Ooh, I get to write a post on Hans’ behalf. What kind of shenanigans can I pull? None, ugh. Here are Hans’ Oscar predictions, with his comments on each where applicable…
Best Adapted Screenplay – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Screenplay – Milk
Best Supporting Actress – Penelope Cruz
Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger (of course)
Best Actress – Kate Winslet (’nuff said)
Best Actor – Sean Penn. I am banking on Hollywood expressing its disgust for Prop 8 through him, even though I think he is the underdog against Mickey Rourke.
There is no stopping the Slumdog Millionaire train. Ever since steamrolling through the rest of the awards seasons, we have finally come to one of the most anti-climactic and suspense free Best Picture categories in years. As our readers will recollect, none of us will beg to differ with this decision, and we will both be more than placated. This the year of Slumdog Millionaire. Jai ho.
Who Should Win
Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millonaire. It was written. But second place goes to this one, definitely a must see.
Milk
The best picture in almost any other year, Milk is a true gem of a motion picture, and is a testament to the power of the movies. I will be honest, I had never heard of Harvey Milk before sitting down to see the movie. Two hours later, I was convinced that this was a man that should be regarded in the same light as individuals such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Martin Luther King Jr.
Who Was Snubbed
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is far from a perfect film, but then again, which of the other nominees are? Which of the other other nominees captured the attention of the entire world? Did any of the other nominees gross $1 billion? It is inconceivable how The Dark Knight was overlooked this year, as it was a perfect opportunity to recognize a film that was universally loved by critics and audiences, and a way for the Academy to shed their image of rewarding artsy, never seen films and overlooking the people’s choices.
Another day, another prediction, another jab at Hans. Ok, today I will be nice, as I am sure Hans would like nothing more to add his one cent to the final two predictions, Best Director and Best Picture. The nominees in Best Director are David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon), Gus Van Sant (Milk), Stephen Daldry (The Reader), and Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire).
Who Will Win
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
By now, it is a mere formality for Danny Boyle to accept his Academy Award, as he has been cleaning house during this award season, and rightly so. His work in bringing the wonderful Slumdog Millionaire to the silver screen is laudable, and he will be rewarded tomorrow night. Every part of the film, including directing 3 sets of actors playing the same characters, was spot on, and Boyle’s time has come to join Hollywood’s elite.
Who Should Win
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Boyle. No doubt. But, whenever my “Should” agrees with my “Will”, my second place choice is offered. In this case, I give you this man.
Gus Van Sant for Milk
Gus Van Sant’s work on Milk is quite astonishing. His perfect usage of archival footage adds greatly to the film, and reminds us that we are seeing the life and times of a man who the history books hid from us. Contrasting this with an excruciatingly painful attempt to recreate archival footage by Ron Howard in Frost/Nixon, we are reminded that seeing the real deal is mightier than faking it. All of this is backed by an Award worthy performance from an actor at the top of his craft, and spectacular supporting work from a wide ensemble cast.
Who Was Snubbed
Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight
While The Dark Knight snub from Best Picture is more debatable, Christopher Nolan’s exclusion from this group of nominees is not. As Hans pointed out in his piece on The Dark Knight quite perfectly, Nolan’s ability to keep all aspects of this sprawling epic so well put together is quite remarkable. There has not been a fumble from the Academy like this snub for a long time. Here is to hoping that the Academy voters get it right when Nolan’s inevitable 3rd Batman film comes out, and will hopefully be just as great as the last one.
Hans got a compliment from his training teacher; he was commended on his ability to read. High five!
From a two woman race in the Best Actress category, we move on to a two man race for Best Actor. From a career resurrection, to another fine performance in his resume, the other nominees need not come Sunday night. The nominees include Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). (Full disclosure: I still need to see The Visitor, don’t judge me!)
Who Will Win
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Hollywood loves a redemption story, and there is none hotter right now than Mickey Rourke’s. Poised to be the biggest Hollywood star of the 80s and 90s, Rourke took a well documented detour and became Hollywood poison. Slowly working his way back into everyone’s good graces, Rourke completed his comeback with perhaps his finest and most authentic performance to date as a broken down, aging wrestler out for one last hurrah, a role that critics point out was not hard for him to pull off as it is his story. Nonetheless, it was the best performance of the year by anyone, and one that will studied for years.
