Catch up on the Oscar-nominated Films Before the Big Show

-- Dorothy Snarker from AfterEllen.com

If you still need to catch up on your Oscar-nominated movies before the awards show Sunday and you live near an AMC Theatres chain, you’re in luck. Though, given the bleak subject matter in most of this year’s nominated films, I’m not sure if “luck” is the right word. On Saturday, AMC will screen all five films up for best picture in a row. The marathon will start at 11 a.m. and end at 11 p.m.

Now, I’ve seen all five films, and I watched three of them within a 24-hour span recently. Just that alone was rough. So I really can’t imagine seeing all of them in one day, particularly given most of their unrelentingly nihilistic takes on humanity. There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men are definitely not what I would call feel-good films. While Atonement and Michael Clayton are slightly more hopeful, little ray of sunshine Juno is the only one with the audacity of fun. It’s also the only nominated film centered on a female lead.

Both There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men are practically devoid of female characters. It’s a man’s world, and those men are bad, really bad. Seriously, Daniel Day-Lewis’ oilman Daniel Plainview and Javier Bardem’s hitman Anton Chigurh are two of the scariest psychopaths ever committed to film.

The other nominated films feature more prominent female characters, but they don’t come off too rosy either. Atonement is ultimately about the fallout from one little girl’s lie. And Michael Clayton features Tilda Swinton as a ruthless corporate attorney (wait, is that redundant?). Her performance  is a fascinating study in how the primal Darwinian survival drive plays out in the sophisticated world of high-stakes litigation. Let’s just say that when faced with the fight-or-flight moment, she turns into a no-holds-barred brawler.

So, how many of the Oscar hopefuls have you caught? And which do you still want to see? The best picture marathon costs $30 and you can come and go, in case you don’t want to sit through the whole thing. And for heaven's sake, if you haven’t seen Juno yet, put it at the top of your list. The psycho killers, liars and lawyers can wait.