Wednesday, February 3, 2010

the oscars

okay, let me tell you about what i think about the oscars.  who should win, who shouldn't.  i don't care very much about what "experts" or "analysts" think.  i am my own expert.

best picture:
if avatar wins, i will punch someone (probably the couch).  i think that if you have made a movie about aliens, you should be automatically disqualified.  this would nix district 9, too.  note: i have not seen avatar and i will not be seeing avatar.  but i am dismissing it anyway.
up should win best animated feature film, HANDS DOWN.  but it shouldn't win best picture.  because i have that reserved for the next film on my list. [fun trivia fact (thank you new york times): up is only the second animated film to be nominated for best picture.  the first was in 1992.  can you name it?]
i neeeeeed the hurt locker to win. i don't like war movies (they stress me out and make my stomach hurt and put my nerves on edge, and i generally try to avoid that when watching a movie for pleasure), but somehow i was compelled to see this one, and i'm really glad i did.  i had to leave the room for one scene (you'll know which one if you see the movie), but overall, i was so captivated by the characters and how beautifully filmed it was and how subtle it was.  avatar does not strike me as subtle.  the hurt locker was.  i think it helps that the film follows one group of men in one small unit, and you see the war - and the country of iraq - from their eyes.  it's personal stories that take place during a war, not a war movie.  and i couldn't stop thinking about it.

i've got some movies i need to watch - a single man, the last station, an education, a serious man.  i have 32 days. [amusing note: the closest theater to atlanta that is showing the last station is (according to moviefone.com) in TORONTO, 706.8 miles away from my current location.  this entertains me greatly.]

what do you guys think about the oscar nominations?  (if you care, that is...)

3 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, you know how much I love the Oscars!!! I couldn't agree with you more on all fronts, especially those concerning Avatar. In fact, I almost threw up in my mouth when it won Best Picture at the Golden Globes. Barf. (And no, I did not see it and will not see it.) I have not seen The Hurt Locker, but want to. And Up definitely deserves best animation, but not best film. I too want to see A Single Man and An Education, but have zero interest in A Serious Man... I just don't dig the Coen brothers... shoot me.

    I do wish to see Crazy Heart which I've heard great things about and I ADORED Up in the Air. Have you seen it? I also want to see Nine but it makes me nervous... not sure why, but it does. :)

    On another note, congrats on the rotary award! You totally deserve it and I'm so glad they surprised you! xoxo

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  2. Ok, I need to protest a little bit about Avatar. I would at least see it before automatically righting it off. It really is a groundbreaking movie-going experience. And as the resident sci-fi fan, I think you are missing more than a few awesome films by dismissing this genre.
    (Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, E.T., Aliens, Planet of the Apes, etc.)

    My guess for the Animated Film question, I believe it was Beauty and The Beast.

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  3. Erica: yes, I have decided that I want to see Crazy Heart, too. I was a little skeptical at first, but the previews do look good and I love that the music was written for the movie and is supposed to be good. Also - Andy, Willis, Claire #2, and I saw A Single Man last night, and it was AMAZING - I think you will love it. A little slow at parts, but overall great. Willis cried. I didn't cry - I just clutched my heart MANY times. It was a clutch-your-heart kind of movie. :)

    And good work, Anderson - it WAS Beauty and the Beast that was nominated for Best Picture in 1992!

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