At last I look at the 10th and final film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar by the esteemed Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Up, an animated feature film from Disney’s Pixar Studios.
Tag: Movies
Dissing the Oscars – An Education
Lone Scherfig’s An Education is the 9th of the Best Picture nominees I consider as I gear up for the Academy Awards this Sunday March 7th. Like another nominee, The Blind Side, this film is based on a true story (Nick Hornby’s adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir).
Dissing the Oscars – The Hurt Locker
The worst review I could find of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker comes from Variety. Nevertheless, it is better than the best review of The Blind Side (I am still incredulous that The Blind Side has been nominated in any category).
Dissing the Oscars – The Blind Side
The Blind Side is the fifth Best Picture nominee I consider in my quest for the worst movie review of an Oscar contender. I have to confess that I made a mistake when I wrote about Avatar, suggesting that it might win an award for the most heavily dissed film. The Blind Side is the clear winner.
Dissing the Oscars – Avatar & District 9
In my continuing quest for negative reviews of 2010 Best Picture Academy Award nominees, I turn now to the science fiction nominees. First up is James Cameron’s Avatar, the Rupert Murdoch financed 3D sci-fi extravaganza that has grossed more than $2.46 bn as of this writing.
Dissing the Oscars – Up In The Air
This is the second in a series that looks at reviewers who diss the Best Picture Oscar contenders. While Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air, starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga, has received favourable attention from both the New Yorker and The New York Times, not all reviewers see it as Oscar worthy.
Dissing the Oscars – Precious
With the approach of the Academy Awards ceremony on March 7th, I’ve decided to take a look at films nominated in the Best Picture category. Watching a whole batch of commercial American films is a bit like locking yourself overnight in a candy factory.
Obama in Zombieland
Barack Obama is our latest Nobel Laureate. The world (or at least that part of the world that thinks the Nobel prize has more credibility than the medal the Wizard pins on the cowardly lion’s chest) is abuzz with the news. Opinions vary.
Grieving Mental Illness – The Soloist
The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, tells the story of L.A. Times columnist, Steve Lopez, and schizophrenic musician, Nathanial Ayers. The film is based on Steve Lopez’s book titled The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music.
Shortbus “Removed” from Bloomington Library
Brothers and Sisters, the Lord has called me to embark upon a quest. It is a quest to uncover the workings of the evangelical fundamentalist Christian mind. I expect it will be a short journey. Brevity notwithstanding, I expect my quest to be fraught with perils.
Expelled: No Intelligence Required
Here’s something lame: the theatrical release of a documentary (narrated by Ben Stein) about the tribulations of Intelligent Design proponents.
About Education
There is an apocryphal story about Einstein that goes something like this: One day, Einstein was standing at a counter while a civil servant completed a form for him. The person asked for his telephone number but he couldn’t remember it. The person was incredulous that a man of Einstein’s genius and reputation was unable to remember his own telephone number. But, as Einstein explained, why should he clutter his mind with information that he could look up in a book?