New Digs

We have moved! Click on the link to view the new location and let hilarity ensue!

http://hilarityensuesmovieblog.com/

The Oscars: Same Old Stuff

So here are the winners, in the order they were given.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

The Winner: Penelope Cruz
My prediction: Marisa Tomei
Notes: Well, I did have it down to Tomei and Cruz. I picked wrong. o-1

Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced Or Published

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: Back On Track. 1-1

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen

The Winner: Milk
My prediction: Milk
Notes: Better. 2-1

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

The Winner: Heath Ledger
My prediction: Heath Ledger
Notes: Easiest pick of the night. 3-1

Best Achievement In Directing

The Winner: Danny Boyle
My prediction: Danny Boyle
Notes: I am extremely happy he won. 4-1

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

The Winner: Kate Winslet
My prediction: Kate Winslet
Notes: Oh Hell Yeah. It's about time Kate got one. 5-1 (Could I actually go 7-1?)

Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role

The Winner: Sean Penn
My prediction: Mickey Rourke
Notes: Well dang it. Damn You Sean Penn! I told you he was a Hollywood sweatheart. 5-2

Best Motion Picture Of The Year

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire
My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: I am almost as happy to see Slumdog win as I am seeing Kate win. 6-2

Well, what do you know. 6 out of 8. I am nothing if not consistent. For those of you scoring at home, this is the 4th year in a row I have emerged with a 6 for 8 record.

The Oscars: My Predictions

As many of you who have spent the last three years with me and my blog I am mister 75% when it comes to Oscar Predictions with a consistent 6 for 8 in each of the last three years. I have a feeling I won't be that lucky this year. Luckily I has seen all 18 movies involved in the top 8 awards. There is in my opinion only one clear favorite in any of the 8 catagories so I any going to take some chances and pick who I would vote for to win. Okay here we go. Wish me luck.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based On Material Previously Produced Or Published
The Nominees:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: Wow, only Milk is left out or this would be a mirror image of Best Picture. Milk is nominated but in the next catagory. Benjamin Button might win. It is a three hour movie based on a short story, just imagine if it had been a full novel.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly For The Screen
The Nominees:
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL·E

My prediction: Milk
Notes: I think Milk will probably get the win but I would be very happy if In Bruges or WALL·E won. Both are very well written.

Best Achievement In Directing
The Nominees:
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case Of Banjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Saint for Milk

My prediction: Danny Boyle
Notes: Boyle had the least to work with primarily unknown actors and still made a wonderful film.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role
The Nominees:
Amy Adams for Doubt
Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona
Voila Davis for Doubt
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

My prediction: Marisa Tomei
Notes: Here is were it starts getting very hard. I think Cruz and Tomei are the front runners and they are running neck and neck. Either could win.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role
The Nominees:
Josh Brolin for Milk
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

My prediction: Heath Ledger
Notes: It's really a shame for the "other four" in this one. Heath Ledger has been the front runner for over a year now, and well deserved. I just hope the Academy voted for his performance and not the fact that he passed away.

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role
The Nominees:
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Joile for Changling
Melissa Leo for Frozen River
Meryl Streep for Doubt
Kate Winslet for The Reader

My prediction: Kate Winslet
Notes: The battle of the titans. Winslet have 5 career nominations but she looks like an amateur compared to Streep's 15 career nominations. I do really feel that it is Winslet's year. Anne Hathaway may be her biggest competition.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role
The Nominees:
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn for Milk
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case Of Banjamin Button
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

My prediction: Mickey Rourke
Notes: This is another hard one. I think it will come down to Penn and Rourke. Penn is a hollywood sweetheart so he may win.

Best Motion Picture Of The Year
The Nominees:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

My prediction: Slumdog Millionaire
Notes: And the big one. This may be a three way race between Benjamin Button, Milk and Slumdog. On this I went with my choice. Either of the other two could win, but I am hoping for Slumdog.

So, we will see how it all turns out in 12 hours.

Best Picture Nominees

And last, the Best Picture Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is the story of a man's life, but he is no ordinary man, he ages backwards. We follow his story from birth where he is abandoned on a step through his life and many loves and adventures. This is the type of movie the Academy loves. Grand adventures, full story, in the tradition of Forrest Gump. If you had asked me in December I would have said this was the shoe in for Best Picture, now I not so sure.

