Thursday, January 22, 2009

oscar nominations.

It's that time of year again, where many people - including myself - think the Oscars actually matter (because they do, don't they?!). It's not the fact that I think the Academy is the end-all be-all of movie opinions (they aren't, not by a long shot), but there's something very fun about them. The fact is that even if they do ignore tons of great films, this is some prestigious shit. It's not like it's a Nobel Peace prize or something, but it's close enough to care about it. The Oscars have the legacy now of being the judges of all serious film, and that's something you just can't ignore.

Anyhow, here are my opinions of the nominations and how, for the most part, they fucking suck.

Bold are what I think SHOULD win.

Italics is what probably WILL win.

Then, after the category, I give my opinion.

Also, one more thing: The fact that there are NO nominations for Synecdoche, New York is some of the biggest bullshit ever. It was the second best movie of the year. It's not as big of bullshit as motherfucking Dark Knight not being nominated for best picture, though. Yeah. I'm bitter. On with the show...

Best motion picture of the year

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “Frost/Nixon”
* “Milk”
* “The Reader”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”
This year has the weakest best picture line-up ever. Such bullshit. The Reader is one of the worst films I saw all year. Benjamin Button was long, dry, and for the most part uninvolving. Frost/Nixon was good, but not great. Slumdog Millionaire looks fantastic, but that's it - the script is beyond sub-par and the acting is entirely forgettable. Milk is the only movie on this list that was a legitimately great film, and one of my favorites of the year. In a perfect world, Doubt and The Dark Knight would take the place of the Reader and Slumdog Millionaire. And The Dark Knight would win. But alas...

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
* Sean Penn in “Milk”
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”
I have not seen The Wrestler yet (it just came out here this weekend, I'll be seeing it on Sunday), but I imagine Rourke deserves this. But since I haven't seen it, I'm going with Sean Penn, who went above and beyond as Harvey Milk.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Josh Brolin in “Milk”
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”
Notice how two are bolded? Because both of those were two of my favorite performances of the year. I am an undeniable Philip Seymour Hoffman fanboy, and I thought he was damn near perfect in Doubt. But then there was Heath, who also gave one of the best and most chilling performances of the year...I want both to win, and Heath probably will, and that's fine with me. Josh Brolin was also great in Milk and if the Academy insisted on putting in a comedic performance, they could've done James Franco in Pineapple Express, who was hilarious. Still cool that they have Robert Downey Jr. in there, though.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
I only saw two of these movies, Doubt and the Reader. I didn't care to see the others. Kate Winslet gave a whatever performance in the Reader, so here's hoping the Academy does right and bestows this upon Meryl Streep.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Amy Adams in “Doubt”
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
* Viola Davis in “Doubt”
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”
I haven't seen the Wrestler, so again, she could be amazing... but I do know everyone's been blowing their load over Viola Davis so she'll probably get it and deserves it. Penelope Cruz was great too, but I'm afraid I just liked her performance because it was a Woody film. Who knows!

Best animated feature film of the year

* “Bolt”
* “Kung Fu Panda”
* “WALL-E”
I don't even get the point of nominating anything else.

Achievement in directing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon”, Ron Howard
* “Milk”, Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader”, Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire”, Danny Boyle
Ugh. So disappointing. Where's Nolan?! And Stephen Daldry?! Really?!


Adapted screenplay

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* “Doubt”, Written by John Patrick Shanley
* “Frost/Nixon”, Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* “The Reader”, Screenplay by David Hare
* “Slumdog Millionaire”, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Slumdog's script was filled with cliche and trite drivel, but it'll win because it's a "feel good" movie or something. I don't know. And Benjamin Button is just whatever, so maybe they'll choose that, too. So frustrating. Here's to hoping for Doubt...

Original screenplay

* “Frozen River”, Written by Courtney Hunt
* “Happy-Go-Lucky”, Written by Mike Leigh
* “In Bruges”, Written by Martin McDonagh
* “Milk”, Written by Dustin Lance Black
* “WALL-E”, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

First: WHERE THE FUCK IS SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK? Second: I loved Wall-E, but giving the Best Screenplay award to an animated movie seems too "out there" for the Academy so it'll probably go to Milk, which is fine, too, I guess.

