OSCAR FEVER: Countdown to Academy Award

In addition to being my birth month, February is obviously my favorite because of several highlight events happening during the love month. We have the Valentines, the Grammys and of course...The Academy Awards. Since college I'm hooked to this annual celebration of Hollywood's best motion pictures and I always make it a point that I get to watch every single film nominated for Best Picture. I am not a film buff but I love watching movies that either drives me crazy or makes me shed a bucket of tears.

There is one thing that makes this year's Academy and it's quite an observation I must say. I don't know if it was a coincidence but most of the nominated films start with word "THE".

The Help, The Artist, The Descendants, The Tree of Life, The Iron Lady, The Ides of March....

But nonsense, I don't think the word THE has made a difference, but anyway, I did the usual stroll to Metrowalk and find my favorites.

So I bought Meryll Streep's Iron Lady, Midnight in Paris (starring Owen Nilson), The Descendants (starring George Clooney), The Help (of course Octavia and Viola), War Horse (Spielberg is back), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (starring James Bond and Rooney Mara) and Spartacus (well, pardon, it's not part of the nominees, slip of the tounge).

SO, I'm going to give my review of the first two movies I got to watch -- The Iron Lady and The Help. Such pretty titles.

Let's start with Meryll. You don't need a dictionary to describe this talented lady, you have to use the best definitions available at the tip of your tounge (fantabulous, superb, tumultuous, cantankerous...). Meryll is very technical, her background is more in theater and this woman has serious talent. She is indeed the best living actress of this generation. On her trophy rack is two (2) Oscars, eight (8) Golden Globes,  two (2) Emmys, a Tony Award, a BAFTA award and 2 SAG (Screen Actors Guild). Beat that.

How did I find her acting in The Iron Lady. It was mastered, her acting has been studied well and she delivered it. The wink, the pout of Margaret Tatcher's lips, the walk and the eyes, every detail is well-crafted. She has taken us once again into a character we haven't seen for quite some time. She made the unfamiliar figure of Margaret Tatcher familiar to us with her precise acting.

So technical it was that I felt that she missed the emotional part of the character. I didn't get the chance to see the essence of Margaret's grueling desire to rise into power that eventually caused her demise. But she did actually, maybe it was the story that didn't deliver that much. So it wasn't Streep's entire fault, she gave an exceptional and award-winning performance but the story could have done better.

I won't rate. I am not an expert. Don't judge me.

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The Deadly Duo - Octavia and Viola

I'm so excited. I looooove this film. Though I think Emma Stone wasn't very convincing for Skeeter's role (a thriving writer who dared to break the stereotypes and raise awareness on the racism that prevails during the 1960s). I would love to see Natalie Portman having the role.

But anyway, to continue, the movie has reduced me to tears. Lady Octavia and Viola delivered a fantastic performance. The rawness and their acting was deeply affecting. The antagonist(s) (yes, Bryce Dallas Howard was good :), and so is Sissy Spacek (she is back people).

The final minutes blew me away, when Aibileen was fired and she held the little girl and muttered her quote: You is Kind, You is Smart and You is Important. Oh mother, I swear, it was the most heart-wrenching part of the movie.

I'll shut up now and will watch the next movies. The first two, good! Can't wait to see the rest...