OSCAR PREDICTIONS (2010)

March 2, 2010

(3-2-10) Greetings again from the darkness.  As the great writer Stephen King said, people who “love” movies tend to “like” watching the Academy Awards presentations; and people who love watching the Oscars, tend to like watching movies.  Well, as usual, I am a bit different.  Of course, I LOVE movies … but watching the Oscars is an annual tradition for me – one that I can’t imagine skipping. 

My attraction to the event goes back to my childhood when this gathering of Hollywood’s elite presented a rare glimpse into the world of glamour and celebrity.   These days we know WAY TOO MUCH about most actors and the industry of celebrity has somehow eclipsed the art of moviemaking.  Even though much of the TV presentation is now committed to the ridiculous red carpet interviews centering around fashion, there remains something magical about watching the actors as real people (or as close as they get).

Below, I have recapped the main categories and offered up my predictions as well as my preferences.  I have resisted the urge to comment if my true preference did not even receive a nomination!  In reality, I expect very few surprises in the main categories, but then again …

BEST PICTURE – While I am not a fan of going back to the days of TEN nominations, I do understand the reasoning.

PREDICTION: The Hurt Locker – not many of us saw this during its theatrical, but it is an incredibly intense viewing experience.

PREFERENCE: An Education– no chance of a win, but it was my favorite film of 2009

BEST DIRECTOR

PREDICTION: Kathryn Bigelow – the former Mrs. James Cameron seems to be a shoe-in after winning the Director’s Guild Award for The Hurt Locker

PREFERENCE: James Cameron – Realizing Avatar didn’t require traditional directing, this industry changing film should bring a reward to its creative force (in my opinion)

BEST ACTOR

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) – great performance by a great actor who, unbelievably, has never walked away with an Oscar.  This will be his first.

BEST ACTRESS

PREDICTION: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  Sometimes an actor steps outside of the type of role they are best known for and the industry overreacts.  Try and imagine Ms. Bullock playing ANY role that Meryl Streep has ever played.

PREFERENCE:  Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).  I am not a huge fan of this film, but Ms. Streep’s performance was so much deeper than an impersonation of Julia Child.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: Christoph Waltz.  This may be the only recognition that Inglourious Basterds gets all evening, though I hope it takes a writing award as well.  Mr. Waltz was tremendous and is very deserving.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: Mo’Nique.  Her performance in Precious terrified me.  This is the one sure bet for the evening.

ANIMATED FEATURE

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: Up.  One of the rare animated features that deserved (and received) a Best Picture nomination.  There is some sentiment for Fantastic Mr. Fox, but Up has a tremendous story and terrific presentation.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: The White Ribbon.  Unfortunately, I did not get to see a couple of this year’s nominations, but this German entry would be deserving most years.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (my favorite category)

PREDICTION: Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)

PREFERENCE: Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds).  Not just deserving, but watching him give a speech always livens up any event!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

PREDICTION: Geoffrey Flethcher (Precious).

PREFERENCE: Nick Hornby (An Education)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

PREDICTION: Avatar

PREFERENCE: The Hurt Locker

COSTUME DESIGN

PREDICTION: Nine

PREFERENCE: The Young Victoria

ANIMATED SHORT FILM (see my comments on the blog)

PREDICTION: A Matter of Loaf and Death

PREFERENCE: Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM (see my comments on the blog)

PREDICTION: The Door

PREFERENCE: Instead of Abracadabra

ORIGINAL SCORE

PREDICTION: Avatar

PREFERENCE: Up

ORIGINAL SONG

PREDICTION and PREFERENCE: “The Weary Kind” (Crazy Heart).  Gotta love T Bone Burnett!

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Posted by David Ferguson

OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS – Live action and Animated (2009)

February 25, 2010

(2-25-10) Greetings again from the darkness.  For the past few years, the Magnolia Theatre in Uptown Dallas has allowed a limited engagement for the Oscar nominated short films, both live action and short.  This has become an annual event for me … one that I really enjoy.  Short films are a different kind of art from feature films.  The characters and story must materialize quickly and, in the best ones, strike a chord with the viewer within the first two minutes.  An additional benefit of getting to see these nominated shorts is that it provides a connection when the winners are announced.  It’s unfortunate more people don’t get to see these.

 The 2009 nominees do not provide the overall strength of the past couple of years, but there are some moments of brilliance nonetheless.  Although, I will soon be posting my Oscar predictions and preferences, you will also see below that I have given you which of the shorts I consider to be the best of 2009.  I have broken these out by category – Animation and Live Action.

 ANIMATION

French Roast (France) – you have to enjoy watching the French poke a bit of fun at themselves.  Here a snooty businessman sits in a café all high and mighty until he realizes he has lost his wallet.  There is some humor and a couple of nice moments, but overall, this one was a little lame.

 Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty(Ireland) – this one is my favorite of the animated group.  It features wonderful voice acting for the off-center grandmother who frightens the heck out of her grandchild with her bedtime story “loosely” based on Sleeping Beauty.  The grandmother seems to bring quite a bit of emotional baggage to her storytelling and it had me laughing out loud.

 The Lady and the Reaper (Spain) – the weakest of the entries, although one of the better premises.  An older woman is ready to join her deceased husband, but the medical staff, including the braggadocios doctor, really do serious battle with the frustrated reaper.

A Matter of Loaf and Death (UK) – another strong entry based on the Wallace and Gromit characters (previous Oscar winners).  Here Wallace falls for the wrong woman and Gromit frantically tries to save him.

Logorama (Argentina) – maybe the most creative of the entries and certainly makes a social statement based on the brand name world we live in.  Just about every major product or company logo makes an appearance here as Ronald McDonald goes on a crime spree.

LIVE ACTION

Kavi (India/USA) – Kavi is a young boy serving as a work slave with his parents.  Kavi dreams of playing cricket with the rich boys who get to go to school.  There is a statement at the end of the film that says 23 million people are working as slaves throughout the world.  This is a glimpse into the daily heartache of those poor souls.

 The New Tenants (Denmark/USA) – this one plays out like a cross between Tarantino and Polanski, complete with violence and emotional distress.  A gay couple discovers that the previous tenant was brutally murdered.  This leads to a very odd day and an even stranger ending.

Miracle Fish (Australia) – an eight year old boy is mad at the world because his mother disappoints him on his birthday.  Turns out someone else was mad at the world on the same day and when these two worlds collide, it’s not pretty. 

The Door (Ireland) – based on the very personal aftermath of the Chernobyl accident, this dark and dreary story brings to light what happens when a government doesn’t openly communicate with its citizens.

Instead of Abracadabra (Sweden) – offbeat story is my favorite of the live action shorts.  It has a little Napolean Dynamite in the form of a 25-year-old wannabe-magician who still lives at home.  His parents have become less tolerant, but his magic show proves to be quite a surprise at his dad’s 60th birthday party.

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Posted by David Ferguson

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