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January 22, 2008
OSCARS 2008 (Already?)
Blogging the Oscar nominations:
Honestly, I had no idea they were out. I didn’t think they came out until February. But here they are, followed by my thoughts, mostly for movies I haven’t seen:
Best Picture:
ATONEMENT
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
JUNO
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
MICHAEL CLAYTON
No real surprises here, I suppose. JUNO gets the token “independent spirit nomination” (previous winners: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, SIDEWAYS, BILLY ELLIOT, LOST IN TRANSLATION) while Atonement is the prestige pic and MICHAEL CLAYTON the picture that doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. The race will come down to ATONEMENT, BLOOD, and COUNTRY – all of which I have seen, and all of which I will blog about soon. If I had to bet, Oscar will award the Coens because they are critical darlings.
Best Director
All the directors were nominated except for the ATONEMENT guy, which is both ridiculous and, on a subjective level, perversely satisfying. I think ATONEMENT largely fails because the director’s cinematic vision is too strong for a story that is all about subtlety and misunderstanding. And yet the reason the film gets all its praise is because of its stylistics and vision. Yet the Academy always does this and it’s always dumb.
Best Actor
Johnny Depp, SWEENY TODD
Tommy Lee Jones, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Daniel Day-Lewis, THERE WILL BE BLOOD
George Clooney, MICHAEL CLAYTON
Viggo Mortensen, EASTERN PROMISES
Mortensen is the real surprise here. I saw EASTERN PROMISES and pretty much loathed it (it’s an ugly film about ugliness), and find Mortensen to be a maddeningly understated actor – he internalizes way too much but it never comes through his performance and he talks like he’s either about to use or has just used as suppository. The rest is the big star crowd, and I think Lewis is the safest bet to win. Jones got the nod for ELAH as opposed to NO COUNTRY probably because his role was more prominent in the former. Depp has a shot because he’s a two-time nominee.
Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, JESSE JAMES
Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
Hal Holbrook, INTO THE WILD
Tom Wilkinson, MICHAEL CLAYTON
My first thought is to say, no contest, because Bardem gave one of the most talked-about performances in recent years, but this is a strong group. Only Hoffman has no chance because he’s already won the big dog. Wilkinson could win as a way of awarding a movie that’s going to get shut out in the other categories; Affleck gave strong performances in TWO highly respected movies; and the academy LOVES rewarding unstatued lifers like Holbrook – case in point: Alan Arkin last year. But I still think Bardem will win. Hoffman should have been left off this list and Paul Dano, who is getting very little credit for his pitch-perfect performance in BLOOD, should replace him. And Marcus Carl Franklin from I’M NOT THERE, Jeremy Davies and Steve Zahn from RESCUE DAWN, Mark Ruffalo from ZODIAC, and Josh Brolin from NO COUNTRY (but he have been for a Best Actor nod). . . but this is always a strong category.
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, ELIZABETH 2: ELIZABETH’S REVENGE
Julie Christie, AWAY FROM HER
Marion Cotillard, LA VIE EN ROSE
Laura Linney, THE SAVAGES
Ellen Page, JUNO
The race will probably be between the oldest nominee and the youngest. And while we’re at it: Blanchett? Really? I heard that movie sucked. And she got nominated for Best S.Actress. Why? Not that I can think of a better lead female performance off-hand. Christie has won before, but could win again (I hear she’s really good, and she’s a Dame, which always help.) But the performance everyone is talking about is Page, in a movie I haven’t seen because, apparently, I am a joyless dolt who is only happy when other people suffer. Since I am 0 for 5 on watching these movies, I’m rooting for Linney.
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I’M NOT THERE
Ruby Dee, AMERICAN GANGSTER
Saoirse Ronan, ATONEMENT
Amy Ryan, GONE BABY GONE
Tilda Swinton, MICHAEL CLAYTON
Again, a close race. Everybody loves Swinton, who has never won anything before, but Ryan got a lot of love. I kind of hope she wins just b/c she was on THE WIRE. Blanchett was remarkable in the year’s most showy performance not given by DD Lewis. But dimes to dollars says Ruby Dee could win in a blaze of sentiment. It’s between Cate and Tilda (who may be the same person), and Ms. Dee.
Other thoughts:
Get ready for Michael Moore on-stage again! SICKO will probably win best doc. The Cinematography nominees are all really really strong. RATATOUILLE – how can it lose the animation award? I’m not sure how DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (which I really wanted to see) did not get a foreign film nod – probably because of a technicality. NORBIT got a nomination . . . JUNO is a lock for Best Screenplay.
Oversights:
Obviously my favorite movies of the year are I’M NOT THERE, SUNSHINE, and RESCUE DAWN (and BLOOD and NO COUNTRY), so I wanted to see them up there but knew they wouldn’t be. DAWN got nothing when it deserved to be in every category – I think Bale and Lewis gave the two best performances of the year. Of course I would have loved to have seen DARJEELING grab something (screenplay?), and INTO THE WILD deserved more love.
I wrote this in ten minutes, sorry if its rough.
By the way, will there even be a show this year? If so, expect a lot of acceptance speeches filled with writerly vitriol.
| By Andytown | 10:19 AM
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