Commenting on the 2009 Oscar nominations...

Best Picture:

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

So the big thing this year is the 10 movies up for best picture. I think its a good thing just given that UP made best picture, hopefully this means that just because a movie is animated is won't be shunted to the Best Animated Film category alone. Of course this does allow in movies such as The Blind Side. Wade said that if this wins he will be boycotting the Oscars from now on. I'm just upset because we always see the films up for Best Picture, and I really didn't want to see this.

I don't have any big issues with the nominated films that I've seen. It's a nice mix of small film and crowdpleasers. Definitely pulling for The Hurt Locker, although as long as its not Avatar or The Blind Side, I'll be OK.

Best Director:

James Cameron - Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Precious - Lee Daniels
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman

My vote would be for Kathryn Bigelow or Jason Reitman. I disagree with the nom for James Cameron, but it was expected.

Got to be Kathryn Bigelow here. I really hope its not James Cameron just so I don't have to listen to that blowhard give a speech.

Best Actor:

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

I haven't seen Invictus yet, but I really want Colin Firth to win this. I love him and he was amazing in A Single Man. The buzz is that Jeff Bridges is a lock, but I didn't think his performance was especially amazing.

I don't think Jeff Bridges and, from what I've heard, Morgan Freeman should be here. There are probably more deserving performances out there. Go Jeremy Renner.

Best Actress:

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Not to be a snob, but Sandra Bullock? Seriously?!! Carey Mulligan was great in An Education, but we need to quite a few in this category. Congrats to Meryl Streep though on her 16th nomination. While I didn't especially love Julie & Julia, her performance was fantastic; I loved every minute she was on screen.

Here's hoping for a 2002 style split vote between Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock, with Carey Mulligan in the Adrien Brody role as surprise winner.

Best Supporting Actor:

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

We have a lot of work to do before March 7th...

This is probably Christoph Waltz's to lose. My main issue is who didn't get nominated, i.e. Anthony Mackie in The Hurt Locker or Stanley Tucci in Julie & Julia, not The Lovely Bones or Alfred Molina in An Education or, heck, even Alec Baldwin in It's Complicated. And yes, I am judging some of these films before I've seen them.

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

I really disagree with both the nomination of Maggie Gyllenhaal (nothing special in her role/performance) and Anna Kendrick. Throughout Up in the Air, I though Anna Kendrick was the weakest player and her performance pulled me out of the film repeatedly.

Not much to say about this one, other than Vera Farmiga was probably my favorite here. It would've been really awesome to see either Melanie Laurent or Diane Kruger from Inglourious Basterds here, but what are you goin' to do?

Yay for Oscars!! Let hope those who deserve it win...

REVIEW: Avatar

A quick plot summary of Avatar from jamescameron.org:

Far into the future, Human space travelers find a planet given the name Alpha Centauri B-4. It's known as Pandora, which is bountifully blessed with weird and wonderful creatures and plants that breathe ammonia instead of oxygen. The Humans seek to take the wealth of this amazing planet for themselves. The hero of the story is an injured, former marine named Jake Sully, who unwillingly joins the native population of Pandora in a dramatic and mesmerizing battle to avoid conquest by the invading extraterrestrials from Earth.

James Cameron has cranked out a lot of blockbusters in his movie-making career. Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, and, of course, Titanic. Avatar is definitely in this vein.

I'd like this review to remain positive as long as possible. I do have to say that the visuals were pretty amazing and better than I expected, especially the landscape of Pandora. The creatures on the planet and the blue natives were pretty obviously CG but still pretty darn well done. The fight/war scenes were well choreographed, thrilling and exciting. It was pretty good spectacle. Unfortunately, a movie can't be all just spectacle.

This movie has one of the most heavy-handed stories I've seen in a while. Its hard to find something that isn't an obvious cliche. We've got the iron pumping, scarred, tough guy sergeant who plays by his own rules. The ex-Marines spouting lines like "Yeah, get some!" while they mow down natives. On top of that throw in the wise-cracking scientist and the money-is-everything, Gordon Gekko-esque corporate guy. It is pretty difficult to take a movie seriously with that cast of known characters.

Not only are the characters cliche, but the story is a cherry picking of history. Now I don't mind metaphors in movies, but please try to add some layer of subtlety or original thought while you're at it. Of course, Avatar is basically the story of the Native American's battle with European settlers, like Dances with Wolves in space. Cameron doesn't add anything new to this story. He just replaces the Native Americans with Na'vi. There's even that haunting, chanting music over serious scenes, just like every other movie about native peoples. Even the weaponry is the same, guns versus bows and arrows. Actually, the one twist Cameron does throw in is breaking down the Na'vi's Mother Earth-based mysticism with a scientific explanation. In my opinion this hurts the story even more (it reminded me of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menance, when they boil down the Force to a blood condition).

In the end Avatar is just too self-serious. I would have no problem treating it like Die Hard or Transformers-level empty fun, but the critic's and Cameron's bestowal of importance won't allow that. So, great job on the special effects, but the story and characters just aren't worth the hype.

Kinsey: 3/5 stars
Wade: 2.5/5 stars