Oscar Challenge: An Update

I foolishly thought I had the upper hand on the Oscars. Of the 58 nominated films, I've watched 30, with 28 to go! Yes, I know it seems that I have no life, but it's been a very enjoyable way to procrastinate, and there are only 11 days to go until I'll have to find another distraction.

However, there's a snag in my plan. Of the 28 films I have left, I can only find 10 of them online! Early on I conceded to the fact that I will need to actually go out and rent a few films, as I learned that Up and The Most Dangerous Man in America are not available online anywhere. But I've now realized that many others are also not available, such as the documentary shorts, live action shorts, and some others. I am going to rent the films I can rent, but I expect there will be some I will not be able to find, and therefore my goal may not be reached because of a lack of resources instead of time, which I thought would be my downfall. Oh well. 28 films in 11 days may have ruined me, even though some are shorts, so I'm probably better off not having the resources to try. Though I do hope to be able to watch the documentary shorts, even if it has to wait until after the Oscars.


Thus far, I've only completed four categories, but here are my predictions:

Best Supporting Actress: Mo 'Nique in Precious. I'm also predicting Precious to win Best Picture, and the film's leading lady Gabourey Sidibe to win Best Actress, though I have not yet seen all of the films in these categories. Precious was fantastic and disturbing, with Mo 'Nique's performance adding a lot to both. I only knew of her from her roles in Beer Fest as the sassy femme fatale "Cherry," and in a guest spot on "Ugly Betty" as the Mode weekend receptionist "L'Amanda." To see her tackle such a serious, multifaceted role was refreshing and very well-executed, and, in my opinion, much more impressive than the performances of the other actresses in this category, though they were also commendable.

Best Animated Short: Logorama. The other animated shorts were splendid! Very cute (with a dash of morbidity in The Lady of the Reaper,) but Logorama was excellently unique. I may be biased because the subject of anti-consumerism is near and dear to my heart, but it truly stood out from the others for thinking outside the box, working with the tools within it. I'm not sure how well the Esso girl and Big Boy would be able to repopulate the planet post oil apocalypse, but since the Academy was able to keep its corporate influence at bay to grant the Best Documentary award to Michael Moore, perhaps this film has a chance at best animated short.
But don't believe me, see the shorts for yourself:
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/shorts/watch-four-of-the-five-oscar-nominated-shorts-online.html
The link to French Roast doesn't work, but here is another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mwLwkwR0yQ


Visual Effects: Avatar. The largest film budget in history was clearly spent almost entirely on visuals, since the writing was so lackluster, but it was visually stunning and deserves this award... and perhaps others such as cinematography... but if Avatar wins Best Picture I will probably never watch the Oscars again.


Art Direction: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. This was a crazy and confusing film that will perplex me forever, and I think the untimely death of Heath Ledger robbed the film of its potential, as its conclusion was too fast and too frantic. Luckily the filming of Heath's character Tony in the "real" world was finished before his death, so having Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell play the character in the imaginary world was not much of a stretch. I commend Terry Gilliam for finishing the film without its lead as a tribute to Heath, and because Heath's replacements gave their wages from the film to his daughter Matilda, I truly wish it were a better film. However, Gilliam created a fantastic dichotomy between the real and the imaginary worlds that offers redemption for his film's shortcomings. The film was beautiful, and deserves this award.

Stay tuned for more predictions and reviews. Thanks!

Colleen vs. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards

The self-imposed challenge: watch all of the films nominated for this year's Oscar's before the award show.
Start date: Monday, February 15th, 2010.
The deadline: 82nd Annual Academy Awards, March 7th, 2010.


It all started last year around Oscar time. I looked at the nominees list and, sadly, realized I had only seen a few of the films. I've watched the Oscars every year since... birth? I'll have to ask my mom... I usually haven't seen most of the films, but last year I hadn't even heard of a lot of them! After the show, I watched a few of the films, but then lost interest. This year I looked at the list and got excited. I had seen or planned to see quite a few of the films (YAY!) But the rest were a mystery, and the challenge began! I decided to watch as many of the 58 films (including the shorts) as possible before the show.

1 week later, 18 films down, 40 films and 13 days to go, not exactly "behind" in school, but not as ahead as I was a week ago, and I kind of wish I had either made this plan sooner, or not at all...

Alas, I am a procrastinator at heart, and I always need some distraction from school and work. If I wasn't doing this, I probably would have started watching a TV series from the beginning (I just finished Californication a few weeks ago, and Parks and Recreation came before that... It probably would have been Mad Men. I've heard good things.)

This is the list of films (not including Short Films or Documentary Short Subjects... I'm not sure why):
(http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nomineesByPicture.html)  
Blue is for films I have watched, green is for films I haven't. 

