Who should be nominated, what should be nominated and why? This is our seasonal check-in before the serious season hits — it is very nearly upon us. There are films that are bound to slip through the cracks, performances you know are the best you’ve ever seen and yet…and yet…no one is paying any attention. If so, we want to know about it. The rule here at Awards Daily is that the film has to have been seen, hopefully reviewed, and been given wild praise. This isn’t a future predictions site, never has been, so much as it is about watching the race as it goes by. In this stage it’s easier to be more free with one’s devotion, but keep in mind that you can’t throw everything on the wall to see what sticks. A nomination occurs when a great many think along the same lines. If one person believes, for example, that Ben Stiller should be nominated for Best Actor – well, that isn’t going to fly. Let’s see what you awards watchers have in mind.
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I think Emma Thompson should be listed in Supp. Actress for “Brideshead Revisited.” She was the greatest thing about that movie. The Dark Knight should be taken out of the Best Picture race because the hype over it is long, LONG over.
And don’t forget Sally Hawkins in the Best Actress race for Happy-go-Lucky.
Love this site!!!
please please please please please i am implore the voting academy do not ignore the dark knight. i do feel strongly that it will grab some automatic tech noms and of course heath ledgers nomination but please do not ignore this for best picture. the film is just as good if not better of a crime drama than their best picture winner of two years ago, the departed. u would be awarding a film as an artistic, cinematical AND social achievement into the pop culture of america and the world. u didn’t ignore the pulp of the departed and no country for old men. do not in turn ignore the dark knight for the same reasons. the film is so impossible to overlook at this point in the race. it is clearly the best picture of the year so far and cannot be forgotten in the race this year. this isn’t king kong. yes king kong was great but the difference between that film and this is that the dark knight is a completely different take on the previous material (trust me ask any comic book geek) even though it is an adapted work that we have seen time and time again, the movie is truly original and is one of the best crime dramas of the last 25 years. the mix of crime drama/pulp comic is phenomenal and needs to be seen as a bench mark in the history of cinema and the academy awards is the place to do it in order for the film to be remembered not only for its popularity but for its critical achievement. (hey u did it for titanic why not give the superhero movie its due now)
debra winger in “rachel getting married”, it was the performance that touched me the most in that movie
A very enthusiastic yes to Sally Hawkins.
And how about Martin McDonagh’s original screenplay for “In Bruges”? Acting nominations are, alas, improbable at this point, as much as I’d love to see either Gleeson, Farrell or Fiennes acknowledged.
Ditto on Emma Thompson. I could definitely see her nailing a Golden Satellite award nomination, and perhaps that snowballing into more Awards Consideration this year.
I really, really enjoyed everything about Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Nothing would delight me more than seeing Best Picture and Best Director nominations. I truly think Penelope Cruz will be in the running for supporting actress, and she totally deserves it, but I would love to have Rebecca Hall score a best supporting actress nomination as well. She was astounding. She was absolutely the heart and soul of that film.
And I too, would love to see a Best Pic/Director nomination for The Dark Knight. This was a phenomenal film that deserves recognition. Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart are also great actors who gave worthy performances in the film, and they should receive attention in the supporting actor category.
picture
4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
vicky cristina barcelona
director
cristian mungiu – 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
woody allen – vicky cristina barcelona
best actress
anamaria marinca – 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
kate beckinsale – snow angels
best actor
richard jenkins – the visitor
supporting actress
penelope cruz – vicky cristina barcelona
rebecca hall – vicky cristina barcelona
laura vasiliu – 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
catinca untaru – the fall
supporting actor
sam rockwell – snow angels
john malkovich – burn after reading
screenplay – adapted
snow angels
screenplay – original
vicky cristina barcelona
4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
the visitor
burn after reading
“Burn After Reading” should, if everything was right, be a guaranteed Best Original Screenplay nominee. I don’t care about anything else… that film’s script was fucking PHE-NOMENAL. It would be a travesty if they ignored it.
