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Posted: 27 Feb 2011 10:00 AM PST

Having reviewed some of the worst movies of the year for this SlashGear column, I can finally set my sights on the best of the best, just in time for the Oscars. I’m only going to focus on one category, the most important one, the Best Picture. Full disclosure: I haven’t seen all of the movies, but I’ve seen more of the ten nominees this year than in years past, and I’ve probably seen more than you have, because you didn’t want to sit through the movie where the guy cuts his own arm off.

[Image credit: Kevin Harber]

“The Kids Are All Right” and “The Fighter”

These are the two I haven’t seen. If one of them wins, I’ll see it, as long as it’s not The Fighter. Sorry, I just can’t get myself interested. I like everyone involved, but just knowing that this was Mark Wahlberg’s passion project for years has me turned off. First, it’s a boxing movie, and there have already been enough great boxing movies. Second, passion projects are usually too long and too dull. I know, I’m like an Internet troll posting “TLDR” on this review, but unlike the trolls, I’ll regret being wrong.

I did want to see The Kids Are All Right, but it was difficult to find the movie in a theater down here in Texas. Go figure. By the time I had a few free hours in a weekend, it was already gone. I refuse to watch these movies on my home television, too. That’s the way most Academy voters see these movies, on DVD screener discs in the comfort of their own living rooms. I’m convinced that’s why Avatar lost last year and a claustrophobic film like “The Hurt Locker” won. So, all of the other movies I saw in the theater on the big screen.

“The King’s Speech”

This is the front runner. It is also the most boring movie of the bunch, which is why it will probably win. But it’s a very dull movie. Maybe not if you’re British, but I wouldn’t want to sit through a movie about Harry Truman any more than I’m interested in King George VI. I know many viewers found this to be powerful and inspiring, and it was certainly a good movie, but you have to ask yourself, will you want to see this again? Will you buy the movie and show it to your children as an example of the great films of your youth? Of course not, because it’s dull, and in 20 years nobody will want to sit through this movie again.

I also think the movie was a bit shallow. There are clearly some deep-rooted issues that the Prince, then the King, has to deal with from his own childhood. The relationship with his father and brother is hardly explored. I would have rather the screenwriters skipped most of the silly nonsense about Edward VIII’s abdication of the throne and instead focused on the root causes of George VI’s psychological issues. Perhaps they were being deferential, but they missed what could have been the most haunting moments of real character building.

“Black Swan” and “Winter’s Bone”

I’m not sure why this movie got so much hype. I liked it very much, but I don’t think it deserves a Best Picture nomination. I’m guessing that most people who loved this movie and want it to win either never saw “Requiem for a Dream,” or they are huge fans of “Requiem” and want to see Aronofsky finally get his due. In either case, it’s a finely crafted, eerie film, but I wouldn’t say it’s Aronofsky’s best, nor is it the best film of the year. Perhaps I prefer the Aronofsky who asks grandiose questions about the nature of our relationship with society. Or, perhaps I just can’t root for a movie that is, at its heart, about an artist who is consumed by her art. It just didn’t feel large enough to be the winner this year.

I also loved “Winter’s Bone,” but it was a hard movie to watch. Throughout the film you’re rooting for, um, what exactly? It almost seems like the heroine would be better off if she fails at her quest to find her missing father. There are neither heroes nor anti-heroes in this movie, and the bleak setting permeates the film so completely that it chills to the bone. I know that’s the point, but in the same way that “Black Swan” did not seem grand enough in its scale, neither did “Winter’s Bone.”

“True Grit”

Hooray for the Coen brothers! Finally making a movie that a wide audience can get behind. “True Grit” is an intense movie, though not in the scope of the Coen brothers’ entire body of work. Of all the nominees I’ve mentioned so far, this is the first movie that I would keep watching if I flipped past it on HBO. It’s bleak and gritty, not unlike “Winter’s Bone,” but it’s also driven. However, it wasn’t the best picture of the year. First of all, it’s a remake. That doesn’t disqualify it outright, but I do give more credit to original films than remakes in this category. Second, though I was enamored of the dialogue and script for this movie, I wasn’t as thrilled with the acting as most other critics. Matt Damon seemed out of place. Jeff Bridges never lived up to the intense, murderous character he seems to define in his own court testimony about himself. Hailee Steinfeld was good, but her dialogue was so wordy and a bit too clever, which made the character less believable. Again, a good movie, but not the best.