Best foreign language film of the year

* “The Baader Meinhof Complex”, Germany
* “The Class”, France
* “Departures”, Japan
* “Revanche”, Austria
* “Waltz with Bashir”, Israel
I haven't seen any of these but am dying to see The Class and Waltz with Bashir. I think The Class will win, but I mean... I really don't know at all. I wish Sweden entered Let the Right One In for consideration... that would've been great, and would've won. Maybe.

The rest is technical stuff, which I don't have much to say about, but I'll still give my opinion on as it still matters.

Achievement in art direction

* “Changeling”
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “The Duchess”
* “Revolutionary Road”

Achievement in cinematography

* “Changeling”
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “The Reader”
* “Slumdog Millionaire"

Achievement in costume design

* “Australia”
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Duchess”
* “Milk”
* “Revolutionary Road”

Achievement in film editing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “Frost/Nixon”
* “Milk”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”

Achievement in makeup

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

Achievement in sound editing

* “The Dark Knight”
* “Iron Man”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”
* “WALL-E”
* “Wanted”

Achievement in sound mixing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”
* “WALL-E”
* “Wanted”

Achievement in visual effects

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “The Dark Knight”
* “Iron Man”
So that's it. I left off the best shorts and stuff because I have no clue about that shit. Also, the best original song category is the biggest piece of horse shit because it excluded the song "Little Person" from Synecdoche, New York and the Bruce Springsteen song from The Wrestler. Waste of a category.

Now tell me how I'm wrong, how I'm right, or whatever. You have nothing better to do... like me.

1 comment:

Josh Waterman said...

I have like 4 billion things to say.
Here's my top 12 of this year (i can't do 10 this year), firstly, so we can get started.
1. The Wrestler
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Synecdoche, New York
5. Milk
6. Revolutionary Road
7. Changeling
8. Doubt
9. Wall-E
10. Waltz with Bashir
11. 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days
12. The Reader

Yes Synecdoche for Orig was my dream pick, but I knew it was doubtful when I saw the distribution. Slumdog was fun and entertaining, but it didn't last with me. I'm not going to sink so low as to call it 2008's Juno-- Danny Boyle is a brilliant chameleon of a director-- but its visuals were the saving grace. I thought Frost/Nixon was dry and couldn't appreciate the documentary element when equal attention was focused on the personal matters of David Frost. Langella's performance, however, was the sole good element.
You are wise: Come Sunday, you will push Sean Penn to second place. Supporting actor obviously goes Heath, but both Shannon and PSH were outstanding. Actress should go to Winslet just because she deserves the thing already. I've only seen three of those actresses though. Davis's role was too small in Doubt for her to stand out as much as Tomei did in Wrestler. I shat bricks at two categories: animated and song. Bruce Springsteen was my clinch to win song; that song is brilliant and with the rule about voters have to watch the whole film if only for a song, it works with the song. And yes Wall-E will win, but Bolt and Kung Fu Panda were the filler! I figured Waltz would sneak in. Animated foreign documentaries ftw!
I would give a testicle to hang out with David Fincher for a few hours, and he is by far my pick for director (He's deserved it now for Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodaic-- never nomianted). Yeah Shanley or Roth could take home screenplay and I'd be thrilled. I just don't want Happy Go Lucky to win original screenplay and I'll be content. I like words, so I'm not thrilled with the Wall-e nom, since the first 30 minutes were without them. I understand the character, but all of that is in the sound and animation work (So sound mixing and editing should go to Wall-E.) Changeling's art direction is what stood out- namely the production design. Like I've said, Deakins is my man. I loved his work on Doubt more than any in the field this year, but Reader would be better than nothing. I didn't see The Duchess, but its costumes look a la Elizabeth 2: Academy fare. I don't think the Academy often goes with the Palme D'or, so I pick Waltz there (but it's the only one I've seen...) VFX and makeup should go to Ben Button. Fincher's effects work is visionary. Editing should go Button. It was sharp and kept me involved for a 160+ minute movie.

I believe that addresses everything. Haha. and there are my thoughts. I love this kind of discussion.
But moral of the story-- clear your Sunday and see The Wrestler.