Just For Fun

So basically my life revolves around entertainment, whether it be consuming it, or providing it.  My favorite form of this entertainment happens to be movies, as basically everyone reading this knows.  So I decided to compile a top 10 list.  I kind of stole this idea from my friend Drew.  You can read his here .So without further ado:

10. Hugo:  This nostalgic soon to be classic in it's own right was a wonderful homage to the origins of cinema, told through the eyes of an orphan with a sense of adventure.
9. Like Crazy:  Great chemistry between the two leads.  I really liked that there was no concrete script making the dialogue come across very natural.  It also made me fall in love with Felicity Jones, which is a huge  plus.
8. Crazy Stupid Love:  Ah Emma Stone.  No, but really this was hilarious with a twist that I never saw coming, or expected.  Normally you are prepared for, or are expecting twists in certain movies, even if you don't know what they actually are.
7.The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:  Rooney Mara was great, Daniel Craig was great, and David Fincher never really makes bad movies.  I'm not sure if I preferred this to the Swedish version, I would need another watch of each to make that decision.
6. The Muppets:  "We've got everything that we need, we can be whatever we want to be"  "Am I a man or am I a muppet?"  It was just a good time.  I enjoyed the cheesiness mixed with classic Muppet hijinks.
5. The Descendents:  It made me cry.  I don't normally cry at movies, but something about this one got to me.  Also, all of the performances were great.
4. The Help: Ah Emma Stone.  Well really this was Viola Davis' movie, but I generally was a huge fan.  Can't really say anything negative about it, except that it didn't seem to dig deep enough into the issues it brought up, but in general I really enjoyed it.  I want to read the book, because I hear it addresses my one negative criticism.
3. Bridesmaids: Funniest movie of 2011.  I'm not going to go into the whole, I can't believe girls can be raunchy TOO bit that everyone seems to go into when talking about this movie.  All I will say is that it is hilarious and the cast was perfect.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2: ...I think that is all this needs.  Pretty self explanatory.
1. The Artist:  It takes a tall order to beet the final installment of a franchise that I have been obsessed with since I was 12, but The Artist was just what I needed at the exact right time.  It lived in the period is was honoring and it oozed charisma and magic.  I was on cloud nine throughout the entire thing.  I never wanted it to end, though it had to, and on a note that left me leaving the theatre with a smile on my face that would last hours.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): 50/50, Midnight In Paris,Submarine, A Better Life, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, X-Men: First Class, Drive, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Moneyball

Biggest Surprises: Submarine (coming of age story, that is soon to be a cult classic.  It is awesome and everyone should see it.  It is predictable, but original all at the same time.)  Martha Marcy May Marlene (The Olsen twins have a younger sister with acting talents that surpass both of them combined)

Biggest Disappointments: The Iron Lady, J Edgar, Shame, Cars 2, My Week With Marilyn, One Day) Definitely all of the high profile bio-pics.  Normally I'm into them, but this year they just fell flat with me.  Shame had a lot of hype with really no delivery besides Fassbender's performance, and no I am not talking about his, well you know.  Pixar made a dud, it was better than Cars 1, but not the classics they have come to spoil us with, and Anne Hathaway can do much better (here's to hoping for an awesome Catwomen))

After completing this list I realized how many great films I saw this year.  I really wish I could have made a top 20, but because of my love of tradition (and rules created by myself, which I could have easily broken with no consequences) I decided to keep it a top 10, but with a generous list of honorable mentions (loophole).

I also am pretty crazy about the Academy Awards, which most people already know as well.  It is a dream of mine to win one some day.  I have never actually written that down before, so it feels good to say it.  Anyways, I want to predict the nominations before they are announced this morning.  I am only going to do the 6 categories.  So here goes:

Best Picture
The Artist
Hugo
The Descendents
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Midnight In Paris
The Help
Moneyball

Best Director
Martin Scorsese-Hugo
David Fincher-The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Alexander Payne-The Descendents
Terrence Malick-Tree of Life
Woody Allen-Midnight In Paris

 Best Actor
Jean Dujardin-The Artist
Brad Pitt-Moneyball
George Clooney-The Descendents
Leonardo DiCaprio-J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender-Shame

Best Actress
Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady
Viola Davis-The Help
Michelle Williams-My Week With Marilyn
Rooney Mara-The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Jonah Hill- Moneyball
Albert Brooks-Drive
Kenneth Branagh-My Week With Marilyn
Patton Oswalt-Young Adult

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer-The Help
Jessica Chastain-The Help
Berenice Bejo-The Artist
Shailene Woodley-The Descendents
Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs

So this is the list of who I think will get nominated, not who I want to get nominated.  The hardest two categories were definitely the Supporting Categories, having not scene Albert Nobbs or Warrior.  I went with Patton Owalt with the Supporting Actor category given that I saw Young Adult and he was incredible.  I had to go with Janet McTeer, instead of alternate Melissa McCarthy because McCarthy's performance doesn't seem to be an "oscar" type performance.

Well that's it for my detour into another type of blog.  I hope you had fun.  Now please exit towards the rear of the auditorium and make sure to recycle your 3D glasses in the provided containers.