The Dark Knight was arguably THE movie of 2008. Although it was awarded
with 8 Oscar nominations, it now might be the biggest nomination snub
ever for best picture. After months of buzz that it would be the fifth
film to get in the five, The Reader, with three fewer total Oscar
nominations than The Dark Knight, was the one that snuck in. What a
tragedy. It's embarrassing. There was no Christopher Nolan for directing
either and usually best picture and best director don’t match up 5 for 5
evenly. Such a shame. Not even screenplay. Just think of how many great
quotes came from that script alone. “I'm only burning my half. All you
care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal, and
I'm gonna give it to them. Tell your men they work for me now. This is
my city.”
For some reason, the Academy thought The Reader deserved the attention
over Kate Winslet’s other movie Revolutionary Road. To a more
disappointment, Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t nominated and neither was
Winslet from Revolutionary Road. Thomas Newman's original score for the
film was inaptly omitted too. The Reader makes Penelope Cruz the
frontrunner for supporting actress after Winslet in The Reader jumped up
to leading, as opposed to the Globes having her win both categories.
Besides the above, here are some other clueless nominations:
• I still don’t know how Robert Downey Jr. got in for Tropic Thunder and
James Franco wasn't for Milk.
• In Bruges somehow got a nomination and it was for original screenplay.
• The Wrestler only got two nominations and no Bruce Springsteen.
• No one acting from Slumdog Millionaire got in and it won the Golden
Globe’s top drama picture and the best ensemble from the SAG.
• No Clint Eastwood for anything and Gran Torino was shut out.
• Wanted and Iron Man each got two nominations while Indiana Jones
didn't get any.
• At least The Curious Case of Benjamin Button had the highest
nominations at 13 which were tied with the most in six years. 5 of the 8
films that got 13 nominations before went on to win Best Picture.
There were additional bright sides of the main nominations. Marisa Tomei
earned a nomination for supporting actress and that category looks the
sharpest from top to bottom. Doubt’s main four performers all got in and
Michael Shannon did as well for Revolutionary Road.
Fifth Annual Coverage!
(Film Prophet's Frontrunners are in order from top to bottom in each
column)
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
And the Oscar goes to...
Slumdog Millionaire |
And the Oscar goes to...
Danny Boyle |
And the Oscar goes to...
Sean Penn |
And the Oscar goes to...
Kate Winslet |
Will Win:
Slumdog Millionaire |
Will Win:
Danny Boyle |
Will Win:
Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke |
Will Win:
Kate Winslet |
Should Win:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
|
Should Win:
David Fincher |
Should Win:
Sean Penn or Mickey Rourke |
Should Win:
Meryl Streep |
Final Prediction:
Slumdog Millionaire |
Final Prediction:
Danny Boyle |
Final Prediction:
Mickey Rourke |
Final Prediction:
Kate Winslet |
BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Reader |
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle
(Slumdog Millionaire)
David Fincher
(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Gus Van Sant
(Milk)
Ron Howard
(Frost/Nixon)
Stephen Daldry
(The Reader) |
BEST ACTOR
Mickey Rourke
(The Wrestler)
Sean Penn
(Milk)
Frank Langella
(Frost/Nixon)
Brad Pitt
(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Richard Jenkins
(The Visitor) |
BEST ACTRESS
Kate Winslet
(The Reader)
Anne Hathaway
(Rachel Getting Married)
Meryl Streep
(Doubt)
Melissa Leo
(Frozen River)
Angelina Jolie
(Changeling) |
Oscar night
notes:
Film Prophet's highlights of the show:
~ Slumdog Millionaire won a total of 8 Oscars, The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button had the second most with 3, while The Dark Knight and
Milk scored two a piece. In a nutshell, it was a complete landslide and
it was unsatisfying. Slumdog Millionaire was also rated R and I just
found out for the past 4 years, 4 of the Best Picture nominees were
rated R each year and the last 4 winners now were also rated R.
~ Host Hugh Jackson brought his showmanship on stage like his character
in The Prestige did, but was underused in the second half and didn’t
have the verbal joking moments or segments to introduce guests like past
hosts did. His 'I didn't see The Reader' musical opening number had it
right for everyone.
~ Kate Winslet's front row seat was like a foot away from the center
stage steps which propelled her win for the night.
~ The first win was to Cruz in supporting actress that was expected but
that's where most of the energy was into because it was the most open
category of the year.
~ I had a feeling that after a 5 minute elaboration skit with Tina Fey
and Steve Martin that WALL•E would probably win screenplay, but Milk did
as predicted.
~ Time Warner cable blacked out several times during the broadcast,
especially early on during the show.
~ Jack Black's Dreamworks' money betting on Pixar joke was the first
laugh of the show for me.
~ The Jackson-Beyonce-Zac Efron-Vanessa Hudgens-Mamma Mia! musical
number was odd to watch. Did Beyonce even sing live?
~ The tech presentations were rushed as they had the same presenters in
a sequence just standing there announcing the category’s nominees and
winners, while the Oscars gave each acting category about ten minutes a
piece. They had five other actresses or actors that were past winners in
the categories on stage talking about the nominees’ performances. I did
miss the acting clips though.
~ I enjoyed the year's romance montage; it was the best one of the show
actually.
~ It took me a few moments that Ben Stiller dressed up like the new
Joaquin Phoenix look and attitude.
~ James Franco and Seth Rogen reprised their Pineapple Express roles on
a taped skit laughing to serious movies and thinking about the ones not
nominated for Oscars.
~ The best win of the night was Heath Ledger's when his family gave his
speech.
~ The last hour was getting out of hand with all the Slumdog
appreciation to music score, songs, and performances on stage. EVEN THE
WORST PART OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - THE ENDING CREDITS MUSIC VIDEO SONG
– WON AN OSCAR. It was probably only made for the movie to win an Oscar.
Memo to Bruce Springsteen next time to have a music video during the
ending credits.
~ I was actually very happy than former Mr. Madonna, Sean Penn, won,
even though I predicted Mickey Rourke on this page. The night
before the Oscars ceremony Mickey beat Sean for the Independent Spirit
Award. It was the only category of the eight I got wrong. It was also
one of the most predictable Oscars ever. Penn’s win and Oscar speech
made up for a somewhat lackluster night of wins... it was a surprise
when he wasn't a surprise before the surprise contender became a solid
lock to win a few weeks ago, if that makes sense.
