I recently saw The Iron Lady as part of the final stretch of my Oscar viewing marathon.
Every year, I try to see everything that could possibly be nominated for an Oscar. Some are guarantees to score at least one nod (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and some are long shots in every category (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
Usually, I find that I love at least one film that doesn't get nominated for anything and I hate one film that gets nominated for everything.
Except for this year.
This year, I seem to be unimpressed with almost all of the offerings.
Oh, there are still a few films I'd recommend checking out--The Artist is great, so is Young Adult--but most of the films seem to have the same problem.
Execution.
In other words, the ideas for these films are great, and in most cases, the style is there, but the final product just falls flat.
For example, War Horse is a beautiful film. This is to be expected. Steven Spielberg never really does a poor job at directing. The problem is that early on it gets far too sentimental and never quite recovers from that.
Another example would be Hugo--a beautiful film, like War Horse, but entirely too schmaltzy. (I'm not a big fan of movies about movies. It's a little too self-indulgent for me.)
Beginners features a great performance by Christopher Plummer, but the trouble is, we only got a little bit of him, and much too much about Ewan McGregor's character's love affair with a stock indie French girl character. (Isn't this what focus groups are for?)
The Descendants is great right up until George Clooney's final moment with his comatose wife, where the film then becomes something out of Days of Our Lives. If only they'd let that scene hit the cutting room floor.
Moneyball was highly entertaining, but it didn't make me feel anything. It didn't have that extra something that I like to believe Best Picture nominees need.
None of these films did in fact.
It felt like their creators went all the way to the finish line and then stopped about an inch short from finishing the race.
There's no tension in them. Either their plots meander along or their characters are barely fleshed out.
Again, there are exceptions (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) but not many.
Let's hope that next year filmmakers learn how to nail the landing.
Every year, I try to see everything that could possibly be nominated for an Oscar. Some are guarantees to score at least one nod (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and some are long shots in every category (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).
Usually, I find that I love at least one film that doesn't get nominated for anything and I hate one film that gets nominated for everything.
Except for this year.
This year, I seem to be unimpressed with almost all of the offerings.
Oh, there are still a few films I'd recommend checking out--The Artist is great, so is Young Adult--but most of the films seem to have the same problem.
Execution.
In other words, the ideas for these films are great, and in most cases, the style is there, but the final product just falls flat.
For example, War Horse is a beautiful film. This is to be expected. Steven Spielberg never really does a poor job at directing. The problem is that early on it gets far too sentimental and never quite recovers from that.
Another example would be Hugo--a beautiful film, like War Horse, but entirely too schmaltzy. (I'm not a big fan of movies about movies. It's a little too self-indulgent for me.)
Beginners features a great performance by Christopher Plummer, but the trouble is, we only got a little bit of him, and much too much about Ewan McGregor's character's love affair with a stock indie French girl character. (Isn't this what focus groups are for?)
The Descendants is great right up until George Clooney's final moment with his comatose wife, where the film then becomes something out of Days of Our Lives. If only they'd let that scene hit the cutting room floor.
Moneyball was highly entertaining, but it didn't make me feel anything. It didn't have that extra something that I like to believe Best Picture nominees need.
None of these films did in fact.
It felt like their creators went all the way to the finish line and then stopped about an inch short from finishing the race.
There's no tension in them. Either their plots meander along or their characters are barely fleshed out.
Again, there are exceptions (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) but not many.
Let's hope that next year filmmakers learn how to nail the landing.
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