Tuesday, January 22, 2013

2012 Milo Awards for Best Movie and Best Movie Performances

With movie award season upon us, it's time for the 2012 Milo Movie Awards -- that is, my own awards.

Best Actress:   Naomi Watts, The Impossible   
(Runners-up: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook; Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild).

Best Actor:  Joaquin Phoenix, The Master, and Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln (tie). (Runner up: John Hawkes, The Sessions)

Best Supporting Actress:  Ann Hathaway, Les Miserables, and Helen Hunt, The Sessions (tie).


Best Supporting Actor:  Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained)
(Runners up:  Robert DiNiro, Silver Linings Playbook, Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln)

Best Supporting Ensemble: the people of Carthage, TX, Bernie

Best Director:  Ben Affleck, Argo
(Runners up:  Steven Spielberg, Lincoln and Quintin Terrantino, Django Unchained)

Best Song:  Skyfall, Adelle, from Skyfall


Best Animated Movie:  Brave (Runner up: Wreck-It Ralph)


And now the Best Movie list:
  
1.  Argo - Great movie making. Tense drama, edge of your seat suspense even though you know the ending - and a little humor thrown in, too.

2.  The Impossible - Extraordinary film making about a family swept away by the 2004 tsunami.

3Life of Pi - wonderful 3-D movie making that will give you plenty to think about when you leave the theater

4.  Lincoln - Daniel Day Lewis is sensational, but its still a bit pretentious.

5Skyfall - Bond is back, and at his best

6.  Zero Dark Thirty - The decade of planning and sacrifices leading to the raid on Osama Bin Ladin.

7End of Watch - Best cop movie in a long time. You really care about these guys.

8 Django Unchained - Outrageous.  Filled with over-the-top characters and uber blood and guts. Vintage Terrantino.

9Bernie - a quirky comedy with Jack Black, Shirley McClain and the scene-stealing people of Carthage, Texas.


6-year-old Hushpuppy & the ancient auroch - one of stunning images from Beasts of the Southern Wild


10Beasts of the Southern Wild - Remarkable performance by 6-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry as her dying alcoholic father. Whether you fully understand it or not, the imagery is visually stunning.



11.  Silver Linings Playbook - wonderful performances, but a too simple look at mental illness. 

12The Sessions - Sex and polio, and two incredibly brave performances.

13.  The Hobbit - Peter Jackson's treatment of the prequel to Lord of the Rings is perhaps the most engaging of all those movies. 

14Moonrise Kingdom - Star-crossed teen lovers and great quirky performances by Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton & Frances McDormand

15.  The Avengers- Superheros squabble among each other then take on the bad guys.

16. The Dark Night Rises - The Dark Night trilogy concludes.  Not as powerful as Heath Ledger's Joker, but a good film. 

17. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - Veteran actors plying their craft in a delightful light entertaining movie.

18Les Miserables - Beautiful moments, but drags under its own pretentious weight.

19. Flight - Denzel Washington deals with disaster and addiction  in a wrenching movie that doesn't go the direction you might expect from the previews.

20Looper - imaginative, engaging sci-fi time travel. 


Sunday, January 20, 2013

New Orleans Jazz Fest Lineup!

There is nothing better than New Orleans in the Spring.  Except New Orleans in the Spring during Jazz Fest.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has announced the lineup of artists for the 2013 Festival.  And as always, its a staggering array of musical talent of every type.

As always, the Festival runs the last weekend in April and first weekend in May.  This year's dates:  Friday, April 26 - Sunday, April  28, then Thursday, May 2 - Sunday, May 5.

Let's start with the headliners:  Billy Joel, John Meyer, Dave Matthews Band, Maroon 5, Fleetwood Mac, The Black Keys, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, George Benson, and Widespread Panic.   If you are looking for a bit of rocking nostalgia, add in Hall & Oates, and Earth Wind and Fire.

But that just scratches the surface.  Among my favorites: Dianne Reeves, Taj Mahal, Los Lobos, Charlie Musslewhite and The Gipsy Kings.

Then you get to the classic New Orleans and Louisiana artists that are the heart and soul of Jazz Fest.  Dr. John, Allan Toussaint, Aaron Neville, Charmaine Neville, The Nevilles, Ellis Marsalis, BeauSoliel with Michael Doucet, Irma Thomas, Queen Ida, Pete Fountain, Trombone Shorty, Preservtion Hall Jazz Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins, John Boutte, and Terrence Simien.

For the entire lineup, including the schedule for each day, CLICK HERE


If you've been to Jazz Fest before, you know how great it is.  If you haven't, this is one of those things that you simply MUST do.