One More on the Movies

It was the "little movie that could." Slumdog Millionaire, as expected walked away with the 2009 Academy Awards! It was nominated for 10 and won 8, only one shy of what it could since it had two nominations for music. Sound Editing was its only non-win. Benjamin Button came up quite short, winning only 3 of its 13 nominations, not a surprise. Actually there were only two that could be considered surprises: Penelope Cruz for supporting actress in Vicky Christina Barcelona and a semi-surprise as Sean Penn as Harvey Milk ousted Mickey Rourke. (Although that was my choice.)

So, what does it mean? Well, in the greater scope of things, probably little. One thing struck me, though. It was probably the least violent series of "Best Picture" nominees in a while. It was, in reality, a really good crop of nominees. If there was a theme, perhaps for an undertone it would be that we can get through tough times.

• You can be a slumdog in Mumbai and become a millionaire as well as get the girl.
• You can be the ugliest baby in history and grow up/down to be Brad Pitt a person loved and loving. And you can get the girl.
• You can be a seemingly purposeless middle-aged gay man and become the force of change for a whole community.
• You can be a British entertainer outmatched by one of the wiliest politicians in history- and get him to admit errors.

As I said in my earlier post- neither Slumdog nor Milk would disappoint me if they won. They are both remarkable movies that I hope will stand the test of time. Benjamin Button may also do so. I found myself being pulled back into the story just watching the clips on the show. There are of course all kinds of things that make movies "great" and not all of them are given awards. That may be Benjamin Buttons true strength.

In the end it may be that the way to get through is passion- passion for a movement, passion for life, passion for a place in history, passion for another person. I have been greatly touched and uplifted by these movies this year. It was a very good year.