Would You Rather

This is stupid.

Some rich idiot offers desperate people a way to get their hands on money by playing - and winning - a game. The main character is poor Iris, who needs the money to pay for her sick brother's treatments. The game is held in some remote house and the group is more or less diverse. They proceed to play "would you rather", only the choices are between electrocuting yourself or the person next to you, stabbing one person in the thigh with an ice pick or hitting another with a mean looking stick, having your head under water for 2 minutes or choose an unknown punishment in an envelope.

This sounds like quite interesting horror fair. Alas, it is not. The story plays out surprisingly boring. During the first twenty minutes or so there is nonstop music (which I am not a fan of...the concept, not the particular type of music).

The weirdest moment (I thought) comes when Iris briefly escapes out of the dining room into the vast house. She is followed by former MI5 agent Bevans, who instinctively opens the door she moments ago went through (the obvious door, the only unlocked door) and when it opens onto a flight of stairs he simply closes it again and moves elsewhere. Bevans is a surprisingly wooden and two-dimensional character.

Also, the son of the head honcho, who gets stabbed in the leg by Iris when he catches her in time before she crawls out the window, is never seen or heard from again, although obviously alive. He has been told off by his father before the game because apparently he tends to 'touch' the players inappropriately. This is never further explored beyond him trying to take advantage of the escapee.

In the end, Iris wins the game and goes home with a bag full of money only to find that her brother killed himself with pills.

2/10

Nebraska

Alexander Payne is channeling David Lynch's The Straight Story here.

Whereas old Mr. Straight from Iowa was off on his a lawnmower to visit his brother Wisconsin, who had recently had a stroke and whom he had not spoken to for years, old Mr. Grant tries to get from Billings, MT, to Lincoln, NE, and - also lacking a licence - sets off on foot to collect a promised prize of $ 1,000,000,--.

Of course, nobody besides him is fooled by the mailing promising the money and his family tries to talk him out of it, but his son David realizes that his father simply must do this, if not for the money than out of principle and drives him. Along the way, they run into a few difficulties like head wounds and lost teeth and end up having to shackle up in Mr. Grant's hometown. There, talk of him being a millionaire is making the rounds and everyone is lining up to get a piece of the action. And no persuading from David's side that his dad has not actually won anything can stop it. It is only when the cousins mug the pair and steal the coveted letter that the truth finally hits home with the small town folks, but not with David's dad.

In the end, they make it to the address given to learn that - as expected - Mr. Grant did not actually have one of the winning numbers. He gets a hat for his troubles.

Much like The Straight Story, this is a quiet and slow paced journey that has a man reconnect with his family. Also, it portrays the difficult relationship between the lifelong hard drinking father and his two sons, that may be better off with the old man in constant care. But along the way, they all realize how solid their family bond actually is when faced with the adversaries of people trying to get their hands on the imaginary loot. Together, they even try to steal a compressor before realizing that they stole from the wrong person.

The black and white gives this a slightly bleak but also very calm feel and the acting from all involved is really wonderful. Who knew Bruce Dern as the quietly stubborn father is wonderful and got a well-deserved Oscar nomination for this. June Squibb (as his wife and also Oscar nominated), who I don't remember having seen before, is fantastic. Bob Odenkirk has a small role as David's brother and does that well, of course. And who knew Will Forte had a serious role in him? Also in a supporting role here is Stacy Keach (I didn't even know whether he was still alive, to be honest) as one of the old friends lining up for money after having people first applaud old Grant by announcing the money won and later has everyone laughing at the old man by reading out the mailing that - obvious to everyone but Mr. Grant - is nothing more than a marketing scheme.

This is really wonderful and I hope someone involved wins something tonight.

8/10

Which brings us to the current ranking of the Best Picture nominees I have seen so far (which should not be misunderstood as a tip for tonight - I do believe that 12 Years a Slave will win, although I am still rooting for Gravity and hoping that American Hustle does not pull off a surprise):

Gravity
Captain Philips
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
American Hustle