Attempting to talk about all the nominees would be an exercise in futility and requires a far higher word count than I have the patience (or time) for. So lets talk Best Picture nominees.
First off, who decided that 10 movies was a good idea?! They tried it last year, it was a farce - enough already. But no, I guess that would be admitting defeat, so they're doing it again this year. My guess is that it's a purely economics thing. Instead of 5 movies being able to claim "Best Picture Nominee" on their DVD boxes, now there are 10. Joe Shmo browsing his local Blockbuster aisles won't be thinking "oh, this was from one of those years when they nominated 10 flicks - so this little tag doesn't mean much". No, he'll just see those 3 words in quotations and figure it must be good. I suppose from that aspect, it's not a horrible thing - these are 10 good movies. If more people see them, that's not a bad thing - but it makes the competition a little silly. Why do 5 nominees in EVERY OTHER category except best picture? Beats me - that's why I'm ranting about it...
As for the actual nominees, they are:
127 Hours
Black Swan *
The Fighter
Inception *
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech *
The Social Network *
Toy Story 3 *
True Grit *
Winter's Bone
* - being ones I've seen
And the real contenders are:
Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kings Speech, The Social Network. Full disclosure - I've seen 4 of these 5 so far. That will be remedied by the time the Oscars roll around. In the mean time, I'll write about what I've seen and what I've read/heard. After all, isn't the internet all about hearsay and speculation?
Black Swan - brilliant and disturbing. Natalie Portman's a lock for Best Actress - I think it's a pretty brave move to get that psychological AND that physical for a role. As for the movie, the general story isn't that new (it's a basic sports movie - so&so's worked hard to be the best but they're not super confident, when they finally get "their chance to shine" a newbie comes along that threatens their dominance, drama ensues) - but the approach taken is very interesting. Instead of manufacturing drama through plot contrivances, it's almost all internal. Plus, it's Darren Aronofsky - so you know it's going to be f'ed up in some way...
The Fighter - haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read, this could easily switch places with True Grit in my secondary list below. So it boils down to which director (David O Russell or The Coen Bros) Academy voters prefer. The Coens have more credibility, but got all their Oscar lovin with No Country For Old Men - so I'm guessing David will get some love this year. But he won't win (and neither will his movie).
Inception - boy, do I love this movie. It's not perfect - I'll admit it up front. There are great swaths of exposition for the first half and the rules that are established/broken over the course of the movie aren't always consistent. But hotdamn if it ain't a helluva movie. You're never bored & you're never quite sure where it'll go - but you definitely want to see where it WILL go. The effects are stunning and actually serve the story instead of the other way around (George Lucas/Michael Bay/etc, are you listening?!?!).
The King's Speech - such a simple movie and such a great one. It's wonderful to see a whole complement of craftsmen/women at the top of their game. From the writing to the acting to the directing to the set design - everything is very well done in this movie. I'm not overly surprised at the accolades being heaped on this movie. That being said, it doesn't do much to waver from the typical sports movie and buddy movie cliches. The fact that it's real helps - but you're never in doubt as to how it'll end.
The Social Network - here's where I deviate from my wife. I thought this was a really good movie. It took what could potentially be a fairly dry movie with people talking and made it engaging. The characters are all interesting (though not particularly likeable), the editing is interesting & creative and the writing is very well done. Like the King's Speech, everyone is on their A Game here. However, the non-linear editing and current subject matter puts this one a smidge higher on my list.
As for the others:
127 Hours - haven't seen it yet, but from what I've read, it's not Best Picture material. Sure, Danny Boyle managed to take one guy trapped with his arm under a rock and make it a riveting movie. But it's too bizarre & too niche to win.
The Kids Are Alright - getting acknowledged for some acting by Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo, but the story isn't interesting enough to make it a Best picture. And if you listen to my wife, it's just a melodrama about lesbians arguing over a guy, blah blah blah...
Toy Story 3 - sure, it's an amazing movie and it's nice that they put an animated movie in a Best Picture category. But it's nominated for Best Animated as well - which is where it'll win. If nominating it twice dilutes the votes to the point where it wins neither, that'll be a damn shame. It's a brilliant movie and it deserves to stand among the Best (animated or not) - but there's no chance it'll actually win.
True Grit - as with all the others, it's a Good movie with a capital G. But there's nothing really outstanding about it. The 3 lead performances are very entertaining and it stands as the finest entry in the Western genre in many years. But I'd be surprised if it won.
Winter's Bone - truly the underdog here. Again, I haven't seen it, so I can't comment for sure. But from what I've read/heard, it's a good independent movie that deserves some recognition. Hopefully this nomination will get it watched and will get the talented people involved some more work. But that's about all it'll accomplish.
After all's said & done - who do I think SHOULD win?
Inception or Black Swan
Who do I think WILL win?
The Social Network
I guess we'll see in a week!
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