2KFaith
  • 21st Century Faith

Oscars 2014

3/2/2014

3 Comments

 
Picture
Every year the Oscars are one of the top viewed television events that highlight many of the best and brightest films from the previous year. Usually these are not summer blockbusters full of explosions that make $ millions but rather topical or dramatic movies that deliver a message. For all of you that have missed out I’m going to give you my rankings with brief spoiler free reviews.

1. Nebraska
My personal favorite movie of all the best picture nominees. It is about an older man played by Bruce Dern who has won the mail order sweepstakes for a million dollars and aims to claim it by making his way from Montana to Nebraska and bonds with his son in the process as well as reconciles his past. I loved it because it is all about relationships which can be ugly, sweet, bitter, humorous and loving just like life.
Content Advisory (from the always useful IMDB page)

2. 12 Years a Slave

Is the pick for best picture nominee and I believe would be a major upset if it did not win. It is the true story of a free black man  (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) living in the northern United States in the mid 1800’s who is a professional musician and family man who is abducted and sold into the south as a slave for twelve long years. This is a very difficult movie to watch as it looks at slavery in all of its gruesome details. Yet it is important at the same time for us a country to remember how far we have come and of course the many areas we still have to grow for racial equality. Tough and powerful, definitely not a date night movie but rather fosters empathy and soul searching.
Content Advisory

3. American Hustle

Out of all the best picture nominees for 2013 this is easily the most fun. It is a crime scene comedy drama loosely based on real events from the 70’s and 80’s. The is a star studded movie with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence bringing outstanding performances across the board. Bale and Adam’s characters are former con artists who are busted and forced to work for the FBI confronting politicians, petty criminals and the mafia. See it for the stars, great acting and fun.
Content Advisory

The middle of the pack:
4. Philomena: True Story of a faithful catholic woman who had extramarital child taken by the Catholic church and the journey to reconnect decades later. Happened to thousands. Insightful, emotional and surprisingly funny.

5. Dallas Buyers Club:True story,  McConaughey, insight into scary times of the 80’s for people with AIDS and big pharma.

6. Captain Phillips: true story, Tom Hanks and Somali Pirates dueling at sea. World wide inequality and suspense.

7. Gravity: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney alone in space! Claustrophobic and suspenseful.

My bottom two movies out of the nominees are not bad movies in the sense of bad writing, acting, directing etc. but rather the subject material they take on.

8. Her
A futuristic sci-fi movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson’s voice. In a not too distant future technology is completely immersive so much so that Phoenix’s character develops an unlikely relationship with his new advanced AI operating system.

The reason I did not love this film is because it hits too close to home for what the future may hold. I am not the most optimistic about the future primarily due to climate change but if that does not have the feared dramatic results this movie seems like a very realistic possibility especially as we live more and more of our lives online and people in Japan are already marrying video game characters! It may be a brighter future than global economic crash and mass extinctions but I am not loving it.

9. The Wolf of Wall Street

If Her is a future that frightens me The wolf of wall street is a present that enrages and scares the hell out of me. It is rare that I will not sit the entire way through a movie but I made it a little over halfway through Scorsese’s take on wall street which is based on actual accounts. To summarize Wall street is a boy’s club fueled by greed, testosterone, crack and prostitution. It used the F word over 500 times and in many cases is glorified pornography that I am sure was close to receiving an NC-17 rating.

The terrifying thing about this is that many of our “best and brightest” have gone into this industry rather than something less soul crippling because of the promised rewards. Jordan Belfort the character who Leonardo takes on served 22 months in prison but now walks free while our prisons swell to record amounts with non violent poor. WTF!?

Also it is worth noting that five of the nine movies pass the "Bechdel test". For those of you unfamiliar to this term it is very low bar used to measure movies
to see how they value women characters. Essentially it asks three things: Does the film have at least two named women? Do they speak to each other? And do they speak about something that isn’t a man? Doesn't seem too tough right? You can probably guess which ones do NOT: Wolf, Her, Captain Phillips and Gravity (not many characters).

I didn’t want to end with the Wolf of Wall Street so instead I’ll share my two favorite movies from 2013 neither of which were nominated for best picture.

About Time
Has it all romance, time travel, great acting, a lil cheese, and funny moments mixed with the tear inducing. It teaches us to cherish the most important things in life which are relationships with those we love. Time is always slipping through our fingers and you never know how long we have with those who really matter.
Content Advisory

Before Midnight

The end of a dramatic trilogy 20 years in the making. Before Sunrise (1995), and Before Sunset (2004) set the scene for this movie where Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy’s characters now have children but are still an everyday intriguing couple in love. See all three! Be forewarned though these are almost completely dialogue driven movies if that’s your cup of tea dive in but start with the first one.
Trailers for all three

So what do you think!? Do you agree? What are your picks out of the nine nominees or faves from all of 2013?
3 Comments
Stew
3/2/2014 10:34:31 am

Always enjoy your take on life and culture. Now I actually want to see Nebraska! Of the films I've seen, Her is my favorite. This may be because I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack (opening with The Breeders reeled me right in). I liked the commentary about our evolution into a more virtual society. There is something in all of us that longs to be understood and loved. What was interesting is that the affair felt real! It's also one of the more accurate takes on a relationship that I've seen- honeymoon phase, passive-agressive tension eventually turning into something beautiful and then a heartbreaking end. Excellent writing, ambience and perfect music.
Throughout history it's hard to argue that we as humans have made everyone feel important and loved. If we aren't filling that space for each other, then it is no wonder people live online with second lives. It actually inspired me to connect more with people around me. Plus that moon song, come on. VWP (very white post)

Reply
Jared
3/3/2014 10:12:08 am

Hey Stew! I'm glad you liked my post. I'm sure it didn't hurt that the director of Her is a skateboarder (o:. I totally see what you're saying and for the most part agree it is very unique to see how the complete transition in a digital relation progresses. I'm just fearful that this is a real possibility and in the end it kind of left me hollow. Def good music though. (o:

Reply
Stew
3/3/2014 01:47:40 pm

haha...yeah I suppose went in a little biased, but Her is still not quite as good as his masterwork Fully Flared! http://vimeo.com/18736090




Leave a Reply.

    Author

    My name is Jared I am an individual that struggles with faith in the 21st century. I find great meaning & joy from religion and spirituality yet also conflict & confusion in this pluralistic world full of suffering. This blog's aim is to examine and discuss current spiritual and political issues informed by an LDS, Christian and Buddhist background.

    Picture
    Sites I enjoy
    Adbusters
    AskMormonGirl
    Beliefnet
    Buddhanet
    Democracy Now
    Explorations in Faith
    Feminist Mormon Housewives
    Grist
    IGN
    The ID Project
    Mormon Movie Guy
    Mormon People
    Mother Jones
    N4G
    On Being
    Patheos
    Politico
    Red Letter Christians
    Religion Dispatches
    Sojourners
    Ted Talks
    Tree Hugger
    Urban Faith
    Cool Podcasts
    All Souls Unitarian
    APM: On Being
    Buddhist Geeks
    Homebrewed Christianity
    Hypothetical Help
    Intelligence Squared
    Left, Right & Center
    Mormon Matters
    Tara Branch
    The Good Fight
    Trinity Mennonite
    Zencast
    Books I'm Reading
    Find me on Goodreads
    Games I'm Playing
    Borderlands 2 (ps3)
    Bravely Default (3ds)

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.