Alright, here we are, two days after a new president is inaugurated and already we have a large film crisis on our hands. It's called the Academy Award nominations for 2008. First, I'd like to thank the Academy for playing the Obama/McCain card of longest campaign ever -- there has been academy buzz since May and the awards this year are basically at the same time the NHL season is starting to wrap up. I feel like it was a 6 hour, 18 inning, barn burner of a 3-2 Pittsburgh Pirates v Cincinnati Reds game that ended with a walk-off walk. Take forever. And then nominate the Reader.
Enough with that gripe, and on to the Best Picture nominations and should-have-beens. I will try to follow up each day with a new category.
Best Picture:
1) Benjamin Button (TCCoBB) - this was a given and I actually thought that this movie fulfilled the "epic of the year" role quite nicely. Think about Australia and if that had been nominated in the spirit of LOTR or the Gladiator. You are thanking your lucky stars and the horoscope column, aren't you?
The second half of this movie was quite entertaining, once we got away from the old folks' home. The magical realism of it all was the best I have seen in a long time. If you disagree, look at Chronicles of Narnia or the Golden Compass and you realize David Fincher's feat. I think they are only getting better with CGI, make-up, and everything.
2) Frost/Nixon - I did enjoy this film and thought Frank Langella was superb throughout. I did not know about the interviews prior to the movie and had never seen the actual recordings, the other film version of this, and the Broadway play that the screenplay (and actors) were adapted from.
The movie both made you loathe and feel for Nixon and Frost at the same time. I believe (hope) that this was Ron Howard's purpose -- to show the real gravity of the event, the queesy feeling and ambiguity of the whole thing, and what actually happens when the public's outcries are met with a semi-apology.
As an American, I walked out not knowing whether the nation was better off after having those interviews and if people's anger was quelled. It's kind of the same thing as a family finding peace if someone is convicted after hurting a loved one -- was it enough? Should someone be punished severely enough to ruin their life if it was a mistake? Was it a mistake? What would I have done?
In any case, this movie should not have been nominated because it was such a direct transfer from the stage and even though I enjoyed it thoroughly, it really didn't take much to instill the questions and opinions I detail above.
Note: If Kevin Bacon had about 5-10 minutes more on screen time, I think he should have been nominated for a supporting actor statue. He was the character whose role brought about the questions both for and against Nixon.
3) Milk -- this is by far the best real life story of the year, and one of the best acted with Sean Penn transforming himself (as he as apt to do) into the elated, effervescent, and noble Harvey Milk.
James Franco and Emile Hirsch put in top notch supporting roles and Josh Brolin expanded his great resume by playing the troubled board member. I think Brolin was better as W, but the competition for leading role was already really tough (snubs including Leo).
I am glad it got nominated and Gus Van Sant is a genius, so of what is left, I think this should win (enter standard critic's comment about Academy shying away from homosexual film material). Read the reviews people, they do it better justice.
4) The Reader - wow. Um...where in the world did this nomination come from?
I definitely enjoyed the movie, and the story is astounding, but it really was not well told, looking back. The film had great acting by Winslet but the boy and basically every supporting actor/actress was pretty poorly directed. The script was not tight and the story really choppy. As someone pointed out to me after, it's somewhat crazy that a woman would take sole blame for a mass-murder simply because she didn't want to reveal she was illiterate. Even if it's based off a book or true story, how is that believeable? The movie forgot to tell that part.
Also, they failed to show the exigency of the Holocaust for Germans after the war. The only parts that seemed to really capture that universe is in the courtroom or when Ralph Fiennes is on screen, torn apart by a woman who forever ruined his ability to love a woman and trying to reconcile that the love of his life participated so blindly (or not) in the Holocaust.
Side Note: Ralph Fiennes is getting really good at playing emotionally devoid or troubled characters. He was phenomenal in the Duchess this year, as only British royalty roles can allow.
I thought the scene with the grown-up surviving woman (Lena Olin?) was a classic case of an actor trying too hard to reenact the power of a scene from a book when all that had to be done was to read the lines. The scene was so painfully overacted by Olin that it ruined the entire conclusion of the movie.
Hot damn what a bad pick.
5) Slumdog Millionaire - this is the movie of the year that I love to hate. I hate the overhype, the swooning masses that a "little" Bollywood (really Hollywood, but Bollywood is doing better business anyway...so what does it matter) film could make it so far, and its comparison to other great films both foreign and American.
This movie was made for Americans. The story is a great fairy tale complete with love, loss, a magical story of some sort of Providence, an evil mob boss, a redemptive relative, and all of the "hey America, do you know what really goes on in India's slums?" moments that one can stand. I enjoyed the movie and enjoyed rooting for Dev Patel in the hot seat against a smarmy Regis Philbin character (the highlight of the film). However, the way he 'knew' the answers grew on me and I don't know how it didn't bother others. It really pickled my cucumbers.
Really? He knew who was on the $100 because the boy who he ditched who had his eyes melted by bad guys asked him who was on it when accepting money as a beggar? Why would he ask? Did he doubt him? If all of this is 'really what happens in India' don't you think he might have taken the $100 to the money exchange and got some more useable bills? Who gives $100 in India to get a speck of info about a girl that he would have given to him anyway?
Anyway, I feel that too many people were blinded by heart wrenching (or rendering if your SJP) snippets of totally overdone Peter-Jackson-war-scene cinematography (note that it and the editing were also nominated. How superb!) just like people were blinded by Kate Winslet's neked bod in the Reader, and the shear number of actors in Crash. I love going to see well told stories about triumphs over evil, but to me this movie is a Bollywood Rudy, Mighty Ducks, or Cutting Edge.
Thank Heaven Dev Patel was not nominated for acting. Keep to that jazz hands, Benny Lava stuff my man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw
So, I guess it's okay it's nominated, but this is this year's Crash, Chicago, and Jennifer Hudson all wrapped into one.
My nominations for Best Film:
The Wrestler (winner)
Milk
Gran Torino
TCCoBB
Wall E
Special Mention:
The Dark Knight - Action,
Happy-Go-Lucky - Comedy (would win hands down over Vicki Cristina Barcelona, though a great movie with 3 actors working fantastic together),
What Doesn't Kill You - Real Life Story #2, awesome movie!
Wendy and Lucy - Indie,
Nothing But the Truth - most under released,
Rachel Getting Married -- best ensemble cast of lesser knowns,
Che - best biopic,
France - best foreign movies on the whole including Tell No One (Kristin Scott Thomas and Alexandre Beck), A Christmas Tale (Catherine Deneuve and Mathieu Almaric), I've Loved You so Long (Scott Thomas), and the Secret (Cecile deFrance and Almaric), and finally,
Religulous - Documentary
Movies to be seen with chance of making list:
Waltz with Bashir, Gomorra, Trouble the Water, Momma's Man, The Edge of Heaven
