A week from January 22’s announcement of Oscar nominees is the collectively eyebrow-raising reactions to what had become the year’s big SNUBS at the most prestigious awards for movies. And as always, aided by money and politics, many of the deserving will eventually end up losing. I’m putting my Oscar hat to share with you my thoughts on who were left out, who will win, and who should win at this years Oscars.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Let’s start with the biggest SNUB. And that goes to – tada – The Boss. Bruce Springsteen’s The Wrestler aptly complements the bittersweet subtle smack that was delivered in the movie of the same title. The Wrestler won this year’s original song at the Globes. But not even a nomination here. And for me that’s severely outrageous. Another surprise deletion is Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood singing with Jamie Cullum in a heartwarming song deserved even just a nod.
WHO WILL WIN AND WHO SHOULD WIN: Down to Earth. While Academy members are swooned over Slumdog, they know Down to Earth is a far superior song over the two Bollywood songs. It’s also important to note that the Academy at one time decided to revise their rules for the Original Song to prevent one movie from garnering more than one nomination thereby blocking other movies. This happened recently over the last two years (Enchanted and Dreamgirls got more than one noms each). I guess that didn’t get through this year.
Here are the nominees:
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)
O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire)
Down to Earth (Wall-E)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: There’s no competition here. HEATH LEDGER will eventually receive a posthumous Oscar and should win. But it’s rather odd that Hoffman is receiving a nod in this category when in Doubt, his performance was a sort of shoo-in for a Best Actor nom. It is delightfully surprising to see Shannon here coz for a short period of time in Revolutionary Road, he rendered a memorably mind-blowing performance. Brolin was also pretty good in Milk but I’m sensing they gave it to him this year because he was left out from last year’s list after he gave a really, really good performance in No Country for Old Men. Downey is easily one to pick for the best performance in the hilarious Thunder. And he’s easily one of the main reasons for the greatness that is Iron Man.
BIG SNUBS: One -- Michael Sheen -- who is underrated in Frost/Nixon. He keeps the hot wheels rolling in this movie, which could have easily become a boring blabbering interview. I think he deserved even just a nomination. Two – Not a big fan of Slumdog, but I think Dev Patel gave depth to the movie and I thought he pulled a good performance.
Here are the nominees:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger THE DARK KNIGHT
Philip Seymour Hoffman DOUBT
Robert Downey, Jr. TROPIC THUNDER
Michael Shannon REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Josh Brolin MILK
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Adams gave a rather forgettable performance in Doubt, in my opinion. Davis only had a very short screen time in Doubt but very powerful. I don’t know if it was that worthy. Over Tajari Henson, I would have chosen Blanchett in Button. Button is an over-hyped movie lacking heart and humanity, which isn’t good because the themes it tackled were along those lines. But not entirely though, coz I thought Blanchett gave the movie the humanness it deserved. So in my opinion, there are only two deserving nominees here: Cruz and Tomei.
WHO WILL WIN, WHO SHOULD WIN: Penelope Cruz. It will be her time to shine. Tomei has had hers for My Cousin Vinny. And that’s usually the case with the Oscars, especially that Cruz has been nominated before and didn’t win.
Here are the nominees:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Amy Adams DOUBT
Tajari Henson THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Viola Davis DOUBT
Marisa Tomei THE WRESTLER
BEST ACTRESS: This is a rather interesting category. I’m guessing Streep, who pulled off another amazing performance, won’t win although she’s recently won SAG. It’s surprising to see Melissa Leo here coz she does give a wonderfully heartbreaking performance in the indie hit Frozen River. But I bet she won’t win. And with the publicity and campaign they are pulling for Changeling, Jolie became a lock-in. Even before Rachel Getting Married was finished, Hathaway already received Oscar buzz surrounding her turn as Kym, a re-emerging rehab queen showing up for her sister’s wedding. What’s laughable is that if they had to nominate Winslet it would have to be for Revolutionary Road. But why oh why for The Reader – which is essentially Michael Berg’s (Ralph Fiennes/David Kross) story and not Hannah Schmitz (Winslet). And in my opinion, Road was a tour-de-force performance for Winslet.
