And the Winner is...

The Oscars are being awarded tomorrow and I'm almost through with my marathon of movie watching.
In the last week I've seen My Week with Marilyn (delightful), A Dangerous Method ( gripping), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (brave), The Rum Diary (enjoyable for nostalgic reasons), and  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (anticlimactic). I've now seen all nine best picture nominees, and most of the movies with best actor/actress nominations.

I found this year's crop of movies overall to be slightly less stellar than last year's, but still there were movies I enjoyed so much that I'll see them again. I've already watched The Descendants twice, ditto for The Artist and Midnight in Paris. Add to this list of favorites - My Week with Marilyn.

So here are my choices, not the ones I think will win - just the ones I like the best.

Actor in a leading role - George Clooney (The Descendants)
Actor in a supporting role - Max Von Sydow ( Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
Actress in a leading role -Michelle Williams ( My Week with Marilyn)
Actress in a supporting role -Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
Best Picture -Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I had been resisting Extremely Loud from the start. I was afraid to watch the 9/11 movie - after all we New Yorkers saw the original uncut version over and over on the news for days and weeks after the event. Many of us lived it in 3D: I personally know of one firefighter who had an extremely loud and incredibly close call in one of the towers, and I know of several Wall Streeters who had to run for their lives. My mother had to walk home from Manhattan to the Bronx on that day, as did thousands of others when transportation was shut down, however I (with a combination of very good luck and a little common sense) was able to avoid being close to the action on that day. I was late for work and was standing on an elevated train track when the first tower was hit. I saw the smoke, and took the next train heading back home.

I finally watched that movie today - the story of a boy dealing with the loss of his father, aided by a whole city of villagers. He finds so much through his loss, which is a great lesson for anyone with the guts to try and learn it (which is why my one word for this movie was 'brave').
The movies are a great way to escape - but they rise to what I think is their highest calling when they  actually help us to face something,