Conclusion of the 2011 Best Picture Nominees

It is officially over! And thank goodness because it took forever waiting for netflix to arrive, and now I can finally use the rest room.  It's not that I don't respect the Academy, but sometimes they choose some crappy movies that they want to give their awards to.  By my calculations, this year's Oscar Nominees were some good ones, here were the ones C and I liked the most.

C:  King's Speech
I thought this was the greatest of them all.  It had the boldest appeal, and you liked the deep character development and potrayel all throughout.  Although I think Mr. Darcy is ultra hot, I was happy that he put his Darcy-character aside in order to be a bit more noble.  Geoffry Rush was also really good, especially since he wasn't being all "Pirates of the Caribbean" on us.  Helena Bonham Carter was also delightful to watch, but that's probably because she's not all Tim Burtony.

A: 127 Hours.
Out of all the nominees this year, this was the only one where people were like "i'll dare you to see this movie." and in response those people would say "Unless I was Hannibal Lector I don't think I could sit through that!"  Even though he was stuck in the canyon with that rock for the entire movie, there was more chemistry between James Franco and that Rock then there was between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in all their movies together.  This is a great emotional movie that can make even the manliest of dudes cry, just like Lindsey Lohan when she realized that she DID steal that necklace and sent off to prison... that big dummy.

The Fighter

Overview:  "ADRIAN!!!" lol, just kidding. Get out of here Rocky this isn't your movie. "OK, sorry bro, your the greatest you know?" This I know, I love you. "I love you too."  Now back to the movie.

Lowell's glory days have past when it's own Dick Ward went from being a boxing champion and turned into Andy Dick... I mean a crackhead.  Years later Dick is still on the gonja, but his brother Mick is quickly rising as a serious competetor in boxing, but due to his family's selfish motives and Dick's addictions, it proves to be a lot harder. Will Mick become the world champ? Tune in after these messages.

The Good:  This movie looks B-E-A-UTIFUL.  The only thing that doesn't look good is the run down town of Lowell, which looks more like Death Valley with tumble weeds rolling all over the place.  Before watching every Best Picture Nominee in 2011, the only reason I wanted to see this was to witness Christian Bale's performance, and it was amazing.  The mans a method actor, and so I want to tell him to settle down with all the physical preparation he goes through before something bad happens, then again it's fun to watch the result.  Marky-Mark although was not as good as an actor as his crack head Christian-Bale-of-a-brother, he was still a good lead for the movie... And holy Lindsey Lohan!! Mark is buff in this film; he seriously looks like he eats nails for breakfast, and then at dinner he forces Chuck Norris to wear a tutu and dance in public.  Christian Bale looks as though he only eats a single tic-tac and some crack for breakfast.

The Bad:  The danger with making a boxing movie is everyone will compare it to the "Rocky" series, which if anyone has seen them, they'll know that those movies are a hard thing to live up to.  Although I did think "The Fighter" was good, it wasn't as good as any of the "Rocky" movies... except maybe the 5th installment. Seriously what was Sylvester Stallone thinking? I would rather clean a toilet seat with my tongue then watch that, but I digress.  What i'm trying to say is this movie probably would have been better had the boxing scenes been left out, because during the second half of the film C and I thought it quickly became a John Cena movie once Marky Mark got into the ring.  We thought the boxing scenes were awesome, no doubt, it's just we felt they were a little anti-climatic when compared to the drama-filled build up.  

The Ugly:  This aint no "Rocky" flick, but it is still a very good film to see.  The two of us were going to finish the other half of the movie the next day, but C got so glued to the story that she wanted to finish it, so I put the remote down and she dropped the turkey carving knife from my throat; we both got what we wanted, I got to live and she got the movie.  

3 1/2 out of 5

The Kids are Alright

Overview:  Yay, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are a couple!!  Now I’ve seen it all!  They are a happy Lesbian couple who gave birth to two kids, the older sister Joni and the younger brother Lazor.  Knowing they must have come from some guy other then their moms, they seek out the sperm donor and befriend him.  Eventually he integrates himself into the family, and that’s where all the wild adventures start.

The Good:  The plot is where this movie really shines, which is surprising to me, because when viewing the trailer I thought “You’ve got to be pulling my crohns! This looks like a HORRIBLE idea for a movie!”  as it turns out it is quite the captivating flick, and I found myself sitting at the edge of my seat the entire time hoping they remain a happy family.  I know Mark Ruffalo has been gaining a lot of praise for his performance, and he was really good, but the true gods of acting are the kids played by “Alice in Wonderland’s” Mia Wasikowska, and “Bridge to Terabithia’s” Josh Hutcherson.  Yes, the previous films these two young actors have been in were good, but I was especially happy to see them in something like this, because it proves that they’re perfect at playing mature roles.  Can’t say anything wrong about Julianne Moore and Annette Being, they were the comic relief all throughout. 

