Oscar Update

Here’s my updated progress (movies seen are in red):

3:10 to Yuma
Across the Universe
American Gangster
Assassination of Jesse James, The
Atonement
August Rush
Away From Her
Bourne Ultimatum, The
Charlie Wilson's War
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
Eastern Promises
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Enchanted
Golden Compass, The
Gone Baby Gone
I'm Not There
In the Valley of Elah
Into the Wild
Juno
Kite Runner, The
La Vie en Rose
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Norbit
Once
Persepolis
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ratatouille
Savages, The
Surf's Up
Sweeney Tood
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

Latest addition was Once, watched Sunday afternoon. It’s a pretty short movie compared to some of these two hour plus “blockbusters.” It’s touted as a musical, but I’m not sure that’s accurate. At least not in the sense of the word I’m used to. Yes, there’s much singing and music in the movie, but it’s not like someone says, “Daaaahling,” and then breaks into a song and dance number about how much they love the other person. This is more like a movie about songwriters, not a musical. It also seems like the plot is kind of second place to the music. But, in a nutshell: a guitar-playing songwriter/Hoover vacuum repairman recruits a Czech pianist/flower saleswoman to help him record a demo tape that he can take to London when he meets with recording agents/reunites with his ex who cheated on him. Yeah, nothing too original, but they write music and lyrics together (out, you evil mental images of Hugh Grant!) and have some fun.

Next up - Lars and the Real Girl. I'm looking forward to this one as it's one I would actually have watched even if it wasn't on the list!