By now you know that this year, the Academy is trying something new (or rather, something very very old) and named ten Best Picture nominees. The idea was that by opening up the category, there would be more room for popular movies (rather than the usual serious arty fare) which would lead to more general interest, which would lead to higher ratings for the Oscar broadcast.
Well, we got ten nominees and at least the first part worked. Popular movies were, in fact nominated alongside the serious critics' favorites. Has that led to heightened interest in this year's awards? Not that I can see. Will it lead to higher ratings? Maybe. Probably not.
Anyway, the nominees are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, and Up In the Air.
If there were only the usual five nominees this year, I really don't think that The Blind Side, District 9, Up, Inglourious Basterds, or A Serious Man would have made the cut. The rest are just the kind of thing the Academy likes - one populist pick, a dark horse, a quiet foreign production, and a couple of strong, serious contenders. Normally, there's no room for feel-good fluff, allegoric sci-fi, cartoons, or talky, hard-to-categorize ensemble action spy films. Of course, with this year's weird new voting rules, it really could go to anyone.
Realistically, though, there are two serious contenders: Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Both are big action movies with puzzling titles, but I think voters will gravitate toward The Hurt Locker because it has more genuine soul and pathos. Avatar's electronic blue monkey-cat puppets might be visually dazzling, but no motion-capture performance can ever compare to real-life acting in actual locations. Many hearts will be broken, but I think The Hurt Locker will take the top prize.
In case you're curious: If it were entirely up to me, the Best Picture nominees would be The Hurt Locker, Up, Star Trek, District 9, and Inglourious Basterds. I also found Paranormal Activity extremely effective. And I'd give Inglourious Basterds the trophy.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
A Serious Man
The film A Serious Man is about a man who is serious. Very serious. Oh, so serious all the time. And he wears glasses. And stands on a roof.
Okay, I didn't see A Serious Man, but I have an excellent excuse: I hate the Coen Brothers' movies.
What? You can't hate the Coen brothers!
Oh, but I do. And it's not like I haven't tried really hard to like them. I've seen 10 of their 13 movies and have disliked every single one of them. I kept going in thinking "maybe this is the one I'll like" and I kept coming out disappointed. I don't find their comedies funny and I don't find their dramas compelling Their characters are always greedy, idiot losers or cloyingly naive half-wits whom I wouldn't want to spend time with in real life and certainly don't want to root for in a movie.
But you HAVE to like the Coen brothers!
I don't HAVE to do anything. Just because their movies are considered "classics" and critics fall all over themselves to praise everything they do doesn't mean I'm obligated to like them. I know it's blasphemous to say that I dislike everything they've ever done, because movie-lovers everywhere are SUPPOSED to love these movies without question, but I'm tired of being told what I'm SUPPOSED to like. Enough, I say. I'm done with the Coen brothers - they've failed me for the last time. And this is a big deal, because I've seen every Best Picture nominee of the past 15 years.
But this one is different!
That's what they said about No Country For Old Men, Fargo, The Lady Killers... no, it's just going to be pathetic, greedy loser characters who do contrived, idiotic things in a "quirky" way and spout overwrought colloquial dialogue while being filmed at odd angles. Done.
They won Best Director and Picture for No Country. Doesn't that mean that they're good?
It means that people have convinced themselves that the Emperors are wearing clothes. David Lynch has never won Best Director or Best Picture and his are some of the most fascinating, personal, and compelling films ever. Seeing them makes me want to see whatever he does next. Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest directors ever and he never won. Same goes for Stanley Kubrick. Martin Scorsese waited his whole life to win Best Director and finally won for re-making a Hong Kong action flick. So no, a Best Director trophy doesn't mean that they're geniuses.
The Coen brothers make really smart movies. Maybe you're just not on their level.
EXCUSE me? Them's fight'n words. And I'll argue that point to the ground. I don't consider The Big Lebowski or Raising Arizona particularly "cerebral" and I found O Brother, Where Art Thou to be a dull and uninformed adaptation of The Odyssey. No, I don't find any of their movies "smart" except in the sense that all their characters are so stupid as to make many viewers seem like MENSA candidates by comparison. A lot of this has to do with the "look" of their films, filled with weird camera moves and unusual compositions that make their stupid stories seem "artsy." That's the work of their Director of Photography, Roger Deakins. I have no beef with Deakins, other than the fact that he enables the brothers and covers for their insipid scripts.