Hopefully the list will be completely blue by the 7th! Wish me luck :)

Ajami

Inosan Production (Kino International)

• Best foreign language film (Israel)

Avatar

Lightstorm Entertainment Production (20th Century Fox)

• Art direction
• Cinematography
• Directing
• Film editing
• Original score
• Best picture
• Sound editing
• Sound mixing
• Visual effects

The Blind Side

Alcon Entertainment Production (Warner Bros.)

• Sandra Bullock - Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Best picture

Bright Star

Jan Chapman/Bright Star Films Production (Apparition)

• Costume design

Burma VJ

Magic Hour Films Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

• Documentary feature

Coco before Chanel

Haut et Court Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Costume design

Coraline

LAIKA Production (Focus Features)

• Best animated feature film

The Cove

Oceanic Preservation Society Production (Roadside Attractions)

• Documentary feature

Crazy Heart

Informant Media/Butcher’s Run Films Production (Fox Searchlight)

• Jeff Bridges - Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Maggie Gyllenhaal - Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Original song - “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)”

District 9

Block/Hanson Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)

• Film editing
• Best picture
• Visual effects
• Adapted screenplay

An Education

Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Carey Mulligan - Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Best picture
• Adapted screenplay

Fantastic Mr. Fox

American Empirical Production (20th Century Fox)

• Best animated feature film
• Original score

Food, Inc.,

Robert Kenner Films Production (Magnolia Pictures)

• Documentary feature

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Warner Bros. Production (Warner Bros.)

• Cinematography

The Hurt Locker

Voltage Pictures Production (Summit Entertainment)

• Jeremy Renner - Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Cinematography
• Directing
• Film editing
• Original score
• Best picture
• Sound editing
• Sound mixing
• Original screenplay

Il Divo

Indigo Film/Lucky Red/Parco Film/Babe Films Production (MPI Media Group through Music Box)

• Makeup

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Poo Poo Pictures Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Art direction
• Costume design

In the Loop

Loop Film/BBC Films and UK Film Council in association with Aramid Entertainment Production (IFC Films)

• Adapted screenplay

Inglourious Basterds

Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production (The Weinstein Company)

• Christoph Waltz - Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Cinematography
• Directing
• Film editing
• Best picture
• Sound editing
• Sound mixing
• Original screenplay

Invictus

Liberty Pictures Production (Warner Bros.)

• Morgan Freeman - Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Matt Damon - Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Julie & Julia

Columbia Pictures Production (Sony Pictures Releasing)

• Meryl Streep - Performance by an actress in a leading role

The Last Station

Egoli Tossell Film/Zephyr Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Christopher Plummer - Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Helen Mirren - Performance by an actress in a leading role

The Lovely Bones

Wingnut Films Production (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)

• Stanley Tucci - Performance by an actor in a supporting role

The Messenger

All the King’s Horses Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

• Woody Harrelson - Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Original screenplay

The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)

Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production

• Best foreign language film (Peru)

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Kovno Communications Production

• Documentary feature

Nine

Weinstein Brothers/Marc Platt/Lucamar/Relativity Media Production (The Weinstein Company)

• Penélope Cruz - Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Art direction
• Costume design
• Original song - “Take It All”

Paris 36

Galatée Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Original song - “Loin de Paname”

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Lee Daniels Entertainment/ Smokewood Entertainment Production (Lionsgate)

• Gabourey Sidibe - Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Mo’Nique - Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Directing
• Film editing
• Best picture
• Adapted screenplay

The Princess and the Frog

Walt Disney Pictures Production (Walt Disney)

• Best animated feature film
• Original song - “Almost There”
• Original song - “Down in New Orleans”

A Prophet (Un Prophète)

Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Best foreign language film (France)

The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)

Haddock Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Best foreign language film (Argentina)

The Secret of Kells

Cartoon Saloon/Les Armateurs/Vivi Film Production (GKIDS)

• Best animated feature film

A Serious Man

Working Title Films Production (Focus Features)

• Best picture
• Original screenplay

Sherlock Holmes

Warner Bros. UK Services Production (Warner Bros.)

• Art direction
• Original score

A Single Man

Fade to Black and Depth of Field Production (The Weinstein Company)

• Colin Firth - Performance by an actor in a leading role

Star Trek

Bad Robot Production (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)

• Makeup
• Sound editing
• Sound mixing
• Visual effects

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Don Murphy/Tom DeSanto/di Bonaventura Pictures/Ian Bryce Production (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount)

• Sound mixing

Up

Pixar Production (Walt Disney)

• Best animated feature film
• Original score
• Best picture
• Sound editing
• Original screenplay

Up in the Air

Montecito Picture Company Production (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

• George Clooney - Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Vera Farmiga - Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Anna Kendrick - Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Directing
• Best picture
• Adapted screenplay

Which Way Home

Mr. Mudd Production

• Documentary feature

The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)

X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production (Sony Pictures Classics)

• Cinematography
• Best foreign language film (Germany)

The Young Victoria

GK Films Production (Apparition)

• Art direction
• Costume design
• Makeup

 

The rest weren't on the list, but were found on the nominees by category list: (http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html)

 

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Final tally: 36 down, 22 to go