I found myself quite interested with the sound mixing controvoursey that took place between Michael Minkler, one of the three sound mixers for Dreamgirls who won an Oscar, and sound mixer Kevin O'Connell, the 18-time Oscar loser, who turned up a record-breaking #19 at this year's ceremony, thanks to Dreamgirls.
I did see the video today, but before that had heard reports about what happened, and the best thing to do is see the video yourself to see exactly how Minkler worded what he had to say, but here's a summary by the Hollywood Reporter:
Could a little rivalry have been revealed in the sound mixing world? Things turned weird when the winners in that category -- Willie Burton, Bob Beemer and Michael Minkler for "Dreamgirls" -- were onstage in the press room. A question was thrown to the trio about what advice they had for Kevin O'Connell, a nominee for "Apocalypto" who now has been nominated 19 times without a win. While Burton and Beemer had conciliatory things to say -- "Hang in there, Kevin, you'll get your chance," Burton said -- Minkler's words were the opposite. "I think Kevin should go away with 19 nominations," he said without cracking a smile. "We work really hard, and if we stumble upon an award, we are so grateful. I have to wonder ... Kevin is an OK mixer, but he should take up another line of work." He exited the stage leaving people wondering whether he was serious.
Minkler just revealed an apology:
"Gentlemen, Friends, and Colleagues,
A very unfortunate situation has developed because of my stupid answers to some inappropriate questions. I did not seek this spotlight -- the press did, as they have in the past. It was wrong of them to ask the questions, and wrong, wrong, wrong of me to answer them the way that I did.
I apologize to all of you for creating a messy situation, and exposing the appearance of any dissention among our ranks.
The press has been asking me questions about Kevin since 2002. They continue to hound me with the same questions again and again, and this time I lost control, using bad choices of words and bitter sarcasm. The award should be about the work---period.
It is always my concern to preserve the Oscars' significance to the filmmaking community and its international audience. My thoughts got away from me at an emotional time, and that I regret.
My response to the last question was off-the-cuff sarcasm meant as humor. However it seems that it has caused even greater reaction...shock. I wanted to end the questioning and those words came out. Not funny. I am very sorry. The time and place was wrong for any of it.
Adding sentiment to this unfortunate situation has of course been the sorrowful passing of Skippy O'Connell. My sincere condolences go out to the entire O'Connell family.
I have been in communication with Kevin directly, and I wish the best for him in the future. I am sure that he will receive his due recognition on that same stage very soon, and I will be the first to congratulate him.
In my career, I'm sure that I have accidentally hurt people, but I've never intentionally sought to do harm. I ask forgiveness from them. I have given shots and taken some, but I don't believe that at any time, true malice was the objective.
I appreciate you sharing your personal thoughts with me, as I always have. I now thank you for allowing me to share mine with you.
Respect to all, Michael Minkler [src]"
A lot of people were harsh, saying Michael Minkler was a humongous jerk, but I perfer to look a little beneath the surface. I'm not saying I forgive Michael Minkler, obviously some of it is a PR stunt, but there must be more to it than him just being a jerk and I'm glad to see more to the story.
I always thought there was a little more to it than Michael Minkler being a jerk when I saw those comments. I reasoned that it probably had something to do about the press not caring anything about sound mixing at the oscars and how people like Richard Roeper are saying that the smaller awards should be given a seperate ceremony. The Oscarcall pundits who do a weekly podcast from theenvelope.com and write for various LA Publications are also saying something about how the Oscars should follow the format of the Grammys, where the more technical awards that appeal less to the general public are relegated to a seperate ceremony in the Grammys.
I think that there is just tension beneath the surface of the Oscars for the equal treatment in terms of facetime on tv for the smaller categories. Similarly, the press room full of film critics has to come up with similar questions to field to a group of artists that they probbaly know nothing about.
If you look at how many posts I've written, you'll see that I know quite a bit about the movie industry, yet I have no freaking clue what sound mixing is, what it takes to be a good sound mixer, and of course which movie had the best sound mixing.
So maybe the only question I might be able to come up with to a sound mixing winner is "so what do you think about that other guy, who hadn't won 18 times, he should've won. That would've been a more interesting story for us to have written about." But the truth is that that's an insensitive question and will get on the guy's nerves who is taking the award on stage and these guys probably could just crack under the pressure of having to be politically correct all the time. They should ask him questions about his sound mixing craft like they do with the acting winners or the directing winners, but who really has any f*ing clue? that's the problem.
Also, i'm tired of the focus on losers. If you get nominated you're a winner, and if you win, you're even more of a winner. I'm incredibly impressed with someone who has racked up 5 nominations like Kate Winslet, let alone to have done so at a younger age than anyone else. And who knows, if she won for Sense and Sensibility or Titanic, the academy might be less inclined to honor her subsequent work because they felt she'd already been given her dues. Tom Hanks is one of our generation's greatest actors and has continued to turn in excellent performances, for example, in The Green Mile, Catch Me if You Can, The Terminal, and The Ladykillers but has gotten no oscar buzz for any of those performances (and i'm not saying he should've been nominated but at least he could've made the top 10 or top 15 on sites like the oscar igloo or the film experience who monitor oscar buzz).
And don't get me started on Peter O'Toole. First of all, why has everyone freaking forgotten his honorary oscar. Kirk Douglas got an honorary oscar and got to join the 75th anniversary oscar photo for it. Not to mention, Peter O'Toole's Lawrence of Arabia performance ranked him #1 all-time on Premiere Magazine's 100 best performances list. I also personally judge an actor by
how many memorable roles they have. I look at someone like Dustin Hoffman and think: Midnight Cowboy, Rain Man, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Papillon and The Graduate, what a career! He only won Oscars in 2 of those but by looking at his list of nominations you easily get a sense of what a great actor he was. If you look at Hillary Swank's # of Oscar nominations and # of wins, you see the same # of wins but outside those 2 winning-films, it's not nearly as impressive of a career yet. Same goes for Russell Crowe, a more modern day example, his nomination in A Beautiful Mind and The Insider along with his win for Gladiator gives me a better idea of how great an actor he is vs. Helen Hunt, for example with 1 nom and 1 win. Another example of a guy with a lot of worthy nominations but only 1 win would be Paul Newman.
ate Winslet had
Showing posts with label Peter O'Toole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peter O'Toole. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Oscar Blog II: From the 4th worst film critic in the nation
OK, Oscarcentral did actually post my picks and apparently, I am an idiot and a terrible oscar predictor. Out of 80 oscar pundits nationwide I was 4th worst, but I virtually got 3 more right than were listed down. As I said before, I was thinking Alan Arkin/Forest Whitaker but my main goal was to mix up the 5 locks (the 4 acting spots and the 1 directing nod) and I guess I must have picked a Peter O'Toole/Eddie Murphy combination instead. A red-headed girl named Allison, who I watched the Oscars with, can confirm that I did pick Alan Arkin, Dreamgirls for Sound (according to Oscarcentral, I picked Letters from Iwo Jima, which wasn't even nominated, I don't know who I could've done that) and Forest Whitaker. After submitting my picks, I went over to watch the Oscars at a local movie theater and her and I created our own little oscar pool between us where we wagered on each nomination as they came up, and I did pick Alan Arkin, but oh well. I did push for Oscarcentral to accept my picks at the 11th hour and I am happy to be considered one of 80 "Oscar Pundits" nationwide that they consulted and the credibility to me as a film critic is good, so whatever. I'll write more about that as i told Oscarcentral i would, in another post.
