My Picks

So, here are my official selections for the 80th Annual Academy Awards.  Use these picks with caution, as it has been a few years now since I have won any type of Oscar pool (I blame it all on that travesty Crash from 2005).*

•  Best Picture: No Country for Old Men. I still haven’t seen TWbBlood, but having seen the other BP nominees and given the steamroll of awards it has accrued, NCfOM is hard to go against.  Luckily, there are no stinkers like Crash to come out of nowhere and wreak havoc.
• Best Director: The Coen Bros., NCfOM. Like their juggernaut of a BP candidate, they seem unbeatable here, unless people really want to heap some praise on Paul Thomas Anderson.  I think Schnabel is too hubristic for the Academy to encourage his megalomania (that said, they seem to always find awards for Jack Nicholson and his outsized ego, but he’s technically acting).
• Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, TWbBlood. Again, since I haven’t seen this I can’t be 100%, and even though I thought Clooney was transcendent (and much better than in Syriana for which he won Supporting Actor in 2005) in Michael Clayton, this seems like the type of performance that screams for an Oscar (ala Denzel in Training Day).  Plus, maybe if Day-Lewis wins an Oscar for a showy performance, he’ll go back to doing quieter, subtler work again.
• Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her. This is the one award I’m really passionate about this year; the work Christie does in this film is amazing, and the polar opposite of Day-Lewis’ actorizing.  Christie is absolutely heartbreaking here, matching the excellent script and directorial tone set forth by Sarah Polley (how great is she, btw).  If Cotillard wins, I may body slam my television; her performance was cheap mimicry masked as bravura.  Additionally, I loved Linney in The Savages, but she doesn’t stand a chance in this race.
• Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, NCfOM. Runaway winner.  He’s good, but I really liked Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Brad Pitt (granted, that was more on a co-lead); however, he creates an iconic character in a prestige film that will provide fodder for spoofs for decades to come.
• Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton. This seems to be the most hotly contested major category.  You have Amy Ryan who won a bunch of critics’ awards; Cate Blanchett for bending gender and channeling Dylan; and Ruby Dee who is old and has never been nominated for an Oscar before.  I like Swinton here, because this race is easy to split; Ryan is too much of an unknown (and she did fine work in more than one film in ‘07); Blanchett won in 2005 for impersonating, er, “channeling” a different icon (plus, it seems like she will be awarded in the leading category in the future…since she has been lauded as the new Meryl, can she conceivably have more Oscars than La Streep?); Dee might fall victim to the Lauren Bacall syndrome of ‘96 – lots of attention, at least 1 major pre-Oscar award, and then someone who really deserves it pulls through.  This year, I think it’s Swinton, who takes a truly supporting character (not a near cameo like Dee, or a co-lead like Blanchett) and makes the character believable, credible, and sympathetic.  That scene in the bathroom stall is the finest 30 seconds of acting I’ve seen in a while.
• Best Original Screenpaly: Diablo Cody, Juno.  Not much to say here – this feels like it’s already been decided given her press tour and all.  Personally, I thought The Savages was amazing and is truly deserving, but it has no chance.
• Best Adapted Screenplay: Coen Bros., NCfOM. Same explantation as BP and BD.  Big novel, big author, frontrunner film.  Again, I thought Away from Her was amazing, but it’s a one Oscar type of movie.

  Ah, the Oscars.  This year feels a lot like the 1996 awards, which coincidentally was the last time the Coens had a major threat (Fargo, how I love thee). That year, though, The English Patient was the big kahuna (Atonement is very EPish, but didn’t get enough love outside BP and the tech categories): BP, BD, BSActress – I see NCFOM as the parallel here with BP, BD, BSActor.  I like this analogy: Day-Lewis is very Geoffrey Rush-like with a showy, attention-grabbing performance that was also unstoppable. I already alluded to the BSActress races being similar (Binoche:Bacall::Swinton:Dee). The big difference here is the BAcstress category, when Frances McDormand won for her darkly comedic turn in Fargo (perhaps there’s hope for Ellen Page?).  Wow, I need to get a life.

That all said, my favorite movie of 2007 is not found in any of the nominees in the above categories.  The Bourne Ultimatum was the most enthralling, engrossing, and entertaining movie of ‘07 (it’s nominated for some tech awards…here’s hoping is pulls out a few wins).  I watched this movie again last night, and all of my fond recollections from watching it this summer were confirmed.  Matt Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, and Julia Stiles (Stiles! a piece of cardboard used to be able to out act her!) are a dream cast in a smart thriller with amazing visuals.  Done deal.  I’m so not a sequel guy, but the Bourne movies keep on getting better, and I have to say that I cannot wait for the next one, whenever that will be.

   

 *If you don’t have a life either, click on the links in this post, as I spent some time selecting appropriate photos and whatnot.