I really love this director's work and I don't find it pretentious at all. In fact, I just see subjects that he chooses to explore in the way that he desires. Also, I think his works have a mix of subtlety and directness that I find refreshing. Not everything has to be subtle, there are many things in life that aren't subtle. But I have to say, the picture they chose for him is ridiculous.
it's disturbing that he almost has as many fans as satyajit ray, who is surely a master of cinema...inarritu's films are self-important and pretentious when they do not need to be. he tries to squeeze some sort of humanity out of his characters/actors yet he goes about doing so by putting them in the most inhumane, implausible, and sometimes even grossly sentimental situations.