The Oscar winners have been announced. As expected, Slumdog Millionaire won all the major categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for Danny Boyle. Sean Penn snatched Best Actor from Mickey Rourke, and Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor (big surprise…). The pick that made me mad was Kate Winslet for Best Actress. First, Meryl Streep deserved it. Second, The Reader is an awful movie and Kate Winslet portrays “a good Nazi.” That’s annoying in itself, and her performance isn’t that impressive: she came up with a reasonably good German accent, and she was naked during the entire first hour of the movie. I too can speak in a decent German accent with no clothes on; it doesn’t mean I deserve an Oscar.

To express my disappointment with the Academy for picking the naked Nazi, here are the top ten atrocities ever committed by the Academy decision makers:

10. The Academy ignores a group called Monty Python

Monty Python’s influence on comedy has often been compared to The Beatles’ influence on music. In their last film they even managed to explain the meaning of life. So why the hell weren’t they honored at the Oscars?

The Holy Grail (1975) melds the ridiculous with the sublime. This anachronistic social satire was an instant cult hit, generated a host of quotes, and even inspired a computer game 20 years later.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) is a scathing send-up of religion and Hollywood’s depiction of it. This second - and tightest - feature film, directed by Terry Jones, does for ancient Rome what The Holy Grail did for the Middle Ages.

In The Meaning of Life (1983), the group explains it all in an episodic comedy that dares to take on the most “sacred” aspects of life - sex, food, politics and religion - and bring them hilariously down to earth.

9. Shakespeare in Love gets the Oscars, Saving Private Ryan loses

Saving Private Ryan did get Best Director, but the much inferior Shakespeare in Love got both Best Picture and Best Screenplay at the 1998 Oscars.

Director Steven Spielberg’s World War II tour de force chronicles the journey of a GI squad on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. The first unforgettable 20 minutes of the movie realistically and horrifically depict the Normandy invasion as Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), his second-in-command Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore), and the others in the unit land at Omaha Beach. Saving Private Ryan is considered one of the best war movies ever made, while Shakespeare in Love is just another so-so period piece.

8. Kramer vs. Kramer gets the Oscars, Apocalypse Now loses

Kramer vs. Kramer is a well-observed adaptation of Avery Corman’s novel about the aftermath of a divorce. But to choose it over Apocalypse Now? The guys who made this decision in 1979 are nowhere to be found, probably in hiding.

The grueling production and Francis Ford Coppola’s insistence on authenticity led to vast budget overruns and physical and emotional breakdowns. It was all worth it: Apocalypse Now is a surreal masterpiece, another of the best war movies of all time. With incredible performances and beautifully chaotic visuals, it’s an absolute must-see.

7. Scarface doesn’t even earn a nomination for Best Picture

Terms of Endearment is a deeply observed drama about the intimate relationship between a mother and daughter, based on the novel by Larry McMurtry. This decent but unremarkable drama won all the major awards at the 1983 Oscars. Scarface, one of the most memorable and beloved gangster movies of all time, didn’t even get a nomination.

Brian De Palma’s gory saga of a Cuban immigrant’s rise to the top of Miami’s cocaine business has become something of a popular classic since its release. It’s been referenced in rap songs and subsequent gangster movies and quoted the world over. In one of his most memorable performances, Al Pacino stars as Tony Montana, whose intelligence, guts, and ambition help him skyrocket from dishwasher to the top of a criminal empire - but whose eventual paranoia and incestuous desire for his kid sister (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) prove his undoing.

6. Ridley Scott

1979: Alien, one of the best Sci-Fi movies ever, wasn’t nominated in any major category.

1982: Blade Runner, one of the most outstanding dystopian futuristic movies ever made, wasn’t nominated in any major category.

1992: With Thelma and Louise, Scott lost Best Director to The Silence of the Lambs, which is reasonable. But Thelma and Louise wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture.

2000: Gladiator got 5 awards including Best Picture, but Scott himself lost Best Director to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic.

2001: With Black Hawk Down, Scott lost again in the Director category, this time to Ron Howard and his uplifting, mad-genius tale A Beautiful Mind.

2007: American Gangster should have been nominated in a year when Michael Clayton and Atonement were.