Anyway, I think. I did beat David Spade, which is great because I am a big fan of the showbiz show and think David Spade is one of SNL's most underrated alumni (possibly the most) and that it was cool that he was blogging although it says "The Showbiz Show Crew." I am curious, though: According to Tom Shale's "Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live," Eddie Murphy refused to speak to David Spade after he lambasted him on Hollywood Minute. I wonder if Spade will be writing anything on Murphy tonight, or if he'll stay clear. I plan to go over to his site, but I wanted to transcribe my handwritten notes first without inhibitions of what he might've wrote and seen how my notes compared to his, so here are my thoughts about the oscars:
Here are some notes I have:
-I think Ellen DeGeneres did a reasonably good job. I'm kind of a fan of her but not an 100% Ellen fan and I did think she'd be way over her head. She's a good sketch comedian-type and can be funny in certain situations but someone of that nature like SNL's Maya Rudolph I wouldn't tag to host the Oscars either. I think bigger comic acts like Steve Martin and Billy Crystal suffice and I don't see exactly why they've been avoiding them for the last few ceremonies. I think the Oscars will always be watched by the kinds of people who appreciate good movies and it's crowd is already set. If you're a Chris Rock fan or an Ellen DeGeneres fan and you're not that much into watching ambitious high-concept movies, you probably still won't watch the Oscars, or you'll turn it off after the opening monologue when the comic does their comic bits. After that, they don't completely dissapear but they don't appear often enough for someone to want to sit through the other parts. But, still a few will so, maybe the effect on people who were borderline about watching the Oscars is better.
-Ellen was actually pretty good albeit pretty invisible. Her bits with Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsesee were good and I'm not entirely sure why she didn't do more of those. I got a kick out of her trying to set up Peter O'Toole with her mom, so I thought Ellen would chat with him more. I think her oscarbib wasn't really that funny.
-Best score is a funny category, check this article out:
[url]http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117959350.html[/url]
-In reality, though, it was just a really well-done ceremony that I felt had a complete overhall or something. Like they did with the honorary oscar for Robert Altman last year, they had voiceover for the cinematography awards and the little videos for the five best pictures* explaining a little bit about what creatively went into it. They also read excerpts from the ten nominated scripts which was immensely interesting. Also, they found a way to make the costume design interesting with models appearing on stage. They also mixed up the montages by having America as seen through the eyes of the movies, and a salute to foreign films.
-Best presenters: Jaden Smith and Abigail Breslin, I'm not really into child actors or anything, but those two were sooo cute. Some child actors like Haley Joel Osmont and the Olsen Twins and even Leo DiCaprio when he was young try to act so much like adults. Dakota Fanning also falls into this category. Let kids be kids. Also on good presenters, I think considering how little Jerry Sienfeld is on TV these days, it was definitely a highlight of the evening that they could integrate a Jerry Sienfeld monologue into an oscar acceptance speech
-Best people onstage who had absolutely nothing to do with the ceremony: With Borat refusing to show up to the Oscars this year, Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C Riley were awesome and provided much needed comic relief. I love those guys and Will Ferrell and Jack Black brought down the house with their made-up acceptance speech song "You're Boring." When they did that song, however, they were actually presenting an award and here they were kind of just using up time in a ceremony that went on really, really long. I imagine as a result many reviews of the Oscars will be picking on those guys. What they said, though, rang true. One humongous flaw of the Academy Awards is that they rarely honor comedic performances, when as many directors will tell you, a comedic performance is harder to pull off than a dramatic one. It is ironic though, because Will Ferrell did sell his comedic soul this year to play a serious part this year in Stranger than Fiction and with that role, he had just as much Oscar Buzz pre-release as anyone else, so he did actually have his shot this year at winning an Oscar, but he was just out of his element. While the script was humorous, there wasn't a single bit of humor in his performance (I saw him as more the straight man to Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhall and Dustin Hoffman) and what's the point of casting Will Ferrell if he hasn't got some laughs in his role?
-I thought it was funny that Sherry Lansing wasn't an actor yet she could either remember her entire speech or read it off a teleprompter whereas the actors who won had to bring up a piece of a paper or else they just fell apart when they got onstage.
-One fact that a lot of people in the media have got wrong about Jennifer Hudson was that while she finished 7th, she wasn't exactly the 7th most popular contestant that season nor did Simon or anyone else suggest that she would be a failure. She was considered a dark horse contender to win and wasn't kicked off the show by Simon or anyone else. She was the victim of a phone voting system in which you vote who you want to move on rather who you want to go, that had already elicited controvoursey. She did a good enough job that many people thought the week she was kicked off, that she'd be safe and placed their votes on candidates they thought were on the bubble instead. When she was voted off, Fox was sent a lot of hate mail and accusations that the system was rigged, as mentioned by Ryan Seacrest in the next episde. The point is, she did have quite an impact on the show contrary to what the media is saying.
-So thrilled that Alan Arkin won: I wrote about that in Oscar Blog I.
-I notice that some of the acting clips aren't that long, particularly for the supporting nominees. Abigail Breslin's acting clip just shows her screaming. It's really very unflattering and to anyone who didn't see Little Miss Sunshine, she did more than scream.
-Forest Whitaker won an oscar and he was so nervous up there even though he's had a chance to practice the art of giving a speech at least 3 other times this award season. After Helen Mirren thanked the Queen, I was moderately worried that he might thank Idi Amin or something
-The academy sent a message loud and clear tonight: They don't like Mexicans! When it comes to immigration, they're as conservative as Rush Limbaugh. Of the 7 most critically acclaimed movies of the year, one was made by a Brit, 3 by Americans and 3 by Mexicans, and those Americans who were afraid of having their jobs outsourced made it perfectly clear where they stood by voting down Pan's Labrynth, Children of Men and Babel. I say we start a movement of internet backlash! When will the academy stop being so conservative and accept Mexicans and Gays?!
(by the way, this is a humorous post in response to the partial rediculousness of the backlash of people who felt the academy was anti-Gay for not giving the Oscar to Brokeback Mountain. They did after all nominate the film, give it a best screenplay oscar and the best actor winner was for a gay character, not to mention playing a gay character or a transsexual gives you an automatic edge for an oscar nod)
-Best songs: Thank god, Randy Newman didn't sing. For that alone, I would've given Our Town an award. I actually think, in retrospect, though, Our Town would have been a good choice. People are just not thinking along the lines of what song would make a great radio hit when it comes to this category, which is an excellent opportunity for the Oscars to cross over into the territory of people who like the Grammys. Exceptions to this are generally the rap songs, as with "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" and "Lose Yourself." Beyond that, I don't think Melissa Ethridge's Inconvinient Truth song would be as popular of a hit as "Our Town" which I could see killing on country music stations. I think Counting Crows "Accidentally in Love" might have had a longer shelf life than the Motorcycle Diaries song, and the same to one of the Cold Mountain songs over "Into the West" from Lord of the Rings. I did a whole rant on this under my post "10 biggest Mistakes of the Decade"
-When William Moynahan got up on stage, I said "wow, William Moynahan is ugly" to which Allison pointed out "that's why he's a screenwriter." I don't know, I think there are plenty of handsome screenwriters out there, but then again Cameron Crowe isn't exactly easy on the eyes.
-"It's too bad Peter O'Toole didn't win" said Ellen, but doesn't the honorary oscar count? Kirk Douglas got to join the 75th Anniversary Oscar Commemoration in 2002 when, in reality, he only won an honorary oscar.
