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Well the nominations have been announced and those looking for surprises are happy this morning. The Grouches did get at least one nasty surprise.
Dark Knight Debacle
I was expecting the Academy to screw up and skip over Dark Knight for Best Picture. I thought Christopher Nolan had a better shot at Director. But the huge surprise was no Adapted Screenplay nomination. Four of the five Best Picture nominees were nominated in that category with the fifth slot going to Doubt. That’s a pretty shoddy film to be passed over for.
On the other hand, it got nominated in every technical category it was eligible for besides Score and Costume for a total of 8 nominations (including Supporting Actor Heath Ledger).
The Winslet Conundrum
Kate Winslet was aiming for Lead Actress in Revolutionary Road and Supporting in The Reader despite both roles probably being lead. She won these categories at the Globes. But the Academy puts her in the Lead role for The Reader and nothing for Road.
So we can play the what if game. Rules in the acting categories state an actor cannot: a) be nominated more than once in the same category, nor b) be nominated twice for the same role. If those rules were removed I would not be surprised if Winslet qualified for Lead for both roles AND Supporting for The Reader. When something like this happens the Academy goes with the role that got the most support and that apparently was Lead for The Reader.
Hooray for Little Movies!
My happiest moment came with the announcement of Richard Jenkins for Actor in The Visitor. Melissa Leo also managed an Actress nod for Frozen River when it seemed like her chances were fading. The biggest out of nowhere surprise may be that film’s Original Screenplay nomination.
Leo’s inclusion may have meant Sally Hawkins’s exclusion for Happy-Go-Lucky but that film still managed an Original Screenplay nod. And that interesting category ALSO includes the wonderful In Bruges. Plus WALL-E, which no one would call a little movie. Those interesting nominations pushed out films like Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Burn After Reading, however.
Long shots Darren Aronofsky and the film itself for Best Picture didn’t pan out, but at least Marisa Tomei was able to join co-star Mickey Rourke as an acting nominee for The Wrestler. That’s great, though the film really should have gotten a screenplay nod. And Bruce Springsteen’s exclusion for Song is downright confounding.
Other Surprises
I’m not complaining, but it was widely expected Dev Patel to get a Supporting Actor nomination for Slumdog Millionaire and he did not. Instead Michael Shannon from Revolutionary Road snuck in from way back in the pack to give the film its only major nomination.
Another puzzling exclusion was Waltz with Bashir in the Animated Feature category. The animated, foreign-language documentary was nominated for Foreign Language Film and ineligible for Documentary Feature. Kung Fu Panda and Bolt join WALL-E as Animated Feature nominees. After the near unanimous love for the film its absence is quite surprising.
So Jared got his wish for some surprises but managed to be nearly completely wrong in his predictions.
Some other prediction notes after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Oscar nominations will be announced on January 22. We’re counting down to the big day by tackling some tough questions and spouting some mad opinions. Today’s topic: We tend to look at what we call the big eight categories in picture, director, acting, and writing. But what about all those other categories, the ones on the second tier on the left sidebar? What are our wishes for nominees in the technical and smaller profile categories?
Jared: Give The Fall Some Visual Love
The Fall may be the most visually stunning film I’ve ever seen. But don’t take my word for it, here’s someone who actually knows what he’s talking about, and how to express it, Roger Ebert: “Tarsem made one of the most astonishing films I have ever seen. It is all the more special in this age of computer-generated special effects, because we see things that cannot exist, but our eyes do not lie, and they do exist, yes, they really do.” The only thing more incredible than the visuals in the film may be the fact that none of them were computer-generated. The style in the lengthy story sequences is nothing short of breathtaking, and the “normal” half of the film shows Tarsem, Ged Clarke, and crew have extraordinary range. Superlatives cannot do justice to the movie’s visual impact. Sure, the film went bold where others have done an excellent job with a much more subdued style. Still, it would be a travesty for The Fall to miss the Oscars.
Adam: “Dracula’s Lament” a Killer Tune
It seems the Academy mainly used a dart board for the selection of contenders for Best Original Song. The only two in the top 5 contenders rank (in my mind) as songs worth of consideration – “The Wrestler” and “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire. I would LOVE to see “Dracula’s Lament” (from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) in serious talks of nominees, but I feel as it is not to be. Who says a rock/comedy musical number can’t be a serious Oscar nominee? Can anyone honestly say that when the words “And when I see Van Helsing I swear I will SLAY HIM…AHH HA HA” without thinking “OSCAR”? Jason Segel’s hilarious/moving song about how difficult it is being Dracula is matched only by its accompanying performance in the film. How can you NOT nominate a song that comes with its own puppets? How did Enchanted get 3 songs nominated last year and this doesn’t even warrant consideration? They should nominate it for the sole reason of the awesome performance it would bring to the Oscars.
