DVD Round-Up -- Oscar Edition

Here's a quick (though long) look at a bunch of movies nominated for Oscars that I just recently watched on dvd. See if they're worth a rental below. By the way, I apologize in advance for the funky large text below. I was experimenting a bit with large and small fonts and for some reason, I failed...

Frozen River

Nominated for Lead Actress and Original Screenplay

The film tells the story of a down-on-her-luck dollar store employee (Oscar nominee Melissa Leo) who resorts to smuggling illegal immigrants across the Canada/New York state border with the help of a Mohawk Indian woman (Misty Upham) in order to get some quick cash to help her family. Clocking in at only 90 minutes, the movie doesn't really lull at any point (which, obviously, is a credit to the script and the direction, both by Courtney Hunt in her debut). Leo's performance is spot-on, but she never has those really showy moments that one would expect in an Oscar nominee's performance which is why I may not have seen the "big deal" with her role. She was very good, don't get me wrong, but it lacked pizzazz (which I guess is the point...if you had no money and your trailer home was falling apart, I doubt you would have pizzazz either). My problem with the film lies in the fact that it couldn't shake it's "indie-ness" away. The ending in particular is stereotypical "indie" in that it ends in a way that you just go "huh?" It's flaunting it's "I'm an indie movie and we have no budget so we're just gonna end it like this" kinda way. It's a good film, but I can't stand indie movies that have that type of pretension to them. (I realize I'm not explaining myself well here, but you all know that indie vibe that I'm talking about.) That being said, it's definitely worth a rental.

The RyMickey Rating: B

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Changeling

Nominated for Lead Actress, Art Direction, and Cinematography

Angelina Jolie is Christine Collins, a mother in 1920s/30s L.A. whose son goes missing. When the corrupt police department "finds" her son and she claims they are mistaken, the cops throw her into a mental institution. The film was fine, but nothing special. Jolie overacts to the hilt, here, running the gamut of emotions from subdued to screaming (she was much better in 2007's A Mighty Heart...rent that one today!). Director Clint Eastwood proves once again that he's the most overrated director in Hollywood...he has a tough time editing things down and he picks both very odd and far too obvious ways of shooting scenes. Despite the faults, I think it's worth a rental if only because the story was really interesting. Even though I have nothing to rave about for this one, I still moderately liked it.

The RyMickey Rating: B-

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Man on Wire

Nominated for Best Documentary Feature

I don't watch many documentaries, so I'm no expert here, but this tale of tightrope walker Phillippe Peitit's daring attempt to cross the two towers of the World Trade Center was gripping. I mean, you know he survives the thing since he's the one narrating the story, but it had me on the edge of my seat. Told through a series of interviews, re-enactments, and old home movies, it had a real "movie" feel to it. Admittedly, it took a while to get started and after the first 30 minutes, I was tempted to stop, but I'm glad I held out, because it truly was fascinating in the end.

The RyMickey Rating: B

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Tropic Thunder

Nominated for Supporting Actor

I'm all for raunchy comedies (I laughed out loud multiple times watching last year's Step Brothers, but this one fell entirely flat for me. After a few hilarious fake trailers at the beginning, I really don't think I laughed once until the film's final act when the Hollywood actors go ape shit on their Vietnam-like captors. Robert Downey, Jr., got a ton of praise for this one for playing a white dude playing a black dude. It was funny for about two minutes and then got old. Seriously, I didn't get this one at all. In fact, I hated it.

The RyMickey Rating: D-

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The Dark Knight

Nominated for Supporting Actor, Art Direction, Cinematography, Editing, Make-up, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects

The biggest movie of the year without a doubt. Not my kind of movie at all, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was too long...there was a long scene that took place in Japan (I think) that was completely unnecessary and seemed only to be in there to show a cool Batman flying effect...but it was enjoyable overall. Heath Ledger got a ton of praise for playing the Joker and he plays the role with evil glee (much better than Jack Nicholson in the "original" movie series). I would also point out that Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face was great. I walked out of this one actually liking Eckhart better than Ledger...I'm not sure I feel the same way now...it probably warrants another viewing. Although, thinking about both Eckhart and Ledger, I now remember my other problem with the flick. There was no need for two villains in this one. Either Dent's/Two-Face's story or the Joker's troubles would've been more than enough for one movie.

The RyMickey Rating: B

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Kung Fu Panda

Nominated for Best Animated Feature

Well, this is Dreamworks' best animated film...in the end, that's not saying a whole lot. The film starts off super-promisingly. Jack Black voices Po, an overweight, out-of-shape panda who loves kung fu (hence the title, naturally). When he is chosen (accidentally?) to save his town and join the Furious Five kung-fu action team (sounds like a commercial for figurines or something), hilarity ensues...or so it's supposed to. The first 30 minutes leading up to Po joining the Furious Five are great, but it just really falls flat after that...But it's Dreamworks, what do you expect?

The RyMickey Rating: C+