Our Oscar Season Preview

The leaves are changing a golden hue, little trick-or-treaters will soon be ringing our bells, and the quality of films suddenly takes a huge leap after the September lull that always follows a summer of blockbusters. Yes, Oscar season is here, and we can’t wait to see some of the enticing films coming to theaters very soon or are already here. We each picked three we can’t wait to see.

BRIAN
The Master
Currently in limited release but I have not seen it yet. Director Paul Thomas Anderson is currently, in my opinion, the finest American director working today. This has a chance at a second, wider release, like last year’s best picture winner “The Artist.”

Skyfall
Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty) steps in to direct the new James Bond film. How could you not get excited?

Argo
Ben Affleck directs another thriller, and if his last two films are any  indication, this will be fantastic.

MATT
Wreck It Ralph
It’s not too hard to predict that a Pixar film will be nominated for an Oscar, but this is the first one in a while I’ve been pumped for. It looks stocked full of video game nostalgia wrapped in a nice story.

Lincoln
Steven Spielberg has whiffed on a lot of movies over the last decade, but this ambitious period piece could just put him back on the map. Academy Award-winners Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sally Field round out an excellent cast.

Django Unchained
Any time Quentin Terrantino makes a movie, the world sits up and pays attention. He has yet to win best film or director, but perhaps this is the one to do it. Academy Award-winners Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz star in Terrantino’s first western — a genre that feel made for him.

Toy Story 3

Woody, Buzz and the whole gang are back. As their owner Andy prepares to depart for college, his loyal toys find themselves in daycare where untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice. It’s all for one and one for all as they join Barbie’s counterpart Ken, a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear to plan their great escape.

Brian
Rating: 10 out of 10

There is something so magical about the ages between 4 and 10.  There’s no limitation on what we can achieve, who we could become, or what we can imagine.  To date, there are few, if any, films that convey the sense of child-like wonder as the Toy Story films have. Toy Story 3 is the best of all 3.  It’s about so much more than just toys coming to life.  It’s about the loss of innocence and the time to say goodbye to childish things and move on.

It picks up around eight years after Toy Story 2.  Andy, the little boy from the first and second films, is all grown up and getting ready to move to college.  Many of the toys are gone from the previous installments but Andy has held onto his favorite ones in his old toy box.  When he has to clean up his room before moving away, there’s a mixup with his mother and the toys end up being donated to a daycare.  From there, it’s 100 minutes of pure fun that will make you laugh, cheer, and cry. The animation is even more stellar and the performances of all the voice actors is as good as ever.  But, the secret to Pixar’s success is their team of writers that put together film after film of brilliant stories that always capture our imagination and make us feel just like we did before we had to grow up.  Toy Story 3 is their best film to date.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNMpa5yBf5o