# 69: Tootsie

Heh heh 69..... Anyways today I will be reviewing Tootsie.  Tootsie is a 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman who dresses up as a women to get a role on a soap opera.  I was nervous about this movie for two reasons.First, this movie is about a man who dresses up as a women to get a job.  Sounds like it be okay but then I saw this:

If the movie was going to be anything like this I was going to hate it.  Secondly, not all comedies from the 70s and early 80s are that funny to me.  My parents would rave about how funny Fast Times at Ridgemont High was, then I watched it.... not so funny.  So these two factors made me nervous to see the film but I knew it had to be done, so we gathered together to watch a movie about a cross-dresser.

I was really surprised to learn that this film wasn't one of the first movies to have a lead male character dress as a women for comedy.  I guess I just assumed that it wasn't done that often because old things are conservative and lame (hey so are my parents).  This was one of the few movies I have seen staring a male who dresses up as a female, I have seen Ladybugs (great/weird soccer comedy) and Mrs Doubtfire. Going into this movie I was comparing everything to Mrs. Doubtfire.  Its struck me as I was doing this that even though Tootsie came out first and may even inspired Mrs. Doubtfire I still in my life see Mrs. Doubtifre as the movie to compare and contrast to.  I guess it is all about perspective.... does that mean kids to day will watch The Empire Strikes Back and compare it to The Phantom Menace? Anyways back on track, Tootsie received 9 Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Jessica Lange.

The internet, who know all that is right, fells the movie should receive rating like this:
IMDB = 7.4 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 88%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 75%
Overall, I feel these scores are a little low for a movie on the AFI Top 100.  Maybe the internet hates cross-dressers.

The comedic acting in this movie was really good.  There were lots of really funny characters with good delivery, at the same time though there were a lot of pointless characters.  Hoffman's agent played by Sydney Pollack had some great scenes and great lines.  George Gaynes, or Commandant Eric Lassard as I know him,  was hilarious.  He might have been one of my favorite characters in this movie and he had one of my favorite lines "Does Jeff know?".  Bill Murry was awesome.  He is always so funny and this movie is no exception.  He has great delivery and made me wish he was in it more.  Now I need to insert a clip of Bill Murry being hilarious.

Now as I mentioned there were a lot of characters which just felt pointless, including Teri Garr.  It is weird she was nominated for this movie because I felt her role was pointless and unnecessary.  Also, Geena Davis was in this movie for about thirty seconds.  Though this movie was a comedy there was also a lot of dramatic elements and actors like Charles Durning did a great job.  Now Jessica Lange won for this movie and I think she did a decent job but what I found the most interesting thing about her is that she used to look like this and now looks like this.  Dustin Hoffman, as the lead, was great.  He was funny when it was time to be funny, great in the dramatic roles, and had great chemistry with the cast.  His interactions with Bill Murry were fantastic and though Hoffman wasn't the funniest character in the movie he was still great.

The story was actually real good.  In this day and age it is great to see comedies that not only are funny but have a good story and heart as well.  This film really looked at not only what it means to be an actor:

but also shared a message on gender roles, and how to stand up for yourself.  The movie was also very funny, my fiancee was laughing the whole time.  The situations and lines were just great and it was relatively a clean comedy as well.  Now as always I learned a few things from this movie:
#1: Women have a much easier time getting jobs then men
#2: If you are get caught naked in a friend of the opposite sex's place just have sex with them.

The makeup in this movie is really good.  It is actually sorta hard to tell that Dustin Hoffman is playing a woman, meaning it is better then Jack and Jill.  Though this can lead to an interesting question:

Ewww. Gross.  Also the music in this movie got nominated but I cannot help but this the music is really corny.  It feels more like a sitcom beat the a movie soundtrack:

In conclusion I think this movie is really good.  It is very funny and totally went above and beyond my low expectations.  It is a great comedy with a real dramatic story at its core.  I give this movie a B.

The Awesometeer vs The Oscar Nominees

This is just a quick little blog about my reactions to seeing the Oscar nominations.  For some background on me I tried not to see any of the movies with Oscar buzz because every year I attend an event held by AMC theaters where you can watch all Best Picture nominated movies.  Anyways here are my immediate thoughts and reactions to the nominees:

Sound Mixing:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – What is sound mixing?

Hugo – Is it layering sounds?

Moneyball – Like crowds cheering while Brad Pitt is talking?

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – This movie has the dumbest title ever

War Horse – I hope I don’t see this movie anywhere else

Sound Editing:

Drive – What is sound editing?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – What is the difference between sound mixing?

