Babel
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Music (Score), Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza), Supporting Actress (Rinko Kikuchi)
Hmm. That's my thoughts after watching Babel. Looking at the bevy of nominations it earned, I expected a lot more. Babel disappointed me. The story simply does not work. It tries to tell 4 stories that all interconnect, and judging by the title, shows how the language barrier screws things up. Ehh. I guess it does. This may have been 2 good movies instead of mashing these threads together into one film. I felt each could have benefited from added storytelling, but they're all small parts that suffer from too much story to tell. The Moroccan boys who get their hands on a rifle was the best story to me. 
They shoot a bus and hit Ctae Blanchett, vacationing with hubby Brad Pitt after they lost a baby to SIDS (so they head to Morocco??), which causes problems for their illegal alien babysitter who crosses the border with their kids to get to her son's wedding. Oh yeah, the gun was given to a Moroccan villager by a Japanese hunter who's wife killed herself and their teenage deaf/mute daughter has some serious issues and acts slutty. WTF!??!?!
It does feature some compelling visuals, including using different lighting and cameras for Morocco, Mexico, and Japan (why no cinematography nom?). The strongest scenes are when the actors shut up and the soundtrack cranks up and lets the scene unfold, be it eerie flamenco guitar or the Mexican wedding band, playing something very similar to Cajun Swamp Pop. The rest of the time left me not caring for these characters because of their own stupidity. The film is not nearly as thrilling or emotionally wrenching as I was led to believe by the trailer and critics. Between the Supporting actresses nominated, Barraza is the more compelling. But neither will win this Oscar. The editing was very good, especially scenes in a Japanese rave. It actually made me take note and say, wow, great editing. And the soundtrack, while not beautiful or even good sounding, does play a major role in moving along the film. This is an only an OK film with an average screenplay executed by a talented visual director. Nothing more. CThe man responsible is Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, a first time nominee as director and as producer. He shares the Best picture nom with Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, both first time nominees. Also earning their first nominations are actresses Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, and editor Douglas Crise. Editor Stephen Mirrione won in 2001 for editing Traffic and composer Gustavo Santaolalla won in 2006 for the incredible score in Brokeback Mountain.
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