It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

pippin06 — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:52 GMT

The annual tradition lives - here's my live and in person running commentary on the winners (it's a way to multitask). I had no desire or good health to visit any Oscar parties this year. Tell us about any good ones you went to. Now, on with the results and comments...!

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner

Milk (2008): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

The Reader (2008): Nominees to be determined

X/O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson

COMMENTARY: Goodnight everybody!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)

X/O Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

COMMENTARY: Robert DeNiro's testimonial was highlarious! And Sean is a great actor.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

X/O Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

COMMENTARY: YAY!!!!! As much as I love Meryl, and I do, Kate was due. And darn if those testimonials didn't almost make me cry. Maybe it's the bleary-eyed fatigue associated with the fourth hour, but still....

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

X/O Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

COMMENTARY: There was never any doubt. So onto other topics - how about that musical interlude for musicals? I'm telling you, the Tonys and the Oscars have joined forces.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)

O Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)

X Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

COMMENTARY: Well, I threw this one away. I should have suspected Penelope would win with Kate out of the category. But how about this new Oscar format of having testimonials from prior category winners? Is anyone else as impressed as I am? Now, it might get old by the end of the broadcast, but we'll see how this new format turns out. And what about Hugh Jackman's opening extravaganza - I feel like the Tonys have met the Oscars...

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

X/O Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)

COMMENTARY: Shoo-in, see?

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt

X Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh

O Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

COMMENTARY: Yikes! O for 2. This was a tough category to guess, but it bodes well for Milk's success tonight. Maybe.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

X/O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy

COMMENTARY: Told you so. Everyone loves this film. Now, my batting average is .500!

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Tom Stern

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister

The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges

O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle

COMMENTARY: The rule holds, but the win is a little surprising. I thought Benjamin was more of a lock, and that's too bad, because Fincher and his team made quite the masterpiece. Still, I haven't seen Slumdog, but the theme you'll see is that everyone loves it.

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Milk (2008): Elliot Graham

X/O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens

COMMENTARY: I guess it's going to win Best Picture too. Anyone surprised?

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis

X/O The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando

The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway

Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

COMMENTARY: My average is getting better, sort of. This one is not a surprise for the reasons I stated. As art direction goes, this was a complicated film to imagine over several locales and time periods. They deserve it.

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Australia (2008): Catherine Martin

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West

O The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor

Milk (2008): Danny Glicker

Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky

COMMENTARY: "...I think The Duchess could get this one too. See also: Marie Antoinette." See ^. I should listen to myself. The Academy is so frustratingly repetitive sometimes.

Best Achievement in Makeup

Nominees:

X/O The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom

The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz

COMMENTARY: Ok, there we go. Not much of a surprise here.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat

Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard

Milk (2008): Danny Elfman

X/O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman

WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman

COMMENTARY: It's won all of the other composer awards.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar("Jai Ho")

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")

X WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")

COMMENTARY: You know, I really think after hearing them all together that Wall-E's song was the best of the nominees and got robbed. I think that Slumdog is just riding a lot of inertia here. It's the Oscar darling of 2008/09.

Best Achievement in Sound

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten

X The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo

O Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

WALL·E (2008): Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt

Wanted (2008): Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

COMMENTARY: Interesting choice. I have to see this film. It's winning just about everything! And the rule held true for editing but not for mixing. Sigh.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

X/OThe Dark Knight (2008): Richard King

Iron Man (2008): Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Tom Sayers

WALL·E (2008): Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood

Wanted (2008): Wylie Stateman

COMMENTARY: I'm not too bad on these technical awards. Yay for Batman.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

X/O The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin

Iron Man (2008): John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan

COMMENTARY: Yup.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

Bolt (2008): Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Kung Fu Panda (2008): John Stevenson, Mark Osborne

X/O WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton

COMMENTARY: See? I think I'll buy that movie tomorrow.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)(Germany)

Entre les murs (2008)(France)

Revanche (2008)(Austria)

O Okuribito (2008)(Japan)

X Vals Im Bashir (2008)(Israel)

COMMENTARY: This category never fails to surprise. It's almost the only unpredictable Oscar annually. Who would have guessed this one?

Best Documentary, Features

Nominees:

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath

Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser

The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy

X/O Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn

Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

COMMENTARY: Buzzed documentaries almost always win. It's like they get rewarded for transcending the anonymity that documentaries often face until they get nominated for awards like this one. See also: An Inconvenient Truth.

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Nominees:

The Conscience of Nhem En: Steven Okazaki

X The Final Inch: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant

O Smile Pinki: Megan Mylan

The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306: Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

COMMENTARY: No swooning tonight.

