Steve’s Blog

hey everyone.  The oscar nominations came out today and (in an effort to drive people to spend more money at the box office) this year they have nominated 10 movies for best picture.  So far I have seen 7 of the 10 nominees which means I have a little more than a month to see The Blind Side, An Education and Precious… none of which were high on my list this year to see but I guess I’ll give them a shot. 

Of the 7 that I have seen I would rank them in this order.
1. A Serious Man
2. The Hurt Locker
3. District 9
4. Up in the Air
5. Inglorious Basterds
6. Up
7. Avatar

What I think is really cool about this year’s group of nominees is that many of them invite the audience into an imaginative world that works.  District 9, Up and Avatar in particular create an alternate reality that allows the audience to wrestle with  issues such as racism, death and environmental abuse in a way that may have been too much for us to handle in a more familiar setting.  I chose A Serious Man as the best film of the year primarily for it’s theological undertones and how it portrays the human search for divine understanding as the world you know comes crashing down.  It’s a great film that shows the absurdity of life in a way that makes you appreciate what is most often overlooked and mundane or routine. 

I was sad to see that Where The Wild Things Are was pretty much ignored, it was easily my favorite film of the past year.  Oh well… what do you think?  Have you seen any of the 10 films?  What should win?