Oscar 2011 Picks

With just 6 days to go I thought I would make some predictions for some of the up coming Oscars...

Best Picture: The Kings Speech
I thought this film was great, as soon as it finished I knew it was headed for a statue.
Although I can see True Grit coming in as the dark horse and stealing it just as Crash did a few years back.

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky for The Black Swan

I think the Oscar Should (and will) go to Aronofsky but there is a chance that David Fincher might come in and take the limelight on this one. I would just like to go on note saying that it is ridiculous that Christopher Nolan isn't nominated for Inception.

Actor In A Leading Role: Colin Firth
I honestly think that Firth will win the award because he was fantastic as  stuttering and stammering King George VI , but I would much prefer James Franco to win for his performance in 127 Hours. If you have read my review on that you will know just how much I liked his portrayal.


Actor In A Supporting Role: Geoffrey Rush
I think Rush will pick up the award for his part in The Kings Speech but as with the lead actor I would prefer someone else to get it, the someone else this time being Jeremy Renner for his part in The Town. I think Renners part in The Town is his greatest performance to date. He deserves the Oscar but as we all know it doesnt come down to who deserves the award the most.

Actress In A Leading Role: Natalie Portman

I hope that Portman wins this award for The Black Swan because she was just fantastic... She showed how versatile she can be in just this single role... If you haven't seen The Black Swan then I suggest you do so.

Actress In A Supporting Role: Helena Bonham Carter
The Kings Speech is going to sweep the Oscars this year I think. I think Helena Bonham Carter is great in almost everything she does with this no exception.

Cinematography: Wally Pfister for Inception
Just watch the film...

Animated Feature Film: How To Train Your Dragon
Although Toy Story 3 is a great film I honestly believe How To Train Your Dragon is better.

Music (Original Score): 127 Hours
The music in this film is just perfect.

Short Film (Animated): Day & Night
This is one of the best Pixar shorts I have seen in a long time! definitely deserves the Oscar.

That concludes my picks for this year... I know there are some awards that I missed but I either didn't see enough films in the category or I don't know enough about the subject matter.

Top 5 Favourite Actors

Ok so I know this isn't a review but I just wanted to get this out there for you to read.
This is not a list of the 'best' actors, it is a list of MY favourite actors. I will also list a few of my favourite films they have starred in.
In no particular order:

James Franco:

• 127 Hours
• Milk
• Pineapple Express
• Spider Man
• Freaks & Geeks (TV)

Future hot pick starring Franco: Rise Of The Apes (2011)


Leonardo DiCaprio:

• Inception
• Shutter Island
• The Departed
• Gangs Of New York
• Titanic

Future hot pick starring DiCaprio: J. Edgar (2012)

Tom Hanks:

• Road To Perdition
• Cast Away
• The Green Mile
• Saving Private Ryan
• Toy Story

Future hot pick starring Hanks: Cloud Atlas


Christian Bale:

• The Fighter
• 3:10 To Yuma
• Batman Begins/ The Dark Knight 
• Reign Of Fire
• American Psycho

Future hot pick starring Bale: The Dark Knight Rises(2012)

Robert De Niro:

• Goodfellas
• The Untouchables
• Raging Bull
• Taxi Driver
• The Godfather Pt. II 

Unfortunately there is no future pick for Robert De Niro as anything he has done since around 1997 has failed to impress me. I'm sorry to the fans of 'Stardust', 'Hide and Seek' and 'The Fockers' franchise but they just don't do it for me.

Bumbles Vs The Hornet

Hello and welcome to another Bumbles' Review, You will be reading the thoughts and thinkings that flowed through the hive that is my mind while watching The Green Hornet.

Sat laying in wait for a long, long time, The Green Hornet was finally shot by Michel Gondry, a director who's work I am not familiar with except Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind. From what I have seen in these two films, I am not a fan. I don't mean to start off negative but I feel its the only way to start with this film. There are a few positives and we will get to them later.

