Sunday, February 26, 2012

Predicting The Oscars

Today is Oscar day and let's start the day of with a charming column about Uggie who should have been nominated for the academy award. And DR even though you don't do movies I am sure you will enjoy this column:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/finalword/story/2012-02-14/uggie-gets-his-due/53199498/1

I have my snacks all ready and my comfortable chair in a good viewing position so here are my predictions:

BEST MOVIE - And I have seen all of them:

Nominated:

The Artist - silent movie featuring Uggie the dog mentioned in the above column. Best movie of the year.

The Tree of Life - worst movie ever nominated for an Oscar. Next time I am thinking about going to a movie like this I am going to pay someone to hit me in the groin with a baseball bat, it would be less painful than watching this stinker,

Midnight In Paris - I did break my boycott of Woody Allen and go to this movie. Good movie, beautiful shots of Paris, nice history, love story.

Moneyball - true story. Baseball movie about big money contracts and a team that won with a small salary output. Worth seeing for Jonah Hill's acting.

War Horse - absolutely loved this movie and I think everyone. Follows the life of a horse as he travels through World War I. Several horses played the one part. Beautiful scenery. A don't miss movie.

The Descendants - Another movie I liked. A true tale of end of life decisions. Anyone caring for the ill or the elderly should see this movie. Moral and ethical decisions abound as a man (George Clooney) deals with a dying wife and out of control daughters. Set in Hawaii, beautiful scenery.

Extremely Lound & Incredibly Close - 9-11 piece about a son searching for information about his dad. Stars Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, and the young Thomas Horn who was discovered when he was on Jeopardy. Very slow, Thomas Horn in his first role is asked to carry the movie and although he did a credible job it was just to much to ask of him. Better movies out there that would have been better nominations.

Hugo -better in 3-D. Good story. Charming movie. Just not Oscar Worthy.

The Help - loved the costumes, the classic cars, the story, and the acting. Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the sixties. Maids end their silence for better treatment.

SHOULD WIN - THE ARTIST

WILL WIN - THE ARTIST

BEST DIRECTOR:

NOMINATED:

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Woody Allen - Midnight In Paris
Terrence Malick - Tree Of Life

SHOULD WIN - Alexander Payne - The Descendants

WILL WIN - Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

BEST ACTOR:

Nominated:

DEMIAN BICHIR, A BETTER LIFE
GEORGE CLOONEY, THE DESCENDANTS
JEAN DUJARDIN, THE ARTIST
GARY OLDMAN, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
BRAD PITT, MONEYBALL

SHOULD WIN - JEAN DUJARDIN, THE ARTIST

WILL WIN - GEORGE CLOONEY, THE DESCENDANTS

BEST ACTRESS:

Nominated

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

SHOULD WIN - Meryl Streep

WILL WIN - Viola Davis.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Nominated:

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close


SHOULD WIN - Christopher Plummer, Beginners

WILL WIN - Christopher Plummer, Beginners


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

SHOULD WIN- Berenice Bejo

WILL WIN - Octavia Spencer

CINEMATOGOPRHY

Nominated:

"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

SHOULD WIN - "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

WILL WIN - "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Nominated:

"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

SHOULD WIN - "The Artist" Ludovic Bource

WILL WIN - "The Artist" Ludovic Bource


OK, those are my picks. Come back tomorrow to see how I did. In the meantime the blog is now yours to comment, update me on your life, or post what your damn well please.

4 comments:

Pat said...

I haven't seen THE ARTIST yet, and have only seen Uggie on his hind legs at some other award show. He's cute, and I like that he was a rescue dog. I think I saw something recently about how there was once, some time ago, a move for a category for animal actors. It fizzled, thank heavens. They have too many categories already. Now if they'd remove some of the existing ones to make room for animals, I'd be all for it.

I can't handicap the Oscars because I've seen so few of them. I'm very surprised ARTIST seems on track to win. The only person I know personally who saw it thought it a giant bore. But she's really critical. The critics I heard on NPR called another one "EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY DULL". But I haven't seen it either, just passing on some funny negativity. That critic also won my heart by saying they were all too long.

Nobody understands TREE OF LIFE from what I hear. The only one on the list for best picture that I've seen is THE HELP. I liked it, with a few reservations, but don't think it worthy of a best picture Oscar. I'm rooting for the two actresses in it to get awards. However, I'm opining from total ignorance, having not seen the other candidates, so I should be totally ignored. {g}

Lady DR said...

Like Pat, I wasn't aware Uggie was a rescue dog. Double kudos to whomever did the casting (g). Also, like Pat, haven't seen the films, don't have a clue who might/should win what, altho Himself is making noises about watching the Oscars. (Hey, it'll be time together and I can get some knitting done.)

Fairly quiet week. Saw the chiro. The hip has plateaued at mostly feeling okay, so long as I wear the TENS for activities and I'm pleased. I did finish Mel's prayer shawl and he seemed quite touched I'd actually paid attention to his request.

Went to the RV show, hoping to see what was available in smaller rigs. With the exception of one 23' Class C, everything, from motorhomes to fifth wheels and trailers ran from 36' to almost 50' (can you imagine manhandling such beasts?) and the prices ran from around $150K to $350K. More than we paid for our house and acre twelve years ago! First, I don't know a lot of folks who can afford the purchase and, second, with gas prices climbing daily, who could afford to take something like that out on the road, at 10 mpg, best bet? Based on my limited observations, most folks came, saw, wandered though and left, shaking their heads and muttering to each other. There was no sign of purchasing. I was surprised at the show having only high-end selections, in today's economy.

William J. said...

Hi Pat

I would like to see them combine short and long documenteries into one catergory. There are several they could combine. Having one for animals would be fun.

What I tell people that think The Artist is boring is try something. Find the person you communicate with most often with. Make an agreement that you won't talk to them for two hours and you will communicate only by silent means. Then follow that with two hours of talking. Which is easier? Not to mention the history which was marvelous. I do agree that EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE was very dull and very slow. It could have been so much more.

Most of the movies nominated would fail your two hour test.

Octivia Spencer receiving the award was the highlight of the evening.

Bill

William J. said...

Hi DR

I hope you watched the OSCARS with Himself and enjoyed them. Billy Crystal did a credible job of hosting and there were some nice moments.

We all need quiet weeks. I am glad the hip seems to be getting a little better and am glad TENS help. Anyone would be touched by a prayer shawl.

RV show sounds like fun. 50 feet! That is to damn long, especially for someone with depth perception. I was guessing with gas prices what they are and where they are going that RV prices would be coming down.

The ones that put the show together didn't really get it from the sounds of it.

Bill