Finally...

... saw "The King's Speech."  Beautiful film.  I could watch Colin Firth on the screen for much longer than an hour and 51 one minutes, stammer or no stammer.  It didn't, however, hit me with a 'wow' factor.  I wasn't disappointed in the film at all, but it didn't leave me as breathless and teary as I had hoped it might.  Geoffrey Rush was wonderful.

That's all I've got tonight, folks.

Quick

Not much time to type tonight.  I had to, however, detail the double feature I took in yesterday.  Finally saw "127 Hours" and "Blue Valentine."  Each of them contained much-hyped scenes that I found weren't that sensational.  Yes, there was a lot of blood in the amputation scene of 'Hours' and yes, the apparent NC-17 scene in 'Valentine' was steamy...  but neither of them (the scenes) left me awestruck.  The films were two of the best I've seen so far.

"127 Hours" was the first movie at which I've gotten emotional.  I'll admit I choked up a little at the end.  "Blue Valentine" offered the first soundtrack that I have wanted to purchase in a long time.  I'm stumped at how Michelle Williams managed to get an Oscar nom when it seems that, as my friend Seán pointed out, it was Gosling who made the biggest transformation for the film and within the film.

What struck me most about "Valentine" however was how differently it was viewed by three different people.  One of us said "It was her fault."  One said "No, it was his."  And the third said "Neither is to blame, it's just how it unfolded."  This is the beauty of film, friends.

You'll see from my list below that I'm making fairly good progress, and I've researched where to find most of the remaining pieces.  The biggest challenges will be "The Tempest," "The Illusionist," the foreign films and the short docs.  I think I've got much of the rest covered (to some extent).

Ouch

That's all I can think to title this one after watching "Salt" with Angelina Jolie and "Dogtooth" the foreign film from Greece.

"Salt" was a fine movie, but I haven't ever really liked Angelina Jolie in anything since "Girl, Interrupted."  It's not her fault, I don't think, I'm just not a fan of the work she is apparently drawn to.

"Dogtooth" reminds me of why the category can be called "foreign" and demonstrate several meanings of the word.  It was such an unusual and uncomfortable film for my tastes...  but the poignancy of Christina finding escape through movies was not lost on me.

I am hoping to catch at least two more movies in the next several days.  I've also been advised the Oscar Shorts are on their way, so I am SUPER grateful for that.  My score sits at 20 out of 56 with just 25 or so days to go.  I have not knocked out any one whole category, but the key films that would help me with that are "127 Hours," "The King's Speech," and "True Grit."