Upsets and Upset

I am having lunch tomorrow with two other Oscar experts. I will post my complete feelings then once we fully analyze the night together. I just thought I would check in and let you know that I am disappointed in more than one decision by the Academy.

The night had its up moments too, and Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway just jumped up in the cool book too! Oh and that Tom Cruise ad for Jimmy Kimmell was hilarious.

-The Scarlet Rebel

Late again, but not too late

Life happens but at least I am not too late to post predictions. No extra introduction necessary- here they are:

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Actor: Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler”

Actress: Kate Winslet for “The Reader”

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight”

Supporting Actress: I like Tarija P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” but it will end up going to Penelope Cruz, another worthy recipient, for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”

Original Screenplay: I want WALL-E but my prediction is Milk

Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Animated Feature: WALL-E (Surprised?)

Costume Design: The Duchess

Foreign Language Film: Walt with Bashir

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Makeup: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Sound Mixing: WALL-E

Sound Editting: WALL-E

Best Original Song: “Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman for WALL-E. Two reasons, one it is a great song and has been a front runner for a long time and 2. Slumdog holds the other two songs causing a vote split very much like what John Williams suffered from in 2005 with “Munich” and “Memoirs of a Geisha”.

Original Score- Thomas Newman for WALL-E is my hearts choice and it stands a good chance. This will be my prediction because I can’t tear myself from it but don’t be surprised if Slumdog pulls this category too.

Cinematography- I love Roger Deakins and he did a good job with “The Reader” but I just have this feeling it’s going to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Editing- The Dark Knight

Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire

Best Documentary Short: The Witness

Best Live Action Short: Spielzeugland

Best Animated Short: Presto

Now go win that Oscar pool!

Sincerely,

The Scarlet Rebel

BAFTAS are a girl's best friend

I am so busy I can hardly keep up. Anyway as the Oscars approach the last big stepping stone on the way to the big show is the BAFTAS. Slumdog continued it skyrocketing potential and everything else pretty much went to plan. Except that Marisa Tomei's final push to be the front-runner took a spill. Penelope Cruz, the wide out front runner in the beginning of this journey has come back out of the shadows. This makes the supporting actress category the only big section with any real contention left. The battle between Cruz and Tomei should be a good one to watch. Kate Winslet should also be happy because her gap in the buzz grew so she is now way out front and everyone including Vegas agrees that she will be finally walking home with an award.

That's all for now. I will post Oscar predictions along with what I actually want to win (not to different for once) on Saturday night.

Ketchup Time

I found out I really don't like ketchup (despite all the commercials I have done for Heinz), or catch up for that matter. Problem is I have a lot of it, and this time I am not talking about the red stuff. I haven't written about what I thought about the Golden Globes, or the Oscar nominees. You probably have all heard the news by now so just a quick rundown of the good the bad and the ugly.

Golden Globes:

The Good- Kate Winslet winning both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. However she is not a supporting actress in The Reader so that still confuses me, but since that oversight resulted in her two-fer I will accept it for now. Also, Slumdog Millionaire going 4 for 4 and 30 Rock's sweep as well. Good speeches by Kate twice, Nolan honoring Heath Ledger, and Tina Fey' comedic acceptance.

The Bad- Wall-E not winning Best Song.

The Ugly- Miley Cyrus


Oscar Nominations:

The Good- Just about everything for once. So some special things of note instead: Thomas Newman being nominated in both Best Song and Best Score. Wall·E being nominated for Best Screenplay. No Miley Cyrus.

The Bad- The Duchess not being up for Best Original Score.

The Ugly- Thankfully nothing this year.


Of note: Kate Winslet is up for Best Actress but for The Reader, in which she has previously won Best Supporting Actress. This means three things:
1. More confusion.
2. She can't pull a two-fer like at the Globes :-(
3. Since she can't pull a two-fer she is now the front runner :-)
Anne Hathaway was the front runner, then Bride Wars came out. Eddie Murphy can tell her what happens next.

