Ranking the Best Picture Nominees

The Oscars is a week from today and I couldn't be more excited. Later this week, I will make my predictions but for now I am going to rank the 10 best picture nominees, now that I have finally seen them all. Most of them I have reviewed before but a few I haven't, so a mini review will be included as a refresher. Also, the reviews are written the way I would rank them, from best to worst.

THE SOCIAL NETWORK - All that best picture of the year talk surrounding this film is NO JOKE. It's not just "that Facebook" movie. It's fresh, relevant, fast-paced, witty, clever, funny and a damn good movie, featuring the best ensemble of the year (all under 30!). David Fincher directs the hell out of the memorable script by Aaron Sorkin. Grade - A

BLACK SWAN - A beautiful and disturbing thriller set in the world of ballet, Black Swan is Darren Aronofsky's latest with Natalie Portman giving her best performance ever. Aronofsky is fearless presenting us a thrilling movie about the search for perfection in art. It's delightfully crazy and beautiful, intense and powerful. Grade - A

INCEPTION - The most radically original movie since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inception is a wonderful mindf**k from Christopher Nolan, the man who brought us the brilliant mindf**k that was Memento a few years back. The cast, the story, the effects - everything about this movie is just plain incredible. Also, kudos for that epic hallway scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt which is a blissfully long way from 3rd Rock from the Sun. Grade - A

THE FIGHTER - You know I can't stop talking about the acting powerhouse performance of Christian Bale (and if he gets upset by Geoffrey Rush, it will be a sin). But this whole movie is an amazing character study about the internal and external struggles to never give up. Sure, it's a boxing film (and the boxing sequences are intense and powerful) but it's also a slow burning character drama that gets inside the heads of these working class heroes. Grade - B+

127 HOURS - An infinitely better film than Danny Boyle's last offering (the overrated Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire), 127 Hours is an adrenaline rush that doesn't stop and doesn't quit. With a cast of virtually one man - the crazy talented James Franco - 127 Hours is the kind of movie that burrows into your brain and stays there for days. If it wasn't a true story, there's no way you would believe what this guy went through. Thanks to Franco's brilliant performance, this movie is one you won't want to miss. Grade - B+

TRUE GRIT - I have nothing but good things to say about the latest from the Coen Brothers. The cinematography is breathtaking. The performances are spectacular (especially that of Hailee Steinfeld who I am predicting to upset favorite Melissa Leo). It's a well shot, funny, thrilling, suspenseful Western delight. It's just that after leaving the theater, I was a little underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie immensely. It's a great, enjoyable film. It just didn't hit me and stay with me the way the previous films did. Grade - B

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT - Look, the movie was fine. It's got a solid script and some very good filmmaking, but it's really the performances that make it worth it. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore go toe-to-toe as lesbians in love who deal with their sperm donor (a delightful Mark Ruffalo) showing up and making himself part of their lives. It's a wonderful modern love story with starkly realized characters that you feel like you truly know. However, sometimes it's just a little too Lifetime movie of the week for me. Not that there is anything wrong with Lifetime movies. They just shouldn't be Best Picture nominees. (If you remember, I felt the same about Precious last year and I feel the way about the next movie...) Grade - B-

WINTER'S BONE - Another movie that feels way too much like a Lifetime movie to deserve a place in the Best Picture lineup. I'm not going to lie, the performances here are sensational. In fact, Jennifer Lawrence would be my first runner up to Best Actress winner (finger's crossed) Natalie Portman. She's only 20 now, (she was probably 18 when they filmed) and her performance is so subtle and nuanced, it's like a performance by someone twice her age and with twice her experience. John Hawkes nominated supporting turn is spell binding as well. The movie was just, well, kind of boring. Grade - C+

TOY STORY 3 - Okay, look, I'm not a big fan of animated movies. I'm not going to lie. The last animated movie I truly loved was Beauty and the Beast and that came out when I was something like 7. Since then, the ones I've seen haven't impressed me all that much and I try to stay away from them as much as possible. But I truly did give this movie a chance. It just all seemed a little too pretentious, winky, cheeky, look at how smart we are, to me. I'm fully admitting it's not my thing so take this with a grain of salt but I hated the damn movie until... that ending. That beautiful, sweet, sad, adorable ending which made the whole pile of shit worth it. This movie was a hard D going into those last ten minutes but those ten minutes made things so much better. Grade - C

