Pop Culture Curmudgeon

Oscar Season Movies to See

This time of year, I look forward to the smart, sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic films released just in time for Oscar consideration. Most of the time, holiday blockbusters just don’t do it for me. Let’s see, how best to say this? I didn’t need bad reviews of Four Christmases to know I wouldn’t go see it.

I am, however, a complete sucker for dogs and Jennifer Aniston, so I will be seeing Marley & Me.

These are the movies I’m looking forward to this holiday season.

Milk: All I’ve ever heard about this story is the infamous Twinkie defense. (Yes, I know the defense attorneys didn’t really argue that Twinkies made him do it. But that phrase is a huge part of our lexicon.) So I can’t wait to get a better idea of what really happened to Harvey Milk. And, I don’t think an actor has to be a metrosexual to play gay.
Cadillac Records: Again, this is a film I am interested in because it will give me more information. I know nothing about Etta James except the song At Last. And, I’ve learned from the previews that she apparently liked the drugs a bit.
Frost/Nixon: I was way too young during Watergate to even know what a president was, let alone to care if he lied. And I’m pretty much over that era. But I love movies about journalists back when journalists did their jobs. All the President’s Men was fascinating, and I see this movie as a good complement to that film.

What movies are you looking forward to this winter?