Welcome to Chris on Flix!

Welcome to my film website!  As an actor and lover of great films, I look forward to sharing my opinions and views of current first-run films, flicks on DVDs and classic, alternative and independent films.

Ten Best Films of the Decade!  (no order of preference).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Sideways (2004)

\

Chicago (2002)

Almost Famous (2000)

Gosford Park (2001)

Ratatouille (2007) (3 way tie of equally excellent Pixar films)

WALL-E (2008)

Up (2009) 

In America (2002)

The Lives of Others (2006)

There Will Be Blood (2007)

You Can Count On Me (2000)

Five Actors to Watch (2009)

Last year I shared five actors who had made a strong impression either in leading or supporting roles.  This year the following five actors contributed strong and passionate work and are definitely worth watching for!

Bradley Cooper

Like Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper is a handsome leading man who can be romantic and dashing yet has a goofy, offbeat subtext that shines in comedies.  Cooper impressed me in the otherwise horrid, He's Not That In To You.  He managed to be likable and charming in a film filled with unlikable characters and situations and his presence stood out.  Over the summer, he co-starred in the delightfully vulgar comedy, The Hangover.  His comic performance was appropriately manic and spirited with subtle shades of compassion and strength. I like how Cooper's is willing to have fun with his matinee good looks and get down and dirty with fare such as The Hangover while having the charm to elevate crap like He's Not That In To You. He's an actor who can juggle a variety of roles and it should be interesting to see his career blossom.  This winter, he'll be a part of an all star ensemble including Julia Roberts in the romantic comedy, Valentine's Day  

Hiam Abbass

Abbass is a Palestinian actress who has shined in critically acclaimed foreign films such as Paradise Now (2005).  Last year she gave a fine performance in The Visitor as a concerned mother of a Middle Eastern illegal alien.  She gave her character a serene, strong dignity and her scenes with Oscar nominated co-star, Richard Jenkins were quite moving.  Earlier this year, her haunting and gutsy performance in Lemon Tree was filled with strength and passion and will hopefully generate an Oscar nomination.  These strong performances are indicators that Abbass is an actress to watch and one who can become an international star!

Viola Davis

It takes a fine talent to outshine such co-stars as Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.  In the flawed film Doubt, involving a Priest's relationship with a young African-American pupil in an early 60's Catholic School, Davis has one major scene with Streep as the boy's mother and single handily walks away with the film.  Her 10 minutes on film explode with anger and passion and are the only time in an otherwise flat film that the audience takes notice and cares what is happening on screen.  This role won her a well-deserved Oscar nomination and I for one, look forward to seeing more and more of Davis on screen!

Eddie Marsan

 Marsan co-stared in one of last year's finest films, Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky.  Newcomer Sally Hawkins garnered numerous accolades for her wonderful performance as a spirited young English woman, Poppy and Marsan equaled her in spades.  In the film he portrays Poppy's cranky, lonely and mentally ill driving teacher Scott and the scenes between Hawkins and Marsan are fantastic and fascinating!  Marsan gives his explosive character shades of humor, anger and heartbreak and doesn't miss a single note with his performance.   I like the raw power he shares as an actor and feel his range is diverse enough to create a wide range of memorable roles.

Maya Rudolph

One of this year's best and most touching films is Sam Mendes' Away We Go and a major reason for that is Rudolph's luminous and moving performance as a mother to be in search of the perfect town for her and her boyfriend to raise their child.  Rudolph  is best known for her work on Saturday Night Live and is the daughter of 1970's R&B singer Minnie Riperton.  Rudolph has a lovely aura and creates a vulnerable and exciting film presence and I can't wait to see more of her work!

Summer Films that look interesting!

Up

Two of the best films of the past few years were animated masterpieces from Pixar Studios.   If this whimsical tale of a 78 year-old man who dreams of ballooning to South America is anywhere as fine as Ratatouille or WALL-E, we're in for a real treat.  My money is on this as one of the summer's best films!

Moon

I feel Sam Rockwell is one of the best actors working now and will see anything with him in it.  This intriguing tale about a solo astronaut who believes he may not be alone prior to his return home looks fascinating and with Rockwell as the helm, it should be a sonic blast!

