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Post by AD on Jan 18, 2010 2:28:12 GMT -5
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Post by Her 69 Eyes on Jan 18, 2010 3:52:09 GMT -5
I didn't have too many complaints with the Critic's Choice awards - Streep/Bullock sharing an award was lousy, and, as much as I enjoy Saoirse Ronan, Bailee Madison's performance is one of the best of the year (she's only ten, probably eight or nine when filming "Brothers"). The Golden Globes, on the other hand, were pretty infuriating.
The story of last year's award season was artistic, independent pictures finding a large audience due to things falling perfectly into place. "Slumdog Millionaire" became a sensation out of nowhere. Mickey Rourke was reassigned star status with "The Wrestler". Sally Hawkins won a Golden Globe for "Happy-Go-Lucky". Colin Farrell won for "In Bruges". The year before represented more of the same, and it also arguably had the highest-caliber films of any year in the decade.
This year's Golden Globes was everything the Golden Globes are criticized for - it was a popularity contest. "Avatar" is an enormous achievement. But, look at it this way: "Up in the Air" received three nominations for acting, and it won for Best Screenplay. "Avatar" was not nominated for screenplay, nor was it nominated for it's acting. Why, then, if these awards are meant to signify the very best, did it have the edge? Impeccable acting may not be completely necessary to a great film (i'd argue it is), but writing is essential. The lousy script is what made "Avatar" a fairly good picture, not a great one.
Robert Downey Jr. winning for "Sherlock Holmes" is no less appalling. I enjoy everything that he does, but Ritchie's mindless onslaught of rapid-fire cuts and slow-motion fight sequences didn't exactly give him a platform to deliver a memorable, authentic, passionate performance. There's nothing to that character due to Ritchie's incompetence, and Downey Jr. didn't help matters with an exceptional performance. He's serviceable at best.
Michael Stuhlbarg and Matt Damon both brought complete performances, each with a character with the deck highly stacked against them. Damon showed impeccable comic timing, and he brought enough humanity to his character that, even while he's doing things we find idiotic and completely appalling, we care about him. Stuhlbarg's life is crashing around him monumentally, and really all he's allowed to do with the character is react. But the way he meticulously crafts the building pressure is astounding. I had goosebumps by the time he completely broke, giving the "I... I... I've tried to be a serious man!" speech. What transformation does Sherlock Holmes undergo? What does he do to earn the audience's sympathy?
And man, what a fucking shame that Carey Mulligan has lost all the momentum she seemed to have early on. I assumed Bullock had a good shot at beating her at the Golden Globes, but i'm stunned she didn't take home the Critic's Choice. She made "An Education", so much so that I think it's one of the defining female performances of the decade. Meryl Streep was really good, way to good for the movie she was in, but it'll be remembered as an exceptional imitation. "The Blind Side" is the only contender I haven't seen/don't intend to see, so I can't speak about Bullock. Nothing i've read or heard suggests that she's any more remarkable than Streep or Mulligan, though.
Stars have a tendency to feign humility when winning awards, but here their assumptions were just - Cameron said Bigelow should've won, RDJ said he thought Matt Damon would win, Reitman thought Tarantino would win, etc.. I have more faith in awards shows than most, but I can't fathom "Sherlock Holmes" and "Avatar" winning awards, while "The Hurt Locker" comes home empty handed.
Atleast we have the Independent Spirit awards to look forward to. Last year, they championed films like "Ballast", "Wendy and Lucy", "The Wrestler", and, even before anyone knew anything about it, "The Hurt Locker". This year's line-up isn't anywhere near the quality of last year's, but it'll be good to see films like "The Messenger", "Sin Nombre", "Goodbye Solo", etc. get the credit they deserve.
Oh, Martin Scorsese's speech was great. And, of the winners, Drew Barrymore, incomprehensible as it may have been, gave a passionate acceptance speech. Harrison Ford seemed gizmo'd out of his mind. Michael Haneke getting played off perfectly represented everything that's wrong with the Golden Globes. If people like Streep can talk as long as they want, Haneke most certainly should as well.
