Here are my predictions for Oscar 2009. More than the actual awards themselves, I'm looking forward to the show as a production. Writer-director Bill Condon (
Gods and Monsters,
Dreamgirls), is exec-producing the show, and A-list star Hugh Jackman (
Australia,
Wolverine), is hosting the shin-dig. It should be a different atmosphere this year. Very curious to see how it all pans out. Anyways, without further ado, here are my predictions:
Best PictureWinner:
Slumdog MillionaireMy choice:
Slumdog MillionaireNote: If Benjamin Button were to upset I'd be pretty happy. But
Slumdog is the film of the moment.
Best DirectorWinner: Danny Boyle,
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice: David Fincher,
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonNote: This is a very tough decision to make. Boyle has really evolved as a filmmaker, and he brought a lot of flair and style and energy to
Slumdog Millionaire. But Fincher's craft and sensibilities have really been maturing. He should have been nominated for his brilliant work in last year's masterpiece
Zodiac, but with
Button, he really turned a corner, showing a side of himself as a storyteller that he never has.
Best ActorWinner: Sean Penn,
MilkMy choice: Mickey Rourke,
The WrestlerWouldn't it be cool...if Richard Jenkins won for
The Visitor?
Best ActressWinner: Kate Winslet,
The ReaderMy choice: Anne Hathaway,
Rachel Getting MarriedNote: Winslet should've been nominated for her work in
Revolutionary Road. Not that she's bad in
The Reader -- far from it. It's just that Hathaway was a revelation, really coming into her own with the best written role of her career. I hope it leads to good stuff down the path.
Best Supporting ActorWinner: Heath Ledger,
The Dark KnightMy Choice: Heath Ledger,
The Dark KnightNote: Heath had a tough act to follow with the role of the Joker, which had been made famous by Jack Nicholson about 20 years earlier. He totally owned
The Dark Knight. However, I'd laugh my ass off if Robert Downey Jr. won for
Tropic Thunder.
Best Supporting ActressWinner: Penelope Cruz,
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
My Choice: Marisa Tomei,
The WrestlerBut...if Taraji P. Henson or Amy Adams won for their equally impressive work, I'd be happy. This is a strong category.
Best Original ScreenplayWinner: Dustin Lance Black,
MilkMy choice: Mike Leigh,
Happy Go LuckyNote: It'll never happen, but if Martin McDonagh heard his named called up to the podium for his truly original
In Bruges screenplay, that'd rule. I'd argue that
Milk was a rather traditionally conceived screenplay, and was bolstered by stylish direction and a powerhouse performance from Penn. Reward something truly original, like
In Bruges, Happy-Go-Lucky, or even the subversively brilliant
Wall*E, a film that used very little actual dialogue, but relied upon genius plotting and a streamlined narrative to tell an extremely compelling story.
Best Adapted ScreenplayWinner: Simon Beaufoy,
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice: Simon Beaufoy,
Slumdog MillionaireWhy: However contrived, this is a masterful effort by Beaufouy. In adapting the novel
Q&A, he fused an old-school, Hollywood romance with a new-school, non-linear sensibility, creating a wild and fresh feeling story that while ultimately predictable, thrills you for a brisk two hours.
Best Animated FilmWinner:
Wall*EMy Choiuce:
Wall*EWhy?
Wall*E is my favorite animated movie of all time.
Best CinematographyWinner: Anthony Dod Mantle,
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice: Claudio Miranda,
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Note: This is my favorite category every year. And it's always damn near impossible to pick a favorite. Film is a medium consisting, first and foremost, of the visual image. In my opinion, the most important aspect to a film is how it looks. You've got a massive movie screen to fill, and if you're projecting an image that isn't well composed, well, you might as well stop right there. Mantle, shooting in various film speeds and stocks, made
Slumdog Millionaire feel vital and alive in a way that few films have in recent memory. Sure, he ripped Tony Scott off a lot, but Mantle juggled a lot of different aspects of the craft in composing his film. However, the visual artistry of
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button cannot be dismissed. The film, simply put, was one of the most ravishing things I've ever seen on a big screen. Miranda's use of light, texture, shadow, and color, under the supervision of Fincher, was something that washed over me, making me feel warm and soothed on the inside. But hell -- if Wally Pfister won for
The Dark Knight, I'd jump for joy as well.
Best EditingWinner: Chris Dickens,
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice: Chris Dickens,
Slumdog MillionaireNote: The editing of
Slumdog is relentless yet extremely coherent. It's a fabulous effort.
Best Visual EffectsWinner:
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonMy Choice:
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonWhy? Flawless, groundbreaking work.
Best Original ScoreWinner:
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice:
Slumdog MillionaireWhy? Lots of catchy, exotic tunes.
Best Original SongWinner: Jai Ho,
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice: Jai Ho,
Slumdog MillionaireWhy? It's a catchy beat.
Best CostumesWinner: Michael O'Connor,
The DuchessMy Choice: Jacqueline West,
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonNote: An almost impossible category to guess. It could easily go to
Button. But the work in
The Duchess was big and flashy and very realistic feeling.
Best DocumentaryWinner:
Man on WireMy Choice:
Man on WireBut, wouldn't it be cool if...Werner Herzog got a chance to thank the Academy?
Best Foreign Language FilmWinner:
Waltz With BashirMy Choice: Can't Say
Sadly, I haven't seen any of the nominated films. But not for lack of desire. They just haven't opened near me yet. Really want to see
Bashir, and really want to see France's selection
The Class.
Best Art DirectionWinner:
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonMy Choice:
The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonWhy? Beause it was f'ing gorgeous to look at.
Best Sound EditingWinner:
The Dark KnightMy Choice:
The Dark KnightBest Sound MixingWinner:
Slumdog MillionaireMy Choice:
Slumdog MillionaireBest Animated Short FilmWinner:
PrestoMy Choice:
PrestoBest Live Action Short FilmWinner:
New BoyMy Choice: Don't really have one. This is a total guess.
Best Make-UpWinner:
ButtonMy Choice:
ButtonWhy? Because the work done was brilliant.
Best Documentary Short SubjectWinner:
The Final Inch (total guess)
Greg Kinnear is an unsurprising stand-out in Flash of Genius (***), a well done but dry biopic about the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper only to have his creation stolen by Ford Motors. Kinnear always has a way of charming himself into the audience's good graces, and here, he's alternatively worried and neurotic, while affable and inspirational. But the film is too by-the-numbers to create any vivid, lasting impression, which is possibly due to the fact that the made-for-TV-feel arrives as a result of a rookie director at the helm (Marc Abraham, the prolific producer of Children of Men, The Family Man, and Dawn of the Dead).
Barry Levinon's amusing but inconsequential Hollywood satire What Just Happened (***) is worth watching if you're a fan of industy in-jokes, stars playing themselves (with the above pictured Bruce Willis doing just that in a hilariously self-effacing cameo), and a group of know-it-all filmmakers poking fun at the business they all obviously love so much. It's nowhere near as good as Levinson's other, infinitely superior black comedy Wag the Dog, which can probably be chalked up to the fact that Wag the Dog was written by David Mamet, while What Just Happened has been curiously re-shaped by original novelist Art Linson into a shambling screenplay. Robert DeNiro is great as the stressed out producer juggling his work and his three ex-wives, and if you are counting down the days (like me) until Entourage returns, What Just Happened should satisfyingly fill that gap.
