Review of Best Picture Nominees Part 1

Last year was the first time that the Oscars allowed more than 5 nominees for Best Picture since 1944.  This was also the first year that I pledged to watch all of the nominees before the ceremony so I could judge for myself which movie deserved the award.  I guess I just like a challenge.  This year, I made the same decision, and I am proud to say I have officially seen all 10 Academy nominees for Best Picture (a whole week before the show, might I add).  I plan to make some predictions in the next few days, but for now, I thought it would be appropriate to give my initial reactions to these films.  I'll try to list these in the order in which I saw them.

Toy Story 3

The first nominee I watched was Toy Story 3.  This was in the summer, long before anyone was even talking about the Oscars, but I had a good hunch that it would make the short-list anyway--this is Pixar we're talking about, after all.  Obviously, I loved this film.  I grew up with the series, and much like Andy I felt like I had reconnected with my childhood over the course of the movie and let go of it by the end.  Toy Story 3, like most Pixar films is successful because it understands the value of innocence.  Many children's movies today are laden with sarcasm, pop culture references and fart jokes (Shrek immediately comes to mind).  This keeps adult viewers trapped in their positions as "adult viewers," while movies like Toy Story 3 allow us to become children again by engaging us with innocent wonder, even if it's just for two hours.  If Toy Story 3 has anything going against it, it's that as a sequel, it just doesn't inspire the same sense of imagination and originality as other recent Pixar films such as Up and Wall-E.

Inception

Next up for me was Inception.  Immediately after leaving the theater, I knew this film deserved every award and honor it would inevitably received due to one thing--its originality.  Compared to last years most popular nominee, Avatar, Inception just puts it and every other blockbuster action movie to shame.  Not only was it visually stunning, it also had a brilliant and compelling plot.  Months later, I still can't figure out whether or not that top fell.  And don't even get me started on the beautiful costumes, set design, and score.  This film worked on so many levels. However, I must admit that the characterization was quite weak, and only Leonardo DiCaprio's character was developed enough for my taste.  Everyone else was just kind of...there.  That's why Inception is a near-perfect heist-film, but only an average Oscar-nominee.

The Social Network

I saw The Social Network not too long after it was released because of all the buzz it was getting.  What's truly interesting about The Social Network is that it's not just "a movie about Facebook," as all my friends kept telling me.  It's about the digital era and the engineer-culture that allows tech-geeks like Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg to achieve what once only well-connected business leaders could.  It's about the meaning of friendship, and serves as a cautionary tale of how success does not change us, but rather, highlights our preexisting strengths and weaknesses.  It's also about a man who realizes that he has both achieved and lost so much because of one fatal flaw--his inability to connect (ironic considering the social nature of Facebook, right?)  That flaw is actually is a big theme this year and can also be seen in Nina from Black Swan and Aron in 127 Hours.  But more on that later.

The Kids are Alright

I watched The Kids are Alright on a whim right before winter break because I needed to laugh, and it was billed as a comedy.  But while the humor is more than adequate, what this movie really has going for it is a great cast and superior acting.  The problems stem from the treatment of the main characters.  For example, look at poor Paul.  By the end of the film, every member of the family has forgiven one another, but he is still left without forgiveness or resolution.  And since he is one of the most likable characters in the movie, this is a real problem.  Furthermore, the film attempts to portray a modern and seemingly exceptional family in a realistic light, but I can't help but feel that the message is that gay families are just as dysfunctional as straight ones.  A progressive message I suppose, but not necessarily a good one.  What I'm saying is that this was an excellent film, but its political implications are slightly troubling.

Black Swan

As for Black Swan, I saw this movie over winter break with my mother.  I guess all of those sex scenes should have been uncomfortable for me because of this, but my mom and I watch True Blood together--no sex scene is nearly as uncomfortable compared to the ones in that show. Anyway, this was possibly one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever seen.  Like Inception, I kept wondering what was real and what was imagined.  I also wanted to analyze the heck out of it.  And I am apparently not the only one, here's an examination of the role of bathrooms in Black Swan.  There's a lot to digest about this movie, like Nina's relationship with her mother, the role of Lily (is she real at all?), and the nature of her transformation.  Personally, I think two things are of huge importance in this film: Nina's perfectionism and her inability to relate to anyone else in the movie--these are her downfall.  This movie is rich and wonderfully thought-provoking, although it might be a bit too much for the average movie-goer, or viewers like my mother who thought it was "just a ballet movie."  Whoops.

Oh my, this is getting much longer than I had intended.  Let's take a break for now.  Part 2 is on its way!