From Nick Davis re: the Tom Hooper Best Director win:
I only got as far back as 25 years in asking myself, has any director ever copped this prize despite exhibiting less of a native knack for "getting" the cinema as an art form? I think Costner's best sequences trounce Hooper's, and Howard's populism and Minghella's swoony pictorialism connect to key valences of the medium. Mel Gibson's sadism at least feels alive on the screen if rabid and overdone. Sam Mendes, whose post-American Beauty struggles on screen have been sad to witness, at least had a lot of ideas in his Oscar-winning vehicle. Risks were taken. Who could say that of Hooper's work on The King's Speech? He's good with actors. So was Scott Cooper last year. He makes you feel. So did everyone whose movie got a Picture nomination, much less a Documentary or an Animated Feature nomination. So does the script by itself, and so does the historical incident that inspired the script. I simply don't get this win, and with divisive but fervently championed artists like Fincher, Aronofsky, Russell, and the Coens in the losing circle, it'll be even harder to validate...
Pretty much on point, I think. And there were things in this movie that felt maybe slightly unexpected - a few shots that follow a walking Firth, the low-angle outdoor stuff, the off center close-ups - but with at least the last two of those there really seems no good reason for them to be there. Worst award of the night for me.
So, I could write a 10,000 word Oscar preview but my prose is not feeling very sharp. So how about a simple series of lists with the people/movie I think are gonna win in bold and, much more importantly, listed in my order of preference.
BEST PICTURE:
- Toy Story 3 (Genuinely shocking) - The Social Network (Makes an honest effort to explore the relationship between the public and the personal) - Black Swan (Wonderful trash horror about the relationship between art and personal sacrifice) - Winter's Bone (Ozark noir, another sub-genre I never knew I wanted until I got it) - The Kids Are All Right (It's really funny!) - The Fighter (D.O.R. doesn't explode the Boston Movie or Boxing Picture, instead lovingly makes great ones) - True Grit (fun, gorgeous, and well-acted, if not particularly revelatory) - 127 Hours (50/50 between the great desert/rock scenes and the annoying Boyled flashbacks) - Inception (Plotted very neatly, but oh how I wish so much of the plot didn't hinge on the Leo/Cotillard love stuff) - The King's Speech (not all bad, but it looks terrible and doesn't quite attempt to say anything about anything)
BEST ACTOR:
- Jesse Eisenberg (brilliant, brilliant, brilliant) - James Franco (absolutely nails the big interview scene) - Colin Firth (better than the material required) - Jeff Bridges (good, you know)
*Haven't seen the Javier Bardem one, realized I haven't really altogether liked an Iñárittu movie and it probably wouldn't worth it for me
BEST ACTRESS:
- Natalie Portman (uses her Portman-ness to great effect) - Annette Bening (the Joni Mitchell scene is is jaw-dropping) - Jennifer Lawrence (works hard throughout the movie for the big emotional payoff at the end) - Michelle Williams (maybe the structure makes it easier to see what she's doing, but she does it real well) - Nicole Kidman (the Kidman Forehead isn't altogether unrealistic for the character, actually)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: - Christian Bale (not subtle, obvi, but the physicality is awesome) - Jeremy Renner (like a little Boston pitbull James Cagney, so entertaining) - John Hawkes (emotionally mysterious and excellent, like most of the supporting performances in Winter's Bone) - Mark Ruffalo (subtle Cali bro skills) - Geoffrey Rush (charming)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: - Amy Adams (plays the Supportive Girlfriend type, but makes sure you know there's more going on than just Standing By Her Man) - Jacki Weaver (the escalation of menace throughout the movie is gr8) - Hailee Steinfeld (great shit-talking, though again, this is in every appreciable way a Lead Performance) - Melissa Leo (fun, but I think less convincing in her mannerism than her opposite number Bale) - Helena Bonham Carter (a decent performance in a nothing role)
BEST DIRECTOR: - David Fincher (not an achievement on the level of Zodiac, but shapes the Sorkin script into a super fast yet super clear stunner) - Darren Aronofsky (great delirium) - David O. Russell (manages the tone brilliantly, throwing in some screwball along with the inspirational and dramatic) - Joel and Ethan Coen (pretty landscapes and the usual Coen skill for creating fun supporting characters) - Tom Hooper (movie is carried by the acting, can't tell that Hooper did anything positive, to be honest)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: - Toy Story 3 (the dialogue is great, the story is perfect) - The Social Network (I was very worried when I heard Sorkin was writing this, but he did a great job, though I suspect the editing, acting, and direction aren't getting enough credit for how well they make his writing work) - Winter's Bone (maintains both an air of mystery and emotional insight) - True Grit (the broad comedy stuff might be my favorite, actually) - 127 Hours (a lot of the Franco talking to himself stuff works, a lot of the psychoanalysis really doesn't)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: - The Kids Are All Right (to say that it's just a family dramedy and not a lesbian family dramedy undersells what it accomplishes) - Another Year (insightful about aging, and much more insightful about friendship and other complicated interpersonal relationships) - The Fighter (solid take on the various genres, but I think it's the direction and acting that's really special) - Inception (the exposition is pretty good under the circumstances, but the character interactions don't interest me all that much) - The King's Speech (solid prestige movie dialogue, as corny as expected, but solid)
DOCUMENTARY - Inside Job (Very neatly laid out, super-intense, and even manages to justify its blood thirst) - Restrepo (the editing is done really well; the quality of and balance between the art and journalism is dope) - Gasland (makes a very compelling argument against fracking, narrator really sounds like Johnny Depp) - Exit Through the Gift Shop (quite entertaining, however, there lingers a suspicion that's it's not actually saying anything about anything)
*Didn't get to see Wasteland
OTHER THINGS I HAVE OPINIONS ABOUT:
- Alexandre Desplat will probably win for his score for The King's Speech. He totally deserves it...for his score for The Ghost Writer. - Alice in Wonderland is not the worst movie ever made (Helena Bonham-Carter is probably actually better in it than she is in The King's Speech), but it might just be one of the ugliest. Any technical awards for it will be sad. - I don't mind the Art Direction in The King's Speech at all, but the cinematography, with its low angle street shots and slightly off center close-ups, is horrendous. I really hope Roger Deakins finally gets his Cinematography Oscar instead of dude from King's Speech. - Will be cheering against Let's Pollute for Best Animated Short. It's not nearly as bad as last year's Logorama, whose Political niche it fills, but it does seem to me rather half-baked. All of the other nominees are better than it, including the big-budget, 30 minute long British-Actor-Filled adaptation of kids' book The Gruffalo, Pixar's Day & Night, and especially Madagascar, carnet de voyage, which you should totally watch.
