i've seen every best picture nominee

Those of you who are playing along at home may recall that I've been dangerously close to seeing all of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture for quite some time, now.  This afternoon, I finished that project by putting my pants on, leaving the house, and going to see a matinee of The Fighter.

I should say at the outset that I do not generally enjoy movies about boxing, and I sort of don't understand why they keep making them.  Maybe because they win Oscars.  The only two sports movies to ever win Best Picture--Rocky and Million Dollar Baby--are both movies about boxing.  You're probably not going to be surprised when I tell you that this movie was not just about boxing, but it was also about redemption.  Because all boxing movies are about redemption.  Every last one of them. At this point, I'm beginning to think that Hereclitus was wrong and that you do, in fact, bathe in the same river twice.

The thing I did not like about this movie was that I could practically hear the pitch for it being made to the studio while I was watching it.  The thing I did like about it was that the acting was really, really good.  Christian Bale looked and acted nothing like Batman.  Melissa Leo looked nothing like...um...well...I don't know that I've ever actually seen Melissa Leo in anything, so just take my word for it that she was really good in this movie.  Marky Mark was good, as well, even though there was no full frontal nudity.  And Amy Adams was terrific, as well.

So, I've now seen all ten best picture nominees, which means I can cross that off of my list.  This is a major achievement for me, because I rarely go to movies.  When you live in New York City and you know how to find the discount codes and freebies, it's often cheaper to see live theater than to go to a movie and buy popcorn and a soda.  I so rarely go to movies in theaters, even though my undergraduate degree is in film.  I don't think I've ever seen all of the best picture nominees in a given year, much less seen them before the actual awards.  So, bully for me, right?

So, here are my posts about the other nominees, in case you want to check them out:

• Winter's Bone
• 127 Hours
• True Grit 
• The King's Speech 
• Black Swan
• The Social Network
• The Kids are All Right
• Inception
• Toy Story 3

To celebrate this achievement, it's my plan to do a live-blog on Oscar night, possibly with a couple of other stellar bloggers who wish to contribute to the project.  So, stay tuned for further details.

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