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Oscar the grouch
Jan. 22nd, 2009 06:31 amThe Oscar winners are presented with all the hoopla possible. The list of nominees, which to my mind is even more important and useful for movie-goers, however, steals out on little cat feet. Here it is.
As usual, I haven't seen much. Last month, I went to the theatres twice, to see two films based on recent history that intrigued me, both of which I wrote about here: Milk and Frost/Nixon. It was the first I'd been to the movie theatres in several months. I liked both, Milk better and not just because it's about a more congenial character. It's far more real; it doesn't try to puff up an insignificant story into a falsified dramatic shape.
Now they're both Best Picture nominees. Benjamin Button and The Reader are also both "prestige" pictures, but the reviews make them sound like pretentious fluff. Slumdog Millionaire is one I initially ignored on the basis of the title alone, which sounded repulsive. But now that I've read something about it, it sounds interesting and I may see it at some point.
The only other film anywhere on the nominees list that I've seen is In Bruges, which got a Best Screenplay nomination. Best Screenplay?!? I only saw this at all on one of those "Why don't we go see a movie I wonder what's playing?" occasions, and it was so tedious and unfunny that I didn't even mention it in this supposed chronicle of my life.
The film that most of my friends have seen is Wall-E, which has 6 nominations. Most of the reviews have been ecstatic, but some have had an element of grumpiness, and both that mix and the specific comments remind me of the reaction to E.T., a widely-loved film which I found annoying and incoherent. On that basis I'm staying away from this one until I'm dragged to it.
Can't think of anything else on the lists I want to see either. Six months from now I'll be standing at the Bockbluster new film rental shelf looking in vain, as usual, for anything I want to see on it.
As usual, I haven't seen much. Last month, I went to the theatres twice, to see two films based on recent history that intrigued me, both of which I wrote about here: Milk and Frost/Nixon. It was the first I'd been to the movie theatres in several months. I liked both, Milk better and not just because it's about a more congenial character. It's far more real; it doesn't try to puff up an insignificant story into a falsified dramatic shape.
Now they're both Best Picture nominees. Benjamin Button and The Reader are also both "prestige" pictures, but the reviews make them sound like pretentious fluff. Slumdog Millionaire is one I initially ignored on the basis of the title alone, which sounded repulsive. But now that I've read something about it, it sounds interesting and I may see it at some point.
The only other film anywhere on the nominees list that I've seen is In Bruges, which got a Best Screenplay nomination. Best Screenplay?!? I only saw this at all on one of those "Why don't we go see a movie I wonder what's playing?" occasions, and it was so tedious and unfunny that I didn't even mention it in this supposed chronicle of my life.
The film that most of my friends have seen is Wall-E, which has 6 nominations. Most of the reviews have been ecstatic, but some have had an element of grumpiness, and both that mix and the specific comments remind me of the reaction to E.T., a widely-loved film which I found annoying and incoherent. On that basis I'm staying away from this one until I'm dragged to it.
Can't think of anything else on the lists I want to see either. Six months from now I'll be standing at the Bockbluster new film rental shelf looking in vain, as usual, for anything I want to see on it.