So there it is. I refuse to waste any more time and money on Coen brothers movies. With only two nominations this year, A Serious Man is the least likely of the Best Picture nominees to win and I feel extremely confident that I'm not missing anything.
Okay, I didn't see A Serious Man, but I have an excellent excuse: I hate the Coen Brothers' movies.
What? You can't hate the Coen brothers!
Oh, but I do. And it's not like I haven't tried really hard to like them. I've seen 10 of their 13 movies and have disliked every single one of them. I kept going in thinking "maybe this is the one I'll like" and I kept coming out disappointed. I don't find their comedies funny and I don't find their dramas compelling Their characters are always greedy, idiot losers or cloyingly naive half-wits whom I wouldn't want to spend time with in real life and certainly don't want to root for in a movie.
But you HAVE to like the Coen brothers!
I don't HAVE to do anything. Just because their movies are considered "classics" and critics fall all over themselves to praise everything they do doesn't mean I'm obligated to like them. I know it's blasphemous to say that I dislike everything they've ever done, because movie-lovers everywhere are SUPPOSED to love these movies without question, but I'm tired of being told what I'm SUPPOSED to like. Enough, I say. I'm done with the Coen brothers - they've failed me for the last time. And this is a big deal, because I've seen every Best Picture nominee of the past 15 years.
But this one is different!
That's what they said about No Country For Old Men, Fargo, The Lady Killers... no, it's just going to be pathetic, greedy loser characters who do contrived, idiotic things in a "quirky" way and spout overwrought colloquial dialogue while being filmed at odd angles. Done.
They won Best Director and Picture for No Country. Doesn't that mean that they're good?
It means that people have convinced themselves that the Emperors are wearing clothes. David Lynch has never won Best Director or Best Picture and his are some of the most fascinating, personal, and compelling films ever. Seeing them makes me want to see whatever he does next. Alfred Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest directors ever and he never won. Same goes for Stanley Kubrick. Martin Scorsese waited his whole life to win Best Director and finally won for re-making a Hong Kong action flick. So no, a Best Director trophy doesn't mean that they're geniuses.
The Coen brothers make really smart movies. Maybe you're just not on their level.
EXCUSE me? Them's fight'n words. And I'll argue that point to the ground. I don't consider The Big Lebowski or Raising Arizona particularly "cerebral" and I found O Brother, Where Art Thou to be a dull and uninformed adaptation of The Odyssey. No, I don't find any of their movies "smart" except in the sense that all their characters are so stupid as to make many viewers seem like MENSA candidates by comparison. A lot of this has to do with the "look" of their films, filled with weird camera moves and unusual compositions that make their stupid stories seem "artsy." That's the work of their Director of Photography, Roger Deakins. I have no beef with Deakins, other than the fact that he enables the brothers and covers for their insipid scripts.
So there it is. I refuse to waste any more time and money on Coen brothers movies. With only two nominations this year, A Serious Man is the least likely of the Best Picture nominees to win and I feel extremely confident that I'm not missing anything.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Best Animated Feature
I normally don't make official picks for the short films and documentaries unless there's a big standout in one of the categories. This year, I'm determined not to fall into that trap and I expect my overall score to be the better for it.
EDITED TO ADD: The animated short A Matter of Loaf and Death is the fourth Wallace & Grommit short from Aardman and director Nick Park and is strongly favored to win. I'm still not picking this category.
I'm also not going to make an official pick for Best Foreign Language film. The first time I heard of any of this year's films was when they were announced on nomination day. I don't even think most of them have been released in the US yet.
I will, however, make an official pick for Best Animated Feature. The nominees are Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, and Up. I really enjoyed Coraline, but it may be too dark for a win. The producers of The Secret of Kells have made a point of not advertising it and without publicity, you just can't expect an Oscar. Princess and Mr. Fox got some attention outside this category for their music, but Up leads with an additional four nominations, including Best Picture and Original Screenplay. It's the clear front-runner and is poised to extend Pixar's unprecedented Oscar record.
EDITED TO ADD: The animated short A Matter of Loaf and Death is the fourth Wallace & Grommit short from Aardman and director Nick Park and is strongly favored to win. I'm still not picking this category.
I'm also not going to make an official pick for Best Foreign Language film. The first time I heard of any of this year's films was when they were announced on nomination day. I don't even think most of them have been released in the US yet.
