Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Geez, this is the first year in a long time I find I haven't seen a single one of the Best Picture Oscar nominations when they're announced. I keep meaning to check out "The Aviator" while it's in town, and I'm excited to see that both "Sideways" and "Million Dollar Baby" are coming to my neck of the woods Friday, which means I get to spend a lot of this weekend in darkened theaters. Of the other two nominees, "Ray" comes out on video on Feb. 1 so I'll see it then, and the "Peter Pan" riffs of "Finding Neverland" don't interest me at all.

Blame my cinematic ignorance this year on the baby, busy work schedule, lack of money and lots else going on in the chaotic life right now -- it's far easier to pop in a DVD than take a trip to the theater it seems. The superb and, of course, totally overlooked "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" is the last movie I took the time to make a special theater trip for. A few scattered impressions on the nominees, though -- great to see Kate Winslet recognized for the amazing "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a movie too trippy to get any other big nominations, apparently. Also good to see Jamie Foxx tapped for his great turn in "Collateral."

Some years, I feel "plugged in" to the whole Oscar madness mania, and can tell you who's been snubbed and who hasn't. But 2004 just seems like one of those years when the big Oscar movies all passed me by. Still, I'll have to check out "Million Dollar Baby" and maybe "Sideways" this weekend, just to see if they measure up to the hype.

No comments:

Post a Comment