Watching the Oscar-nom movies

[maddog]

In the last 2 weeks I have seen 3 films that have received some Oscar nominations: Hotel Rwanda, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways. I recommend all three of these films. I still have to see Ray, Finding Neverland, Aviator, and Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And some others I'm forgetting right now. Dang! I'm behind on my movie-watching. What makes a good Oscar film to you? A lot of them are just a little bit too "Hollywood," for me; I think the story would be better if they left it more realistic. Oh, I also saw Coach Carter and Phantom of the Opera, recently. Coach Carter is another one that had too many Hollywood touches, to me, but a recommendable film nonetheless. Phantom -- I liked the stage performance better; it's easier to overlook the holes in the story. Even though the movie tried to fill in some of the holes, it didn't do a very good job, imo. The opulence of the production and the music were the best parts. Some things just don't withstand too much analysis.
#261

[wildernesse]

I'm going to see Hotel Rwanda this week or next. For some reason, I have no desire to see Sideways. The idea of it just makes me annoyed--and no, I don't have much of an idea about it! We saw Ray around my birthday, and really enjoyed it.

[lady cop]

hey maddog...i think the last movie i viewed in the theater was "birth of a nation". i wait for everything to come out on DVD because i can't sit still for two hours :comfy: . my favorite oscar-winner :oscarwin: :ovation: of recent years was "chicago", because it was based on two factual murder cases and it was brilliant. (especially the billy flynn character, i know that guy, he practices law in philly!) and i'm a sucker for musicals usually. :note2: :singing: so do you have a prediction? :popcorn:

[maddog]

1) I need to see more movies before I can predict.
2) I'm notoriously bad at "predictions" -- I pick what I like, and Hollywood picks what Hollywood likes! :D And as I indicated, a lot of things are "too" Hollywood for me!
#263

[viscousmemories]

I don't pay much attention to the Oscars, so I can't really say what I look for in an Oscar winner. I do want to see Hotel Rwanda ever since I saw Matt Damon talking about it on Oprah (I think it was). I agree that you must see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In fact I must see that again. And I've also heard great things about The Aviator, but I never go to movies so I won't likely see any of these until they hit the Netflix queue.

[godfry n. glad]

I saw Sideways just this last week and loved it. And, fell in lust with Sandra Oh. Oh, oh, oh oh-oh. Oh. Uh, anyways the story line is a buddy road picture with the premise that the protagonists are San Diego single guys motoring north through California for a week, sampling wines and having a good time as a kind of a bachelor party. Thomas Hayden Church was good. Sandra Oh was great bashing his face in with a motorcycle helmet. I'll bet many women in the audience were appreciating every nuance of every swing and smack of that helmet. Paul Giamatti should have been nominated for something, but he's sucko as a leading man...which was probably part of the whole storyboard, as he's a sad sack divorcee character. He plays an absolutely wonderful insufferable wine snob.I highly recommend it.

I saw Ray with my girlfriend when it was in the theaters. Good. The star performance in this biopic was genuinely astounding. I remember the original Ray and this performance was steller. He is deservant of his best actor nomination.

Since she just got back from three weeks of helping out at a child foster care unit in Costa Rica, she's going to want to see Hotel Rwanda (as I do). We've both said we want to see the other biopic, Aviator. I'm something of an aviation enthusiast and the Spruce Goose is just 35 miles away in hangar in McMinnville. But it's still a biopic.

As for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...well...we rented it. Neither one of us liked it. We don't know how much we watched of it, but we suspect it was near half. :yawn: Neither of us cared what happened to the characters. Neither of us can understand the film. It did not interest. At all.

I suspect for me it's going to be a choice of Sideways and Hotel Rwanda, but I'd bet it all goes to Ray. I wouldn't presume that my picks match the Academy's.

godfry

I think the Oscars are way too much politics and way too little honest judgement, and assign credibility accordingly.

[LadyShea]

Let's see. Loved Eternal Sunshine, loved Finding Neverland, liked The Aviator okay but it was...I dunno...it was not the best Scorsese. Lots of holes, and I thought Cate Blanchett's Katherine Hepburn was cartoonish (though Kate Beckinsale's Ava Gardner was delightful) and Alec Baldwin was a terrible casting choice, IMO. Overall entertaining and lots of spectacular shots and I have to say DiCaprio did a fantastic job.

Have yet to see the others.

[viscousmemories]

In the last 2 weeks I have seen 3 films that have received some Oscar nominations: Hotel Rwanda, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways. I recommend all three of these films. I still have to see Ray, Finding Neverland, Aviator, and Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I'm bumping this thread because I saw The Aviator last night and loved it. I've avoided seeing Ray because it looks too depressing, but I intend to see Million Dollar Baby soon. I saw Hotel Rwanda in April, and posted about it (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2442). I've since seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again, and received the dvd as a gift yesterday. I also posted about Finding Neverland (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2190) when I saw it, and I mentioned having seen Sideways on Crumb's thread (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3169).

