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72 Comments on “Oscar Picks 2009”

1. 
   1: Wickethewok said at 5:15 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   Best original screenplay goes to In Bruges, sorry Joe. The dialogue was just fantastically dark and funny.

2. 
   2: odessa steps magazine said at 5:18 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   Joe,

   Are you one of those sportswriters like bob ryan and david dupree that sees tons of movies, due to all the down times being in foreign cities covering games?

3. 
   3: Sean said at 5:20 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   In Bruges is a fantastic movie with dark humor and suspense that will leave you feeling quite a bit better about the fact that Colin Farrell has a successful career. If you like Guy Ritchie’s movies–the lightning-quick, witty dialogue, the brazen violence, the surprising way you actually care about the characters–In Bruges is definitely a movie you should see.

4. 
   4: Sam said at 5:23 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   I just don’t get Slumdog. Very entertaining, well-told, set in an exotic locale, not much more. Flat, uninteresting characters and story. I’m not saying it’s bad, but best picture? I don’t see it. Then again, I thought The Dark Knight was the best, so I guess similar arguments go against me. What do I know?

5. 
   5: Bill said at 5:24 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   One-legged dog!!!
   http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail109.html
   Aww…Lil’ Brudder! He’s gonna make it! He’s got the heart of a champion!

   That’s all.

6. 
   6: Matt Cibula said at 5:24 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   I got Winslet for Supporting Actress and Hathaway for Lead Actress — gotta be one surprise in there right?

7. 
   7: Jon said at 5:25 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   Just adding to the In Bruges support. The first time I ever enjoyed a Colin Farrell character.

8. 
   8: ceolaf said at 5:40 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   This is the first time I have found myself radically disagreeing with Joe.

   Oscars should be rewards for the the matters at hand. They should not be lifetime achievement awards or the result of politics. They should not go to the best stories behind the nominees. They should go to the best work, best performances and the the best films.

   *****************************

   You can see the animated and live action shorts — the nominated ones — at a bunch of theaters around the country. I saw them all last year, and it just gave me another category to think that they got wrong.

   As for this year’s, well, they were disappointing.

   LIve action:

   * They tend to be around 15 minutes long, but one of them is 30 minutes long. That feels like an unfair advantage to me, but it must fit within the rules. And it does more — with more beautiful nuance — with its 30 minutes than that others do with their 15.

   * A Holocaust theme also feels like an unfair advantage. Yeah, Toyland is moving, but the acting really hurts the overall impact.

   Animated:

   * Pixar’s is probably the best, strong story, good use of animation, consistently entertaining, some sort of message or theme. But it felt a bit too slick. Plus, it just screamed PIXAR SHORT FILM. How many times do we want to award the same thing? Is the artistic achievement as great the second or fifth time around?

   * The only I like the best, The House of LIttle Cubes, probably won’t win.

   ************************

   Slumdog might be the most overrated film this decade.

   It is good. It is fine. The music is good — but people give a lot of credit for music they’ve never heard before, even though hundreds of millions of other people know it well.

   But let’s be honest, here. The acting is not great. Visually it is exciting, but not revolutionary or anything. The little girl is cute, and the woman is gorgeous. But the love story is trite, and simple, and forgettable.

   This is not the movie that people will look back on 2009 and remember in 10 years. The two of those that I saw this year were not nominated for best film. I have not seen all the nominated films, but I saw this one, and it was good, but it was also forgettable.

9. 
   9: sansho1 said at 5:55 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

   Lots of people giving Button the Forrest Gump brushoff (and for all I know, it deserves it…I haven’t seen BB, and hated Gump) — but, tell me, who is Latika but an updated, Indian Jenny? Continually pushing away the hero, check. Living a louche lifestyle, check. Watching the hero to go to increasingly absurd lengths to save her, check. Only returning unconflicted once the hero lucks into a great deal of money, check. OK, it’s not perfect, and I liked Slumdog a great deal. But I think people were just prepared to be dazzled and went with it to a certain extent.

   Meanwhile, Milk showed many more characters “in full” — heroes who were also selfish, unprincipled, and horny, and villains who constantly wrestled with inner conflict and tried to do good (well, except for Anita Bryant). It was my favorite movie since Pan’s Labyrinth, and not boring in the least.

10. 
    10: Erik in NYC said at 5:59 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    wow, couldn’t disagree more with much of this. that’s okay, joe, you don’t have to have my taste in movies, i guess. and mickey rourke didn’t have a more difficult role than sean penn. not by a long shot. man on wire was a much better movie than trouble the water. did trouble have to be made? yes. should everyone see it? yes. is it better than man on wire? no way. choosing the best picture of the year is just as ridiculous a conversation as who’s the best running back of all time? or qb? or shortstop? switch-hitter? there are too many opinions that are totally backed-up with flawless argument. and you should see milk. amazing performance (at least on-par with rourke, who was also great, make no mistake).

11. 
    11: Pope said at 6:11 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    I saw slumdog last night and thought the entire thing was pretty flat and predictable. After the first answer where they showed him as a kid experiencing the answer I knew it would be fairly predictable. Granted there were some minor plot twists around his brother and the host, but the entire movie felt like a let-down after about the first half.

    Furthermore, if the best movie of 2008 has a central element of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” then I think the stimulus package needs to go to Hollywood.

    Even though the dancing at the end was entirely unnecessary and didn’t fit the tone of the movie *at all* I still enjoyed the hell out of it. How can you not appreciate the Indian’s passion for crazy group scripted dance?

12. 
    12: JasonL said at 6:15 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Joe, I hate to break this to you, but it seems we are different people, with different tastes in movies. C’est la vie, I suppose. All I’ll say is this, I saw a review where someone asked you to imagine if Slumdog was exactly the same, but set somewhere in America. What would you think then? Probably, that is was totally okay, but not transcendent.

    I thought Slumdog was good, I did not think it was as good as Milk (my wife and I both cried at the end), Benjamin Button, The Wrestler, The Reader, or even Wall-E. But again, that’s my opinion. We’re different people with different opinions, and, you know, that’s cool.

13. 
    13: rdriley said at 6:27 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Joe, you MUST see In Bruges. It’s a beautifully shot, brilliantly acted black comedy that absolutely slew me when I watched it. It’s probably a better movie than half of the flicks nominated for Best Picture. (I’ve only seen Slumdog and Milk, and In Bruges was definitely better than either.)

14. 
    14: michael said at 6:43 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    I’d go with Rourke as best actor. I didn’t see Milk, but Rourke won me over.

15. 
    15: Aaron/YYZ said at 6:59 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Once again I am served with the same tripe about The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button mimicking Forrest Gump. It should be noted of course, that Button is based on a short story of the same name written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1921, whereas Gump is based on a novel by Winston Groom written in 1986.

    I am reminded of all the fantasy cliches people pointed out when the Lord Of The Rings movies were first released. It’s NOT a cliche if you were the first one to do it.

16. 
    16: McKingford said at 7:31 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    A few random thoughts…

    I remember seeing the trailer for In Bruges at the movies, and thinking to myself what an idiotic movie. But then I finally saw In Bruges, and fortunately, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie worse served by its trailer (or, iow, a trailer that was less representative of what the movie was about) – a really pleasant surprise.

    ~

    Mickey Rourke has a better story, played a tougher role

    Um, Mickey Rourke played The Mickey Rourke Story on steroids. Sean Penn had to play a whole different person. I don’t mean to sound overly harsh to Mickey Rourke, because it was a great performance, but one thing it was *not* was tougher acting…

    ~

    I REALLY did not like Benjamin Button.

    Amen to that, brother. I think Benjamin Button is proof positive of the fact that the people who vote on these things don’t actually watch all the movies. Because there’s no way anyone could sit through Benjamzzzzzzzzzz… and have any positive feeling about it whatsoever.

    ~

    Best Documentary: Trouble The Water

    I’ve seen this and 2 other of the nominees (Man on Wire and Encounters at the End of the World). All three are fantastic and I recommend them all highly. Trouble the Water is a really powerful story, and the woman portrayed in that movie, Kimberly Rogers, is such a compelling and charismatic person. But in terms of filmmaking it wasn’t great, and I would rank it 3rd of the 3 nominated docs I saw (which is also a testament to how highly I thought of the other 2).

