Academy Awards, number 2

Despite the fact that "Up" is definitely my favorite at tonight's Academy Awards, I am also a little bit realistic and think that the wonderful story of the movie might not attract that many critics' votes.
I have not seen a number of the nominated best movies (I, unashamedly, blame Avatar for my cynicism about this...), but, I was seriously impressed with "Precious". It is not an easy movie to watch, and anything from the violence, the foul language to the sexual abuse depicted might be off-putting to say the least.

However, this movie is powerful in its raw emotions. There is, for a long time, absolutely nothing redeeming about the almost 2 hours. The glimpses of a better life, drawn powerfully in bright colors, soon fade, only to return to the next scene of violence and abuse.
Overall, the fact that it is such a difficult movie to watch speaks to a deeply human question, maybe to be coined as "is redemption possible?" Certainly, there are many levels to that question, and the context of the movie is only one where this question is (and should) be asked. And yet, what makes this movie so strong is that it does not avoid the question, simply because it cannot. For that, I recommend this movie - not as easy entertainment, but as a story that does not avoid the difficult questions - merely for that, it deserves an award.