Needless to say, the Academy isn’t big on Ridley Scott, and by now he’s not big on them. I foresee an Academy Honorary Award coming soon - I just hope he gets it while he’s still alive…

5. Orson Welles

Many consider Orson Welles the best director in the history of cinema, mainly thanks to two masterpieces. Citizen Kane (1941) is a landmark in cinema history and Touch of Evil (1958) is a near-perfect examination of the dark underbelly of society and the tragic downfall of a once-proud man. It’s amazing that Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley (John Ford), both for Best Picture and Best Director. Touch of Evil is worse: he wasn’t even nominated!. Welles was nominated as an actor for Citizen Kane (and lost), and once again ignored for Touch of Evil, although his portrayal of the racist Captain Hank Quinlan, a grotesque, troubled, and powerful figure, was absolutely brilliant.

4. Sergio Leone

This genius director never got the honor he deserved. The academy ignored him totally.

A Fistful of Dollars was the first true Spaghetti Western, and the first in Leone’s A Man with No Name trilogy, starring Clint Eastwood as the lone-wolf hero and a stunning score from Ennio Morricone. In The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Leone used vivid Cinemascope imagery to depict a bleak and bloody American West, in this final installment of the trilogy. In Once Upon a Time in The West, Leone used techniques previously unseen in the genre. Close-ups, color, and Morricone’s trademark score create a tense and somber meditation on death, widely considered to be one of the best westerns in cinematic history.

Once Upon a Time in America, an epic crime saga that runs nearly four hours starring Robert De Niro, James Woods and Joe Pesci, gave the Academy a chance to compensate for their shameful disregard of Leone’s movies, but they failed to do so. Sadly, this great movie was the last one Leone directed before dying in 1989 at age 60 from a heart attack (and without a single Academy Award).

3. Martin Scorsese

It all started in 1976 when Rocky won and Taxi Driver lost. Then came the outrageous decision to choose Ordinary People over Raging Bull. Martin Scorsese probably thought  - That’s okay, they’ll make up for their bad decisions with an Oscar for The Last Temptation of Christ. Wrong. Scorsese lost again and Barry Levinson (Rain Man) was the happy winner. It seemed like Scorsese couldn’t possibly lose with Goodfellas against Dances with Wolves. Kevin Costner and the Academy were the only people in the world that thought differently. No Oscar yet…

Scorsese was becoming desperate, so he made Casino – a movie with De Niro, Pesci and Sharon Stone in her prime. The Academy wouldn’t have the guts to ignore such a movie, would they? Wrong again. Casino wasn’t even nominated. In 2002 and 2004 he was hopeful again with Gangs of New York and The Aviator, and of course he lost again and again.

When Scorsese lost all faith in the Academy and possibly also himself and mankind, 2006 arrived with nominations for The Departed, not one of his best movies. The guys at the Academy may be cold-hearted, but even they probably couldn’t bear Scorsese’s usual disappointed Oscar face, so they finally gave him the Oscar. Well-deserved, just not for the right movie.

2. Stanley Kubrick

None of Stanley Kubrick’s movies ever won Best Picture or Best Screenplay. He himself never got Best Director. May I remind you that we are talking about the genius who made -

Paths of Glory (one of the best war movies ever), Spartacus (an amazing epic), Dr. Strangelove (brilliant dark satire), 2001: A Space Odyssey (one of the best Sci-Fi movies ever), A Clockwork Orange (maybe the best movie ever), The Shining (one of the best horror movies) and Full Metal Jacket (also an outstanding war movie).

Is it because his movies never have a happy end? Is it because he himself is a misanthrope? It can’t be because he’s British: just ask Kate Winslet and Danny Boyle.

1. Alfred Hitchcock

Probably the greatest director of all time, Hitchcock was too controversial for the square, conservative, boring people in the Academy (or maybe they do have something against Brits – Scott, Kubrick and now Hitchcock). He was nominated for Best Director 5 times (for Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window and Psycho), and lost all five.

Strangers on a Train – ignored. Dial M for Murder – ignored. The Man Who Knew too Much, Vertigo, and The Birds – all ignored in the major categories.

After all of these outrageous decisions, the studios have the nerve to complain about the Academy members for tending to choose indie or foreign winners over the big, popular mainstream studio productions. Ha…!

