Kingsman: The Secret Service

Tali: Kingsman tells the story of Eggsy (for real), a thug who--thanks to the always polite and handsome Colin Firth--gets invited to try out for the most exclusive spy club in the world. This film surprised me a lot: it had a good, reliable British sense of humour, Samuel L. Jackson as a lisping villain, and just the right amount of action and blood. It also gave us one of the cutest scenes to ever happen in an action movie! All in all a good date night movie. I do have to say though, the ending frame of this film totally made it end on a sour note. 82/100.

Leo: This was exactly what I needed after the Oscar season. I have been a big Matthew Vaughn fan for a while, and anything with Samuel L. and Colin Firth is a recipe for success. It was funny, bloody good action (pun intended cuz bloody is literal too). I felt like I just watched what would happen if Tarantino directed a James Bond film. Sure, they could have limited the violence and nudity and not offended people (cough Tali cough), but you know what, "it ain't that kind of movie, bruv".  Leometer: 89/100.

Oscars 2015 In Review/Summary

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - J.K. Simmons
Picks: Leo - J.K. Simmons. Tali - Edward Norton.

Leo: This didn't surprise me too much because of the range he showed in the movie. I do think there were better more genuine actors in the category, but award season was most definitely on his tempo.
Tali: I wonder what was Norton's excuse... WAS HE RUSHING OR DRAGGING?!?!?

Oscars 2015!

Best picture:
Nominees - American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash
Tali - My heart is torn between Selma and Grand Budapest Hotel but my money is on Boyhood.
Leo - Boyhood. I have very little doubt. I would be pleasantly surprised if the Grand Budapest Hotel or Birdman won. 

Best actor:
Nominees - Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)
Tali - Hmmm.. I'm gonna go with Eddie Redmayne.
Leo - Michael Keaton. I was sold on this after the very first scene of that movie. The British duo of Bennedict and Eddie are close runners up.

Best supporting actor:
Nominees - Robert Duvall (The Judge), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)
Tali - I really hope J.K. Simmons doesn't win... I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Edward Norton.
Leo - Ethan Hawke deserves it. I'm not sure the Academy totally appreciates 1.5 hours of yelling and clever insults, but I wouldn't be surprised if it went to J.K. Simmons. Edward Norton deserves an honourable mention as well.

Best actress:
Nominees - Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Reese Witherspoon (Wild)
Tali - I mean, Rosamund Pike knocked it out of the park this year, but all of the buzz is around Julianne Moore who I think will take it.
Leo - Julianne Moore, my people tell me she's the one.

Best supporting actress: 
Nominees - Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Laura Dern (Wild), Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)
Tali - This isn't a competition. It's Patricia Arquette.
Leo - Patricia Arquette. I mean there's nothing to say - she was outstanding in the favourite for the best picture and the competition is not as fierce as it usually is.

Best director: 
Nominees - Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)
Tali - Again, my heart goes out to Ava Duvernay (whoops) and Wes Anderson but my money is on Richard Linklater.
Leo - Richard Linklater. It's hard to imagine anyone else getting this.

Best animated film:
Nominees - Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Song of the Sea, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Tali - Considering the Lego Movie snub I am going to go with How To Train Your Dragon 2.
Leo - The Lego Movie....rip. This is actually difficult. How To Train Your Dragon 2 is the only one I've seen but it's hard to imagine anything being better.

Best original song:
Nominees - Everything is Awesome (The Lego Movie), Glory (Selma), Grateful (Beyond The Lights), I'm Not Gonna Miss You (Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me), Lost Stars (Begin Again)
Tali - The token award to Selma will be won here with Glory (which is so unfortunate).
Leo - Glory! Am, G, F, Oh Glory! Selma is now for every man woman and child.

Best original screenplay:
Nominees - Foxcatcher, Birdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Nightcrawler, Boyhood
Tali - Birdman, because Hollywood loves itself.
Leo - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best adapted Screenplay:
Nominees - Whiplash, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Inherent Vice
Tali - The Imitation Game
Leo - The Imitation Game

Best foreign language film:
Nominees - Timbuktu, Wild tales, Tangerines, Ida, Leviathan
Tali - Ida
Leo -  Ida, says Baba Jean.

Best makeup:
Nominees - The Grand Budapest, Foxcatcher (2 Nominations), Guardians of the Galaxy (2 Nominations)
Tali - I'm going to go out on a limb and say Guardians of the Galaxy
Leo - Guardians of the Galaxy because it has to win something for being one of the most fun and entertaining movies this year, which is usually what the point of movies are in the first place.