God I hope the King's Speech doesn't win. But it will. Let's drink!
Things we made/some of our 25-30 guests brought to our Oscar party:
- An Eggucation (deviled eggs) - An Edumame (Edamame) - Avatarcado Relish (Guac with apples and blue food coloring) - The Brownie Side - Coco avant Pretzels (Chocolate covered pretzels) - Crazy Liver (Chicken Liver Pate) - Crazy Tarts - Ginvictus - Harry Pottered Rum - The Hurt Lager - The Hurt Latkas - Inglorious Basil Pesto - Inglorious Bas-tarts - The Princess and the Frog Legs - A Serious Amount of Cheese Balls - Tuna Avatartar - UPside Down Cake
So, because of various factors such as my new job, my computer touch pad going insane, and general laziness, I'm not gonna be able to finish this as thoroughly as I wanted. So here are the rest of my winners, distilled for maximally concentrated anger and accuracy.
Visual Effects: Avatar. If it doesn't win this it won't win anything. But it will win this.
Cinematography: Avatar seems to be the favorite, but I don't have any faith in the Academy being willing to give cinematography to something that's mostly animated. So I'm going with Robert Richardson for Inglourious Basterds, possibly Tarantino's prettiest looking movie ever.
Animated Feature: There's a line of reasoning that says Mr. Fox gets this because Up's reward is the Best Pic nom. That's just not gonna happen. Up wins this, though I'm shocked that the Princess and the Frog isn't getting more Disney Return to Glory hype, regardless of it's quality.
Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique. 100%.
Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz 100%.
Best Actress: A week ago I still thought there wouldn't be enough people who liked Blind Side enough for Sandy to win. But the closer it gets the more I fall in line. It's actually not even that the competition isn't good this year, it's that I think Meryl, Carey, and Gabby will all get enough votes that none of them will be able to pull ahead of Sandra Bullock.
Best Actor: There's no reason I can see to bet against Jeff Bridges here.
Adapted Screenplay: This will probably be where they honor Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for the former Best Picture frontrunner, the shallow, offensive, insipid, boring, stale Up in the Air. A win for In the Loop would be one of the most pleasant and shocking surprises in recent Oscar memory.
Original Screenplay: I liked all of the movies in this category, which is pretty crazy. Anyways, this is between Basterds and the Hurt Locker, and as stupid as I feel about picking Basterds for Cinematography and Writing and then Hurt Locker for picture, I just feel better picking the more talky Inglorious Basterds for a screenplay award.
Best Foreign Film: I've only seen the wonderful Un Prophete and the terrible White Ribbon, but we also have Ajami, which deals with the middle east, The Milk of Sorrow, which everyone seems to agree has no chance, and El Secreto de Sus Ojos, which is emerging into a sort of favorite because it's supposedly the most conventional and straightforward of the five, qualities which the Foreign Film voters have gone for in recent years ahead of innovation or critical acclaim. I'll buy that and go with the Argentinian entry, although I'm scared they might give it to Haneke and his ribbon.
Best Director: Even if they don't give Hurt Locker Best Pic, I'd be shocked if Kathryn Bigelow missed out on this award. She deserves it, too, and so much has been made of her potentially being the first woman to win it and the ex-husband narrative that I can't see AMPAS passing this one up.
Best Picture: Gaaaaaaawd I dunno. I'm just gonna say The Hurt Locker and be done with it. I think the backlash came too late.
- Avatar - Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
- District 9 - Julian Clarke
- The Hurt Locker - Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
- Inglourious Basterds - Sally Menke
- Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Joe Klotz
Editors. What do they do? Is it science? Is it art? Is it magic? It's a question that's forever haunted people without a film education trying to speak intelligently about the Oscars. So to help us out, we've brought in our friend Jawn Duffy, who actually sometimes edits video professionally (and should probably be doing so now instead of talking to us about it).
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: well Jawn, let's start with who got motherfucking snubbed
Jawn Da’vi: now I have to think about what movies came out this year
Jawn Da’vi:I really wish my category wasn't the hardest one to judge
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: Well then I'll start it off by suggesting two movies that had absolutely no shot at an Oscar nomination (but I certainly like more than Avatar).
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: Crank: High Voltage, which actually does its ADD style on purpose and is something special for it and House of the Devil, which as a horror movie is more or less ineligible for awards but has a better slow build than anything in a long time.
