My Oscar Picks

Best Picture

Nominees: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire

 

Projected Winner: Slumdog Millionaire            Should Win: Slumdog Millionaire

 

            I have a sneaking suspicion that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button could steal this one. The Golden Globes and the Academy haven’t picked the same film for best picture in four years. The Academy likes to proof its worth, that it isn’t a rubber stamp for the Golden Globes, and that they have more sophisticated opinions. With that said the Golden Globes got this one exactly right. Slumdog Millionaire is the best film in the lot by a long shot. It is also the perfect film for the time. The film is relatively low budget especially in comparison to its competitors, and it is the true underdog story of defying the odds and becoming something from nothing. With bad ratings over the past few years for the awards show, with the best picture going to “less mainstream films” it is very likely they could choose to go with the big budget and the big names in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

 

Best Actor

Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

 

Projected Winner: Mickey Rourke            Should Win: Mickey Rourke

 

            This will be a well-deserved win for Rourke. His performance in The Wrestler is one that most actors can only dream of. He not only acts the part of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, he embodies him. I think to give this award to anyone else would be a crime, however it is highly unlikely the Academy will get this one wrong.

 

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

 

Projected Winner: Heath Ledger            Should Win: Heath Ledger

 

            After getting snubbed in most of the major categories this one has almost become a no-brainer. I had originally said there was no way that one of the major awards would go to a comic book movie, but after realizing that most of the supporting roles this year were less than formidable, the late Ledger’s disturbing yet enthralling portrayal of the Joker will definitely get him a trophy.

 

Best Actress

Nominees: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader)

 

Projected Winner: Kate Winslet            Should Win: Meryl Streep

 

            After winning best supporting actress for The Reader at the Golden Globes, the Academy threw us a curveball, nominating Winslet for best actress in the film. Winslet’s performance shouldn’t simply be dismissed as it was very good, however Streep is outrageous, and witty, and everything everyone has come to know or think about nuns embodied.

 

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees: Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler

 

Projected Winner: Amy Adams            Should Win: Marisa Tomei

 

            This one is a true toss up. I feel like both the actresses from Doubt are deserving but will be fighting with each other for votes, Henson’s performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was good, but really she was the choice from that film? Vicky Cristina Barcelona, just isn’t the type of film that best supporting actresses come from, leaving me with one true option, Marisa Tomei as the perfect counterpart to Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.

 

Best Animated Film

Nominees: Bolt, Kung Fu Panda, Wall-E

 

Projected Winner: Wall-E            Should Win: Wall-E

 

            There is no question about the answer to this one. Wall-E was even in early consideration for best picture. The other two films aren’t even close to being in the same category as Wall-E, there is no chance that Bolt or Kung Fu Panda leave the victor.

 

 

10 Biggest Best Picture Travesties

With the Oscars only weeks away, and the glitz and glamour coming together in honor of some of the years best films, I would like to reflect on the times that the Academy has gotten it wrong. This is my list of the ten biggest mistakes in the selection of best picture. These selections are not in order of the size of the travesty, because arguments could be made for and against each, but in order of the year the award was given.

 

1939- Winner: Gone With the Wind (other nominees: Dark Victory, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights)

 

Should Have Won: The Wizard of Oz

 

Sure some of you are probably scratching your head and saying that is this a stretch, and admittedly it is. Gone With the Wind is a great film, but as far as I’m concerned this award should have gone to The Wizard of Oz. When you consider what the movies are all about and truly think of why we love the movies so much, The Wizard of Oz encapsulates all of that. The movies are an escape for reality, two hours in a dark room with people you don’t know, and every one of you thinks your somewhere else for those two hours. When I think about a movie that truly portrays what the movies are about, the first film I think of is The Wizard of Oz. All in all it was a great year for film. Five films out of the ten nominees made it on the list of The American Film Institutes Top 100 Films of All Time.

 

1941- Winner: How Green Was My Valley (other nominees: Blossoms in the Dust, Citizen Kane, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Hold Back the Dawn, The Little Foxes, The Maltese Falcon, Sergeant York, Suspicion)

 

Should Have Won: Citizen Kane

 

            This is a year that I feel very strongly about. This was the year that the Academy proved that it was all politics. The greatest film of all time was robbed of a well-deserved victory. Citizen Kane lost out because at the time Orson Wells wasn’t exactly the most popular kid on the block, and had created a few enemies. If that wasn’t enough the award didn’t even go to the second best film in this lot, The Maltese Falcon. In the end it is only these two films that were recognized in the conversation of the greatest films of all time.

 

1967- Winner: In the Heat of the Night (other nominees: Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Whose Coming to Dinner)

 

Should Have Won: The Graduate

 

            This was yet another great year for film. Four out of the five nominees made it in the top one hundred list, but yet again the academy bypassed the top two films in the lot. Both The Graduate, and Bonnie and Clyde, prove to be superior films that have passed the test of time, to a much greater extent than In the Heat of the Night. The Graduate is the quintessential self-discovery film, while Bonnie and Clyde pioneered many of the film techniques used today.

 

1976- Winner: Rocky (other nominees: All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Taxi Driver)

 

Should Have Won: Taxi Driver

 

            This is one of the best lots in Oscar history, however in this case they passed over the top three films in the bunch. This one truly makes me “mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”. It was this selection that made me want to write this entire article. This was the first in a long line of the Academy passing over Martin Scorsese for a lesser film. This was a very hard one for me to select who should have won but it wasn’t a debate over Rocky. Taxi Driver, Network and All The President’s Men, should have all came ahead of Rocky in that order. It is unbelievable to think that almost the worst film in the group could come home with the gold, but in this case it did.

