I saw Seabiscuit the other day. Should have seen the Pirate movie.

I know, I know, it's supposed to be a great movie. A fabulous movie. A movie that's already being talked about as a potential Oscar winner. Yet I didn't like it. Didn't care for it all- thought it overlong, overdone, and over serious.

Basically, the reason why I didn't like it is the same reason why I don't like any movie that seems to be trying to hard to win an Oscar for Best Picture. Every scene, every shot, every line was put into place to have a deeper meaning. There was nothing superfluous in it (which is amazing considering it's over two and a half hours long), every aspect of the movie was meant to "sum it all up." Every line had hidden meanings that weren't so hidden.

In other words, don't have Tobey Maguire say at the end that the horse fixed everyone- we should have already figured that out. Don't have Jeff Bridges constantly get all misty-eyed everytime he sees kids because we should probably figure it out without the tears. And, for God sakes, don't have a historian break into the middle of the movie and over still shots constantly tell you that "THE HORSE MADE EVERYONE IN THE DEPRESSION FEEL BETTER" because we get it. We got it all.

Or, as my writing teacher once said, "show, don't tell."

A good movie should make you see how the horse makes all three main characters a better person. A good movie should show you what the horse meant to people back then. And a good movie won't constantly hit you over the head with the fact that Jeff Bridges is sad because his kid got killed.

All of which is why I usually hate self-important movies that have Oscar-bait written all over them. Because those movies always constantly hit you over the head with just how self-important and Oscar worthy they are.

And yes, I am a ripe, cynical bastard.