Hugo – I could google it but I am lazy

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – This movie better not win an Oscar

War Horse – Why is this movie here?

Visual Effects:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – It wasn’t magic?

Hugo – Better 3D then Avatar eh?  I need to see this in 3D

Real Steal – Rockem Sockem Robots the movie

Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Looked better then the remake

Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Why couldn’t you just put side in your title!?  UGH!

Makeup:

Albert Nobbs – Jack and Jill didn’t get nominated?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Seriously Lord V. looks awesome

The Iron Lady – But she didn’t even look like iron.

Costume Design:

Anonymous – Is this the Shakespeare is a fraud movie?

The Artist – I wonder what color the costumes were?

Hugo – Movie has a good look to it

Jane Eyre – A period piece?  No way!

W.E. – Is that short for Wall-E?

Art Direction:

The Artist – Feel like I will be seeing this on here a lot.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Man, that is a long title

Hugo – This movies seems (from the previews) to have a really cool look to it

Midnight in Paris – sure, I guess, I dunno

War Horse – Every nomination this movie gets will make me more and more mad.

Cinematography:

The Artist – Guess it need to be good if there is no talking in it.

The Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo – Honestly I don’t know good cinematography really, I just notice bad cinematography.

Hugo – ok

Tree of Life – sure

War Horse – Got to get a good shot of the horse

Film Editing:

The Artist – I guess another nomination won’t hurt

The Descendants – What make editing good?

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Sometime when I picture editing I picture a guy with scissors cutting filmstrips

Hugo – Oh wow Hugo with another nomination.

Moneyball – Yay baseball!

Music (Original Song):

“Man or Muppet” (The Muppets) – First off best song in the movie.  So funny.  Secondly it was written by half of The Flight of the Conchords.  I want this to win.

“Real in Rio” (Rio) – No one cares

Music (Original Score):

The Adventures of Tintin – Yay I love Tintin and I love John Williams

The Artist – It better have good music

Hugo – So this movie isn’t about Hugo Strange

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – ok

War Horse – No comment……

Documentary Feature:

Hell and Back Again – I hope its not a documentary about Ghost Rider

If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Sounds political

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – I didn’t see the first two

Pina – Colada

Undefeated – Did you say sports?  Looks like I will have to check this out

Foreign Language Film:

Bullhead – Minotaur

Monsieur Lazhar – Canada isn’t foreign, its America’s hat.

A Separation – Foreign films would be more popular if you didn’t have to read.

A Footnote – Heading

In Darkness  - Dayman AHHHHHHH Fighter of the Nightman AHHHHHHH

Animated Feature Film:

A Cat in Paris – Huh?

Chico & Rita – Wha?

Kung Fu Panda 2 – Umm…

Puss in Boots – Hmmm…

Rango  - Where is Tintin?

Actress in a Supporting Role:

Berenice Bejo (The Artist) – How on Earth do you say that name?

Jessica Chastain (The Help) – Great movie.  I am so happy to see nominations.

Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) – So this is sorta like the Tropic Thunder/Robert Downey Jr. Thing

Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) – Sure, whoever you are (I don’t like things or people I don’t know getting nominated).

Octavia Spencer (The Help) – She was FANTASTIC!  She better win.

Actor is a Supporting Role:

Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn) – Who are you?  Where is Albert Brooks?

Jonah Hill (Moneyball) – This will make many people very upset.  Hey remember when he was in Superbad?

Nick Nolte (Warrior) – This is a great movie!  Everyone and their mom should see it.  I love this movie and I am so happy it got a nomination for something.

Christopher Plummer (Beginners) – I don’t like old people.

Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) – See above.

Actress in a Leading Role:

Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) – She sorta looks like Conan O’Brien in this movie

Viola Davis (The Help) – She was great in this movie.  Very happy for her.

Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) – Eww that’s Rooney Mara!?  Why is she so weird looking?

Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) – Oh wow you are nominated…..

Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn) – She actually looks like she did a good job in this movie, too bad I will never see it.

Actor in a Leading Role:

Demian Bichir (A Better Life) – Who are you?  What is this movie?

George Clooney (The Descendants) – Oh wow you got nominated! Shocking (sarcastic tone)

Jean Dujardin (The Artist) – Not much of a reaction here, I just spent most of the time trying to say his last name.

Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) – Cool, I really like Gary Oldman

Brad Pitt (Moneyball) – Yay for sports movies!

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

The Descendants – There’s a book?

Hugo – No idea this was adapted

The Ides of March -  What’s this based off of?