The Bad:  I know Mark Ruffalo is good, and I know he was awesome in this movie, but he sure can pull off some of the most akward movie moments of all time.  This is part of why he was so good in this movie, but there were times he was so unbearably awkard that I felt like my eyes were starting to bleed, and this time I SWEAR I wasn’t looking at the sun for an hour! In the trailers this movie was being sold as a Wes Anderson comedy, but it ended up being an intense family drama, so points off for messing with my mind!!

The Ugly:  This is a very good film to watch, probably not for kids, but it is a good reminder to families to stay strong through crappy times; it's a great message about personal growth in the family.  It was right to have this movie nominated for Best Picture, and although I felt betrayed that it wasn't funnier it was still a good drama that kept me interested.

4 out of 5

The Social Network

Overview:  Remember Columbus from "Zombieland"?  Well somewhere along the way of avoiding zombies, he developed this ultra nerdy Napoleonic Syndrome and became the creator of Facebook (that site that everyone wastes their lives on).  So there really isn't any connection between "Zombieland" and "Social Network", but it is the story of Mark Zuckerberg and how through betraying people and outsmarting his peers, he became the creator of Facebook and is now the youngest billionaire in the world.

The Good:  well first off this movie is fast paced! there is always some lawsuit going on, and then some flashbacks to Mark's time in college.  Jesse Eisenberg was nominated for a reason, he even made me want to be a pompous computer nerd... minus getting wedgies and swirlies by jocks.  The character development was extraordinary, and all throughout the characters were very believable, so there wasn't a scene where they looked fake.  What I enjoyed the most was Mark Zuckerberg's jerky attitude.  Every time there would be a lawsuit, Mark was so smart and fast at talking, that he always took his opponents down with a massive punch line and sent them home with their tails between their legs (they weren't really dogs, that was an expression).  Aside from Jesse Eisenberg's amazing acting, it was Andrew Garfield as Mark's best friend, and Justin Timberlake as the infamous Sean Parker who also pulled off some amazing acting jobs.

The  Bad: C wanted to punch Mark Zuckerberg in the face by the end, saying "HOW CAN HE DO THAT TO HIS FRIENDS?!!"  I, on the other hand, thought Mark was a jerk, but one of those jerks i'd get pizza with or something.  Will Ferrell said it best "I'm not even mad, that's amazing!"  Even though this movie was not as confusing as "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps", it was still pretty confusing at times.  I can see a lot of people having a hard time when flashbacks between different lawsuits, college life, and post-college life start seemlessley transitioning between each other.  There were times during the movie I thought I was watching one of Mark's college flashbacks, only to realize he already created the darn thing.

The Ugly:  Awesome and very informative movie to watch!  The acting was perfect in this movie, but we didn't feel that it should have been nominated for best picture, because it didn't feel like it was on the same level as the other nominees.  We remember when first hearing about this movie at the theater and everybody leg out a slight groan, because how can you make a movie about Facebook?  Well as it turns out there is a great story behind it.

4 out of 5

Winter's Bone

Overview:  Life is no good in the Podunk parts of the world.  It’s especially bad for the Dolly family, where the mom’s gone crazy, the dad has disappeared, and it’s up to the oldest sister Ree to take care of her family.  As if things didn’t get worse, the house will be taken away unless the father is located; and that’s how the movie begins… and that’s exactly what’s shown in the trailer; I shall say no more

The Good:  The two of us didn’t even know this movie existed until we heard it was nominated for best picture, and then it was being made fun of by Wayne and Garth on “Wayne’s World”.  No doubt a few people went to see this because it was easy to laugh at, but after watching it there is nothing funny;  it’s a movie where happiness is rarely found.  Ree's Journey to find her father is a depressing one, and at times it’s so realistically scary that it rivals some of the most frightening of Horror movies; Now I’ll tell you why this is good.  This movie was very good at being realistic in showing how crappy the living conditions are for some of these people who live out in the country, and there are some pretty horrible ones.  Jennifer Lawrence came out of no where, and pulled off one of the finest acting jobs of the year as Ree.  If it wasn’t for her, the movie could have been a failure, but she carried the story perfectly and kept us interested; she was so good that C and I, in a small way, felt the pain she did.  Another good actor was John Hawkes who played uncle Teardrop; he should have at least been nominated for best supporting actor, because C and I agree he was excellent.

The Bad:  Now unless you’ve been living under a rock (and if you have then that’d be freakishly funny), then you will have already realized that this is a depressing movie, and probably not for everyone to watch.  One of my biggest pet-peves in life is people who do wrong and stupid things, and aren’t even aware that what they’re doing is stupid; this movie is full of those people.  Of Course C and I loved the movie regardless; it’s just upsetting sometimes when you see a bunch of wrong-doers get the best of others. 

