For a moment I thought the Oscars are going to the way they did when Titanic won a decade ago. Award every award in sight to the James Cameron film. But better sense prevailed and Avatar won in just 3 categories. The Hurt Locker tally sits at double this number and deservedly show.
First, a comment on the hosts. I expected fireworks with Alec Baldwin and old hand Steve Martin doing the honours. I did not get them. Good writing ensures that the host ekes out some laughs at the very least, but I want more. Bring back Billy Crystal I say. No one since his departure has been able to replicate his success.
This time the Academy did away with performances by nominees for Best Original Song. A change for the better. After A. R. Rahman’s boring act last year, I can imagine most TV audiences taking that much needed comfort break during this segment. Instead, there were awesome dances to usher in nominees for Background Score (if I remember correctly). I was transfixed the way I was when while seeing The Hurt Locker.
Optional categories like Honorary Oscar were absent, yet the show overshot its deadline. So much so that Tom Hanks just walked in and announced the winner for Best Picture! While on Tom Hanks, maybe Hollywood has another actor of repute which the Academy can bring in to present the Oscar for some top category. Hanks making an appearance is a given now.
My biggest disappoint was Up in the Air not winning anything. If nothing else, the Adapted Screenplay Oscar was it’s for the taking. Precious won when all it deserved was Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Mo’nique who won in this category revived memories of Hattie McDaniel, the first black to win an Oscar. Too late I say. It no longer matters what your colour is when you receive the statuette. That “moment” has already been milled dry by Halle Berry. This was the year to hail a woman winning for Best Director.
As far as predictions go, I got 8 on 10 right. And learned a valuable lesson. Never blindly make assumptions without actually weighing all nominees in a particular category. I was confident about White Ribbon winning for Best Foreign Language Film. Next year, I may not want to predict for that category at all.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
The Road to the Oscars: The Predictions
For some it is a sport played once a year. Trying to predict who will walk away with the golden man. The Oscars provide a
level playing field by striking a fair balance between predictability and upsets. This makes sticking your neck out all the
more fun.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Now I haven't seen all the films nominated in this category, but yet, its easy to predict that the winner will be
White Ribbon. No other film has created a buzz like this one.
Best Animated Film of the Year
The only film nomiated in this category and for Best Picture is Up. Directors of the other films need not even show up, let
alone prepare acceptance speeches.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Its a tough call between Precious and Up in the Air. While my vote goes to the latter, both need to be feted elsewhere as
they will not be wining Best Picture. I am guessing it will be Up in the Air. Precious has other categories where it stands
a better chance.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
On any other day, this award should belong to Quentin Tarantino. But his year he is likely to be pipped to the post by Mark
Boal for The Hurt Locker, and deservedly so.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
This award has Mo'Nique written all over it. She is absolutely fabulous as the abusive mother of Precious. Compare her
performance with others nominated in this category and you know they stand no chance.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Mo'Nique's male counterpart would be Christoph Waltz. His acceptance speech though will have to be shorter than the dialogue
that he has been given in Inglorious Basterds.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
She has won almost all other major awards this year, so the Oscar should be hers for the taking. Experts also give Meryl
Steep an outside chance. But she has won enough already. I wish though that Gabourey Sidibe were to win this won. This may
just be the upset of the evening.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
The trouble with Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is that whether he is drunk or not, his acting remains the same. Without variation.
Yet, becasue the OScar loves to felicitate old timers, this is going to be his day. By that same logic, it could also have
been Morgan Freeman. It would have made better sense too, but he has won before. Colin Firth, sadly, I haven't seen yet. But
Jeremy Renner and George Clooney will have to wait some more, good though they were. I feel Clooney deserves it this time.
He will win one day, but why not make that day today?
Best Achievement in Directing
Right, so its just between Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker and James Cameron for Avatar. Cameron having served as the
king of this world before will have to make way for Bigelow. As the Academy always likes to do something new each time, this
will be the first instance of a woman winning for Best Director. It will be written about lovingly by the press, just as
Halle Berry winning for Best Actress was made out to be a big deal. But all said and done, if there has to be a first, I cannot
find a better contender.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
I have been racking my head for days over this one. I want The Hurt Locker to win. But then what about the millions spent on
Avatar. Will the Academy choose a middle path by awarding Best Director to Locker and Best Picture to Avatar. Possible. It was
idiotic enough to expand the Best Picture category to include 10 films this year when the world knows that its a two horse
race. I think I'll use some wierd logic here. Avatar will already have won enough on the technical front. So for the final
hurrah for the evening, it will be The Hurt Locker. Cameron can console himself by claiming that his film won the maximum
awards for the evening.
level playing field by striking a fair balance between predictability and upsets. This makes sticking your neck out all the
more fun.