Also for Best Original Screenplay, “WALL-E” and “Rachel Getting Married” should not be left out. Ditto for Anne Hathaway’s brilliant performance.
I would like to argue that The Dark Knight ‘hype’ is not over it has just simmered down. As I have said in other threads, The Dark Knight is still the Best Picture of the Year so far, IMHO – I would also like to give a shout out to WALL*E!
In Bruges is still in my top three favorite movies this year (along with Wall-E and The Dark Knight) and I think Martin McDonagh deserves a ninth inning rally. His voice is one that has raised the bar on global theatre for well over a decade and both his oscar winning short film and first feature prove he has little trouble translating his expertise, humor, eloquence and insight.
Also, I’m pretty sure they’re ineligible, but Andrew Garfield and Peter Mullen’s work in Boy A deserves some serious recognition.
Finally, I am so outraged and devastated that Reprise was not Norway’s selection for their Best Foreign Film entry, that I will now have to start lobbying for a screenplay consolation. Not gonna happen. But maybe more people will rent it if it gets some internet buzz.
Yes to Emma Thompson in Brideshead Revisited.
Also:
Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa
Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges
The Other Boleyn Girl for costume design
Patricia Clarkson in Married Life
The Women is Razzies-bait.
“The Dark Knight should be taken out of the Best Picture race because the hype over it is long, LONG over”
Are you serious?!!! I hope this film makes it all the way. The academy needs to get their heads out of their ass and nominate something that’s worthy this time. And that something is The Dark Knight.
Other films that need to be seriously looked at are Wall-E and Rachel Getting Married. Screenplay noms for both films are a must. Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger are fanatastic. Another performance that has stayed with me is of course Heath Ledger. I’m still on The Dark Knight bandwagon.
I’ve Loved You So Long for best picture
Elsa Zylberstein – I’ve Loved You So Long for best supporting actress
Michelle Williams – Wendy And Lucy for best actress
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading for best supporting actress
The movie Boy A sadly never made an impact.
Wall-E and TDK for Best Picture. RDJ for Best Supporting Actor in Tropic Thunder. Maybe Two Weeks/Four Months?
The discussion begins and end with one name: Kristin Scott Thomas for I’ve loved you so long.
Without a doubt – Heath Ledger – TDK
Would love to see both, but either Colin Farrell or Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Would love to see both, but either Russell Crowe or Mark Strong – Body of Lies
So far…
The Dark Knight: Best Picture (please!), director, supporting actor, original screenplay and a whole mess of obvious techinical nods
Wall-E: Best original screenplay, score, animated feature
Burn After Reading: Best original screenplay (please, please, please), supporting actor, possibly supporting actress.
Iron Man: Best visual effects, sound mixing.
And the movie that is one of my favorites of the year so far but that has been all but forgotten lately…
The Fall: Best cinematography, art direction, visual effects, costume design, makeup (and, if it were up to me, picture and director).
I also think that Penelope deserves a nod for art direction but unfortunately that’s too unlikely.
It will likely be animated feature only, but I completely think Wall-E deserves best picture consideration, I suspect it will remain my favorite film of year (and on a similar note, Waltz with Bashir is very good as well and I’d love to see it grab the FL nod Persepolis was robbed of).
Also, something that I’d like to see which is not on the contender tracker but I do think has a chance is The Visitor for screenplay.
Ditto to In Bruges for best original screenplay.
As for acting, there are a lot of actors who will probably get nominated this year who have been given a lot of attention before. Which is why I’m rooting for Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, the most touching performance I’ve seen this year.
While I’m sure Heath will get nominated, I’m secretly hoping for a nom for Aaron Eckhart, who turned Harvey into a deeply tragic figure the likes we’ve not seen in a comic book film.
Hoping for a TDK best pic nod, of course.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day deserves some love for art and costume design and screenplay adaptation.
