THE HURT LOCKER
Very involving--gripping, for the most part--and yet curiously unmoving. While the whole cinema-verite style was immediate and jarring, I can honestly say that I didn't feel bombarded the way I do with most action movies. Kathryn Bigelow is one of the best action directors working today, and I hope she wins Best Director. But there's no over-reaching story or plot, we're just following this unit wondering if everyone will make it to the end of their tour of duty. It's nice that they weren't trying to layer on a lot of personal drama, but without that the characters--particularly the lead character--don't seem engaging. Vivid and immediate, but impersonal. Still a great visceral experience.
AVATAR
Everybody is complaining that the story is insipid and hippie-dippie. And it is, but it's in the service of a dazzling and imaginative fantasy. It's notable that of the nine Oscar nominations it has received, Best Screenplay isn't one of them, which is highly unusual. Not that I think it deserves to be, but nobody was criticizing UP for its story. Anyway, this is an exciting and inventive movie that people will be watching for years to come, and I think it deserves Best Picture.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Pure Tarantino--and its greatest strength may be its greatest weakness. His genre movies all always about the movies as much as they are the genre itself: this World War II movie of his isn't about World War II, it's about World War II movies. Hell, the plot revolves around the screening of such a movie. There are some great scenes, and Christoph Waltz is the odds-on favorite to take Best Supporting Actor, but I don't think this one is likely to pick up many more, other than maybe Best Original Screenplay. I'll be laughing my ass off if this is the spoiler between AVATAR and HURT LOCKER, and Tarantino gets the Best Picture Oscar he should've gotten for PULP FICTION.
UP
This is the movie I probably have the fewest problems with, among all the contenders. It's a great kids movie, but works equally well for adults. The youngster doesn't outsmart or out-talk his elders, and not every other joke is some pop-culture reference.
UP IN THE AIR
Starts out strong, does OK, then ends weak. I like the characters, I like the set-up (I couldn't help thinking, a friendlier and less obstrusive Tyler Durden). But what's the point of this movie? To deconstruct the life and values of a man on the road? The reviews I've read all tout this movie as being a sign of our times, but I don't see that. FIGHT CLUB had a lot more to say about our cultural values.
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE
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