2012 Oscars!!! Here is my review of the films nominated for best picture!

This years Oscars look to be more low key with less big name movies nominated then I can remember in a long time. The nominees for best picture are:

The Artists
The Descendants
Extrememly Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

I have seen four of these films so far. The first one I watched was "The Help." The film chronicled the struggles of the servants in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's. Emmas Stone plays an author who wants to write a book from the perspective of a black housekeeper. Interweaving the fiction with reality, the film does a very good job of expressing just how dismal things were back then even as the civil rights movement hit full stride. I thought it was a very good film overall; the acting was good, the story superb, the cinematography was adequate. I look for this to be a front-runner at this year's awards. Io bet this has a 1/2 chance to win.

The second film I saw was "The Tree of Life." This film was directed by Terrance Mallick and pushed the boundaries of what a film can be. With very little discernible plot or timeline, the film focused more extensively on the emotions of the characters and the themes presented by the plot. It will not give anything away to say that a family finds out one of their sons has passed away and the film then shows what has led up to this and what feelings are expressed as a result of the death. The actual event is never shown, I don't even remember finding out how the son died. The plot and actual events are truly secondary in this film. Even as this film challenges the traditional beginning/ middle/ end of traditional film making, it does a great job addressing the themes addressed by the screenwriter and director. Using some of the most beautiful cinematography to date, it captures each characters moods, emotions, and beliefs without truly filming a conventional scene. It is almost a series of impressionistic paintings shown in conjunction with a central idea to express the ides the director wants us to see which are quite open to interpretation even after the film ends. It was a very interesting (and slightly tedious- especially then middle 25 or 30 minutes with no humans appearing at all) look at how a film can get its message across while still managing to be called a film. I don't think it will win; it is too avant-garde for the academy to pick and rightfully so. I give this a 1/10 chance to win.

The third film I have watched was "Moneyball." It starred Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the Oakland A's general manager who changed the thinking in baseball by embracing the ideology of Bill James, the Godfather of statistics. While it was slightly entertaining, I have no idea why it was chosen for best picture. The cinematography was repetitious, the acting was OK if you buy Brad Pitt's interpretation of Billy Beane as a charismatic, swashbuckling, GM who didn't seem to care about his paycheck or his livelihood (which I did not). The screenplay was overwrought with Hollywood shtick and reeked of conventions best left in the 80's and 90's (can we have another close-up of Brad Pitt brooding in his pick-up truck? Please just one more.) I will say Jonah Hill did a great job of playing the anti-Jonah Hill assistant GM; Peter Brand. His performance saved the film. In short, this is a mildly entertaining look at the Hollywood version of baseball culture that somehow didn't ring authentic to me at all. I wouldn't recommend watching it to be honest and if you do, please do so with a grain of salt and a bottle of Pepcid AC as it may upset your stomach. Not a chance to win.

The fourth film I saw was "Hugo." It is about a boy, Hugo, who lives in a train station as he has been orphaned. Directed by Martin Scorcese, the cinamatography was excellent as was the story. Hugo meets one of the pioneers of filmmaking, Goerges Melies (portrayed by an outstanding Ben Kingsley) and the story unfolds from there. While serving as a film history lesson, the script manages to maintain its focus on being a "kid movie" while not overtly feeling like one. This is the first "kids movie" that has been nominated that actually should have been. I recommend it to everyone, young and old for the script, beautiful special effects, perfect period costumes and makeup, great performances by Kingsley and Sasha Baren Cohen, and the fantastic lesson in early filmmaking and the pioneering effects that Melies and the Lumiere Brothers had on filmmaking. Had the Oscars not alreay taken place, I would have moved this right next to "The Help" as my front-runner for the Oscar. Next up, I am watching "The Descendants" tonight and am expecting an outstanding film. I have heard nothing but good and am really looking forward to it.