So, my family and I sat down to watch this last night. We were big fans of Avatar, and wanted to see the movie in its own right, but also to see what beat out Avatar for the statue. Wow...just can't figure this out. It will bear another watching, but we (and we are VERY MUCH movie lovers and armchair experts) cannot figure out why this is getting so much praise. An episode of Generation Kill was better than this. The story wasn't that interesting, the main character was underdeveloped (Just didn't care one way or the other about his motivations) the movie seemed just episodic (although they had tried to create "drama" with the running tally of how many days left...oooohhhhh...something BAD is going to happen! ooooo) Just didn't feel it. Well done for what it was...but Best Picture? There was NOTHING to call a story, or plot, or characters...and yes, we GET the whole "slice of life" thing; we do.