Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 2010

The Contenders:

James Franco: 127 Hours
Javier Bardem: Biutiful
Colin Firth: The King’s Speech (winner)
Jesse Eisenberg: The Social Network
Jeff Bridges: True Grit

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 2010

The Contenders:

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech (winner)
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 2010

The Contenders:

127 Hours
The Social Network (winner)
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Saw: Extreme Sports Edition

Film: 127 Hours
Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on laptop.

Writing about 127 Hours is going to be difficult for me for a couple of reasons. The first is that I have a real problem with films that involve physical confinement, and since our main character gets trapped 17 minutes in to a film that is just over 90 minutes long, there’s going to be a long part of this film that will make me uncomfortable. The second is that, while it’s impossible not to be impressed by the will to live and the ingenuity displayed by Aron Ralston (played by James Franco), there’s a part of me that thinks 127 Hours is a great advertisement for why it’s a bad idea to tempt fate in this specific way.

I talked with old podcasting partner Nick Jobe about this movie this morning, telling him that I intended to watch it today. He said that the truth of 127 Hours is that you go into the movie knowing what is going to happen and you spend the entire movie waiting for it to happen. When it does, it lasts a couple of minutes and then it’s over. That’s pretty accurate.