-The academy awards had some softer gentler music this year to let the people know when there speeches were done, did anyone notice that?
-Syd Gannis in under a minute: I absolutely loved that.
-When Martin Scorsesee won, there was a great moment of elation within myself and with everyone in the theater. It felt like when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series: Like we were witnessing something previously thought of as impossible. The truth though, is that it was entirely quite possible for Martin Scorsesee to win an Oscar, and it's not like the Academy was refusing to vote for him out of some dislike for him. You might say that Ordinary People beating Raging Bull was a travesty, but other than that, I think the winners were perfectly reasonable. There was no way in hell that Scorsesee was going to win an oscar for Last Temptation of Christ, and Roman Polanski in 2002 and Clint Eastwood for a second oscar in 2004 were both reasonably good choices. Kevin Costner made the brilliant Dances with Wolves in 1990 that beat Scorsesee's Goodfellas, but quickly dispelled the notion that he had any other brilliant movie ideas by making Waterworld. As for Goodfellas, which is ranked by the AFI's top 100 list as his 3rd best film (behind Taxi Driver and Raging Bull), its loss to Kevin Costner has helped turn it into a cult classic.
But, it was good of the Academy to wait until Scorsesee was really the best in his field this year.
-One of the few things that I officially got right was "Departed" for best editing. I thought it was obvious that Thelma Schoolmaker (hopefully i spelled her name right) would win best editor, on the basis of the fact that she's the most recognizable name of any editor in Hollywood, for her collaborations with Martin Scorsesee, and editing was one of The Departed's strong suits.
*Those videos they made for the pictures were really good. Why don't they use THOSE as trailers. Also, those videos would look good on youtube and would help promote the picture more.
Anyway, I think. I did beat David Spade, which is great because I am a big fan of the showbiz show and think David Spade is one of SNL's most underrated alumni (possibly the most) and that it was cool that he was blogging although it says "The Showbiz Show Crew." I am curious, though: According to Tom Shale's "Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live," Eddie Murphy refused to speak to David Spade after he lambasted him on Hollywood Minute. I wonder if Spade will be writing anything on Murphy tonight, or if he'll stay clear. I plan to go over to his site, but I wanted to transcribe my handwritten notes first without inhibitions of what he might've wrote and seen how my notes compared to his, so here are my thoughts about the oscars:
Here are some notes I have:
-I think Ellen DeGeneres did a reasonably good job. I'm kind of a fan of her but not an 100% Ellen fan and I did think she'd be way over her head. She's a good sketch comedian-type and can be funny in certain situations but someone of that nature like SNL's Maya Rudolph I wouldn't tag to host the Oscars either. I think bigger comic acts like Steve Martin and Billy Crystal suffice and I don't see exactly why they've been avoiding them for the last few ceremonies. I think the Oscars will always be watched by the kinds of people who appreciate good movies and it's crowd is already set. If you're a Chris Rock fan or an Ellen DeGeneres fan and you're not that much into watching ambitious high-concept movies, you probably still won't watch the Oscars, or you'll turn it off after the opening monologue when the comic does their comic bits. After that, they don't completely dissapear but they don't appear often enough for someone to want to sit through the other parts. But, still a few will so, maybe the effect on people who were borderline about watching the Oscars is better.
-Ellen was actually pretty good albeit pretty invisible. Her bits with Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsesee were good and I'm not entirely sure why she didn't do more of those. I got a kick out of her trying to set up Peter O'Toole with her mom, so I thought Ellen would chat with him more. I think her oscarbib wasn't really that funny.
-Best score is a funny category, check this article out:
[url]http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117959350.html[/url]
-In reality, though, it was just a really well-done ceremony that I felt had a complete overhall or something. Like they did with the honorary oscar for Robert Altman last year, they had voiceover for the cinematography awards and the little videos for the five best pictures* explaining a little bit about what creatively went into it. They also read excerpts from the ten nominated scripts which was immensely interesting. Also, they found a way to make the costume design interesting with models appearing on stage. They also mixed up the montages by having America as seen through the eyes of the movies, and a salute to foreign films.
-Best presenters: Jaden Smith and Abigail Breslin, I'm not really into child actors or anything, but those two were sooo cute. Some child actors like Haley Joel Osmont and the Olsen Twins and even Leo DiCaprio when he was young try to act so much like adults. Dakota Fanning also falls into this category. Let kids be kids. Also on good presenters, I think considering how little Jerry Sienfeld is on TV these days, it was definitely a highlight of the evening that they could integrate a Jerry Sienfeld monologue into an oscar acceptance speech
-Best people onstage who had absolutely nothing to do with the ceremony: With Borat refusing to show up to the Oscars this year, Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C Riley were awesome and provided much needed comic relief. I love those guys and Will Ferrell and Jack Black brought down the house with their made-up acceptance speech song "You're Boring." When they did that song, however, they were actually presenting an award and here they were kind of just using up time in a ceremony that went on really, really long. I imagine as a result many reviews of the Oscars will be picking on those guys. What they said, though, rang true. One humongous flaw of the Academy Awards is that they rarely honor comedic performances, when as many directors will tell you, a comedic performance is harder to pull off than a dramatic one. It is ironic though, because Will Ferrell did sell his comedic soul this year to play a serious part this year in Stranger than Fiction and with that role, he had just as much Oscar Buzz pre-release as anyone else, so he did actually have his shot this year at winning an Oscar, but he was just out of his element. While the script was humorous, there wasn't a single bit of humor in his performance (I saw him as more the straight man to Emma Thompson, Maggie Gyllenhall and Dustin Hoffman) and what's the point of casting Will Ferrell if he hasn't got some laughs in his role?
-I thought it was funny that Sherry Lansing wasn't an actor yet she could either remember her entire speech or read it off a teleprompter whereas the actors who won had to bring up a piece of a paper or else they just fell apart when they got onstage.
-One fact that a lot of people in the media have got wrong about Jennifer Hudson was that while she finished 7th, she wasn't exactly the 7th most popular contestant that season nor did Simon or anyone else suggest that she would be a failure. She was considered a dark horse contender to win and wasn't kicked off the show by Simon or anyone else. She was the victim of a phone voting system in which you vote who you want to move on rather who you want to go, that had already elicited controvoursey. She did a good enough job that many people thought the week she was kicked off, that she'd be safe and placed their votes on candidates they thought were on the bubble instead. When she was voted off, Fox was sent a lot of hate mail and accusations that the system was rigged, as mentioned by Ryan Seacrest in the next episde. The point is, she did have quite an impact on the show contrary to what the media is saying.
-So thrilled that Alan Arkin won: I wrote about that in Oscar Blog I.
-I notice that some of the acting clips aren't that long, particularly for the supporting nominees. Abigail Breslin's acting clip just shows her screaming. It's really very unflattering and to anyone who didn't see Little Miss Sunshine, she did more than scream.
-Forest Whitaker won an oscar and he was so nervous up there even though he's had a chance to practice the art of giving a speech at least 3 other times this award season. After Helen Mirren thanked the Queen, I was moderately worried that he might thank Idi Amin or something
-The academy sent a message loud and clear tonight: They don't like Mexicans! When it comes to immigration, they're as conservative as Rush Limbaugh. Of the 7 most critically acclaimed movies of the year, one was made by a Brit, 3 by Americans and 3 by Mexicans, and those Americans who were afraid of having their jobs outsourced made it perfectly clear where they stood by voting down Pan's Labrynth, Children of Men and Babel. I say we start a movement of internet backlash! When will the academy stop being so conservative and accept Mexicans and Gays?!