Best Short Film, Animated

Nominees:

O La Maison en Petits Cubes: Kunio Kato

Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya (2007): Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi (2007): Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

X Presto (2008): Doug Sweetland

This Way Up (2008): Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

COMMENTARY: *shrug* If I get any of these right, I faint.

Best Short Film, Live Action

Nominees:

Auf der Strecke (2007): Reto Caffi

X Manon sur le bitume (2007): Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont

New Boy (2007): Steph Green, Tamara Anghie

Grisen (2008): Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

O Spielzeugland (2007): Jochen Alexander Freydank

COMMENTARY: I'm still vertical.

Well, my average wasn't any better or worse than past years. How did you do? What do you think? How'd you like the Oscar revamp? Weigh in at the last...otherwise-see you next year!

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

rjsprague — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:37:59 GMT

The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Oktapodi
Presto (Pixar short)
Manon sur le bitume (Manon on the Asphalt)
Grisen (The Pig)
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

rjsprague — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:11:11 GMT

Vals Im Bashir = Waltz with Bashir

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

pippin06 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:37:35 GMT

Here are my predictions for this year. PS, if you pay attention, the British equivalent of the Oscars, the BAFTAs were held recently. They don't really affect American outcomes, but there is a lot of overlap this year, which is interesting.

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner

Milk (2008): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

The Reader (2008): Nominees to be determined

X Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson

COMMENTARY: Slumdog's a shoo-in. It's won everything across the board as far as all of the awards-shows everywhere.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)

X Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

COMMENTARY: The award is between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. I'm going with Penn this year because he's won a majority of previous Best Actor awards, and even though he's already won once, he would be winning for a very PC-progressive character the Oscars can champion as "see, we're not homophobic, and we want to make up for Brokeback Mountain." Also, Mickey is controversial. Now, they may go controversial, but I think Harvey Milk is controversial enough. Plus, it's a character that's very against Penn's type.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

X Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

COMMENTARY: This is a tough category to call this year! It's been split three ways from Sunday as far as the winners, but I think the story everyone wants to hear is how poor Kate finally wins one after years of nominations without winning (the new Susan Sarandon, see). And Meryl's already won twice, and she's been nominated 1 million times, and she'll be nominated again, and she'll probably win again at some point. Kate Hepburn won four times, after all. Also, The Reader has been a generally better reviewed picture than Doubt, though both performances are held to be powerful. Also, Kate has already won for this movie previously (though for Supporting Actress). We'll see what happens...

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

X Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

COMMENTARY: Please. This is a shoo-in, a foregone conclusion. Not only is it, in fact, the best supporting performance of the year, winning all previous awards, but it's a posthumous acknowledgement for a beloved actor.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)

Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)

X Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

COMMENTARY: Also a tough category to call this year. Nominating Amy Adams for Doubt was a complete surprise (she was generally held to be one of the worst parts of the film). Penelope could get it, even though she's been nominated without a win up until this point as could Viola (the likelier of the Doubt noms). Marisa's already won for My Cousin Vinny (shudder). I think Taraji's performance was charming. Will it win? Probably not, but she squeaked in there, so maybe the Academy wants to give Benjamin Button something! Maybe I just want her to win. So there.

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

X Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)

COMMENTARY: Also a shoo-in. He won the Director's Guild's best of the year award and every other award too. The Academy will not split Picture and Director this year.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt

X Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh

Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

COMMENTARY: Tough call and just a guess. This category has been kinder to comedies, and the praise for this film has generally been high, but really, it could go to any of them, with the possible exception of WALL-E.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

X Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy

COMMENTARY: It's won all of the writing awards so far, and, frankly, everyone seems to love this flick.

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Tom Stern

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister

The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle

COMMENTARY: I think Benjamin Button is going to get a lot of technical awards. Cinematography favors best picture candidates (though not always). That eliminates The Dark Knight and The Changeling. Seriously, though, Benjamin Button was technically astounding, and David Fincher's team's use of the camera was quite poetic in this film.

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Milk (2008): Elliot Graham

X Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens

COMMENTARY: Editing and Picture usually go hand in hand, but Benjamin could break the rule. The Dark Knight SHOULD NOT get it. That thing was not edited so great.

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando

The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway

Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

COMMENTARY: Have you seen the film? It crosses locales and time periods. It's absolutely beautiful. It's my wish but also the likeliest candidate.

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Australia (2008): Catherine Martin

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West

The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor

Milk (2008): Danny Glicker

Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky

COMMENTARY: This category favors period dramas. They're all period dramas. So, I'm just thinking about the diversity of Benjamin. I think The Duchess could get this one too. See also: Marie Antoinette.

