List of To-Watch Films for Post Oscar blues

That Maya feeling after Usama Bin Laden was finally captured and killed in Zero Dark Thirty. That's what I feel about the end of this Oscars season. LOLJK but it's close ;_; and now that we're starting over again for 2014 films, most of the films to look forward to are not going to be released anytime soon.

So for now, I made a to-see list of films from the past years while waiting for the next awards season. This list is heavily influenced by the things I've learned, read, heard and everything from the recently wrapped up 86th Acadamy Awards. Here they are:

What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

I've read a lot of articles and comments about this film since the beginning of Leo's buzz for Wolf. This film garnered him his first Oscar nomination and some even say that his performance in this is his best ever and worthy of a win. I'll never know how true is that but if it is indeed a robbed performance then poor Leo. When will he win an Oscar? Oh well, if it happens in the near future (or in the far future), I just know that it'll be sweeter for him, and for his loyal fans as well.

Capote

I know! I know! It's such a shame that I haven't seen this yet. Truth is, I never bothered reading anything about Capote before because... :/ I didn't care. I had no intentions of seeing this even if I know that it's critically acclaimed. I was never highly impressed by anything I've seen from him anyway. Thought he's just okay. But after seeing Phillip Seymour Hoffman's name for his performance in this in many best performance lists, it made me curious.  So I searched this on Youtube and WOW! He's AMAZING!!! Also, he just recently passed away so I consider this a viewing tribute for him.:3

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

This film has been in my hard drive for several years now but I keep on ignoring it because it looks too serious. The title piques my curiosity though. Is it about Virginia Woolf or what? So after seeing August: Osage County, which is also based on a play like Woolf, I realized that I might enjoy this like how I enjoyed August. The fact that Woolf has better reviews and has a great legacy makes me think more positive about the film.

Happy-Go-Lucky

I've read this years ago in forums and even planned of watching it but completely forgotten about it because I guess it's not that memorable. Sally Hawkins recent awards recognitions just reminded me again that I should see it. Unlike many, I find Hawkins' performance in Blue Jasmine as just okay so I hope Happy-Go-Lucky will change my opinion of her and I'm sort of positive it will especially she's the lead in it.

Manhattan

Woody Allen is the latest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award in Golden Globes and during that segment, they showed a montage of Woody Allen films. Manhattan quickly captured my attention. The fact that Meryl Streep is in this is just a bonus. Meryl + Woody = what more could I ask for? I have all the reasons to watch this and the fact that I haven't yet, I will never understand.

Groundhog Day

This film is dubbed as one of the best comedies of all time, and one of the best films of 1993. And that says a lot because 1993 brought us films like Schindler's List, Philadelphia and Jurassic Park, to name a few. It's also directed by Harold Ramis who just recently perished, someone I didn't know before he died. :( But anyway, the premise sounds interesting and the lead is Bill Murray, one of my favorite actors so it just makes sense for me to see this film.

Citizen Ruth

I realized that I've seen all Alexander Payne's films except for this. And when I researched for this, it looks like it's light and fun that it wouldn't be a chore to sit down through this film. I say, why not?

Skyfall

I actually should have seen this last year since it's nominated in 2 or more Oscar categories. But I haven't seen any James Bond film yet so I was kind of hesitant. A year has passed and I'm still procrastibating. This year, hopefully I'll be able to watch it since a friend also recommended me to see it. His reason? cinematographer Roger Deakins who's nominated for this film and for Prisoners as well.

Grave of the Fireflies

I become interested in seeing Japanese animated films because of The Wind Rises and aside from it, I heard LOTS of good things about them. I haven't seen Wind yet but I watched its 5 minute-trailer. It made me search for other Japanese animated film trailers and from watching clips and reading viewers' comments, one of the most popular suggestion is this, Grave of the Fireflies. This seems deep, and not in the usual Pixar animated films deep, but 'seriously deep' and that got me curious because it's an animated film and I think it's hard to achieve that quality through animation. We'll see.