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Now I haven't seen all the films nominated in this category, but yet, its easy to predict that the winner will be
White Ribbon. No other film has created a buzz like this one.
Best Animated Film of the Year
The only film nomiated in this category and for Best Picture is Up. Directors of the other films need not even show up, let
alone prepare acceptance speeches.
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Its a tough call between Precious and Up in the Air. While my vote goes to the latter, both need to be feted elsewhere as
they will not be wining Best Picture. I am guessing it will be Up in the Air. Precious has other categories where it stands
a better chance.
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
On any other day, this award should belong to Quentin Tarantino. But his year he is likely to be pipped to the post by Mark
Boal for The Hurt Locker, and deservedly so.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
This award has Mo'Nique written all over it. She is absolutely fabulous as the abusive mother of Precious. Compare her
performance with others nominated in this category and you know they stand no chance.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Mo'Nique's male counterpart would be Christoph Waltz. His acceptance speech though will have to be shorter than the dialogue
that he has been given in Inglorious Basterds.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
She has won almost all other major awards this year, so the Oscar should be hers for the taking. Experts also give Meryl
Steep an outside chance. But she has won enough already. I wish though that Gabourey Sidibe were to win this won. This may
just be the upset of the evening.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
The trouble with Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart is that whether he is drunk or not, his acting remains the same. Without variation.
Yet, becasue the OScar loves to felicitate old timers, this is going to be his day. By that same logic, it could also have
been Morgan Freeman. It would have made better sense too, but he has won before. Colin Firth, sadly, I haven't seen yet. But
Jeremy Renner and George Clooney will have to wait some more, good though they were. I feel Clooney deserves it this time.
He will win one day, but why not make that day today?
Best Achievement in Directing
Right, so its just between Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker and James Cameron for Avatar. Cameron having served as the
king of this world before will have to make way for Bigelow. As the Academy always likes to do something new each time, this
will be the first instance of a woman winning for Best Director. It will be written about lovingly by the press, just as
Halle Berry winning for Best Actress was made out to be a big deal. But all said and done, if there has to be a first, I cannot
find a better contender.
Best Motion Picture of the Year
I have been racking my head for days over this one. I want The Hurt Locker to win. But then what about the millions spent on
Avatar. Will the Academy choose a middle path by awarding Best Director to Locker and Best Picture to Avatar. Possible. It was
idiotic enough to expand the Best Picture category to include 10 films this year when the world knows that its a two horse
race. I think I'll use some wierd logic here. Avatar will already have won enough on the technical front. So for the final
hurrah for the evening, it will be The Hurt Locker. Cameron can console himself by claiming that his film won the maximum
awards for the evening.
The Road to the Oscars 2010: The Contenders
The Oscar awards are best enjoyed when you have seen all, or at least most of the films nominated.
That way you can make informed choices yourself, lamenting good performances that will not be feted and discussing
bad ones that will be. I present here a recce of major films nominated this year. Some deserving, others just filling up
the numbers.
Avatar
First I saw it in 2D, then I saw it in 3D, but still could not see it. Just what is it that is making the world go
gaga over this film? As a spectacle, it sweeps you off your feet and deservingly will sweep all the technical awards
this year. But as a film, its pedestrian. A group of greedy humans inhibit a fictional planet in search of untold of riches.
But there are some who are there for research. In the end it’s a battle between good and evil. Script wise, Avatar has
nothing you haven’t seen before, only this time you are watching it in 3D.
The Hurt Locker
I’ll make no bones about it, The Hurt Locker is my favourite amongst all other nominees. It follows a bomb diffuser in
Iraq as he goes about his job, throwing the rule book away. To call it taut would be an understatement. Everytime the
tension reached a crescendo, I winced. For two hours, I was transported inside the war zone. And all this without 3D!