Standard Operating Procedure has been criminally ignored in the Best Documentary category, and just in general.
Hellboy 2 should be in contention for makeup, special effects and art Design.
The Fall deserves cinematography, art and costume design.
the definites…sup. actress..debra winger for rachel getting married..viola davis..for doubt and penelope cruz for vicky cristina barcelona….and the definites for best actress….anne hathaway, meryl streep, kate winslet, kristin scott thomas and melissa leo….and the definites for best actor….frank langella, sean penn, brad pitt, leo dicaprio..and mickey rourke….for best picture of the year..looks like…australia, milk, benjamin button, revolutionary road and doubt…sorry dark knight…only heath and a slew of technicals..
I DEFINITELY agree about “The Fall.” I wish it would get a swarm of tech. nods, but you seem to have the obvious ones already posted.
Certainly this site could be instrumental in generating the appropriate amount of buzz that In Bruges deserves relative to this point in the season: much more than it’s getting.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Sally Hawkins need to be in the Best Actress race, but their equally superb co-stars shouldn’t be ignored: Elsa Zylberstein in Best Supporting Actress and Eddie Marsan in Best Supporting Actor.
A longer shot who really deserves support is Hiam Abbass (The Visitor) in Best Supporting Actress. If anything, I was even more moved by her performance than I was by Richard Jenkins’.
And I echo the cheers here for Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges screenplay.
For what I have seen, these SHOULD be definites, but most probably won’t be:
Picture – Dark Knight, WALL-E.
Director – Ditto.
Actor – RD Jr, (Iron Man), James McAvoy (Wanted).
Actress – Keira Knightley.
Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart.
Supporting Actress – Penelope Cruz, Emma Thompson.
Original – VCB, Defintely, Maybe.
Adapted – Dark Knight, The Duchess.
Editing – Cloverfield, Prince Caspian, Dark Knight.
Cinematography – The Fall, Dark Knight.
Art Direction – Prince Caspian, The Fall, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
Costumes – The Duchess, Other Boleyn Girl, Prince Caspian, The Fall.
Make-Up – Hellboy 2 (big time), Tropic Thunder (awesome).
Sound Editing – Dark Knight, Cloverfield, WALL-E.
Sound Mixing – WALL-E, Dark Knight.
Original Score – Prince Caspian, WALL-E, Brideshead Revisited (gorgeous), Dark Knight.
Animated – WALL-E, Kung Fu Panda.
That’s it for me, thus far in the big RACE.
My hopefuls so far:
Dark Knight for picture
Encounters at the end of the world for doc
In Bruges for screenplay
Richard Jenkins for the visitor
Can’t wait to see rachel getting married / happy go lucky, those are the kinds of movies that are fun to see get awards, the front runners not as much
i would love to see Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo, Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins and if it counts Angelina Jolie. The first three have been ignored for good performances, that deserved awards attention. I love Jolie, but speaking objectively- she was god damn snubbed last year.
Also would love to see Guy Pearce appear somewhere, but there is no buzz for him. Just saw “Body of lies”- very dissapointed. Only hope of the movie seems to me is Mark Strong’s performance.
Also there are MIckey rourke, Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein, but i haven’t seen those movies yet. Oops and i haven’t seen Frozen river yet or Changeling, but i hear great and mixed thing, respectively for the performances.
ii have the feeling ralph Fiennes will find his way to the Oscar whether with The Duchess or In Bruges, from the latter one i would love to see Brendan Gleeson nominated.
I’d love to see Dracula’s Lament from Forgetting Sarah Marshall for Best Original Song
I think Richard Jenkins was good in The Visitor, but I he seems a bit of a long shot in my opinion.
I’ll tell you one thing: as of right not I think that Defiance is one brutally underpredicted movie. I think it’s a much stronger contender in all major categories than most people think.
I though that 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days was a 2007 movie and therefore not eligible for awards this year. Was I wrong?