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Post by ALIAS/JAMIE on Jan 18, 2010 16:45:58 GMT -5
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Post by AD on Jan 18, 2010 18:11:59 GMT -5
I completely agree with you about the Globes, Eric. I hated a lot of the nominations when they were announced, and the winners were just as disappointing.
I liked Avatar a lot, but it's barely in my top 10 right now and I still haven't seen most of the big awards contenders. At the very least, I suppose it makes the Oscar race more interesting. Nothing could be more boring than watching the same movie win every single award, like Slumdog did last year.
Of the nominated comedies The Hangover was my second favorite, behind (500) Days of Summer, but how they could overlook such movies as Adventureland (which would've gotten my vote), Funny People, or even Zombieland in favor of crap like The Proposal and It's Complicated is shameful to me. In fairness, I haven't seen either of those two films, but if anybody can prove to me that either is anything more than a formulaic star vehicle I'd welcome the argument.
I didn't even realize Sherlock Holmes was supposed to be a comedy. I'm not trying to be funny, I've seen the movie, and I thought it was pretty clearly a bad action movie pretending to be a bad mystery. Also, Adam Sandler should have been nominated in the category.
It is a shame that Carey Mulligan is losing all her momentum, but you never know, Marion Cotillard didn't have any momentum a couple years ago but still went home with the Oscar. So there's still a chance, and she definitely deserves it.
On a more positive note, Scorsese was a delight to listen to, as always.
I was giddy like a school girl when Glee won. It probably won because of it's popularity, but I don't care. I'm so gay for that show.
The standing ovation for Jeff Bridges was also a wonderful moment. He's now almost a lock for the Oscar.
I've also really enjoyed Christoph Waltz' acceptance speeches so far. They're completely contrived and not the least bit profound, but he clearly puts some serious thought into what he's going to say.
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Post by Harry on Jan 18, 2010 20:36:17 GMT -5
I was really happy to see Giacchino get Best Score. A big part of the emotion in "Up" comes from the music.
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Post by Her 69 Eyes on Jan 21, 2010 17:43:18 GMT -5
Here's the shortlist for the foreign language film Academy Award: El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Juan Jose Campanella – Argentina Samson & Delilah, Warwick Thornton – Australia The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner, Stephan Komandarev – Bulgaria Un Prophete, Jacques Audiard – France The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke – Germany Ajami, Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani – Israel Kelin, directed by Ermek Tursunov – Kazakhstan, – Kazakhstan Winter in Wartime, directed by Martin Koolhoven – The Netherlands The Milk of Sorrow, directed by Claudia Llosa – Peru I've only seen The White Ribbon and A Prophet of the nine, the others haven't had any sort of U.S. release. Most of them are on torrent sites, however, so it shouldn't be hard to catch up once the nominations are narrowed down to five. I'm a bit surprised to see Broken Embraces not make the cut. It wasn't Almodovar's best, but he's always been a critical darling. Also, here are the nominations for the BAFTAs. I like these quite a bit - Christian McKay, Fish Tank, An Education, even Alec Baldwin getting nominations. BEST FILM * Avatar – James Cameron, Jon Landau * An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer * The Hurt Locker – Nominees TBC * Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire – Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness * Up In the Air – Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
* An Education – Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby * Fish Tank – Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold * In the Loop – Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche * Moon – Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler, Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker * Nowhere Boy – Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae, Robert Bernstein, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
* LUCY BAILEY, ANDREW THOMPSON, ELIZABETH MORGAN HEMLOCK, DAVID PEARSON – Directors, Producers – Mugabe and the White African * ERAN CREEVY – Writer/Director – Shifty * STUART HAZELDINE – Writer/Director – Exam * DUNCAN JONES – Director – Moon * SAM TAYLOR-WOOD – Director – Nowhere Boy
DIRECTOR