THE KING'S SPEECH - It blows my mind that such a colossal bore of a movie is going to (probably, but hopefully not) beat The Social Network, one of the most exciting movies of the year, for Best Picture at the Oscars next week. The filmmaking was fine (a bit weird at times... what was with those creepy close ups at the end??). The performances were all very good (especially Firth who was excellent, although, methinks, not as good as Franco, and what the hell with them wasting the talents of Helena Bonham Carter??). There were parts of the movie that were interesting and funny and a little amusing. But all in all? Boring! Really, really, really boring! And pretentious! And, also, really what was with the way they reacted to him finally giving a speech without stuttering at the end?? Like he had cured f**king cancer or something? Geez. Grade - C-

Black Swan

Black Swan is this beautiful yet disturbing thriller set in the world of ballet. It's like a crazy fever dream where there is little room for reality. To say director Darren Aronofsky is fearless is an understatement. This is the man, afterall, who brought us Pi and Requiem for a Dream (which is, arguably, the most depressing movie I have ever seen in my entire life). He has said Black Swan is a companion piece for his last excellent outing, The Wrestler, and I can't say that I disagree. The two films definitely have their similarities - the manic pacing, the behind the scenes feel, the search for perfection, and definitely the endings. However, I think Black Swan is a better film. At the very least, it's definitely more beautiful looking.
Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a dancer in the ballet company who wants to be perfect and strives to be a star. She is a good technical dancer, but lacks passion and intensity. She gets to audition for the lead in Swan Lake and while the demanding, seductive director of the company (Vincent Cassel) thinks she would make the perfect White Swan, he doesn't quite see her as the dangerous and sensual Black Swan. Newcomer to the company Lily (Mila Kunis), however, is perfect for the Black Swan. She's got a back tattoo, for Christ's sake! In the end, Thomas chooses Nina anyway. So, then we get to the good stuff. Nina has to struggle to find her sensuality (Thomas suggest she go home and touch herself). She also has to deal with jealousy from the other dancers and bitter resentment from Beth (Winona Ryder!!!), the aging star who is being pushed into retirement and is none too happy about it. Nina also has to deal with her super over protective stage mother (Barbara Hershey) who treats her like she's 12. To say Nina cracks under all the pressure is an understatement. But what is real, and what is all inside our pretty little ballerina's head? Is she really pulling swan feathers out of her skin? Is Lily really trying to steal her role? Is she really making out with boys at bars and girls in her bedroom? Is she really turning into the black swan she is so desperately trying to find a way to inhabite on stage? Black Swan is a wonderfully thrilling film, trying - and not trying, really - to answer all of those questions.
Natalie Portman is revelatory as Nina. At the beginning, she's meek and naive, sweet, innocent, seeking perfection but never raising her voice. By the end, she's a cracked and broken version of herself - all seduction and intensity and passion. Portman, who is so often rigid in many of her movies, really let's herself become this character and it's her best role to date, by a mile. She most certainly deserves that Oscar come March (sorry Annette Bening!). Mila Kunis is also quite surprising. Best known as comedic Jackie on That 70s Show, Kunis, who looks shockingly like Portman, is all raw sexuality. She's charming, seducing both Portman and the audience. Hershey is perfect as the overprotective mom, watching her sweet daughter transform right before her eyes. And is all of this her fault for pushing her too hard? You can see in her eyes that she wonders the same thing. Cassel is impressive as well as the lecherous director. Then there is my girl Winona! It's so good to have her back in a worthwhile movie. Sure, she's only in it for a few scenes, but they are key scenes and she nails the bitterness of a once hot young thing being pushed into oblivion (oh, wait! the irony!). Portman's Nina wants to steal her lipstick and her earrings to become more like her... and who wouldn't want to be like Winona, the it girl of the 90s, making a long-awaited comeback in a fabulous arthouse film?
To be frank, Black Swan is a beautiful mind fuck of a movie. And, really, what's better than that?
Grade: A