Oscar Bait . . .

 Last night I saw the film "Argo" . . .


and it reminded me of the term Oscar Bait. "Argo" as one of my friend said has all the ingredients of a best picture. It's well written, well, acted, well cast, well edited, well directed, it has great music that compliments the film and it also has that beautiful illusive of ingredients you only find in the best Best Picture winning films gravitas a sexy word basically meaning serious-weight. The opening of Argo reminds me of one sequence toward the second half of the film "The Deer Hunter" with just the tension.

"Argo" has several things going for it. It's topical without being too showy. It's based on something that happened in 1980 the Iran Hostage Crisis. But is still relevant today because of the tension in the middle east, which sadly has been going on seemingly forever.

"End of Watch"should garner a best picture nomination because it's so incredibly emotionally powerful, as well as screenplay, and supporting actor for Michel Pena (*who absolutely deserves the nod*)



"The Dark Knight Rises"

should get a nomination not because the film is fantastic but because of the weight and significance (tragedy aside) of the wholeness of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. I enjoyed the film but it does have flaws beyond what it was expected of it because of the extreme hype over the tragedy and it's predecessor "The Dark Knight" which had a performance of a lifetime for the late Heath Ledger.

But when I say Oscar buzz I am referring to the films specifically designed to win oscars, that are slated for release closer to what is known as the Awards Season, these films are fixing to come out . . . & they are huge. Already 2012 is much better than 2011's lack luster performance of films. "The Artist" was a good film but more like a self indulgent one-note homage to a far away error in film. It didn't leave me with anything, it was charming and sweet & maybe that's what they wanted last year. This year even with disappointments like "Prometheus" and lack luster predictable films like "The Hunger Games" but even as bad as I thought those films were compare to others I still got something significant out of watching them. For "Prometheus" it was the visuals & for "The Hunger Games" it was the world they created for me. 

Now I've listed the films coming out later in the year I think are pure Oscar bait, but hopefully all these films are as wonderful and significant as they look. 

Lincoln is obvious. It's a bio-pic about the legendary President by equally legendary director Stephen Spielberg and legendary actor Daniel Day Lewis whose last performance in "There Will Be Blood" launched an obnoxious catchphrase and won him an oscar.

"Cloud Atlas" 

This film could be a cluttered mess or a transcendent emotional masterpiece. It also cost 100 million dollars and is an R-Rated fantasy film which has me very intrigued.

"Life of Pi"

Ang Lee films an un-filmable book. I think every time someone refers to a book as un-filmable the entertainment industry takes that as a challenge.

"Django Unchained"

The trailers don't make much of it, but it's the most recent film from possibly one of the most influential directors of our time. And all of his films have been different than my expectations and for the most part exceed them.

"Zero Dark Thirty" 

It's the Osama Bin Laden film arguably one of the most expensive political ads ever. This film could be great or just a cluttered mess because of how rushed the production was since the death of Osama Bin Laden.



"Les Miserables" - The Academy loves an epic and the academy loves a great sweeping musical.






Russell Crowe as Captain Crunch



But I would like to see a surprise something no one thought of, come out of left field and topple these giants, maybe an indie film of unsurmountable emotions or maybe something like "Skyfall" to turn out to be a surprise masterpiece.