The Biggest Oscar Snubs
Alright so due largely to my sister and her very generous gift of treating me to about 10 movies this winter break I was actually able to see a large number of the big oscar contenders this year and I have some thoughts. The nominations while very predictable were missing a few prize performances if you ask me and I think it’s really a shame that some people/movies weren’t nominated where they should have been especially considering some of the academy’s choices. So here are the biggest Oscar snubs of 2010 in my opinion…
1. Best Leading Actor- Daniel Day Louis ”Nine”
Daniel Day Louis was fantastic in this movie. My hopes for the film weren’t very high and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was one of those movies that made a great transition from play to film and was surprised it was such a big flop in box offices. Many of the performances were canned and predictable (nicole kidman, kate hudson, sophia loren) but Daniel Day Louis was superb. He embodied Guido Contini effortlessly. His mannerisms, his voice, his facial expressions all went hand in hand to create a fantastic characterization of a self-obsessed, neurotic, anxious, defeated “maestro.” His performance was spot on and not only was he fantastic but he made his co-stars look fantastic which is not an easy feat.. which brings me to my next snub..
2. Best Supporting Actress- Marion Cotillard “ Nine”
Okay this may just be because I’m in love with this woman. But I think she’s epically fantastic. Her performance was one that made sadness and depression look achingly lovely. Entirely different from her performance in La Vie En Rose, her portrayal of Guido’s forgotten wife provided her with the opportunity to show a different side of her impressive vocal talents, proving once again her ability to act through song. She was refined and beautiful and deserved the nod far more than penelope cruz who’s obviously sexy and flashy performance as Guido’s mistress earned her the nom instead of Marion. Marion was by far the best female in this film, with the only arguable exception being Dame Judi Dench who stole the show (albeit briefly) with her version of “Folies Bergere.” Other kudos to Fergie who’s rendition of “Be Italian” was the powerhouse performance in the film, though not nearly enough to earn her a nom.
3. Best Leading Actress- Zoe Saldana “Avatar”
Okay, I know I’m going to get a ton of shit for this one, but hear me out. I get it- Avatar while being entirely enjoyable and visually stunning- isn’t supposed to get credit for being a poignant or masterful film. The story is lacking and cliche and the performances were flashy but not inspiring. I’ll agree with most of this, even though I was a huge fan of the movie, because for the most part it’s accurate.. with the sole exception of Zoe Saldana. I just want everyone to realize that she created a fictional character from a fictional race on a fictional planet.. from scratch; and in my opinion with a masterful touch. Her mannerisms, her accent, her facial expressions, all created a seamless characterization that made a far better performance than some of the other nominees and she didn’t even get a moment of actual screen time. The man who was hired to create the na’vi language for this film credits Zoe for the way it sounds on screen. He said that his original direction for the language was far different from the way we heard it based entirely on the inflections and accent placed on the language by Zoe. She turned some grammar-geek’s personal version of elvish into something real and put feeling and warmth into it. Her performance was fierce and endearing and she was entirely unrecognizable… unlike other mo-cap performances (IE all of Jim Carrey’s heinous portrayals in A Christmas Carol *shudder*). I just think if you’re thinking about acting ability Zoe’s performance is mind blowing. To be able to give a performance as great as I think her’s was while wearing a wet-suit and a crazy helmet and tons of sensors while in the middle of a giant warehouse surrounded by crazy cameras kind of knocks some of the other nominees out of the water. While I know it’s a different category, the fact that Anna Kendrick can be nominated for her lackluster and boring performance in Up In The Air when Zoe was snubbed is just silly. And while I know she didn’t nominate herself, can Meryl Streep just give some other ladies a chance? (Alright that said, movie snobs feel free to send me h8 mail.)
4. Best Supporting Actress - Melanie Laurent “Inglorious Basterds”
(Yes I know, this is my third female snub, but I think there were some serious female powerhouse performances this year, Melanie most definitely among them.)