(by the way, this is a humorous post in response to the partial rediculousness of the backlash of people who felt the academy was anti-Gay for not giving the Oscar to Brokeback Mountain. They did after all nominate the film, give it a best screenplay oscar and the best actor winner was for a gay character, not to mention playing a gay character or a transsexual gives you an automatic edge for an oscar nod)
-Best songs: Thank god, Randy Newman didn't sing. For that alone, I would've given Our Town an award. I actually think, in retrospect, though, Our Town would have been a good choice. People are just not thinking along the lines of what song would make a great radio hit when it comes to this category, which is an excellent opportunity for the Oscars to cross over into the territory of people who like the Grammys. Exceptions to this are generally the rap songs, as with "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" and "Lose Yourself." Beyond that, I don't think Melissa Ethridge's Inconvinient Truth song would be as popular of a hit as "Our Town" which I could see killing on country music stations. I think Counting Crows "Accidentally in Love" might have had a longer shelf life than the Motorcycle Diaries song, and the same to one of the Cold Mountain songs over "Into the West" from Lord of the Rings. I did a whole rant on this under my post "10 biggest Mistakes of the Decade"
-When William Moynahan got up on stage, I said "wow, William Moynahan is ugly" to which Allison pointed out "that's why he's a screenwriter." I don't know, I think there are plenty of handsome screenwriters out there, but then again Cameron Crowe isn't exactly easy on the eyes.
-"It's too bad Peter O'Toole didn't win" said Ellen, but doesn't the honorary oscar count? Kirk Douglas got to join the 75th Anniversary Oscar Commemoration in 2002 when, in reality, he only won an honorary oscar.
-The academy awards had some softer gentler music this year to let the people know when there speeches were done, did anyone notice that?
-Syd Gannis in under a minute: I absolutely loved that.
-When Martin Scorsesee won, there was a great moment of elation within myself and with everyone in the theater. It felt like when the Boston Red Sox won the World Series: Like we were witnessing something previously thought of as impossible. The truth though, is that it was entirely quite possible for Martin Scorsesee to win an Oscar, and it's not like the Academy was refusing to vote for him out of some dislike for him. You might say that Ordinary People beating Raging Bull was a travesty, but other than that, I think the winners were perfectly reasonable. There was no way in hell that Scorsesee was going to win an oscar for Last Temptation of Christ, and Roman Polanski in 2002 and Clint Eastwood for a second oscar in 2004 were both reasonably good choices. Kevin Costner made the brilliant Dances with Wolves in 1990 that beat Scorsesee's Goodfellas, but quickly dispelled the notion that he had any other brilliant movie ideas by making Waterworld. As for Goodfellas, which is ranked by the AFI's top 100 list as his 3rd best film (behind Taxi Driver and Raging Bull), its loss to Kevin Costner has helped turn it into a cult classic.
But, it was good of the Academy to wait until Scorsesee was really the best in his field this year.
-One of the few things that I officially got right was "Departed" for best editing. I thought it was obvious that Thelma Schoolmaker (hopefully i spelled her name right) would win best editor, on the basis of the fact that she's the most recognizable name of any editor in Hollywood, for her collaborations with Martin Scorsesee, and editing was one of The Departed's strong suits.
*Those videos they made for the pictures were really good. Why don't they use THOSE as trailers. Also, those videos would look good on youtube and would help promote the picture more.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Actors in 2 or more best picture oscar winners:
This is a list of actors who have appeared in 2 or more best picture oscar winners.
Things we can learn from this list:
-If you judge actors and actresses by this criteria, it boosts the status of Clark Gable and Dustin Hoffman, the only 2 actors to earn play a leading role in leading three seperate pictures to best picture oscars. Hoffman and Gable each got a best actor nomination in each of those 3 pictures that they led to an oscar which are Rain Man, Kramer vs Kramer and Midnight Cowboy for Hoffman and Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, and It Happened one Night for Gable.
-Gable had less competition, in the sense that in the 1930s, I don't believe many of the stars that we associate with the Golden Age really were up and rolling with their careers. Jimmy Stewart had little outside Frank Capra's pictures, John Wayne wasn't a hit until Stagecoach, and Humphrey Bogart had more hits in the 40's, I believe. I think the same goes for Henry Fonda. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable were the two biggest leading men in the '30s and Gable brought enormous revenue to whatever projects he chose. I think that Gone with the Wind might have done so well, because of Clark Gable
-Morgan Freeman, Dianne Keaton and Meryl Streep get kudos for lead or supporting roles during each of those three pictures
-This list indicates that in the oscars there really aren't any dynasties, as in a certain kind of picture wins year after year. Even if actors might not be as steadfast to a certian type of genre as directors are, you'd think that if for example, gangster films were the ones that won all the time, that Robert De Niro or Al Pacino would win over and over. If you looked at directors, like Frank Capra, who's been honored a LOT of times by the academy with 5 best picture noms and 3 directing oscars (2 best picture winners), or John Ford, who's won 4 oscars (but only one of those was for a best picture winner), you'd find that even their type of genre doesn't win every time it's up. So no one really is ever on a roll, from an actor's perspective in leading a picture to win every time.
-Finally, we can also conclude, that this list doesn't neccessarily mean much. It could be dumb luck that you found yourself in 2 or 3 best picture nominees, especially since Around the World in 80 Days cast a lot of people like Shirley MacLaine and Peter Lorre as extras
How I did this:
It's not that long of a list, nor are there any that I could find who had appeared in over 3 films. It actually was somewhat simple to look this up. I went to the imdb.com's section on best oscar winners and clicked on every one. When that happens the links sort of change color to indicate that it's a link to a film that you've already seen, and then i started clicking on names under the best picture winners and scrolling down to see how many colored links they had. I didn't click on every extra and side player so there might have been someone who have been in 4 films, for all I know
John Gielgud 3 (Around the World in 80 Days, Ben Hur, Chariots of Fire)
Hugh Griffith 3 (Tom Jones, Ben Hur, Oliver)
Ward Bond 3 (Gone with the Wind, It Happened One Night, You Can't Take it With You)
(all as an extra....this guy has actually appeared in 11 oscar nominated films, more than anyone including Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Cooper, and Henry Fonda)
Donald Crisp 2 (Life of Emile Zola, How Green was my Valley)
Clark Gable 3 (Gone with the Wind, It Happened One Night, Mutiny on the Bounty)
Dustin Hoffman-3 (Rain Man, Kramer vs Kramer, Midnight Cowboy)
Meryl Streep-3 (Deer Hunter, Out of Africa, Kramer vs Kramer)
Dianne Keaton-3 (Godfather, Godfather II, Annie Hall)
Morgan Freeman-3 (Unforgiven, Driving Miss Daisy, and Million Dollar Baby)
Shirley MacLaine-3 (Around the World in 80 Days, The Apartment, Terms of Endearment)
Gene Hackman-2 (Unforgiven, French Connection)
Richard Harris-2 (Unforgiven and Gladiator)
George Saunders-2 (All About Eve and Rebecca)
Jack Hawkins-2 (Ben Hur and Bridge ont he River Kwai)
Claude Rains 2 (Lawrnece of Arabia and Casablanvx)
Anthony Quayle 2(Hamlet and Lawrence of Arabia)
Al Pacino 2 (Godfather and Godfather II)
Marlon Brando-2 (On the Waterfront, Godfather)
Peter Lorre-2 (Casablanca, Around the World in 80 Days)
Clint Eastwood-2 (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby)
Karl Malden 2 (Patton and On the Waterfront)
Rob Duvall 2 (Godfather, Godfather II)
Russell Crowe-2 (Beautiful Mind and Gladiator)
Jack Nicholson 2 (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Terms of Endearment)
Lawrence Olivier 2 (Hamlet, Rebecca)
Christopher Walken 2 (Deer Hunter and Annie Hall)
Peter O’Toole 2 (Last Emperor and Lawrence of Arabia)
Gladys Cooper 2 (My Fair Lady and Rebecca)
Rod Steiger 2 (On the Waterfront and In the Heat of the Night)
Cathy O’Donnell 2 (Best Years of Our Lives and Ben Hur)
Leslie Caron 2 (Gigi and American in Paris)
Ernest Borgnine 2 (From Here to Eternity and Marty)
Ian Holm 2 (LOTR: Return of the King and Chariots of Fire)
Nigel Davenport 2 (Chariots of Fire, Man for All Seasons)
Evelyn Keys 2 (Around the World in 80 Days, Gone with the Wind)
Melville Cooper 2 (Around the World in 80 Days, Rebecca)
Things we can learn from this list:
-If you judge actors and actresses by this criteria, it boosts the status of Clark Gable and Dustin Hoffman, the only 2 actors to earn play a leading role in leading three seperate pictures to best picture oscars. Hoffman and Gable each got a best actor nomination in each of those 3 pictures that they led to an oscar which are Rain Man, Kramer vs Kramer and Midnight Cowboy for Hoffman and Mutiny on the Bounty, Gone with the Wind, and It Happened one Night for Gable.
