Frozen River (2008)

This Oscar and Critics Choice runner is the kind of movie that makes you want to make one. Falling under the category of Independent Movies, this movie has a very personalized touch of a running commentary (that is initially mistaken as subtitles although some of them are) by the makers through every scene and shot on the set up, the racing thoughts, the feelings, characters, sponsors et al. To an unwitting commercial bug, this was a refreshing change and a profound move into a more mature taste in cinematic obsession.

Set in the lives of families in trailer homes in the Mohawk land bordering the United States and Canada, it (al)most inevitably delves into the touchy subjects of race, colour, rights, aliens and immigration. Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham: for sponsoring Lays Stax :) jk), a border crossing alien (orients, pakis (not my words)) smuggler on probation and separated from her li'l son gets the car trunk of Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo, playing the classic "white trash") in the fate of dire circumstances. Desperate to get the dream mobile home for her broken family, Ray makes one odd trips across the ice border, with the risks consequentially following up.

Melissa Leo deservedly earned the nomination by the academy and in my judgment is second best to Winslet's win. My paradoxical liking to this movie is that the running scipt commentary makes the viewers as involved in the process of the 'making of the movie' yet shifts the focus from actually watching the movie making it a relatively semantic experience rather than a visuo-perceptual one.

Nevertheless, one of the better movies i've watched of late in line with 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' (2009), 'The Weight of Water' (2000), 'I am Sam' (2001) and 'The Reader' (2008).

And the Oscar goes to...

As an Indian, I have to be proud of the fact that Slumdog Millionaire took away most and the cream of the cake in the Oscars. However, as a movie critic and a cinematic lover, it was disappointing. I felt the same way even when A.R. Rahman won as I'm not the biggest fan of the OST of the movie either. But atleast he deserved it more than the movie.

Danny boyle did a great job with the direction, so no contentions in him taking away the Best Director. However, he did not make a movie so great to make it to the top. Call me crude but it almost felt like a racial uplift. I could be wrong and its probably for the better if I am.

But this bright eyed poster of a movie an unfortunate miss in the oscars with its only nominations being in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Costume category. Clearly, it deserved more adoration. Kate Winslet could have won hands down with this one, though I trust her acting enough to be worthy of winning for what she did. (memory failure!)

So in my li'l fantasy world where I solely represent the academy, I give away the Oscar for Best Movie to Revolutionary Road. For...its dramatic appeal...its cinematographic simplicity...its complex script, the meaning/essence of which with you and is much contemplated over...for how eerily real it felt as though you're witnessing it, not watching it. I sure have a lot more things to say as the movie provoked a lot in me and is definitely the best I have seen in 2008 and almost the best till date.

*standing ovation*