Some of the Best Picture Nominees

Inglorious Basterds is still a hold out on our Netflix queue. It's been at the top for at least 3 months, but probably longer. Whip It is next in line and has been there for about 2 months, too. There should be some kind of rule about that. Oh well. In the meantime, here are some of the other Best Picture Nominees from 2009.

Up in the Air - Just saw this again after seeing it in the theaters back in December. Pretty mediocre when compared to Juno or Thank You For Smoking, Reitman's last films. I think some of the recognition of those films rubbed off on people when praising this. I got a lot of praise early on, but then by awards season that all died off. And for good reason. This is a nice movie and pretty entertaining mostly, but when put next to Hurt Locker or Avatar or even Precious, it just doesn't hold up. There are several themes running through it, and I don't think they meshed well together. Themes don't always have to be perfectly paired, but they have to at least go in the same direction. Half of the film was about the economy and firing people and how horrible it is, and the other half is about Clooney's disconnect from people. I guess on paper the two should go hand in hand; one is about disconnecting people by firing them and the other is about growing up and making real connections. But in the movie it just doesn't work. For that reason, I think the film only works on a superficial level of being just a story about a guy who travels a lot. Again, not a bad film, just not worthwhile.

Precious - Two things about this film. First, great performances by people you wouldn't think of. Monique, who is best known for her work on UPN, is the scariest mother since Joan Crawford, maybe scarier. And then Gaborey whatshername, a total newcomer. She carried this film like a true professional, she was really convincing, especially when you see her give an interview. And then, of course, Mariah Carey, the biggest surprise. Holy moly, I don't know how she did it, or how they convinced her to take off the make-up. Now we know what she looks like first thing on the morning.
The second thing is that I almost cried during the trailer, but never got near that during the film. Even at the end when Precious is crying and everyone is sad and it's all just so....sad. I was sad, but no where near tears. (Betsy cried.) But that trailer...oh man, I struggled to hold those tears in. Trailers are powerful. They can make Wolverine look good and make a robot cry. (I'm the robot, according to Betsy.)
So what does that actually say about the movie, though? It could have been better? No, I think it was as good as it could have been. The premise isn't entirely new, it's not breaking any ground. The film could have easily been turned into an after school special, which at times it felt like that, but as a whole is so much better than that. The film has so many really heartbreaking parts, the incest alone is a tough subject, but that's just one of so many problems the movie is tackling. Abusing the welfare system, child abuse, the failing inner city school system, racial tensions, it's all packed in here and it's never on the nose. The Best Adapted screenplay Oscar is well deserved.
But as happy as the ending was, I don't think it was. Precious still has a mountain to climb. Even without her mother crawling at her back(like the poster), in order for Precious to get out of the gutter she's going to have to work harder than anyone. And that's the true message I get from the film; how hard it is for average poor people to climb out of their social stigmas, let alone for someone like her with all the problems she has, and the two kids she has. That's what's really sad, is the state of affairs for so many people in this country growing up in a cyclical system that so easily repeats itself.

The Blind Side - And speaking of after school specials, here is another film that could have easily been shuffled off there.
Just like Precious, this film was great, and has some good things to say, but on paper the premise isn't exactly screaming major motion picture material.
But the film is still generally entertaining, which is surprising considering there isn't much in the way of a thorough plot. The actors have to carry it all, and for that reason alone, Sandra Bullock deserves praise. I don't think this was the best acting of the year, Bullock borders on caricature, but it's the fact that she is so compelling as the rich housewife. The guy playing Michael(the big guy in the poster) was pretty compelling also, and worthy of praise, since he was basically playing a silent giant. But when he beat up the drug guy and his crew, you finally saw the giant wake up and it was amazing. Chills ran down my spine, mainly because I was half asleep because of the slow plot, but also because it was awesome to finally see this guy wake up.
All in all, a heartwarming film about what it really means to be a mother and a Christian, and you're left feeling that there are people in the world doing some good. And what a sad state of affairs the American family is in when on Thanksgiving Day the family has 2 TV's set up in the living room, one for football, the other for video games. What have we become?

An Education - And now on to a film I rather enjoyed. But could it have been an after school special also? No, even though it's like a cautionary tale for teenage girls. My expectations of this were vastly skewed going into this. (Beware, major spoiler warning) Based on what I heard and thought, I thought that the older guy was one of her teachers and that he was taking her away from the boring school life and really teaching her about the world, which she couldn't get from school. I was partially right, he was giving her "an education," but not that kind of education.
It was because of going into this thinking he was in fact a good guy, trying to further help a talented student that when the truth was revealed, I was more shocked than anyone. Maybe it's also because I was so hoping for him to be who he said he was and because he was such a smooth operator, that he fooled me just as much as Carey Mulligan. I'm so glad I was never a well-read teenage girl or I would have been so duped.
This film had such a great look and tone, as if it was a European film from the 60's. The pacing was just about perfect and the acting so subtle. Everyone was so superb. Mulligan made such strong choices, she held back so many times in the movie, sometimes even her smile was enough to carry the scene. And then the dad. Oh, I felt so bad for him even more than Mulligan, in the end. He really had egg on his face. The scene when he's at the her door with the biscuits, it broke my heart. And then the douche of all douches. He got me, he really fooled me good. This whole film got me. I really loved it, as usual Nick Hornby turned in a great story. And of all the film on this review, I think this deserved to be nominated for Best Picture. Even if the list was only five.
Here is what I think the 5 Best Picture Nominees should have been.

An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglorious Basterds (despite not seeing it)
A Serious Man
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