Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Alex]

I also watched Away from Her last night and it is indeed a rough movie. Not because I have any personal experience but really because it is my worst nightmare about growing old. It is pretty important to my life plan that either I die first or we die quickly at the same time.

Julie Christie was great but I must admit to a psychological block because of internally shouting "how can she get rewarded when Gordon Pinset gets nothing, he did all the really heavy lifting." I know the nominations from a movie aren't fair but still, he could easily replace Johnny Depp in the best actor list.

So that's probably the last Oscar nom I'm going to see before the awards.

I've seen all the nominees in the following categories (my pick in parentheses):
Best Picture (No Country for Old Men)
Best Actress (Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose)
Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton)
Best Original Screenplay (Brad Bird, Ratatouille)
Best Art Direction (American Gangster)
Best Costume Design (Across the Universe)
Best Sound (3:10 to Yuma, mostly because I want that to get an award of some sort)
Best Sound Editing (no opinion other than that no one should ever be able to say this sentence fragment: "Academy Award winning Transformers...")
Best Visual Effects (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, mostly by default)
Best Animated Short Film (none but if tortured into it "Peter and the Wolf")
Best Live Action Short Film ("Tanghi argentini")

My worst non trivial category is Best Supoprting Actor where I've only seen two of the performances (missed Assassination of Jesse James, Charlie Wilson's War, and Into the Wild) but I still feel pretty confident in my pick of Javier Bardem and Anton Cigurh in No Country for Old Men.

In the leading actor category I also missed Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah. Interestingly, for three of the four performances I've mentioned missing I have alternative performances by that actor in 2007 that I unconsciously use in my decision making. Casey Affleck was very good in Gone Baby Gone. Philip Seymour Hoffman was better than Laura Linney in The Savages. Tommy Lee Jones was great in No Country for Old Men. But I'll still pick Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood even if I wasn't blown away by the movie itself.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the big impediment to making informed decisions since it it the sole missed nomination in Best Director (the Coens), and Best Adapted Screenplay (the Coens).

[innerSpaceman]

Yep, i almost feel that i can't make real pics if i haven't seen that movie.


My most uninformed category turns out to be Best Supporting Actress, where I've seen only two of the nominated performances.


Really, Alex ... Marion Cotillard for Best Actress ... after your tirade about her?




And, Gemini Cricket ... mmmmm, i LoVe Castle in the Sky. One of my absolute fave Ghibli's.

[Alex]

Go reread what I said. I never offered any tirade about Marion Cotillard. Never said a single bad word against her.

It isn't her fault she's very good in a very boring movie. Plus, it isn't exactly the best year ever in that category. I'm actually puzzled as to why anybody would consider the Blanchett and Linney performances award worthy. Ellen Page was fine but I think most of what is great comes from the writing. So that leaves it down to Cotillard and Christie in my view and I'd almost call Christie's role a supporting one rather than lead (plus the psychological block I have since Pinset's is the more deserving performance).

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Bookies are picking Christie, but I'd almost put money on Cotillard - I think that'll be the "upset" of the night. At least I hope it will - I'll be grouchy if a film I don't like wins best picture three years in a row.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

BTW, other than "Away From Her," which I'll be seeing either today or tomorrow, we've missed Surf's Up, Assassination of Jesse James, American Gangster, Valley of Elah, Eastern Promises, Golden Age - of the big eight (plus animated.) Of tech and misc. awards, we've missed the foreigns, the docs, Bourne and Kite Runner... everything else, we've seen. Still, this is probably the first year in awhile I haven't seen damn near everything. I should feel handicapped in the Best Actor category, but I'd be hugely surprised if that didn't go to Day Lewis.

[Alex]

Which Best Picture nom is it you didn't like that might win? For me the weakest was There Will Be Blood but I still respect what it was trying to be.

[innerSpaceman]

I wonder if Cate was nommed for Liz because her earlier portrayal of the same character was nommeed. Also if her nom in both Best and Supporting will cancel each other out.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Alex

Which Best Picture nom is it you didn't like that might win? For me the weakest was There Will Be Blood but I still respect what it was trying to be.

Same one. Though I saw some of its merits, I generally thought it didn't hit the mark.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I saw Atonement - I thought it was ok. Acting was good but I didn't think it was the greatest movie. I was a bit surprised by Keira Knightly, she was way better in this than Pirates.

The film - eh...

[innerSpaceman]

Ok, no Diving Bell ... and I haven't seen the majority of Best Supporting Actress noms. Nonetheless ... Ladies and Gentlemen, the Zlick Picks:

Best Actor: George Clooney in Michael Clayton (Zlick's Acadamy prediction: Daniel Day Lewis)

Best Supporting Actor: Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (the actual Oscar will go to Javier Bardem)

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (with the Academy following suit)

Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton (with the Academy once again agreeing on me on la femme talent)

Best Animated Film: Ratatouille (with an Oscar for sure)

Best Art Direction: Sweeney Todd (and the Academy once again agrees with Steve)

Best Cinematography: No Country for Old Men (and I believe the Oscar-winner will be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

Best Costume Design: Elizabeth, the Golden Age (and I think the Academy will likewise be swayed by the spendlor of gaudy)

Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men (and I feel the Academy will be breaking out the second Oscar when they concur)

Best Documentary Feature: Sicko (and Michael Moore will once again wow with his acceptance speech)

Best Documentary Short - no selection (I haven't seen any of them)

Best Editing: No Country for Old Men (though I think the Academy will be swayed by the flashier work in The Bourne Ultimatum)

Best Foreign Language Film - no selection (I haven't seen any of them - but I will say that The Orphanage was robbed!)

Best Makeup: La Vie en Rose (with the Oscar going to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)

Best Musical Score - Ratatouille (with the Oscar dancing to the beat of the same drummer)

Best Original Song - Happy Working Song from Enchanted (with the Oscar going to "That's How You Know," also from Enchanted)

Best Animated Short Film: A Zlick Oscar Upset: NONE (but the inevitable Oscar going to Even Pidgeons Go to Heaven)

Best Live Action Short Film: Tanghi Argentini (and the Academy must agree)

Best Sound Editing: There Will Be Blood (with the Oscar going to No Country For Old Men)

Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum (and the Academy agrees)

Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (and the Oscar indeed goes to Pirates 3)

Best Adapted Screenplay: There Will Be Blood (with the Academy choosing No Country For Old Men)

Best Original Screenplay: Michael Clayton (and the Academy concurs)

and finally:

Best Picture of the Year: Michael Clayton (and the Oscar goes to: No County For Old Men)


Stay Tuned tomorrow night, to see how well I've been right!





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