When we were looking at flats last year, and eventually buying the one we're in, the thought of asking if there would be a key to the front of the building seemed ridiculous. Why wouldn't someone have a key to the front door of the building they lived in? We should have asked, I guess.
When we got the keys from our solicitor, there was a note attached from the previous owners.
It talked about the champagne they have left for us in the fridge (which we still haven't opened, for some reason), the sensitivity of the smoke detector in the kitchen, their forwarding address, and that they didn't have a key to the bike shed or the front door to the building.
What?!? The note went onto say that they had never received keys to the bike shed or the front door - they had lived here for 6 years! They had just grown used to always using the back door. Now, I should say, that cars and bikes are parked in the back so it's quite possible to not need a front door key. Also, the stairs that lead up to our flat are closer to the back door than the front door, so, again, you can see how one could live without a front door key.
It's still odd though.
We don't drive or use bikes much, and the front door is the closer door to being inside when coming home from work. Lauren always leaves through the front door (I tend to leave through the back), so it got a little annoying to not have a front door key. Add on that when visitors were with us, we had to show them how to get to the back door, should they be coming home on their own.
I didn't like this not having a front door key thing.
I contacted the company that manages the building we live in, asking if they had a key we could copy. They said that they had lost theirs, and were trying to get one themselves. They suggested that I get a copy from one of our neighbours, and when I did, could I get a copy for management company. Seriously?!?! I'm supposed to get something for you, that I should be able to get from you?
If our neighbours were friendly people, who we would even call acquaintances, we could easily have gotten a key. But the group of people that live around us are the most keep-to-yourself group of people I've ever shared a building with. I can count the number 'Hi's' I've gotten since living here on my fingers - we've lived here for 10 months!
A few months after we moved in, the contact person at the property management changed and the new person welcomed people to ask him questions.
I immediately asked him about getting a key to the front door. He gave me the same answer, again saying that if I got a key, could I let him know, so he could get a copy from me. Why they can't contact other people who live in the building, and ask them for a key, was beyond me. He said if we wanted a bike shed key, it would cost us £20. £20 for a key! I passed on that opportunity.
Then Monday night happened.
I was sitting in the living room when I heard what sounded like running water, and it sounded like it was in the ceiling of the bathroom. In a place where we lived a couple of years ago, our upstairs neighbour had a bad leak one time that led to a lot of water ending up in our bathroom. I feared the same.
I ran into the bathroom, could hear the water above, and saw a seam in the ceiling getting wet. Then, I saw water trickling out of a shaver socket that we have above our sink. It was weird to see water coming out of an electrical socket. The 'on' light of the socket came on by itself, and it started to make a crackling noise.
I ran upstairs and pounded on our neighbour's door.
I'd never seen this guy before.
He was younger than me, Middle Eastern, and when I said we had water coming through our ceiling, I could see him get very nervous - he was physically shaking. He said he wasn't paying attention and his sink had overflowed, but didn't realise the water would go down to our flat. I wonder where he thought the water would go? He showed me the bathroom, that had a pool of water in it that he has mostly sopped up at this point. Because he was clearly nervous, I calmed him down, said not to worry about it, and before I left, I said 'you don't happen to have a key to front of the building, do you?'
Five days later, the water damage is not even visible, an electrician came out and said the socket just needed to dry out (we had turned it off from the fuse box on Monday night). And most importantly, we now have 4 front door keys - one for each of our sets of keys. Total price £12, plus my getting to know one of our neighbours.
I'm considering emailing the property manager and saying I can get him a copy of the front door key - for £20.
It's been a while since I last did a thorough write-up on all the Best Picture Oscar nominees. In the years since I did this last, I did see all the nominees, but not with enough time to write about all of them (last year, I saw one of the nominees a few hours before the ceremony started).
The most impressive scene I saw on film in 2012 (from Flight)
With that not-so-great introduction, here is how I rank this year's contenders, from best to worst:
Zero Dark Thirty - It was difficult for me to decide on my favorite movie of the year. It was really a 1A and 1B for me, but I decided to give the edge to this film. It's not the most entertaining film of the year, not by a long-shot, so I could see how people would not like it. It's methodical though, the steps involved in going through the process of tracking down Usama Bin Laden. The missteps on the way, the close calls, the whole idea of the characters not knowing if what they are doing is of much use. Like The Hurt Locker, it has a realistic feel to it that not everyone likes to get when they go see a movie. I, however, like that kind of thing.
Argo - Argo is like Zero Dark Thirty on a sugar rush. They are in the same ballpark, but they are very different. They are both based on true events, both involve trying to get people in the Middle East, but while Zero Dark Thirty tells of a long, methodical process, trying to keep level heads while surrounded by madness, Argo is a manic, frantic movie, trying to get things done very quickly, involving Holywood, a fake movie, and a guy who many said was crazy to try what he did. It's great entertainment, and while I thought the end was a little too Hollywood, I walked out of the theater thinking it was a fun ride, and almost too bizarre to be true. If you see this movie, you must stay for the end credits.
