Academy Awards 2009

Hello, to all you readers out there. It has been way too long since I wrote in here. Please remember that I profess to be a writer not an editor so ignore spelling and grammar issues please; just enjoy. I simply hope to inspire you to see any or all the movies even if just in the brief moment of your minds while reading my reviews. There is more to movie critique than bashing actors, writer and directors. OK, now off my soapbox and onto the task at hand: The nominations were announced back on January 22. It is one of the best nomination years in recent history. One surprise is that Clint Eastwood wasn't nominated for Gran Torino. I have heard mixed reviews about it and will withhold final judgement until I see it but I am happy that a movie he directed (The Changeling) got a lead actress nomination for Angelina Jolie. I'm not usually a big fan of Ms. Jolie's but she was amazing in that role. The other amazing role I saw was Richard Jenkins in the Visitor. That was an amazing film in how the main character grew from the beginning to the end of the movie. A really good story showing real people and a topical issue (immigration) in a not lecturing but heart-feeling way. From my interest in the Oscars, I knew to keep an eye out on the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations as a possible precursor to the Oscars. In that aspect, I was not surprised to see nominations for Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Wall-E. Nor was I surprised to see Heath Ledger get a posthumous nomination for his role in the Dark Knight. Usually the lesser known categories, like Best Documentary Feature has at least one film I've heard of but not this year. I guess, Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock were busy doing other things (bashing Bush or eating cheeseburgers, etc.) Stay tuned and check back to this blog often for my opinion about all the nominated films that I see. Above all, please enjoy this blog and either agree or agree to disagree with my opinions.