Oscars Oscars Oscars

Oscars tomorrow. We all know what's going to take out best picture, but we'll talk about that in a moment. First of all, I've seen the last two best picture nominations that I'd up til now neglected,so lets have a look see.

The Help

Set in deep south of the USA during the early 60's, The Help tells the story of African American maids working for white snotty rich folk, well before the current times when Americans lost every racist bone in their body and became tolerant of everyone....... (cough.) Um, yeah, well, at least half the appeal of the film for the high and mighty "tolerant" folk to get on their high horses and look down their noses at this time in history, proudly talking about "how far we've come"and such. Rant over. Emma Stone's character is a budding writer and decides she wants to write a book about the experiences of these women, although the civil rights moment has only just begun so she has to be very careful how she goes about sympathetically portraying African Americans.

Anyway, this movie is  actually really good. The trailer would trick you into thinking Emma Stone's character is main focus, but she isn't really. She actually almost serves as a narrator through which the story of the maids are told. And wisely so, as in turn it becomes their story, and not a story about a brave pretty white lady helping out these poor simple Negros (just to be ABSOLUTELY clear - that last part was meant as sarcasm at the expense of people who think in such a manner. Just covering my arse from the PC Nazis.)

The performances of the two maids at the centre of the piece are fantastic, playing strong, sympathetic and courageous women. Emma Stone just keeps getting better, the story is very masterfully told in what is a pretty classical approach to film making. All of the other characters are also very strong, from the town racist that you love to hate to the naive but caring lady played by Jessica Chastain. I don't know what more to say except I liked it alot. See it.

**** out of *****

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

So, this one was kinda a bummer. A boy who is clearly suffering from Aspergers (although according to the film the tests to confirm it were "inconclusive") loses his father in September 11.Through a series of flashbacks we see glimpses of their relationship, and how the boy's father liked making riddles for him to solve. When the boy comes across a key with the name "Black" on it he decides that his father set this up as a puzzle for him to solve before he died, and sets out to find what the key opens.

And that's the story. Sound kinda dumb and pointless? Probably because it is. With Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock staring, this was obviously intended as the wholesome, tug at the heart strings of a nation Oscar bait that everyone would raving about and taking their families to see. Instead what's on offer is a whole lotta over the top sappiness and sentimentality without offering any genuine emotion, a storyline that goes nowhere and has an unsatisfying pay off, and a un-spythametic and, I'm sorry to say, annoying protagonist.

On the other hand, the film is very classily made, the story is told in an engaging manner, and the relationship between the boy and the old man that lives with his grandma is kinda nice. But the movie as whole is just kinda, bleh. Skip it.

**1/2 out of *****

So with that out of the way, lets talk about Oscar best picture. I'll start by making two lists;

Best picture nominees, best to worst

1. The Tree of Life
2. Hugo
3. The Descendants
4. Moneyball
5. The Artist
6. Midnight in Paris
7. The Help
8. War Horse
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best picture nominees, most likely to win to least likely

1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. Hugo
4. The Help
5. Moneyball
6. The Tree of Life
7. Midnight in Paris
8. War Horse
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

In the past it often seems to have come down to a two horse race for the cup. Last year was The Social Network vs The Kings Speech. The year before was Avatar vs The Hurt Locker. This year is The Artist vs Nothing. The Artist will win, end of story. You can put your house on it and it will be the easiest money you'll make all year. I've ranked the other films likelihood of winning merely as formality. It's such a foregone conclusion that The Artist will win I may not even bother watching the ceremony (I probably will.)

I would love to see Hugo or The Descendants win. I'd love love LOVE to see The Tree of Life win. But I'll settle with The Artist winning, as in honesty it's not a bad choice for the prize. And seeing a silent French film take out the glory is kinda cool. The only film that really doesn't deserve it's spot amongst the nominees is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, although I'm a little disappointed that War Horse got nominated as well.

I was planning to a top 10 of 2011 list to coincide with the Oscars, however I'm putting it off for a week or two so I can watch more movies I've missed. But that's coming soon.... probably. Enjoy watching people walk down a red carpet and talk rubbish about who designed what and how much they enjoyed making some film they've already forgotten they were in. I'll skip that part thanks.