After viewing 37 films that were nominated for the Oscars, it is time to give my thoughts as to who I think will win, should win, and I would not mind seeing win: Best Picture Will Win: The Hurt Locker (This was the only film that felt like an Oscar film this year. Last year, Slumdog Millionaire made me feel the exact same way. … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: 82nd Academy Awards Predictions
And this folks is where my Oscar Challenge ends…. With three films that are not readily available to me, I must call this the end. Burma VJ, Most Dangerous Man, & Which Way Home (all documentaries), will not be viewed this year. However, once they become available I will provide my thoughts. Either tonight or tomorrow morning, I will be providing my predictions of … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The End
THE WHITE RIBBON Up For: Best Achievement in Cinematography Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Though not viewing any of the other foreign language films this year, I still believe this film is strong enough to win. The White Ribbon never feels like a foreign language film. Though a period piece set in black and white, the film could just as easily take … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The White Ribbon
IL DIVO Up For: Best Achievement in Makeup Il Divo proved to be a very odd film. The makeup nomination, from my analysis must come from the formation of the main character, Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. A small, hunched-back, droopy eared man is the basis of this Italian political film. Not sure it quite compares with the complexity and sheer abundance of makeup … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Il Divo
THE SECRET OF KELLS Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year The aesthetics of the Secret of Kells were phenomenal. The animation was spot on, with gorgeous scenes and brilliant animations. The score was exceptionally well done, with upbeat Celtic tunes and the fairy chanting of the young lady doing the voice of Aisling. The voices were well chosen despite the voice … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Secret Of Kells
With only 6 films left to view, 3 of which I cannot find anywhere: Il Divo (Up for Best Make-Up) Most Dangerious Man In America (Up for Best Documentary) Which Way Home (also Up for Best Documentary) My Oscar Challenge is growing to a close. I will save my final predictions after tonight when I view the remaining films (Secret of Kells, Burma VJ, … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Drawing To A Close
THE LAST STATION Up For: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role This film deserves the story that preceded it. A friend of mine and I decided to see this film at a 9:55pm showing on a Tuesday night. Upon purchasing our tickets and getting concessions, we walked to the numbered theater that … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Last Station
WALLACE & GROMIT – A MATTER OF LOAF & DEATH Up For: Best Short Film, Animated As the only short film I will be viewing this year, I do not have much to compare this film to. However, this film was solid. Nick Park definitely has enough background to achieve an Oscar from his work. The story of the film is predictable and meant … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Wallace & Gromit – A Matter Of Loaf and Death
THE LOVELY BONES Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Did you happen to notice that this film was only nominated for one thing? There was a reason for that. This film was bad, through and through. Yet the one, somewhat shining light of the film was the utter creepiness of Stanley Tucci as the neighborhood killer. I often felt … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Lovely Bones
PRECIOUS Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Best Achievement in Directing Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Best Achievement in Editing Precious, as it appears, is worth its weight in gold, at least Oscar gold. Word of mouth made this … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Precious
THE MESSENGER Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Occasionally, the Oscar Challenge has helped shine a light on films that, for some reason or another, are glazed over by the local theaters and publicity as a whole. The Messenger was one of those films. Without much knowledge going into The Messenger … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Messenger
AN EDUCATION Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published The film An Education was unlike any film I saw it being. The trailers for An Education made the film look scandalous. The result was quite the opposite. Carey Mulligan plays a young woman in … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: An Education
NINE Up For: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Costume Design Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Absolutely loved this film. Characterization is my favorite part of stories, especially those of superhero stories and the like. Nine was completely filled with characters. The nominations for Nine were deserved but … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Nine
THE PRINCESS & THE FROG Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year (2) Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Where do I begin with The Princess & The Frog? What happened to Disney films? Before viewing Princess & The Frog, I revisited two Disney classics, Aladdin and The Lion King. Now yes, they are classics and therefore rule … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Princess and the Frog
INVICTUS Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Invictus started off the night of the triple header at the Safari theater. As the longest film of the night, we planned on getting it out of the way. Invictus did not disappoint. Morgan Freeman was a solid choice for Leading Actor. Put … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Invictus