Who Should Win
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Mickey has this on lock. I hope. If it is not going to be Mickey Rourke though, it will be this guy…
Sean Penn in Milk
Sean Penn gives another amazing performance as Harvey Milk, and is just as deserving as Mickey Rourke for the grand prize. As awful as it may sound to say it, I feel that there may be some sort of homophobic backlash against Penn’s performance, and it may have rubbed some of the voters the wrong way, similar to how Brokeback Mountain and Heath Ledger were seemingly locks a few years back but came away empty handed, save for Ang Lee’s win. Penn is deserving of it, and becomes Harvey Milk, and it is another iconic performance.
Who Was Snubbed
Colin Farrell in In Bruges
Anybody who has followed this blog knows my love and admiration for In Bruges, and at the core of this great picture is a performance from Colin Farrell that will change his career. He earned a Golden Globe for it, and he was an outside shot at getting the nomination, but fans of the film will be rooting for Martin McDonagh in the Original Screenplay category. If you still have not seen this gem, definitely make the effort to see it, and treasure the performance by not only Colin Farrell, but also Bredan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes.
Hans is currently in training this week, probably on how to become a better film critic, so I will be handling the Oscar’s Predictions writeups. Fear not sole fan of Hans, he will be submitting his prediction in list format later this week, before Sunday, so we can see who is the better prognosticator (me obviously).
Moving on, we come to what has been shaping up to be a two woman race in the Best Actress race, but containing 5 actresses well deserving of their nominations. The nominees are Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Meryl Streep (Doubt), and Kate Winslet (The Reader).
Who Will Win
Kate Winslet in The Reader
The sixth time will be the charm for Kate Winslet, as she goes up against her main competition in the category, the 15 time nominated Meryl Streep. The Reader has rode a wave of momentum in getting the Best Picture nomination, and the bump of Kate Winslet from the Best Supporting Actress to Best actress category. This will be more of an award that recognizes Kate Winslet for her work over the years, and to make up for past snubs. In my opinion though, she is the right actress, but the wrong movie (see below).
Who Should Win
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Anne Hathaway is an actress who has grown up in front of her eyes, bursting on the scene in Disney films, lending a supporting role in Academy Award nominated films, graduating to chick flick stardom and summer box office queen, but all the meantime, has found time for arthouse films. She may have been awkward and forced in some, but has finally blossomed into a fine actress. While there are many parts of Rachel Getting Married which I despised, my attention was immediately brought back to the screen anytime Hathaway was on it. Here is hoping that we get a chance to see more of her in wonderful roles and films.
Who Was Snubbed
Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road
It’s hard to say someone was snubbed when I picked them to win the category, but I am sure I am not alone in thinking that Kate Winslet’s performance in Revolutionary Road was miles ahead of what she gave us in The Reader; being naked a lot in a movie does not a great performance make. Playing a housewife who feels as her life has passed her by, Winslet shows that she is the finest actress working today, and to be in two award winning roles that merit recognition is a testament to her ability as an actress.
Viola Davis packs quite the wallop in her sole scene in Doubt, and is deserving of the nomination. However, it appears that the Penelope Cruz train is too strong, and we both agree will carry her to Oscar gold a week from now.
Now, on to a category with perhaps the least amount of suspense, but will most likely be the most emotional award of the night, Best Supporting Actor. The nominees are Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), and Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road).
Who Will Win
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
If there was ever a sure fire, money in the bank winner, it has to be Heath Ledger in his last completed role before his unfortunate death as the diabolic villain, The Joker in the second highest grossing film of all time, The Dark Knight. While the whole of Christopher Nolan’s epic was amazing and elevated a comic book film above its genre, it was Ledger’s performance that ensured The Dark Knight would go down in the annals of film history.
Who Should Win
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Ledger should win. But, for the sake of argument (and just so I can write a little bit more because I need a study break and am a huge fan of this guy), the winner (in any other year) should be…
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
It is not very often that an actor in a comedy (especially one directed by Ben Stiller) gets nominated for an Academy Award, but Downey’s performance in Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus, the Australian method actor to put all other method actors to shame, was simply transcendent, and cemented Downey as an actor who could pull off anything thrown at him.
