Oscar Predictions (Part Two)

I know this is after the fact, I simply just ran out of time on Oscar day, but I would like to provide, a detailed (and honest, I did not change any of my predictions to match who won, and hopefully you believe me) prediction of what I think will win and what I wanted to win.

Best Achievement in Directing
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
(Kathryn not deserves this, I can not even consider anyone else winning this one. Sure, Lee Daniels had a challenge in bringing the emotion out of his actresses (and actors), but that responsibility also relies on the talent. James Cameron produced the highest grossing film ever, but I think he forgets that there is no "I" in team. I believe wholeheartedly if The Hurt Locker is going to take Best Picture, Kathryn will lock this one in.)

Would Not Mind Winning: Jason Reitman for Up In The Air or Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds


Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Will Win: Inglourious Basterds
(I was on the fence with this nomination. The Hurt Locker was my original pick, but seeing the lack of wins I was giving Inglourious Basterds, I felt it deserved to take this gold because Quentin rewrote history and gave the film a style all its own. So if one screenplay deserves the gold, it would be Basterds.)

Should Win: The Hurt Locker
(Overall, the screenplay for Hurt Locker is nothing short of brilliant. Plus, since I am considering the film Best Picture and Best Director, I honestly do not doubt this will take home the gold. The story is great, which made for an absolutely great film and this film could take home the entire package.)

Would Not Mind Winning: Up


Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Will Win: Up In The Air
(This film is not taking home many awards in my book and that leaves me with a sour taste, since I enjoyed this film more than almost all the other films this season, so as a result I am giving the film my nod for best Adapted Screenplay. There are probably others that deserve it more, but ultimately, I want to see this one take home the gold.)

Should Win: Precious
(By far the most dramatic piece. The film relies heavily on dialogue (cussing mainly), but I am sure the screenplay is still phenomenal (especially when I hear that the book is nothing but cussing as well). So kudos for adding substance to an otherwise drab book.)


Best Achievement in Cinematography
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
(Take away Avatar & Harry Potter, since they are more CGI than cinematography (I know you use cameras with CGI as well, but it is much easier and is nothing like good old being out in the field, choosing your shots. Hurt Locker is raw and uses every single frame to tell the story. There is no wasted shots in Hurt Locker and for that alone it deserves the win. Plus, for a war film, it strays away from anything that any other war film does and for that it especially deserves the win.)

Would Not Mind Winning: Inglourious Basterds


Best Achievement in Editing
Will Win: Avatar
(Have a feeling this one of the many awards Avatar will be bringing home on Oscar night.)


Best Achievement in Art Direction
Will Win: Avatar
(If there is one award (along with Visual Effects) that Avatar should get it is this one. Not that I agree with the decision, but Avatar was a one trick pony. All it was, was beautiful landscapes and visual effects. All of which can thanked for by Art Direction. If Avatar does not win this one, it has failed on all levels.)

Would Not Mind Winning: Young Victoria
(Those sets had to take FOREVER!)


Best Achievement in Costume Design
Will Win: The Young Victoria
(Hands down, this film had the most beautiful costumes. A lot of people believe that Coco Before Chanel should win because it is about the lady that made Chanel clothing, but to be honest, it was never that great aside from a few costumes. Young Victoria goes all out while films like Bright Star had barely any costumes and Imaginarium's costumes look like they came from the dump. I see no one else winning this besides Victoria.)


Best Achievement in Makeup
Will Win: Star Trek
(I was on the fence about this award as well. Il Divo obviously did not deserve the award because only a few characters seemed to really have any makeup. I kept thinking Young Victoria would win just because of the nature of the film but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that makeup was not really an elemental part of the film seeing as they only really wore normal makeup and nothing special. Then look at Star Trek where half (or more) of the characters have prosthetic elements on their faces. By far, Star Trek took my vote.)


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Will Win: Up
(I will be physically pained if Up does not win best Score. For the sole fact that when I left Up I could not stop humming the music. I think of Up and I hear the score. (When the Oscars played the Up theme, I was brought back to all the emotions caused by the film itself and that is what a score is all about). Without a doubt, Up has to win.)


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Will Win: "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart

Would Not Mind Winning: "Take It All" from Nine


Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Will Win: Avatar
(All of Avatar was, was created sounds. You would think it would take home the gold.)

Should Win: The Hurt Locker
(Explosions can be tricky as far as Mixing.)


Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Will Win: Avatar

Should Win: The Hurt Locker


Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Will Win: Avatar
(Honestly... if Avatar doesn't win this, James Cameron will kill everyone.)


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Will Win: Up
(By far, the greatest all around Animated Film this year, if not from most years. This film does so many things for so many people on so many different levels, it is no surprise that it also got Best Picture nod because in the back of your mind you kind of wish it would win it.)


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Only One I Saw: The White Ribbon
(Could easily win the award from what I saw. I have absolutely nothing to compare it to however.)


Best Documentary, Features
Will Win: The Cove
(I truly hope this film wins. Just because Food Inc. is already so publicized, The Cove could really use some extra publicity with such a great message and overall good film, I think this film acts like an actual dramatic film and does a great job as a PSA documentary. Would buy this film over Food Inc. any day.)


Best Short Film, Animated
Only One I Saw: Wallace & Gromit-Matter of Loaf & Death
(As the only short I viewed this year, by far it could take the gold, but once again, absolutely no basis in comparison to any of the others.)


That is all for this year. Stay tuned for my thoughts on who actually won.

Oscar Predictions (Part One)

After viewing 37 films that were nominated for the Oscars, it is time to give my thoughts as to who I think will win, should win, and I would not mind seeing win:

Best Picture
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
(This was the only film that felt like an Oscar film this year. Last year, Slumdog Millionaire made me feel the exact same way. The film hit all the right spots & therefore deserves to be rewarded.

Would Not Mind Winning: Up In The Air


Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Will Win: Jeff Bridges
(Though George Clooney was fantastic and my personal favorite from the year, Bridges just brought one of the best performances of his career and deserves every ounce of this award.)

Would No Mind Winning: George Clooney, Jeremy Renner
(In comparison, Jeremy Renner probably does not deserve to win as much as the other two, but I would definitely understand his win.


Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Will Win: Gabourey Sidibe
(Was the toughest category to determine. Just have a feeling that with her breakthrough performance and young age, she will steal the award from Sandra Bullock.)

Should Win: Sandra Bullock
(Of all the films I have ever viewed Sandra in, I have never once enjoyed her. It grew to become a hatred for her acting, but viewing Blind Side finally provided a performance I enjoyed her in and actually wanted to see more of her in the film.)

Would Not Mind Winning: Carey Mulligan
(Carey Mulligan has won numerous awards for this performance and as a young actress in such a powerful performance, I have a small, very small feeling she could pull the upset.)


Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Christoph Waltz
(No one else in this category even comes close to deserving this award. Waltz blew the competition away and Inglourious Basterds was the first film of the category that I saw and thought this all the way through. This will be one that if he does not win, I will lose faith in humanity.)


Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Will Win: Mo'Nique
(As a comedian, there is nothing more impressive than being able to turn it off and be believable. Mo'Nique accomplished that & more and became an icon for evil. She worked her ass off for this nomination and should come through in the end.)

Should Win: Anna Kendrick
(From the start, I picked Kendrick to win until I saw Mo'Nique's performance. Kendrick took a huge leap from Twilight to Up In The Air and if anyone pulled off a great performance, it was her. I secretly hope she wins, but do no see that happening.

Would Not Mind Winning: Maggie Gyllenhaal
(Maggie pulled a Bullock this year. I have never witnessed a film that I actually enjoyed Maggie in until Crazy Heart. Though her performance lacks in comparison to the prior two (Mo'Nique & Kendrick), I never say never.


***The Rest of my Predictions will be posted later today***

The End

And this folks is where my Oscar Challenge ends....

With three films that are not readily available to me, I must call this the end. Burma VJ, Most Dangerous Man, & Which Way Home (all documentaries), will not be viewed this year. However, once they become available I will provide my thoughts.

Either tonight or tomorrow morning, I will be providing my predictions of the Oscars and following the Oscars, I will be offering my thoughts on the winners.

I will be continuing this blog beyond the challenge as a reviewing station for all media that I absorb, films, television, books, etc. I hope that my insights can help you to further or mind and absorb media that you may not normally give a chance. I thank you, anyone that has been following me through the last month of reviews.

Enjoy your Oscar weekend.

The White Ribbon (Das Weiss Band)

THE WHITE RIBBON

Up For:
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Though not viewing any of the other foreign language films this year, I still believe this film is strong enough to win.

The White Ribbon never feels like a foreign language film. Though a period piece set in black and white, the film could just as easily take place at anytime, any place (at times this film felt very much older).

The eeriness of the film is the a huge component in keeping the viewer absorbed. Two hours of subtitles and black & white could easily bore a person to death, but the film had so much more going for it to keep a person's interest intact.

The story was complex and twisting, keeping you in the middle a mystery the entire film, even through the end, where there are few answers given, simply assumptions made by the viewer from the information that was given.

Never have I seen so many wonderfully amazing performances by so many children. The young children could break your heart. The girls were gorgeous and could melt your heart, or they could be cold and concise. The boys were rascals one moment, but vigilantes the next. The children, by far, out-acted the adults in the film.

With no expectations going into the film, finding that the story was so dark, I was reminded of stories like Children of the Corn and Tommyknockers, without the supernatural feel. I felt as though anything and everything could happen in the film's plot, with deaths and injuries inflicted around every corner.

The film was subtle, never over the top, but never anti-climatic. There was a new relationship, or new cruel twist that derived to keep the German town it portrayed in constant array. By the end, you feel as though you lived in that town for years.

The costumes of the film were spot-on, the acting was unexpected, and the cinematography earned its nomination, almost seeing the color in the black & white, particularly the cut scenes of nature, where the swaying wheat or the trees almost seemed to pop out of the screen with such brilliance.

By far, from what the film was on paper, I did not expect to enjoy the film as much as I did and will cause me to see more from this director. I suggest that if you enjoy films like The Orphanage and Pan's Labrynth, along with the edginess of Children of the Corn, this is a great film to indulge yourself with.

(3 FILMS TO GO)

Il Divo

IL DIVO

Up For: Best Achievement in Makeup

Il Divo proved to be a very odd film. The makeup nomination, from my analysis must come from the formation of the main character, Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. A small, hunched-back, droopy eared man is the basis of this Italian political film.

Not sure it quite compares with the complexity and sheer abundance of makeup in both Star Trek & Young Victoria, but contributes to the film none-the-less.

My favorite portion of the film: the title sequences introducing characters, which take on a 3-D quality, in particular two back to back "lower thirds" used in the introduction of the film during a montage of deaths, a man hanging under a bridge and another man choking at a table.

The hardest part of this film was putting names with faces. Many different names and titles are used and with the language barrier, the film proved challenging to follow.

Not sure, even at the end of the film, that I got all I could from it and it may take another viewing to put it all together, but the style of the film is unlike any film I have viewed before with the constant spiking of the lens, and odd humor.

In the end, this is an odd nomination to go with an odd film. Period.

(4 FILMS TO GO)

The Secret of Kells

THE SECRET OF KELLS

Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

The aesthetics of the Secret of Kells were phenomenal. The animation was spot on, with gorgeous scenes and brilliant animations. The score was exceptionally well done, with upbeat Celtic tunes and the fairy chanting of the young lady doing the voice of Aisling. The voices were well chosen despite the voice for the overbearing uncle, whose voice seemed detached from the mouth it was coming from.

The humor of Kells was worth the price of admission alone ($5 dollars at the Fargo Film Festival), with the opinionated (voiceless) cat following the lead character, Brandon, around on his chases and getting itself into trouble. The dialogue was well written and often humorous ("You can't find out everything from books, you know." "I think I read that once.")

The story was a downhill battle (in a bad way). The story of Kells started off powerful and intriguing, foreshadowing what was to come (or so you think). The formula of the film worked for the most part. A challenge would be laid out for Brandon and he would follow through on his adventure coming across challenges on his journey. Twice this happened where a path would be laid out for the characters to follow to get what they need. It was too bad the entire film did not follow this course because the end of the film trails off into nothingness, eventually leaving you with nothing to say about the end. There is no resolution, no moral, no understanding. I feel as though they took this story from the middle of a book and only showed a portion, with no 3 act structure.

Secret Of Kells was worth the viewing, but as far as Best Animated, Up still has that nomination locked and ready to take to the bank. Though Kells had its moments, I struggled through the middle of the jumbled storytelling, which is far from my easy viewing experience of Up. Though some films make you work to watch them, but it becomes worth it in the end, I would have been fine with leaving the film where it was when I lost interest.

(5 FILMS TO GO)

Drawing To A Close

With only 6 films left to view, 3 of which I cannot find anywhere:

Il Divo (Up for Best Make-Up)

Most Dangerious Man In America (Up for Best Documentary)

Which Way Home (also Up for Best Documentary)

My Oscar Challenge is growing to a close. I will save my final predictions after tonight when I view the remaining films (Secret of Kells, Burma VJ, and The White Ribbon), but I wanted to make a list of the films in order than I liked them, as so you may choose with the last few days before the Oscars of any you might want to see.

I have decided to view The Hurt Locker again as it was at the start of this challenge and I need a refreshment of it, so I may be posting another review of it later today.