Richard Jenkins is the actor to beat so far. It has been months since its The Visitor’s release (DVD release this month!, mind your queues), and he still has the buzz. His performance still haunts me.
The Visitor should also be nominated for Best Orig. Screenplay. As well as In Bruges.
But does Javier Bardem have any chance getting a nod for VCB. This totally unbelievable character is a lot less showy than Penelope Cruz’s character, but the juggling he had to do with the women and the language (English and Spanish) was pretty impressive. How that guy was not entirely creepy was pure acting. He sold what he was selling. Oh, he just won last year?!!! There’s a little bit of so-what-ness to that question.
I am glad to see all the love for In Bruges. It is in my top two so far this year. I also really liked Red Belt. Chiwetel Ejiofor blew me away. Both screenwriters deserve nods, but unfortunately neither will probably be recognized. David Mamet’s dialog is so distinctive. Both of these movies totally depend on the actors and dialog to set the mood. No bells and whistles. Not that bells and whistles are bad. Wanted was so much fun. Maybe the academy can create a special award for putting bombs on rats.
Oh yeah and Nick and Nora was what all teen movies should be-smart and realistic with a killer soundtrack.
bob, 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days was romania’s submission for last year’s best foreign film category.. as you recall, the movie failed to get nominated… the a.m.p.a.s. stipulates that…
“Submitted pictures not receiving nominations are eligible for Awards consideration in other categories in the subsequent year, provided the picture begins its seven-day run in Los Angeles County during that calendar year.”
imdb lists 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days as starting its limited run on January 25 of this year… if this info is correct, 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days is eligible in all major categories THIS YEAR… if there’s any justice, 4 months should be a surprise contender, à la City of God in 2004… hopefully IFC will bombard academy members with screeners..
If you can nominate Juno, you can nominate Wall-E.
If you can nominate Little Miss Sunshine, you can nominate Wall-E.
If you can nominate Finding Neverland, Chocolat, The Sixth Sense, The Full Monty, As Good as it Gets, Jerry Maguire, Babe, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Beauty and the Beast and all those other decent-but-hardly-masterpiece movies, you can nominate Wall-E — which has a breathtaking opening act, incredible animation and imagination, a heart-grabbing love story, big box-office numbers, all the raves imaginable and the backing of a production company everyone loves.
So why, again, is Wall-E barely in consideration for Best Picture?
As of now from what i’ve seen:
The Dark Knight SHOULD get nominated for Best Picture. I’m not sure that it will though. Nolan and Ledger are locks for Director and Supporting Actor.
Milk has an uphill battle ahead of it.
Defiance has a shot but im suspicious due to Zwick whose last two films were awful (Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai).
Revolutionary Road is a lock for a Best Pic nomination.
Benjamin Button looks like it has a shot to be nominated but I don’t think it has any real chance to win.
THE ROAD will get nominated (this movie seems to have slipped people’s minds lately)
Frost/Nixon will get nominated.
Gran Torino and Changeling are on the short list.
Slumdog Millionaire’s odds of getting a Best Pic nomination are small but it could nab one of the Directing slots.
All that being said: This is a very wide open year so far with the only heavyweight being Revolutionary Road.
I know… let’s nominate the screenplays for The Dark Knight and Iron Man in the adapted categories… who says they need to be adapted from bestselling novels? Both of them elevated the original source material to something greatly cinematic and every big as good as past adapted screenplays.
I also want to see Man on Wire get into the documentary category.
Sasha wrote: “There are films that are bound to slip through the cracks, performances you know are the best you’ve ever seen and yet…and yet…no one is paying any attention. If so, we want to know about it. The rule here at Awards Daily is that the film has to have been seen, hopefully reviewed, and been given wild praise. ” So Defiance, Revolutionary Road, Benjamin Button and a number of other films mentioned in this thread do not apply.
“If one person believes, for example, that Ben Stiller should be nominated for Best Actor – well, that isn’t going to fly.”
