In my humble opinion, this was a pretty good year for films. I enjoyed almost all of the films nominated for best picture:
Inception - I am not100% sure this movie deserved a nod for best picture, but in the expanded 10 movie structure, visually compelling movies that do well at the box office, are going to sneak in. In fact that is the whole point of the expansion, to get some crowd pleasers in there. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page were great in this film and it did keep me on the edge of my seat. It also had just enough twists and turns that you could argue what was real and what was a dream, throwing the entire movie into question. A fun film, that was visually stunning and had a good plot, but not the best pic or 2010.
The Kids Are All Right - congratulations to Focus Features for propelling another good movie into the best film category. These guys are amazing at getting their films nominated for awards, whether they deserve them or not. This one did not. I thought it was a good film; Mark Ruffalo and Annette Bening's performances were good, but they did not stand out to me as best supporting actor and best actress nominees. It was a strong ensemble cast that kept this story together. The fact that it doesn't have a Hollywood ending is what saved it from the trash heap for me.
The King's Speech - Now we are getting to the real contenders. I love period pieces and this is the ultimate period film. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are most deserving of their nominations for best actor and supporting actor respectively. I see Firth running away with it and Rush in a dogfight with Christian Bale. I was disappointed that Helena Bonham Carter did not get a nomination, but you can't have everything. At the end of the day this is the film that will walk away with all the awards. Hollywood loves this kind of film and God bless them for it. It is a great story, well told. We can ask no more.
127 Hours - And now we take a giant step backwards. 127 Hours, really? I don't even want to watch this movie on cable. Interesting news story, should have stopped there.
The Social Network - This movie got a lot of Oscar buzz early in the year, but was soon overtaken by The Kings Speech and The Fighter. It is a great film and it deserves to be in the running but it's like being in a race with Michael Johnson, in any other year you would have won. I know there has been a lot of controversy around the amount of liberties the writers took with this story, but who cares, the drama is great and you know everyone is lying to some degree. I have heard people taking Zuckerberg's side as well as the Winklevoss orNarendra's so obviously the writers gave everyone something to argue about. Another thing that has become brutally evident is that we won't be waiting 50 years to tell our stories, the future is unfolding so fast, that the movie has to be made while it is still happening.
Toy Story 3 - By the time to you get to the third of anything you are usually past done, but this is not the case with the Toy Story franchise. The genises at Pixar are able to keep the story fresh and interesting. As with all Pixar stories you know what is going to happen, but it is still a great ride getting there. Although there are some other great choices in the category, I have no doubt this will win the Oscar for best animated feature.
Black Swan- Review forthcoming.
The Fighter - This is my other favorite movie of the year, and honestly I can't remember a year that had two equally great movies that were so different. The Fighter is the opposite of The King's Speech in almost every way except they are both based on a true story and they both took a lot of effort to get to the screen. Mark Wahlberg went through several directors and a maze of financing to get this film made. I am not sure what was harder, getting the film made or the training he went through to be a convincing boxer. I have heard him tell the story and I think that would be a great documentary in itself. Like the protagonist, Micky Ward, Wahlberg is also the youngest of nine kids. They came up in the same neighborhood and both their mom's dotted on older brothers. And like Ward, Wahlberg had to keep fighting to get his shot. It was well worth it. This is a raw and ruthless film.
True Grit - I love the Coen brothers and I will watch any film they make, but I feel like it has been a while since they made a big movie. A Serious Man and Burn After Reading were both interesting but they did not have the gravitas of True Grit. Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld both deserve nominations for best actor and actress, they are fantastic. This is one of the few movies that is worth seeing on the big screen. Again, I have to say, if this weren't the year of The King's Speech, this would be a legitimate contender.
Winter's Bone - This was not the feel good movie of the year and that is why I loved it. It is a very raw look at a family that is dealing with rural poverty and the devastation caused by meth. I know it got a lot of critical acclaim, but I don't think this movie had a very long run in the theater, so my guess is that this nomination will get a lot of people to check it out on Netflicks or DVD. That's fine as this movie is all about the story, you don't need to see it on the wide screen. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes are both excellent and it was great to see the are nominated in the best actress and best supporting actor categories. This is my sleeper of the year nominee.
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