In the World According to La...Goes to the Movies

A goal of mine every year is to see every Best Picture Nominee, which has been more of a challenge since they upped the number of nominations from 5 to 9 or 10.  This year, I saw them all BEFORE the Academy Awards ceremony, and in the theater.  Wahoo!!  My opinions, if you are so inclined:

Tree of Life:  This was my favorite movie of 2011.  Maybe because of the circumstances, I don't know.  My dear friend Vanessa's fantastic boyfriend, Pete made a random comment on facebook that this was the most visually stunning movie he's ever seen.  And he's in the business, so I really trust his judgement.  That is also "La speak" for see it in the theater.  Because of all of my travel last year, I missed it during it's short run in Missoula. When I would travel, I would always look out for the opportunity to see it.  When I was in Seattle with my friend Beth, there was ONE theater in Seattle greater area playing it.  It was an adventure just getting to the theater.  Then, without knowing anything about it other than it was "visually stunning" and starred Brad Pitt, we embarked on a movie experience.  After it was over, we both just sat there.  Wondering what we just saw.  I am so glad I got to see it in the theater. And I'm glad I didn't know anything going in, so I could have my own experience and not take everyone else's with me. After the movie, we did read reviews and summaries and had discussions about it for the rest of the day. THAT is a Best Picture if I've ever seen one.  And I will own it on DVD.

Midnight in Paris:  I saw this with my sister in LA (see previous blog post).  I forgot for 2 hours that I was in LA, in a theater chair.  I actually went to Paris for 2 hours.  I love when a movie will suck you in and make you forget where you even are.  Well done, Woody.  Well done.

The Artist:  Never seeing a silent film before (I know, I know. For shame.) this was a unique treat.  It was darling, charming, funny, and beautifully filmed.  If I were to recommend any movie for every reader, it would be this one.  It would satisfy all tastes.  My friend, Andrew, who is the greatest movie critic I know, actually sent me a text saying how fantastic it was.  He rarely says "I loved it" and is the polar opposite to my "I love everything".  Again, I went into it not knowing much about it other than it had no dialogue and on my list of movies to see (without remembering why I put it on my list, but that's another story for another day), but enjoyed every minute of it.  And the dog should win an Oscar.

Hugo:  Very entertaining.  I think Ben Kingsley is one of the greatest actors. It felt kind of slow in parts, but was really, really good.

Moneyball:  I saw this movie twice.  Jonah Hill should win the Oscar...he stole the show.  I loved seeing a part of my husband's favorite game - an aspect I would have never considered.

The Help:  Such a great story.  The acting was superb!  I didn't read the book first, but the story was so good I just may.  I really hope one of the ladies nominated bring home the win.  They deserve it.

The Descendants:  I was bummed to see that the young actor that plays George Clooney's character's oldest daughter wasn't nominated.  She was ah MAY zing.  And of course, George didn't disappoint.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close:  I chose this book for book club before I knew it was a movie.  It made sense to see the movie as part of book club, and I'm glad we did.  It is a very touching story and a believable story line regarding 9/11 without being only about 9/11.

War Horse:  The worst movie I have ever seen.  EVER.  I never like movies with the animals as the main character anyway, but since it was nominated, I just had to go.  The first hour and twenty minutes were amazing.  Beautiful scenery, humor, good story...and then all hell broke loose.  It was the most miserable, uncomfortable, horrific hour I've spent at the cinema.  I would rather see Dumb and Dumber or Superbad 10 times before I see this movie again!  I told Ben in the middle "It's just a movie, that is not a real horse" and I repeated it to myself, but, and this is probably why it's nominated for I can't think of another reason, it was emotional and was believable.  And it had bagpipes.  UGH.  Those kill me every time.  I think every movie tear I ever had was used up in this movie.

I didn't put these in order of best to worst, except for the best and the worst.  I don't think I can decide on the middle ones...they were all good in their own way.

I find it interesting that two of them are set in France (Hugo, Midnight in Paris) and had overlapping actors/actresses (John Goodman in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close & The Artist, Emily Mortimer in War Horse & Hugo and Brad Pitt was in Moneyball & Tree of Life.)

Looking forward to the awards show - and all the movies in 2012!