Oscar wrap-up and other things

So much to do, so little time. I'm going on a mini-vacation tomorrow so I don't have as much disposable time right now as I'd like to have, (pesky work keeps getting in the way) I'd like to get a couple of thoughts down and get caught up on my reviews, if possible.

The Oscars were incredibly predictable, but I was happy with that Bigelow and The Hurt Locker won. I was trying to remember when the Oscars weren't a foregone conclusion, but the last time I can remember there being a surprise for the better was Adrien Brody, and for the worse was Crash. Maybe I was young and naive, but I seem to remember there being a bit more suspense involved in years past. Anyway, I managed to see all but 5 of the films that were remotely available to me, which meant seeing about 30 films, most of them good, a couple of them stinkers.

Realizing that there is a lot of derision toward The Oscars (a lot of it understandable) I still maintain that A) It's fun to judge and guess the winners and B) I end up seeing a lot of films I probably wouldn't have - both good and bad. It's kind of like watching the Independent Spirit Awards on IFC. I'm constantly saying, "I've never even heard of that movie" but I'm also taking notes for my Netflix queue because so many of them look well done and compelling.

I'm going to have my Oscar nominated film reviews up on the front page of my Web site through the end of March so take a look if you're interested in a film that caught your interest during the ceremony or in the pre- and post- ceremony buzz.

In other movie related news, I seem to have chosen to work on the work of the wrong director for my Great Directors Project . March is apparently Akira Kurosawa month on Turner Classic Movies, and they are featuring a fantastic slate of films that are going to burn up my DVR. At least now I don't have to wonder who I'm going to work on next!

Speaking of the Great Directors Project, though I haven't had time to truly begin it yet, please check out my Great Directors Project blog and give me your feedback on what directors I should be looking at.

And finally, I leave you with another reason to love Christoph Waltz.

And so the Oscar movies continue...

Going to the Oriental tonight with Chris and Jay to see The Messenger, then I'm catching a last minute matinee of The Lovely Bones tomorrow before it disappears into budget theater hell. Friday is a matinee of Avatar with Jay and then I presume Chris and I will be seeing The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus over the weekend.

I managed to find one screening of The Fantastic Mr. Fox the day before the Oscars air. So, other than fitting in The Blind Side at the Times, (which I may just deal with tomorrow night if I'm up for it) the Oscar Shorts (which should be at the Times before the end of the month) and finding a reasonable showing of The Last Station, I think I've seen everything I possibly can in the theater. Then I just have to watch the few films I've gotten on DVD: Coraline, In the Loop, Coco Before Chanel and Il Divo, all of which I want to see anyway, other than Coraline. I'm just kicking myself for not having taken advantage of see The Princess and the Frog when it was at the Times. Oh well.

Once again, the foreign film category is completely left out due to lack of availability, which is a shame since I never go back to watch them months later. I think the one exception will be The White Ribbon. But, all in all I think this is my most thorough year in recent memory and it's been fun. It's also been fun watching Jay be so thorough with the list. At this point, I think he may have seen more than I have.