An Oscar tour de Force

John Force has a way of taking over a conversation. So on a rainy day in Phoenix that washed out the first round of the NHRA Checker Schuck's Kragen Nationals at Firebird Raceway, Force offered up his Oscar choices.
As is most often the case when Force starts talking, it's hard to get him to stop.
“First let’s talk about some of the greatest movies of all time. The No. 1 movie of all time was The Grapes of Wrath, No.2 was Gone with the Wind and then The African Queen.”
“In the seventies and eighties you had Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. They were the best movies for that time period. I’d also put Jurassic Park up near the top.”
“The movies that talk to people change over time. In the really early days people believed that there could be a Frankenstein or Werewolf. Now we know that that is bullshit. It doesn’t scare us anymore. Then we moved on to the age of sharks, and E.T. but we didn’t want to be scared by aliens so they made this one follow a trail of Reese’s Pieces.”
“What the people want now is they want the real world.”
“One of the best I’ve seen this year is No Country for Old Men. Tommy Lee Jones played a secondary role as a sheriff. Javier Bardem will win for Best Supporting Actor. That movie was fantastic. It was just a very realistic movie. The one that really inspired me that I have seen twice was There Will Be Blood. It is as story of the J. Paul Gettys and the Sinclairs that got rich during the oil boom. Daniel Day Lewis played that lead role so bitchin. It was the most realistic movie I ever saw in my life. It is better than No Country for Old Men.“
“Daniel Day Lewis has one scene in There Will Be Blood that is so amazing. He is in his mansion and he is drunk. He passes out and his preacher comes to see him. They have to kick him to wake him up. He climbs up off the floor and he takes a big bite out of a steak they served him the night before. To watch him chew that steak you just knew people where connecting with him in that role it was so real. That was when men were men. It reminded me of me in Dallas except I whined a lot. I cried being drug out of my Mustang. It is one of the all time best.”
“I walked out of Atonement. It just didn’t do it for me. It wasn’t my kind of movie. I get in late to the movies and I just sat down and watched the first ten minutes. Then I walked out. I don’t even know what it was about. I really shouldn’t give an opinion on it other that it wasn’t my kind of movie. I also walked out of Elizabeth.”
“Michael Clayton doesn’t have a chance for Best Picture but the only player that has a chance is Tilda Swinton who played the lead attorney. She was cut throat and ruthless. George Clooney isn’t going to win anything. He is a big name but he won’t win.”
“Best supporting actor will be Javier Bardem from No Country for Old Men and the Best Actor will be Daniel Day Lewis. Nobody else stands a chance I’ll bet you $1,000 and take a bet with anybody.”
“I think There Will Be Blood will win Best Picture.”
“I go to the movies to just get out of the office. I average two movies a week. Last week I saw five movies. I saw 27 Dresses, There Will Be Blood for the second time, No Country for Old Men again, Cloverfield, and Jumper.”
“Cloverfield was a remake of The Blair Witch Project. Then in the middle they threw in a dinosaur. It really tripped me up.”
“Jumper was cool.”
“For Juno I saw enough commercials that I knew I didn’t want to see it. I saw a hundred commercials and it just didn’t impress me. It probably would be a cute little movie but it wasn’t my cup of tea.”
“The movie that captures you is the movie that you believe could be a possibility. Jaws was real. Jurassic Park could happen with science. The movie that makes you drive around for a week thinking about it; that is the movie I want to see.”