Oscar buzz

Every year around this time, I get the itch to see all the Oscar nominees up for Best Picture. It happens, mostly, because it's usually the only time a handful of the nominees are shown at my local theaters.

That happened to be the case with Milk and Slumdog Millionaire, both of which I now have seen.

Last night I went to see Milk, and I was blown away by Sean Penn's performance. I wouldn't say I'm a big Sean Penn fanatic, but I certainly respect his work. This is a performance he should be proud of for his entire career. Not only is it an important and timely film, but the movie just shares with the audience a really interesting character.

This afternoon — I just got home about 30 minutes ago, in fact — I went back to the theater to take in Slumdog Millionaire. Having read plenty of the hype and reviews of this independent heavy hitter, I was a little worried I may be disappointed. I thought maybe I had raised my expectations by pumping it up ahead of time.

I was wrong.

The film could not have been better. Sure, by the end, you really have figured out what is going to happen. Even the finishing touches seem a little obvious. But it doesn't ruin the entertainment value. And there's no distraction.

Right here and now I'm proclaiming Slumdog Millionaire to be the best film I've seen this year. Thus, I hope it wins the biggest award of the night on Sunday.