John: Kung Fu Panda a Rare Non-Pixar Home Run
Well the other two jerks are talking about my two favorite niche categories in Best Song and Best Art Direction. I’ll have a Song post up in a few days to expound on that as much as I want (expect some Jenny Lewis love) but let me turn to Animated Feature. WALL-E will win and one has to think Waltz With Bashir will grab the second slot (and with the buzz for Bashir maybe it could pull an upset?). But what will go into slot number three? Barring a foreign outsider it’ll be Bolt, Horton Hears a Who!, or Kung Fu Panda. I haven’t seen Waltz With Bashir but Kung Fu Panda was actually my favorite animated film of the year, even beating that cute Pixar robot. (See the list of eligible films here.)
Recent Dreamworks animated films have been too full of pop culture references without being clever or funny enough; Shrek the Third was absolutely putrid. But Panda bucks that trend. It’s genuinely funny – very funny – with an interesting story, great characters, and beautiful animation. I had an absolute blast watching it- it’s the epitome of solid entertainment.
Since I’m pulling together this post I give myself authority to make another pick. Slumdog Millionaire also deserves some love in smaller categories, but some seem so likely that it’s not worth going into them really in depth. Cinematography, certainly, for the way Mumbai comes alive in the film. AR Rahman’s score is lovely and delightfully different for an Oscar film. And let’s get at least one of the eligible songs, “Jai Ho” or “O… Saya” (featuring M.I.A.!) nominated for a fun Bollywood performance on stage at the Kodak Theatre. Maybe not as cool as Jason Segel’s puppets, but close.
That’s what we say. So all you lovers costume, sound, editing, and visual effects, what say you?
Why are all these posts concentrating on little categories like “Best Actor” and “Best Director” when what we all really care about is Art Direction and Costumes? In the course of seeing all of the films nominated for the big eight I ended up seeing most of the films nominated for all those other categories they hand out awards to in the middle 2 hours of the Oscar telecast. Since you obviously care about my make-up preferences, please, read on!
Best Song
“Falling Slowly” Once, “Raise it Up” August Rush, “Happy Working Song” Enchanted, “So Close” Enchanted, “That’s How You Know” Enchanted
For some reason I feel like I already covered this category. But since the Academy stupidly ignored my recommendations, let’s take a look at these inferior choices.
The clear winner for me is “Falling Slowly.” It’s the central song in the wonderful musical Once that embodies the heartbreak and loneliness of the main characters. “Raise it Up” is actually fairly offbeat and I imagine it works well in the film, schmaltzy as it surely is. Nothing against Enchated, but if one of its triumvirate wins it better be “That’s How You Know,” a clever take on the Disney fairy tale tune set in modern times. “Happy Working Song” is a cute but uninspiring ditty while “So Close” is a toothless and unmemorable love song.
Snubs: See my breakdown of the eligible songs to find about a dozen songs I liked better than all the non-Once songs. Read the rest of this entry »
For those of you who aren’t Pixar or movie nerds, the subtitle of my post is from The Incredibles, still my favorite film from the studio, and probably one of my top films of the decade. Yeah, it was that good. And after the underwhelming Cars, a movie did little to defy convention or predictability, I thought Ratatouille would be a great rebound movie. The overwhelmingly positive reviews and fantastic word-of-mouth raised my expectations that this was the return of the brilliant Pixar story. Hell, it was even directed by Brad Bird, the genius behind The Incredibles.
But, I sadly learned…to steal another line and apply it to the Pixar brand: “If everbody’s super, then no one is.” And I couldn’t agree more. Read the rest of this entry »
Ratatouille is probably the most atmospheric of Pixar’s films. I look back and think of the film’s style, its charm, and its ability to bring the experience of food and cooking to the screen more than I think about the plot or the characters. I felt immersed in a stylized Paris; I could swear I could taste, feel, smell the food and hear the sizzle. To me it’s the best Pixar film since Finding Nemo. Read the rest of this entry »
I have nothing against cooking. I’ve seen countless episodes of Iron Chef. I think Alton Brown is nothing short of amazing. I dare Bobby Flay to throwdown in tuna melts. And I have a crush on Giada De Laurentiis. Well, except for any time she talks. That all said, I found Ratatouille relatively weak. The story is charming enough in theory, but the execution was lacking.
In my mind, Pixar’s ability to make entertaining movies is nothing short of staggering, given the impossible broad audience they attempt to reach. Our entertainment options are increasing at a rapid rate, and most often in an attempt to capture all sorts of niche markets. Which, in many ways, is a good thing. But I’d argue that with Ratatouille, the broad brushstrokes weren’t filled in with the usual detail that has made Pixar films so good in the past. Read the rest of this entry »
I don’t really have much to say about this movie. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, but, in all honesty, it would have been hard not to be. My idea of an ideal plotline does not have a French rat as the main character. However, the movie was decently entertaining.
One reason for this is Pixar itself – which has a stranglehold on the CGI/animated movie market. The reason for their dominance is that they put out good movies. I thought it was better than Cars (which, admittedly I didn’t even finish), but fell well short of The Incredibles and Finding Nemo. The only other thing I can think of to mention was the complete lack of French accents in the movie. The only two characters that had even a shred of an accent were the villain chef and the love interest. That in itself made me like the movie more.
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