Best Achievement in Makeup

Nominees:

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom

The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz

COMMENTARY: Two words. Brad. Pitt. This is a hard category to call this year, but with 14 noms (the most nominations) and no likely love on the top category fronts, I'm favoring Ben. The make-up involved a lot of aging effects too, whereas Batman had just the creepy Joke, and Hellboy was, well, Hellboy.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat

Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard

Milk (2008): Danny Elfman

X Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman

WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman

COMMENTARY: It's won all of the other composer awards.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar("Jai Ho")

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")

X WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")

COMMENTARY: Snub alert! Bruce Springsteen not being nominated for his contribution to The Wrestler is a head-scratching oversight when it's taken all previous awards. Maybe one of Slumdog's two will win, but Oscar hates splitting the different most times, so I think WALL-E might have some leverage here.

Best Achievement in Sound

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten

X The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

WALL·E (2008): Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt

Wanted (2008): Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

COMMENTARY: While the rule has not held as true in recent years, the Sound awards favor films with big battles. Benjamin has one, and Wanted is probably lots of gun fire, but I think The Dark Knight has as likely shot as any at this one.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

X The Dark Knight (2008): Richard King

Iron Man (2008): Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Tom Sayers

WALL·E (2008): Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood

Wanted (2008): Wylie Stateman

COMMENTARY: See above!

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

X The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin

Iron Man (2008): John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan

COMMENTARY: I would almost venture to say Ben is a shoo-in for this award. Aw heck, I'll say it. It's a shoo-in. It's what everyone was talking about.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

Bolt (2008): Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Kung Fu Panda (2008): John Stevenson, Mark Osborne

X WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton

COMMENTARY: Whether you like the story or not, WALL-E achieves new heights in animation, and that's what this award is about. It's certified fresh among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it's about a robot, and it's deftly poetic as much as it heavily didactic. Shoo-in.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)(Germany)

Entre les murs (2008)(France)

Revanche (2008)(Austria)

Okuribito (2008)(Japan)

X Vals Im Bashir (2008)(Israel)

COMMENTARY: It's got some momentum from previous awards shows, but Foreign Language film is always a toss-up category.

Best Documentary, Features

Nominees:

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath

Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser

The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy

X Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn

Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

COMMENTARY: I've heard so much about this film, I have to believe the talk means gold is in this doc's future.

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Nominees:

The Conscience of Nhem En: Steven Okazaki

X The Final Inch: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant

Smile Pinki: Megan Mylan

The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306: Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

COMMENTARY: Ah, the short subjects awards. Or, as I like to call them, my shot in the dark awards. Because that's what my prediction is. I have no good reason for picking any of them. So don't listen to me here, k?

Best Short Film, Animated

Nominees:

La Maison en Petits Cubes: Kunio Kato

Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya (2007): Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi (2007): Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

X Presto (2008): Doug Sweetland

This Way Up (2008): Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

COMMENTARY: See above

Best Short Film, Live Action

Nominees:

Auf der Strecke (2007): Reto Caffi

X Manon sur le bitume (2007): Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont

New Boy (2007): Steph Green, Tamara Anghie

Grisen (2008): Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

Spielzeugland (2007): Jochen Alexander Freydank

COMMENTARY: See above

Remember - the broadcast is February 22 on ABC! The host, unfortunately, is Hugh Jackman. So, the awards show itself might be the biggest joke of all this year. Oh well, there's always the fashion.

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

seely — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:02:38 GMT

JimBell:

Dark Knight--I thought it was powerful, overwhelming.

Wall-E--the most over-rated movie of the year. Hackneyed plots, hackneyed themes, etc. It will win. This should not concern us. Rather, look to Bolt, a superb aninmation with a profound theme and lots of engrossing characters.

The Visitor--love and hate this film; great acting adn I love the Diredctor's work, but a subtle thme that does not withstand much scrutiny

Get Smart--hilarious; also an astute update of the old Get Smart; but who pays attention to comedy when there is a holocaust?

I thank the Academy for their nominations. I have added all films to my list. I do not care when I see them. I do not care who wins. Thanks.

I completely agree on Wall-E... I saw it, enjoyed it, but did not think it was the profound ground-breaking landmark everyone seemed to think it was. The plot was good, and one I resonate with, but all the same it was used and tired. I honestly think the public confused "cute film" with "landmark film" and were amazed at their own ability to enjoy a film with a nearly mute main character. I also think the enamoration had something to do with the robot lead--something that was heavily en vogue in the mid-eighties into the early nineties, but hasn't been seen much since.

