Nine out of ten ain't bad

You probably know I love movies. I go as often as I can and I always seem to be catching up on Netflix. I love the awards season the way a football fanatic loves the playoffs. I love reading up on the predictions and odds before the Academy Awards.

This year, I’ve seen nine out of ten of the nominees for Best Picture, which is a new record for me. If Netflix can get me the Social Network in the next week, maybe I’ll get to see them all before Oscar night.

Here’s what I thought of the other nine…

Black Swan. Really great performance by Natalie Portman, and also by Mila Kunis, Winona Rider and Barbara Hershey. But it was all so disturbing and I’m not sure I got the ending. Hershey was the creepiest mother I’ve ever seen. I really appreciated all the work that went into the ballet scenes, which were really lovely. My sister and I joked about how the classical music from Swan Lake reminded us of all the cartoons we watched as kids.

The Fighter. I loved Christian Bale so much I didn’t care that much about the rest of the characters. Except for all those sisters – they were such a hoot. The girl fight was probably my favorite bout in the boxing movie. Melissa Leo gets second place for creepiest mom in a movie this year (third goes to Mother Gothel in Tangled!).

Inception. This movie blew my mind. I really loved the crazy dream with in a dream stuff, even if I didn’t understand how it all worked. Leo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard and Tom Hardy were awesome in it. And the turning hallway scene is really cool, Christopher Nolan is really just brilliant.

The Kids Are All Right. Everyone’s been raving about Annette Benning in this movie, but I really loved Julianne Moore’s character. I loved the family dynamic and how it all comes undone. And how can you not adore Mark Ruffallo. I thought it was all just sweet and funny, with a nice touch of awkwardness and dysfunction.

The King’s Speech. I’d put my money on this one for best picture. Everything about it was spectacular. Colin Firth is amazing. I love his bad temper, how sweet he is with his daughters, how torn he is about his brother. And he’s just funny on top of all that. The scenes where he’s working with Geoffrey Rush are hilarious as are his cursing rants. Plus it’s all posh and proper and British and I love that stuff!

127 Hours. There were a few points in this movie where I really thought I was going to puke. There were also a lot of parts where I wish I had a fast forward button. But that doesn’t mean it was bad or anything. It takes a strong stomach to sit through a movie about a guy who was stuck in a hole for hours and had to cut off his own arm. Luckily, that guy is played with James Franco who is charming and funny even in a horrible crisis.

Toy Story 3. I admit, I still have a few toys that I’ve had since I was a baby. I cried a few times during this one. I loved all the new characters and the adventures Woody, Buzz and the others face. And I was even really worried several times. It just goes to show how great Pixar is at creating characters and telling a story. I bought this movie on DVD, but I haven’t watched it again yet. I don’t want to cry again!

True Grit: Another really great one. I loved the cast. I was very impressed by Hailee Steinfeld, and of course, Jeff Bridges makes a great reluctant hero. Matt Damon was a big goof ball. I loved the Coen brothers’ usual touches, from the witty lines to quirky characters.

Winter’s Bone: This was a really dark movie that I just saw on DVD. I’m glad it wasn’t long because the story of a girl trying to keep her family together was pretty heartbreaking. The family lives in a backwoods town and they are about to lose everything if they can’t find their meth dealer father. She goes on a search through even trashier parts of town. This movie probably gets the creepiest family award because all these people seem to be related. And I’ll just say they are all pretty horrible. Hard to watch, but there are some really good performances.

So what are you favorite movies and who do you think will win best picture? Did you get to see any of them? I want to know!