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It's time for the release of the Oscar Nominated Films

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

First Thoughts on Best Picture Oscar Nominations

The following movies have been nominated for Best Picture:

The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and War Horse.

Last night  my friends and I saw Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Now that I have seen all nine of the nominees, here are some of my thoughts.

The three lower tier movies are: Hugo, The Tree of Life and War Horse. These were movies that had it strengths but they just missed the mark or as I often write, they were "not my cup of tea."

The middle tier movies are:  The Descendants, Midnight in Paris and Moneyball. I really liked these movies. Moneyball is a baseball movie starring Brad Pitt. Pitt portrays Billy Beane, the manager of the Oakland team in their rebuilding year. Midnight in Paris was directed by Woody Allen whom I just love.
Luke Owens was so good in his role as the writer who wishes to live at the time of the great poets, writers and artist living in Paris during the 1920s. Owens finds out that wishes sometimes comes true. The Descendants is set in modern day Hawaii with George Clooney dealing with his daughters and his hospitalized and critically injured wife. Lots of great scenery, one liners and a very heartfelt performance from Clooney. The Descendants appears to be a strong front runner.

The top tier movies:  The Artist is a tribute to the silent film era. With no dialogue, filmed in black and white, great soundtrack, and an actor who has great facial expressions and body language, this is a unique film going experience.  The Artist has received several nominations and awards. This will give The Descendants a run for the money. The Help was my favorite movie of 2011. I went to see this film with five of my teacher friends this summer and we all raved about it. Octavia Spencer was wonderful as one of the maids, Minnie, and has already received nominations and awards. The story is about the housemaids and the housewife employers in the early 1960s. Set in the South, a local journalist writes a book about life in the South as told by the black housemaids. The book is a thinly disguised tell all which doesn't set well with some of the local residents. You laugh, cry and cheer - sometimes all at once. I just reviewed Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in the previous post. It has just been released and has been given poor reviews. I think positive words of mouth will give this film the praise and popularity it deserves. I would be pleased if this is a surprise winner.

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