Well, the nominations have been announced and I am proud to say my husband and I ended up seeing all 10 of the Best Picture nominees! But goodness am I behind in telling you about them! And not to mention the other nominees we've seen.
The Fighter - Once again, annoyed by noisy patrons at the Arbor. What is the deal, people?! Anyways, I really liked the movie. Great acting performances and a really interesting story. I don't really follow any kind of fighting, so the plot was all new to me (it's the story of "Irish" Micky Ward). Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor) certainly deserves the win and I was disappointed Mark Wahlberg didn't make the nomination cut. I read somewhere recently that Melissa Leo's (Best Supporting Actress) performance is kind of like, "Give me an Oscar!" and I do agree with that assessment. She's incredible, but she showed much more range and depth in Frozen River (her first Academy Award nomination). The sisters are as great as everyone says and Amy Adams (Best Supporting Actress) really holds her own as well. Good movie, but we'll get to my favorite movie set in Massachusetts in a minute.
The Kids Are All Right - Super interesting movie. To me, the movie was really about the difficulties of a committed relationship, regardless of your gender or orientation. Of course, it is complicated by the fact there is a third unknown figure (the sperm donor) that doesn't exist in all relationships. It was kind of comforting (to me) to see the similarities in romantic relationships, rather than the overt ones that the movie addresses on the surface. I don't really think Mark Ruffalo should have been nominated for Best Actor - he's good, of course - but he doesn't really cover any new ground in this role. Annette Bening (Best Actress) and Julianne Moore are believable and I really commend this movie for its boldness. Definitely one to see.
How to Train Your Dragon - Super cute, nominated for Best Animated Film and Best Original Score. Very fun to watch, great message, but doesn't really hold a candle to Toy Story 3.
The Town - Now this is my favorite movie set in Massachusetts and in my opinion, the biggest snub by the Academy. Jeremy Renner, of course, deserves his nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but this film deserves so much more. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay - you name it. We finished it and I wanted to watch it again. Really interesting action/crime/drama, but much less complicated than The Departed. Do yourself a favor and Netflix this one ASAP.
Biutiful - Thankfully, not disrupted by loud Arbor patrons! This is nominated for Best Foreign Film and Best Actor (Javier Bardem). Bardem portrays a criminal who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and sets about his life to make things right. I really don't want to give away too much and while my short summary is dismal, this movie really is good. The imagery is subtle, yet lovely, and you continue to root for Javier Bardem's character. There are some difficult scenes, but the beauty really does outweigh those. Keep an eye out for when you feel like watching a heavy, subtitle, yet rewarding movie.
Coming up? Turns out our life is pretty busy between now and the big show. Our current Netflix movie is Animal Kingdom (Best Supporting Actress - Jacki Weaver) and we have I am Love (Best Costume Design), Restrepo (Best Documentary-Long Subject), and Exit Through the Gift Shop (Best Documentary-Long Subject) all on streaming. Unfortunately, we missed Rabbit Hole (Best Actress - Nicole Kidman) in the theaters, so if we make it back to our dear Arbor it will be to see either Blue Valentine (Best Actress - Michelle Williams) or The Illusionist (Best Animated Film) - or both!
What are you seeing next?
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4 comments:
“I’ve got the Good Vibrations! Come on, Come on! Feel it, Feel it!”
- Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch
I agree on a lot of what you have said in this post, but I most notably disagree on the Mark Wahlberg support. Though I liked The Fighter, and I do think that Mellissa Leo’s recent Oscar win was well earned, I do not think that Mark Wahlberg should have been nominated for his performance. Not that I totally dislike Marky Mark, but I do feel like he always plays “himself” and it’s never a huge stretch. My examples: Fear was just him as an angry teenager, The Departed was him as an a##hole, and The Fighter was him as a shy guy. His best performance in my opinion: I Heart Huckabees, though again, not a huge stretch.
I also agree that The Town got robbed. (That’s weird because the movie is about bank robbers. I think that is called an onomonopia.) Renner was phenomenal and should have gotten a nomination. That was one of the best movies of the year – original and well told.
So I have one to add to the list: Barney’s Version. Being a fan of Giamatti since he played Pig Vomit on Howard Stern’s Private Parts, I was assuming this was going to be more of a comedy. But I was completely mistaken. Be warned, this movie is depressing. And as I do not want to give away much of the story, I will say that the movie chronicles the life of Giamatti’s character in a VERY broad view encompassing work, friendship, family, love, and loss. Though it did drag at times and sometimes felt “lost”, the overall story was good and well acted. But what is really noticeable in the film is how weird Paul Giamatti actually looks as a human being. His body is just . . . odd . . . like a hedgehog. And two memorable scenes show him shirtless, which now proves he is competition for Robin Williams as the hairiest human in Hollywood.
Now on my list are Blue Valentine and Animal Kingdom. Thanks for the recommendations. And I am looking forward to seeing Trust and Super 8.
While I agree with your Mark Wahlberg assessment, I continue to be impressed with his portrayal of Micky Ward the person. The more I see of Micky Ward, the more I get Mark Wahlberg's performance as the shy, unassuming, family man in one crazy family. Plus he was able to dial down the anger. I liked that.
Tell me about "Trust." I haven't heard of that one.
Ahhh. Good point. He did remove his 'anger' from the role, which does show some range.
Trust is a new movie directed by David Schwimmer. And before you discredit it, I should also say it stars Clive Owen. I saw the trailer for it here:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/trust/
Check it out. I think it looks creepy, but good.
I remember watching The Kids Are All Right in a theater full of lesbians, and most people looked at it the same way you did (difficulties of a committed relationship), but there were several that could not get over the fact that a lesbian slept with a man. They were furious.
I think they missed the point.
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