Oscar Countdown, Day 5: 127 Hours

Counting down the hours until Hollywood's most golden of awards galas? So are we! Semi-obsessively. Join us at noon for the next ten too-long days as we mentally prep our Oscar pool ballots and give each of this year's Best Picture nominees a once over and half.

Photo: allmoviephoto.com

127 HOURS

THE RUNDOWN: If you don't know what 127 Hours is about based on the title and photo, it's about a man stuck in a canyon for 127 hours. Aron Ralston (James Franco) is a thrill-seeking adventurer who likes to go off on dangerous day trips on the spur of the moment without telling a soul what he's up to. One day, while exploring a canyon, trailing through walls of rock, a boulder falls loose and jams his arm underneath. Unable to free himself, he's left struggling to stay alive and trying to get out.

WHY IT'S GOLDEN: You might think watching one man stand awkwardly between a rock and a hard place (that's actually the title of Ralston's memoir about the incident!) for two hours would be boring as well, standing between a rock and hard place for two hours. But it's the exact opposite, thanks to Danny Boyle's frantic and fantastical directing, which seamlessly rams us back and forth between hysterical hallucinations (is that Scooby Doo!?) and hellish reality. And don't even get me started on Franco's hilarious yet heartbreaking one-man show. If Colin Firth wasn't in the running, he'd be the one to beat. Hands, er hand (?) down. Terrible, insensitive jokes aside, 127 Hours deserves Oscar gold is because it turns a ridiculously remarkable story about a true triumph of the human spirit into something even more remarkable, at least in Hollywood: a film that is both accurate and original. - Emily

WHY IT'S NOT: Despite remarkably building an interesting narrative out of a man stuck between rocks for 127 hours, there still isn't much to bite off. I mean, there is no driving force at present, except trying to break free, which an extremely slow struggle. The film is more of a portrait than a story. We learn about a man, who is he, what's happened in his past and then his inner battle between himself and his past, all while lodged in a crack in a canyon. The storyline does progress, through very gradually and very insignificantly. - Michelle

THE FINAL VERDICT: While it's safe to say the Academy has a serious hard-on for Danny Boyle—they gave him multiple trophies, including this one, for Slumdog Millionaire two years back—I'm not sure they've got enough of one for this film. Sure it got six nominations, but I've been doubtful of its actual chances since they made Franco a host. It seems like their version of a highly-publicized consolation prize.

Check out Emily's original review here! Tomorrow, we find out how True Grit stacks up.

Emily's Top 10 of '10: Part 2

5. 127 Hours

I saw Danny Boyle's latest heart-yanking film on an especially special evening at TIFF, attended by both it's star (James Franco) and it's inspiration (adventure enthusiast and Between a Rock and Hard Place author, Aron Ralston). After the screening the mega-moving one-man-show, in which Franco (as Ralston) amputates his own arm after having spent an excruciating 127 hours with it lodged under a rogue boulder, Ralston (and his hook hand) came on stage all bright and teary-eyed. He was just so grateful to see his true triumph of the human spirit come alive on screen for the world, and most importantly, his family to see. As he told the still-recovering audience (the fainting rumours are true!), he was blown away by Boyle and Franco's hyperactive and hallucinogenic treatment of his story, as it managed remain loyal to his reality even when delving into fits of hysterical fantasy. I couldn't have said it better myself.

4. Blue Valentine

This dark, depressing love story is not for the faint and or fantastical of heart. This film, which was nearly unfairly slapped with a NC-17 rating (America's version of R), is rough, raw and ridiculously real, to the point that sometimes, you feel as though you're Rear Windowing in on your loud, obviously unhappy neighbours. Blue Valentine takes us on a tour through the shards of a never-really-true romance, which starts as an unhappy accident and ends in unsolvable screaming match. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling pour their hearts and bodies (the duo totally transform in the later sections) into playing the couple in question (Cindy and Dean), giving us what may be the most genuine representation of modern love - and loss - I've ever seen.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I still can't believe this movie wasn't a huge hit. It's 100 times better than Tron, Iron Man 2 and every other big budget action flick that came out this year. It's not a remake (although it is based on a series of graphic novels). It's not a mindless star vehicle (although Mikey Cera does get some sweet mega-closeups!). It's a true original - with some perfectly timed homages (Mortal Kombat! Seinfeld!) thrown in. Featuring a kick ass (not to be confused with Kick-Ass, which didn't quite live up to its name) plot - Toronto-based hipster 20-something has to defeat his new girl's seven evil exes - awesomely awkward dialogue, video game visuals and an insanely addictive soundtrack, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has future unironic indie kid favourite written all over it. And it knows it.

