First, I need to repeat a basic truth about movies. What one likes or thinks is good is just an opinion, never a fact. This goes for the “professional” critic as well as for the man on the street. And this goes for the Oscar process as well – it is just the result of a bunch of people who are giving their opinions when they vote.

That being said, I am influenced when many people have the same opinion about a movie - influenced to go see or not go see it. However, my decision also takes into consideration the subject. I usually don’t go see a movie about aliens or beings with supernatural powers or hip hop themes, no matter how many critics say it has a wonderful plot and powerful acting. On the other hand, I often disregard the critics panning of a movie if it is about a subject I like. For example, we usually go see all movies about gambling – and if it isn’t very good, we amuse ourselves by looking for scenes with situational gaffes written by someone who obviously doesn’t have any personal experience with the subject – or by looking at the carpeting and seeing if we can recognize in what casino it was filmed. 

I hadn’t seen all the Oscar-nominated movies, but I had seen No Country for Old Men, the eventual big winner, and I had written earlier here that I felt left up in the air at the ending. I never said the movie wasn’t a “good” one; it was powerful and well done. I just don’t enjoy those kind of non-ending endings. 

I did enjoy Michael Clayton, and not just because I think George Clooney is sexy. I liked the plot and the action. Same for American Gangster, plus I was impressed that this was a fact-based but still dramatic story. I loved Charlie Wilson’s War, also based on real-life characters, with many enjoyable humorous scenes but an ending that hit me in the gut and is still making me think when I hear about the Afghanistan war on the news.  I found watching Juno a very pleasant experience, watching how this “little” story turned into something much deeper than I expected without unrealistic drama. 

Do you want to know which Oscar-nominated movie was my favorite? One in which I had to bring out the Kleenex very early, keep them handy throughout the whole film, and had to sit through the entire ending credits and 10 minutes of dark screen that followed to get my public face back on so I could leave the theater without sobbing and making a spectacle of myself. No, Away From Her never got an Oscar mention -- and perhaps many will never ever choose to rent this movie now that it is out of the theaters. But for two seniors who are already having some problems remembering, this bittersweet tale may stay as one of our strongest memories.

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