Moneyball – This movie is nothing like the book

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy  - I need to start going to the library, no idea these were all adapted.

Writing (Original Screenplay):

The Artist – Must have been a short script

Bridesmaids – Best comedy of the summer.  I really hope they don’t make a sequel, Hangover 2.

Margin Call – Ummm ok…. Where did this come from?

Midnight in Paris – Wonder if Woody is still using a typewriter

A Separation – A foreign film?

Directing:

The Artist – I wonder if it was all quiet on set (get it?)

The Descendants – This movie looks good.

Hugo – Martian Scorsese, nah he probably won’t win

Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen is still alive?  How old is he?

The Tree of Life – Sure, why is this movie here?

Best Picture:

The Artist - I am not looking forward to this.  I am not sure that I can sit through another silent movie.

The Descendants - I am really looking forward to this movie.  Though I am still not sure to expect a dark comedy or a drama.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - I am so glad this got nominated.  I have not seen it yet but the previews look great and it wasn't getting much buzz so I thought it had no chance of getting nominated.  

The Help - I saw this movie in the summer.  Love it.  

Hugo - I try not to read to much about movies that are getting Oscar buzz so I don't really know anything about this movie other then everyone says it is amazing.

Midnight in Paris – ok

Moneyball - I am a huge baseball fan.  I love this movie, I read the book, and I am just happy to see it nominated. 

The Tree of Life - This movie seems so weird to me.  I am not sure what to expect at all.  I have heard so many mixed things and I do not even know what it is about.

Warhorse - Frick!!!!!! I do NOT want to see this movie.  This movie looks horrible!  Ugh!  The previews annoy me.  I do not want to see a movie starring a horse!  Why did this get nominated?

*** You may have noticed that none of the short nominees were mentioned.  That is because no one cares about them.  I hope you enjoyed this blog.

# 78: Modern Times

I didn't even know if was interested in seeing this movie or dreading it, today I am reviewing Modern Times.  You see I have never seen a silent movies (I prefer talkies) so I had no idea what to expect.  I know my girlfriend did not want to see this at all, but my mother was looking forward to it (I think its because she is old).

Charlie Chaplin is a very popular, maybe the most popular, silent movie star.  He not only was loved world wide but I have heard how his comedic styling has been an influence to many people.  On the other side of things he always seemed to be in political controversy by doing things such as not joining the army during WWI and had some socialist and communist friends.  Well Charlie I have some friends too:

This film is also received some criticism for being a silent movie even though the technology for talkies had been around for a while and it received no recognition from the Academy Awards, despite it being one of Charlie's most well known films.

The internet lied!  They are a bunch of liars!!! Oh, wait let me first say I was not a huge fan of this movie, anyways here are the internet's ratings: 
IMDB = 8.5 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 100%
Rotten Tomatoes (Audience Rating) = 95%

I am not sure how to even talk about the characters in this film.  There were so so so many minor characters.  Some were weird, some were funny.  There were no personalities or story arcs for these characters instead they were more silly, cartoon-like characters.  The female lead in this movie was really cool, I liked her a lot though I am not sure why, once again not like there is a lot of character to like.  FUN FACT #1: Charlie Chaplin had many marriages in his life, many of them very young girls, the lead in this movie was one of the older girls he married.  Charlie Chaplin was fun but I wasn't really impressed.  I think that there may have been too much hype about him that I built unachievable standards or maybe he just isn't all that awesome.  You do get to hear Charlie Chaplin sing in this movie, and I believe it is the first movie where he does so, so that's a pretty big deal.  Also, is his mustache real?

Not really much of a story to talk about either (seeing the trend? there isn't much to this movie).  There really isn't one story but rather a bunch of shorts stringed together by a loose plot line.  The movie did have social commentary about life during the depression but I don't know history that well or am that deep.  The story was so boring I had to keep shaking my girlfriend to stay awake and then she eventually had to narrate everything that was happening to keep focused.  Some of the jokes were pretty racy.  There were boob jokes and cocaine jokes.  I guess I just thought they were more conservative back then.  My mom thought it was hilarious though so I guess she liked it.  Once again I did learn things from it:
#1: Hitler mustaches were cool
#2: If you are buff and work in a factory you don't need to wear a shirt
#3: Factories are dangerous

The music for this movie was written by Charlie which is cool I guess.  I also thought some of the "stunts" were really cool, actually just when Charlie was skating around:

I am not sure if he really did this or there is some painted backdrop this going on but I still thought it was cool.

