It's Bullet Sunday on Oscar night!
And while I am not a big fan of the Oscars (they never seem to award the proper films), I am a huge fan of movies, so here we go with the big four...
• Best Picture... Who should win: Little Miss Sunshine. Who will probably win: The Departed. Martin Scorsese, who has done some amazing work, will probably be given the statue for The Departed as a gimmee for being passed-over all these years... even though I don't think it is the best picture this year. I honestly feel that every other film nominated is more deserving to win, with Little Miss Sunshine topping my list.
• Best Director... Who should win: Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima. Who will probably win: Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima. This astounding film had some incredible artistic choices in direction that nobody can deny... Clint totally deserves to win for his hauntingly beautiful picture, and undoubtedly will. No other direction on a film comes close.
• Best Actor... Who should win: Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson. Who will probably win: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland. I am sure that Forest Whitaker turned in a wonderful performance as Idi Amin (I haven't seen the movie yet), but I find it impossible to believe that anybody topped Ryan Gosling's mind-blowing performance in Half Nelson. I had mixed feelings on the film, but there's no denying Gosling's brilliance in it. As an aside here, if I could pick ANYBODY to win this award, and not just a nominee, it would be Ken Watanabe for his work in Letters From Iwo Jima. This actor puts more into every amazing performance than any other actor I know, and this role was no difference. It's pretty criminal that he wasn't nominated.
• Best Actress... Who should win: Helen Mirren, The Queen. Who will probably win: Helen Mirren, The Queen. Probably the best performance in a movie this year. She WAS The Queen in this film, and humanized a very real person in a way that few actors could have managed. I would be shocked if she doesn't win.
And now, I have about six hours of work to do yet tonight, so I'll be signing off. If you hear screaming, it's because Pan's Labyrinth didn't win Best Foreign Language Film...
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Thanks for the tips on what to watch. Even though RW and I almost never go to the movies (I think the last Oscar-nominated film we saw was “Elizabeth” and before that, “Braveheart”) it gives me an idea of what to buy/rent.
I’m not big on going out to see the same movie more than once in the theater, but I shelled out the outrageous ticket prices for Little Miss Sunshine three times because of the sheer fabulousness of that movie! I really hope it wins!!
I’m not one for The Oscars either, however I just simply do not like awards shows in general….too much BS spent on the wrong things and too many politics in the winning of the thing.
Ahem, now that I am on a soapbox….I just saw “The Departed” today and was amazed how much I liked it. Not that it was better than “Little Miss Sunshine” but still, loved that flick. And I am torn regarding Gosling and Whitaker…they both are awesome.
Good predictions/analysis. “Little Miss Sunshine” rocked the freakin’ casbah.
I refuse to watch it again until they bring John Stewart back as the host.
Hee hee. Lil’ Dave is looking very handsome in his Oscar duds. 🙂
Agree with you–ANYTHING, even Babel deserved to win more than The Departed. My theory is that it was a fluff nod to the mass audience appeal, to make up for the Crash disaster last year. What am I talking about? The Oscars are a disaster every year, and yet I keep watching to drool over the pretty dresses. (yes, my entire group of friends wanted Little Miss to win, but I knew there was no way such an enjoyable, uplifting comedy stood a chance)
However, I went from lukewarm about seeing The Queen to very very badly wanting to see it now. And I am glad, at least, that Pan’s Labyrinth won as many awards as it did.
Oh, and…while I do recognize Forrest Whitaker’s talents (esp in the Crying Game), I just cannot take him seriously after his horrific role in Species.
I can’t get past the inherent flaw in the Academy Awards system – namely, in a year with multiple 5-star uber films, only one will win. In a year filled with total crapola, one will still win, simply because they have to give one out that year!
So even setting aside the obvious politics side of things, it’s a total throw of the dice as to what the competition is for that year.
Haven’t watched the actual ceremony in forever. So easy to just tune to IMDB.com and see the whole list and check out the photos of what people looked like if interested. Five minutes – done! 😉
I was actually pretty happy with the way it turned out this year, except for Best Foreign Language Film. Pan’s Labyrinth deserved that award, and if I had any kind of pull I’d demand a recount.
Looks like Das Leben der Anderen (see my link below) won for the foreign films. It’s not too shabby either. I haven’t seen Pan’s Labyrinth yet (and it may not be my type of film), so I can’t compare.
Our weekend paper had an interesting list of points that films need to fulfill to win the ‘foreign’ Oscar. And Das Leben der Anderen scored quite well on the list. Essential points in that list were that the ‘best foreign’ film must bring some topic along that can raise eyebrows in Hollywood by being interesting without touching an area that people in Hollywood consider themselves to be the best at.
I saw The Queen, appropriately enough, when I was in England last October. HM was lovely. The “Tony Blair” character pissed me off so I guess it was an excellent movie.
I just moved your blog from my Google Desktop (whatever kinda reader that is) to Google Reader……..let me tell ya’ll…that baby is SLOW to bring up the updates. So, I’m thinking of switching back.
On to the Oscars…Dave, I’m impressed! I missed a few moments of the show, but I think you got ’em. Only problem I have is the fact that I haven’t seen any of the movies nominated! Ever since you reviewed “Pan” I’ve wanted to see it and since I was able to watch clips today, I definitely want to watch it + all of the other films!
I heard your scream last night when Pan’s Labryinth didn’t win for Best Foreign film. It did pick up a couple of Oscars, though.
As for my thoughts on Little Miss Sunshine. It was a fun film, I did enjoy it, but Oscar best picture? Nope. It won the award it deserved, which was for best Original Screenplay. Brilliant writing, but I saw The Departed as more deserving of the top prize.
Regardless, the Oscars were good last night with some fun moments (Robert Downey Jr.’s poke at himself was one of the best).
Ooooh, I heard you screaming !!! What a beautiful voice !!! 😀
(It is a shame for Pan’s Labyrinth…)
For the information, we have got César in France… And the Best Foreign Language Film is “Little Miss Sunshine”… Good news, isn’t it ?
http://www.lescesarducinema.com/cesar/home.html
Pan’s Labyrinth was robbed.
I disagree on your Little Miss Sunshine pick. The Departed wasn’t that strong a nominee, but neither was Little Miss Sunshine. I haven’t seen it yet, but I suspect Babel might be better than either of them.
I do think both screenplay awards were well deserved.
I think I hear screaming!!!! Though thankful Pan’s Labyrinth did win a couple of things.
I guess that was you screaming that woke me up last night, eh?