The awards screeners are coming in at a fast and furious pace leaving me little time to watch anything else and while I have a few I still need to watch for the first time, this week I revisited an oldie as well as three others in prep for my year end top ten and my Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice Awards nominations, which are due next Sunday…
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
I came home and watched this immediately after seeing Young Adult after first seeing it back in April 2010 when I posted the chicken salad sandwich scene. Charlize Theron’s character in Young Adult has been compared to Jack Nicholson’s Bobby Dupea in Five Easy Pieces and it’s a good comparison, though, as I’ve already said, Young Adult is a little softer around the edges save one certain scene that serves as Young Adult‘s climax. I also don’t think Theron’s Mavis Gary is as self aware as Nicholson’s Dupea, though that could all depend on your interpretation of the film’s ending.
Rango (2011)
I received a massive stack of screeners recently and of the bunch I decided to return to Rango first. I hadn’t seen it since seeing it in the theater back in March and I enjoyed it all over again. Is it the best animated film of 2011? I am seeing The Adventures of Tintin this coming Saturday so I’ll be able to decide then, but I think I will have to watch Puss in Boots and Arthur Christmas again before I come to a final decision.
The Muppets (2011)
Mah na mah na… I couldn’t help but watch The Muppets again and it proves to be one of those satisfying films that fills a void. You could throw this film on in the background and get as much out of it as you can watching it. I was emailed by someone close to the production recently after including The Muppets on my first Golden Globe predictions for Best Picture (Comedy/Musical) and she was right, this is the only film this year that is both a comedy and a musical… will it win the Globe? Probably not, but it definitely is the most fitting contender for the category.
Moneyball (2011)
This is a really, really good movie and I hope many of you have had the chance to see it in the theater. I also received a copy of Mychael Danna’s score, which I hadn’t really noticed before and haven’t listened to the actual disc yet, but I made sure to pay attention while watching and am now interested in giving it a solo listen. It’s a delicate score with some strong notes and I’m curious as to how it will sound without the accompanying images.
And that does it for me this week… what did you watch?