Who Was Snubbed
Eddie Marsan in Happy Go Lucky
There were many great actors in supporting roles this year, but Eddie Marsan in Mike Leigh’s quirky Happy-Go-Lucky was quite simply amazing. Playing a driving instructor who simply could not deal with the optimistic attitude of his student, played by the in fine star making form Sally Hawkins, Marsan is nearly as terrifying as Heath Ledger’s Joker, and literally looks like he will explode at any moment whenever he is on screen. En Ra Ha.
When I was a young lad, I had a crush on Salma Hayek so large it rivalled the size of her ample… talent? And by talent I mean boobs, if you know what I mean. It’s been some years, and Salma has since shown us many more awkward, stilted performances and even fell victim to pregnancy for a short while, both of which have irrevocably tainted the love we once shared. Luckily, her semi-lesbian, fully-awesome relationship with Penelope turned me on to a beauty with the talent to back it up. Her boobs aren’t bad either, if you catch my drift. She’s 80% of the reason to watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona, she’s been working her way up to this kind of recognition for a little while now, and she’s gonna take home the naked golden man very soon. And by naked golden man I mean hopefully me, if you follow where I’m going with this.
Who Should Win
Viola Davis (Doubt)
They must've photoshopped out the snot for the marketing promo.
It’s true that Taraji P. Henson, Sulmoney’s favorite in this category, was unquestionably the best part about Benjamin Button, but being the classier gentleman, I’m gonna go with the black actress who gave us something a little deeper than the borderline-racist Aunt Jemima mammy figure. It’s almost an insult that Amy Adams’s name is anywhere near Viola Davis’s in the nominations for this category. Ms. Davis has precisely one scene in the entire film, but in less than 15 minutes of screen time she delivers an incredibly complex, emotionally-challenging performance, leaving an impression that will stay with me much longer than the performance Amy Adams cobbled together from the deleted scenes of Enchanted. And she did it all with snot running down her face the whole time.
Who Got Snubbed
Well I haven’t yet seen Rachel Getting Married, so I can’t comment on Sulmoney’s choice, but on the whole I’m gonna say this category looks pretty snub-free to me. I haven’t seen everything out there, so it’s entirely possible that I missed something, but to me it looks like the men pretty much stole the spotlight this year. Damn you, paternalistic society with your glass ceilings and whatnot!
As we have recently finished up our top 10 lists of 2008, and the end of the award season coming up in just over one week, The Feature Preachers embark on prognosticating the major Academy Awards categories. We will make sure to belittle each other’s poor selections and life choices in true FP tradition. In our quest to bring something new to critiquing the films, we will not only be predicting who we feel will go home with those little golden naked men on February 22, but who we feel should win, and who was snubbed from receiving a nomination. To kick it off, we start with perhaps the most fiercely debated acting category, Best Supporting Actress. The nominations are Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler).
Who Will Win
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
While I disagreed with Hans on the greatness of Woody Allen’s latest, I will give credit where credit is due: Penelope Cruz chews up the screen and brings a saving energy to the film. As soon as she enters the film in the second act of the film in her dramatic and fiery welcome, the entire film becomes better. She has perhaps the biggest supporting role compared to her competitions, and far and away the most flashy and loud, and will probably be why she wins. The frontrunner since its summer release, Cruz has rode the crest of momentum and should be soon able to append Academy Award winner to her name.
Who Should Win
Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Forrest Gump comparisons aside, and the fact that critics were split on the film just as Hans and I were, I hope that we can at least agree that Taraji P. Henson gives a career defining performance as Benjamin Button’s adoptive mother. While Brad Pitt’s performance may have been cold, distant, and hard to relate to for some, we all could feel for Queenie and her desire to be a mother and subsequent unconditional love for her son born under unusual circumstances. She was the human core of the film, and was a touch of reality in an unbelievable story.
Who Was Snubbed
Rosemarie DeWitt in Rachel Getting Married
Rachel Getting Married is a wonderful movie…but there is about 30 minutes of extraneous material that should have been cut, and the handheld camera photography was about 0% necessary, and about 100% unwelcome. There are some incredibly raw and human performances from Anne Hathaway (more on her in a future post) and the relatively unknown Rosemarie DeWitt. Playing the one getting married, DeWitt embodies the role of a seemingly forgotten about because of her normalcy sister and daughter to perfection, and personifies the roller coaster of emotions of a bride masterfully. Though this may be the first time you have heard of Rosemarie DeWitt, I am sure it will not be the last.
