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No Time for Oscar

Hi everyone, sadly I have been so busy with work and the Xmas holidays that my maintanance of this blog has been lacking. I will keep the domain up and will hopefully start posting soon!

A note about the Golden Globes

I have been superbusy this week but my analysis about all the Film Critics awards and the Golden Globes is coming shortly. In the meantime, you can find the full list of nominees *HERE*.

Any (Side)Way you See It ... GGs, LA & NY Critics Love Payne

Alright, so Super Monday as I like to call it came and went and now for an analysis of the pre-cursor awards. The Golden Globe (GG) nominations, NY Film Critics Online (NYCO), New York Film Critics Circle (NYCC) and LA Film Critics (LAC) awards were announced on Monday. Here is my analysis, I will post the listing of the awards in a seperate post and will post my Globe predictions before the a couple of days before the ceremony hopefully.


Best Picture

And the front-runner for best film is without a shadow of a doubt Alexander Payne's Sideways. It received the most Globe nominations with 7 and won Best Picture in all three critics awards. I personally don't think the film will actually win, not in a year where Martin Scorcese finally gets it right in his bid for Oscar glory (nice try with Gangs of New York though). And momentum can shift at any minute, in 1997 L.A. Confidential won both LA and NY awards yet by Oscar time its momentum had all but died as Titanic swept in and won big. I think Sideways will get multiple nominations, and eventually land the consolitary Best Screenplay award that always goes to the writer/director in these situations (just see Sofia Coppolla, Curtis Hanson).

As well, the Aviator has got to be a favorite in this category. Although it didn't win the two big critics awards, Scorcese was the runner-up best director on the LA Critics list and the film received 6 Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture - Drama. The other heavy favorite that has emerged is Million Dollar Baby, which the NY Critics awarded Best Director to Clint Eastwood and received 5 Golden Globe nods.

The other two spots remain a mystery, any number of films can emerge here. Finding Neverland also registered 5 GG nominations and was named best picture last week by the National Board of Review, same with Closer which received six. And both films directors received Globe nominations. As for surprises, there is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Hotel Rwanda, both nominated in the best picture categories and my have some momentum going for them.

Annie Awards

With the best animated picture being one of the most exciting (in my view) categories this year, we look at the Annie Awards nominations, which could be considered a good measure of which films will end up on the shortlist of three films. Although Shark Tale got many nominations (7 in all) I think its exclusion from the Best Animated Feature category could indicate that people may want to reward the film for technical acheivement, the overall picture has been underwhelming. Shrek 2 and The Incredibles seem to be dead certs for an Oscar nomination, and I would bet that Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence can get a surprise nomination, somehow I can't see the Academy nominating SpongeBob SquarePants. For the full list, click here.

Annette V. Hilary ... Round 2 ?

I read on the Oscarwatch site that Roger Ebert is tipping Hillary Swank to blow everyone away with her performance in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby. This of course is not good news for current favorite Annette Benning, who had to grin her way (while heavily pregnant) during the 2000 Oscars while the virtually unknown Swank walked away with the Best Actress trophy. Fast forward five years later, and we have a potential Hillary / Annette showdown on our hands. Here are your contestants:

Hilary Swank:

Since winning for Boys Don't Cry, Swank has not had the best of career arcs. With the exception of Insomnia her choice of roles has been fairly questionable (The Core, The Affair of the Necklace). It seems that her performance was a one-off, a role that was ready-made just for her. I was all but ready to write-off Swank as a fluke Oscar winner as I'm sure many people did. She has a lot going for her in Million Dollar Baby, the film looks set to get multiple nominations (including Best Picture) and if it does that increases both the film's profile and Hilary's chances. Also, Clint Eastwood seems to get winning performances from his actors (Gene Hackman for Unforgiven; Sean Penn and Tim Robbins for Mystic River). Still, I would like to think that the Academy will not forgive Swank so easily, sure she'll get nominated, but for her to be in the league of two time winners is unlikely.

Annette Benning

Mrs. Beatty has been playing mommy for the last 4 years or so, and has only re-emerged this year onto our screens. She had a major role in the sleeper hit Open Range and impressed everyone at the Toronto Film Festival with her Oscar-tipped performance in Being Julia. The film itself has gotten mixed reviews, and is perhaps too small. Still, Benning is Hollywood royalty and she is long overdue for a win after losing for both American Beauty and The Grifters (and although never nominated, her performance in Bugsy is one of my all time favorites).

The Verdict:

If it comes down to a two-horse race between Swank and Benning, my bet is on Benning. Still, I wouldn't bet the house yet, there is still the question of Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake who is likely to garner a lot of support this year as well.

National Board of Review

Well, you know its awards season once the National Board of Review awards are announced. A good indicator of which films will at least be nominated (last year, 4 of the Best Picture nominees were included on the NBR shortlist of ten). There are no big surprises here. I would say that all the acting winners are locks to be nominated this year. The win for Michael Mann for Collateral gives that film a boost that it needed since it was released back in the summer, and is the only thing close to a surprise. All in all, a very inclusive list which is expected from the NBR. For the full list click on the NBR website.


Best Film
Finding Neverland

Top Ten Films
Finding Neverland, The Aviator, Closer, Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, Kinsey, Vera Drake, Ray, Collateral, Hotel Rwanda

Best Foreign Language Film
The Sea Inside

Top Five Documentaries
Born into Brothels, Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, Paper Clips, Supersize Me, The Story of the Weeping Camel

Top Foreign Films
The Sea Inside, Bad Education, Maria Full of Grace, The Chorus (Les Choristes), The Motorcycle Diaries

Best Actor
Jamie Foxx, Ray

Best Actress
Annette Bening, Being Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Thomas Haden Church, Sideways

Best Supporting Actress
Laura Linney, Kinsey

Best Acting By An Ensemble
Closer

Breakthrough Performance Actor
Topher Grace, In Good Company and P.S.

Breakthrough Performance Actress
Emmy Rossum, The Phantom of the Opera

Best Director
Michael Mann, Collateral

Best Directorial Debut
Zach Braff, Garden State

Best Adapted Screenplay
Sideways, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor

Best Original Screenplay
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie Kaufman

Best Documentary
Born Into Brothels

Best Animated Feature
The Incredibles

Career Achievement
Jeff Bridges

Special Filmmaking Achievement
Clint Eastwood, for producing, directing, acting, and scoring Million Dollar Baby