To balance out the negativity, what are some of the highs about this year's nominees? Sure, there are some let downs, but there are some positives. I'll throw out a few: (1) In Bruges and Wall-e got some love for best original screenplay, (2) Taraji Henson with the best supporting actress nomination, and (3) Richard Jenkins with the Best Actor nomination. What are some of the positive nominations for this year's Oscars?
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Martin McDonagh's nomination for In Bruges was a very nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteMichael Shannon was a nice surprise, although I think it's ridiculous that he's the ONLY actor from that film nominated (especially when just last night the new RR commercials are focused on Winslet's "performance of a lifetime," which I completely agree with). Angelina Jolie was also a nice surprise, and the In Bruges nom for screenplay. Would've LOVED to see Colin Farrel in the actor category though, in place of Jenkins. And with Winslet out of the supporting race, it let both Doubt women in AND Henson.
ReplyDeleteBut why only 3 song nominees? Aren't there usually 5? Just two years ago, Dreamgirls alone was nominated 3 times in that category.
nice nominations; Frozen River getting a few..
ReplyDeletePresto for short animaton
Hellboy2 for make up
wall-e got 6
the Dark Knight got 8
clint eastwood got 0
I was also happy to see Michael Shannon nominated. Although I love Slumdog Millionaire, I don't think Dev Patel's performance was quite as good. I was also happy to see Amy Adams make the final cut. She gave my favorite performance in Doubt (very understated) and I'm glad she was nominated.
ReplyDeleteMichael Shannon was a nice surprise. Also the fact that Winslet was nominated for The Reader instead of RR (though she is better in The Reader imo).
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see TDK kept out of picture and director. The acclaim that has been heaped on it is all because of Heath Ledger who, despite other actors giving better performances this year, will probably win. Nice to see Melissa Leo get a nod and Mike Leigh for Happy Go Lucky despite Sally Hawkins getting dumped. Sad to see Clint Eastwood shut out for his performance of a lifetime. Winslet deserves a win this year and I hope she gets it, she can always thank her husband and Leo anyway.
Very few positives to find. But I'll try
ReplyDelete1. Despite the huge fuck up snub for Pic and Director, The Dark Knight still managed to get 8 nominations, including the most important one for Heath Ledger.
2. The acting categories were actually pretty spot on, despite nominating kate Winslet for the wrong film. Good to see Richard Jenkins knock Eastwood out of the sentimental spot. Rourke was always known but still satisfying. Tomei for The Wrestler was very nice to see.
Agreed re: all your points, especially Jenkins and In Bruges. The screenplay nod for Happy-Go-Lucky is something, anyway.
ReplyDeletewhy does the dark knight deserve a best picture and director nomination? if heath ledger hadn't been in that movie it would just have been a box office smash and that's it. ledger's performance and untimely death have propelled this movie forward, not the "phenomenal" directing, writing, and least of all editing (that movie could have been over probably half an hour earlier at least).
ReplyDeleteMichael Shannon's nod for 'Rev Road' for sure. Melissa Leo's surprise nom for 'Frozen River', and the Reader getting so much more love than we expected. These are all good things.
ReplyDeleteWinslet's Supporting to Lead bait-and switch would have been clever if it hadn't snubbed her 'Rev Road' lead performance. This is rather bitter sweet. But, if it increases her chances of winning, then so be it! I still REALLY don't understand all of the accolades for 'Benjamin Buttons'...although Taraji Henson is a great actress and it's refreshing to see her on the list.
Perhaps it's best to ask one's self how Poppy would respond to a situation like this. Sure the world is full of ignorance and bad decisions and unfair prejudices, but. . . .wait, what? Hawkins didn't even get a nomination despite winning the lion's share of critics prizes and the Golden effing Globe?!!?! And all so we could nominate Jolie's histrionic caterwauling and Streep's overrated vaudevillian nun (I don't care that she admits to having doubts in the end: Aloysius Bouvier is a total strawman of a character)Yeah, there's a time for positivity, but even Poppy has her limits. Methinks it's time to make AMPAS go sit in the car and not give them their keys back until they agree to stop acting like a banal, prestige-guzzling sheep. The Reader's nom just brings back English Patient's win over Fargo and all the other baity selections that made 1990's Oscar history such a blight on the landscape of American film. Why so negative? Because Bush will never apologize, Bromance gets to stay on TV, and the one night of the year when real artistic merit is rewarded has been sullied a month in advance. That's why.
ReplyDeleteAlso, much as I love Henson (thought she easily should have been nominated for Hustle & Flow), I fail to see how her receiving a nomination for an underwritten character in one of the year's most overrated films is a positive. Especially when it came at the expense of deserving contenders like DeWitt, Winger, and Zegerman.
ReplyDelete~ Brady
Although I put Clint Eastwood in my Top 5 at the last minute over Richard Jenkins, I was pleasantly surprised with the latter's nomination. I thought The Visitor was too small and released too early for serious consideration. I'm glad I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised that Winslet got a nomination for The Reader over RR. The performance in RR is certainly not the performance of a lifetime like the new commercials say. The Reader gives her such a great character to play and its a much better showcase of her talent. With RR she plays a stereotypical unsatisfied housewife who takes it a little too far in the end. The real challenging role, and the superior one, is Hanna Shmitz.
ReplyDeleteI agree with people that said that Kate's Reader performance was way better. I also agree on the one that wrote that TDK wouldn't be the MASTERPIECE people say it is if it wasn't for Heath Ledger. It is a good film, and one of the best superhero movies ever, BUT if it wasn't for all the heath ledger performance and death buzz. TDK wouldn't have all the attention it had. No no no. Sorry, Kevin. TDK received the nomination it deserved. More than that wouldn't be fair for better movies to made the final cut.
ReplyDeleteEven if you didn't like The Dark Knight, you still have to say that it would have been a bold choice for the Oscars to make, especially at a time when they were making a bid to get more people watching. Let's face it, the Academy is hungry for viewers and they are blatently signaling that to people in the changes to the ceremony. The message that is sent to people by picking The Reader is that when the chips are down, a clean piece of Oscar bait will fare better than a genre picture with a lot of people calling for it to succeed. I personally always disliked The Reader and haven't found any new disgust for it, but this does say a lot about the voting members of this group.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I'm very happy about Milk being nominated up the wazoo (if it conqueres SAG, I'm calling it Best Picture frontrunner), the In Bruges screenplay nomination, Winslet being nominated for lead and Michael Shannon for the sole purpose of being one of the few who predicted him.
Picking TDK night would have been a bold choice because it wasn't one of the best pictures of the year. Despite the oscar bait story it has The Reader is actually a very well made film and Stephen Daldry has yet to falter when it comes to crafting a beautiful and moving film.
ReplyDeleteI do agree though with the part of your post that Milk is a nice step forward. I think it is the best film of the year and both Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn made it what it is. They both deserve to win this year even if it's not best picture. Give that to Slumdog or Button, just make sure that the real awards goes to the ones that deserve them. Best picture is more of a money/popularity thing than any other category so don't be surprised if SM or CCoBB and not a really great one like Milk.
The nominations for "Benjamin Button" were good, but why didn't Cate Blanchett get a nod? Her performance was one of the best things in the movie
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