Cape Fear

Juliette Lewis impressed me in August: Osage County but I gotta admit that I've never heard of her before :/, the fact that she's been nominated when she was younger made me want to see that performance and voila! it's Cape Fear directed by Scorsese. If I watch this, I realized that I'll gain more insights about Scorsese's filmography and that would be a treat as I find almost all of his films with great quality. It also has Jessica Lange who I've never seen in a film before.

Tootsie

Speaking of Jessica Lange, I'm not an avid viewer of American Horror Story but I trust the TV series fans when they say that she's one of the best actress there is. I've seen a number of episodes of it and she's really good. I even read an article saying that she's the counter actress to Meryl Streep. :/ This film gave Lange her first ever Oscar so that urged me to see it. Then, I also saw Chile's Oscar submission Gloria and I read some articles that indicate Gloria's eyeglasses being reminiscent of Tootsie's. Made me curious so I'll watch this.

I'm Not There

Bob Dylan, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale. I've read about this before and watched its trailer even but I didn't plan on watching it. It didn't have enough rave for me to see it but one time, I was bored after reading Oscar related articles that I happen upon some clips I've never seen before of I'm Not There. It looked way interesting than its trailer. Perhaps, this is the time to see it since Cate Blanchett was also praised for her work in this. I mean, she acted as Bob Dylan for cryin out loud. I want to compare which Blanchett performance is the best so this is a must-see.

Children of Men

I've already watched this before. In fact, I'm midway through finishing the film but I fell asleep. I find it interesting but I was just so tired when I watched it so I think this year, alongside celebrating Cuaron's Gravity success, it's about time I finish his other critically acclaimed film. Oh, and it's quite a fun fact that Chiwetel is in this. ;)

Junebug

Like Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams has been nominated several times but has never won. She seems like she's stuck being a runner up and some people even say that she's cemented in 5th place lol. She's becoming the new Julianne Moore. No worries though because she's the lead in the upcoming Oscar baity film of Tim Burton, Big Eyes. I don't wanna jinx it so let's just hope that it will not end up being a flop since.. you know, Tim Burton.. lately. But anyway, a lot of people say that her first Oscar nomination which is for this film is the only deserving one, even deserving of a win they say. I've seen all of her Academy Award performances except for Junebug so maybe 2014 is the year for me to see this.

Spanking the Monkey

I don't know which of the first three feature films of David O. Russell should I watch first. Spanking the Monkey? Flirting with Disaster? or Three Kings? I've never heard of these films before DOR became one of the most known directors of our generation so I just randomly chose Spanking the Monkey. As some people know, I'm not the biggest O. Russell fan. My love for JLaw decreased because of him. The fact that he was nominated for Best Director three times in four years and managed to get all of his actors nominated in the 4 acting categories for 2 consecutive years, I don't know. It's unbelievable and undeserved. But since American Hustle painfully lost all its 10 nominations after having the most nomination count in the last Oscars, and Lupita beat JLaw, and Spike Jonze beat O Russell, everything is now forgiven. :3 I don't hate him anymore. In fact, I gotta admit that I really like The Fighter but I really dislike Huckabees and SLP & Hustle are just okay films for me. So there.. cheers to new start.

This list also includes United 93, Elizabeth, Pretty Woman, My Neighbor Totoro, Howard's End, Sense and Sensibility (which I can't find the energy to finish), Steel Magnolias and probably more. No one knows if I'll be able to see all of these but I'm really curious and excited to see most of them.

There you have it! Do you have other films to recommend? What old films are you planning to see this year?

Gravity!

Gravity

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
With: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Just earlier this year, I felt blessed to see one of the greatest cinematic splendor in Ang Lee's Life of Pi. I never thought it would be followed by another brilliant film experience in a short amount of time. But Gravity made me feel that again. Gravity is simply spectacular.

The film revolves around two astronauts -- Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), a NASA medical engineer, and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), a veteran astronaut and the space shuttle leader on his last mission, when an accident occurred in space leaving them stranded 370 miles above Earth.

