And the Oscar Goes To

I used to go to movies all the time. My dad and I had a standing Friday night date. I saw anything with little to no discretion: the good, the bad, the ugly, romantic comedies. Actually, I did draw the line at romantic comedies; a gal's got to have some standards. Plus, once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.

When kid #1 & kid #2 came, I entered a four-year long movie drought. Correction, I did see one movie: Freedom Writers. But the kids behind me were so loud & obnoxious that I could barely see past Hillary Swank's pearls to the deeper aspects, like, say, the plot. I went home & cried after that one. And not because it was so good.

Full disclosure, I did accidentally see one romantic comedy during that movie hiatus, but only because I was out-voted and, without wanting to cause a big scene, swallowed the bile and reverted to silent judging and forecasting the entire script verbatim long before the characters delivered their lines. That, by the way, is an hour and a half of my life that I will never get back.

But this year, ah, this year, I have seen several movies. And they're current. And most of them have been really, really good.

Here is what I think of several of this year's Oscar noms, in twenty words or less:

• The Fighter--Incredible story, fine acting by Bale & Wahlberg both. Laugh out loud funny and still dramatic.
  
• Toy Story 3--Sentimental favorite. The "memory montage" of Andy before he leaves for college gets me every time.
  
• The King's Speech--Difficult to see HBC in royalty role after her performance in Fight Club; girl's got chops.
• The Town--Jeremy Renner's tattoos do most of the character work; great heist flick.
• True Grit--A true favorite. Bridges is brilliant and Damon, as always, plays a fantastic self-deprecater.
• The Kids Are Alright--Wasn't. Blech.
• The Social Network--I'll bet Mark Z wishes he were the Jesse Eisenberg cool-quick-witted-some-people-think-I'm-a-nerd-but-I'm-misunderstood version. Justin Timberlake as Napster founder is poetic.
• How to Train Your Dragon--Recycled theme, but super cute Hiccup with his, "You just gestured to all of me."
• Inception--Interesting movie, kind of Matrix-y. Read a review that said it had several plot holes; I'd never find 'em.

After watching The Social Network, I wondered who would play me in a movie of my life. I think it would have to be Renee Zellweger. The chubby version. And Aaron? Dave Matthews. The skinny version.

I don't know how each film and/or actor will fare at the Oscars, but it's been a great year of movie-going.