Oscar Roundup

Well I suppose its a sure sign that I've been lax on the blog when I haven't posted since before the oscars! That's alright though. I used the time leading up to the academy awards to catch up on a lot of the films that had slipped through my fingers. I actually really love that Oscar crunch time. For the past few years I've done some hefty marathons trying to check out as many of the nominated films as I can before the big show, and this year despite my best efforts I still lost my Oscar pool miserably. Ah well... There's always next year.

Here in a nutshell are my two cents on some of the Oscar nominated films. The ones I saw at least :)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: A bit overrated. A solid film no doubt, with marvelous makeup fx and a great sense of art direction, but not worthy of a best picture nomination.

Frost / Nixon: great tension, and fantastic acting by everyone involved. It feels like a smaller film than people made it out to be, but still is definitely worth checking out.

Milk: very good film, with great performances by Penn, and especially James Franco (prob his best role). I think Josh Brolin was overrated, but this is a solid and important film.

Slumdog Millionaire: Great movie, great look, sound, acting, everything. This deserves the praise. Check it out if you haven't.

The Reader: I thought it would be an absolute chick flick, but its not. This is just a solid drama. A Love story. And a heartwrenching performance by Winslett makes it one definitely not to miss.

The Wrestler: I loved this film. Everytime you think Rourke's character is getting himself back together he does something to remind him and us what a total fuck up he is. Very real world, very sad in a way. The ending sinches the film for me. great movie.

The Visitor: a good little character piece starring the fantastic character actor Richard Jenkins. This is a really good film that was undoubtedly the underdog. Nothing flashy, no big stars, this is just a nice little film. That said, its not going to blow you away. This is just good.

The Changling: what a depressing film. Nothing good seems to happen to these people, and everything is soooo grey and dreary. I felt bad watching this movie, because life sucked so much. I suppose that might be the intention of the film, but while I thought it was well made and acted, I don't think this is one you need to see. And how does the guy writing Thor make this?!

The Duchess: Its it just me or do all of these films seem the same? Beautiful costumes and great performances aside, the stories are all the same. Some girl who is strong willed and free gets herself stuck in a marriage / romance she can't stand and is constrained by. That is unfortunately her lot in life though as her station will permit no happiness, until she meets the man of her dreams, and they have a torrid love affair. The entire mess usually ends with one or all of the people involved in the illicit tryst, beheaded, run through, or otherwise dispatched. The Duchess is no different. And Erica loved it.

The Dark Knight: Hooray for Batman! This is an awesome film, go buy it and enjoy. Batman rulz!!1!

Ok, and now for the official winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Sean Penn - MILK

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Kate Winslet - THE READER

Achievement in Directing
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Departures

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Film Editing
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Sound Mixing
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Sound Editing
THE DARK KNIGHT

Achievement in Visual Effects
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Best Documentary Short Subject
SMILE PINKI

Best Documentary Feature
MAN ON WIRE

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Heath Ledger - THE DARK KNIGHT

Best Live Action Short Film
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

Achievement in Cinematography
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Makeup
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Achievement in Costume Design
THE DUCHESS

Achievement in Art Direction
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
WALL-E

Adapted Screenplay
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Original Screenplay
MILK

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Penelope Cruz - VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Although I actually never base my ballot on oscar day on my ballot I pick online here is how I did in my online predictions... 7 of 26.

That is terrible... even in my pool at home I think I only got 14, very depressing. oh well. Its all in good fun right, and there were some good films this year. Not a lot of great ones, but a ton of really good ones. The only one I haven't seen that was nominated for quite a lot was Doubt. And for my money the best films that I'd recommend you see outiof this Oscar season, are Slumdog Millionaire, and The Wrestler. Otherwise, I'll look forward to doing this all again in a year.

Have fun all, I hope you did better than me in your Oscar pools :)
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Oscar season again - 2009 edition

Well its Oscar season again, and I feel like this year I am even more behind the times than usual. I haven't seen like ANY of these films... how the heck am I ever going tom win the oscar pool?! Not that I ever do or anything. In fact I have a terrible track record for picking winners wit these kinds of things. That said, I'm not going to stop trying. So here we have it, the 2009 Academy Award nominees, with my picks for winner listed in red.


Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn - MILK
Brad Pitt - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke - THE WRESTLER

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Josh Brolin - MILK
Robert Downey Jr. - TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DOUBT
Heath Ledger - THE DARK KNIGHT
Michael Shannon - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Anne Hathaway - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie - CHANGELING
Melissa Leo - FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep - DOUBT
Kate Winslet - THE READER

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams - DOUBT
Penélope Cruz - VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Viola Davis - DOUBT
Taraji P. Henson - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Marisa Tomei - THE WRESTLER

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
BOLT
KUNG FU PANDA
WALL-E

Achievement in Art Direction
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Achievement in Cinematography
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Achievement in Costume Design
AUSTRALIA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DUCHESS
MILK
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Achievement in Directing
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Documentary Feature
THE BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
THE GARDEN
MAN ON WIRE
TROUBLE THE WATER

Best Documentary Short Subject
THE CONSCIENCE OF NHEM EN
THE FINAL INCH
SMILE PINKI
THE WITNESS - FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306

Achievement in Film Editing
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir

Achievement in Makeup
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DEFIANCE
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIREE
WALL-E

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
WALL-E"Down to Earth"
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE"Jai Ho"
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE"O Saya"

Best Motion Picture of the Year
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes
LAVATORY - LOVESTORY
OKTAPODI
PRESTO
THIS WAY UP

Best Live Action Short Film
AUF DER STRECKE (ON THE LINE)
MANON ON THE ASPHALT
NEW BOY
THE PIG
SPIELZEUGLAND (TOYLAND)

Achievement in Sound Editing
THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

Achievement in Sound Mixing
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

Achievement in Visual Effects
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN

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

We'll have to wait and see what becomes of all this on Oscar night on ABC on Feb 22nd, at 5pm PST. Also if you're doing a oscar night like I always do, you might want to have a copy of this handy dandy printable oscar ballot. It definitely does the trick.

I'm going to try to bone up on my potential award winners, but man I've defintiely got a long ways to go...
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Oscar winners '08

Here are the winner's of you 80th Academy Awards...

Winners in RED.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Christopher Hampton - Atonement
Sarah Polley - Away From Her
Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody - Juno
Nancy Oliver - Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Brad Bird - Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Beaufort (Israel)
The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Katyn (Poland)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
Atonement
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Golden Compass
Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
There Will Be Blood
Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Seamus McGarvey - Atonement
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Roger Deakins - No Country for Old Men
Robert Elswit - There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Albert Wolsky - Across the Universe
Jacqueline Durran - Atonement
Alexandra Byrne - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Marit Allen - La Vie en Rose
Colleen Atwood - Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Christopher Rouse - The Bourne Ultimatum
Juliette Welfling - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jay Cassidy - Into the Wild
Roderick Jaynes - No Country for Old Men
Dylan Tichenor - There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald - La Vie en Rose
Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji - Norbit
Ve Neill and Martin Samuel - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Dario Marianelli - Atonement
Alberto Iglesias - The Kite Runner
James Newton Howard - Michael Clayton
Michael Giacchino - Ratatouille
Marco Beltrami - 3:10 to Yuma

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" - Enchanted
Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" - August Rush
Nominees to be determined "So Close" - Enchanted
Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" - Enchanted
Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis - The Bourne Ultimatum
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland - No Country for Old Men
Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane - Ratatouille
Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe - 3:10 to Yuma
Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin - Transformers

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg - The Bourne Ultimatum
Skip Lievsay - No Country for Old Men
Randy Thom and Michael Silvers - Ratatouille
Matthew Wood - There Will Be Blood
Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins - Transformers

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood - The Golden Compass
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier - Transformers

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

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Based on my obviously terrible predictions I only got 7/24 correct. Funny thing, when I made those predictions I hadn't seen barely any of the films. Now, having seen almost all of them, during our Oscar party this weekend I also only got 7/24 correct. Man I'm bad at this...

Oh well, it was a good show at least.
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strike ending soon?