Frost/Nixon follows the preparations and filming of David Frost's interviews with former President of the United States Richard Nixon. It shows the back stage wrangling and mind play between to the two men. Although this was a good film, I'm not sure it has much of a chance. It was mainly driven by the personalities of the men involved in the interviews, it wasn't big enough in scope.

Milk follows about ten years in the life of Harvey Milk including his failed elections and his election to San Fransisco's Castro district supervisor. Milk became the first openly gay elected official in the nation and rallied the gay population in San Fransisco. Now we are getting closer to what the Academy likes. Social and political story. This is one could pull off the win.

The Reader follows man remembering two events from his past. First, his affair with an older woman who had him reader stories to her because she couldn't read them herself. And second, the trial of six women accused of being former Nazi Concentration Camp Guards including the woman he had an affair with. Like Frost/Nixon this is a quiet little film that really works based on the performances of the leads.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a young man explaining how he could answer the questions on a television game show. But it is more then that. It is the spirit of a boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai. It is the resiliency of the young man as he struggles against a world that won't let him flourish. It is the determination of the young man to find his true love. What a great movie. It is epic in scale, including scenes in many different locations in India including the Taj Mahal. It is endearing and at time heartbreaking. The question is can it win over the Academy when it could be considered by some as more Bollywood then Hollywood.

Best Actor Nominees

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Richard Jenkins plays Professor Walter Vale in The Visitor. Walter Vale is a college professor at a crossroads in his career. He is just going through the motions and doesn't want to do anything but work on his book and learn to play the piano but with little success. When he has to return to New York to attend a seminar he discovers two people living in his apartment. He eventually lets them stay and forms a friendship of the young man, who teaches him how to play the drums. Richard Jenkins may be hampered by his quiet performance. He never really shows any emotion until the end of the movie.

Frank Langella plays Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon. Richard Nixon was the President of the United States, at least until he resigned after Watergate. Several years later he agreed to do an interview with David Frost, a journalist that he felt he could handle so that he could get his own message out and gain prominence again. Langella did a good job portraying the former head of state. The problem is just about everybody knows who Nixon is and what he acted like so Langella had to fit into a pretty strict performance or people wouldn't beleive him.

Sean Penn plays Harvey Milk in Milk. Harvey Milk was a gay politician in San Fransisco. He was the first openly gay man to be voted into office in the country. As he gained power he also gained enemies and this is what lead to his downfall. As I said with Langella, Penn is portraying a known politician but in this case a lot fewer people know him so Penn has a little room to work with. That being said, he did a great job. This is going to be a tight race.

Brad Pitt plays Benjamin Button in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Benjamin Button is not normal. He ages backwards, being born an old man and progressing through life getting younger and younger. Pitt, like Jenkins, plays a pretty quiet role here. Besides growing young, Button is pretty just a normal person, so all Pitt has to do is look and act normal.

Mickey Rourke play Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler. Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a wrestler past his prime, by about 20 years. He continues to wrestle hoping for a little bit of the glory but also having to make a living by working part time at a grocery store. I see this coming down to Penn and Rourke, Penn is a Hollywood darling but Rourke has the whole career comeback angle working for him. Rourke does a great job as a has been trying to gain back glory, just like in real life.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Picture.

Best Actress Nominees

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Anne Hathaway plays Kym in Rachel Getting Married. Kym has just left rehab to attend her sister's wedding. She still has issues, mainly with her family in an over protective father and a sister who doesn't seem to want her there. She struggles with the fact that she is not the center of attention that she is used to being. Hathaway does a good job showing the struggles this young woman is facing. Hathaway has so far been known mainly for comedy work and lighter roles. If she keeps picking these kind of roles she will be nominated again.

Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins in Changeling. Christine Collins is the mother of a lost child. The police will not help her, instead returning a child that is not hers. She feels she has to do something to force the police to look for her boy, but it ends up sending her to a mental institution. Jolie is a good actress but I am not sure this role will win it her her. She doesn't seem to show enough emotion. Maybe it is because she is trying to stay calm and find her son, I don't know, it was just a meh performance to me.

Melissa Leo plays Ray Eddy in Frozen River. Ray Eddy is a mother struggling to make ends meet for her two sons. Her husband has just run out on her and taken the payment for the trailer now she has to figure out a way to get the money before Christmas. Her solution: helping illegal aliens cross the river into America. Melissa Leo is a wild card in this years nominations. I don't know her work very well but it looks like it consists mostly of character parts. In this movie she does a decent job and probably deserves a mention but that's about it.

