Winter's Bone - Sleeper?

There's almost no chance I would have sought out "Winter's Bone" if not for the Academy giving out the nomination for best picture. "An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact." (shamelessly stolen straight from IMDB) Wait..no guns, violence, scantily clad nubile women??

Well. It's a great movie and might well walk away with the Oscar in 22 days or so. Jennifer Lawrence has a shot at best actress as well, I suspect, but she would be awfully young to get the nod. Her performance is much different then Portman's but it is compelling. Rather than the tug between good and evil with the vulnerability Portman had to portray, Lawrence plays Ree Dolly and shows great tenacity and courage. She doesn't carry the movie but she more than holds her own.

She needs to provide and protect her family of two sibling children and a mother who's sick, and will continue to be. Her uncle Teardrop (John Hawkes) can't or won't help. Everyone is telling her she has to stop looking, but that means no house for the family. With limited choices, she presses on grimly. The poverty of the film is almost violent. I've never been to the Ozarks and, while I hope there isn't this sort of poverty, I'm shaken to think there probably is.

This film is finely crafted with great pace and feel, as well as fine performances that seem completely believable (well at least to me who's never been within two thousand miles of that world.) There is a realism throughout and the film doesn't seem to embellish much. When someone gets beat up you don't see the acts you just see the results. The story is told without the need for slow motion action sequences.

Wonderful film and well worth seeking out.

Academy Award Nominees

Yep. My bad. I haven't posted in nine days but I do have a good excuse. I've been watching and reading about some/most of the Academy Award best picture nominees. If for no other reason so I can "Pooh Pooh" the choices made with some knowledge of the movie.

The Nominees are:

• "Black Swan" Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• "The Fighter" David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• "Inception" Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• "The Kids Are All Right" Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• "The King's Speech" Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin,Producers
• "127 Hours" Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• "The Social Network" Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• "Toy Story 3" Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• "True Grit" Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• "Winter's Bone" Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Before the nominations were made, I'd seen a measly three of the ten. That's part of the reason I took a short hiatus from the AFI list. I thought "Inception" would be there. It was a great movie with enough plot twists to keep you engaged and it was very enjoyable. I still rave about the movie to many of my friends. I was surprised "The Social Network" made the list. ANYONE saying something like "this is a great movie and will be relevant 20 or 30 years from now!" as they watch it? I mean if you were...then...sheesh. The story is good and the acting is good. It follows the book closely and tells a very interesting story,  but didn't really add much. It shouldn't be nominated for best picture. "Toy Story 3" is great. Fine movie and Pixar has made nothing but great movies.

The movies I hadn't seen when the nomination list came out, but have since, are "The King's Speech", "127 Hours" and "The Fighter". First, "The King's Speech". Colin Firth got a nomination for best actor and it was well deserved. He does a great job and for my money plays a difficult part very well. He nailed the stammer and cadence of George VI (listen to a recording of the monarch's speech). Geoffrey Rush was very entertaining and the rest of the cast at least solid and in some cases marvelous.  Rush has always been a favorite way back to Elizabeth in 1998. Whether or not the movie should have been nominated for as many Oscars as it was...is a topic for further discussion. Do yourself a favour and at least read the story of George V and his sons The Duke of York (George) and the Duke of Windsor (Edward). It will make the movie more enjoyable. Don't worry much about the R rating. It's for a couple. well a few, F Bombs dropped by Firth as part of the speech therapy. It's incomprehensible this film got an R rating.

Danny Boyle's direction of "127 Hours" is great and the movie is solid, but I think a 16mm black and white student-done version of this tale would still be solid. The story is so compelling it would be a challenge to mess it up, I think. Think of how you could make a poor movie of that story.  There is a great style to the film and you can see the touch of the man who made Trainspotting with some quick cuts and unique camera angles.

Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg are both very believable in "The Fighter". I wasn't aware of the story so I didn't catch the many departures from life in the film. The fight scenes are OK at best but, to be fair, since I recently watched "Raging Bull" any fight scenes are going to pale in comparison.  The film is gritty in its portrayal of the poor residents of Lowell MA and Melissa Leo is great.  I would say that Amy Adams did a remarkable job as well.  But the contrast in character from Charlie Wilson's War might have something to do with that.

I'll either watch another of the Oscar Nominees or back to the AFI list in the next couple days.