... was overlooked for an Oscar is one of the great travesties of our time
591515
The face that Jennifer Garner was overlooked for an Oscar is one of the great travesties of our time.
4646241
I've seen semi-zany Indian films since the 60's, at least this was better than most. The only way this thing could win an Oscar was with the sympathy vote
3796200
This movie should have been nominated for 10 Academy Awards including BEST PICTURE !!!!!!! Many people do not know the facts concerning this dark side of American History.
4542581
Sarah's Key is not a bad film.  If you had never seen "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Schindler-s-List/dp/B00012QM8G/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Schindler's List</a>" or read Anne Frank's "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Diary-of-a-Young-Girl/dp/0307594009/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Diary of a Young Girl</a>" or been exposed to stories where "the events of the past are uncovered by someone in the present, affecting that person in the future" you might think Sarah's Key extraordinarily packed with pathos and humanity, along with a withering indictment against the Holocaust.  The always-wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas is featured as a modern day reporter who researches a story about Jews who were rounded up in Paris in the early part of the Nazi's control and extinction.  As good as Scott-Thomas is, her "story" is a small and comparatively unimportant one compared to the portions set 70 years ago.  Meryl Streep's recent "The Iron Lady" was all but ruined (in my opinion, as Streep won the Academy Award) by the flashback sequences between the later years Margaret Thatcher - who was senile and feeble - and the earlier, robust Dame Thatcher who rose from plain beginnings to be prime minister.)  So it is in "Sarah's Key" - sticking to the Holocaust story would have made a stronger, shorter, movie.  It is important, as Holocaust "deniers" unintentionally remind us, that we NOT forget the atrocities of history lest they be repeated - and to honor the victims.  There have even been superb post-Schindler's movies - from "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Pianist/dp/B0026IUXME/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Pianist</a>" to "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Inglourious-Basterds/dp/B002YCVX5S/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Inglourious Basterds</a>".  Sarah's Key, like&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Boy-in-the-Striped-Pajamas/dp/B00628RVV0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Boy in the Striped Pajamas</a>, slightly diminishes the narrative of the Holocaust by diluting it.  Still - not a bad film.
4301190
I cannot BELIEVE that this movie has been so garlanded.  To be fair, it may play better in a cinema than at home, but of all the Best Picture Academy Award winners, it has to be one of the dullest and least satisfying of all time.
392692
Although Leonardo DiCaprio was decent in 'Django Unchained', this is finally a film that he struck me as really being outstanding in. I never thought I'd say it but... he really deserved the Oscar for his role in this film. I do however find it a travesty that the film was screwed out of the Oscar for best picture to some piece of garbage about a bunch of boy banging priests, but then this just shows that some people have some really warped tastes in movies. The only thing I thought was disappointing at all was how loosely based on actual events it was, the original version starring Richard Harris (Man In The Wilderness) was a much more accurate retelling of the events the films are based on.
3655014
If "Second Chorus" were a minor-studio B-movie and had been come out before Fred Astaire, Paulette Goddard, Artie Shaw, and Burgess Meredith (to say nothing of lyricist Johnny Mercer) had really made names for themselves, it could pass as an overlooked, affectionately regarded little gem.  Since all of them had already scored quite considerable successes, with Astaire and Shaw in particular having achieve truly stellar heights, how they ended up participating in this very minor, not very adept piece of light moviemaking is a mystery.  If you love Fred Astaire and Artie Shaw, you will want to see it, and they (along with the others mentioned, and Charles Butterworth) do not completely fail to provided amusement, but you will be painfully embarrassed on their behalf to see them trapped in a project so far beneath their talents.  I do want to thank the Amazon reviewer who clued the rest of us in to the restored print used in the DVD from Hal Roach Studios: the quality of that release is light years beyond some others I have seen.
4446133
This has got to be the most misunderstood and sadly overlooked movie of the year. It is very deep and heart felt, Dark and moody.

But it is so wonderfully written and acted, that it makes me sad that it didn't get the attention that it so deserved.

For a person who likes action and fast pace, this movie is not for them. But if you like a movie that takes you on a slow moving, thoughtful journey of the heart, this is the movie for you.

Reese (Zooey Deschanel) is the main character, and the daughter of 2 famous writers (her Mothers deceased) and Ed Harris plays her Father.

When offered money for a box of letters that is in her Fathers posession,She makes the trip to visit Dad, and get the letters. (The letters were written between her parents during thier courtship)

Upon her arrival, she discovers that things have changed since she last lived there. Her Dad is mentally ill, and living in the garage, and in the house lives a drifter (Will Ferrell) and a former student of her Dad's(Amella Warner)

As her and her Father start to make a connection, We learn about the other characters, too and come to like them despite thier quirkiness.

