Best Picture Nominees

True Grit:

-Open ending where the goal isn't achieved

-Violence was not overwhelming but effective for the genre

-Still enjoyable despite being a Western

Toy Story 3:

-Too many "sad" scenes

-Incinerator scene was surprisingly scary (though you knew they'd be okay)

-New characters at the day care were fun

The King's Speech:

-Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter were great

-I liked how it focused in on the king's stutter

-The relationship between the king and speech therapist was a little overdone

Inception:

-Typical blockbuster action movie

-The open ending was great and unexpected in American movies

-Ellen Page's character was a cheating way of getting info to the audience

Winter's Bone:

-Bleak, surreal setting

-The lawlessness and violence was dark and shocking

-A truely artistic film; not meant to make a lot of money or be just for entertainment

The Social Network:

-Flashbacks from the court scenes were annoying but effective

-Makes you sympathise with every character/see their good and bad sides

-Storyline is interesting because it is relevant



1. The King's Speech - Though this film comes across in many ways as another film about royalty and how their lives aren't perfect, it is different in the way that it focuses on one specific topic: the king's stutter. If it had been a film about the king's life, for example, it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting. By focusing on such a specific item the moviemakers were able to concentrate on artistic elements instead of necessary story elements, like the bleakness of the speech therapist's office. In addition, there is a reason they keep making films about royalty; they're usually very good. Colin Firth did a great job as the king by acting in soubtle ways to reflect his quiet but internally struggling character. Also, it is nice to see Helena Bonham Carter playing something other than a dark fantasy movie character. The one element that felt overdone was the relationship between the king and speech therapist. I would have prefered if the film focused on the king himself. Though this movie isn't perfect, it was slightly more interesting than the other Oscar nominees, which is why I ranked it first. None of the movies were perfect, but this film had the most going for it.

2. True Grit - I was worried about seeing this film because I do not do well with graphic violence, but the violence in this film was effective and appropriately reflected the Western genre. However, the film was a modern twist on the typical Western film in that the hero or protagonist is a fourteen-year-old girl and she never fully achieves her goal in the end. If it had been a straightforward, cliched Western film, it wouldn't have been so enjoyable. The focus on the characters rather than the storyline made the film more relatable despite the setting being a while ago. I really liked how this film was an enjoyable Western (a term I usually consider an oxymoron) and if I could, I would tie it as #1 with The King's Speech.

3. Winter's Bone - What I liked most about this movie is that it is not the typical blockbuster, meant solely to entertain and make money, kind of film. Instead, it was meant to be truely artistic, with the focus being on a virtually unknown part of America and the struggles that exist there. The storyline is meant to inform the audience and to make them think about a world where everyone is virtually cut off from the rest of civilization. The setting was very bleak, with every scene consisting of dark, grey colors, making the film feel like something was bound to go wrong, and there were bound to be secrets hidden everywhere. This was exactly the case. Because of its unique topic and how well the cinematic elements fit with this topic and storyline, this was a very effective film. Overall, this film isn't extremely captivating but its artistic, unconventional style made it stand out. For this reason, it has a higher ranking.

4. The Social Network - This movie captivated my interest because the topic is relevant. The creation of Facebook seems like a boring idea for a story, but because Facebook has become part of so many people's daily routines, it is automatically interesting to see how it began. In order to keep the pacing interesting, the film takes place in flashbacks, which I found annoying since I was much more interested in the creation of Facebook than the court cases, but I can see how this made for a more captivating movie, since the flashbacks created some improvised action for an otherwise slow storyline. Another decision that was made to compensate for the slow plot was how in depth every character was. Every character had some flaws and some strengths, so the audience understood and sympathized with each one. However, the flashbacks and slower storyline cause this movie to land somewhere in the middle of my rankings.

5. Inception - This film seems to be in a different category than the last four movies because it is the most like a typical, blockbuster action movie. It uses less of the artistic choices than the other four movies and focuses instead on special effects to captivate the audience. Though the concept of traveling into dreams is confusing, the film sort of used a shortcut to explain it with Ellen Page's character; because her character was new to the team, she would automatically need the concept explained to her, thus making it easy for the moviemakes to explain the concept to the audience. The one moment where this film most strayed from the typical action movie was with its open-ended last scene, where we never learn if the totem will fall. I liked this ending because it provoked, if somewhat shallow, discussion. This film is lower on my list because, overall, it comes across as another action movie, created by Hollywood for the sole purpose of making money.

6. Toy Story 3 - This was definitely a cute children's movie, but I did not see much significance beyond that. Instead, it felt fake- like the "sad" scenes were used as an easy way of appealing to an audience. In addition, there were way to many of these "sad" scenes. One conclusive, somewhat sappy ending would have been enough. However, the scene where the toys are almost burned in the incenerator was over the top and pushing it for a children's movie which, strangely enough, I enjoyed. The highlight of the film for me was the new toys and their fun personalities, but these characters were overpowered by the annoying depressing scenes, which I have already complained about enough. This film lacked the element I most enjoy in children's movies, which are fun, silly, colorful, and happy characters and storylines, which is why it lands last on my list.