My Almost-Too-Late Oscar Predictions!

Well, Oscars are tonight (as if you didn't know). I wanted to go ahead and post my predictions. I'm also in the LAMB Oscar Pool, so here's to hoping I do well. But silly me, I didn't write down which ones I voted for in the Oscar Pool, so I don't remember if I chose the same ones for this list as I did for that one (as I guessed on some). Anywho, here's my current predictions, the ones I'm going to be going off of during the show. And for reference, one this list, Winner means who I think will win, Might means who I think could take the Oscar if not the one listed under Winner, and Want is the one I want to win.

Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Sean Penn - Milk

Might: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Want: Don’t care

Actor in a Supporting Role

Winner: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Might: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Want: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Actress in a Leading Role

Winner: Kate Winslet – The Reader

Might: Meryl Streep - Doubt

Want: Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner: Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Might: Viola Davis – Doubt

Want: Don’t care

Animated Feature Film

Winner: WALL-E

Might: Kung Fu Panda

Want: WALL-E

Art Direction

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Might: Changeling

Want: The Dark Knight

Best Picture

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Might: Milk

Want: Slumdog Millionaire

Cinematography

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Might: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want: Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design

Winner: The Duchess

Might: The Duchess

Want: The Duchess

Directing

Winner: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire

Might: Gus Van Sant - Milk

Want: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary

Winner: Man On Wire

Might: Man On Wire

Want: Man On Wire

Documentary Short

Winner: The Witness

Might: The Witness

Want: The Witness

Film Editing

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Might: Slumdog Millionaire

Want: Slumdog Millionaire

Foreign Language Film

Winner: Waltz with Bashir

Might: The Class

Want: Waltz with Bashir

Makeup

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Might: Hellboy II

Want: Hellboy II

Music (Score)

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Might: Slumdog Millionaire

Want: Slumdog Millionaire

Music (Song)

Winner: Jai Ho – Slumdog Millionaire

Might: Down to Earth – WALL-E

Want: Jai Ho – Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film (Animated)

Winner: Presto

Might: Presto

Want: Presto

Short Film (Live Action)

Winner: New Boy

Might: Toyland

Want: New Boy

Sound Editing

Winner: WALL-E

Might: Slumdog Millionaire

Want: WALL-E

Sound Mixing

Winner: WALL-E

Might: Slumdog Millionaire

Want: WALL-E

Visual Effects

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Might: Iron Man

Want: Iron Man

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

Might: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Want: Slumdog Millionaire

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Winner: Milk

Might: WALL-E

Want: In Bruges

End Of The Year Best/Worst Spectacular!

Because every other movie blog in existence does it, why shouldn't I? Yes, it's time for my 'end of year' list of the best (and worst) everything of the year. And let me say now that these lists will only include movies that I've actually SEEN. And due to where I live, I haven't seen a lot of the higher-praised films of the year, such as Gran Torino, Milk, The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, Doubt and Let The Right One In (though I've tried with this last one... but that's a long story).

And the total count for movies I've seen in theater this year is... 53. And then there were at least 5 or so that I saw afterward (on DVD or what have you) that came out this year, but I didn't get a chance to see in theater. So if you count those, I'm in the upper-50s. But otherwise, I've basically seen (in theater) about the equivalent of one movie a weekend, and that doesn't count all the movies I saw more than once. Anyway...

Just a few side notes before we get to the lists, however:

- This is the same list (just extended on in a few cases) for the LIONs for LAMBs poll over at the LAMB.

- I included The Orphanage in my list of options because it was released in January, even though it was up for Oscar noms for LAST year (and I guess is therefore considered a 'last year' movie). But as it wasn't officially released in the US until THIS year, I felt okay to include it.

- When it comes to the 'Worst' films of the year, it was somewhat difficult, because I often stay away from films I know are going to be bad, so I can't honestly say what the worst films of the year are except for those that I've actually seen. There's only one (well, three) exceptions, and those are the three Uwe Boll films that came out this year, but I didn't include those on the list because it's an automatic knowledge that this man's movies are always the worst of the year.

So without further ado, here are the lists:

The Top 10 Best Movies of the Year

10) Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Just some all-around great fun, much like Iron Man was.

9) Changeling - Not everybody loved it. In fact, there were quite a few people who didn't like it at all. I don't think it'll win any Oscars, but I thought it was a great movie with some amazing acting.

8) Iron Man - Downey Jr. rocked. Nuff said.

7) The Orphanage - Again, it's a bit iffy whether this could be counted under 2007 or 2008, but as it's wide release was January 2008, I'm going with that. And I felt it was one of the best movies of the year at the beginning of the year. I still feel that now.

6) Burn After Reading - A slow start, but a great ensemble cast and some fun comedy about absolutely nothing. Brad Pitt was on a role this year.

5) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Either you loved it or you thought it was a bit too sentimental for your tastes. Personally, I loved it.

4) Role Models - Hands down the best comedy of the year. I don't care what others say. Yes, it was better than Pineapple Express and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

3) Kung Fu Panda - The second best animated film of the year. It doesn't have the deepest most intricate story, but the animation was great, the characters were great, the comedy was great... it was just great all around (and really, truly surprised me when I went to see it expecting not to like it).

