ALONG COMES MARY

The Academy Awards for the year is in the books! Did you watch? Were your predictions accurate? I had such a great evening with friends & Mike printed us out ballots to mark our picks, I got 15 correct out of 20 listed (Not too shabby), including selecting 12 Years A Slave as Best Picture. Although this is arriving after the fact, I wanted to conclude my previous post telling you my thoughts on the nominated films. We succeeded seeing all 8 before Sunday night & here are my thoughts….

Dallas Buyers Club

Keeping up with some very powerful topics in the list this year, Dallas Buyers Club was no exception. When a loose, fun-loving Texas man collapses at a rodeo & wakes up to be told by Doctors he has AIDS, he soon learns that the new, revolutionary medicine approved by The FDA may not be as trust worthy as one is led to believe. Deciding to carve his own path with how he treats this devastating, fatal disease, he sets his sights on Mexico to receive vitamins & holistic treatment to smuggle back to the states & actually help HIV patients, including a Transgender, played brilliantly by (now) Oscar winner, Jared Leto. Matthew McConaughey  was just as deserving for his win, as well.

Captain Phillips

The somewhat controversial film based on actual events, Tom Hanks shines (as always) in the title role of Richard Phillips; a Maersk cargo boat captain who is forced to play by the rules of Somali pirates who take over the ship & later, kidnap Phillips. This was one of the most intense films to watch (& yes, we watched many), knowing what he & his crew mates endured only afew years ago. I truly hope we see more from the actors who portrayed the gruesome pirates, especially Oscar nominee, Barkhad Abdi. These young men showed some true, raw talent & I hope they continue to grace the screen in years to come.

Nebraska

Of all the contenders, this was definitely the lightest of them. Despite it centers around a slightly demented old man who is convinced he has won a million dollars from a magazine subscription mailer & talks his stressed out son to drive him to Nebraska from Montana to claim his winnings, I at times felt a Little Miss Sunshine vibe from this newest gem of Alexander Payne’s. On their Father-Son road trip, they make a pit stop to where good ol’ Dad grew up & his son gets to meet many of the characters he has heard about over the years. While I was thrilled Lupita Nyong’o got the award for Best Supporting Actress, June Squibb, who was also up for her role as the outspoken, sometimes bitchy, but at the end of the day has a heart wife, would have been my second choice. She was spot-on & I hope I am like her in my senior years 😉

Another treat with Nebraska is the direction of photography that fills this black & white movie. Laughs, tears, memories & a reminder to appreciate your days is what I took away from Nebraska.

Philomena

The somewhat under dog of the Oscar lineup, Philomena tells the story of an Irish woman who is plagued by devastating recollections of the baby boy she had in high school & soon never saw again as the nuns at her school gave him up for adoption. When her daughter meets a BBC reporter, he is captivated by Philomena’s story & they soon embark on an adventure to Washington DC to find her son. What they learn may surprise you, but the moments of self discovery, forgiveness & what the stubborn reporter learns from Philomena, & vice versa, is what made this film so solid to me.

This was a fabulous year for Oscar films & I look forward to carrying on the tradition of seeing each film in the years to come…& I hope you will be along for the fun with me next year! xo