars a virtual roster of Oscar winners and nominees, with Judy Dench, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and in the singing and dancing lead, Daniel Day Lewis.  Early buzz has been mixed, but likely to take a Best Picture nomination, as well as, acting categories going either way for Judy Dench and Marion Cotillard.

Bright Star: Still the only female to every win the best director award at the Cannes film festival, Jane Campion returns with Bright Star, an original screenplay of her own that tells  of poet John Keats and his lover Fanny Brawne, played by Abbie Cornish in a star making performance, whose previous work in Candy and Stop-Loss first put the talented actress on the Hollywood map.  Though the film’s reception has considerably cooled since it’s Cannes premiere, the film is growing a strong following hoping to muster up some Oscar attention, with its best chances in the lead actress and original screenplay categories.

The Road: Loved by many, and indifferent to others, the film tells the incredibly bleak story of a father and son on their trek to to the coast in a post apocalyptic America.  Viggo Mortenson returns in top form as the father protecting his son, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee.  Both actors are looking to earn Oscar nominations for their respective performances, but with Mortenson and the film’s cinematography so far the one’s up ahead.

The Hurt Locker:   One of the summer’s breakout films The Hurt Locker has been receiving raves since its premier at the Venice Film Festival last year and has not slowed down since.  The Hurt Locker is primed for Oscar gold with enough love for the film to earn its slot in the Oscar top 10 list, as well as, nomination love for Best Director Kathryn Bigelow, and possible nomination for lead actor Jeremy Renner and supporting actor Anthony Mackie.

UP:  With Oscar prognosticators still reeling over last year’s omission of Wall*E in the Best Picture category, UP seems to have all the right marks to fit the bill, and give Pixar its coveted Best Picture nomination, a first for an animated film since 1991′s Beauty and the Beast.

Amelia: Beloved director Mira Nair returns with the ambitious biopic of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart played by Oscar winner Hilary Swank in an attempt to get Oscar number 3.  Don’t expect Ms. Swank to obtain the win, but a nomination is very likely for the film, along with coveted Best Picture nomination and long shot nominations for Richard Gere and Ewen McGregor, to have the next possible acting nominations outside of the film’s technical nominations.

Invictus:  In the most obvious Oscar film out there, the secretive Invictus tells pseudo biopic of famed civil rights activist Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman and his hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in hopes to unify his country with Matt Damon, as one of the film’s rugby players.  With the film directed by Oscar winner Clint Eastwood and previous Oscar track record look for Invictus to do well at the big show.

A Prophet: France’s official entry into the Best Foreign Film race, as well as hopes to crack the Best Picture race, A Prophet has earned nothing but raves, with many calling the film the best prison film ever made, with comparisons to last year’s Gomorrah.

Up In The Air: Jason Reitman returns again from the Toronto International Film Festival, after his success last year with Juno, with his new dramedy Up In The Air starring a never better George Clooney, in what folks are describing as the best film of the year so far (up till September). It’s a story of a lonely businessman working up to 10 million frequent flyer miles, who falls for a similar woman on the way played by Vera Farmiga.  Look for the film to aim toward nominations for lead George Clooney, supporting noms for Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, as well as luck for Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay.

The Informant! : Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald, Warner Bros. is looking to gain some serious momentum towards getting the Steven Soderbergh dark comedy nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Best Actor for Matt Damon as the corporate whistle blower.

A Single Man: After earning raves at this year’s Venice Film Festival and winning the fest’s Golden Lion Award, along with Best Actor Colin Firth, A Single Man is shaping up to be this year’s dark horse. The film tells the story of  a gay college professor, who learns his lover has died. It has just been purchased by The Weinstein Company, and we all know how  well they do come Oscar time.

Get Low: In the dark dramedy starring  Robert DuVall in a performance earning him raves surpassing his work in The Apostle, Get Low tells the folk fairy tale of a man about a 1930′s recluse who goes as far as throwing his funeral party while still alive.

And if the film gets released this year, look for Terrence Malick to score well with his highly secretive film starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in The Tree of Life, but seeing as the man takes around 2 years per film and takes even longer in between, we can never count him in the race until  his film is completed.  The film’s plot has been keptsecret by the studio, but is known to be a 1950′s period peace telling  a multi-generational family story, with information leaked that Malick is indeed working with CGI for the first time including pre-historic dinosaurs.

Mira Nair directs Amelia which opens everywhere this winter.

Source: you tube