This is an unabashed look at each nominee in the big eight Oscar categories. We will look at all the nominees and the various categories. No prisoners are taken, so take heed and gird your loins.
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Overall Feelings:
I would love a year where Best Picture isn’t a near-forgone conclusion. Everyone and their mother was predicting a Best Picture line-up of this save for The Reader. There is no drama, no surprises, it’s just going to happen like everyone expects. I almost thought about not writing this column for the same reason I didn’t write one for Best Animated Feature. I don’t see the merit of explaining why one film will win a prize that everyone knows will win but doesn’t deserve it. I would be interested to know what would happen if Slumdog Millionaire wasn’t in the running.
My Personal Choice:
Both Milk and The Reader made my Top 10 List, so it’s obviously between them. While The Reader had more emotional resonance with me, I still believe Milk is the better film. The narrative was more engaging, the actors excelled beyond the leads and the director took risks. I feel almost talked out at this point. That’s another problem with this Academy, they have a tendency to keep the same films in all categories. Variety would be a welcome thing.
Who Should Have Been Nominated:
This goes back to the argument between The Wrestler and The Dark Knight. This time, The Wrestler takes it. These films are neck-and-neck in my book, but The Wrestler just resonates a tad more with me. Be it Mickey Rourke’s tortured body after the staple match, Marisa Tomei’s perfectly complimentary performance, the extended deli counter scene, Marisa Tomei’s perfectly complimentary body or what is possibly the best ending of any movie in the past couple years. I just think about that film in a different way than The Dark Knight in that I have no idea how the characters end up at the end of the film, but I will eventually find out what happens next with Batman because of the inevitable sequel.
Who Should Not Have Been Nominated:
Frost/Nixon. Have I said anything yet about this film and my hatred of it? No? Oh, well check here and here.
Who Should Win:
As much as I like Milk, I’m saying The Reader just because I (unlike a whole mess of people) like the ridiculous campaigning of Harvey Weinstein. It shows passion in his films. I’m not exactly sure what the campaigning is for. Maybe it’s just to show directors and actors that he cares about their films. Maybe he has incentives built in. Who knows? By the way, I’ll say this today, but in a few years when a lesser film defeats the one I am passionate about, I’ll call Weinstein a cheat. I did the same thing in 1998 when Shakespeare in Love beat Saving Private Ryan. Still, in this case, The Reader is a quality film. At the time, I was mad at Shakespeare in Love, but I didn’t exactly love it (I was blinded by my fury at it’s win). But, looking at it now, it’s a really great film (though in no way compares to Saving Private Ryan). Still, I’m pulling for the 2005-like upset, but I don’t see it happening.
Who Will Win:
Like I said, I don’t see it happening. Slumdog Millionaire is just too much of a juggernaut and too much of a crowd-pleaser these days. This film will win based on the sole fact of perfect timing. It was the perfect, “little,” “feel-good” movie that involved a cult director and an international feel. It was released by the perfect studio at the perfect time to gain steam and maintain until Sunday.
A Best Picture Poem:
Frost/Nixon was boring,
A big waste of space,
I’d sure like to think,
It’ll come in 5th place.
Benjamin Button is,
As much as I could contend,
Three very long hours,
For an obvious end.
Milk is the best,
Of the Best Picture five,
Sean Penn is getting close,
To the greatest actor alive.
The Reader is worth the money,
Which I paid to see the flick,
I wished there was more Kate,
And absolutely no dick.
Slumdog got people happy,
As much as it got people pissed,
Underpaid kids is the least of their worries,
As the Oscar will not be missed.
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