However, I need to disagree on The Dark Knight. I posted about it over in Top 5 Most Overrated Films but I think I need to say it again. Its a comic-book movie, and a good one at that, but still a comic book movie. The dialogue through out the film was nothing short of pallid and predicatble, Christian Bale was entirely forgettable, Maggie Gyllenhaal is neither attractive or a capable actress, and Heath Ledger's outstand performance and interpretation of the maniacal Joker completely stole the show--however, one good performance does not make an award-winning film. Give Ledger the Best Supporting Actor award, but let's stop the Dark Knight at that.

Get Smart I also found a bit tedious. I watched the original series religiously after school as a kid and can to this day recall some of the funnier bits. I was very disappointed with Carrell's performance, which I am going to attribute to the director as Carrell is capable of no wrong in my eyes. The movie started out pretty good and reasonably funny, but became more and more tedious and too serious for a slapstick spy comedy. Carrell didn't 'bungle' enough. Thankfully, I got to look at Anne Hathaway for an hour and a half.

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

pippin06 — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:55:42 GMT

JimBell:

Great idea to host an oxcars converstaion.

I'd like to set my parameters by asking three things:

First, why are we focusing on 2008? Well, because we have seen all the movies that went before and we wait anxiously for what is new. (Not true of me.)

Second, I have seen all the Oscar contenders, but how do I make up my mind? (Not true for me. This year for the first time, I actually tried to se all the oscr nomination, but our local cinema has carried maybe half.)

Third, who wins is crucial, n'est-ce pas? Actually, who wins is a pile of -- poliitic -- but who is nominted is a reasonable representation of outstanding movies last year. So once the nominations are announced, we say thankyou, and pay no more attention. Actually , we debate the nominees, but we don't care who actually "wins" as far as the academy is concerned, but only as far as we are concerned.

Dark Knight--I thought it was powerful, overwhelming.

Wall-E--the most over-rated movie of the year. Hackneyed plots, hackneyed themes, etc. It will win. This should not concern us. Rather, look to Bolt, a superb aninmation with a profound theme and lots of engrossing characters.

The Visitor--love and hate this film; great acting adn I love the Diredctor's work, but a subtle thme that does not withstand much scrutiny

Get Smart--hilarious; also an astute update of the old Get Smart; but who pays attention to comedy when there is a holocaust?

I thank the Academy for their nominations. I have added all films to my list. I do not care when I see them. I do not care who wins. Thanks.

I know probably much of this is rhetorical, but I can' t stop myself! That's what this thread is here for, after all :-).

Some people like the Oscars, as in the actual Oscars. And some people like to predict who wins because of the politics. This group has two purposes: to discuss the Oscars themselves (if you enjoy that sort of thing, which I do) and to discuss what is actually the Best, usually based on what you've seen, best of lists, etc. Either one is fair, even if you prefer one to the other because you find the other distasteful. So! Let's revisit this one, eh: who likes the Oscars hoopla and who doesn't?

First, this thread is devoted to 2008 because it is an annual thread. I've started a new one each year since I started the group, way back when in Spout's beta test. They focus on the broadcast of the year listed. Simple as that.

Second, you can make up your own mind on what you want. The Oscars are a load of tripe or a fun distraction. The movies they nominate are quality or not. The process they use is legitimate or seriously rigged. Whether you see all the movies or not... it depends on how you look at it, and all opinions are valid here. Some group members don't really care a whole whit for the Oscars themselves but are still game to discuss the films. All are welcome to this, the Oscar-lovers group.

Third, some people like to debate what will be nominated. I (and others, I hope) like to dissect the choices that eventually get chosen because, to me, the nominees will always be foregone conclusions. That's why I started to list other awards show nominees and winners, like the Critics' Choice and Golden Globes, which get the first stab at nominating films and pretty much form how Oscar's going to nominate, with the notable difference that the former two nominate a wider berth of films for more awards. Some people like to guess at what will be nominated and then react violently when their guesses are wrong. That's ok too. It's all open here. Some people just want to know what would be a good sampling of films to watch. Some people do actually care who wins, so they can react violently if they thought something else should win. That's why Oscar hoopla is so fertile for conversation.

So, taking the films Jim highlighted because he liked or disliked them vis-a-vis what was nominated or not (and here's some of my commentary; more to follow later).

