- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is over-rated. I said this right after I saw the film, and I still believe it now. Yes, it was a beautiful film that I enjoyed at the time, but it wasn't the kind of film that stuck with me, or even the kind of film that I'd ever want to see again. I applaud its technical achievements in aging Brad Pitt backwards and all that, but I do not feel that it was a compelling enough story with that resounding of a message (or even cultural impact) to warrant Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, particularly over other much better films from 2008 like Doubt and, oh yeah, DARK KNIGHT, both of which failed to receive nods in that category. I'm also particularly sore that Brad Pitt got the Best Actor nomination, considering he was only physically in the film for approximately 20 minutes, when the Academy wouldn't award Andy Serkis a nomination for playing Gollum in the LOTR series for basically the same reason.
- The Dark Knight got shafted. The Dark Knight was easily my favorite film of 2008. It's the best comic book movie ever made. It was smart, full of action, socially relevant, well-acted, and its message has this amazing resonance about humanity and its potential for good or evil. Not to mention that it was the biggest box office hit of 2008. And there was tangible hope that the Academy would see past its label as a "comic book film" and do the right thing and nominate it for the big awards: Best Screenplay, Best Director, or, at the very least, Best Picture. I don't mean to downplay the nominations that it did receive--the film certainly warrants all the technical nods it garnered, and Heath Ledger has a real chance of being the second posthumous actor to win an Oscar--but against the five films that did receive nominations for Best Picture (Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Slumdog Millionaire), how many people in the general public wouldn't pick Dark Knight? I'm waaaaaaaaaay more upset about this not receiving a Best Picture nod than Doubt, though I also loved Doubt. This has been a growing problem with the Academy. There was once a time when the Best Picture nominations, the critical darlings, coincided with what people actually watched. This was even as recently as Titanic, Chicago, or LOTR: Return of the King! But, particularly last year, that hasn't been the case for awhile, and this year could've been the year to bridge that gap again between elitist critical attitudes and popular taste--if they had just given Dark Knight the nomination it deserved!
- The acting races will be hard to decide. At least, for the viewer at home, like me! In the past few years, I've begun making 2 prediction brackets: 1 of the ones I think will win, and 1 of the ones I want to win--they don't always coincide. For me, the hardest ones to decide will definitely be Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. I basically love every single nominee in both those categories (except I'm still puzzled about Penélope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona--seriously, has ANYONE seen that film?!? And then there's Angelina Jolie for Changeling, out of nowhere...), so I'm caught in that I just want ALL of them to win! I think it's time for Kate Winslet to get her Oscar, but Meryl was so amazing in Doubt, but then you have Anne Hathaway out of nowhere revealing she can actually act, and in Supporting Actress-land I adore Amy Adams, but Viola Davis stole the scene away from Meryl, which practically no one can do, and as much as I complain about CCBB Taraji P. Henson was really the one bright spot in it for me, and...Seriously, I can't choose...
- A few things confuse me. As Cassie pointed out, why are there only 3 Best Original Song nominations, and where is Bruce Springsteen's song from The Wrestler?!? For all I know, there is another one of those odd exceptions like Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood, but it would be good if they clarified that. And why is Waltz with Bashir in the Best Foreign Language category instead of Best Animated Feature? The obvious answer might be, Duh, because it's in a foreign language, but last year's Persepolis was also foreign and was still up for Best Animated Feature. I mean, we all know Wall-E is a shoo-in, but I'm just curious.
- Poor Kung Fu Panda! If only it wasn't released against Wall-E, it would actually have a shot at winning that Oscar...
- Hooray for Robert Downey Jr.!!!!! For several reasons! First of all, this was the year of Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man was successful beyond belief, proving that people can in fact reform their lives and make it to the top again after falling to the bottom...And he is the first to tell you that he was in fact at rock bottom. Second, his nomination for Tropic Thunder is a triumph in that it's a nod for a comedy!!!! The Academy Awards are notorious for overlooking the comedy genre--Just ask Steve Martin--and for them to acknowledge that it takes a lot of skill and talent for an actor to be funny, well! It's a huge achievement.
~The Original Fong~
**You wish you could pull off being me**
0 comments:
Post a Comment