2016 Academy Award Best Pictures [ and a Running Tour of KC ]

In anticipation of the Academy Awards, the Roweton girls assemble in Kansas City or St. Louis to watch through each of the Best Picture nominations. We call this event Oscarfest and it is a wonderful weekend spent lounging in reclining chairs ordering off a menu and settling into little indie theaters where they don’t butter the popcorn (Rag Tag Cinema, I’m looking at you).

We woke up Saturday morning and went for a run. I did 7.5 without mom, then picked her up back at our loft and did another 2 miles to review the sites. Here are all the cool things you can see in a 9.5 mile radius of downtown Kansas City...

Anyway, this year’s Best Picture nominees are…

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The Big Short
Woah. This movie is very, educational and entertaining. It explains the crash of the housing market through the story of three individuals/groups who were the first to bet against what was consider the most stable thing you could invest in. You'll have to excuse my poor vocabulary on the subject: while I left the movie feeling pretty competent about what went down leading up to the crash, I can't remember all the terminology associated with investment banking. GREAT movie, though.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Bridge of Spies
Bridge of Spies poses an intriguing question of if America should give the same rights to non-American individuals (spies) arrested in our country, particularly in regards to a trial. I really enjoyed the characters in this movie and would definitely recommend, though it was a bit slow for my taste.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Brooklyn
Brooklyn was a cute little love flick that I really enjoyed. The main character spends most of the movie looking very sad, but the ending is nice and happy. Mom and I were both enthralled by her love interest who is the sweetest, most charming, charismatic guy in Brooklyn...probably. As I heard in a podcast, it seems a little out-of-place for a best picture nomination, but it was still a really great movie with some pretty beautiful shots. 

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Mad Max: Fury Road

This was one of those movies where I somehow never managed to see a preview or really hear about the plot, because when I finally stapled Aaron to the couch and started watching this…woah. It’s a seriously creative story, told in a wildly imaginative setting by some very aggressive, mechanophilia minds (men). I still need to see this one again in order to decide whether I really liked it, but the more I think about it, the more I think I’m gonna love Mad Max after my next viewing.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ The Martian

Unlike Mad Max, this was exactly the kind of movie I expected it to be: classic story of solo space survival. It's a great story, though! Matt Damon is a little bit funny (or a lot fun, according to the Golden Globes) and it's very interesting to watch all the problem solving he does in space. I liked it, but I think it's kind of been done.

⋆ ⋆ The Revenant
This movie is just NOT my style - I knew it wouldn't be. I don't want to spoil anything but if I could describe this movie in three words, they would be: exhausting, disgusting and shocking. 

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Room

This move was really incredible. Such a unique and tragic story, with an emotional (if not stressful) climax and a painfully real ending. Both of the main actors were great and their chemistry, which was essential to this story, was so believable. It was such a well-told story, and although it was upsetting, I really enjoyed the movie. 

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ Spotlight
My favorite movie the bunch was Spotlight: a story of The Boston Globe's exposure of the horrific number of Catholic priests involved in child molestation and the neglect of acknowledgement by the Catholic church. To say the story was extremely upsetting would be an understatement, but it was well-told and I think essential to generate awareness of such a appalling controversy.

Unfortunately, since the Academy Awards are on Sunday night, we can’t spend the night watching with Mom. Even more unfortunately, we don’t have cable…so, if not for the kindness of the Anderson, I couldn’t watch the Oscars at all! I’ll drag Aaron along under the pretenses that “we’ll probably play some games too.” When the Best Picture winner is finally announced, there is no doubt in my mind that even though I’ve seen more of the movies than anyone else who filled out an Oscar voting ballot—I will still lose.