The news has been trickling in since Sunday night that the writers strike is nearing a speedy end. A tentative agreement has apparently been reached, albeit without the aid of "formal" negotiations, that both the WGA and the AMPTP are reportedly able to live with. The main sticking point of that agreement, is the brokered revenues for internet content. Supposedly the deal is similar, if not better, to the one that the AMPTP made with the DGA a short while ago.

While of course nothing is set in stone by this purported tentative agreement, people genuinely seem positive that this strike may be finally coming to a close. Reports that it could end as early as next week have been giving writers some well deserved hope. Of course nothing is formal yet, and I've little doubt that either side could screw things up, but the formal proposal is scheduled to be presented at the negotiating table this Saturday, Feb 9th, and we'll see what happens from there. To keep totally on top of this though, I like surfing the TV Guide's Strike Watch blog for the latest.

As Michale Ausiello reports in his excellent blog, the networks are expected to start devising and revealing plans for the future of their seasons as soon as an outcome has been determined. And he already has the unofficial scoop on the proposed fate of a number of ABC shows. Established big hits Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and Brother's & Sisters are expected to resume filming as early as the end of March with the intention to put 4 or 5 more episodes on our screens before the season is out, while newer shows that are returning are expected to hold off until a summer shooting scheduled and a fall relaunch. And this is expected to be the pattern the other big networks take. As for Lost, Heroes and 24, for now there's no word. I know it's seems like there is a lot of new stuff on tv these days, but just check out this updated list of the shows left to us; 'seriously dwindling' is a phrase that I think describes the situation well.

But regardless of when we get our shows back I definitely think this has gone on for long enough. The writers deserve compensation for their work, and I'm glad to see that the AMPTP sounds like its finally starting to come to some reasonable terms. Lets keep our fingers crossed that this is all over by next week, and definitely in time for the Oscars.
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Oscar nominations announced

Despite the continuing uncertainty of the Writers Strike in Hollywood, the show must at least try to go on. And that includes award shows. After the debacle that was the Golden Globes I'm not sure anyone wants to relive that with the oscars, but for now lets just enjoy todays announcement of the Oscar nominees. As usual I'll put my picks in orange. See you after the jump.

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ACTOR -- LEADING

George Clooney - MICHAEL CLAYTON
Daniel Day-Lewis - THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Johnny Depp - SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
Tommy Lee Jones - IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Viggo Mortensen - EASTERN PROMISES

ACTOR -- SUPPORTING

Casey Affleck - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Philip Seymour Hoffman - CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
Hal Holbrook - INTO THE WILD
Tom Wilkinson - MICHAEL CLAYTON

ACTRESS -- LEADING

Cate Blanchett - ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Julie Christie - AWAY FROM HER
Marion Cotillard - LA VIE EN ROSE
Laura Linney - THE SAVAGES
Ellen Page - JUNO

ACTRESS -- SUPPORTING

Cate Blanchett - I’M NOT THERE
Ruby Dee - AMERICAN GANGSTER
Saoirse Ronan - ATONEMENT
Amy Ryan - GONE BABY GONE
Tilda Swinton - MICHAEL CLAYTON

ANIMATED FEATURE

PERSEPOLIS
RATATOUILLE
SURF’S UP

CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
ATONEMENT
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

COSTUME DESIGN

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ATONEMENT
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
LA VIE EN ROSE
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET

DIRECTING

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
JUNO
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

NO END IN SIGHT
OPERATION HOMECOMING:
WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE
SICKO
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
WAR/DANCE

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEAUFORT
THE COUNTERFEITERS
KATYŃ
MONGOL
12

ORIGINAL SCORE

ATONEMENT
THE KITE RUNNER
MICHAEL CLAYTON
RATATOUILLE
3:10 TO YUMA

ORIGINAL SONG

"Falling Slowly" - ONCE
"Happy Working Song" - ENCHANTED
"Raise It Up" - AUGUST RUSH
"So Close" - ENCHANTED
"That’s How You Know" - ENCHANTED

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

FREEHELD
LA CORONA (THE CROWN)
SALIM BABA
SARI’S MOTHER

ART DIRECTION

AMERICAN GANGSTER
ATONEMENT
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

