Movie Challenge

Ms. S and I decided that we wanted to see all of the best picture nominees for the Academy awards this year. Of course, in typical procrastinator style, we did not embark on this task until the week before the Oscars. Yeah… We’ll start sooner next year. At any rate, we had 7 and a half days to see five movies. That’s a tight schedule but doable. If we could find all the pictures still on local screens. After all, we both work full time and commute at least a half hour to work and back.

The Nominees (In case you missed it)
Good Night, and Good Luck
Capote
Brokeback Mountain
Munich
Crash

The initial schedule
Sunday night – Crash
Tuesday night – Good Night and Good luck
Wednesday Night – Capote
Thursday – Brokeback Mountain
Saturday afternoon – Munich

Sunday
MS. S. had purchased Crash and invited me over to watch it. We both cried during the movie and agreed that it was a film that made you think. Good film overall with great performances by Sandra Bullock and Don Cheadle although we thought Brandon Frasier was miscast. We could not wait to see the other films.

Tuesday
We had dinner at Stonefire Grill (yummy!) and then headed over to the theatre. Then found out that the sound for Good night and Good Luck was distorted due to a print problem. At least they were nice enough to post it in the box office. So we went and saw Capote instead since it started only 10 minutes after Good Night was scheduled to start. I have to say, I didn’t know what this movie was about before we entered the theatre. And after we saw it, I wouldn’t say that is a film I liked but I thought it was very good and well acted all the way around. Of the two we have seen so far, I think Capote was the better movie. A more coherent and consistent story.

Wednesday
We had to cancel at the last minute, so that pushed Good Night and Good Luck to Saturday. Yipes! A double header that day!

Thursday
We went and saw Brokeback Mountain. Neither one of us particularly liked it. I don’t know if it was because we had heard so much about it but… We both agreed that the cinematography was beautiful but found the relationship between the two main characters more disturbing and sad than beautiful and tragic. Personal choice I guess.

Saturday noon
T3, Ms. S and I all met at the theatre for Good Night, and Good Luck. I have to confess, that I did not know the movie had started and thought it was another preview and was not looking forward to what ever movie was being previewed…oops. The movie took some time to get started and it is really a ‘talking head’ movie. It was very wordy but a smart film. If you need action though, I don’t recommend this movie. Although I did see parallels between the McCarthy Era portrayed in the film and today with the Patriot Act. The scriptwriters also made some interesting points regarding journalism and what role it plays in daily life.

Saturday 3:15

We had just enough time to get slurpees and hang out for a moment at Ms. S’s place before the two of us headed out to the valley. T3 doesn’t watch rated R movies and we respect her choice. And I think that it was a good think she skipped this movie. Very good but very heavy. An overwhelming experience from start to end. I am ashamed to admit, as an American, that I was ignorant of the event that took place at the Munich Olympics until this film was made.

AND THE WINNER IS….

Crash. This would not have been my selection but I can see why the Academy selected it.

Next movie challenge – seeing as many of the winners as feasibly possible. The animated short and some of the documentaries are not going to be readily available. I’ll let you know how it goes.