#Nerdy Thoughts on the Oscars ...

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Aaron Fitzgerald

Most people who know me know that my favorite movie of 2010 was, “Inception.”  But last year we saw a slew of good movies, some of which won and some that didn’t.  From the gritty antics of, “True Grit”, to the insanity that takes over Natalie Portman’s mind in, “Black Sawn.”  It seemed in 2010 that there were filmmakers who were willing to push the boundaries and give good actors roles they could chew on.  How can anyone forget the memorable performance by Christian Bale in, “The Fighter.”  Not only were these superb films but they sported some of the best performances by actors that we’ve seen in years.

 I don’t want to sound like a party pooper but the fact that Christopher Nolan wasn’t nominated for best director seems like a major mistake.  That entire movie was Nolan.  Nothing we saw on the screen wasn’t personally approved by him.  That’s like nominating Mozart’s orchestra but not the composer.

“The Social Network”, for all its positive points, a great script, terrific actors, great direction, to me seemed to suffer from an unsympathetic central character.  “True Grit”, which is extremely faithful to the book and has charming dialogue, is pretty straight forward with no surprises.  I have to say as someone who’s gone crazy, “Black Swan”, captures the mindset of a person going insane almost perfectly.  I haven’t seen the other movies which were nominated for best actress but Natalie Portman did an excellent job.

You can’t write a piece on the 2010 Academy Awards without talking about, “The King’s Speech.”  Definitely a fine film, this work of cinema rests solely on its lead actor.  Colin Firth carries the entire story from beginning to end.  The directing is competent, but personally I would have gone with David Fincher or Christopher Nolan.  Geoffrey Rush is charming as the speech therapist but he doesn’t do as much of stretch as Christian Bale does.  Hands down, Bale stole the show for best supporting actor this past year.

 To me a huge debate is what constitutes an original screenplay.  I think, “The King’s Speech’s”, script was pretty good, but it was based on a true story.  Christopher Nolan’s, “Inception”, script was one hundred percent original in every respect.  As much as I enjoyed, “The King’s Speech”, I firmly believe that, “Inception”, deserved it.  I don’t think there is much argument that Aaron Sorkin’s adapted screenplay deserved the award.  That script was brilliant from beginning to end.

So to recap the awards.  “The King’s Speech”, won four.  Well, of course, the four big ones. Best picture, best director, best actor and best original screenplay.  “Inception”, walked away with four.  It won best cinematography, and let’s admit it, the movie was beautiful.  It also won best sound editing, sound mixing and best visual effects.  Okay, it didn’t win the big ones, but all of these artists for these wins did a superb job on the film.  “The Social Network”, took three Oscars.  For me the first one is debatable, which is best original score.  Personally, I preferred Hans Zimmer’s score for, “Inception.” I think, “The Fighter”, was a good contender for best editing, but, “The Social Network”, was extremely good in that category.  I already mentioned my thoughts on Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay.

All in all a satisfying Oscar year for me.  Some don’t agree, as with any art form, but for me, I enjoyed the nominations and wins.  Congratulations to the winners and the nominees.

#thatisall