[44 OUT OF 46 FILMS REMAINING]-[33 DAYS TO OSCARS]
“Moneyball” definitely has its work cut out for it in the Best Picture category. Up against buzzing films like “The Artist”, “Hugo”, and “The Descendants”, it may be hard for “Moneyball” to get recognized. Also, without Bennett Miller getting a nomination for director, the film’s chances drop a little lower, even though it does show up in other key categories like Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing. Though “Moneyball” was a great film this year, I do not see it taking the Academy Award for Best Picture.
How can you go wrong when Aaron Sorkin is behind your screenplay? Sorkin won Best Adapted Screenplay last year for “The Social Network” and has the chance to win it again for two consecutive years, and I feel there may be a strong case for this. All Sorkin has to do is beat out fellow Best Picture runners John Logan for “Hugo” and Alexander Payne for “The Descendants”, which may be an uphill battle, but with “Moneyball” and its superior writing, Sorkin might just take this one. I see “Moneyball” at least being in the top 3 picks.
While there is nothing wrong with the editing of “Moneyball”, there is also nothing that truly sets the film apart from anything else coming out these days. Though I was looking for the editing while watching the film, there was little to catch and nothing that really blew me away. If you look at this category as well, “Moneyball” faces off with “Hugo” and “The Descendants” though the editing of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” could prove victorious quite easily. Case in point, “Moneyball” remains good, just not great.
Sound Mixing will most likely fall onto a more technical film like “Hugo” or “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, but once again, this has little to do with the quality of the film and more to do with the stiff competition in most of these categories.
Brad Pitt received his first nomination for an Academy Award in 1995 for Best Supporting Actor in “12 Monkeys”. He’s been nominated once since then for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, but still did not take home the gold statue. Pitt’s back again this year, but with the steep competition, things aren’t looking good for him. Having George Clooney in the category does not help, especially when he’s all we’ve been hearing about. Though Pitt’s performance as Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland A’s, is reflective and genuine, Clooney and Dujardin will most likely be battling this one out.
I am amazed Jonah Hill even made the nominations (still bitter about Albert Brooks). Hill has basically already won, since from this day forward we will see advertisements for his R-rated comedies with the tagline “Academy Award nominated Jonah Hill”. Imagine seeing that marketing strategy for a raunchy film like “The Sitter”. No way is Jonah Hill winning this category. Nothing against his performance, which he nails, proving he’s more than the Judd Apatow comedy actor, but every one else in the Best Supporting Actor category deserves it more than him.
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