Catholic Ragemonkey

Preparations Under Way

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar, who will win?...

Thanks to the folks at Entertainment Weekly, my magazine for gauging cultural trends, you too can look like the entertainment industry maven or the film auteur at your local Oscar party. Here is their must see 25 film list. Asterisks indicate available on DVD/VCR. The list is sorted in descending order of Academy appeal.

1. Sideways (want to see it BADLY!)
2. The Aviator
3. Finding Neverland (the very versatile Johnny Depp at it again)
4. Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood directs -- and I love most every aspect of what Eastwood puts on the screen.)
5. Closer
6. Kinsey (remember, this is their list not mine -- I am not responsible for their lack of moral vision.)
7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind *
8. Ray
9. Vera Drake (please see #6)
10. Hotel Rwanda (stars Don Cheadle who like several other actors is worth the price of admission and that would include hearing him read from the back of a cereal box.)
11. Maria Full of Grace * (Harrowing and horrifying; see disclaimer point on #6)
12. Before Sunset *
13. Being Julia
14. Collateral *
15. The Incredibles (a slew of good reviews will help but won't bridge the animated label)
16. The Motorcycle Diaries (a fun-loving Che Guevera -- who would have thunk it?)
17. The Door in the Floor *
18. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (cf. number 6)
19. Imaginary Heroes
20. House of Flying Daggers
21. Bad Education
22. A Very Long Engagement
23. The Sea Inside
24. The Woodsman
25. The Phantom of the Opera