* Avatar – James Cameron * District 9 – Neill Blomkamp * An Education – Lone Scherfig * The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow * Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
* The Hangover – Jon Lucas, Scott Moore * The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal * Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino * A Serious Man – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen * Up – Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
* District 9 – Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell * An Education – Nick Hornby * In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche * Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher * Up In the Air – Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
* Broken Embraces – Agustín Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar * Coco Before Chanel – Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontaine * Let the Right One In – Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson * A Prophet – Pascale Caucheteux, Marco Chergui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard * The White Ribbon – Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke
ANIMATED FILM
* Coraline – Henry Selick * Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson * Up – Pete Docter
LEADING ACTOR
* JEFF BRIDGES – Crazy Heart * GEORGE CLOONEY – Up In the Air * COLIN FIRTH – A Single Man * JEREMY RENNER – The Hurt Locker * ANDY SERKIS – Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
LEADING ACTRESS
* CAREY MULLIGAN – An Education * SAOIRSE RONAN – The Lovely Bones * GABOUREY SIDIBE – Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire * MERYL STREEP – Julie & Julia * AUDREY TAUTOU – Coco Before Chanel
SUPPORTING ACTOR
* ALEC BALDWIN – It's Complicated * CHRISTIAN McKAY – Me and Orson Welles * ALFRED MOLINA – An Education * STANLEY TUCCI – The Lovely Bones * CHRISTOPH WALTZ – Inglourious Basterds
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
* ANNE-MARIE DUFF – Nowhere Boy * VERA FARMIGA – Up in the Air * ANNA KENDRICK – Up in the Air * MO'NIQUE – Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire * KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS – Nowhere Boy
MUSIC
* Avatar – James Horner * Crazy Heart – T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton * Fantastic Mr. Fox – Alexandre Desplat * Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll – Chaz Jankel * Up – Michael Giacchino
CINEMATOGRAPHY
* Avatar – Mauro Fiore * District 9 – Trent Opaloch * The Hurt Locker – Barry Ackroyd * Inglourious Basterds – Robert Richardson * The Road – Javier Aguirresarobe
EDITING
* Avatar – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron * District 9 – Julian Clarke * The Hurt Locker – Bob Murawski, Chris Innis * Inglourious Basterds – Sally Menke * Up in the Air – Dana E. Glauberman
PRODUCTION DESIGN
* Avatar – Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair * District 9 – Philip Ivey, Guy Poltgieter * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan * The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Nominees TBC * Inglourious Basterds – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds Wasco
COSTUME DESIGN
* Bright Star – Janet Patterson * Coco Before Chanel – Catherine Leterrier * An Education – Odile Dicks-Mireaux * A Single Man – Arianne Phillips * The Young Victoria – Sandy Powell
SOUND
* Avatar – Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson, Addison Teague * District 9 – Nominees TBC * The Hurt Locker – Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson, Craig Stauffer * Star Trek – Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark Stoeckinger, Ben Burtt * Up – Tom Myers, Michael Silvers, Michael Semanick
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
* Avatar – Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones * District 9 – Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – John Richardson, Tim Burke, Tim Alexander, Nicolas Aithadi * The Hurt Locker – Richard Stutsman * Star Trek – Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton
MAKEUP & HAIR
* Coco Before Chanel – Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen, Jane Milon * An Education – Lizzie Yianni Georgiou * The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – Sarah Monzani * Nine – Peter 'Swords' King * The Young Victoria – Jenny Shircore
ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
* Jesse Eisenberg * Nicholas Hoult * Carey Mulligan * Tahar Rahim * Kristen Stewart
I'm looking forward to the SAGs this weekend. Pulling for An Education in ensemble (Basterds will probably get it), Carey Mulligan in actress, and Curb Your Enthusiasm for best ensemble in a comedy.
