Jennifer Lawrence, nominated for Best Actress at age 20, in Winter's Bone
After two and a half weeks of tracking down Best Picture nominees, my road to the Oscars is coming to close. While I wish this trilogy had a third installment as triumphant and complete as The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it’s looking like it’s going to be about as satisfying as The Matrix Revolutions. What this means is I was not able to view all ten films, not even True Grit. Now I know what you’re thinking: this is what I get for not liking Inception. I acknowledge that. However, I did manage to see two more movies this week, bringing my total nominees watched to six out of ten. While I missed out on Black Swan, True Grit, The King’s Speech and The Fighter, rest assured that Racine Oxtoby will be picking up my slack and providing her own opinions on which of those movies is any good.
Now, let’s talk about the movies that I did manage to see: Winter’s Bone and The Kids Are Alright.
Winter’s Bone, an independent film directed and co-written by Debra Granik, was a bit of a surprise nomination this year. Generally speaking, it’s the kind of movie that usually slips under the Academy’s radar and gives movie aficionados more to complain about. Not only does this movie deserve its nominations, it’s actually unlike anything else I’ve seen this year. Winter’s Bone is set in a heavily impoverished area of the Ozark Mountains.
The movie follows the story of Ree, a teenage girl who is raising her two younger siblings. When her meth-cooking father jumps bail and puts their house up for bond, she has to find him or she and her family will lose their home. It’s been nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. Will Winter’s Bone win Best Picture? Let me put it this way: if it does, then the Awards have changed. I don’t think it will for a number of reasons, mainly Academy politics and the fact that it lacks star power. This is a grim, honest film; there is no melodrama here. If it won the Oscar, the producers would just give it back, as if to say, “Winter’s Bone don’t need your fancy award.”
Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes both received nominations for their performances, and rightfully so. Truth be told, I really want Lawrence to win Best Actress. Ree is unflinching and unwavering in her quest (if you can call it that; she probably doesn’t go a mile from her home) to find her father. She’s the only tough female lead I’ve seen that I completely believed from start to finish. The scenery is devastating; everything seems to be grey, dried up, cheap and abandoned. The moods of the characters are as cold, gnarled and withered as the dead forests around them.
Oddly enough, I think this movie is much more enjoyable in retrospect than to watch. During my viewing, I barely moved in my seat, and it wasn’t until I reflected on it that I realized I’d enjoyed it. Winter’s Bone is hardly a popcorn movie as the plot progression might not please everyone, but see it for Jennifer Lawrence’s performance.
Speaking of performances, Mark Ruffalo’s performance in The Kids Are Alright was awesome. While I doubt he’ll grab Best Supporting Actor, the nomination is well-placed. In fact, everyone was awesome in The Kids Are Alright except for Laser, who got annoying quick, mainly because he clashed with Mark Ruffalo’s character every chance he got. Also, his name is LASER, for the love of God.
The Kids Are Alright, a film about a lesbian couple and their two children who meet their respective sperm donor and father, was nominated for four awards. These included Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.
Once again, I have to say “no” to Best Picture on this one, even though I liked this movie. I really did. Best Original Screenplay is a possibility though. The script is quite good and there are some very funny moments. Humor is exemplified by scenes including when Julianne Moore’s character fires one of her employees because of his smile, and when her daughter Joni (played by Mia Wasikowska) comes home drunk one night and plainly insists that she isn’t. I’d call it a feel-good movie, just about the polar opposite tone of Winter’s Bone. I recommend it, but keep in mind there’s tons of nudity. Seriously, do not watch this with your parents, or in public for that matter.
After three weeks and six movies, the Oscars are only a week away. On February 27 the eighty-third Academy Awards ceremony will air, and (shameless plug incoming) I will be tweeting all throughout the show. While I encourage everyone to watch, don’t feel obligated to sit through the whole thing. The Awards have always been a little too long, and they seem to get a little bit longer each year. Last year it ran three and half hours, but it was totally worth seeing that crazy lady rush the stage and steal the winner of Best Documentary’s speech time. I don’t know if anyone’s ever been beaten to death with an Oscar, but Roger Ross Williams looked like he was pretty close to trying. Don’t remember that? That’s why I suffer through the boring parts of the awards (and believe me, there are boring parts) every single time. So remember to tune in on Sunday. Oh, and skip the pre-show, it’s nothing but a bunch of hens with microphones squawking about how crazy Helena Bonham-Carter’s dress is this year. •
