My friend, Oscar

It's that time of the year... Oscar season!!! Which means it is time for Jillibean's second annual Oscar Double Feature! Last year I saw Slumdog Millionaire (loved it, Amazing!!) and Revolutionary Road (not so much...) But it was a lot of fun and I love watching the Oscars after having seen lots of the nominees.

Last year it was really easy to find two highly nominated films at the local theater and see them back-to-back with little lag time. This year however was a different story. This year's double feature involved two different theaters 25 minutes apart with only half an hour between them!! It was crazy, but mostly fun!

First I saw Invictus at the second-run theater by my apartment. I was excited becuase it was cheap! The movie was really good!! I would definitely recommend it. It is the story of South Africa's rugby team's quest to succeed at the World Cup following the end to Apartheid. Morgan Freeman (nominated for Best Actor) as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon (nominated for Best Supporting Actor) as the captain of the rugby team. They were both fantastic (sidenote- I once saw Matt Damon during studio tour in LA so I always love to see him in movies!)!! The story is easily described as Remember the Titans, but for a whole country and with rugby :) It was funny, touching and poignant, plus a good sports movie, even for a girl who didn't know what rugby was about before the movie. Plus, it is a good family movie, a bit of swearing, but no sex, drinking or violence (besides that during the match). Definitely check it out if you get the chance!!

I raced out of the theater after Invictus because I had 30 minutes to drive 25 minutes to the next theater. Of course traffic was crazy so I arrived at the theater at the time the movie was supposed to start and I still had to buy my ticket and popcorn! Of course the ticket seller delayed my progress by carding me, umm please I think I am eighteen and trying to get to a movie which you know has already started!!!!

Luckily due to previews I don't think I missed too much of the movie...
I really loved Crazy Heart! My mom convinced me to see it because she kept telling me how much she loves Jeff Bridges (nominated for Best Actor) was awesome! Loved his voice and great acting. Bridges plays an aging, alcoholic musician who plays bowling alleys and small town bars. He meets a young reporter (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and they begin a relationship. There is also another story arc of Bridges mentee (played by Collin Firth) and Bridges' estranged son. The story was really good and the singing and acting was too! There was one story line that I predicted would happen that never did which disappointed me a bit, but it probably would have been cliche so I'm OK with it :) This one was rated R, mostly for a lot of swearing, lots of drinking and one provocative scene.

The Oscar Double Feature was a rousing success and I would recommend both movies!!
Other nominated movies I've seen- Up, Up in the Air (George Clooney, Anna Kendrick!!), The Blind Side (Sandra Bullock), Julie and Julia (Meryl Streep), The Princess and the Frog (songs and animated feature) and my Netflix for this weekend is the Hurt Locker which I'm excited for!!