Majorly English

I don’t claim to be a movie expert, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t seen several in my lifetime. As a result, here are my thoughts on the nominees, opinions that are no doubt held in high regard by, and limited to, myself.

I also took advantage of the AMC rundown last year, and I think that aside from perhaps 1 or 2 from last year, all 5 of this year’s nominees were superior films. A much better year in that regard.

Here’s a ranking of the nominated films, from best to worst.

1. No Country for Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Atonement
4. Michael Clayton
5. Juno

This list is incontrovertible, so long as someone more intelligent than me says otherwise.

Some more detailed reactions to the films:

Juno – Let me start by saying that this is a good movie. It’s funny, has likeable characters, and a good heart. However, it made me feel at times like I wanted to vomit. The whole film, in its attempts to be “different,” ends up being too cute by between half and two-thirds. The dialogue is not written for people to speak, but rather to relish in its own cleverness. I don’t know if I would feel differently about the film if I didn’t know the backstory of its writer, but, unsurprisingly, the story sounds like it was written by a blogger. An over-reliance on cultural shout-outs as a substitute for actual explication and detail, employing a cute turn of phase that ultimately means nothing as a hamfisted way to develop depth, and a storyline that ends up being slapped together at the end, with a few threads still left twisting in the wind in a hurry to hit the ‘Post it!’ button. As the sole proprietor of an oft-neglected blog myself, I think I can say that rarely does anybody enter the lucrative field of blogging for reasons other than an attempt to satisfy an ego, and Diablo Cody’s screenplay suffers from that same drive to let the world know how clever she is. The movie is good, better than average, in fact, but not a ‘Best Picture’ nominee. In fact, I think Little Miss Sunshine was a vastly superior “off-beat, quirky comedy given a cursory nomination in an attempt to diversify.” I may be wrong, but think Juno will look at lot less special when we’re seeing the exact same Diablo Cody movie a year from now.

Michael Clayton – I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Not exactly a stretch for Clooney, who plays a burdened outsider with a wry, cynical outlook on life, but a very solid movie nonetheless. The storyline deftly balanced between issuing twists and turns to keep up the drama without submerging the entire story in a murky miasma of uncertainly and subterfuge. The concept (evil corporation with blood on its hands finally earns comeuppance for said blood), is hardly ground-breaking, and as a result, we end up with a top-notch thriller with a mental illness garnish, which makes it a very enjoyable movie, but not a heroic artistic endeavor. Tilda Swinton did a very good job with her role, and I was happy to see her skeleton receive the Oscar.

Atonement – I actually preferred Michael Clayton to this film, but I think it was a stronger Best Picture nominee. In a lesser year, this epic love story could easily have taken home the statuette, as the Academy, unsure of who actually was the best in a mediocre year, just throws the gold at the film that appeared to be the largest undertaking that no doubt cost a lot of money (see: Braveheart, Gladiator, Titanic). The long tracking shot on the beach is a very impressive effort, and the film does a good job avoiding getting too sticky with sap and gooey romance. Another one that exceeded expectations, and a good story to boot. An ‘A’ for Effort, and a ‘A-minus’ for the end product.

There Will Be Blood – Like I said, in other years, Atonement easily could have won Best Picture. But this year, films like this one emerged and ensured that no tried and true epic would be able to win the big one. This is a very impressive film, that pushes the boundaries of what to expect in a movie, leaving many (including myself at times) feeling confused and somewhat unsatisfied. There were audible grumbles in the theater at the film’s conclusion, and I would be lying if I didn’t feel a little perplexed as well. However, as the day wound on and other movies took the screen, my mind kept wandering back to this film, and I really think it managed to make an indelible mark on the viewer. Scenes like the burning oil derrick and the initiation into the church are scenes that don’t come along very often, and those images are burnt into my skull. It goes without saying that Daniel Day-Lewis is very special in this role, and in fact, I think he’s so good at it, the film as a whole suffers. Everything in the simply end up as paints and canvas upon which Day-Lewis crafts his character. Despite not winning the award, this movie is much better than many that have.