<p>??
I have only seen three of the films nominated for best picture- & while I enjoyed “Up in the Air-”, I thought " Up" was too manipulative and the jokes in " A Serious Man" went on way too long.</p>
<p>I would have nominated “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” over “a serious man”, just for keeping Heath Ledgers role in the film alone.</p>
<p>“The Last Station” hasn’t played in Seattle yet, although we have been seeing previews for months- that is one that I am looking forward to.
But H- he doesn’t like the period dramas- :(</p>
<p>I’ve only seen a handful of the nominated films (really looking forward to having “The Last Station” somewhere around here), but I’m happy with all the acting nominations. I had been hoping for a nomination for something for Jason Bateman, one of my favorite actors, but his day will come.</p>
<p>Dh was thinking a Best Picture nomination for “Star Trek,” since there were 10 slots this year, so he’ll be disappointed. Not as silly as it sounds - it’s really a pretty good movie. </p>
<p>Hoping for a “Hurt Locker” sweep for Director, Picture, and Screenplay - and a Best Actor Award for Jeff Bridges. His first nomination (for “Last Picture Show”) was back when I was still in high school …</p>
<p>I’ve seen 7 of them, all but Basterds, Up in the Air, and A Serious Man. District 9 was on DVD, and made me very glad I’d not seen it in the theater, since it’s pretty gory. We just saw “An Education” last weekend (Up in the Air was sold out), and it was an utter delight.</p>
<p>Of the Best Picture nominees I’ve only seen Avatar and District 9. (Can you tell dh and son -and me too- are sci-fi fans?) But we really need to get out and see more movies.</p>
<p>I saw Hurt Locker just the other night at home on DVD. I had heard it was “good.” After watching it, and thinking about it, I am still trying to figure out what was good about it. I didn’t enjoy watching it, and I didn’t get anything out of it, and I must have missed the point if there was one. </p>
<p>Up was over-rated, so when I finally saw that was disappointed. I thought the Blind Side was a great movie. Well made and well acted. I expect Streep to win best actress for Julie and Julia.</p>
<p>I can’t say I enjoyed The Hurt Locker (way too intense for my liking), but the film does a masterful job of conveying why “war is a drug.” My vote is Kathryn Bigelow for Best Director.</p>
<p>Brad Pitt was a big disappointment in Inglourious Basterds, but Christoph Waltz was a wonderful surprise as the villain. I think he’s a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor.</p>
<p>The Hurt Locker was almost more like a documentary of sorts. There weren’t really any “feel good” parts, no convential storylines. There is no closure, no triumphant conclusion. The war keeps going so these guys must also, trying not to feel too much… to the point of losing themselves in the job. There is no good in that. It’s not enjoyable to watch. Maybe that’s the point.</p>
<p>My S is currently in EOD sch. He thought the most telling part of the movie was when the guy, having just returned from Iraq, was walking down the grocery aisle perplexed at all the cereal choices and then just heaves random boxes in the cart and moves on.
In EOD everything is so intense, every decison so important, that the mundane experiences/ decisions of everyday life just seem pointless in comparison.</p>
<p>Every year, Pixar sends out a nice glossy promo with the newspaper delivery in our area. This year’s was just images from “Up”, nice but not as special as in previous years. My favorite so far was the cookbook from “Ratatouille” with recipes that Thomas Keller developed for the movie.</p>