Jawn Da’vi: Well I should preface, that for me, I feel that editing is at it's best when I totally get lost in the world of the movie. People like to call editing "the invisible art" or whatever and that can be because there's always so much more that you don't see than what you do see (and wow, there is always so much more that you don't see). So when I judge editing, it's more about getting lost and not noticing things. Pacing is really important obviously, which is why action movies like Bourne that have recently won can be just as good as a slow burner. It's not so much about the technique, but more about the experience, which is why I love movies like Zodiac or A Serious Man, which I guess is one of my snubs, that and Parnassus
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: (which I still haven't seen, shame on me)
Jawn Da’vi: which I'm guessing was an absolute nightmare to edit
Jawn Da’vi: well, you have seen every other movie out there so it's ok (for now)
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: haha
Jawn Da’vi: but back to A Serious Man
Jawn Da’vi: I knew I'd like A Serious Man from the trailer alone. That is the most perfect trailer I have ever seen. It made me happy to call myself an editor. Which is good because that's how I go around introducing myself. Hi, I'm John Duffy, but you can call me The Cutter!
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: (as we move on to who should win) How much of a bloated, over-long film can be blamed on an editor? Like, if the editor of Avatar suggested that it be half an hour shorter, you figure Cameron would just be standing there, like no!
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: Although, wait, now that I look at it he's actually one of the editors argh.
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: but take that question in the abstract, I guess.
Jawn Da’vi: yeah, that movie was a mess. When you're in a movie theater and realizing how long something is, then it's just not good. A lot of that is probably Cameron's massive, facial-hair-needing head. When it comes down to it, Jimmy Camewrong is not going to want to get rid of something that he spent 18 years writing
Jawn Da’vi: like, the little seen or heard from guy that the Coens' work with seems to magically be on the same page as them
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: haha
Jawn Da’vi:it's almost like he's an extension of them. Which is why the realtionship between the director an editor is so important. Directors like Tarantino who work with the same editor over and over again is something that I like. There's a trust there where he knows what Sally likes to do and vice-versa.
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: I mean, I should note that I don't think length is Avatar's only editing problem.
Jawn Da’vi:Oh no, definitely not.
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: Several of its action scenes are completely disorienting in the worst way possible.
Jawn Da’vi: oh but it's an alien world so it should be right?
Jawn Da’vi: or I think it was a moon actually
Jawn Da’vi: man, I hate that movie (by the way, any defense of Avatar from me should be read as sarcasm).
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: noted. So which of these five is the best, you think?
Jawn Da’vi: well, I'll briefly run through the other 4
Jawn Da’vi:ok District 9
Jawn Da’vi:the first third of how this was edited had me completely freaking out. That is EXACTLY the kind of editing that I do, the connecting of ideas documentary style with broll on top, I felt legitimate while watching that. That and the Serious Man trailer made me really happy about what I've been doing with myself over the past 3.5 years
Jawn Da’vi: Inglourious Basterds I also really liked. The first scene alone, as mentioned by countless others, is exactly what film making should be. It took me a little while after that to realize what the film was trying to do, but I liked that, I liked how it turned out, and the storytelling kept me very interested throughout
Jawn Da’vi:Push, I haven't seen, but my question there is how great can the editing actually be with a title that long and ridiculous?
Jawn Da’vi:(pause for laughter)
Jawn Da’vi:OK, and finally The Hurt Locker
Jawn Da’vi:The Hurt Locker is exactly the kind of movie I was talking about in the beginning. From the first frame I was completely immersed. I'm so happy that there's no draft because if that's even a tenth of what it's like to be a modern soldier, I wouldn't even make it off the plane. I'm sure it did with many, I was physically affected watching that movie
Jawn Da’vi: Well maybe not really, but stuff was happening inside of my body
MaciejBasedOntheNovelMobyDickbyMelville: I feel like the tension in the Hurt Locker is something that us amateurs ofter give credit to the editor for.
Jawn Da’vi: that's true. I mean a tense movie is a tense movie for more reasons than the editing. But what that movie shows is that everybody from the top down all the way through post, was on the same page.
- Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land - dir. Anders Østergaard - The Cove - dir. Louie Psihoyos - Food, Inc. - dir. Robert Kenner - The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers - dir. Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith - Which Way Home - dir. Rebecca Cammisa
Who Will Win?: In many of the smaller categories it's foolish to pick a movie because it's the most popular or well known or has momentum. However, this is the category that only a few years ago honored March of the Penguins, so, lacking anything super-topical or about the Holocaust, I'm going to pick The Cove, which has won a few precursors and (whatever one says about its credentials as a Documentary) is pretty exciting. Everybody loves dolphins, right?
Best Documentary Short
- China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province - dir. Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill - The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner - dir. Daniel Junge - The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant - dir. Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert - Królik po berlinsku (Rabbit a la Berlin) - dir. Bartosz Konopka - Music by Prudence - dir. Roger Ross Williams
Who Will Win?: Maybe one of these is a completely virtuosic example of documentary filmmaking, but I have nothing to go by except for subject matter. And while the death count of China's Unnatural Disaster might sway voters, I'd bet on the fact that if the Recession was enough to carry Up in the Air to Oscar Nominations and some kind of supposed relevance, I'm going to bet on it taking the day here too. That's The Last Truck, yall.
- Bright Star - Janet Patterson - Coco avant Chanel - Catherine Leterrier - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Monique Prudhomme - Nine - Colleen Atwood - The Young Victoria - Sandy Powell
Who Got Snubbed?: For how showy its costumes are and the fact that it got noms for Best Pic, Best Director, etc, Inglourious Basterds omission is quite a shock. Bridget Von Hammersmark and Shoshana's costumes alone are awesome, not to mention the leopard print hat.
