My 2014 Oscar Reviews: August: Osage County

I'm attempting to watch all the movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year.  I am going to post my review of each one with how I actually felt about the movie.  I'm not going to give a detailed plot because I'm not amazon and you can easily look there... or imdb... or wikipedia...

 

I was at work the other day and heard some of the old biddies talking about recent movies they watched.  One of them said she watched August: Osage County and thought it was boring.  I would have to agree... but only for the first 15 min or so.  At the beginning, it's hard to get into because it's pointless drivel.  However, make sure you don't give up too soon because it gets better.

My favorite thing about this movie was the development of the characters.  Each one was very well developed, very well acted out and it was easy to understand why they did what they did in given situations.  There were many parts that made me laugh out loud.  Just the way the family dynamic is because they are more of the "typical" American family than the Brady Bunch families of the past.

There's quite a bit of profanity and some sexuality, but it's not really that extreme that I think it would be off-putting to those with delicate sensibilities.

I was really happy to see the mom from The Millers on it.  She did a great job as well.  It was also nice to see Julia Roberts as a non-cutesy character.

Oh, and someone explain to me why any one of the people there didn't turn the air conditioning on!!  Who cares what one person thinks?

My 2014 Oscar Movie Reviews: 12 Years a Slave

I'm attempting to watch all the movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year.  I am going to post my review of each one with how I actually felt about the movie.  I'm not going to give a detailed plot because I'm not amazon and you can easily look there... or imdb... or wikipedia...

 

I had forgotten that this was the movie that actually won best picture until I was talking to my mom about it last night.  I finally got around to watching it during the day yesterday.

It was good.  I hesitate to say "great" because it's one of those movies that leaves you feeling like a horrible person when you're done watching it.  Of course I never owned slaves, but some of my ancestors probably did.  Maybe not... probably not... I don't really know.  But if they did, shame on them.

So, it's another movie based on a true story.   Chiwetel Ejiofor was fantastic. I don't remember who won for best actor, but he probably should have.  Oh, wait, it was Matthew... Mccccblahblah.  Well, that's understandable too... soo...  I liken a black actor playing a slave in a movie to a Jewish actor playing someone in a concentration camp during the Holocaust.  You are realizing how much your ancestors went through and the great unjustices that were done to them.  They were demoralized and treated like dogs, when they were human beings and should have had the same rights as everyone else. It's despicable.

But if you can put aside the revulsion of what you are witnessing, knowing that it is very typical to the time of slavery, it's a good movie.  The acting was very well done, with the villainous characters being very easy to hate.  I wouldn't watch it with your kids, just because of the material.  You might think it will help them learn about slavery, but really... I wouldn't let a kid under 14 watch it.

My 2014 Oscar Movie Reviews: Philomena

I'm attempting to watch all the movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year.  I am going to post my review of each one with how I actually felt about the movie.  I'm not going to give a detailed plot because I'm not amazon and you can easily look there... or imdb... or wikipedia...

 

I had never even heard of this movie before I saw it listed as an Oscar nominee.  So, aside from reading the back, I didn't know what it was supposed to be about.

Basically, this movie was slow and boring.  Another nominee that was based on a true story.  Is it an interesting story?  I guess.  Is it a crazy bizarre unusual going-to-make-your-jaw-drop story?  No.  I'm not really sure what about it made it movie worthy.  Yes, Judi Dench is great at what she does.  Aside from that, there's nothing really wow about this movie.  I fell asleep and had to go back a couple times.  It's not a BAD movie... just ... boring.

My 2014 Oscar Movie Reviews: Dallas Buyers Club

I'm attempting to watch all the movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year.  I am going to post my review of each one with how I actually felt about the movie.  I'm not going to give a detailed plot because I'm not amazon and you can easily look there... or imdb... or wikipedia...

When I watched the Golden Globes and I kept hearing about the nominees from Dallas Buyers Club, I assumed it had to do with a casino or gambling.  I love me some Jared Leto, so I figured I'd give it a try.  When I went to pick it up at Family Video, I read the back and man, was I wrong about the subject matter!!  Soooooooo not about gambling or casino stuff.  It's about a guy with AIDS.

I'm very open minded, so the subject matter didn't bother me at all, I still wanted to watch it.  I think that it is always a good time for topics that highlight discrimination and how we treat people who are "different" as if they are pariahs.  The main character was diagnosed with AIDS at a time when people thought you only got it from gay sex and that it was contagious just from being around people with the virus.

Matthew McConaughey's character is pretty gruff and unlikeable, but he has a good heart and decides to help people instead of wallowing in misery.  McConaughey lost a ton of weight for the role, which usually gives an actor an Oscar nod for that alone.  Jared Leto plays a trans(gender?) woman.  He does a phenomenal job- I almost didn't recognize him.  He's received some backlash from the trans community because they didn't like that a heterosexual man was cast in the part.  I think that's ridiculous.  He didn't write the script and he didn't hold a gun to anyone's head to get the part.  He just played the part he earned as it was thought that he had the range to play the part.  Should we be offended that Peter Pan was often played by a woman on stage?  GET OVER IT.  It's not an insult to the LGBT community (whom I support fully.)

Anyway, back to my thoughts on the movie.  It was very "meh."  I found it very boring.  Yes, it was poignant in how cruel people can be to someone with something they don't understand.  Like I mentioned, I found M.M.'s character to be not that likeable and crass.  

Did I hate it?  No.  Would I watch it again?  No.

My 2014 Oscar Movie Reviews: Gravity

I'm attempting to watch all the movies that were nominated for an Oscar this year.  I am going to post my review of each one with how I actually felt about the movie.  I'm not going to give a detailed plot because I'm not amazon and you can easily look there... or imdb... or wikipedia...

I didn't mind watching Gravity because I like Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and there were frequent references to it in pop culture, on the radio, in jokes and I needed to be in the loop.

I normally only rent movies when they come out on Redbox and even then only with free codes- cause I'm cheap so that's how I roll.  I did however, let my husband convince me to pay to rent it at Family Video the weekend it came out.

It was good.  Was it exceptional?  No.  The plot kept my interest, but the ending seems pretty predictable.  I think the wow factor of the movie that got it the Oscar buzz is that you had the Cast Away theme going on where one person gets stranded after an accident and the entire movie is pretty much a one-man show.  That takes talent to pull off and I thought Sandra Bullock did a convincing job, so kudos to her.

Do I think it's worth the rent?... .... ... ummm... yes?  I mean, it's an easy watch from start to finish, but being trapped in space doesn't bring quite as many entertaining opportunities as being trapped on an island for years like in Cast Away.  If you're looking for something to rent on a slow weekend or rainy day, I doubt you'd be disappointed if you spent the $3.