To start off with, I’d like to say that I wasn’t too impressed with Inglorious Basterds as a whole. On the reverse side of things, I think it’s nomination for Best Picture is entirely undeserving (especially in the face of a snub like Fantastic Mr. Fox) and that most of the movie left something to be desired. I do think it was a great film for performances though, and I was pleased to see Christoph Waltz was nominated for best supporting actor though very surprised when Melanie’s name was not on the list for supporting actress. To be frank I thought that Laurent’s portrayal of Shoshanna was the best performance in the film. We all know Tarantino loves his strong female leads and Laurent was no disappointment. Unlike his usual choices however, Laurent’s Shoshanna was not the obvious powerhouse we’re used to seeing but seethed with a deep underlying strength. There were subtle nuances of love and compassion that came out time to time and you could see that her characterization was one of intricate layering. Her performance was spot-on and she didn’t miss a mark. The academy messed up big here, nominating both Anna Kendrick and Penelope Cruz before Melanie. For the record Anna Kendrick was cute. She did a good job. She proved she was more than a backup character in Twilight. But she was NOT Academy Award good. It was entirely forgettable and lackluster. The entirety of Up In The Air was anything but Academy Award good for that matter. Had George Clooney not taken a role in the film it wouldn’t have been on the oscar radar. I don’t know when the decision was made that anything George Clooney takes part in should be nominated for every oscar under the sun but I think it needs to end.
5. Directing - Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
My final snub of the night. It might just be because I love Wes Anderson so very much, but come on, this film was wonderful. I also think it was snubbed in the Best Picture Category but I’ll incorporate most of my reasoning for that into this explanation. I thought Wes did a fantastic (pardon the pun) job of translating the spirit and playful attitude of Roald Dahl’s children’s story into a film. The almost vignette-like feel Anderson gave to the film was an excellent move in that it really worked to create a bookish atmosphere of the film, with each vignette almost mirroring a chapter in Dah’s story. The artistic direction and trademark Anderson quirks created a delightful and simple film that was appealing to children but gave even more to its adult audience. Anderson is a truly a master of subtlety and awkward charm, and it fit beautifully into this story and genre. Anderson captured the true nature of Dahl’s story. A fox with a midlife crisis is as silly as it sounds and Anderson was smart enough to capitalize on the ability of the story to resonate and amuse adult audiences. Anderson made a graceful transition into animation, making it seem as if it had been his forte for years. It is definitely deserving of a directing nom and also far more deserving than it’s animated competition UP of a best picture nom. While UP was visually appealing it lost steam fast and wasn’t nearly as enjoyable or artful as FMF.
So that’s it for now. Perhaps I will post more of my Oscar thoughts later. It sure beats doing homework.
1. Best Leading Actor- Daniel Day Louis ”Nine”
Daniel Day Louis was fantastic in this movie. My hopes for the film weren’t very high and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was one of those movies that made a great transition from play to film and was surprised it was such a big flop in box offices. Many of the performances were canned and predictable (nicole kidman, kate hudson, sophia loren) but Daniel Day Louis was superb. He embodied Guido Contini effortlessly. His mannerisms, his voice, his facial expressions all went hand in hand to create a fantastic characterization of a self-obsessed, neurotic, anxious, defeated “maestro.” His performance was spot on and not only was he fantastic but he made his co-stars look fantastic which is not an easy feat.. which brings me to my next snub..
2. Best Supporting Actress- Marion Cotillard “ Nine”
Okay this may just be because I’m in love with this woman. But I think she’s epically fantastic. Her performance was one that made sadness and depression look achingly lovely. Entirely different from her performance in La Vie En Rose, her portrayal of Guido’s forgotten wife provided her with the opportunity to show a different side of her impressive vocal talents, proving once again her ability to act through song. She was refined and beautiful and deserved the nod far more than penelope cruz who’s obviously sexy and flashy performance as Guido’s mistress earned her the nom instead of Marion. Marion was by far the best female in this film, with the only arguable exception being Dame Judi Dench who stole the show (albeit briefly) with her version of “Folies Bergere.” Other kudos to Fergie who’s rendition of “Be Italian” was the powerhouse performance in the film, though not nearly enough to earn her a nom.