I will, however, make an official pick for Best Animated Feature. The nominees are Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, and Up. I really enjoyed Coraline, but it may be too dark for a win. The producers of The Secret of Kells have made a point of not advertising it and without publicity, you just can't expect an Oscar. Princess and Mr. Fox got some attention outside this category for their music, but Up leads with an additional four nominations, including Best Picture and Original Screenplay. It's the clear front-runner and is poised to extend Pixar's unprecedented Oscar record.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Best Director
The nominees for Best Director are James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious), and Jason Reitman (Up In the Air). As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have the fourth woman and the second African-American Best Director nominees and the first ever divorced couple (Cameron and Bigelow) up for Best Director. That may be a first in any category, but I'm too lazy to research it.
Here's my take: Up In the Air and Inglourious Basterds were great, stylish films and are the unmistakably unique products of their directors, but their strength lies more in their screenplays. Daniels is the least-experienced director, though he shows a creative narrative skill. Really, though, it's going to come down to Cameron and Bigelow. On one side is a big technical production involving an army of actors, computer animators, and computer power and on the other is a relatively smaller, though more intense, action film that cuts to the core of a handful of characters. Let's face a fact here: Avatar is not Titanic. It may be the new highest-grossing movie ever, but I don't think Avatar has the same deep cultural impact and fervent support as Cameron's previous Oscar juggernaut. It's sure to take a handful of technical awards, but I believe that the Academy will make some history and recognize The Hurt Locker for its direction. Bigelow has already won nearly every critics' award and the all-important Directors' Guild award, making her the favorite for the Best Director Oscar.
Here's my take: Up In the Air and Inglourious Basterds were great, stylish films and are the unmistakably unique products of their directors, but their strength lies more in their screenplays. Daniels is the least-experienced director, though he shows a creative narrative skill. Really, though, it's going to come down to Cameron and Bigelow. On one side is a big technical production involving an army of actors, computer animators, and computer power and on the other is a relatively smaller, though more intense, action film that cuts to the core of a handful of characters. Let's face a fact here: Avatar is not Titanic. It may be the new highest-grossing movie ever, but I don't think Avatar has the same deep cultural impact and fervent support as Cameron's previous Oscar juggernaut. It's sure to take a handful of technical awards, but I believe that the Academy will make some history and recognize The Hurt Locker for its direction. Bigelow has already won nearly every critics' award and the all-important Directors' Guild award, making her the favorite for the Best Director Oscar.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Doug's Big Oscar Quiz - Part 5
Match the actors with the quotes from their Oscar-winning roles
21. "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it."
a. Denzel Washington
b. Rod Steiger
c. Paul Newman
d. Tommy Lee Jones
22. "If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we'd have a lot more nuns running around."
a. Sean Penn
b. Dustin Hoffman
c. Paul Scofield
d. Jack Lemon
23. "The last time we talked, Mr. Dodd, you reduced me to tears. I promise you, it won't happen again. "
a. Grace Kelly
b. Ingrid Bergman
c. Joan Crawford
d. Vivien Leigh
24. "It's a mountain. The hardest piece you could Everest play. "
a. Burt Lancaster
b. Geoffrey Rush
c. Adrian Brody
d. Jim Broadbent
25. "My sister and I had an act that couldn't flop. My sister and I were headed straight for the top. My sister and I earned a thou a week at least, but my sister is now unfortunately deceased."
a. Mary Steenburgen
b. Ginger Rogers
c. Catherine Zeta-Jones
d. Claudette Colbert
21. "It's even, but it ain't settled. Let's settle it."
a. Denzel Washington
b. Rod Steiger
c. Paul Newman
d. Tommy Lee Jones
22. "If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we'd have a lot more nuns running around."
a. Sean Penn
b. Dustin Hoffman
c. Paul Scofield
d. Jack Lemon
23. "The last time we talked, Mr. Dodd, you reduced me to tears. I promise you, it won't happen again. "
a. Grace Kelly
b. Ingrid Bergman
c. Joan Crawford
d. Vivien Leigh
24. "It's a mountain. The hardest piece you could Everest play. "
a. Burt Lancaster
b. Geoffrey Rush
c. Adrian Brody
d. Jim Broadbent
25. "My sister and I had an act that couldn't flop. My sister and I were headed straight for the top. My sister and I earned a thou a week at least, but my sister is now unfortunately deceased."
a. Mary Steenburgen
b. Ginger Rogers
c. Catherine Zeta-Jones
d. Claudette Colbert
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