“127 Hours”

I saw this movie because of an interview the director, Danny Boyle, did with NPR. He explained that his goal was to tell the story so that you are not cringing in anticipation waiting for the moment to happen. By the time James Franco cuts his arm off, the audience truly believes that it’s the only option that he has left, and we should be rooting for him to do it already. In that, he succeeded. But when I think back on this film, all I remember is the cutting. It’s beautifully filmed, and James Franco deserves an award for a compelling performance that carries the whole film through to its conclusion. I highly recommend seeing this movie, it’s much better than you expect it will be. But it’s not the best picture.

“Inception”

I can’t figure out why this movie got so much hype. I think it’s because most people missed “Memento,” which is Christopher Nolan’s triumph. Or maybe they didn’t understand just how dark and sinister was the film “The Prestige.” But “Inception” felt more like a stunt. It was a movie trying to be deliberately clever, when its conceit is not very interesting. Even the supposed twist at the end, if there is a twist, did not add much to the movie. In a way, the twist erases all of the commitment the audience has just put into two hours of movie watching, and that’s the worst type of twist. It’s a fantastic looking film, and it deserves awards for visual effects, but it’s not the best picture of the year.

“Toy Story 3″

Didn’t you love “Toy Story 3?” Of course you did. How could you not? Of all the nominees, this will undoubtedly be the best seller on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was not only a great animated movie, it was also a nice way to wrap-up the entire Toy Story saga. That said, I’m tired of the Toy Story saga. I didn’t love the first movie. I find the characters a bit hokey, especially Woody. Maybe I’m too cynical to hope that a movie that is so steeped in peace, love and understanding wins best picture this year. Now “The Incredibles,” that’s an animated movie I could get behind for the award. But “Toy Story” feels somewhat formulaic and predictable. I’ll buy this one to show my kids, but it wasn’t the best picture.

The Best Picture of the Year

The best picture of the year was “The Social Network.” That doesn’t mean I think Facebook deserves an award, nor does it mean Mark Zuckerberg is responsible for great filmmaking. I had no illusions about the veracity of “The Social Network” story. But I think it was a fine film. Besides being so topical for today’s changing digital culture, it had something larger to say about relationships and what it takes to succeed in such a fast-paced, competitive world. The acting was rock solid, especially the supporting characters. Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer, who played both Winklevoss twins, were interesting and fun to watch. I appreciated the ambiguity of the film. It’s never clear who is the villain and who is the hero. David Fincher leaves the big questions unanswered, but still delivers a satisfying narrative. Plus, the intense score from Trent Reznor kept the film moving so quickly that it could have been an hour longer and still interesting.

Of all the nominees I saw, there was certainly not a bad picture in the bunch, but “The Social Network” deserves the title of Best Picture of the Year more than the rest of the pack.

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SlashGear Week in Review – Week 9 2011

Posted: 27 Feb 2011 05:52 AM PST

Welcome to this week’s edition of the SlashGear Week in Review! It was a busy week in the tech world with some major new products landing this week. The new Hanvon HPad A112 surfaced packing Android Froyo, a 3MP camera and a lot more. The tablet has a 7-inch 800 x 600 screen and is 10.8mm thick.

Microsoft opened the Kinect SDK up to folks that like the hack the motion sensing camera to do more than Microsoft intended. The personal use SDK is set for launch in March and a commercial version is coming later. Samsung has added a cool new feature to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 with the ability to steam TV. The feature also lands on the Galaxy S II.

We learned early in the week for some leaks that new MacBooks were sitting on pallets in retail stores around the country. Apple had strict orders to not unpack the pallets until the unveil later in the week. A cool capacitive brush for the iPad has surfaced that is sort of like a stylus that allows the user to draw. The brush is from Nomad and each brush sells for $24.

