If I Had A Vote

January 20, 2010

We are mere days away from the final collection of votes for the upcoming Academy Awards. An interesting article posted on Hollywood Elsewhere points to the problems people within the Academy are having in filling out all ten nominating spots on their ballot for Best Picture.

How is it that these people, whose lives revolve around films and filmmaking, are unable to come up with a top ten list of best pictures?? Even casual moviegoers can rattle off a top ten list of films from 2009, and they don’t have the enormous benefit of being mailed screeners in the fall. It really speaks to the worthlessness of the Academy and the Oscars in general, and reveals the entire enterprise as devoid of merit or substance.

Given the fact that the people in the Academy know as much about film as your average pustules sore, I suppose I’ll pretend like I’m a member and go over what would be my ballot entries if I had a vote.

BEST PICTURE

(caveat – I have yet to see Crazy Heart, which is apparently wonderful)

1. The Hurt Locker – simply the best film of the year in a fairly weak one. Concussive, exciting, visceral.
2. Up In The Air
3. Inglourious Basterds – I hate putting this on the list, but it’s pretty well done.
4. An Education
5. Precious
6. Moon – a low budget gem.
7. The Watchmen – I have really started to love this film, which is much deeper than the average film of this sort.
8. District 9 – Just a brutal and searing film.
9. Antichrist – a magnetic and challenging art film.
10. The Hangover

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
2. Jason Reitman for Up In The Air
3. Joel and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man – a flawed film but with creative direction.
4. Lee Daniels for Precious – flashy direction here … he’s one to watch.
5. Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds- I almost chose Lone Sherfig here, but, in the end, Tarantino’s direction stands out more.

BEST ACTOR

(again, I haven’t seen Jeff Bridges yet …)

1. Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds – this is not a supporting role here, not if Anthony Hopkins can win Best Actor in Silence of the Lambs.
2. Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker
3. Sam Rockwell for Moon
4. George Clooney for Up In The Air
5. Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man – not really a fan of this fairly one-note performance, which is why it’s down here. I almost put Joseph Gordon-Levitt in here for 500 Days Of Summer, since I enjoyed that performance more. And I almost put in Sharlto Copley for District 9 in here as well.

BEST ACTRESS

1. Carey Mulligan for An Education – a revelation.
2. Gabby Sidibe for Precious – she gave this character much more spunk than what was written.
3. Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia- more than just an impersonation. Streep made Julia Child sexy, which is no small feat.
4. Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side – the best she’s ever been.
5. Zoe Saldana for Avatar – the only piece of heart and soul in the film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Peter Sarsgaard for An Education
2. Matt Damon for Invictus – a surprising role for him.
3. Zachary Quinto for Star Trek – you couldn’t take your eyes off the guy whenever onscreen. It’s a total reinvention of the character.
4. Jackie Earle Haley for The Watchmen – one of the best performances of the first half of 2009, surprised it’s not getting more heat.
5. Anthony Mackie in The Hurt Locker

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Mo’Nique for Precious
2. Vera Farmiga for Up In The Air- sexy and sultry, Farmiga does wonders with an averagely-written character.
3. Melanie Laurent for Inglourious Basterds
4. Emma Thompson for An Education
5. Marion Cotillard for Public Enemies – the best thing in the movie by far.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Up In The Air
2. Precious – I perceive that this film probably hits closer to the book than any of the others, I just think UITA feels better.
3. Where The Wild Things Are – lots of awesome character stuff developed to flesh this script out.
4. An Education
5. Public Enemies

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. A Serious Man
3. Up
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Moon

BEST EDITING

1. The Hurt Locker
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Star Trek
4. District 9
5. Avatar

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Inglourious Basterds – just for that shot near the end with Laurent’s face superimposed over the billows of smoke, which is my favorite shot of the year.
2. A Serious Man- Deakins is God.
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Star Trek
5. The Watchmen – I wanted to put The White Ribbon in here, but I have yet to see it (every still I’ve seen is breathtaking, though).

BEST ART DIRECTION

1. Where The Wild Things Are
2. Star Trek
3. The Watchmen
4. An Education
5. Antichrist

SOUND MIXING

1. Star Trek
2. District 9
3. The Hurt Locker
4. Drag Me To Hell
5. Avatar

SOUND EDITING

1. The Hurt Locker
2. Avatar
3. District 9
4. Star Trek
5. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

BEST SCORE

1. Up
2. Public Enemies
3. Where The Wild Things Are – rethinking this one, because it’s probably the most electric score of the year.
4. The Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans – unforgettable soundtrack.
5. Star Trek

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. The Cove – easily, by a landslide.
2. Anvil: The Story Of Anvil

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Up
2. The Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Cloudy With a Chance For Meatballs

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. Avatar – it’s this film’s bread and butter, and they are stupendous.
2. 2012 – the winner had it not been for Cameron’s revolution.
3. District 9
4. Where The Wild Things Are – contained some of the most whimsical and fascinating effects of the year in my mind.

BEST MAKEUP

1. District 9
2. Star Trek
3. Terminator: Salvation

Yeah, so … those are my choices. We shall see if any of these are close to correct.

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1-31-10
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With the DGA and the Producer’s Guild lining up behind Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, it’s pretty much guaranteed to take the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. And that’s a good thing; it was the best film of 2009 in a weak year. Just as long as Avatar doesn’t win, I’m fine.

1-29-10
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It’s hard to believe that Miramax will now be absorbed into Disney and will disappear forever. This is the studio that produced gems like Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, and Clerks. Of course, it also produced over-hyped crap like The English Patient and The Aviator.

Hmm … perhaps it was for the best after all.

1-22-10
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My first thought when I saw these promotional stills for the upcoming Oscar show was: “Geez, Steve Martin looks like he’s lost or in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s.” My second thought was: “Man, this show is going to feel like it’s Oscars 1978.”

1-21-10
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This is a surprisingly in-depth look behind the scenes at the making of Avatar. Like the movie itself, there is very little attention paid to the story, while the effects take center stage.

1-20-10
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This news segment is interesting in that it shows how defensive and weird Mel Gibson has become in recent years. That 2006 anti-Semitic remark still haunts him. I say it’s time to move on.

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