Words by Warren

Save at least 75 cents! These bad boys are actually comparable the Golden Grahams cereal it is trying to imitate. Never has being fooled tasted so good. Penny-pinch worthy!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch was my favorite cereal for a long time, and this Target copycat doesn’t disappoint. No soggy cardboard aftertaste and, in fact, it may be even better! Penny-pinch worthy!

All my predictions proved true! Hurt Locker!!!! Watch it.

So those were my reviews! It took me longer than I thought it would, but that’s what you have to deal with.

The Hurt Locker for Best Picture:

I absolutely love The Hurt Locker and think it should win (Roger Ebert agreed! good man!) while remaining firm in my boycotting of Avatar. It’s not the 3D gimmick that gets to me (totally watching Alice in Wonderland), it’s everything else about it.

The rest of the movies were strong as well, all worth watching (yes, even Up, you Pixar fanatics). A solid second choice for best pic is A Serious Man or An Education. Which, by the way, makes me wonder if it could be analogized to my life. Have I been caught up in the thrills and wonders of employment that I’ve forgotten to continue my education?!

Kathryn Bigelow for best director:

Filming in Jordan with Iranian refugee extras, and with no swanky trailers or air conditioning, on a budget of only 11 million dollars to make such a beautifully intense and emotional film? Take it home, Kathryn. It’s all yours.

Best Actors and Actresses: Mo’Nique, Sandra Bullock, Christoph Waltz, Jeff Bridges

Sadly, I didn’t get to see all the performances by the best actor/actress nominees, so I can’t say for certain who should win. If Mo’Nique wins best supporting actress, I wouldn’t be surprised. I think Sandra Bullock is worthy of best actress, though Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe both were wonderful. Christoph Waltz for best supporting actor, hands down (“That is a bingo”)! I hear Jeff Bridges is kickass in Crazy Heart, meaning he’s superb, meaning he should win best actor. Though I wouldn’t say he’s genius. “You know there are actual geniuses, right?”

Stay tuned for the big night this Sunday. Can you feel the anticipation yet?

Truth be told, this movie took me about four sittings to finish. I expected that I would find it too childish and that proved true. Not that I lack imagination, I just think my basic understanding of physics denies me from truly committing to some of these stories (even if those were enough balloons to lift that house, which it’s not, there’s no way they could hold it down body weight). And yes I understand it’s primarily a children’s movie, which is why I was saying the physics thing ruins the fantasy for me. All in all, it’s great for the family, but not the best picture award.

-spoilers-

The gist of the movie:

An old man loses his wife and becomes sad and lonely. Presumably, new stores are being built around his house and the company has offered to buy his home, but since it reminds him of his wife, he opts to keep it as long as he can. The old man meets a little boy, who will probably go on to melt that bitter shell surrounding the old man’s heart (obviously).

One issue I had was I didn’t see what the trouble with the explorer was. All he wanted was to clear his name, which had been wrongly smeared 66 years ago. I mean come on. That’s supposed to be an antagonist? Give the guy a break. Not to mention, he developed technology which allows dogs to communicate in human languages. Think about the contribution he would have made to the world, not to mention all the investors he would have had lined up.

It’s ridiculous though. It’s not like he wanted to kill the bird. He just wanted to bring it back (alive) to clear his name. And maybe they would have kept it in a sanctuary of sorts or, godforbid, a zoo (which pales in comparison to this country’s factory farming). So from a personal point of view, the “villian” was not bad in that respect (though it was probably his trying to kill the old man and little boy that did him in). Seriously, does no one bring up the fact that they kill the poor bastard? RIP, crazy explorer-inventor man.

A sci-fi movie nominated for best picture of the year? That’s right, folks. It’s rare, but it happens (E.T., Star Wars, arguably.. Avatar).

-spoilers-

So why District 9? The movie is about an alien ship that gets stranded above Johannesburg in 1982. Cut to present day, the aliens, known as “prawns,” are all concentrated in District 9. MNU (Multinational United), a giant corporation, oversees the policing and containment of the prawns.

Unlikely hero and lovable doofus Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) finds himself in charge of moving all the prawns from District 9 to a new ghetto District 10. There’s an obvious divide between the two races, a metaphor for the apartheid days in South Africa. So during the preliminary sweep, something goes terribly wrong and Wikus finds himself slowly mutating into a prawn himself. What makes this interesting is since only prawns can use the incredibly powerful alien weapons, Wikus develops the ability to wield them. As it goes, whoever holds this power dominates the world. Which means MNU wants to cut him up, preserve, develop and duplicate his mixed DNA.

A long shot to win the best picture award, but still well worth a watch, even for the sci-fi-impaired. Entertaining, enthralling and thought provoking. Be on the look out for a sequel!

