Oscar Nominations Include Everyone
Oscar nominations have been announced, and it looks like the Academy Awards are now being run by the general public, and not the movie making elite. Is it just me, or are they including every single movie made from a known director/actor. There are ten movies up for Best Picture this year. While I agree that most of the nominees are very good at what they do, I disagree that any movie they make should be up for The Best Picture. This year we have entries from Darren Aronofsky, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, Coen Brothers, Marky Mark, just to name a few. Just because we know who they are, and respect their movies does not mean they have created the most impressive movie of the year. I have seen three movies nominated and think that all three are unworthy of nomination. True Grit, The Fighter, and Inception do not deserve to be listed here. I know that much. I have not seen the other movies on this list, and the only judgement I can make, is that if they are included with these three movies than they are very un-inspriing films. I went to a theater last night to see True Grit, and while I like Jeff Bridges character, and I thought the young girl did a valiant job of acting, it was apparent the entire movie that I was watching a movie with actors. I never became so engulfed i the movie that I forgot I was watching a movie. The story was so contrived, and the young girls role was so unbelievable, not to mention how much Rooster cared about the little ninkumpoop, it was all so phony. I like the Coen Brothers, but this was not their best effort. Too contrived, too over the top, and all so unnecessary. A few weeks ago, while killing time on vacation, I watched The Fighter, and I expected to see a crappy hollywood fighting movie, but I was actually impressed. It entertained and despite the formulaic plot, it held my interest and got me rooting for the good guy. That being said, the dialogue was written for a first-grader, and they butchered the real-life story so badly that I laughed in a few places, and scratched my head in others. This worked as an entertaining movie, but what have we come to when a movie that works is somehow considered Oscar material? Good movie, doesn't deserve this nomination at all. Inception, that cool, deceptive piece of work from Nolan. I love Memento, Dark Knight, even the Following, but this was contrived Hollywood filmmaking at its worst. By worst, I mean they throw in lots of crazy twists to fool you into thinking they are "deep", and for most 14 year olds, it works. I fell asleep half way through this, and I was watching it in IMAX. Terrible movie. I understand why it did great at the box-office, I have no idea how it got nominated for anything other than a Rasberry. The only movie that I saw this year that truly deserves The Best Picture, is Exit Through the Gift Shop. That movie had suspense, drama, and an outrageous hero who overcame long odds. Great story and great movie making. I know its a pseudo-doc, and was not shot on the highest quality film, but despite that one small detail, this was clearly the best movie I saw all year. I am not sure why the Academy decided to nominate ten movies as the best. This is like having ten players being nominated for MVP. There are usually many valuable players on different teams, and there are usually many good movies, but when the Academy looks at the entire field, they couldn't come up with a better filter than this? If True Grit, Inception and The Fighter all made it on this list, maybe I shouldn't even bother trying to watch the rest.