From a technical stand point, Gravity, perhaps, is the best film I've seen this year. It made Pacific Rim's visual effects look like shit and take note, I was gushing the latter when I saw it. It just blew everything out of the water. Watching it in IMAX surely helped my viewing. For a time, it really felt like you're watching the Earth from the outer space.

All praises to Alfonso Cuarón! He managed to immerse his viewers to a thrilling ride that surely made everyone tremble at the edge of their seats. His choices of shots vary from establishing, to point-of-view, to close up and each shot was perfection. The long establishing shot of the Earth at the beginning of the film was just AMAZING. The inclusion of the sun and how it flickers each time the characters cover it is one of the littlest details I glorify in it. The auroras, the islands, the clouds, the eye of the storm, they're breathtaking. And then scene after scene, obstacles after obstacles, Cuarón keeps his camera moving and floating like we're being rewarded of a next level to a video game that we're playing, especially each time the characters survive the scene. One will find himself bending and/or moving on his chair hoping that the characters will be able to hold on to something away from the swallowing darkness of the universe. It's basically a combination of beautiful imagery, anxiety and terror. It's kind of anticlimatic to think that those were just CGIs, that these are just part of the studio and production design of the film. Because it's so realistic that it's unreal.

In space, there is no sound but the supposed noise of massive destruction of satellites in one orbit and the deadly bullet speed debris scattered in the outer space were altered by the heart racing score of Steven Price. I have never heard of him before but he will surely get recognized because of this film. His score is not only effective for the heart pounding scenes, but he also shines in the saddest and most intimate parts of the film. And at the end of the film, one would also feel overwhelmed and victorious. Price's score is a huge factor why that happens.

The script by Alfonso and his son, Jonas, also added to the effectiveness of Gravity. The right amount of drama and humor balances out the depressing state of being stucked in the outerspace. It may be lacking of depth in terms of story arcs, but it's definitely not lacking of philosophy and spirituality. Letting go and the willingness to live are some of the underlying themes of the film. Think of 127 Hours, except the setting is in an ocean of nothingness, the main character is not trapped in a canyon, rather, she's trapped in an infinite vastness of space, with a whole lot more of stressful problems and nerve racking action. But to be honest, it's really more about the plight of the character, instead of her history. There's no need for flashbacks and elaborated back stories. The humor also worked well because of Sandra Bullock's impeccable timing and George Clooney's arrogant yet charming way of delivering his lines. With great chemistry and charisma, Bullock and Clooney are two of the strongest aspects of the film. I'm elated by the fact that Sandra, who's almost 50, was given this kind of role. I never thought that she can pull this off. But she proved me wrong. She was able to develop a character that is cold in nature to become rootable and sympathetic. Her, imitating the sound of a dog, knowing that it could be the last time to hear another sound from a living thing, is heartbreaking and to think, it's not really a saddening imitation. I mean, it's Sandra Bullock, known for her comedic antics, howling. It's supposed to be crazy and funny. But she managed to make the theater quiet, while probably most of the audience's eyes were already tearing up behind their 3D glasses. It's also surprising that she has some Ellen Ripley moves in her! The way she moved inside those wrecking satellites were impressive. Her Ryan Stone is definitely in the same league with other bad ass lead characters like Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley in Alien and Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. I'm so proud of her! George Clooney turned out to be extremely likable as well. His character, Matt Kowalski, served as the calm astronaut in the middle of chaos in the outer space. The role perfectly suited him as his character has the ideal qualities of a confident man that Clooney is used to portraying. Of course, it also helps that these two actors look good together and their roles here have some attraction going on. There are some weak and cheesy parts in the script but those are easy to overlook as the film's really about the stunning and original visuals with great concept and superb performances.

It's pretty obvious that I love this movie. But I wish I could convince more people to give this film a go and watch it in IMAX. It's worth the time, it's worth the money, it's a great experience, believe the hype as it lives up to it! Gravity is still showing in theaters and I expect it to last a few more weeks. But in case you miss it, I believe that Gravity would turn out to be one of the most popular films of our generation, or at least its genre, that we'd be able to watch it again 10 or 20 years from now. Probably in 4D or 5D. :p