I’m no Roger Ebert and I don’t claim to be eloquent, but here are my thoughts on the 2010 Oscar Best Picture Nominees:
*1/2. Inglourious Basterds: When I found out the 10 best picture nominees I was dreading having to watch this movie. I can’t stand Quentin Tarantino and I don’t like gory movies. That said, I thought this movie was brilliant. Did I close my eyes for about 20% of the movie? Yes. Still, Christoph Waltz was perfection, Mélanie Laurent was great, Brad Pitt was hilarious, and Hitler dies at the end. This movie was the best surprise of the bunch.
*1/2. Up: I’ve yet to see a Pixar movie I don’t think is great, but Up upped the ante (no pun intended). This movie is not a kids’ movie. It is just a wonderfully told story that is suitable for kids. I could watch this movie 100 times and cry every time and enjoy myself as much as the first. This one was pretty close to perfect.
3. Hurt Locker: Wow. This movie finally made me understand (even just the tiniest bit) why it is so hard for some soldiers to come home from war. It was so intense and emotional. I loved this movie.
4. An Education: Great story, really great acting. Bad ending.
5. Precious: This movie is devastatingly sad, but I think Lee Daniels told the story well and I didn’t feel like he was manipulating my emotions. Gabourey Sidibe is a talent and Monique left me speechless. I will never see this movie again but I think everyone should see it once.
6. Up in the Air: I thought Jason Reitman did a really good job with this movie; it is such a good picture of our time. I really cared about the characters, especially George Clooney. I will say I think Anna Kendrick was pretty terrible (HOW is she nominated over Mélanie Laurent?!?).
7. District 9: I think this movie was really well made. I can’t say that is my “type” of movie or one that I would watch again, but I thought it was good.
8. Avatar: I think this movie is visually stunning, but don’t we have Oscars to award that? The fact that one man created that world is very impressive. Other than that, this movie was too long, boring, a cliché, and completely predictable.
9. The Blind Side: I think I would have liked this movie a lot better if I hadn’t seen it knowing it had Oscar Buzz. The movie was fine, but I thought the characters were very one-dimensional (which is even worse when I know that they are based on real people). I would compare this movie to a better version of Facing the Giants (and trust me, that is not a big compliment). I have no idea why this movie got nominated for best picture. The only reason it stands it 9 is because I didn’t hate it like A Serious Man.
10. A Serious Man: I really hated this movie. I think the acting was good but not good enough to make the movie interesting. I thought it didn’t make sense, I hate that it didn’t resolve, and I had no interest in the story.
*I hate when people can’t make up their mind about things like this but I really can’t decide between the top two. Forgive me.
Matt:
1. The Hurt Locker
I won’t say too much about The Hurt Locker. If you haven’t seen it, please for the love of everything quit reading this blog and go rent it. This movie is tense, smart, exciting, and revealing. Jeremy Renner rocks, and I truly hope Kathryn Bigelow wins for best director. Go see this movie and watch how a film should be made.
2. Up
There is not and has never been a production company as consistent, intelligent, and loved as Pixar. They’ve never made a bad movie. In fact, I think you can go one step farther and say their movies have only been great. Maybe one was just good. That’s an amazing track record. Up is maybe my favorite Pixar film. It is so tragic, triumphant, mature, and child-like all at the same time. The characters are vibrant and real, and the story is absolutely one of the most engaging of recent film. I loved this movie. Enough said.
3. Inglourious Basterds (I still haven't figured out how to spell this movie's title)
I’m going to say this right up front: by and large, I can’t stand Quentin Tarantino’s movies. I think they’re childish, scattered, and so indulgent and excessive. Basterds definitely had some of that, but overall this was a different Tarantino. The opening scene to this movie could stand alone as an amazing short film. The movie had a maturity to it that I’ve never seen before in his films. It still felt a little all over the place, but the performances were so great and the story so much more than his other work that I went away from the movie respecting him much more. And now I have a new career idol: Christoph Waltz. Holy bijoly he’s amazing.
4. Precious
I put off watching this movie because I knew the general story and frankly just didn’t want to subject myself to it. I was right in thinking that it was going to be a tough one to watch, but it was so rewarding, too. Mo’Nique absolutely blew me away. Who knew that performance would come out of her? Or Mariah Carey? At times I felt like the film was almost too harsh, but then I was reminded that this type of abuse happens every day. A lot of films like this are manipulative towards our emotions, but this one was not at all. It was directed so well and the story was told so honestly, nothing felt forced or manipulative. And hello, Gabby Sidibe. Welcome to the entertainment business. We hope to see you again on screen very soon.
5. A Serious Man
I watched this movie with people who absolutely hated it. I wondered if I missed something or if they missed something, but I really liked this movie a lot. I think the Coen’s are usually very good, even though sometimes only a certain group of people connect to their movies. And man, do these guys know how to nail an ending. A Serious Man is no different. It was a very dark “comedy” about life’s hapless, chaotic nature, and it felt a bit more like an experiment on the Coens’ part to see if they could capture that hopeless, random aspect of life. Well, I think they did it. Michael Stuhlbarg tore that screen up, and I found myself constantly interested in his character and the overall world of the film. Thank you, Coens, for still making movies that force us to use our brains to connect the dots. Even if sometimes I can’t quite figure out how to draw a line between a couple of them. But I think that was the point.
6. An Education
I can’t get enough of Nick Hornby, so when I heard that he had written An Education I was really excited to watch it. It delivered. It was both a really enjoyable coming of age tale and a really disturbing pedophiliac nightmare. Carey Mulligan was AWESOME, as was just about everybody in that movie. Here’s the deal, though: I don’t know what they were thinking in the last five minutes, but talk about wrapping things up in a tidy bow. After such a well-written, perfectly timed hour and a half, the last little bit seemed like it was written by someone totally different. Big thumbs up for everything except the ending. Getting into Oxford just can’t be as easy as that montage made it seem.
7. District 9
I thought this was a truly groundbreaking film for the science fiction genre. It was intelligent, clear in its storytelling, and most importantly, it was unlike any sci-fi movie I’ve ever seen. It walked the line perfectly between a political commentary and a sci-fi film. My only problem with it was that about 3/4 of the way through it took a turn towards a shoot-’em-up action flick, which didn’t feel right. The acting was good, though, and I think Neill Blomkamp is going to make us some great movies in the future.
8. Up in the Air
I love Jason Reitman. I liked this movie. George Clooney was very good and the story was really interesting. It was well executed all around, and I loved the mini interviews with the employees who were fired. However, something about the film didn’t scream “Best Picture.” It felt like a good indie film with a big name star, and didn’t quite match some of its competitors’ grandeur and weight. We are talking about “Best Picture,” not “Good Movie.”
9. Avatar
A technical, digital, visual masterpiece. The problem with Avatar is that it’s wonder only goes that far. The story is lacking (to say the least), the acting was terrible (what happened, Sigourney?), and while the film looked beautiful, I was checking my watch after an hour. Visual effects absolutely do not make a motion picture. A film is primarily STORY, and when that story is recycled and lamely retold, no matter how dazzling the effects or striking the visuals, it’s still boring. Although this movie will (and already has) changed the way films are made, its merit lies solely in its trailblazing, not in its storytelling - which is the point of a movie.
10. The Blind Side
I’m almost offended that this was nominated for Best Picture. At best this was a good Lifetime movie, and at worst it was a flat, boring portrayal of events that I’m sure were very touching and interesting. Sure, Sandra Bullock was pretty good, but everyone and everything around her was awful. I won’t say any more.
