oscars 2009 Tagged Articles at Cinematical
So What Do You Think the 10 Best Pic Nominees Will Be?
Filed under: Awards »
This year's Oscar ceremony will mark the first time we're looking at ten (count 'em, TEN!) different Best Picture nominees -- and while I firmly believe this is a bad move, it also stands as a case of terrible timing. We're still feeling the "quality pinch" that arose with the arrival of the most recent WGA strike, which means ... heck, 2009 might have had a tough time doling out FIVE legitimate Best Pic noms, let alone double that amount.But ten it shall be, and now that we're only a few weeks away from the beginning of the Awards Bait movie season, I thought it would be fun to play a simple guessing game. More specifically, which films do you think will be nominated for Best Picture? True, there are still several films that none of us have seen yet, but you don't need a crystal ball to assume that a few December titles will earn a nomination. (Come to think of it, this particular December looks remarkably skimpy on Oscar Bait.)
Based only on the "industry buzz," I'm confident in assuming that Best Picture nominations will go to films like The Road, A Serious Man, Nine, Up in the Air, and The Lovely Bones ... but where do we look after those ones? The Hurt Locker? Precious? Invictus? Moon? (I wish.) Feel free to chime in with your predictions below, and feel free to check out this Film.com piece that asks the same questions.
400 Screens, 400 Blows - Dark Knight, Not-So-Bright Oscars
Filed under: Columns », 400 Screens, 400 Blows »
I didn't do too badly in my Oscar predictions. At the last minute, I went sentimental and predicted Mickey Rourke over Sean Penn, which was a bad idea, given that the Oscars were all business and duty this week, with no room for anything sentimental or personal. The other big mistake I made was to predict The Dark Knight (55 screens) as a winner in most of its eight categories. Everyone in the free world saw the film and no one can deny that its achievements in these categories were ground-breaking in some cases, and superb in all cases. But the Academy dutifully chose The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for these awards.
I have yet to meet very many people who actually like Benjamin Button, so I think there are two factors at stake. One is the concept in which the movie that employed the most people subsequently gets the most Oscar votes. The other factor states that only a certain type of movie actually gets to win. Benjamin Button is an Oscar movie through-and-through. It's long, first of all, and has a high-class literary pedigree (F. Scott Fitzgerald). It has obvious award bait in all the categories, not only in acting, cinematography, editing and music, but also the lower categories like makeup, visual effects and sound that usually go to summer blockbusters.
Discuss: Oscar Winners of the Future
Filed under: Awards », RumorMonger », Oscar Watch »
The Oscar ballots are in, and as of Monday morning we'll have a fresh slate on which to start obsessing over who will take home the awards in 2010. The Hollywood Reporter already has their three picks: James Cameron's Avatar, Clint Eastwood's soon-to-be-filmed Nelson Mandela biopic The Human Factor, and Peter Jackson's long-awaited adaptation of The Lovely Bones.
I thought two sites could play the all-seeing eye game, and that I'd pose the same question to you based purely off Wikipedia's projected list. What will be in the running for 2010? Will Inglourious Basterds see a glorious return of Quentin Tarantino, who hasn't been nominated since Pulp Fiction? Could Rob Marshall's Nine, chock full of Oscar talent and favorites, be another award laden Chicago? Could Steven Soderbergh return to Academy favor with The Informant? Will The Road be released in time for Viggo Mortensen to be a contender? Could Johnny Depp earn a "here, just take it already" Oscar for Public Enemies? Could Watchmen be a dark horse? (Couldn't you just see the Academy, still stinging from The Dark Knight backlash decide to appease the comic book geeks by nominating Watchmen? "See, we get it! It is a respected genre!")
So, go at it and have fun. No film is too great, too small, or too offbeat to be excluded here, no actor or actress too implausible. Because if there's one thing the nominations this year proved, it's that all bets are off, and you've got the same chance whether you're Bruce Springsteen or Wanted.
I thought two sites could play the all-seeing eye game, and that I'd pose the same question to you based purely off Wikipedia's projected list. What will be in the running for 2010? Will Inglourious Basterds see a glorious return of Quentin Tarantino, who hasn't been nominated since Pulp Fiction? Could Rob Marshall's Nine, chock full of Oscar talent and favorites, be another award laden Chicago? Could Steven Soderbergh return to Academy favor with The Informant? Will The Road be released in time for Viggo Mortensen to be a contender? Could Johnny Depp earn a "here, just take it already" Oscar for Public Enemies? Could Watchmen be a dark horse? (Couldn't you just see the Academy, still stinging from The Dark Knight backlash decide to appease the comic book geeks by nominating Watchmen? "See, we get it! It is a respected genre!")
