AVATAR

Shiny fluorescence = pretty.

Nominated for:
Cinematography - Mauro Fiore
Direction - James Cameron
Best Picture

Also nominated for:
Art Direction - Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
Film Editing - Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
Music (Original Score) - James Horner
Sound Editing - Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
Sound Mixing - Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
Visual Effects - Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

Okay. So.

This movie is very... pretty, in a shiny, cartoony, little princess kind of way. I think is the most expensive child's movie ever made. It will be interesting to see what will be done with all this new technology when placed in more creative hands, but its a shame James Cameron is too egotistical to hire someone who is actually a talented writer. Maybe then this movie could have had some depth instead of just a pile of pop-spirituality and a whole lot of stock, gender-stereotyped characters...

And the voice-over narration... Sweet Jesus, why oh why must there be voice-over narration?!

That said, I do want a floating mountain and once of those big red flying things that swoop out of the sky and snatch up other, smaller things.

Best Picture? Absolutely not, but it will probably win anyway.
Best Directory? Please refer to the previous statement.
Cinematography? No. CGI is not cinematography.

Check out how many Avatar toys you can buy.

Eli

The White Ribbon

Children are creepier then I ever imagined.

Nominated for:
Cinematography - Christian Berger

Also nominated for:
Foreign Language Film

This creepy, quiet little German film is the latest from Michael Haneke, infamous for other such eerie and violent flicks like Caché and Funny Games. The film as a whole is unsettling, to say the least. It's good... not sure if it is something I would watch again (yes, it's that creepy...) but I don't regret watching it.

Not for the faint of heart, thought there never actually is any violence on camera. I still feel a little ill after watching it, and while this may be due to the half pint of lemon sorbet I've just consumed, I'm going to pin that on the movie.

I'm a little put off by rotten tomatoes having this weird show thingy, but it pretty much sums up the piece.

Eli

Invictus

Nelson Mandela harnesses the power of rugby to solve all of South Africa's problems - epic cheering scene ensues.

Nominated for:
Best Actor - Morgan Freeman
Best Supporting Actor - Matt Damon

This could have been so much more than your standard sports movie, but it isn't. The acting nods are completely unwarranted, unless looking stoic for two and a half hours is considered to be talent nowadays...

Like so many other movies I've had to watch during the last few weeks, this one has fallen victim to convention. The climax of the film teeters on the will-they-make-it cliche, even though the outcome of the world cup match is a matter of historical record. It's especially disappointing that not much else is explored, given the wealth of stories that could be told about such an incredible time in South Africa's history. Nope - this movie goes for the least interesting bits of everything. The camera work is generic, the writing is uninspired, and the acting is flat. Dull, dull dull.

I will say one good thing though, Morgan Freeman recites the Invictus poem way better then this creepy dude.

Eli

The Messenger

War really fucks you up.

Best supporting actor - Woody Harrelson
Writing (original Screenplay) - Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

The film is a nice appendix to The Hurt Locker. Both take on their subject using a "realistic" approach, and this most definitely does the topic justice. The Messenger does its bit to lend its voice to the anti-war protest without getting too preachy or over-bearing.

This is an emotional roller coaster, and surprisingly understated given the amount of attention paid to grief stricken relatives. The whole film is very matter-of-fact in its presentation of grief, sadness, and post-traumatic-stress. It's very well written, and the acting is magnificent, especially Samatha Morton's middle-America Wal-mart army wife character (sheer-brilliance).

In whole, this movie should be seen by many people. Best writing? Sure. It was very, very good. Best acting for Woody Harrelson? I suppose, but I found him to be the weakest actor of the three main roles. Ah well.

Not that you can really tell that its here, but here's Samantha Morton being REALLY creepy.

Eli

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Life can suck A LOT.

Nominated for:
Best picture
Directing - Lee Daniels
Best Leading Actress - Gabourey Sidibe
Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique
Writing (adapted) - Geoffrey Fletcher

Also Nominated for:
Film Editing - Joe Klotz

There are a lot of good things about this movie. Both actresses do a bang up job, and my money is on Mo'Nique winning the supporting Actress award. She miraculously brings a tiny shred of humanity to a seriously flawed character and avoids turning her into a caricature.

