Well it's only a week away and yes I'll be watching, although I'm not completely happy with all the nominees. I'll start with the best picture nominees, I'm okay with the majority with the exception of two which are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Those two movies have no business being nominated, War Horse is a good movie but it was quite lacking which was rather surprising considering it's a Steven Spielberg film, it did move me like I was hoping, it just left me wanting or wishing it could have been great. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was a bit maudlin which was sad considering it's topic, it never gripped me and felt very heavy handed like it was trying to shove it's topic down your throat which is sad because I'm sure there's a great film in there somewhere.
There's at least three other films I'd add to the best picture nominees and they include 50/50, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Drive. If I was to add a dark horse nominee that would be Warrior which I feel is a very underrated great film not seen by enough people.
I can't really argue with the best actor nominees because I think all of them deserve to be nominated and I think it's going to come down between George Clooney and Jean Dujardin both of whom deserve it, but it isn't who I think should win, that honor belongs to Michael Fassbender who wasn't even nominated in a role that was very raw and gritty in the movie Shame.
The best actress nominees I think are all sound picks and unfortunately I didn't see We need to talk about Kevin because it was never released and I've heard that Tilda Swinton was amazing in her performance and should have been nominated. It's going to come down between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis but I would have gone with Michelle Williams who is simply amazing as Marilyn Monroe. I was going to argue that Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady was good but not great but that wouldn't be fair because I'm basing her performance on the whole of the movie which was average and nothing great. It's actually her performance that saves the movie because she is probably the greatest actress of all time and she is Margaret Thatcher.
In the best supporting actor there's at least two nominees I'd change Johan Hill and Max von Sydow and in their place I'd pick three others, obviously Albert Brooks in Drive, Armie Hammer in J.Edgar and Patton Oswalt in Young Adult.
In the best supporting actress there's only one I'd change and that would be Jessica Chastain in The Help, she was good but I don't think deserving of a nod, instead I'd choose Anna Kendrick in 50/50 and Carey Mulligan in Shame.
There is one more movie I felt was ripped off not being nominated and it's in best animated category and that's The Adventures of Tintin which should have easily walked off with the oscar, it was just a great film that can be enjoyed by the whole family or anyone who likes great films.
I'm often asked why I liked certain movies, especially when I post my top ten for the year and to be honest it comes down to if a movie moved me or touched me in some way, there's really no rhyme or reason we all like what we like and sometimes people will agree with those choices and other times they'll scratch their heads and think your crazy, but as my friend Chris told me it is my top ten.