To end on a positive note, I say to all the suffering cinematic geniuses out there: take comfort in the fact that you will be recognized eventually, just probably after you die. …

Search on Jinni for –
Breakdowns * Surreal * Masterpiece * Chaotic * Gangster * Gory Saga * Immigrant * Rise To The Top * Uplifting * Mad Genius * Landmark * Society * Downfall * Lone Wolf * Bleak * Epic * Betrayal * War Movie

Technorati Tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, Best Director, Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle, Kate Winslet, The Reader, Hitchcock, Film, Movie

Popularity: 100% [?]

With the Oscar nominations announced, it’s time to review the main categories. To predict the winners, to vent my frustrations about those who shouldn’t have been left out and those who didn’t deserve their nominations – and to develop a few theories along the way.

10. Best Animated Feature

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

The Winner: WALL-E
My Favorite: WALL-E
Worst Snub: Waltz with Bashir (Vals Im Bashir)

In the easiest category to predict, WALL-E is the definite winner. Bolt and Kung Fu Panda are sweet, funny, family movies. WALL-E, from the talented Pixar bunch, is visually stunning and deals with serious subjects like environmentalism.

Prize-Fixing: What I find puzzling is why Waltz with Bashir was omitted from this category and nominated only under the Foreign Film. Do the people calling the shots at the Oscars really think that Kung Fu Panda and Bolt are better movies? Or maybe they think both WALL-E and Bashir deserve an Oscar, so they didn’t put them in the same category. It’s never too soon to throw in a conspiracy theory…

9. Best Foreign Language

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

The Winner: Waltz with Bashir
My Favorite: Waltz with Bashir
Worst Snub: Gomorra

Gomorra – a gritty depiction of modern day Italian crime families – is a surprising omission, considering its sweeping win of the European Film Awards and the Director prize at Cannes.
Waltz with Bashir is an animated documentary about war crimes (an original premise, you have to admit.) With an impressive stack of prizes already, including the Golden Globe, this critically acclaimed and thought-provoking film is most likely to win.

History Reversed: Last year an Austrian film (The Counterfeiters) took home the Oscar and left an Israeli anti-war film (Beaufort) empty-handed. This time it will probably be the other way around, with the Austrian film complimented and the Israeli film awarded.

8. Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

The Winner: Amy Adams
My Favorite: Marisa Tomei and Amy Adams
Worst Snub: Debra Winger (Rachel Getting Married)

Ulterior Motive: Viola Davis and Taraji P. Henson had such small roles that I’m surprised they were even nominated. Marisa Tomei is mostly naked in most of her screen-time in The Wrestler. She’s very sexy - but I’m sure the guys at the Academy nominated her because of the way she said her (very few) lines…

That leaves us with Penelope Cruz and Amy Adams. I think Adams gave the better performance. Her filmography includes mostly light comedies like Enchanted, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny and Talladega Nights. In Doubt she displayed her – impressive - dramatic skills.

Debra Winger, the 80s’ unfulfilled promise (Urban Cowboy, An Officer and a Gentleman, Terms of Endearment), and, believe it or not, one of the voices of E.T., made a welcome, highly acclaimed return to the big screen in Rachel Getting Married. This talented actress who we don’t see enough was at least worthy of a nomination.

7. Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

The Winner: Heath Ledger
My Favorite: Robert Downey Jr
Worst Snub: Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)

History Repeats: Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated last year but didn’t stand a chance against Javier Bardem’s convincing turn as the psychopathic serial killer in No Country For Old Men. This year Hoffman will lose again – to another actor who portrays a psychopath: Heath Ledger as The Joker. Needless to say, the fact that Ledger is dead improves his chances of winning.

If I was calling the shots, Robert Downey Jr. would get the Oscar. He was hilarious in Tropic Thunder as the method actor who is so devoted to his performance that he undergoes a skin color operation to be more convincing in his role as a black soldier.

Funny Bias: But the name I miss most in this category is Tom Cruise. Barely recognizable, his performance in Tropic Thunder was the wackiest and best of his career, with all due respect to Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Rain Man and Born on the Fourth of July. But it’s unlikely the Academy will give a prize to actors participating in a silly (okay, very silly) comedy.

