Honor Roll: The Oscars...

And the Oscar goes/should go to...


Well, since the Oscars came out with their nominations today I thought I'd put in my picks...

Red will be who I think will win and Blue will be who I think should win.


BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges, CRAZY HEART

George Clooney, UP IN THE AIR

Colin Firth, A SINGLE MAN

Morgan Freeman, INVICTUS

Jeremy Renner, THE HURT LOCKER


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon, INVICTUS

Woody Harrelson, THE MESSENGER

Christopher Plummer, THE LAST STATION

Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES

Christoph Waltz, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS


BEST ACTRESS

Sandra Bullock, THE BLIND SIDE

Helen Mirren, THE LAST STATION

Carey Mulligan, AN EDUCATION

Gabourey Sidibe, PRECIOUS

Meryl Streep, JULIE & JULIA


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz, NINE

Vera Farmiga, UP IN THE AIR

Maggie Gyllenhaal, CRAZY HEART

Anna Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR

Mo'Nique, PRECIOUS


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

CORALINE

FANTASTIC MR FOX

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

THE SECRET OF KELLS

UP


BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

FRENCH ROAST, Fabrice O Joubert

GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY, Nicky Phelan & Darragh O'Connell

THE LADY AND THE REAPER, Javier Recio Gracia

LOGORAMA, Nicolas Schmerkin

A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH, Nick Park


BEST WRITING (Adapted Screenplay)

DISTRICT 9, Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell

AN EDUCATION, Nick Hornby

IN THE LOOP, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche

PRECIOUS, Geoffrey Fletcher

UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turne


BEST WRITING (Original Screenplay)

THE HURT LOCKER, Mark Boal

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino

THE MESSENGER, Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

A SERIOUS MAN, Joel & Ethan Coen

UP, Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy


BEST DIRECTOR

AVATAR, James Cameron

THE HURT LOCKER, Kathryn Bigelow

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, Quentin Tarantino

PRECIOUS, Lee Daniels

UP IN THE AIR, Jason Reitman


BEST PICTURE

AVATAR

THE BLIND SIDE

DISTRICT 9

AN EDUCATION

THE HURT LOCKER

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

PRECIOUS

A SERIOUS MAN

UP

UP IN THE AIR

Doubling Down...

The AMPAS has decided that Five (5) nominees for Best Picture is not enough...

So from now on there will be ten (10) nominees for Best Picture. Many think this is being done to boost ratings and they're probably right, but I whole heartedly support this move. There are many films that are worthy of being nominated that never get to be because of the limited number of slots the Academy gives for a Best Pictures nomination.

Now we can look forward to seeing films get respect that never would have even gotten the attention they deserve. Thanks Hollywood. Now how 'bout that nomination for Pixar's "Up" for best picture being one of them? That way Carl can meet Oscar since they're about the same age.

Time will tell...

"Up"setting The Balance...

There's some quite buzz going on in Tinseltown about Pete Docter's new film...

Some people are starting to talk about if and why "Up" should nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Or some say, at least Best Screenplay. So once again pressure will be put on the Academy to reward an animated film with the stature they normally only want to give live-action films. So if the momentum continues to grow it will be hard for those that hand out the little golden statuettes to actually do what it unthinkable. Give this charming film the respect it deserves. There has long been a bias against animated films, culminating with "Beauty and the Beast" becoming the first animated feature to be nominated for Best Picture. The stuffed shirts and tightened girdles inside this exclusive club couldn't take this and what culminated from all this was an award for Best Animated Film. For a group of people that consider themselves open and progressive, the Hollywood elite decided to create a segregated area for animated films since they're inferior to live-action. Imagine it as two water fountains, one labeled "live-action" and the other "animation" for drinking up movies. Separate but equal right? Riiiiiiggght. The reason there are two status groups for these type of films is because the Academy doesn't consider them equal and never really has. Remember how Walt wasn't even thought of as a competitor, which actually helped him slowly move into the live-action side. Every studio in Southern California thought that "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" would be a bomb. It turned out to be the most profitable film of that year. And when Disney moved into live action they felt he would succeed, because again, the perception of being an animator and not a real film maker. He must be crazy to make this "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" because it'll sink the studio. Animators and animation have been the brunt of this kind of thinking since the days of silent film. The movie business was wrong then and still is. Animation to them is a step down on the artistic ladder. The public, feels differently however. They vote with their wallets and animated films still tend to be some of the highest grossing of any films. Name me many films you can release on a new format seventy years later and still sell millions and millions of copies. Try that with most live-action titles and you'll be lucky to see hundreds of thousands, if not thousands.