List of Oscar Nominated Films in Order of Favorites
(Not Necessarily in the order I think they will win, but personal preferences throughout this entire Challenge...also not in the order of all time favorite)

Up In The Air
Up
Crazy Heart
Messenger
Transformers 2 - Revenge Of The Fallen
Hurt Locker
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Sherlock Holmes
The Cove
Blind Side
Last Station
Nine
Young Victoria
Invictus
Precious
An Education
In The Loop
A Single Man
A Serious Man
Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
Food Inc.
District 9
Julie & Julia
Coco Before Chanel
Avatar
Princess & Frog
Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Paris 36
Bright Star
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Lovely Bones
Coraline

Feel free to comment on your thoughts or your favorites.

(6 FILMS (MORE LIKE 3 FILMS) TO GO)

The Last Station

THE LAST STATION

Up For:
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

This film deserves the story that preceded it.

A friend of mine and I decided to see this film at a 9:55pm showing on a Tuesday night. Upon purchasing our tickets and getting concessions, we walked to the numbered theater that it was playing. Upon arriving, we had to take a moment to stare blankly at the poster that was placed above the door of the entrance to the seating auditorium. Even the poster looked dull. With a name like The Last Station, and the time period, and the idea that the film revolved around a train, we were not excited...at all.

In the theater, we sat by ourselves for the previews and the first minutes of the film until a male (who looked as though he had stumbled into the wrong theater) sat down a few rows in front of us and continued on the journey of the film with us (eventually dropping an object that made the sound of shattering glass.... probably alcohol).

The Last Station, turns out, has hardly anything to do with a train. Instead, the film revolves around the hectic, yet passive life of the writer of War & Peace, Tolstoy, played by Christopher Plummer, who definitely earns his nomination (in comparison to his anti-climatic performance in Imaginarium of Doctor Parnannuss or his voice as Charles Muntz in Up). Helen Miren plays his eccentric wife, that is paranoid that Tolstoy's loyal advisor, Paul Giomatti, is trying to steal everything Tolstoy has earned from his writing by making his copyrights public domain for easier access to a wider audience.

In the fray of all of this, James McAvoy (widely known from his role in Wanted) enters to become Tolstoy's young secretary, learning more than he bargained for from a sexual Tolsoyan, Masha, played by gorgeous Kerry Condon.

The Last Station will take you through the full spectrum of emotion, making you laugh with its comedic timing and pace, while making you cry to the eventual demise of its main character (its historically accurate, so I'm not spoiling anything). It will make you distrust everyone, yet feel for each side of the argument.

Obviously, this film deserves the nominations it received and would not surprise me if it took the gold.

In the end, my friend and I left the film grateful for having experienced a film we would never have seen in a million years had we had a choice, and both agreed that our biggest challenge now would be persuading others to view the film so that they may experience the beauty that was this film.

(6 FILMS TO GO)

Wallace & Gromit-A Matter Of Loaf & Death

WALLACE & GROMIT - A MATTER OF LOAF & DEATH

Up For: Best Short Film, Animated

As the only short film I will be viewing this year, I do not have much to compare this film to. However, this film was solid. Nick Park definitely has enough background to achieve an Oscar from his work.

The story of the film is predictable and meant for children (even the subject matter is somewhat adult). The story is recycled from many other short stories, but the comedy is still there, especially in the facial expressions of Gromit (the dog). Overall, claymation is not my favorite, but it is tough, especially to get emotion to come from a lump of clay. I enjoyed the innuendos and allusions to other films like Ghost.

I will probably pick this as the film to win, since it was the most widely released and, essentially, the only short animated film I viewed in the Oscar Challenge

(7 FILMS TO GO)

The Lovely Bones

THE LOVELY BONES

Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Did you happen to notice that this film was only nominated for one thing? There was a reason for that. This film was bad, through and through.

Yet the one, somewhat shining light of the film was the utter creepiness of Stanley Tucci as the neighborhood killer.

I often felt that if I were an emo 12 year old girl that loved the book, I would be absolutely enthralled with this film and it would probably be my favorite film, with meaning and emotion. But as a 22 year old adult male, this film was a glorified Twilight film without the vampires.

Sure, this film had Mark Wahlberg, a young actress playing the main character, an adapted screenplay, and lots of special effects, yet they did not get recognized. That should be a huge red flag for anyone with hopes for this film.

The story was laughable (yes, I am sure the book handles it better, but there is no saving it), the acting was ineffective, and the ending was absolutely horrible and justifiable.

Having seen the trailer, I expected so much more from this film and was unrelentingly let down. The Lovely Bones easily becomes one of the worst films I have viewed in the Oscar Challenge. Though Stanley Tucci was the only good part, I still do not see him winning against the powerhouse of Christoph Waltz, especially in this dismal excuse for a teen drama.

(8 FILMS TO GO)

Precious

PRECIOUS

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Achievement in Directing
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Best Achievement in Editing

Precious, as it appears, is worth its weight in gold, at least Oscar gold.

Word of mouth made this film (and coincidentally the book) unappetizing to me. With thoughts of hating it before hand, especially with comedian Mo'Nique leading the nominations in a serious part, I was even more skeptical. On the other side of at least the film, I am confident that Precious will be leaving with at least some gold on Oscar night.

Mo'Nique... Wow... From films like Soul Plane to something substantial like Precious, backed by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, I thought this would be laughable. Now, she is all I think of when remembering this film. So vulgar and evil, she rocked the hell out of this part, making you hate her more than any villain you have ever hated in a film. Even when you think you might see the comedian in Mo'Nique, she hits you with an ash tray or throws a television at you and your baby, or forces you to eat hairy pigs feet. Her character was so pronounced that you were scared for Precious' life every time they were together. She deserves the win for this (even though I want Anna Kendrick to win). This will be the award I expect to come from the film.

Gabourey Sidibe, as Precious, could easily take the upset at the Oscars, next to Sandra Bullock. She is 100% a new comer and for that, the Academy may award her for the efforts put forth in her first big deal. In my personal opinion, she is because the actors and story around her are good. Sure, she may be a very happy person in real life, but she did not carry much of a presence in the film (and please do not tell me that that is what they were going for). Much like Quinton Aaron in Blind Side, there was little going on behind their eyes. I could not see them acting with all their body, just their responses to dialogue. So yes, for a first timer, she was terrific, but Oscar-worthy, not sure. Up against seasoned veterans, it should be interesting and may pull a Taylor Swift at the award show.

The other nominations were well-deserved and could easily be seen why they were chosen. The editing was great, with so much going on and special moments of effects that added to the film as a whole. The screenplay was complex and intriguing. From what I hear, the book is powerful yet completely vulgar and hard to read. The film takes the book and makes it into a more bearable version of this heart wrenching story. Though the editing will not live up to Avatar, the adapted Screenplay would not be a total stretch.