So, go at it and have fun. No film is too great, too small, or too offbeat to be excluded here, no actor or actress too implausible. Because if there's one thing the nominations this year proved, it's that all bets are off, and you've got the same chance whether you're Bruce Springsteen or Wanted.
Cinematical is Live Blogging The Oscars!
Filed under: Awards », Fandom », Oscar Watch »
UPDATE
Hour One Live Blog
Hour Two Live Blog
Hour Three Live Blog
Sure, you can sit on your couch in boxers, alone, eating straight out of the ice cream container as visions of Penelope Cruz dance around your head -- or you can tune right into Cinematical for another fantastic, fun-filled year of Oscars live-blogging, with not one, not two, but three of our best writers going out of their way to make sure your Oscars night isn't boring.
Beginning tonight at 8pm EST, join Cinematical writers Eric D. Snider, Scott Weinberg and William Goss as they devour Hollywood's biggest night in real time as if it were an In-N-Out burger with all the fixin's. Can't watch the show? Wanna know who's winning what award as it happens? We've got you covered. (And while I may be a bit biased because I work with these guys every day, trust me when I say they are three of the most entertaining dudes I've ever met.)
Since we still have some time before the show, make sure you scroll through all our Oscar-related coverage from this past week. There's also plenty of extra fun to be had over at Moviefone's Oscars hub, as well as indieWIRE's awards hub.
8pm EST. Be here. The first 100 commenters get a free lifetime achievement award from the Academy ... but don't tell them we told you that.
UPDATE: We're now live with the first hour of live blogging!
Discuss: Which Best Pictures Do You Still Watch Regularly?
Filed under: Awards », Fandom », Oscar Watch »
It's Oscar week, which means dozens of retrospectives will be printed in every media format, and marathons of winners and nominees will be playing all week. I always have these grand plans to watch AMC until my eyeballs fall out, but though I dutifully set my DVR, I probably won't get around to Kramer vs Kramer until the summer television hiatus. That's the thing about Oscar winners: they're the Best Picture of a given year, but how many do we race to watch again and again? Glancing back over the winners since 1990, I can only find a few that I keep in constant rotation: Unforgiven, Braveheart, Shakespeare in Love, Gladiator, and LOTR: The Return of the King. Titanic and Dances with Wolves are rarer indulgences.
On the other hand, I've always loathed Forrest Gump, and never made it through Crash (one summer, a class next to the academic office in which I worked played it over and over again, so I've heard it more times than any living person should have). The Silence of the Lambs and Million Dollar Baby leave me wincing too much (the Q-Tip through Maggie's broken nose still makes me gag where a beheading never does). I have never been able to put myself through the anguish of watching Schindler's List again because that lone 1993 viewing is still so fresh in my mind.
On the other hand, I've always loathed Forrest Gump, and never made it through Crash (one summer, a class next to the academic office in which I worked played it over and over again, so I've heard it more times than any living person should have). The Silence of the Lambs and Million Dollar Baby leave me wincing too much (the Q-Tip through Maggie's broken nose still makes me gag where a beheading never does). I have never been able to put myself through the anguish of watching Schindler's List again because that lone 1993 viewing is still so fresh in my mind.
The Oscars Get "Risky"
Filed under: Awards »
The Oscars are going to be "truly different" this year! I swear! For reals!The Hollywood Reporter posts that Academy president Sid Ganis used this year's Nominees Luncheon to talk up changes to the upcoming ceremony. "Cinematographers, editors, composers. All of you guys. You're in for a big surprise." What sort of surprise? Lord only knows, but he promises that it will be truly different, that it'll take "some risks," and "Your categories are being presented in a completely different way. Heads up."
Will winners be announced by baseballs flying at their heads? That's the only thing I can think of with the last statement. "Get ready" might suggest sassy changes, but "heads up" is definitely a warning. Now, since presenters aren't going to be disclosed beforehand, maybe we'll see anger-filled face-offs that can run wild on the pages of TMZ? Christian Bale can get teamed with that DP he loves so much. Lily Tomlin could hang with David O. Russell. Jennifer Aniston could present the lead actress Oscar that could go to Angelina Jolie.
But I bet whatever we dream up will still be better than what we see. I don't want to be a defeatist, but I won't believe in awesome, risky change until I see it.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
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Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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