Posted under Culture & Media & Movies & Sports
The Oscar nominations are out. Yawn. Largely another year of Academy naval gazing with complete disregard to what audiences actually like and go see.
The two best movies of the year were, without a doubt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Warrior. Drive was also very good. Rise was a very pleasant surprise because I wasn’t expecting much except a routine summer action movie and what I got was a very human story that only became the man vs. ape drama that you see in the commercials at the end. On the other hand, Warrior is the only MMA themed film that actually lived up to its pre-hype among fans of mixed martial arts. Even knowing the very unkept secret of the basic plot (two brothers) and acknowledging the highly implausible scenario (a high stakes tournament that lets in scrubs) the movie grabs you and doesn’t let you go. The fight scenarios at the climax are Rockyesque in their effectiveness. At least Nick Nolte got a best supporting actor nod.
I wouldn’t argue that there is a one to one correlation between movies that are commercially successful and movies that are good. Rise made more money than anticipated based on extraordinary word of mouth. Warrior underperformed despite being an excellent film because I have determined that mixed martial arts enthusiasts are just not very avid movie goers. Notice that Haywire underperformed this past weekend also. But sometimes I get the feeling that the Academy is snobby for snobby’s sake. It is snobby just based on general principles. Why no love for Rise which garnered critical and viewer praise and happened to make a lot of money?
Matt Weber on 24 Jan 2012 at 7:04 pm #
I’ve not seen the two you mention, or Drive.
On the list, I’ve only seen The Help (sort of), Moneyball, Midnight in Paris, and War Horse. Out of those 4, I’d give it to War Horse without much thought. In general, the award tends to be heavily biased towards “character dramas” at the expense of every other type of movie.
C Bowen on 24 Jan 2012 at 9:10 pm #
Red;
I saw Apes last night by chance, via netflix delivery. It was solid story telling, subversive and expansive in questions of bio-ethics with a touch of theology–the protagonist “father” who gave Caesar knowledge and raised him, and then the sub-plot of unleashing a virus, again what the “father” created.
Quite rewarding for a Hollywood film, and agree, a nomination would have seemed to make sense.
Kirt Higdon on 25 Jan 2012 at 1:54 am #
I didn’t see any of the nominated films. Apes was quite good, but the best film of the year was Girl With the Dragon Tatoo. I saw it two days in a row with various family members, all of whom liked it. It amazed me by being as good as the Swedish version, which I had not expected. Also Roony Mara as the girl was the equal of Noomi Rapace and I was pleased to see her get a best actress nomination.
Haywire was a very good movie largely thanks to Gina Carano, who deserves an even better vehicle. The Mallory Kane character should be good for a series.
Richard Channing on 25 Jan 2012 at 4:37 pm #
“The two best movies of the year were, without a doubt, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Warrior.”
The third act of Warrior was fairly weak, with the announcers telling us exactly what we were supposed to get out of it because we were too stupid to come up with it on our own (i.e. Brendan being out of place, just like his music.). Other than that a good movie.
I’d be happy if War Horse won. I wouldn’t complain if Moneyball or The Descendants won.
I really have to question whether those with a vote actually saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or if they saw Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, 9/11 and thought they had to vote for it. It was only the third movie I’ve ever walked out of. It was horrific.
RedPhillips on 25 Jan 2012 at 7:53 pm #
Spoiler Alert: Don’t Read This if You Haven’t Seen Warrior
Richard, my only complaint with Warrior was that the fight scenes leading up to the final, especially the ones with the Joel Edgerton character, were better than the final fight scene. The prelims were Rockyesq. The final was melodramatic. I think they probably struggled with how to pull the final off in a way that would be original and not totally formulaic, but I think they ended up over thinking it.
I drag my oldest son to the restaurant with me to watch UFC pay-per-views, and he is always quick to remind me that he doesn’t like MMA and only goes for the food. Well he saw Warrior with me and even my intentionally MMA skeptical son was cheering like a school girl during the fight scenes.