    ~

    Waltz with Bashir

    Is a really powerful movie. It is shot in animation, except for the last 3 minutes of the movie – which show news footage of the massacres at the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps from 1982 – and this makes it all the more poignant. I saw it in a packed theatre, and the silence as everyone left was overpowering. (of course I saw it at the height of the Israeli attack on Gaza, which made it very hard to resist shouting out “It’s happening all over again!”).

    Now, on to the show…

17. 
    17: Harry Dangler said at 7:38 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Nate Silver picks(fivethirtyeight.com);

    Henson
    Winslet
    Ledger
    Rourke
    Boyle
    Slumdog

18. 
    18: Pefacommish said at 7:40 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    I have not see a single picture nominated for a single Oscar. You would think that I have absolutely no basis for providing useful insight regarding the Oscars – but I do, and it is this: aren’t we awarding the Oscars for films that were in 2008, not 2009? Wouldn’t you have to be, uh… a seer or a psychic or something to know the winners among the films of 2009?

19. 
    19: Alan said at 8:05 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Not to seem like a killjoy, but I think it’s worth asking if there’s a contradiction between caring about movies and caring about the Academy Awards. They have nothing to do with art; no list of the greatest movies ever could possibly have anything more than minor overlap with the list of Oscar winners. And the ceremony itself is always a witless, elephantine, self-indulgent bore. I’m honestly puzzled what the point of it all is. The outfits?

20. 
    20: Alex Poterack said at 8:39 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    8 for 9 so far…I’m impressed.

    And, yeah, the Oscars are pretty pointless, but the guessing game is fun, and that’s about the most you can ask for, I think.

21. 
    21: ian said at 8:43 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    joe, happy-go-lucky is a brilliant film. it’s very life-affirming, in a soul of baseball kind of way. it certainly doesn’t follow a standard hollywood formula. great stuff.

22. 
    22: McKingford said at 8:50 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    joe, happy-go-lucky is a brilliant film.

    Yes, and it is a real shame that Sally Hawkins wasn’t nominated as Best Actress. I can’t remember the last time I saw a film that was so entirely carried by the sheer force of personality of one person.

23. 
    23: Mark W. said at 9:17 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Joe: In Bruges left me crying and laughing in almost the same instant. You really must see it. I had no opinion of Colin Farrell prior – He was very believable as a young hitman. His older partner was SO GOOD, wanting to see all the historical spot of Bruges, Belgium and Ralph Fiennes (sp?) was outstanding in a small supporting role. It was #2 for me in 2008, after only Slumdog. I now would love to visit Bruges solely because of this flick.

    Great to hear your father is on the mend. May the guy upstairs hold him in the palm of his hand…My dad was a super guy, extremely hard working, incredibly booksmart but with uncommon common sense. He is now 95, in deep dementia and shows sudden anger too often, especially in the evenings…They call it Sundowners disease or something. He’s a mess except he still has some strength, eats 3 square meals, etc. He gets great care in a wonderful med facility in NEOhio but he’s one of those that has lived too long. Since mom passed 4 years ago it has been a steady downhill fall for him. We pray that he will go find her again – sooner rather than later.

    Rent In Bruges but don’t watch it with the kids. The language and subject matter make it definitely an “R” movie.

24. 
    24: skott daltonic said at 9:22 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Man On Wire was an incredible film. I’ve seen 3 of the nominees for best documentary, and all 3 were amazing. but Man On Wire, there was something so special about that film that i would have to vote for it over Trouble and Werner.

25. 
    25: Nick Underhill said at 9:47 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    To the guy that said imagine if Slumdog was set in America… How can you? The movie would be about some thugs in the ghetto. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for those kind of movies but Slumdog wouldn’t be the same movie if it were here. A big portion of the movie is about life in India- the customs, how poor it is, the religion. The poverty there is incomparable to here. Our projects, New Orleans, Queensbridge, etc., would be like the Four Seasons to those people. I don’t know, maybe I’m biased and my opinion here is altered because my fiance is Indian, but I don’t see how you can compare the two. It’s like trying to compare Willie Mays to Joe Namath- you just can’t do it.

26. 
    26: Sam said at 9:57 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    Willie Mays was much better than Joe Namath.

27. 
    27: Jeremy said at 11:10 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    I know everyone rags on you here for all your typos and such…and I’ll admit, I’ve seen them. But when you wrote “Boss’ ” instead of “Boss’s” while discussing the Best Original Song, I almost jumped out of my chair and did a happy dance. I decided a comment would be more effective in getting my point across.

28. 
    28: Tim said at 11:25 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    First- it’s a shock that Bruce wasn’t nominated, though he wouldn’t have fit into the medley very well. Maybe John Legend could have done that tune too… and I agree 100% with both what Joe said earlier, about how the scarecrow should be filled with “dust and weeds,” and I still don’t hear “wheat” no matter how much I listen. It goes back to the old “Thunder Road” argument of does he say “dress waves” or “breast sways,” I guess. With the “one legged dog”, “three legged dog” would lose the rhythm of the line, I feel. “Three” is a more awkward word than “one” and everyone know what he means.

    Second- I agree with everyone about “In Bruges”- it’s hysterical and sad and so bloody good. I couldn’t believe it got recognized with a nomination for screenwriting. Should have one.

29. 
    29: Tracey said at 11:48 pm on February 22nd, 2009:

    If you’re debating Joe’s taste in movies in this post, perhaps you should spend less time watching movies and more working on your reading comprehension… He made the point quite clearly that he bases his picks on reputation and titles, since he only sees a handful of the nominees. In other words, saying you have different taste in film because he picked Toyland is very annoying.
    Oh, and I don’t think The Wrestler is just an autobio-pic for Rourke – from everything I’ve read, he’s nowhere near as likable as Randy The Ram.

30. 
    30: Pope said at 12:23 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    “A big portion of the movie is about life in India- the customs, how poor it is, the religion. The poverty there is incomparable to here.”

    Sure to the first two, not nearly so much for the third. About the only religion injected into the movie was during the raid when the main character was a boy. And that wasn’t fleshed out to the point where it was influential at all.

    The movie is about a boy who falls in love with a girl after a tragic accident and about he overcomes all odds to be with her in an extraordinary sequence of events. It just so happens to be set in India. “Born Into Brothels” is a much more impactful film about Indian slums than “Slumdog Millionare” ever will be in my opinion.

    What’s most disappointing about Slumdog is that it failed to move me to percieve any new truth about humanity simply because it was just so contrived. Perhaps I’ve lost my ability to suspend disbelief….

31. 
    31: Tim said at 12:38 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    *** should have won… dolt.

32. 
    32: Snowman said at 12:54 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    I’ll just pile on here… You should really, really see [i]In Bruges[/i], Joe. Really, you should.

33. 
    33: bmorten said at 1:06 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    ‘in bruges’ ought to be a pg-18, but it is really really good…it is by far the best dark comedy crime drama i have ever seen…it is in a category of it’s own…it’s closest kin i have ever seen were ‘pulp fiction’ and ‘a fish called wanda’…none of these 3 could ever be adequately summarized nor could any of the 3 be adequately summarized in a preview…well, maybe ‘pulp fiction’ could be…i have seen none of the 5 best pic nominees, but i am pretty confident that i will find ‘milk’ and ‘button’ to be tedious…mostly because i find most pitt and penn portrayals to be tedious…i have higher hopes for ’slumdog’ and cannot recall the other 2…but i really doubt i will find any of them nearly as darkly enjoyable as ‘in bruges’…and i don’t even like farrall.

34. 
    34: bmorten said at 1:09 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    i am very surprised that ‘across the universe’ got no nominations…personally, i thought it was by far the best movie of the year…but, i would be hardpressed to name any categories beyond score and song that merits nomination…it is the only movie in the last 3 years i liked well enough to actually buy the dvd.

35. 
    35: David Wintheiser said at 1:21 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Aaron/sansho/etc.

    Don’t be so quick to denegrate the Button-Gump comparisons as unworthy: you should check out this video, then reconsider your criticism:

    http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/1/The-Curious-Case-of-Forrest-Gump-649781.html

    –
    David Wintheiser

36. 
    36: Tre Beloc said at 1:24 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    “*Someone wrote in with a great point about The Wrestler: Why is Springsteen singing about a “one-legged dog?” Shouldn’t it be a three-legged dog? I’ve never even HEARD of a one-legged dog. How would that one-legged dog get down the street anyway? I think Bruce needed an editor.”

    My idea would be that the “dog” in question would be the RANDY JACKSON type, either that or fido had the bad idea of sleeping with three legs on the railroad tracks!

37. 
    37: Bentley Wright said at 6:16 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Once you said Amy Adams was hotter than Penelope Cruz, my brain shut down. That really doesn’t compute.

38. 
    38: TB said at 6:42 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    One thing I will never understand is why people complain so much about a movie’s plot. Like #11 complaining that there aren’t enough “plot twists” in “Slumdog” as if the only criterion for whether a movie is good or not is how many times the plot jerks around.

    If you want a good plot, go read a good book. Movies are supposed to be complete sensory experiences. “Slumdog” is a visual and aural thrillride and a true joy for anyone who appreciates the technical side of movies. For that matter, so is “Benjamin Button,” which I enjoyed in spite of its rather pointless plot. Plot is not the be all end all, and neither is acting. If you want to see good acting, go see a good play . OK, I’ll stop being an asshole.

39. 
    39: John Pontoon said at 6:59 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    I want to add to the ten people that said this: YOU MUST SEE IN BRUGES! Sorry to shout, but Joe, you’ve got to see this movie, then you must blog and tell EVERYONE to see this movie.

    It’s not for the kids, though.

40. 
    40: Buchholz Surfer said at 7:05 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Wow, I can’t believe all the love here for “In Bruges.” I wanted to punch Colin Farrell for the duration of that movie just to make him shut up and get him off the screen. And I usually like most movies that I see, it takes a lot to really annoy me, especially in a dark comedy set in Belgium– that should be right up my alley. “Frozen River” was a great movie, I enjoyed it about a thousand percent more than “In Bruges,” even though it’s dark and depressing. I realize everyone has different tastes and I will get outvoted badly on this, but I just had to point this out so it wouldn’t be completely unanimous praise for “In Bruges” around here.

    At least no one is effusively praising “Rachel Getting Married,” which was the only other 2008 movie I saw that I hated. Another movie that should be right up my alley, a tense, “darkly funny” flick (?? What?? This movie?? There is nothing funny at all here, despite the claims of several reviewers that I usually agree with) with a good cast that gets hosannas from film critics. But I couldn’t stand it. If you like watching two-hour-long wedding videos of annoying, pompous strangers, you might like that one. Otherwise, not so much.

41. 
    41: sansho1 said at 7:34 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    David,

    Yeah, didn’t the screenwriter basically admit he re-adapted much of his own script from Gump for Button? What I meant was that I’ve heard from multiple sources that not only are the plots similar, but the movies share the same flaws. And for someone who didn’t like Gump, that’s all I needed to hear.

42. 
    42: DTRO said at 7:57 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    I really liked Slumdog, even if it is a bit contrived. I think a lot of people’s negative perceptions about it point to the fact that it is a victim of its own hype. It was so universally lauded by reviewers that people went in expecting to be blown away and have their lives altered and they just got a good movie.

    Of the best picture noms, I saw Slumdog, Benjamin Button, and Frost/Nixon just like Joe. Slumdog and Frost/Nixon were good. Benjamin Button was bad. And In Bruges was better than all three.

    And why were they jiggling the cameras all over the place during the “people we lost this year” montage. Just show the slideshow for f***sake.

43. 
    43: gogiggs said at 8:46 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    bmorten, Across the Universe was eligible last year and was nominated for costume design. I didn’t buy the DVD, but I did like it a lot. It was a lesson in going with my own instincts. When I saw the trailer I thought it looked great. When it came out it got some brutal reviews, so I skipped it. Finally saw it after it came out on DVD and enjoyed it a lot.

    This year, the only nominated film or performance I saw was Heath Ledger. I didn’t go to a lot of movies this year and they nominated exactly the kind of typical Oscar-bait that doesn’t interest me. Holocaust movie? check. Ron Howard’s latest piece of competently handsome, completely unimaginative middlebrow crap? check. Sean Penn being socially concious? check. Decade-spanning semi-epic with fancy effects? check. The only surprise was that Clint Eastwood’s movie wasn’t nominated for a bunch of stuff. That’s usually automatic.

44. 
    44: Mikey said at 9:13 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    That was an incredibly awful TV show. The musical numbers were painfully lame even by Oscar standards. The set was just ill-conceived: in trying to do the Oscars on a more intimate scale they sapped all the grandeur out of it. The Supporting Actor and Actress gimmick was embarrassing with copy that read like Will Ferrell’s parody of James Lipton.

    I actually liked the major award winners but that was an unwatchable show.

    Personally I saw two great movies this year: Wall-E and Man On Wire. Overall a forgettable year.

45. 
    45: Laid Off Too said at 9:16 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Joe, I’m predicting you win the family Oscar pool every year. What a great prediction rate! All the major categories correct, and your comments bang on too. I had to check the first post comment time to make sure you wrote your column before the event.
    There’s only one category I know thoroughly (Best Animated), but I did see Slumdog Millionaire. I was very happy to hear it received Oscars. I’m a little biased, because I had people from Bangalore, India report to me (before being Laid Off Too). It was nice to see and learn about India.
    Hope your dad’s recovering quickly.

46. 
    46: AK said at 9:20 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    There are mixed feelings from a lot of people, but…Slumdog won because it reminded everyone what an EXPERIENCE a movie can be.

    Agree with Mikey – The Best Actor/Actress/Supporting award format was horrible. The whole one-on-one flattery was too much to bear. Ugh.

47. 
    47: Tampa Mike said at 9:40 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    I haven’t seen a lot of the movies that were up for awards this year. I didn’t see a lot of movies this year because so many movies are bad these days and it’s not worth sifting through the garbage.

    I don’t think Ledger would have won if he were alive. He did a good job, but I don’t know if he did that good.

48. 
    48: somebody said at 9:44 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    i wanted to be the first to say how great in bruges was only to find i was beaten by about everybody. fun movie. been to the town too, very peculiar.

    Colin farrell was really good. it’s odd though that he plays cocky jerks when he plays Americans and he actually acts when he plays Irish. i think there’s a metaphor for the world’s perception of us in there somewhere.

    i dont need award ceremonies, but ill hand it to the oscars. i never get people who watch all of the ceremonies though. i think you should only care about one ceremony. otherwise it’s a sham…like filling out more than one march madness pool.

    also, slumdog was the best movie this year and it wasn’t all that close.

49. 
    49: Mark W. said at 9:44 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    I thought that “In Bruges” could be favorably compared to “Fargo” as far as dark comedy, story line, etc…

50. 
    50: Aaron M. said at 10:02 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    At #46:

    “Slumdog won because it reminded everyone what an EXPERIENCE a movie can be”

    Really? And The Dark Knight didn’t do that? Slumdog is about as bad a winner as Crash was in 2006. Seriously? A movie about Who Wants to be a Millionaire is best picture? Hollywood should just pack it in.

51. 
    51: Bellweather Johnson said at 10:03 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Spot-on with the picks, Joe…especially with Penn over Rourke. What a crock, though.

    I’ve updated my Things That Suck List to read accordingly:

    Things That Suck:

    …

    #2,395: Finding a “starlet” who looks like your ex

    #2,396: Rourke getting the shaft by Penn

    #2,397: ATM Fees

    …

52. 
    52: Mikey said at 10:45 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    “#2,395: Finding a “starlet” who looks like your ex”

    Two questions:

    Who’s the starlet?

    If it’s Amy Adams, is your ex dating again?

53. 
    53: Mikey said at 10:46 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    “Slumdog is about as bad a winner as Crash was in 2006.”

    That’s pretty harsh.

    Crash wasn’t just a bad Best Picture, it was a bad movie, period.

54. 
    54: Rutbag said at 10:49 am on February 23rd, 2009:

    Congratulations to Heath Ledger, winning for his spot-on impression of Al Franken.

55. 
    55: BarKingMaDd said at 12:06 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    1. Never underestimate how much people like saying “Bruges”, because they feel so smart about not pronouncing the “s”.
    2. Springsteen is clearly a “Sassie” fan.
    3. Yes, Slumdog is indeed predictable. Would’ve been much better if he had answered “D” on the first question and become famous on You Tube.
    4. Just imagine how dumb Lawrence of Arabia would’ve been if it had been based in the USA. Therefore, it’s an awful movie.

56. 
    56: ajnrules said at 12:14 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    Hey, you got 17 out of the 24 categories correct, Joe. Those are some pretty solid picks.

    Anyways, here are some clarifications:

    It might be easier to know what Sound Editing is using the category’s old name: Best Sound Effects Editing. It basically awards the creation and design of elements of sound, namely sound effects.

