So we officially hit the midway mark on our Oscar Countdown this past weekend by renting “Winter’s Bone” on our handy dandy Apple TV. Five down, five to go :-)

The Mission:

Black Swan

The Fighter – CHECK!

Inception – CHECK!

The Kids Are All Right – CHECK!

The King’s Speech

127 Hours

The Social Network – CHECK!

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter’s Bone – CHECK!

WINTER’S BONE

• If you’re looking for a feel good movie – this is NOT it.  The only word that really comes to mind when I think of the film is bleak.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of sad/dark movies, but it’s nice when you can at least walk away feeling like it had SOME other purpose than just to bum you out.

• I don’t think anyone could deny though that the leading lady, 19 year old Jennifer Lawrence, really nailed it. A very strong performance from such a young, relative newcomer – well worthy of the Best Actress nod, (although I kinda doubt she will win in in light of the other nominees.)

• The thing I find most fascinating about the movie is probably the fact that it is, in essence, a “thriller”, but it’s quite unique in that it moves at a pretty slow pace.  There are some moments of action, but it’s mostly the tension of the unknown that drives the plot, rather than big action sequences.  Overall, it was unusual, but not one of my favorites so far.

5 down, and 5 more to go! Stay tuned as we watch and review all 10 nominees!