I'm Back!

I’m a bad blogger. I’m a bad blogger for two reasons:

1) I haven’t actually done any blogging in several months.
2) I haven’t even thought about blogging in several months!

I know, I know, I know… it’s not fair to me as a blogger nor is it fair to you as a reader; however, I can guarantee you that I have been actively watching and analyzing films as well keeping cognizant on the world of costumes during my brief hiatus. Now, what have I been doing these past few weeks? Well, besides working around the clock and keeping up on my studies, I have recently been watching ALL of the Academy Award nominated films for this year. Challenging, I know.

As most of you probably know, the best picture nominations for this year have increased from the standard of five nominations to ten. Why? Well, the Academy hopes that by increasing the number of best picture nominations they will help the general public broaden their cinematic palate and increase box office sales. Oddly enough, this year’s nominations boast an impressive list of box office home runs- all of which need very little help with box-office numbers (excluding the relatively little known indie film An Education staring Kary Mulligan). For the most part, best picture nominations tend to be a fair mixture of well-known blockbusters and esoteric-art house films; however, this year proves to be an outlier to the established equation.

Personally, my pick for this year’s best picture is torn between Disney’s UP and the low-budget Sci-Fi District 9.

I think Up was a charming and entertaining movie for all ages that focused primarily on the importance of love and the power of dreams (a much needed message for today’s emotionally distant and distressed world) and should receive recognition for its ability to make a grown man cry within the first ten minutes of an ANIMATED film!

While on the other hand, District 9 blew me out of the water with not only its intriguing storyline but also its powerful performances and guerilla documentary film style. I find it completely intoxicating that such a powerful film could be done on a mere budget of thirty million dollars, shot in video, and edited on Final Cut Pro (a tool used by most college and high school filmmakers)! This movie impresses with its ability to send a message of universal acceptance without slowing down its momentum and loosing its audience to unnecessary and mooshy speeches about love and acceptance.

While I remain ambivalent towards what I will ultimately choose as my final pick for best picture, I continue to hope that all of you keep up on the latest films! What do you think should win best picture for this year?

You can find a full list of all of the nominees at www.oscar.com