Chasing down a Globe...

Over the holiday break or so, I managed to catch 3 films that are nominated for Golden Globes - I would say 2 are easily on the Oscar shortlist. Did you know they aren't announcing Oscar nominations until Groundhog Day?! I'm going to have to do a lot of guessing until then. But without further ado...



"Inglourious Basterds" - This film was best summed-up by my father-in-law: "I don't know what I was expecting, but that wasn't it." And that is in a good way. I suppose I was expecting another World War II movie - but hello - first and foremost this is a Quentin Tarantino movie - and I liked that!! This film is his spaghetti western re-imagining of the end of WWII and was very interesting and evocative and fun and tense, all at the same time. The first scene is artfully and meticulously done - you won't breathe the entire time. The casting was right en pointe - Brad Pitt is delightful and Christoph Waltz (a well-known German actor) is Col. Landa to a smarmy tee. I would say B.J. Novak was under-used as one of the Basterds, but he makes it count when he is on-screen. Of the 3 movies reviewed here, this is the one I would say, "run out and see it right now. NOW." I'm only disappointed that I hadn't seen it before Christmas Day.



"Fantastic Mr. Fox" - I wanted to go to the movies on the day after Christmas with the husband to unwind a little bit and it was so overwhelming because there are just so many movies I want to see right now! We came across "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and realized it was only showing at one theater in town - so we snatched those online tickets right up. As with "Inglourious Basterds" I was expecting an animated, fun kid's movie; but was pleasantly surprised that first and foremost, it was a Wes Anderson movie. Same look, same feel, same cast of characters - it was charming and homey all at the same time. I think Kylie, the opossum was my favorite character. I was also able to enjoy Mrs. Bean's Mulled (non-alcoholic) Apple Cider with my meal. We are so lucky to live in Austin.



"(500) Days of Summer" - Santa brought my husband Netflix for Christmas and last night was our maiden voyage. This movie is nominated for 2 Golden Globes which surprised me because I hadn't heard many good things about it. But still we wanted to see it because we're both suckers for Zooey Deschanel and the hipster-related things. I thought the movie was ok. As it claims at the beginning, it's not a love story, but you just can't help but think of it that way. So you kind of bump along watching this look back at a relationship and break-up and kind of go with it, and then it ends with this total eye-roll moment. I like the idea of the movie in the abstract, but I just think it could have been done much better. I would say no Oscar noms in sight for this one, nor will it win anything from our friends at the Hollywood Foreign Press. Sorry, Zooey and Joseph, you tried.



I don't think I'll be able to get back to my Oscar quest until after the long New Year's weekend. My husband and I will be traveling out-of-state and will probably get to hole up on some family's couch in Birmingham and spend the weekend watching old movies and college football. Sounds perfect to me!!!