Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:52 am
My reactions (Category by Category):
Best Picture: Okay, we're all a bit peeved about The Blind Side being nominated, but looking back on it, I can see two reasons why from my other two predictions that didn't make the cut. It was an audience pleasing unexpected blockbuster (Star Trek) that featured a performance that will be coattailed into a win based on it being nominated for Best Picture (Crazy Heart).
Am extremely delighted that The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds are two of the highest nominated films this year. Guess it's time I made time for Up in the Air and Precious.
Best Director: At the last minute, I took Lee Daniels off of the list in favor of Neill Blomkamp because I didn't think the academy would try to match the DGA 5 for 5 so quickly.
Best Actor: Having only seen Renner's performance at this point, I knew Morgan Freeman's pedigree performance would earn a nomination.
Best Actress: Well, so much for my hope of Emily Blunt sneaking in over Helen Mirren. Guess it must have just been a BAFTA thing after all.
Best Supporting Actor: Called this one 5 for 5, but have only seen Waltz' performance
Best Supporting Actress: Wow, Penelope Cruz managed to hang on after all. Guess there were enough old men voters who loved seeing Cruz go nympho. Then came Maggie Gyllenhaal's announcement, which really delighted me for her. Still need to see the movie, though.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Well, I can see how Fantastic Mr. Fox and Crazy Heart got shafted, especially in favor of In the Loop. And despite what anyone says, I'm just glad that Nick Hornby is nominated, being such a fan of High Fidelity and About a Boy.
Best Original Screenplay: This is where I take fault. No (500) Days of Summer. Let me say that again, Academy: No (500) Days of Summer. That is just wrong in so many ways. I don't know where you could slide it in, but this was one indie film this year that deserved a nomination.
Best Animated Feature: All together now, what in the holy f### is The Secret of Kells and how is it good enough to be nominated over Hayao Miyazaki's even most minimal effort?!? This better be one knock you over the head amazing movie, Academy.
Best Song: The Avatar song not nominated, good. The Kate Hudson song from Nine shafter, better. Double nominations for Randy Newman, nice, though it'll just be another two times he gets ignored because we all know it's going to The Weary Kind. And I'll join the chorus in saying that I thought there was no way Paris 36 would ever be nominated. Well, if Les Choires taught us anything back in 2004...
Best Score: Sad to see Star Trek not up here for score. It was nice to finaly hear a movie with a good, bold theme again and not just dismissible melodic tones. Guess that's what the music branch likes, even though I love The Hurt Locker, it's inclusion here is just confusing to me. I like that Sherlock Holmes' bizarre theme is included and really hope that Up is the winner here. Avatar, well, every time I listen to it, I keep picking up parts of every other old James Horner score: The Mask of Zorro, Titanic, Braveheart, Glory, etc. That man should sue Horner for plagerism.
Best Cinematography: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?!? Who saw that coming, excepet when I saw the name behind it was Bruno Debonnel, then I should have at least considered it in the running. I will chime in and say that, even though Avatar had beautiful colors and the computer software was able to bring them out with such awesomeness, it should not win, if only because there was no light that needed to be adjusted, manipulated or added to enhance the environment.
Best Film Editing: Precious over Up in the Air. While this perplexes many, may I remind everyone of what the last few Film Editing winners have been (Slumdog Millionaire, The Bourne Ultimatum, Crash)? They like the shaky camera work with jumpy editing movies and even I was thinking that Up in the Air's chances at Best Film Editing weren't solid.
Best Costume Design: Horray for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus being able to sneak in here over my pick of Sherlock Holmes.
Best Art Direction: Um, horray, I guess, for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus being able to sneak in here over my pick of... District 9 and Inglorious Basterds? Wait a minute, boo. I'd rather have seen the other two nominated in it's place, despite how pretty Parnassus looked. And while everyone's quick to jump on the Avatar shouldn't win bandwagon, may I point out that it's Best Art Direction, which means that the design of the film's setting is what's being awarded. If sets that weren't 100 made on set had to be removed, then we'd have to take out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I, for one, think that the animated world of the Na'vi along with the real world of the humans was so exquisitely designed and the choice of what was created vs. what was animated was done in the right taste.
Best Sound Mixing: Well, crap, I was hoping for a total shut out of Transformers 2. And doom on you mixing branch for thinking that was a better mixed film than District 9. There wasn't much mixing in Transformers 2, they just kept the all of the levels up on the same high range. That's not mixing.
Best Sound Editing: Am a bit upset to not see District 9 here, either. It's sound effects were just perfectly original. But I can't complain because the other 5 here are just amazing films.
Best Make-Up: Well, I should have known that Il Divo's inclusion on the finalist list did mean something after all, but District 9 losing a nomination out to The Young Victoria? That's just not right, even if the make-up was applied to only one person in District 9.
Best Visual Effects: This is the category I'm the happiest with, if only because I'm glad that the other three out of four (2012, Terminator Salivation and especially Transformers 2) were shut out.
