2008 Oscar Nominees: The Reaction
These clown-like voters are up to their old shenanigans again
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First off, if you didn't read my predictions (one and two) shame on you.
Secondly, if I didn't get them all right shame on you again. I only say that because I ain't taking the blame, not my fault, so gotta blame it something and I am not breaking into Milli Vanilli this early in the morning.
Third… Well… This little illustration pretty much says it all:
Zodiac: 0
Norbit: 1
With that elegant and oh-so-telling demonstration out of the way let's take a look at the 2008 Oscar nominees and see how badly (or not so badly) I screwed up in some of my predictions.
BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
How badly Dre screwed the pooch: 5 out of 5 correct!
How do you like them apples? Yes, I'm not above gloating. This was a pretty tricky year for predicting the Best Picture race and I owned it like I own my six-year-old nephew in Wii Tennis. I ace that little bastard all day and I did the same with the Academy.
Overall, this is a great selection in my eyes. All but one of these (Atonement) is in my top six of the year and I have zero complaints with that film getting loads of awards (which it kinda didn't). I would have loved to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Zodiac get nominations but we all knew that wasn't happening.
Now I know the Juno hater campaign is in full force and all I can say to you clowns is … EAT IT!!!!!!!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
How badly Dre screwed the pooch: 4 out of 5 correct
Well, my greatest of fears has materialized. The one nomination I didn't want to see happen (and therefore ignored in predicting) swooped in with its demon wings, reached into my chest and ripped my heart out. When one comes across a demon like Ruby Dee, they have two choices. Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. And I choose death, you bastards.
Seriously, I love Ruby Dee. She makes me feel all warm and lovely inside. And I hate that shit. Again, if the Academy wanted to nominate an old broad for five minutes of work, nobody … NOBODY was better than Vanessa Redgrave this year in Atonement.
Blanchett, Ryan and Swinton were strong bets that came through and I am totally cool with. I am very happy, however, my Saoirse Ronan prediction came through.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
How badly Dre screwed the pooch: 5 out of 5 correct!
It's moments like these when I start to wonder if I am some kind of deity. It's moments like these where I start upping my bets at Bodog. And it's moments like these where I begin to lose a lot of money only to end up in a gutter somewhere.
But yes, I nailed this category harder than a randy old-timing cowboy on nickel-night. Ladies and gentlemen, Casey Affleck is an Oscar nominee. Damn skippy. Bardem and Hoffman were "Duh"s. My Into the Wild fetish was rewarded with a Holbrook nomination (more on that god-damn movie later). I was also happy with the Tom Wilkinson nod. All in all, a deserving crowd without any major surprises from where I stand.
BEST ACTRESS
Ellen Page, Juno
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Laura Linney, The Savages
How badly Dre screwed the pooch: 4 out of 5 correct
I feel really, really stupid. In fact, I was just telling Brad I thought about changing up my Best Actress prediction recap last night to include Laura Linney as a contender (not to pick as a nominee though). See, I didn't even mention her name when discussing the race which was a major goof on my part. And son of a bitch, the Academy made me pay dearly for it. They handed the fine actress a nomination for The Savages.
The Academy also screwed over Angelina Jolie who would have been nominated for her great performance in A Mighty Heart if her name was Meryl Streep. I know, Academy, she isn't a serious actress because she's in the tabloids. The voters had their way with her about as bad as Antonio Banderas did when he slammed her in Original Sin.
Everything else here went as planned/predicted. Kudos to Ellen Page.
BEST ACTOR
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
How badly Dre screwed the pooch: 4 out of 5 correct
Despite missing one, I'm pretty damn happy with this crop of actors. Clooney and Day-Lewis came through. I wasn't sure about Johnny Depp but I'm happy he made it to the big show. The biggest shock – probably of all the Oscar nominees this year – is Tommy Lee Jones. You might recall he was the first early front-runner way, way back. But then that movie (supposedly) faded. Yeah, guess not.
I am super stoked Viggo Mortensen got the nod because it's a bit overdue and he's terrific in Eastern Promises.
The pick I got wrong (replaced by Tommy Lee) was Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild. For those of you keeping count, that's twice that this film has burned and plundered where I live.
