Picking Winners at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards

Some Oscar nomination thoughts, the morning after: William Altreuter: Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. James Cameron backlash, plus Hollywood self-seriousness = victory! Best Actor: Jeff Bridges. Everybody loved Clooney, but he’s in something good every year. Supporting Actor: Stanley Tucci. Just a hunch. Best Actress: Sandra Bullock. Did you realize she’s forty-five years old? Not exactly the best argument against the proposition that there are no roles for women over twenty-four, since she plays at least ten years younger, but still. Plus the Streep movie wasn’t that good (even though she…

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REVIEW: The Hunting Party [2007]

“Don’t stare at the midget” Based on an article that was published in Esquire, The Hunting Party tells the story of three journalists—actually five as the end of the film will explain during its comical “what was true and what wasn’t” montage—who took it upon themselves to find the most wanted war criminal in the world, Bosnia’s “The Fox”. Brought to screen by Richard Shepard, this is a movie that keeps you highly enthralled throughout. It may not be as solid a film as his previous effort, the underrated comedy…

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REVIEW: Blood Diamond [2006]

“Bling, Bang” Here we have Hollywood’s newest addition to the agenda driven film, trying to get people’s attention to the plight of Africa. The trailers had me intrigued, but the press stemmed much of that anticipation as most I heard talked about how preachy the movie was, with its only concern being to show Americans the death and destruction that went into their precious engagement ring. I am a big fan of the three principal actors, however, and I tried to leave all the critic’s words home when going out…

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