January 17, 2009

Picking the mind of someone in the same age group as an Oscar voter

Yes, my 75 year old grandfather (who had been in the movie industry for 36 years until his recent retirement, and once actually tried to join the Academy, with no luck obviously) sees all the movies I see and keeps his own running list of the best of the year. I figured this is of some interest since the average Academy voter is in and around his age and might have similar tastes. So here are his top 10 of the year:
1. The Wrestler
2. Gran Torino
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Milk
5. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
6. The Dark Knight
7. Iron Man
8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
9. Changeling
10. Swing Vote
(Honorable mention: Revolutionary Road, Stop Loss, Pineapple Express, In Bruges, and The House Bunny, for some reason...)
-Of the likely nominees in the major categories, he'd vote for Slumdog for bes pic, but would prefer The Wrestler or Gran Torino, is torn between Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn for actor, but leans towards Penn, Kate Winslet is his best actress pic for Revolutionary Road, sees no way Heath Ledger doesn't win, and actually would cast his vote for Marisa Tomei for supporting actress. Directing would go to Clint Eastwood for Changeling (a surprise pick that might be a sign of how other contempories feel), and for screenplay, he'd pick In Bruges for Original, and for the Adapted one would be The Dark Knight.
-Also of note, he didn't care much for WALL-E, which if he's in the majority with older voters, could lock it out of Best Pic.
-Overall, he's obviously a fan of Eastwood's flicks, which could mean that there could be a potential spoiler, but on the other hand, he enjoyed things like The Wrester and The Dark Knight over Doubt and Frost/Nixon, so perhaps he's more open than the average voter. We shall see, but I figured it would be interesting to pick his brain for a moment.
-What does everyone think of my grandfather's thoughts on the Oscars?

12 comments:

  1. very interesting read!

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  2. I found this to be pretty cool, he definitely has good taste

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  3. really surprised he didn't go for Doubt or Frost/Nixon...wonder if it's a trend...proly not, but hey, he could be on to something, but funny if he was spot on with his picks

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  4. I hope that Academy voters snub Frost as your grandfather did.

    Some funny choices (Zack & Miri) and nice to see that he likes movies that people would think Academy voters wouldnt consider (TDK & Iron Man).

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  5. First of all your grandfather sounds like a legend - it makes me miss mine so much! It does intrigue me about the average age of academy voters - very insightful! You are very blessed to share such a passion with your grandfather.

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  6. thank you for posting this list.

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  7. I have to ring in too and say that this is fantastic to see and read, perhaps we can hear more from him in the future?

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  8. i agree, he's definitely a unique addition to the site, something no other oscar type site has

    -Pete

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  9. just curious, what did he think was the worst movie of the year?

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  10. first of all, I'm very glad you all responded well to hearing from him, and I'll come back to him after the nominations for his vote in case some time changes his vote...a week ago he had The Dark Knight as his #1, so things change

    -As for his worst film of the year, he immiediately blurted out "The Spirit", and while he holds true to it, I got him to come up with a bottom 10 list, so to speak, which goes as follows:
    1. The Spirit
    2. Disaster Movie
    3. The Love Guru
    4. Speed Racer
    5. Meet the Spartans
    6. 10,000 B.C.
    7. Death Race
    8. Twilight
    9. Babylon A.D.
    10. The Foot Fist Way

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  11. wonder if his embrace of Milk spells good things in terms of love from the powers that be...

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  12. glad he also thought The Spirit sucked.

    -Bart

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