i have to start off by saying that i have issues with some of the noms this year (see notes at the bottom). in fact, overall, i feel this is a pretty blah year for the oscars. i have no personal heroes to root for. i wasn't blown away by anything i saw. i can't rightfully jump on board with any of the current, trendy campaigns.
in short, i'm trying to care. really, i am.
(warning: contains possible spoilers)so, here we go:
FINAL SCORE: 16/24supporting actor - alright...i'm sick of hearing about. i'm sorry...but i'm sick of it. that said, i think it is wrong of people to say that heath ledger was only nominated because he died. i disagree. i think he will WIN because he died...but his twisted and instantly memorable performance as the joker certainly deserves the nomination. there is simply no way the academy will dare go another direction.
winner: heath ledger; the dark knight
__
supporting actress - i love me some marisa tomei. and after her...ahem...performance* in
the wrestler, i love me some even more. but if the mantle full of awards ms. cruz has already garnered for her role as an "eccentric" ex-wife has anything to say about it, i think the die is already cast. besides, i REALLY like
vicky cristina barcelona and this is its only shot at nabbing a statue.
winner: penélope cruz; vicky cristina barcelona__
actor - it's penn v. rourke in a clash for the ages. honestly, i have no idea which way the academy will go with this one. insiders claim that it's split pretty evenly. me? i'm going to flip a coin. heads, it's the fantastic harvey milk. tails, it's the triumphant randy "the ram."
flips coinwinner: mickey rourke; the wrestler
__
actress - for as much as oscar has seemingly loved kate winslet in her relatively young career, it's only been nominations for her to this point. her performance as a stifled 1950's housewife in
revolutionary road was far better, in my humble opinion, than that of her turn as a former nazi guard. besides, to quote...well...kate winslet (from
extras,) "how many more movies do we need about the holocaust? i mean, we get it, it was grim." but, for whatever reason, oscar loves the holocaust. even more than it loves meryl streep.
winner: kate winslet; revolutionary road the reader __
director - despite david fincher (a beloved annex favorite) getting his first nomination for
button, this is proving to be the most boring race in recent history. there's an outside chance that gus van sant could pull the harvey milkian upset here, but again, i am forced to go with the ever-overinflating "indie" bandwagon.
winner: danny boyle; slumdog millionaire__
picture - for the record, i LIKED all...but did not LOVE any of the nominees this year. i imagine that i'm not going out on a limb by picking slumdog to win it. i would not be surprised if there is an upset here, but i'll be darned if i can pick one of the other four to pull it.
winner: slumdog millionaire __
cinematography - simply put,
button is the only of the nominees that i walked away from inspired by the photography. i fully expect to not be right, but i have to go with what i like. and i'm going with the rich and stylish new orleans that miranda gave us.
winner: claudio miranda; the curious case of benjamin button__
art direction - as always, i'm going with the ONE that i haven't seen.
winner: michael carlin & rebecca alleway; the duchess__
animated feature - if i even had the slightest of remote inklings that either
bolt or
kung-fu panda had a shot at winning this category...i would try and see them. but, since they don't...
winner: wall-e__
animated short -
presto is standard pixar magic.
oktipodi is standard pixar magic...if it were made by europeans.
lavatory-lovestory is cute, if not over simple. i love the concept of
la maison, but give me creepy undertakers any day of the week.
winner: this way up__
live action short - eeny, meeny, miney...holocaust.
winner: spielzeugland__
foreign language film - too many previous awards to be ignored.
winner: waltz with bashir; israel __
documentary feature - done. book it. moving on.
winner: man on wire__
documentary short - cambodia, FTW!
winner: the conscience of nhem en__
costume design - baz luhrmann + catherine martin = oscar.
winner: catherine martin; australia__
make-up - i'm torn. part of me really wants to go with
hellboy, but the other part understands how much of a slam dunk
button is in this category.
winner: greg cannom; the curious case of benjamin button__
original score - it's different. it's fresh. it's got tons of buzz. it will be copied over and over again ad nauseum for years to come. yep, it's a winner.
winner: a.r. rahman; slumdog millionaire__
original song - i will forgo complaining about the fact that the academy took a major dump on this category by only having 3 nominees and omitting other worthy (and award-winning) songs from this past year, and just pick one. it's easy to think that the voters may cancel out the two
slumdog songs, but i think that's a fallacy this time around. for the record, i really want newman and gabriel's "down to earth" to walk away with it, but i'm not going to put any money on it.
winner: "jai ho" from slumdog millionaire__
film editing - multiple story lines. various time periods. kinetic action vs. static tension. there were things i didn't like about
slumdog...the way is was put together (masterfully) was NOT one of them.
winner: chris dickens; slumdog millionaire __
sound editing - gotham has never sounded more vibrant or more menacing.
winner: the dark knight __
sound mixing - YOU try making a solitary and silent robot wandering a deserted planet entertaining. actually, i'm fairly certain that
the dark knight will win this, but i'm holding out hope for my pick.
winner: wall-e __
visual effects - superhero movies are supposed to be visually stunning, right? well, these two certainly were, but the gang on
button made brad pitt look like a 70 year-old midget...convincingly. you can keep your explosions.
winner: the curious case of benjamin button__
adapted screenplay - why not?
winner: simon beaufoy; slumdog millionaire__
original screenplay - i'm a sucker for fast-paced, hard-to-understand accents...so naturally, i loved the script for
in bruges. but, it will be the likable and tragicomic tale of the life and death of a certain charismatic gay activist that wins it.
winner: dustin lance black; milk__
misc thoughts:
- i'm baffled by the praise over josh brolin's performance in
milk. not that i didn't think it was great. i just don't see the big deal.
- this year's show has some serious "snoozefest" potential due to the fact that so many of the front runners are going to win. maybe we'll all be wrong...but i doubt it.
- can you even
imagine if someone else wins for best supporting actor? how awkward would THAT speech be?
- at press time, i still haven't seen
doubt,
rachel getting married or
the changeling but probably will before sunday. seeing them won't change my picks, but i thought it worth mentioning.
- i look forward to hugh jackman as host. he may be the only thing that keeps my interest.
maybe, i'm finally just THAT bitter and jaded. oh well. enjoy. and as always, you can't spell 'academy awards' without 'cade.' peace.
* - all "stripper" jokes aside, it really was great.
