How could anyone not give WALL-E Best Animated Picture? Courtesy IGN.
With the Oscars (and our LIVE BLOG) less than a week away, we’ll be treating you to three installments of Oscar Predictions this week. Don’t forget to read our
earlier predictions and check back in the week for more. But for today, the post is on those other categories.
Today is about Best Documentary, Best Foreign Film and Best Picture Snub Animated Feature. And also those ones that aren’t that important because no one really understands them, but they are really important because they are nuanced and make the films really special. Anna Farris was great in The House Bunny, but that didn’t get any buzz. It’s things like editing, cinematography, etc. that really make these directors, writers, actors and films shine. Best Picture is an amalgamation of all these awards. I don’t really understand them, but I’m going to give it my best go.
Best Animated Film
Whatever that mess that happened with Kung Fu Panda was at the Annie’s, don’t expect it here. That award might appeal to the technical merit of the films, but most Oscar voters aren’t going to pick up on that. As justice to the greatest Best Picture snub and to honor one of the most pure and classic pieces of cinema in recent memory, Andrew Stanton will take the award for WALL-E.
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Is Brad Pitt too pretty to win an Oscar? Probably. Courtesy Filmofila.
The Nominees
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Jenkins staring role as emotionally dead Walter Vale is a surprisingly touching, very quiet, character study. Every movement and flinch feels intricately thought out. Jenkins does a superb job of creating a character that the audience can not just watch but grow with. Jenkins was absolutely deserving of a nomination, but will be hard-pressed to bring home the statue against this years competition.
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Langella is a Broadway star who has accumulated three Tonys for Best Actor, one of which he won in 2007 for his performance as Tricky Dick in the Broadway version of Frost/Nixon. He is an expert at capturing the crooked, sleazy ex-president. From his tired slump to muttering tone Langella gives an impressively measured and balanced portrayal of Nixon. While an underdog behind some more popular movie actors, Langella is my dark horse candidate to throw a wrench in the plans of the heavyweight favorites.
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Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married. Courtesy Screen Rush
Here is round five in our coverage of the major Oscar categories. Today, we tackle one of the most competitive races: Best Actress in a Leading Role. For older posts, check here. And don’t forget to check back Thursday for our Best Actor predictions.
The Award
By my best estimate, there are no noteworthy trends in this category over the past decade. So I’m going to turn the attention to the major snubs in this category. First, Kate Winslet’s nod in The Reader over Revolutionary Road shows just how shrewd Harvey Weinstein is when it comes to the Oscars. Second, Kristin Scott Thomas’ omission from this race is a huge detriment to a very strong pool of candidates and makes the race far less interesting. I guess French is so last-year. Finally, just because she seems to get nominated every year without fail, I’m a little disappointed not to see Cate Blanchett in here for her performance in Benjamin Button. Cate–the new Meryl?
The Nominees
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Though I wouldn’t call Hathaway ugly in this movie, she tones down the attractiveness a bit. The Academy loves it when pretty young things get roughed up for their performances (see: Kidman, Nicole; Swank, Hilary; Theron, Charlize). As the only nomination from Jonathan Demme’s brilliant picture, Hathaway’s chances are good. She has been building a lot of buzz since her debut in The Princess Diaries and this is the first chance she’s had to really show her chops.
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Courtesy LA Times
Here is the third entry in our ongoing analysis of the most coveted categories in the Academy Awards. For more posts, check here. Today, the category is Best Original Screenplay.
The Nominees:
Frozen River (Courtney Hunt)
Two years running, the Original Screenplay award has gone to first time screenwriters (2007 – Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine and 2008 – Diablo Cody, Juno), which bodes well for Hunt and her inaugural effort. However, those movies were also both lightning rods for buzz around this time last year, and nobody’s really talking about Frozen River, despite Melissa Leo’s nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role—a two-horse race between Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep, and maybe dark horse Anne Hathaway. However, if the past is any indication, don’t count out Frozen River; it has received a solid amount of awards and critical recognition so far. Just don’t put any money on it, either.
Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)
Leigh has something that none of the other live-action writing nominees have: previous nominations. This is his fourth nom for Original Screenplay since 1996′s Secrets & Lies , and he’s also been nominated twice for Best Director, but has no Oscars to his credit. It seems unlikely that the Academy feels it owes Leigh anything, however, and most of Happy-Go-Lucky‘s press has revolved around the effervescent lead Sally Hawkins. The saving grace here is that Hawkins was surprisingly not nominated for Best Actress, despite the abundant goodwill regarding her performance (thanks, Angelina Jolie!), and this could be a boon for Leigh—he and Hawkins created the character together. Probably the strongest dark horse in the Original Screenplay race.
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One and done: Heath Ledger wins for The Dark Knight. Courtesy Entertainment Weekly.
The Award: Unlike some categories this year Supporting Actor is far easier to decipher than Baz Luhrman’s newest commercial for Australia.
The Nominees
Josh Brolin, Milk
In one year, Brolin has rocketed to the top echelon of American actors. He plays the rock-jawed, rageful Dan White with compassion. At times it’s easy to forget he’s the bad guy. White is a complex character whose love-hate relationship with Sean Penn’s Harve Milk is one of the more interesting aspects of the film.
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
With 2008 Downey, Jr. has almost instantly revived his acting career. The talented actor has been off the radar for a while battling drug and alcohol problems, but his talent seems to have pulled him through. His role as the blue-eyed Australian pretty-boy, Kirk Lazurus, playing an African-American soldier in Vietnam was elegantly constructed and masterfully pulled off. While his acting was without question amazing, it was almost an upset for him to even receive the nomination with his role coming in a summer action-comedy blockbuster, and it seems unlikely that he will have the momentum to pull off an even bigger surprise.
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