Best Picture, however, is not in Precious' future. Yes, it was a great film, but not that great and the honor of best in show will still probably fall on The Hurt Locker, Up In The Air, and in a twisted messed up world, Avatar.

(9 FILMS TO GO)

The Messenger

THE MESSENGER

Up For:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Occasionally, the Oscar Challenge has helped shine a light on films that, for some reason or another, are glazed over by the local theaters and publicity as a whole. The Messenger was one of those films.

Without much knowledge going into The Messenger (only knowing its nominations with Woody Harrelson bringing in the Best Supporting Actor), I was skeptical. Minutes into the film, you see the main character portrayed by Ben Foster (a personal favorite of mine since the film Get Over It with Kirsten Dunst & Colin Hanks and recently Pandorum).

This film was phenomenal, deserving of anything that it gets but unfortunately probably not receiving much with the stiff competition. On a personal level, this film achieves in touching you and entertaining you in, not only a unique way, but a powerful way that makes you want to watch the film again just to experience it.

Woody Harrelson is on a role. Woody's performance in Zombieland deserved a nomination for some kind of award because he made that film shine as one of my favorite films of 2009. Now partaking in this powerful film, with one of the strongest and powerful performances I have ever viewed him in, I see that he has got the longevity to stick it out in the film industry with every year he grows older.

Like I stated, The Messenger will most likely not receive an award, especially up against the great Christoph Waltz and the screenplay for Hurt Locker, but it does not take away from this unique look at life outside of the war of the Army and the reactions of people finding that their hardworking sons and daughter, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers have died protecting their country.

The Messenger easily makes my list for top 5 films viewed during this Oscar Challenge and I challenge you to find it when it comes out on DVD and give it a shot despite lack of publicity.

(10 FILMS TO GO)

An Education

AN EDUCATION

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

The film An Education was unlike any film I saw it being. The trailers for An Education made the film look scandalous. The result was quite the opposite. Carey Mulligan plays a young woman in high school is ahead of her time. The young boys that want to date her are very immature (but allow for some funny parts, especially when one comes to dinner with Carey's father, played by Alfred Molina). Eventually, Mulligan's character meets a much older man with a love for music that wants to show her the world and the art that occupies it.

Instead of the normal film where everyone finds this inappropriate (a feeling you get more often than any of the characters), it lives to its name "An Education" in which the only people that find it unacceptable are the school heads, Mulligan's teacher as well as her headmistress played by Emma Thompson. Sure that she is learning more with her new older man, played by Peter Sarsgaard, she follows his love blindly.

Carey Mulligan is fantastic in this part, not showing her true age (which is 24) through the naivety yet brilliance of her young character. Any other year, Mulligan would undoubtedly take home the gold but with so many great performances this year, she may just be overshadowed by bigger names and stronger performances, especially when she faces other new comer Gabourey Sidibe from Precious.

Not sure An Education was strong enough to take home either Best Picture or Best Adapted Screenplay. I look at the nomination lists and the film simply does not jump out at me as a huge winner.

The music to this film was surprisingly upbeat and enjoyable. The opening credits song hooked me immediately, along with the fun graphics that accompanied it. As the mood changes through the film, the music corresponds effectively.

An Education, as a whole, was a solid film, strong all the way through, however, that can be said for more than half the nominees this year, leaving An Education to not live up to high expectations.

(11 FILMS TO GO)

Nine

NINE

Up For:
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Absolutely loved this film. Characterization is my favorite part of stories, especially those of superhero stories and the like. Nine was completely filled with characters. The nominations for Nine were deserved but also inflicted confusion.

Costume & Art Direction were top notch. The sound stage with the set in progress for all the musical numbers was fantastic. Great concept, which I am guessing came from the Broadway play portion of this film. The music was phenomenal (not necessarily all the music, since some of the songs dropped the ball). The frustration begins with the song decision for the nominee: Take It All, sung by Marion Cotillard. Kate Hudson's and Fergie's musical numbers were fantastic.

The cast of Nine was a male's wet dream! Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Fergie, Marion Cotillard, as only the start. Each woman figure brought about their own style and characterization. Every woman figure you could have in your life was portrayed. The mother, the wild child, the mistress, etc. Each with their own song and aspect. The image of Fergie playing in the sand accompanying her song was vivid, while Kate Hudson's vogue-ish dance and song were pure sex, the image of her beaded clothing still shaking when I remember the film.

The biggest concern I have with the nominations given to the film was the lack of Lead Actor nomination for Daniel Day Lewis, and for many reasons. For starters, his character was brilliantly played. The interview sequence, he in his sunglasses the entire time, witty remark after witty remark to the press, his acting was spot on. I would watch that again and again. Though his singing was not the greatest, he still took on that feat and concurred it. He brought out the best of each and every woman that was opposite him (and they brought out the best in him, each in a different way). I do not believe Penelope Cruz would have gotten the nomination if it was not for Daniel Day Lewis. The fact that she was nominated over Nicole Kidman or Marion Cotillard was astounding. The biggest reason I wanted to see Lewis nominated was for the entertainment of Oscar night. The excitement would have been so much more if it were Clooney, Bridges, Firth, & Lewis. Four huge names head to head and not sure who was going to win. Clooney & Bridges blow everyone else away in the category as it stands now and that is too bad because it kills any excitement.

Overall, the film was exactly what it needed to be. It is getting tougher to determine what will make the Best Of categories, but this is definitely up there in all of its categories. I would love to see Cruz win. Though I do not agree with the song choice, seeing this film take home any awards would not be a bad thing. If you enjoy Chicago, this is a nice film by the same director. Though Chicago blows it away, the editing of the musicals into the back and forth of the conversations is fantastic and will be worth the watch. Otherwise, the film is worth the women alone.

(12 FILMS TO GO)

The Princess & The Frog

THE PRINCESS & THE FROG

Up For:
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
(2) Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Where do I begin with The Princess & The Frog? What happened to Disney films?

Before viewing Princess & The Frog, I revisited two Disney classics, Aladdin and The Lion King. Now yes, they are classics and therefore rule all in the kingdom of Disney, but honestly, Princess & The Frog is no where even in the ball park of the originals. That said, even in the field of animated features that it is in, I believe it fails, and in several aspects, including the categories it is up for.

The songs were (and still should be) the guiding light of the Disney genre. I could recite to you the lyrics to the songs of most all the major Disney films. Two days removed from Princess & The Frog and I can recite maybe three words from the movies one nominated song "Almost There" (singing that part and that part only over and over in your head is not recommended). I feel with even several more viewings (please God don't make me), I would still not catch onto the songs because they were unexciting and unremarkable. Disney is a worldwide powerhouse, so obviously I can see the film winning its nomination for that fact only, but Up and Fantastic Mr. Fox were light years beyond this film, songs or no songs.

