Precious - Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

"Precious..." is the extraordinarily gritty tale of a girl (Precious) raped and made twice pregnant by her own father, who not only suffers from extreme obesity but also from severe learning difficulties.

The movie is interspersed with violent acts perpetrated against her, each which trigger her musical dream sequences. It's an original and effective cinematic motif for her psychology; she is a fantasist who disappears into her imagination when things get too much.

Gabourney Sidibe's performance is brilliant, and Director Lee Daniels has been nominated for an Oscar - needless to say it is well deserved.

In total it has been nominated for 6 Academy awards: 'Actress in a Leading Role', 'Actress in a supporting role', 'Directing', 'Film Editing', 'Best Picture', 'Writing - Adapted Screenplay'.

Interestingly, this movie is close to American arthouse, so it seems particularly special to have made it to one of the most popular movies in American cinema this year. For all the complaining the French do about the state of Hollywood, I'm pleased to see them being proved wrong once again. Go see this film.