(Originally posted on 2-5-2012)
Well, today is the Super Bowl and since it's Patriots versus Giants, I have decided to actually try to watch it. I watched in 2008 when it was Pats v. Giants as well and that ended with me and Kim threatening to make Alex walk home on the other side of the street if he didn't stop gloating.
Obviously, I don't watch sports but if I have to watch a sport I like to watch violent ones: football, hockey, lacrosse, etc. Similarly, if I have to support a team, I root for my home teams. Connecticut is often a divided state because it doesn't have it's own teams so you either side with New York or Massachusetts and being that I live on the boarder, my family is from Mass and I lived in Boston for four years, guess where my loyalties lie?: New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins . . . I guess with local hockey I would root for Springfield Falcons? Anyway, since football is a sport I don't mind watching and the Patriots are a team I don't mind rooting for, I will watch and hopefully see them redeem themselves after the last time.
But you know what my Super Bowl really is?
The Oscars.
(Also, the Tonys. Not the Grammys even though I'm a music freak. Too corrupt.)
*sigh*
Just sigh.
I've had this problem with the academy since 2009 when they decided to up the number of Best Picture nominees from 5 to 10 for a big reason:
This move stunk of industry pressure. I blame everyone but in some way I mostly blame "Avatar." "Avatar" was not a good movie. It is probably the worst Best Picture nominee I have ever seen. I gave it to 2/5 stars which I think was remarkably kind of me. I could explain why "Avatar" wasn't good forever so let me instead say this: this movie is part of the reason for this change. It wasn't a good movie but it was highly grossing, implemented a much talked about new technology and was directed by a stupidly influential director. If it hadn't been nominated, I imagine there being problems in the industry. However, since it was awful, they needed to find a way to nominate deserving movies and cover their tracks. Conspiracy theory? Perhaps. But every year they have had this 10 movie crap, 5 have stuck out as prominently better than the rest and the ones that didn't were either directed/starring influential people or indie flicks that people constantly lament for not getting enough recognition.
The problem is, now every year we have movies that just aren't as good in this category. The standard has been lowered and never has it been more clear than this year.
In 2008 (the 2009 Oscars) we had the last year of 5 Best Picture nominees and they were all 4+ star movies with no debate. My particular ratings were: "Slumdog Millionaire": 5/5, "Milk": 4.5/5, "The Reader": 4.5/5, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": 4/5, and "Frost/Nixon": 4/5.
In 2009 the only movies I thought ranked high enough were "The Hurt Locker", "Inglourious Basterds", "An Education", "Precious" and "Up In The Air." Five movies. How coincidental.
In 2010 there was "The King's Speech", "Black Swan", "Inception", "The Kids Are All Right", and (begrudgingly admitted as I think it was overrated) "The Social Network."
This year there aren't five that stick out. I have seen 8 of the 9 nominees and 4 make the cut. The one I haven't seen, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", doesn't look like it has enough weight to fill that last spot. This is a disappointingly weak year. Every "great" movie I have seen has had substantial problems with it. Only one got a 5/5 rating from me (which should be obvious below which one) and the other three got solid 4/5 which you could argue me up to a 4.5/5. The other four movies straddled the 3.5/5 to 4/5 line which should be too low for nomination in all honesty. The fact was, so many of these movies had large flaws that I found myself enjoying movies that weren't nominated for anything even more.
This year when I make my lists, I will be including some great movies that weren't nominated for anything but truthfully should have been.
I haven't looked into the documentaries yet but I do love a good documentary.
(Again, starred movies are my Best Picture nominees.)
(This year movies that weren't nominated for Oscars will have a plus sign.)
Movies I Really Liked:
The Artist:* This would be my pick for Best Picture and in all likelihood, it probably will be at the actual Oscars. It won't even feel like a triumph like how excited I was when "King's Speech" beat "Social Network" last year. This movie is simply head and shoulders above the rest. To hear my whole rant about it click here.
The Descendents:* This movie has a lot of things about it that to some people indicate great but to me indicate skeptical: "directed by Alex Payne", "starring George Clooney", and "family drama." I was surprised to find that I did find it undebatably great. There is a lot of depth to this movie that really breaks down concepts of family and doesn't try to get you to like it by way of tugging heartstrings. In fact, I didn't cry but I felt those emotions full force and that's admirable since a lot of movies this year tried to appeal to the heart alone.
Midnight In Paris:* I saw this one a while ago on recommendation of my grandparents (yes, the ones who recommended "The Hangover"). I think the right word for this movie is "charming." It speaks to our own thirst for nostalgia and the way we look at history without beating you over the head with its meaning and instead takes you on a magical realism journey through another era. On a personal note, as a literary nerd and a fan of architecture porn, I found a lot of joy in this movie. My only real issue with this movie is that I feel like Owen Wilson was kind of miscast. He's fits as an outcast but somehow I just didn't really believe that his era is the 20s. Wilson belongs in the late 60s if anything.
