Oscar Talk
The nominations have been made, so I figure I'll chime in with early thoughts. It's not yet time for the Andy Movie Awards, as I still have a lot of movie watching to go before I'll be ready for that. So I'm not going to go too indepth here.
First off, I'm thrilled that Dreamgirls did not get a Best Picture nomination. The past two years, I've seen all five films nominated for that award, but don't think it would be possible for Hollywood to come up with a movie I'd be less interested in seeing than Dreamgirls. Now I don't have to (sure, it's gotten some other nominations, including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, but I can skip those). I've already seen 4 out of the 5 nominated films for Best Picture, so I'm ahead of the game. Babel is the fifth, and the one I'm least interested in seeing (it seems like Crash II to me, and I hated that movie). The good news is that right now, Babel is scheduled to be released on DVD the week before the Oscars, so I can wait on that one. Otherwise, I'm relatively pleased with the other four selections (although United 93 was overlooked, but that's not surprising).
Not including foreign films or shorts, there are 25 movies receiving nominations that I've yet to see. Of course, I'm not going to see all of those (Dreamgirls is already out, and I don't really care about the animation award either), but I'll try and put a dent in some of the majors. Excluding visual and audio awards (besides cinematography), that list shrinks to 15, 4 of which are documentaries. I'd like to see the documentaries, but access is always a concern with those (Jesus Camp comes out on DVD today, so I'll hopefully get to see it).
With that in mind, there are the ten movies I'd most like to see before the Academy Awards, so I can have justifiable opinions on the major catagories:
1. Pan's Labyrinth (nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Achievement in Art Direction, Original Score, Achievement in Makeup, and Foreign Language)- This just came to Calgary last Friday, and we probably would've gone to see it on Sunday had my wife been feeling better and the football game started earlier.
2. The Last King of Scotland (Forest Whitaker nominated for Best Actor)- This also just came to Calgary Friday, so hopefully it'll stick around long enough for me to catch it. Whitaker is the odds-on favourite to win this award, so I'd like to find out if he deserves it.
3. Little Children (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Kate Winslet nominated for Best Actress, Jackie Earl Haley nominated for Best Supporting Actor)- Unfortunately, Little Children was bumped off of its only screen in Calgary to make room for the above two movies. I'm hoping its nominations will get it back on a screen somewhere, otherwise, I don't think I'll have a chance to see it in time.
4. Deliver us from Evil (nominated for Best Documentary)- Not sure how I'm going to see this movie, but it could still make it to one of our indies (the poster was up in the one of them as "Coming Soon", but that was months ago).
5. Jesus Camp (nominated for Best Documentary)- I'll probably rent it this week.
6. Notes on a Scandal (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Judi Dench nominated for Best Actress, Cate Blanchett nominated for Best Supporting Actress)- I don't see near enough female-centred movies. Right now, I've only seen one movie featuring an actress nominated for a leading role (at least it's the leadpipe lock to win), so I'd like to see more. Plus, this looks intriguing.
7. Babel (nominated for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi for Best Supporting Actress, Alejandro González Iñárritu nominated for Best Director)- The first movie on this list that I'm basically only interested in because of the nominations. It's gotten tepid reviews from critics I respect, so I'm thinking it's probably what I think it is. But I gotta know.
8. The Good German (nominated for Best Score)- Alright, this isn't a category that I care about, but I want to see this movie anyway, regardless of awards.
9. Volver (Penélope Cruz nominated for Best Actress)- I've kinda wanted to see this since we saw it advertised all over Europe. It's been in Calgary for over a month now, so I'm not sure it'll stick around long enough for me to work my way this far down the list. Kinda surprising that it didn't get a Best Foreign Language nomination.
10. Flags of our Fathers (nominated for Best Achievement in Sound and Best Achievement in Sound Editing)- Two more awards I don't care about for a movie I want to see anyway.
Other than Dreamgirls, nominated movies I don't care to see include The Pursuit of Happyness (which got Will Smith a Best Actor nomination), The Devil Wears Prada (nominated for Costume Design and Meryl Streep for Best Actress, although if my wife wants to rent this, I'd probably tolerate it), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (art direction, sound, visual effects), Happy Feet, Monster House, Apocalypto (sound and makeup), or Click (makeup).
