Obligatory Oscar Post #2

Oscar Nominee: Little Miss Sunshine
The appeal of Little Miss Sunshine is understandable. It is a cute movie with fairly sharp dialogue and acceptable performances by its ensemble cast. The thing about this movie that irritates me is its supposed “indie” sensibility. Just because a movie is bought at Sundance does not make it a piece of fringe entertainment. Many fans of this movie think it makes them hip. They act as if they have just watched Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Hotel. Like Napoleon Dynamite before it, this film is a crowd pleaser in disguise. There are no shocks being sent through the film community with the craft or content of Little Miss Sunshine. I am not saying there is anything wrong with liking the movie but it needs to be enjoyed for what it is: a standard Hollywood comedy (with a slightly better script and a slightly lower budget) that steals way too many of its “quirky” points from National Lampoon’s Vacation (which, should have won Best Picture in 1983).

Oscar Overlooked: Little Children
Much ado was made about the dysfunctional family portrayed in Little Miss Sunshine. The dysfunction in display in Little Children manages to be both more realistic and more humorous than in the other film. This is the film I have wanted to talk about this year. This is the film that has kept evolving in my mind weeks after viewing it. Little Childeren makes the audience feel uncomfortable; not for the sake of doing it but to bring us closer to the characters and their motivations. I witnessed this films ability to grab a theater full of jaded film snobs and envelop us in this story. For that feat alone this film deserves recognition.