The film had all the makings of a great one. It has the stupidly rich lead male trying to make his mark on the world, the small foreign arse-kicking, kung fu, bond car making side kick/coffee boy(Chinese pop star Jay Chou) and of course the Russian villain hell bent on taking over the world(Christoph Waltz), but for some reason they have taken all this potential and turned it into a cheesy 2 hour crapfest.

Instead of taking the serious and moody masked crime fighter route that looks to be prevailing recently they have tried to make a camp and comedic 60's style super hero film. The trouble is that the film isn't funny, a lot of jokes are just simply Seth Rogan getting hit in the balls, which is coincidently is how I felt after paying to see this film in 3D. The little 3D that was offered in this film was just about acceptable for a film these days. The best 3D in the entire film was the closing credits, and they weren't even that great. I was honestly more impressed with the 3D in 'Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs'.

Most of the acting was at best poor, I was disappointed with Rogan as I am a big fan, I can't even blame it on a bad script as he wrote it. From the start when he is a drunken party boy heir to the fortune right up until the end I couldn't help but think that he could be so much more!

I did mention before that there are some good points and I think its about time I talk about them. My favourite thing about this film was the main villain's double-barrelled 9mm pistol, I don't know much about the original radio show or the TV show from the 60's so I don't know if it was just taken straight from there but I think it was great, something that I haven't seen before and probably wont ever see again because on the off chance a sequel gets made I will be steering well clear of it. My second favourite thing about this movie is 'The Black Beauty'. There is something about a car with guns and gadgets that I just can't help but love, maybe it all goes back to James Bond or maybe its just a boy thing that when the roar of an engine is mixed with twin miniguns you can't help be feel like a 10 year old. A notable mention goes out to James Franco for his cameo as the hip new drug lord trying to take over from Bloodnofski, only to be blown to bits after a confrontation with 'nofski' himself.

But these few high points aren't enough to keep The Green Hornet afloat in the sea of superhero films that are emerging in recent times (I realise that The Green Hornet is just a rich guy not a 'super' hero but the same is true for the caped crusader known as Bruce Wayne and yet he is labelled a superhero).

Overall this film is a flop and if you were hoping to get a buzz out of this film you will find yourself stung. I would go see this film if you are between the ages of 8 and 14 or you just want to watch explosions and bullets. If its a good film and intense hero plot line your after then go buy Batman Begins.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Get Him To The Greek

Hello and welcome to the second Bumbles' Review, I was going to be writing about 'Did You Hear About The Morgans' tonight, but if any of you out there have seen it then you will undoubtedly understand why I cannot bare to type more than these 3 words; Waste. Of. Time. Please if you haven't seen it and are thinking about it then just go and punch yourself in the head for a little over 100 minutes because I promise you it will be more enjoyable.

As the title suggests you will be reading the thinkings and wonderings that flowed through my brain while watching 'Get Him To The Greek', the sophomore directing credit for Nicholas Stoller (the spin off from his debut film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall').

If you enjoyed anything written, directed and produced by Judd Apatow(i.e. Superbad, Anchorman, Knocked Up and Funny People) then Get Him To The Greek is definitely for you! It runs along the same line of sex and drugs jokes but things are a little different with Get Him To The Greek. The basic plot is Aaron Green, played by Jonah Hill, is sent on a mission by his boss Sergio (Sean 'Puff Daddy' Combs) to go to London and get once great rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to The Greek theatre in LA in just 72 hours for a 10 year anniversary gig for his live album recorded in the same theatre.

One of my favourite things in this film is the songs performed by Aldous Snow and the band, Infant Sorry. They are all full songs that you can listen to on the soundtrack (and if you discount the lyrics, actually sound like real rock songs). I don't know if the delivery of this character from Brand is actually acting or just him being himself, but either way he is a likeable character for all the wrong reasons.

Brand and Hill have amazing chemistry together on screen, there is 2 halves to the duos relationship, one is Aldous trying to get Aaron to score drugs for him, but the other is Aldous trying to get Aaron out of his shell and loosen up, even if he does have to make him smoke 'a Jeffrey' to do so.

