Thursday, February 23, 2012

For Rent: 2012 Oscars

Normally, I don't do DVD movie reviews (I'd have to do this full-time if I did that) but since I watched so many Oscar nominees on video this year, I thought, what the heck.  So, here are my short thoughts.


Tree of Life: experimental in all the wrong ways.  Yes, it was very pretty; but if I wanted to see beautiful Hubble images, I'd watch a Science show in HD.  And it wasn't even cool experimental that made you think - nope, it was just boring storytelling.  Pitt and Chastain try their hardest; the child actors stole their thunder.  Too bad the story was just so... distant.  really glad this was a rental - had i paid to watch it in theatres, I may have rated it even lower.  2.5 out of 5 stars.

The Help: so, I didn't particularly like the book, which didn't bode well for the movie.  I did my best to divorce my feelings and I think i did a pretty good job.  However, many  of the same issues persist, and I can only blame the source material.  Great acting was lost on a clunky script and characters even more caricature-like than the novel.  I hate to say it, but the whole experience felt fake and whitewashed.  I am surprised it made it into a Best Pic category.  2.5 out of 5 stars.

Midnight in Paris: Perhaps it is my personal bias showing through, as Paris is my favourite city, but this movie was gorgeous.  It showcases Paris as a piece of art in a itself (which, of course, it is).  Not surprisingly, Marion Cotillard is cast as the siren who tempts the (charming, if silly) Owen Wilson into abandoning all he knows for a life in the past.  Also, McAdams, Bates and Sheen do their usual good work.  So, yes, it's very pretty.  But really, it's the philosophy behind it that made me wonder.  Would I, given the chance, given everything I have to live a bohemian life in Paris?  Would I be brave enough to forgo comfort, security, and reliability for an adventure that could see me on the streets if only for the experience?  I don't know, really.  It did renew my determination to spend some time there though.  Some real time.  So, a very biased 4 out of 5 stars.

Honorary Mention to Beginners: not on the Best Picture list (and given some that were, quite remiss of the Academy to skip this one), I watched it because of the praises being heaped on the always-amazing Christopher Plummer.  I was quite surprised by the way this movie sucked me in: I loved the cast, the story ... even the script!  Seems to me this would easily have fit into the Best Pic category...but perhaps there just too many non-American movies in the top nine and one more would have been the straw that broke the camel's back.  I highly recommend it with an enthusiastic 4 out of 5 stars.

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