2) The Dark Knight - In a close second, the movie didn't reach my number one position because I felt some of the actual Batman/Bruce Wayne scenes that did not include The Joker were lacking at times.

1) WALL*E - Not only the best animated film of the year, but I think the best overall film of the year. There's nothing about this movie I really dislike.

Top 5 Worst Movies of the Year

5) The Ruins - I saw this due to a trade-off. I would see this movie so that another fellow blogger would see a movie I wanted him to see. We both hated the respective film the other made us watch.

4) The Strangers - Either you think this movie was incredibly stupid and the most unscary thing you've ever seen... or you think it's simply the scariest movie ever made. Obviously I'm in the former group.

3) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - I knew it was going to be bad, but I was promised a Harry Potter trailer that I didn't get. So I got stuck with a bad movie without the good part to make up for it.

2) The Spirit - Hahahaha.... where to begin...

1) Diary of the Dead - Similar to The Orphanage, it could be a little iffy on the exact release of this film, but as its rather limited release was a few months into 2008, I went with that. And George Romero, I'm ashamed of you. What happened? This was just beyond awful.

Acting
(Note: Nobody from Diary of the Dead or The Spirit will be listed, as each entire cast would be under 'worst').

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark - Iron Man
(Again, he just owned the role).

Worst Actor in a Leading Role - Hayden Christensen as David Rice - Jumper
(Pure cardboard).

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Belén Rueda as Laura - The Orphanage
(I don't often notice acting in foreign films, but I noticed her. And that says something).

Worst Actress in a Leading Role - Liv Tyler as Kristen McKay - The Strangers
(It was between her and Zooey Deschanel in The Happening, but Zooey is my woman, so I just couldn't do it. So I went with Liv. How blank can you get? Well, there is Hayden Christensen...).

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger as The Joker - The Dark Knight
(Well, who else did you expect?).

Worst Actor in a Supporting Role - Luke Ford as Alex O'Connell - The Mummy 3
(No acting ability at all).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Amy Ryan as Carol Dexter - Changeling
(She wasn't in it much, but she stole the show every time).

Worst Actress in a Supporting Role - Maria Bello as Evelyn O'Connell - The Mummy 3
(She was no Rachel Weisz).

Misc.

Best Cast - Burn After Reading
(Great year for Brad Pitt, though I think it was a great ensemble effort that was pushed that little extra to making this spot due to J.K. Simmons).

Best Movie Poster - The Dark Knight
(It was between that, Vantage Point, and Saw V. Regardless of what your opinions were of the latter two movies, they had some pretty cool looking posters. But I went with The Dark Knight because that movie had about a million different posters, and every one of them was awesome).

WALL*E.

What can I say about WALL*E? Well, let’s start with the plot. 700 years after humans left Earth, one lone robot, WALL*E, is still active and roaming around with his cockroach buddy, making giant cities out of garbage and watching old musicals, hoping for a significant other of his own. But then, one day, a ship shows up and drops off Eve, a scout robot that is there to do a routine check for life of any kind. WALL*E immediately falls in love and spends the rest of the movie trying to hold Eve’s hand, even after following her back into space and to the space colony of the last humans, who have become beyond fat and lazy.

Pixar took a lot of risks with this movie, for numerous reasons:

1) There’s very little dialogue.

2) There’s mixing of computer animation and live action.

3) It’s relatively (and unexpectedly) dark with a high level of social commentary.

4) The story is primarily a love drama with some physical comedy thrown in.

And I have to say, they pulled each and every one of them off with flying colors. The small amount of talking works very well, and you get used to it immediately. It apparently did it well enough that it didn’t even bore the smaller children that were in my theater, because I never heard a peep from any of them. The mixing of animation and live action, though it’s not extensive, worked well. The last time I saw this was with Happy Feet, and it felt incredibly out of place. Here, it works very well and is almost seamless. The social commentary is very in-your-face, but I love movies with social commentary, so it was just another layer of awesome for me. Finally, the movie had the perfect amount of physical comedy to fit the tone of the movie. It wasn’t overdone at all. And the romance built up gradually, as the relatively uncaring Eve slowly begins to care for WALL*E. It was cute, funny, and warming.

The animation of the movie is amazing. It was simply stunning, really (well, the humans were average, but everything else was stunning). From the moment the movie opens up on the city made of compact garbage, placed against a desert landscape, I knew I was in for a visual treat. And simultaneously, as the view is on this, the music playing over it is so haunting. The soundtrack to the movie was almost as brilliant as the animation. It could go from haunting to whimsical to musical-soundtrack and back again, and it was just wonderful.

I cared for all the characters, including the more secondary ones like the cockroach and M-O. I also loved how, from the moment WALL*E gets onto the AXIOM space colony, every accidental thing he does ends up having some kind of huge impact. If the movie could have done anything better, I think it could have played up that aspect a bit more.

But otherwise, I think this movie is almost perfect. I tried to think, on my 20 minute drive home from the movie theater, of something negative to say about this movie… and I honestly could not. I think this movie will deserve the Oscar it will inevitably win.

Royale With Cheese