Best cinematography:
Nominees - Ida (2 Nominations), Mr. Turner, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman
Tali -  The Grand Budapest Hotel, hopefully FINALLY some recognition for my guy Wes
Leo - I can't see this type of award going to anyone but Birdman.

Best costume design:
Nominees - The Grand Budapest Hotel, Into the Woods, Inherent Vice, Mr. Turner, Maleficent
Tali - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Leo - The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Best original music score: 
Nominees - Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Andre Desplat (The Imitation Game), Hanz Zimmer (Interstellar), Gary Yershon (Mr. Turner), Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything)
Tali - Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Leo -  Johann Johannsson (The Theory of Everything) because I feel like being nominated twice you rarely actually win. I do think every Wes Anderson movie score is the best though.

Best documentary feature:
Nominees - Virunga, Citizenfour, Last Days in Vietnam, The Salt of the Earth, Finding Vivian Maier
Tali - Citizenfour
Leo -  my people tell me Citizenfour 

Best documentary short:
Nominees - Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Joanna, Our Curse, The Reaper, White Earth
Tali - Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 packs a pretty powerful punch in the short time it has
Leo -  Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, again, didn't actually see it but my people tell me.

Whiplash

Tali: Whiplash tells the story of a promising musician and his brutal, to-the-limits instructor and their complicated relationship. New York Magazine says it best: "a gut-­twisting, appalling two hours, writer-­director Damien Chazelle has you wondering two things at once. Will Andrew finally succeed in wowing this most exacting of judges? And, more important: What can be gained by doing so when the man is manifestly psychotic?" Though at times both extremely painful and incredibly exciting to watch, this film left me with some very mixed feelings. On the one hand, both J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller were very great; on the other, was this film just a vehicle for Simmons to throw chairs and homophobic slurs at Teller and to get a reaction out of the audience? I haven't quite figured this out yet. Perhaps Leo can sway you one way or another. 76/100.

Leo: This movie was awesome and though on its surface it was just a well done "practice makes perfect" sort of movie, I thought it captured so much more. The one line in the movie that stuck with me (besides the various "I'm trying really hard not to laugh at these politically incorrect insults but it's not working" lines ) is that the words 'good job' "are the two most harmful words" anyone can tell you. While I don't think this is always true, the movie illustrates how much better someone can be when pursuing greatness and how much better it feels once it's achieved after never being told "Good job". Maybe altogether validation is nice to get, but it's that much better when it's genuine. Aside from that message, I thought it was an expertly done movie in terms of its cinematography with the drums (which was to be expected) and of course acting, especially by J.K. Simmons, who's character had, to quote R v Lohnes (a supreme court of Canada case) "an impressive command of the obscene vernacular". That being said, the movie did not have as much substance as its Oscar-nominated counter parts, even if I enjoyed it more. Leometer: 87/100.

American Sniper

Tali: American Sniper tells the story of "The Legend" - a US Navy SEAL, who during the War In Iraq is credited with the most kills but a single person. OKAY, SO. This film is made by a man who is recently most famous for publicly talking to an empty chair. This film wasn't bad per se, but I am not used to consuming such pro-America media. It took a lot of mental gymnastics for me to take this film apart as I was watching it, otherwise I would have been totally fed up (ex: all of the Iraqi's are nameless and are otherwise refered to as "evil," "savages," etc.). I felt the most sympathy Sienna Miller, who seemed to be the only one in the whole show that recognized that invading Iraq for no reason would be a huge mistake, and would cause such catastrophic problems on both macro and micro levels. Ultimately, Bradley Cooper was fine, the movie was fine, but the message was VERY clear and I knew I wouldn't be drinking the Kool-Aid by the end. 69/100.

Leo: I was sort of surprised this movie was nominated since it seemed so.....well.....unoriginal. And it was, but I can't say it wasn't well done. I do think Bradley Cooper deserves the nomination he got for it if only because I think he isn't totally believe in everything he was saying and actually made it seem like every shot he took at some child or woman took a bit out of him, even if the character would refuse to admit. Sienna Miller was also very good. I do like how the biopic did not picture "the Legend" as a saint, but at the same time it was not pretending to be an anti-war movie like The Hurt Locker, which I think is important for a biopic (and I think one of my criticisms of Selma - not that I believe the movies are even comparable in quality....). It was what it was meant to be, and frankly, as much as it's an annoying pro-America narrative, it was well done. Except for those plastic babies apparently (I thought I saw one twitch during the movie but I guess not). Leometer: 75/100.