OSCAR NIGHT 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Even though it has no award nominations, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was on the original list of 25 must-see movies before Oscar night 2011 and an instant view on Netflix, so I watched it. And liked it. A lot. So much so, that now I want to read the book, although my good friend John says the first 100 pages are boring, and I can skip them because it's mainly setup that is covered in the movie. Deal. But for now, let's stay focused on the movie. The story starts with Mikael, a prominent exposè reporter, being set up for a crime he didn't commit, so I'm immediately thinking A Team. Which totally plays into the next scene where he gets hired by an incredibility rich capitalist who wants him to look into a cold 40-year-old murder case (If you have a problem - if no one else can help - and if you can find him - maybe you can hire: Mikael).

That's where the real adventure begins - I can see John's perspective if it takes several chapters to get to this point. The girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth, is also an investigator, only not an elite-news-magazine-reporter kind of snoop like Mikael, but more like a WikiLeaks hacker-who-knows-all-your-passwords kind of snoop.  The two join forces to find the decades-old killer and make a intriguing odd couple, mainly because of Mikael's generous unconditional awe for Lisbeth.

Fast-paced, smart, and a depraved, TGWTDT hooked me. I must read the books and see the other movies. The only unsolved mystery at this point is why Hollywood feels compelled to make a movie about a movie that was about a book. Well, that's not really a mystery, it's the money. Re-shoot it in English, add Daniel Craig, and say, "Weee, weeee, we-make" all the way to the bank. For me, Girl ranks fairly high bumping Inception down a notch.

RANKING of OSCAR 2011 MUST-SEES (so far):

1. True Grit
2. Winter's Bone
3. The Town
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Inception
6. Toy Story 3
7. How to Train Your Dragon
8. The Kids Are All Right
9. Animal Kingdom
10. Alice in Wonderland

What did you think of the movie? Have you read the books? What do you think about Hollywood remaking the movie?

OSCAR NIGHT 2011 | Animal Kingdom

Watching Animal Kingdom right after Winter's Bone really highlighted the importance of character development. In this Austrian film, 17-year-old Josh gets dragged into the family business of illegal activity after his mom dies. The  successful string of robberies his four uncles pull off lead to increased pressure for the law to shut them down. The band of brothers are ruled by their mother, Josh's grandmother, that they lovingly call Smurf. Played by Jacki Weaver, who earned a Best Actress in a Supporting Role nominee, Smurf (Janine) is a contrasting blend of wholesome sweetness and cold-blooded manipulation. She can turn on the charm and make you feel secure while stabbing you in the back.  She is exactly the kind of person your mother warned you not to accept candy from.

The sequence of events in the story is interesting and provides some fairly tense moments, but I never got invested or connected with any of the characters. When Josh's mom dies in the opening scene he can't be bothered with the paramedics, because he's too interested in watching a game show. That's exactly how I felt watching his family self-destruct - who cares! The only attempt at building any kind of bond with these people is via a sappy voice over from Josh at the beginning - think Jake Sully in Avatar. In Winter's Bone I was cheering for the teenage underdog surrounded by wicked relatives; with Animal Kingdom, I was just wanted them all to go away.

So Animal Kingdom ends up near the bottom of my list of 25 movies to see before Oscar Night 2011.

RANKING of OSCAR 2011 MUST-SEES (so far):

1. True Grit
2. Winter's Bone
3. The Town
4. Inception
5. Toy Story 3
6. How to Train Your Dragon
7. The Kids Are All Right
8. Animal Kingdom
9. Alice in Wonderland

Up next... The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

OSCAR NIGHT 2011 | Winter’s Bone

I love a movie that takes me on an emotional journey so intense that it sticks with me for days. Winter's Bone is haunting and disturbing, yet oddly uplifting. Ree Dolly, played by Jennifer Lawrence, is a determined 17-year-old who must track down her crystal-meth-manufacturing father while struggling to raise her younger brother and sister with no money or support. Ree is a tough survivor doing whatever it takes to protect the remains of her broken family as she navigates a ring of hillbilly thugs through the bleak imagery of the poor, rundown Ozark landscape. She overcomes obstacle after obstacle, until finally she earns the guilt-ridden sympathy and assistance from unlikely source.

Strange enough, there are a few of similarities between Winter's Bone and True Grit. Both plots are driven by adolescent girls on quests to right the wrongs created by their fathers' actions. Both show dogged perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity, and Ree's Rooster comes in the form of her uncle, Teardrop, who's whiskey escape is in the form of crank.

Not for the light of heart, but Winter's Bone portrays the worst of humans in a compelling story, and along the way, demonstrates the best qualities of our race as well. I'm only 8 movies in, but Winter's Bone scores #2 on my list of 25 movies to see before Oscar Night 2011 and clearly earns it's Best Picture nomination. And Lawrence's performance deserves her Best Leading Actress nomination as she outshines Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right, but it sounds like Natalie Portman is the one to beat in that category.

RANKING of OSCAR 2011 MUST-SEES (so far):

1. True Grit
2. Winter's Bone
3. The Town
4. Inception
5. Toy Story 3
6. How to Train Your Dragon
7. The Kids Are All Right
8. Alice in Wonderland

What did you think of Winter's Bone? What's your top movie so far?

Up next... Animal Kingdom.