The characters were too specific for a Disney film. A black "princess", a Southern belle, and Hispanic princess? I know they were building up the Southern theme in New Orleans, but it got to be a little much. That aside, the messages that were being pumped across were too much for me as well. The voodoo shadow man being in "debt" to the demons, his "friends" on the other side while the main "princess" (not actually a princess until the final minutes of the film) is advocating for hard work to earn what she wants (so much so that she neglects everything else).

Some of the characters, however, were enjoyable. The voice of John Goodman added light to his character of Big Daddy. Though hardly in the film much (as were most of the supporting characters), his voice lightened up the darkness that was this film. The voodoo shadow man was excellent. Instead of recycling the likes of their other villains, Disney still knows how to create a unique villain that could stand next to the others in a line-up and still look unique. The voodoo mama was good as well (though, once again, hardly even in the film). The best character of all was a caricature of the Southern hillbilly in the form of a lightning bug. Every line coming from the cartoon characters tiny little mouth were hilarious.

For a child's film, the Princess & the Frog contained some dark subject matter. Though the voodoo demons were scary in their own way, (SPOILER ALERT!!!) the death of a certain beloved character was handled adult-ish, as though children would understand what was going on. I would not want to be the parent explaining what the death of that character meant. Sure, it can be told off as just a film, a fantasy, but to subject your children to death at such a young age seems anti-naivety.

The children that were in the film during my screening were enthralled with this film. They laughed at parts that I would never find funny, they were close to balling during the death scene, and it dawned on me that these Best Animated Features should truly be judged by children, because though adults get something out of the films a majority of the time, these films are ultimately made for children to enjoy and adults should not be judging them. So maybe that is what I will tell myself if this film wins on Oscar night to make myself feel better. I say, "the children must have decided the winner of that one."

(13 FILMS TO GO)

Invictus

INVICTUS

Up For:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Invictus started off the night of the triple header at the Safari theater. As the longest film of the night, we planned on getting it out of the way. Invictus did not disappoint.

Morgan Freeman was a solid choice for Leading Actor. Put a picture of Nelson Mandela next to Morgan Freeman and you would think they were separated at birth. Freeman's accent was consistent throughout the film, but not sure the accent fit Freeman's normal demeanor. All other aspects of Freeman's performance were completely expected from the seasoned performer. Not sure Freeman deserves the win in this category in comparison to Clooney & Bridges, but helps make Invictus an overall "feel good" film.

Matt Damon, plain and simply is hardly in this film. The beginning portion of the film is completely Matt Damon free. The end relies heavy on his involvement however, as the rugby team captain of the South Africa Springboks. Damon's performance was lackluster, however. Not that Damon did not fit the part but there was little part to be had besides the few inspirational speeches given to his team. Keanu Reeves did that in The Replacements and in no way would he have deserved an Oscar nod for that performance. So far, Damon's performance falls below the others viewed, with nothing against Matt Damon because he, like Freeman, makes this film well-rounded.

Acting awards aside, Invictus was an overall great film. The film accurately depicted the events of that era and depicted them well in an entertaining way, which was the film's job and intentions. I would say this film succeeded. For the two hours spent viewing it, I was enthralled by the story and was able to pick up the symbolism between all the different groups and how they came together, all because of Nelson Mandela. Not every historical depiction can also be entertaining. One of the film's only downfalls was making the coming together of the different cultures very simple, while I am sure in reality, the desegregation of South Africa was more grueling and painstaking. Damon's family was able to get passed their hate for Mandela in the matter of a few scenes, even though his family was hardly involved what-so-ever. Cops were willing to let a young black boy sit on their car after minutes earlier shooing him (which was great for comic relief, but extremely unrealistic).

In the end, another great family film brought to the light by the Academy Awards, but I feel as though that is all I took from it and nothing more. I do not see either man taking home the award on Oscar night (not that seeing Freeman with the gold would both me). I would definitely watch this film again, as it takes the historical accurate film and combines it with the sports genre film to create a nice, even blend.

(14 FILMS TO GO)

A Single Man

A SINGLE MAN

Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Watching the trailer for this film does not prepare you for what you are stepping into.

Here is what I knew about this film when I stepped in:

Tom Ford, a fashion designer, is a first time director.

Colin Firth is nominated for Best Lead Actor.

Julianne Moore had Oscar buzz before the nominees came out.

Period. That was all I knew about the film.

First, Tom Ford, an openly gay man, makes a great debut as director in this homoerotic longing. The style of this film alone was enough to keep me intrigued. The color changes in the film allow for many interpretations and the camera movements are gorgeous. The screenplay is seamless in portions and a somewhat loose in others. The one thing that never came to mind during the viewing was fashion. Besides Julianne Moore, no one really wore anything out of the ordinary (this was a 60's film). Not to say that costumes were not great, they were just not extraordinary.

Now, Colin Firth: do I think he delivered a great performance... yes. Do I think he will win the Oscar? Absolutely not. In comparison to Jeff Bridges & George Clooney's A+ performances, Firth can not stand up to such monumental statures. Needless to say, Firth carries this film on his back. Without him, there would be no film. Firth becomes this character and rarely ever veers from the course of sheer perfection. Sadly, however, the film is just not good enough for him to shine completely. Had Firth taken Clooney's spot in Up In The Air, perhaps, but A Single Man was not able to challenge Firth enough, and for that, this performance remains unworthy of an Oscar.

I was surprised when I saw the trailer for A Single Man, and it exclaimed that Julianne Moore would definitely be up for an Oscar. Having the nominees announced, there was no such nomination. I feel this occurred because Moore was just not in the film that much. In an hour and a half, she was present for less than 20 minutes (if even that long). With such a small performance, you cannot even begin to compare her to Sandra Bullock or even Anna Kendrick for Supporting Actress, who strongly carried their respected films. Not surprised with the non-nomination of Julianna Moore.

Overall, an impressive directing debut for Tom Ford, but Ford has a long way to go before I go view another of his films. Colin Firth delivers a solid performance but is unable to break through the glass ceiling that this film's sub-par nature builds for him (you are only as good as the film itself).

(15 FILMS TO GO)

Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS

Up For:
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Costume Design

The first two words that come to mind within the first 15 minutes of this film: Low Budget!

Now I know, "do not judge a book by its cover" so I bit my tongue through the film and hoped for the best. I was sadly mistaken.

Dubbed as the great Heath Ledger's final performance (before his untimely demise), you assume that this film will be note-worthy. Dead or alive, you end up wondering why Heath ever agreed to partake in such a film.

First, looking solely at what the film was nominated for (Art Direction & Costume Design), neither deserve the accreditation. The clothes look like bed sheets and window blinds found in a garbage dump, which, to the filmmaker's credit, was what I assume they were going for, however, no style what-so-ever was brought to them. The only costumes that I even recall were that of actress Lily Cole's when they are performing the Imaginarium on stage. Besides those brief instances, the costumes are un-noteworthy.

