2011 Best Picture Nominees

Yesterday, at 10:00 AM, I decided that watching all 10 of the nominees for Best Picture was a much better plan than like, sleeping or something foolish like that. Anyway. I sat for 24 hours and watched what are theoretically the 10 best films released this year. Now after roughly three hours of sleep I’ll see what I can yell angrily about them.

2011 Oscars Liveblog: Toy Story 3 vs. the World

Franco only loves his anime pillow pal

So apparently tonight is the Oscars, and for whatever reason I see fit, I guess I will liveblog the damn thing. After watching two best picture nominees yesterday (Winter’s Bone and The King’s Speech), all I’ve able to think about is the Christopher Guest movie For Your Consideration (great movie, by the way). Why? Because so many Oscar films just have this air of snottiness and self-importance that just makes me sick sometimes. It just feels like people will only make movies to try to rake in awards based on merits such as “dysfunction, crying, over-the-top emotions” and so on. Maybe I just hate seeing other people succeed, but then again, Transformers 2 is one of the highest grossing movies of all time, so I guess it’s not just the awards show films. The point is, I see movies as something to entertain first, and then inspire second, and not the other way around. I’d be totally fine if a movie about Gandhi fudged things and made him a bodybuilder with a Gatling gun.

Anyways, here are the Best Picture films I have seen: Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, Inception, The King’s Speech, and True Grit. Here’s how I’d rank them and why…

5. Winter’s Bone: The intrigue of the story kept me interested for the majority of the movie, but damn, the ending was about as uneventful and unexciting as one could possibly expect. Weeee, they all do meth! Weeee, they’re ignorant hicks with anger issues! Weeeee, the lead lady is stuck in a horrible life at the beginning of the film and the end of it too! Jennifer Lawrence did a fine acting job, but if this wins Best Picture, I’m not going to be pleased.

4. Inception: Everyone wants to talk about “how overrated” Inception is, simply because of all the hype that came with Chris Nolan and the fact that it was a high-grossing summer movie. That said, it still had an interesting story and some really cool visuals that made me enjoy it overall. Let’s be honest here: not many people outside of Nolan could make something like dream inception seem plausible. This shouldn’t win BP, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad movie. Also, let’s not forget a certain blue alien film that was nominated for Best Picture last year…..

3. Toy Story 3: It is near impossible to not like this movie, but it’s in the minority simply because it’s a kid’s film. I would totally get behind this winning Best Picture though.

2. The King’s Speech: The two lead actors stole the show on this one, and made this movie go from 2 stars to 3.5 stars for me. Geoffry Rush was simply fantastic as the speech therapist; if he doesn’t win Best Supporting Actor, I will never look at this already “whatever” award again.

1. True Grit: That’s right, I’m a Coen Bros. homer, so sue me. Even with this movie, a movie that breaks a lot of artsy guy code (it’s a remake of an adaptation of a book, for one thing), but True Grit was the best Oscar movie I saw all year (my favorite movie overall of last year is still Kick Ass). The presentation, the acting (everybody was great in their respective roles), the feel; it felt like I was living in a snarky, slightly humorous Western world. This movie won’t win Best Picture, but it deserves to get at least Best Actor, and I’d root for Best Actress too.

And yes, I know my opinions are skewed since I didn’t see the likes of the other five movies, although you won’t get me to ever see The Kids Are Alright.

Anyways, catch up with me after the jump when the awards show starts. There’ll plenty of making fun of snooty celebrities after the jump, when the Oscars actually start. See you then!

True Grit-Written by Charles Portis. (Also: The Film!)

“The wicked flee when none purseuth.”

Mattie Ross, a young girl of only 14 goes in search of the man who shot her father down in the small Arkansas town of Fort Smith. With characters such as rooster Cogburn and the Texas Ranger LaBoeuf,  I cannot give enough praise to this novel. Please read on, reader!

Media Man Crush: Barry Pepper

 

PUT THE F*CKING PUPPY DOWN

With all of the guy-love I’ve been showing Scott Sigler of late, I thought it might be a good idea to make a monthly (or every other month, whatever) feature of all of the men in show biz that deserve a little bit of recognition every now and then. In a world where guys like Channing Tatum are getting all of the street cred in Hollywood, it’s nice to let the world know about actors that have way more talent, but are just fine with taking backseat roles. This month, that guy is Barry Pepper, a man that may be a recognizable face, but certainly not a household name. He just so happens to have played some pretty memorable characters, including one of my favorite supporting characters in a movie. So without further adieu, a look into the interesting life and career of Barry Pepper.

The Best of 2010!

Remember this? No? Read this.

Remember 2010? You might not after your drunken debauchery which ushered in the new year. I’m here to help you rejog your memory, with the best of 2010 list!