First off, I'm thrilled that Dreamgirls did not get a Best Picture nomination. The past two years, I've seen all five films nominated for that award, but don't think it would be possible for Hollywood to come up with a movie I'd be less interested in seeing than Dreamgirls. Now I don't have to (sure, it's gotten some other nominations, including Best Supporting Actor and Actress, but I can skip those). I've already seen 4 out of the 5 nominated films for Best Picture, so I'm ahead of the game. Babel is the fifth, and the one I'm least interested in seeing (it seems like Crash II to me, and I hated that movie). The good news is that right now, Babel is scheduled to be released on DVD the week before the Oscars, so I can wait on that one. Otherwise, I'm relatively pleased with the other four selections (although United 93 was overlooked, but that's not surprising).
Not including foreign films or shorts, there are 25 movies receiving nominations that I've yet to see. Of course, I'm not going to see all of those (Dreamgirls is already out, and I don't really care about the animation award either), but I'll try and put a dent in some of the majors. Excluding visual and audio awards (besides cinematography), that list shrinks to 15, 4 of which are documentaries. I'd like to see the documentaries, but access is always a concern with those (Jesus Camp comes out on DVD today, so I'll hopefully get to see it).
With that in mind, there are the ten movies I'd most like to see before the Academy Awards, so I can have justifiable opinions on the major catagories:
1. Pan's Labyrinth (nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Achievement in Art Direction, Original Score, Achievement in Makeup, and Foreign Language)- This just came to Calgary last Friday, and we probably would've gone to see it on Sunday had my wife been feeling better and the football game started earlier.
2. The Last King of Scotland (Forest Whitaker nominated for Best Actor)- This also just came to Calgary Friday, so hopefully it'll stick around long enough for me to catch it. Whitaker is the odds-on favourite to win this award, so I'd like to find out if he deserves it.
3. Little Children (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Kate Winslet nominated for Best Actress, Jackie Earl Haley nominated for Best Supporting Actor)- Unfortunately, Little Children was bumped off of its only screen in Calgary to make room for the above two movies. I'm hoping its nominations will get it back on a screen somewhere, otherwise, I don't think I'll have a chance to see it in time.
4. Deliver us from Evil (nominated for Best Documentary)- Not sure how I'm going to see this movie, but it could still make it to one of our indies (the poster was up in the one of them as "Coming Soon", but that was months ago).
5. Jesus Camp (nominated for Best Documentary)- I'll probably rent it this week.
6. Notes on a Scandal (nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Judi Dench nominated for Best Actress, Cate Blanchett nominated for Best Supporting Actress)- I don't see near enough female-centred movies. Right now, I've only seen one movie featuring an actress nominated for a leading role (at least it's the leadpipe lock to win), so I'd like to see more. Plus, this looks intriguing.
7. Babel (nominated for Best Picture, Original Screenplay, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi for Best Supporting Actress, Alejandro González Iñárritu nominated for Best Director)- The first movie on this list that I'm basically only interested in because of the nominations. It's gotten tepid reviews from critics I respect, so I'm thinking it's probably what I think it is. But I gotta know.
8. The Good German (nominated for Best Score)- Alright, this isn't a category that I care about, but I want to see this movie anyway, regardless of awards.
9. Volver (Penélope Cruz nominated for Best Actress)- I've kinda wanted to see this since we saw it advertised all over Europe. It's been in Calgary for over a month now, so I'm not sure it'll stick around long enough for me to work my way this far down the list. Kinda surprising that it didn't get a Best Foreign Language nomination.
10. Flags of our Fathers (nominated for Best Achievement in Sound and Best Achievement in Sound Editing)- Two more awards I don't care about for a movie I want to see anyway.
Other than Dreamgirls, nominated movies I don't care to see include The Pursuit of Happyness (which got Will Smith a Best Actor nomination), The Devil Wears Prada (nominated for Costume Design and Meryl Streep for Best Actress, although if my wife wants to rent this, I'd probably tolerate it), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (art direction, sound, visual effects), Happy Feet, Monster House, Apocalypto (sound and makeup), or Click (makeup).