As strange as the situation is, We feel this odd mix of people from different walks of life, care about, and totally accept each other, and Reese.

There is a deep sadness that envelopes this whole movie, not only in the characters personalities, and actions, But it carries on to the very scenery (grey and rainy and cold) to the house (crowded, dreary and cheerless)

ALL is not grey though, as the characters have moments of bonding and caring.

This movie really is a masterpiece, and should not be missed if you like movies with depth, because this certainly has it.
7233
I was shocked that the Academy virtually ignored this fine film and heaped praise upon the over-rated "Slumdog Millionaire" when this film explores the important issues of assimiliation and gang violence as well as "Slumdog" did but with so much more power.  If Eastwood is implying that this is "farewell" movie than he couldn't choose better one to sign off on.  Yet as one reviewer stated you could nit-pick that neighborhood Clint's character lives in is basically Africain American but doesn't deflate what the movie is about.  Eastwood's Walt Kowalski is probably one of the most complex and ambiguous character that he has ever played.  No wonder that the National Board of Review voted him "Best Actor of the Year"----and this is from a nation-wide survey of critics across the country.  Like another perennial Oscar best actor loser, Peter O'Toole, Clint may just have to accept a "Achievement Award" from the Academy. Anyway, shame on you Academy--it's really about politics and not about quality since how can an Italian comedian (Roberto Benigi) win for the atrocious "Life is Beautiful" (probably thanks to the Weinstein's constant promotion).
1755654
While the movie was technically done well and the acting was good and we needed to be reminded of how brutal Slavery is/was ...I did not think it was as extraordinary as the pre-Oscar hype and Oscar Awards indicated it would be.
4053754
Although I find it difficult to believe people wouldn't get it.
I think the reason it got so many razzies was because the portrayal of hollywood was too jaded.  I think that we fear that our most cynical view of hollywood is too cynical.  Remember the old saw about people who like sausages and politics should never watch either being made?  Maybe the same is true of movies, and with this movie, you're too close to the magic to appreciate it.
4803184
This movie is why we see very few black actors that win oscars. Compare this movie to those done by Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington. These movies might be hits to the ghetto fabulous, but real entertainment they are far from being. It's just another excuse to show young black men what people portray them as being and doing, and in this movie, it's gang bangers and drug dealers.
831286
this is a movie that i saw a few years ago and stands out as a clasic they don't make them like that anymore a pity
2028859
Bruce Dern up for an Academy Award for this film, and not Tom Hanks in "Captain Phillips"? The judges must have been drinking the Kool Aid: poor Hanks, he gets passed over for a mediocre film with unnotable acting -- too long and could have benefitted from editing, silly storyline, unbelievable characters, not a moment that grips the attention.
1766589
The film quality is inexcusably poor. We are fans of old classic film and have found thousands of very acceptable films (quality and premise) from the 1930s and 1940s. We are aware that many of these "B" rated movies will not be stunning intellectual achievements, but many can be fun and, entertaining. Apologizing in advance for the film quality doesn't mitigate the fault ridden film quality. At the extremely low price of these, the films are, however, worth a chance.
1606723
Robert Redford and WIlliam Dafoe have some great scenes in this, and show themselves to be masters of their craft,  but they are hampered by a script that simply doesn't succeed. Helen Mirren is either miscast in this or has made some bad choices in her portrayal of a middle-aged woman who, in the course of the film, progresses from one form of denial to another. It turns out that the character we have the most sympathy for is the kidnapper. I must mention that this film was shot very well.  All the elements are present for this to be  truly great. It's almost worth seeing just to try to figure out why it isn't.
4938959
Ever since it's release I've been amazed at the critical reception and nods at the Academy Awards show. Best movie? Best Director?
 After watching it, you realize, if you were trying to get a WWII film fix, you sure as hell weren't going to get it here. It fails, even as an "anti-war" film. This film is so aimless, fractured and droning it's hard to pull any redeeming qualities out of it at all. What small qualities it does show are so short and few they're hard to spot.
After the constant drooling by so many actors and film buffs of the return of Terrence Malick to directing, you'd think he'd pull a much more coherent, approachable movie out of his butt to make his debut. He's obviously way too self important for that.
In the end, it looks as if the studio took all the money they saved from the stars' paycuts to be in the movie and used it to grease the palms of the Academy.
If I could give it a negative star rating, I would.