Blogedyblogblog

I have finally broke under the pressure from my dear friends, Lara, Cynthia and Deejah. I wasn't going to do it but I came up with a good name so I figured what the hell.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to come up with something interesting to discuss or post. Luckily, my favorite day of the year is right around the corner and that started me thinking. OSCARS!

Nominated Best Films:
Brokeback Mountain- In a word, overrated! Now, I love Ang Lee as much as the next guy but I have always had a problem with his films. First of all, I originally thought Ang was a chick and it was pronounced (ang as in angie) but I was quite mistaken. While he has a very detailed and somewhat feminine eye, he is in fact a man. Now Ang is extremely precise in the setting of his films, and always has the most gorgeous cinematography (i.e. crouching tiger), but the story seems to always be somewhat lacking. I felt that with the Ice Storm and again with Brokeback. If this were a love story with a male and female lead, no one would care. I applaud the barrier breaking but give me a better story. I recommend Kissing Jessica Stein or Torch Song Trilogy.

Capote- Wake me up when this is over. Highly disappointed because I love, love, love Philip Seymor Hoffman! There is not a better actor of his generation. He has always been a scene stealer and had some very nuanced performances, the Talented Mr. Ripley being just one example. But this movie just lacked basic momentum and became boring because of it. Believe me when I say, you felt just like Truman Capote going crazy during those years of his life, I left the theatre feeling like I had lost a year myself.

Crash- Phenomenal! What a great story about lives interesecting and a commentary about how we can live in such a p.c. culture yet have so much underlying racism. Can Don Cheadle just be in every film? One of my favorite scenes is with him and Jennifer Espisito discussing the difference between a mexican and a puerto rican. Hysterical! Not to mention, I thought Terrence Howard was better in this than in Hustle and Flow.

Good Night, and Good Luck- Great cast, great movie. Every actor was showcased brilliantly and I loved that it was shot in black and white. Just as in Woody Allen's Manhattan, it ads more depth to the story (though my husband disagrees completely). I particularly enjoyed that George Clooney used old footage of McCarthy instead of using an actor to portray him; it made those scenes even stronger.

Munich- My favorite film of the year! It was incredible. Spielberg got a lot of flack for this film for two reasons: 1) Not your typical Steven Spielberg hollywood ending 2) the story was inspired by true events and could not be fully documented. Too stinkin' bad! The pacing, writing, and acting were all superb. Tony Kushner from Angels in America wrote the screenplay and crafted some of the strongest dialogue I have ever watched. Thank God Eric Bana redeems himself after that stinker from 2003, "The Hulk" (see rants regarding Ang Lee above). I can safely crush on him again.

My pick for what will win best picture: Brokeback Mountain (because the critics just don't know how to quit them).

I could go on forever on each category but I will save you all from that diatribe. I hope you enjoy the big night as much as I do, but I doubt that you could :) I will leave you with an infamous quote from my friend Lara (yes, the one who pushed me into blog nation), I wish I could sleep forever and be woken up only for Christmas, my birthday and the Oscars!

-Claud

Posted by blogedyblogblog on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 at 7:37 PM | Permalink