Blog Archives

Oscar Vault Monday – Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981 (dir. Steven Spielberg)

I love Raiders of the Lost Ark so much. It’s been a part of my life as long as I can remember. I can’t think of a better adventure story and I do believe Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas and Philip Kaufman created something close to perfect with the character of Indiana Jones. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Score John Williams and won four – Best Art Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It also received a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. It was up against Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Reds and winner Chariots of Fire. Of those, I’ve only seen Chariots of Fire and I must say it is one of the most boring movies I’ve ever seen. It really disappointed me. This was another one of those years were the “art” movie won over the popular movie. The thing is, half the time that happens I agree withe the Academy’s decision and half the time I disagree wholeheartedly. This is one of those times where I disagree.

Read the rest of this entry

Jeremy Renner and the Best Actor Race

I’ve yet to see A Single Man or Crazy Heart, mostly due to living in the middle of nowhere, and thus can only comment on the three performances I have seen. I enjoyed George Clooney in Up In The Air, but he was better in Michael Clayton. My opinion on Morgan Freeman in Invictus will come up later on in this post. That leaves Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. And of the three I’ve seen, he has my vote. It’ll be a difficult race for him, but I think he has a chance of pulling it off. He had perhaps my favorite reaction to his nomination when interviewed on Good Morning America yesterday. When asked about his competition, he replied, “I’ve gotta break some serious legs.”

Read the rest of this entry

An Education – An Edifying Coming-Of-Age Film

I finally got to see An Education and absolutely loved it. The one-sentence summary: 16 year-old Oxford- bound British Schoolgirl Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is wooed by the suave, and much older David (Peter Sarsgaard) in 1961 London.

Read the rest of this entry