Unless that person is Roger Ebert.
Paul, the official Contender Tracker is in the sidebar, and you’ll see it only includes movies that have been released. I think the purpose of this topic is to sift through the past 9 months and make sure there’s nothing we’ve overlooked that deserves placement in the sidebar.
Obviously, we’re all still allowed to make wild baseless conjectures about any upcoming movies on the long range radar. Without wild baseless conjectures, I got nuthin.
I hope this website doesn’t become a subtle, conservative arm of the Academy.
Wall-E will remain the best reviewed film of the year….I doubt anything will surpass its numbers. If something does, do let us know, and by all means, give them the best picture award!
Anyways,
BP-TDK, Wall-E, Rachel Getting Married…for now
IN BRUGES – Best Picture; Martin McDonagh, director & o. screenplay; Brendan Gleeson & Colin Farrell, actor; Ralph Fiennes, sup. actor; film editing; Carter Burwell, o. score
FROZEN RIVER – Best Picture; Courtney Hunt, director & o. screenplay; Melissa Leo, actress; Misty Upham, sup. actress
THE VISITOR – Richard Jenkins, actor; Haaz Sleiman, sup. actor (why is he being ignored? Sleiman as the young Syrian drummer was nearly as vital to this film’s success as Jenkins)
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA – Woody Allen, director & o. screenplay; Javier Bardem, actor; Penelope Cruz, sup. actress
BURN AFTER READING – Joel & Ethan Coen, o. screenplay; John Malkovich and/or Brad Pitt, sup. actor
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS – Norah Jones, o. song “The Story”; cinematography
GONZO – best documentary
If 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS really is eligible – Best Picture; Cristian Mungiu, director & o. screenplay; Anamaria Marinca, actress; Vlad Ivanov, sup. actor; cinematography; film editing
The Dark Knight is by far the best movie of the year and I don’t think one will surpass it so I’m hoping for a BP nod along with director, screenplay, supporting actor for Eckhart and Ledger and a bunch of techs. A lot of people have been saying Farrell and Gleeson for In Bruges but what about Ralph Fiennes? I’d take a nod for him from either In Bruges or the Duchess
If 4months, . . really is eligible, i hope they get really aggressive in their campaigning to make everybody aware that they can still make amends. I guess it’s not flashy enough to mount any outside challenge in the major categories, but some recognition somewhere should surely be manageable, even just to prove they can have an appreciation of great world cinema from off the beaten track once in a while.
And also, on the other end of the scale, I really hope Disney tries to campaign for Wall-E for BP. (one starts to wonder how good Pixar has to be for them to get that kind of respect; yet I don’t doubt that soon enough they will again bring out yet another masterpiece [although it is getting interesting as to which director/ creative-force will go one better next time]).
Until 5 other films surpass The Dark Knight in a big way then the talk will fizzle about it.
Lead Actor – Richard Jenkins (outside shot)
Lead Actress – Melissa Leo (Has to be a shoo-in)
Supp. Actor – Heath Ledger (Perennial favorite)
Supp. Actress – Penelope Cruz (has a good shot at a nomination)
Where are the sound editing contenders on the side bar?
I would have thought that WALL-E, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man would be put there has soon as they were released.
OMG
Sex & the City for costuming!!!