P.S.- If you don't know what I talking about I am referencing Murphy being the front runner for Dreamgirls and then losing out due to the release of Norbit. What this means is that it is finally Kate Winslet's (above) year.

2008: A year in review

Hey, everybody else is doing it and it's December 31st so why not hand out some awards. Please note these are not predictions- these are just my opinions.

Film Awards

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (Live Action) and WALL·E (Animated)
Best Actor: Sean Penn (Milk) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Best Actress: Keira Knightley (The Duchess)
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress: Tarija Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)


This is my Top 10 movies of the year at this current point. There are still a lot of movies I have yet to see as your not so humble reviewer doesn't get to go to press screenings. Any changes that are made will be noted below.

Top 10 Movies

1. Wall-E

A true masterpiece of cinema if there ever was one.

2. Slumdog Millionaire

A movie miracle.

3. Tropic Thunder

One of the funniest movie I have ever seen. It is even better if you have seen "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" otherwise known as the making of Apocalypse Now, a true story of a Vietnam war movie gone to hell.

4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

A cinematic symphony. A work of art delving into the deep inner meaning behind life, death and love.

5. Definitely, Maybe

A complete surprise for me as I saw it on a whim. A completely original take on the romantic comedy genre and a surprise treat for all who watch it.

6. The Duchess

A heartbreaking true story of sacrifice. Fine performances all around, superb costume design and a breathtaking score.

7. In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Overlooked indie feature of the year. A rare film about romance on New Year's Eve.

8. Speed Racer

A frenetic treat for the eyes. The explosion of lights and colors does not overstay it's welcome.

9. Doomsday

A guilty pleasure of mayhem and violence. Purposely is cliche as it's an homage to many classic films in the same genre.

10. Cloverfield

The movie ends with the helicopter crash for me, and because I view it in this manner it remains a well executed monster movie of the highest caliber of originality.

Bottom 5

5. The Forbidden Kingdom

Cliche, an uninteresting plot and poor acting about sums up this lackluster film.

4. What Happens in Vegas

Proves Kutcher can act but his roles remain inane and stupid.

3. Drillbit Taylor

We have already seen a more offensive and profane version of this. We don't care.

2. Pride and Glory

Painfully bad. Painfully.

1. 10,000 B.C.

Too shamefully cliche to evaluate. The difference between this and Doomsday is that Doomsday never took itself seriously. This film did.

Video Game Awards

I don't have the time nor money to play all the games I wanted to this year. It is nowhere near the amount to make a well informed Top 10 list. So instead I will list notable games I was fortunate enough to play.

Worthy of note:

Grand Theft Auto IV

Mirror's Edge (Most Original Game award)

Rock Band 2

Guitar Hero World Tour

Gears of War 2

Little Big Planet

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Game of the Year (Handheld): Kirby Super Star Ultra

I bought the DS for the sole purpose of playing the latest installment of the Legend of Zelda franchise: Phantom Hourglass. I had no intention of buying anything else off the bat although I was hoping something would peak my interest. That indeed came along as I am a huge retro guy. I couldn't believe my eyes to see the Kirby SNES classic "Super Star" come to the DS. Not only is a faithful port of the entire game they added 2 new games and a new Arena! 5 Stars Nintendo!

Game of the Year/ Underrated Game of the Year: Tomb Raider Underworld

With one of the most epic begining I have seen in many years I was instantly on th edge of my seat. I have yet to complete the game (I just bought it yesterday for only $29) but I can already safely award 5 stars to this game. By the third level you have already survived the explosion of your mansion, fought the Kraken, found Thor's tomb, taken out terroists who have taken over a Class A freighter, climbed out of that freighter once it goes vertical and starts to sink and you discover that both Amanda and Natla are alive. Most people discount this franchise just because the movies are bad but play just the beginning of this game and you will be hooked. Soundtrack is A+ too.