Oscar Blog!

    I was debating on whether or not I would do this, because thus far I've only really talked about theater, or theater related films. However, seeing as the Academy Awards are tomorrow night, and my loyal subjects have been asking me what I think, I figured I would oblige and write a little something about this years contenders.

    I'm not going to write about what I think WILL win, I'm going to tell you all what I have seen, and what I think SHOULD win, or what I would be happy to see win. I'm going to skip over the categories nobody cares about (sound editing, costume design, etc) I'm sorry if you are one of those few people who actually DOES care about said categories - but I really don't care. On to the meat and potatoes!

   Best animated film should hands down go to Toy Story 3. It was every bit as profound and moving as some of the live action films it's competing against in the best picture category. It truly was the best animated movie of the year in my opinion.

  Performance by an actress in a supporting role. The performances that I have seen are Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Helena Bonmham Carter. All three women are first rate actresses. The award should go to Melissa Leo however because she nailed every nuance of her character perfectly. She even managed to give a convincing Bostonian accent. Seeing as the film takes place in Lowell, and The Queen grew up only a stones throw away, I am very aware of what that accent should have sounded like, and she nailed it better than any actress I've seen in any other movie.

   Performance by an actor in a supporting role. I've seen the nominated performances of Christian Bale, Jeremy Renner, and Geoffrey Rush. Geoffrey Rush gave an astonishing performance in The Kings Speech, but Christian Bales portrayal of a man struggling with demons both physical and mental gives him the edge in my opinion. He is both goofy, as as well as raw and desperate. His accent is also completely on point, which is an even bigger achievement considering that he is British

 Best director. The movies I've seen in this category are Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, David O Russel's The Fighter, Tom Hooper's The Kings Speech, and David Finchers Social Network. All of these films are true works of art that are superbly directed. In my opinion this is one of the tougher categories. Darren Aronofsky has created a visual opus with Black Swan. Tom Hooper painted a masterpiece with The Kings Speech, David Fincher expertly wove a tapestry with The Social Network, and David O. Russel told the story of the fighter with a raw grit and reality that was both enjoyable and some times disturbing to watch. My pick for this category is Darren Aronoksy. His work in Black Swan is part of what made the movie so good in the first place.

 Best Actress. The only performance that I've seen is Natalie Portmans in Black Swan. This is pretty much a two horse race between her and Annette Benning. They are both deserving of Oscars and I'll be pleased  no matter which of them wins.

   Best Actor. The only two performances I've seen are Jessie Eisenberg in The Social Network and Colin Firth in The Kings Speech. Quite frankly, I can't believe that Jessie Eisenberg was even NOMINATED to begin with considering he is playing the same character that he played in Zombie land, and Adventure land. Just because Mark Zuckerberg is a real person? That spot should have gone to Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter. But I digress, Colin Firth should win.

  Best Picture. I've been struggling with this one for a while now. For those of you who don't know this, the way Best Pictures is determined works likes this. Each voter puts the 10 best picture noms in order of 1-10. All the number ones are tallies, the two with the lowest votes are eliminated and if you picked a movie that was eliminated your number 2 choice is used, and so on and so forth until they have a winner. There are other website that explain this system better than I just did and if you are interested you may go find one. I am going to now rank the pest picture noms I have seen in the order in which I would put them if my vote counted, which it does not.

1) The Kings Speech
2) The Fighter
3) The Social Network
4) Black Swan
5) Toy Story 3
6) Inception

I did not see Winters Bone, True Grit, or 127 hours.

 Ok there you have it! There are other categories that are of interest, screen play and such, but quite frankly it's late and I'm tired. So, happy Oscar viewing!