And the Oscar goes to.....
Well, it’s that time of year again. The Academy Award nominations are out, and I don’t know half the people that have been nominated, let alone know much about the movies nominated for best picture. Click on this link, Academy Awards, and it will take you to the full nomination list. There was a time when I would make it a point to see all of the nominated films. This year, I have only seen one: The Queen, and it was terrific. My sister in law saw another, Little Miss Sunshine, and she reports it was terrific also. Let’s see what this year’s best movie nominees have to offer.
The Queen: After playing Elizabeth I on HBO, Helen Mirren gets a shot at playing Elizabeth II on the big screen, and does a boffo job. This movie examines the behavior of the Royal Family immediately after the death of Princess Diana. I was never a Diana fan, so I can understand their less than emotional reaction to the death of the Prince of Wales’ ex-wife who attempted to bring down the British Monarchy. Stoicism is a characteristic that served the Royals well over the years, but bit them in the proverbial you know what this time around. Oh well, one is sympathetic to Elizabeth as she learns the power of modern communications on politics the hard way. Stiff upper lip and all that stuff.
The Departed: Martin Scorsese bloodies up the screen in this tale of infiltration and counter infiltration between the Irish syndicate and police in Massachusetts. Scorsese has yet to win an Oscar for Best Director for his violent but popular films. Scorsese films that I have seen include Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas (my personal favorite), Raging Bull, and The Color of Money, among many others. I don’t know about Best Picture, but they won’t have the nerve NOT to give him the Oscar for Best Director. After all, there is a lot of emoting midst all that blood and guts.
Babel: Brat Pitt is entangled in a “Crash” like movie with multiple story lines interlocking into a cohesive plot line. Let’s see….there are Moroccans, goats, rifles, Mexicans, suicide, Japanese, and God knows what else. I’m not sure I want to work so hard to enjoy a movie. At any rate, it was in our city for a week then disappeared, proving once again that box office is not an indicator of Academy honors. And it is 2 ½ hours long. Oye.
Letters from Iwo Jima: With only limited release in the United States, how did this Clint Eastwood directed film get nominated? Where are John Wayne and Richard Widmark when we need them? Do we really need to see a movie about the battle for Iwo Jima told from the Japanese point of view? Here’s a thought, maybe Clint Eastwood’s next movie could be about the Bataan Death March from the Japanese point of view. This is a double feature of Iwo Jima movies from Clint Eastwood in 2006 indicating some sort of flag raising fixation issue. How Freudian. The first movie is Flag of Our Fathers, in which he tells the story of the six men in the famous flag raising picture, and the obligatory subsequent exploitation by our evil government trying to finance and win a war. If this is how he approaches World War II, what will he do to Viet Nam?
Little Miss Sunshine: Let’s hear it for dysfunctional families….like this one. Between drug addicts and gay uncles prone to suicide, 7 year old Olive wants to win the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. So this poor little girl is subjected to a cross-country road trip in a VW van with her whacko family so she can compete. Call Family Services. I’m not all that keen on dysfunctional family movies. Why watch it when I live it every day???? I should call the guy that wrote this gem and give him some ideas for future flicks.
Dreamgirls: Wait a minute!!!!! It wasn’t nominated for best picture. In fact, it has the distinction of having been nominated for the most academy awards ever that did not include a best picture nomination (8 nominations). I saw Dreamgirls last night. This movie is non-stop energy tracing the talents of a Supremes-like group making it big for Rainbow (translate Motown) Records, and its unscrupulous founder. The music is great, the acting is outstanding, and it keeps you riveted until the end, which brings more than a tear to your eye. It’s a real toe tapper. What a shame the Academy chose dysfunction and blood and guts over this straight shooting Hollywood musical.
And the Oscar goes to......do I really care?
The Queen: After playing Elizabeth I on HBO, Helen Mirren gets a shot at playing Elizabeth II on the big screen, and does a boffo job. This movie examines the behavior of the Royal Family immediately after the death of Princess Diana. I was never a Diana fan, so I can understand their less than emotional reaction to the death of the Prince of Wales’ ex-wife who attempted to bring down the British Monarchy. Stoicism is a characteristic that served the Royals well over the years, but bit them in the proverbial you know what this time around. Oh well, one is sympathetic to Elizabeth as she learns the power of modern communications on politics the hard way. Stiff upper lip and all that stuff.
The Departed: Martin Scorsese bloodies up the screen in this tale of infiltration and counter infiltration between the Irish syndicate and police in Massachusetts. Scorsese has yet to win an Oscar for Best Director for his violent but popular films. Scorsese films that I have seen include Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York, The Last Temptation of Christ, Goodfellas (my personal favorite), Raging Bull, and The Color of Money, among many others. I don’t know about Best Picture, but they won’t have the nerve NOT to give him the Oscar for Best Director. After all, there is a lot of emoting midst all that blood and guts.
Babel: Brat Pitt is entangled in a “Crash” like movie with multiple story lines interlocking into a cohesive plot line. Let’s see….there are Moroccans, goats, rifles, Mexicans, suicide, Japanese, and God knows what else. I’m not sure I want to work so hard to enjoy a movie. At any rate, it was in our city for a week then disappeared, proving once again that box office is not an indicator of Academy honors. And it is 2 ½ hours long. Oye.
Letters from Iwo Jima: With only limited release in the United States, how did this Clint Eastwood directed film get nominated? Where are John Wayne and Richard Widmark when we need them? Do we really need to see a movie about the battle for Iwo Jima told from the Japanese point of view? Here’s a thought, maybe Clint Eastwood’s next movie could be about the Bataan Death March from the Japanese point of view. This is a double feature of Iwo Jima movies from Clint Eastwood in 2006 indicating some sort of flag raising fixation issue. How Freudian. The first movie is Flag of Our Fathers, in which he tells the story of the six men in the famous flag raising picture, and the obligatory subsequent exploitation by our evil government trying to finance and win a war. If this is how he approaches World War II, what will he do to Viet Nam?
Little Miss Sunshine: Let’s hear it for dysfunctional families….like this one. Between drug addicts and gay uncles prone to suicide, 7 year old Olive wants to win the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant. So this poor little girl is subjected to a cross-country road trip in a VW van with her whacko family so she can compete. Call Family Services. I’m not all that keen on dysfunctional family movies. Why watch it when I live it every day???? I should call the guy that wrote this gem and give him some ideas for future flicks.
Dreamgirls: Wait a minute!!!!! It wasn’t nominated for best picture. In fact, it has the distinction of having been nominated for the most academy awards ever that did not include a best picture nomination (8 nominations). I saw Dreamgirls last night. This movie is non-stop energy tracing the talents of a Supremes-like group making it big for Rainbow (translate Motown) Records, and its unscrupulous founder. The music is great, the acting is outstanding, and it keeps you riveted until the end, which brings more than a tear to your eye. It’s a real toe tapper. What a shame the Academy chose dysfunction and blood and guts over this straight shooting Hollywood musical.
And the Oscar goes to......do I really care?
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