Posts Tagged ‘danny boyle’
academy awards rehash ’09 »
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
If you didn’t watch, I’ll be ruining the ending for you. Somehow I doubt you care. Below are my predictions and the winners and why I’m still right even if I’m wrong. (Ego!)
Animated Feature
Predicted: WALL-E
Winner: WALL-E
First, Jack Black, you are astounding. Great movie, great story and hated by the Right. It could do no wrong.
Original Song
Predicted: Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho”
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho”
This was a lock. Especially when you consider the emotional impact and plot-driving force of it. Could pretty much bank on Slumdog the entire night.
Editing
Predicted: Slumdog Millionaire
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Intensity, dynamism and heart. That’s what Dickens brought to the party and he brought more than anyone else. It’s not an important award as far as E! is concerned but it’s insanely important to film as an art. No one cares.
Cinematography
Predicted: Slumdog Millionaire
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
Gorgeous film. Stiller’s rendition of Pheonix was almost better though. And then the guy thanked everyone he’s worked with for twenty years so that was… a cop out.
Adapted Screenplay
Predicted: Slumdog Millionaire
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
This, like so many of the other categories where Slumdog is nominated, was almost a lock. (Full disclosure: I didn’t read or see any of the works adapted. Still, I’m a genius.)
Original Screenplay
Predicted: In Bruges
Winner: Milk
Ugh. Can this movie get dry-humped further? The story was awesome, yes. The events and plot and acting was stunning, yes. The politics were topical, yes. But the gorgeous symmetry of Bruges should have sold it. (It didn’t, apparently.) @SlashFilm‘s tweet said it all.
Directing
Predicted: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Winner: Danny Boyle
He deserved it. (As he does consistently.) That is all.
Supporting Actress
Predicted: Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
Winner: Penelope Cruz
Them announcing this one first was far more surprising than the actual winner. Still, with her performance, Tomei did a better job. The character was deeper and more intriguing but I guess Cruz winning just goes to show you… going crazy is second only to a mental/physical handicap when it comes to the gold statue. (Ask Angelina Jolie.) Tomei, you (and your nipples) should have taken it.
Supporting Actor
Predicted: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Winner: Heath Ledger
‘Cause… duh. I mean, he was outstanding and it’s posthumous. The Academy can’t resist. The speech was poignant and beautiful.
Actress
Predicted: Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Winner: Kate Winslet
BOOM! She was up against a bunch of nobodies and first-timers with one woman who already has a few so the competition was thin but she still earned it. The speech was shakey but that’s understandable after so many nominations that came of nothing. Cheers, Kate, you’re gorgeous.
Actor
Predicted: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Winner: Sean Penn
Penn was solid. I take nothing away from his performance but Rourke was better. Politics won over performance. Congrats, Penn, but, Rourke, you were robbed. The speech was just as political as you’d expect but at least he didn’t droll on and on and on…
Picture
Predicted: Slumdog Millionaire
Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
This was like the safe Ed Norton stored the gold in from Italian Job. The movies were good but Slumdog was great. Bringing everyone up and having so many there was epic. It’s heart-warming and jaw-dropping. Unreal.
All in all, it was a lame movie season. Really, as you can tell from the above, Slumdog, was about the only movie you need see. That goes to show you how small the crop of quality film was. (Yes, I’m looking at you Tropic Thunder.)
This was written during the awards show and just after. I don’t have clips of certain segments for that reason. For your own enjoyment, find Ben Stiller’s reenactment of Joaquin Pheonix.
oscar predictions ’09 »
Friday, February 20th, 2009
… Because the big show is Sunday, I need to get the predictions out there. I mean, only amateurs wait ’til afterward to extol their brilliance. I can extol at the drop of a hat. (::hat drops to floor::)
Titles in italics will probably be winners. Titles in bold are ones I’m pulling for. *s are by ones I haven’t seen.
ANIMATED FEATURE
- Bolt *
- Kung Fu Panda *
- WALL-E
ORIGINAL SONG
- Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho”
- Slumdog Millionaire – “O Saya”
- WALL-E – “Down to Earth”
EDITING
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Frost/Nixon *
- Milk
- Slumdog Millionaire
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Changeling
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Doubt
- Frost/Nixon *
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Frozen River *
- Happy-Go-Lucky *
- In Bruges
- Milk
- WALL-E
DIRECTING
- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
- Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
- David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) *
- Gus Van Sant (Milk)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Amy Adams (Doubt)
- Penélope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
- Viola Davis (Doubt)
- Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Josh Brolin (Milk)
- Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder) *
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
- Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
- Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
ACTRESS
- Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) *
- Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
- Melissa Leo (Frozen River) *
- Meryl Streep (Doubt)
- Kate Winslet (The Reader)
ACTOR
- Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)
- Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) *
- Sean Penn (Milk)
- Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
- Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
PICTURE
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire
I doubt I’ll be as victorious as last year (sarcasm) but one can hope I’ll catch a few. It wasn’t a good season (tons of repeats on here) but the ones listed were fairly solid. (As you can tell from the above, I’m quite partial to Slumdog Millionaire.)
I know you can’t wait ’til the recap to fully appreciate my genius. I know it. (Delusion is the first step toward success, right?)
In case you think you’re smarter than I am (and probably are), pick a category or two and lay out your prediction in the comments. We’ll see on Monday who emerges with the prize.*
* There is no prize.
slumdog millionaire »
Monday, January 12th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire
Friday, Girlfriend and I went to Slumdog Millionaire. I hadn’t much heard of it but people were saying it was good. I dig the director and have no self-control so I didn’t put up a fight.
As you must know, I’m a sucker for twisted love stories. Slumdog, essentially, is just that. It follows Jamal, who is suspected of cheating on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (or Millo-nare). As each question is played back to him, major events in his life play out.
Most of the events of his life are tragic but Jamal is strangely distant from them, unaffected, as if he wasn’t meant for the turmoil at all. Put another way, amid all his misfortune, he is fortunate.
The plot is chronologically schizophrenic (love those sorts), the acting is solid throughout and the story is as dramatic as unrealistic as believable (I don’t get it either). The pace is consistent in its inconsistency. It’s entertaining and awesome.
It’s a solid rent. It seems predictable but the sequence is tweaked just right. Though I knew what the last question was, I was off as to how it fell on the time-line. (And apparently don’t know anything about literature.)
Stick around for the end. It’s one of the most entertaining credit roll I’ve seen. (If only for the stereotypical greatness of Bollywood cinema.)
Note: I’ve imported old reviews from my past site. There are 160-some sets of thoughts and critiques. These are under the “chasm reviews” category. Also, I’ve brought in posts from Drainage. That’s a blog most of you haven’t read. The tone is much different. Those posts are under “drainage” (obviously).