My Oscars

For the first time, probably ever, I have seen every acting performance nominated for an Oscar. I actually feel that I can make educated opinions on who I believe should take the award. So here is my list of the nominated actors, listed in my order of worst to best!!! I'm sure none of my picks will actually take the award home, except maybe Mo'nique. But I am listing them anyway!!!!

Best Supporting Actor:
5. Stanley Tucci The Lovely Bones
4. Matt Damon Invictus
3. Woody Harrelson The Messenger
2. Christoph Waltz Inglorius Basterds
1. Christopher Plummer The Last Station

Best Actor:
5. Morgan Freeman Invictus
4. George Clooney Up In The Air
3. Colin Firth A Single Man
2. Jeff Bridges Crazy Heart
1. Jeremy Renner The Hurt Locker

Best Supporting Actress:
5. Anna Kendrick Up In The Air
4. Penelope Cruz Nine
3. Vera Farmiga Up In The Air
2. Maggie Gyllenhaal Crazy Heart
1. Mo'Nique Precious

Best Actress:
5. Sandra Bullock The Blind Side
4. Meryl Streep Julie and Julia
3. Carey Mulligan An Education
2. Helen Mirren The Last Station
1. Gabourey Sidibe Precious



OK, so I really think that 18/20 of the nominees are totally deserving, even Sandra Bullock (altho she SHOULDN'T win). Morgan Freeman and Anna Kendrick really were terrible in their roles, and shouldn't even be nominated. They should be replaced by Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man) and Diane Kreuger (Inglorius Basterds) respectively.

BUSY BUSY BUSY

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. I am such a slacker. Unfortunately, life just gets in the way sometimes. I promise a nice big Oscar post. And as of next week, will hopefully be back to regular blogging!!!! SEE YOU SOON!!!! Have a GREAT Oscar sunday!!!!

Musings on Impersonation Acting

I just want to say a word or two or sixty about performances based on actual people. This year in the Oscar race there are a few people who are playing real people. Some, like Sandra Bullock are playing people who no one really knew before the movie. And some, like Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman are playing people who we have a clear picture of in our heads. You can't get away with a shoddy performance as someone we all know.
There are two requirements, in my opinion, of playing a famous person on screen.

1. That you give a realistic and believeable portrayl of whomever the person may be. Adopting their mannerisms, speech patterns and looks in order to make us believe that you are that person.
2. (This is where many actors fail) To give us a believable picture of the parts of this person's life that we have not been able to see. To marry the impersonation with the human factor.

It is number two where I have seen the most actors fail. There have been numerous performers who have played famous people, many to Oscar-winning success. And many have failed. What they need is that human factor. We, the audience, need to belive that not only are you the person we have seen on TV or in the movies, but that you are the person we did not get to see. That is the point of the biopic, after all. To show us the person behind the persona.

Five Best Performances as Famous People

5. Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There

4. Michael Sheen in The Queen

3. Sean Penn in Milk

2. Drew Barrymore in Grey Gardens

1. Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter

What's your favorite/least favorite biopic performance?????

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

Who's Afriad of Virginia Woolf?
4/4 stars

I just watched Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf all the way through, for probably the first time in my life. I had seen the whole movie, just never in one sitting. This movie contains four of the greatest performances in film history. It is, hands down, the best overall cast of all time. I really think that the fact that all four of this films stars garnered Oscar nominations, and all deserved to win. Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal and Sandy Dennis all deliver powerhouse performances. To say that it is the most successful film of all time, might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I do believe it is close. I'm not talking about financial success, I'm talking about artistic success. The performances, the direction, the cinematography, the adaptation. As far as stage adaptaions go, it does manage to take a somewhat claustrophobic play, and open it up. It takes it to new locales, and out of the one room of the play, but it does so without losing the claustrophobia of the story; the feeling of being trapped.
When it comes to performances, everyone is pitch perfect. Elizabeth Taylor, in one of the most deserving Oscar wins in history, is hearbreaking and gut-wrenching. Richard Burton is wounded and tough. George Segal is a wonder and Sandy Dennis brings vulnerability to new heights.
This is a MUST SEE classic!!

CRAZY HEART

Title: Crazy Heart
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
Rating: 3.5/4 stars

Loved Crazy Heart even though it is a big ol' cliche. This movie follows an old formula: down and out musician/athlete/writer meets younger woman, falls for her, hits rock bottom, cleans up his act and comes back from despair. Crazy Heart is among the best of these "Washed-up old drunk" movies for three reasons: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal and an amazing soundtrack.
Bridges plays a drunk so sublty, that when he hits rock bottom, you finally realize that he was drunk for most of the movie, but he functioned so well in those scenes that the audience (and the rest of thze characters on screen) doesn't realize it. He deserves every award he gets.
Gyllenhaal is so believable in this cliche role. The age difference almost bothered me, but Maggie was so convincing in her love for Bridges, that it didn't skeeve me out at all. And she really broke my heart a few times.
The music in Crazy Heart surprised me. I don't consider myself a fan of country, but the songs were like vintage Dylan, and were so well written that I downloaded the soundtrack and even sing along. A lovely movie!!!

