Bully

Over my lifetime, I’ve seen bullying from multiple vantage points.  A tease, a name shouted out, a push.  Most times it’s over in a moment and too easily forgotten, unless you’re the victim.  It stings and festers while the rest of the world moves on unaffected.  As a kid, I was both a victim and a silent witness.  Today, I work with children and still see it.  From all angles, it’s so easy to ignore and hope it all just resolves.  Standing up and defending yourself or others is easier said than done, but the one thing Bully teaches us is that it is a necessity, if we ever want it to change.

The documentary follows multiple teenagers and their families showing their unique stories of being bullied.  There’s Alex, a boy who is a helpless punching bag on his school bus.  Kelby is a girl who recently came out as lesbian in her small town.  She has attempted suicide, but her supportive family and friends have helped her reach a brighter place.  Ja’Meya was a high achiever until felt that the only way to stand up to her bullies was to pull out a gun on them.  We watch as she and her family await trial.  Then there’s the tragic stories of Tyler and Ty, two boys who committed suicide to escape their bullying.  Their parents cope and work hard to keep their son’s memories alive and start a movement to change the way bullying is handled across the nation.

For those who may still believe that bullying isn’t a big problem, or that it’s “just kids being kids”, they just need to watch a scene or two from Alex’s bus heartbreaking rides.  The things other children say or do to Alex is just awful.  An older boy threatens Alex’s life, with shocking language, just for talking to him.  Later, we see people sitting on him, throwing things at him and stabbing him with pencils.  Not a thing is done and Alex just protests politely to no avail.

Some film fans may remember the turbulence over the MPAA rating Bully would receive.  At first, it was given an R rating, due to language.  Since the film was made to educate a middle school audience, the creators edited out the high profanity scenes and the film eventually got a PG-13 rating, so that children would be admitted to it.  I don’t like the idea of a cop out that just softens the blow of reality, but admire that the main message would more easily get to its intended audience.

The scene that struck me the most is when Alex’s principal talks briefly with two boys she witnessed some bullying between.  At first it’s not evident who was bullying who, and perhaps the principal didn’t know either, so she simply asks them to shake hands.  The bully gladly complies, probably glad to face no real punishment.  The victim resists, knowing that more should be done.  Once the principal dismisses the bully, the frustrated victim explains the situation more; he tries to avoid his bully, and the bully has been told to stay away from him, but it’s not working.  The boy is clearly angry and helpless, yet his principal relies on her quick hallway confrontations with no punishment.  The whole scene hurt for me to watch, I have seen the same thing in my own schools as a kid.

While Bully isn’t technically a great film (it seemed easy to lose track of our far flung characters, and their climactic moment coming together didn’t bring much impact), it carries strong stories and an important message that needs to spread.  Bullying may seem like a childish issue, but the systematic mental abuse is claiming the young lives of good kids.  Parents don’t know 100% what it happening at their child’s school, or at what end of the spectrum their children may lie.  I would strongly suggest that all teachers, parents and children over the age of 12 see this film.   Currently, it’s available on Netflix Instant.  There is some strong language, but not much.  It’s nothing compared to what most middle schoolers hear in their hallways.

“I’ve never had real friends that would stick around and help me.”

A Separation

I remember one of the first times I encountered a foreign film.  Flipping through channels, I landed on something black and white, in an old mansion with a girl running.  The look on her face told me she was scared and I was hooked.  It turned out to be a French version of Beauty and the Beast, complete with white subtitles and someone in a beastly costume that reminded me of Sweetums from The Muppets.  After a while, my mom came in, probably curious of the French she could hear from the next room.  One look at French-Beast-Sweetums led her to question what on earth her child was watching.  To this day, I love to find movies that bring people out of their comfort zones, foreign or otherwise.

A Separation is the latest Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film.  From Iran and directed by Asghar Farhadi, it tells the story of a family falling apart.  Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to divorce from her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) and travel abroad with their only child Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), so that she can have more opportunities for a better life.  Nader agrees to divorce, but refuses to let their daughter go.  Instead, he wants to stay in Iran to take care of his father, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  After Simin leaves and moves in with her parents, he hires a caretaker to stay with his father during the day, Somayeh (Kimia Hosseini), who brings her little daughter with her.  She’s a very conservative Muslim woman, not quite sure how to handle some moments with the grandfather.  When an accident happens, lives are changed, legal action is taken and both families can ruin the other.