The Hurt Locker

This film is already getting some fine pre-release buzz.  Kathryn Bigelow directs this intense look at an elite, US bomb squad in Iraq who come together in Baghdad and witness the horrifying effects of the war.  The cast includes Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce and the film, may be an all too frightening reminder of the tragedy of war.

The Proposal

Yeah, it looks cute and contrived but I've always liked the charming Sandra Bullock in her romantic comedies and Ryan Reynolds is one of our best young actors and shined last year in Definitely Maybe.  Let's hope this look at a pushy boss who marries her assistant to keep her visa status is another winner for both of these delightful actors.

My Life in Ruins

I really admired Nia Vardalos' sensitive and comic performance in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and feel since she is returning to her ethnic roots portraying a travel guide connecting to her Greek background and chance for love on a trip to Greece, it might be something else to shout " Opa! "about!

Away We Go

Sam Mendes (American Beauty and Revolutionary Road) directs this quirky film about a young couple expecting their first baby  who decide to travel around the country looking for the perfect place to raise their child.  John Krasinski and Maya Randolph have gotten some really good early reviews for the film and Chris Messina, so good in last year's Humbolt County and Vicki Cristina Barcelona is featured in a supporting role. I like the trailer and Mendes' work is always worth catching.

Taking Woodstock

Oscar Winner Ang Lee explores American society once again with this true story about a young man who works at his parents' motel in the Catskills during the summer of 1969 and helps to set in motion the defining concert of the 1960's, Woodstock.  The high octane cast includes Emile Hirsch, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Liev Schreiber, Paul Dano and Imelda Staunton.  With that cast and director, Lee at the stern, let's hope this is a happening experience!

My Oscar Predictions!

Best Picture:

Although The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the beautifully made old-fashioned, Hollywood epic of a film that used to win this award, my money is on the little indie that could, Slumdog Millionaire. It's won every other major award for best picture including the SAG award for Best Ensemble.  Count on it to go for the big Prize.

Best Actress:

A strong group.  Personally, I'd love to see Angelina Jolie win for her powerful and heartfelt work in Changeling, but Kate Winslet has lost 5 times previously and is one of our finest actresses, so I feel that 6 is going to be her lucky number.  Maybe Meryl Streep in her 15th nomination could pull an upset, but I doubt it (no pun intended).

Best Actor: 

All fine performances but Sean Penn will emerge the winner for his strong work in Milk.  Mickey Rourke has done well with the Golden Globes and BAFTA in this category and could sneak in for the prize, but I feel he's too "out there" for most Academy members and they'll decide to go with Penn.

Best Supporting Actor:

Heath Ledger.   Will and should win, count on it!

Best Supporting Actress:

My choice here is the luminous and passionate Penelope Cruz and I feel the members of the Academy will agree.  She was a fiery, dynamo in Vicki Cristina Barcelona and 3 other actors (Michael Caine, Mira Sorvino and Dianne Wiest) have won previously in the supporting category for a Woody Allen film and I feel Cruz will continue the trend.  Viola Davis or Marisa Tomei could pull an upset, but I'm sticking with Cruz here.

Best Director:

Danny Boyle won the DGA award and with only a few exceptions, the DGA winner goes on to win the Oscar.  In addition, since Slumdog is likely to win Best Picture, it's fairly certain Boyle's name will be read as winner.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

 Simon Beaufoy will be keep the Slumdog Millionaire winning streak going!

Best Original Screenplay:

Many feel Milk was one of the year's best pictures if not the best, so this is the category where Oscar voters can redeem themselves for overlooking the film as Best Picture.  Dustin Lance Black will emerge winner for his screenplay for Milk.  There's a slight chance the Academy will recognize their ignorance for leaving the brilliant WALL-E out of the Best Picture and Director race and award a win for Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Peter Doctor's innovative screenplay but I feel the academy is foolishly elitist when it comes to animation, so my pick is Milk.

3 Oscar Snubs to rant about!

WALL-E

Along with being one of the best reviewed films of the year, Pixar once again gave us (as with last year's Ratatouille) a brilliantly made, innovative, funny and touching film that elevated itself above most Hollywood commercial films.   Part ode to Charlie Chaplin with a breathtaking 20 minute silent beginning and salute to Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey thrown in for good measure, this is simply one of the finest films of the decade. Yeah it's great the film won 6 deserved Oscar Nods including Best Animated Film and Original Screenplay (thank God the overrated Cody Diablo is not in the running this year), however, this is the type of strong film that deserved to be up for the big prize and ignoring Andrew Stanton's impressive directing is a crime indeed!  Great filmmaking is great filmmaking and should be judged accordingly regardless of live, animated or documentary form!  Wake up Academy members!

