Oscar Picks (As Of 1-28)

1. Toy Story 3
2. The King's Speech
3. Inception
4. True Grit
5. The Fighter
6. The Social Network
7. 127 Hours
8. The Kids Are All Right

(Black Swan and Winter's Bone still left to see)

Now, this is how I think the ratings should go, my official pick for best picture is The Social Network, but I would like to see Toy Story 3 win, because it is probably my favorite film of the year.

Movie Review "127 Hours" "Spoilers"

127 Hours was pretty good. James Franco was great, especially during the amputation scene; you can really feel his pain. And the way it was edited was fantastic, the jerky camera movements and the quick editing was great. I think one of the greater aspects of this film is the music. To me, the music just seemed to fit the scenes very well. Danny Boyle's style of cropping multiple shots at the same time was pretty interesting, but at times seemed a little overused. At points it does work, like the opening title sequences, that was very good, just the last ones were kind of unnecessary. The ending was really great. Even though I knew he survived in the end, I was still on the edge of my seat. Also, I think the scenes where he is imagining his ex girlfriend seemed unnecessary. Now, I know this is all real life and this is actually what happened, and it was a reason for him to keep going and live, but nothing really came from this relationship. I just didn't seem the point. Overall a good film, I would say Slumdog Millionaire is Boyle's better film, but you can't really compare the two. Franco gives a very good performance. I have seen movies where there is basically only one actor in the whole film, and I feel they did it better, the main example being Moon with Sam Rockwell. That's not saying that Franco did a worse job, I just think Moon did it better. It is a good film, just not the best, or my cup of tea, and not my pick for the Oscars, although Franco might get my nod for Best Actor, it is between him and Colin Firth for The King's Speech, which is an excellent film. 6.5/10

Movie Review "Mary and Max"

Just watched an interesting film entitled Mary and Max. It is a claymation film about 2 pen pals, and their relationship through their lives. The animation is amazing in this, and the color and tone of the film is dark and dull, which goes along with the story. There are some weird jokes, and one too many fart jokes, but the overall message I think is summed up well in the end quote, "God gave us family, thank god we can choose our friends." Watch it if you like good animated films, but be cautious, there are very weird moments throughout. 7/10.