2 replies to this topic

[Armenak]

The Academy Awards are a few weeks away and I think that Martin Scorsese will finally get that elusive Oscar after so many losses. The following are the nominees for the top categories, with my commentary written in italics and my prediction in bold.

Best Actor in a Leading Role
- Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond
- Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
- Peter O'Toole in Venus
- Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness
- Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland

Even though all signs point to Whitaker winning for his role as Idi Amin, I think Peter O'Toole will take it because he's old, British, and has given better performances (Beckett, The Lion in Winter) that the Academy has not awarded him for. Why is Will Smith here? Did somebody tell him and the rest of the world that he has talent and forgot to forward me the memo?

Best Actress in a Leading Role
- Penelope Cruz in Volver
- Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal
- Helen Mirren in The Queen
- Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
- Kate Winslet in Little Children

Helen Mirren is winning this, without a doubt. Why didn't they nominate Michael Sheen for his role as that bootlicker Tony Blair? He was very good and convincing. Dame Judi Dench gets her annual nomination; she must be so tired of crossing the Atlantic every year. The Academy feels eternally indebted to her ever since they chose that wench Helen Hunt's sitcom acting in As Good as It Gets over Dench's brilliant performance in Mrs. Brown. Then the following year they gave Dench the award for her *literally* 8 minute performance in Shakespeare in Love. What an insult.

Best Director
- Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
- Stephen Frears for The Queen
- Paul Greengrass for United 93
- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel
- Martin Scorsese for The Departed

I hope they give it to Marty this year. Eastwood already won two years ago (when Scorsese was heavily favored to win), and none of the other directors other than him have as accomplished an oeuvre as Scorsese. Though I was impressed with United 93, I still think this is Scorsese's to lose.

Best Picture
- Babel
- The Departed
- Letters from Iwo Jima
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Queen

If you're going to give him the directing prize, why not just go ahead with best picture as well? Little Miss Sunshine should not be here. It's as if every year the Oscar voters look for some all-American indie film to put into the line-up (Lost in Translation, Sideways, dare I say it - Crash).

Anyway, after that didactic, self-righteous snoozefest Crash was named best picture last year... things can only go up from here. Let's see what the Oscar voters decide and how wrong my predictions are going to be.

And my pick for last year was Good Night, and Good Luck.

Edited by Armenak, 08 February 2007 - 03:55 AM.

[Anoushik]

After almost a year of not seeing movies in the movie theaters I saw "The Departed" last month. It was, the least I can say, intense. My ears are stilll getting used to the endless expletives in every dialogue in the movie. The ending is a shocker. But I liked it. The cast is awesome. Jack Nickolson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, they were awesome.
There were a number of other films I wanted to see but kept putting off.
And hey, what's wrong with Will Smith? He's cute, charming, sensitive, and in my opinion, he translates all of his innate qualities on to film.

[ED]

I will be disappointed if Forest Whitaker wont win a Oscar for his performance in "the last king of Scotland"

very powerful performance