Bruce Springsteen

As expected and deservingly so, Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei won nominations for their passionate and strong performances in The Wrestler.  However, Springsteen's effective title song was locked out of the best song category after his win at the Golden Globe awards. The passionate song seemed like a sure thing for the nod and probable win.  Instead only 3 nominations were submitted and 2 for unknown songs from Slumdog Millionaire.   What gives?  It seems every year there a blunder in this category.  Oh yeah, this is the group that ignored the Bee Gee's classic score to Saturday Night Fever?

Cate Blanchette

I loved The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and was overjoyed by its 13 nominations including recognizing the fine work of Brad Pitt and Taraji Hensen.  But what about Cate Blanchette?  She was the soul and passion of the film and had you hooked into the story from the very first fame of the film; a terrific performance filled with passion, angst and wit.  How could they nominate Pitt and Hensen and forget about Blanchette, one of our finest actresses?

Five Actors to Watch

It's always exciting to watch a film and witness a terrific actor emerging and to then anticipate their next film because they were so wonderful to watch!  Often they may only have a supporting or small role or you might have never noticed them until the right role came along.  Over the past year, I found this to true of the following five actors and can't wait to see more and more of their performances:

Sam Rockwell:

You may have seen him recently in Choke.  No matter the role, Rockwell is always an offbeat and interesting presence.   Earlier this year he co-starred in Snow Angels, a bleak, but fascinating character study about the intertwining lives of desperate people in a small, Pennsylvania town.  Rockwell gives his character the right amount of frustration, anger and weirdness to make him frightening yet vulnerable.  Snow Angels is currently on DVD and is worth a look if you enjoy independent fare.  Even more impressive is his "Superhero like" rescue of 2007's Omen wanna be Joshua.  While we've seen "the bad kid who kills" many times before, Rockwell injects his role as Joshua's father, with enough fierce passion and guts to scare the daylights out of Superman and Batman combined.  It's always a kick to see an actor elevate mediocre material to something worth watching!  I feel Rockwell is one of the finest actors working now!

Chris Messina:

Messina was impressive this summer in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona.  Cast as Vicky's fiancé, he took the clichéd "Hollywood wrong guy for the girl" role and invested it with compassion, charm and integrity, thus, we could really feel his love for Vicky in contrast to him being the loser "fiancé."  He's currently starring in the independent film Humboldt County (it's available on pay per view) and he's equally impressive as the "black sheep" of a California family who grows marijuana and seems to stay high often.  Similar to his work in Vicky, he gives a common "cliché" type role freshness by adding humor, conviction and depth allowing the audience to really identify with his character.  Fine work by a terrific young actor who I want to see more of.

Isla Fisher:

Fisher was great fun in 2005's Wedding Crashers as Vince Vaughn's psycho love interest.  Earlier this year, I watched her in the delightful, romantic comedy Definitely Maybe and she shined bright among a high octane cast.  Fisher portrayed April, Ryan Reynolds' old girlfriend and stole every scene she graced.  She's a real dynamo on screen, a terrific mix of funny and sexy with just the right amount of sadness underneath to enhance her vulnerability.  Fisher is reminiscent of Amy Adams (another fine talent) and I for one, look forward to her next role!

Marion Cotillard:

Sometimes Oscar gets it right and he sure did earlier this year when Cotillard's name was called out for her sensational performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. The film itself is flawed and all over the place, but it really doesn't matter, because Cotillard is brilliant and believable as the tragic French songstress.  She transforms herself into Piaf with sincerity and gusto.  A gem of a performance.  What's even more exciting is Cotillard is cast along Penelope Cruz (muy perfecto), Sophia Loren and Daniel Day Lewis (making his musical debut, but he can do anything!) in Rob Marshall's (Chicago) version of the 1981 Tony winning musical Nine.  Ah, life is good!

