15 February 2009
it's oscar week bitch
yeah, that's right, even though you'd maybe never know it if i hadn't told you. it just seems that people are generally unenthused this year. sasha stone and the people at awardsdaily (nee oscarwatch) couldn't really care less about awards season this year, outside of their innane incessant childish whining about the dark knight being left off the docket (oh, and the occasional passive agressive swipe at slumdog) and at one of my favorite awards blogs, awardscircuit (nee oscar igloo) they are actually discussing american idol picks this week (!) honestly, nobody seems to care. and i sort of get it. i mean, there isn't a whole lot of excitement about an award that has all but been handed out already. slumdog has rightfully won almost every critic's award possible this year and will no doubt take home the prize on sunday. in all honesty this hasn't been a really great year for movies, and slumdog just simply stands out as lightyears ahead of anything else that has been released. sure there have been a few really good films this year, but nothing compares to boyle's utter and complete masterpiece. it is probably one of the best two or three movies of the decade. but i guess a lot of awards bloggers out there have just had a hard time mustering up a great deal of interest in an oscar year that doesn't seem to have room for too many surprises.
and about the dark knight. and i do hate myself for even discussing a subject that has already been discussed to death. i really did sort of like this movie. it had some excellent qualities no doubt. but there were plenty of good movies this year, most better than the batman flick, that just couldn't fit into the best picture roster. rev road, gran torino, doubt, frozen river, the visitor and lots of other movies could have potentially been best picture nominees, but there was only room for five. so yes, i understand your disappointment (sasha et al) that your favorite movie didn't make it but GET A GRIP. do we have to take it out on other movies, that were also deserving, at least equally, maybe moreso. i feel like i am having ang lee/annie proulx bareback upset redux (i.e. the worst show of bad sportsmanship EVER).
as far as i'm concerned, the dark knight snub (?) wasn't even the worst nominee dis this year. there are a number that stand out for me. maybe the biggest is clint eastwood being shut out for director, writer, scorer and especially actor for either of his two movies this year. another real disappointment (and this one i think people will look back on in a couple years with disbelief) was the lack of love for revolutionary road. no nominations for kate, leo or kathy bates? no best pic, director, score cinematography or screenplay nominations? (the score to this movie was particularly beautiful) but the worst mistake by the academy voters has to be leaving bruce springsteen's song from the wrestler out of the running. i mean, that was certainly the best thing about that entire film.
i was happy about a few things though. i am glad that amy adams got her best supporting actress nomination for doubt. i thought hers was the best performance of the film, and i had this idea in the back of my mind that it wasn't going to happen for her. and i am happy that kate winslet got nominated for her really strong performance in the reader. frankly, she is fantastic in this movie, although i personally prefer her turn in revolutionary road. i am sort of glad she didn't get double nominated actually, because hannah schmidt certainly wasn't a supporting character in that movie. and it was nice to see courtney hunt's screenplay from frozen river nominated, as well as melissa leo's great performance. i think the academy did a good job this year of recognizing at least a few of the more quiet, not-uber-campaigned films. so all in all, i think they did a fair job with the nominations, although they certainly could have made things a little more exciting i guess.
anyways, i guess i'm not as excited this year as i have been in the past, but i am looking forward to seeing slumdog take home the prize. my predictions and top ten will come later this week.
(p.s. six days til the best picture showcase. *yea*) ¶ 2/15/2009 10:27:00 PM
and about the dark knight. and i do hate myself for even discussing a subject that has already been discussed to death. i really did sort of like this movie. it had some excellent qualities no doubt. but there were plenty of good movies this year, most better than the batman flick, that just couldn't fit into the best picture roster. rev road, gran torino, doubt, frozen river, the visitor and lots of other movies could have potentially been best picture nominees, but there was only room for five. so yes, i understand your disappointment (sasha et al) that your favorite movie didn't make it but GET A GRIP. do we have to take it out on other movies, that were also deserving, at least equally, maybe moreso. i feel like i am having ang lee/annie proulx bareback upset redux (i.e. the worst show of bad sportsmanship EVER).
as far as i'm concerned, the dark knight snub (?) wasn't even the worst nominee dis this year. there are a number that stand out for me. maybe the biggest is clint eastwood being shut out for director, writer, scorer and especially actor for either of his two movies this year. another real disappointment (and this one i think people will look back on in a couple years with disbelief) was the lack of love for revolutionary road. no nominations for kate, leo or kathy bates? no best pic, director, score cinematography or screenplay nominations? (the score to this movie was particularly beautiful) but the worst mistake by the academy voters has to be leaving bruce springsteen's song from the wrestler out of the running. i mean, that was certainly the best thing about that entire film.
i was happy about a few things though. i am glad that amy adams got her best supporting actress nomination for doubt. i thought hers was the best performance of the film, and i had this idea in the back of my mind that it wasn't going to happen for her. and i am happy that kate winslet got nominated for her really strong performance in the reader. frankly, she is fantastic in this movie, although i personally prefer her turn in revolutionary road. i am sort of glad she didn't get double nominated actually, because hannah schmidt certainly wasn't a supporting character in that movie. and it was nice to see courtney hunt's screenplay from frozen river nominated, as well as melissa leo's great performance. i think the academy did a good job this year of recognizing at least a few of the more quiet, not-uber-campaigned films. so all in all, i think they did a fair job with the nominations, although they certainly could have made things a little more exciting i guess.
anyways, i guess i'm not as excited this year as i have been in the past, but i am looking forward to seeing slumdog take home the prize. my predictions and top ten will come later this week.
(p.s. six days til the best picture showcase. *yea*) ¶ 2/15/2009 10:27:00 PM
