Yesterday I was completely out of it. I blame that depressing movie haha.
That time of year has arrived again. Oscar season. It’s fun to watch the nominations be announced, I know that the show uses a lot of politics when choosing movies. Sometimes certain films are really as good as they say they are. But still they are usually interesting to me. There are 10 films in the Best Picture category and I’ve seen 7 so far. I’ve yet to accomplish seeing all films nominated, in the past I usually only saw one or two. All I need to see is Avatar (which I’m not really interested in), An Education, and Inglourious Basterds. I’m a Tarantino fan, but it’s taking me a long time to get to IB because it doesn’t look that appealing to me. I wish it involved zombies..
Precious is a really great film, so well acted by everyone in that movie. The story is so raw, which pulls you in from the start. I like the fact that it doesn’t sugar coat the story and neatly wrap it in a bow at the end. That’s why it felt so realistic to me. Things happen in life that are hard to talk about and share with others. And some films like to create happy endings in order for the viewers to feel comforted in some way. But this film goes against that and shows us that we are not always handed good fortune in the end. Since Avatar is in the Best Picture category, I don’t think that Precious would be chosen. But it’s one of my favorites and I think it has a good chance of winning.
The Hurt Locker, I’m sure hits home for everybody. This movie is the closest thing to experiencing the war that most of us will come to know. The overall harshness was eye opening to me because I definitely felt many different things at once. I was angry, sad, disappointed, everything that the American people go through every day. It just makes you appreciate those who choose to go to war and fight for this country’s lives.
Up In The Air is another favorite of mine. I like films that speak about life and show us the contrasts between ourselves and those we come to know. Everyone makes decisions based on what they think is right for them. Sometimes we create walls to protect ourselves from others and sometimes we allow ourselves to be vulnerable. When we choose to be vulnerable we may lose a piece of ourselves to achieve a higher outlook on life. But would one go through all of that trouble? I thought this film led me to asking myself a bunch of questions about how I run my life.
A Serious Man is an odd one. I don’t really know what to say. I think it’s one of those films where you need to watch it twice (maybe more) to fully understand what is going on. I tried to keep up, but it wasn’t pulling me in like I wanted it to. I like the Coen Brothers, but I wasn’t sure where they were going with this. I just kept waiting for something to happen, to let me know why I had been watching it in the first place. And the ending I did not get, it was very abrupt.
Up is another favorite of mine because of it’s originality. The first 20 minutes are so profound while you find yourself being a kid again. The excitement of new things with a fondness of appreciating love and what you have are emanated throughout the film. Everyone wants the ultimate adventure. Actually, we already are experiencing one because we never know where life will lead us. And you kind of want to have a bunch of balloons placed inside your home too for a rainy day.
The Blind Side reminds us that things are possible. That miracles can happen if you look around more often. It also reminds us that there are kind people amidst all of the crazy behavior people tend to have. The fact that this family took in a kid at a time when he needed help the most is amazing. But film wise..we’ve seen these kinds of stories before. I thought it was a good film, but a bit preachy in some areas. I felt like something was missing, I don’t know what happened in real life, but something was definitely missing. I didn’t “hit” me like I wanted it to, instead it fell flat in some places. I don’t think it has a shot of winning honestly.
District 9 was a clever one. Normally I’m not into science fiction, but I gave it a shot and it proved me wrong, my judgment had been false. I saw it as a look into the past. When you think of a lot of occurrences that have happened all over the world you kept help but skim the surface of the times where humans were treated unfairly. And I mean unfairly in the worst possible ways. As I was watching this I kept thinking of Rwanda and the Holocaust and it was making me ill. Humans can be the ultimate hell on earth. Some people feel some sort of entitlement over others and that’s ultimately how wars can begin. It’s not a film to be taken lightly, but I don’t think it going to win.
And I understand why Invictus is not in the Best Picture category. The movie was slow, the soundtrack is awesome as is the directing and acting , but it was honestly slow. I went in with high expectations and ended up keeping an eye on the time.
So I have a month to figure out who’s going to take home the award. I have fun doing that because I also treat it as a Science. I like figuring out why certain movies win over others. What elements do they have that their fellow nominations didn’t. Like I said, there seems to be a lot of politics involved, but I’m still curious.
My picks for Best Original Screenplay are Mark Boal’s “The Hurt Locker” and Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, and Tom McCarthy’s “Up”.
Best Animated Feature needs to go to “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” because Wes Anderson is a genius.
Best Actor should go to George Clooney for his great performance in “Up In The Air”.
Best Actress should go to Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious”. I’m shocked that this is her first film. And she almost didn’t do it because she wanted to focus on her school work.
Best Supporting Actor should go to Stanley Tucci’s performance in “The Lovely Bones”.
Best Actress should go to either Mo’Nique’s brilliant performance in “Precious” or Vera Farmiga’s amazing performance in “Up In The Air”.
I really hope to see my name in the category for Best Original Screenplay one day. That’s also another reason why I watch the ceremony. I like knowing what the themes of the winners have and try and write something similar, yet different, that pertains to that. But you never know what will be chosen, so..
CJay out.