The film opens perfectly.  Simin and Nader are in chairs, facing and talking straight at the camera.  They discuss with a legal authority their situation and grounds for divorce.  The man, off camera, is unflinching and unsympathetic, especially toward Simin.  He tells her she cannot divorce over every little thing.  The final verdict is that she cannot take their daughter abroad without Nader’s permission.  Even those unfamiliar with Iranian culture can sense women have very little control.  The camera does not cut throughout the entire conversation.  When the scene ends, we are intrigued in the couple’s situation and already have a sense of equally stubborn characters.

As the plot thickens, stakes get higher.  More is at risk here than just a divorce and where the daughter goes.  I do not want to give anything away, watching it unfold is captivating and pulls emotional chords you would never expect.  The similarities and differences between the two families add even more depth and cultural understanding.  By the end, I was in awe and in completely understood the film’s nomination for original screenplay

While watching A Separation, I was reminded what originally drew me to foreign films.  There are situations that speak universally, no matter the culture or language barriers.  Just like I could see the fear on that French girls face years ago, I could see the hurt, struggle and despair in every character in A Separation.  Simin is strong and determined but never turns her back on family.  Nadar is growing weary, his eyes always red and tired, but goes on, determined to keeps his family together in Iran.  With Somayeh, covered in her black veil, we can only see her face at most times, but that is all we need.  Her grief is written all over it.  When Termeh falls to her knees, our heart sinks.  And that moment toward the end, where the two daughters of equally torn families look at each other, so young and sullen, is one of the most telling moments in the film.  Though the situation is unique, you could watch without subtitles and understand each character’s emotions.  If foreign films are outside your normal comfort zone, branch out and see A Separation.

“-Didn’t you say it’s not serious?  –It got serious.”

Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

In previews, The Iron Lady surely looked Best Picture bound.  A biopic about Margaret Thatcher starring Meryl Streep seemed like a shoo-in.  However, between some odd editing choices and perhaps too much focus on Thatcher’s dementia in her old age the whole film became a bit muddled.  Many will place the blame on director Phyllida Lloyd, her only other film that was released to theaters was Mamma Mia!, also starring Streep.  But if you ask me, going from a happy Abba inspired musical to Thatcher biopic is extremely gutsy and to pull it off as well as she did is an accomplishment.

However, I’d like to focus on the greatest thing about The Iron Lady, Meryl Streep’s performance.  After nearly twenty years with twelve other Oscar nominations, never another win since Sophie’s Choice, this role finally brought Streep her third Oscar.  It was quite a surprise, with most critics betting on her always a bridesmaid, never the bride status and predicting Viola Davis would come out on top.  After seeing this film, I have to agree with the Academy, Streeps performance was amazing and well deserved the award.

Streep portrays Thatcher through most of her political career and into her old age.  In the present, we see Margaret shuffling about her home, remembering her past and suffering from dementia.  The worst part is that she realizes her mind is going.  She regularly imagines her late husband around, talking to her, carrying on conversations and bringing up memories of their life together.  Her present is a bit sad when we think about the game changing, strong and powerful world leader she once was.

In flashbacks, we gets a sense of Thatcher’s struggles and political rise.  For a while, it seems that being a woman is a handicap Thatcher must work to overcome.  A scene where a vocal coach teaches her to naturally lower her voice feels like it could have been inspired by similar scenes in The King’s Speech.  Over the years, she seems to transform from strong willed British housewife to the tough as nails woman, making difficult decisions for her country without batting an eyelash.

In one scene, Thatcher is preparing for an occasion of some sort and has a seamstress sewing on a button at the last minute, right over her bosom leaving it much more exposed than usual.  While that is being taken care of, she carries on an argument with two of her political advisers.  She never misses a beat, stays particularly strong and stands her ground with confidence.  The whole time, it’s as if she were a man having a button sewn on his jacket having this conversation.  She doesn’t show one bit of female frailty or shy away in such an awkward position and I think that makes her one hell of a powerful lady.

“We will stand on principle… or we will not stand at all.”