INVICTUS

Title: Invictus
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon
Rating: 1.5/4 stars


Invictus is everything I expected The Blind Side to be, but wasn't. This movie used all of the manipulative tactics there are to play with the audience's emotions. Sweeping music, epic shots, dialogued filled with 'profundity' and stadiums full of extras screaming for the fictional sports team in the movie. Honestly, I am not a big Eastwood fan. I have always thought he was a pretty self-important director. And this movie proves it. It was really nothing more than a piece of melodramatic junk.
Morgan Freeman, whose performance in Driving Miss Daisy is one of my all-time faves, does nothing at all in this movie. His oscar nomination baffles me because, besides looking like Nelson Mandela and having an accent, doesn't do any acting at all. Every one of his lines sounds like it came from a book of Mandela quotes, there is no human factor in this performance.
The 1.5 stars I have given this movie, are all for Matt Damon, who I usually despise. He is great in this movie. His character could have been the one with the most cheeseball moments, but he rises above, delivering a nuanced and beautiful performance. A well deserved Oscar nomination!!

Oscar Time!!! (gay squeal)

The 82nd Academy Awards are only a month away, and FINALLY we have the Oscar nominees. I have awaited this day with ganticipation (that is 'gay anticipation') for so long. This is one of the first years in a long time when I have actually seen a great deal of the nominated movies, and I feel that I am actually making informed opinions. And I have many of them!!! I was not really surprised by most of the nominations that came out today. Honestly, this award is so heavily predicted that it is essentially predictable, aka boring. But there are always a few surprises. And whether they are good or bad, I always hope for these surprises!!

SURPRISE 1: Two of the 10 Best Picture nominees gave me pause. One in a good way (District 9) and one in a bad way (The Blind Side). I am so glad that District 9 made the cut. This movie was brilliant. And I usually despise alien movies. The thing about this one is that it is an alien movie, that serves as a fantastic metaphor for how humans treat eachother. I am so mad that The Blind Side made this list. It really proves to me that the whole reason for making 10 nominees was as a marketing strategy. I saw it, and I actually liked it, but I don't think it is worthy of this spot. I can think of at least 3 movies that should be there instead of it. SAD SAD SAD!!

SURPRISE 2: There were two songs that I predicted were locked in the Best Original Song category: 'The Weary Kind' which did get a nomination; and 'Cinema Italiano' which did not. I am shocked that 'Take It All' from Nine made the cut over 'Cinema Italiano'. It is an odd choice, since 'Cinema Italiano' is a better song. I only hope that this now means that Marion Cotillard will be perfroming on the telecast.

SURPRISE 3: OK, not really a surprise, but I was afraid that Bright Star would not get a Best Costume Design nomination, and I am soooooooooo happy that it did. It and The Young Victoria are my favorites to win this one.

Lastly, my 'SINS OF OMISSION', those that were not nominated, that I believe should have been!

SINS OF OMISSION: (500) Days of Summer (Best Original Screenplay), Sharlto Copley (Best Actor), Alfred Molina and Anthony Mackie (Best Supporting Actor), Marion Cotillard and Samantha Morton (Best Supporting Actress), Every Little Step (Best Documentary), Where The Wild Things Are (Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design), The Stoning of Soraya M. and both of it's leading ladies.

Mozhan Marno in The Stoning of Soraya M.

Bullock????

With her SAG win, I am now officially SCARED that Sandra Bullock is going to win an Oscar. I liked her in The Blind Side, but really??? It's going to be a long wait 'til Oscar time.
I suppose if she wins she can join Elizabeth Taylor (Butterfield 8), Gwenyth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry and Reese Witherspoon in the Most UNDESERVING Best Actress Oscar Winners Club!!! I'm setting myself up for disappointment!!!!

Soapbox: Best Actress???

I know this is, like, sacrilegious, BUT...I DO NOT WANT MERYL STREEP TO WIN THE BEST ACTRESS OSCAR THIS YEAR!!!! Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Meryl. And I think she was great in Julie and Julia. BUT, this was NOT the best performance by an actress this year. I know the Oscar's don't usually get it right. They don't. Sometimes they hit the nail on the head: Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Hudson, Sean Penn. And sometimes they let other factors dictate the winner: Gwenyth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon.
For some reason, Box office receipts and other political reasons get the Oscar voters to make the wrong decision. This years Oscar race seems almost to be a shoe in for Meryl Streep, and that makes me sad. If she wins, it will be an Oscar for her career. Her nomination this year will be a record 16th. And she has only won 2. And those two were in the early 80's. So it has been more than 20 years since she won. I know that her career has been illustrious. She really should have won for her work in The Bridges of Madison County, Silkwood and One True Thing. But she didn't. Does that make it OK for you to reward her for Julie and Julia. It was a great performance. But, it was not even close to the performances of Gabby Sidibe, Carey Mulligan or Shoreh Agdashloo this year (Agdashloo isn't even in the running for her powerhouse performance in The Stoning Of Soraya M.) So Streep should not win. She did not give the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.
The other front runner for this years award is Sandra Bullock. Don't get me started on this. She was also great in The Blind Side, but it is not even close to the performers I mentioned earlier. Seriously Academy??? I just don't understand it. It does make me very angry. The category is supposed to be the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for 2009, not Career That Deserves Recognition, nor is it Best Box Office Blockbuster.
I just know I am going to be VERY disappointed come Oscar time!!!!