Movies The Oscars Missed

I am disappointed in the Oscars this year…as I am every year. The Departed is a good movie, but it was not the best movie, it was not the best directed, and I nearly threw up in my mouth when it won for editing. Here are some films that were overlooked that I reccommend you rent while we all wait for 300 and The Host to be released.

• Hard Candy - my pick for best movie of the year, best actress of the year for Ellen Page, and Patrick Wilson deserves at least a nom. This film was not overlooked as much as strenuously avoided. Dealing with the topic of an online predator of teenage girls was bad enough — as the film develops into an abstracted, but brutal, torture scenario it became easily avoidable for the Academy. Still if you have the will power to make it to the end you will be blown away that these two actors can so powerfully propel a film.
• Stranger Than Fiction - Will Ferrell joked about it in his song at the Oscars and he may not deserve an Oscar for this particular film, but he wasn’t bad and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Emma Thompson were incredible. The true high note, though, was the script. Zach Helm’s writing is almost as clever as Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation) and almost as touching as Guillaume Laurant (Amélie) and fans of either will enjoy it.
• Block Party - Dave Chapelle undoubtedly put together the best party of the year and this concert/documentary film delivers on every level.
• Awesome; I F*ckin’ Shot That! - speaking of concert films, this film may be just for Beastie Boy fans but it really was awesome. (How can you tell if you’re enough of a fan to rent this movie? Name the Beastie Boys DJ and keyboard player.)
• The Devil and Daniel Johnston - this may be for Austinites only, but the story of Daniel Johnston is hard knock and touching, plus the scenes from old school Austin music venues inspires nostalgia.

300 does come out next weekend, so be sure to go see it. It’s the Matrix all over again. A new way of delivering cinematic grandeur with an engagingly powerful if historically inaccurate story.

Posted by etrigan at February 27, 2007 1:30 PM

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