Amph The Oscar Race: Now Disc. Ranking the Oscar hosts of the past 20 years

One movie I think is well deserving was Kingdom of Heaven. Best historical epic I've seen in a long time. The only reason it got panned was because everyone hated Troy, Alexander, King Arthur and didn't even give this the time of day.

It's Ridley Scott for crying out loud. Only if he would have released the 4-hr Extended Edition in theaters now it would be considered for Best Picture and Director and every other category.

 

What, no Rob Marshall? Well, I doubt he'd get it anyway. He won for the first thing he ever directed (Chicago) and while that film was well-done in its own right,

Although his film won, Marshall did not. Roman Polanski won that year.

 

The problem with "Kingdom of Heaven" was that the central character was just tooooo unbelievable. A blacksmith who can write flawlessly, is a master strategist AND agriculturilist/engineer?

I don't think so.

It's to bad, cause Edward Norton's performance was FANSTASTIC. You know, i almost hope he gets some consideration for Best Supporting Actor. He was brilliant.



Incidentally, last night i saw the Canadian submission for Best Foreign Language film, last night. "C.R.A.Z.Y.", a tale of a young boy growing up in the 60's and 70's, born on Christmas day and thus being told that he has 'special healing powers', trying to come to grips with the social, familial and spiritual repurcussions of his being gay..

Many folks believe that it might actually MAKE the final cut to be nominated for the Oscar..


I'm not entirely sold on THAT, but it IS an incredibly interesting film which does a really good job of capturing the period.. The music used is not only fantastic, but it's brilliantly employed. (The scene where young Zac daydreams an entire church congregation singing the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" as he ascends towards the heavens is tremendous!)

I wish i could find someone to talk to about it who wasn't french, though.. I'm really interested in discussing what EXACTLY the message was concerning why Zac's lover bears a striking resemblance to Jesus, near the end...

I know there's SOMETHING there, i just wish i could nail down what..

 

So far the best film that I've seen this year was Crash. I'm hoping that it'll win at least something.

 

Ha, i'm like the only person on earth who thought "Crash" was terrible... Horribly overwrought, pretentious and overrated to the extreme..

Matt Dillon's character was the only thing that was even remotely interesting (i don't know what it is about that movie that sets me off What do i know, though? Everyone else on Earth seems to love it.)

 

I know how you feel, really. When I saw Sin City, i thought it was stupid, while everybody else loved it. As far as Crash goes, it's hard for me to give a convincingly concrete answer as to why I liked it so much. All I can say is that I left the theater with a genuinely good feeling inside me. The story with Matt Dillon, the Persians and especially Terrence Howard (WOW!) were great, IMO. Maybe in a few years when I'm wiser I'll think of it a lot less but for now, I still think it's a great film.

 

Zaz:

I'm still boycotting the Oscars after what happened with Eternal Sunshine last year. I know how romantic comedies are generally treated, but I was convinced it'd get the Annie Hall treatment.

I do think Munich and Walk the Line will be nominated for sure. Walk the Line will win as a farewell to Johnny Cash. A History of Violence, which was excellent, will probably pick up a screenplay nod and a best supporting actress nod, but I don't think it has a shot at the big awards. Pride and Prejudice was wretched, and I think everybody's pretty much Jane Austened out after the last fifteen years. Brokeback Mountain won't earn anybody any nominations, except for adapted screenplay. I haven't seen Jarhead or Syriana, but I can't imagine either one winning best picture or actor. Although I could be wrong. Traffic did well, as I recall.

Someone mentioned Match Point. I don't see Woody Allen winning another Oscar, sadly. If he couldn't pick one up for the amazing Deconstructing Harry, even in original screenplay (for which he was nominated), his more recent, and progressively uneven and lifeless, efforts don't stand a chance. He's still persona non grata with the public, I think.

They do have to give him a lifetime achievement award pretty soon, though.

 

For making the same film over and over for the last ten years?

There is no point boycotting the Oscars; that's taking them entirely too seriously. Alfred Hitchcock never won a directing award, for instance. It's politics, commercialism, money, the zeitgeist and luck. Sometimes, they get it right. More often, they don't, but it's fun to discuss it. I think...

 

2000 & 2003 has been the only Best Pictures I actually approve of since 97.

98 Elizabeth > Shakespeare in Love
99 Green Mile > American Beauty
00 Gladiator (WON)
01 FOTR > A Beautiful Mind
02 TTT > Chicago
03 ROTK (WON)
04 Aviator > Million Dollar Baby

 

Okay, I can understand the LotR fanaticism (I was glad ROTK won), but Green Mile is sooo not better than American Beauty. Though I do agree about the '98 winner and should-be winner.

Also, MDB, IMO, was much better than Aviator. Aviator had some flaws that seriously did not help it.

 

Zaz:

No, for the work he did when he still had a career. Annie Hall, Manhattan, Husbands and Wives, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Hannah and Her Sisters and Take the Money and Run. And 1997's Deconstructing Harry is perhaps the best of his films-and it's certainly the funniest.

I agree, though, that he's as washed up as you can get.

As far as boycotting the Oscars, that was a figure of speech. I just mean it was a sad turn.

 

I generally like the movies he did before Annie Hall.

I suppose "Brokeback Mountain" may get an acting nom or two; it depends on whether it tanks or not. But neither Ledger nor Gyllenhaal is going to win anything, unless they are very, very lucky, because they will both be considered too young.