-Gable had less competition, in the sense that in the 1930s, I don't believe many of the stars that we associate with the Golden Age really were up and rolling with their careers. Jimmy Stewart had little outside Frank Capra's pictures, John Wayne wasn't a hit until Stagecoach, and Humphrey Bogart had more hits in the 40's, I believe. I think the same goes for Henry Fonda. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable were the two biggest leading men in the '30s and Gable brought enormous revenue to whatever projects he chose. I think that Gone with the Wind might have done so well, because of Clark Gable
-Morgan Freeman, Dianne Keaton and Meryl Streep get kudos for lead or supporting roles during each of those three pictures
-This list indicates that in the oscars there really aren't any dynasties, as in a certain kind of picture wins year after year. Even if actors might not be as steadfast to a certian type of genre as directors are, you'd think that if for example, gangster films were the ones that won all the time, that Robert De Niro or Al Pacino would win over and over. If you looked at directors, like Frank Capra, who's been honored a LOT of times by the academy with 5 best picture noms and 3 directing oscars (2 best picture winners), or John Ford, who's won 4 oscars (but only one of those was for a best picture winner), you'd find that even their type of genre doesn't win every time it's up. So no one really is ever on a roll, from an actor's perspective in leading a picture to win every time.
-Finally, we can also conclude, that this list doesn't neccessarily mean much. It could be dumb luck that you found yourself in 2 or 3 best picture nominees, especially since Around the World in 80 Days cast a lot of people like Shirley MacLaine and Peter Lorre as extras
How I did this:
It's not that long of a list, nor are there any that I could find who had appeared in over 3 films. It actually was somewhat simple to look this up. I went to the imdb.com's section on best oscar winners and clicked on every one. When that happens the links sort of change color to indicate that it's a link to a film that you've already seen, and then i started clicking on names under the best picture winners and scrolling down to see how many colored links they had. I didn't click on every extra and side player so there might have been someone who have been in 4 films, for all I know
John Gielgud 3 (Around the World in 80 Days, Ben Hur, Chariots of Fire)
Hugh Griffith 3 (Tom Jones, Ben Hur, Oliver)
Ward Bond 3 (Gone with the Wind, It Happened One Night, You Can't Take it With You)
(all as an extra....this guy has actually appeared in 11 oscar nominated films, more than anyone including Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Cooper, and Henry Fonda)
Donald Crisp 2 (Life of Emile Zola, How Green was my Valley)
Clark Gable 3 (Gone with the Wind, It Happened One Night, Mutiny on the Bounty)
Dustin Hoffman-3 (Rain Man, Kramer vs Kramer, Midnight Cowboy)
Meryl Streep-3 (Deer Hunter, Out of Africa, Kramer vs Kramer)
Dianne Keaton-3 (Godfather, Godfather II, Annie Hall)
Morgan Freeman-3 (Unforgiven, Driving Miss Daisy, and Million Dollar Baby)
Shirley MacLaine-3 (Around the World in 80 Days, The Apartment, Terms of Endearment)
Gene Hackman-2 (Unforgiven, French Connection)
Richard Harris-2 (Unforgiven and Gladiator)
George Saunders-2 (All About Eve and Rebecca)
Jack Hawkins-2 (Ben Hur and Bridge ont he River Kwai)
Claude Rains 2 (Lawrnece of Arabia and Casablanvx)
Anthony Quayle 2(Hamlet and Lawrence of Arabia)
Al Pacino 2 (Godfather and Godfather II)
Marlon Brando-2 (On the Waterfront, Godfather)
Peter Lorre-2 (Casablanca, Around the World in 80 Days)
Clint Eastwood-2 (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby)
Karl Malden 2 (Patton and On the Waterfront)
Rob Duvall 2 (Godfather, Godfather II)
Russell Crowe-2 (Beautiful Mind and Gladiator)
Jack Nicholson 2 (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Terms of Endearment)
Lawrence Olivier 2 (Hamlet, Rebecca)
Christopher Walken 2 (Deer Hunter and Annie Hall)
Peter O’Toole 2 (Last Emperor and Lawrence of Arabia)
Gladys Cooper 2 (My Fair Lady and Rebecca)
Rod Steiger 2 (On the Waterfront and In the Heat of the Night)
Cathy O’Donnell 2 (Best Years of Our Lives and Ben Hur)
Leslie Caron 2 (Gigi and American in Paris)
Ernest Borgnine 2 (From Here to Eternity and Marty)
Ian Holm 2 (LOTR: Return of the King and Chariots of Fire)
Nigel Davenport 2 (Chariots of Fire, Man for All Seasons)
Evelyn Keys 2 (Around the World in 80 Days, Gone with the Wind)
Melville Cooper 2 (Around the World in 80 Days, Rebecca)
Monday, January 22, 2007
my oscar predictions
I've been looking through some of these oscar sites and have devised my own predictions but I think the oscar sites are having this problem of perceiving that "oscar buzz" is some sort of wildly fluctuating barometer. One of the oscar sites I went to, described "Pan's Labrynth" and "Children of Men" as surging ahead. I think in reality, film's aren't surging or falling in some kind of race, it's simply that our perception of how the films are changing as some new group comes out with an award. That might be part of the fun, anyway, that people love the oscar race so much. Nevertheless, even though i am somewhat tired, i thought i would make some predictions in the event that i am completely right and have noone to tell that to. By posting them with a timestamp that comes before the oscars are announced, i have some proof.
