24 January 2007

FILM : 79th Academy Awards and The Pre-Oscar Talking Points

Oscar fever is back. And the nominees are :-

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio - BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling - HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole - VENUS
Will Smith - THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker - THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza - BABEL
Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

Best motion picture of the year
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

Best animated feature film of the year
CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE

Achievement in cinematography
THE BLACK DAHLIA
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE ILLUSIONIST
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in directing
BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
THE QUEEN
UNITED 93

Achievement in film editing
BABEL
BLOOD DIAMOND
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
UNITED 93

Best foreign language film of the year
AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER

Adapted screenplay
BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
CHILDREN OF MEN
THE DEPARTED
LITTLE CHILDREN
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Original screenplay
BABEL
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
PAN'S LABYRINTH
THE QUEEN


So what's the pre-Oscar talking points this year? Very, very interesting..
  1. Leo DiCaprio was nominated for Blood Diamond and not for The Departed.
  2. Dreamgirls was not nominated for Best Picture although getting 8 nominations; more than any other film.
  3. Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for Best Picture. (.. what say you NM?)
  4. Within the four acting categories, five African-American actors, two Hispanics and one Asian recognized with nominations.
  5. The academy snubbing Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen. Apparently there are some borders the academy still unwilling to cross.
  6. Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Forrest Whitaker could result in three of the four acting Oscars going to African-Americans, something that has never happened before in a single year.
  7. The most exciting category? Best Actress category of course with Helen Mirren, Meryl Streep (her 14th nomination!) and Penelope Cruz as frontrunners.
  8. Streep (57), Mirren (61) and Dench (71) bring the median age among the category's three reigning monarchs to 63.
  9. Glad to see Children of Men in the cinematography and editing category. I just saw the movie last night and it was breathtaking!
  10. The biggest shock? Volver not nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film. Luckily Letters From Iwo Jima was not nominated in that category because if it did, I would be really pissed!
  11. For the Best Original Screenplay category, three of the slots went to subtitled films (Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima and Pan's Labyrinth). Something that has never happened before.
  12. Martin Scorsese was nominated again for best director. It's his seventh nomination. He has never won. Will he?
The 79th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 25th 2007. The ceremony will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres.

11 comments:

jimi said...

Edd, tahun ni adalah tahun yang paling sukar untuk kategori Best Actress. Sapa-sapa yang bertanding bersama legenda Merryl Streep tentu rasa seriau gila. Judi Dench, Helen Mirren? Wowowowo!

Kate Winslet? it is already five times been nominated. I mean five times!. The most underrated and the weakest nominee among five fabulous ladies this year.

Ko tak cerita pun antara yang tercalon - paling muda Abigail Breslin untuk Supporting dalam Little Miss Sunshine! Adakah dia lebih menyerlah dari Dakota Fanning?

Somehow, aku rasa Leo lebih bagus dalam Blood Diamond dari The Departed. Hmmm, betul sangkaan aku.

Martin Scorsese will never win or win this time. If he never win, he will get bigger award like Lifetime Achievment someday.

Best Picture will go to Babel(Based on previous traditions), But Martin get his award finally.So, it is split to satisfy both parties.(like Ang Lee(directing) and Crash (best picture) last year?)

Yes, i do believe this is the most ethnic(betul ke term aku ni?) nominations ever!

I dont care about anything, i just want Miss J Hud win. Is that so much to ask, Edd?

Nazim Masnawi said...

It's really, really, really weird that Dreamgirls didn't get the nom for Best Pic.

However...

The more important question is... WHERE THE FUCK IS THE FOUNTAIN?!? The cinematography, the visual effect, the score – I didn't see any film with better shit in that department last year.

And c'mon, Jimi, Leo's accent in Blood Diamond is downright laughable. Plus, the filmmakers don’t take the time to reference Leo’s obvious prettyboy looks! I mean, whatta fuck, Danny Archer is one of those really rough and tumble characters – a hard drinking, smoking killing, but that’s rarely reflected in Leo’s face or body! For me, any best acting in the world can't outshine that fact!

And ol' Marty WILL get his Oscar. A lot of people find The Departed primed for a "lifetime achievement award" gift to him and to them I say "fuck off!"

Edd Vedder said...

jimi, nazim..
"..Adakah dia (Abigail) lebih menyerlah dari Dakota Fanning?"

-tidak sama sekali. Berdasarkan hype di Sundance Festival ttg kontroversi performance Dakota dlm Hounddog, it's a matter of time Dakota will be nominated. Tapi of course Abigail ttp menyerlah dlm LMS, and deserved her noms.

"..Somehow, aku rasa Leo lebih bagus dalam Blood Diamond dari The Departed."
- Ermm.. I disagree. Aku terbayangkan watak Archer tu, kalau la dimainkan oleh Clive Owen.. pasti Blood Diamond akan jadi 10x better. Tapi dlm Departed aku rasa Leo mmg perfect for the part. He owns it.

"..i just want Miss J Hud win"
- aku belum tgk Dreamgirls. Tapi aku sure J Hud akan menang.

Now that u mentioned it Nazim.. aku pun pelik kenapa The Fountain x dicalonkan utk original score. Aku belum tgk filemnya tapi the score.. damn!

Dan aku agree dgn Nazim.. Marty will win this year. He's due.

rewan ishak said...

The biggest shock Volver not nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Diorang dah rabun ke aper. Best Original Score goes to Pan's Labyrinth. Soundtrack yg sungguh hebat.

Aku setuju pasal Leo did a better job in The Departed. Clive Owen is definitely a better choice for Danny Archer. But still Blood Diamond is a great film. Cinematography & editing yg hebat.

My personal choice for Best Picture is Little Miss Sunshine. A little film that shines. Babel punya emosi yg kuat. Tapi last year punya ensemble film, Crash dah menang.

Still waiting for a good copy of Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

Nazim Masnawi said...

"My personal choice for Best Picture is Little Miss Sunshine. A little film that shines. Babel punya emosi yg kuat."

Wahah, man! This sarcasm is so good, it should have been mine.

rewan ishak said...

"I don’t think Little Miss Sunshine is a bad movie. It was entertaining, and it generally featured more laughs per half hour than most of the sitcoms on TV right now. But it’s not a great movie. This film shouldn’t make anyone’s top ten list unless they only saw nine other films this year."

I know Little Miss Sunshines & Babel are listed in ur worst movies 2006. I saw 10 movies including Little Miss Sunshine. So comfirm lah it's in my top 10 list :)

Edd Vedder said...

rewan..
"..Still waiting for a good copy of Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men."

-dah ada. Aku dh download. Dekat kedai pun dah ada. It was awesome. Watch how Cuaron shot the ambush and the battle scene. Ternganga kejap aku..

Zack said...

I think I'll be watching just for Ms DeGeneres. Thank you v much.

Nazim Masnawi said...

"I think I'll be watching just for Ms DeGeneres."

See? Aku dah agak dah kau ni sebenarnya taklah straight sangat.

maberik said...

according to many(south-africans), DiCaprio's accent was *spot-on* for a south-african english. tapi aku pun rasa dia lebih layah dicalonkan utk The Departed.

great site btw.

Edd Vedder said...

maberik.. welkam dood.