The Oscar talk continues...

Yes, I know, I promised my complete predictions for the Oscars, but I'm still catching up on all the films first. I'm still pushed for time but hopefully I'll get round to it sometime soon, since I'll be going to a couple of film festivals that will eat up at least a week leading up to the awards. (Glasgow and Dublin in case you're interested - and if you're not, you've probably not even made it as far as this sentence.)

First of all, the one that didn't get nominated. I mentioned that there has been an outcry because of the failure to nominate 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS in the foreign language category, particularly ironic since they appear to have a real thing for Eastern European cinema.

While I still wouldn't have picked it for my number one choice, I have now seen it and do agree that it should have at least scored a nomination. It's every bit as cheerful as you would expect a film about backstreet abortions in Ceausescu's Romania to be (specifically, not at all) but is strongly acted, beautifully shot and will haunt you long after you leave. Not necessarily your cup of tea if you don't like slow, ponderous films mind you but it's still more likely to please you than SILENT LIGHT.

THE SAVAGES. This is nominated for two Oscars - best original screenplay and best actress. It won't win either. I thought it was an okay film, though far from worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon it, but there are plenty of better films than this gracing the Kodak Theater this year. It won't win the original screenplay, because that'll probably be reserved for JUNO - I've not seen JUNO yet, but it's the kind of film that wins the screenplay award - and it won't win for best actress. Laura Linney's performance is very good, but if it beats Julie Christie's, then I'll track down Laura Linney and throw things at her. I should at least mention Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance as it's very good too, though not as entertaining as his turn in the otherwise crap CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR.

Finally for today, SWEENEY TODD: DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET has notched up three nominations. It won't win Depp his actor Oscar, because it appears that Daniel Day-Lewis is a stick-on for that one; it has a chance in the costume design category certainly; and it would be a very worthy winner in the art direction category - it looks amazing. Unfortunately there's more to a movie than just looks. It looks good and there are some fine performances - but sadly some pretty bad ones too - but it suffers from an uneven tone and, more importantly for a musical, crap music. I don't know how much of this lies at the door of the original stage version and how much is down to Tim Burton (who I am still struggling to forgive for his PLANET OF THE APES remake - but you probably remember that rant). At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. A musical with songs that are totally unmemorable isn't much of a musical.

Back soon, probably with more Oscar chat. Or who knows, maybe I'll get back to writing about other films at some point.

Another Oscar quickie...

Sorry, still hectic here at the Freakpit (or rather between Freakpits at the moment, hence the sporadic presence).

Just time to add a few more opinions on some Oscar stuff. I'd intended to actually get this out before the nominations were announced but, as you can see, I failed, so some of these films might still be favourites and some of them might have dropped out the running altogether. That's what I get for being so late I suppose.

First of all, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR. I didn't like it. It's part comedy, part political movie and that's where it goes wrong straight away. On the one hand the movie wants to hammer home political points and emphasise how bad things were in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion; on the other hand it tries to be really funny in the next scene. And so it keeps jumping back and forth, unable to stick to either and ruining the tone of the movie. Also, Tom Hanks is pretty much Tom Hanks while Julia Roberts continues to annoy me with her very presence in a movie.

On the plus side, Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant and very funny, while Amy Adams has very little to do but still remains as effortlessly watchable as ever.

INTO THE WILD hasn't achieved nearly as many nominations as expected, which is disappointing. Sean Penn's directorial effort is a little too flashy in places (he really does use every trick he can think of) but full of heart and totally captivating. Its lack of success here means it's unlikely to be re-released again, so when it comes out on DVD do check it out.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN has been heralded as a triumphant return for the Coen brothers and is one of the favourites for the big awards. Personally I thought it was very good but that's all - I don't class it among the best of the year. Then again, I can't really think of anything to complain about so maybe I'm being too hard. It'll certainly pick up a few awards anyway. Worth checking out.

Some other random observations to close with:

As I expected, KINGS has not made the foreign film list but THE COUNTERFEITERS has, the only one I've seen so far. Surprising omission is 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, which is nowhere to be seen. I'm going to see that one tomorrow night anyway.

