I'm a little behind in posts. I blame the winter storm. That is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. And to the fact I'm trying to watch as many Oscar films as I can before Oscar Sunday.
I failed to give a follow up to the recent Oscar Nominations announced a couple of weeks ago. With my post of the predictions of who would get nominated I have decided to finally give input of the official nominees for 2008.
Being off by (1) film in predicting the
'Best Picture' is not so bad (80%). I was sure that
The Dark Knight would get nominated, but was a little surprised that
The Reader would get in instead. Goes to show that the Oscar voting committee still do not think that action flicks deserve 'Best Picture' treatment especially if it's a dramatic action film. Yes
Gladiator won in 2000, but it was a historical period piece much like
Saving Private Ryan (which should have won in 1998!).
The Dark Knight is a little bit different kind of action that really doesn't have this Hollywood glam to it and it is part of a series. Can you sense my disappointment when this film wasn't nominated for the 2008
'Best Picture' category? Christopher Nolan worked extremely hard on this film and it might very well be his best. It's not easy doing a continuation story with a film series like this especially working on back to back Batman films that are realistic epics in their own right. Hint my 'Achievement in Directing' snub for Mr. Nolan as well. So
The Reader takes it's spot and I'm sure the film is deserving, but I'm not quite sure just yet.
Let's move on to
'Directing' since that seems to be where I was heading. I got 3 out of 5 (60%). Not bad, but it's rare to see the 'Best Picture' nods coincide with
'Achievement in Directing.' You know about my Christopher Nolan snub, but I was sure Clint Eastwood would have gotten a nod for his directing on
Gran Torino. Just a fantastic film all around! In fact I was highly disappointed that
Gran Torino didn't get nominated for anything really. This might be the biggest snub of all this year. I probably should have guested though that local boy Gus Van Zant would get the Oscar nod for his directing, but generally there are upsets and surprises for this category every year.
I'll make this easier the rest of the way.
Best Actor- I scored a (100%) on this; sweetness! As all were probably deserving and I was happy to see Richard Jenkins get the nod he so deserved!
The Visitor is an excellent film and has just a phenomenal acting ring of all it's characters especially Mr. Jenkins. Good for him.
The snub- if I could bring one in - Clint Eastwood. Need I say more? It could just be that Oscar voters might be getting tired of him putting out like a 100 films in past 7 years.
Best Actress- 3 and half out of 5 were right (70%). I say half because Kate Winslet was right in my choosing just not the right film. However in my defense, she got nominated and won the 'Best Supporting Actress' at the Golden Globes for this role in
Revoluntionary Road and turns around and gets nominated for the same role as a 'Lead Actress.' How does that work? Considering that the
The Reader is up for 'Best Picture!' How could the role be 'supporting' one day and then 'lead' the next? You Oscar committee people are backwards!
I was though a little surprise in seeing Angelina Jolie getting a nod in this category for
Changeling. I'm sure she is good in that role, but I've never really been a big fan of hers and I'm always thinking she is just a little overrated as an actress. She plays action roles by far much better.
The snub- Sally Hawkins for
Happy-Go-Lucky. Everybody says her and so I'll say her as well. With getting nominated at the Golden Globes you had to think she would also for the Oscars after getting by far more underdog/dark horse buzz than any other actress nominated.
Also Keira Knightley for The Duchess was a BIG SNUB. I just recently watched this and I was blown away by her acting in this film. It was is her best work and very believable. She might be the biggest snub of all in the acting categories.
Supporting Actor- 4 out 5 right (80%). No surprise of Heath Ledger here and there really shouldn't be because he is going to win. I know what some of you think - He'll get it because of sympathy. NOT TRUE! He will have deserved this Oscar!
This category was a little hard to choose from except for Robert Downey Jr. & Philip Seymour Hoffman. I took a guess on Josh Brolin. Haaz Sleiman was a complete theory guess, which I got completely wrong considering it was a huge surprise to see Michael Shannon's name appear for Revolutionary Road. A surprise indeed because I have heard nothing about Michael getting any love for acting for this film. But I'm not mad actually cause the man is a good actor and he is a Kentucky boy hailing from Lexington. Any snubs- Haaz Sleiman of course! If you a chance see The Visitor (rent it) and you'll know why. Another snub would be Javier Bardem for Vicky Cristina Barcelona - just an amazing performance from him in one of Woody Allen's best films. Just the way he projected himself as that character in Barcelona made me wanted to be friends with him. So he was a big snub as well.
Supporting Actress- 4 out of 5 (80%) yet again. Of course this category was a little messed up for me due to the fact I thought Kate Winslet would get for The Reader as you know my brain scratcher from above. But I did think about Viola Davis for Doubt a little bit, but decided not to because of her screen time. She is in the film like 6-8 mins in 2 scenes back to back. Generally speaking this is a supporting role, but to be nominated I would think you'd have to be supporting throughout the whole film not just 2 scenes that are back to back. Did she not deserve this? Well yes and no. It was a great performance, but I have always thought a supporting role for the Oscars should be of something that lasted a little longer. I wanted to see more of her acting in Doubt, but I never did. The snub- well I would say Kate Winslet, but this whole situation is just messed up.
So that's my thoughts on the 6 main categories. I got a 78.33 % overall in predicting the nominees. That would be a 'C' in high school nowadays but close to a 'B'; ah who cares! I did a great job in predicting them. Tell me what you agreed with on the nominations and what you thought was also a snub.
I'll be doing a follow up again before the Oscars of predicting who will win - this time in each category. I love doing this.
P.S.- Woody Allen got snubbed for Vicky Cristina Barcelona for not getting nominated for 'Best Original Screenplay.' Instead it went to In Bruges, which might have been my most disappointed film of the year. Barcelona was a by FAR BETTER film and script than that hunk of crap (sorry but it's honest). In Bruges tried way too hard to be funny and it was beyond boring and just featured foul language at every turn that had nothing to do with anything.
--LouEx
Yonkers Joe, the recent Louisville Exclusive Film that we opened at Village 8. I will admit that I didn't get a chance to see this film, but from viewing the trailer it does look interesting. Starting Chazz Palminteri (who is a fantastic actor!) as a dice hustler trying to make one final big score in Vegas, but runs into a problem, that of his mentality challenged son who just reappears in his life thus making his profession quite difficult.
