Thursday, January 22, 2009

My reaction to the Best Picture Oscar nominees

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button --- I liked it OK when I saw it, but no way this is the best film of the year, mainly because it's a remake of Forest Gump, written by the same guy, with the added "bonus" of having supernatural plot influences.

2. The Reader --- I'm flabbergasted this was nominated. Not a bad movie, but I can think of twenty, no, make that thirty, movies over the last year that were better than this. No way this would have been nominated if were not about the Holocaust, but instead were about other war atrocities. Self-righteous, sentimental ending. If this wins, I'm gonna puke.

3. Milk --- This is absolutely the best movie of these five. Probably not number one on my own list, but I can very much live with this one winning the Oscar.

4. Slumdog Millionaire --- It was a fun movie, and it will be the sentimental favorite, but I felt it was too lightweight to really be the best movie of the year. On the other hand, if it were up for Best-feeling Movie of the Year, I'd vote for it.

5. Frost/Nixon --- This is the second best of the five. It felt a little stage-play-ish to really be the best motion picture of the year. By the way, just so you know, Nixon was framed for Watergate---both the burglary and the cover-up. Now that would be motion pictah!

A better-but-still-Hollywood-oriented list would have swapped Revolutionary Road in place of the The Reader, and Gran Torino in place of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I have a few more 2008 movies to see before I make out my own "best" list.

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