Meryl Streep plays Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt. Sister Aloysius is the head nun at a school in New York. She directs her nuns to watch out for anything suspicious that happens. Sister James finds it in the form of Father Flynn and a young boy. Sister Aloysius takes it upon herself, without any proof whatsoever, to run Father Flynn out of the school and the church. As I said in the review of Doubt, I think Streep got the nomination purely on reputation. Yes, she does a good job, a very good, but she just doesn't seem to put out her best performance here. It is just not vintage Streep.

Kate Winslet play Hanna Schmitz in The Reader. Hanna Schmitz is a woman who works on a cable car. She helps a young man who is feeling sick get home. He comes back to thank her and the have an affair over the summer. Latter it is revealed that during the war she was a Nazi concentration camp guard and she is put on trial. Winslet is making her sixth appearance as an Oscar nominee, but she hasn't won yet. I say yet because she will win an Oscar in her career which hopefully is a long one. She will probably win multiple Oscars. I think she will get the first one this year. Out of the five nominees, her performance stands out. She is distant at times but so would Schmitz be if she was hiding the fact that she was a nazi guard. She just does the best job this year.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Actor.

Best Supporting Actor Nominees

Next up is the Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role Nominees. And remember, I am going to present them in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Josh Brolin plays Dan White in Milk. Dan White is a conservative political rival of Harvey Milk. White was elected supervisor at the same time as Milk. White and Milk work together but Milk turns on White during a particular political situation and White feels Milk has wronged him ruined his career. Brolin is good at being the quiet man in the background of a burgeoning political powerhouse. It's always the quiet ones. Brolin is solid, but that's about it.

Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. Lazarus is an Australian actor that is so much into method acting that he has a radical procedure do to appear black in his next movie. He even tries to live the life 24 -7. Every once in a while the Academy surprises me. This is not a traditional role that would get an Academy nomination in a typical year, hell, it probably wouldn't get nominated in most atypical years, but this year is different. This year has Heath Ledger. I sincerely hope the Academy didn't throw Downey a bone knowing that he probably wouldn't win. We need more good comedic performances recognized.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Father Flynn in Doubt. Father Flynn is a priest who is accused of abusing a young boy. There is no evidence that he did it. Sister Alyosius is convinced he did it and is determined to remove him from the Church. Philip Seymour Hoffman, as usual, is very good at acting both guilty and innocent. He leaves the audience wondering. A cool bit of trivia: As with the play, Hoffman was the only one on the crew to know if he was guilty or innocent.

Heath Ledger plays The Joker in The Dark Knight. Neurotic, psychotic, criminal, evil, all these words could easily describe the Joker. Genius is also a word that can describe him. The Joker is the quintessential Batman Villain. Genius can also describe Heath Ledger's final performance. Brilliant would work too. Lets face it, this is a one man race. Everyone by now knows that Ledger died shortly after filming of The Dark Knight. He will get a lot of sympathy votes but he would have deserved the Oscar even with out them. This movie literally would not be the same with out Ledger as the Joker. You put anybody else in the role and this movie would be a $200 Million movie instead of a movie approaching a Billion dollars worldwide.

Michael Shannon plays John Givings from Revolutionary Road. John Givings is a mathematician, at least he was one until he had a nervous breakdown and was submitted to electric shock treatment. The treatments also left him with the ability to tell the absolute truth and see through anyone's motives. Now this is how you do a character that only has a short part of the movies. Shannon is able to become the conscience of the film and he did it in two scenes. Too bad he is going up against Ledger.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Actress.

Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Today we look ate the Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role. I am going to present them, along with the other nominees tomorrow through Friday, in the order they are listed on IMDb.com.

Taraji P. Henson plays Queenie in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. Queenie runs a seniors home in New Orleans. One night she discovers a baby on the steps of the home. The baby turns out to be Benjamin Button who ages backwards. Queenie steps in and raises Benjamin. Henson does a good job in her role. She show ed kindness and tolerance to this small child when no one else would. If it is Benjamin Button's night Taraji very well may be the first of many major awards for the movie.

Amy Adams plays Sister James in Doubt. Sister James is a young nun under the guidance of Sister Aloysius (played by Meryl Streep). Sister James is the one to initially have doubts about Father Flynn, albeit after Sister Aloysius asked the nuns to be on alert for something. She immediatly regrets having said anything and starts to have more doubts about herself. Amy Adams does a good job but I don't see her getting the Oscar this year. There is just too much competition.

