The Road to the Oscars 2010: The Contenders

The Oscar awards are best enjoyed when you have seen all, or at least most of the films nominated.
That way you can make informed choices yourself, lamenting good performances that will not be feted and discussing
bad ones that will be. I present here a recce of major films nominated this year. Some deserving, others just filling up
the numbers.

Avatar
First I saw it in 2D, then I saw it in 3D, but still could not see it. Just what is it that is making the world go
gaga over this film? As a spectacle, it sweeps you off your feet and deservingly will sweep all the technical awards
this year. But as a film, its pedestrian. A group of greedy humans inhibit a fictional planet in search of untold of riches.
But there are some who are there for research. In the end it’s a battle between good and evil. Script wise, Avatar has
nothing you haven’t seen before, only this time you are watching it in 3D.

The Hurt Locker
I’ll make no bones about it, The Hurt Locker is my favourite amongst all other nominees. It follows a bomb diffuser in
Iraq as he goes about his job, throwing the rule book away. To call it taut would be an understatement. Everytime the
tension reached a crescendo, I winced. For two hours, I was transported inside the war zone. And all this without 3D!

Up in the Air
George Clooney has one of the most un-envious job in the world, that of firing people. That he does that with so much
conviction and panache, is the product of great acting, script and direction. It will be a shame if this film comes away
from the awards, empty handed.

Precious
For many, this is the best film of the year. A barely literate, overweight, single mother at 16, Precious is pregnant
with her second child fathered by her father and her mother hates her for that. Now weigh down upon each word of the
previous sentence and realize how messed up her life is. True to life performances, bring alive this movie, in a way
you’ll thank your stars this isn’t happening to you.

Inglorious Basterds
To call it a Quentin Tarantino movie is like saying it all. You know what to expect. A Jew hunter on one side has
to match wits a bunch of eponymous Nazi killers. Christoph Waltz is the scene stealer as the Jew hunter who moves
from genial banter to cold blooded execution in a matter of minutes.

A Serious Man
If it wasn’t for the abrupt ending, this would have been a near perfect movie. A tale about a dysfunctional Jew family,
there is an undercurrent of an impending event in the film. You know something big is going to happen, and you await
it with bated breath. Devoid of any major stars unlike the Coen Brothers’ earlier, Burn After Reading,
it still packs a solid punch.

District 9
Just when you thought, movies about aliens have seen their last run, Neill Blomkamp gives it a fresh twist.
A colony of aliens on earth is treated much the same way as blacks were once upon a time. Though the end gets a
bit sentimental, the action is some of the best we have seen this year.

Up
Frankly, I have seen animated films that are much better than Up. The Lion King, Kung Fu Panda and The Incredibles,
just to name a few. An ageing man fulfils his deceased wife's wish by levitating his house using baloons and
transporting it to a mythical place. Up is more poignant than funny.

An Education
A prodigal teenager, Carey Mulligan is seduced by a mature man and she goes along for the ride, throwing away an education
at Oxford. But the lessons she learns on this trip are more valuable than what books will ever teach her. Its a
well made film that somewhat loses it towards the end. But Mulligan does full justice to her character.

Crazy Heart
At first I thought I'll like this film, but as it progressed, it started boring me, and by the time it ended, I was
exasperated. A washed up country singer is looking for gigs and love but finds solace in alcohol. Even Jeff Bridges'
much lauded performance did not impress me.

Invictus
It's diffuicult to understand why this film hasn't been nominated for Best Picture. I genuinely feel the time has
come when they reserve a slot in top category each year for a Clint Eastwood film. Morgan Freeman is superb as ever as
Nelson Mandela who uses rugby, largely thought to be a white man's game, to bring about reconciliation. He may not look like
Mandela but there is none other who could have portrayed him better.

The Blind Side
If it wasn't based on a true story, it would have been unbelievable. A high class socialite takes a huge coloured
boy under her roof and under her wing, guiding him to football glory. Sandra Bullock acts just like she does in all her
films, but suddenly it seems like time to recognise her talent.

Julie & Julia
Somehow, films about food never go completley wrong. Meryl Streep is an American in France who writes a book on French
cooking. Years later, Amy Adams sets out to recreate all her recipes in a span of one year and documents her
experiences on a blog. Its good wholesome fun.

The Messenger
If Clooney plays a person in Up in the Air who fires people, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in this film are soldiers
assigned to inform families about the death of their sons/husbands/fathers in action. Harrelson is a play it by the rules
kind of opearator, and Foster the more humane of the two. This wonderful premise is never fully explored and ultimately
we are left with a few good sketches but not one good film.

White Ribbon
Tragedy after tragedy strikes a small German village and no one knows who is responsible. The film is set in a time
frame just before World War I and seems to be made back then too. The only reason you suffer it is because of the curiosity
that goes with a whodunnit. You'll be in for a surprise towards the end.