Apparently, 265 movies were released in 2011 that were eligible for Oscar nominations. To see all of these movies, I would have had to give up my day job. But I am a dedicated moviegoer. I've seen about 75 movies in the last year including 15 movies since the beginning of December. My quest ended a couple of weeks ago when I slipped into my seat at the Rave at the Mall of Louisiana to see "War Horse." I have now seen all of the films nominated for Best Picture. This number used to be five but was increased to ten last year to broaden the appeal of the Oscars. But this year the number of films nominated is 9 for reasons that are not easily explained. Here they are:
* The Artist
* The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
* Hugo
* Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
* The Tree of Life
However, the number of films nominated for Best Director is still 5 (with asterisks above) so obviously those have the inside track. I will blog about my Top Ten Movies of the Year soon but for now let me say that on the whole, these nine movies are pretty good. Three will definitely be on my list of Best Movies of the Year:
The first is "The Descendants." This film, written and directed by Alexander Payne, and starring George Clooney, tells the story of a Hawaiian family which owns the largest tract of undeveloped land in the islands. Clooney, a workaholic who has become emotionally detached from his family, is brought suddenly back to his senses when his wife has a serious boating accident. He suddenly realizes that he has two daughters to take care of, who are strangers to him. Adding to the stress is the impending sale of the family land by Clooney and his cousins (including Beau Bridges) to a developer. This is Payne's first outing as Writer/Director since "Sideways" which appeared seven years ago. I loved "Sideways" and "The Descendants" is great too. Both films are about protagonists, Paul Giamatti in the earlier film and George Clooney here, trying awkwardly to re-establish their interpersonal relationships. I have a lot of respect for how Clooney tries not to just make the same movie over and over again. He is very good in "The Descendants"as are Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller who play his daughters. It is also great to see Beau Bridges (Jeff's older brother) who plays one of Clooney's cousins bent on selling the land.
The second is "Midnight in Paris," directed by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, and many others. Even though I really loved this movie, I was surprised to see it in the Oscar list, first because it came out early in the year, and second because it is a Woody Allen movie. Allen hasn't been nominated for Best Director since "Bullets Over Broadway" (1994), and hasn't had a film nominated for Best Picture since "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986). Most people gave up on him, but since he left New York City and started making films in Europe, he has been reborn with movies such as "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." "Midnight in Paris" tells the story of a writer (Wilson) with a bad case of writer's block who, while on a trip to Paris, is magically whisked back in time each night at midnight ending up in the 1930's. There he meets the glitterati of art, music, and literature including Cole Porter (Yves Heck), Josephine Baker (Sonia Rolland), Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), Salvador Dalí (Adrien Brody), and Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo). This is a wonderful, fun movie. The characterizations of 1930's Paris are great, especially Hemingway, and Owen Wilson provides his gee whiz take on it all. Marion Cotillard is good as usual as Picasso's mistress who falls for Wilson.
Last but not least is "Moneyball." This film was directed by Bennett Miller (Capote) and benefits greatly by a screenplay written by those old pros, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. It tells the story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the General Manager of the Oakland A's, who with the help of a young geek (Jonah Hill), turns baseball on its head by using obscure statistics to find great baseball players. Zaillian and Sorkin are nominated for their script, and Pitt has a Best Actor nomination, but the movie is stolen by Jonah Hill, known for appearing in teen comedies such as "Superbad," who delivers the performance of his life. He is nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I'm a big baseball fan, but I don't think you need to be a baseball fan to like this movie.
Of the other nominated films, "The Artist" has the most buzz and is the favorite to win Best Picture. As you must know by now, it is a "mostly" silent movie about the silent movies. It is a very interesting film and it's definitely different. The surprises in the Best Picture category were "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," and "The Tree of Life." The latter film, like "Midnight in Paris," was released early in 2011 when most films are forgotten. It is a beautiful and unusual film, linking the evolution of the universe to the lives of characters in the film. Brad Pitt gives a very good performance along with this year's "it girl," Jessica Chastain. She is teh hardest working actor in Hollywood, also starring in "The Help," "The Debt," "Take Shelter," and "Coriolanus" in 2011. She is great. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" may suffer from its subject matter. It is about a man (Tom Hanks) killed in 9/11, and how his wife (Sandra Bullock) and son (Thomas Horn) try to deal with their loss. Max von Sydow is nominated for his amazing performance as the boy's grandfather. "The Help" which tells the upstairs downstairs story of Alabama in the 1960's is pretty good too. It has great performances from Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain (all nominated). My least favorite film of the nine nominated, is "Hugo." I have to say I am going against the flow here since most people who saw it, loved it. It is directed by Martin Scorsese, and tells a fantasy of a young boy (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the Paris train station and keeps all the clocks wound. He meets a young girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) who tries to help him. Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen also star.
Tonight is the big night. Needless to say, I will be watching.