Viola Davis plays Mrs. Miller in Doubt. Mrs. Miller is the mother of Donald Miller, whom Father Flynn is accused of wrongdoings with. Donald is the first African American student in the school and is one of the choir boys. She has a wonder scene where Sister Aloysius tells her about the sister's suspicions and she seems to accept that it may have happened but that Donald is better off in the school then in a public school and she feels the sacrifice is worth it. But that is the problem. She is on screen for less then 10 minutes. I feel she is the longshot.

Penelope Cruz play Maria Elena in Vicky Christina Barcelona. Maria is the ex-wife of Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). Vicky (Scarlett Johansson) and Christina (Rebecca Hall) both fall in love with Juan Antonio. Maria re-enters Juan Antonio's life and she and Vicky finally start hitting it off, but there is a problem. Maria Elena is crazy. If something doesn't go right in her life she shoots first and asks questions later, if she even asks an questions. Cruz does a good job of being calm one moment and crazy the next. Now we are getting into the ones that I think have the inside track to the Oscar. I think the Oscar will either go to Cruz or...

Marisa Tomei who plays Cassidy in The Wrestler. Cassidy is an aging stripper who becomes the object of affection of a run down aging wrestler Ram (Micky Rourke). She starts to like Ram, but tries to keep the relationship professional. Tomei interjects a little hope into an otherwise depressing movie. You think that if Ram can get Cassidy to love him he might have a chance at happiness without the need of wrestling.

Tune in tomorrow for Best Supporting Actor.

Best Picture Nominee: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But hilarity ensues when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out. At the heart of its storytelling lies the question of how anyone comes to know the things they know about life and love.

Trivia: Mercedes-Benz asked that its logos be removed in scenes taking place in the slums. The company, according to Danny Boyle, did not want to be associated with the poverty-stricken area, fearing that that might taint its image. Director Danny Boyle placed the money to be paid to the 3 lead child actors in a trust that is to be released to them upon their completion of grade school at 16 years of age. The production company has set up for an auto-rikshaw driver to take the kids to school everyday until they are 16 years old. The current exchange rate for 20,000,000 Rupees (the grand prize on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire") is USD$411,600. This movie was almost released straight to DVD instead of getting a theater release.

It is refreshing to see Hollywood respond to a movie that has no American Superstars in it, a movie that can survive and actually thrive on a well written story, a movie that is intelligent. Everyone in this movie did a great job. If you haven't seen it yet I highly suggest that you do. You might even be surprised come Sunday night.

Best Picture Nominee: The Reader (2008)

Middle aged German barrister Michael Berg (Ralph Fiennes) recollects to himself his lifelong acquaintance with Hanna Schmitz, (Kate Winslet) a relationship with whom he never disclosed to anyone close to him. Young Michael (David Kross) first met Hanna in 1958, when he was fifteen, she thirty-six. Hilarity ensued as the two had a turbulent summer long love affair, dictated by Hanna that their encounters would begin with him reading to her followed by lovemaking. Michael next encountered Hanna in 1966, when Michael, now a law student, attended the Nazi war crimes trial of five female former S.S. concentration camp guards, one of whom is Hanna. Through listening to the testimony, Michael comes to the realization that he is in possession of information which could save Hanna from a life in prison, information which she herself is unwilling to disclose. In deciding what to do, Michael is torn between his differing views of justice.

Trivia: Stephan Daldry's first choice for the lead role was Kate Winslet, who originally turned down the offer due to a scheduling conflict with Revolutionary Road. When Nicole Kidman accepted the role, the producers built in a hiatus in order to allow her to finish filming Australia. However, by the time Kidman was set to begin her scenes on the film, she withdrew because of her pregnancy, vacating the role. Winslet, who was now available, agreed to replace Kidman. Producers Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella both died before the completion of the movie. As the film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the Academy made an exception from their rules not to name more than three producers as nominees because of this rare circumstance. In the end the two producers Donna Gigliotti and Redmand Morris who took over duties were nominated as well as the posthumously honored Minghella and Pollack. The shooting took a break for David Kross to turn 18 so the love scene could be shot.

The movie is divided into two parts. The Affair, and The Trial. I think Winslet does a good job portraying Hanna in both parts of her life. Winslet is nominated for Best Actress which is curious because she was nominateed for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for the same role.