Art Direction, again, resembles that of a garbage dump (and not in the way that was intended). I never felt like the film tried to produce a style with any art what-so-ever. The bus they drove around was a cluster-cuss (thanks Mr. Fox). I felt as though it may be stylish, but upon reexamining my thoughts, the bus nor the stage get-ups were very established.

Perhaps the film went entirely over my head, but I did not buy into anything the filmmaker was trying to sell to me. The imagination sequences were gaudy, with animations that a beginning animator could conjure up. The attempt at salvaging the structure of the film without Heath was laughable and confusing. And overall, the entire film felt low budget (quality looked home video-ish, acting was not spot on, and the sets, costumes, and props all fell apart in front of you).

The film acted simply as a remembrance of Heath Ledger and nothing more. Heath Ledger acted as best as possible given the film he was acting in. By far, Heath was the shining light of the film, postmortem or not. Lily Cole was gorgeous and allowed for "eye candy", but generally glossed over as a character (besides a "piece" manipulated by the Doctor and the Devil). The adding of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, & Colin Farrel were appreciated but utterly ineffective. I have been told I do not understand Terry Gilliam's work, and that is fine, perhaps the film is not intended for me. The screenplay, to me, was a mess. The twists and turns were not well done. I understood the plot for the most part, but saw no reasoning behind any character's motives or driving forces. The plot simply came down to Immortals being bored and playing games, which leaves for no moral or underlying message.

Sorry to say, this film will gladly not take any Oscars home, which is sad for the memory of Heath Ledger, which should have been left in The Dark Knight and not a low budget, Monty Python-turned-serious film. Long live The Joker.

(16 FILMS TO GO)

Fantastic Mr. Fox

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Stop motion animation at the medium's finest. Easily fell in love with this film.

Fox brings all the elements of a good film together in one package, leading in great voice actors, great screenplay, and great animation.

George Clooney tops off as the voice of Mr. Fox, only leading a cast of brilliance with Meryl Streep (you would never guess in a million years that she does the voice of the Misses in the film) and Jason Swartzman as my personal favorite, the child of the Fox's, Ash. Add Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, and Owen Wilson, and you have a truly unique voice cast.

Wes Anderson definitely brings his unique writing and directing to this film. The dialogue is genius and definitely creates a new blend of kids movie mixed with adult movie that films like Shrek & Up have made a staple in the industry. Not only will adults love the film (unless stop motion films scare you, which I know plenty of people that fit into that category) and plenty of children will love from the book by Roald Dahl (known for Matilda, The BFG, and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory).

Overall, great animated film that blows miles passed Coraline. Mr. Fox's biggest competition in the Oscars... Up. Though Fantastic Mr. Fox has not yet hit DVD, I feel as though when it does you will find many nay-sayers not for the humor or style of the film, while Up seems to be loved by all and rightfully so. I strongly feel that on Oscar night, Up should take the gold. Up does so many more things that Fantastic Mr. Fox just did not accomplish. Up aside, however, Mr. Fox was splendid and is worth several viewings (1) for catching onto the humor, (2) catching what was missed while catching onto the humor, and maybe even (3) for good measure. If anything, you will be lulled asleep by the soothing voice of George Clooney and his all-star voice cast.

(17 FILMS TO GO)

The Blind Side

THE BLIND SIDE

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Ask any one of my friends and most likely they can tell one thing... I dislike Sandra Bullock. Recently, her two headline roles have been in the Proposal and All About Steve (to which she won as Razzie Award, the equivalence of worst performance of the year). I was not a fan of either of those films, nor was I a fan of Miss Congeniality (1 or 2), Speed (1 or 2), or anything else she was in: Lake House was bad, Premonition was horrible, and Forces of Nature, not so good.

Needless to say, seeing her name in the nominations for Best Lead Actress made me chuckle. How can you go from worst performance of the year to best in a matter of one film. I was skeptical. Don't get me wrong, every time a new Sandra Bullock film comes out, I give it a chance because I want Sandra Bullock to sway me. There's nothing wrong with her, it is just her acting and characters completely and utterly annoy me to where I do not enjoy seeing her films. Never have I met a Sandra Bullock film I liked... Until Blind Side.

The Blind Side was a nice family drama. There is little conflict, which can make for a boring story, but somehow this film survived. My thought is that you get so caught up the real life situation that you put aside the lack of conflict and embrace the warm, comforting feeling you receive throughout the film.

Sandra Bullock was my favorite part. Not only was she stunningly gorgeous (blonde really suits her), I could not wait to see her again. Her character was so confident and striking that you couldn't help but be turned on by her (not in a sexual connotation). She was fiery and passionate, and everything that has ever been lacking from a Sandra Bullock performance. I believed her. To me, she might as well have been the real thing and loved her for it. Never thought I would say this, but Sandra Bullock finally swayed me to like her (if only just in this film).

Quinton Aaron, the main black character was BIG! But he could not act. You find this out within the first 5 minutes of the film, which was one of the most confusing set-ups to a film I have ever viewed. About four flashbacks in the course of 5 minutes that were unnecessary and added nothing structurally to the film.

In comparison, the young boy in the family, Jae Head, was an amazing actor. He, too, radiated confidence and an understanding for the comic element he was supplying. For a 13 year old kid, he definitely has a long future in the business. I just watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother where this kid made his debut as a kid stuck in a claw machine that Robin is reporting a story on. Great kid.

The other acting parts were minimal but suitable. Tim McGraw was average (did not know it was him until looking at the credits just minutes ago). Lily Collins was good as well for having not been in much.

Overall, this was a great film and I am confident in saying Sandra Bullock deserves the nomination. Everyone has the one part they were meant to play and this one was Sandra's. The film to me does not scream Oscar Winner and I do not see it winning the title. However, a great family film none-the-less. Do not expect to be amazed by the film as a whole, but enjoy the warmth the film brings and take from it the true story (really enjoyed the footage of the actual people during the credits... I love when filmmakers indulge us).

(18 FILMS TO GO)

Good News!

Good news to anyone who is following the journey: looks like I will be able to watch all but three films this year. I was able to find most films in the area.

The ones I will miss:
The White Ribbon (nominated for Best Cinematography)
The Most Dangerous Man In America (documentary)
Which Way Home (documentary)

If anyone knows where I can find these three, please let me know here, through e-mail, or Facebook.

Otherwise I have schedule for seeing the rest of the films including a tripler-header @ Safari this Saturday if you care to join me (Nine, Invictus, and Princess & the Frog). Otherwise, I have 13 other films to view (not counting those 6 films previously mentioned), in less than two weeks. Hope you are all getting through your own challenges and keep in touch.

