Evaluating the nominees

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Bog
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Post by Bog »

Damien wrote:
The Original BJ wrote:I think Sally Hawkins's Oscar snub will go down as one of the great outrages of this era.

I don't think most people have given it a second thought.
I sure as hell hope they did, especially in a year that yielded such a winner.
Uri
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Post by Uri »

Big Magilla wrote:I finally put my finger on what it is about Hawkins' performance that annoyed the hell out of me.

From Mike Clark's DVD review in USA Today:

"Hawkins' exasperatingly chipper/chatty character suggests one of those individuals who walk down big-city streets talking to themselves." And does she ever.
This is the kind of remark that has more to say about the person who says it than about whatever he refers to, doesn't it? It's a defensive, tight assy, narrow minded approach which limits one's ability to experience and evaluates the world around him or her. And while I'm the first person to admit I'm just like this in real life, isn't widening our grasp exactly what Cinema (and Art in general) there for?
Damien
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Post by Damien »

The Original BJ wrote:I think Sally Hawkins's Oscar snub will go down as one of the great outrages of this era.
I don't think most people have given it a second thought.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Okri
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Post by Okri »

What Original BJ said. I think I liked it more than he did on my first viewing, but it reveals layers with repeated playings (whether real or mental). People keep referring to the final driving lesson, and indeed, it's a masterstroke, but the scene that sticks in my head the most is the meeting with the homeless man.

While I wouldn't place it on par with Leigh's 90's works, I do think it outpaces Vera Drake (now that's a thesis film) and All or Nothing quite handily.
The Original BJ
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Post by The Original BJ »

I find as time goes on that Happy-Go-Lucky has really stuck with me. Although I enjoyed the film when I saw it, I thought it slight; the fact that I keep thinking back to it often after these few months has made me realize there's more there than I initially thought.

I still don't like it as much as some of Leigh's other films -- I agree with the argument that this film feels more like a thesis and less the observation of human behavior which Leigh has always excelled at. But I've often thought lately about Poppy's commitment to optimism in the face of tough situations, and how challenging it can be to remain cheerful in this world. I find Happy-Go-Lucky has really touched me in surprising ways, given the low-key nature of the film and the wispiness of its plot.

I think Sally Hawkins's Oscar snub will go down as one of the great outrages of this era.
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

I finally put my finger on what it is about Hawkins' performance that annoyed the hell out of me.

From Mike Clark's DVD review in USA Today:

"Hawkins' exasperatingly chipper/chatty character suggests one of those individuals who walk down big-city streets talking to themselves." And does she ever.
flipp525
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Post by flipp525 »

Uri wrote:Best Original Screenplay
1. Happy-Go-Lucky – B. It's not just about giving Hawkins a great platform for her to preform. It actually has something to say.

Great description. What an almost perfect little film with big ideas.




Edited By flipp525 on 1237078340
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dws1982
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Post by dws1982 »

I can finally do this for the most part. May try to fit in The Wrestler (which would finish me out in 3 of the 4 acting categories) next week, depending on what all I have to do with school assignments and such. If not I'll catch it and Revolutionary Road on Blu-Ray when they hit Netflix.

Picture/Director (none of these are great, in my opinion, but the top two are pretty good mainstream entertainments):
1) Slumdog Millionaire
2) Frost/Nixon
---
3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
---
4) Milk
---
5) The Reader

Actor:
1) Frank Langella
2) Sean Penn
---
3) Brad Pitt
4) Richard Jenkins

Actress:
1) Meryl Streep
2) Angelina Jolie
3) Melissa Leo
4) Anne Hathaway
---
5) Kate Winslet

Supporting Actor:
1) Heath Ledger (I can kind of see where you're coming from, Uri, and definitely feel glad to know I'm not the only person who didn't think this was the performance of the year--although I did like it--but this lineup is so bad, I think he deserved it by default)
---
2) Josh Brolin
3) Philip Seymour Hoffman
---
4) Robert Downey Jr.

