I wanna talk about how bad you make this room look.

Crazy Heart

Crazy Heart is a fairly predictable drama about an alcoholic country singer that won Jeff Bridges his Oscar.

I'd been wanting to see Crazy Heart for a while, but not because it looked interesting. I needed to see if Jeff Bridges beat Colin Firth because the performance was better or it was just "Jeff Bridges' turn." Jeff Bridges really is great. He inhabits Bad Blake and gives an honest and raw performance. Bridges pushes himself to the edge and the edge isn't pretty. He's the heart of the movie and he's a great musician. A fantastic performance, he carries the movie and few actors could've played this role. Bridges' also had great chemistry with Colin Farrell, his former protege. Farrell sings a mean country song and sounds 100% Southern. Kudos to his dialect or accent coach.

I maintain my stance that Colin Firth was better and Bridges' Oscar was an I.O.U. Bridges kicked ass but Firth's role required a deeper and higher level of emotional intensity and conflict than Bridges' in my opinion. I'm not as peeved that Bridges beat Firth after watching Crazy Heart, but I still would've rather heard Colin Firth's acceptance speech than Bridges'.

The story was fairly predictable and a lot like a country song. Guy is broken and needs to be saved by music and a fine woman. The love story turned me off. Seeing an overweight, alcoholic, dirty man rub his hands all over Maggie Gyllenhaal just didn't do it for me. Furthermore, this love story would never happen if the roles were reversed. Would an attractive man fall for an aged, slightly overweight and female character? Probably not. That's why I find the romances in Crazy Heart and The Wrestler, for example, a bit preposterous.

The soundtrack is phenomenal. This is real, bleeding heart country music. No Taylor Swift pop-country riff-raff. If you like country music, pick up this soundtrack. Even if you don't like country music, this is a must own film soundtrack.

Overall, the film is a strong B. Great performances but the story was too predictable for my taste.

Rupert Friend in The Young Victoria
While Emily Blunt is great in the titular role, Rupert Friend as Albert stole the film for me. His performance is very reserved and chivalrous, sweet and strong. I fell in love with him right along with Victoria. His eyes speak more than his words ever could and he's a strong, male feminist character. Albert seems like a role that anyone could've played but Friend made it his own. I really hope we get to see him in more.

Netflix

Easy A-I enjoy Emma Stone and this was supposed to be better than it looked.
Eclipse-I know. For shame.
Les Miserables-Netflix Instant. Love the pairing of Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush.