By Lee Pfeiffer
Well, it's that time of year again when movie critics go out on a limb and demonstrate our ignorance of what will occur at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. My own track record is generally decidedly mixed, but not as bad as some pundits. Incidentally, to those who say that Cinema Retro often underrates new films due to our fixation on movies of the past, I'll state publicly that 2008 was the best year for motion pictures in recent memory. Virtually every film I bothered to see was terrific, which explains why some extraordinary movies that would ordinarily have dominated the nominees were under-represented or completely ignored. (i.e Changling,The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Revolutionary Road, Gran Torino) To recap, here is a summary of my views regarding the five Best Picture nominees, followed by my predictions of who will win in the major categories.
Best Picture Nominees:
- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE: Everything you've heard about this innovative and highly entertaining film is true. It's what movie-making should be all about: an original concept superbly executed by director Danny Boyle. The movie is brought to life by an extremely talented cast, none of whom was recognized by the Academy in this year that boasted an abundance of great performances. However, this doesn't diminish their extraordinary work.
- THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: An ambitious and consistently interesting film that ultimately fails to connect with the audience on an emotional basis. The parallels to Forrest Gump have been well documented, but they do prove to diminish the movie's many qualities. In summary, an intriguing and well-executed story that falls short of its goals. It's been nominated for an astonishing 13 Oscars, but don't look for it to come home with any of the big prizes.
- FROST/NIXON: Ron Howard has somehow transformed what could have been a mundane subject matter (the complex negotiations by David Frost to land former President Richard M. Nixon for a series of revealing TV interviews) into a mesmerizing, humorous and highly suspenseful film. Frank Langella gives the performance of his career and manages to humanize Nixon in the process. Michael Sheen once again gives one of the most under-rated performances of the year. When will Oscar recognize this outstanding actor?
- MILK: You don't have to be gay to love Milk, but it probably helps in terms of having the historical aspects of this story resonate to maximum effect. I confess that all I knew about the gay rights activist Milk were shadowy memories of his spectacular murder after achieving his long quest to win the election as San Francisco City Supervisor, thus becoming America's first openly homosexual public official. The film reveals there was far more to this man than most people had known and open minded people, both straight and gay, will be moved by the horrendous prejudices Milk help overcome. These include his landmark election issue battles against Anita Bryant, a former orange juice TV pitchwoman whose lunatic religious beliefs helped set back America's progress on civil rights. Sean Penn gives another brilliant performance and demonstrates why he just may be the best actor of his generation.
- THE READER- A compelling, intriguing and highly erotic film that will probably finally allow Kate Winslet to bring home the Oscar gold. Unfortunately, her equally superb performance in Revolutionary Road was released in the same year and Academy rules prohibit an artist from being nominated for two films in the same category.
AND THE WINNERS WILL BE....(But don't bet on it!)
- BEST PICTURE: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- BEST DIRECTOR: DANNY BOYLE, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- BEST ACTRESS: KATE WINSLET, THE READER
- BEST ACTOR: MICKEY ROURKE, THE WRESTLER
- SUPPORTING ACTRESS: PENELOPE CRUZ, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
- SUPPORTING ACTOR: HEATH LEDGER, THE DARK KNIGHT
- BEST ANIMATED FILM: WALL-E
- ART DIRECTION: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
- CINEMATOGRAPHY: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- COSTUME DESIGN: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
- FILM EDITING: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: WALTZ WITH BASHIR
- MAKEUP: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
- ORIGINAL SCORE: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- SONG: DOWN TO EARTH FROM WALL-E
- SOUND EDITING: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- SOUND MIXING: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- VISUAL EFFECTS: THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
- ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
- ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: MILK