Tonight, Carolina and I will do battle in our 12th Annual Oscar Smackdown competition. After another loss by a sizable margin in the Grammy challenge, I once again find myself with my back against the wall.
Let's do this:
Short Film (Animated): Day & Night, Teddy Newton
Actually saw this one.
Documentary (Feature): Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Actually want to see this one.
Short Film (Live Action): Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Heard this is good.
Documentary (Short Subject): Killing in the Name
Looks Oscar-worthy.
Film Editing: The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
You notice the editing in The Social Network, in a good way.
Actor in a Leading Role: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
British+handicap+ royalty = Oscar Trifecta
Sound Editing: Inception, Richard King
Inceptions sweeps the technical awards
Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Body change (weight loss) + Crack addict = Oscar
Foreign Language Film: In a Better World, Denmark
The Danes are so hot right now.
Actress in a Leading Role: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Momentum+Body Change+Oscars Need Natalie Portman = Win
Sound Mixing: Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
Makeup: The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
Thriller x 2010 = Oscar for Rick Baker
Actress in a Supporting Role: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
I probably should have gone with Melissa Leo, who was great in Frozen River last year and didn't win. This could be the make-up year.
Visual Effects: Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Music (Original Score): The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
It's recognizable and set just the right tone for that film.
Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich
It's an unwritten Academy law that some geek from Pixar must take a break from Segway-ing around the office to deliver an Oscar acceptance speech.
Art Direction: The King's Speech, Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
Period + British + 11 other nominations = Oscar
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
The Social Network needs to be acknowledged with at least one major award. This will be it.
Cinematography: Inception, Wally Pfister
I like his name.
Music (Original Song): If I Rise (from "127 Hours"), Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
Shot in the dark. Rahman won for Slumdog and I don't see Randy Newman getting up there for another Toy Story song.
Costume Design: The King's Speech, Jenny Beavan
Period + British + 11 other noms = Oscar
Writing (Original Screenplay): Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
Personally, I prefer "The Kids Are All Right," but this is my official pick.
Directing: The King's Speech, Tom Hooper
Uncle Mo'
Best Picture: The King's Speech
British + World War II + Handicap = Oscar
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Netflix Challenge Update
Oscar season has taken up all of our movie-watching time, so it's been slow going on the Netflix Challenge.
Here's a quick recap of what's been taken off the list since December.
I'll Believe You
This one made the queue because I saw Chris Elliott on the cover. It was horrible. I couldn't finish it.
Taps
A good cast featuring Sean Penn and Tom Cruise early in their careers, but its only value today is as a document of the crazy return of "tough guy" military war mongering of the Reagan '80s. Sucked.
Kicking and Screaming
Finally, one I sort of liked. Not to be confused with Will Ferrell's very funny film of the same name, this is writer Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding) first movie. It's about a group of guys in the mid 1990s who can't quite move away from their college campus after graduating. It's one of those, "I wish I'd written that" movies. There's definitely room for improvement, as a lot of the dialogue sounds very written in the way that Kevin Smith's movies always sound very written.
Capitalism: A Love Story
A good Michael Moore movie. If you like him, you'll like this.
Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams
I remember seeing this a long time ago and thinking it was funny. Stone sober, the comedy has not aged well.
Downtown 81
The real Jean-Michel Basquiat hangs out with artists and musicians in New York in 1981. Super cool with good music.
Others removed from the list before viewing:
Paloma de Papel
Dirty Harry
Just 25 titles remain.
Here's a quick recap of what's been taken off the list since December.
I'll Believe You
This one made the queue because I saw Chris Elliott on the cover. It was horrible. I couldn't finish it.
Taps
A good cast featuring Sean Penn and Tom Cruise early in their careers, but its only value today is as a document of the crazy return of "tough guy" military war mongering of the Reagan '80s. Sucked.
Kicking and Screaming
Finally, one I sort of liked. Not to be confused with Will Ferrell's very funny film of the same name, this is writer Noah Baumbach's (The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding) first movie. It's about a group of guys in the mid 1990s who can't quite move away from their college campus after graduating. It's one of those, "I wish I'd written that" movies. There's definitely room for improvement, as a lot of the dialogue sounds very written in the way that Kevin Smith's movies always sound very written.
Capitalism: A Love Story
A good Michael Moore movie. If you like him, you'll like this.
Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams
I remember seeing this a long time ago and thinking it was funny. Stone sober, the comedy has not aged well.
Downtown 81
The real Jean-Michel Basquiat hangs out with artists and musicians in New York in 1981. Super cool with good music.
Others removed from the list before viewing:
Paloma de Papel
Dirty Harry
Just 25 titles remain.
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