... And the race begins. http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/ Best film: Mystic River Top 10: Mystic River, The Last Samurai, The Station Agent, 21 Grams, House of Sand and Fog, Lost in Translation, Cold Mountain, In America, Seabiscuit, Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World Best actor: Sean Penn, Mystic River and 21 Grams Best actress: Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give Seabiscuit? Really?
Typical NBR top 10 list, although I have absolutely no problem with the awards for Mystic River and Penn. I'll go ahead and hold my breath while waiting for Once Upon a Time in Mexico to receive one of these awards.
Mystic River was one of the best movies I have ever seen and I have no problem with it winning. I haven't seen the rest of the top 10 except for Master and Commander, which was pretty good. But no matter what the only movie I am really waiting for is Return of the King.
A couple notes .... Has anyone seen The Last Samurai? Is it actually good, or is it Dances with Wolves set in Japan? I don't get Seabiscuit either. It wasn't even that widely praised at the time of its release. Am I the only person on the planet that thinks that Kevin Bacon gave the best performance in Mystic River? Usually, NBR provides a solid safe pick. That seems to be the case here. I mean, there's no All the Real Girls or other independent films. (Perhaps In America? I don't know enough about it.) The usual studio-independent glory fest. But I too think Mystic River was the best film I've seen so far this year. And I like LiT a great deal too.
Good to see The Station Agent in there, though I'm surprised it made the Top 10. I say 21 Grams should've gotten film of the year, but that's probably because I haven't seen Mystic River yet. Yeah, Seabiscuit is a curious choice. It was an enjoyable film, but was it that good? I'm not too impressed by Cold Mountain's trailer, especially Renee Zellweger (sp?). But otherwise, not a bad list.
"The Last Samurai" is a good movie. I saw a sneak preview last Saturday and it would make my Top 10 list for 2003, but I don't think it should be in the running for Best Picture or anything of that nature.
I really, really liked Bacon in that movie. My wife thought he was only so-so. But, as they say in football, there's not much separating those three guys. Haven't seen it -- but allow me to demonstrate my world-ranked Uninformed Knee-Jerk Reflex (with a twist of lemony sarcasm): "White guy goes native and saves the day for third worlders? My, what an original idea! And, no, that doesn't sound the least bit offensive? Why do you ask?" And I thank you.
Don't waste your money then because not only does Mr. Cruise save the third worlders, but he also becomes Emporer of Japan and then invades Africa and becomes their great white God.
I thought the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon-style fight scene was gratuitous and completely implausible.
I think that was Bacon's best performance, but the best one in that movie was probably Robbins. Its hard to find many flaws with that film.