I have seen every Best Picture nominee this year (and four of them this past week). I have to say that increasing the number of nominees from five to ten is a bunch of bull. It allowed some films to be nominated for a prize that they didn't deserve for the sole reason of filling up a slot. I'm talking about District 9, An Education, and A Serious Man. But I do think the new voting system for the Best Picture award is more fair because it allows every vote to be cast; in the past, if your vote didn't go to the number one or number two film your vote was essentially thrown out.
The films nominated for best picture are:
- Avatar (Great, but overhyped)
- The Blind Side (Not a Best Picture film, though Sandra Bullock was great)
- District 9 (WTF?!)
- An Education (Average)
- The Hurt Locker (Great)
- Inglourious Basterds (An unexpected surprise)
- Precious (a hard-to-watch must-see)
- A Serious Man (What is this crap?)
- Up (Good grief, Pixar! You're not that good)
- Up in the Air (Flawless)
If I were to choose five nominated films, I would've chosen:
Inglourious Basterds is the first film of Quentin Tarantino's that I've been able to sit through entirely. Though it has lots of subtitles, it also has the best opening twenty minutes I've ever seen, and not as much violence as you'd expect (for a Tarantino movie).
The Hurt Locker is great but it is also overrated. There are several tense scenes that, to my understanding, are pretty realistic. It isn't my number one film, but it is on the list.
I saw The Last Station knowing only that it was a film about Russian author Leo Tolstoy. It was nice to go into a movie knowing almost nothing about it and yet loving it. This movie is underrated. Sorry, Sandra Bullock, but Helen Mirren deserves to win Best Actress.
Precious is a hard film to watch. Mo'Nique is just absolutely brutal as an abusive welfare mother. I actually think it's harder to watch than The Hurt Locker, and my stomach was churning a little bit. But the last scene is amazing - Mo'Nique actually generates some sympathy from the audience; inside your head you're going: "Okay, how did she just do that?!"
Up in the Air is, compared to the others, a light, breezy, movie. The actors make it look so easy and the plot just flows and flows so smoothly. I think that this "smooth, cool" factor has undermined it, thus nobody in Hollywood has really taken it seriously.
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If I were to choose ten nominated films, and play by the Academy's rules of letting less-deserving films be nominated, I would add to the above:
Avatar is overrated. Lots of flash and boom but a wanting heart. It wanted to be The Best Movie Ever but it wasn't.
If you haven't seen Drag Me To Hell, see it! It is the perfect blend of comedy and horror. And yes, comedy and horror can go together if done right.
Funny People was too long, but it was endearing and funny at the same time. Maybe not your first choice, but on the list.
He's Just Not That Into You is a great ensemble film. It is definitely not Best Picture material, but I guess that just proves my point: the nomination of ten films is ridiculous.
I haven't read The Lovely Bones, but I thought the movie was unfairly maligned. Saorsie Ronan should've been nominated for either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress. While I wish it had more action in it, the movie was still excellent.
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I would rank the movies in the following way if I were a voting member using the new voting system:
1) Inglourious Basterds
2) Up in the Air
3) Precious
4) The Hurt Locker
5) Avatar
6) The Blind Side
7) An Education
8) Up
9) District 9
10) A Serious Man
1 comment:
Thanks for the write-up Drew, I always enjoy your recommendations. Guess we'll find out tonight how aligned you are with the rest of Hollywood.
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