'Tis the Season

Oscar season that is!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love Oscar season. A ton of good movies come out this time of year and I am often overwhelmed trying to see them all. But I always manage because well, that's who I am. I am a pop culture enthusiast in addition to being a cookie officianado.

So far I have already told you about 127 Hours and the Social Network.

In the past week I have seen Black Swan, The Fighter, and True Grit (also saw Tron but obviously that's not in the running for any Oscars). Pretty much all of the big ones.

First up we have Black Swan.

I will start out by saying that I did not love it, but I can appreciate the value of it. Natalie Portman's performance was astoundingly good (for her) and the direction was spot on. However, the film dragged in certain areas and I never really was drawn in to Portman's character. I did not feel very much empathy for her, which I don't think is necessarily a product of her acting but rather of the script. I would not be surprised if Portman receives Best Actress, but I sincerely hope that the film does not win Best Picture as it fell just short of that qualification for me.

Next up we have The Fighter.

This one fared much better for me. I actually really loved this film. I highly recommend it. Christian Bale more than deserves to win best supporting actor for his role, even though he is a huge jackass in real life, he is nothing short of amazing as an actor. I was completely blown away by him. I left the theatre with my heart thumping and that's always the sign of a really good movie for me. I would like to see it win Best Picture at the Oscars, but I have a feeling that Black Swan will take that honor. Of all the Oscar hopefuls that I have seen, this was by far the best.

The boy and I took in a double feature and went to see True Grit immediately following The Fighter.

I want to start out by saying I am NOT a Coen Brothers fan. I have hated just about everything they have ever done (with the exception of The Big Lebowski which I love and Burn After Reading which wasn't that bad). While I didn't think this movie deserved any of the Golden Globe nominations it got, it certainly was a good movie. Not great, but good. Much better than I expected. It didn't hurt that I love Jeff Bridges. The one thing I will say is that it had the typical Coen Brothers ending to it...very anticlimatic and disappointing. This film is not necessarily worth seeing in the theatre, but it would be a good rental once it gets to Netflix.

Have you seen any of the Golden Globe nominees? Which ones did you like or not like? Do you watch the Oscars?