Oscar Month

It’s 12:20 AM and bedtime needs to happen, but I’m sitting here with an icepack attached to my shoulder for another 15 minutes – due to something inside the shoulder causing various levels of pain. This of course is due to ill-advised yet repeated attempts to hit a volleyball this evening. I’m paying for it now, but it was worth the price of admission. So I thought in light of that I’d throw together yet another quick entry.

Tonight I watched Groundhog Day with my roommate. I came across a Groundhog Day test the other day while doing some Oscar tracking (scored a 16.5 out of 25, not sure how I got .5 of a question right though) and decided that it had been too long since I watched the movie. In case you don’t remember it, Groundhog day is a subtly but continually funny comedy that also has a deeper redemptive story. Bill Murray relives the same day over and over again in a town he hates, but – with the help of muse Andy McDowell – eventually undergoes a transformation from an arrogant jerk to a caring and thoughtful man; in the process winning the heart of his muse and the love of the town which he had also grown to love.

I think it’s really a great movie. A classic, and an inspiration to me (it was while watching that movie years ago that I first became inspired to learn the piano; hoping one day to be able to entertain a crowd with tasty jazz strokes like the ones that Bill comes to learn by the end of the picture). It also posits an interesting idea that a man confronted with his own brokenness could somehow choose to undergo a transformation toward goodness.

I’m not sure why I always track the Oscars, but I always do. I’m excited to see Keira Knightley nominated for best actress at such a young age. I’m also rooting for Phillip Seymour Hoffman – basically a lock for best picture for his portrayal of Truman Capote. I’m a little bummed that Brokeback Mountain will likely take the best picture oscar; partly because I don’t see how a fluffy love story could be better than “Good Night, and Good Luck”, one of the best biopic movies I’ve seen in a long time. I’m also a little frustrated with the content of the movie, but that’s another discussion.

So in honor of Oscar anticipation, and in light of the fact that I think that the Oscars are mostly glamourish political crud (even though I still give weight to the actors that win the award), I thought I’d throw out my Top Five movies of all time, based on Genre.

Note a * denotes my 2nd favorite in given genre, sometimes these runner-ups trade places with the favorites, but usually my Top Five hold strong.

Comedy – Groundhog Day (* So I Married an Axe Murderer)

Action / Adventure – The Rock (* Bad Boys)

Drama – Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (* Moulin Rouge)

Other Drama – The Shawshank Redemption

Overall Favorite Movie – Braveheart

• Yawn *, time for bed. I hope my picks please you, can you offer any others? – dan.