The Academy Awards is one week away so I am finalizing my predictions. I admit that I'm no expert - I only had 13 out of 24 right last year, but it is such a fun process so I'm up for it.
In Roger Ebert's 2008 predictions column he writes "as usual I will allow my heart to outsmart my brain in one or two races, which is my annual downfall". I hear you Roger! That's why I decided to say "screw it!" and go with my heart. I went against my heart last year and guessed wrongly that BABEL would win over my true favorite THE DEPARTED so I think I owe it.
So here goes:
1.BEST PICTURE: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – My brain agrees with my heart on this one. It seriously feels like The Coen Brothers time as evidenced by my pick for #2 as well but I have to remind myself that 10 years ago I really thought it was their time for FARGO and THE ENGLISH PATIENT won. Heavy sigh. Please JUNO - don't split the vote and cause an upset! Please - my heart couldn't take it.
2. BEST DIRECTOR: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
3.BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day Lewis - Again heart and brain are on the same page with just about everybody out there on this - he truly did perform the best acting of the year so it'll be shocking if he's not rewarded.
4. BEST ACTRESS: Julie Christie - Most are predicting this one for Christie. Her performance was wonderful and like Lewis she's won before (for DARLING - 1965) and it just seems right. The wild card would be Marion Cotillard in LA VIE EN ROSE but that's stuck at "very long wait" in my Netflix queue so I can't appraise yet.
5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Hal Holbrook - This is my wild card; my INTO THE WILD card! Sorry, couldn't resist that. Seriously though he was the best thing in that movie - he's 82 and he climbed up a mountain! Somebody else who thinks he deserves it is one of his competitors for the title - Javier Bardem. Read Bardem's touching comments on Holbrook's performance. My brain is doubting this pick but I'm still letting it stand.
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS : Cate Blanchett - Brain and Heart together again. Blanchett is amazing as '65-'66 era Bob Dylan - actually Jude Quinn - one of 6 different personifications of the said rock star singer in I'M NOT THERE if you haven't heard. I predict she will dedicate her Oscar to co-star Heath Ledger. Awarding her will honor him so to speak. Also since she was also nominated for Best Actress for ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE this stone kills that bird too. Hey, I'm just blogging out loud here!
And the rest:
7. ART DIRECTION: SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
8. CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins for THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD. Deakins is also nominated for NO COUNTRY as well so I hope a DREAMGIRLS-like canceling out doesn't go down. I will be supremely bummed if Deakins' amazing work doesn't get the gold for either film.
9. COSTUME DESIGN: ATONEMENT
10. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: NO END IN SIGHT - Because SiCKO would seem to be a shoe-in my brain is still pondering over whether the Academy will let Michael Moore back on their stage. I mean, remember last time? That's not the only reason I think Charles Ferguson's little seen Iraq war breakdown will win but it's good enough for now.
11. DOCUMENTARY SHORT: SARI’S MOTHER - Haven't seen but damnit it looks like a winner!
12. FILM EDITING: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY - Heart again. I mean the editing was really the show on this one so I can't help but pick it.
13. MAKEUP: LA VIE EN ROSE - Can you believe NORBIT was nominated? Maybe it did have phenomenal makeup but still - NORBIT - an Oscar Nominated Motion Picture?! I may do the biggest spit-take in history if that Eddie Murphy mess upsets this category.
14. VISUAL EFFECTS: TRANSFORMERS - The definition of "no-brainer."
15. ORIGINAL SCORE: ATONEMENT
16. ORIGINAL SONG: “Falling Slowly” from ONCE - This has got to happen. People are crazy about that freakin' soundtrack and this song seems a sure bet.
17. ANIMATED SHORT: I MET THE WALRUS - Didn't see it but the trailer (that's right, a trailer for a short film) is pretty cool.
18. LIVE ACTION SHORT: AT NIGHT - Haven't seen either so I'm just going throwing a dart in the dark here I admit.
19. SOUND EDITING: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
20. SOUND MIXING: THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM - Didn't see it but it looked like this flick mixed it up soundwise. Yep, another dart.
21. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: JUNO by Diablo Cody. This category should be re-named "snarkiest script."
22. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ATONEMENT by Christopher Hampton
23. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: RATATOUILLE
24. FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: THE COUNTERFEITERS (German title: Fälscher, Die) - I haven't seen it yet but I read good things about this Austrian war drama on the internets and the Academy seems to love World War II so it seems pretty sound.
Okay! I bet I do even worse than last year but I don't care. I'm just glad the writer's strike is over and the show is going on. It was one of the best years for movies so I bet whatever the flaws and surprises it'll be a blast.
More later...
