Drove to Alexandria for the AMC Oscar Showcase yesterday and all I can say is, wow, does my ass hurt. Next year, note to self: Buy one of those foam seat donuts because, even though the allure of watching five back-to-back movies means not having to come up with any real conversation for the day, it also means you will be seated for the duration.
I was under the impression that there would be a dinner break or, at least, more than five minutes between the closing credits of one show and the preview roll of the next film. No big deal, but really, you had several hundred people subsisting on free popcorn, lots of soda and whatever concessions (mmm, Reese’s Pieces) are your particular poison.
In any event, yay for a nice day, double-yay for catching up with my friends between films, and boo-hiss to the asshole next to me who insisted on filling up my cupholder with her garbage (and not getting up to throw it away), as my cups kept getting kicked in its little place on the floor as people kept coming and going to the bathroom. *slap*
It was a nice day to get cultured, as many of the movies nominated for tonight’s “Best Picture” award would never normally make it to my “must-see” list. So for the first time, I’ll be able to root for my favorite and be able to compare apples to apples.
So, the movie reviews? I haz ’em. In order viewed:
Michael Clayton — I could not stop staring at George Clooney’s lips. I could ride those to glory. :9 Oh, wait, I was supposed to review the film, yes? All right, it was an excellent surprise. I wasn’t attracted to it in the previews, but anything this man touches, turns to magic. He was a star litigator who has spent 17 years with a firm as its “janitor” — the clean-up boy for everybody else’s messes. I think this could be the universal pick for best flick because the story has a lovely twist at the end. Plus, it’s one of the rare stories that you immerse yourself in and, when it’s over, you feel like you need a cigarette — it’s that satisfying!
There Will be Blood — I don’t even know where to begin with this one. Daniel Day-Lewis was fantastic (and sort of hot, in a cowboy-turned-oilman sort of way, but that conjures up images of our president and now I’m squicked out. Ew.) as Daniel Plainview, who takes residents of small towns brimming with oil for a ride in the early 1900s. Tiff wondered aloud where Paul Dano’s Oscar nod was, because his role as the wise Paul and also the Bible-thumping Eli was creepily memorable. It had one of those, “Mmmmkay?” endings, because it was downright weird but at least you understood it.
Atonement — I knew this one was going to be dark, but I was ready to slit MY wrists at the end. The scenery was absolutely amazing — from the fields and rivers and flowers to the war-torn streets of England and France during World War II. The music was just as beautiful and heart-wrenching as the backdrop. Briony Tallis purposely, incorrectly, identifies her sister’s suitor as her cousin’s attacker, and we see how one little white lie goes on to destroy every life it ever touched. And in the end, the only happy moment? Was a lie. An absolute lie. And the only one of them who went on to live a long, fulfilling life? Was Briony. *thunk*
Juno — This one gets my vote for the Oscar, probably because it kept me from killing myself yesterday from these abysmally dark movies. Plus, it’s the genre I love most, so I am biased. Ellen Page is awesome — she’s someone you would want to hang out with as “Juno,” a sweetly cocky knocked-up 16-year-old whose heart is pure and whose intentions are never anything but good. I may have to do a full writeup on this one but I will say this: My heart broke with her love for the baby daddy (“Bleeker”) — it’s one thing to not be with him, but it’s another to see him going after other girls when you’re right there, wishing for him all along and he either doesn’t have a clue (in Bleeker’s case) or doesn’t WANT to have a clue. Anywhoo, Tiff and I cried at the end, so that’s my definition of an awesome movie.
No Country for Old Men — Not only were my friends and I mystified by the ending (and not in a good way), but women STOPPED ME IN THE BATHROOM to see what I made of the “resolution.” Oh my God, Tom was right when he said that we couldn’t have seen that movie earlier in the showcase because we wouldn’t have been able to stop thinking long enough to enjoy the other movies. The moment it ended, I said, “I can haz new ending, yes?” There was money, drugs and murder — lots of murder, in cold blood and no signs of this killer ever being caught. Tommy Lee Jones was awesome, as was Josh Brolin. And honestly, I was more scared of Javier Bardem’s bob haircut than I was of his taste for homicide. I am still scratching my ass over this one, which probably makes it the clear Oscar winner because even smart people don’t understand it.