Best Picture: Okay, we're all a bit peeved about The Blind Side being nominated, but looking back on it, I can see two reasons why from my other two predictions that didn't make the cut. It was an audience pleasing unexpected blockbuster (Star Trek) that featured a performance that will be coattailed into a win based on it being nominated for Best Picture (Crazy Heart).
Am extremely delighted that The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds are two of the highest nominated films this year. Guess it's time I made time for Up in the Air and Precious.
Best Director: At the last minute, I took Lee Daniels off of the list in favor of Neill Blomkamp because I didn't think the academy would try to match the DGA 5 for 5 so quickly.
Best Actor: Having only seen Renner's performance at this point, I knew Morgan Freeman's pedigree performance would earn a nomination.
Best Actress: Well, so much for my hope of Emily Blunt sneaking in over Helen Mirren. Guess it must have just been a BAFTA thing after all.
Best Supporting Actor: Called this one 5 for 5, but have only seen Waltz' performance
Best Supporting Actress: Wow, Penelope Cruz managed to hang on after all. Guess there were enough old men voters who loved seeing Cruz go nympho. Then came Maggie Gyllenhaal's announcement, which really delighted me for her. Still need to see the movie, though.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Well, I can see how Fantastic Mr. Fox and Crazy Heart got shafted, especially in favor of In the Loop. And despite what anyone says, I'm just glad that Nick Hornby is nominated, being such a fan of High Fidelity and About a Boy.
Best Original Screenplay: This is where I take fault. No (500) Days of Summer. Let me say that again, Academy: No (500) Days of Summer. That is just wrong in so many ways. I don't know where you could slide it in, but this was one indie film this year that deserved a nomination.
Best Animated Feature: All together now, what in the holy f### is The Secret of Kells and how is it good enough to be nominated over Hayao Miyazaki's even most minimal effort?!? This better be one knock you over the head amazing movie, Academy.
Best Song: The Avatar song not nominated, good. The Kate Hudson song from Nine shafter, better. Double nominations for Randy Newman, nice, though it'll just be another two times he gets ignored because we all know it's going to The Weary Kind. And I'll join the chorus in saying that I thought there was no way Paris 36 would ever be nominated. Well, if Les Choires taught us anything back in 2004...
Best Score: Sad to see Star Trek not up here for score. It was nice to finaly hear a movie with a good, bold theme again and not just dismissible melodic tones. Guess that's what the music branch likes, even though I love The Hurt Locker, it's inclusion here is just confusing to me. I like that Sherlock Holmes' bizarre theme is included and really hope that Up is the winner here. Avatar, well, every time I listen to it, I keep picking up parts of every other old James Horner score: The Mask of Zorro, Titanic, Braveheart, Glory, etc. That man should sue Horner for plagerism.
Best Cinematography: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince?!? Who saw that coming, excepet when I saw the name behind it was Bruno Debonnel, then I should have at least considered it in the running. I will chime in and say that, even though Avatar had beautiful colors and the computer software was able to bring them out with such awesomeness, it should not win, if only because there was no light that needed to be adjusted, manipulated or added to enhance the environment.
Best Film Editing: Precious over Up in the Air. While this perplexes many, may I remind everyone of what the last few Film Editing winners have been (Slumdog Millionaire, The Bourne Ultimatum, Crash)? They like the shaky camera work with jumpy editing movies and even I was thinking that Up in the Air's chances at Best Film Editing weren't solid.
Best Costume Design: Horray for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus being able to sneak in here over my pick of Sherlock Holmes.
Best Art Direction: Um, horray, I guess, for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus being able to sneak in here over my pick of... District 9 and Inglorious Basterds? Wait a minute, boo. I'd rather have seen the other two nominated in it's place, despite how pretty Parnassus looked. And while everyone's quick to jump on the Avatar shouldn't win bandwagon, may I point out that it's Best Art Direction, which means that the design of the film's setting is what's being awarded. If sets that weren't 100 made on set had to be removed, then we'd have to take out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I, for one, think that the animated world of the Na'vi along with the real world of the humans was so exquisitely designed and the choice of what was created vs. what was animated was done in the right taste.
Best Sound Mixing: Well, crap, I was hoping for a total shut out of Transformers 2. And doom on you mixing branch for thinking that was a better mixed film than District 9. There wasn't much mixing in Transformers 2, they just kept the all of the levels up on the same high range. That's not mixing.
Best Sound Editing: Am a bit upset to not see District 9 here, either. It's sound effects were just perfectly original. But I can't complain because the other 5 here are just amazing films.
Best Make-Up: Well, I should have known that Il Divo's inclusion on the finalist list did mean something after all, but District 9 losing a nomination out to The Young Victoria? That's just not right, even if the make-up was applied to only one person in District 9.
Best Visual Effects: This is the category I'm the happiest with, if only because I'm glad that the other three out of four (2012, Terminator Salivation and especially Transformers 2) were shut out.