Well it’s once again time for Oscar, and this year I thought I’d pay some more attention to it than I usually do. Gayle runs a very nice Oscar pool and I thought that this year I’d give it a shot. So I approached this year’s Oscars much like I approach Fantasy Football- with a good deal of research. So these past two weeks I’ve been watching a lot of Oscar films and trying to make educated decisions about who to pick. Educated decisions has been a recent trend with me: first I dive into fantasy baseball and football, now I’m making sure I read up on Presidential Candidates and Oscar picks.
Ok well here are my short takes on this year’s nominees:
Best Picture
- Atonement- Won the Golden Globe and has that great plot twist that makes this film more than a chick flick
- Juno – Smart and witty- obivously this year’s Little Miss Sunshine; so for the same reasons that it’s too indie will probably not win
- Michael Clayton- Saw it on Blu-Ray this week and I LOVED it, a great thriller but I’m afraid it’s doesn’t have the big buzz that Best Picture flicks get
- No Country For Old Men- I personally don’t think it’s the best film out of this group but it’s a riveting movie that’s very well done and has the momentum to win it all
- There Will Be Blood- It has epic written all over it: the setting of the frontier, the great acting from Daniel Day-Lewis, and the powerful themes make this a heavy hitter
I think the winner will be: No Country For Old Men, it’s the favorite with all the momentum it needs to coast it to a win- however I can also see There Will Be Blood getting the nod as well, it’ll be a close one.
Best Actor
- George Clooney (Michael Clayton)- Great performance, well deserviing to be in this group but not enough to win against the rest
- Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)- Powerful acting played a crucial role that made There Will Be Blood so great
- Johnny Depp (Sweeny Todd)- Didn’t see the movie but figured he got a nomination for being Johnny Depp, he’s so good at playing interesting characters that captivate you
- Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)- Interesting film but don’t really know why it’s in this mix- it’s more story driven than character driven.
- Viggo Moretensen (Eastern Promises)- Unless the Academy loves naked fight scenes- I kinda wonder why he got a nomination
I think the winner will be: Daniel Day-Lewis, clearly stands out from this group and his performance really drives the undertones of his film.
Best Actress
- Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)- I wasn’t interested too much in seeing the first film, not in a rush to see this film
- Julie Christie (Away From Her)- When you give a great performance in a role that encounters dramatic change or challenges- it results in Oscar gold and Christie has done that
- Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)- Didn’t see it but from what I’ve read it makes sense that she got nominated, typical biopic nod
- Laura Linney (The Savages)- Didn’t see this one either but Linney is a great actress who’s been noiminated in the past
- Ellen Page (Juno)- Her performance MADE this film, in fact if I had to choose, I’d give it to her
I think the winner will be: Julie Christie, I feel her character arc will put her above the rest
Best Supporting Actor
- Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jessie James…)- It’s good to see someone in the Affleck family getting Oscar nominations
- Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)- LOVED this performance, really steals the lead actor role from Josh Brolin
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War)- Loved this film and loved Hoffman’s character, but I don’t think it’s the tops
- Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)- Didn’t see this movie but I’ll file this one under Ruby Dee
- Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)- Powerful performance of a crazed man, if I could give 2nd place here I’d give it to him
I think the winner will be: Javier Bardem, hands down
Best Supporting Actress
- Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There)- I didn’t see this one either but I heard her role was the best in the ensemble
- Ruby Dee (American Gangster)- The Academy loves to honor actors for their body of work, which is prolly why she got this nod- I didn’t think she played a big role in American Gangster
- Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)- Her character was interesting, too bad she couldn’t play her character when she got older-definately a contender
- Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)- I kinda feel that like Jennifer Garner in Juno, the role wasn’t too interesting to me
- Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)- See above, loved the film but her role was too small however well done (at least it wasn’t as small as Ruby Dee’s)
I think the winner will be: If the Academy wants to honor a great actress, Ruby Dee; if the Academy awards the best performance, Saoirse Ronan
The Other Winners
- Best Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (No Country For Old Men)- It’s going to be a close one between this and Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood), I can see one of these two winning
- Best Screenplay (Original): Diablo Cody (Juno)- She has the buzz and her first screenplay, Juno, is a hit
- Best Screenplay (Adapted): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men)- I’m starting to regret this pick, I just have a feeling that the Coen brothers are going to win big on Sunday but maybe it’s more realistic to keep it down to two wins, I can also see Christopher Hampton winning for Atonement
- Best Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey (Atonement)- I wanted to try and give Atonement an Oscar somewhere
- Best Editing: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (No Country For Old Men)- See Best Screenplay (Adapted), I really want Christopher Rouse to win for The Bourne Ultimatum
- Best Art Direction: Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock (The Golden Compass)- I’m going to give it to the more fantasical production
- Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood (Sweeny Todd)- See above, I think Sweeny Todd needs a nod somewhere
- Best Makeup: Didier Lavergne, Jan Archibald (La Vie En Rose)- Norbitt and Priates just won’t win
- Best Original Score: Dario Marianelli (Atonement)- Love the typewriter motifs
- Best Original Song: Alan Menken, Stephen Schwartz (Enchanted)-It’s easy to say these two people will win, I just had Mallory pick a song and she told me that “That’s How You Know” was good
- Best Sound Mixing: Scott Millan, David Parker, Kirk Francis (The Bourne Ultimatum)- Either this one or Transformers, however I can also see No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood just dominating tech categories based on buzz
- Best Sound Editing: Matthew Wood (There Will Be Blood) – Same as above, maybe The Bourne Ultimatum will win or the two powerhouses
- Best Visual Effects: Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, Trevor Wood (The Golden Compass)- The whole movie was an effect, but maybe Transformers will get it
- Best Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille- Disney just dominates
- Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters- Based on plot summaries, I liked this one the best
- Best Feature Documentary: No End in Sight- With four nominees based on war, I think this one will win with it’s relation to current events
- Best Short Subject Documentary: Sari’s Mother- Again based on summaries this one interest me the most
- Best Animated Short: Peter & the Wolf- It looked cute but I also liked Meme les pigeons vont au paradis and Madame Tutli-Putli
- Best Short Film: Tanghi argentini- Just picked the last one at random, sometimes it just about luck
Well it was really hard trying to pick the Oscars for the first time, but now I’m actually excited to watch the big show this Sunday
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