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“You broke my heart, Fredo.”
The late character actor John Cazale appeared in only five features , but they were all nominated for Best Picture: The Godfather (1972), The Conversation (1974), The Godfather Part 2 (1974), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and The Deer Hunter (1978). Both Godfathers won, as did ‘The Deer Hunter; only Dog Day Afternoon and The Conversation failed to win Best Picture, but The Conversation was up against Part 2 so the loss can hardly be counted against him.
[Not that the Oscars mean anything]
The Nominees of Importance :
Best Adapted Screenplay (in order of adaptedest) :
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner : Up in the Air
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche : In the Loop
Nick Hornby : An Education
Neill Blornkamp and Terri Tatchell : District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher : Precious
Best Original Screenplay (in order of originalest) :
Joel and Ethan Coen : A Serious Man
Mark Boal : The Hurt Locker
Peter Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy : Up
Allessandro Camon and Oren Moverman : The Messenger
Quentin Tarantino : Inglorious Basterds
Best Animated Feature Film (in order of creativity) :
Coraline
Up
The Secret of Kells
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Best Supporting Actress (in order of most likable actress) :
Mo’nique : Precious
Vera Farmiga : Up in the Air
Penelope Cruz : Nine
Anna Kendrick : Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal : Crazy Heart
Best Supporting Actor (in order of most likable actor) :
Woody Harrelson : The Messenger
Stanley Tucci : The Lovely Bones
Christopher Plummer : The Last Station
Christoph Waltz : Inglorious Basterds
Matt Damon : Invictus
Best Actress (in order of acting difficulty) :
Meryl Streep : Julie & Julia
Carey Mulligan : An Education
Sandra Bullock : The Blind Side
Helen Mirren : The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe : Precious
Best Actor (in order of acting difficulty) :
Jeff Bridges : Crazy Heart
George Clooney : Up in the Air
Jeremy Renner : The Hurt Locker
Colin Firth : A Single Man
Morgan Freeman : Invictus
Best Director (in order of most deserving to least) :
Kathryn Bigelow : The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino : Inglorious Basterds
Jason Reitman : Up in the Air
James Cameron : Avatar
Lee Daniels : Precious
Best Picture (in order of least likely to win) :
The Blind Side
District 9
Precious
Up
An Education
Up in the Air
A Serious Man
Inglorious Basterds
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Click below for predictions :
VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano lamented Monday the fact that Hollywood chose to honour films that were “without hope” and violent at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony.
“Hollywood was moved this year by films that were sober, full of violence and above all without hope,” said the paper, referring to “No Country for Old Men” by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen and “There Will be Blood” by Paul Thomas.
“No Country for Old Men” won the best picture Oscar at the 80th Academy Awards late Sunday while Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his role in “There Will be Blood.”
“A sign of the times? Probably,” wrote journalist Gaetano Vallini in the newspaper, who praised “Juno” by Jason Reitman about “a story of a teenager who decides to follow through with an undesired pregnancy.”
- The Wizard of Oz was the first children’s film nominated for best picture
- Gone with the Wind is the longest film nominated for best picture (3hrs 54 mins)
- Midnight Cowboy was the first X-rated film to win best picture
- Clockwork Orange was the last X-rated film to be nominated for best picture
- Godfather II was the first sequel to win best picture
- Ben-Hur, Titanic, and LotR:tFotR hold the record for Oscars at 11
1990: Dances with Wolves : unseen
1991: The Silence of the Lambs : unseen
1992: Unforgiven
1993: Schindler’s List : unseen
1994: Forest Gump : unseen
1995: Braveheart
1996: The English Patient : unseen
1997: Titanic
1998: Shakespeare in Love
1999: American Beauty
2000: Gladiator
2001: A Beautiful Mind
2002: Chicago
2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004: Million Dollar Baby
2005: Crash
2006: The Departed
I have very little use for the Oscars, but one of my fondest memories is when Magnolia was up for Best Original Screenplay, but lost to the tepid swill known as American Beauty. P. T. Anderson did not smile weakly, he did not clap politely. He said the eff-word and enunciated it nicely for the camera.
Best Picture
“Atonement”
“Juno”
“Michael Clayton”
“No Country for Old Men”
“There Will Be Blood”
I’ve only seen No Country and There Will Be Blood. Juno looks fun, but at its heart I can’t help think that this is a heartless movie. Also, it cannot possibly be as good as Junebug. Michael Clayton is what? Fracture? Relentlessly plotty movies only go so far in my book. Atonement is a wild card, drawing on that wartime nostalgia and weird patriotism. Why is patriotism always wound up with our wars? There Will Be Blood should win this 97 times out of 100 with No Country for Old Men winning it the last three times, but I’m afraid the Little Miss Sunshine/Knocked Up combo will win it. Read the rest of this entry »