Hugo:* Paris and old movies were two big themes this year with movies and this one had both. This is a family movie, not a kids movie; get your terms straight. The plot of this movie is really great, the directing and cinematography are amazing and damn Chloë Moretz can act. Another movie that had a lot of elements that appeal to me specifically: Paris, disealpunk 30s, old movies (specially "A Trip To The Moon",, robots, etc.
Drive:+* Let me blow your mind. I think this movie is incredibly underrated. It's a perfect character study where the character is defined by his actions and not words. The cast is great, the direction is amazing, and don't even get me started on the soundtrack. The "feel" of this movie is so perfect that it's one of those movies that you are totally immersed in.
A Separation: This movie is so well constructed it will explode your brain. The lawsuit in this movie has so many layers that even the most logical person could not decide what the right solution is. My attention was captured the whole time and the cliffhanger ending (while maddening) really paralleled the divorce case with the main lawsuit in a way that didn't occur to me until after the credits. Iran, I didn't know you made good movies!
Shame:+ One minute Michael Fassbender is walking around naked and he's totally sexy; the last minute he's staring at a women on the train and he's the creepiest asshole ever. And that's in the first five minutes. This is one of those movies that says a lot without dialogue. The exploration of sex addiction is really interesting and all inclusive without even being that graphic (why the hell is this NC-17?). His boss as a foil to him and his sister as an opposite force shape his character perfectly.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2: Okay so all nerding aside, this really was a well crafted movie and I'm glad it got an Oscar nomination in the most appropriate category. These movies really ended well after years of inconsistent films with different directors.
Movies I Liked:
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Everyone who saw this seemed to either like it or hate it passionately. For the average masses this movie is too slow and confusing but honestly, I liked it a lot. The direction, lay out and visuals were all great, the acting was good, and the plot was actually a lot easier to follow than people keep claiming. The one big flaw with this movie is that there are some plot details that are displayed with so much subtly that you can easily miss them entirely. The subtly is mostly nice but there are some times when the way the movie chooses to deliver information is so obscure that you would actually have to know the story beforehand (or think exactly like the director).
Melancholia:+ This movie won't soon leave my mind. The beginning sequence of this movie is a series of beautiful images that provoke a lot of feelings without a lot of meaning and the movie slowly provides the background. A powerful look at someone with depression finally breaking down so much that they cannot lead a normal life and the after effects. The difference between the normal and the depressed is laid out in the second half with a sci-fi themed end of the world that is hard to forget. Probably the second prettiest movie this year in terms of images.
Martha Marcy May Marlene:+ A low budget movie with a lot of feeling. Like a lot of movies this year there is a present with flashbacks providing the background of why the present is how it is. Downright eerie at times as if you are as paranoid as the main character.
Beginners: Part family drama. Part romance. Part comedy. Part philosophical. And they all work together. Freaking love the cast (Plummer will take the Oscar I think) and the way the present, past, and history all intertwine. The title has a lot of dimension.
50/50:+ How do you balance comedy and drama? This. JGL is awesome as always.
We Need To Talk About Kevin:+ This movie was heavy. I love the flashback storytelling and perspective. The way it approaches the nature versus nurture idea is thought provoking and Tilda Swinton is really great.
Chico & Rita: I think this was the best animated movie of the year. The animation itself is really beautiful and I love seeing the medium used to tell a story for adults instead of children. It's a love lost and found and a lost again story with a lot of strong underlying themes of racism in the entertainment industry in the 40s and 50s.
A Cat In Paris: This is one quality kid's movie. It doesn't shy away from topics that might make parents worried and tells a nice crime story. The animation is interesting although not totally my thing.
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The break indicates a point where my liking gets more conflicted. I still like these movies and rated them similarly to the ones below it but when the movies above ended I knew I liked them and I knew how much. These movies took more thinking and debating which is actually a bad thing (they all were in between the 3.5/5, 4/5 line).
The Tree Of Life: Some people might call this movie pretentious but I don't. While it does try to tie the beginning of the universe to the lives of a single average family, it manages to mostly avoid this title and often tie together pretty well. The problem is that sometimes the connection gets really weak with scenes being cut together in fairly nonsensical ways and you wonder why certain things are being emphasized unnecessarily. One thing that is consistent about this movie though? It's probably the most beautiful movie of the year. The visuals are mesmerizing.
Moneyball: I actually liked a sports movie. How odd. Of course, this movie is moreso about a math problem with a side of a biography. I preferred the math problem portion to the biography half but I can't deny that this was a good movie. My real problem with this movie is that I feel like it might be stuck in that weird category of movies were you aren't sure if you are seeing a good movie or just hearing a good story (See: "Social Network").