So I learned that I do not like silent movies.  I know some people will say we need to appreciate the art and history of it and look at where movies come from.  To them I say when is the last time you decided not to drive your car and take a horse and carriage somewhere?  Just imagine if one of your favorite movies was a silent movie:

Not that cool is it?  I do not know why there are so many silent movies on the AFI Top 100, I just know I won't like them and I didn't like this movie.  I gave Modern Times a D+

#97: Blade Runner

Finally a movie I have seen that my girlfriend has not, it is about time we came around to watching Blade Runner.  First off Blade Runner is not about running with scissors (hahahahahahahaha I am so funny), it is a sci-fi, or should I say sy-fy, thriller and I am a nerd and love sci-fi and fantasy movies and books.  Any ways lets get on with the review.

Blade Runner did not see success at the box office but it has since become a cult classic.  I am not really sure what makes something a cult classic though, I assume it is a fringe movie that is very popular for its genre or a movie that bombed but then sees later success, but I am not sure.  I have always been a little foggy on the definition but here is a video of other cult classics takes from different lists found on the internet:

I am still confused how movies like this can do so bad while in theaters and then years later make a huge comeback and become culturally relevant.  It has even helped shape modern sci-fi with sources saying the creator of the new run of "Battlestar Galactica".  This movie did not win any Oscars but was nominated for Art Direction-Set Decoration and Best Visual Effects.

The all-knowing internet has these rating for the film:
IMDB = 8.3 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes (Critic Rating) = 92%
Audience Rating (Audience Rating) = 89%
These scores are a little low but that can really be all summed up by the fact that this movie is a cult classic.  It was not adored nationally or critically acclaimed.

There were so many characters in this movie that I will not touch on all of them but just the ones that stood out to me.  First off we have Edward James Olmos playing a character who I found to be extremely interesting.  I wish we knew more about him, but then again if we did the mystery would be gone.  It was also weird to see EJO so young and skinny.  Next we have Sebastian a character who is so likeable, awkward, and meek.  This character was well acted and because of that I was very sympathetic towards this character.  Now we have Pris, played by Daryl Hannah.  I don't really like Daryl Hannah or the character, I don't know why but I just don't.  With that said she is one of the images that stands out to me from this movie.  The character of Rachel was another character I just didn't connect to.  She was a good character and the acting was there but something about her just didn't interest me.  The bad guy of this film, Roy, is fantastic.  The acting is superb and the character makes you challenge the idea of is he really a bad guy.  Should we arrest him or sympathize with him?  Fantastic!  Then we have Harrison Ford being a BAMF but he always is.  I love Harrison Ford in nearly everything he is in.  The character is awesome and Harrison Ford is awesome.  For me this is another stand out movie of Ford's and a character I will always remember... though there are some weird parts:

The movie started with a text prologue, which all good sci-fi movies need I guess, and we are introduced to the future, which is only five years from now.  I love when you watch old movies to see what they think the future would be like and then as we get closer to it you know it won't be like that.  Anyways the movie itself moves at a very slow pace and this slow pace easily could have lead to it not be popular when it was first released.  The slow pace does however allow for the environment and atmosphere of 2019 develop and this is my favorite part of the movie.  I actually feel the movie is more beloved for art direction then the story itself, which I personally do not think is anything special.  I could be wrong and the nerds of the internet may get angry but the story doesn't do much for me.  It is not bad but it isn't fantastic either.  That does not mean that there is nothing to learn from it though:
#1: I want to make my own midget friends
#2: Asians will rule the world
#3: Product placement will be all the rage in the future
#4: Retire=death
#5: In the future its night time a lot
#6: Replicants be crazy
#7: Daryl Hannah should be an Olympic gymnast

Now the thing I love most about this movie is the environment.  I mentioned earlier about how the movie was slowly paced, I feel that this slow place allowed the film to showcase the new world it has created for this story to take place in.  I love it!  The buildings are awesome, the atmosphere the set up is great, the mix of new and old is fantastic.  I love it all.  From the huge building with all the lights to the technology the use like the photo enhancer:

The key to making this atmosphere seem so awesome was great art direction as well as special effects.  The music is also fantastic I love the techno sound they use.  I don't know if I can say enough how much I love the atmosphere of this movie so here is a video of clips of the movie (no spoilers) and the music played during the credits:

In conclusion I like this movie, despite that I feel the story isn't that interesting or that it moves slow, I still love it for the atmosphere and vibe of the 2019 future we get to see.  I think it is a must watch for any one who loves sci-fi or just enjoys art direction in film.  I give this movie a B.