(I know you all agree)
I’m particularly partial to these. I also did enjoy some of the more recognized performances (Anne Hathaway, Heath Ledger, Sally Hawkins), but they need no more horn tooting. These guys do:
BEST ACTRESS -
1.) Juliette Binoche (“Flight Of The Red Balloon”)
2.) Galina Vishnevskaya (“Alexandra”)
3.) Asia Argento (“The Last Mistress”)
4.) Penelope Cruz (“Elegy”)
5.) Julianne Moore (“Savage Grace”)
BEST ACTOR -
1.) Sasson Gabai (“The Band’s Visit”)
2.) Ben Kingsley (“Elegy”)
3.) Ron Perelman (“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”)
4.) Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Red Belt”)
5.) Benicio Del Toro (‘Che’)
BEST SUPP. ACTRESS -
1.) Claude Sarraute (“The Last Mistress”)
2.) Emmanuelle Devos (“A Christmas Tale”)
3.) Tarra Riggs (“Ballast”)
4.) Viktoria Winge (“Reprise”)
5.) Catinca Untaru (“The Fall”)
BEST SUPP. ACTOR -
1.) Denis Lavant (“Mister Lonley”)
2.) Jack Black (“Be Kind Rewind”)
3.) Russell Brand (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”)
4.) Will Poulter (“Son Of Rambo”)
5.) Werner Herzog (“The Grand”)
ALSO
BEST PICTURE – [I think all these are, technically, eligible]
1.) “Flight Of The Red Balloon” (dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
2.) “Reprise” (dir. Jaochim Trier)
3.) “A Christmas Tale” (dir. Arnaud Desplechin)
4.) “Boarding Gate” (dir. Olivier Assayas)
5.) “The Band’s Visit” (dir. Eran Kolirin)
BEST DIRECTOR -
See above.
PLUS
CINEMATOGRAPHY -
Pin Bing Lee (“Flight Of The Red Balloon”)
Christopher Doyle (“Paranoid Park”, “My Blueberry Nights”)
Dick Pope (“Happy-Go-Lucky”_
EDITING -
Gus Van Sant (“Paranoid Park”)
And I’ll close this by reminding everyone that none of these– not a one– will actually be nominated.
- Sam C. Mac
Editor-In-Chief, FIRONLINE
And by the way, if Hou Hsiao-Hsien is ever nominated for anything by AMPAS, it will be an unqualified and rapturous miracle.
And P.S.: No ‘Dark Knight’– except Ledger, who’s fully deserving, and will be recognized.
Here’s what I hope isn’t forgotten:
BEST PICTURE
*In Bruges
BEST ACTOR
*Andrew Garfield, “Boy A”
*Adrian Alonso, “Under the Same Moon”
*Jared Leto, “Chapter 27″
*Josh Peck, “The Wackness”
BEST ACTRESS
*Julianne Moore, “Savage Grace”
*Naomi Watts, “Funny Games”
*Famke Janssen, “Turn The River”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*Aaron Eckhart, “Towelhead”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*Ma-nenita De Latorre, “Jellyfish”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY/COSTUMES
*The Fall
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
*”Rock Me Sexy Jesus” (Hamlet 2)
*”I Want To Blow You Up” (War, Inc.)
*”Dracula’s Lament” (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Sally Hawkins, cause she´s suuuper-cute!
ok, WELL. I WOULD ADD TO THE TRACKER
Best Picture:
HAPPY=GO-LUCKY
THE BOY IN STRIPED PYJAMAS
Best Actor
MICHAEL FASSBENDER IN HUNGER
DEV PATEL IN SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
BEN KINGSLEY – ELEGY
Best Actress:
MICHELLE WILLIAMS IN WENDY AND LUCY
KATE BECKINSALE IN NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
PENELOPE CRUZ – ELEGY
Best Supporting Actor:
EDDIE MARSAN – HAPPY-GO=LUCJY
RUSSELL BRAND – FORGETTIN G SARAH MARSHALL
BIILL IRWIN – RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
ALAN ALDA IN NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
GARY OLDMAN – THE DARK KNIGHT
AARON ECKHART – THE DARK KNIGHT
RUPERT FRIEND – BOY IN STRIPED PYJAMAS
DENNIS HOPPER – ELEGY
Best Supporting Actress:
VERA FARMIGA IN NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
ELSA ZYLBERSTEIN – I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
ROSEMARIE DEWITT – RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
REBECCA HALL – VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
ANJELICA HUSTON – CHOKE
MIAM ABBAS – THE VISITOR
DANAI GURIRA – THE VISITOR
PATRICIA CLARKSON – ELEGY
EVAN RACHEL WOOD – THE WRESTLER
AND WOODY ALLEN IN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY CATHEGORY
“I hope this website doesn’t become a subtle, conservative arm of the Academy.”