It was so good to hide from the scorching Summer heat in air conditioned theaters in the last few weeks. I caught up with some of the second-tier films like ONCE and YOU KILL ME (reviewed below) that are competing with the blockbusters. I did however make it beyond my local art-house theater haunting ground that I normally dwell in to hit the multiplex to see -
RATATOUILLE (Dir. Brad Bird, 2007)
When walking out of the matinee I asked the common after-movie question to a friend who saw the movie with me - "so, what did you think?" He said "it sucked! No, just kidding - it was awesome." Sure, an obvious joke but still apt because we knew going in that it was going to be awesome. Pixar has a high level of quality streak that they are riding on and the casting of comedian Patton Oswalt, who is also having a bit of a winning streak lately *, is pure genius. Oswalt voices Remy - a French rat who's a "foodie" - not content to sift through trash for his meals because of his sophicated palette. After infiltrating a famous restaurant that has dropped a star off its four star rating after the passing of its owner and head chef Auguste Gusteau (Brad Garrett) Remy teams up with Linguinni (Lou Romano)- an incompetent klutz who has just been hired as janitor. With Remy's culinary genius - inspired in part by a ghost of Gusteau - Linguinni rises above his mere kitchen help status to become the star chef. The animation is fluid and flawless, the dialogue quick and witty, the script with its honest passion for food and cooking is sharp as can be, and the supporting cast (including Janeanne Garafolo, Ian Holm, and Peter O'Toole) is spot-on. Man, I hope this Pixar winning streak lasts for a long time.
* This great Onion AV Club interview with Patton Oswalt reveals that he has done script doctoring punch-up work on 25 movies alone this year including SHREK THE THIRD. I would really like to give him props for his newest stand-up comedy disc "Werewolves and Lollipops" on SubPop. If you are not in the habit of purchasing comedy discs (most people I know aren't) you should break the habit and buy this one - it's hilarious all the way through and it comes with a bonus DVD of a performance at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia in which an audience member pees on another audience member because he didn't want to leave to go to the bathroom and miss any of Oswalt's set. Don't worry - you don't actually see this happening but it becomes a part of the routine in a glorious way.
And now for the arthouse also rans :
ONCE (Dir. John Carney, 2006) This highly touted Irish drama finally arrives in my area and has been charming the pants off of nearly everyone I know who sees it - me included. The story is simple - struggling songwriter Guy (Glen Hansard) meets piano playing Girl (Marketa Irglova) , Girl helps Guy * to make a demo recording and the will they-won't they get together question is amplified through the music they create together. A very low-fi griminess adds to the realistic almost documentary feel and the music is heartfelt and catchy. ONCE has a sweet sincere melody to it and that's a pretty good endorsement for a movie that is almost a demo itself.
* that is actually how they are credited - we never know their names.
YOU KILL ME (John Dahl, 2007) Ben Kingsley is Frank, a New Jersey hit-man whose alcoholicism has interferred with his ability to pull off his mafia contracts. Told by his boss (Phillip Baker Hall) he must attend AA meetings and sober up in San Fransisco where he gets a job in a funeral home. Yep, if the first half of this plot description made you think of The Sopranos the second half takes us to Six Feet Under. Through his new temporary line of work he meets Tea Leoni, gets sponsered by Luke Wilson, and monitored by creepy real estate agent Bill Pullman. There are a number of mild chuckles but this film isn't the delightful dark comedy it wants to be. I didn't really buy its 'drinking : bad/murder : okay' message either but the acting which is so much better than the material saves this from being forgettable. Kingsley should actually consider doing that "I'd pay to watch him read the phone book" project that people have been pitching for years.
Now for a review of a recent release DVD if you please (or even if you don't) :
Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon) - "Why was the 911 switchboard unplugged?"
Deputy Trudy Wiegel (Kerri Kenney-Silver) "We had to plug in the popcorn maker!"
RENO 911! : MIAMI (Dir. Ben Garant, 2007) I've enjoyed the modern Keystone-esque antics in the satire of the reality TV standard Cops since Reno 911 premiered on Comedy Central in 2003 but then I've also liked Strangers With Candy and its transfer to the big screen yielded pretty patchy results. This is better than that by at least a notch and for the record funnier than another likewise stoner cop comedy SUPER TROOPERS ('01) by a long stretch. It has these things going for it - the full cast of TV regulars appears including Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant (who both co-wrote) it has a good Laughs Per Minute ratio, some clever cameos (Danny Devito, The Rock, Paul Rudd, and all the members from the sketch comedy troup/MTV show The State *), and a consistent tone throughout.
The squad journeys to a police convention on Spring Break in Miami and after a major arena quarentine they are made the only law enforcers of the city ensuring a wave of wackiness. Since this review is based on the unrated DVD version I can't comment on the theatrical version obviously but there is a lot of scatological humor of which I'm not a fan of - I could have really done without the cheap motel masturbation sequence for instance. Still as a whole it's funnier than it has a legal right to be. RENO 911! : MIAMI may never be considered a cult classic but it will be preferable to many of the films that air on Comedy Central for years to come.
* Also Patton Oswalt appears in the more-than-mere-cameo role of acting Miami-mayor Jeff Spoder - okay! That's enough Patton promoting for now!
This post is dedicated to Laszlo Kovacs (1933-2007)- the recently deceased legendary cinematographer who has made his mark on 60 movies including classics like EASY RIDER, SHAMPOO, PAPER MOON, and GHOSTBUSTERS.
More later...
1. BEST PICTURE: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett - WRONG! Tilda Swinton for MICHAEL CLAYTON - This was a real surprise. Still, she did a good job in her role and I liked that backstage afterwards she said winning is often "the kiss of death". Yeah, just ask Cuba Gooding Jr.
16. ORIGINAL SONG: “Falling Slowly” from ONCE - A nice moment during the broadcast was when host Jon Stewart quipped "wow, that guy is so arrogant" after Glen Hansard's humble as Hell acceptance speech. It got a big laugh from the audience and the folks at the Oscar party I was at last night.