At first glance, you might be a bit bored or confused as to what this movie really is about. In Coen Brothers style, you get a black comedy about Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) whose life hits a series of bumps, each a test of his character and faith. I say faith because the story is, after all, inspired by the book of Job, who arguably has the most famous test of faith.

-slight spoiler alert-

Larry, on the other hand, gets bribed by a student. His wife wants a divorce. His kids are troublesome and unsupportive. His brother sleeps on his couch and gets into gambling trouble. Nothing really seems to go right for Larry, who wonders what it all means. Even the rabbis can’t help.

So in a quirky exploration of faith, A Serious Man comes off a bit smug, but does provide a lot of profound insight into what constitutes a man’s life. With poignant subtext and metaphor scattered throughout the movie, you begin to wonder yourself what it all means.

I was turned off by it at first, but after letting it sit with me, I couldn’t stop appreciating how beautiful the movie actually was, especially from a story point of view. It doesn’t mean I think the movie should win. If the academy appreciates it, then A Serious Man has a strong chance.

I think everyone was surprised to see well this movie did at the box, but in actuality, it deserves every penny.

-slight spoiler alert-

Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is a homeless high school student who’s only accepted into his school on the hopes that he can do well enough academically in order to play sports. He’s a gentle giant figure who just needs some trust and loving.

Michael attends the same school as the two Tuohy kids, S.J. (Jae Head) and Collins (Lily Collins). So while he’s wandering the roads one night, without a place to go, the Tuohy family spots him and Leigh Anne (Sandra Bullock) invites the poor boy home with them. It follows that with some support in his life, maybe he can do well in school and rise in the football team.

An uplifting and touching film, based on the real life story of Ravens Tackle Michael Oher, with a great job done by Sandra Bullock! Even though you may already know how it will turn out, it is still worth watching. Still, in my opinion, not the best picture of the year.

First of all, I’m sure they could have come up with a better title. But they didn’t think the film would draw an audience, so with Opera backing it, they included the name of the novel, obviously for her book club audience.

The movie itself is a bit dark right from the beginning. Sixteen-year-old Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) finds herself pregnant with her second child, after multiple rapes by her father. She’s behind in school, virtually illiterate and lives with an abusive mother (Mo’Nique), who cares for nothing but welfare checks, cigarettes and lottery tickets.

Her school discharges her and sends her to a more specialized school, Each One Teach One, where she meets the lovely Miss Rain (Paula Patton). He starts leaning more and even writing! It seems Precious just might be able to get her life on track. That is only if her mother allows it. And if Precious will accept herself for who she is.

Precious’ story is a dark reality, but it has to be told. I’d be surprised to see this win best pic. It’s not exactly the feel-good movie of the year, but it’s worth seeing. If only for the performances by the Sidibe, Mo’Nique and Mariah Carey?! Yes, Mariah Carey (cut to drunk acceptance speech) has a small but memorable role, which got her the best supporting actress nod.

This is by far my favorite out of the bunch. I love war films in general, but The Hurt Locker is seriously riveting. A bomb squad goes around Iraq diffusing explosives that can go off at any moment. Some of these scenes are intense as hell, leaving you wondering every second if and when someone is going to die.

The movie showcases war’s addictions, obsessions, and daily fear of death. Most veterans praise the authenticity of the movie, while some scoff at the absurdity or minor detail errors. Nevertheless, leading man Jeremy Renner does a hell of a job portraying the wild man bomb diffuser, who’s probably diffused more bombs than most people have even heard about in their lives. This action and suspense-filled movie does not disappoint! The one must-see of all of the nominees.

Already taking home best director and best picture at the BAFTAs, and best screenplay at the WGAs, this sleeper hit is fast becoming the front runner come Oscar Sunday. Which obviously makes me extremely delighted because I’ve been rooting for Hurt Locker the whole time. And here I thought it was a long shot.

–slight spoiler alert–

Up in the Air is a clever flick about a man (George Clooney) whose job it is to go around the country firing people, for companies that are too timid to do it themselves. He flies to different places all year round, hence, up in the air. Anyway, George Clooney plays — well — the same guy he usually plays, George Clooney. And it’s a pretty relevant plot, considering the current economic times.

So you have George Clooney, and in walks this young woman (Anna Kendrick. hot.) who comes to the company with ideas of using video chatting over the internet instead, thus crashing George Clooney’s whole world. Throw in some side characters, some romances, some heartbreak, celebrations, disappointment, lessons learned and realizations, and you’ve got yourself this here movie. Sorry to boil it all down. I did actually enjoy it, but a lot of that had to do with Anna Kendrick. Definitely worth watching, but I doubt it’ll win.