Oscar Predictions

No matter how much you study The Academy Awards, making Oscar predictions is never going to be perfect (unless this one is).  To some extent, it will always be a guessing game.  Anyway, here are my predictions, educated and otherwise.  Enjoy!

Best Actor:

Though I have not seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or A Better Life, I believe the race here narrows down to Clooney and Dujarden.  George is terrific in The Descendants, but considering how Jean has already won more awards for his role, I would bet on him.  And I think The Academy would like to see him win with that big, infectious smile on his face.

Best Actress:  

Poor Streep has so many nominations, but so few wins.  I doubt that will change this year, because Viola Davis as just stunning in The Help.

Supporting Actor:

There has been so much buzz over Christopher Plummer’s performance in The Beginners that I have to agree with the hype.  I’m dying to see that movie.

Supporting Actress:

I really believe this will go to Octavia Spencer.  Have I mentioned how great the acting is all throughout The Help?

Director:

Honestly, this category feels very close.  Each nominee has great reason to win and should be proud of the work they have produced.  While Michel Hazanavicius feels like a favorite, I’m convinced that Martin Scorsese should win for Hugo.

Original Screenplay:  

The fluidity of Midnight in Paris has me convinced that Woody Allen will win this award.

Adapted Screenplay:

I feel this is a close one between Hugo and The Descendants.  After mulling it over, going back and forth, I think this will go to The Descendants.

Cinematography:  

Don’t laugh, but part of me thinks The Tree of Life really deserves this one.  However, my gut wants to go with Hugo.

Art Direction:

This should go to the one movie that kept my eyes completely astounded (and not just because of it’s wonderful use of 3D), Hugo!

Sound Mixing:  

Honestly, I feel like I just guess at the sound categories.  The nominee that stands out the most here to me is War Horse.  I’m a sucker for vintage explosions and thunderous galloping.

Sound editing:  

Again, War Horse.

Film Editing:  

Hmm, tricky dance routines and a dog that I’m sure did not always behave, I’ll have to pick The Artist.

Original Score:  

Did I not make this clear in my review?  The Artist!

Animated Feature:

Rango!

Best Picture:

The big kahuna.  This year, I believe this only comes down to two films of similar theme and idea: Hugo and The Artist.  While The Artist has all the hype propelling it forward, I cannot forget Hugo and how it was one of the best films I had seen in years.  Honestly, I feel that Hugo has more merit, but The Academy would love to award a simple silent film.  I do feel this is a tossup between the two, and if any other film is awarded, I will be very shocked.  Going with my heart here, I want Hugo to win.

Have a great Oscar night, everyone!

The Help

I try to avoid other opinions of a movie until I have seen it myself, but it is much harder to avoid the advertisements.  By just glancing at commercials and posters for The Help, I got the idea that it would be a slightly quirky film about women, for women with some laughs and a lesson about racism.  When I finally saw it, I was shocked at what a great movie it was.  The drama and issues brought up were a lot heavier than that yellow poster can let on.

The film is set in Jackson Mississippi in the 1960s.  When Skeeter (Emma Stone), an aspiring writer, returns home from college, she notices more and more tension between white women and their black hired help.  She can tell that her ill mother (Allison Janney) is lying about their old maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), who raised Skeeter.  The girls she grew up with are all now married with their own help and finding new ways to deal with “the colored situation.”  Not realizing the full danger at first, Skeeter tries to recruit the black maids to provide testimonials about what it is like to work for these white women.  As Skeeter gets deeper into writing the book, racial tensions rise across Jackson, and the country.

The strongest things in this film are the acting, variety of full bodied characters and how they fit together.  Viola Davis provides a strong lead as Aibileen.  As an older woman, who has raised many white children, but hardly had time for her only son, now dead, she has become bitter.  That bitterness and loss helps her find the strength to tell her story to Skeeter.  Viola’s best friend is Minny (Octavia Spencer), a bold maid whose sassy mouth and defiant attitude gets her fired by Hilly Holbrook.  Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) is the queen bee of the white young women in Jackson.  What Hilly does, the rest do, which includes adding new outside toilets for the help, believing in racist propaganda about disease carried by black people, and shunning Celia Foote.  Celia (Jessica Chastain) is a sweet, ditzie young woman who lives outside of Jackson, whom all the white women think is white trash.  When she hires Minny as her first maid, boundaries are broken and big secrets are revealed.

