Monday, May 23, 2011

Brad Chasing Oscar


Terrence Malick's The tree of life won the Palm d'Or yesterday. Brad Pitt was commended for his performance. Will it win him an Oscar or will one of his other films coming out this year?

An official synopsis was later released at the 2010 American Film Market:

We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world’s way of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.

From this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world’s preparation, each thing appears a miracle—precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.

The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family—our first school—the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life’s single most important lesson, of unselfish love.

Pitt's first nomination for an Academy Award was for his supporting role in 1995's Twelve Monkeys. He then garnered a second nomination for his leading role in 2008's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. For much of his career in the 1990s, he was seen as a bad boy and perhaps limited actor. Yet, he is starring in films that are at least interesting critics and I would not be surprised if he did not win an Academy Award within the next five years.

Pitt is set to star as Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane in the drama Moneyball out this year. This coming-of-age story smells like an Oscar. Next year, he will feature in Cogan's Trade as Jackie Cogan, a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game. Then, in 2014, he will play Max Brooks.

"Ten years after the human victory over the world wide Zombie epidemic, referred to as World War Z, Max Brooks scours the world collecting the stories and experiences of those who have survived the conflict that almost eradicated humanity," the imdb.com synopsis on the film reads.

Alistair Anderson

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