Like I said, I’m on the record. I’ve given some left-field choices (as have you). But here are some lingering thoughts bouncing around inside my tired old head this evening:
1) I think we’re going to see tomorrow, finally, that “Rachel Getting Married” is nothing more than a critical fave. Personally, I liked it enough, but all the “one of the year’s best” talk was dubious to say the least. A SAG ensemble nod would have kept me quiet. Talk about a place it could have made a stand. And that WGA snub was just one more smack by the industry, in my view. Maybe it’s just like one voter told me: “I couldn’t stand these people.” Anne Hathaway, step up for the film’s consolation nod.
2) “Gran Torino,” “Gran Torino,” “Gran Torino.” I can’t say it enough…this film is creeping up. It’s possible it came on too late and Clint missed the timing this time out, but, like I’ve said…watch it. Personally I think it’s a bigger threat than “The Reader.” A bad-ass white guy kicking kids off his lawn or a porno about a sympathetic Nazi. Which film is going to resonate more with the Academy? You tell me.
3) Everyone says, in varying degrees, that everything from “The Dark Knight” to “Frost/Nixon” to “Milk” are on the bubble. But here’s a radical idea: what if the weak link is the film many have called cold and removed? “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” sure does have a lot of guild support…but so did “Dreamgirls.”
4) Could one of the biggest stories tomorrow be the snubbing of Brangelina? Some think he’s out, some think she’s out…but what if they’re both out? Eesh.
5) Better yet, might the biggest shock of the day be a “Man on Wire” snub in the documentary feature category? All I’m saying is films dominated by preexisting footage can struggle here sometimes.
Then again…maybe I’m off my rocker. But there you have it.
I’ve only made one prediction alteration, FYI, and that’s swapping “Slumdog Millionaire” for “Quantum of Solace” in the sound editing field. The latter was just an arbitrary choice to reflect the mixers’ feelings, but I’m thinking of a sweeper possibility there and I like the advenurous choice of “Slumdog” more than “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” But really, that category lately? Flip a coin.
Enjoy the morning.
Comments
28 responses to “Last minute thoughts”
call me petty, but a Brangelina snub would make my day
…especially if it means Richard Jenkins, Sally Hawkins and Melissa Leo are in…
I won’t be able to sleep well…nightmares of “Get off my lawn…” played for a best picture clip.
It’s tonight on the official site, right? The nominations, I mean.
Please Milk… hold in there.
I think Button is going to miss out. There’s no passion for the film, just admiration. I felt the same way.
Pitt may surprise in the supporting race for Burn After Reading.
Jolie I think is out. Leo takes her spot.
I will actually be very sad if Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are out. I thought both of them gave very powerful performances this year. I love Melissa Leo but she was the only good thing in that film, IMO. She’s the biggest threat to Angelina. The other actors in Frozen River didn’t know what the hell they were doing. They should bow down at Melissa Leo’s feet!
Stupid question but what channel are they going to present the nominees? I’d like to watch this thing live for the first time.
Sound Designer,
I think it’s a live stream on the official site. I’m not sure, but that’s what it was last year.
I ususally watch on E! out of force of habit.
I’m taking some chances this year, but that’s okay:
Best Picture: Benjamin Button, TDK, Frost/nixon, Milk, Slumdog.
Best Director: Aronofsky, Fincher, Nolan, Van Sant, Boyle.
Best Actor: Eastwood, Jenkins, Langella, Penn, Rourke.
Best Actress: Hathaway, Jolie, Streep, Michelle Williams, Winslet (RevR0ad).
Supporting Actor: Brolin, Hoffman, Ledger, Patel, Shannon.
Supporting Actress: Cruz, Davis, Henson, Tomei, Winslet.
Adapted Screenplay: Beaufoy, Haythe, Morgan, Nolans, Roth.
Original Screenplay: Allen, Black, McCarthy, Siegel, Stanton/Reardon.
Animated: Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E, Waltz with Bashir.
Art Direction: Button, Milk, RevRoad, Changeling, Doubt.
Cinematography: TDK, Slumdog, Rev Road, Defiance, Button.
Costume: Duchess, Button, Reader, Changeling, The Fall.
Editing: Slumdog, Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Defiance, Button.
Score: The Reader, Button, Slumdog, Defiance, WALL-E.
Ugh, I don’t want to guess the rest.
if The curious Case of Benjamin Button is snubbed that means The Dar Knight’s name would have to be read first if it was in….I Can’t handle the pressure!!!!!!!
If you watch, you might have to endure Ben Lyons. Just a warning.
If you watch E!, you might have to endure Ben Lyons. Just a warning.
“But really, that category lately?”
I’m telling ya; Randy Thom is well-liked. Go with “Bolt”.
I know it’s goofy, but this literally rivals Christmas I’m so anxious!
I’m nervous about tomorrow. Maybe it has to due with the fact that LOST is totally screwing up my nerves right now…
Aaron, I guess I’m just as goofy as you are because my nerves are killing me! I’m so anxious it’s ridiculous!
It just occurred to me that, because the Academy’s voting system assigns partial votes to a member’s second choice if his first choice receives an overwhelming number of first-place votes, this means the second place votes of everyone putting “Slumdog Millionaire” and Heath Ledger first may be significant. I imagine that people who liked one sentimental crowd-pleaser might also like another (“The Wrestler”). I have no idea, though, who the Heath Ledger fans would put as number two.
Kris, I know it’s a serious possibility, but still, you REALLY need to stop jangling my nerves with all these repeated suggestions of a “Gran Torino” Best Picture nomination. Not joking, I’m looking over the BP nominations for the last 10 years, and I don’t see a worse film than “GT”.
**Spoiler for “The Wrestler**
“I imagine that people who liked one sentimental crowd-pleaser might also like another (â€The Wrestlerâ€).”
I still fail to see how a movie that ends with our protagonist killing himself as a result of everyone in his life rejecting him qualifies as a “crowd-pleaser”
I am personally hoping that “Slumdog Millionaire” gets Dreamgirled.
Well-made film that I enjoyed, but it didn’t do anything for me. Just eh.
Supporting actor has been known to have an out of nowhere nominee now and then (Alan Alda?), so in that spirit I’ll predict Dennis Hopper for Elegy.
I don’t think Alan Alda counts as “out of nowhere.” I certainly predicted him. He had a BAFTA nod.
But Hopper would definitely be out of nowhere.
“But here’s a radical idea: what if the weak link is the film many have called cold and removed? “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button†sure does have a lot of guild support…but so did “Dreamgirls.—
One can only hope….
COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU TAPLEY. finger’s crossed.
In my mind only “Slumdog Millionaire†is guaranteed a Best Picture nomination. Which means “Milkâ€, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button†and “Frost/Nixon†are all on shaky ground, perhaps possibly in that order.
It’s a mistery to me why The curious case of Benjamin Button is considered ‘cold’. It touched me very deeply. Maybe i’m a freak, but there have been a few movies have torn my heart so deeply. It’s a fascinating mixture between two movies i love as well: The bridges of madison county and Big fish. A powerful masterpiece, so tender and complex.
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