Lincoln - The first 5 minutes of Lincoln worried me. Black soldiers reciting the Gettysburg Address to Lincoln has a tone of over-the-topness to it that Speilberg can sometimes get into and that concerned me. Thankfully the rest of the film wasn't like the first 5 minutes. Were there some moments that seemed Spielbergian? Of course; he likes to tug on the heartstrings from time to time. What made the film though, was Daniel-Day Lewis. After seeing Malcolm X, my image of what Malcolm X looked like, is what Denzel Washington looked like in that movie. After seeing Lincoln, my image of what Lincoln looks like, is Daniel-Day Lewis. I don't think I've seen a person become a well-known person so well as he did in this film. Mind you, there is no good record of what Lincoln sounded like, but I thought his performance was mind-blowing. That alone was enough for me to put the film in my top five of the year.
Amour - If you knew nothing about this film going in, you would guess that it's about love. It is; but not the kind of love typically seen in movies. This is not some lovey-dovey, romantic movie. This film is about the love of an elderly couple, as they approach the end of their lives. I liked this movie a lot, but I can't watch it again. There were scenes that hit too close to home, that reminded me of the last few days of my mother's life. Like Daniel-Day Lewis in Lincoln, the performance of Emanuelle Riva was amazing. I hope she wins the Oscar. She wasn't inhabiting a 'known' person like Daniel-Day was, but she was inhabiting someone we have all known. This is not the fastest-paced movie you'll ever see, and there were some scenes that seemed to be put in for no real reason. This is one of the rare times that I felt unnecessary scenes were needed. Without them, the movie would have been just too difficult to get through. I would have rated this higher than Lincoln, except for the ending (which I won't spoil here). It was a bit abrupt and I was a bit thrown when it faded to black.
Django Unchained - I liked this movie, but Quentin Tarantino has done better. Of the Best Picture nominees, this was the one I was most looking forward to. I'm one of those Tarantino people, who, as soon as I saw a Django trailer for the first time, pulled a Liz Lemon - I want to go to there. The 'there' in this case being any theater that was showing this film. I didn't love it. I liked it, but didn't love it. I don't have the same issues other people have had with this film's violence, or use the N-word. I had a problem with it's length. A good 30-45 minutes could have been cut and it would have been a better film. I wanted to love this movie going in. I did love this movie for the first 90 minutes. I loved it when I thought it had reached it's climax; but then it went on, and my love of the movie turned more and more into a like of it, as I thought to myself, why didn't he just end it there? I wish he would have. It might have made my top three.
Beasts of the Southern Wild - I didn't like this as much as everyone else seemed to. I saw this at a free screening (like I did with Argo), and the audience applauded at the end. I don't know if I'd go that far. Yes, it was very good for what it was - a low-budget movie with untrained actors. But what if it wasn't low-budget? What if it starred trained actors? Would it be considered to be just as good? I just kept thinking that if this exact same movie was made to look exactly as it did, but it was made by a major studio, cost significantly more money to make, and had someone like, I don't know, Will Smith, cast as the father, if it would have gotten the same applause from the crowd I saw it with, or from critics overall. I don't think a movie should be judged by its budget, or its cast, but by the end product. In my mind, this was a good movie, but if the Oscars had 5 nominations instead of 9, I don't think it would have made the cut. It's like when Up got a best picture nomination; it's the movie that people want to give a nod to, even though they all know it has no chance at winning.
Life of Pi - In my view, Life of Pi was this year's Avatar. It was a visual spectacle
which could have used a bit more substance. The story, in and of itself
was good, but a bit drawn out, and a good 30 minutes could
have been cut from the film without losing much of the narrative. That
being said, I wished I had seen this in 3D. I am not a fan of 3D so I
saw this in 2D, but I kind of wish I had risked the headaches 3D films often
give me and seen it in that format. The visuals were stunning, even in
2D, and I can't imagine how good they would have looked in 3D. I'm sure
this will win some technical awards, but a Best Picture, it is not. Not
by a long-shot, in my opinion.
Silver Linings Playbook - I don't get why this movie was so loved. I went into this knowing nothing about what the film was about. The only thing I knew is that critics seemed to love it, people seemed to love it, and so I thought it would be awesome. It wasn't. Again, it was good for what it was - a romantic comedy/drama. Was it edgier than your typical romantic comedy? Yes, but it still had the quirky side characters many romantic comedies have, it has a major plot point that has romantic shlockyness written all over it, and (spoiler alert) it ended just like every romantic comedy does; everyone ends up happy. It had an edge I would have liked David O. Russell to go with a little more; one of the leads suffering from a serious psychological disorder, the other also coming from a dark place. I liked that aspect of it, but as it got going it just kind of fell into typical rom-com fare, and that lost points for me. Was it good for what it was? Sure. Was it deserving of a best picture nomination? Not in my opinion.
