Movie Junkie
9:15 PM Posted In Academy Awards , movies , Oscars Edit This 0 Comments »
The last week or two have been a literal mini movie festival. One of my goals for 2010 was to watch all 10 Best Picture nominees, and at this point, I don't foresee that being a problem.
In my lamentation over the last few entries regarding Oscars 2010, I recently realized that I forgot perhaps, the most important element of all in my dissection of what makes a best picture a best picture. Watchability. Classic movies are called classics, and ideally Best Pictures are called Best Pictures, because you want to watch them over and over again - and they are watched over and over again by many ages in different time periods and still appreciated.
A big problem with the Academy's picks as of late is that they aren't necessarily rewatchable - they don't generate the tidal wave of adoration that something like Titanic manages to accomplish. Last year's Slumdog Millionaire is an example of a movie that beams with watchability. It is a movie you can watch over and over and still appreciate - the climactic ending is just one piece of a much greater, warmer puzzle.
There's a reason why you rarely see thrillers take home the title ('The Departed' is about as close as you get - still watchable, still tense, even if you know the outcomes) and it's the same reason why thrillers are often sitting in stacks on the Blockbuster 'Previously Viewed' shelves. After you watch it once, the thing that propels the movie is forever lost.
So taking yet ANOTHER glimpse at this year's Best Picture nods...I mean, this is my problem with The Hurt Locker, Precious, and Up In The Air. All three are such downers, do you really want to sit through them again and again? With the exception of potentially the latter, if only for some smoldering enjoyment of Clooney at his finest, the answer is a resounding no. I'm not even sure how often I could watch Inglourious Basterds (which indeed, relies heavily on the elements of surprise and suspense), and Avatar will definitely lose its resonance off the big screen. The exceptions to this years potential nods are two lovely, story-driven films - (500) Days of Summer, which I'm itching to buy, and Julie & Julia, which I literally just finished. Yet I suspect neither of these films will take top honours.
Just a thought anyway. Julie & Julia was very sweet and surprisingly commercially appealing for a relatively limited run film. In the last week I also ticked off Paranormal Activity (snooze...who the HELL thought that was scary?), District 9 (Loved), Angels & Demons (sadly snoozy next to the electrifying books), and the aforementioned Hurt Locker (extremely tense, I appreciated the realism, but I have no desire to see it again).
Till next time...
Britt's On
In my lamentation over the last few entries regarding Oscars 2010, I recently realized that I forgot perhaps, the most important element of all in my dissection of what makes a best picture a best picture. Watchability. Classic movies are called classics, and ideally Best Pictures are called Best Pictures, because you want to watch them over and over again - and they are watched over and over again by many ages in different time periods and still appreciated.
A big problem with the Academy's picks as of late is that they aren't necessarily rewatchable - they don't generate the tidal wave of adoration that something like Titanic manages to accomplish. Last year's Slumdog Millionaire is an example of a movie that beams with watchability. It is a movie you can watch over and over and still appreciate - the climactic ending is just one piece of a much greater, warmer puzzle.
There's a reason why you rarely see thrillers take home the title ('The Departed' is about as close as you get - still watchable, still tense, even if you know the outcomes) and it's the same reason why thrillers are often sitting in stacks on the Blockbuster 'Previously Viewed' shelves. After you watch it once, the thing that propels the movie is forever lost.
So taking yet ANOTHER glimpse at this year's Best Picture nods...I mean, this is my problem with The Hurt Locker, Precious, and Up In The Air. All three are such downers, do you really want to sit through them again and again? With the exception of potentially the latter, if only for some smoldering enjoyment of Clooney at his finest, the answer is a resounding no. I'm not even sure how often I could watch Inglourious Basterds (which indeed, relies heavily on the elements of surprise and suspense), and Avatar will definitely lose its resonance off the big screen. The exceptions to this years potential nods are two lovely, story-driven films - (500) Days of Summer, which I'm itching to buy, and Julie & Julia, which I literally just finished. Yet I suspect neither of these films will take top honours.
Just a thought anyway. Julie & Julia was very sweet and surprisingly commercially appealing for a relatively limited run film. In the last week I also ticked off Paranormal Activity (snooze...who the HELL thought that was scary?), District 9 (Loved), Angels & Demons (sadly snoozy next to the electrifying books), and the aforementioned Hurt Locker (extremely tense, I appreciated the realism, but I have no desire to see it again).
Till next time...
Britt's On
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