Oscar Noms
I don't really take the Oscars very seriously. I watch it every year, and make a little party of it. I like the pageantry, I like picking my favorites in each category and rooting for them, and I cheer whenever someone I really like (say, Peter Jackson or Philip Seymour Hoffman) wins. But I don't really care much about what movies get Oscars. Still...this is some sad shit.
Li'l Miss Sunshine is a nice little movie, but the idea that it could get a Best Picture nomination in any year, much less an exceptionally good year like 2006, is absurd. And it's pretty inexcusable for Alfonso Cuaron not to get a directing nomination for Children of Men, although I'm pretty happy to see Greengrass get a nom for United 93.
Entertainment Weekly, for the first time in as long as I can remember, used that last page for something actually useful a few weeks ago. Mark Harris wrote a very persuasive column blaming the general suckitude of Oscar in recent years on the Academy's decision to move the nominations up by a month. Definitely worth a read.
But whatever. I reckon Scorsese will finally get his director award, just because it's become such an embarrassment to the Academy. Although, according to the AOL headlines, if he doesn't win it this year he sets the record for most noms with no wins, which would be pretty funny. I figure the chances of Greengrass winning are about nil, so I'll root for Marty (even though I still haven't seen his movie).
And I'll be rooting for Eddie Murphy and Forest Whittaker, both coming off Golden Globes wins, if you believe that means anything. I can't imagine anyone beating out Helen Mirren and Jennifer Hudson in their respective categories (and voters like these cute stories, like Mirren winning the Emmy for playing Elizabeth I and the Oscar for playing Elizabeth II, or Hudson losing American Idol but winning the Oscar).
Dreamgirls getting shut out of Best Picture is a big surprise. I don't really have anyone to root for in this race--the only one I've seen is Little Miss Sunshine! Volver not getting the nom for Foriegn Language Film is also surprising, but I guess that makes Pan's Labyrinth a lock, so that's cool by me. I'm guessing Pan's is also a strong contender for Makeup and Art Direction.
The Documentary Feature category is pretty tight, but I reckon Al Gore's star power will lead An Inconvenient Truth to the Oscar. Hollywood liberals will like the idea that they can influence the next presidential election by giving Gore an Oscar, whether that's true or not. The editing race looks really interesting to me. Usually, a film like Babel, where you have multiple storylines interacting, has an advantage in that category, but I think United 93, shown in something like real time and fusing together the same story from multiple viewpoints, is even more impressive. And then we have Children of Men. If those insanely long shots are actually (as has been hinted) edited together from multiple shots, then that's a pretty impressive feat of editing. Then again, if the transitions were smoothed out with CGI, is it really editing, or a special effect?
EDIT: Forgot to mention, the best reason to watch this year is the lifetime achievement award to Ennio Morricone. Maybe they'll show a clip from Danger: Diabolik! At any rate, that will be fun.
Li'l Miss Sunshine is a nice little movie, but the idea that it could get a Best Picture nomination in any year, much less an exceptionally good year like 2006, is absurd. And it's pretty inexcusable for Alfonso Cuaron not to get a directing nomination for Children of Men, although I'm pretty happy to see Greengrass get a nom for United 93.
Entertainment Weekly, for the first time in as long as I can remember, used that last page for something actually useful a few weeks ago. Mark Harris wrote a very persuasive column blaming the general suckitude of Oscar in recent years on the Academy's decision to move the nominations up by a month. Definitely worth a read.
But whatever. I reckon Scorsese will finally get his director award, just because it's become such an embarrassment to the Academy. Although, according to the AOL headlines, if he doesn't win it this year he sets the record for most noms with no wins, which would be pretty funny. I figure the chances of Greengrass winning are about nil, so I'll root for Marty (even though I still haven't seen his movie).
And I'll be rooting for Eddie Murphy and Forest Whittaker, both coming off Golden Globes wins, if you believe that means anything. I can't imagine anyone beating out Helen Mirren and Jennifer Hudson in their respective categories (and voters like these cute stories, like Mirren winning the Emmy for playing Elizabeth I and the Oscar for playing Elizabeth II, or Hudson losing American Idol but winning the Oscar).
Dreamgirls getting shut out of Best Picture is a big surprise. I don't really have anyone to root for in this race--the only one I've seen is Little Miss Sunshine! Volver not getting the nom for Foriegn Language Film is also surprising, but I guess that makes Pan's Labyrinth a lock, so that's cool by me. I'm guessing Pan's is also a strong contender for Makeup and Art Direction.
The Documentary Feature category is pretty tight, but I reckon Al Gore's star power will lead An Inconvenient Truth to the Oscar. Hollywood liberals will like the idea that they can influence the next presidential election by giving Gore an Oscar, whether that's true or not. The editing race looks really interesting to me. Usually, a film like Babel, where you have multiple storylines interacting, has an advantage in that category, but I think United 93, shown in something like real time and fusing together the same story from multiple viewpoints, is even more impressive. And then we have Children of Men. If those insanely long shots are actually (as has been hinted) edited together from multiple shots, then that's a pretty impressive feat of editing. Then again, if the transitions were smoothed out with CGI, is it really editing, or a special effect?
EDIT: Forgot to mention, the best reason to watch this year is the lifetime achievement award to Ennio Morricone. Maybe they'll show a clip from Danger: Diabolik! At any rate, that will be fun.
posted by Chris Oliver at 7:56 AM
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