As the credits rolled on the final movie we had to watch, Joe said,"I'm glad that's over," quickly followed by,"This is the best Hollywood has to offer for an entire year?!"
After ashamedly realizing in January that we had not seen a movie in the theater since Grayson had been born (don't worry, we do go on date nights), Joe and I made the commitment to watch all of the Academy Award Best Picture nominees before the awards show. We would catch up on movies, throw ourselves a fun party at the end, and decide if the Academy knew what they were talking about. We've always made a point to watch some of the nominees in the past, but have skipped several that we knew were overly-violent or sexual. This year we felt we could watch all of them- which was quite difficult considering there were
10. Thankfully, many were already on PPV and we only had to pay the big bucks to see 4 of them in the theater. It was at some times (as you'll notice below) a painful journey, but one worth taking.
Below are our thoughts on each movie (but no spoilers). Obviously we are nowhere near professionals and none of these opinions are objective (in other words, they reflect our worldview and personal preferences). Therefore, they should be taken with a grain of salt (except for District 9, there's no way around it, that's just a bad movie).
An Education: A young, sheltered British school girl and her parents have one goal: for her to get into Oxford to "read" English. But wait, along comes a handsome older man that wants to show her Paris and every other culturally sophisticated thing a teenage girl dreams about and what proceeds is her "education". For the subject matter, this movie is actually very clean, which is refreshing. The acting is great, full of charm and wit and the costumes beautiful. The story flows along nicely with a great moral at the end. I (Ash) have nothing bad to say about this film, but Joe was not to thrilled with the icky factor of the older man. Overall, definitely one to rent (it's just about out of the theaters).
Avatar: Considering its box office numbers, most of you have probably seen this movie. A corporation discovers an amazingly valuable mineral on the planet of Pandora and will stop at nothing to get it. It's pretty much a generic Hollywood storyline where the little people rise up to fight the big, evil corporation. However, considering its almost 3 hour length, there is hardly any dialogue. And honestly, there were times when I (Ashleigh) got bored. The special effects are unlike anything you've seen before and this must be the reason for its nomination. Despite the buzz and technical achievement of this movie, we don't believe it should win Best Picture because of the recycled storyline and absence of acting. Overall, we thought is was entertaining, and would recommend seeing it in 3D in the theaters if you haven't.
Blindside: Some critics have written off this movie about a wealthy family that takes in a homeless teenage boy as sappy and bland. However, we were thrilled to watch a film that is not only encouraging, but pulls at your heartstrings to care for others in a deeper way. The movie also has funny moments, like when the mom says, "Who would've thought we would have a black son before we ever knew a Democrat?" (so true in Southern circles, however crazy that is) or the scenes in which the younger son asks the college football recruiters what they can do for
him. We liked the cast, especially Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron, the boy who played Michael Oher. Overall, a must see.
District 9: A bizarre, documentary-style movie where an alien ship is hovering over Johannesburg, South Africa. The aliens are seemingly stuck there and the humans provide them with a refugee camp type place to live which quickly becomes a slum. The violence in this movie is over the top and almost comical. The R rating is well deserved for the violence and the constant use of the F word. It has many of the same themes as Avatar, such as the evils of big corporations, the military industrial complex, aliens, and (redeemingly) respect for life. We guess since Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings) made the movie it automatically gets an Oscar nod. Thirty minutes into it, we seriously wanted to turn it off and only didn't because of our commitment. Overall, wish we had those two hours of our life back. Really.
The Hurt Locker: An Explosive Ordinance Team in Baghdad receives a new (reckless) member to lead their team. You know how when you watch a TV show or movie and they are diffusing a bomb and you can't really breathe and move on with the film until it's done and everyone is safe? Well, this entire movie is like that. By the time it's over you are all tied up in knots on the inside with a "deer in the headlights" look on the outside. There are a few unrealistic portions, as any soldier would tell you, but the movie is as awesome as it is intense. Overall, we highly recommend it.
Inglourious Basterds: Our first Tarantino. The Basterds are an "elite" group of Jewish-American soldiers that is tasked to go behind the lines of Nazi-occupied France and get as many Nazi scalps as possible (not kidding about the scalps part). There was some incredible acting, especially by Austrian Christoph Waltz, who played a German SS officer. We haven't watched any Tarantino movies in the past because of the extreme violence and this movie definitely fits that mold in some sections. The storyline is a strange combination of moral dilemmas, violence and humor. Overall, we liked this movie and it was entertaining (which is more than we can say about some of the nominees).
A Serious Man: This is a Coen brothers movie (Burn After Reading, No Country for Old Men, Fargo) and like Tarantino they have a distinct style of dark, twisted humor. In this film, a Jewish-American professor's life is falling apart and in telling his story, they poke fun at a stereotypical Jewish-American community. I'm sure this movie would have been funnier to us if we knew Jewish cultural references. As it was, we were left wondering why this movie is considered to be a cinematic achievement. I guess we're just not sophisticated enough to understand why the critics love it so much. Overall, it could have been worse, but we don't recommend it.
Up: Many adults will skip this film just because it's a cartoon, although they shouldn't. We know of male friends that cried during this movie. This is a sweet story about an elderly man who goes on an adventure to fulfill the dreams of his deceased wife. The characters are absolutely precious (Ashleigh's words) and the animation is beautiful. We don't think it should win Best Picture, but it should be a lock for Best Animated Film. Overall, don't skip it.
Up In the Air: This is the movie that started it all for us. We had the chance to see a movie on date night and we chose this one. We weren't disappointed. George Clooney plays a contractor who corporations hire to come in to downsize their companies. He travels for a living and seemingly his only real goal in life is to acquire frequent flier miles. He's more at home in Business Class than he is with his own family. We thought it was a clever story and appreciated the change in the main characters as the movie progressed. It was funny, it was sweet, it was sad. Overall, go see it.
You might notice that we skipped one,
Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire. Sadly, by the time we got around to this one, it was out of theaters but not yet on DVD. I think Joe was secretly pleased about this because he knew it would be rough to watch because of the subject matter.
Our favorite:
Ashleigh- An Education
Joe-Blindside
Which one we think will win Best Picture:
Ashleigh- The Hurt Locker
Joe- The Hurt Locker
And now we will enjoy our special
Oscar cocktails and the show. And if you've made it this far, Happy movie watching!
-Ashleigh AND Joe