Well, at least we can agree on a couple things here: 1) Hans went with the uber-trendy pick of Slumdog Millionaire for his #1, and 2) Danny Boyle is going home on Oscar night with a little statue that says Best Director on it. But in all seriousness, I truly wish and believe that Slumdog Millionaire will go down in history as the winner of the Best Picture come February 22, and wish that the smear campaigns that have been raging against the film stop, and that people appreciate it for its wonderful story.
Alas, we finally come to the end of the top 10, and I am here to save this list with another Sulmoney original, my pick for the best of 2008, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges.
In Bruges
Release dates are everything when it comes to awards season, and getting recognized. In Bruges, a film that not many people I know have even heard of, came out way back in January 2008, and has easily been my favorite, and the best movie I have seen in the past year. Similar to how Hans has said that Slumdog Millionaire has reached the level of his all time favorite films, In Bruges has done the same for me. Here is a film that despite its January release date, has managed to lay relatively low, but found a way to get nominated for 3 Golden Globes (including a well deserved Best Actor win for Colin Farrell), and landed an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh, who I am emphatically backing to add a second Oscar to his resume, after only his first major motion picture.
"Did you see Hans' top 10 list? What a joke!"
While In Bruges may not have been about a slain gay politician, Nazis having sex with minors, a not really that important television interview, a biography of a man born under unusual circumstances, or wanting to be a millionaire, it is a profane, politically incorrect, and shockingly gruesome at times look at how one lives with the mistakes that they have made, how they are to be judged for eternity, and if they have the capacity to change for the better. Making full usage of his background as a prestigious playwright, Martin McDonagh presents In Bruges as a character study of Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), two English hitmen who have been sent to Bruges (it’s in Belgium) by their boss Harry (the delightfully devilish Ralph Fiennes) after a hit goes horribly wrong. What follows is an often hilarious, often touching look at the interactions between the two who are on opposite ends of the hitman spectrum. Oh yeah, there’s a midget as well thrown in for good measure.
The bullet wound would probably be in the chest
Without spoiling anything, as unlike many of the films on the list, you probably have not seen In Bruges, Ray has done something truly awful, and it is something that he will seemingly not be able to live with for the rest of his days. There is a moment in In Bruges when the two are killing time at the museum awaiting further instructions from Harry, when Ray comes upon a painting of the Day of Judgement, and he, along with the audience, realize that his time in Bruges is his Day of Judgement: his fate is being decided, and he is being judged solely on his actions in a very black and white manner. However, another side is trying to interject itself into his outcome, by showing his intentions and his nature, and trying to change those blacks and whites into shades of grays. Coming from an upbringing with a strong background in religion and a firm belief in the Hereafter, this questioning and analysis of how we are to be judged when our time comes struck a particular chord with me, and is what elevates In Bruges above any of the other films of 2008.
Want a discussion on race wars amongst the vertically challenged? In Bruges' got it.
I professed my love for Guy Ritchie and RocknRolla earlier, but In Bruges is all of his movies and the countless other English gangster flicks grown up. While they offer style and no substance, McDonagh offers both in what is (still) shockingly his feature film debut. Having won an Academy Award already for Best Live Action Short Film in 2005 for Six Shooter (starring Brendan Gleeson again), McDonagh establishes as a young director and writer to keep an eye on in the future. The much maligned Colin Farrell shows us what he is fully capable of as an actor with his very emotional portrayal of Ray, a man who is now just simply going through the motions of life. Gleeson, also nominated for Golden Globe for his role alongside Farrell, is wonderful as the grizzled veteran of the hitman business who does all that he can for Ray to help him out. McDonagh’s greatest directorial decision may have been in keeping the scene stealing Ralph Fiennes off camera until the third act, leaving his presence in the story float throughout the first two thirds of the film through a telegram or a phone call. His absolute view on the business, as a man with principles is a noble one. Supporting roles from fellow Harry Potter film franchise alum Clemence Poesy, and the now legendary Jordan Prentice round out some of the performances that make In Bruges my #1 film of 2008.
