Saltzman Sees...Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Jerry Bruckheimer Presents...Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Saltzman Sees...The King's Speech (2010)

The King's Speech won 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Tom Hooper), Best Actor (Colin Firth) and Best Screenplay (David Seidler)

In those 4 categories, I went with Temple Grandin for Best Picture, Danny Boyle for Best Director for 127 Hours, James Franco for Best Actor for 127 Hours and Aaron Sorkin and Ben Mezrich for Best Screenplay for The Social Network.

Geoffrey Rush, who was brilliant in The King's Speech, lost out on an Academy Award to Christian Bale for his role in The Fighter.  I agreed with the Academy on that one, but barely.

Helena Bonham Carter, one of my favorite actresses in the business, lost to Melissa Leo for The Fighter at the Oscars, and lost to Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit for me.

Despite all the near hits for my award winners, only Temple Grandin was the better movie in my opinion.  And also, barely.

The King's Speech is currently ranked #80 on my Movies All-Time Rankings, and Temple Grandin is #79.

For all the criticism I have had in the past for the Academy for movies like Gangs of New York and The Shawshank Redemption not earning a single award, The King's Speech winning 4 Oscars is certainly fine with me.

Saltzman Sees...Finding Nemo (2003)

Finding Nemo is the best Pixar movie ever made. This is Andrew Stanton's masterpiece, and in the process, created the best Disney character since Robin Williams stared as the Genie with Ellen DeGeneres as Dory.  It has all the elements of a perfect Disney Film.  Interestingly, like so many other Disney Classics, it also has the most common theme (becoming an orphan in the opening sequence.)

However, Nemo learns from Gil and Marlin learns from Dory the same lesson which is: trust and friendship create the strongest relationships. 

It is a must see and the Best Family Picture of 2003.