[godfry n. glad]

I've seen Aviator and Ray, both. I found them both to be excellent biops. Walk the Line is superb, too. The acting in all of them has been exemplary. Truly impressive.

[LadyShea]

Hotel Rwanda was powerful, I couldn't stop sobbing through the whole thing.

Ray made me not like Ray Charles very much as a person. Amazing acting, though, really well done film.

[Dingfod]

I haven't seen Hotel Rwanda, but based on the recommendations here I think I will soon.

I completely concur with LadyShea's assessment of Ray, my feelings exactly.

And godfry is right about Walk the Line, it's a well-made, well-acted film.

[The Lone Ranger]

Hotel Rwanda: I thought it was a heart-wrenching film, and all the more so because it's based on actual events. Don Cheadle was simply amazing. I thought his performance was all the more impressive because it was so understated, and thus you were compelled to pay attention to every nuance of his behavior.

Million Dollar Baby: I really enjoyed the movie. Both Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood were magnificent. Especially during the beginning half, it seemed rather cliched to me, but the second half more than made up for it. As much as I like Morgan Freeman, I don't know that his character served much of a purpose in the film -- though it was worth having him there just for the brief scene where he gave the bully his due.

Sideways: I had mixed feelings about this movie. It was entertaining and superbly well-acted, and I learned that "wine snobs" may actually know what they're talking about. All to the good. But neither of the main characters struck me as particularly interesting or admirable characters. Jack, in particular, would have been a character I'd have hated had Thomas Hayden Church not somehow managed to infuse him with real charm. You could understand how Jack could be such a complete and utter ass, yet manage to retain friends. That was some good acting on Church's part. I also liked the suggestion at the end that perhaps Miles grew up a bit, and was taking steps to improve his life.

Finding Neverland: I thought it was a charming movie. Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet were both superb, as could only be expected. Though I liked it as I watched it, the movie didn't strike me as particularly memorable, however.

Aviator: Another movie that I saw once, enjoyed, but have no desire to see again. Leonardo Dicaprio pulled off an amazing performance, and I hope the movie helps him shed his "pretty boy" image, because he really is a talented actor. While I normally adore Cate Blanchett, I got the impression that she was mimicking Katherine Hepburn's character from Bringing Up Baby, not Hepburn herself, so her performance was just too "over the top" for my taste. Kate Beckinsale as Eva Gardner turned in a much more interesting performance.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Yet another movie that I saw once, enjoyed, but have no particular desire to see again. Kate Winslet was, as always, magnificent, and it was really strange to listen to her speak on the DVD extras, because she did such a flawless American accent in the movie that I literally forgot she's British. And who'd have guessed that Jim Carrey (whom I find far too "over the top" as a comedian) was such a genuinely talented dramatic actor?

Phantom of the Opera: I love Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musicals, so this one could almost do no wrong. Still, I have to agree that the plot holes are probably easier to overlook in a stage production. The bombastic nature of the show really seems to work better on stage, I think. It wasn't Emmy Rossum's fault, but focusing so much on the character of Christine really showed how shallow and almost mindless Christine was. Too bad they couldn't have made her character somewhat more interesting for the movie.

Chicago: Maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't find it all that interesting. Sure, the musical numbers were fun to watch, but Richard Gere's character struck me as the most interesting of the lot. Overall, I didn't find it particularly interesting or memorable.



I've heard excellent things about Walk the Line, so I'll probably see that. I'm also wanting to see Memoirs of a Geisha.

I'll probably see Brokeback Mountain at some point too, though I may wait 'til it's out on dvd. I used to think Ang Lee could do no wrong -- then I saw The Hulk.

Is A History of Violence out on dvd yet? I've heard good things about it.


Cheers,

Michael

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

Finding Neverland is magnificent, Ray is glorious. Anyone else love the Pianist?

[Dingfod]

Yes, I thought The Pianist was great.

[Shake]

The Aviator and A History of Violence I've seen, but none of the others. Sideways and Million Dollar Baby are in my Netflix queue, though.

As far as AHOV goes, I was hoping for a more conclusive ending ... hmm, maybe "conclusive" isn't the word I'm looking for ... satisfying, perhaps? I'm not sure. It was pretty good, though the wife didn't like it.

[Dingfod]

You know a movie was good when you and the people you saw it with want to talk about it and what it meant afterwards, A History of Violence was one of these for me.