Feb
22
2009

THE NOMINEES
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married – A couple of months ago it seemed like Anne Hathaway might take this one, but in the time since then, we’ve seen the incredible momentum of Kate Winslet grow, in addition to that of Meryl Streep. It true, this category does have a history of awarding young ingenues, but it’s looking like this isn’t going to be one of those years after all. In this crop of roles and nominations, Hathaway is actually my favorite. I like the movie, I like the part and I think she does a very good job in what could have been totally overacted. It is, of course, only her first nomination, and at 26, if she keeps picking smart roles like this one, I’m sure we’ll see her here again eventually. Let’s just hope she doesn’t have to wait quite as long as Winslet did.
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Jan
30
2009

I don’t generally put a lot of stock in what wins Best Picture each year. As I mentioned in a previous post, I tend to look more fondly at the winners and nominees of the screenplay awards. There’s usually at least one nominee in this category that disappoints, but this year, the Academy has excelled at mediocrity in the their list of the five best films of the year. I don’t think it was a particularly great year for film, but I still think that even they could have done far better.
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Jan
29
2009
This one is pretty transparent. Not to minimize some of the other nominees (well, actually, I will be doing that with at least two of them), but this is one man’s Oscar to lose. Continue Reading »
Jan
28
2009

The screenplay awards are always my personal favorites. Many of my more favorite films tend to get nominated in these categories (though it tends to occur more in Original Screenplay). Sadly, though, this year’s crop of Adapted Screenplay nominees is fairly uninventive and I definitely think that at least two of these should have been left off the list in favor of others. What should and could have been a more interesting and competitive race has been reduced to a fairly transparent sure-thing of a category.
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Jan
25
2009

I always find the supporting categories to be much more interesting than the leads and this year is no exception. I don’t actually have a real preference for a winner, I’d be fine with any of them taking home the gold dude, though there seems to be general consensus that there’s only one option for the win.
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