Ah, the Oscar nominations are out and it’s quite obvious which is the movie to beat at the big show. Avatar has broken the all-time box office record once held by Titanic and has taken the entire world by storm. And, with literally no strong competition to go up against it until Valentine’s Day, Avatar is going to remain as the top-grossing movie for quite some time. While I can laugh at James Cameron’s inability to go up against other strong films, 20th Century Fox perfected this gold mine with a nice blend of great marketing and brilliant timing. The fact of the matter is this: Avatar has a strong chance of winning. The Academy Awards expanded the Best Picture category in order to increase interest in the telecast by the mainstream. So why not give the Best Picture award to the biggest film of all-time? Seems to make sense. There is a problem though: Avatar doesn’t deserve it.
Call me a Disney fanatic all you want, I don’t care. Give the Best Picture award to Up. Yes, I did see Avatar, and I don’t think it was even a Top 10 of 2009 film. In a year with the likes of District 9, Inglorious Basterds, and 500 Days of Summer, Avatar shouldn’t even get a Best Picture nomination. It was a weak story covered in pretty packaging. Back to the worthy picture. Up is the best film of last year by far. The opening 10 minutes (now becoming a staple in animation history) are some of the most intense footage ever seen in a family movie. Very few movies can drive me to near-tears (yea I’ll admit it), but Up fires and hits on all sentimental cylinders. But let’s not forget the beautiful story full of memorable characters, memorable moments, hilarious scenes, and plenty of peril. Let’s also point out the 98% fresh tomato rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Avatar: 82%).
How awesome would it be for Pixar to finally win Best Picture? Pixar should have at least been in the running back in 1999 with the masterpiece Toy Story 2. And then in 2003, they released what I strongly believe was the best picture of that year, which was Finding Nemo.
Surely others will point out Wall-E and maybe even Ratatouille, but I strongly considered that Nemo should have gone up against the likes of Master and Commander, the overlong Return of the King, and the overrated Seabiscuit. I was one of the first to scream frustration when Pixar flicks weren’t getting the deserved Best Picture opportunities. One last major point: Pixar has a perfect track record since 1995. Isn’t it time that the studio nabs the ultimate prize? However, it will be snubbed. It shall take the Best Animated Picture, but it will not covet the main prize simply because a 3-D spectacle is raking in all the big bucks and features the latest in special effects.
As we are now talking about snubs: where in the heck is 500 Days of Summer? That is one of the three best flicks of the last 12 months, and is among the best romantic comedies in the new millennium. It should have at least gotten a nomination for writing. The main stars in the film should have also gotten acting nominations. Marc Webb should have been nominated for Best Director. Another Best Director snub is Spike Jonze. Where the Wild Things Are was a tough movie to watch and dissect, but there is no denying the amazing set design, cinematography, special effects, and direction. It got nothing. Why?? And Blind Side got a Best Picture nomination. Are you kidding me?
What about The Hangover? The Hangover in my opinion is a better success story than Avatar because it quite simply wasn’t supposed to make so much money, and wasn’t supposed to receive so much praise. Nonetheless, it was a premise written to near-perfection, and is the first raunchy comedy I have seen since 40-Year-Old Virgin that deserved a screenwriting Oscar nomination.Plus it even got the Golden Globe for Best Comedy (which was disappointing because it beat...500 Days of Summer). But…not happening. Hangover at best should have gotten a Best Screenplay---and pushing a little bit more Todd Phillips should have gotten at least a Best Director nomination. Directing dramas is easy, directing a good comedy is much, much tougher. One last final snub that isn’t as big an issue but was surprising: no Visual Effects Oscar nomination for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? Granted it wasn’t a good movie, but you have to admire the incredible visuals.
I am glad the Oscars expanded the Best Picture category, but it shouldn’t be 10 movies, since odds are the tail end will consist of movies that just managed to sneak in (Blind Side, A Serious Man). The nominations themselves weren’t totally disastrous, even if the snubbing of Hangover, 500 Days of Summer, and Where the Wild Things Are were truly disappointing. Here are my predictions, and what I think should be the winner:
Best Picture:
Prediction: Avatar (….)
My Pick: Up
Best Actor:
Prediction: Jeff Bridges
My Pick: n/a
Best Actress:
Prediction: Sandra Bullock
My Pick: Gabourey Sidibe
Best Supporting Actor:
Prediction: Christoph Waltz
My Pick: See Above
Best Supporting Actress:
My Prediction: Maggie Gyllenhaal (For the upset!!)
My Pick: n/a
Best Director:
My Prediction: Kathryn Bigelow
My Pick: Quentin Tarantino
Pick NOT in List: Spike Jonze
Best Screenplay
My Prediction: Inglorious Basterds
My Pick: Inglorious Basterds
Pick NOT in List: (500) Days of Summer
Best Adapted Screenplay
My Prediction: Up in the Air
My Pick: District 9
Cinematography:
Prediction: Avatar
Pick: Avatar
SHOULD BE: Where the Wild Things Are
Editing:
Prediction: Avatar
Pick: District 9
SHOULD BE: Up
Art Direction:
Prediction: Avatar
My Pick: Sherlock Holmes
Costume:
Prediction: Nine
My Pick: Nine
Makeup
Prediction: Star Trek
My Pick: Star Trek
SHOULD BE: District 9
Music
Prediction: Up
My Pick: Up
Original Song
Prediction: Crazy Heart theme song
My Pick: Down in New Orleans (Princess and the Frog)
Sound Mixing:
Prediction: The Hurt Locker
My Pick: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Sound Editing:
Prediction: Avatar
My Pick: Up
Visual Effects:
My Predication: Avatar
My Pick: Avatar
Best Animated Feature:
My Prediction: Up
My Pick: Up
From my predictions, here will be the big winners:
Avatar: 6 Oscars
Inglorious Basterds: 2 Oscars
Crazy Heart: 3 Oscars
The Hurt Locker: 2 Oscars
Up: 2 Oscars
I don’t see anyone running away with over 8 Oscars, but I see Avatar with at least 5.
Bottom Line: Should be an interesting and exciting Academy Awards, even if I am unfortunately certain as to which movie will walk off with the most gold.
No comments:
Post a Comment