I don't think I have laughed at a film quite so much since The Hangover, whether it is Jonah Hill sticking a balloon of heroin up his arse or Puff Daddy getting hit by a car, this film does not fail to make you laugh, just like every film with Judd Apatow's name attached to it. But unlike Apatow's other flicks The Greek has put the story behind the characters, and while the characters are strong enough to carry the film it would have been nice to feel a bit of urgency to get to the theatre before the deadline. Some of the best scenes in the film actually come out of the characters relationships rather than needing to get to The Greek. One of my favourite young actresses Elizabeth Moss shines in these relationship scenes and I hope she goes on to bigger and better things by way of comedy or drama.

Overall Get Him To The Greek is lacking some plot points that aren't there purely there to get a cheap laugh, but saying that the cheap laughs make this film funny enough to stand with the likes of The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

127 Hours

Hello, first off I would like to welcome you to the very first edition of Bumbles Review, where I, Bumbles (so called because just like the flight of the bumblebee I too was once believed to theoretically be breaking the laws of physics), will give my thoughts and critique on films that I happen to stumble across.

Today's topic is Danny Boyle's latest film to hit cinemas, 127 Hours, which is the true story of experienced rock climber and canyoner, Aron Ralston (James Franco). The film is based around the 5 days that Ralston spent with one arm trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone in Utah, with little food and water.


The film starts with a somewhat cocky and full of life 20 something is shooting across the desert on his bike with just a digital camera, video camera, a bottle of water and a little climbing gear. On his travels Ralston meets two young ladies who appear to be lost. After pointing them in the right direction Franco's character offers to be their tour guide for the trip and promises to show them a good time, by taking them to an underground lake by way of a 30 foot sheer drop, soon after the girls depart and Ralston is left to carry on with his original plan for the day. After loosing his footing Ralston falls down into a canyon and following him how is the boulder which was to keep him prisoner for, as the title suggests, 127 hours where he kept a video diary of what he thought to be his last days alive. James Franco gives a performance that deserves nothing less than an academy award. He shows the frustration of Ralston trying to unwedge the great rock from his arm and the slow torment from within his own mind. Boyle is at his best keeping viewers nerves tightly wound and the suspense high with split screens and perfectly mood matching music that keeps the films pace even with the lack of action on screen. After making a pulley system to try and free himself from the boulder we see the first attempt at DIY amputation with Franco jabbing the blade of his pen knife into the flesh of his arm, the lack of sound during moments of agony help portray the fact that he was alone in an 'if a tree falls in the forest an no one is there to hear it' kind of way.

During the scene in which Franco breaks his arm and cuts through the skin and muscle I found that it was done in such a way that you could almost feel the pain yourself, and in that moment of release a wave of relief was felt by all in the cinema with me. But the torture is not done there, it is important during this part of the film not to forget that this is a TRUE story and after cutting his own arm off Aron Ralston scaled a rock face to get to lower ground and search for any signs of help.

The only problem I have with this film is the hallucinations, although not a bad thing(especially the scene in which Ralston interviews himself into his camcorder as if he is on a cheesy morning TV show) I felt that the film could have been just as good if not better with fewer apparitions of a sofa filled with people we could only guess at the relationship to the hero of the story, the same is not true how ever for the flash backs to Aron's past which gives us insight into his life and inevitably builds more sympathy and liking for the character. 

This film is definitely Oscar worthy. I hope to see that James Franco gets the recognition he deserves as well as Danny Boyle hopefully getting his hands on another statue.

127 Hours is, in my opinion, nothing short of a cinematical masterwork. I would advise everybody to view this film. At just over an hour and a half it takes your nerves, runs them through a grinder and gives them back to you with a smile so you can walk out of the cinema in the same staggered hunched over                                                         limp that took Aron Ralston to his rescue. 

Rating - ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★