Since none of this year's Best Picture nominees have made it to the budget theater yet and I'm too poor to shell out the big bucks to see them, I decided to watch some older Oscar winners through Netflix instead. All films are available to watch instantly if you're interested in them.
All the President's Men: Just a great, great film and I'm embarassed that it's taken me so long to see it. This is the retelling of Woodward and Bernstein's investigation into the Watergate scandal. Fantastic acting from everyone involved and does a nice job of playing more like a detective story than some extended political statement. I really enjoyed seeing such a thorough look into the world of journalism and the quest people will take in order to get the story. Rating: *****
Network: Another great film directed by one of the most legendary directors, Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men). This look at a fictional TV network's exploitation of their lead anchorman, who's having a mental breakdown seems all too realistic today in our tabloid driven world. The movie is way ahead of it's time and fascinating to watch now from this perspective. I'm not crazy about the love story they included between Faye Dunaway and the news director; it just didn't feel organic to the story. Otherwise this is an excellent film. On a related note, Peter Finch was the first man to win an acting Oscar posthumously for his role as Howard Beale for this movie. Heath Ledger could become the second one to do so this Sunday. Rating: ****
The Counterfeiters: This won the Best Foreign Language film Oscar a couple of years ago. I've seen my fair share of Holocaust films and I was impressed with the originality of this one. Yes, it depicts the terrible conditions that Jewish people endured during this time, but the primary story is of a counterfeit artist who is captured and used by the Germans to create fake dollars and pounds in order to help fund their war effort. This forces him into a situation to either choose between helping the enemy or avoiding the same horrible treatment that his fellow prisoners are enduring. It is a riveting film, but it is subtitled, so if that isn't your thing, you may not enjoy this. Rating: ****
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