There is a funny thing I have noticed about The Help, that I am not sure if it hinders or hurts the main idea about how real racism was within homes in the 1960s.  When characters like Hilly talk about ideas that the audience knows are backwards and outwardly racist, we tend to laugh at how absurd these women sound.  Thing is, Hilly is completely serious about “the colored situation” and other ignorant ideas.  To some degree I feel like she is being a comic character, a bit like George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove.  When she says, “They carry different diseases than we do. That’s why I’ve drafted the Home Health Sanitation Initiative.” we could compare it to when Scott says, “Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap!”  On some level, that works fine since we are in a future perspective where her traits are laughable.  We clearly hear something that can be funny, but other characters in the film may not.  And later, some of the things that happen to Hilly are outright hilarious, so much so that I do not want to spoil the fun.  While we see Hilly as comical, she is still an obvious threat to our heroines.  Laughing at a villain can be a dangerous thing to do in film.

The Help is nominated for four Oscars.  Of those, three of them are well deserved acting nominations for Viola Davis for Lead Actress, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain for Supporting Actress.   The other is for Best Picture.

I have seen The Help twice, simply because I enjoyed it so much the first time I knew I needed to see it again.  All the acting is wonderful, the whole cast creates a great ensemble.  While this is mainly a drama focusing on heavy racial issues from a perspective many of us may not have considered before, there are some wildly funny moments that help lighten the whole film.  And in the end, it feels like an inspiring film full of bravery and a heart of gold, without getting at all sappy.

“Minny don’t burn fried chicken.”

If the Academy wants to award a film with a perfect blend of drama, laughs and uplifting revolution, The Help will win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids was easily one of the funniest films of 2011 and surprisingly well done all around.  It has earned Oscar nominations in Original Screenplay and for Mellisa McCarthy’s performance.  However, some people feel inclined to count McCarthy out of the acting race because her role is on a different level than the other nominees.  As a fellow tomboy and former bridesmaid, I feel compelled to defend Melissa McCarthy’s Supporting Actress nomination.

There is much more to this role than being the chubby, gross-out queen of the bridesmaids.  Megan is the sister of the groom, so she already does not quite fit in with the rest of the girl-friends.  I feel there would be a level of guilt if the bride had not asked Megan to stand up in the wedding.  She seems to be the kind of girl who was always outside of the clique and isn’t as petty or catty as the rest of the group.  Thankfully, she has a strong sense of who she is already and is wonderfully confident in just being herself.  Even if that includes some weird sexual stuff, being proud of that falling off a cruise ship story and owning up to her farts.

Thing is, we see a level past the superficial with Megan that the rest of the gals do not bring.  When Annie has become the pariah of the group, Megan is the only one willing to talk to her.  And it is not the usual fake girl talk, “Oh, it’ll be alright.”  Megan gets real with Annie, while keeping to her intense, butch attitude.  “I’m life Annie, and I’m biting you in the ass!”

What Melissa McCarthy has dared to do with this role was create a unique female character that feels more genuine and memorable than anyone else in the film.  Burping, farting, having a real deal-with-it conversation is not something Hollywood shows women doing without sounding like a cure-that-feminine-itch commercial.  Even though Megan comes off immediately as gross, McCarthy can make her surprisingly refreshing.

Whether she was shitting in a sink or driving a van full of puppies, Melissa McCarthy was spot on and made me laugh until I cried.  It is nice to see an unusual comedy role get some well deserved recognition.

“I want to apologize.  I’m not even confident on which end that came out of.”

Moneyball

I don’t get very excited about baseball, unless I’m in the stands and a foul ball is heading my way.  And statistics confuse me, even if you put them in an animated graph with bright colors.  So while Moneyball held a lot of baseball talk and ideas on choosing affordable players solely by their statistics, my attention was turned to the human elements of  Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and Peter Brand (Jonah Hill).

