November 28, 2007
Langella and Plummer are longshots at best

This is the time of year where people start searching frantically for something to go against the grain, possibilities that fly in the face of "consensus." Case in point, Martin Grove's one-two punch drumming up publicity for actors Frank Langella and Christopher Plummer for "Starting Out in the Evening" and "Man in the Chair" respectively.


All due respect to Mr. Grove -- and the advocacy in those pieces is fair enough and speaks for itself -- but I popped these two films in the DVD player over the past week and found them awfully second rate.


Langella's work in "Evening" is wonderfully subdued, sure, but you don't often see something this delicate find its way to the Best Actor ballot without a flooding of the marketplace. It's a brave portrayal and, hey, Langella even offers up some frontal nudity for those curious, but it's stuff like the upcoming "Frost/Nixon," showy performances with bite, that triumph, for better or worse, over delicacy.


Plummer's work in "Chair," on the other hand, is a touch more dramatic in its showmanship. But the director of "Cyborg 2" and "Cyborg 3" is behind this effort, and that sadly tends to show. Don't get me wrong, I think Plummer should have walked away with the Best Supporting Actor trophy in 1999, but I think serious Oscar talk for him this year is a bit inflated at best.

February 23, 2007
Final Winner Predictions

The column.


I'm fully prepared to eat crow on this one, but it's a year flimsy enough to shoot for the moon.


Gerard offered his final tech predictions yesterday, and should follow suit with his full listing here at The Blog sometime later today. As for me:


Best Picture: "Letters from Iwo Jima" (alt. "Little Miss Sunshine")
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" (alt. Clint Eastwood)
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland" (alt. Peter O'Toole)
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen" (alt. Meryl Streep)
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine" (alt. Eddie Murphy)
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" (alt. Abigail Breslin)
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Departed" (alt. "Borat")
Best Original Screenplay: "Little Miss Sunshine" (alt. "The Queen")
Best Art Direction: "Pan's Labyrinth" (alt. "Dreamgirls")
Best Cinematography: "Children of Men" (alt. "Pan's Labyrinth")
Best Costume Design: "Dreamgirls" (alt. "Curse of the Golden Flower")
Best Film Editing: "Babel" (alt. "The Departed")
Best Makeup: "Pan's Labyrinth" (alt. "Apocalypto")
Best Music, Original Score: "The Queen" (alt. "Pan's Labyrinth")
Best Music, Original Song: "An Inconvenient Truth" (alt. "Cars")
Best Sound: "Dreamgirls" (alt. "Flags of Our Fathers")
Best Sound Editing: "Letters from Iwo Jima" (alt. "Flags of Our Fathers")
Best Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (alt. "Superman Returns")
Best Animated Feature Film: "Cars" (alt. "Happy Feet")
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Lives of Others" (alt. "Pan's Labyrinth")
Best Documentary, Feature: "An Inconvenient Truth" (alt. "Deliver Us from Evil")
Best Documentary, Short Subject: "Recycled Life" (alt. "The Blood of Yingzhou District")
Best Short Film, Animated: "The Little Matchgirl" (alt. "Lifted")
Best Short Film, Live Action: "West Bank Story" (alt. "The Saviour")


And now, we wait.


Previously:
December
November
October
September

January 22, 2007
Tick-tock, tick-tock...

What's got you biting your nails tomorrow?


I, for one, have the aweful feeling "Letters from Iwo Jima" is going to be snubbed across the board. How often is it that a film lands a goose egg with the guilds and still finds room at the Oscars? I just think no one saw this film in time. Maybe they have seen it now and re kicking themselves, I don't know. But if Clint and company get any notices for this double bill, I'm beginning to think those citations will come for "Flags of Our Fathers," including the potential lone director spot.


The Weinstein Company? Some speckled nominations last year, this year, nothing looks likely. That's two bum years for the game's greatest wizard. I don't think "Bobby" is too destined to wind up with absolutely nothing, because it has shown signs of life in the precursor season. But it'll be tricky. "Breaking and Entering" (did this get a bump to 2007?) and "Factory Girl," however, have come up limp.


Focus Features. Dd we ever expect to see a day when this studio wound up with nothing? Next year won't be a repeat, what with everything from "Atonement" to "Reservation Road" in the mix.


"Children of Men?" I'm predicting a shut out save for the obvious cinematography nomination, including a surprise snub in Best Art Direction. But this is a film that deserves regonition in Best Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, and Sound to boot. Will the year's best film show up anywhere else?


"Blood Diamond." I feel like this thing is gonna be all over the place tomorrow. Long live Alan Horn?


"The Prestige." Christopher Nolan, his generation's most promising filmmaker. Still a master of structure, still a wonderful visionary. Despite not enjoying his latest film as much as past efforts, I find myself hoping it receives multiple Oscar nominations tomorrow morning. This is a guy making movies for all the right reasons.


