Bit of a light week for movies, mostly because of the Xbox 360 and a trip to Disneyland I took Saturday. (Four rides broke down while we were there. It was pretty hilarious. The best one was the Buzz Lightyear ride stalling when we were at the part with Emperor Zurg, so we just blasted away at him for a couple of minutes and padded our scores, haha. Funniest part was that we jokingly discussed that exact scenario before getting on the ride.)
Also, Molly and I are planning to watch Willow on Friday if anyone wants to join in.
127 Hours (2010): I was actually very impressed with this -- it's my second favorite of the Best Picture lot behind Black Swan. There's some goofiness at the beginning where it pounds the "I LOVE EXTREME SPORTS!!1!1!11" nature of the protagonist into the audience's head, but otherwise, Danny Boyle's directing style brings a lot of tension and energy to a story that does not come off at first as if it would be terribly engaging. The movie deftly mixes flashbacks and Aron Ralston's attempts to free himself from the boulder that trapped his right arm. Also, this is a visually stunning movie -- it takes full advantage of its setting, an absolutely gorgeous, unforgiving canyon.
The Kids Are All Right (2010): I was wary about this because my sister hated it, but I think it's a solid flick. It mostly avoids all the stuff that annoys me about indie dramedies (obnoxiously quirky characters, a certain desperateness that its audience believe the movie to be hip and ironic, etc.), although there's some extraneous stuff I could have done without (the subplot with Laser's dumbass friend, Clay, really goes nowhere). The movie's pretty smart in how it builds its relationships; the interactions actually feel fairly organic. I think the movie definitely benefited from an expanded Best Picture field, but I don't think that's an especially bad thing.
So, now that I've seen the Best Picture nominees, I'd rank 'em like this: Black Swan > 127 Hours > The Social Network > True Grit > The King's Speech > Toy Story 3 > Inception > Winter's Bone > The Kids Are All Right > The Fighter. All of them are good movies worth seeing, though.
On the queue for this week: The Town (2010), Willow (1988), Akira (1988)
Total Movies: 73 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right)