As predicted in one of my previous Oscars 2008 posts, ONCE has managed a solitary nomination in the song category, and as predicted it's Falling Slowly. Hurrah!

Sadly the second best film of 2007 (PLEASE VOTE FOR ME) - and yes, I will publish a list of my favourite films of the year some time before the end of 2008 - did not make the cut in the documentary category. However, SICKO (very good) did, and my prediction that WAR/DANCE would be there came true as well. I'd be happy with either of them winning, but WAR/DANCE is the one I'd like.

Didn't mention anything about the Golden Globes, but let me just say that my annual awards season betting frenzy started off with that ceremony (or lack of it) netting me a profit of a whacking great, er, £2.79. Hey, a profit's still a profit. Roll on the next awards event!

I'll be back at some point, probably over the weekend, to treat you to my ill-informed predictions for all categories. Bye for now!

Oscars 2008: Stupid Predictions (visual effects)

As promised, my stupid prediction on who'll win the Oscar for visual effects.

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM? I've not seen it, but heard nothing but good things about it. One thing that strikes me is that most of the visual effects aren't so much effects as stunts performed for real, the old fashioned way, with only a little CG augmentation here and there. That's the way it should be, and it would be nice to think they'd get honoured for that, particularly since it's been a very well received film that will not likely win any other category. I don't see it happening though.

EVAN ALMIGHTY? Not seen that either, but nothing groundbreaking by all accounts.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS? Not seen that either (I told you these predictions were stupid) but it's the kind of big Hollywood nonsense that usually scoops awards in this kind of category. Dare the Academy risk the wrath of religious extremists though?

I AM LEGEND? The ruins of New York were brilliantly realised, but I put that down to great set design and the fact that they managed to shut off several blocks of NYC. A great achievement, but not necessarily worthy of a visual effects Oscar, and especially not when you consider that some of the CGI was a bit crappy. The animals for one thing, but even more so the dreadfully ill-conceived "dark seekers", who set the movie monster back at least ten years.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN? Not seen it. Don't want to see it. Don't want to see it win, either.

300? Everything about this film is visual and as an achievement in visual effects, it's staggering. However, the idea of digital sets is nothing new and it can't change the fact that the look was done by SIN CITY first.

TRANSFORMERS? Didn't see it and, since it's Michael Bay, I didn't really want to as his films are not really my cup of tea, or my cup of any kind of hot drink to be honest. I'll give him this though, the robots themselves did look pretty impressive in the trailers. Well, some of them at least.

Should win? 300.

Will win? TRANSFORMERS.

Back soon.

Oscars 2008: Stupid Predictions (make-up)

Still struggling to find the time here but it would be remiss of me to pass up the opportunity for more stupid Oscar predictions.

First of all, I just caught MICHAEL CLAYTON the other day. It's very good but not great, so don't expect it winning the big awards for the film itself; Clooney however is very likely to get a nomination for best actor, but I don't see him winning. But on to the other stuff.

There have been another couple of press releases over on the Oscars website since last I wrote.

First of all, a shortlist of seven films are fighting it out for the make-up award. I've seen one of them, and that was 300. The others are a mix of arthouse and big blockbusters. SWEENEY TODD's an interesting choice since the trailer just makes it look like the make-up consists of painting everyone white.

Yes, I know, there's really more to it than that and I don't want to upset all you make-up artists out there. So, having seen just one of them, I guess that means that me predicting a winner would be pretty stupid.

Therefore, in keeping with the theme of stupid predictions, I predict that the winner for the Oscar for make-up will go to LA VIE EN ROSE, you know, that one about Edith Piaf.

Coming soon: visual effects!

Another Oscar update

I don't know if you check out the Internet Movie Database regularly, but they have a section on the site devoted to the run-up to the Oscars where they also happen to list who has won the major critical awards so far. I've just been having another look at it just now and so far it seems that in the big categories, the story is as follows.