Be sure to check out my full thoughts and final predictions on this year's race.

December 05, 2006
December Winner Predictions

Best Picture: "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Best Actor: Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Best Original Screenplay: "Little Miss Sunshine"
Best Art Direction: "Dreamgirls"
Best Cinematography: "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Best Costume Design: "Dreamgirls"
Best Film Editing: "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Best Makeup: "Apocalypto"
Best Music - Original Score: "Notes on a Scandal"
Best Music - Original Song: "An Inconvenient Truth"
Best Sound: "Dreamgirls"
Best Sound Editing: "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Best Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"


Previously:
November
October
September

November 21, 2006
O'Connell in there for "Apocalypto?"

In researching the sound design category for his column this week, Gerard pointed out to me that one of Oscar's all time biggest "losers," sound engineer Kevin O'Connell, is responsible for the mix on Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto." I would have had him slated for a nod here long ago had I been privy to the info, but the sound participants are rarely mentioned on IMDb until very close to release for some reason. But, there it is. With "Apocalypto" being positioned as a major action endeavor, I think O'Connell is solid for another nomination this year.


Also, I didn't notice this information mentioned in Tom O'Neil's recent interview piece with O'Connell (if it is, I apologize). That's a good piece nontheless, so give it a look.

November 15, 2006
Golden Globe Predictions

As of yesterday, the HFPA announcement is a month away. Here's my second stab at Golden Globe predictions for the year. Things might shake out differently as more and more HFPA screenings take place, but as of now it's looking like:


Best Picture - Drama
"Babel"
"Bobby"
"The Departed"
"The Queen"
"World Trade Center"


Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
"Borat"
"The Devil Wears Prada"
"Dreamgirls"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"Thank You for Smoking"


Best Actor - Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"
Forrest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"


Best Actress - Drama
Cate Blanchett, "The Good German"
Penelope Cruz, "Volver"
Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"
Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Kate Winslet, "Little Children"


Best Actor - Comedy/Musical
Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat"
Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking"
Will Ferrell, "Stranger Than Fiction"
Jamie Foxx, "Dreamgirls"
Greg Kinnear, "Little Miss Sunshine"


Best Actress - Comedy/Musical
Annette Bening, "Running with Scissors"
Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"
Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"


The supportin gcategories are confusing me somewhat lately. Well, supporting actress anyway. I'll deal with that at a later date.

November 08, 2006
November Winner Predictions

Best Picture: "Dreamgirls"
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Best Actor: Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Departed"
Best Original Screenplay: "Babel"
Best Art Direction: "Dreamgirls"
Best Cinematography: "Apocalypto"
Best Costume Design: "The Curse of the Golden Flower"
Best Film Editing: "Dreamgirls"
Best Makeup: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Best Music - Original Score: "Notes on a Scandal"
Best Music - Original Song: "Dreamgirls"
Best Sound: "Dreamgirls"
Best Sound Editing: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"


Previously:

October
September

October 06, 2006
October Winner Predictions

I think I'll give this a shot on a monthly basis. Here are September's predictions. This time I'm thinking:


Best Picture: "Dreamgirls"
Best Director: Bill Condon, "Dreamgirls"
Best Actor: Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Good German"
Best Original Screenplay: "Babel"
Best Art Direction: "Dreamgirls"
Best Cinematography: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Costume Design: "Marie Antoinette"
Best Film Editing: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Makeup: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Best Music - Original Score: "The Good German"
Best Music - Original Song: "Dreamgirls"
Best Sound: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Sound Editing: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"


Terrible, I know...


Previously:

September

September 04, 2006
And the winners will be...?

I never really venture guesses on something as far away as Oscar WINNERS until after Labor Day at the earliest. We're still trying to nail down predicted nominees, after all. But this year, a lot of the films are getting screened earlier than in years past. It seems precious few of the "players" have yet to cross critical eyes. And I get asked all the time "Who do you think will win?" Ah well, let's take a few stabs...


My first Oscar WINNER predictions (heaven help us all...):


Best Picture: "Dreamgirls"
Best Director: Bill Condon, "Dreamgirls"
Best Actor: Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
Best Actress: Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"
Best Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "Dreamgirls"
Best Original Screenplay: "Babel"
Best Art Direction: "Dreamgirls"
Best Cinematography: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Costume Design: "Marie Antoinette"
Best Film Editing: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Makeup: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
Best Music - Original Score: "The Good German"
Best Music - Original Song: "An Inconvenient Truth"
Best Sound: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Sound Editing: "Flags of Our Fathers"
Best Visual Effects: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

Boy are those crappy predictions. Ah well, at least I'm on the record now.