In Contention

Tag: La Maison en petits cubes

  • ‘Slumdog’ takes 8 trophies as Oscar keeps it under 190 minutes

    Danny Boyle at the 81st annual Academy AwardsIn the final analysis, there isn’t much to say other than: What a captivating way to put a bow on the worst and, ultimately, most boring Oscar season of all time.  The 81st annual Academy Awards swiftly went down earlier this evening with few surprise winners and a classy new sheen.  It was captivating and, at times, inspiring.  Here are my thoughts on Hollywood’s biggest night:

    The winners
    I did extremely well with my predictions this year, nailing 21 of the 24 categories and making good with gambles in the foreign language film and short film categories.  I stuck with my heart on Mickey Rourke despite the smart money being on Sean Penn, but regardless of the strong desire to see the former holding an Oscar in his hands and delivering one more barn-burning speech, it is, of course, impossible to argue with Sean Penn’s expert work in “Milk.”  His heartfelt acceptance was a highlight and it all felt somehow more complete than it did five years ago.

    That “Departures” win took the wind out of the sails of one of the year’s most ingenious productions and yes, this is a committee that still needs a major overhaul.  I don’t think I could possibly say it enough.  That should take nothing away from Japan’s victory, mind you, because their submission is a delightful film that won’t deserve most of the ill will coming its way from those who haven’t even seen it.  But “Bashir” seems to have wrongfully faced an uphill battle from the start.

    The sound categories (hotly debated all week) proved once again that the Academy doesn’t understand the impact of mixers and editors on animated films.  “Slumdog Millionaire” took the mixing award (I’m kicking myself for changing that), while “The Dark Knight” took the sound editing trophy.

    Regarding those shorts, by the way, Pixar remains winless in the animated field since 2001’s “For the Birds” (the gorgeous “La Maison en Petits Cubes” rightly won tonight), while “Toyland,” with its ambitious structure (for a short) and obviously baity subject matter reigned supreme in live action.

    The only award I missed kind of irritated me, I have to admit: Best Documentary Short.  “Smile Pinki” took down what I thought to be the best of the field (and being the most cinematic, the most likely winner), Steve Okazaki’s “The Conscience of Nhem En.”  But there was a concerted publicity effort behind the former that maybe I should have paid more attention to.

    (More, plus a full list of tonight’s Oscar winners, after the jump.)

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  • OFF THE CARPET: Taking a final stab

    OscarsWell, this is what it all boils down to.  I almost DON’T want to go on the record, but I kind of have to, right?

    Anyway, this is the first year I’ve actually seen every single nominated frame of film before the big night so these will either be the most educated guesses I’ve ever given or the most unfortunately influenced, one can’t be too sure.  Sometimes it’s better to predict in a void, other times not.  I did pretty good last year (after a wicked slump for a few years), largely because I succumbed to inevitability more than I have in the past, but I don’t want to be all douchey and put forth my record.  We all have ups and downs.  I’m not personally convinced of probably half of these predictions, so you certainly shouldn’t be either.

    One thing that catches my eye as I go through my “will wins,” “could wins” and “should wins” is that in many cases, I’m predicting the contender that I also feel delivers the best work in the category.  But really, only in one arena could that stink of hopeful expectation (Best Actor).  The rest is just reflective of how this weak, thin season trickled down.  I almost always have a different preference than what actually wins, so I wouldn’t call me the wishful thinking sort when it comes to hammering these out.

    Anyway, you’ll find category-by-category analysis throughout, but I have to say, those sound categories are fuckers this year.  Pardon the vulgarity.  It seems there are limitless possibilities.  I’m of the mind that one film takes both, so take your pick: “Dark Knight,” “Slumdog” or “WALL-E.”  I think the Academy at large doesn’t understand the subtlety of “WALL-E” (much like “No Country for Old Men” last year) and giving “Slumdog” a clean sweep seems to be too much.  But I’ll get into those categories, and more, after the jump.

    There is a slight possibility I’ll stick my head back in here to adjust this prediction or that before Sunday.  If I do, I’ll be sure to draw your attention to it in this space.  Check back later today with a look at all out contributors’ predictions.  For now, here are mine…

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  • Digging into the Oscar nominated shorts

    La Maison en petits cubesThis year Magnolia Pictures and Shorts International are partnering up once again to distribute the 10 Oscar nominated short films, both animated and live action.  The package is set to release this Friday, Feb. 6 in select cities and you can also download the films via iTunes.  Check out Shorts International’s official site for the films here.

    I always like seeing what the world’s filmmakers have cooked up in these categories, so I took an hour or so earlier in the week to have a look at the films in contention.  I have to say, it’s a more impressive collective than we’ve seen in recent years — especially on the live action side of things, where interestingly enough, all the entrants hail from overseas.  I’ll start there.

    Best Short Film (Live Action)
    “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
    “Grisen (The Pig)”
    “Manon sur le bitume (Manon on the Asphalt)”
    “New Boy”
    “Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

    The German film “Auf der Strecke (On the Line),” from director Reto Caffi, has racked up an impressive tally of festival awards.  But for me it brings up the rear.  It’s a somewhat derivative study of love and guilt, and there’s a nice enough twist mid-way through to really drive the point home, but the film drags on a bit and, despite a captivating final image, didn’t have the impact it might have.  I can’t say it’s not a competent piece of narrative filmmaking, however.

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