Oscars 2010

[kevinknapman]

Does anyone know when the Oscar nominations are gonna be announced - or are they out already??

February 2nd

[superhero]

Of course he's a good actor, but somehow his films tend to annoy me, like when The Man who stare at goats. Although "Arlington Road" is one of my favourite films, which is often very underrated. The ending ranks high up there with the very best ones...esp post 9/11

Crazy Heart is a story about a washed-up Country singer (called "Bad Blake"! ), played by Jeff Bridges, who finds redemption through a younger woman, in this case a journalist played by Maggie Gyllenhall, who happens to be following him around for a story on the crash and burn of his career.

So it's exactly the kind of film that Oscar voters love, plus Jeff Bridges is well overdue some recognition for his work (sadly, they don't have a "Best Dude" Oscar category... ), which is why it has suddenly popped up in the awards season without creating much of a fuss beforehand. The same kinda thing happened with Frozen River last year.

It was meant to be a small-scale film with a limited release and Jeff Bridges even turned it down a few times too before taking on the role, but now that it's getting some attention it's becoming a bigger and bigger film. If it wins some awards you may even see it getting a release over here...

[ciro22]

As for Up In The Air, I agree that it's a very good film but I'm not sure that it is even trying to be the heavyweight Oscar contender that some people seem to be casting it into. It'll most likely win the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (with perhaps A Serious Man taking the Original Screenplay award) so I expect it to get some awards recognition at least. Whilst in most of the other categories it should get some nominations (e.g. Best Director for Jason Reitman, perhaps Supporting Actrees for Anna Kendrick) which are certainly worthy of nomination but I'm not sure those aspects will stand out enough against the potential competition to actually take the statuette...

In a lot of ways, you could almost say that it's 'up in the air but happy enough to fly under the radar'...

For me, the film that looks most likely to lose out on wins when it really should be taking home a sackful of awards may well end up being The Hurt Locker - so that's the film I'm personally rooting for myself!

[priamia]

Does anyone know when the Oscar nominations are gonna be announced - or are they out already??

February 2nd

Thanks for that kevinknapman will keep an eye out for them so I can make my predictions

[superhero]

Well Up in the Air is definitely not the heavyweight contender anymore given that it's been overlooked in quite a few recent awards. It might be abit like Frost/Nixon last year, which got lots of noms but didn't win much (and I did like Frost/Nixon).
I saw Hurt Locker on the plane recently, haven't had time to write a review for it yet, but I thought yes it's the best of the Iraq War genre films, but thats not saying much considering the weak competition. And alot of the film had borrowed ideas from The Kingdom, Body of Lies, Rendition. Maybe not borrowed but it didn't seem that groundbreaking after having seen those 3 films before. I am hoping the Green Zone will be better.
On another note, I am not surprised they moved Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island out of Oscar contention. I actually thought the trailer I saw was fantastic as a thriller/horror film, but it just didn't look like an "Oscar" film (if there's such a thing). However it's one of the films I am really looking forward to, as it looks really creepy and thrilling...

[ciro22]

The Hurt Locker was probably the best film last year in terms of Direction and Editing, with some excellent performances (Jeremy Renner above all) and a pretty good script. The writer was a journalist embedded with troops during the war so there is a fair amount of realism that comes through the film, whilst at the same time Kathryn Bigelow manages to keep the entertainment and thrill factor at high levels, so it becomes this highly successful blend of fact and fiction...

I think a lot of the flak it has been getting (no pun intended... well, okay, maybe ) comes from the fact that it isn't a message film when pretty much all the other Iraq War genre films have been concerned with making their own points and sometimes to their own detriment... For me, that's actually part of what sets The Hurt Locker apart from those other films.

The only other Iraq War film/tv show to provide a similarly excellent account of the war was the mini-series "Generation Kill" which I would thorougly recommend to anyone interested in the genre or simply those interested in good dramas. It's by the guys who wrote The Wire if you want some idea of its pedigree.

Superhero - It would be interesting to hear what ideas you thought were borrowed from the films you mentioned in your comment: The Kingdom, Body of Lies, Rendition

[superhero]

Borrowed isn't probably not the right word.... but watching The Hurt Locker, I wasn't like wow, isn't this new and original. Not that I don't think it is a good film though, but so far I don't think any iraq war films have caught the general audience's imagination. Maybe the Green Zone will do better?

[ciro22]

Well I'd argue that it is original in terms of it not trying to force across a message about the Iraq War but instead focusing on the men who go to war and their motivations for doing so; and I also think there was some originality in the way the director handled the movie. In essence, the film/story is really just a series of set pieces following the unit from one bomb site to the next, but each situation carries its own weight and draws you into events as you watch.

As for the Green Zone, it's looking like that one might well end up being The Bourne Ultimatum: Iraq Edition - which is no bad thing of course

[superhero]

I saw an article today Avatar is now the favourite to win the Best Picture Oscar, followed by The Hurt Locker and then Up in the Air.

[ciro22]

I'd probably have to go along with that, although you should probably squeeze Precious into the list too (maybe joint second favourite with The Hurt Locker)

There may also be an argument to be made that the Oscars will try to distance themselves from the Globes by picking a more "worthy" winner, but the signs from the past appear to suggest that Oscar will be looking to do what it can to make itself seem as popular and populist as ever so it'll probably be Avatar...