So come the end of this year, well see if the weight of popularity and critical appeal will force the entertainment industry to acknowledge the obvious. Animation is worthy of being nominated for Best Picture. Pixar's "Up" is not only worthy of being nominated, it deserves to win as well.

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Oscar Likes Animals & Robots...

It appears that a Robot, A Dog and a Panda will compete for the Best Animated Picture Award at the Oscars this year...

Good odds for the Mouse.

And naturally, a Bat was shut out because it was just too popular, I guess. If you missed the rundown on what was nominated for what, here are the main nominations:

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire *


Best Director:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher

Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard

Milk - Gus Van Sant

The Reader - Stephen Daldry

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle *


Best Animated Picture:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E *


Best Animated Short Film

La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato

Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

Presto - Doug Sweetland *

This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes


Best Original Screenplay:

Frozen River - Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh

Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Wall-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter *


Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan

The Reader - David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy *


Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler *


Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight *

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road


Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader *


Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler *


* Honor's pick for what will/should win the Academy Award.

Wall-E Wins, Mouse Hopes...

It appears the Mouse is angling on getting "Wall-E" nominated for Best Picture as well as Best Animated Picture. "Beauty and the Beast" still remains the only animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar...

And it deserved it. Not only because it is my favorite Disney Animated Film, but because it was simply a damn good, extremely well made film deserving of a nomination. I was rather upset that they created an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature after that. It was as if they wanted to push animation aside, like some deformed child they wanted no one to see. The Academy seems to think of animation as a juvenile hobby. I tend to think the Academy is juvenile having spent time with several of its members...

Here's to wishing the little Robot luck. He's gonna need it.

Hat Tip to Slashfilm.

Academy Awards All Around...

It was a very good night for the Mouse...

The Walt Disney Company's Miramax Film division's "No Country for Old Men" took home the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. Can't really disagree with them... I loved the film. It and "American Gangster" are tied as my favorite of the year. Joel and Ethan Coen are very talented writers and directors. Javier Bardem was amazing as a ruthless killer that felt no empathy and spread death in his wake.

Pixar keeps racking up awards as well with "Ratatouille" taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Film... I was a little surprised at this since there had been a build up about "Persepolis" over the past few months as being the David which would defeat the Remy-Goliath. Once the awards season happened and Brad Bird's film kept winning awards that began to dissipate until it culminated last night. Bird gave an exceptional acceptance speech for an exceptional film.

Congratulations go out to all Mickey's employees and everyone else that took home Oscar gold...

Snow White And The Seven Oscars...

On this day...

Seventy years ago, Walt Disney received a special Academy Award in innovation for the creation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". Many more awards obviously followed...

Animated Short Nominations Are Goofy...

I was aiming to write about this the other day...

But I got busy... Hey, I do have a life ya know!

The Oscar Nominations have been announced and I like most of what was announced, except...

The nominations for Best Animated Short. Or to be more specific, the "lack" of a nomination is what has me a bit upset.

2007 Best Animated Short Film Nominations:

• I Met the Walrus - Josh Raskin
• Madame Tutli-Putli - Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
• Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven) - Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
• My Love (Moya Lyubov) - Alexander Petrov
• Peter and the Wolf - Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

I don't want to take away from any of the shorts that have been nominated. This post is not about them. It's more about the Academy and its decision making process. I find it hard to believe the Academy let "How To Hook Up Your Home Theater" go without a nomination. Was this some form of slight against the short, or perhaps a sign that they've given up on Disney hand drawn animation? It could also be that the short plays so well as a bridge to the Disney shorts of the past that Academy members thought they were looking at an old cartoon. But then they wouldn't have or couldn't have watched the whole thing would be my guess. This wouldn't be the first time, Oscar winners are filled with films that even the voters didn't see, but felt should win. Even when it's just entertainment, it's political, sadly.

I'm not saying that Goofy's new short should win... although I wouldn't mind it. But the short should have been nominated. It deserves it for not only being a great animated short, but for showing that a group of talented animators can create something so wonderfully funny and memorable after having their skills neglected and tossed aside for half a decade.

Maybe they should expand the number? Maybe they should have to actually take a test to prove they watched what they vote for. Either way, the lack of a nomination for Disney's first new short in years is just plain goofy.

Today, Was A Blustery Day...

On this day, thirty-nine years ago, "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day is released in front of one of Disney's live-action features. It is the second of the three "Winnie the Pooh" shorts that will eventually make up "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" film. It wins the Academy Award for Best Animated Short... and it's my favorite of all the Winnie shorts.

Pure Disney Magic.