Supporting Actress:
1) Amy Adams
---
2) Viola Davis
3) Taraji P. Henson
4) Penelope Cruz

Original Screenplay:
1) In Bruges
---
2) Wall-E
3) Happy Go Lucky
---
4) Milk
5) Frozen River

Adapted Screenplay:
1) Frost/Nixon
---
2) Slumdog Millionaire
3) Doubt
4) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
---
5) The Reader

Cinematography:
1) Changeling
2) Slumdog Millionaire
3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
---
4) The Dark Knight
5) The Reader

Editing:
1) Slumdog Millionaire
---
2) Milk
3) The Dark Knight
4) Frost/Nixon
5) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Score:
1) Slumdog Millionaire
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) Wall-E
4) Milk

Art Direction:
1) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2) Changeling
---
3) The Duchess
4) The Dark Knight

Costumes:
1) Milk
2) The Duchess
3) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sound/Sound Editing:
1) Slumdog Millionaire
2) Wanted
3) Wall-E
4) The Dark Knight
5) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
-Didn't see Iron Man in Sound Editing; I'd probably flip Wanted and Slumdog Millionaire in Sound Editing. Might give it to Wall-E.




Edited By dws1982 on 1237076734
Uri
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Post by Uri »

Catching up with The Wrestler today finely completed my Oscar viewing duties (as far as I can here). Many of the big guns were released here only on the last 2-3 weaks. Milk hasn't open yet, but I managed to see it previewed. Rachel Getting Married won't be released theatrically, but it's being shown sporadically in cinematheques here. Since I wasn't able to always take part in many discussions in real time, here's my annual evaluation of the contenders.

My rating: A- the ultimate best of the year, B- very good, would make a decent, worthy winner, C- a nomination should suffice, D- not necessarily bad, but not award material, F- a failure.


Best Picture
1. Milk – C. A solid, honest film. Knows what it aims for and gets there.
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – C. An intriguing, multilayered piece. The outer layer could have been bettered.
3. Frost/Nixon – D. Limitedly Entertaining. Doesn't offend one's intelligence nor insult it. In Yiddish there's a phrase "doesn't smell good, doesn't stink".
4. Slumdog Millionaire – D. A slim, empty little extravaganza which collapses under all the incomprehensible praise and ludicrous attention it gets.
5. The Reader – F. Yes, probably the worst best picture nominee of the last decade. A dumb, miserable failure on each and every level.

Should've been: Happy-Go-Lucky (would've been a B). There must be something with years that end with an 8. I still haven't come up with a winner for 1998. Up until now there were only three English speaking films released this year I consider even remotely worthy of a nomination. I wanted Rachel Getting Married to be another one, alas it was not. Maybe Gran Torino will turn out to be one (once it opens here), but what else?

Best Director
1. David Fincher – B. His intelligence and artistry are evident particularly because it's a seemingly not his "kind of movie". It's a rather rare for this "kind of movie" to be such a not obviously communicative reflection of it's creator's personal point of view.
2. Gus Van Sant – C. Humbly and generously let his personal style take a backseat in order to best serve the story he's telling.
3. Danny Boyle – D. He's still a better director than Howard.
4. Ron Howard – D. He seems to be a good guy.
5. Stephen Daldry– F. It's not polite to beat an artistically dead body.

Should've been: Mike Leigh.

Best Actor
1. Sean Penn– A. This is what acting supposed to be – creating a three dimensional, totally believable person, while allowing the audience inside this character's head and heart. And if there is also an aspect of a revelation of new dimensions of a well known actor persona, it's even better.
2. Mickey Rourke – B. Passions are not part of my heritage and I wasn't really transcended by this one either. But he's good. Very good at times.
3. Frank Langela – C. It's a performance he gave many times before on stage, and it shows for better and for worse. Slick, smart, intelligent yet somehow slightly mechanical and, obviously, too well rehearsed.
4. Brad Pitt – D. He does exactly what he's required to. But it's more about just showing up on the set and allowing the camera to admire him than about acting.
5. Richard Jenkins – D. A good actor who, as always, does what the role calls for in a non showy way. But he can't overcome the banality of the material.

