Continuing the Sneaky Cheetah's insane quest to see every Oscar nominated film this year!
Assassination is a tale of two films. It's a beautiful picture, showcasing the starkness and beauty of 19th century Missouri, shot by a master cinematographer. There's a train robbery sequence that is truly unique and cool. There are plenty of wide angle shots displaying his talent, yet an effect of this is to slow the film down to a ponderous pace, strecthing the film well over 2 hours (reminds me of the beautiful yet flawed The Thin Red Line (1998). Assassination features a captivating performance by Casey Affleck (who knew?) who owns this film as the aformentioned coward Robert Ford (more of a leading then supporting role). He really blows Brad Pitt's Jesse James off the screen. Affleck is captivating as Ford, who's blind admiration for James turns to fear and contempt as he's ridiculed by Jesse and his gang. He almost certainly won't win the Oscar, but he delivers an Oscar-worthy peformance. After that though, there's not much else to going for this film. None of the characters are likable which make it hard to sit through a film where you already know the ending. The filmmakers use a voice over to explain things that make the film seem like a bigger budgeted A&E Biography. There's an interesting moment of clarity when I figured out that James was actually searching for his own killer, picking the infatuated yet unstable Ford, then egging him on to drive him over the edge, then giving himself up to the moment of murder. Besides that, kind of a snoozer.
Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Casey Affleck) and Cinematography.
Assassination is a tale of two films. It's a beautiful picture, showcasing the starkness and beauty of 19th century Missouri, shot by a master cinematographer. There's a train robbery sequence that is truly unique and cool. There are plenty of wide angle shots displaying his talent, yet an effect of this is to slow the film down to a ponderous pace, strecthing the film well over 2 hours (reminds me of the beautiful yet flawed The Thin Red Line (1998). Assassination features a captivating performance by Casey Affleck (who knew?) who owns this film as the aformentioned coward Robert Ford (more of a leading then supporting role). He really blows Brad Pitt's Jesse James off the screen. Affleck is captivating as Ford, who's blind admiration for James turns to fear and contempt as he's ridiculed by Jesse and his gang. He almost certainly won't win the Oscar, but he delivers an Oscar-worthy peformance. After that though, there's not much else to going for this film. None of the characters are likable which make it hard to sit through a film where you already know the ending. The filmmakers use a voice over to explain things that make the film seem like a bigger budgeted A&E Biography. There's an interesting moment of clarity when I figured out that James was actually searching for his own killer, picking the infatuated yet unstable Ford, then egging him on to drive him over the edge, then giving himself up to the moment of murder. Besides that, kind of a snoozer. 
Cinematographer Roger Deakins is also nominated this year for No Country for Old Men. He's been nominated five other times, for The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), Kundun (1997), O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000), and The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).
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