Seeking out Redemption in the Beautiful World of Film. or My Excuse to Write About Movies

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oscar Predictions 2008 and why I'm mad

Some years the Oscars get it right on, which has pretty much been the case the last three years in my opinion (which is always right). This year was the year they got it all wrong.

The best movie of the year is also the most popular, The Dark Knight. And the Oscars refuse to recognize a "super hero" movie and instead go with the same exact movies that they have always been drawn to, outside of the fantastic Slumdog Millionaire. The omission of The Dark Knight may go down as the worst Oscar snub ever. In addition, I can think of so many movies that were far more deserving than Milk (derivative biopic with beat-you-over-the-head political agenda) The Reader (obligatory holocaust movie) and Benjamin Button (bland crap). The nominees should have gone like this:

Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Knight
Gran Torino
Revolutionary Road
The Wrestler or Wall-E or Frost/Nixon (the other one that at least sort of deserves to be there)

But we can't always get what we want. That is what the Oscars is all about, arguing your opinions. I have to play with the cards I have been dealt though, so here are my predictions:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (should win)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke (should win)
Best Actress: Kate Winslett (should win for Rev. Road, but haven't seen Reader yet)
Best Director: Danny Boyle (yeah!)
Best Supp. Actor: Heath (should win)
Best Supp. Actress: Amy Adams

And my two favorite categories are Best Original Screenplay, which will be Milk, but should be Wall-E, and Cinematography which will be The Dark Knight, but too little too late.

Okay, let the arguing begin.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree, total screw job by the academy. They probably thought that if you let one "superhero" movie in then you might as well consider all of them. Horrible. I figure if they let Lord of the Rings in as a fantasy movie what about this. Arg oh well.

chris wilke said...

is Heath going to win best supporting actor? or should win best supporting actor?

O said...

Pants,
Yes, Ledger will and should win. He was brilliant, in my opinion one of the most memorable portrayals in movie history, and should be nominated for best actor, not supporting. And its because of the quality, not because he is dead.