Yesterday was Oscar nominations day. They nominated a really good little film called "Winter's Bone" for Best Picture. It's a stark, raw portrait of a determined girl searching for her lost father in a desperately poor, rural American setting. Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress nominee) is excellent as the girl and John Hawkes got a supporting actor nod for playing her uncle.
The other 9 nominees for Best Picture were expected. There's the great psychosexual thriller -Black Swan, the very good classic underdog boxer tale -The Fighter, a great Western- True Grit, a great animated film - Toy Story 3, the excellent social comedy - The Kids Are All Right, the mind-bending dream thrill ride--Inception and the excellent historical drama - The King's Speech.
The other 2 nominees don't fit easily into categories. 127 Hours is an excellent film of a man whose isolation could literally end up costing him his life. The Social Network is a brilliant comedy-drama about the computer geeks who started Facebook.
Javier Bardem whose film "Biutiful" is just now opening in the Boston area took home a Best Actor nomination along with Bridges, Eisenberg, Franco and Colin Firth. Bardem won an Oscar in 2007 for playing a psychotic angel of death in "No Country For Old Men". Franco was outstanding basically giving a 90 minute solo performance in front of the camera. Bridges, Eisenberg and Firth were first rate in their characterizations of Rooster Cogburn, Mark Zuckerberg and King George VI.
Annette Bening and Natalie Portman lead the pack for Best Actress as expected. Good to see the Academy recognizing Jennifer Lawrence and Michelle Williams for their roles in Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine. Nicole Kidman was recognized for her work in Rabbit Hole.
There's always going to be people every year who should be nominated but aren't for a number of reasons:
Isabelle Huppert didn't get a nomination for White Material, the story of a Frenchwoman trying to hold on to her little piece of Africa against a rising tide of hate and revolution.
Lesley Manville was outstanding in Another Year as an older woman searching for love in all the wrong places. She was nominated by the British Academy so she's getting some well deserved credit somewhere.Â
Chole Moretz had a great year. She stole KickAss right out from under Nicholas Cage and she gave a memorable performance as a vampire who befriends a tormented boy straining to deal with the horrors of everyday life.Â
Andrew Garfield had a great year also in The Social Network and Never Let Me Go. He's going to be the new Spiderman replacing Tobey Maguire.Â
Marwencol was a powerful documentary about a man who loses his memory as a result of a vicious beating and after his insurance stops paying for therapy goes on to create his own imaginary world inhabited by toy figures he models after real people in his life. The guy is a photographer and the pictures he takes of his imaginary town "Marwencol" eventually get a public exhibition.
It's too bad Never Let Me Go didn't get any nominations. Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley starred in this poignant film about disposable people living in an alternate universe.
Yesterday was Oscar nominations day. They nominated a really good little film called "Winter's Bone" for Best Picture. It's a stark, raw portrait of a determined girl searching for her lost father in a desperately poor, rural American setting. Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress nominee) is excellent as the girl and John Hawkes got a supporting actor nod for playing her uncle.
The other 9 nominees for Best Picture were expected. There's the great psychosexual thriller -Black Swan, the very good classic underdog boxer tale -The Fighter, a great Western- True Grit, a great animated film - Toy Story 3, the excellent social comedy - The Kids Are All Right, the mind-bending dream thrill ride--Inception and the excellent historical drama - The King's Speech.
The other 2 nominees don't fit easily into categories. 127 Hours is an excellent film of a man whose isolation could literally end up costing him his life. The Social Network is a brilliant comedy-drama about the computer geeks who started Facebook.
Javier Bardem whose film "Biutiful" is just now opening in the Boston area took home a Best Actor nomination along with Bridges, Eisenberg, Franco and Colin Firth. Bardem won an Oscar in 2007 for playing a psychotic angel of death in "No Country For Old Men". Franco was outstanding basically giving a 90 minute solo performance in front of the camera. Bridges, Eisenberg and Firth were first rate in their characterizations of Rooster Cogburn, Mark Zuckerberg and King George VI.
Annette Bening and Natalie Portman lead the pack for Best Actress as expected. Good to see the Academy recognizing Jennifer Lawrence and Michelle Williams for their roles in Winter's Bone and Blue Valentine. Nicole Kidman was recognized for her work in Rabbit Hole.
There's always going to be people every year who should be nominated but aren't for a number of reasons:
It's too bad Never Let Me Go didn't get any nominations. Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley starred in this poignant film about disposable people living in an alternate universe.