Behind the Hype: And here’s a chance to take a risk and say it out loud: Ledger’s Joker is not such an amazing performance, compared to Jack Nicholson’s in particular, or to Bardem’s if considering psychopaths at large. I would stop here and go hide from the fanboys, but I still have 6 categories left…

6. Best Original Screenplay

Andrew Stanton - WALL-E
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin Mcdonagh - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River

The Winner: In Bruges
My Favorite: In Bruges
Worst Snub: Robert D. Siegel - The Wrestler

History Repeats: Milk, with its strong social themes (tragic biopic of the first gay elected public official) and brand names, seems likely to follow in the footsteps of Brokeback Mountain, another tragic, gay groundbreaking film. Even WALL-E is a possibility here. But because I love Martin Mcdonagh (writer and director of In Bruges)’s witty and hilarious dialogue, I’ll take a wild gamble on a surprise winner in this category.

The Upset: I won’t shed a tear, though, if the surprise would come from a different direction and the winner is Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky, a fascinating character study. Sally Hawkins is excellent as Poppy, striking just the right chord of cheerful yet not shrill or obnoxious. The movie is whip-smart and full of surprises - just when you are certain the story is going in a certain direction, Leigh gently nudges you down a different path. And you are glad.

I think The Wrestler should have been honored here. The movie got to 52 on IMDb’s 250 greatest movies of all times and got an amazing 98% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Such a well-received movie should have been honored under one of the three major categories for movies: Best Picture, Screenplay or Direction.

5. Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Favorite: Slumdog Millionaire
Worst Snub: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

As far as I can tell, the moral lesson in The Reader goes something like this: illiteracy can turn you into a Nazi, so kids, when confronted with the dilemma of going to school or skipping and going to the beach, you better choose the first option or else…

Take Two: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas succeeds where The Reader fails in creating an emotional Holocaust movie. It should have been nominated here instead of The Reader.

Doubt is a fair movie, which can be summed up by question: Did he sexually abuse a child or not? I’m quite sure he did, but there is a doubt…

Double Take: Frost/Nixon is great, but this year’s Oscars are all about Slumdog Millionaire vs. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. These two movies got most of the important nominations - which made me wonder, what do they have in common? Here are the answers from our Movie Genome:

Romance, hope, youth and coming of age, loss of parent, a journey. Both are touching and sentimental. Actually, they have even more in common then I originally thought. But the better script - and the much better movie - is Slumdog Millionaire.

4. Best Director

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

The Winner: David Fincher
My Favorite: Danny Boyle
Worst Snub: Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)

I was amazed to see that Clint Eastwood (for Gran Torino) and Christopher Nolan (for The Dark Knight) were missing from this list of nominations. Both movies got a great reception from audiences and critics alike, and yet the Academy ignored them for some reason.

Pity Prize: In the previous category Slumdog was the winner. Here the Academy will give the Oscar to David Fincher (for Benjamin Button). But it would be what I call a “Scorsese Oscar”: when Scorsese won the Oscar for The Departed, it wasn’t because it was the best movie, but because the Academy compensated him for not getting a well-deserved Best Director Oscar for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or Goodfellas. Benjamin Button is definitely not Fincher’s best film, but because he deserved it for Fight Club, Se7en and even The Game, he’ll get it now.

Boyle might be the next one in line to get the “Scorsese Oscar,” after Trainspotting and now Slumdog Millionaire don’t win him the prize.

3. Best Actress

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

The Winner: Meryl Streep
My Favorite: Meryl Streep
Worst Snub: Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)

Quoting Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globe Awards: “Well done Winslet. I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards will come, didn’t I?”

Serial Loser: I guess Gervais jinxed her. Poor Kate – after a double jeopardy in the Golden Globes for both The Reader (supporting) and Revolutionary Road (leading), I predict at the Oscars she’ll be only applauding. The Academy pulled a trick on her, nominating her only once, for The Reader - but strangely as leading actress. So now her challenge is even tougher, and this unlucky serial loser is going to be disappointed for the 6th time!

Serial Winner: Why a tougher challenge? Because even though she’s already won the golden statue twice, Meryl Streep will win for her amazing performance in Doubt as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the tough, uncompromising principal who’s sure that the charismatic priest is also a child molester.

I don’t know if Sally Hawkins’ performance in Happy-Go-Lucky is Oscar worthy (it was Golden Globes worthy), but she definitely should have been nominated.

2. Best Actor

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

The Winner: Frank Langella
My Favorite: Frank Langella
Worst Snub: Colin Farrell (In Bruges)

Richard Jenkins is the actor we all know, but we’re not sure from where. After a bit of head-scratching, Jenkins is fondly memorable as the dead father in Six Feet Under, and he recently appeared in Burn After Reading and Step Brothers. Hopefully after the nomination for The Visitor, we won’t forget him no more. But he’ll have to settle for the nomination as the Oscar will go elsewhere.