In the best film category, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is trouncing everyone and looks sure to be the winner. It's yet to open here in the UK but will do shortly and I'll be sure to post my thoughts. In the meantime, it looks certain that this will be a winner. However, let's not forget that CRASH came out of nowhere in recent years to beat the apparent favourites, so an upset may yet happen. The best indication, just as it was when CRASH won, is the Screen Actors Guild awards. They've announced their nominations (click here to visit them) so check that out, and keep a close eye on whichever film wins the award for the best cast. If NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN wins there, that's pretty much the Oscar outcome set in stone; if it doesn't, then an upset could well be on the cards.

The Coen brothers also look set to win the directing Oscar. I don't know if it's ever been won by more than one person (the last time two co-directors were even nominated was when Warren Beatty and Buck Henry got a nod for HEAVEN CAN WAIT) but it seems as likely as ever. There isn't even the albatross of Martin Scorsese not having an award anymore, so it seems like the Coens are definitely the likely winners. Certainly they've been trashing everyone in that category at all the other awards so I'm expecting a double win for the film on the big two awards.

Julie Christie still seems to be the out and out favourite for the best actress category but there is some opposition (based on awards to date) from Ellen Page (for JUNO) and Marion Cotillard (for LA VIE EN ROSE). Of these two, Page seems the most likely to provide any competition, but I'm still banking on (and hoping for) a win for Christie.

In the actor category, it is now looking more and more certain that Daniel Day-Lewis will pick up an award for his performance in THERE WILL BE BLOOD (another one that has not opened here yet) but of all the other candidates, George Clooney will at least run him close. I managed to miss MICHAEL CLAYTON when it came out, but I hope to catch it over the next couple of days and will of course post here when I have.

On a personal note, I'd like to add to my comments on the Oscar-likely films so far.

I caught SILENT LIGHT, Mexico's contender for a nomination in the foreign language category. It might get one, but it certainly won't win. At least I don't think so anyway; it just doesn't seem to me to be "mainstream" enough. Carlos Reygadas obviously has an artist's eye, giving rise to a breathtaking opening shot of a sunrise captured in time lapse photography. Unfortunately, while he is excellent at composing imagery, he treats the characters in the same way. That means lots of shots that linger on people's faces for interminable lengths of time and huge spaces between people actually saying anything. It's all very arty, but totally unrealistic and thus takes me right out of the movie every time there is a scene involving dialogue. It really, really annoyed me. I still want KINGS to win.

AMERICAN GANGSTER may possibly achieve another nomination for Denzel Washington in the acting category, although the underwritten role for Russell Crowe means his co-star can forget it. It's a very good film but nothing that hasn't been seen before; nevertheless, it's nominated in the all-important cast category of the SAG nominations so if it wins, it could be in with a shout at a surprise Best Picture nod (but the same goes for all the nominees in that SAG category, with INTO THE WILD being another dark horse).

I also caught Walt Disney's ENCHANTED. Not my usual kind of film, but after some good reviews and the fact that I like Amy Adams, I went to see it. I genuinely think this is a possibility for Adams in the Best Actress category. She is once again a joy to watch and while it's not the sort of role you'd usually see rewarded, let's not forget that Frances McDormand won an Oscar for FARGO in what was essentially a comedy role. Even if nominated, I couldn't see Adams beating Christie, but it would be nice to see her up there anyway.

In truth, it's more likely to win in the original song category. It's Disney after all, and it's what they do. Of the songs on the shortlist, "So Close" is the usual boring romantic dirge that could well be nominated if for no other reason than boring songs frequently get nominated. "That's How You Know" is a better candidate since it's typical Oscar-bating stuff but a little happier. Most deserving of the three though is "Happy Working Song" for the way it takes a typical Disney-style number but gives it a modern twist. (A fairy tale princess singing about cleaning the toilet? It works!)

I'd still prefer ONCE to win in that category though - apart from personal bias (although I admit ENCHANTED is excellent) it's just got better music.

Final note: I will try to keep posting regularly but the Freakpit is undergoing a bit of an upheaval at the moment so it might not be too regularly. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.