I've listed the nominations in each category by my favorites. I have not yet seen a few of these movies, though, so this is just an early pass at handicapping the picks.
Best picture
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
Best picture
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Reader”
I haven't seen Benjamin Button yet, so I can't really say whether it's deserving of the nod. I was a little surprised to see The Reader in this list, which I thought was a little lackluster and unfocused.
The other three are deserving of the nomination, however, and Milk should be the early front runner to win.
About Slumdog: It's a lot of fun, and it's a touching and uplifting story, but I don't know that it reaches the same level of overall excellence as Frost/Nixon and Milk. I can see it winning, and it won't be a travesty if it does, the way Crash winning was a few years ago. Still, what do we mean when we say best picture? the movie we liked best or the movie that was the best made, directed, acted, written, etc? I prefer the latter, but I don't think the emotional experience of seeing a movie should be completely excluded, either.
Best Actor
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”
I haven't seen Benjamin Button yet, so I can't really say whether it's deserving of the nod. I was a little surprised to see The Reader in this list, which I thought was a little lackluster and unfocused.
The other three are deserving of the nomination, however, and Milk should be the early front runner to win.
About Slumdog: It's a lot of fun, and it's a touching and uplifting story, but I don't know that it reaches the same level of overall excellence as Frost/Nixon and Milk. I can see it winning, and it won't be a travesty if it does, the way Crash winning was a few years ago. Still, what do we mean when we say best picture? the movie we liked best or the movie that was the best made, directed, acted, written, etc? I prefer the latter, but I don't think the emotional experience of seeing a movie should be completely excluded, either.
Best Actor
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
I've only seen Penn and Langella's performances here, and they both were excellent. I'd give the nod slightly to Langella, purely because he so thoroughly captured the menace and incredible intellect of Richard Nixon. I put Rourke at the top of the list because of the incredible and unanimous word of mouth.
Best Actress
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
Josh Brolin in “Milk”
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
I've only seen Penn and Langella's performances here, and they both were excellent. I'd give the nod slightly to Langella, purely because he so thoroughly captured the menace and incredible intellect of Richard Nixon. I put Rourke at the top of the list because of the incredible and unanimous word of mouth.
Best Actress
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
I've only seen two performances on this list, so I can't rank the performances at all. Streep and Winslet: Neither struck me as excellent. Streep played an overbearing, inscrutable nun, and it was hard to tell if she was hamming it up, or if the character was written with such little nuance. Winslet was better in The Reader.
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
Amy Adams in “Doubt”
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis in “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”
“The Reader”, Stephen Daldry
Another strong slate in this category. Gus Van Sant's ability to take Milk from the bland, predictable biopic genre and transform it into a movie about a time and place makes him my choice. Danny Boyle is also very deserving for his use of setting and pacing in Slumdog.
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”
I've seen four of the five (sorry, Michael Shannon). This is a tough field, as all of the performances were great. Ledger is the sentimental choice, and the work really does support his nomination. Downey winning would be a great story as well. But Brolin gives such a strong performance in Milk that he may spoil those particular parties.
Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis in “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”
Again, only saw Doubt, so no rankings. Of the two performances, Viola Davis is more deserving, although her limited screen time will hurt her chances.
“Milk”, Gus Van Sant
Best Director
“Slumdog Millionaire”, Danny Boyle
“Frost/Nixon”, Ron Howard
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, David Fincher“The Reader”, Stephen Daldry
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Great post Berto. I definitely have some thoughts on the Oscars, but must keep them secret.
ReplyDeleteYou see, in the my family the Oscars are a competitive sport. Each year each of us pick all of the categories (even the crazy ones like best sound mixing) and who ever picks the most correct wins a little mini Oscar trophy, and more importantly bragging rights. Last year my wife, and friend Ajay tied, and over the years I’ve won solo a few times, but my father typically dominates.
I have considered making a post of my fake Oscar picks as a little bit of mis-information to through my family off. Although I think that’s probably a little too sneaky.
So hears what I propose. I’ll make my Oscar picks on this site, but keep them sealed until after the show. I’ll email them to you so you can keep me honest, you’ll be like price waterhouse.