Okay, true to form, Deana and I have furiously started (as always, a bit late) our Academy Award viewing.  I may have mentioned this last year, but finding some movies is a bit more difficult in Dallas than it was in California, but we remain hopeful!

Plan of attack this year is similar to previous years – Best Pictures for sure, as many documentaries and foreign films as possible, and throw in some awesome actors and actresses.  Let the games begin!

Today, we went to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  This film is up for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Max Von Sydow).  It also gets, if you follow the news, the biggest gasp as it has been thoroughly thrown out by critics in general.  All I really knew about this movie before heading to the theater (and really, I thought we were going to see The Artist, so there you go…..) was that Deana had mistakingly told me she wanted to see the “movie that Robin Williams is in”.  (Note:  she didn’t think he was in it, she just said the wrong name.  :))  So, I went in pretty open minded.

129 minutes later, and probably 14 napkins worth of nose blowing, I was in shock.  I expected SOME sadness, as I should have admitted I knew 9/11 was involved, but I SOBBED through this movie!  And it was not so much the story that got me there, but it was the amazing acting, especially of Thomas Horn as the 9-year-old trying to make sense of things and Max Von Sydow.  Incidentally, Max doesn’t say ONE WORD in this film, and yet he communicated SO much!

This is a heavy film for sure.  Since it involves “the worst day” of 9/11, emotions (at least for me) were easy to feel.  If you are having a bad day or need a pick-me-up, this is NOT the movie for you!  But if you’re interested in real emotions, real confusion, and if it’s okay that you won’t have all the answers……coupled with some amazing acting, see this moving!

Moneyball was viewed in the comfort of our home thanks to the amazing Verizon Fios technology we possess.  This movie has more nominations; Best Picture, Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), and Best Adapted Screenplay.  This was a moving story based on real events related to the Oakland A’s and GM Billy Beane.  It was realistic and I do have to say Jonah did a great job (and kudos to him today for losing so much weight!).  But I tell ya, I spent more time googling Billy on my iPhone to read his biography because, well…..I was kind of bored.  I mean, the movie seemed disjointed in a few places, Brad Pitt (who still looks pretty good, btw) seemed like……well…….Brad Pitt and not Billy, and I don’t know.  Baseball?  I’d rather remember the Titans.  But to be fair, having just seen Extremely Loud and having such a strong emotional reaction, I may be reacting a bit hard on Moneyball.

For new readers to my recaps, I will share my “votes” once I’ve seen everything.  But as of right now, Extremely Loud has taken the lead.