Decision ‘08

Oscar Notes

The big headline everywhere is that Dreamgirls got 8 nominations, but is not up for Best Picture - but the real headline should be that a Spanish-language film with a Mexican director and a relatively modest production budget of $19 million got six - I’m talking about Pan’s Labyrinth (reviewed here by yours truly). The truly excellent Children of Men is up for three (my short review of that one here), and United 93 (my take) is up for Best Director and Film Editing.

Of the films up for Best Picture, I liked The Departed the best (see here for my review of that one) (I’d rather it win here and give Paul Greengrass the Best Director).

The complete list of nominees is here…

4 Responses to “Oscar Notes”

1 Fargus Says:
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 am
Of the nominees, I’d really love to see The Departed win. If Children of Men was also up there I’d have a rough time, but the more time it has to settle with me, the more I really, really loved The Departed.

My dream list:

Best Picture: The Departed
Best Director: Martin Scorcese
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (though Ryan Gosling was really, really good in Half Nelson)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Wahlberg
Best Supporting Actress: Abigail Breslin
Adapted Screenplay: Children of Men
Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Cinematography: Children of Men (if this doesn’t win in this category, a crime has been committed against films this year)

I should qualify this list by saying that I’ve only seen a fraction of the nominees. Maybe I’ll get a chance to see some more before the big night comes around.
2 Aaron Says:
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:45 am
The Oscars this year look to be about as exciting as the Superbowl. The only ones I care about at all are Greengrass for director and Will Smith for lead actor. It would be nice for Apocolypto to get somthing it was up for, too, as insignificant as make-up is.
3 Dennis Says:
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I just saw United 93 on DVD. It left me with the same feeling I had walking out of the theater after Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. Scorsese makes some great movies, but he’s never made anything to equal what Greengrass did.
4 Mark Says:
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
It is a fantastic movie - given the gravity of the subject matter, it’s hard to imagine it being any better…