TheRetroCritic

So that's the Oscars over and done with and, as ever, here we have a good bunch of winners and losers. Some deserved wins, some predictable, some undeserved... It's a mixed bag. Let's start off with the big ones: BEST PICTURE ARGO Yes, that Ben Affleck movie about a fake sci-fi movie saving a bunch of people from a not very good time. Good film, I enjoyed it, but in no way was it the most memorable film I saw last year. Let alone the best! Would have preferred to see Les Miserables win mostly because of the top performances and the unique, game-changing take it had on movie musicals. Or Django Unchained because... well, it's a good Tarantino flick. Or even Skyfall ! But that's just the 007 fan in me whining. I should be happy the film won Best Song and Best Sound Editing. Also surprised Argo won over Lincoln , which was an equally worthy flick I felt. Still, not the best choice but definitely not the worst. BEST DIRECTOR ANG LEE Gott

I should start by confessing that I tend to miss Steven Spielberg's more serious efforts and instead usually wait patiently for his next sci-fi epic. I missed War Horse but flocked to Minority Report three times upon its release, to give you an idea. Maybe I'm an idiot but... Tom Cruise riding a jetpack! Come on! Lincoln is the type of film you don't need to watch to see, if you catch my drift. It's typical Oscar bait with loads of talking, loads of courtroom "action", loads of safe lighter-hearted moments, big performances and smoky rooms. You've seen the trailer: you've pretty much seen the movie. That said, I am happy I saw the whole thing. All in all, it's hardly unpredictable, especially if you know what historically happened, but it keeps your interest until the end mostly thanks to terrific performances and a sharp script. Daniel Day-Lewis is as good as you'd expect, as is Tommy Lee Jones and although Lincoln is pretty darn l

Yes it's Golden Globes time again and the results are in! As ever, it's a mixed bag but hey, when are awards ceremonies ever completely right? Let's begin with: BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA Ben Affleck sure has come a long way since Daredevil.  His film Argo winning Best Motion Picture over the favourite, Steven Spielberg's  Lincoln , Kathryn Bigelow's other intense war-themed flick  Zero Dark Thirty , Ang Lee's visual treat Life Of PI and Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is definitely confirmation that Affleck is finally getting recognised as not only being a good actor but a fine director as well. Argo, to be perfectly honest, wasn't the best film I'd seen all year and I don't think it's one I'll remember years from now. That said, I can't deny that I enjoyed watching it and that it was, indeed, very well made. The more light-hearted parts of the film I didn't find quite as sharp as they should have been but oth

If you're going into this movie expecting something NOT silly, you're not paying attention. Read the title again. Ok? Good. Yes, as it turns out good old Abe Lincoln spent his time in Springfield not only working on his speeches and ageing into a rubber prosthetic but also wielding an axe, slicing vampires in half. Fair enough. You gotta hand it to the guy: he kept busy. The movie starts off sort of like a superhero movie with a young Lincoln defending his friend from those cruel vampiric-looking slave traders. But just when you think the film might pause and take a subtle, interesting look at the hellishly divided society of the time... the other kid gets whipped in the face with the whip snapping right in our faces with some of the best 3D effects I've seen in a while. From then on, you know that slavery, the Civil War etc. those aren't events we'll be studying with any sort of intellectual validity in this flick. After all, this is a movie where