Hopefully you have had as much fun as we have in writing up our respective top 10 lists, and we hope to have turned you onto some of our favorite films of the year, including some that you may not have seen or even heard of before. I know Hans’ list definitely made me check out some films that I had missed out on, and I am sure he would say the same. Stay tuned to The Feature Preachers as we continue spreading the good word!
I’m sorry, I know at this point it’s a bit of a clichéd pick, but for what it counts I was excited about this movie when it was just a script, which is long before most…
Slumdog Millionaire
British director Danny Boyle is one of my most envied men in showbusiness. Plenty of people in the world have some sort of remarkable talent, and it’s very easy for a creator to stumble upon a formula that works for him/her only to spend an entire career trying to recapture that lightning in a bottle (see: Guy Ritchie, director of Sulmoney’s fifth favorite movie of 2008, but I’ll come back to him later). The rarest form of creative genius, though, is the one who possesses both the ambition and the ability to tackle any project and still manages to show us something meaningful and original each time. Among them, in my mind: Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men), Stephen Soderberg (Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris, Ocean’s 11, Che), Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona) and Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire).
Proof that Danny Boyle is now the biggest white thing in India.
Slumdog Millionaire is much better than it needed to be. The West has been fascinated by India for a long time. Its culture is so loud, colorful and vibrant that it permeates through even in its most watered-down, Americanized portrayals (see: The Darjeeling Limited). The uniquely “exotic” flavor of India combined with some tabla beats and a few heartwrenching, borderline-exploitative shots of absolute poverty would have been enough to satisfy the voyeuristic urges of many moviegoers.
Instead, though, we’re presented with a story that transcends the sum of its parts in every way. Though this movie is far from Bollywood-conventional, that spirit is very much alive in its musicality, in the fantastical rise of Jamal from slumdog to millionaire and of course in the love story between Jamal and Latika. The style of the filmmaking is also impossible to ignore. Much like director Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), Danny Boyle’s filmmaking has always called attention to its slick photography and exceptional music, but unlike Ritchie’s films, that style serves a purpose. It’s cool, yes, but it’s also exhilarating. This isn’t a movie about gangsters talking in pubs, it’s about life, energy and mobility (social and locomotive), and the frenetic camerawork bolstered by A.R. Rahman‘s pounding drum-based rhythms breathe life into the images. Plus M.I.A. is a total badass.
Somewhere down there M.I.A. is still chasing little kids while singing "Paper Planes."
Indians have been making a big fuss over the film’s supposed exploitation of their culture, particularly its darker side, but it’s difficult to sympathize with these critics when Boyle proves with every frame that he just “gets it.” It’s remarkable to me that a British director who had never before visited India and with presumably no personal ties to South Asian culture (except, you know, the whole colonization, Jungle Book, white man’s burden thing) was able to portray India in the most honest and realistic way I’ve ever seen in a narrative feature (and, unfortunately, that includes every Bollywood flick ever made). In addition to telling a stylish and uplifting fairy tale, the film says nearly everything important that there is to say about the ills of modern Indian society, including its obsession with fame and celebrity, the rampant government and police corruption, and of course the huge socioeconomic disparities. That’s not to say that the film’s social commentary is perfect. Someone who doesn’t know any better might walk out of the theater with the impression that everyone in India is either a thief, a liar, a killer or just a first-rate douchebag, given that nearly every Indian Jamal encounters is a bad guy in some way (with a couple exceptions). The film’s heart is in the right place, though, and the task at hand is so enormous that I can forgive its few shortcomings.
Careful kids, those statues are worth more than you are.
I can only guess that a great deal of this film’s success must be due to Danny Boyle’s collaborations with local Indian artists, including his Indian co-director Loveleen Tandan and the legendary Bollywood composer A. R. Rahman. Still, Boyle’s imprint is all over this film, and there’s something to be said about a director who has the intelligence and respect for his subject matter to pick collaborators who will help him do the film right. In my #2 pick I lamented the fact that the Academy overlooked Christopher Nolan for a best director nomination, but even I don’t think he deserved the win. Slumdog Millionaire is one of my favorite films of all time. This is the year of Boyle.
The Feature Preachers 