And the Nominees for Best Picture are...

The Academy Awards will air this weekend, but I won’t watch.  This should be expected considering I haven’t seen any of the Best Picture nominees (although I have seen the trailers (I’m personally rooting for Selma to take the big honor!)).  I find the awards show more of a bloated, studio-fueled spectacle than an actual celebration of film’s power to energize and inspire.  However, the Oscars do provide a moment to highlight some of cinema’s higher achievements.  I’m certainly not a movie-nut by any measure, but there are a few that have proven to endear and edify.  So here it goes, I present to you the nominees for “Brent’s All-Time Personal Best Picture Award” (in alphabetical order):

Babe

This barnyard fairy tale combines simple storytelling, endearing characters and undeniable sincerity to tell a story that is surprisingly inspiring and deep.  In the form of a humble piglet, Babe reminds us to not settle for what the world expects us to be, but aspire to what the master believes we can be.  When Farmer Hogget gives his timeless “That’ll do pig,” he might as well be saying “Well done good and faithful servant.” 

Broken Trail

Technically it’s a miniseries, not a cinema film.  And technically it isn’t all that great, but I have a soft spot in my heart for westerns and Broken Trail has managed to find it.  The story and acting are little more than satisfactory, but the landscapes are magnificent.  Sometimes, good scenery is all I need to be pleasantly entertained.  Good scenery and Robert Duvall.

Incendies (Canada)

This French-language film dramatizes factual events from the Middle East to deliver a haunting story that will (somehow) leave you both emotionally depleted and surprisingly uplifted.  The content is especially hard to watch in light of the conflicts raging throughout the region, yet this is what makes it so very important and timely.  Few films manage to mix the complexities of war’s death and hope’s life like Incendies.  It’s a tough watch, but it’s a must watch.

Once (Ireland)

Is it a film or is it a soundtrack?  Either way, Once utilizes utter simplicity to create one of modern cinema’s most genuine and heart-felt tellings of a ‘love story.’  The songs will draw you in and hold you for a long while, but it is the sincere portrait of human-connection that will remain when the music fades.

The Shawshank Redemption

It doesn't boast the highest of acting, slickest of scripts, or fanciest of technical execution, but no other film so gracefully weaves all the elements of movie-making into a piece of storytelling like The Shawshank Redemption.  The love-story-as-friendship-story only gets better with time and (my own personal) maturation.  Some call it overrated, but that’s okay; it will keep landing on “best film” lists for centuries to come.

Toy Story

My father took me to a special-preview showing of Toy Story when I was a boy.  I walked into the theater having no idea what to expect and walked out in a state of sheer wonder and delight.  This is the magic that films are supposed to capture.  Though it set new marks in technical achievement, the strength lies in simply telling a story that resonates with all.  Toy Story is not just one of the best films of all time; it’s one of the great moments in entertainment history.

Warrior

Any movie that can make a room full of teenage boys cry is a movie that got something right.  The story centers on an Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, but it really examines an arena featuring much harder punches: family.  The acting and directing hit all the right marks to show life’s painfully-sweet journey of forgiveness and reconciliation.  Just wait until the closing scene; rough masculinity has never rendered such tender softness.