The film's ridiculously long title is not one of the aforementioned good things.

Narratively, the file suffers from the same issues that most adaptations encounter - a meandering story line with too many plot peaks. But much like Mo'Nique's character, the film never falls into melodrama or caricature, which I suppose justifies the Best Picture and Directing nominations.

This is not an easy film to watch - by any means. However, if you're in the mood for an emotional toughie, then this is the one for you.

Mariah Carey - respectable actress?

Eli

A Serious Man

The book of Job set in 1960's-ish middle Jewish America... Coen Brother's style.

Nominated for:
Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay - Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

This file is amazing. Its incredibly frustrating to watch, but if you've got even the tiniest hint of masochism in you, then you will appreciate this sublime bit of cinema.

It should be nominated for so much more. The lead actor, Michael Stuhlbarg of Broadway fame, was amazing, along with the cinematography, sound design and art direction. Obviously, the Coen Brothers themselves should have gotten a directorial nod along with their writing nomination, but what can you do?

All around, this is a winner.

Eli

Julie & Julia

Butter is awesome.

Nominated for:
Best Supporting Actress - Meryl Streep

This movie isn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it's quite entertaining. Simple, focused, sweet and honest. The drama in the lives of the two main women never distract from the real star of this movie - the food. And let me tell you, you better damn well eat a fine meal before watching this flick or you're stomach will be growling louder than a grizzly bear being hit by a golf club.

As for Meryl's performance, she is solid as always.

Check out Julia Child's cooking show pre-FOOD Network glitz and glam.

Eli

Nine

See Fellini's melancholic masterpiece 8 1/2, now Americanized, with more signing, dancing ... and lingerie!

Nominated for:
Best Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz
Art Direction - John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Costume Design - Colleen Atwood
Best Original Song - Take It All

There is no raison d'etre fore this movie. It basically is a dumbed down, westernized version of 8 1/2. Except, since there isn't really much to 8 1/2 to begin with, the dumbed-down version has nothing at all worth watching... except maybe Penelope Cruz in her lingerie.

This movie tries too hard to be a replica of Chicago and forgets its purpose. It may be more enjoyable with the sound off, since the songs are dull and stupid, but the dance sequences aren't very interesting either.

Basically, this is expensive, over hyped eye-candy. No awards for you!

Here's the opening sequence to 8 1/2 - no words or music needed to express the same thing as Nine's opening dance number.

Eli

Crazy Heart

The Wrestler Part II: Gone Country

Nominated For:
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges
Best Supporting Actress - Maggie Gyllenhaal
Best Original Song - The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)

This movie is about as generic as they come. There isn't anything particularly offensive about it, but there isn't anything very exciting about it either. I suppose if you like country twang there might be something in this for you, since there is a lot of singing. But if you are going to name your protagonist something like "Bad Blake", you gotta at least inject a bit of controversy into the mess. Basically, everything about this movie made me think "yeah, ok... but The Wrestler did that better".

I love Jeff, and Maggie, but not in this movie. They've done better, and will do better, in other, more interesting movies.

Eli

A Single Man

A man grieves over the sudden loss of his lifetime partner. Lots of pretty colours fade in and out of focus.

Nominated For:
Best Actor - Colin Firth

This movie is a work of out, one of the best I've seen all year. Literally, took my breath away.

Colin Firth should win this award. I may even put money on it.

I can't imagine why this didn't also pick up nods for Art Direction, Cinematography, and Directing as well/ James Cameron may have lots of money to hire a pile of programming geeks, but I'd like to see him try and create something as beautiful and sublime as this. Everything in this movie was 10 times more enthralling then anything CGI could ever invent.

Mr. Tom Ford (director), I hope you continue to make films, as this one has reminded me why I love them in the first place.

Eli