Oscars 2014: 9 Hilarious Scenes From The Best Picture Nominees (And 1 That Fails Miserably)
5. Two Goddamn Days From Billings - Nebraska
Payne's Nebraska gets double billing on my list as a testament to how its phenomenally simple and straight forward story is an absolute blast to watch. There's a certain type of humour that Payne's movies have, but the righteousness of Payne's much more serious and melancholy message usually prevails. Well, Nebraska balances out that scale better than any of his previous offerings. I've already talked about the bundle of joy that Kate Grant is, Squibb earning that Oscar nomination fair and square. But a smile is never too far from almost any scene, and sometimes there's bursts. One of my favorite examples is when David and Woody make a stop over to Uncle Rick's house. Watching TV and eating sandwiches is the highlight in the household of Woody's estranged brother, and Rick's two sons are the spitting image of economic depression. The question of how long it took David to drive from Billings is the typical awkward conversation starter between cousins who haven't seen each other since they were kids, but Bart (Tim Driscoll) and Cole (Devin Ratray) clearly love to drive fast because once David tells them that it took him two days, they never forget it. "What are were you driving? A dump truck?" one asks as the other snickers. But the golden moment comes a few minutes after, when everyone's presumably moved on, and Bart bursts out of the blue: "Two goddamn days from Billings!" and laughs his ass off. So contagious.
Nik's passions reside in writing, discussing and watching movies of all sorts. He also loves dogs, tennis, comics and stuff. He lives irresponsibly in Montreal and tweets random movie things @NikGrape.