“AMC Oscar Butt-Numb-A-Thon” - Babel

The first of five Oscar nominated films shown at local AMC megaplexes, is an interesting narrative, told in four distinct threads, but intertwined with a rather heavyahnded dose of an “anti-gun” message. It also touched on every current political topic short of gay marriage and campaign finance reform. It’s a film that digs deep into everybody’s paranoia about, well, just about every human foible and fear… death, sex, acceptance, love among others.

I think this won’t be receiving best picture however, but may be up one of the top two for cinematographym even though it was not nominated for such. Most of the performances were subdued and nuanced, with “non-stars” taking a backseat to the other primary actors. However, the film had left me cold and down, and still feels too disjoint to be the top contender for the prize.