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Post by ALIAS/JAMIE on Jan 22, 2010 15:20:02 GMT -5
The public voted "RISING STAR" award is the Bafta's unique little thing. Here are this years noms: Jesse Eisenberg Nicholas Hoult Carey Mulligan Tahar Rahim Kristen Stewart Previous winners: 2009 Winner - Noel Clarke Other Nominees: Michael Cera Michael Fassbender Rebecca Hall Toby Kebbell
2008 Winner - Shia LaBeouf Other Nominees: Sienna Miller Ellen Page Sam Riley Tang Wei
2007 Winner - Eva Green Other Nominees: Emily Blunt Naomie Harris Cillian Murphy Ben Whishaw
2006 Winner - James McAvoy Other Nominees: Chiwetel Ejiofor Gael García Bernal Rachel McAdams Michelle Williams
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Post by AD on Feb 2, 2010 9:52:39 GMT -5
Oscar nominations are out. Call me crazy, but I kind of think the switch to ten best picture nominees worked out surprisingly well. They ended up with a nice mix of big crowd pleasers (District 9) and smaller films still looking for a big audience (A Serious Man, An Education), that wouldn't have ever gotten recognized in the previous format. Although I'm a little pissed because now I feel like I have to see The Blind Side, and I have no real interest in doing so.
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Post by Her 69 Eyes on Feb 2, 2010 11:36:04 GMT -5
Ughhh, i'm with you on The Blind Side. I swore i'd never see it, but now I feel I have to.
Tons of surprises, both pleasant recognitions and appalling oversights.
I didn't see The Blind Side, District 9, A Serious Man, or Up getting nominations for Best Picture. I'm pleased that A Serious Man and Up did, but the omissions of The Messenger and A Single Man are unfortunate.
I didn't realize it, but apparently Lee Daniels is the second black director to ever get nominated. A pretty historic year for his nomination and Kathryn Bigelow's near-guaranteed win... although, directing is still unfortunately a white men's club.
I've heard people argue that Helen Mirren is a supporting role, and not a deserving one at that, but The Last Station has yet to open by me. If that negative buzz is just, it's a shame Marion Cotillard wasn't recognized instead for Nine.
Christian McKay being snubbed for Supporting Actor in Me and Orson Welles breaks my heart. Next to Waltz, he was my favorite of the year. He's certainly more deserving than, say, Stanley Tucci. Now, Stanley Tucci in Julie & Julia, that you can make a defense for...
Julianne Moore snubbed for A Single Man is appalling. Same for Samantha Morton in The Messenger. I love Maggie Gyllenhaal... but really? I didn't buy her performance for a second.
It's pretty ridiculous to nominate Up for Best Picture AND Best Animated Feature. As if it wasn't already, Up has to be the overwhelming favorite. If Fantastic Mr. Fox wins, for instance, than how do you justify Up's Best Picture nomination? Having not even heard of The Secret of Kells, i'm certainly excited to see it... although it's a bummer Mary & Max didn't make the final cut. And no Ponyo?!
Upset The Beaches of Agnes and Anvil! The Story of Anvil were left out of the Best Documentary category, although admittedly I haven't seen any but The Cove. I'll never see Food Inc. (don't have the stomach for it), but I intend to see the others.
Pleased to see The White Ribbon's cinematography get it's deserved nomination. Although I haven't kept up with the best make up category, I don't understand why only three films were eligible for nomination. District 9 should be in the mix.
As it is every year, I don't think there's a more interesting category than Original Screenplay. Great field this year. As far as Adapted Screenplay goes, In the Loop is a great surprise and certainly more than deserving. It's a shame it doesn't stand a chance.
I'm most displeased with the Original Score category - Moon, A Serious Man, and A Single Man were, along with Up, my favorites of the year. I'm also pretty stunned that Star Trek didn't get a nomination.
I haven't seen Paris 36 yet, but it's neat that it's in the mix for Best Original Song... actually, there are a decent amount of foreign film representatives in major categories this year. Hopefully things continue going in that direction. It's pretty stunning that Paul McCartney's "I Want to Come Home" was snubbed, and "Take it All", although one of the best songs in Nine, isn't the crowd pleaser that Cinema Italiano or Be Italian was.