I think most of us were expecting the Verizon iPhone to do much better than it has. The number of people that have downloaded a popular app called Instapaper has remained basically the same with the launch of the new iPhone. This suggests that most buyers for the Verizon iPhone are from AT&T. The Sony Vaio S series broke cover early in the week. The notebook packs a 13.3-inch screen and a battery good for 14 hours of runtime. The notebook uses up to the Intel i7-2620M, 8GB of RAM and up to 128GB SSD for storage.

The Apple iPad 2 is said to be releasing in June after a production delay according to an analyst. The delay is reportedly the result of last minute changes to the new iPad 2 expected to be unveiled next month. Spring Design is phasing out the Alex eReader that has been on sale for almost a year. The device will reportedly be retired over the next six months with no replacement expected at this time.

A dude has taken the menacing looking Megatron tank from Transformers 2 and created a DIY replica of the thing. This isn’t some small toy tank either, the tank weighs five tons. Windows 7 SP1 is now available. The new update for the Windows 7 OS is available for download and is 1.9GB.

Dell will start shipping the XPS 17 and XPS 15 laptops with Sandy Bridge inside on March 16. The machines will start at $1049 for the 17 and $899 for the 15. A cool iPhone accessory surfaced this week for bicyclists. The device is called the iBike and uses a waterproof case and sensors to turn the iPhone into a bike computer.

HP has unveiled new EliteBook and ProBook business notebooks. The notebook boasts up to 32 hours of battery life and can be had with Core i7, i5, and i3 processors and screens of 14-inch and 15.6-inch. The Motorola Atrix 4G got its obligatory teardown this week by iFixit. The innards of the cool smartphone are apparently easy to upgrade and repair.

Husqvarna unveiled a neat robot lawn mower mid-week called the Automower 305. The mower is battery powered and designed for small lawns. Razer unveiled the new Chimaera in standard stereo and 5.1 versions this week. The headphones are wireless and will work with the Xbox 360 and PCs.

An Apple event has been confirmed for March 2 that will see the new iPad 2 get unveiled for the first time. The event is taking place at 10am in San Francisco. An interesting alarm clock has turned up that has some IQ questions on it. The iQ Alarm alarm goes off until you answer the question on the screen correctly and if it's a dumb morning for you things could get annoying.

A sweet little personal submarine turned up mid-week called the Ego. The thing has a boat on top that floats on the water and the cabin is underneath allowing the passengers a view of the undersea action. We posted up our review of the Motorola Xoom. Even lacking Flash and 4G we found a lot to like with the new tablet.

We went hands on with the Vodafone Galaxy Tab 10.1. The tablet was pretty nice and we liked it with final judgment reserved for a full review. Apple officially unveiled the new 2011 version of the MacBook Pro notebooks. The most notable new changes are AMD graphics and a new IO port called Thunderbolt.

Sprint has halted the over-the-air update to Froyo for the Samsung Epic 4G. The update was stopped after complaints that the update was breaking the phones. We spent a bit of hands-on time with the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt. It’s cool, expensive, and final judgment will come with the review of the machine later.

Fujitsu announced late in the week that its Stylistic Q550 slate PC with Windows would be launching this sprint. The tablet will start at about $800. The MacBook Pro that launched during the week has already been torndown by iFixit. The machine has new RAM inside. The notebook is certainly well packed inside the metal chassis.

An interesting universal sleeve for gadgets turned up called the NXE ActiveSLEEVE. The thing is designed to fit on the arm while people workout and keep their smartphone and other gadgets safe. Skype To Go launched late in the week and allows the user to make calls at lower rates without having to have a web connection or a 3G area. The service works on landlines and any mobile phones.

The world’s first robot marathon will be held in Osaka, Japan. The event will see the humanoid walking bots traveling 26 miles over four days on an indoor track. Verizon CEO Dan Mead has stated that LTE products are coming from Apple. Mead didn’t offer any product names or a timeframe.

Google changed its search algorithm this week to combat content farms. The fear is that some legitimate sites might be caught in the change. Thanks for reading this week’s edition! See you next time. 

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