 

1980- Winner: Ordinary People (other nominees: Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess)

 

Should Have Won: Raging Bull

 

            This one should have been easy, but I guess the Academy felt that it again a good idea to pass over Scorsese. When talking about the greatest film of all time, number one, the tops, nothing better, I think there are really only a few films in the conversation and Raging Bull is definitely one of them. Only four years early Scorsese and Robert DeNiro got beat out by a boxing film, so they came back with a much better boxing film, and still didn’t get the recognition they deserved, what did this guy have to do to get a break?

 

1989- Winner: Driving Miss Daisy (other nominees: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poet’s Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot)

 

Should Have Won: My Left Foot

 

            This was a week year anyways, leaving the Academy without a clear-cut winner, however Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance in My Left Foot, should have been enough to put it over the top. He was incredible and moving in a film that was based on the true story of Christy Brown, an artist with cerebral palsy. Day-Lewis won best actor for his performance but the film itself was robbed.

 

1994- Winner: Forrest Gump (other nominees: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption)

 

Should Have Won: Pulp Fiction

 

            Now people that know me will say that this is a slanted pick. I will tell you right now that I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan, however it was this film that made me into such a huge fan. It was revolutionary for its time; it intertwined three stories in an un-chronological order and was made from one of the best screenplays of all time. This was yet another year in which I think the third best film in the group won. Don’t get me wrong Forrest Gump was a brilliant film with a brilliant performance from Tom Hanks, but both Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption were better.

 

1997- Winner: Titanic (other nominees: As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential)

 

Should Have Won: Good Will Hunting

 

            This was a simple case of a larger than life film, with a huge budget, big names, and extremely well known story taking the award on name recognition. Good Will Hunting was spawned from probably one of the greatest original screenplays of all time and it made the careers of both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. It might be a theme but this was another year in which I think the third best film was selected, I would have also picked L.A. Confidential over Titanic. I guess I might have to give this one some time, and it might be the biggest stretch of all them, but being inundated with Titanic-mania as a child could be influencing my disdain for the film.

 

2003- Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (other nominees: Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit)

 

Should Have Won: Mystic River

 

            The third installment of the Lord of the Rings saga wasn’t even the best of the three, it seems as if this was a “we’re sorry” Oscar for over looking the first two parts to the trilogy. Clint Eastwood won best director for Mystic River, and should have taken home best picture as well. Lost in Translation would have also been a better selection here, the debut of Sofia Coppola proved that she was more than just the daughter of her famous father Francis Ford Coppola.

 

2005- Winner: Crash (other nominees: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich)

 

Should Have Won: Brokeback Mountain

 

            Had it not been for the homosexual overtones, Brokeback Mountain would have been considered one of the greatest love stories of all time, and still should be. The more times I few Crash the more I dislike it. The film itself uses cheap, almost startling, scare tactics, reminiscent of a gore less version of Saw, to provide its message. It is a bad attempt at trying to do what Spike Lee has been doing for a long time, giving a commentary on race relations. Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, and even possibly Munich were better films. I think this award went to a message, albeit a noble one, rather than the actual film itself.

 

 

            That’s my list and I know that many of you will be screaming about how I got it wrong, how there are much larger travesties, how some of the awards that I listed were more than warranted, and how I have no idea what I’m talking about. With the Oscars just around the corner, I wanted to comment on how the Academy hasn’t always got it right, just like they didn’t in many cases this year. I’m putting it out there now that I am rooting for Slumdog Millionaire to take home the award for best picture, however I think the glitz of Brad Pitt, and the far more well known, less foreign allure of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button might rob the world from the best film of the year taking home the trophy yet again.

Frost/Nixon

David Frost, a British television personality, was lucky enough to get an interview with the greatest political criminal in United States History, Richard M. Nixon. Unfortunately for viewers the dramatization of their meeting, won’t make moviegoers that lucky. Critics and film festivals around the world have heralded the film, however I felt it left much to be desired.

 

The film itself starts out much to slow. Simple introductions are given to the audience of both Mr. Frost and Mr. Nixon, and then it slides into a game of cat and mouse, bidding on the services of the Ex-President. Nixon’s people try to get as much out of everyone who would like an interview from him as possible, while Frost, hoping to reinvigorate his career, bids wildly, having to pay mostly from his own pocket, for a crack at doing what American citizen had longed to get from Nixon, a confession.

 

The series of interviews between the two commences. This is where the film gets quite dull. Frost proves that he wasn’t quite prepared to handle a politician of this magnitude, and Nixon proves that he is a seasoned veteran able to deflect any and all questions to play right into his hands. It isn’t until the end of the film where things really heat up and the relationship becomes tense, but by this point it is to late to redeem itself.

 

The direction and cinematography are quite good. Some of the shots are brilliant, but the script of the film moves these shots poorly and allows them to be overlooked. The acting is handled well. Frank Langella did an exceptional and quite stunning job at portraying the Ex-President. His Oscar nomination, while not a stretch, certainly didn’t beat out other performances that should have been in contention, but the blame for that I would give to what he had to work with.

 

It is disappointing that we don’t get much in the way of the back-story on Frost. In many ways we are given much more information on Nixon, information that at least myself, and the others I was with already knew, which made it drag into a boring and unnecessary history lesson. It would have been advantageous to spend more time with Frost, since he is a character that people know far less about. Instead by the end of the film it felt like a futile attempt at making you feel sorry, or at least sympathetic, with one of the greatest monsters in American political history.

 

In the end I think one thing can be learned. If you have a high profile story that is well known to many, and have Ron Howard as a director, you will be able to steal a best picture nomination when there was others probably more deserving. Overall 2 stars out of 4.

Sorry

Here are a bunch of old reviews sorry I didn’t get them up.