It is that time of the year again: Oscar season. I looked at my Top 10 lists from the last two years and compared it to the Oscar nominees. Of the 17 Oscar nominated movies over the last two years, 9 of the nominated movies did not make my Top 10 list. And, of course, a number of movies I loved didn’t make the Oscar list. For example: Dark Knight Rises, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Like Crazy.
So I am going to say this: if I was able to cast an Oscar ballot for this year’s Best Picture nominees, this is my very unique list.
10. This is the End. A movie with a number of actors playing hyper-exaggerated versions of themselves might come across as an egotistical project. And perhaps it is; however, I found this to be the funniest movie of the year. This solid comedy deserves recognition.
9. Monsters University. These characters want to be scary, but they really aren’t. We just need to remind little children not to look under their beds, because you just never know if you’ll come across that one scary
8. All is Lost. I walked out of this movie thinking: it was okay, but definitely not a movie I’d consider for my Top 10 list. Then I just found myself thinking more and more about this movie and how Robert Redford’s character methodically and courageously goes through a checklist in an attempt to survive after his yacht is wrecked. I started to realize this movie had really impacted me and did deserve a place on my list.
7. Inside Llewyn Davis. This movie is a love story to the New York 1960s folk scene. As I was watching this movie, I couldn’t help but feel it could also be interpreted as a love story to the Echo Park/Silverlake music scene circa 2007-ish.
6. Saving Mr. Banks. The movie trailers are all about Walt Disney trying to convince the author of “Mary Poppins,” P.L. Travers, to let him turn her book into a movie. This movie is so much more then that. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, make sure you bring a few tissues.
5. Her. We’re off in the not too distant future. What first caught my eye wasn’t how wonderful this movie is, but the set design. The not too distant future has us returning back to the style from the 1950s. Interesting. What is more interesting is this quirky love story that in the back of your mind you know might someday become reality.
4. World War Z. How do I describe this movie? Take Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion and add steroids to the mix. In sports, steroids are a bad thing. For this movie, it makes the search for a cure of a worldwide epidemic so much more intense. Is this a scary movie? Not really. It is more of a thrill ride that takes you along as it attempts to find that cure.
3. Despicable Me 2. Minions. Girls growing up. Evilness in the world that needs to be conquered. Yes, this is my second cartoon on the list and the most deserving. How does one not love this movie!!!
2. American Hustle. Jennifer Lawrence is the comic relief in a very funny movie. Need I say more?
And my best picture award goes to . . .
1. The Wolf of Wall Street. This movie examines the immorality of Wall Street. You watch this movie in shock. Individuals are scammed and then that money is laundered by the scammers. There is constant drug use. Prostitutes roam around the trading desks. There are examples of extreme risks taken (helicopter/luxury yacht) that put other lives in danger. Then there is potential redemption that really is an attempt to create a cloned mini-Jordan Belfort (the Wolf). I am sure that there will be individuals who see this movie and will want to become the next Jordan Belfort. This movie, in fact, shows such a scene. But the honest truth: folks like that are just sad and pathetic.
I know I am ignoring many movies that are likely to get a nomination. Of some of the potential nominees, I saw 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Dallas Buyer’s Club, Nebraska and Captain Phillips. If any of these movies make the cut, I won’t complain. I squirmed through much of 12 Years a Slave. I loved the movie Gravity up until the last five minutes where I was waiting for the soundtrack from 2001: A Space Odyssey to pop up. Dallas Buyer’s Club has great acting. Nebraska is quirky fun. Captain Phillips delves into inner courage.
I’ve read about a couple other possibilities out there that I haven’t seen yet: Before Midnight and Philomena.
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