Who Should Win?: I haven't seen The Young Victoria, Coco avant Chanel, or, shockingly enough Parnassus, sorry. But Bright Star has really ill costumes that go a long way towards developing the main character. So that one.
Who Will Win?: It may be oversimplifying, but never underestimate how much they love a royal period piece, never mind a Victorian one, never mind about the actual Queen Victoria. The Young Victoria is my pick then, though a movie about Coco Chanel could be trouble.
Best Achievement in Makeup
- Il divo - Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano - Star Trek - Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow - The Young Victoria - John Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore
Who Got Snubbed?: Go figure the Oscars not recognizing a horror movie, but Drag Me to Hell should own this. As far as things that had an actual chance, District 9's snub here is very puzzling.
Who Should Win?: I've only seen Star Trek, and wasn't particularly impressed with the makeup. It was OK, I guess.
Who Will Win?: I think this'll be the one they'll actually give to Star Trek. Good for Eric Bana, I like that dude.
Best Achievement in Art Direction
- Avatar - Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, and Kim Sinclair - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - David Warren, Anastasia Masaro, and Caroline Smith - Nine - John Myhre and Gordon Sim - Sherlock Holmes - Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer - The Young Victoria - Patrice Vermette and Maggie Gray
Who Got Snubbed?: See, how can Inglourious win Best Picture when it's a period piece that can't get nominated for any Costume or Art awards? Forrealtho Coraline should walk this.
Who Should Win?: I don't think Avatar doesn't deserve this because it's largely animated. I think it doesn't deserve it because its world isn't particularly original. Not having seen Parnassus or Victoria (I promise I'll get better at this when we get to the majors), I guess Holmes' Dickens by way of Steampunk bullshit is better than Nine's boring bullshit.
Who Will Win?: I was thinking Avatar's gonna win this one, because Nine is so hated and everything. But John Myhre won this award for Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha adaptation, and that was even more hated than Nine, so I'ma go out on a limb here and say it. NINE!
- Avatar - Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, and Tony Johnson - The Hurt Locker - Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett - Inglourious Basterds - Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti, and Mark Ulano - Star Trek - Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, and Geoffrey Patterson
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
- Avatar - Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle - The Hurt Locker - Paul N.J. Ottosson - Inglourious Basterds - Wylie Stateman - Star Trek - Mark P. Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin - Up - Michael Silvers and Tom Myers
Who Should Win?: Here's the thing. I know Sound Design is important in movies and I'm definitely affected by it when I'm in theater, but I'd just be pretending if I told you I could pick good from bad. So on this count, I abstain.
Who Will Win?: I try to look for reason in these categories every year. I know mixing's the one that once in a while goes to a movie that involves music (like Ray, Dreamgirls, Chicago, even Eastwood's Bird), but that's not an issue this year. I know Editing is the one that always goes to a really loud movie, but Transformers is nominated for Mixing! I know Mixing's the one that more often goes with the Best Picture, but Transformers is nominated for Mixing! The three in the last ten that have swept both categories have been Oscar heavyweights The Bourne Ultimatum, King Kong, and The Matrix. So who the hell knows?
Yet if you're gonna win your Oscar Pool, these will probably be important, especially in this year of seemingly sure things up top. In two categories that obviously have no fear of rewarding action movies, Star Trek could be a dark horse, especially because it missed out on a Best Picture nomination to that it was kind of supposed to get with the category expansion. But I'm gonna go with The Hurt Locker for Editing, because big, real explosions and gunshots are so integral to its plot. I'll split and take Avatar for mixing, because it's gotta win some shit, right?
Best Original Score
- Avatar - James Horner - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Alexandre Desplat - The Hurt Locker - Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders - Sherlock Holmes - Hans Zimmer - Up - Michael Giacchino
Who Should Win?: I guess one could complain that Michael Giacchino's score for Up relies too much on one theme, but it's such a great theme. Of these 5 scores, I only really remember moments from Up and Sherlock Holmes, and I remember the former much more fondly.
Who Will Win?: I think Up will take it, actually. BAFTA, Golden Globes, and Crithatics Choice all bought it, and I see no reason that AMPAS shouldn't follow up. I'd imagine James Horner could play spoiler, especially if Avatar does well overall, but I'm not gonna bet on it.
Best Original Song
- "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart, written by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham - "Loin de Paname" from Faubourg 36, written by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas - "Take It All" from Nine, written by Maury Yeston - "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog, written by Randy Newman - "Down in New Orleans" from The Princess and the Frog, written by Randy Newman
Who Should Win?: "The Weary Kind" is the best of these. It's not amazing, or anything, but it works in the movie. "Take It All" is the best choice from Nine, I think, but that's not saying much.
Who Will Win?: I'ma put my money on the one that's sung by the guy who's gonna win Best Actor, written by a guy who looks exactly like James Cameron and the other guy who plays a guitarist in the movie and, in real life, has the same name as George Clooney in Up in the Air and is a bull rider turned songwriter. That's "The Weary Kind". It just seems so Oscary (especially with Randy Newman vote split, everybody hating Nine, and the other song being from a French movie that a total of 4 people in this country have seen).
We're just a few days from the Oscars, and just a few days after I finished talking way too much about movies I actually liked this year. Sadly, there's no other way to do it. So here we present our Oscar preview which, do to me having a job, is gonna be a hell of a thing to try and finish on time, never mind do with any amount of effort. Nevertheless, I feel like it's something we have to do. So the Oscar Death Race is going to be a sprint this year, but here we go, starting as we did last year with the non-Documentary Shorts, which might very well be playing in a theater near you as we speak.