The Young Victoria

THE YOUNG VICTORIA

Up For:
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Best Achievement in Makeup

Overall, fantastic film. Emily Blunt is exquisite. Paul Bettany (not Ifans Rhys as I commonly mistake the two) was fantastic as well. Mark Strong took part in the cast as well, playing such a great part I did not even recognize him (most recently in Sherlock Holmes and Rock'N'Rolla). Coming out of the film, I am rather shocked that none of these fine performances were nominated for Best Actor or Actress, especially Emily Blunt. Hands down (only having seen Meryl Streep's performance of course), I would give the Oscar to Emily and will be severely disappointed to not see her beaming face take home the prize.

The aspects the film was nominated for is rightfully so. I find it difficult to produce the standards the judges look for when viewing the category films of Art Direction, Costume, and Make-Up. Do they look for quantity or quality or both. Obviously it is both, I suppose. If the costumes are sheer perfection and hundreds are used, then it would be apparent that the film that takes advantage of both would win the award.

Against, Bright Star and Coco Before Chanel, this film had the quantity. Though the idea of determining which film created better sets and costumes is difficult since most films these days do pretty well in recreating (or creating) the worlds in which they portray. Overall, I would say the costumes beat those of other films simply by never having to question them and seeing tons of them. Though I would not be surprised if Coco came through since the film was about a designer and they are recreating her outfits.

Oscars aside, Young Victoria blew my expectations for a period piece. The film flies by and with so many great performances, it is hard to dislike the characters that are inherently evil in nature, like Bettany's & Strong's character (although you end up hating Strong's character very much). The film carries you though the full spectrum of emotion and definitely provides enough for a second viewing, if only for trying to figure out the balance of power with kings & queens. Do not be surprised to see this film take home the gold in the given categories.

(19 FILMS TO GO)

Bright Star

BRIGHT STAR

Up For: Best Achievement in Costume Design


A viewer must be in a right mood to simply sit down and take in Bright Star. Though the costumes were gorgeous and century appropriate, the dialogue and storyline is like reading the poetry that is being presented.

The performances were great. The two leads were wonderful, though the on-screen chemistry was through dialogue instead of physically (which is era appropriate I am sure). Paul Schneider was the best performance to come out of the film, followed closely by Ben Whishaw. Schneider, though not a main character, was dead on with accent, demeanor, and style. When ever there were moments of no Schneider, I was anticipating his return.

Bright Star is a great time piece, but as a film, lacks in engaging you. The entire plot is an on-again, off-again relationship between a poor poet and a woman, who really does nothing but scream, cry, and cut herself.

Bright Star has been the hardest film to watch of all the Oscar movies thus far, but not for a lack of trying more so than just not being my cup of tea. Personal opinion aside, the film was nicely done. Still not sure it will take home Best Costume Design with Young Victoria and even Coco Before Chanel as the competition.

(20 FILMS TO GO)

Avatar

AVATAR

Up For:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Achievement in Directing
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Best Achievement in Editing
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Best Achievement in Visual Effects

For a long time, I waited to say my piece about Avatar (if you are a friend of mine, you have probably heard me rant about Avatar at least once). Just the idea of Avatar and its recycled storyline and one trick pony was, to me, hardly one of the best films ever made, in idea and ultimately in viewing.

Yes, the graphics were great and will win those awards accordingly. Best Visual Effects & Art Direction for sure. The rest I am not too sure. Many times I have compared the film to a Led Zepplin Laser Show. When all the reviews I hear of the film are "it was gorgeous" and "the colors were pretty" I want to ask, but how was the story, the acting, the score. The reason it is so pretty is because that's all it is.

The story was beaten to death. Pocahontas ring any bells? I know most stories are reused these days and that is fine. But this film was tagged as 20 years in the making?? Did James Cameron watch Pocahontas and then start the writing of this story. And in hopes of not making the same story twice waited 20 years to release so viewers were less likely to recall the plot of Pocahontas. I have also heard the comparison to Fern Gully, which resembled this film very much. As for hooking up to machines to "become" the Avatars, the Matrix films cover that. And, in the end, there is nothing wrong with reusing ideas, but do not make it the best selling film of all time... Do not award it the Academy Award for Best Picture. IT MEANT NOTHING.

Personally, it is simply no wonder that this was NOT nominated for ANY acting or screenplay awards. Plain and simple, those areas were horrible. The dialogue in portions was atrocious. At times this felt like a paint-by-numbers film (both visually & story-wise). Give me a break, in no way would people continuous be explaining how everything worked in this world (which is everything because this was like LOTR, nothing was normal). There was no mystery in this film. Everything was laid out in front of you, being painted as you went. What is the fun in that? I want a surprise here and there, I want a twist, a moment of tension where I think one thing might happen and then another occurrence comes out of nowhere... I do not want to see, clearly, the end of the film 15 minutes into the credits (especially when it is a 2 hours plus movie).

Caring for anything in Avatar was dismal. With all the hissing and "Come Get Some's" that were being thrown around, I never really connected with any of the characters. Problems were solved without any real understanding as to why. I could never buy what was going on (not in regards to the futuristic aspect).

The best performance in the film: Giovanni Ribsi. He had the smallest part, but he was the only one I truly believed. The rest were disposable. You honestly could have put any actor as any one of those characters and it would not have mattered one way or the other.

What it all comes down to is that Avatar is the highest grossing film in the history of films, and that just goes to show you where our society is at right now. For all the crap Transformers gets for being worthless, Avatar is that and worse, yet no one feels that because James Cameron, the creator of Titanic, created it. I have nothing personal against James Cameron either. If Michael Bay made this film, I would have felt the same.

Ultimately, this film will win some awards but any more than some and I will be severely disappointed. Please Hollywood, produce a film worthy of highest grossing film and soon.

(21 FILMS TO GO)

Food Inc.

FOOD INC.

Up For: Best Documentary, Features


Here is what Food Inc. did for me: it disgusted me, it ripped my heart out, it suggested that I live the wrong way but cannot do anything about it because of my social status, and left me feeling helpless.

A documentary like this needs to be careful. The entire film is broken into sections and each section is a different area of food production (sometimes...) involving cows, chickens, pigs, etc. You meet farmers who work from small organic farms, to mass producing farms.

Warning however, the images you can see are very graphic, but they let you know this within the first segment little chicks are being conveyor-belted through machines...

The reason this film made me feel helpless was saying that the world had come to this point because of money. It is easier to pay a dollar for a McDonalds chicken sandwich than to produce a healthier (for you and the environment) option for yourself for nothing near a dollar. They ended up saying it was this way because of social status and how much money is being made in any given household.

It was hard to get any "action" from this documentary. Facts are shoved at you throughout the entire film of the bad things, but hardly ever fixes to these problems. One of the nine or so segments was about buying organic yogurt that is carried in Wal-Mart and the end had written word of "generic" things you could do, but in the end it was simply a ploy to get you to visit their website.

