3 down; 2 to go.

I don't know if this has been brought to anyone's attention, but the Oscars are on Monday morning! And whew, fortunately there's a public holiday which means I don't have to fake being sick like last year... (I should have gotten an Oscar myself...).

Anyway, as usual, I'm gearing up but trying to watch all the Academy Awards - involved movies, but namely the Best Picture nominees. Out of the five, I've only had the fortune to watch three; Atonement, NCFOM and Juno.

1. Atonement
This film simply put, is beautiful. So far I've only read about a third of the book, but the movie proves to be a faithful adaptation. I have to say that the acting on James McAvoy and Romola Garai was particularly impressive. Thank god Keira didn't get nominated cause she was mediocre at best, Saoirse ditto. But what really captured me was the story itself, there was good play on the themes of black and white and grey areas, character development was done perfectly and Dario Marianelli does a wonderful job with the score. (For those who have seen this movie, I still wasn't entirely convinced that Briony had atoned for what she had done yet, but I think that provides a certain cachet, the fact that she still hadn't changed from her teenage years.) Just watch it, it's love and drama, set in the 30's (!!!), blends a lot of moral questions and dilemmas, and is just a masterpiece.

2. No Country For Old Men
Rolling on to the next film, the Coen brother's latest concoction. Well this movie will definitely grab the little gold man come Sunday night. I'll admit it's probably way more complex than my callow mind can comprehend but nonetheless I still think it's a tremendous work of art. I suggest though that you watch this with good subtitles, as I was too eager and didn't wait for a good copy, leaving me with crappy subtitles and trying in vain to capture what they say in that damn Southern accent. But the star of this film has to be Javier Bardem. Just thinking about him gives me the chills. He probably should win an Oscar just for that awesome haircut. This movie is really, really, intense. Half the time I had to hide behind my hands.

3. Juno

How this movie got nominated for an Oscar, baffles me. (Then again the Academy did honor Crash, so go figure.) This flick is sweet, and cute at best. It's one of those movies that try to lift your mood when you're down in the dumps, but I don't understand all the attention and revering that has been lavished onto it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not slamming on 'quirky, indie' movies, I thought that The Science of Sleep was a charming picture. But I suppose that this film's purpose is not to be hailed as a masterpiece and snag 8 golden boys. It's a nice movie, the writing was funny, although a bit contrived and I've seen better jibes than those. But, the music was very apt, and the scene at the end was just perfect, with the singing and the track team running past them.

Whewwwww! Now, I'm gonna go watch Eastern Promises, Michael Clayton, American Gangster... How am I supposed to finish my add maths?