Best Short Film, Live Action
- The Door - dir. Juanita Wilson - Istället för abrakadabra (Instead of Abracadabra) - dir. Patrik Eklund - Kavi - dir. Greg Helvey - Miracle Fish - dir. Luke Doolan - The New Tenants - dir. Joachim Back
Who Should Win?: By far my favorite of the five was Australia's Miracle Fish (which you can stream here, about a bullied kid who falls asleep at school and wakes up to find it deserted. It's not perfect, but the middle section in which our hero walks through the empty building is really great filmmaking.
Who Will Win?: I think that we can disregard The New Tenants, a silly little bit of violence with Vincent D'Onofrio getting emotional and Kevin Corrigan channeling Walken. I also think and pray we can disregard Instead of Abracadabra. I know everyone is saying that it's similar in style to Napoleon Dynamite, but I didn't think it was possible that a Swedish short film nominated for an Oscar could be this similar to Napoleon Dynamite.
So that leaves the two "serious" entries: The Door, which is about Chernobyl, and Kavi, which is about Debt Bondage in India. (I do think films being reduced to their subject matter sucks, but these are the Oscars). I'm split on whether the latter will be helped or hurt by its similarity in setting (and texture, it's mud not poop in this case, but it looks similar) to Slumdog Millionaire (that movie seems so long ago). In the end, I'll wager that it helps, and the main character's likability elevates it over the thoroughly bleak Irish/Ukranian film. That's Kavi for the win.
Best Short Film, Animated
- French Roast - dir. Fabrice Joubert - Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty - dir. Nicky Phelan - La dama y la muerte (The Lady and the Reaper) - dir. Javier Recio Garcia - Logorama - dir. François Alaux, Herve de Crecy, and Ludovic Houplain - Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' - dir. Nick Park
Who Should Win?: Probably Wallace and Gromit again, but I'd very much also like to praise La dama y la muerte, which is a jaunty little picture that seems to be of the opinion that if an old person wants to die, you should just let them die.
Who Will Win?: Nick Park already has three Oscars in this category (and one for Animated Feature), but I just don't see them giving it to anyone else, especially in a year when there's no hand-drawn option and no Pixar option either. Logorama is the only other noteworthy thing here is Logorama, an action cartoon almost entirely made up of corporate logos. It's conceptually interesting for about a minute, and then it's ruined by cop/Tarantinoesque dialogue that doesn't at all work as satire, so must just be written by idiots. French Roast and Granny O'Grimm are pleasant and shrill respectively, but both are minor even for this category. Wallace and Gromit all the way.
(Cartoon Brew has links to view all the animated shorts online here)
Finally, the big one, expanded to ten movies because there are like twenty deserving ones. I present to you the greatest pair of presenters ever to grace any telecast: Robert Mitchum and Sigourney Weaver!
YR NOMINEES
- Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans For Cage's performance, for the iguanas, for gleefully giving in its ending.
- Crank: High Voltage For the great Statham surviving a fall from a plane, for taking cues from video games and actually meaning it, for sweet, sweet violence.
- Goodbye Solo For Bahrani's continuing exploration of America, for the chemistry between Solo and Red, for the mountains.
- Hunger For the shit, for the piss, for the acting.
- The Hurt Locker For the virtuoso first scene, for William James, for the borrowed scene from Lost.
- Inglourious Basterds For the gigantic pipe, for the dairy farm and restaurant scenes, for fun with regional accents.
- Pontypool For the best new virus in quite a while, for Stephen McHattie's voice, for balancing theory, plot, and fun.
- Silent Light For the sunrise, for the sunset, for everything in between.
- Summer Hours For making a movie commissioned by a museum that questions the use of museums, for an amazing cast, for looking towards the future.
- Up For those devastating 10 minutes, for the character design (Doug! Kevin!), for Ed Asner and Christopher Plummer's voices.
FINAL WINNER: The Hurt Locker. So there.
We're gonna try to do an Oscar Preview next week, but God knows I haven't had anything new to say about movies in days now, so we'll see. (I guess luckily I won't have to talk about movies, just the Oscars. ZING!)
So the Oscars are coming up in two weeks, and we here at YMD HQ are busy planning the menu for our Oscar party and catching up on the last few pieces of terrible Oscar bait that we have yet to see. And, just like last year, we will get our epic Oscar preview some time next week. But this year, I'd like to spend some more time talking about movies I actually like. So, for the next few days, this blog will be the domain of the Maciejs:
Maciej Elegibility Requirements: Debut, one-week theatrical run in NYC in 2009.
Oscar Categories that aren't Maciej Categories: Best Song (they suck), Best Score (Up was the only one I remember standing out this year), Best Foreign Language Film (they're real movies!), Best Animated Feature Film (them too!), All shorts (I'll only get to see the Oscar nominees), Best Documentary (I've seen like two this year), Best Sound Mixing/Editing (I'm just not good with sound), Best Visual Effects (because Avatar ain't gettin' shit).
I've done entirely too much terrible Photoshopping for this. See ya tomorrow morning.
My expectations going into Crazy Heart were fairly low. Maybe it was the couple of friends who didn't like it, maybe I'm just so neck deep in Oscar buzz for shitty things that I'm starting to lower expectations right off the bat, I dunno. My friend Charles says I love any band that sings about drinking, and this movie has a bunch of drinking in it and treats itself like a big old country song, too.
