Posts Tagged ‘Penelope Cruz’

Short Take: More pirates, less politics and romance. The best since "Black Pearl."

Director: Rob Marshall

Screenwriters: Ted Elliot and Terry Russio, Tim Powers (On Stranger Tides novel)

Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane

Length: 2h 17m

Synopsis: Jack Sparrow… er, Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) is in London trying to recruit a crew and commandeer a vessel. Concurrent to this is someone posing as Jack, unbeknownst to him, doing the same thing (and a lot more publically as well). The imposter, it turns out, is a woman named Angelica (Cruz), whose past has intersected with Jack’s on several occasions. She, like him, is in search for the Fountain of Youth and is working with her father to find it. His name: Captain Blackbeard (McShane). Meanwhile Captain Barbossa (Rush), having lost the Black Pearl to Blackbeard in battle, has joined the Royal Navy of all things and is likewise in search for the Fountain, and eager to exact his revenge on the infamous pirate. As it so happens, using the Fountain requires a special procedure that includes elements not easily collected. Naturally, Jack tries to use both groups’ efforts to his own advantage, necessitating death-defying stunts and improvisations of incredible finesse. Savvy?

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This is only Mo'Nique's first nomination, but her wins with the Golden Globes, National Society of Film Critics, and SAG gives her the most momentum

Here at Movie-Thoughts we’re taking it upon ourselves to analyze the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, figuring out who has the best chance to win their category. We’ll be examining major categories like Best Picture and Best Director, but leading up to these we’ll also examine categories like Best Screenplay and Best Actor. Our Marisa Carpico starts us off with the following evaluation.

Best Supporting Actress

Considering she’s won a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a Critic’s Choice Award, Mo’Nique is the most likely candidate to win.  If by some shocking turn of events Mo’Nique loses, there’s no telling who could win.  Vera Farmiga’s beguiling performance in Up in the Air is a likely front-runner.  Penélope Cruz is an Oscar favorite, but her role in Nine is far too similar to her Vicky Christina Barcelona character, for which she won the award last year.  Maggie Gyllenhaal gave an interesting performance in Crazy Heart, but it’s the weakest of the group.  The dark horse in this category is Anna Kendrick.  Despite a show-stealing performance in Up in the Air, Kendrick’s youth acts against her and she has plenty of time for another nomination.
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Short Take: Complex and subtle, yet intuitive and readily understood. It could not be more inspired

Director: Rob Marshall (Chicago)

Screenwriters: Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella; Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston (American Broadway musical); Mario Fratti (Italian musical)

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Marion Cotillard (Public Enemies), Penéope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Nicole Kidman (Cold Mountain, Moulin Rouge), Kate Hudson (Bride Wars), Sophia Loren (La ciociara), Fergie (Planet Terror)

Length: 1h 50m

Synopsis: Guido Contini (Day-Lewis) is a famous Italian film director who is having tremendous trouble making his newest movie. Suffering from writer’s block and feeling pressure from everyone around him to make this next picture something incredible, Guido looks to escape in any way that he can. Try as he might to find it, inspiration remains elusive for him even though he is continually reminded that said inspiration has often come from the many women in his life. Read the rest of this entry »