A SINGLE MAN Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Watching the trailer for this film does not prepare you for what you are stepping into. Here is what I knew about this film when I stepped in: Tom Ford, a fashion designer, is a first time director. Colin Firth is nominated for Best Lead Actor. Julianne Moore had Oscar … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: A Single Man
FANTASTIC MR. FOX Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Stop motion animation at the medium’s finest. Easily fell in love with this film. Fox brings all the elements of a good film together in one package, leading in great voice actors, great screenplay, and great animation. George Clooney tops off as the voice of Mr. Fox, only leading a cast of … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Fantastic Mr. Fox
IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS Up For: Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Costume Design The first two words that come to mind within the first 15 minutes of this film: Low Budget! Now I know, “do not judge a book by its cover” so I bit my tongue through the film and hoped for the best. I was sadly mistaken. Dubbed as … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
THE BLIND SIDE Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Ask any one of my friends and most likely they can tell one thing… I dislike Sandra Bullock. Recently, her two headline roles have been in the Proposal and All About Steve (to which she won as Razzie Award, the equivalence of worst performance … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Blind Side
Good news to anyone who is following the journey: looks like I will be able to watch all but three films this year. I was able to find most films in the area. The ones I will miss: The White Ribbon (nominated for Best Cinematography) The Most Dangerous Man In America (documentary) Which Way Home (documentary) If anyone knows where I can find these … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Good News!
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Up For: Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Costume Design Best Achievement in Makeup Overall, fantastic film. Emily Blunt is exquisite. Paul Bettany (not Ifans Rhys as I commonly mistake the two) was fantastic as well. Mark Strong took part in the cast as well, playing such a great part I did not even recognize him (most recently in … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Young Victoria
BRIGHT STAR Up For: Best Achievement in Costume Design A viewer must be in a right mood to simply sit down and take in Bright Star. Though the costumes were gorgeous and century appropriate, the dialogue and storyline is like reading the poetry that is being presented. The performances were great. The two leads were wonderful, though the on-screen chemistry was through dialogue instead … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Bright Star
AVATAR Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Achievement in Directing Best Achievement in Cinematography Best Achievement in Editing Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Best Achievement in Sound Editing Best Achievement in Visual Effects For a long time, I waited to say my piece about Avatar (if … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Avatar
FOOD INC. Up For: Best Documentary, Features Here is what Food Inc. did for me: it disgusted me, it ripped my heart out, it suggested that I live the wrong way but cannot do anything about it because of my social status, and left me feeling helpless. A documentary like this needs to be careful. The entire film is broken into sections and each … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Food Inc.
So far so good… My adventure through the many films nominated for the 82nd Academy Awards is really paying off. I am completely amazed at how great films that sound so bad in title and on paper can turn out to be. I keep getting the same response from people: they are Oscar movies, they are supposed to be good. But most Oscar movies … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: My Journey Thus Far
JULIE & JULIA Up For: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Meryl Streep) Julie & Julia inspired me to start this blog. The film itself was entertaining, but did not strike me as Oscar-worthy. The performances were sub-par, especially from Meryl Streep. I simply have a feeling that the people that grew up with Julia Childs teaching them to cook on … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Julie & Julia
PARIS 36 (FAUBOURG 36) Up For: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song The first thing I told myself was to take the easy way out and simply look up the four individual songs up for nominations (the fifth I had already seen in Crazy Heart) and choose from there without watching the entire films. Instead, I took the leap into … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Paris 36
THE COVE Up For: Best Documentary, Features With a tag line like “The Bourne Identity meets Flipper”, the Cove was a passing joke between my colleagues and I at work in the video store. That combination makes the documentary sound ridiculous. View the film, however, you will be in awe. The Cove was phenomenal. Though extremely one sided, the film is a great blend … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Cove
COCO BEFORE CHANEL Up For: Best Achievement in Costume Design Before committing to the Oscar Challenge, I scanned the list of Feature Films I would have to watch. Several categories looked like they would be torture. Costume Design was one of those categories. You read a title like Coco Before Chanel and the first thing that came to my mind at least was “torture”. … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Coco Before Chanel