Should've been: I can't think of any of the ones I saw. Maybe Michael Sheen. Looking forward to the likes of Eastwood and Del Toro.

Best Actress
1. Meryl Streep – B. A "mannered, calculated Meryl Streep turn" given in character. A sly, wicked yet deeply comprehensive study of a person who's not comfortable in her own skin, outfit, position and believes. A deconstructive performance.
2. Anne Hathaway – B. A Lovely preformance.
3. Melissa Leo – ?. I haven't seen her movie, but I loved detective sergeant Kay Howard, and she was very good in a totally different way in 21 Grams. There's no way she wasn't better than those other two.
4. Anjelina Jolie – D. An honest, emotionally invested turn. She's just not a good enough actress.
5. Kate Winslet – F. In my book, "giving a non judgmental performance" doesn't translate into "having no clue what the character one is playing is about". An amateurishly bad performance. The terminally wrong casting is only part of the problem. While she's capable of manifesting great emotional depth, Winslet lacks the kind of intellectual capacity Streep or Blanchet have, and it's evident when she's called to play more sophisticated characters, as in Iris or David Gale, or when the material and the person she portrays are too remote from her seemingly rather limited comfort zone, as is the case here.

p.s. Jolie and Winslet should have switched roles. Winslet could have been very good in The Changeling, and while nothing could really save The Reader, just think of the camp fest the sight of Angie, clad in black leather and holding a whip, would have made.

Should've been: Sally Hawkins, big time. And like in every year in the last decade, as a default, Blanchet.

Best Supporting Actor
1. Josh Brolin – B. A good, solid turn.
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman – D. Not the best casting possible, and while it's not a catastrophic turn (contrary to the popular notion on this board, he is a good actor), he doesn't transcend the written part or make it surprising or fresh in a way a wrongly cast actor can sometime do. And it's probably the wrong category too.
3. Heath Ledger – D. The fact that I'm in this tiny minority doesn't mean I'm not right. A miscalculated performance in a miscalculated film, all by talented people.
4. Michael Shannon – D. Maybe I'm biased because I didn't like the movie and the way his character is used in it, but the performance didn't work for me.

I did my best to avoid Tropic Thunder, so haven't seen Robert Downey Jr..

Should've been: Eddie Marsan, James Franco, Bill Irwin, maybe someone from Burn After Reading.

Best Supporting Actress
1. Marisa Tomei– B. A humane, natural presence. It's nice to see a mature and relaxed actress at work.
2. Viola Davis – C. Good, commanding preformance.
3. Taraji P. Henson – D. Servicable.
4. Amy Adams– D. Apart from the quintessentially Protestant Ingrid Bergman, I'm immune to sweet, innocent nuns.
5. Penelope Cruz – D. A noisy cliché.

Should've been: Tilda Swinton, Rosemarie DeWitt, Frances McDormand.

Best Original Screenplay
1. Happy-Go-Lucky – B. It's not just about giving Hawkins a great platform for her to preform. It actually has something to say.
2. Milk – C.
3. In Bruges - D. We were not amused.

Haven't seen Frozen River and Wall-E.

Best Adapted Screenplay – (I only read The Reader, so it's really about the films as I saw them)
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – C.
2. Frost/Nixon – D.
3. Doubt – D.
4. Slumdog Millionaire – D.
5. The Reader – F. I read it again this weak, after seeing the movie. It made a lesser impression this time (I read it a decade ago), but still, it's a decent attempt to deal with big issues. Now – the relationship between Michael and Hanna are kind of a device Schlink uses to introduce his thoughts and ideas about German society. It's almost a MacGuffin in the book. In the movie this MacGuffin is really all we're left with. A really bad example of losing whatever was poignant in a source material when adapting it to the screen.
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