And I'll definitely recommend Crazy Heart. I think it's a film that owns its clichés (conveniently also many of the clichés of country music). For example, when Maggie Gyllenhaal's character said that Jeff Bridges' character is just like "every other man," putting every ounce of twang available to her into that man, it for a minute seemed to me almost embarrassing. But soon after it became my key into the movie, an example well worn cliché, performed as one, that expressed a very true emotion. These kinds of traditional moments are infused into a contemporary world/story that contains alcohol rehab and songwriting royalties, and it's all filled out with well acted and written characters.
I'm not gonna say Bridges deserves an Oscar (anyways, I feel like his Oscar campaign is even more along the lines of "he's pretty good in this, but really, it's his turn" than most Oscar campaigns), but he's pretty much as good as a washed up country singer as you would expect him to be. His scenes with Robert Duvall are especially loose and wonderful. Gylenhaal is good too, as is Colin Farrell, whose character is a reflection of the movie's relative optimism - a modern country star who does his best to respect tradition while working within the Nashville system. It's not revolutionary, I know, but it seems to me both genuine and interesting, and I'll take that any day of the week.
Now that there are ten (REALLY? TEN, ACADEMY? TEN?!) Oscar nominations for Best Picture, I humbly offer you, for your early consideration, a trailer for a movie that I have not yet seen. CAT LADIES. That's right. It's a documentary about crazy fucking cat ladies. I would like to see this yesterday please.
The awards that happened in my head last night, cuz why the hell not?
Best Picture - Entre les murs (the Class) - My Winnipeg - Rachel Getting Married**winner** - Synecdoche, NY - WALL•E
Achievement in Directing - Jonathan Demme for Rachel Getting Married - Charlie Kauffman for Synecdoche, NY - Guy Maddin for My Winnipeg**winner** - Andrew Stanton for WALL•E - Gus Van Sant for Milk
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man - Colin Farrell for In Bruges - Sean Penn for Milk - Mickey Rourke for the Wrestler**winner** - Michael Shannon for Shotgun Stories
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Juliette Binoche for Flight of the Red Balloon - Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married**winner** - Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky - Melissa Leo for Frozen River - Michelle Williams for Wendy and Lucy
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder - Bill Irwin for Rachel Getting Married - Heath Ledger for the Dark Knight**winner** - Eddie Marsan in Happy-Go-Lucky - Tom Noonan for Synecdoche, NY
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Penelope Cruz for Vicki Cristina Barcelona - Rosemary DeWitt for Rachel Getting Married**winner** - Samantha Morton for Synecdoche, NY - Allison Pill for Milk - Marisa Tomei for the Wrestler
Achievement in Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - François Bégaudeau for Entre les murs (the Class)**winner** - Mark Fergus, Matt Holloway, Art Marcum and Hawk Ostby for Iron Man - Jonathan Nolan for the Dark Knight - Jon Raymond and Kelly Reichardt for Wendy and Lucy - Gus Van Sant for Paranoid Park
Achievement in Writing (Original Screenplay) - Pete Docter, Jim Reardon and Andrew Stanton for WALL•E - Charlie Kauffman for Synecdoche, NY**winner** - Mike Leigh for Happy-Go-Lucky - Jenny Lumet for Rachel Getting Married - Martin Mcdonagh for In Bruges
Best Foreign Language Film: Entre les murs (The Class) (France) Best Documentary Feature: the Order of Myths Best Song: "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire Best Animated Feature: WALL•E Best Animated Short: This Way Up Best Live Action Short: New Boy Achievement in Art Direction: Speed Racer Achievement in Costume Design: the Fall Achievement in Make-Up: Hellboy 2: The Golden Army Achievement in Visual Effects: the Curious Case of Benjamin Button Achievement in Cinematography: the Dark Knight Best Documentary Short, Achievement in Editing, Best Score, Achievement in Sound Editing, Achievement in Sound Mixing: I don't give a shit.
OK, done with 2008 Oscars/year-end movie stuff forever. Can u tell I'm bored?
Well here it is folks, the two final awards on our journey, two that have seemingly been decided for months now. Whatevs. Let's do this all together now.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Frost/Nixon - Milk - The Reader - Slumdog Millionaire
Best 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
Who Should Win?: Milk is the only one of these films that belongs anywhere near this list. It might not be in my top 5 of the year, but it wouldn't be far outside it. The other ones wouldn't in my top 30. Also, Gus Van Sant directed twomovies better than anything these directors did this year. Fucking Ron Howard and Stephen Daldry.
Who Will Win?: Danny Boyle. Slumpoop. Mark it down.
Who Got Snubbed?: Look, people are gonna try to tell you that it was a shit year for movies. It wasn't. It was just a shit year for Oscar nominations. My lovely Rachel Getting Married, the freeform doc magic of My Winnipeg, the crazy ambition of Synecdoche NY, the topical, beautiful WALL-E, Kelly Reichardt's great Wendy and Lucy, the visual splendor of the Fall, I could go on and on and on and on. There are more than 30 movies I saw from last year that I like better than Slumdog. It's been a great year, now let's sit down and enjoy as the wrong things from it get Oscars. xoxo.
Well I'll be fucked if last nite wasn't an epic journey back to the long lost days of college friends and debauchery. Tonight will be a journey into Hollywood boredom, and I can't wait. I made a tapenade. It's called "I Have Soooooo Maaaany Olives". DEATHRACE(JASONSTATHAMSHOULDBENOMINATEDHERE!)GO!
Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role
- the Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt - Frost/Nixon - Frank Langella - Milk - Sean Penn - the Visitor - Richard Jenkins - the Wrestler - Mickey Rourke
Who Should Win?: Langella was fine, but that's it. It's nice to see Richard Jenkins getting some recognition. I don't think he quite deserves the award for this one, but he was good in it, just as he was in Step Brothers and Burn After Reading, and is in pretty much everything he's in. I'm not actually upset about Pitt being here either, though I could maybe think of a few more worthy choices. As much as I didn't like Benjamin Zippers, he definitely did his job in it, and no one else could have appeared by Cate Blanchett's bedside as a young Benji, looking like more or less the perfect man. Now, one can argue that that's just good casting, not good acting, but whatever it is, it gets the job done.
The casting vs. acting thing is also something I've heard a lot of as a reason that Sean Penn's performance is better than Mickey Rourke's, but I don't think I buy it. Penn was great, don't get me wrong, but Rourke should not be punished for working his own demons (as they (who?) say) into Randy the Ram Robinson, he should be praised. No one else could've played the Ram, but that's as much a testament to the awesomeness of Rourke's performance as it is a reflection of his life. Plus I really wanna see how this will be adapted for the Oscars.
Who Will Win?: Maybe the force of the fans of Sean Penn will be too much, but fuck it, Mickey Rourke ftw. The story is just too damn good, and Oscar loves a good story, right? I mean wot else that isn't boring could possibly happen during these awards? Again, if you didn't click on this link a paragraph ago, run don't walk.
Who Got Snubbed: To start, I would rather see both of the fellas from In Bruges there than Pitt or Langella. Martin McDonagh's screenplay was sharp and hilarious, but it takes a certain amount of talent to deliver those lines and not sound stupid. Not a very strong year for lead actor performances I guess, though I haven't seen Hunger or Che. One day Jason Statham will be nominated in this category and I will die a happy man.
Almost dunn. I'll do best Director and Best Pic right before showtime, when I get to Matty's house. Holler.
All the single ladies! (All the single ladies!) All the single ladies! (All the single ladies!) Now put your hands up!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Changeling - Angelina Jolie - Doubt - Meryl Streep - Frozen River - Melissa Leo - Rachel Getting Married - Anne Hathaway - The Reader - Kate Winslet
Who Should Win?: Jolie was okay. Winslet was okay, I guess, in one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Streep was fun, especially cuz she seems to be playing the stupid screenplay for laughs a lot more than the rest of the cast or, indeed, the director. Her last scene is awful though. Melissa Leo is really good in Frozen River, but if you've been paying attention to these last few posts, you know I'm going with Anne Hathaway, whose performance in Rachel Getting Married I can't praise enough. She makes you really, really care about this annoying, selfish character, doesn't go for cheap tears nearly as much as you might expect her too, and has really great chemistry with the rest of the cast. I'm pretty sure she's not gonna win this, but if she did, it would make me happier than any other award that's still possible for Sunday.
Who Will Win?: Betting against Meryl Streep is always a shaky proposition, but this really seems like Winslet's year. So Kate Winslet, a usually awesome actress, will get the Oscar for maybe the worst performance (in definitely the worst movie) of her career. That's just how the Oscars go.
Who Got Snubbed?: First of all, I gotta rep for Michelle Williams, who, if Wendy and Lucy was a bigger deal, would totally be getting the Pretty Young Actress With No Makeup Oscar Nomination. She's really great in that movie, though. And then there's Sally Hawkins, who has probably won more Oscar precursors without getting a nomination than anyone ever, which is a goddamn crime. Her character in Happy-Go-Lucky is a very interesting one, but one with a lesser actress could've been too annoying and too one-dimensional. Instead, Poppy is one of the most interesting characters of the year. Once again, academy, you suck.
Aaight, only a few more chances to watch this sweet graphic. I didn't know whether I was gonna be able to see all of these movies in time, but luckily Panda came in on Netflix this morning and I was able to purchase Bolt from one of the trusty bootleg ladies at my laundromat. So here we go, OSCARDEATHCAR(TOON)RACEGREENFLAG!
Best Animated Feature Film
- Bolt - dir. Chris Williams; Byron Howard - Kung Fu Panda - dir. John Stevenson; Mark Osborne - WALL·E - dir. Andrew Stanton
Who Should Win?: I mean, WALL·E should won, hands down. It's one of the best movies of the year animated or not, and I think, though it doesn't reach the epic heights of its first fifteen minutes for the rest of the film, it's still better than all the Best Picture nominees (with Milk the only one that's even close). But let me say that the other two movies in this category were both very well animated, well plotted, well voice-acted, and all-around fun films. KFP is a really funny movie, and a lot of that is down to the little details in the animation and movements of the various characters. Bolt is too, and has it's more or less by the numbers plotting after the initial premise, it is executed almost perfectly. Also, many many points for casting Miley Cyrus as a young actress in a movie about a dog who because of his handlers is unaware of the barrier between the character he plays on TV and himself in real life. Seriously, genius.
Who Will Win?: WALL·E. I know it lost the Annies, god knows why, but it'll win here like it has to and should.
Who Got Snubbed?: Waltz With Bashir is the only other animated movie I remember seeing in 2008, and it was great, but it is at least getting lurve in the Foreign section so I'm not too upset.
Actors, Actresses, Directors, and Pictures to come. Holler holler holler.