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the plot and tension created by the idea of approaching building a baseball team from a different angle.  While the Yankees seem to have unlimited money to spend on the most sought after players, the Oakland A’s have a much, much smaller budget.  The playing field created by money is not at all fair, but it seems that only Billy understands that the A’s must adapt to survive.  Then he finds Peter Brand, working with the Cleveland Indians.  What he sees is in baseball is breaking down all baseball players into detailed statistics and builds a team that is able to make the most runs.  Keeping that goal in mind, Billy hires Peter to help build a worthy and affordable team for the A’s.

Of course, there is opposition to the idea of building a baseball team straight off the numbers.  The experienced scouts, depicted as old men eating donuts, cannot wrap their heads around finding new talent this way.  They get hung up on oddities and personality defects that sometimes have nothing to do with playing ability; age, behavior, how attractive their girlfriends are.  Even once the team is assembled, Billy and Peter have to fight with the hardheaded coach, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to get him to play the players as they were designed.

While on the surface, Brad Pitt’s Oscar nominated performance makes Billy seem mostly concerned with baseball, he has an intriguing personal life and back story.  We get flashbacks to him being recruited into professional baseball straight out of high school and having to choose between that and his scholarship to Stanford.  It is clear that he did not understand all the opportunities he gave up for a baseball career, that sadly did not pan out.  Now, as a struggling manager, we see him deal with a lot of frustration in physical ways, from working out, to driving his truck like a maniac in an empty parking lot.  On top of all that, he is divorced and struggles to make time to visit his twelve year old daughter.  I think she lovingly describes Billy best in her song, “You’re such a loser, dad.  Just enjoy the show.”

I was happily surprised with Jonah Hill’s Oscar nominated portrayal of Peter.  With an economics degree from Yale, and looking like the kid picked last on the playground, Peter feels like an unlikely person to find his first job in professional baseball. I imagined him more likely to have a fantasy baseball team, or a Dungeons and Dragons guild, but I loved how one of his favorite players was one of the most undervalued players, nicknamed The Waddler.  Thing is, Peter is so quiet, shy and insecure through most of the film that we never learn much about him outside of the job, and that’s okay, he’s only a supporting character.  Hill and Pitt work well off together to lift each other’s character up.  Hill depicts Peter perfectly, from all his mild, thoughtfully quiet moments to achievements that slowly build up his confidence.  And that is such a refreshing change of pace from his usual foul mouthed comedies.  I hope to see him in more serious roles.

Along with the two acting nominations, Moneyball earned six total Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Film Editing, Sound Mixing and Adapted Screenplay.

While Moneyball is a movie centered around sports and sports talk, and it helps to enjoy and understand baseball, it does not cater only to sports fans.  It is a kind of underdog story that values brains over brawn, and money.  We understand how much is at stake with this new way of thinking and we can’t help but hope that it works out.  Surprisingly, the film does not cop out into the typical big win ending, but that does not mean the experiment has failed.  The focus is on the people behind the players, their struggles and how they changed how the game is played.

“Baseball thinking is medieval.  They are asking all the wrong questions.  And if I say it to anybody, I’m-I’m ostracized.  I’m-I’m-I’m a leper.”

If the Academy wants to award a thoughtful, unconventional underdog movie, Moneyball will win the Oscar for Best Picture.

War Horse

When I went to see War Horse the other night, I had my doubts about the film.  Though I try to avoid other opinions, I had heard it called “a sleeper” and imagined what I fear in all horse movies: too many graceful jumps showcasing the horses beauty, a child with an unrealistic emotional attached to the creature and the possibility of an Old Yeller end where I cynically cheer on the gunman.  Thankfully, Steven Spielberg has made War Horse was like no other horse movie I had ever seen.

In England, young Albert (Jeremy Irvine) is fascinated by a beautiful newborn colt.  At the auction, his father gets in a bidding war with their landlord and ends up buying the colt for more than they can afford.  The only thing that will keep the family on their land is getting the new horse to plow a rocky field.  With the whole town watching, Albert and the colt, Joey (Finder Key, the same horse that played Seabiscuit), pull off only the first miraculous moment of the film.

Now, the relationship between Albert and Joey does get a bit emotional.  Seeing a boy in his mid-teens get all starry eyed over a horse might be an eye-roll for some.  I felt that way only for a little while.  Albert has enough good qualities (patience, determination, strength to keep his family together) that we allow him a few tears as a boy.  The war will make a man out of him soon enough.