2. Toy Story 3

This June, Woody, Buzz and the toy friends we've grown to love for over a decade rode back into Tinseltown for one last cinematic play date. And I don't know about you, but I'm searching for tissues. While the first two films in the animated series were undoubtedly superb, this installment was even better as it took us through most devastating moment of any toy's life: being put away in storage by their once-dedicated owner (in this case, Andy).  For my generation, who grew with the courageous cowboy and the sometimes-Spanish space cadet and kind of consider them our own, the bittersweet story hit so close to home it still hurts. 

1. The Social Network

A deliciously zeitgeist-y story, based on the controversial back story behind the most addictive website, ever? A wicked smart cast fronted by the next generation of hot nerds, Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield - and former Model Behaviour star and triple threat, Justin Timberlake? A talky, intelligent, Gilmore Girls speed script by West Wing scribe, Aaron Sorkin? What's not to 'like'? If this doesn't win Best Picture, I'm going to de-friend the Academy for at least a week.

ALSO AWESOME: The Other Guys, The King's Speech, Black Swan, Inception, Tangled, Shutter Island, Youth in Revolt 

*All photos from allmoviephoto.com

TIFF 2010: 127 Hours

 

 Photo: Screenrant.com

(Under the shoulder boulder holder.)

Starring James Franco. Directed by Danny Boyle. 94 minutes.

These days, it's so common to see the words "Based on true events" sprawled across the bottom of a movie poster. And no matter how true that statement really is, we take the bait, hoping for some sort of semi-relatable thrill. But most of the time, we're just greeted with a harsh dose of barely-there reality. Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle's latest, 127 Hours, is a rare exception.

Based on the memoir, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, 127 Hours recounts Aron Ralston's struggle to free his right arm from underneath a boulder. In real time, Ralston spent, you got it, 127 hours, barely surviving on a small jug of water, a few freeze-dried meals and, in one low moment, his own urine. In reel time, we only spend 90 minutes with the mountain climber (or rather, James Franco). But that doesn't make his incredible story any less powerful.

If  Boyle is a mad film scientist, then 127 Hours is his Monster. Crafted using the heart and soul of Slumdog and the frantic look and feel of the main body of Trainspotting, it's a beautiful beast of a movie, both hard to watch - and forget.

127 Hours could have been as dry and lifeless as an abandoned canyon (I mean, technically, you're just watching a guy stand around for an hour and a half) but under Boyle's supervision, it's an awesomely emotional rollercoaster, plunging right into the heart of both Ralston's physical and psychological pain.  Boyle near-synchronizes our heartbeat with Aron's using brilliantly surrealistic hallucination scenes, sensory camera work, split-screen sequences and way-too-close-for-comfort POV shots. The detail work is so vivid, you almost feel as though you are Aron, which can be a bit too intense at times. Especially if you're a more squeamish film lover (a few people  fainted at the screening I attended).

But just when you think the pain and loneliness might send you over the edge, Boyle (who also co-wrote the screenplay) injects some deliciously delirious humour, like an over-the-top handy-cam scene or a self-consciously sarcastic soundtrack choice. But don't get blinded by the fun. 127 Hours is more serious than slapstick. Be prepared to want to cover your eyes at least once (spoiler, that really isn't a spoiler - he ends up cutting his arm off with a dollar store knife!) - and fight off I-just-witnessed-a-genuine-triumph-of-the-human-spirit tears.

Although Boyle's fierce filmmaking makes Ralston's story come to new-life, it's Franco's fearless performance that really makes it special.  Whether he's chatting up some lost hiker girls (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) or himself, Franco's loud, yet breezy mannerisms make Aron seem effortlessly charming and fun. In the same breath (sometimes literally), he also makes us think he's a lost little boy, waiting for someone to swoop in and save him. Just wait for the schizophrenic "talk show" scene. It's both hilarious and heartbreaking.

It's doubtful Franco or Boyle know what it's like to be as lonesome as Ralston was during that near-fatal trip (and really,  how can anyone?).  But they really make you think that they do. And that is something you really can't fabricate. A-