A lot of surprises, but none in the Best Picture category: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Reader. Excellent choices, I'm sure. I can't wait to see all of them.
Surprises: Richard Jenkins nominated for The Visitor, Melissa Leo for Frozen River. I hope both movies are on DVD soon, because they never played in my area. I loved Leo on television on Homicide- it would be awesome if she won the Oscar. I want Kate Winslet to win, though. She's overdue, and The Reader is supposed to be great. Also a surprise: Robert Downey Jr. nominated for Supporting Actor in Tropic Thunder! I was kind of hoping Tom Cruise would get a mention, believe it or not. He stole that movie more than Downey. And Original Screenplay for WALL-E? Really? I loved that movie, but where was the screenplay? :p
Glaring omissions: No nomination for Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky. :( She's one of those actresses that deserves to be recognized, but always gets bumped in favor of big stars like Angelina Jolie. Another one: Revolutionary Road largely shut out, only getting a Supporting Actor nod for Michael Shannon, and Art Direction and Costume Design. And nothing for Clint Eastwood for Gran Torino, which a lot of critics expected him to get a Best Actor nod for.
No surprise at all: Heath Ledger's posthumous Supporting Actor nomination for The Dark Knight. He'll probably win, too.
No surprise here, either: Doubt scooped up four acting nominations: Actress for Meryl Streep, Supporting Actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman, Supporting Actress for both Amy Adams and Viola Davis (who stole her one big scene, and if she wins, it will probably be one of the shortest winning performances ever!). Doubt was a great movie for actors.
So I definitely plan on going to the Best Picture marathon this year- I'm most looking forward to seeing Slumdog and Frost/Nixon. I'm clearing my calendar now, and will get tickets as soon as they are available.
http://us.imdb.com/features/rto/2009/oscars
Too early to predict, because I haven't seen most of the films yet: but Slumdog will probably sweep the major categories, with Mickey Rourke, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, and Viola Davis winning the acting awards. I'll definitely take notes in between films during the marathon for some categories.
I'm going to try to see Revolutionary Road this weekend- it's playing at Potomac Mills (where the Oscar marathon will be, too). I really loved that book, and I can't wait to see Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie.
I finally saw Burn After Reading on DVD last weekend- it was hilarious! Best Actor nominees Brad Pitt and Richard Jenkins were both in it. Pitt was a scream! And George Clooney was hilarious, too. A very weird movie. It's from the Cohen brothers, so that's no surprise!
I think I'll watch my DVD of Leatherheads this weekend. I haven't yet, and I loved that movie!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
I forgot to post...
I saw Doubt on New Year's Eve. It was easily the best movie I saw in 2008.
Description found at imdb.com:
It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence. Written by Miramax Films
Fantastic adaptation of the stage play, with Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius. She is just amazing. This is one of those movies that doesn't have a lot of action. It doesn't need any, because the characters and drama are so intriguing. I was completely drawn into the story. I hope this film is remembered at Oscar time!
Description found at imdb.com:
It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the schools' strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear and discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequence. Written by Miramax Films
Fantastic adaptation of the stage play, with Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius. She is just amazing. This is one of those movies that doesn't have a lot of action. It doesn't need any, because the characters and drama are so intriguing. I was completely drawn into the story. I hope this film is remembered at Oscar time!
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