Anthony, there are so many things in that sentence antithetical to Awards Daily, it’s almost cruel to turn it upside down and shake some sense into it… “subtle, conservative arm of the Academy”? Not as long as I’m the blatant liberal dick of the anti-Academy.
Sasha is famous for bucking trends and backing longshots. If her bucking and backing helps boost movies from underdogs to frontrunners, that’s not being an arm of the Academy. It’s giving the Academy a kick in butt that the Academy often begs for.
You might’ve missed the 19 feature articles we’ve posted about WALL·E since May. Click here to see a few. We’ve banged the drum for WALL·E for months.
As for “best reviewed movie of the year” — would that such a thing mattered a damn to AMPAS.
Ratatoullie was the best reviewed movie of 2007. Pan’s Labyrinth the best reviewed of 2006. Wallace and Gromit, the 4th best reviewed of 2005. The Incredibles, the 3rd best reviewed of 2004. The Triplets of Belleville, the 2nd best reviewed of 2003. Spirited Away the best reviewed of 2002.
Possibly we see a pattern of BP snubbing emerge?
Rachel Getting Married > best picture
Robert Downey Jr/Iron Man >best actor
Richard Jenkins/The Visitor >best actor
Frances McDormand was amazing in Burn After Reading.
If Brad Pitt is in contention, she should be as well, considering her performance is equally as manic and out there, and it has more arc.
From what I have seen so far:
Best Actor
Richard Jenkins “The Visitor”
Colin Farrell “Cassandra’s Dream”
Francois Cluzet “Tell No One”
Best Actress
Melissa Leo “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep “Mamma Mia”
Julianne Moore “Savage Grace”
Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger “The Dark Knight”
Haaz Sleiman “The Visitor”
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Patricia Clarkson “Elegy”
Sally Hawkins “Cassandra’s Dream”
Kristin Scott-Thomas “Tell No One”
Best Picture:
Paranoid Park
The Dark Knight
Cassandra’s Dream
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Visitor
Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles) for Best Supporting Actor
From the festival reviews, it sounds like his performance is stunning. Surely, he has to be up there with BP and JM for Burn After Reading. I think it is a stretch to even include their names in the Contender Tracker.
“Ratatoullie was the best reviewed movie of 2007. Pan’s Labyrinth the best reviewed of 2006. Wallace and Gromit, the 4th best reviewed of 2005. The Incredibles, the 3rd best reviewed of 2004. The Triplets of Belleville, the 2nd best reviewed of 2003. Spirited Away the best reviewed of 2002. ”
Ryan, something about Pan’s Labrynth doesn’t quite seem to fit in with the other movies in that list…
But, animated or not, those are some of my favorite movies of the past decade (excluding Wallace and Gromit, which I thought was good but not great) none of which received as much recognition as they deserved, especially The Triplets of Belleville, which didn’t even win freaking best animated feature (Finding Nemo was very good entertainment, but how anyone could snub such a groundbreaking and original movie is beyond me…), and Pan’s Labrynth which was a heck of a lot better than The Lives of Others.
At this point I’ve seen a little over 50 movies this year with a bunch of earlier ones in my Netflix queue. Its been a very interesting year so far, mainly because the summer REALLY meant something in regards to what the cream of the crop cinema is this year.