My predictions aren't really that far off from what anyone else has. They're in order of the degree of certainty that they'll be nominated, not n
Best Picture:
1. Departed
2. Dreamgirls
3. Babel
4. The Queen
5. Letters from Iwo Jima
Runner-Up: Little Miss Sunshine
I loved Little Miss Sunshine, but i thought i'd mix it up. I still don't see why people wouldn't vote for Letters from Iwo Jima. Honestly, though, i really can't decide between the two, but i'll take a risk. Queen, like Capote last year, is good but not great. Not grandiose or bold enough in ambition to really feel like an oscar contender, but it will unfortunately make the list anyway. Still, not so bad. To have Dreamgirls, Babel, Departed and either Letters of Little Miss Sunshine makes it a great year.
Director:
1. Martin Scorsesee, The Departed
2. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
3. Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
4. Stephen Frears, The Queen
5. Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Runner-Up: Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labrynth
Everyone's all over Pan's Labrynth lately, and I'm starting to think it might possibly be a masterpiece of a film that the academy would be foolish not to reward, but here in this category, i think it's a bit competitive. Iwo Jima is getting 4 star reviews all across the board and has already won a golden globe as well as the NBR, it would be foolish to think Eastwood would get left out and that some of the Iwo Jima buzz is lost. He's the success story of the decade. I also really can't see how Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu could not get a best director nom. He's one of the top 3 pictures and next to Scorsesee, i think he's the most secure director. People have their doubts about Condon a little and The Queen was seen more as a triumph in acting, but they all have a better chance than that married couple. For mixing-up purposes, I don't like, though when the directors and films match up, so perhaps i'd want Sunshine to get the picture nom and Eastwood to get the director nom.
Original Screenplay:
1. The Queen
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. Babel
4. Stranger than Fiction
5. Pan's Labrynth
Runner-Up: Bobby
I think Bobby is an endearing piece that wins the audience over emotionally and not neccessarily technically (as in, you're thinking "what a great storyline!"). The storyline's a bit muddled up with too many unneccessary parts, but i'm rooting for it heavily. Stranger than Fiction was a superbly written screenplay and i hope it gets a part, and Pan's Labrynth I'll give Bobby's spot to. Little Miss Sunshine is very deserving.
Adapted Screenplay:
1. William Moynahan, The Departed
2. Todd Field and Tom Perrota, Little Children
3. Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
4. William Boyle and Paul Haggis, Flags of Our Fathers
5. Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion
Runner-Up: Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
The screenplay awards are often an unofficial top 10 list from the academy, as they give an indication of what the academy might have nominated if they were aloud 5 extra films in the best picture category. That being said, Little Children was a top 10 film, pretty much, and it's writing-heavy so people are pretty eager to reward it there. The Departed is a certainty, pretty much due to the best picture lock and due to the fact that people are familiar with the source material and like what Scorsesee and Co. did with it. Notes on a Scandal's Patrick Marber just missed out on a nomination 2 years ago for his adaptation of Closer, so he'll get rewarded here, I think. People are not considering the fondness people had for Rob Altman and that should lend itself to a screenplay nom, in my opinion. Flags, while having been overshadowed by Iwo Jima, was still considered by many people to be an impressive film, and they like what they did with the adaptation. Thank You For Smoking, I'm not rooting for and I think it was too early in the year. Devil Wears Prada, I just think is too lightweight. In fact, I'm surprised that other groups have given Devil Wears Prada such praise and I think that maybe the academy will come to their senses and realize it's not that good. Since Dremagirls is up for best picture, and Condon has a couple noms under his built, one of which was for adapting a musical to the screen, I think if the Dreamgirls love is heavy enough, he'll get a nom.
Best Actor:
1. Leo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
2. Forest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland
3. Peter O'Toole, Venus
4. Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness
5. Ryan Gosling, Half-Nelson
Runner-Up: Ken Wattanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima (also Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat)
I think that DiCaprio will get enough votes for both of his parts to guarantee him at least one it onto the list. In other words, even if his votes are split between two roles, you can divide his votes in half and I think he'd still make it. Whitaker, O'Toole, and Smith have been locks for a while, and while some people are thinking that Sacha Baron Cohen will make it onto the shortlist, I hope that won't happen. It's simply because Baron Cohen wasn't acting in the conventional sense and why not award it to an actor like Gosling.
Actress:
1. Helen Mirren, The Queen
2. Penelope Cruz, Volver
3. Meryl Streep, Devil Wears Prada
4. Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
5. Kate Winslet, Little Children
Runner-Up: Annette Benning, Running with Scissors
I think the categories been set for a while with Winslet and Benning being interchangeable. I do think Benning is the spoiler, though, and not Gyllenhall. I really don't think that many people, even among the academy, have even seen Sherrybaby, and they might not have picked it out from under their screeners.
Supporitng Actor:
1. Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
2. Djimon Hotsou, Blood Diamond
3. Michael Sheen, The Queen
4. Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland
5. Brad Pitt, Babel
Runner-Up: Jack Nicholson, The Departed
I'm putting two people i'd love to see in this category: Affleck and Hotsou, and balancing that with someone I don't really want, because I don't think karma would be that kind to me, to give me both Affleck and Hotsou and not have a complete dud in there as well. I think that Hotsou has a very charismatic performance and if he got a nomination for In America from an underdog position, he can certainly do it again.
Eddie Murphy, I think is rediculous. Some people remember him from his brilliant SNL days, but for someone who grew up in the 90s and haven't had a chance to see a lot of the 80's SNL episodes (they're not the ones that show in syndication, usually), Eddie Murphy to me, is a guy who makes bad movies (Pluto Nash, Showtime, Bowfinger). Still, Murphy to me is the lesser of two evils. I'm playing with karma here again, because i don't want Nicholson to be nominated again. Don't get me wrong, I like Nicholson, I just don't love him and don't want to see his legacy rise too high above other actors that I think were better than him. I realistically think it would take a miracle for him not to get the nom but here's hoping.
Ben Affleck, I think is very much still in the race as is Brad Pitt from Babel and Michael Sheen, who i didn't even particularly like, I would have trouble believing he'd be left out. A great portion of the acedemy has British roots or have performed in England in some capacity so to see someone do that good of an impression of Tony Blair can't be disregarded. I just don't like Michael Sheen though. That guy has some nerve daring to enter show business and not changing his last name. He clearly wants people to believe that he's a member of the Sheen family so he can ride the coattails of Martin and Charlie, but no sir. If it were up to me, I'd love to see Wahlberg in the top 5 for The Departed, but I don't think karma will be that kind.
Also, Jackie Earl Haley, I think came onboard a little too late. Alan Arkin doesn't have enough screentime, and I don't see the point in awarding a courtesy nomination to a veteran, when unlike Alan Alda in 2004, he already has a couple nominations under his belt and he won't win, I'm pretty sure.
Supporting Actress:
1. Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
2. Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
3. Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
4. Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
5. Adriana Barranza, Babel
Runner-Up: Emily Blunt, Devil Wears Prada
Somehow, I think Breslin or Barranza might not make it through, and I want to do something unpredictable just to distinguish myself. Everyone else has this top 5, but the bottom line is i like this line-up. I like Babel's international stars getting acclaim, I'd like to see Breslin, and while I'm not so crazy about Blanchett, she deserves it too. Personally, I felt Emily Blunt was the second best supporting female performance i saw this year (behind Meryl Streep's Prairie Home Companion turn) but I don't want to see Devil Wears Prada get too many awards. I could also see Sharon Stone getting in here.
Cinametography:
1. Babel
2. Good German
3. Apocolypto
4. Letters from Iwo Jima
5. Blood Diamond
Runner-Up: Children of Men
Good German might have gotten bad reviews but Sodebergh went to great lengths to get the film stock pretty much exactly as it was 50 years ago, i can't believe he'd be snubbed for cinematography. I think Pan's Labrynth will get a nom in the art direction category rather than this one. Blood Diamond should get a nom, in my opinion, for doing the dirty work of going on location and I think the resulting shots speak for themselves.