War Horse: I have to put aside my love of war movies to talk about this. This is a good story, well executed but with one huge flaw: the tone. This movie combined two polar opposite genres: the boy and his x genre of children stories and a war movie with a message of both the horror of war and the "we're all human" idea (essentially "All Quiet On The Western Front"; no, really). I'm not saying it's impossible to combine these two but this movie never finds a happy medium. The war scenes are always gruesome and horrifying with the glimpses of humanity they were shooting for and the horse story scenes were full of children's story cliches (the horse friend Joey makes, the first half hour, the way they find each other again). Depending on what emotion affected you more you would either think the war scenes were too dark or the horse scenes were too light. Honestly, I think the flaw lies with the fact that Spielberg is too conventional a director to handle these gracefully. He can do one or the other but not both.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: I really tried not to compare this movie to the Swedish version too much but it's impossible. This movie is still a good one but it lacked a lot of the subtle storytelling of the Swedish one and the last twenty minutes dragged intensely. Obviously it was directed perfectly albeit a bit conventionally for Fincher and well acted except that Swedish accents are apparently hard for some people. Rooney Mara was great although I prefer Noomi Rapace's interpretation but that is purely personal preference.
Rango: (Updated: 2/9) I did think it was good; I just had a lot more problems with it than the critics seemed to. In fact, if this won for Best Animated Picture, I wouldn't have a problem with it. The biggest problem with this movie is the fact that it is constructed to appeal to both kids and adults but does so in an often alienating manner (a problem many animated movies have; Pixar movies are the only ones good at avoiding this). There were a lot of jokes that would fly entirely over kid's heads, making large portions of dialogue incomprehensible but then there are large scenes that adults might actually find boring or jokes that would seem silly. However, it's a good story, good acting, good visuals, and with a lot of really great movie references (that would again, fly over kid's heads).
My Week With Marilyn: (Updated: 2/26) This movie was decent. I thought Michelle Williams did a fairly good job as Marilyn but I was actually, to my extreme surprise, more captivated by Branagh's performance as Laurence Olivier. And I don't like Branagh. The plot was okay; I liked how it used such a small frame of time to give a full study of Marilyn as a person. Overall, though, this movie was a bit forgettable.
Crazy, Stupid Love:+ I thought this movie would be a silly romantic comedy. Here's the shock, it's legitimately funny. I laughed a lot. It also dodged a lot of cheesiness and conventions and managed to actually surprise me.
Bridesmaids: We need more comedies like this. Dragged on for too long at some points but a comedy that appeals to women that has female comedians, is actually funny, and that guys like too? How novel. This should happen more often.
Movies That Were Over-hyped:
The Help: The cast is amazing. Let's just say that. Otherwise, this movie is kind of unremarkable. It stays pretty consistently interesting throughout but loses me at the end when they try everything in their power to appeal to the audience's heart in the most manipulative and transparent ways possible. Fail.
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close: (Updated: 2/26) It might be weird to call this over-hyped when the critics didn't seem to like it but it was nominated for Best Picture so that means something. This movie is another one that tries so hard to get a sympathy vote that it's almost pathetic. Also, this movie takes itself so seriously sometimes that I found myself laughing inappropriately a lot. And the message is really weak for a movie: it's not the destination but the journey + tragedy. There have been better movies with that message and better movies about 9/11 frankly. This is also one of a couple of times where I thought to myself, "I bet the book is really good and this is just a trivializing adaption."
The Ides Of March:+ I'm not sure why this movie got so much hype. Very little happens during it and nothing new is said. New innovative presidential candidate and his speech writer are going to change the way the game is played! . . . not. Good acting. Was hoping for more. That's all.
Puss In Boots: A few laughs early on but this movie gets dry in the middle and never really recovers. Puss is freaking adorable though.
Movies I Disliked:
The Iron Lady: I think it was when Adam (currently on a boat with a bunch of Canadians and Brits) and I were discussing the Oscars that he said a very sarcastic, "Oh look, Meryl Streep can act. Who knew?" Unfortunately, her crazy great acting could not save this movie. It focuses on Thatcher mostly as a senile old women and spends the majority of the time talking about her personal life and what her rise to power means in a societal sense. The actual politics are minimal and chronologically disorganized. Obviously it's difficult to make a movie about a political figure without politics becoming a part of it but this sympathetic portrayal seems odd mainly because her politics are so absent from the movie. In an attempt to be apolitical, nothing is said.
J. Edgar:+ (Update: 2/8) This movie had a set-up for success being directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Dustin Lance Black, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In fact, if I compare this movie to "Iron Lady", this one comes out way better. Where "Iron Lady" had huge "throw out everything and start over" problems, there is a good movie here that just didn't come together. For one thing, this year has made me sick of flashback storytelling. It doesn't always work and this is a case where it really didn't. That's probably it's biggest flaw because there was nothing gained from this style. Otherwise, there was good acting and a compelling story but the real quality of said story became disjointed by the setup. Also, the make-up was humorously bad and maybe it was just me but this movie was very poorly lit.
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