Trivia Record: Brad Pitt shouldn’t have been nominated here. Greg Cannom, his makeup artist, should have. Oh well, Cannom is nominated under the makeup category and that’s more than enough. Maybe the Academy wanted to set a trivia record of hubbie and wife both nominated as leading actors in the same year, as neither Jolie nor Pitt gave great performances (to put it mildly…).

Ham Award: Sean Penn usually gets nominated for an Oscar when he overacts: he was nominated for I am Sam and for Sweet and Lowdown. Now he’s nominated for overacting in Milk. I don’t really like those movies of his where he goes over the top, it’s quite annoying.

The Wrestler is Darren Aronofsky’s bleakest movie, and we’re talking about the guy responsible for Requiem for a Dream. Some say no one could have played the role of the wrestler except Mickey Rourke, and I tend to agree. Rourke was great in Sin City in 2005, then he made some bad movie choices (what’s new…?), and now he’s back with an unforgettable performance.

History Repeats: The only one who can prevent Mickey Rourke from getting the Oscar is Frank Langella with his portrayal of Richard Nixon. When people say Nixon, I think first of Frank Langella and only then of Richard Nixon - he’s that good! I place my bet on him. Poor Sean Penn has already been hurt cinematically by Nixon in The Assassination of Richard Nixon.

In a better world, Colin Farrell would have been nominated instead of Brad Pitt. Farrell used the great script by Martin McDonagh to give his best acting performance to date; it got him the Golden Globe but not even an Oscar nomination.

1. Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My Favorite: Slumdog Millionaire
Worst Snub: Gran Torino

Disappearing Acts: Let’s start with the absences. Justifiably absent is the disappointing Revolutionary Road, despite (or maybe because of) its big names (Did I say Winslet is jinxed?). Surprisingly absent is the most successful, acclaimed and talked-about film of the year, The Dark Knight. And to my disappointment, unjustifiably absent is Gran Torino. I think these two are much better candidates than The Reader, Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

When the people who made The Reader met, I guess it went something like this: let’s take Bernhard Schlink’s book and make an updated version of The Graduate, with a twist. More sexual and daring than The Graduate, with the twist that this movie’s Mrs.Robinson will turn out to be a former Nazi. The first part of the movie is very sexual and daring, yes, even more than The Graduate. But the second part (the Nazi part) doesn’t work at all. Are we really supposed to feel sorry for her?

History Rewritten: Here’s a good place to stop and ask: Hey, what’s with the Good Nazi movement going on at the moment? Did all the studio heads secretly met and decided to produce movies with Good Nazis (The Reader, Valkyrie and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas), because there were no more good survivor stories?

One-on-One: Let’s get back to our main issue. Although Frost/Nixon is a bit slow, it’s a brilliant psychological movie about a man’s downfall, and well worth watching even if you’re not big on history lessons. As I said, the movie’s leading actor Frank Langella will win the Oscar. The movie itself, though, won’t: Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader all know that the real fight is between Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

As you may have noticed by now, I was disappointed by Benjamin Button. I think it’s a lesser version of Forrest Gump, or in other words, Forrest Gump sans humor (except for the guy who constantly gets hit by lightening – and no, it’s not Kenny…). The parts in which we see the dying Daisy (Cate Blanchett) mumbling in the hospital are difficult to understand (well, she is mumbling) and annoying. When you start watching the movie, you know how it’s going to end, and yet when you see Daisy holding baby Benjamin (Pitt), it just doesn’t feel right…

Birth of a Classic: Slumdog Millionaire is my favorite in this category. It’s a movie that’s almost impossible to hate (unless you’re a pompous critic). I dare suggest that maybe Slumdog is the new Shawshank Redemption: everybody likes it. With an emotional love story, a young orphan hero who grew up in terrible poverty and the whole underdog, against-the-odds, rags-to-riches themes, it’s just an irresistibly amazing combination of Rocky, City of God and Oliver Twist.

And the Oscar goes to…?

Technorati Tags: Oscars, Academy Awards, Slumdog Millionaire, Angelina Jolie, Mickey Rourke, Oscar snubs, Oscar winners

Popularity: 10% [?]