Michael Sheen:

Sheen held his own against Helen Mirren in The Queen.  Sadly overlooked in the Best Supporting Oscar category, Sheen was simply a marvel as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.  More than just a fine resemblance, he gave Blair depth and a slight manipulative aura that gave his scenes with Mirren passion and bite.   Last year he was really impressive as a paraplegic Vietnam Vet in the well-meaning but flat The Music Within.  Next up for this talented actor is the December release of Frost/Nixon where Sheen portrays another famous Brit, journalist and interviewer David Frost.

Fall Films to watch for!

Burn After Reading

The Coen Brothers have thankfully returned  to their off-beat comic ways and with Oscar Winner Francis McDormand back in the lead.  How can it miss?

W

Yes, Oliver Stone can be a bit over-zealous as a filmmaker, but after the last eight years of the Bush administration and its terrors, this might be just what the doctor ordered.  What took you so long, Oliver?

Changeling 

I've argued for years that Angelina Jolie is one of our finest actresses and with veteran director, Clint Eastwood at the helm, this might be the artistic jump this talented woman deserves!

Rachel Getting Married

Anne Hathaway has done some really fine work recently and the early buzz is good on this study of a wild child who causes a bit of trouble at her sisters wedding.  It's also great to see Debra Winger back on screen in a supporting role.

Quantum of Solace

Daniel Craig reinvented the James Bond franchise with the dynamic and exciting Casino Royale two years ago and I can't wait to see him rock as Bond again!

Synecdoche, New York

Oscar Winner Charlie Kaufman makes his directorial debut with with another off-beat and unique film about a stage director who sets his new play on a life-size version of New York City built inside a warehouse.  With a cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener and Samantha Morton and Kaufman's eclectic talent, this might be an early Christmas present!

5 Oscar snubs that stung!    

Into The Wild  

Probably the year's best picture passionately directed by Sean Penn and beautifully acted by a fine ensemble.  A simple story about the importance of our existence and how we share our lives with others. Shame on the Academy for excluding the film for Best Picture, Penn as Best Director and Emile Hirsch as Best Actor.

Amy Adams (Enchanted)

Not only was the film one of the year's best, but Adams gave the most comical and delightful performance of the year. How could the same Academy who rewarded an equally wonderful Disney performance by Julie Andrews in 1964's Mary Poppins forget the joy that an actress as high spirited as Adams brings to movie screens?

Hairspray

One of the best reviewed musicals of the past few years and winner of the Acting ensemble award at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards in addition to a SAG nomination for Best Acting Ensemble and zero for zero at Oscar time.  At least a Best Song nod for Come So Far?  Tsk, Tsk  to those who forgot this delightful film.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale (3:10 To Yuma)

Bale and Crowe gave new life to the Western genre with their fine performances as two men who develop an unlikely bond on the way to catching a train to fate.  The film's strong and touching conclusion works because of the strength and dignity these two fine actors bring to their roles.  Wake up Oscar man and please finally nominate a deserving Christian Bale!

Pop Goes My Heart (Music and Lyrics)

The title credits of this fun Hugh Grant comedy are a mock video send up of a 1980's Wham-type group.  Adam Schlesinger wrote an infectious, delightful song that I haven't been able to get out of my head since I first heard it.  I loved Enchanted but it didn't need 3 Oscar nods for Best Song.  Just think what a hoot it would have been to see Hugh Grant and Scott Porter strut out on stage and do their George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley thing!  Oh I forgot, they had to reward August Rush with one nomination to get their good deed in for the day.  Barf!

Daniel Day Lewis

As many of you know I'm a big fan of Superheroes. Because I'm an actor, one hero to me is Daniel Day Lewis. I admire his talent, grace and his awesome ability to portray a vast array of characters and to fully commit himself  into any role he's called on to play. Last night while accepting his SAG award for Best Actor in There Will Be Blood, Lewis showed true courage and nobility as he shared his admiration to fellow actor Heath Ledger by dedicating his award to the late actor. This act of compassion displayed all the criteria of a true hero; unselfish and self sacrificing, in short, a compassionate and beautiful gesture. I salute you,
Daniel Day Lewis. You make me proud to be an actor.


Please check out this speech at you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY0fPhgLAcM

 !

This site is © Copyright 2008 by Chris Maltezos.   All Rights Reserved

Steve's free web templates