Out of the movies I’ve seen so far, the only ones who deserve a Best Picture nomination (there’s usually between 10 and 20 each year) are:
THE DARK KNIGHT
WALL-E
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
There’s been some great performances that should be recognized, most of which probably won’t be. Here they are***:
Heath Ledger – TDK
Aaron Eckhart – TDK
Anne Hathaway – RGM
Rosemarie DeWitt – RGM
Debra Winger – RGM
Bill Irwin – RGM (this one is way better than people care to ackowledge)
Colin Farrell – Cassandra’s Dream & In Bruges
Sam Rockwell – Choke
Ed Harris – Appaloosa
Viggo Mortensen – Appaloosa
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Ben Kingsley – The Wackness (the one really good thing about this movie)
Peter Macdissi – Towelhead (although I really didn’t like this movie he was very good)
As far as directing is concerned, these people NEED to be on any shortlist:
Christopher Nolan
Andrew Stanton
Jonathan Demme
Woody Allen (two very good movies in the same year!)
The screenplay category should include:
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Rachel Getting Married
The Signal
In Bruges
Choke
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
And hands down the best doc of the year is still MAN ON WIRE.
I got a lot of work to do so I can catch up to my normal average of 100-110 new movies per year. The main movies I regret missing from the first half of this year which I’m gonna catch up with now on dvd are:
THE VISITOR
THE BANK JOB
MARRIED LIFE
TEETH
UNDER THE SAME MOON
FROZEN RIVER
STOP-LOSS
PARANOID PARK
REDBELT
THE GO-GETTER
SAVAGE GRACE
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
***On a side note, I noticed that only 4 of the 14 actors I mentioned could be listed in the lead acting category. I wonder if its a weak year.
It’s obvious that the race for Best Actress is full of potencial nominees (largest number in recente year, isn’t it) so much that we can see wonderful perfomances such as Sally Hawkins in “Hapy Go Lucky” being left out.
But I have to say something: I saw last Sunday in Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival a perfomance that astonishes me deeply. Stephan Elliot’s masterful “Easy Virtue” is truly a remarkable adaption fo Noel Coward’s text (superior to Alfrted Hitchcok version of the 20’s), and also and therefore a truly bright treatment of british witt, the peculiar humor of the country that Coward represents so perfectly.
Amazing perfomances by Colin Firh and Kristin Scott Thomas are no surprise in any film (maybe Scott Thomas could be nominated as lead for “I’Ve Loved”… and suporting for this), the film has a strong suporting cast (Ben Barnes, the girls who played the sisters), and is specially cool how Kris Marshall make the best of the role of the butler.
But nothing could prepare me to Jessica Biel amazing perfomance as the american divorcée. Never thought about her as a particullary lame actress, just one, and I must be severe anti-PC (well it’s a pleasure to be), hot as the hell suffering from global warning, and just that, pure and simple. A career build in the good looking and discret acting, if any, because the roles gave to her are dull. In “Easy Virtue”, nothing can be more juicy: the battle between the Old World and the New World of the 20th century, the vulgar woman that in reallity is full of grace and a touching side, etc. Any actor wants that.
In the movie Biel has stamina and grace, and with the years to come can develop the profound techniques of the great ones. I will await to see with great curiosity; if it’s only a ilusion promote by a great text with a great direction, with great results or she has real potention, she deserves more. Hope is the second thing.
In the meantime at least a nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy at the Golden Globes is obligatory. If the movie gets a 2008 release!
Jeff, I would have mentioned Christian McKay, except I’m not sure Me and Orson Welles has found a distributor, so it might not be coming out this year. Do you know?
Robert Downey Jr., Robert Downey Jr., Robert Downey Jr.!
Penelope Cruz for either of her roles this year. She was excellent in both.
Marie-Josée Croze in Tell No One. A stunning supporting turn.
And Brad Pitt. He pretty much stole the film with his turn in Burn After Reading. Or if Benjamin Button is as good as I’m anticipating, then a nom for that. I really hope they don’t snub him again.
I agree with the person who mentioned Debra Winger. A fantastic actress who I’ve really missed.
Oh, and for documentary I’ll be very disappointed if Trouble the Water and Man on Wire aren’t both nominated.
Famke Janssen best actress for Turn the River
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