In which Kings and Fighters duke it out for Oscar glory

The big day is approaching, and I still have a lot of films to see.  It looks like I’m only going to make it for all of the best picture nominees (though that will cover a lot of other categories too).

But in this episode of That Crazy Project, I bring you my thoughts on two of the contenders.

The Fighter was a decent, upstanding film – no doubt a reflection of the decent, upstanding guy that ‘Irish’ Micky Ward is in real life.  But in a film, decent and upstanding are not really… interesting.  It told a nice little story about a scrappy little boxer with a lot of gumption and ‘can-do’ attitude.  But there was zero question of whether or not he would win.  As a story, it’s a dud.

But then there are the supporting characters.  Christian Bale plays Micky’s cracked-out, washed up boxer of a brother.  And you never really knew what he was going to do.  And their mother… Well, she’s a real piece of work.  So it becomes kind of interesting how this plucky little boxer just has his life sort of happen to him.  And it’s funny how in the middle of all the actors working on their Massachusetts accents, Mark Wahlberg’s real MA accent kind of sounds fake.

But really, the film left me with two thoughts:

I do not want to be a boxer.

I do not want to be on crack.

But if boxing is the ‘sport of kings’, let’s talk about kings, shall we? (Segue of the year!*)

The King’s Speech was terrific and really likeable.  It was a moving story – more so than I expected – and also funnier.  Colin Firth did an amazing job with that stutter, and I would really like for Geoffrey Rush’s Lionel Logue to be a friend of mine.  Helena Bonham Carter wore fantastic hats and that little HRH Elizabeth looked just like photos of a young HRH Elizabeth.  As it ended, I actually wanted to stay with them all a little longer and just see them together.

And similarly, it left me with two thoughts:

I do not want to be a king.

I do not want to be a princess (based on the scene after her father’s accession and she has to greet him with a curtsy).

The big questions, of course: Will they win?

The Fighter will probably get a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Christian Bale’s performance, but I think that’s it.  I think The King’s Speech will get Best Actor for Colin Firth, maybe Original Screenplay, and… maybe Best Picture.  We’ll have to see how the other nominees come out.

* It seems that "The Sport of Kings" can be either boxing or horse racing.  Let's just pretend it's for boxing, 'kay?