HARRY POTTER & THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE Up For: Best Achievement in Cinematography What an odd place for this film to be nominated. Costume? Maybe. Visual Effects? Possibly. Cinematography? …I really do not know… The fact of the matter is, you watch this Harry Potter film and in no way would I leave a theater saying this film should be up for Best Cinematography. … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince
IN THE LOOP Up For: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Never would I have told myself, “Hey, I’m bored, let’s watch In The Loop tonight.” The cover of the DVD was uninviting, the tagline of “British comedy” turned me off, and I had literally heard nothing about it. But the Oscar Challenge makes you watch films you never thought … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: In The Loop
CORALINE Up For: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Wholeheartedly did not enjoy the viewing of this film. Personal preference for stop motion animation, the story was nothing spectacular. Not sure if there was a lack of Animated Features this year, but Coraline was far from anything enjoyable. The film “9” (though I have not viewed it yet) seems like it had more … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Coraline
CRAZY HEART Up For: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Where in God’s name is the Best Picture nomination? Crazy Heart was absolutely amazing. By far the best film viewed throughout this journey (Sorry Up In The Air, Thank you Marcus Theaters … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Crazy Heart
A SERIOUS MAN Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Honestly, what would the Academy Awards be without a Coen Brothers film these days? A staple in the Awards for almost 2 decades, not seeing them at the Oscars for at least one award would be a rare occurrence. Winning the big awards (Best Picture, … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: A Serious Man
UP IN THE AIR Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Two Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Best Achievement in Directing Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Made my first set-back in the Oscar challenge… I enjoyed Up In The Air so much, I went to … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Up In The Air
Thus far, the films that have been weighed in on were films that I went to in the theater, not knowing that I would eventually challenge my self to see all the Oscar nominated films. Not a bad start, but leaving 33 films to see. As a film student for three years, I would watch the Academy Awards every year and never know half … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Challenge Begins
THE HURT LOCKER Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Best Achievement in Directing Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Best Achievement in Cinematography Best Achievement in Editing Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Best Achievement in Sound Editing In the lead for … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Hurt Locker
SHERLOCK HOLMES Up For: Best Achievement in Art Direction Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Do not let Sherlock Holmes’ lack of nominations steer you away from viewing this film, it was absolutely wonderful. Of course Robert Downey Jr. was fantastic (having not missed a beat since Iron Man). The film definitely deserves the two nominations it received. Positive that … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Sherlock Holmes
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Best Achievement in Directing Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Best Achievement in Cinematography Best Achievement in Editing Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Best Achievement in Sound Editing Nothing like eight Oscar nominations to tell you how great this film is. Quentin Tarantino … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Inglourious Basterds
DISTRICT 9 Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Best Achievement in Editing Best Achievement in Visual Effects Hype… Hype can ruin a movie. Trailers for this film made me somewhat want to view this film before it hit theaters. The hype after the film hit theaters was phenomenal. A “must’ see film. … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: District 9
UP Up For: Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Best Achievement in Sound Editing Best Animated Feature Film of the Year First things first, Up deserves every award it wins this year. Up was by far the best Disney-Pixar film I have seen to date. Combine … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Up
STAR TREK Up For: Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Best Achievement in Sound Editing Best Achievement in Visual Effects Ask me back when I first saw this on Blu Ray if I thought this would get any Oscar nods, let alone three, I would have simply said “no way”. Not saying the film wasn’t great, because it was by far the best Star Trek … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Star Trek
TRANSFORMERS 2 – REVENGE OF THE FALLEN Up for: Best Achievement in Sound Mixing As a personal favorite film of mine from 2009-2010, seeing Transformers make at least one nomination makes me very enthused. Sad to say, however, anything going up against Avatar in the technical categories (without actually having viewed Avatar at this time) does not bode well for contenders. Would absolutely love … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: Transformers 2 – Revenge Of The Fallen
Every year, another Academy Awards night goes by. Most years I watch the ceremony, cheering on the film, actor, or director I think should get the award. Most years, however, I hardly know who to cheer for or limit myself to who I can cheer for by not seeing most of the films nominated that year. Sadly, throughout the year I am watching more … Read More 2010 Oscars Challenge: The Oscars Challenge
