Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

I'm sort of surprised that Diana Christensen can be thought of as "sexy." She's, by her own admission, incapable of sexuality. That was Diana Christensen's view about herself. Surely you didn't think the old man (played by William Holden) was having a fling with Diana because she stimulat...

Wow, Notes on a Scandal looks fantastic. Just judging from the preview, this might actually be a time when I can say that Judi Dench unquivocably deserves to be one of the nominees. I can't say that I've seen her in this type of role or movie before which is exciting. And Cate Blanchett looks excel...

Sonic, do you ever get tired of trying to have a rational argument with someone so stalwart and immoveable in their "opinions" (read: re-tread talking points) that they never actually concede to anybody else's point of view? At some point, I'd want to just throw in the towel and stop resp...

In Beatrice Straight's case it was her only scene (of any consequence) and she gives it all she's got. What’s also so great about Straight’s performance is the other colors she manages to find in that one scene. There’s the hurt, angry wife lashing out at her husband for emotionally and physically ...

The only cavet is that I'm not sure I get all that symbolism about the stag. Was the inference that the ice queen cared more about the death of a dumb animal than her grandchildren's mother? Similar to cam’s interpretation, I took her connection with the stag as the thing that finally allows Elizab...

Before I get in big trouble here, I never said race was "the" factor. I cited several factors. If the role was played by Bernard Shnookel, the performance would receive less recognition. It might’ve been too reductive of me to say that race was not germane to the conversation. And you’re ...

From someone who's seen Half Nelson, it wouldn't be the same film if Gosling's character were black and probably not nearly as effective. The idea that his drug use ingratiates himself into Epps' world in a way, he might not have been able to if the character were black, creates a compelling link b...

I don't have any particular objection to Gosling being nominated based on the merits of his performance, but I'm a little put off at his being singled out amongst a cast that's uniformly excellent. And this includes Shareeka Epps, the so-called "leading lady" (even though she's a teenager...

But, for me, it was far more exciting to see [Scorcese] apply his prodigious talents to more foreign genres like the literary adaptation (Age of Innocence) and the bio-pic (The Aviator). I very much agree. Interestingly though, I'd say that The Age of Innocence was no less "violent" than ...

I'm glad that other people have finally come around to the idea of nominating Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson. When I first threw him in the race on the Fall Predictions thread, there seemed to be a lot of resistance to the possibility of his nomination. But with other contenders falling to the waysid...

Which Murakami and Oates novels would you recommend for the first-time reader of both? I'm interested. Exactly what Okri said for Murakami. In fact, that's the exact order I read them in: Norwegian Wood, Sputnik Sweetheart and then The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. If you dig him, I'd also check out Afte...

My God, who is this horrendous Lee Hernandez who wrote a Best Supporting Actress year-end review on Oscar Igloo? Ugh. It's filled with horrible, acerebral writing reminiscent of a fifth grade English paper ("I will now clarify who I foresee earning nominations this year"), leaps in logic ...