2012 Best Picture Nominees
My Pick:The Artist
*
The Artist
*
With pleasure.
Certainly one of my favorite movies of the year. A delightful story, likable characters, and an adorable dog. I love black & white photography, and I was excited to see how a modern silent film would work. It was fantastic.
*
The Descendants
*
</p>
you give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing.
An excellent film about a man in the midst of becoming a widower and single father to children he doesn’t really know, forced to handle the immense pressure of an impending business decision that will affect his extended family and have consequences on the land and culture he loves. George Clooney was fantastic and a brilliant choice for this role. One scene has Clooney running down the street to a friend’s home in flip-flops – the scene has no critical impact on the film, but I got such a big kick out of it, I couldn’t resist mentioning it.
*
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
*
</p>
It’s never gonna make sense because it doesn’t!
A great story about a boy and his family getting to know one another. I enjoyed the film and I thought the performances were fantastic. I can’t decide, however, how I feel about 9/11 being the backdrop for the story. If this boy had lost his father to some other tragedy, the story would have worked, but we might not have cared as much, which makes it feel like a cheap trick. On the other hand, being set in New York, with 9/11 as the foundation, give all the participants in the story (there are many) something they share very deeply. I was worried about the film because 9/11 was such a personal tragedy, but I enjoyed it. I’m a sucker for any story about father and son.
*
The Help
*
</p>
Put that in the book.
An excellent film, some fantastic performances, and a few great stories, but the outcome of the film doesn’t address the bigger issues at hand. It told the story it intended to tell, and did so well, but there is a bigger story that seems to have been ignored.
*
Hugo
*
</p>
If you lose your purpose, it’s like you’re broken.
“Hugo” is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made, and yet possibly the closest to his heart: a big-budget, family epic in 3-D, and in some ways, a mirror of his own life. We feel a great artist has been given command of the tools and resources he needs to make a movie about — movies. That he also makes it a fable that will be fascinating for (some, not all) children is a measure of what feeling went into it.
I certainly cannot add to that. As always, Ebert’s review has spoilers. If you haven’t seen this film, you should.
*
Midnight in Paris
*
</p>
I’m having an insight now. It’s a minor one …
This was my kind of film. A ridiculous fantasy about an aspiring writer, extreme characterizations, and Woody Allen’s comedy. In any other year, this might be my pick for best picture. I don’t think it will win against this years competition. (spoiler? I especially loved the way Hemingway was portrayed – exactly as I would have imagined him.)
*
Moneyball
*
</p>
How can you not be romantic about baseball?
I wrote briefly about this film just after I watched it. A great film featuring three fantastic actors about the greatest game in the world. The film is full of great quotes too. Best picture? Probably not, but absolutely my favorite film of the year.
*
The Tree of Life
*
</p>
Tell us a story from before we can remember.
I saw this quite a while ago at a press screening and wrote about it some time after that. The film touches on serious issues for any father and I found myself especially moved having seen it with my son. I’ve since seen it again. It didn’t clear up any of my questions, but I still think it was a fantastic film.
*
War Horse
*
</p>
Wherever you are, I will find you and I will bring you home.
The only best picture nominee I haven’t seen.