This year, for once, we’re trying to see all the nominated movies BEFORE the awards, especially since it’s a good crop. This year, we loved The Illusionist (not nominated for best pic), Babel, The Queen (wife loved it more than I did), but the winner so far just may be Notes on a Scandal, which we saw this weekend. Incredible film and performances all the way round. Several really jolting scenes and without bloodshed, car chases and the like. Incredible and believable film. Right now it’s between Babel and Notes in our book. We will soon see Letters from Iwo Jima and the Departed, as well as hopefully Perfume (not nominated for best pic).
Kate Blanchett looked astonishingly beautiful in Notes (she was kind of all beat up and half dying through most of Babel) and Judy Dench really should win best actress - I know Helen Mirren is great and very in vogue these days, but Dench’s performance is perfect and the narration technique works really well here. Highest recommendation. A Philo Four Star
Most of the Oscar nominations will arrive here about six months after the ceremony..if the management of the local multiplex think there might be a profit in showing them.
I hope that La Mirren lifts the best actress award. She is such an amazing actress who appears on TV over here a lot in well written dramas.
My own DVD collection is 99% sub-titled stuff from Europe and Mexico, and various points South.
Not an explosion or special effect in sight..just great acting, cinematography, and above all..a plot.
Cate Blanchett is one of my absolutely favorite actresses.
I was planning to see Notes on a Scandal this weekend, but opted for Babel and The Last King of Scotland
spoiler**
Babel left me depressed for the rest of the day. And what struck me after it was over? The only ones who came out ok in the end were the wealthy Caucasian Americans…
Now, The Last King of Scotland! What a triumph for Forest Whitaker! The film was riveting from beginning to end…
Check the depth of her work - from Shakespeare to “Frasier” (TV) and everything in between, over a span of 40 years, and not all of it in front of the camera; she’s also produced and directed a few as well.