The Ugly:  This is a very NON-funny movie that does a good job at showing the viewer the harsh living conditions some people deal with out in the country, and it especially does a good job in showing what the consequences are for people who enjoy doing drugs; the mother was crazy for a reason.  Anyone who even thinks about picking up on illegal drugs should definitely see this movie, before that person decides to flush their life down the toilet.  

4 out of 5

Inception

The Good:  Do ya'll know that feeling when you get a brain fart? Well the people who made this movie must have eaten a lot of "Taco Bell" because "Inception" is the biggest one there is, but one that you can enjoy.  The two of us were impressed with the amazing graphics, and the action sequences, especially the part when the two guys were battling it out in the hallway with zero gravity; not even the coolest of the "Matrix" scenes can top that. because the story line was deep and fast paced, it made it so when we saw it in the theater we were at the edge of our seats the entire time.  It is also official that Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the greatest actors out there, and no longer will we be plagued by him screaming "I'm the king of the world" on the Titanic! Aside from DiCaprio, it was the guy from "3rd Rock from the Sun" who pretty much stole every scene.

The Bad:  Sometimes it just became too much.  C and A love confusing stories as much as the next person, as long as they have cool action scenes and pretty graphics, but there were parts of the movie where we just could not follow what was going on even though we were still at the edge of our seats.

The Ugly: the ugly truth is that if you are looking for a mind-bending film, then this is for you. This was the PERFECT movie theater experience, but we can't help but wonder if our experience would be different had we seen it on our 32" TV.  This is definitely a movie that everyone needs to see once!

4 out of 5

Toy Story 3

The Good: Other than saying "this was a Pixar film" there is nothing much else for us to say in convincing others that this film is good.  It seems as if Pixar hits all the right notes with every film they make, and honestly if it wasn't for them, then Disney would be down the toilet right now.  Toy Story 3 is what you would expect, which is a mesh of clever and witty humor, beautiful animation, and some emotional scenes that would make even the manliest of men (and manly women) bawl their eyes out and blame it on the onions they are NOT chopping in the theater.  The best part of this movie is when Ken and Barbie begin courting each other, stay tuned and hopefully you'll enjoy it as well.  In comparison to the first and second Toy Story movies, the characters had significantly more depth... well, as much depth as a toy can have.

The Bad:  There is nothing really bad about this movie, because they are giving the viewers exactly what their selling them.  The thing about this movie is that it is mostly geared towards children, so although we loved the movie, we probably won't watch it again unless we have little squirts running around.

The Ugly: For this movie the ugly truth is that the movie is fun and cute, but to be honest it is not on the same level as the other nominees thus far.  But when all is said and done, not only is it the best movie in the Toy Story series, but it is also the best children's movie of the year. "To infinity! And Beyond!!!"

3 out of 5

The Black Swan

The Good:  If anyone knows anything about Black Swan's director Darren Aronofsky, they'll know this guy's films are about as trippy as they come; Tim Burton doesn't even come close half the time.  A has an unnatural obsession with horror movies, and so to see a movie come out about ballerinas going sadistic was not only hilarious, but also kinda crazy and awesome!  Not only was the acting spot-on, but the story line was very intriguing, and by the end you were dragged with Natalie Portman into her world of madness.  It was a relief to know that everything was fake by the time the movie is over; we felt like we had to be pinched or hit with a tree branch to come back into reality afterwards.

The Bad:  Anyone who has seen the movie or even the trailer knows that there is some suggestive material between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, which wasn't necessarily bad when it comes to the story, but lets just say we're happy we didn't see this at the theater when we're sitting next to a bunch of suggestive people.  Depending on who you are, you may find some of the self-mutilation scenes VERY disturbing as well. For A he was used to it because of his horror movie obsession, but C had to turn her head away a couple of times... That's when A persisted in teasing her, but in a loving way that brought the two of them together... right?

The Ugly: The Ugly Truth about this movie is that it is very dark and violent! Parents need to make sure not to take they're adorable ballerina girls and boys to see this, because not only will they never want to dance again, but they will probably attempt to murder every swan or duck they see when they go to the park.  we're not so sure about purchasing this movie, but we will say it is definitely worth seeing, because beneath the morbid violence and sexuality, there is truly a unique work or art.

4 out of 5

Best Movie Nominee List

Even though the hype of the Oscars was a while ago, A and I decided to make a commitment to watch all of the movies that were nominated for Best Picture. As a launching point for our blog A and I will be giving you "the good, the bad and the ugly" on each of the movies. While we have already watched a few of them, it will take us a while to get the blog rolling. Leave us your comments about the movies and let us know if you thought the King's Speech was really the "King" of the Oscars.