    Sound Mixing awards the people that take the sound elements created in Sound Editing, and mixing it with the music and the dialogue. This includes post-production dubbing and elimination of static.

    Best Art Direction awards films for what you see in the sets on screen. It awards the aesthetic values of the design of sets (art direction) as well as how that design is executed (set decoration). I think Slumdog may not have been nominated because the film was shot on location, but the snub was pretty surprising to me, because at least they had to reconstruct the Millionaire set.

    Best Cinematography awards the camera work within the film. It includes not only the camera movement, but also other aspects such as the lighting and the use of color.

    @ coelof #8: La Maison en Petits Cubes won, which means the short categories weren’t a total loss.

    @ bmorten #34: Actually, Across the Universe did get a nomination for Best Costume Design, except it was last year. It lost to Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Another victim of the Oscar’s love of period pieces.

    And for all of you who loved In Bruges, I’m sure you all saw and loved McDonagh’s first film, the Oscar-winning Six Shooter?

57. 
    57: Bellweather Johnson said at 12:25 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    Mikey,

    1: “Starlet” is in quotes for a reason, so I will not be disclosing that information as this is a family blog. And let me assure you that that situation suffiecently sucks.

    2: Amy Adams is nice, but are we sure that she and Isla Fisher aren’t the same person?? Are they ever in the same room at the same time??

    I think we need to launch an investigation:

    http://hollywood.premiere.com/images/blog/2008/03/huc-twins-amyadams-islafish.jpg

58. 
    58: Q said at 12:35 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    When “Gran Torino” didn’t get a single nomination, I stopped caring about this year’s Oscars. Eastwood’s flick was by far the best movie I saw this past year.

59. 
    59: Andrew T. said at 12:38 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    I think Joe beat Nate Silver’s PECOTA-Oscar prediction supercomputer, so that’s worth something.

    Mikey: Crash was bad, but it’s freakin’ Citizen Kane compared to Titanic. Someone remind me how that won Best Picture again??

60. 
    60: JeffSol said at 1:09 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    ErikNYC: While the general point makes sense, it is NOT hard to answer the question of greatest SS ever — in fact, it’s about the easiest of those type of questions. At SS, tehre is Wagner, and there is everyone else, in a way there is not with almost any other historical question like that…

61. 
    61: PaulyOH said at 1:47 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    Underwhelmed by the Oscars this year….I actually hadn’t seen any of the nominated Best Picture movies (first time in forever). But I talked to a friend (whose opinion I value) who had seen all of the 5 nominees. His ranking?
    1. Milk
    2. Frost/Nixon
    3. Slumdog
    4. The Reader
    5. Ben Button
    Oh, and for the record, he said The Wrestler (which I did see) was better than all of them. I think Mickey Rourke got hosed for being Mickey Rourke. Even Sean Penn acknowledged him in his speech. Sean knows he got away with one.

    And I’m OK with Heath Ledger winning supporting actor, but I agree he doesn’t win it he’s still alive. That award really should have gone to Robert Downey Jr.

    Oh, and Man on Wire is pretty sweet.

62. 
    62: Spud said at 3:28 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    “And I’m OK with Heath Ledger winning supporting actor, but I agree he doesn’t win it he’s still alive. That award really should have gone to Robert Downey Jr.”

    Which is … ironic, or something.

63. 
    63: stephen said at 4:51 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    I went to an all-day screening of all five Best Picture nominees the day before the Oscars. what a freaking depressing day. We ended up liking Slumdog just because it wasn’t relentless depressing. But it winning for Screenplay was a joke. The whole movie depends on the most ridiculous character turn that makes no logical sense even if you suspend disbelief. I ended up hating the movie for it.

    Hell, if I could have made the nominations for Best Picture, I would have nominated:

    The Wrestler
    Wall-E
    In Bruges
    Doubt
    Revolutionary Road

    And I was stunned Let the Right One In wasn’t even nominated in the foreign films. That was the movie of the year.

64. 
    64: Neil said at 5:43 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    I agree and disagree with many things you said in this post, but I’m not here to change opinions or spout them. All I want to do is point out that, on a simplistic level:

    Sound Editing: Sound effects. Foley. Any created sound that’s not dialogue or music.

