The Oscars are ridiculous.
But hey, that's why we love them. And I'm not talking about the red carpet. I don't really care whether Meryl Streep will be wearing a dead raccoon from Stella McCartney.
No, I'm talking about the awards themselves - 90% of which end up in the hands of film makers from the English speaking world.
Yes, I know there's a category for Best Foreign Films, but that's for some absurd reason considered an inferior category, because once in a great while a foreign film will actually be "upgraded" into Best Films.
That happened to Amelie, La Vita e Bella, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, reminding the great popcorn eating public that there are films produced in other languages than English. And hey, sometimes they even find an American distributor, so they're eligible to be ignored during award season.
Still the Oscars are great! I love the show, the glamor, and the senseless competition between huge egos who always thank their mothers, agents, and nail technicians.
So ladies and gentlemen, here's my own list of nominees. And in the spirit of the Oscars, my nominees are only from English speaking films.
BEST FILM:
The Informant!
Up in the Air
Away We Go
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
An Education
A Single Man
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
WINNER:
Up in the Air
BEST DIRECTOR:
Lone Scherfig, An Education
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Tom Ford, A Single Man
Steven Soderbergh, The Informant!
WINNER: Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
BEST ACTRESS:
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Robin Wright Penn, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
Carrey Mulligan, An Education
Maya Rudolph, Away We Go
Winner: Robin Wright Penn, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee
BEST ACTOR:
Michael Stuhlberg, A Serious Man
Matt Damon, The Informant!
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Jeff Bridges, A Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Winner: Colin Firth, A Single Man
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Melanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Away We Go
Mo'Nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Winner: Mo'Nique, Precious
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Michael Fassbender, Fish Tank
Peter Sarsgaard, An Education
Fred Melamed, A Serious Man
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
WINNER:
Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
(500) Days of Summer - Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
The Invention of Lying - Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson
A Serious Man - Ethan and Joel Coen
WINNER:
(500) Days of Summer - Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
and some more off beat categories ...
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR:
Brüno
BIGGEST SURPRISE THAT EASILY COULD HAVE BEEN CHEESY:
(500) Days of Summer
MOST OVERRATED FILM OF THE YEAR:
Julie and Julia
MOST UNEVEN MANUSCRIPT IN A FILM WITH MOMENTS OF SHEER BRILLIANCE:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
MOST WONDERFUL ART DIRECTION IN A FILM THAT MADE YOU WISH YOU WERE ON DRUGS:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
BEST SCRIPT IN A MOVIE THAT WAS POORLY DIRECTED: The Invention of Lying
BEST ACTING IN A FILM THAT WAS SOMEWHAT BORING:
The Last Station
BEST WRITTEN FEMALE CHARACTER IN A MOVIE THAT SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED TWO OR THREE OSCAR NOMINATIONS BUT WAS TOTALLY IGNORED BECAUSE THE WORLD OFTEN IS UNFAIR:
Pippa Lee, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller
That's it.
So now go and enjoy some great foreign movies as well like The Maid (Chile), Terribly Happy (Denmark), The White Ribbon (Germany/Austria), and The Prophet (France).
***********
Read The Tsar's Dwarf (Hawthorne Books)
"A curious and wonderful work of great human value by a Danish master." Sebastian Barry, Man Booker finalist (Click on the picture to go to the book's Amazon page)
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6 comments:
Hmmmm, looks like I should watch The Private Lives of Pippa Lee. I love strange titles, and I love great female protags even more. It's on my wishlist, people!
I loved Up In The Air too. Hm, torn between that and Hurt Locker. The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - love the title, will look out for it. Yes, 500 Days should've been there. What the hell with the stuffy Academy, huh? And i think you were being awfully generous about The Last Station. "Somewhat boring"? It made Driving Miss Daisy look like Die Hard.
Cheers Peter!
"The Last Station made Driving Miss Daisy look like Die Hard." That's hilarious. I love it!!!
Glad to be of service.
All right. Bets are on. Come on over and win yourself some PIE.
If Keanu Reeves wasn't part of Pippa Lee, I would watch it.
I refuse to pay good money to watch Keanu Reeves.
If I fast forward during his scenes, will I miss much? Your great review is piquing my interest...
Out of all the nominations, I'm most sure of Christoph Waltz. Seriously, the best performance this year. However, he was only that good because of the script. Imho, this movie is Tarantino's masterpiece.
Sheri
Keaunu Reever can be wooden at times, but he is very good in Pippa Lee. He is believable and plays against character, so don't be too prejudiced :-)
I totally disagree with your comment about Christoph Walz. And so does Quentin Tarantino himself who has been quoted as saying that Waltz saved his film by playing a VERY difficult part so well. That's exactly why he's winning all the supporting actor awards.
Thanks for disagreeing with me though. You should do that more often :-)
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