The Oscars were a week ago, and I don't normally watch them. I didn't this year either, but as I have become more into film I have felt like I should. For the past couple of years I have actually heard of some of the best picture contenders partly because they have ten contenders now, but also because I am more informed. I know who a lot of the directors and actors/actresses are now, and it is almost something I feel like I should care to watch. Each year however, I am faced with a dilemma. I don't see rated R movies. There are always a few that interest me as well. A couple of years ago I really wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire, and this year I have been particularly interested in The King's Speech and 127 Hours. The real problem I have this year though is that The King's Speech might as well be Disney's latest movie based on an inspiring true story except that it has one scene where Colin Firth, best actor winner for his portrayal of King George VI in the film, releases a string of something like 17 f-words. It seems pointless to me why a scene such as this in an otherwise clean film cannot be done differently, but an R rating is an R rating so I am left waiting to pick up an edited copy, watch it on television years from now, or hope that the rumors of a re-edit, re-release really do happen. In Britain, where the movie picked up a 12a rating which is equivalent to PG-13 here, the movie has been a huge success because it is the type of story you take your family see. I have my fingers crossed that a re-edit will happen, but in the meantime, since I have not seen it, my film of the year is Inception.
In a year when I have seen a few of the other contenders such as The Social Network, True Grit, and Toy Story 3, Inception stands as the clear winner. It had incredible special effects, but it did not treat me as an idiot like so many other special effects blockbusters like to do; insert Avatar, Transformers or for that matter any Michael Bay movie here. It had an essentially original plot when so many movies now seem to be a remake, sequel, or franchise film. It had character development making me have a genuine emotional and intellectual investment in the characters. Clash of the Titans was a good example of just the opposite in that department. I enjoyed its pacing. It made you think, and it made you keep up but not annoyingly so. By the end I felt like I had a grasp of what I had just watched. I can debate about it afterward and attempt to settle on an answer to the questions the film leaves that were never meant to be answered. It is an outstanding piece of cinema, and it will likely go down as one of my favorites of all time. I understand that while it was nominated, it really was not a contender for best picture. It just is what it is, but what I don't understand is why Chris Nolan didn't even get nominated for best director when I feel like he should not have only been nominated, he should have won. The four technical awards it did win were all a credit to Nolan's direction. He wrote the screenplay, and he put his signature everywhere. It deserves to be titled Christopher Nolan's Inception as Avatar was called James Cameron's Avatar except that apart from Avatar's special effects, it was good. James Cameron was nominated for best director. That kind of discrepancy may very well be why I don't watch the Oscars.
In the end, whether I watch them or not, one thing I have come to find that I enjoy each year about the Oscars is that it usually tips me off to some really good documentaries and foreign films to watch. I have yet to see one of these films in the theater, but I am sure one of these days there will be one that gets me to the theater if I can only find out about it while it is still playing in its limited release run. Last year I am pleased to claim that before the haunting dolphin documentary The Cove won or was even nominated for the Oscar for best documentary, I had already seen it. The Oscars did turn me on to watch 2009's best documentary nominee Food Inc. and best foreign-language film Departures. I also discovered the above pictured gem of a documentary Man on Wire which won in 2008. It's about a guy who hire wire walks between the World Trade Center towers back in the 1970s, and you just have to see it to believe it. So we shall see; this year I have already put best documentary winner Inside Job about the 2008 financial crisis in my Netflix cue along with another documentary nominee Gasland, foreign-language nominee Of Gods and Men, and lastly a best animated feature nominee The Illusionist. If any of them end up being noteworthy I will dedicate a post to them.
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