Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 2007

The Contenders:

Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men (winner)
There Will Be Blood

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 2007

The Contenders:

Julie Christie: Away from Her
Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Ellen Page: Juno
Laura Linney: The Savages
Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose (winner)

Not Another Alzheimer's Movie

Film: Away from Her
Format: DVD from DeKalb Public Library on rockin’ flatscreen.

There are times when I get frustrated with my Oscar lists. The biggest personal issue I have is that the genres that I tend to like—action, science fiction, horror—are rarely represented in the categories I am watching. In a sense, that’s sort of why I started doing this. It’s a way to further expose myself to films that I would otherwise miss. What that often means, though, is that a lot of what I watch ends up depressing me. Such is the case with Away from Her. I can’t say I’m ever really in the mood for a movie about Alzheimer’s disease.

One thing I’ll say for it is that it doesn’t take long to get started. We’re introduced to Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona Anderson (Julie Christie). They have been married for more than four decades, and now Fiona is starting to fade. It’s evident that she has an early-onset form of Alzheimer’s. She has started to forget where things are and forget what she is doing. As she begins to fade, she makes the decision (and it is her decision) to move to a care facility.