This year's Best Picture nominees features a unique blend of movies. We have a little indie that could, a gangster movie by a maverick director, a multi-plot drama with dialogue in four languages, a colorful drama of royalty and a side to World War II we ignore. So here are my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees:

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Little Miss Sunshine is a comedy mostly based on ironies and similarities. It all starts with Olive Hoover, a young New Mexico girl, and her dream of being a beauty queen. The other members of her family also has big dreams too: her mother dreams of a happy family, her father dreams of being a top motivational speaker, her brother dreams of becoming an air force pilot, her uncle dreams of becoming a great professor and her grandfather dreams of dying with a bang.

The big turning point comes when Olive is announced she's the winner of a pageant and is to attend the Little Miss Sunshine pageant in Los Angeles. Along the road trip in an old Volkswagen van, which involves needing a running start and the storing of a dead grandfather, she watches as her family's dreams crumble one by one. Family unity is too hard for her mother to handle, her uncle loses his boyfriend to a rival professor, her father's book about winning doesn't go through, and her brother can't become an air force pilot due to color blindness. Then comes the beauty contest. As for how it goes for her, I'll let you see it for yourself. Oh yeah, Olive's dance at the pageant is one of the most priceless moments.

One of the unique thing about the movie is the ironies about it. Grandpa is a heroin snorting horndog but he's the one in the family who most has it together and is the best grandfather for Olive. We see the dysfunctional personalities in the family and it turns out Olive is the most sane one of the bunch. You are unsure whether to be more concerned about Olive being in a van with her family or her being at the pageant surrounded by eleven JonBenet look alikes. And after seeing the other girls in the pageant, it makes you thankful for Olive's own family. In fact co-director Valerie Faris said she "wanted to make a film not about family values, but about the value of family."

Either which way, this surprise summer hit from Sundance made for some original comic relief this summer and deserves its Best Picture nomination.

THE DEPARTED

I feel that if anyone should do a Scorsese-like gangster movie set to modern times, it should be done by none other than Scorsese himself. and he succeeds in The Departed.

It starts as we see mob leader Frank Costello raise Colin Sullivan as if he was his son. We see as Colin becomes a state policeman so that Costello can be a step ahead of the police in running his business. Along the way, Billy Costigan is pulled from training to go undercover inside Costello's mob so that the police can finally arrest him. While Colin has no problem managing both roles inside the police force and the mob, it's taking its toll on Billy psychologically and he goes to see the police shrink Madolyn who's actually Colin's girlfriend.

The turning point occurs after what was to be an arrest on Costello was foiled by a 'rat' the police sense inside their unit. Meanwhile Costello has a rat of his own to deal with. And Costigan appears to be a rival not only of Costello's praise but Madolyn's love too. And Colin has mob ambitions of his own. All of which leads to a tangled web for all characters and lads to a surprise ending.

Overall the best thing about the story was that it reminds you a lot about a Scorsese mob story. It features a lot of elements common in Scorsese's past gangster movies but incorporated with modern technology. Scorsese's directing was once again seen at its best. This is FINALLY his year to win the Oscar. Excellent standout performances in the movie come from Nicholson as a sly but charming villain, DiCaprio as the undercover man confused between his life and his duties and Mark Wahlberg as the detective with quite the attitute but knows what's going on.

If I were a member of the Academy, I'd vote for The Departed as Best Picture. No doubt about it.

BABEL

In Babel, we see four stories of people and families that are connected by an incident that makes international news.

It starts with the shooting of a tourist bus in Morocco. We learn that it was just simply brothers doing play-shooting. But what happened was it struck and American woman. In a town with no major hospital, she and her husband rely on the locals and each other. Meanwhile their Mexican nanny back home in California has to look after their children longer than expected and even miss her son's wedding. She takes a huge risk by taking the children to Mexico for the wedding along with her own son. Simultaneously, the deaf teenage daughter of the Japanese man who gave the Moroccan the rifle is struggling with her sense of self and her desire to be loved since her mother's suicide.

In Babel, we see how four different groups of people involved in that incident who speak four different languages encounter conflicts and confusions not just between people of different languages but even people of their own language. We see them struggle with their families, the authorities, their own lives, and this incident which has caught the world's attention. Yet the unique thing about it is that there are a lot of similarities between the various peoples that are visible in Babel: the desire to be loved, parent-child relationhips, a desire for acceptance. It's like these language barriers seem ridiculous. Showcasing both the differences and similarities between these peoples had to be Babel's strongest element.

