Before Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States, Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected into public office in California. Expanding his repository of films that show no fear of exploring confrontational material, avant-garde director Gus Van Sant wants you to know just how much of an impact Milk made on the prejudiced society of the 1970′s. However, he’s also made a film that desperately wants the Academy to take notice as well. Milk is the very definition of Oscar bait, where Van Sant is without question the one holding the rod. But who said this was a bad thing?

- This review was originally posted Dec 20, 2008.
The lengths people go to entertain is astonishing. I sat in total bemusement as aging wrestler Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson  is willingly beaten to a pulp a top of barb wire and shattered glass, all in the name of entertainment. You just have to shake your head and chuckle at the sheer absurdity of it all. But Darren Aronofsky’s (Requiem for a Dream) latest film The Wrester is no joke; it’s an amazingly heartfelt story of a man’s realisation that the sport he gave up his life for wasn’t simply going to give it back once he left the ring. It also happens to be one of the best films of the year, mostly due to one man – Mickey Rourke.

Australian audiences have been spoilt with quality this summer as with any Oscar season, and while many of the high contenders gain later releases to create worldwide awards buzz, Frost/Nixon is a gift to Australian moviegoers with a comparatively early Boxing Day release. It comes at a time where change is imminent within political power and world affairs (Barack Obama’s inauguration among other things) and journalism has reached to a more technologically savvy state, but what Frost/Nixon and the Watergate scandal represents in history and shows some 30 years later is more than just a cover-up.

And so is the tale of one curious Benjamin Button. The story of a man who grows younger, the opposite to everyday life, and becomes more experienced with his younger appearance than those with even the most withered faces. This coming-of-age story is different to others not just because of his predicament but because of the beautiful way it is told; the wonderful interweaving stories all come back into the main story of his life – his love for Daisy.

I approached Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges under the guise of complete ignorance. I couldn’t have even told you the genre of the film prior to seating myself in the cinema, let alone divulge a basic plot outline. The opening montage of brooding Gothic architecture, juxtaposed with a hauntingly bare piano composition, gave me the impression I was about to endure through a profoundly morose drama. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. If you are just as oblivious to the nature of this film as I was, then stop reading right now and, as long as you are not easily offended, just go see this truly special film. The supreme unexpectedness of In Bruges works towards proving that ignorance really is bliss.

Ever since director Christopher Nolan hit the mainstream with tremendous success of The Dark Knight, becoming the household name that he rightfully deserves to be, I have been forced to look for a new upcoming director to rave about to the blissfully ignorant in order to feed my obnoxious cinematic ego. Just as the credits began to roll in the neo-noir thriller Transsiberian, and Brad Anderson’s name discretely crept up the screen, I realised that my search was already over. Anderson is, or at least is on his way to becoming, the next Nolan. If 2004′s The Machinist was Anderson’s Memento, then Transsiberian is his answer to Nolan’s Insomnia. Sure, both of Nolan’s films are superior to Anderson’s counterparts, but it’s undeniable that the two directors share a similar aptitude towards, and appreciation of, the thriller genre. Which is a sizeable compliment, Mr. Anderson, if there ever was one.

You just had to go and do it again, didn’t you Pixar? We see you there, perched high on your mighty throne, checking the gaps of your teeth in the golden reflection of your 13th Academy Award. We notice that arrogant little smirk on your face as you glance down upon DreamWorks as they offer up to the Academy that mildly entertaining animation of theirs called Kung Fu Panda. After reminding them who’s boss last year with Ratatouille, you just couldn’t let them get away thinking this would be their year… just this once. Maybe you should stop being so greedy, Pixar, as you’ve already got more Academy Awards than you do films. I don’t think many production studios can boast that one around the water cooler. So why’d you have to go and make Wall-E; easily the most ingenious, heart-warming and visually remarkable film of your career? Oh wait, I think I just answered that for you.