Weekly Film: Apocalypse Now Redux

"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning."

32 years ago Francis Ford Coppola released his master piece that was Apocalypse Now to the world. After a long and notoriously arduous production in the Philippines, Coppla and his editing team were left with almost 200 hours of footage to cut. Whilst the final result they ended up with was undeniably good, several whole scenes had to be removed.

In 2001 Coppla unveiled Apocalypse Now Redux, a new cut of the film with many of the removed scenes added. Many have criticised these, claiming that they feel out of place or that they break the flow of the film.

This week we will be watching Apocalypse Now Redux. One key idea that I'm looking forward to hearing from you about, is whether or not Apocalypse Now Redux is a "true" representation of the Vietnam War.

Don't forget to come back next Monday to see what I think of Apocalypse Now Redux and to share your ideas on this timeless masterpiece.

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83rd Annual Oscar Winners

Well the wait is finally over. I'll admit that I'm not entirely happy with this years outcomes, but then again, it is the Oscars. I did honestly believe that The Social Network was a more deserving winner of Best Picture, but what really disappointed me was the Best Director award, which I felt all the nominees were more deserving of than the ultimate winner. Anyway, the dust has settled and the victors emerged, and as has always been the case, there is just nothing you can do about it.



Best Picture:
Winner: The King's Speech
Nominated: The Social Network
                          Black Swan
                     The Fighter
                     Inception
                     The Kids Are All Right
                     127 Hours
                     Toy Story 3
                     True Grit 
                     Winter's Bone


Best Director:
Winner: Tom Hooper The King's Speech
Nominated: Darren Aronofsky Black Swan
                     David O. Russell The Fighter
                     David Fincher The Social Network
                     The Coen Brothers True Grit


Best Actor:
Winner: Colin Firth The King's Speech
Nominated: Javier Bardem Biutiful
                     Jeff Bridges True Grit
                     Jesse Einsenberg The Social Network
                     James Franco 127 Hours


Best Actress:
Winner: Natalie Portman Black Swan
Nominated: Annette Bening The Kids Are All Right
                     Nicole Kidman Rabbit Hole
                     Jennifer Lawrence Winter's Bone
                     Michelle Williams Blue Valentine 


Best Supporting Actor:
Winner: Christian Bale The Fighter
Nominated: John Hawkes Winter's Bone
                     Jeremy Renner The Town
                     Mark Ruffalo The Kids Are All Right
                     Geoffrey Rush The King's Speech


Best Supporting Actress:
Winner: Melissa Leo The Fighter
Nominated: Amy Adams The Fighter
                     Helena Bonham Carter The King's Speech
                     Hailee Steinfeld True Grit
                     Jacki Weaver Animal Kingdom


Best Animated Feature:
Winner: Toy Story 3
Nominated: How To Train Your Dragon 
                     The Illusionist


Best Original Screenplay:
Winner: The King's Speech
Nominated: Another Year
                     The Fighter
                     Inception
                     The Kids Are All Right


Best Adapted Screenplay:
Winner: The Social Network
Nominated: 127 Hours
                     Toy Story 3
                     True Grit 
                     Winter's Bone


Best Foreign Language Film:
Winner: In A Better World (Denmark)
Nominated: Biutiful (Mexico)
                     Dogtooth (Greece)
                     Incendies (Canada)
                     Outside the Law (Algeria)


Art Direction:
Winner: Alice in Wonderland
Nominated: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
                     Inception 
                     The King's Speech
                     True Grit


Cinematography:

Winner: Inception

Nominated: Black Swan

                     The King's Speech

                     The Social Network

                     True Grit

Costume Design:

Winner: Alice in Wonderland

Nominated: I Am Love

                     The King's Speech

                     The Tempest

                     True Grit

Documentary Feature:

Winner: Inside Job

Nominated: Gasland

                     Exit Through the Gift Shop

                     Restrepo

                     Waste Land

Film Editing:

Winner: The Social Network

Nominated: The Fighter

                     The King's Speech

                     127 Hours

                     Black Swan

Makeup:

Winner: The Wolfman

Nominated: Barney's Version

                     The Way Back

Original Score:

Winner: The Social Network

Nominated : Inception

                     The King's Speech

                     127 Hours

                     How to Train Your Dragon

Original Song:

Winner: "We Belong Together" Toy Story 3

Nominated: "I See the Light" Tangled

                     "If I Rise" 127 Hours

                     "Coming Home" Country Strong

Animated Short:

Winner: The Lost Thing

Nominated: The Gruffalo

                     Let's Pollute

                     Day & Night

                     Madagascar, A Journey Diary

Live Action Short:

Winner: God of Love

Nominated: The Crush

                     The Confession

                     Na Wewe

                     Wish 143

Sound Editing:

Winner: Inception

Nominated: Toy Story 3

                     Tron: Legacy

                     True Grit

                     Unstoppable

Sound Mixing:

Winner: Inception

Nominated: The King's Speech

                     Salt

                     The Social Network

                     True Grit

Visual Effects:

Winner: Inception

Nominated: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

                     Hereafter

                     Alice in Wonderland

                     Iron Man 2