If You Learn Anything From the Oscars...

...it's that you should see at least a few of the movies that won acclaim last night. Here's the rundown of movies worth paying for.

1) Slumdog Millionaire. It won 8 awards last night, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, etc. etc. It's also currently at 94% on RottenTomatoes. Plus, I believe it has grossed over $100 million worldwide at this point. That, folks, makes it a blockbuster. And for good reason. See it.

2) Milk. If Hollywood loves anything, it's a good political message film. But Milk is more than that. It's a portrait of a hero - not a hero who wears a rubber suit and fights a made-up, bank robbing villain - but a hero who starts from nothing and turns a cause into a crusade. Winning statues for Best Actor (Sean Penn) and Best Original Screenplay, this is the year's second most inspirational film (see: above).

3) The Dark Knight. Speaking of rubber suits and villains, if you are one of the, oh, dozen or so people on this planet who has NOT seen The Dark Knight, I'd say you should probably hit the video store pretty soon. As a testament to its brilliance, the film has become the second-highest grossing film in history, recently passing the $1 billion mark but still a distant second to Titanic. Still, I've long held the belief that this movie is just short of perfection in filmmaking. So seriously, if you haven't seen it, I must ask...why the hell not?

Considering the fact that Slumdog Millionaire won one-third (8/24) of the possible Oscar categories last night, I'd say that it's THE film to see if you haven't already...or hell, even if you have seen it, see it again. But the other major films that won, which may or may not be worth your time, are listed below.

The Reader (Best Actress - Kate Winslet; so glad she finally won, for she is her generation's finest actress) A lot has already been made of this being 2008's requisite Holocaust film, and it is indeed quite heavy. I would recommend it only for Winslet's performance, which is by all accounts magnificent.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Best Supporting Actress - Penélope Cruz) I'm afraid I have no opinion here. I still haven't seen this film. Woody Allen's films became chores to watch long ago, with the exception of Match Point. I'm sure Cruz did a fine job, though, and from what I hear, the film itself is fairly enjoyable. Perhaps I'll check it out soon.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects) 2008's bridesmaid nominee only won 3 of its 13 nominations. My guess is that it's much too similar to Forrest Gump and because "Slumdog Fever" took over late in the game. Still, it's quite an achievement all around. *Warning: This film will take up 3 hours of your life.*

WALL·E (Best Animated Feature) Another charming Pixar film (see my detailed review). If you haven't seen the magic, get to it fast.

So that's it. It's been quite some time since I've posted up here, and I promise I'm getting back to it. It's been a busy 8 months, but I'm revved up again!