Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Why I'm Excited for the Oscars this Year

Not the Academy's Oscar
I love the Oscars. I blame my sister-in-law. She throws a party every year ... and makes it competitive. And I've inherited my competitiveness from my mother, so I actually try to win the Oscar ballot game. And for the past two years, I have.

Usually it's because I do research in advice (see who the critics pick to win) but I also make a semi-effort to actually see the movies nominated. And this year, I'm actually excited to see them!

Movies that are nominated for Oscars are generally "good" but that doesn't always mean they are actually enjoyable to watch or entertaining.
Sometimes they just aren't for everyone (No Country For Old Men, The Hurt Locker, The Departed), sometimes they are just too serious for a Friday night after a long week of work when you just want to relax and laugh at the movies (Precious). Sometimes they are just too polarizing (Avatar).

But this year, it seems like Movies That Are Nominated = Movies People Actually Want to See. Such as The Social Network, The Fighter, Black Swan, The King's Speech, The Kids Are Alright, Inception.

However in the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I really want to see 127 Hours, however, I want to see it at home, so I can turn the volume down during the scene where he hacks off his arm. And also so I can put James Franco in super-slow motion.

And for the record, I really liked The Hurt Locker and The Departed. I thought that No Country For Old Men was good, I still haven't seen Precious because I feel like I need to be in the right mindset for it, and I have zero interest in seeing Avatar.

5 comments:

  1. your blog is looking fancy!

    i am never excited for the Oscars. i guess i saw quite a few of the nominated movies this year (still can't bring myself to sit through a facebook movie, even though i love Jesse Eisenberg). i'd like to see The King's Speech, and would like Colin Firth to win awards and get hugs. i am generally opposed to movies that make me feel crappy or anxious. Precious, based on previews, falls into this category. Same for 127 Hours. just not interested in prolonged bouts of anxiety for the sake of watching a movie. Give me anything from the Simon Pegg oeuvre instead!

    But you should watch Inception and The Kids are Alright if you haven't already. Watching Annette Benning weirded me out a little because it's like my mom is in a movie.

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  2. Check out my blog now :) I was redesigning it as you were commenting. I'll have to give you photo credit.

    I agree, I generally don't like to feel crappy as a result of seeing a movie or TV show. I do want to see 127 Hours though, it sounds like a very interesting story.

    Have you seen Black Swan yet? That movie made me feel really anxious.

    I have Inception and The Kids are Alright in my Netflix queue. And I think we might see The King's Speech and The Fighter this weekend.

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  3. I'm with you on 127 Hours. I think I will boycott Social Network due to my Sorkin hate though.

    Precious was just...awful. I could go into detail when my finger isn't banadaged, but I found it horribly manipulative and prefer the 30 Rock "version" of it: "Hard to Watch: based on the novel Stone Cold Bummer by manipulate."

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  4. I loooooove the Oscars! They're my Superbowl! I always wanted to have the party with the ballots, but the one year I tried to throw one, nobody came. Maybe when I have my own house..... Now I know someone to ask! Give Avatar a try.... (I, personally, loved it... Saw it twice, once in 3-D and again in IMAX 3-D.....) Who doesn't love a movie dealing with the possible colonization of an imaginary species of blue giants? :)

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  5. But I feel like I already saw "Avatar" - I saw Pocahontas and Fern Gully.

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