And The Oscar Goes To......

[Deleted]

I have nothing against Penelope Cruz herself, I just hate seeing yet another Woody Allen movie getting over-praised. I'm so sick of that creep and his movies.

[ohnoshedidnt]

Isn't her nomination the only one for VCB? I thought it was hers until I saw Davis.

[Margo]

Jan 22, 2009 10:57:27 GMT -4 Baby Fish Mouth said:

I'm shocked at the love for Benajmin Button, which won no major Golden Globes and was a very mediocre film IMO. And Brad Pitt's makeup artist deserves the Oscar nod much more than he does. But I guess BB is the kind of sweeping "epic" Academy voters love.

Can I just say that you described my feelings about that movie much better than I could ever put it in words?

And I agree with Atreides about it being excellent technically, but I felt something was lacking in that film. It felt more plot-driven than character-driven to me.

[SweetOblivion]

I really liked what Benjamin Button was trying to say, it just wasn't very well executed. Eric Roth rehashed Forest Gump almost plot point for plot point. Brad Pitt, bless his heart, is an adequate actor but nothing special.

As someone who's approaching middle age, I can appreciate a movie that tells people it's never to late to change your life. It could have been done better, though.

[cinnacism]

Ugh, thank you to all who are stating that they were underwhelmed by BB! I have NO idea why it's gotten so many accolades. I already hashed out my criticisms in the BB thread, but it just annoyed me all over again when I heard it got thirteen noms. It really does amaze me that the Oscars bounce between recognizing true gems and rhapsodizing over mediocre crowdpleasers. Just my opinion though; every friend of mine who saw BB loved it.

[regencydrama]

SAG awards just threw a wrench into the best actor and best actress predictions. By having Meryl and Sean win instead of Kate and Mickey, this pretty much means all bets are off for the Oscars.

Personally (and this is probably an unpopular opinion), I don't think Mickey Rourke should win best actor. In a sense, he's really just playing himself - the man who's going for the comeback. I would much rather someone like Frank Langella win, because he truly had to embody a different character.

ETA: Another unpopular opinion - I HATE the idea of Slumdog winning for Best Picture. It was a great film, but it's not best picture material, imho.

[Deleted]

I think now it's pretty safe to call best picture for Slumdog Millionaire.

[Deleted]

Of the five nominated films, I've seen SM and the last 15 minutes of Milk (don't ask), but I really do not have a problem with SM winning. There's a rags to riches theme as well as a good feeling about it.

What may hurt BB is it's Forrest Gump 2008. I haven't seen it yet, but the similarities between both films are astounding. [smallvoice]I hope Taraji P. Henson wins Best Supporting Actress. She's alumna of my school.[/smallvoice].

[normadesmond]

Jan 25, 2009 22:59:02 GMT -4 @regencydrama said:

SAG awards just threw a wrench into the best actor and best actress predictions. By having Meryl and Sean win instead of Kate and Mickey, this pretty much means all bets are off for the Oscars.

But Winslet still won for The Reader, she was simply placed in the "wrong" category. This simply confirms the season-long lack of enthusiasm for all things Revolutionary Road, not necessarily a snub for Winslet herself.

It does make the Oscars unpredictable for once, because her Reader performance is categorized as a lead for Oscars, but supporting for SAG. I still think she'll win, unless their love of Streep carries the day. But I do think it's Streep vs. Winslet, I don't think Hathaway or Jolie have a chance in hell. Melissa Leo could be a dark horse I guess, because of the resonance of her movie with the global economy.

On the other hand, Streep still hasn't won the third Oscar everyone seems to expect her to get someday. Many people used to take it for granted she'd win a third one soon. But nomination followed nomination with no victory in sight.

As she's soon to turn sixty, she's now about the same age as Jack Nicholson when he won a third Oscar. If she doesn't win for this, what movie is she going to win for? Juicy leading roles are not plentiful for women in their sixties, and even should she land such a role, if it were to be released during a year when critics unanimously chose to fete someone else (which is what happened when Helen Mirren's The Queen came out the same year as The Devil Wears Prada), Streep could and probably would still lose the Oscar.

Bette Davis and Robert De Niro are two stars many prognosticators thought would take home a third award, but they stopped landing great roles and delivering great performances at a certain point in time, and their anticipated third Oscar never arrived.

That's the one thing that might cause Streep to win over Winslet: the fact that she's running out of time. Streep did not get great reviews for Doubt, but clearly Nicholson won a third Oscar for As Good As It Gets mainly because he was sixty years old and running out of time, not because there was anything spectacular about that particular performance. People criticize Helen Hunt's win, but Nicholson's was just as dubious. I mean, there was absolutely nothing there. He won strictly on sentiment.

[Binky]

The Oscars supporting Actress will be interesting. Winslet won the category at the Critic's Choice Awards, the Globes, and the SAGs with "The Reader". So whoever wins at the Oscars won't have won any of the major three prior to.