Overall, I feel that The Cove was a better mix of a documentary, causing a full range of emotion. But I have a feeling this is what Food Inc. was going for. They wanted to freak you out so that you would want to do something. What they don't realize is most people with eating problems already eat more when they are depressed.

Going off on a side tangent a little bit, but you have to wonder. If our culture could actually afford to organically grow and produce all our foods if that could actually work for as many people there are in the world. Even the organic farmer was not sure that if a large majority of the population started buying from him, and people like him, if they could sustain and meet the needs....

In the end, you just end up mad at corporations again. I really want to know what kind of people make up a corporation. Because they all seem skewed. The Cove had that feeling from it as well. There is just a skewed sense of reality in corporations (that the rules do not apply to them) that affects the whole world. The seed part of the film was the most obvious of this as they were putting small, old man farmers out of business for not using the genetically engineered seeds in planting. And in some scheme, "seed cleaning" (still not sure what this was... never really explained, just assumed I knew or I was a farmer...) was banned and the men doing it ended up looking like Soviet supporters during the Red Scare.

Ultimately, I really do not see Food Inc. winning. It got a lot of hype, but I guess I just do not want to see it win because it really wasn't that great. The Cove was by far better produced and relied less on fact-basing and more on getting the viewer engaged, something that Food Inc. was lacking. So if you want to be grossed out and have hundreds of facts thrown at you, go for it. Worth a viewing just to see a part of society you normally do not see, but otherwise, not Oscar-worthy.

(22 FILMS TO GO)

My Journey Thus Far

So far so good... My adventure through the many films nominated for Academy Awards is really paying off. I am completely amazed at how great films that sound so bad in title and on paper can turn out to be. I keep getting the same response from people: they are Oscar movies, they are supposed to be good. But most Oscar movies have a tendency of being bland and overrated. This year, I have enjoyed the small titles just as much as the big ones.

Here is an outline of what I have seen and where it fits in the nominations, and if I can, my predictions with what I have seen thus far (or speculation, as far as Avatar nods go):

Actor in a Leading Role

* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Prediction: Jeff Bridges (should be close between Bridges & Clooney)


Actor in a Supporting Role

* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Prediction: Christoph Waltz (Only one I've seen so far but ultimately want him either way)


Actress in a Leading Role

* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Predictions: Not Meryl Streep (Not Oscar-worthy performance)


Actress in a Supporting Role

* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”

Predictions: Anna Kendrick (honestly do not think anyone could top this performance)


Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Up” Pete Docter

Prediction: Up (out of these two, obviously Up... afraid either way, my bias against stop motion filmmaking will cause me this category)


Art Direction

* “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

Prediction: No Sherlock Holmes (do not see any Oscar nods in Holmes' future)


Cinematography

* “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
* “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
* “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (see this film taking best director, screenplay, & picture)


Costume Design

* “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier

Predictions: ??? (possibly Coco, but very tough to tell without other viewings - gut feeling tells me Nine will take it)


Directing

* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (see Cinematography Prediction)


Documentary (Feature)

* “The Cove” Nominees to be determined

Prediction: ??? (Gut feeling tells me Food Inc. -- watching that one tonight.)


Film Editing

* “District 9” Julian Clarke
* “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke

Prediction: ??? (Gut feeling tells me Avatar for anything technical)


Makeup

* “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

Prediction: ??? (Gut reaction says Young Victoria)


Music (Original Score)

* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
* “Up” Michael Giacchino

Prediction: Up (Hands down thus far, deserves it ---whether it will get it is another story)


Music (Original Song)

* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Prediction: Crazy Heart (just because I believe since it didn't get Best Picture nom it deserves to win everything else it is up for... haha... skewed perception of justice I know)


Best Picture

* “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro
* “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
* “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
* “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
* “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (gotta go with Hurt Locker just because it has been bringing home awards where ever it goes, there's no way Avatar can take it without having anything in either acting or screenplay... know it makes it so Up In The Air wins nothing throughout the night, but I will be damned if anything besides those two win)


Short Film (Animated)
None yet


Sound Editing

* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
* “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
* “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
* “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Prediction: ??? (Avatar most likely...)


Sound Mixing

* “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
* “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
* “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
* “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Prediction: ??? (Avatar most likely again...)


Visual Effects

* “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Prediction: ??? (Okay, if it took him 20 years to make, obviously it will probably win this one... Avatar...)


Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Prediction: Up In The Air (possibly the only award it will bring home that night... sad)


Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Prediction: The Hurt Locker (I think to solidify its spot as Best Picture is has to win this one)

Julie & Julia

JULIE & JULIA

Up For: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Meryl Streep)


Julie & Julia inspired me to start this blog.

The film itself was entertaining, but did not strike me as Oscar-worthy. The performances were sub-par, especially from Meryl Streep. I simply have a feeling that the people that grew up with Julia Childs teaching them to cook on the television saw the striking resemblance in Meryl and thus decided she deserved a nomination.

The plot was based on two true stories, which made for an entertaining, back and forth story-telling. Once again, the film rose to the challenge of its bland title and subject matter and I was able to latch onto certain ideas the film delved into, like the process of getting a book published. I have always wanted to be a writer and so as Julia Childs tried to get her cookbook published, I followed along. My passion for writing was then matched by Amy Adams character, as she too was frustrated with her current position in life and wanted more, thus starting a blog and working her way through the entire Julia Childs cookbook.

The acting was solid all the way through. Streep & Adams lived up to their names, while Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina provided nice support for their women (both acting-wise and plot-wise).

Glad I viewed this film at least once, but otherwise do not feel the need for a second viewing. Not really turned onto the book either.

(23 FILMS TO GO)

Paris 36

PARIS 36 (FAUBOURG 36)

Up For: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song


The first thing I told myself was to take the easy way out and simply look up the four individual songs up for nominations (the fifth I had already seen in Crazy Heart) and choose from there without watching the entire films. Instead, I took the leap into the unknown of Paris 36.

Warning to many, the entire film is subtitled, something that does not bother me at all.

The song was good, catchy, and fit the film perfectly, but unsure if it deserves an Oscar. It is hard to pick a song that should win when they come from not only different genres of films but of genres of music.

Oscars aside, Faubourg 36 was a mix between Moulin Rouge and Chicago. The plot involves the restoration of a famous show house, the rising of unionization in France, and a lover's quarrel between the rich and the poor. There is so much that fills this film. So many characters, storylines, and dynamics, it is a wonder how it even made the two hour cut.

Great film. Once again, I went in thinking I would pull my hair out and ended up thoroughly pleased. If you ever want to challenge yourself, rent this film and give it at least one try. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

(24 FILMS TO GO)