JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonHas the Academy developed Oscar taste? – Including list of all 2008 Nominees
February 24th 2008 00:03
2008 – The Cinema Year that Matters?
And the winner is....
Anyone who was around this time last year will know that John Doe doesn’t think to highly of the last two decades of Academy Awards. See John Doe’s Nominations: Best Pictures 1997-2006 , John Doe’s 10 WORST Best Picture Winners and John Doe: 9 Movies that Piss me off - Parodies Included.
Well this year JD has had to eat humble pie and watch a disturbing trend broken. Seeing the list of nominees for the most coveted trophy in the film community just didn’t stir up the same seething disdain for a prize of excellence bestowed on mediocre work.
How can I put this? It was like being a kid and believing in Santa Clause, then finding out he doesn’t exist. Only too have evidence surface 20 years later that hints it could all be real after all. Like loosing all hope of classic beauty returning to cinema then seeing Monica Belluci in Malena for the first time. Giving up on complex, flawed characters existing in uniquely designed and staged universes and microcosms, then seeing Donnie Darko. You get the idea.
What’s next, a David Lynch dream experience becoming the highest grossing picture of all time? Well maybe that’s a little extreme.
Sure the technical awards (Cinematography, Sound, FX, Screenplay etc) have always been consistent in at least nominating worthy winners. The problem lies with the usual selection for the top prizes of Best actor/actress lead and supporting, Best Picture and Best Director.
Paul Thomas Andersonb and The Coen Brothers for Best Director
It’s not that over the last 15 years or so some great films and performers haven’t been saluted, just they invariably fail to follow through on spotlighting true innovation and poetry in visual narrative, storytelling or channeling of character.
The Best Picture should bring all the elements of filmmaking together blending them to create an unforgettable experience that’s scope exceeds the confines of the darkened cinema. Enough with the rehash, Johnny has said these things many times before so now onto the 2008 selections.
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
As always there are five films in the Best Picture category, what’s unique is that JD agrees with four of them. Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood were all incredibly realised technically and creatively, taking his mind into an alternate reality and left me pondering the world around me.
Atonement is the only substandard contender here. Its obvious Oscar bait style has all been seen before. Sure as far as traditional period dramas go it’s a good example. Nicely shot with some David Lean type cinematography and a well structured screenplay but Johnny D didn’t see or importantly feel anything that elevated it to a higher echelon of cinema than what had come before it.
Personally there were several films, performances and Directors from 2007 deserving of the nod, but that’s another post. So who would John D like to see walk away with it? Either There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men will make him smile, but deep down he know that Atonement is sadly the safest bet.
Daniel day Lewis in There Will Be Blood
All in the Best Actor category warrant the accolade, though Daniel Day Lewis warrants the top honour. The Supporting Actor nominees also impress and of the bunch John can’t go past Javier Bardem. He gets the feeling they may give it to Depp though just because they have missed so many of his previous triumphs (Dead Man, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood etc), logic JD does not agree with.
Here is a clip of all the Best Actor Winners from 1929-2006
Onto the woman and again we have an onslaught of superb characterizations in the lead. Julie Christie or Ellen Page winning will please. Supporting Actress wise Tilda Swinton stood tall for me, but Cate Blanchett will probably end up taking home the gold.
Julie Christie in Away From her
The Best Director has John Doe torn between the Coen Brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson, both delivered finely focused and controlled masterpieces that were visionary and immersive beyond expectations.
This is a clip of all the Best Director winners from 1930-2006
The end result of this return to form for the Academy members is that for the first time in about a decade JD will be watching the ceremony with a level of anxiety. After years of apathy, actually caring about the event and its outcome, he may even be capable of cheering on those in the spotlight, a frightening turn of the wheel.
So dear readers, who do you think will walk out of the building with their lives forever changed and defined by the evening?
George Clooney and Sydney Pollack in Michael Clayton
Below you can see a complete list of all the nominees for the 2008 Academy Awards.
From Oscars.com
Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson
Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit
Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky"Atonement" (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood
Best documentary feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
"War/Dance" (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
Best documentary short subject
"Freeheld" A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth"La Corona (The Crown)" A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
"Salim Baba" A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
"Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley
Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor
Best foreign language film of the year
"Beaufort" Israel"The Counterfeiters" Austria
"Katyn" Poland
"Mongol" Kazakhstan
"12" Russia
Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald"Norbit" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Music and Lyric by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
"So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Best animated short film
"I Met the Walrus" A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin"Madame Tutli-Putli" (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
"Même les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)" (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)" (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
"Peter & the Wolf" (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
Best live action short film
"At Night" A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth"Il Supplente (The Substitute)" (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard
"Tanghi Argentini" (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
"The Tonto Woman" A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown
Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier
Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
Original screenplay
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins
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Comment by Bryn
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Depends on how much Atonement love is out there.
Comment by Michaelie
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Do you think the selection for the top awards is of a higher quality than recent years?
Did they miss anything?
Comment by Michaelie
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Comment by Luke
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Comment by JohnDoe
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I really ranked Assassination of Jesse James too. I loved Juno but agree I don't think it will win best picture. Michael Clayton also impressed (I will be posting a review later in the week) but again I have to concur that it won't get the prize.
Atonement's score was a rousing score and could win, I liked the subtle shifts of the Michael Clayton theme.
Always good to hear from you Luke, enjoy the show as i know you always do.
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Comment by JohnDoe
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Well the Oscars Australian Broadcast is about to start in 5 minutes. I've made a point of staying away from most media today in order to remain clean and untainted for the experience. This is after all the first time in 10 years that there has been a good enough selection of films to make me care for the outcome. So Im embracing the opportunity to go mad about the gold statue
Its Oscars fever, so apologies for not answering comments yet, but anyone who want share a little Aussie academy awards night is welcome to join me online.
Whats your commentary on proceedings so far?
Comment by Theresa
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What a great post!
And, Tilda Swinton won!
Theresa
(can't comment on the movies, waiting for dvd's, sigh)
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I was pretty impressed Tilda won too, hope you get to see the nominees on DVD.
Always good to read your comments, thanks.