 

Zaz: Hilary Swank? Jamie Foxx?

 

It is looking like Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich are really losing steam as serious Oscar threats. Geisha is a critical flop and Munich apparently isn't as good as it should be. Brokeback Mountain could charge right through that wide open door. King Kong and/or Narnia could be in play as both are well-regarded at the moment and getting positive to rave reviews.

 

The LA Critics' Awards, handed out earlier today:

Best Picture

"Brokeback Mountain"

Runner-up: "A History of Violence"

Best Director

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

Runner-up: David Cronenberg
(A History of Violence)"

Best Actor

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote"

Runner-up: Heath Ledger,
"Brokeback Mountain"

Best Actress

Vera Farmiga, "Down to the Bone"

Runner-up: Dame Judi Dench,
"Mrs. Henderson Presents"

Best Supporting Actor

William Hurt, "A History of Violence"

Runner-up: Frank Langella,
"Good Night, and Good Luck"

Best Supporting Actress

Catherine Keener,
"The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Capote,
The Ballad of Jack and Rose, &
The Interpreter

Runner-up: Amy Adams, "June Bug"

Best Screenplay

Capote (Dan Futterman)

The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach)

(TIED)

Best Cinematography

Robert Elswit,
"Good Night, and Good Luck"

Runner-up: Chris Doyle, Kwan Pun Leung, & Yiu-Fai Lai,
"2046"

Best Production Design

2046, "William Chang"

Runner-up: Good Night, And Good Luck,
"James D. Bissell"

Best Music Score

Howl?s Moving Castle ,
"Joe Hisaishi"

Runner-up: Tony Takatani,
"Ryuichi Sakamoto"

Best Foreign-Language Film

Cache, "Director: Michael Haneke"

Runner-up: 2046,
"Director: Wong Kar Wai"

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film

Grizzly Man, "Director: Werner Herzog"

Runner-up: Enron: The Smartest Guys
in the Room,
"Directed by Alex Gibney"

Best Animation

Wallace & Gromit in
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,
"Nick Park & Steve Box"


It is interesting that A History of Violence figured prominently, and Best Actor is looking like a two horse race between Hoffman and Ledger.

 

..man, it's funny to see "2046" getting mentioned..

Most Wong Kar Wai fans that i know actually think it's his worst work.

I saw "The Squid and the Whale" last night.. Great performances all around, and they really did a good job with the script and with capturing the feel of 1986.

Linney could definitely get an actress nomination... Daniels is DESERVING (as is Jesse Eisenberg), but best actor is a tough nut to crack, this year.

 

"Grizzly Man" didn't even get nominated for an Oscar, did it?

 

Hilary Swank is 31, while Jamie Foxx is 38 years old. Heath Ledger is 26 while Jake Gyllenhaal is 25. I doubt if they both get even nominated. Hilary won first time while she was very young, but I think that's more of the exception that confirms the rule; people younger than 30 won't win Oscar for Best Actor no matter how good they are. Of course, it also depends on the competition I guess

 

Hilary Swank is female, which is a whole different story. If there actually is a female leading performance that deserves an Oscar, they're grateful.

Jamie Foxx is black. Let's face it, it may be his only chance, which sucks, but is probable.

EW's take on "Best Picture"

"Munich"
"Syriana"
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Jarhead"
"The Constant Gardener"
"Memoirs of a Geisha"
"The New World"
"Walk the Line"
"Capote"
"A History of Violence"
"The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"
"Rent"
"The Producers"
"Pride & Prejudice"
"Mrs. Henderson Presents"
"Match Point"
"King Kong"
"Narnia"
"Crash"
"Cinderella Man"

Stratch "Memoirs", which tanked, and "Pride & Prejudice" which didn't do well enough at the box office, either.

So far, "King Kong"'s reviews are extraordinary.

 

Heath Ledger is 26 while Jake Gyllenhaal is 25. I doubt if they both get even nominated.

Ledger is virtually certain to get nominated. Gyllenhall is more of a longshot but if Brokeback builds a lot of momentum (which it is doing)...
Besides, Adrien Brody won a couple of years ago and he is the youngest ever to win best actor (27 or whatever). Age isn't a factor if a performance is good enough.

 

Will: Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck, King Kong, Squid and the Whale
Won't: Crash, Jarhead, Syriana, Rent, Narnia

 

Considering its a pretty thinned out year all around I would seriously consider bumping " A History of Violence " from darkhorse to serious contender.

 

I think of all the "big cats" in the Oscars, I'd say the most guaranteed for KK would without a doubt be Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow.

EDIT: For a nomination, I mean to say. Less certain for actually winning. I think the second most-likely nod will be Best Film, but there's a huge gap between that and BA. It's scoring with the critics, now it's gotta score with audiences because if KK underwhelms at the BO it won't be recognized by the AMPAS. Justifiably, because after all, it's expected to do monstrously well.

 

Considering its a pretty thinned out year all around I would seriously consider bumping " A History of Violence " from darkhorse to serious contender.

I would agree. I think the only movie at the moment that can be considered 100% safe for a BP nom is Brokeback Mountain.
Woody Allen's Match Point is rising quickly as well.

 

After seeing " King Kong " yesterday Id have to put it up there too. It wont win Best Picture, but it will be nominated, and it will win all the technical awards, most definentely set design with its awe inspiring rendition of depression era NYC.