When Wold War I starts up, the family is still not financially well, so they sell the horse to the army.  Albert vows that he will find Joey again, attaching an old banner his father brought home when he returned from war to the horse.  What follows is one hell of a journey for a horse, through battlefields on either side of the war.  He becomes instrumental in the fate of nearly every person that he encounters during the war, and their kindness towards him and others is remarkable.

One of my favorite scenes is when Joey is discovered in no-man’s-land.  During battle, he ran blindly, scared and got tangled in barbed wire.  The trench warfare scenes are some of the best I’ve seen since All Quiet on the Western Front.  While the firing has stopped, soldiers from both sides help free him from the wire.  For a few moments, there is peace between the two enemies as they work together and peacefully decide which side will take the horse.  They even trade names and shake hands.  Somehow, the animal bring out the humanity in both sides, and it feels authentic, not overplayed.

Those who are very sensitive to pain in animals may want to reconsider seeing War Horse.  The gritty realities of war are shown here, and they affect the horses just as much as the humans.  Some scenes depict the horses being shot in battle, worked to death and horribly tangled in barbed wire.  The mass grave of dead horses left my jaw hanging for a moment.  This is certainly not a horse movie for little girls.

War Horse is nominated for six Oscars: Best Picture, Art Direction, Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Original Score.  Obviously, the film excels technically.  For what lag there may be in plot or a lack of big name actors, the sound quality and beauty of the film more than makes up for it.  It is the only Best Picture nominations that can feel like an epic, and leaves you with an old world sense of beauty and bravery.

While I had prepared myself to be bored with War Horse, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  Visually, it was beautifully rich and my eyes gladly soaked it all in.  The story kept me engaged for the most part, though there was one very predictable climactic moment.  What I think I enjoyed the most was the intensity and reality depicted, both during the war and before it on the family farm.  There was purpose, meaning and a drive behind everything Albert and Joey did.  And that makes for a pretty good movie, that just happens to be about a horse.

“It is an honor to ride beside you.”

If the Academy is looking to award an epic film that draws on technical beauty and a sense of duty and bravery, the Oscar for Best Picture will go to War Horse.

The Descendants

Right away in The Descendants, Matt (George Clooney) tells us how annoyed his is that people always assume that just because he lives in Hawaii, everything must feel like a vacation.  Matt’s life is anything but paradise right now.  He and his cousins have to make a major decision on whether to sell a large piece of untouched Hawaiian land that their family has owned since the 1800s.  The whole state is waiting for the outcome, and legally, it rests solely on Matt.  On top of that, his wife is in a coma from a boating accident.  She is not going to live and Matt has to tell all her friends and family.  His 10 and 17 year old daughters, who he’s not especially close with, have their ways of acting out during this family crisis.  And to add insult to injury, it turns out his wife was cheating on him.

Surprisingly, with all this drama, the film feels wonderfully light and comical at times.  Much of this has to to with the dynamics of the family.  The daughters, Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), are hilariously crass and sarcastic with their father at times.  It’s their cursing that gives the film an R rating, and while it’s juvenile, it is also wonderfully revealing to how these girls interact socially.  And Alex’s friend Sid (Nick Krause) is a riot of the dumb-ass teenager variety.

What runs this film and makes it memorable is Clooney’s portrayal of Matt.  When we first meet Matt, he is clueless and always plays it safe.  He assumes his wife will be just fine, that what his cousins want with the land is a good idea, that Alex is being responsible at her private school and that Scottie will be better behaved after some ice cream.  Best of all, he was completely blind to the fact that his wife was having an affair.  His reaction is perfect.

As Matt’s eyes become more aware that everything around him is not as tidy as he thought, it prompts him to be more daring.  With his oldest daughter as his main support, he attempts to find the man his wife was having an affair with.  What Matt will do if and when he finds him, he has no idea.  A lot of fun and tension comes from watching Matt figure this out in the moment.

While the main journey of the film is watching Matt deal with everything that has been dumped on him, he reconnects with his daughters.  Matt knows he is “the back-up parent” and toward the beginning of the film, he describes his family as a chain of islands, always together but drifting apart.  First saying it, he seems alright with that idea.  But to get through losing the matriarch of the family, Matt and the girls have to get closer if they want to stay together.  They ways they achieve this are not always sweet, but it is never cheesy.  It feels realistic.