Up in the Air
George Clooney has one of the most un-envious job in the world, that of firing people. That he does that with so much
conviction and panache, is the product of great acting, script and direction. It will be a shame if this film comes away
from the awards, empty handed.
Precious
For many, this is the best film of the year. A barely literate, overweight, single mother at 16, Precious is pregnant
with her second child fathered by her father and her mother hates her for that. Now weigh down upon each word of the
previous sentence and realize how messed up her life is. True to life performances, bring alive this movie, in a way
you’ll thank your stars this isn’t happening to you.
Inglorious Basterds
To call it a Quentin Tarantino movie is like saying it all. You know what to expect. A Jew hunter on one side has
to match wits a bunch of eponymous Nazi killers. Christoph Waltz is the scene stealer as the Jew hunter who moves
from genial banter to cold blooded execution in a matter of minutes.
A Serious Man
If it wasn’t for the abrupt ending, this would have been a near perfect movie. A tale about a dysfunctional Jew family,
there is an undercurrent of an impending event in the film. You know something big is going to happen, and you await
it with bated breath. Devoid of any major stars unlike the Coen Brothers’ earlier, Burn After Reading,
it still packs a solid punch.
District 9
Just when you thought, movies about aliens have seen their last run, Neill Blomkamp gives it a fresh twist.
A colony of aliens on earth is treated much the same way as blacks were once upon a time. Though the end gets a
bit sentimental, the action is some of the best we have seen this year.
Up
Frankly, I have seen animated films that are much better than Up. The Lion King, Kung Fu Panda and The Incredibles,
just to name a few. An ageing man fulfils his deceased wife's wish by levitating his house using baloons and
transporting it to a mythical place. Up is more poignant than funny.
An Education
A prodigal teenager, Carey Mulligan is seduced by a mature man and she goes along for the ride, throwing away an education
at Oxford. But the lessons she learns on this trip are more valuable than what books will ever teach her. Its a
well made film that somewhat loses it towards the end. But Mulligan does full justice to her character.
Crazy Heart
At first I thought I'll like this film, but as it progressed, it started boring me, and by the time it ended, I was
exasperated. A washed up country singer is looking for gigs and love but finds solace in alcohol. Even Jeff Bridges'
much lauded performance did not impress me.
Invictus
It's diffuicult to understand why this film hasn't been nominated for Best Picture. I genuinely feel the time has
come when they reserve a slot in top category each year for a Clint Eastwood film. Morgan Freeman is superb as ever as
Nelson Mandela who uses rugby, largely thought to be a white man's game, to bring about reconciliation. He may not look like
Mandela but there is none other who could have portrayed him better.
The Blind Side
If it wasn't based on a true story, it would have been unbelievable. A high class socialite takes a huge coloured
boy under her roof and under her wing, guiding him to football glory. Sandra Bullock acts just like she does in all her
films, but suddenly it seems like time to recognise her talent.
Julie & Julia
Somehow, films about food never go completley wrong. Meryl Streep is an American in France who writes a book on French
cooking. Years later, Amy Adams sets out to recreate all her recipes in a span of one year and documents her
experiences on a blog. Its good wholesome fun.
The Messenger
If Clooney plays a person in Up in the Air who fires people, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in this film are soldiers
assigned to inform families about the death of their sons/husbands/fathers in action. Harrelson is a play it by the rules
kind of opearator, and Foster the more humane of the two. This wonderful premise is never fully explored and ultimately
we are left with a few good sketches but not one good film.
White Ribbon
Tragedy after tragedy strikes a small German village and no one knows who is responsible. The film is set in a time
frame just before World War I and seems to be made back then too. The only reason you suffer it is because of the curiosity
that goes with a whodunnit. You'll be in for a surprise towards the end.
That way you can make informed choices yourself, lamenting good performances that will not be feted and discussing
bad ones that will be. I present here a recce of major films nominated this year. Some deserving, others just filling up
the numbers.
Avatar
First I saw it in 2D, then I saw it in 3D, but still could not see it. Just what is it that is making the world go
gaga over this film? As a spectacle, it sweeps you off your feet and deservingly will sweep all the technical awards
this year. But as a film, its pedestrian. A group of greedy humans inhibit a fictional planet in search of untold of riches.