Les Misérables - I bashed Les Misérables a bit in my last blog post, and I will do much more of that here. Before I say more, I should note that the only movie musical I've liked in the last decade, was Dreamgirls. That out of the way, I can now say that I was completely disappointed in Les Misérables. I didn't care for the directing - the insane use of close ups, while showing almost no background. You're in Paris, for God's sake, show some of Paris! I don't want to get started on the singing, so I won't. I'll just say that the reason I liked Dreamgirls and no other recent musicals is that, in that film, real singers were cast. The leading characters in Les Misérables were not played by singers, but Hollywood stars. I'll bet if the guy who directed Beasts of the Southern Wild were asked to helm this, he would have got a bunch of unknown singers, who were probably good, and it would have been a better, albeit very low budget film. I don't know why this film got a Best Picture nomination. There are several films I would have put above it, that were denied a nomination. I expected much more from this film, and was disappointed by it.
So there it is. My thoughts on the Best Picture Nominee for the 2012 Oscars. I do want to point out a few performances that impressed me in films that didn't get Best Picture Nominations. I thought Denzel Washington (in Flight) and Joaquin Phoenix (in The Master) were phenomenal, but in a category with Daniel-Day Lewis, they stand no chance of winning. John Goodman, with small roles in Argo and Flight, was sneaky good too. His roles were probably not flashy enough to get a nomination, but he was great in both films. I was stunned Ben Affleck and Katherine Bigelow were denied Best Director Nominations. There is just something utterly wrong with that.
The funniest scene I saw on film in 2012 (from Django Unchained)
Who do I think will win? I'm leaning towards Argo. It has been winning a number of awards, and that bodes well for it. It would be a good choice, and you'd hear no complaints from me if that were to happen.
With the Oscars less than a month away, I'm in the midst of doing what I do every year at about this time; seeing every Best Picture nominee before the night of the Oscars. I've seen all but Amour so far, and I'm hoping to see it over the weekend.
The current Best Picture format is to have five to 10 films nominated. I like this. When it was five films (from 1944 to 2009), I felt that there was at least one major snub every year. When it was 10 films (from 2009-2011), I felt that there were films among the 10 that didn't really deserve to be there. In 2011, the decision was made to have 5 to 10 films, picking them by a format I won't get into here. I like this. In theory, good films shouldn't get snubbed, but films that are not so great wouldn't get a nomination.
That said, I was surprised when the nominations were announced earlier this year. Two movies that got nominated for Best Picture surprised me, for two very different reasons.
I hadn't seen Les Misérables when the nominees were announced, but I had heard and seen some reviews. It was not getting the best reviews, and has, by far, the lowest score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes (as of this posting, it has a 70%; the second lowest of the nominees has a score of 86%). The average person seems to like Les Misérables more than the average critic, but Oscars tend to side more with critics than people - look at the nominees for favorite movie from the most recent People's Choice Awards; none of them are up for the Best Picture Oscar. After seeing Les Misérables, I sided with the critics, which added to my surprise of the nomination.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a low-budget movie. According to IMDB, it was made for $1.8 million. To put this into context, Silver Linings Playbook, which doesn't seem to have much in terms of special effects, had a budget of $21 million. Even Amour had a budget of just under $10 million. I was shocked to see such a small movie get a Best Picture nomination. Yes, critics liked it, but I was still surprised, pleasantly, mind you, to see it get a Best Picture nomination. This was a movie with a cast of amateurs, a first-time director, and it gets a Best Picture nomination.
I was so sure that The Master would get a Best Picture nomination that I saw it in October, thinking it was the second Best Picture nomination I was going to see (I had seen Argo, assuming it would get nominated and Beasts of the Southern Wild, thinking it would not). The Master is directed by a guy critics love, the two lead actors in the film have had acting nominations in the past (and were both nominated this year), and it was a weird movie. That usually adds up to a Best Picture nomination - not this year, apparently.
As I walked out of The Master, I heard two older guys talking. I don't know if they had seen the film I had just seen, but the sentence I heard one of them say perfectly described how I felt about the movie, immediately after seeing it: "It was good, but I wouldn't want to see it again". I thought it was a well-acted film, a well-directed film, and I liked the cinematography. But it was weird, and I didn't really get it. It was a good film, technically, but I didn't think I'd want to see it again.
Things have changed; I want to see it again.
Of all the films I've seen in the past year, this is the film that I can't seem to get out of my mind. I didn't really get it but as time has gone on, I want to see it again, thinking I may see things I didn't see before. I've heard critics say it was better with the second, or third, viewing. I can't get out of my mind Joaquin Phoenix's performance, the way he held his body in contorted ways, playing a really messed up guy, a guy who you wished you had a better idea what was going on in his head. A guy who I never really understood.
It was not in the same class as other films I have loved, that didn't get a Best Picture nomination in the past (Blue Valentine is the first one that comes to mind). It was not the best film of the year, probably not even in my top five. But it was the film that stuck with me the most, and for that, I kind of wish it got a Best Picture nomination.