--Everyone's up in arms that The Dark Knight got snubbed. I'm here to tell you, devotees, that it never had a chance at being nominated for Best Picture. I like-loved The Dark Knight myself, but when was the last time you saw a comic-book movie or action-adventure movie get nominated for the top category? I mean, it happens, like, every 25 years, and the last time we saw something close was Lord of the Rings. The critics and the Hollywood Foreign Press nominate more films, but the film didn't win their top honors, and if they were restricted to five films for any category, combining comedy and drama, I would venture to guess that Batman wouldn't have been up for them either. Now, if Heath Ledger wasn't nominated, that would have been the true snub. But he was nominated. None of the five nominated Best Pictures were surprises. And they are all dramas with various degrees of edgyness or progressiveness, which is what Oscar has always nominated and will continue to nominate until they revise the rules. That's why some people don't like Oscar. They're predictable - though not always when it comes to the winners. Hence the predictions thread. Feel free to start making any for those who like to do it. Now, who wants to lambast the Academy for this decision because The Dark Knight was the.best.film.ever. Come on, you know you want to :-).

--Wall-E: Jim thinks it's overrated because it's generally "hackneyed" in the story department. I think it's a masterpiece of technical achievement (and revisited plot themes/devices or no, they work in this film). So, too, does Oscar. It's a shooin for the Animated Feature award, which focuses on the combination of story and visual presentation; there was an outsider's chance that it would have been nominated for Best Picture, but, again, not a drama, and it's a fancy cartoon. Not every film is going to please everyone, but I haven't met many who've disliked this one, and the Academy doesn't exactly pull for the minority. Just sayin'.

--I haven't seen Get Smart. I want to. But, since I've heard widely mixed reviews from just people I know, since I haven't seen it on any "best of the year" lists, and since it's at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes (which is considered rotten, by the way), I'm going to propose that maybe you should cut the Academy a break on this one, Jim. It's not everyone's cup of tea, comedy or no. Now, for me personally, because of my undying love for Steve Carell, I'm still going to see it. Who wants to talk about this one? It's way down on my Netflix queue; anyone want to talk me out of seeing it?

Anyone else care to comment? This is the place to do it!

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

JimBell — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:48:08 GMT

Great idea to host an oxcars converstaion.

I'd like to set my parameters by asking three things:

First, why are we focusing on 2008? Well, because we have seen all the movies that went before and we wait anxiously for what is new. (Not true of me.)

Second, I have seen all the Oscar contenders, but how do I make up my mind? (Not true for me. This year for the first time, I actually tried to se all the oscr nomination, but our local cinema has carried maybe half.)

Third, who wins is crucial, n'est-ce pas? Actually, who wins is a pile of -- poliitic -- but who is nominted is a reasonable representation of outstanding movies last year. So once the nominations are announced, we say thankyou, and pay no more attention. Actually , we debate the nominees, but we don't care who actually "wins" as far as the academy is concerned, but only as far as we are concerned.

Dark Knight--I thought it was powerful, overwhelming.

Wall-E--the most over-rated movie of the year. Hackneyed plots, hackneyed themes, etc. It will win. This should not concern us. Rather, look to Bolt, a superb aninmation with a profound theme and lots of engrossing characters.

The Visitor--love and hate this film; great acting adn I love the Diredctor's work, but a subtle thme that does not withstand much scrutiny

Get Smart--hilarious; also an astute update of the old Get Smart; but who pays attention to comedy when there is a holocaust?

I thank the Academy for their nominations. I have added all films to my list. I do not care when I see them. I do not care who wins. Thanks.

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

pippin06 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:03:07 GMT

Hi all:

The following titles I'm unable to find and add to the Nominations list in our group at this time because they are either not in Spout's database, or I can't find a suitable enough translation. If you know the translation of the foreign titles, please offer the English title or the link on Spout. Thanks!

The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Oktapodi
Presto (Pixar short)
Manon sur le bitume
Grisen
Spielzeugland

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

seely — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:16:36 GMT

While I'm a little surprised, I'm actually not disappointed to see The Dark Knight being 'snubbed'. It was an exceptional film in the comic-book genre, but honestly I didn't think it was as good as the first, and despite its success and praise, I don't think it really change anyone's life or elevated the art of filmmaking in any way.

I think Heath Ledger is deserving for a nomination of best supporting actor, but beyond that the film just didn't do much more for me than say a Will Smith film would. I guess I just wasn't that impressed by the film.

Re:Predictions and Commentary, 2009

pippin06 — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:43:19 GMT

Hi all!

Welcome to this year's edition of Predictions and Commentary, with your hostess Pippin06 aka Kylie. Above is your official nomination list for this year's Academy Awards. What are your predictions? Snubs? Surprises? How do you like that appallingly large font? Here's the place to discuss it. When I'm not bound by the conventions of my day-job, I'll weigh in later myself. In the meantime, Happy Oscar season.