WHO WILL WIN: Next to Streep, Winslet is one of the working, living actresses who have been nominated many times. But since she has never won, so I’m guessing it’s Winslet’s turn.
WHO SHOULD WIN: My best actress is actually Sally Hawkins as an exasperatingly joyful lass in Happy-Go-Lucky. But since she’s not nominated, I’d have to say Streep should win.
SNUBS: Besides Hawkins and Winslet for Revolutionary Road, Kristin Scott Thomas for I’ve Loved You So Long. She has already won the European Awards.
Here are the nominees:
BEST ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie CHANGELING
Meryl Streep DOUBT
Anne Hathaway RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Melissa Leo FROZEN RIVER
Kate Winslet THE READER
BEST ACTOR: Penn, Langella, and Mickey Rourke are lock-in nominees. So there are no surprises here compared to Jenkins in The Visitor, which is a well-deserved nomination. I thought Button didn’t come across as how I expected to be mostly because of Pitt’s performance.
WHO WILL WIN, WHO SHOULD WIN: With buzz surrounding the comeback of the year, Rourke won’t have a hard time winning this race. Penn’s performance is another triumph, but since he has won an Oscar, this slims out his chances. Still there’s Langella. He has been around Hollywood for 40 years and still no Oscar. And many Oscar voters are oldies. Hmmm…
BIG SNUB: Dubbed as his last screen performance, Clint Eastwood’s Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino is a towering magnificence. Oscars used to love him. But this year of his two movies, only Changeling gets 3 nominations excluding his actual involvement. Where’s the love now, Oscars?
Here are the nominess:
BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella FROST/NIXON
Richard Jenkins THE VISITOR
Sean Penn MILK
Mickey Rourke THE WRESTLER
Brad Pitt THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
BEST DIRECTOR: This is one category that I am also severely outraged. One major reason why The Reader didn’t work for me was because of poor direction. The first half was a boy’s fetish dream and the second a supposedly gritty court-drama. But the whole movie fails miserably because the story does not concretely establish something to root for. And to nominate Daldry as Best Director? Never mind. I’m sure he’s an Oscar favorite. His 3 most popular movies have garnered a whopping total of 17 nominations.
WHO WILL WIN: Being famous for overlooked in the past, Fincher has had a prolific career of making movies with cult following. And without any Oscar statuette yet, I’m guessing he will win.
WHO SHOULD WIN: In contrast to The Reader, what makes Milk one of the most compelling dramas of the year is (besides the winning turn by Sean Penn) because of how the movie was put together by Van Sant.
BIG SNUBS: Again, Clint Eastwood for Gran Torino or Changeling. Chris Nolan made the best superhero blockbuster, which wasn’t only a crowd pleaser but most importantly critically-praised. He deserved a nod.
Here are the nominees:
BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry THE READER
Ron Howard FROST/NIXON
Danny Boyle SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
David Fincher THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Gus Van Sant MILK
BEST PICTURE: Slumdog has been winning almost every major awards at different critics circles and major award-giving bodies, including the Globes. And while Button has major star power it doesn’t have enough meat to bleed magnificence. Frost/Nixon is the kind of compelling drama that spells Oscars but in this time and season, it won’t withstand the pressure that is Button or Slumdog.
WHAT WILL WIN: Slumdog Millionaire.
WHAT SHOULD WIN: Since there’s no The Wrestler here, I think Milk deserve to win. But being an underdog over Slumdog, it won’t.
BIG SNUBS: I would love to see Wall-E and The Dark Knight here. But nope. They’re too hip for the oldies at the Academy.
Here are the nominees:
BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Find out the actual Oscars results come February 22, 2008. Thanks for reading this very long rant. Hehehe.
Oscars 2009: Who Will Win, Who Should Win
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