Movie Reviews: The Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris

**SPOILER ALERT:  There may be some plot talk in this post.  Nothing too spoilery, but you have been warned, to be fair to those who hate to hear anything about a film before watching it.**

The other night I was having dinner with Mr. Lock's family (it was his mom's birthday), and his dad pulled out some recent DVD purchases.  Turns out he had three Oscar nominated films on DVD.  I quickly asked to borrow The Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris, two of the films I had not seen yet (and didn't even expect to ever see).  I really didn't know anything about either of these films, but I'm on a mission to see as many Best Picture Nominees as I can, and I've made pretty great progress this year!

The Tree of Life

Mr. Lock and I chose The Tree of Life as the first film to watch, he really wasn't sure he cared about Midnight in Paris.  HA.  What a great decision! [/sarcasm, so much sarcasm].  We popped it in before going to bed on Wednesday night.

We were instantly confused.  Our initial thoughts: "Oh great, this has a religious tone.." and "Double you tee eff?!" ***

It's an artistic film in the style of... here are some flashes of images!  Put it together yourself!  Figure out what's going on! Understand our deep, deep message!  You are so dumb if you don't GET this!

Then the twenty minutes of screensaver-esque images began.  Shots of waves upon the shore, mountains, and space.  So many shots of space.  Here's sunrise over the earth!  OOH.  AHH.  And... WHAT IS THIS!?!

And, really, can you win Best Picture just for using stock photos?!  Because I'm sure those were Getty Images.

There was no talking for ages, and then some whispers... whispers and biblical type talk.  Then the kid started acting all weird... and at the 1 hour, 30 minute mark we just gave up.

So, I have no idea how it ended or what the hell was even happening in the parts I saw.  I bet this Gee Dee movie will win Best Picture.  Because it's WEIRD.  Booo.

Midnight in Paris

This afternoon I put Midnight in Paris on.  Mr. Lock and I didn't know what it was about, and then we both really enjoyed it!  It was definitely a much better film than effing The Tree of Life.   It was funny and romantic and whimsical.  Owen Wilson was his usual self, and I do tend to like his movies.  I am a huge fan of "the roaring twenties" anyway, so for me it was a fun fantasy of "better times".  I just really liked the story and the way it was told.

The actors did a great job playing famous artists and writers from the past, Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali was hilarious.  We were both big fans of the Ernest Hemingway character, too, haha.  Being very nostalgic myself, I was very drawn to the story in this film.

So, overall I really, really liked it.  I'm very glad I had the sudden opportunity to watch this movie, since before I had no clue what it was and I really would have missed out.

I am definitely unsure what to vote for for Best Picture, this year.  The films are very different from each other, and yet so many of them just tell stories without any particularly epic film-making... so it's hard to know what will win!  I am pretty impressed that I've seen six out of the nine films this year though!

*** Footnote from Mr. Lock:  Hey folks. Tree of Life was great, and I made sure to record a transcript of the insightful dialogue between Ms. Key and I as we took it all in:

"What?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Zzzzzzz"

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2012 Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees (in order of Seen, Likely to See Someday, Might Not See):
The Help  (SEEN IT, love it!  Best Picture, though?  Not sure the Academy would think so.)
Moneyball  (SEEN IT, it's okay...totally not anything more than a story, not Best Picture, kthx.)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close  (SEEN IT, very good, has potential for Best Picture.)
The Descendants (SEEN IT, quite good actually!  Maybe potential for Best Picture?)
The Tree of Life (SEEN most of IT..... super odd, did not like, at all. Bet it will win Best Picture to spite me.)
Midnight in Paris (SEEN IT, really, really enjoyed it!)
Warhorse 
Hugo
The Artist