Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

It's an emotional powerhouse of a film, an unforgettable and rewarding motion picture experience.

Director Stephen Daldry has taken great care in looking at it through the eyes of a precocious New York City boy in a film filled with both sentiment and substance.

He (Horn) gets so deeply into the whirling mind of Oskar Schell, dominating every scene he's in – which is almost every scene, period – that he lifts the movie out of the realm of "Forrest Gump"-like emotional manipulation.

We might have all felt like lost children for a while, but ten years later, the innocence is shameless.

The only bright spot in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is Max von Sydow, as a mysterious, and mysteriously mute.

If "Extremely Loud" came out in the weeks or months following 9/11, more audiences (and critics) might find an excuse to appreciate the way its soul-searching protagonist works through his grief. Ten years later, his struggle actually feels outrageously old-fashioned.

It will always be "too soon" for Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, which processes the immense grief of a city and a family through a conceit so nauseatingly precious that it's somehow both too literary and too sentimental, cloying yet aestheticized within an inch of its life.

The film is based on a timely and touchy subject - 9/11. However, it is approached beautifully with a young, gifted boy grieving over the loss of his father as a metaphor for a city dealing with a significant tragedy. This film is riveting and will emotionally rock you - it's also one of the most heartfelt and intelligent films of the year. The bad reviews of this film are missing the point.

I have finally watched this critic-panning 2011 BEST PICTURE nominee, its Stephen Daldry

If you like Stephen Daldry, I really recommend this film. His touch is all over it, and the film delivers some very dramatic moments. However it's also one of the most frustrating pictures of 2011. The young actor, Thomas Horn, gives a terrific performance, but it will likely annoy many viewers and ruin the film. Overall, a nice film worth checking out.

This film has a lot of great performances through out. That, however, is the only good thing I can say about it. The story is very odd and rather extreme. The only parts that really moved me were the ones dealing with 9/11. This was not because of good writing, but rather the use of a traumatic and sensitive event as a plot point. The character of Oskar was also an issue because they never establish any medical issue with him which makes his character crude and make little sense. I really see no reason why this film got a nomination for Best Picture.

I can really easily blame the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences for picking Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It was a mistake, a ruse, a scam, and a shocking blow to critics who I think they were right on the bad reception of the movie. Ya know, this is not what it seems, but I don't think this is Sandra Bullock's kind of a drama movie. The film wasn't as near as her phenomenal role in 2009's The Blind Slide which she deserved that Oscar no matter what choices the Oscar committee has something to prove. But when I heard about the new ruling for the Best Picture race, I thought they were supposed to pick 5 instead of the 10 films (the same 5's they always put in every year during the nominations announced). I wasn't really sure if they're doing the right thing, but It feels unsatisfied and distasteful if you want to know who the winner is during award season. So, shame on you, Oscars. I thought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo should've replaced Incredibly Close to get a Best Picture nod. That film is so entertaining, I should start reading the book again. But for those of people who wants to see more Sandra Bullock, try rebooting the original Speed instead.