10 Noms 10 Days - Day One

Welcome to 10 Days 10 Nominated Films. I hope you’re as excited about the upcoming Academy Awards as I am. It’s basically my Superbowl. I will not cook dinner, I expect to be left alone and I don’t want any complaints about my screaming and yelling! Of course these could be happy cries or a screaming banshee who has been wronged. It can go either way.

I want to take the next 10 days to breakdown each nominated film. Some I’ve already reviewed here on the couch. Others I never got around to. Now though, I’ll cover them all and tell you what I think will win and what I wish would win.

Let’s start with the last film I saw, 127 Hours. This film stars James Franco, who also earned a Best Actor nomination and rightly so. This film is about 98% James Franco. Few films have to rely so much on one person, so they whole weight of the film is on his shoulders.

This is based on the true story of Aron Rolson and his autobiography Between a Rock and A Hard Place. It’s more than just a story of survival, but how important it is for us to truly connect with the people in our lives and to never take the life that has been given to you for granted.

Strictly as a movie, this rests on the shoulders of James Franco and he delivers. Most of this movie is him trapped and we see his ramblings, escape ideas, pain, regret, goofiness, you name it. Franco is called upon to go through the whole range of emotions with a camera right in his face. If it doesn’t seem like a huge acting challenge, I would say that’s the comfort and brilliance of Franco as an actor. This is a guy who always gives 100%. This is displayed in a prestigious performance like in Milk and what some might consider a throw away like Spiderman. Franco is always going to bring his A game.

This film was thankfully short, clocking in at 94 minutes, it was however, riveting. Even if you know the final outcome, it’s still impossible to not suffer right along with Aron Rolston and the decisions he must make to survive.

So do I think Franco deserves the Best Actor Oscar? Yes, actually I think he does. Will he get it? No. This is one where the Academy thinks we have some time to get more solid work from Franco. He’s still a bit all over the place and I don’t feel he’s taken seriously enough. I look forward to his hosting gig on awards night and his graciousness when Colin Firth wins over him. Hang in there James Franco. Your day will come.