As a self-proclaimed movie critic, I guess I should weigh in on the Oscars before the show is over.
Of the ten movies nominated for Best Picture, I regret that I have not yet seen Precious, Inglorious Basterds, and Up. The other films I regret missing are The Last Station and Invictus. I hope to catch up to each of them.
Of the remaining seven, my choice for best picture is The Hurt Locker; the contest shouldn’t be close, although An Education and A Serious Man are worthy efforts, and if they won, it would aggravate me less than other choices would.
The Blind Side is a sweet story, and I wish its real-life characters well. As art, however, it’s simple and syrupy and doesn’t belong in the company of these other more inventive, substantive films.
Up in the Air has substance and excellent performances, but in the end, it’s slick work, its soul stuck in Hollywood.
District 9 has an originality that feels promising for 20 – 30 minutes; then it devolves into predictably didactic science fiction, with sermons and gimmicks completely supplanting fully developed humans. Avatar is a great technical achievement; it has even more of the kind of technical originality we see in District 9, but it also suffers from the same limitations.
I've missed too many movies to comment on the best actor and director nominations, but there's the best movie scene according to Banjo, and that’s the truth.
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