So the nominations were released last week and I'm sure everyone who cares about this stuff knows who they are, but for the major categories I figured we could discuss:
BEST LEADING ACTRESS
I don't really care all that much about this one other than the fact that Kate Winslet was in no way a leading character in 'The Reader.' Maybe it's just me, but I think of "leading" as meaning the story follows around you, that you are in every scene, etc. She is not, and should not have been nominated for best actress in a leading role, at least for 'The Reader.'
BEST LEADING ACTOR
The Favorite: Sean Penn
The Sentimental Favorite: Mickey Rourke
Why Is He Nominated When Eastwood Wasn't: Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins
The Other One: Frank Langella
I saw 'The Wrestler' this weekend and must say it is a good, if not thoroughly depressing, film. I think it is Darren Aronofsky's life goal to cause everyone to either commit suicide or spend millions on anti-depressants (see Requiem for a Dream and Pi). However, downbeat as it was, it was gritty, realistic, and left a decent impression on me the next day. I don't know if the movie was Top 100 good, but if I had a list of best actors, Rourke's performance would definitely land himself on it.
But, the writers, actors, Academy, and everyone else in Hollywood, loves Sean Penn like he is their God. Rourke is a former outcast, and as harrowing as his comeback has been, I think they feel just nominating him is reward enough. Sadly, solidified by his SAG win last night, I think Penn takes it home.
Now I didn't see Button or whatever movie Jenkins was in, but there is no way those leading men outperformed Eastwood, in what was his LAST MOVIE AS AN ACTOR! He deserved credit for this role, and I don't know how/why they could have overlooked it.
BEST PICTURE
The favorite: Slumdog Millionaire
The Darkhorse: Milk
The Least Deserving: The Reader
The Other Two: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon
Of these, the only one I've seen is 'The Reader.' It is a terrible movie in so many ways, but one I can see the dumb Academy loving. The story is centered on a '15' year old boy, who looks stunningly similar to King Peter in Narnia. So much so, that I in fact thought it was him the entire movie until I got home, which is strange because they showed FULL FRONTAL! Also, Winslet was naked for 90% of her scenes in the first half of the movie, and it was all unnecessary. Never have I been less turned on by a beautiful naked woman on screen (or maybe it was me sandwiched between 2 middle aged guys in a sold out theater). Anyway, the '15' year old (he's actually 18 and in no way looked 15 in the movie, but the full frontal scene explained that one) and Winslet are having a torrid love affair that is just awkward and uncomfortable. Then she leaves him all of the sudden, and later we find out she was a Nazi guard at Auschwitz. I had no prior knowledge of the film so I was quite surprised at the turn the movie took, but either way, the ending did not save this movie from it's beginning.
I give the movie a B-
How this movie beat out the other contenders such as The Dark Knight, Gran Torino, Wall-E, and others, I could not tell you. Only that the Academy loves graphic nudity? (FYI, Marissa Tomei was naked A LOT in The Wrester, but looked so whorish it completely wasted the whole experience). I wanted to see Milk instead but it was sold out, so oh well. I plan on trying to see the other four before the Oscars, and will give brief reviews on each once I do.
3 comments:
From what I've heard, Winslet's part in The Reader is more of a supporting role, but I don't think you need to be in every scene in order to get the nom. In any case, my money's on Streep.
In the Best Actor category, Richard Jenkins played a heckuva role, and the movie (The Visitor) was really good to boot. I have no qualms about him getting in over Eastwood. Pitt is a different story entirely. Being that, like, 70% of his performance was digitally injected into the final product lessens his output in my eyes. As of last week I would've been all over Rourke to win this one, but with Penn winning the SAG award and it coming out that Rourke will be fighting Chris Jericho in Wrestlemania (perhaps costing him some votes, akin to the release of Norbit killing of Murphys chances a couple years ago) I'm leaning towards Penn now.
For Picture I've gotta go Slumdog. It's buzztrain is pretty much unstoppable right now. When I walked out of the theater after seeing it I said to myself "this is gonna win best picture" (the only time I did that this year; the last time I did that? Crash in 2k5). I admit that the only other movie nominated I saw was Button, but I would've picked Dark Knight, Wall*E, and The Wrestler above it. Gran Torino would probably tie it in my eyes. I'll probably catch the others this weekend.
Supporting Actor'll be Heath, though RDJ deserves it just as much. Supporting Actress'll be Cruz.
On a side note, Tomei's stripper getup in no way ruined the nudity on display. Her actual stripping routines left a lot to be desired, but her body was on point.
I have a feeling TDK may have a hard time picking up awards. I wouldn't really give it top billing in many of the categories it's nominated for, except for maybe film and sound editing. Who knows what the academy thinks, though.
And Sweden's really dumb for not submitting Let the Right One In for Best foreign language film.
Wow, quite the post Gideon! Has that been building up for some time now? Good to hear you've seen so many of the nominees; I hope I can have a comparable point of view in a few weeks.
As for Tomei, I just could never think of her as a stripper before - I always wanted to see her naked but not in that way...I don't know. The nipple rings did not help. Do you think they were real?
I suppose I should see the Visitor. Is that out on video yet?
And I heard about Rourke v. Jericho...pretty hilarious. I remember when Jericho was a little punk joke in WCW in the olden days...how did he get so big? Literally and figuratively.
On a side note, I was looking at the betting odds for the Oscars. I think a decent bet would be to go with Milk for best picture and Penn for actor. Low risk high reward, I think...
You guys going to do an Oscar poll this year?
I'm pretty sure the nipple rings were fake. If you wanna see a more wholesome display of tomei nipplitude, you should check out "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead". It's a pretty fun movie, too.
The Visitor's been out on video for months now. I think it came out last spring.
And Rourke's publisher announced today that the Wresltemania gig is off. Probably too much negative backlash from it. Actually that has to be it, because this isn't a case of someone leaking unconfirmed information. This match was all set up.
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