3. Best Leading Actress- Zoe Saldana “Avatar”
Okay, I know I’m going to get a ton of shit for this one, but hear me out. I get it- Avatar while being entirely enjoyable and visually stunning- isn’t supposed to get credit for being a poignant or masterful film. The story is lacking and cliche and the performances were flashy but not inspiring. I’ll agree with most of this, even though I was a huge fan of the movie, because for the most part it’s accurate.. with the sole exception of Zoe Saldana. I just want everyone to realize that she created a fictional character from a fictional race on a fictional planet.. from scratch; and in my opinion with a masterful touch. Her mannerisms, her accent, her facial expressions, all created a seamless characterization that made a far better performance than some of the other nominees and she didn’t even get a moment of actual screen time. The man who was hired to create the na’vi language for this film credits Zoe for the way it sounds on screen. He said that his original direction for the language was far different from the way we heard it based entirely on the inflections and accent placed on the language by Zoe. She turned some grammar-geek’s personal version of elvish into something real and put feeling and warmth into it. Her performance was fierce and endearing and she was entirely unrecognizable… unlike other mo-cap performances (IE all of Jim Carrey’s heinous portrayals in A Christmas Carol *shudder*). I just think if you’re thinking about acting ability Zoe’s performance is mind blowing. To be able to give a performance as great as I think her’s was while wearing a wet-suit and a crazy helmet and tons of sensors while in the middle of a giant warehouse surrounded by crazy cameras kind of knocks some of the other nominees out of the water. While I know it’s a different category, the fact that Anna Kendrick can be nominated for her lackluster and boring performance in Up In The Air when Zoe was snubbed is just silly. And while I know she didn’t nominate herself, can Meryl Streep just give some other ladies a chance? (Alright that said, movie snobs feel free to send me h8 mail.)
4. Best Supporting Actress - Melanie Laurent “Inglorious Basterds”
(Yes I know, this is my third female snub, but I think there were some serious female powerhouse performances this year, Melanie most definitely among them.)
To start off with, I’d like to say that I wasn’t too impressed with Inglorious Basterds as a whole. On the reverse side of things, I think it’s nomination for Best Picture is entirely undeserving (especially in the face of a snub like Fantastic Mr. Fox) and that most of the movie left something to be desired. I do think it was a great film for performances though, and I was pleased to see Christoph Waltz was nominated for best supporting actor though very surprised when Melanie’s name was not on the list for supporting actress. To be frank I thought that Laurent’s portrayal of Shoshanna was the best performance in the film. We all know Tarantino loves his strong female leads and Laurent was no disappointment. Unlike his usual choices however, Laurent’s Shoshanna was not the obvious powerhouse we’re used to seeing but seethed with a deep underlying strength. There were subtle nuances of love and compassion that came out time to time and you could see that her characterization was one of intricate layering. Her performance was spot-on and she didn’t miss a mark. The academy messed up big here, nominating both Anna Kendrick and Penelope Cruz before Melanie. For the record Anna Kendrick was cute. She did a good job. She proved she was more than a backup character in Twilight. But she was NOT Academy Award good. It was entirely forgettable and lackluster. The entirety of Up In The Air was anything but Academy Award good for that matter. Had George Clooney not taken a role in the film it wouldn’t have been on the oscar radar. I don’t know when the decision was made that anything George Clooney takes part in should be nominated for every oscar under the sun but I think it needs to end.
5. Directing - Wes Anderson “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
My final snub of the night. It might just be because I love Wes Anderson so very much, but come on, this film was wonderful. I also think it was snubbed in the Best Picture Category but I’ll incorporate most of my reasoning for that into this explanation. I thought Wes did a fantastic (pardon the pun) job of translating the spirit and playful attitude of Roald Dahl’s children’s story into a film. The almost vignette-like feel Anderson gave to the film was an excellent move in that it really worked to create a bookish atmosphere of the film, with each vignette almost mirroring a chapter in Dah’s story. The artistic direction and trademark Anderson quirks created a delightful and simple film that was appealing to children but gave even more to its adult audience. Anderson is a truly a master of subtlety and awkward charm, and it fit beautifully into this story and genre. Anderson captured the true nature of Dahl’s story. A fox with a midlife crisis is as silly as it sounds and Anderson was smart enough to capitalize on the ability of the story to resonate and amuse adult audiences. Anderson made a graceful transition into animation, making it seem as if it had been his forte for years. It is definitely deserving of a directing nom and also far more deserving than it’s animated competition UP of a best picture nom. While UP was visually appealing it lost steam fast and wasn’t nearly as enjoyable or artful as FMF.
So that’s it for now. Perhaps I will post more of my Oscar thoughts later. It sure beats doing homework.