Art Direction:
1. Pan's Labrynth
2. Apocolypto
3. Children of Men
4. Dreamgirls
5. Bobby
Runner-Up: Letters from Iwo Jima
Bobby recreated that hotel pretty impressively, Pan's Labrynth, Apocolypto and Children of Men are all about the art direction. Dreamgirls, a lavish musical lends itself well to that stuff.
Song:
1. "Song of the Heart" Prince, Happy Feet
2. "Never Gonna Break My Faith" Arethra Franklin, Mary J Blige, Bobby
3. "A Father's Way" Seal, Pursuit of Happyness
4. "Shine on them" Nas, Blood Diamond
5. "Till the End of Time" DeVotchka, Little Miss Sunshine
Runner-Up: "Our Town" Thomas Newman, Cars
I think this is a song line-up I can live with. Blood Diamond's "Shine on Them" is about a subject which the songwriter is clearly passionate about. Seal gets a nomination for "Pursuit of Happyness" because he's Seal and he'll rock the Oscar awards ceremony. "Till the End of Time" is an awesome song that certainly complements the indie feel of the movie and adds another nomination for Little Miss Sunshine. "Never Gonna Break My Faith" is a collaboration of a past and present great and it gives a nom to Bobby which I'm happy with. Lastly, I'm not a big fan of anything called "Song of the Heart" as it sounds like a dumb song title, but since it won at the golden globes i'm inclined not to leave it out.
Costumes
1. Dreamgirls
2. Pan's Labrynth
3. Flags of Our Fathers
4. Apocolypto
5. Little Miss Sunshine
Runner-Up: Marie Antoinette
Again, since Dreamgirls is a showy musical, it's gotta have costumes. Pan's Labrynth has costumes that are impressive, I imagine. Flags of Our Fathers is a period military piece and has more recognizeable costumes than Letters and Little Miss Sunshine, I just happened to notice the way everyone in the family was dressed so much like their personalities and in colors that were finely tuned to the film's atmosphere.
Animated:
1. Happy Feet
2. Cars
3. Over the Hedge
Runner-Up: Ice Age 2
I haven't seen what anyone else put for this category but I'd imagine Happy Feet, having made the AFI top 10, is probably in. I think Cars is in and not just because it's Pixar, but because it actually is good and has some fans. Over the Hedge vs. Ice Age 2 is a harder pick. Over the Hedge was a fairly cleverly executed piece, I felt, although it was nothing special enough to stand out on its own. Still, Ice Age 2 is a sequel and sequels are just unoriginal vehicles that are designed to cash in on the popularity of their predecessor.
Visual Effects:
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest
2. X-Men 3
3. Superman Returns
Runner-Up: Poseidon
I think Poseidon is too CGIish to be impressive, but it has its moments. X-Men 3, possibly even more so than its predecessors had some very impressive visuals to boast. Bringing Magneto's metal-manipulating powers, Storm's hurricanes, Pyro's fire and Iceman's ice to life are all very impressive. Superman Returns was a failure of a movie because of its storyline and not because of its special effects, which even i concede were impressive. Lastly, the conversion from Bill Nighy to Davy Jones is enough to cement the visual effects oscar right there.
The rest of the categories, I'm really not qualified to give an opinion on, so I'll refrain.
My predictions aren't really that far off from what anyone else has. They're in order of the degree of certainty that they'll be nominated, not n
Best Picture:
1. Departed
2. Dreamgirls
3. Babel
4. The Queen
5. Letters from Iwo Jima
Runner-Up: Little Miss Sunshine
I loved Little Miss Sunshine, but i thought i'd mix it up. I still don't see why people wouldn't vote for Letters from Iwo Jima. Honestly, though, i really can't decide between the two, but i'll take a risk. Queen, like Capote last year, is good but not great. Not grandiose or bold enough in ambition to really feel like an oscar contender, but it will unfortunately make the list anyway. Still, not so bad. To have Dreamgirls, Babel, Departed and either Letters of Little Miss Sunshine makes it a great year.
Director:
1. Martin Scorsesee, The Departed
2. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
3. Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
4. Stephen Frears, The Queen
5. Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Runner-Up: Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labrynth
Everyone's all over Pan's Labrynth lately, and I'm starting to think it might possibly be a masterpiece of a film that the academy would be foolish not to reward, but here in this category, i think it's a bit competitive. Iwo Jima is getting 4 star reviews all across the board and has already won a golden globe as well as the NBR, it would be foolish to think Eastwood would get left out and that some of the Iwo Jima buzz is lost. He's the success story of the decade. I also really can't see how Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu could not get a best director nom. He's one of the top 3 pictures and next to Scorsesee, i think he's the most secure director. People have their doubts about Condon a little and The Queen was seen more as a triumph in acting, but they all have a better chance than that married couple. For mixing-up purposes, I don't like, though when the directors and films match up, so perhaps i'd want Sunshine to get the picture nom and Eastwood to get the director nom.
Original Screenplay:
1. The Queen
2. Little Miss Sunshine
3. Babel
4. Stranger than Fiction
5. Pan's Labrynth
Runner-Up: Bobby
I think Bobby is an endearing piece that wins the audience over emotionally and not neccessarily technically (as in, you're thinking "what a great storyline!"). The storyline's a bit muddled up with too many unneccessary parts, but i'm rooting for it heavily. Stranger than Fiction was a superbly written screenplay and i hope it gets a part, and Pan's Labrynth I'll give Bobby's spot to. Little Miss Sunshine is very deserving.
Adapted Screenplay:
1. William Moynahan, The Departed
2. Todd Field and Tom Perrota, Little Children
3. Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal
4. William Boyle and Paul Haggis, Flags of Our Fathers
5. Garrison Keillor, Prairie Home Companion
Runner-Up: Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
The screenplay awards are often an unofficial top 10 list from the academy, as they give an indication of what the academy might have nominated if they were aloud 5 extra films in the best picture category. That being said, Little Children was a top 10 film, pretty much, and it's writing-heavy so people are pretty eager to reward it there. The Departed is a certainty, pretty much due to the best picture lock and due to the fact that people are familiar with the source material and like what Scorsesee and Co. did with it. Notes on a Scandal's Patrick Marber just missed out on a nomination 2 years ago for his adaptation of Closer, so he'll get rewarded here, I think. People are not considering the fondness people had for Rob Altman and that should lend itself to a screenplay nom, in my opinion. Flags, while having been overshadowed by Iwo Jima, was still considered by many people to be an impressive film, and they like what they did with the adaptation. Thank You For Smoking, I'm not rooting for and I think it was too early in the year. Devil Wears Prada, I just think is too lightweight. In fact, I'm surprised that other groups have given Devil Wears Prada such praise and I think that maybe the academy will come to their senses and realize it's not that good. Since Dremagirls is up for best picture, and Condon has a couple noms under his built, one of which was for adapting a musical to the screen, I think if the Dreamgirls love is heavy enough, he'll get a nom.
