With Oscar season around the corner it got me thinking about all the movies I’ve seen in the past 6 weeks. I thought i’d do a quick run down of each one giving you the scoop, skinny, and the 411 in case you were wondering about checking them out. I’ll put them in order of how i liked them from least to my favorite. Since this is a blitz lets get to it!

11. The Wrestler- Well this should give you an idea that there are no bad movies on this list. I enjoyed the wrestler a lot and I think that Mickey Rourke gives us a performance that is worthy of actor of the year, but the movie as a whole was just good not great like Mickey’s performance. Go see this one for the great acting but don’t expect the movie to blow you away. Good Story, Great acting.

10. Gran Torino-I think I’m in the minority here because this movie did not click with me like it did everyone else. I enjoyed it but for some reason the script did not sit well with me. I thought the acting felt forced and I found myself critiquing the movie as I was watching it. That is not common for me unless the movie is really stinking it up. Not even a tour de force by Eastwood could save this one. That said I know a lot of folks loved this movie. It has some great moments and some funny parts but was a disappointment in my mind.

9. Coraline- This is a wonderful kids movie.   I saw this because it is based on a book written by Neil Gaiman (stardust, sandman comics)   and I will see anything that  Neil has anything to do with his imagination is immense. I found myself enjoying the film, but it really is a kid’s film. It is a great movie to take a your daughter to as it has a very strong female lead. Gaiman’s fantasy world is brought to life in this 3D vision and it is done so very well. Not a must see movie, but I think if you give it a shot most would enjoy it for a kids movie.

8. The Reader- Well talk about a downer of a movie. You could tell this was a movie that would be up for a lot of awards. It is directed, acted, and filmed wonderfully. You can always tell a top notch film from your regular run of the mill Hollywood fodder. Kate Winslet turns in an incredible performance. As touching as the movie is it seems to fall a little short of completely grabbing the viewer thus it is a bit lower on the list then perhaps it could be. Don’t go expecting a feel good story or happy ending.

7. Underworld- Rise of the Lycans-Did you like part one but hate part two? Yeah me too and you’ll be happy to know this is much more like part one then part two!  The story moves well and is visually great. This movie is everything you want it to be. You could even see this without having seen the other movies I thought it would have stood by itself well.

6. Curious Case of Benjamin Button-  Like The Reader this movie just oozed with Oscar Hopefullness. Great acting great story, shot really well. It is a little long, but you are following a guys life. I remember being very happy with this movie after I saw it. I was engulfed with the story and I felt it was not just interesting but Pitt made his character very compelling.

5. Revolutionary Road-I was a little surprsed to see this movie was not nominated for best film. I’m a big Sam Mendes fan and I’m even bigger fan of his ability to film uncomfortable human moments in a real fashion. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are both on top of their game here. This movie dragged me into their world and made you consider your own life while you looked through the window at theirs falling apart. They have the little house with the white fence but is that fence to keep others out or them inside? As with all of my top five i recommend it highly!         

4. Waltz with Bashir-    Sometimes you see a movie that is highly touted and it ends up being a disappointment.  This is far from the case with Waltz though. This Israeli animation film delivers the goods. I was enthralled with the lead character’s quest to un-repress his war memories. The animation is very good and the way it explores the human psych is wonderful. I left this film feeling like I had seen something very interesting and moving.

3. Defiance- I’m not sure why so many folks seemed not to like this movie because I thought it was pretty awesome. It was a great story with strong acting. The movie itself was a bit long, but the action scenes in it  keep everything interesting. The backbone of the movie is based on a real story and that in itself makes this even more amazing. This is not an action flick though it is really a story about survival of the human spirit.  

2. Slumdog Millionaire- At first I had no interest at all in watching this. I admit the story did not sound interesting to me, but then i realized Danny Boyle (trainspotting/sunshine) directed the movie so that coupled with critical praise allowed me to talk myself into seeing this. I’m glad i did from the music to the ode to Bollywood throughout the movie this was a top notch performance. It was one of the more interesting movies I’ve seen this year and I was engulfed in the story the entire time. I thought most of the movies this year were weak in comparison to the past few years but for me this one deserves best movie nod.

1. Valkyrie- I was so into this movie i found myself wondering if they could actually pull the assassination off even though I knew that was not possible based on History. It shows a very interesting side of World War II that I have not seen in a movie before. Like most the films on this list top notch acting and the directing of the movie was very good. This was probably my favorite movie I saw all year. Maybe not the most artistic, but my favorite.

That’s it Agree or Disagree?  How would you rank them the ones you have seen? Have you seen anything in the past month in the theatre that I haven’t that I should see? I’m curious to see Doubt, Milk, Taken & Frost Nixon. I think my top 6 on this list are must sees. They were that good. Particularly the top three. So that’s it for the movie blitz now you get to play Monday Morning Quarterback and tell me how foolish my opinion is :)

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