Academy Award Summary
I am not a movie critic. I only play one in the blogosphere. But it has become a tradition with my daughter to see all the Best Picture Nominees and reflect on them. So, here goes (in order seen, with Rotten Tomatoes (RT) score):
Michael Clayton (RT 90%) - The first movie out of the gates. It set a powerful and quality pace. It has great acting (3 acting nominations!) and a truly well-devised plot line. It is always fun to watch George Clooney downplay his good looks into a character that struggles. It raises some powerful messages as well. But this is not the year for message movies.
Juno (RT 93%) - Hooray for the small-budget movie. Unlike Little Miss Sunshine, this one is for real. It deals with naivaite and does it naively. Everyone is believeable in that special movie way. No, it is not "realistic" in the sense that it is not portraying a realistic view of what happens to most teen mothers. The "happy ending" style fits too easily. But hey- these are the movies, not a documentary.
No Country for Old Men (RT 94%) - The Coen Brothers. No more need be said. They have become the equals of Scorcese with this film. They have reached a new pinnacle of perfection. There is nothing wrong with this movie. It has no message. It has one of the greatest Evil Men in the history of cinema in Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem.) Everything fits and flows and faces down hope.
There Will Be Blood (RT 91%) - Nearly as perfect a cinema experience as No Country. This Daniel Day-Lewis vehicle does have a message. And it ain't a pretty one. It is the greed of American Oil in the early 20th Century. That is a paradigm for insanity and the downward spiral of a life lived in greed. It's emotionally violence is remarkable. And its struggle between greed and God is epic.
Atonement (RT 82%) - The "lowest" reviewed movie according to RT, but perhaps the most well-rounded movie of the bunch. It has been criticized for being too glib, not enough romance, too much war, too much romance. But unlike all of the movies but Juno it tends to tell the story of real people caught in webs they set-up for themselves- out of immaturity, vengeance, fear, ignorance- and how they spend the rest of their lives getting out of it- making atonement. As I walked from the theater I realized I had just witnessed what, for me, was the best picture of the year.
Michael Clayton (RT 90%) - The first movie out of the gates. It set a powerful and quality pace. It has great acting (3 acting nominations!) and a truly well-devised plot line. It is always fun to watch George Clooney downplay his good looks into a character that struggles. It raises some powerful messages as well. But this is not the year for message movies.
Juno (RT 93%) - Hooray for the small-budget movie. Unlike Little Miss Sunshine, this one is for real. It deals with naivaite and does it naively. Everyone is believeable in that special movie way. No, it is not "realistic" in the sense that it is not portraying a realistic view of what happens to most teen mothers. The "happy ending" style fits too easily. But hey- these are the movies, not a documentary.
No Country for Old Men (RT 94%) - The Coen Brothers. No more need be said. They have become the equals of Scorcese with this film. They have reached a new pinnacle of perfection. There is nothing wrong with this movie. It has no message. It has one of the greatest Evil Men in the history of cinema in Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem.) Everything fits and flows and faces down hope.
There Will Be Blood (RT 91%) - Nearly as perfect a cinema experience as No Country. This Daniel Day-Lewis vehicle does have a message. And it ain't a pretty one. It is the greed of American Oil in the early 20th Century. That is a paradigm for insanity and the downward spiral of a life lived in greed. It's emotionally violence is remarkable. And its struggle between greed and God is epic.
Atonement (RT 82%) - The "lowest" reviewed movie according to RT, but perhaps the most well-rounded movie of the bunch. It has been criticized for being too glib, not enough romance, too much war, too much romance. But unlike all of the movies but Juno it tends to tell the story of real people caught in webs they set-up for themselves- out of immaturity, vengeance, fear, ignorance- and how they spend the rest of their lives getting out of it- making atonement. As I walked from the theater I realized I had just witnessed what, for me, was the best picture of the year.
You see I realized that making a masterpiece- a GREAT FILM- is not the only criteria for Best Picture. No Country is unbeatable in that area- and will probably win. It is well-deserving. Best Picture is also not about getting good box office (since only Juno has done well there.)
I have a hunch that for me, the Best Picture is the one that causes the most resonance, the most reflection, the most challenge, the clearest picture of human life. Hence Crash over Brokeback Mountain (although that was a close one!) (I also know there are exceptions- The Lord of the Rings, for example wasn't about life as we know it.... or was it?)
Only Juno among the list had a "happy ending." Michael Clayton was an expected ending, basically good. All the others tear you up in one way or another. You become aware of evil and cunning and greed and loss of hope. You wonder where hope can come from after watching these other three movies. Perhaps they struggle with answering an age old question- what is the meaning of life if it ends in death? No Country and Blood don't give us any answer. Atonement, out of left-field gives us one. You just have to pay attention to get it.
In the end, for me, the movie that touched me most deeply and moved me into thoughts and directions I hadn't thought possible, was Atonement.
Other thoughts: We're all critics, of course, and we all have our favorites. Here are some of my favorites that I think are overlooked.
On actors:
I have not seen all the movies with the best actor nominees so I cannot make a definitive review there. Other than to say if someone I haven't seen does any better than Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood or Javier Bardem in No Country, they will have to have done the impossible!! (Having said that, I also know that there can be a nostalgia/career award in a case like Hal Holbrook. He may be the only one who can unseat Bardem from a truly deserved award.
They Shoulda Been Contenders:
.... Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn- Into the Wild.(RT 83%) Perhaps in another year these could have been in the finals. I still rank this as one of the great movies of the year. It does not have the larger than life characters of some of the movies, but it tells no less a powerful story. It needs to get a wider viewing. (This was a movie that resonated with the human soul, by the way.)
.... Denzel Washington- American Gangster (RT 79%) or Great Debaters. (RT 79%) Washington is one of our great American actors. He deserves better press and better understanding of his movies.
.... Gone Baby Gone (RT 93%) - Overall a great movie. Why it did so poorly is beyond me. It is another one that struggles with human existence on a personal level as all the characters wrestle within their flaws and hopes.
Music and Soundtracks:
Eddie Vedder (Into the Wild), Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood). Come on- three songs from Enchanted? And a score that adds as much to a movie as does the score for There Will Be Blood shouldn't be shut out.
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