Oscar! Not Madison (but we can wish)

I’m all with The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, The Damned United) nominated for 12 awards. I think Colin Firth is a fine actor for one thing, Hooper got down 1930s ambience and costumes for another, and this was a picture with many close-ups requiring fairly convincing roles from Firth and Geoffrey Rush (Supporting). I also like the fact it isn’t a dump-on or send-up of a former era, which seems refreshing in a way.....I also loved True Grit and think its worthy of best pic status though I would probably choose The King’s Speech over it. Hailee Steinfeld is a knockout and Jeff Bridges is at his lovingly gruff best....Let’s hear it for Portman in The Black Swan – yes, Best Actress!.....The Kids Are All Right was a charming and at times delightfully acerbic comedy-drama about lesbian family life....Have ignored The Social Network (I know I know, most stupendous pic of decade etc. etc. But I have a problem with facebook. I know, I know, the movie’s “not about” facebook.).....I walked out on Inception, remember? (and that was only after the first half hour).....I see Another Year (Mike Leigh) is nominated for Best Writing (Screenplay). I loved this movie, have seen it twice, and would probably sit through it one or three more times.....From the land of the big freeze, Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies for best foreign-langauge film. I’ve been avoiding it, not that I haven’t had plenty of opportunities having spent most of the fall in Montreal where it was showing nightly. But somehow a downer about the Middle East doesn’t excite me. Maybe I’ll have to push myself to see it, maybe.....I had no interest in seeing The Fighter despite the critics’ raves. Why? Well, because it’s about fighters – er, boxers.....Will I watch Feb. 27? I usually don’t. But have been getting into it more in recent years. It might be good for an extended snooze.