Best Actor:
1. Leo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
2. Forest Whitaker, Last King of Scotland
3. Peter O'Toole, Venus
4. Will Smith, Pursuit of Happyness
5. Ryan Gosling, Half-Nelson
Runner-Up: Ken Wattanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima (also Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat)
I think that DiCaprio will get enough votes for both of his parts to guarantee him at least one it onto the list. In other words, even if his votes are split between two roles, you can divide his votes in half and I think he'd still make it. Whitaker, O'Toole, and Smith have been locks for a while, and while some people are thinking that Sacha Baron Cohen will make it onto the shortlist, I hope that won't happen. It's simply because Baron Cohen wasn't acting in the conventional sense and why not award it to an actor like Gosling.
Actress:
1. Helen Mirren, The Queen
2. Penelope Cruz, Volver
3. Meryl Streep, Devil Wears Prada
4. Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
5. Kate Winslet, Little Children
Runner-Up: Annette Benning, Running with Scissors
I think the categories been set for a while with Winslet and Benning being interchangeable. I do think Benning is the spoiler, though, and not Gyllenhall. I really don't think that many people, even among the academy, have even seen Sherrybaby, and they might not have picked it out from under their screeners.
Supporitng Actor:
1. Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
2. Djimon Hotsou, Blood Diamond
3. Michael Sheen, The Queen
4. Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland
5. Brad Pitt, Babel
Runner-Up: Jack Nicholson, The Departed
I'm putting two people i'd love to see in this category: Affleck and Hotsou, and balancing that with someone I don't really want, because I don't think karma would be that kind to me, to give me both Affleck and Hotsou and not have a complete dud in there as well. I think that Hotsou has a very charismatic performance and if he got a nomination for In America from an underdog position, he can certainly do it again.
Eddie Murphy, I think is rediculous. Some people remember him from his brilliant SNL days, but for someone who grew up in the 90s and haven't had a chance to see a lot of the 80's SNL episodes (they're not the ones that show in syndication, usually), Eddie Murphy to me, is a guy who makes bad movies (Pluto Nash, Showtime, Bowfinger). Still, Murphy to me is the lesser of two evils. I'm playing with karma here again, because i don't want Nicholson to be nominated again. Don't get me wrong, I like Nicholson, I just don't love him and don't want to see his legacy rise too high above other actors that I think were better than him. I realistically think it would take a miracle for him not to get the nom but here's hoping.
Ben Affleck, I think is very much still in the race as is Brad Pitt from Babel and Michael Sheen, who i didn't even particularly like, I would have trouble believing he'd be left out. A great portion of the acedemy has British roots or have performed in England in some capacity so to see someone do that good of an impression of Tony Blair can't be disregarded. I just don't like Michael Sheen though. That guy has some nerve daring to enter show business and not changing his last name. He clearly wants people to believe that he's a member of the Sheen family so he can ride the coattails of Martin and Charlie, but no sir. If it were up to me, I'd love to see Wahlberg in the top 5 for The Departed, but I don't think karma will be that kind.
Also, Jackie Earl Haley, I think came onboard a little too late. Alan Arkin doesn't have enough screentime, and I don't see the point in awarding a courtesy nomination to a veteran, when unlike Alan Alda in 2004, he already has a couple nominations under his belt and he won't win, I'm pretty sure.
Supporting Actress:
1. Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
2. Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
3. Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
4. Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
5. Adriana Barranza, Babel
Runner-Up: Emily Blunt, Devil Wears Prada
Somehow, I think Breslin or Barranza might not make it through, and I want to do something unpredictable just to distinguish myself. Everyone else has this top 5, but the bottom line is i like this line-up. I like Babel's international stars getting acclaim, I'd like to see Breslin, and while I'm not so crazy about Blanchett, she deserves it too. Personally, I felt Emily Blunt was the second best supporting female performance i saw this year (behind Meryl Streep's Prairie Home Companion turn) but I don't want to see Devil Wears Prada get too many awards. I could also see Sharon Stone getting in here.
Cinametography:
1. Babel
2. Good German
3. Apocolypto
4. Letters from Iwo Jima
5. Blood Diamond
Runner-Up: Children of Men
Good German might have gotten bad reviews but Sodebergh went to great lengths to get the film stock pretty much exactly as it was 50 years ago, i can't believe he'd be snubbed for cinematography. I think Pan's Labrynth will get a nom in the art direction category rather than this one. Blood Diamond should get a nom, in my opinion, for doing the dirty work of going on location and I think the resulting shots speak for themselves.
Art Direction:
1. Pan's Labrynth
2. Apocolypto
3. Children of Men
4. Dreamgirls
5. Bobby
Runner-Up: Letters from Iwo Jima
Bobby recreated that hotel pretty impressively, Pan's Labrynth, Apocolypto and Children of Men are all about the art direction. Dreamgirls, a lavish musical lends itself well to that stuff.
Song:
1. "Song of the Heart" Prince, Happy Feet
2. "Never Gonna Break My Faith" Arethra Franklin, Mary J Blige, Bobby
3. "A Father's Way" Seal, Pursuit of Happyness
4. "Shine on them" Nas, Blood Diamond
5. "Till the End of Time" DeVotchka, Little Miss Sunshine
Runner-Up: "Our Town" Thomas Newman, Cars
I think this is a song line-up I can live with. Blood Diamond's "Shine on Them" is about a subject which the songwriter is clearly passionate about. Seal gets a nomination for "Pursuit of Happyness" because he's Seal and he'll rock the Oscar awards ceremony. "Till the End of Time" is an awesome song that certainly complements the indie feel of the movie and adds another nomination for Little Miss Sunshine. "Never Gonna Break My Faith" is a collaboration of a past and present great and it gives a nom to Bobby which I'm happy with. Lastly, I'm not a big fan of anything called "Song of the Heart" as it sounds like a dumb song title, but since it won at the golden globes i'm inclined not to leave it out.
Costumes
1. Dreamgirls
2. Pan's Labrynth
3. Flags of Our Fathers
4. Apocolypto
5. Little Miss Sunshine
Runner-Up: Marie Antoinette
Again, since Dreamgirls is a showy musical, it's gotta have costumes. Pan's Labrynth has costumes that are impressive, I imagine. Flags of Our Fathers is a period military piece and has more recognizeable costumes than Letters and Little Miss Sunshine, I just happened to notice the way everyone in the family was dressed so much like their personalities and in colors that were finely tuned to the film's atmosphere.
Animated:
1. Happy Feet
2. Cars
3. Over the Hedge
Runner-Up: Ice Age 2
I haven't seen what anyone else put for this category but I'd imagine Happy Feet, having made the AFI top 10, is probably in. I think Cars is in and not just because it's Pixar, but because it actually is good and has some fans. Over the Hedge vs. Ice Age 2 is a harder pick. Over the Hedge was a fairly cleverly executed piece, I felt, although it was nothing special enough to stand out on its own. Still, Ice Age 2 is a sequel and sequels are just unoriginal vehicles that are designed to cash in on the popularity of their predecessor.
Visual Effects:
1. Pirates of the Carribean 2: Dead Man's Chest
2. X-Men 3
3. Superman Returns
Runner-Up: Poseidon
I think Poseidon is too CGIish to be impressive, but it has its moments. X-Men 3, possibly even more so than its predecessors had some very impressive visuals to boast. Bringing Magneto's metal-manipulating powers, Storm's hurricanes, Pyro's fire and Iceman's ice to life are all very impressive. Superman Returns was a failure of a movie because of its storyline and not because of its special effects, which even i concede were impressive. Lastly, the conversion from Bill Nighy to Davy Jones is enough to cement the visual effects oscar right there.
The rest of the categories, I'm really not qualified to give an opinion on, so I'll refrain.
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