Filed under: oscar race on!
The Academy Award Nominations were announced this morning, and that little naysaying voice in the back of my head that i was trying like hell to ignore was right..
This world is not ready for a comic book movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar..
While THE DARK KNIGHT (2008, Christopher Nolan) did receive 8 nominations, all of them were only in the technical categories (cinematography, art direction, editing, makeup, visual effects, sound and sound editing) except for one: Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger.
And Batman wasn’t the only one who got the shaft..
GRAN TORINO (2008, Clint Eastwood) was also a big surprise this morning by garnering, not one, not two, not three, but ZERO nominations. It was thought that Clint might sneak in at the last minute just like he did two years ago with the deserving LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006) and four years ago with the painfully overrated MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004).
In it, Clint plays Walt Kowalski, a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Detroit neighborhood and the rest of the world around him. He is a grumpy, tough-minded and unhappy Korean War veteran who can’t get along with either his kids or his neighbors. The only things left on this earth that give him any sort of joy are his white lab Daisy and his prize possession, a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition.
When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Walt sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao’s family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.
Do yourself a favor and go see this now while it’s in wide release. Clint gives his best performance in years, representing the generation that built America. He grunts, spits and seethes at the new generation around him, the aloof and spoiled youth of today.
But honestly, Clint didn’t go away TOTALLY empty-handed. His other 2008 flick CHANGELING got three nominations for art direction, cinematography, and best actress for Angelina Jolie. (Yawn.)
Now don’t get me wrong, i love Mrs. Jolie-Pitt as much as the next ‘fierce bitch-loving’ fag, but this was a slot that should have been reserved for another young actress that burst upon the scene last year..
HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008, Mike Leigh) is the story of Poppy (Sally Hawkins), a life-loving and irrepressibly cheerful primary school teacher who is thirty years old, single, and infinitely optimistic and accepting. She lives with her best friend and flatmate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) in London, has exciting flamenco lessons, an encounter with a homeless man, a row with her pregnant sister, and a love-affair with the social worker guiding one of her students. Eventually, she is tested by a repressed driving instructor with MAJOR anger problems (Eddie Marsan), who, in return, is tested by her.
Now, the movie itself is not so great.. Mr. Leigh has hit some home runs before, like (1999), SECRETS & LIES (1996), and NAKED (1993), but this one is more of a base hit. In fact, reaction to it in his native England was lukewarm at best.
No, all the steam of this movie lies on the radiance of Sally Hawkins. Her Poppy is full of charm that is so infectious that even critics who gave this movie a so-so review could not resist giving her performance alone a glowing ovation. And she should have been nominated for Best Actress!..
Oh well, it has now been written in stone..
In the coming weeks, i will be going through certain categories and dissecting them to bits because, well, it’s what i do best…..(crickets).
So, ’til next time, class..
end of line.
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