It’s my favorite time of year again! Oscar season. That wonderful month in which I try to cram as much cinematic culture into my eyeballs as possible. In previous years (read: pre-children) there was not too much cramming to do, because I used to go to the movies all the time, and when the nominations were announced I would generally have seen most of them. This has certainly not been the case in recent years, although I have to remind you all that last year I had shockingly seen 7 out of the 10 on nomination day.
This year I have not seen 70% of the nominations. I have only seen a third of them. But that’s okay! There is still time! And it’s not like I haven’t seen any of them, right? I mean, I’ve seen:
The Help – A good solid movie. It was funny, it was sad, and the performances were incredible. No surprise that they racked up the most acting nominations (three) of any film this year. I don’t think it will win the big prize, but I think it will take home an acting trophy.
Midnight in Paris – We just watched this the other night, and I thought it was awesome. It’s the kind of movie we would get more of if cultured nerds ran comicon instead of, well, you know, regular nerds. Owen Wilson does a great Woody Allen, and the rest of the movie was basically like a comic book movie, with time traveling and real life cultural superheroes.
Moneyball – I’m not a huge sports fan, but I’m a sucker for a good baseball movie, and this was a great baseball movie. The cool thing about this movie was that it had all the elements you need for an exciting sports movie: washed-up plucky underdogs coming together to scrape out a victory, only it all happened off the field. The plucky underdogs were the GM and his accountant/personal assistant. Congratulations to them for making a non-sports sports movie, but have it be about sports.
And then we have the other six nominees. Due to the new nominating rules, there will now be anywhere from five to ten best picture nominees selected, and this year there happened to be nine. Well, good. One less movie for me to try and find. Of course I still have to see:
The Artist – I am aware that there is no dialogue in the movie. I am also aware that it is most likely amazing. I love a lot of movies with little to no dialogue, so that’s all fine with me. I expect it will be similar to the first 30 minutes of WALL-E, only will fewer robots.
The Descendants – This is top on my list to see. It’s supposed to be sad and funny, and George Clooney is great in that type of film. I was so pulling for “Up in the Air” two years ago, and then stupid old “The Hurt Lucker” had to go and win. So this year I’ll be pulling for “The Descendants.” I think. I mean, I haven’t even seen it. It could be terrible.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Ugh. I do not want to see another 9/11 movie, even if it is awesome and has good people in it. I just don’t need to subject myself to that. I don’t need cinematic catharsis, and I don’t enjoy watching those events unfold and replay over and over again in pop culture. I guess I’ll try and see it anyway, but still; ugh.
Hugo – Now this one I will seek out and see. Numerous friends and family members have recommended it to me, and I have wanted to see it all along anyway. Can’t wait.
The Tree of Life – I am a little scared of this movie, I’m not going to lie. It sounds confusing. But I’m up for it!
War Horse – I think this is that play I wanted to see a year or two ago, isn’t it? Is this based on a play? It has a horse in it, right? Is it about a horse, or is that title just a metaphor? There is a horse in the poster, so I think there will be a horse in it. But will it be more “Seabuscuit,” or more “Racing Stripes?” I guess I will have to see it and find out. (does the horse talk…?)
So that’s the slate for this year folks. Other quick observations:
– No Pixar in the animated film category for the first time ever!
– The Best Director nods automatically give front-runner status to The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, and The Tree of Life
– Gary Oldman finally got his first oscar nomination. Can’t believe it took this long!
– A Separation is the first foreign screenplay nominee in 5 years!
– George Clooney actually was nominated twice, once for acting, and once for writing!
– The film with the most nominations? Hugo, with 11!
I just saw The Descendants in the theater this weekend. It did not really live up to the hype for me… After watching it my sister and I looked at each other and said, “Well…we saw that.”