Oscar Observations - Part 1
With the nominations now announced and having already mentioned MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and MATCH POINT I thought I'd throw out another bunch of random observations on some of this year's Oscar hopefuls.
There were whisperings among us normal folk (backed up by nominations at other recent awards ceremonies) that this could finally be the year when David Cronenberg finally got a nod - but of course the Academy are not normal folk and are given to whims that us mere mortals may never understand.
Accordingly, the biggest recognition that THE HISTORY OF VIOLENCE has received is the token gesture of a supporting nomination for William Hurt. Rubbing salt in the wounds is that neither Ed Harris nor Maria Bello receive any nomination in the support categories despite being more deserving for their parts in the very same film. And is it even worth me pointing out the irony of Cronenberg being denied any chance at the big awards by the inclusion of a film named CRASH?
Not that I'm intending any disrespect to race-relations drama CRASH here - it's fully deserving of its nominations and was a fine directorial debut for MILLION DOLLAR BABY screenwriter Paul Haggis (being a Scot, I think he deserves a nomination on the strength of his surname alone).
It's not perfect by any means - some of the dialogue is embarassingly pretentious while the coincidences that cause the characters' lives to overlap involve a little too much suspension of disbelief but, nevertheless, it's a clever tale and packs a mighty emotional punch. One scene in particular (involving the little girl with the invisible cloak) caused everyone in the screening I attended to gasp out loud. You've got to admire any scene that has that effect. Well, unless you're watching Joel Schumacher's BATMAN AND ROBIN, in which case the chances are you're gasping in disbelief for all the wrong reasons.
Leading the pack with 8 nominations, the so-called "gay western" BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN looks a dead cert for the major awards - at the time of writing this, one online bookie is taking odds of 1/20 on Ang Lee picking up the directing gong. The subject matter has undoubtedly hindered the film's box office but to those of you avoiding the film because of you're uncomfortable with a love story between two men, stop and think about it for a second. I mean, I'm not entirely comfortable with human beings shooting each other to death but does that stop me enjoying spaghetti westerns? A large pile of DVDs on the shelf next to me would seem to suggest otherwise.
More shortly...
There were whisperings among us normal folk (backed up by nominations at other recent awards ceremonies) that this could finally be the year when David Cronenberg finally got a nod - but of course the Academy are not normal folk and are given to whims that us mere mortals may never understand.
Accordingly, the biggest recognition that THE HISTORY OF VIOLENCE has received is the token gesture of a supporting nomination for William Hurt. Rubbing salt in the wounds is that neither Ed Harris nor Maria Bello receive any nomination in the support categories despite being more deserving for their parts in the very same film. And is it even worth me pointing out the irony of Cronenberg being denied any chance at the big awards by the inclusion of a film named CRASH?
Not that I'm intending any disrespect to race-relations drama CRASH here - it's fully deserving of its nominations and was a fine directorial debut for MILLION DOLLAR BABY screenwriter Paul Haggis (being a Scot, I think he deserves a nomination on the strength of his surname alone).
It's not perfect by any means - some of the dialogue is embarassingly pretentious while the coincidences that cause the characters' lives to overlap involve a little too much suspension of disbelief but, nevertheless, it's a clever tale and packs a mighty emotional punch. One scene in particular (involving the little girl with the invisible cloak) caused everyone in the screening I attended to gasp out loud. You've got to admire any scene that has that effect. Well, unless you're watching Joel Schumacher's BATMAN AND ROBIN, in which case the chances are you're gasping in disbelief for all the wrong reasons.
Leading the pack with 8 nominations, the so-called "gay western" BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN looks a dead cert for the major awards - at the time of writing this, one online bookie is taking odds of 1/20 on Ang Lee picking up the directing gong. The subject matter has undoubtedly hindered the film's box office but to those of you avoiding the film because of you're uncomfortable with a love story between two men, stop and think about it for a second. I mean, I'm not entirely comfortable with human beings shooting each other to death but does that stop me enjoying spaghetti westerns? A large pile of DVDs on the shelf next to me would seem to suggest otherwise.
More shortly...
Labels: oscars
posted by Alan at 8:18 pm
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