Alejandro Innaritu did an excellent job in directing the stories in the different languages and making them come together. The script was both complex and deep. The standout performances came from Adriana Barraza as the nanny that tries to do good but loses in the end, Brad Pitt as the struggling husband whose life changes after the shooting and from Rinko Kikuchi as the Japanese girl who just longs to be loved.

THE QUEEN

How many of you know what Queen Elizabeth is like in her private personal life? I don't know either.

The Queen is a unique look into what appears to be the life of Queen Elizabeth during what was the tensest time of her reign. It occurs just after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in 1997. Britain mourns but the Royal Family is dead set on tradition with not honoring her, since her divorce has made her an 'outsider'. Soon Britain is angry with the Royals for what they feel as insensitivity and even go as far as suggesting there no longer be a monarchy. The Royals now have to struggle with their own attitutes and beliefs during this tense time. Elizabeth is struggling between the staunchly conservative attitutes of her family and the media pressures to change. She sees recently elected Prime Minister Tony Blair as her best link for what she has to do. In the end, Blair ends up being her best link to the present.

Overall the strength of the movie was not only its ability to give character to a media figure we view as stoic but also its ability to make the audient feel the tension the monarchy was feeling. The tension, as showcased very well in the movie, had a lot to do with the media's influence in making Diana looking like a saint and constantly referring to her as "The People's Princess". This media control also had a lot to do with the public's negative reaction to the monarchy at the time. We've heard of threats to the throne in the past. Who would have thought that the biggest threat to the monarchy would come not by brute force but by popular opinion? Another of its strong points is its colorful characters in helping the movie to also have warmth and some humor at the same time. its balance is another strength of the movie that would make it enjoyable for the moviegoer to watch.

The Queen may have to be the most political of this year's Best Picture nominees but it also is surprisingly enjoyable and entertaining.

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA:

Remember Flags Of Our Fathers three months ago? Interesting how Clint Eastwood offers to show two different movies of both the American and Japanese sides to the story of Iwo Jima. The interesting thing about it is that when Flags and Letters were both shooting simultaneously, none of the actors from either movie knew that the other movie was filming. Ain't that something?

While Flags focussed on the Americans' struggle to victory by both warfare at Iwo Jima and making stars of the survivors at home, Letters is different as it focuses on the Japanese in a battle they know they are destined to lose.

Most of it focuses around a young soldier named Saigo. He was drafted to the army shortly after he was married. He is part of the mission and a witness to what goes around him in the army. He winesses the warfare going on and he sees the moods of the leaders as they are about to face defeat. He witnesses the suicides of the soldiers as they would rather die than face dishonor. He also learns that Americans are not the bad enemy the Japanese army wants him to think they are as he witnesses a conversation with a dying soldier named Sam. He frequently sends letters to his wife Hanako of what he witnesses and he speaks of his fears and his doubts of Japan losing the war.

Also seen is the view from General Kuribayashi as being the general of the army at Iwo Jima. There are two scenes involving Kuribayashi that stick out in the movie. One is a flashback years ago to a dinner with Americans he was friends with. They ask him what he'd do if Japan were to go to was against United States. He gave an answer light-heartedly, thinking it won't be a reality. But then we flash back to the present and it is a reality. The second is as defeat is near, he hears a song from schoolchildren from his hometown of Iwo Jima. The children sing of how important victory at Iwo Jima is. And he cries, knowing that either facing defeat or committing suicide is inevitable.

This is not the first movie of a World War II downfall I have seen. I saw the German movie Downfall, focussing on Hitler and the Nazi party facing defeat. This movie too is very well-written in presenting the many angles of the Japanese army. One minute the leaders appear staunchly militaristic. The next minute we see them as fearful. Clint Eastwood did a good job of directing the movie and making it climactic with being overdramatic. Watching the movie, one could feel the fear of defeat that the Japanese army was facing. The actors weren't showy but as a whole, they did an excellent job telling the story. The movie also did a good job of showing `the enemy` as people with the same fears and feelings we have.

Letters From Iwo Jima is not your typical war movie. This movie really touches you deeply without being overly sentimental and allows you to look at 'the enemy' at a different angle. That was its biggest strength.

DREAMGIRLS

The musical Dreamgirls made its Broadway debut 25 years ago. Finally, it hits the big screen.