    Sound Mixing: Putting it all together. Taking the effects, dialogue, music, and how you lay it all together.

    There you go. Now you know.

65. 
    65: Graphite said at 6:22 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    Jeremy at #27
    Pick up your Strunk and White, turn to page 1.
    Don’t have a copy? OK, here’s what you would read under the heading Elementary Rules of Usage — 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ’s. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charles’s friend, Burns’s poems, the witch’s malice.
    To that list I would add the Boss’s songs. Apart from Strunk and White, my clincher would be that the phrase is NOT pronounced the Boss songs, it is pronounced the Boss’s songs — the addition of the apostrophe does not add an s sound; only an s can do that.
    Sorry to spoil your happy dance.

66. 
    66: Snowman said at 7:06 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    “Mikey: Crash was bad, but it’s freakin’ Citizen Kane compared to Titanic. Someone remind me how that won Best Picture again??”

    I agree with this completely (and not just Best Picture, but an all-time record total of Oscars for that overblown sack of crap), but I have to add that there is one that beats even Titanic. Gladiator makes Titanic look like The Godfather.

67. 
    67: AK said at 8:41 pm on February 23rd, 2009:

    Aaron M. – if you think the movie “was about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, well…you’re missing the point.

68. 
    68: Richard Aronson said at 12:24 pm on February 24th, 2009:

    I’m a big suspension of disbelief guy. If I stop believing in a movie before I leave the theater, then I’ll never pick it as a fave. To that end, “The Dark Knight” was not even the best superhero movie I saw this year, because even though dynamite is cheap (justifying *maybe* Joker’s burning of all that cash) the amount of dynamite needed to do that much destruction at the hospital would have raised numerous questions. Why are you moving palettes of dynamite into the hospital? Why is there dynamite filling the morgue (most hospitals put the morgue in the basement)? “Iron Man”, on the other hand, had the best acting job done by the star, not the villain, and didn’t bother me plotwise until after I left the theater.

    Similarly, Wall-E didn’t sell me. Too much physics and biology I couldn’t swallow.

    “who’s the best running back of all time? or qb? or shortstop? switch-hitter?” Football’s not really my sport, and it does not allow for easy comparison across eras. Shortstop? Honus Wagner. Slightly better OPS+ than ARod (who’s now a third baseman), steroid free, supposedly a demon defender. Anybody who doesn’t acknowledge the value of the old timers. Switch hitter sort of implies only hitting skill (whereas switch hitting baseball player suggests that defense and speed can be considered). But Yankee hater though I am (and Eddie Murray fan as well) I still cannot pick anyone other than Mickey Mantle as best switch-hitter. Career OPS+ of 172 and at least before the knee was a superb defender at a much more important position. Also a great percentage base stealer. There are questions in baseball that don’t have clear answers but you didn’t pick one of them. I mean, go to Bill James: a lineup of 9 Mantles would have a leadoff hitter with a career OBP of .421 and an 80% steal success rate. #2 guy’s just as good, and then his power comes into play. Any other switch hitter you could pick either won’t steal for you or won’t slug for you as good as the Mick.

69. 
    69: Old Flattop said at 7:19 pm on February 24th, 2009:

    Graphite — Don’t Strunk & White make an exception for Jesus and Moses? With all the Springsteen adulation that goes on around here….

70. 
    70: Graphite said at 9:38 am on February 25th, 2009:

    Flattop
    You’re right about Jesus. S&W’s phrase is “Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’ . . .”
    I’m picking they mean the biblical entity and not the crackerjack bowler from The Big Lebowski (that’d be Jesus’s convictions). Moses’ laws they reckon should be replaced by the laws of Moses; a bit of a copout.
    No mention of the Boss, though. I’ve got the 2000 edition. We’ll probably have to wait for the 2025 edition and Springsteen’s canonisation for a ruling there.

71. 
    71: "Text to speech" said at 2:47 pm on July 17th, 2009:

    I have to add that there is one that beats even Titanic. Gladiator makes Titanic look like The Godfather.

72. 
    72: TWD - said at 8:13 am on September 7th, 2009:

    on’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for those kind of movies but Slumdog wouldn’t be the same movie if it were here. A big portion of the movie is about life in India- the customs, how poor it is, the religion. The poverty there is incomparable to here. Our projects, New Orleans, Queensbridge, etc.,

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