Oh, and how absurd is it that Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the pack with nine nominations each? Avatar is fine and all, but sheesh - after this month, those films should never be in the same sentence.
There are certainly enough surprises to drive my curiosity through the next month. Very much looking forward to the event, even though i'll seethe with anger when Sandra Bullock takes the stage instead of Carey Mulligan.
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Post by Her 69 Eyes on Feb 2, 2010 11:56:16 GMT -5
Also hilariously brought to my attention - Transformers 2 was not nominated for visual effects. District 9 was.
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Post by AD on Mar 5, 2010 18:12:11 GMT -5
Oscar prediction (and opinion) time. Spoiler tagged for size, obviously. Best Picture
Winner: “The Hurt Locker” My Pick: “A Serious Man”
I have no problem with “The Hurt Locker” winning, but “A Serious Man” is my personal favorite movie of ‘09, too bad it’s probably the least likely to win of the 10 nominees.
Best Director
Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker” My Pick: Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
She will win because it’s about damn time a woman won, she should win because the quality of her film is almost entirely the result because of her technique and vision.
Best Actor
Winner: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart” My Pick: Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Haven’t seen “Crazy Heart,” I’m sure Bridges deserves everything he gets, but of the nominees that I’ve actually seen Renner was my favorite. My favorite performance of the year was Sam Rockwell in “Moon,” but he wasn’t nominated.
Best Actress
Winner: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side” My Pick: Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
“The Blind Side” was lame (and vaguely racist), but Bullock will win. Too bad for Carey Mulligan, but she’s got a bright future and will win one eventually.
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds” My Pick: Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Gotta love the scene stealing villain in this category. Woody Harrelson is a very close second for “The Messenger,” in my opinion.
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Mo’nique, “Precious” My Pick: N/A
I’ve only seen “Up in the Air” in this category, so I’ll refrain from making a personal selection, but Mo’nique will win because the Academy loves to honor “unexpected” performances in the supporting categories.
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds” My pick: Joel and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Interesting duel here, Tarantino is the master of showy dialogue, while the Coens are masters of more realistic dialogue. I love both scripts, can’t really complain either way, but Tarntino takes it , and the Coens have to settle for being the greatest filmmaking tag team of all time.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner; “Up in the Air” My Pick: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche; “In the Loop”
Sort of like with the Best Picture category, I have no problem with “Up in the Air” winning, but “In the Loop” was just too intelligent and hilarious for me too ignore.
Best Animated Feature
Winner: Pete Docter, “Up” My Pick: Pete Docter, “Up”
Seriously, come on, it’s also nominated for Best Picture, how could it possibly lose?
Best Foreign Film
Winner: “The White Ribbon” (Germany) My Pick: “The White Ribbon” (Germany)
It’s the only nominee I’ve seen, and I admired the hell out of it. “A Prophet” is a dark horse based on hype.
Best Cinematography
Winner: Mauro Fiore, “Avatar” My Pick: Christian Berger, “The White Ribbon”
“Avatar” will likely sweep the technical awards, but I’m hesitant to praise the cinematography of a movie that is mostly created in post-production. “The White Ribbon” on the other hand, features beautiful, classical black and white photography.
Best Editing
Winner: Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron; “Avatar” My Pick: Bob Murawski, Chris Innis; “The Hurt Locker”
This is the only technical award that I think “Avatar” might actually lose, since “The Hurt Locker” relies heavily on editing to help create suspense, but I’m not confident enough in that opinion to predict against “Avatar.”
Best Art Direction
Winner: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair; “Avatar” My Pick: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair; “Avatar”
Nothing else stands a chance.
Best Costume Design
Winner: Sandy Powell, “The Young Victoria” My Pick: N/A
I haven’t seen any of the nominees, so I’m just throwing this one out their for argument’s sake.
Best Makeup
Winner: John Henry Gordon, Jenny Shircore; “The Young Victoria” My Pick: Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow; “Star Trek”
I chose “Star Trek” because I’ve actually seen it.
