Coen movies live near that line that separates the unlikeable characters who nonetheless hold your attention and the unlikeable characters who are merely unlikeable. There’s something to be said for realistic portrayals of selfish, unpleasant …

The story Burma VJ tells is fascinating, and shocking and enraging.As a movie, alas, it comes across as muffled, because…well, it’s reporting from a closed country.Thanks to a repressive government, the footage is smuggled out …

I can’t get completely on board with the screenplay nom for An Education — it’s speechy in spots, and occasionally feels as though it’s waiting for the jokes to land.
Carey Mulligan’s performance, however, is fantastic.The …

Sweet movie, but with both its feet planted on the correct side of the cutesy line.   The expected over-explanation of and/or moralizing about why Coraline wants out of the Other world never materialized; she …

Facing two subtitled hours about an Italian politician I’d never heard of, merely for the sake of crossing a Best Makeup nominee off the list, I considered withdrawing from the Oscars 2010 Death Race entirely …

last updated3/7/10 12:30 AM
CURRENTSCORE: Sarah 50, Death Race 8

CategoriesCompleted: 20/24

Ajami
Avatar*
The Blind Side*
Bright Star
Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
Coco avant Chanel
Coraline
The Cove
Crazy Heart
La dama y la muerte
District 9*
Il …

Whatever else I have to say about it, Up in the Air successfully distracted me from an offensive movie-going environment — the theater reeked of what I can only describe as bum stench. You board …

A very good movie with very good acting, weakened a bit by the two sequences at the end — but only a bit, which is a testament to how well built the rest of the …

About what you’d expect, structurally, and the end feels a bit abrupt — although I suppose that, once the Chinese government decides it doesn’t care to deal with an issue, that’s that.
The first half is …

Welcome to The Tomato Nation Oscars 2010 Death Race, in which I will attempt to see all the nominees before Oscar night.Yes: all of them.Best Live-Action Short, prepare to be boarded.
“But that’s crazy!Even Sarah wouldn’t …