Since we (read: Matt) are gon be pretty busy this weekend (well, I guess I'll be pretty busy getting drnk amirite?), we decided to get these supporting categories out of the way right quick via iChat. Here are the juicy results. OSCARDEATHTENNISMATCHGO!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Taraji P. Henson - Doubt - Amy Adams - Doubt - Viola Davis - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Penélope Cruz - The Wrestler - Marisa Tomei
RachelGettingMaciejd: Okay, so we have 4 pretty good performances here, by my count (sorry Taraji), even though only one of them was in a good movie. Who do you think should get the little bald man? ihavesoooomanymatts: Ew, don't be sorry. I'm going to have to vote my heart on this one, and I'm using boobs to make my decision. Sorry Penelope, Marisa one upped you. RachelGettingMaciejd: Yeah, tho Penelope was pretty good in that movie you might actually enjoy cuz you liked Match Point (ARGH!) and this was not as bad as that. Also, I confess that I missed a little of what Penelope was saying cuz my bootleg didn't have the subtitles, but I swear, she was gr8. Not as great as Marisa though, so boobs it is. ihavesoooomanymatts: OK that's settled. Now I think it's a pretty tough call for who will win, I mean really it's anybody's HAHAHA JKLOL, Penelope Cruz, right? I know the Academy likes to mix things up and surprise everybody at least once, but I don't think it's going to be here. Adams and Davis cancel each other out (plus Doubt blows), I haven't spoken to a single human being that didn't hate Henson's character, and The Wrestler is winning Best Actor, and I think stopping there. RachelGettingMaciejd: I guess if yr so confident then Cruz will have to be YMD's official pick (LOLZ), but despite the vote splitting, I'd think Davis might have a shot here. She does kinda upstage Streep in that one park scene and there's been buzzzz, wotever that is. Let's get on to the snubbery. Wotcha got? (I'll just start typing up my Synecdoche/Rachel steez) ihavesoooomanymatts: That was some pretty Oscar worthy snot-drippage in that park scene. Ummm, I'm not sure I have any subs in this category. I would like to have seen Beyonce nominated for Cadillac Records, but I didn't see it, I just like Beyonce. Aren't there like 24 actresses in fancy indie darling movies you're about to talk about? I'll let you take this one. RachelGettingMaciejd: Rosemary Dewitt, who plays the title character in Rachel Getting Married, should have this sown up. fuck the bullshit. Her and Hathaway have more chemistry than Marie Curie and shit, and she does the range of emotions required of her character to a t. Samantha Morton (not to be confused with Samantha Mathis, who it turned out wasn't in this movie) is the best of the Supporting Actresses in Synecdoche, NY. She plays through her house burning down for no reason wonderfully. And Allison Pill in Milk should reeeeealy be in more things (though she was great as a cripple on Criminal Intent as well). ihavesoooomanymatts: She had great hair in that movie.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- The Dark Knight - Heath Ledger - Doubt - Philip Seymour Hoffman - Milk - Josh Brolin - Revolutionary Road - Michael Shannon - Tropic Thunder - Robert Downey Jr.
ihavesoooomanymatts:Onto Supporting Actor which is bound to be far and away the single closet race in Oscar history! We've got a homophobe, a dude in blackface, a pedophile, a lunatic, and some dead guy who I've never heard of before. Who YOU gon give it to Maciej? RachelGettingMaciejd: This category is actually pretty sweet, huh? Besides PSH in that movie the title of which I can't remember despite its final line. I'm so fucking happy that Downey is nominated for Tropic Thunder, Brolin was good, and I guess we can forgive Shannon forBug now, maybe? (PS see Shotgun Stories folks). Okay, Heath Ledger should and undoubtedly will win this. Who is rightfully pissed that they're not here and PSH is? ihavesoooomanymatts: Brendan Gleeson for In Bruges, JimMyron Ross for Ballast (WILL NO ONE SEE THIS MOVIE?!), Brad Pitt for Burn After Reading, Jimmy Franco for Milk (or even Pineapple Express if we're going to comedy route) and I'm told Bill Irwin for Rachel's Never Winning Anything. RachelGettingMaciejd: Listen, it's not like you had the foresight to see Ballast in theaters, dammit. I'll see it when it's on the Netflix. Anyways, yes, Bill Irwin, he's the best. Holds the movie together like glue. And he's a well known clown in real life. Not like Chet from the Real World clown, like person who professionally clowns. Also, Eddie Marsan is wonderfully enraged in Happy-Go-Lucky. And yeah, word to Brad Pitt. I'm starting to like that movie the more I think about it. RachelGettingMaciejd: See if you can guess who I think should win for Best Actress.
Well this is a bummer. Not only did nothing exciting get nominated, it turns out there was nothing exciting TO nominate. Jesus Christ, unemployed writers of America, START ADAPTING. This category is wide fucking open! While I spend the next few weeksdays minutes adapting Nicole Richie's The Truth About Diamonds into the 2010 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar winner, spend a few minutes reading my predictions for this miserable excuse for a category:
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy (adapting Q & A by Vikas Swarup) Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan (adapting his own play) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth (adapting F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story) Doubt - John Patrick Shanley (adapting his own play) The Reader David Hare (adapting Bernard Schlink's novel)
Who should win: Well let's see. Frost/zzzzzzzzzzz...oh sorry, I must have drifted off there for a second, where was I? The Reader (as you may have previously read) was awful (AWFUL). Eric Roth took a story under 20 pages by one of the 20th century's greatest authors and turned it into three hour prequel to Forrest Gump, which coincidentally enough, he also wrote (yo fuck that dude). And John Patrick Shanley turned a good play (his own) into a mess. A horrible, stupid, boring, confusing, muddled, overacted, tilted mess of a movie. So...Slumdog. God this year is so boring.
Who will win: Slumdog, duh, haven't you been paying attention?
Who got snubbed? Well, as not impressed as I was by it, the screenplay for Revolutionary Road was better than at least four of the nominated films. Not much else. But don't worry, I've adapted three novels into screenplays while writing this, so look forward to this category in 2010.
