Movie Mom: Reviews by a mom for moms on new releases, DVD picks and hot TV shows.

Are Award Shows Even Relevant Anymore?

2009-02-11T18:46:58-05:00

So, I was thinking the other day that I really need to see all of the movies nominated for Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards (1 down, 4 to go). But to be honest with you, besides the one movie I have already seen (Slumdog Millionaire...rush right out & see it, trust me) none of them are really calling me out to the theatre. They are all just a little glum. And I don't know, but it seems like right now we might just need something other than glum. I'm not saying that we need more inconsequential fluff (like the horribly bad The House Bunny that I mistakenly subjected myself to last weekend), but does it all have to be so dire? Can we have a movie that is award-worthy, yet doesn't make you want to crawl under a rock for a few days & cry? I remember a few years back people raved about Mystic River & particularly Sean Penn's performance. I was so disturbed by that movie, that frankly I wish I hadn't seen it. I still have not seen Schindler's List for that same reason.

All of this is to say that I wonder if award shows (particularly The Golden Globes & The Academy Awards) are truly relevant anymore if they can't drum-up interest in the very movies they are promoting. Besides Slumdog Millionaire, no other movie nominated for best picture this year has seen a marked increase in ticket sales since the nominations were announced. And personally I think that Slumdog's boost has more to do with word-of-mouth than any award nom.

So what do you think? Are award shows relevant? Do they help you decide the movies that you watch? Or do you rely more on other factors such as word-of-mouth or good reviews?

You Absolutely Have To See...

2009-02-04T20:17:54-05:00

Slumdog Millionaire. Don't just take my word for it. Take Amreen's. Or Ali's. Or pretty much anyone out there who has seen the film. I have yet to meet a person who has seen this film who doesn't just love it. So my hubby & I figured we couldn't miss this one & used Grandma being in town (yay Grandma!!) as an excuse to get out of the house. Totally worth it!

Slumdog tells the story of 2 brothers growing up in the Dharavi slums of Mumbai & how their paths diverge & then converge at critical points in their lives. Early on in their lives the brothers, Salim & Jamal, befriend another young orphan, Latika, & forever change her life. Salim seems to be guided through life on his quest for money & power, while Jamal is guided by what he sees as his destiny. (I don't want to give any more of the plot away...just go see it!! Wait, finish reading, then see it!)

What sets the story apart is that it is told through a series of flashbacks which help explain why Jamal, a (seemingly) uneducated "slumdog", would know the answers on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Honestly, I thought this was pure genius. It sets up many "a-ha" moments for the audience, one in particular, near the end of the film, that lead to a collective gasp/sigh by the theatre-goers. Much credit has to be given to screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who managed to weave all of the different story-arcs of the novel Q & A, into the millionaire subplot. If he doesn't win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, he is downright robbed.

What struck me from the get-go was how beautiful, yet tragic this world was that our main characters lived in. And how fully realized that world was. Irish-director Danny Boyle, famous for films such as Trainspotting & 28 Days Later, is a shoe-in for a best director Oscar. From the naive eyes of someone who has never been to India, I was shocked that a director who was not a native could bring that world so to life for me.

I would be hard pressed to argue against Slumdog in any of the 10 categories that it is nominated for at this years Academy Awards. I will definitely be eager to see the results. But as I said, don't take my word for it, go & see it for yourself. It is worth the $10. Heck it is even worth the popcorn & candy.

As an interesting side-note, two of the three young actors (youngest Salim & youngest Latika) are actually from the slums of Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai. Danny Boyle & (producer) Christian Colson have set up both education & trust funds for both children, such that "they will hopefully gain benefit from the film long after the film has disappeared and long after the media who are chasing them at the moment sadly have lost interest in the film." Boyle went on to say "that's been our approach throughout and I think it's the right approach."

Why Friday Nights Officially Rock...

2009-01-28T18:19:03-05:00

(possible spoilers ahead....don't say I didn't warn you)

No, it's not some new club or nightspot (new club. ha. funny). No, Friday nights rock (again) because of the return of two critically-acclaimed, yet vastly under-watched tv shows.

Friday Night Lights (btw, how hot are these two? And they're the "old" ones!) &....

Battlestar Galactica.

These two shows actually have a lot in common (just bear with me!). Both shows debuted with massive critical acclaim, yet have struggled to find a mass audience. Both shows have won numerous awards (both have won the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting), yet have been shut out by the major tv awards. Both shows revolve around a large ensemble cast of the most truly-realized (& openly-flawed) characters anywhere on tv.

FNL's struggles are partly due to the fact that NBC's marketing of this true tv gem has been abysmal at best. And they really didn't help by moving in around to different days & time-slots (Tuesday, Sunday, Friday, 8pm, 9pm, etc.). The other thing is (& may I be the absolutely last person to say this), FNL is not aboutfootball; it's the backdrop, not the plot. This is no Varsity Blues (say it with me "I don't wa-ant your life"). What Peter Berg (creator, writer, sometimes director) has brought to tv is a fully realized world, where story-lines with teenagers & adults intertwine (shockingly as they do in real life) &, frankly, neither have all of the "right" answers or always do the "right" thing. This show brings to us the most realistic portrayal of marriage, adolescence, & family that you will find on the small screen. All the while not dumbing itself down for "public" consumption. I honestly cannot say enough wonderful things about this show. We are only 2 episodes into the third season & already some of the best performances have been given, to date, from these fine actors. The show is also answering one of it's biggest criticisms. Whether or not people will still be invested in a show where major characters will leave every year. The new characters this season hooked me in right away, so much so that I am torn between them & my old fav's. Some other big names shows (Heroes & Lost...I'm talking to you) could take a few pointers on this front.

I know that Battlestar Galactica (BSG to us ~~nerds~~ fans) might be a little harder sell for some of you. First of all it airs on Sci-Fi (Space in Canada) & I'm fairly certain that some of you either didn't even know that this channel exists, or wouldn't normally be caught dead tuning into it. I assure you, that besides a (slightly disturbing) bald-cap worn by Mary McDonnell, there are no weirdly made-up characters or crazy robot aliens. Well there are those Cylons, but are they really robots? (Sorry...focus). Much like FNL with football, BSG uses space as a backdrop. Often you get lost in the storytelling & forget that you are in space. We pick up at the beginning of season 4.5 (trust me, don't even attempt to try to understand that) with the realization that the long sought after salvation of Earth was nuked almost 2000 years before. And oh, by the way, it wasn't humans who were there, rather the "enemy" Cylons. This pretty much puts everyone's life into a tailspin. Our leaders (Mary McDonnell's President Roslin & Edward James Olmos' Admiral Adama) retreat to themselves, while a full scale mutiny rises up underneath them. In the first episode alone a romance is (somewhat) re-kindled, one major character commits suicide, two others have a fist fight, another faces her own mortality, & we find out who that final (elusive) Cylon is (for those who watch...how awesome was that?!?). For those of you who read those last few sentences & said "snore", "what?" or "boring", let me say this: BSG is a true & rare thinker's show. It takes real-world issues (from political to social to personal) & gives the characters a chance to hash out the different perspectives. Never preachy. Never deciding for us what we should think. Just laying the subject matter at our feet & letting us ponder the complexities of it all. How gray life truly is.

BSG airs Fridays on Sci-Fi/Space at 10pm. FNL airs Fridays on NBC at 9pm. (If you do no other tv watching, please, please, please watch this show. Fine tv comes along so infrequently, that when it does it should be rewarded.) The previous seasons of each show are available now on DVD, & all episodes can be seen at Hulu.com .