Altogether, The Descendants has received five Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing,  Alexander Payne for Best Director and George Clooney for Best Lead Actor.

I would recommend The Descendants to everyone who can stand a little profanity.  The drama is mixed with enough comedy to not make it feel daunting, but it never loses that strong pull that comes with tragedy.  The cast all works so well together, eventually they become a fun ensemble.  And Clooney is rightfully nominated for this role.

“What is it that makes the women in my life destroy themselves?”

If the Academy is looking to award a family drama that stays as mellow as it’s setting, The Descendants will win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

When you see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I think there are a few things you need to remember and keep an open mind about.  One, the film is mostly told from a unique child’s perspective.  So when his inner monologue feels a bit cliche or dramatically out of touch, remember how you thought as a child.  Not all of our ideas were made of gold, but we didn’t know that yet.  Go easy on him.  Two, yes, this film is about the attacks on September 11th, like America cannot get enough of its own tragedy.  Though the film remembers the past (and who could blame this kid for it?), the story is really about moving on from any tragedy.  The scars of September 11th are too much for one film to heal.  And three, this kid has amazing parents, both of them.

Oskar Shell (Thomas Horn) was about nine years old on September 11th.  He and his father (Tom Hanks) were very close and has always encouraged Oskar’s curiosity.  He asks so many questions, many parents would have given him the terrible answer, “Just because,” years ago, but thankfully not his father.  They play elaborate mind games where Oskar searches for artifacts all over Central Park.  These games of critical thinking have made Oskar very organized and independent for a boy his age.  I believe he is a gifted child, but also suffers from anxiety and social issues, possibly Asperger’s syndrome.

After that day, Oskar is without his father, his teacher and playmate, and is faced with something he cannot comprehend: chaos.  He is too logical to understand why this happened and it hurts to see this boy grasping at nothing, hoping he can find answers.  And his mother (Sandra Bullock) is doing all she can for him, more than he knows.

What Oskar does find is a key.  He believes, somehow, that finding what it unlocks will help bring him some last connection and closure with his father.  The elaborate system Oskar sets up to search all over New York is impressive and his determination should be encouraged.

Along his journey to find where the key fits, Oskar meets a wide variety of people.  Most of them are helpful and welcoming.  As he meets them, in his unique socially awkward fashion, Oskar takes their photograph and catalogs them in his journal.  While he is focused on the key, the boy  does not realize how his journey is touching so many people in a beautiful way.  But that’s just how kids are, right?  Too easily they can focus on one tangible idea and gloss over the big picture in front of them.  I’m sure we can all remember a moment like that from our childhood.

One important person Oskar meets is The Renter (Max von Sydow), who rents a room from his grandmother (Zoe Caldwell).  He does not talk (whether he can or not is a mystery) and offers to help Oskar on his quest.  I love how he keeps his communication simple, with a thick pen and pad of paper and tattoos on his palms for ‘yes’ and ‘no’.  I think that sort of simple logic draws Oskar to him.  Without saying a word, The Renter reveals levels of intrigue and guilt, that adults will connect far before Oskar does.

This film seems oddly slipped into the Best Picture nominations, I certainly did not expect it.  It only has one other nomination, Max von Sydow for Best Supporting Actor, and to hear his name called in 2012 feels out of place.  I do not find the technical aspects of the film great.  Adults will connect a few plot points before they come to fruition, but I feel compelled to overlook that since this is a child’s journey and mostly his perspective.

What I believe earned this film that last slot is something emotionally poignant and intangible.  Since I saw it on Friday, I find myself thinking back to it often.  I have reanalyzed moments unintentionally throughout the day.  There are small, telling moments that haunt me a bit.  Perhaps the way this film is hard to shake is what put it in the Best Picture category.  I do believe this film is good, very good, but not great.  It is too easy to mistake this to be a film simply about September 11th.  It’s about moving on from it and should serve as hope to anyone after experiencing unspeakable tragedy.

“Isn’t everyone somehow odd?”

If the Academy is looking to award a film that uses one tragic story to better understand a different kind of grieving that people can experience, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close will win the Oscar for Best Picture.