Friday, January 28, 2011

And the Oscar Goes To...

Maybe I'm becoming more cultured than I think.

It's always a bit soul-crushing when the Oscar nods come out and you've seen nary a one of the Best Picture nominees. But it seems my streak is over: I've actually seen one of the films on the list! (But only one.)

Still. Baby steps people.

And I have really, really good reasons for not seeing the rest. Check it out:

2011 Best Picture Nominees
Black Swan: Everyone that I asked about this told me that it contains disturbing images from which I would never recover (so what? I get freaked out easily). If I'm going to put myself through that, I might as well watch Bridalplasty. I'm intrigued, but not enough to lose sleep over it.
Inception: Not only is this the only nominee I've actually seen, it has Leonardo Dicaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Nothing disturbing about that. My vote for Best Picture! (Though, based on the contents of this post, I'm pretty sure my vote doesn't carry much weight.)
127 Hours: Since this is about that hiker who had to saw off his arm to escape from under a boulder, I'm going to have to go with the Bridalplasty argument again. Though  slightly curious about how they make James Franco look as if he's chopping off his own body part, it's not enough to subject myself to possible mental scarring.
The Social Network: I thought this was just a "movie about Facebook". Since I spend the majority of my free time on FB anyway, I thought I could just imagine what it was about. Oops. Guess that's not really the same.
Winter's Bone: Has anybody heard of this? Anybody?
The King's Speech: Seems pretty inspiring, but again...for $12 a ticket, I need to be sure.
The Fighter: How many movies need to be made about punching other people in the face as a profession? Lame.
The Kids Are All Right: I've actually been meaning to see this. Juliana and Annette? Lesbian couple whose children want to contact their sperm donor? Sounds like a recipe for entertainment to me.
Toy Story 3: Huh? Don't they have an animated category for this stuff? Buh-bye.
True Grit: Considering I haven't talked to one single person whose seen this, nor seen even a glimpse of a preview, I'm going to have to cross my arms, furrow my brow, and give the Academy a "Really?" on this one. (I'm sure they're quaking in their seats and instantly regretting their decision.)

So...basically the nominees can be divided into the following categories:

1. Super Awesome:
Inception

2. Rent These:
The Kids are Alright
The King's Speech
The Social Network

3. Avoid Unless Emotional Disturbance is the Goal:
Black Swan
127 Hours

4. Who the H-E-L-L Nominated You for Best Picture?
The Fighter
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Any thoughts? If you are willing to front me the ticket price, I'll be glad to change my opinion on any of the above movies that I haven't seen. Until then, let the Academy know that I am not at all pleased. And pass the popcorn, please.

9 comments:

Adrienne Shubin said...

I'm like you - I rarely see a nominated movie in time for the Oscars. But this year, I've seen TWO! Black Swan is disturbing, but it wasn't as traumatic of an experience as I thought it would be. I actually forced myself to go to a movie alone for the first time as a challenge last week, and Black Swan was my choice...I wanted to make it as difficult as possible.

I also saw "The King's Speech", which was very good.

I'm rooting for either one. They are both quality movies. But if I had to pick one, "The King's Speech" would be it.

A

Alyssa @ Life of bLyss said...

I agree. Inception should win this one by a longshot, and I'm pretty positive 94% of the general population would agree.

Two thumbs up on this post from moi!

Every Little Thing said...

I am not a movie person and have only seen Inception on the list. It was great though! I'm dying to see Black Swan. TS3 is a very strange nom.

Leigh Powell Hines said...

Going to a movie? What's that? Luckily, I do have a Roku for streaming now. The only one that I've seen is Toy Story 3. It's really cute in an animated way, but an Oscar for Best Picture? All those crying Hollywood parents must have thought "Oscar" at the end because the ending does make you cry.

STYLE'N said...

OMG seriously...you and I must be the same person b/c I agree with it all. I LOVED Inception and I am scared to see Black Swan and 127 hrs (even though I love James Franco) completely agree about Social Network AND saw the kids are all right on DVD and I still need to and want to see The Kings Speech! thanks :)

Christina said...

of these movies, i have only seen black swan and inception. i loooooved black swan. loved it! i was prepared for it though, having heard several opinions from friends/watching trailers. i did not like inception. i feel like i wasted 2 1/2 hours of my life being extremely confused. i do that enough in a day! haha :)

Unknown said...

I'm totally with you on all of the above ;)

Anonymous said...

I am with you on The Fighter...until I saw it. Its about boxing, but its really about this messed up family. Really good.
So was The King's Speech, and I was also really skeptical about that one too. I never thought it was possible to be on the edge of my seat just listening to a man talk

Miss T said...

A Bugs Life - the circus troupe? they freaked me out, so I am definately not going to see Black Swan. One of our ladies has been nomintaed for best actress (Jackie Weaver) for Animal Kingdom. why? Its possibly the worst film Ive ever seen, even worse than any sequal of Big Mommas house. We thought it was a comedy at some points. Money changed hands for that nomination, I think. Love your blog.
Miss T xx
http://pinkleopard71.blogspot.com/

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