My Best Picture Reviews (Of What I Have Seen So Far)

DISCLAIMER: I have yet to see Les Miserables and Life of Pi therefore I will not comment on them in this article. It's not that there bad movies, in fact they may be good but one is a musical and the other is about a boy, a tiger and a boat. They were not at the top of my priority list.

Well, after sitting through just about every Best Picture Nominee 2013 has to offer, I have to tell you: This year is strong. I laughed, cried, squirmed, felt anxious and loved almost every minute I spent watching these flicks. In fact, I loved them so much I am going to mini-review and rank each one. I decided to not only numerically rank them, but also put them in three catagories: No Way Bro, I Can Respect That, and Hot Damn That Was Awesome!!! Each catagory tells how I felt about the movies in particular. Without further ado, let's get going.

No Way Bro

7. Amour: Amour is not a bad movie, it was just not my cup of tea. In a year filled with military dramas and dark comedies about crazy peeps this French flick just does not stand out. Amour is mainly about Georges, an eighty year old man who must take care of his ailing wife Anne. The movie plays out painfully slow as the couple realize the meaning of love and how it changes over time. The relationship between Georges and Anne plays out well and the depressing message in the film is both intelligent and poignant, which is why I think this movie deserves the chance to be viewed if you have some free time. However, this is not a contender like some of the others I have seen and for that there is no way this will be the Best Picture at the end of the month... Bro.

6. Lincoln: Ok so this pains me to say but Lincoln was not that bueno. I am a history buff, hell, I'm a history teacher but dang this movie was boring. When I think of Lincoln, I think of a book like "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly. Sure, he is not anyone's favorite author but his book is action packed and catches the emotion of Abe's final days. Did I like Daniel Day-Lewis's portrayal: YES! Did I like seeing the return of Tommy Lee Jones to the big screen (which if you have not seen "In the Valley of Elah" yet I highly recommend it): YES! But, on a whole was this movie entertaining and interest holding... NO! Thanks Spielberg for trying to capture a moment, but like last year's J. Edgar, you failed. Sorry.

I Can Respect That

This is the moment when opinions change drastically. Those first two movies were my least favorites in the catagory, no doubt. The rest of the movies I saw that are in this catagory are much harder to choose from. I did not mean to group the following two movies together, but it is how I felt about them and they just happen to be similar.

5. Zero Dark Thirty: First off, Jessica Chastain you are awesome. With that said, I found Zero Dark Thirty to be highly entertaining and also a little long winded. I felt that this movie told the story of the hunt for Osama well, but lacked the emotion I felt in my lifetime while this took place. When they finally got Osama, I wanted to feel pumped and excited. Instead, I felt meh. Just meh. I was disappointed with that feeling and blame that on the fact that this movie took too long to develop. at 160 minutes it was too damn long. With that being said, Chastain was the bees freaking knees, and it was nice to see Andy (or Chris Pratt) finally be the bad ass he deserves to be.. BURT MACKLIN FTW!!!

4. Argo: Now this is what I am talking about. Argo had emotion behind it, great actors, and made me just the right amount of feel-good and pissed. For those of you who let this fall between the cracks. it tells the story of a CIA operation that led to the rescue of 6 embassy workers in Iran when the embassy was taken over in 1980. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) of the CIA decided to create a fake movie staff with the help two producers (John Goodman and Alan Arkin) in order to get into Iran unnoticed. The plot is absolutely nuts and the best part is it is true. It moves a little quick but I liked that about it. I felt anxious during the last 45 minutes and rightfully so. Affleck does a great job here and really makes me feel like he is Mendez, the guy that did all the work and recieved no credit. This is the first movie on the list that I think could win best picture, it could even be the favorite after it's SAG win, but I doubt it will. Argo is a great flick but lacks the creativity and emotion that the top 3 do. Prepare for what some might consider an upset choice...

Hot Damn That Was Awesome!!!

3. Django Unchained: I freaking love Django. I was so pumped during this movie. Every time that someone deserving was killed, I was pumped. This film captures justice in a jar. Jamie Foxx once again brings it home as the protaganist, Christoph Waltz is as cool as ever, and Leonardo DiCaprio is as epic as ever. The tale of a slave turned bounty hunter killing the evil in the world is great. When he finally goes after DiCaprio in order to save his wife (Kerry Washington), it moves into the realm of amazing. Django tip-toes around a three hour runtime, but never feels like it. I never found myself to be bored because the gun fighting scenes were awesome. The script was on par with what we expect from Tarantino, but the show stealer was Samuel L. Jackson.He is superb in yet another Tarantino film and his character is absolutely cringeworthy, in the best way.

2. Silver Linings Playbook. SLP is one of my favorite movies of all time. Right now I think about it and feel anxious, but I want to laugh as well. This is the result of the amazing chemistry the actors have in this movie. Bradely Cooper as Pat is one of my favorite characters in any movie... ever. He is so damn neurotic yet heart felt, funny, and heart-breaking at the same time. Do I want him to win best actor? YES! His character just screams real world along with the rest of this movie. There is only one movie that got me more emotionally invested this year and it is the one that tops this. Before I get to that, I have to share a story about the film I am discussing. I first saw this with fellow blogger bobwinkle12, and our feeling about this film was mutual: Pure Unadulterated Happiness. We laughed so hard I could barely drive and it gave us such a rush of Euphoria. If you missed this film, unfortunately you have missed a lot. 

1. Beasts of the Southern Wild: For our blog audience this might come as a surprise, but my favorite Best Picture nominee was Beasts of the Southern Wild. Rarely, do I emotionally connect with a movie in the first ten minutes but here I did. I don't know if it is because of my surroundings, job,  or what but I felt instantly connected to this film. Beasts is a fantasy tale about a six year old girl named Hushpuppy, her abusive and unhealthy father, and her Louisiana home "the bathtub". Huhpuppy must be both a little girl, and hero to her friends and neighbors. Her adventure unfolds quickly and creates large amounts of anxiety through out. Her resilience is also a sign to anyone in a tough spot, that it can get better if you try hard an never give up.  Quvenzhane Wallis and the rest of the no-name cast are amazing and very believable. Their performances will make you both laugh and get teary eyed. To understand exactly what the cast and crew went through to film this you need to look up the whole story. You will be surprised and astonished at the work put in.