But there are some who are there for research. In the end it’s a battle between good and evil. Script wise, Avatar has
nothing you haven’t seen before, only this time you are watching it in 3D.
The Hurt Locker
I’ll make no bones about it, The Hurt Locker is my favourite amongst all other nominees. It follows a bomb diffuser in
Iraq as he goes about his job, throwing the rule book away. To call it taut would be an understatement. Everytime the
tension reached a crescendo, I winced. For two hours, I was transported inside the war zone. And all this without 3D!
Up in the Air
George Clooney has one of the most un-envious job in the world, that of firing people. That he does that with so much
conviction and panache, is the product of great acting, script and direction. It will be a shame if this film comes away
from the awards, empty handed.
Precious
For many, this is the best film of the year. A barely literate, overweight, single mother at 16, Precious is pregnant
with her second child fathered by her father and her mother hates her for that. Now weigh down upon each word of the
previous sentence and realize how messed up her life is. True to life performances, bring alive this movie, in a way
you’ll thank your stars this isn’t happening to you.
Inglorious Basterds
To call it a Quentin Tarantino movie is like saying it all. You know what to expect. A Jew hunter on one side has
to match wits a bunch of eponymous Nazi killers. Christoph Waltz is the scene stealer as the Jew hunter who moves
from genial banter to cold blooded execution in a matter of minutes.
A Serious Man
If it wasn’t for the abrupt ending, this would have been a near perfect movie. A tale about a dysfunctional Jew family,
there is an undercurrent of an impending event in the film. You know something big is going to happen, and you await
it with bated breath. Devoid of any major stars unlike the Coen Brothers’ earlier, Burn After Reading,
it still packs a solid punch.
District 9
Just when you thought, movies about aliens have seen their last run, Neill Blomkamp gives it a fresh twist.
A colony of aliens on earth is treated much the same way as blacks were once upon a time. Though the end gets a
bit sentimental, the action is some of the best we have seen this year.
Up
Frankly, I have seen animated films that are much better than Up. The Lion King, Kung Fu Panda and The Incredibles,
just to name a few. An ageing man fulfils his deceased wife's wish by levitating his house using baloons and
transporting it to a mythical place. Up is more poignant than funny.
An Education
A prodigal teenager, Carey Mulligan is seduced by a mature man and she goes along for the ride, throwing away an education
at Oxford. But the lessons she learns on this trip are more valuable than what books will ever teach her. Its a
well made film that somewhat loses it towards the end. But Mulligan does full justice to her character.
Crazy Heart
At first I thought I'll like this film, but as it progressed, it started boring me, and by the time it ended, I was
exasperated. A washed up country singer is looking for gigs and love but finds solace in alcohol. Even Jeff Bridges'
much lauded performance did not impress me.
Invictus
It's diffuicult to understand why this film hasn't been nominated for Best Picture. I genuinely feel the time has
come when they reserve a slot in top category each year for a Clint Eastwood film. Morgan Freeman is superb as ever as
Nelson Mandela who uses rugby, largely thought to be a white man's game, to bring about reconciliation. He may not look like
Mandela but there is none other who could have portrayed him better.
The Blind Side
If it wasn't based on a true story, it would have been unbelievable. A high class socialite takes a huge coloured
boy under her roof and under her wing, guiding him to football glory. Sandra Bullock acts just like she does in all her
films, but suddenly it seems like time to recognise her talent.
Julie & Julia
Somehow, films about food never go completley wrong. Meryl Streep is an American in France who writes a book on French
cooking. Years later, Amy Adams sets out to recreate all her recipes in a span of one year and documents her
experiences on a blog. Its good wholesome fun.
The Messenger
If Clooney plays a person in Up in the Air who fires people, Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in this film are soldiers
assigned to inform families about the death of their sons/husbands/fathers in action. Harrelson is a play it by the rules
kind of opearator, and Foster the more humane of the two. This wonderful premise is never fully explored and ultimately
we are left with a few good sketches but not one good film.
White Ribbon
Tragedy after tragedy strikes a small German village and no one knows who is responsible. The film is set in a time
frame just before World War I and seems to be made back then too. The only reason you suffer it is because of the curiosity
that goes with a whodunnit. You'll be in for a surprise towards the end.
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