6 Left

So we have six days left until the Oscars. I still have six more movies that I can see before then.

The Wrestler (Mickey Rourke Best Actor)
The Visitor (Richard Jenkins Best Actor)
Tropic Thundery (Robert Downey Jr. Best Actor)
Changeling (Angelina Jolie Best Actress)
Frozen River (Melissa Leo Best Actress)
The Duchess (Nominated for Art Direction and Costume Design)

The only movie that I can't see is Rachel Getting Married (Anne Hathaway Best Actress). If I'm able to see all of these movies I will have seen all of the movies that are nominated for Best Pictures and Best Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress. I've really been motivated this year to see as many movies as possible. It's definitly been a great year for movies. Sunday I will write about who I think should win and I may give variations to the four categories in which I saw all of the movies.

Revolutionary Road

I've been wanting to see this movie for a while and I had really high hopes for it. I think this is the reason I was a little down on this movie. All I could think of when I saw Cathy Bates was Titanic 2 because Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were already in the movie. Its about a couple who seem like perfect married couple on the outside but are far from it. They decide to try and move to Paris to liven up their marriage and so that Leo can find out what he wants to do with his life. I thought that Kate Winslet did a fantastic job and should have been nominated for Best Actress in this movie instead of The Reader. DiCaprio was just boring throughout the movie until he was angry. There is a scene where they are screaming at each other that just keeps you on the edge of your seat but other than that I thought the movie just moved too slow and I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought. Overall I give it a 2.5 out of 5.

Vicky Christina Barcelona

I rented this movie to see Penelope Cruz because shes nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year. I was very impressed. Her character really stood out for me and made the movie. I also thought Javier Bardem was great because of the contrast with him in this movie and in No Country for Old Men which won Best Picture last year. The movie itself was just okay. Scarlett Johansson played the same roll as she plays in every movie which is basically someone promiscuous. The movie is about two girls who take a summer trip to Barcelona and meet a man (Javier Bardem) and they both fall in love with him. Penelope Cruz is Bardem's ex-wife who tries to kill herself so she has to live with Bardem and Johansson's character. Overall I give the movie a 2 out of 5.

The Reader

I went into this movie with low expectations. I had heard that it wasn't "Best Picture worthy" so I thought that this would #5 on the list for me. I left thinking that if it were to win Best Picture I would not be disapointed. I thought it was a great movie. Any movie that could make you compassionate for a Nazi who killed hundreds of Jews has to be good. It starts with a young Michael Berg (David Cross) who has an affair with a woman (Kate Winslet) for a summer. He then goes to law school and is watching a trial of women who killed hundreds of Jews on a death march during WWII. One of the women is Kate Winslet's character and he becomes distraught over whether to help her or not. The story also parallels with the older Michael Berg who is emotionally disconnected with everyone including his daughter and is looking for closure from this affair. Overall I give this movie a 3.5 out of 5 and put it a close second behind Slumdog Millionaire.

The Reader

review coming tomorrow.....I've learned that I need to take a day or two before I give my review.

Physical Comedy

I was talking to someone the other night who said they didn't get "The Office." I just shook my head because it is my favorite show and I don't know how you can't "get it." Then I realized that this person probably only could laugh at chick flicks or slapstick comedy. I came across this video on youtube about Zach Galifanakis

Milk

I remember several years ago seeing "Dead Man Walking" and thinking how good Sean Penn was in that film. Seeing "Milk" tonight really cemented how good of an actor he is. He was really great in this movie. His character was dynamic and the movie was shot beautifully. You really felt as if you were in the 1970s and were right there fighting for gay rights. I had never heard of Harvey Milk or the story and I love this Oscar season for bringing back to life two great stories. When I first left the theatre I thought that this was on par with "Doubt." The more I think about the movie, the more I like. All of the movies nominated for best picture are very different. I still like "Slumdog Millionaire" a lot and I used to think I liked "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" the best but I don't know anymore. I was first going to rate "Milk" a 3 but after thinking about this for over an hour, I will give it a 3.5. I'm going to see "The Wrestler" next to compare Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn. Three more movies to see this season; "The Wrestler," "The Reader," and "Revolutionary Road."