Best Original Score
Winner: Michael Giacchino, “Up” My Pick: Michael Giacchino, “Up”
He should win for the first ten minutes alone. An amazingly moving score.
Best Original Song
Winner: “The Weary Kind” by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham (“Crazy Heart”) My Pick: “The Weary Kind” by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham (“Crazy Heart”)
I haven’t seen the movies, but I’ve heard the songs, and that’s my favorite, plus it‘s won a bunch of other awards.
Best Sound Editing
Winner: Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson; “Avatar” My Pick: Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson, Tony Johnson; “Avatar”
It’s a technical award, it’s “Avatar,” the end.
Best Sound Mixing
Winner: Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle; “Avatar” My Pick: Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle; “Avatar”
It’s a technical award, it’s “Avatar,” the end.
Best Visual Effects
Winner: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones; “Avatar” My Pick: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones; “Avatar”
They might as well have just announced this one before the ceremony.
Best Feature Documentary
Winner: Louie Psihoyos, Fisher Stevens; “The Cove” My Pick: N/A
I should see more documentaries.
I won’t predict the shorts due to a lack of knowledge and familiarity with the material.
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Post by Her 69 Eyes on Mar 5, 2010 22:06:59 GMT -5
Here's my picks. Seems like a pretty straight forward show for the most part - not anticipating any big upsets. The Independent Spirit Awards are tonight - i'd recommend checking it out! They put on pretty good shows, and the nominees show a million times more humility and sincerity than the bigger names who don't need any help in getting their work recognized. BEST PICTURE: The Hurt LockerMY PICK: A Serious Man The Hurt Locker has all the momentum, and i'm glad that it's found success after what was pretty shameful distribution and marketing. Up was my favorite of the year, but since it's a lock for Animated Film I would give picture to A Serious Man. The Hurt Locker, however, would definitely be my second pick, so I can't complain. BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt LockerMY PICK: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker So many action directors would take this material, whirl the camera around, and rely solely on orchestral screeches and startling crashes to get a response from the crowd. Bigelow's patient and knows exactly how to give the audience enough exposition to get a sense of the location and the proximity of the characters to the danger. ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Jeff Bridges, Crazy HeartMY PICK: Colin Firth, A Single Man Ill be honest... my reasoning for Firth over Bridges is perhaps mostly due to the quality of the film - Firth's character is much more dynamic, and it's not a role that's been played several dozen times. Robert Duvall won an Oscar for the exact same role Bridges plays just a few decades ago, and Mickey Rourke almost won one last year for another nearly identical character. ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious BasterdsMY PICK: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Not much needs to be said - he's won everything to this point and will continue to. The question now is just how wacky his acceptance speech will be. I will also praise Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station", a film I wasn't looking forward to but found immensely entertaining. It's certainly a big, showy performance, but, like Waltz, a commanding presence that demands your attention. ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Sandra Bullock, The Blind SideMY PICK: Carey Mulligan, An Education *** I have not seen "The Blind Side". I can't bring myself to see "The Blind Side", even with mild praise Bullock has garnered. Most critics, however, suggest Bullock's award will come moreso for her "comeback" than the quality of the performance. I wouldn't be as offended by the idea if Carey Mulligan didn't leave such a massive impression on me and the few others who actually saw the film. ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Mo'Nique, PreciousMY PICK: Mo'Nique, Precious I fucking hated everything about "Precious" other than Mo'Nique. Her character is, like everything the film, overly-melodramatic and implausibly evil, but she sells it completely. Selfless, seemingly effortless acting. