Saturday, February 05, 2005

Movie Time

In trying to keep my head from exploding waiting for Super Bowl XXXIX I've been hitting the big Oscar nominated films lately. First up was "The Aviator" - which I thought was great. Not knowing much about the life and times of Howard Hughes - I was sucked in from the opening moments and completely enthralled for the entire film. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was fantastic and this could finally be the year Scorsese gets his Best Picture Oscar. Next up was "Sideways" featuring one of my favorite actors, Paul Giamatti, who should already have a best actor nomination for last year's "American Splendor". The flick has some hilarious scenes and is sort of the "Dude Where's My Car" for 40 year-olds.

But today we saw "Million Dollar Baby" - and I was completely and utterly blown away. I thought Clint Eastwood's last movie "Mystic River" was a gut wrencher, but this one makes that look like "Meet The Fockers." It is amazing that at 74, Clint has made the best film of his career. If "Baby" doesn't win Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor it will have been majorly shafted. While most Hollywood films stay with me for about as long as it takes to reach my car, the emotional impact of "Million Dollar Baby" sticks and haunts. You have to see this flick.

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