Thoughts on Milk

I'd like to also give a few thoughts on Milk.

It was an amazing film, and watching it in the Castro Theatre was an incredible experience.

In an ordinary year, I'd give it my vote for the Academy Award. Hell, the acting was fabulous. I'm still voting for Sean Penn for the Best Actor award. He did a truly unmatched job of becoming someone in a visceral way that left me raw and in tears. I'd like to mention that, to me, this is more significant than a performance such as Mickey Rourke's, where Mickey essentially created a moving performance by channeling himself into a character that is unmistakeably the same exact sort of person that he is. Revealing yourself for the camera is not a comfortable thing, no, but neither is it an Academy Award Winning Performance. At least, not in my book. Penn became Milk. That was incredible.

Having said that, Slumdog Millionaire was a superior film. It left a greater overall dent in the world. It gave a greater punch into my gut. It will stay with me in a way that few films ever will.

No disrespect to Milk. It was a very rare film. But as an objective viewer who has to look beyond the political repurcusions, this is my take on this year's two finest films. Performance of an actor: Milk. Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire. Director? Let them battle that one out. The philosophy of where and when direction begins and ends is not a subject I care to delve that far into just now...