The story of the success of the Dreams' seems almost synonymous with legendary girlgroup The Supremes. Deena is to represent Diana Ross and Effie is to represent Florence Ballard. Florence, the original lead, was replaced as lead singer by the less-talented, but better looking, Diana Ross for the sake of selling to the white-dominated pop charts. It also shares the similaity that Florence Ballard left the group to pursue her own direction but had problems with debt and record execs unable to forgive her for her past attitute. Also while the Dreamettes sang back-up for Jimmy Early, the Supremes originally collaborated with Otis Williams & the Distants. Like Jimmy, Otis Williams was very successful in the R & B scene but struggled to cross over to the pop charts.

There are some things that are different in real life. While the Dreams bring Effie back into the group at the Dreams' finale performance, Florence was never welcomed back into the Supremes and she died of a heart attack at 32. Also while Deena was willing to bring Effie back into the Dreams, Diana was always against Florence.

Outside of fact and fiction, the story was consistent as well as entertaining. The musical numbers were well done and mostly well edited but there were a couple of times when the placing was awkward. The death of Jimmy Early was something not in the original musical and added for the movie. But overall the movie was very entertaining and well directed. They say adapting a good musical to screen successfully is one of the hardest things to do. Bill Condon did it successfully, if not flawlessly. Jennifer Hudson shines in her debut. Eddie Murphy is able to capture the thrill and pizzazz in Jimmy that instantly reminds you of past legendary soul singers like James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye. Jamie was good as the sleazy music executive but didn't really stand out. And Beyonce gave her best acting performance ever.

Overall the movie is also a reminder that especially in music, success can do more harm than good. Mammoth record sales can be a drawback to music in general and even lead to enmity within a group. And focusing solely on music that sells rather than what music's all about shows just how shallow the music industry, or even the whole entertainment industry, can be.

Dreamgirls proves to be an entertaining crowd pleaser. It's only too bad it didn't get nominated for Best Picture.


PAN'S LABYRINTH

It seems awkward to have an R-rated fairy tale. We have this image that fairy tales are happy and harmless. But if you look close enough, fairy tales also have a lot of harsh elements included. Little Red Riding Hood was a morality tale about chastity and warned of promiscuity. Hansel and Gretel presented a time when it was common for poor families to abandon their children. Grim brother stories are known for their darkness. Even Walt Disney beieved in the concept of presenting good and evil in his movies. If you look close enough, you'll notice that Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is quite a dark movie.

Now comes a new fairy tale, Pan's Labyrinth. It presents a harsh world: Spain during the time of Franco's fascist regime. It presents a harsh situation with the main protagonist Ofelia as her mother will die of childbirth and Ofelia senses her death will come soon too as her stepfather is a Fascist general. In this upside-down world, Ofelia needs to escape to a world where beauty exists and morals are not lost. She finds it in the Labyrinth. She finds her guide in the faun. She learns of right and wrong through the duties she must pursue. She also learns of dangers when she gives into temptation. This is all in her pursuit to be the princess of the afterlife. For the sake of those who haven't seen it, I won't give away the ending here. And I'll warn you of the spoiler.

Guillermo del Toro has created a masterpiece of a film. The movie was remarkable in its ability to be original and at the same time entertain the audient. Many of the scenes may however be too gory to watch, hence the R-rating. But the best thing about it is it reminds us of what the fairy tale is about and why it's important they exist in literature. All too often as we grow up, we seem to lose our liking of fairy tales, but the movie reminds us of its value. In a world of ugliness, beauty has to exist. When evil exists, good must prevail. The tagline for the movie is "Innocence Has A Power Evil Cannot Imagine." In Pan's Labyrinth, we see innocence's power at its best.

SPOILER WARNING: Another thing remarkable of the movie is that it also posesses a lot of religious elements too. Most notably Ofelia's quest to be princess of the afterlife. It is at the end we learn she achieved her title. There's also the Christ-like factor that she gave her life to be the princess rather than sacrifice her brother. Also elements of sainthood can be noticed too as a flower blossoms in the dead tree. That reminded me of saints who have had miracles happen after their death.

So as a movie, Pan's Labyrinth is an original accomplishment that captivates the audience. As a fairy tale, it reminds us what a fairy tale really is and of its significance in literature, rather than a cute story meant for children.

So there are my thoughts on the Best Picture nominees plus two others. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on the movies.