Sunday, February 22, 2009

Oscar night

Sorry for the delay in posting today. 

On to the subject . . .

*****

Sunday night is Academy Awards night.

Given that I have seen approximately 5 out of the 50 films (both foreign and domestic) nominated in the total number of categories, I feel that I am imminently qualified to let you in on what films and performance will win the golden statue. 

[SPOILER ALERT!!!! Unintentional plot summary and twists might be revealed below, but I don't see how much of that is possible since I haven't seen hardly ANY of the films. But, you've been warned anyway.]

1. Animated Feature Film: WALL-E ought to beat Kung Fu Panda and Bolt here. Pixar has crushed all comers for many years, I think, so why not keep that going? The fact that some people (not me, but some people) were genuinely perplexed that WALL-E didn't get a nom for Best Picture, shows how likely it is to win.

2. Costume Design: When it comes to textile porn, the more complicated the better. And the most complicated costumery of the nominated films has to be The Dutchess. Revolutionary Road, Milk, Australia, and Benjamin Button are not as compelling when it comes to fabric and frippery.

3. Actress in a Supporting Role: This is usually one of the most unpredictable (and somewhat predictable) winners each year. It often goes to the least recognized person in the slate of nominations. Often that person is a foreigner (or has a foreign sounding name?). So, given that stupid logic, I predict that Taraji P. Henson will win for her role in Benjamin Button. It might go to Viola Davis for Doubt or . . . maybe for Penelope Cruz for Vicki Christie Barcelona . . . but the least well know person here is Henson. And while none of these movies will win the big prize, at least Benjamin Button gets one of the major awards here.

4. Cinematography & Film Editing: I'm no expert at this sort of thing, but I think the film that presents the most photographic-capturing and film coherency challenges out of these nominated films is Slumdog Millionaire. Getting camera around the slums of Mumbai and then cutting and splicing the various elements of this film into its coherent whole was the most challenging. Sure, Dark Knight had special effects challenges on top of that, but blockbuster comic book movies don't win these sorts of artsy categories.

5. Actress in a Leading Role: If there is ONE thing in the world that I am sure of, it is that Kate Winslet wins this one for her role as an illiterate Nazi in The Reader. If she had to put on beauty-destroying makeup, she's have captured the coveted Academy Awards trifecta (handicapped, Nazi, makeup). This one is my DEAD-SOLID LOCK of the NIGHT pick!

[music begins to play . . . and if I had the appropriate blogging skillz, I'd have imbedded a song to actually click and play here. But alas .  . . ]

Oh, wait, is that the music? Well, I'll have to hurry here as the orchestra is wanting to play me off . . . 

6. Actor in a Leading Role: I personally think it's a bit of a toss up between Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler and Sean Penn in Milk. I don't think Pitt is getting any credit for playing Brad Pitt in the middle of B. Button--or at least that is what I read other people saying (which is how I formulated just about all of these opinions). But are enough of the Academy voters savvy enough to appreciate Rourke? And Aronofsky is a polarizing kind of director. But it is the Comeback Story that Hollywood appreciates. But Milk . . . could be a winner. Yet, I think I'm talking myself into Rourke as a bit of a surprise pick.

7. Actor in a Supporting Role: The ghost of Heath Ledger won't be denied here, I think.

8. Best Director & Best Picture: I think Slumdog Millionaire is going to win for Best Picture and I think this will also propel Danny Boyle to the Best Director nod. I've liked a lot of his films, without really knowing who he was. SM is on a different level than Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary, or Millions but Slumdog has captured the public's imagination this year.

So, it wins Best Picture, Best Director, and Mumbai poverty was never a problem again . . .

Thanks to the Academy! And good night!

1 comment:

David said...

8 out of 10 is pretty darn good, I'd say. I talked myself out of Sean Penn here on the blog and I didn't given Penelope Cruz enough of a chance.

(Too bad Ms. Cruz is going to fall under the shadow of Tom Cruise soon. Enjoy it while you can Penelope!)