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: UpMY PICK: Up *** I have not seen "The Secret of Kells". I love the movie and i'm sick of talking about how much I love it. Happy to see "Coraline" nominated, however. I have a copy of "The Secret of Kells" that I was meaning to watching before the show, but unfortunately I haven't gotten around to it. Looks very imaginative. ART DIRECTION: AvatarMY PICK: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus I don't mean to undersell "Avatar" at all, it deserves the praise it's been granted for it's visuals. Nonetheless, the images in "Parnassus" stick in my mind with such deeper clarity. Cameron's world is beautifully realized, but it doesn't have an ounce of the audacity of Gilliam's. CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Hurt LockerMY PICK: The White Ribbon I wouldn't bet money on this pick, but I think "The Hurt Locker" has a chance due to Academy voters being thrown off by how much of "Avatar" was pure green screen. Barry Ackroyd's achievement certainly impresses me more than what we see in "Avatar" simply due to the fact that "The Hurt Locker" has a significant handicap in comparison to a CGI goliath. COSTUME DESIGN: The Young VictoriaMY PICK: Nine I'm no good in this category. I think all of the films have great costuming, although perhaps i'm not savvy enough with thread to know what distinguishes a masterpiece vs. a pedestrian effort. FILM EDITING: The Hurt LockerMY PICK: The Hurt Locker Crucial to the suspense, so it's obviously a wild success. It's also showy enough to be recognized amongst some of the more flashy nominees. MAKEUP: Star TrekMY PICK: *** I haven't seen "Il Divo" Heard tremendous things about "Il Divo", but I doubt enough of the voters saw it to overcome "Star Trek". MUSIC (Original Score): UpMY PICK: Up. Errr... more likeee fucking A Serious Man, A Single Man, or Moon! This category infuriates me. I don't have an explicit problem with any of the scores other than "Sherlock Holmes", but a few of the most memorable of the year were completely overlooked. MUSIC (ORIGINAL): "Weary Kind" by Ryan Bingham & T-Bone BurnettMY PICK: "Weary Kind" by Ryan Bingham & T-Bone Burnett *** I haven't seen "Paris 36". The song is memorable and crucial to the film. Springsteen should've been nominated and won last year, but this year's knockoff will take it. SOUND EDITING: The Hurt LockerMY PICK: The Hurt Locker "Avatar" is most likely going to win, but I think "The Hurt Locker" is certainly in close enough contention. I picked "The Hurt Locker" anyway just to look super fucking smart if it does happen. SOUND MIXING: AvatarMY PICK: Avatar I'm far less skeptical of "Avatar" here, and would say it's most certainly a lock. VISUAL EFFECTS: AvatarMY PICK: Avatar Fuck off. WRITING (ADAPTED): Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the AirMY PICK: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop "Up in the Air" will win not just for the quality of it's script (and I do like it), but because it will be shut out in just about every other category. People liked the movie enough to want to throw it a bone in a category like this one. WRITING (ORIGINAL): Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious BasterdsMY PICK: A Serious Man Same reasoning as "Up in the Air" - "Inglourious Basterds" was beloved, but other than Supporting Actor it's going to be overlooked. It's only serious competition is Mark Boal, although I do think "A Serious Man" is heads above everything in the category (and, for that matter, anything of last year). FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The White RibbonMY PICK: *** I've only seen "The White Ribbon" and "A Prophet" I have two of the other nominees downloaded, but unfortunately didn't find time to watch them. For shame. It also sucks that it's impossible to see these movies by legal means BEFORE the show - hell, I just finished seeing all of last year's nominees a month or two ago. We could see another huge upset like "Departures" last year, but "The White Ribbon" seems to have the most momentum currently. DOCUMENTARY: The CoveMY PICK: *** I've only seen "The Cove". "The Cove" is very good, although it's nowhere near as good as "Anvil!". Or "Tyson", for that matter. I'm anxious to see "Burma VJ", although i've intentionally avoided "Food, Inc.". I know what I eat is disgusting, but if I watch the film i'm quite afraid that i'll die of starvation. DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Rabbit à la BerlinSHORT FILM (ANIMATED): LogoramaSHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): Miracle Fish*** I haven't seen any of the shorts this year. No personal reasoning here. I've just seen these cited as the favorites. "Logorama" has gotten quite a bit of attention as of late, so i'd say i'm quite confident with that pick beating the new Wallace & Gromit short.
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