OSCAR NIGHT PREP | “The Hurt Locker”
The next check mark on my list of 17 movies to see before Oscar night was "The Hurt Locker." The film gave a very intimate (almost too close) ride-along experience with an elite Army bomb squad team in Baghdad. This three-man unit gets called in to defuse IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devises). When the new sergeant takes over the leadership of the group, you see how they adjust to some awkward team dynamics while at the same time making several life and death decisions. Their role is a constant balance of being either too cautious or too risky.
One scene in particular provides a better case study in leadership than the old army classic "Twelve O'Clock High." When a young specialists asks his "boss" whether he should shoot or not, his sergeant simply replies "It's your call buddy."
Shot in a documentary style with authentic Middle East scenes, it's a powerful plot with genuine characters. It's too early to call, but right now, I'm pulling for Best Picture and Best Director, and it takes the number one spot on my forced-ranking list:
> The Hurt Locker
1. Inglorious Basterds
2. Precious
3. (500) Days of Summer
4. Up in the Air
5. Up
6. Star Trek
7. Avatar
8. Julie and Julia
Which movies have you seen so far? What's your ranking?
OSCAR NIGHT PREP | “Precious”
The next film from my list of 17 movies to see before Oscar night was Precious. It's a modern-day Job story where instead of a pious and prosperous man with every thing to lose, the tests of long painful suffering focuses on a poor, illiterate teenage mother of two with nothing left to lose. What I love about this tale is how Precious chooses to respond to her awful circumstances.
When she shows up to her first day of learning at a new alternative school, she asks what an alternative school is. The administrator says that it's another option for education. It's a choice. Precious serves as captivating example of how to make alternative decisions.
Mo'Nique was incredible as an absolutely horrific mother. I'm rooting for her for Best Supporting Actress. It's a stirring story that's well worth the pain. Just make sure you bring plenty of tissues.
Here's my latest ranking:
1. Inglorious Basterds
> Precious
2. (500) Days of Summer
3. Up in the Air
4. Up
5. Star Trek
6. Avatar
7. Julie and Julia
Which movies have you seen so far? What's your ranking?
OSCAR NIGHT PREP | “Up in the Air”
The first title to get crossed off my list of 17 movies to see before the Oscars was "Up in the Air." George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate lay-off professional. He flies in, sets up in a conference room, delivers the bad news, and sends ex-employees on their way. He also delivers motivational talks on the side encouraging participants not to get bogged down by the "baggage" of their lives with his "What's in your backpack?" seminars.
His own career starts to travel towards elimination once a new, young executive proposes to take their company of transition specialist "Glocal" by making their global presence more local. Instead of traveling many miles to lay off workers, Bingham and his peers can simply phone it in by Skyping the "You're fired" message. Bingham's road warrior way of life with his empty backpack is in serious jeopardy.
Along the way, Bingham begins to appreciate the value of connections in his life as he attends his sister's wedding with a woman he's allowed to enter his "backpack." But fortunately, like an airplane barreling down the tarmac for take off, the movie manages to pull up just in enough time to avoid the sappy love story at the end of the runway. Add in a dash of quirkiness, and a heaping of excellent acting, and you've got delightful movie.
So, to meet my compulsive need to rank order everything, here's where "Up in the Air" falls in the list of the six movies I've already seen in my Oscar prep. Better than "Up" for it's superb acting and display of touching emotions, but just under "(500) Days of Summer" which is the better anti-love story of the two.
Here's my latest ranking:
1. Inglorious Basterds
2. (500) Days of Summer
> Up in the Air
3. Up
4. Star Trek
5. Avatar
6. Julie and Julia
Which movies have you seen so far? What's your ranking?