The Busiest Time Of The Year

Yes, that is correct. February is the busiest time of the year for me. At the end of January the Oscar nominations are announced and I have exactly 4 weeks to watch all the films. I am a huge film fan. One of my all time favourite things to do is watch a great film, ideally in the cinema. A film is a great film to me if I get completely immersed in the action and the world created on screen, similar to a good book where you don’t even notice you are reading anymore.

Now, the Oscars are not the be-all and end-all of good films. In fact most times they are infinitely disappointing in their choices. I still love watching the award ceremony. Not just because of the red carpet bit. Though endless possibilities for snarky comments regarding outfits may be a big part of the whole appeal. When it comes to judging the award choices however knowledge is key. Only if you have witnessed the nauseating work of cinematographer Oliver Wood in The Bourne Ultimatum, wept along to the score of Brokeback Mountain and were completely astonished by the incredible performance of Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood can you truly appreciate the outrage that follows certain decisions of “The Academy”.

And let’s be honest here, being outraged about the decisions is so much more fun than agreeing with them.

A lot of the nominated films are not available to view in Europe yet and some categories such as Short Film or Documentary (Short Subject) are hard to track down in general. In order to still come up with an eligible list to be watched by February 27th I have downsized it to “proper” films and accepted the fact that I may not be able to watch all of them in time.

This year I have already seen 12 out of a list of 38. That’s not too bad. Especially considering that I absolutely will not watch 2 out of the remaining 26. I watched the trailer for The Tempest. And Tangled? Really? Not gonna happen. I am fine not ever having watched these films.

Here are the films I have seen so far, including a one line review.

• Inception – Clever and fascinating with a bit of Matrix “What just happened?”-emotion mixed in. Brilliant, though!
• The Kids Are All Right – I loved this film. The cast, the cinematography and exactly the right amount of funny and sad moments.
• The Social Network – Fast paced college/computer nerd/modern day conspiracy storyline that looks incredible and made me wish I had billions.
• Toy Story 3 – I am a sucker for Toy Story and this is no exception, doesn’t compare to Wall-E or Up, however.
• The Town – Yeah, all right, I’ll admit it: I love Baffleck in this, well written and executed, too.
• Rabbit Hole – Somewhat bland delivery of a good story, Nicole’s face does not move, Diane Wiest and Sandra Oh’s performances all the more so.
• Blue Valentine – Incredible honest and wonderful film that I found really hard to watch on an emotional level.
• Alice in Wonderland – Being a Tim Burton fan I loved everything about it, especially Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – Again, being a secret but giant fan of the Harry Potter films (never read the books) I loved this.
• Tron: Legacy – Meh. (That actually is my one line.)
• Salt – Somewhat mediocre, I just expected more.
• Iron Man 2 – Love Iron Man, love Robert Downey Jr., real good entertainment.

Tonight I will see Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter”; “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” are scheduled for next week – it’s all happening! (Look how I shoehorned that Almost Famous quote in there – another one of my all time favourite films.)

Please tell me I am not alone in this? Do you feel the same unstoppable urge to watch all these films? I know a few people who do, so don’t leave me hanging. Especially when it comes to opinions on the films you have seen. Discuss!

To celebrate the sunny weather we are having at the moment please enjoy my recently blossomed hyacinths that are smelling quite lovely right now.