A wee bit o' commentary on this year's Oscar nominations.
BEST PICTURE
Atonement - Even my most romantically minded friends have shrugged this off as a watered-down The English Patient. I won't be seeing it. I loved The English Patient, but would have no patience for a dilution of it. Not too mention my issues with Kiera's pretty, but distracting, pout.
Juno - WTF? Don't get me wrong, I dug Juno in a big way and will definitely be putting it on my 2007 top ten list, but "Best Picture"? Go figure. Like the film itself, this nomination is a pleasant surprise.
Michael Clayton - Solid picture, to be sure. One of those glossy, smart numbers where the Hollywood machine is humming at its well-oiled-machine best. But not a hall of famer, by any means.
No Country for Old Men - Hells yeah! Just hand the Coens' the statuette now, please.
There Will Be Blood - I haven't seen it yet, but will shortly. PTA is a master. DDL is a master. But I can't imagine this film having the lingering visceral impact of No Country for Old Men. Sorry.
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - I'm sure she was great, but been there, done that.
Julie Christie - I'm sure she was great. Did you know she dated Warren Beatty? True story.
Marion Cotillard - OMG. Just give her the statuette now. "Transforming herself for the role" doesn't begin to describe it. She tore my heart out as Edith Piaf.
Laura Linney - She was absolutely great in The Savages, and I had to overcome a pesky Laura Linney issue to admit that. But she's gotta wait her turn for Oscar gold.
Ellen Page - She was decidedly great, but deadpan wryness isn't the toughest thing to pull off—let's be honest.
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney - He was good, but that's what he gets paid for, right?
Daniel Day-Lewis - Just give it to him. He's been gone long enough to play the comeback card and everyone is raving about this performance.
Johnny Depp - Johnny's great, but I doubt a singing cannibal part will earn him a golden boy.
Viggo Mortensen - Viggo who? Nah, just kidding. But he's in Linney's boat. He needs to pay a couple more dues.
Tommy Lee Jones - I didn't see In the Valley of Elah, but I think he deserved to get a "Best Supporting Actor" nod for No Country for Old Men. So did Josh Brolin, for that matter.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton.
Of this crew, I only saw Tilda's performance. She was terrific in Michael Clayton, especially in one small moment where she lays her clothes out on her bed to prepare for a big day at work. Her fragility in that scene was breathtaking and heartbreaking. So I vote Swinton.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck - Didn't see it, but Casey's good.
Javier Bardem - Just give him the statuette, please. The gas station scene alone earned him this.
Hal Holbrook - A sentimental swing vote might give it up for Hal.
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Didn't see this performance, but he was terrific in The Savages. Still, PSH needs to let someone else have a turn at the thank you podium.
Tom Wilkinson - He played crazy real good, but not Oscar good.
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson - No doubt he should come in second.
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - Hells yeah! The other dudes shouldn't bother getting tuxes.
Julian Schnabel - Too artsy outsider-y to take home this prize, but good for him getting nominated.
Tony Gilroy - Solid job, Tone, but competency don't equal transcendency.
Jason Reitman - A promising fresh eye and smart, funny storyteller. You go, boy. But since you are a boy, resume-wise, gotta wait your turn.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody for Juno - If Diablo don't get it for Juno, I don't know what up. Brilliant + box office is tough to beat.
Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl - Mixed reviews, baby.
Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton - Again, solid. Just not remarkable.
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco for Ratatouille - It got a 98 on Metacritic, but still, it's about an animated rat. This is when that "It's an honor just to be nominated" line comes to mind.
Tamara Jenkins for The Savages - If Diablo don't get it, Tamara should. What a lovely, insightful film she scribed (and directed). Bravo.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood - Something tells me PTA might take this one as a consolation prize.
Christopher Hampton for Atonement - Eh. War-torn love story. He probably wrote it in his sleep.
Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - This seems like it would've been a challenge, but again, too outsider to win.
Sarah Polley - I'm sure she did a fine job. Good on her.
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men - I'm midway through the book, so can say the Coens' didn't have too much work to do here. Three words: amazing source material.
5 comments:
You haven't seen "I'm Not There"? Shame, shame.
I know, I know. I just can't bring myself to see a film that Mike D'Angelo described as "an unapologetic exercise in annotation." Egad.
I would like to see Cate Blanchett's segment of "I'm Not There." She is a wonder. Did you see "Coffee and Cigarettes"? She did a brilliant turn playing two female relatives in an awkward hotel meet-up.
I’ve always been unclear on the criteria for the Best Adapted Screenplay award -- are Academy members supposed to vote for what they think is the best-written movie (from among the five nominees)? Or is the award supposed to be for adapting rather than writing per se? In other words, are voters expected to check out the source material for each of the five films so they can compare it to the finished product?
In my view, if a movie has brilliant dialogue, for example, then that should be worthy of a writing award, regardless of what fraction of the brilliant dialogue was in the source material.
I have seen all five nominees in the adapted-screenplay category; I liked all five but I think the best, by far, is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The screenwriter, Ronald Harwood, has an interesting article in The (London) Times about the genesis of that movie; he wrote it in English and then someone (he doesn’t say who) translated the script into French. I kind of wonder, shouldn’t the Oscar nomination be shared with the translator? I would have thought it’s a big part of the “writing” job on a movie -- choosing the words that the actors speak. But then again, I assume that the English subtitles on the movie are in fact the original script that Harwood wrote (not a fresh translation of the French dialogue). If so, maybe it makes sense that an American award would go to Harwood alone since the vast majority of the Academy voters would assess the film’s writing based on the subtitles.
On Ellen Page, I’ve seen four of her movies, and she’s always good but the only one where she’s really extraordinary is Hard Candy. She definitely can act, but you’re right that her task in Juno did not seem too difficult.
I agree with you that Marion Cotillard deserves the award for La Vie en Rose, but I didn’t think the movie itself was that good; I found the nonlinear structure too confusing.
As for Laura Linney and The Savages, I liked that movie fine, but it really doesn’t deserve either of its two nominations. It probably benefited greatly from its late-November release date; weren’t there 15-20 movies released before July, better than The Savages, that received no nominations?
Also I’d recommend seeing Away from Her if you haven’t -- I thought it was truly excellent, and not the type of movie you’d expect it to be based on its synopsis.
All interesting commentary, Mathew. Thank you.
Hmm. That's a very good point about best adapted screenplay. I can't imagine anyone expecting the Academy members to read source material. And you're right about good writing deserving an award no matter who adapted it from what.
I have been postponing seeing The Diving Bell and Butterfly, because of the claustrophobic POV I've read the director chose to use and the tragedy of it all. But I've heard too many raves now not to make myself go.
I had no idea Ellen Page was the Hard Candy girl. Now I have to see that one.
I have avoided Away From Her for the same reason I've avoided The Diving Bell... (tragic story). I almost missed The Savages for the same reason. The script and direction of that film really blew me away. I will add Away From Her to my Netflix queue.
I'm glad you agreed on Marion Cotillard. I was so happy to hear she'd won the Golden Globe. I hope Oscar follows suit.
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