Simon Beale's Blog

My Oscars Weekend

I've never been to the Oscars. In fact, I've never watched the entire ceremony from start to finish (it's WAY too long!), but as it's the biggest awards show in the global showbiz calendar, it always grabs my attention and like many, I get fascinated by who wins what.

So it was great to wake up yesterday morning to hear us Brits did well again this year (making it sound like I had something to do with our success, yeah right). In fact, I can't even be thanked for buying a cinema ticket much in the 12 months, which is a shame as I love catching a movie when I can. So, Esther & I played "catch-up" this weekend and watched "Atonement" & "Michael Clayton", to see what all the fuss was about. By the way, before you say anything, now I know the Oscar results, maybe "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country For Old Men" might've been better choices. Still, there's always next weekend.

Atonement is a beautifully made film with excellent performances from the entire cast & crew. I say crew, as it's one of those films where you're not just grabbed by the storyline, but also by the scale of the sets, the perfect cinematography and the score (which DID win an award) that cleverly integrates the sounds of typewriters and other effects with it's moving soundtrack. And as with all films that are top of my favourites list, it has an interesting twist at the end. A classic British costume drama.

Finally, what can I say about Michael Clayton? Well, the acting can't be faulted and George Clooney plays the lead role very convincingly. I'm also a fan of films that make the viewer do some thinking to work out plots and characters for themselves. But it felt like MC took this to a whole new extreme.

It normally takes me around 20 minutes to get my head around who's who, what's going on and the main plot. It was probably after about half an hour, Esther & I looked at each other and said "Do you understand what's happening here?!". Maybe I've just turned a bit thick, but we did exactly the same thing 15 minutes later! Put it this way, we got there in the end (just call me Joey out of "Friends") and again, a good film - just maybe a bit slow in places. In fact, slower than our kids getting ready for school in the mornings. That's very slow indeed by the way.

Right, I'm off to get ready for tonight's Heartbreakers - oh, and to take the DVD's back. My brain's hurting. Might rent out Jungle Book next time.

Simon
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Posted by Simon Beale on February 26, 2008 at 11:13AM

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