Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012 Nominee)

Faced with both her father's declining health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleashes these prehistory creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.

First off, Quvenzhane Wallis, the five year old, did a phenomenal job.  It was a very interesting film.  I guess I'm bummed that this was up for best picture when Moonrise Kingdom wasn't.  That was one of my favorite movies of the year.  It was artistic and odd in a charming way.  While the performances were fantastic, I will probably never watch it again.  I guess it felt like the movie would be really predictable and then there would be some weird artistic stuff to throw you off.  I understand the movie and it was good.  It just wasn't one of my favorites. 

It's difficult to have a fully-formed opinion about this film after only one viewing. While likely the most original and organic of all the Best Picture nominees, it has the misfortune of being nominated the same year as Life of Pi. Both films feature real world plots and settings influenced by childlike fantasy except that Pi delivers more fantastic and ultimately more successful results. The performances are excellent, most of which are delivered by unknowns which adds an element of authenticity. I just wish this film's fantasy elements had been better balanced or more defined like Life of Pi or Big Fish. As it stands, Beasts is an incredibly interesting film and a breath of fresh air in the realm of conventionality. It's certainly cool that it was nominated for some Oscars, I just don't expect it to take home any because of the film's narrow appeal and general lack of exposure. 

When Oprah Winfrey featured "Beasts" in a one-hour TV show, Oprah revealed that it was President Barack Obama who first told her about the movie. 

Hushpuppy: When it all goes quiet behind my eyes, I see everything that made me lying around in invisible pieces. When I look too hard, it goes away. And when it all goes quiet, I see they are right here. I see that I'm a little piece in a big, big universe. And that makes things right. When I die, the scientists of the future, they're gonna find it all. They gonna know, once there was a Hushpuppy, and she live with her daddy in the Bathtub.