We Need To Talk About Kevin
Artifical Eye
112 minutes
2011 (Cannes Premiere)/2012 (Limited Release)
R
Upon concluding my first viewing of director Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin, based on the book of the same name, there was only one thought in my head: What in the world is wrong with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences?! How this film did not get nominated for Best Picture is beyond all logic and comprehension. I understand that all art and entertainment is subjective, and I may not be a professional film critic - just a guy who has seen a lot of movies - but my knowledge of what it takes to make a good film is, I like to think, not inconsiderable.
How can it be that a picture with such amazingly haunting performances, incredible cinematography, and even brilliant use of licensed music went completely unnoticed? I understand how the Academy works when it votes on Best Picture. I know the logistics of how the nominees are chosen, but what I don't understand is how the hell this movie didn't make it on more members' lists. Was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close that much better in the eyes of the people who vote, despite the fact it received a lukewarm response from professional critics?
What we have here is a travesty. We Need To Talk About Kevin is one of the most disturbing, gut-wrenching films I've ever seen. It's a horror film for people who don't like horror films - not loaded with blood and gore or supernatural entities, but a truly terrifying, cold-blooded monster with seemingly no remorse: a teenage boy.
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