Oscar Fever 2009

The Oscars have come and gone. India is proud that 3 movies with India centric themes won big. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire had a huge windfall with 8 Oscar wins whilst Smile Pinki and The last Inch won an oscar each.

Here’s my 1 minute rundown on the various Oscar Movies:

1. The Wrestler: The second film (after Frank Miller’s Sin City) with Mickey rourke playing a lead role. This is a boring ass movie about a washed up, has been wrestler thats trying to salvage whats left of his shambled, trailer park life.  Rating: 2/10
2. The Reader: An interesting story (set in post WWII era) that’s  mostly set in an author’s (Ralph Fiennes)  flashback (about his youth) when he was ‘involved’ with a much older woman (Kate Winslet) who suddenly disappears from his life only to reappear in court, on trial for the human right atrocities at Auschwitz. Rating: 8/10
3. SlumDog Millionaire: A story about the journey of life and love of Jamal, a boy born in Dharavi – Mumbai’s most famous slum (largest in Asia) who gets on a TV gameshow just to locate his childhood sweetheart who might be watching the show. Rating: 10/10
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Its curious how anyone can stay awake for more than 5 minutes watching the slow, boring, absolutely unentertaining peice of work. This is a story about a man who’s aging cycle is in reverse i.e. he is born old and grows younger with time. This is as much fun as watching paint dry. Rating: 0/10
5. Milk: The story about the 1st openly gay politician (Sean Penn) in San Francisco (no suprise there!). Haven’t seen it yet. Hope its not another brokeback mountain. Rating: TBA
6. The Changeling: If you’re expecting Sci-fi or Sfx (based on the crypytic movie name) think again. Brace yourself for another boring ass movie about a mother who loses her runaway child and never knows whether the boy is alive or dead. Rating: 0/10
7. The Dark Knight: Christopher Nolan’s kickass summer blockbuster from Fox Studios about Gotham city and its caped crusader – The Batman (Christian Bale), battling against his arch nemisis – The Joker (Heath Ledger) and a new villain – Two Face (Aaron Eckhart). Excellent Acting, excellent sfx, excellent story. Rating: 9/10
8. Wanted: A kickass, badass action packed flick from the get go about a secret society that acts on the will of the fates executing people that are deemed to die for mankind’s greater good. The action is better than the Matrix. Rating: 11/10
9. IronMan: Another summer superhero blockbuster – this time from the Marvel Comics franchise about Top weapons manufacturer/inventor tony stark and his epiphany on life leading him to create his greatest creations – Iron, an instrument of great power for the purpose of peace. Rating: 10/10
10. KungFu Panda: An adorable animated feature that has both humor and great wisdom. Jack Black is hillarious as the bumbling panda that wants to be a kungfu hero.  Rating: 7/10
11. Wall-e: A kiddish animated feature (meant for tiny tots & toddlers) about a robot on an abandoned planet who somehow, accidentally makes people (aboard a spaceship)  aware of an active life. Rating: 3/10