Oscars - 2009

I know negligent, negligent, negligent. But I couldn’t let the Oscars go by without a little commenting. Now that I have apologized for my writing reticence it is time to tear apart all of the hard work by the Hollywood establishment this year. Not that I don’t appreciate that entertainment is a business at which thousands of people work very hard, but obscene amounts of money are exchanged so the deserve plenty of scrutiny. In a nutshell, this hasn’t been the best year for the movies. If the Oscars are an example of the best that 2008 had to offer then things were really thin. This is more of a Shakespeare in Love year than a Gone With the Wind year and the winner is probably not going to be remembered in a year or two.
Best Picture
This year the Best Picture will most likely go to Slumdog Millionaire which is nice given the usually heavy nature of Best Picture nominees.
Best Director
For once the categories of best picture and best director line up perfectly so there is no discussion of a director winning without the picture winning; these two should track together perfectly. This one should match the Best Picture winner and go to Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.
Best Actor
This is an interesting category as there is no clear frontrunner. Sean Penn has an edge for playing gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk. But the sentimental favorite is Mickey Rourke for his head turning performance as a weathered and worn former wrestler.
Best Actress
While Anne Hathaway had the single best performance in Rachel Getting Married Kate Winslet’s time has finally come. She has now been nominated 5 times all by the age of 33. She gets a voting boost being nominated in only one category rather than for both best actress and best supporting actress as she did for the Golden Globes. That probably would have sent her home with the supporting actress award instead of the big one. It also helps that her performance in The Reader, though smaller, was nominated. It was better received than Revolutionary Road, and Holocaust films always receive a lot of love from the Academy.
Best Supporting Actor
Probably one of the least contentious categories, Heath Ledger will win posthumously for his role as The Joker in the Dark Knight. Consider it Dark Knight’s consolation prize, that and tons of money, since possibly the best and most devastating film of the year will probably only have a chance at a few technical categories otherwise. It is also nice to see Robert Downey Jr. nominated for his impressive role in Tropic Thunder. It is not often that comedies get any notice for acting these days and it is great to see a good performance get the notice that it deserves.
Best Supporting Actress
I don’t have a lead on this category. Marisa Tomei of course has already won this category. Penelope Cruz was great in Vicky Cristina Barcelona but I expect that Amy Adams may edge her out for her turn in Doubt.
Best Animated Film
This category is still a travesty and a cop out for an Academy that is afraid to nominate animated films alongside live-action films. Wall-E should stand for Best Picture. It far outclasses the other films in this category and most of the films in the Best Picture category. Though Kung Fu Panda was a very good and enjoyable film Wall-E wins in a landslide.
Best Art Direction
I’m not exactly sure what art direction is but there are several here that could win. The Duchess is the splashy looking time period drama. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button saw some wonderful sets but The Dark Night had some beautiful gritty realism that should garner them the win.
Best Cinematography
This one is a tossup between Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. But Benjamin Button seems to be out of favor this year and as Slumdog Millionaire is going to win Best Picture the Cinematography award will probably go to it as well.
Costume Design
Again costuming generally goes to the splashiest film which in this case would be The Duchess.
Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons will win this one easily. Though I liked the over the top makeup of The Dark Knight, anyone who can make Brad Pitt go from 80 to 20 will win in a walk.
Music (Score)
There are some big name repeat customers here among them Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Thomas Newman, and Danny Elfman. Most of the early awards have gone to Defiance so we will go with this one here.
Music (Song)
Though Slumdog Millionaire is nominated two out of three times Wall-E will probably win this with ‘Down to Earth’.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Usually the writing awards are consolation prizes for films otherwise passed over. But this year it seems like the big winners are going to be the ones taking home the writing awards as well. Slumdog Millionaire should beat out The Reader and Frost/Nixon.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Wall-E will win, see comment above.

Other Categories:
Documentary Feature - The Betrayal
Documentary Short - The Final Inch
Film Editing - The Dark Knight
Foreign Language - Waltz With Bashir
Short Film (Animated) - Presto
Short Film (Live Action) - Toyland
Sound Editing - Wall-E
Sound Mixing - The Dark Knight
Visual Effects - Iron Man

Related posts:

1. Oscars 2005 part 1
2. Oscars 2005 Part 2