Inception, The Social Network, TS3 Get Oscar Noms

Among the Best Picture nominations this year are Inception, The Social Network and Toy Story 3. In addition to TS3, the Animation category has How to Train Your Dragon and The Illusionist. Also getting a nod in documentary was Exit Through the Gift Shop, which is worth your time if you are into that sort of thing. You'll have to wait a month to find out who the winners are... and to find out what the stars will wear on the red carpet. Or to play the Oscar speech drinking game.

Comments

Everyone here should go see

[geekoid]

the King's Speech. I think most people here will relate to it.

Re:Everyone here should go see

[Anrego]

Amen.

The fact that a large majority of people (even some very smart people) really get into this stuff depresses me. The whole celebrity worship thing is quite disturbing. I just don't understand the attraction!

Re:I vote for Inception...

[Enderandrew]

I haven't seen Black Swan or The King's Speech yet. Let's assume most of the movies nominated were worth all the buzz. That doesn't change the fact that Inception is a masterfully crafted movie.

The beginning of the movie is chaotic with no explanation, and Nolan very slowly unravels his tale while interspersing action sequences without making them feel obligatory. He also edits between multiple layers cleanly. He tells a complex story without overt exposition. This is far harder than most people realize. He gets great performances from a number of actors, and pushes the visual barrier as well.

In the age of CGI and mammoth budgets, finding a way to show people something on film they've never seen is becoming harder and harder.

If that wasn't one of the five best directing perforances this year, then I don't know what to say.

For my money, Nolan is one of the best directors working today (along with Aranofsky, Boyle, Soderberg, and Spielberg) and this may have been his finest movie to date, and his most impressive directing work specifically.

And before someone goes screaming about the brilliance of the Cohen Brothers, or Clint Eastwood, or Polanski or anything like that, those guys can put together a fine drama. But their overall directorial acumen does pale compared to someone like Nolan.