MAKEUP

LA VIE EN ROSE
NORBIT
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END

FILM EDITING

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
INTO THE WILD
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

VISUAL EFFECTS

THE GOLDEN COMPASS
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END
TRANSFORMERS

SOUND EDITING

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
THERE WILL BE BLOOD
TRANSFORMERS

SCREENPLAY -- ADAPTED

ATONEMENT
AWAY FROM HER
THE DIVING BELL
AND THE BUTTERFLY
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

SCREENPLAY -- ORIGINAL

JUNO
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
MICHAEL CLAYTON
RATATOUILLE
THE SAVAGES

SOUND MIXING

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
RATATOUILLE
3:10 TO YUMA
TRANSFORMERS

SHORT FILM -- LIVE ACTION

AT NIGHT
IL SUPPLENTE (THE SUBSTITUTE)
LE MOZART DES PICKPOCKETS
(THE MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS)
TANGHI ARGENTINI
THE TONTO WOMAN

BEST PICTURE

ATONEMENT
JUNO
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD


SHORT FILM -- ANIMATED

I MET THE WALRUS
MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI
MÊME LES PIGEONS VONT
AU PARADIS
(EVEN PIGEONS GO TO HEAVEN)
MY LOVE (MOYA LYUBOV)
PETER & THE WOLF

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Since its late at night, and I'm tired, I don't want to 100% commit to those choices, but for the moment, they'll definitely do...

Check out more at the official Oscar site, The Oscars, for the time being at least, will air live on ABC, Sunday February 24th at 5pm Pacific Time. Until next time, lates everyone.
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Oscar Winners '07

As if you didn't know, The Oscar's we're last night and I personally thought it was a very good show. I had a successful Oscar party with lots of good people, good food, and fun. Really thats the best way to watch any of these kinds of event shows, alongside good friends. The show itself was pretty decent in my opinion, nothing was super shocking or went over the top, but I personally like it more for the films themselves than any potential spectacle. And even though I know some people will disagree with me, I really enjoyed Ellen DeGeneres as host. I thought she did a pretty good job of creating a tone with her family friendly mildly deprecating humor. No it wasn't as charged a show as other years, but like the fashions in general being a bit muted, I think that at this year's Oscars people didn't want to be as divisive as years past.

As for the films themselves, well I spent the last few weeks really trying to catch up on all the ones I hadn't seen. It's been some great film watching, but I still have a couple of big ones left. It seems like especially this year with all these smaller and limited release films being nominated that catching up on them all is a bit tougher. I did however manage to see the BIG winner last night, The Departed, and I personally really liked it a lot. In terms of best film... well, I suppose with the ones nominated it had to be between that and Babel, and yeah Departed does really deserves some accolades. For you're convenience here's a list of the winners:


Best Picture - The Departed
Directing - Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Actor - Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
Actress - Helen Mirren (The Queen)
Supporting Actor - Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Supporting Actress - Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
Animated - Happy Feet
Art Direction - Pan's Labyrinth
Cinematography - Pan's Labyrinth
Costume - Marie Antoinette
Documentary - An Inconvenient Truth
Documentary Short - The Blood of Yingzhou District
Editing - The Departed
Foreign - The Lives of Others
Make-up - Pan's Labyrinth
Music (score) - Babel
Music (Song) - An Inconvenient Truth
Animated Short - The Danish Poet
Live Short - West Bank Story
Sound Editing - Letters From Iwo Jima
Sound Mixing - Dreamgirls
Visual Effects - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Adapted Screenplay - The Departed
Original Screenplay - Little Miss Sunshine

There were only a few unexpected upsets last night. Alan Arkin winning Best Supporting Actor over Eddie Murphy, Happy Feet over Cars, and Melissa Etheridge with her Inconvenient Truth song over any of the three Dreamgirls ones. I'm personally disappointed that Jennifer Hudson won Best Supporting Actress, but I suppose that's just life... On the other hand, I was pretty happy to see Pan's Labyrinth do so well. Overall, based on my predictions I only got 9 out of 24 correct. Not so great :( On my ballot at the party last night I managed to get 13 right, but I still lost the pool. Ah well, next year might be better for me. How did you guys do? did you have good Oscar fun last night? or did you not even care?

