2010 Oscar Marathon

An Iraq war movie to keep you on edge ... -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
This weekend I watched a lot of movies, couch potato that I am. I watched the much-touted Hurt Locker and didn’t really care much for it. I don’t like the war movie genre, so no disrespect meant to the actors or director. It came to a tedious crawl in places and it overall had a murky, blurred presentation where I can’t follow the action very well. I also have trouble relating to a main character who’d rather do a second tour of bomb-defusing than be back in America with his wife and son.

I also watched Gentlemen Broncos, another offbeat comedy from the people who brought us Napoleon Dynamite. This movie was cute, but clearly no Dynamite -- still funny and easily worth a free viewing when it comes to Lifetime or USA network TV.


A monumental movie -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

Last of all, I watched Precious which I think is, hyperbolically speaking, a monumental piece of movie making. Gabourey Sidibe plays Precious Jones, a girl victimized by poverty, abusive parents and a looks-obsessed, oppressive society-at-large. Her alternative school teacher, Blu Rain and her social worker, Mrs. Weiss can both see something beautiful, creative and potent underneath the disheveled exterior of Precious. They come together to bring her out of her shell and Precious turns her life around -- winning a literacy award and breaking free from her poisonous, destructive mother (played to Oscar winning perfection by Mo’Nique). Precious stands out so well, I honestly see it as a milestone movie that people talk about decades from now. I know that some people objected to the ghetto portrayal of African Americans living on welfare, but the movie was honest in its intentions as well as its delivery. Kudos to Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for helping bring it to fruition.

© 2010 blogSpotter