Oscar Fit For A King

Last night the Oscars were handed out in Hollywood and the nights top honor goes to The King's Speech for best picture!

And it should have. The King's Speech is a great movie that will stand the test of time and in years ahead, and will still look great as a wonderful movie. TKS starring Colin Firth, and Geoffery Rush is about as good as any Oscar winner in recent memory. A simply splendid movie, done well, with a story that is literally true and that few of us knew. I am a story guy at the movies and this is a great story.

Firth plays King George VI in England just prior to World War II. He has a terrible stuttering problem and is unable to address his nation with any confidence on radio during the darkest moment in the nations history. With every person in the country looking to Buckingham palace for guidance, it is essential he be able to rally his nation through speeches on the wireless . He enlists the help of an eccentric "teacher" (Rush) to help him defeat this demon. It is a compelling, uplifting, at times funny, wonderful story told brilliantly. So good to see that real film making is still in vogue in Hollywood.

I always think that incredible pressure is on the Academy to get this award right every year. I'm not confident that many Academy members actually know that fact. You don't want trendy movies that will look silly in a decade to win. You want to look back and know you've chosen wisely ten years from now when TKS is on TNT, and know that it's still a great movie. Same with last years The Hurt Locker winning. I was relieved to know that Avatar, although visually stunning, lost to real movie of substance.

They got that right, and they got this years right as well. It is a good to know that a movie about Facebook, The Social Network has to watch the rest of us "friend up" The King's Speech. The Social Network, although good, will not hold up over the test of time in any way. And to be honest, the story is just not that interesting.

All hail The King's Speech. In a year of no real front-runner, good to see this separate with True Grit as the years best movie. And be honored as such.