Hope Monday morning is going well for you regardless. Lates.

Oscar nominations '07

So before people get to upset with me for taking a few days off from blogging I thought I'd post something that everyone wants to know about, The Oscars. That's right people, the list is out and it's looking good. As usual with this kind of list, my picks for the winners will be in red. So lets get on with it already...

Oscar Nominations 2007

Best Picture: Babel, The Departed, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond; Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson; Peter O'Toole, Venus; Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness; Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actress: Penelope Cruz, Volver; Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal; Helen Mirren, The Queen; Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada; Kate Winslet, Little Children

Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine; Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children; Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond; Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls; Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, Babel; Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal; Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine; Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls; Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Directing: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel; Martin Scorsese, The Departed; Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima; Stephen Frears, The Queen; Paul Greengrass, United 93

Foreign Language Film: After the Wedding, Denmark; Days of Glory (Indigenes), Algeria; The Lives of Others, Germany; Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico; Water, Canada

Adapted Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan; Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, Children of Men; William Monahan, The Departed; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, Little Children; Patrick Marber, Notes on a Scandal

Original Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, Babel; Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, Letters From Iwo Jima; Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine; Guillermo del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth; Peter Morgan, The Queen

Animated Feature Film: Cars, Happy Feet, Monster House

Art Direction: Dreamgirls,The Good Shepherd, Pan's Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Prestige

Cinematography: The Black Dahlia, Children of Men, The Illusionist, Pan's Labyrinth, The Prestige

Sound Mixing: Apocalypto, Blood Diamond, Dreamgirls, Flags of Our Fathers, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Sound Editing: Apocalypto, Blood Diamond, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters From Iwo Jima, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Original Score: Babel, Gustavo Santaolalla; The Good German, Thomas Newman; Notes on a Scandal, Philip Glass; Pan's Labyrinth, Javier Navarrete; The Queen, Alexandre Desplat

Original Song: I Need to Wake Up from An Inconvenient Truth, Melissa Etheridge; Listen from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven; Love You I Do from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett; Our Town from Cars, Randy Newman; Patience from Dreamgirls, Henry Krieger and Willie Reale

Costume: Curse of the Golden Flower, The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Marie Antoinette, The Queen

Documentary Feature: Deliver Us From Evil, An Inconvenient Truth, Iraq in Fragments, Jesus Camp, My Country, My Country

Documentary (short subject): The Blood of Yingzhou District, Recycled Life, Rehearsing a Dream, Two Hands

Film Editing: Babel, Blood Diamond, Children of Men,The Departed, United 93

Makeup: Apocalypto, Click, Pan's Labyrinth

Animated Short Film: The Danish Poet, Lifted, The Little Matchgirl, Maestro, No Time for Nuts

Live Action Short Film: Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea), Eramos Pocos (One Too Many), Helmer & Son, The Saviour, West Bank Story

Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Poseidon, Superman Returns

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Honorary award (Oscar statuette): Ennio Morricone

Jean Hersholt humanitarian award: Sherry Lansing

Interesting... very interesting.... anything jump out at you from that list? I notice that Dreamgirls didn't make the best picture category. And Babel is all over the map here, but I don't know if it will really win too much. I'm happy that Little Miss Sunshine is getting some love, and really surprised to see Pan's Labyrinth in so many categories. I've got to get out and see some more of these films, before the big day. As it is now, I'm kind of just guessing with most things.

There's not too much that I would say is actually a 'Lock'. Cars should definitely win animated, and I think Scorsese will win for directing. Also An Inconvenient Truth will probably win documentary. Other than that though, I think there are a lot of things up in the air. Maybe I'll revisit my picks a little later, after I've got myself up to speed a bit more.

The Oscars will air on ABC on Feburary 25th.

UPDATE - Warner Bros has just announced officially that they will re-release The Departed into more than 1,300 theaters nationally on Friday, January 26th. So if you missed it, like me, now you'll get a chance to catch up :)