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I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean or call you a racist or anything, but why is it whenever a Black person or a Black-themed movie gets nominated or win ( ohh the horror) there is always so much outrage? This was brought up on other boards as well. I mean people say it's not because Ruby Dee is Black, but the quality of her performace wasn't up to the standards as everyone else. Well, isn't everything subjective? That seems to be the case ALL the time when Black-themed movies are nominated or Black actors winning. Jennifer Hudson didn't deserve it or Halle or Denzel or Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker was the exception. Imagine the horror if American Gangster got nominated. No, I'm not trying to play the race card here, but there is an unconsiderable amount of backlash whenever they are nominated or let alone win. People say oh it's affirmative action or the AMPA members don't want to be seen as racist.Could they actually like her performance better than others is that even possible? Now I'm not saying you can't criticize her or dislike her performance, but on other boards people are outraged.WTF. When they consider films with White casts or White actors to be mediocre like "Juno" and "Michael Clayton" or Ellen Page ( I thought her performance was fine myself) there is not a whole lot of outrage. I hope you guys don't get all defensive ( like some others) and actually think about what I said. Now I know that there is outrage for a lot of performances and movies, but nothing imho compares to the outrage that Black actors or Black-Themed movies get. I can understand the outrage of Norbit, but Ruby Dee?
I am not outraged that Ruby Dee was nominated, however I don't agree with it. I don't think her performance was long enough or even powerful enough to be nominated. However, I don't know why anyone would think it has anything to do with race… People have been saying Ruby Dee had a chance all year long and Dre even mentioned her in his prediction piece. Dre chalked the nom up to age and I don't think he ever mentioned race.
As far as Ellen Page goes, I agree she didn't deserve a nom. However, I think the entire cast of Michael Clayton deserved one.
To your comment regarding Jennifer Hudson, she didn't deserve it and she didn't deserve a nomination. As far as Halle goes, she really didn't deserve it for Monster's Ball, but I would have cheered had she been nominated for Things We Lost in the Fire, in which her performance was light years ahead of that mess in Monster's Ball (a film I loathe).
Denzel was amazing in Training Day and he can be nominated any day and it's a win in my book. I thought Forrest Whitaker was really good in Last King of Scotland, however, I think James McAvoy was overlooked as the true lead in that film.
I am having a hard time following the Jamie Foxx comment, are you referring to Ray? If so I didn't know there was any controversy or shit storm there. Jamie deserved that win 100 times over.
If you want to be upset about black actors/actresses not getting their due I look first at Don Cheadle, both he and Jada Pinkett were amazing in Reign Over Me, a film that was dismissed for whatever reason. I wasn't a huge fan of Talk to Me, but Taraji was great in that one.
Personally I didn't think American Gangster was that great a film. I didn't mention it in my Honorable Mention for 2007 and I think if anyone deserved a supporting actress nomination for a minimal role it would have been Vanessa Redgrave from Atonement. I don't say that because she is white, but because the performance was plain and simply better and more memorable. Outside of slapping Denz and that scene from the trailer of her getting the house I hardly remember Ruby Dee in American Gangster, I certainly wasn't floored by her performance in any way. I can't speak for others, but that is why I don't think she deserved the nom.
I don't know what other boards you are mentioning, but I think Dre will agree with me and my assessment of at least Dee's nomination.
Well maybe this thread from the filmexperience would help you understand what I'm trying to say. If it's not okay I'll quickly take them down.
Here is one highlight:
[QUOTE]What I did find racially suspect was the level of hatred and outrage online when The Great Debaters recieved a Golden Globe nomination. This was a film almost nobody had actually seen, but was recieving strong early reviews and had actually won a precusor or two. People had decided that Oprah had bought the film a nomination.
Yet Across The Universe, a film few people care about or particularly rate at all in terms of awards season, gets a Globe nomination for Best Picture, and it slides by without much comment or outrage.
One is a black film. The other isn't. I find the response to both films getting nominated to be highly questionable.
Nate
Here is the thread again, it's pretty long.
[url]https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8256060&postID=6888641754465964503[/url]
I think basically what they are saying is that whether or not you think they deserve it ( which is based on opinion) why wasn't there the same outrage when Hilary Swank ( I remember a lot of people not liking her performance) won. Or where is the outrage of Juno ( I mean a lot of people thought it was overrated) , but to me it seems like today everyone is talking about Ruby Dee.
For the record I didn't really like Dreamgirls either and I didn't think that AG was the best movie of this year. I'm not accusing you guys of this, but I just thought it would be good to discuss it on other boards. Yes there was huge outrage when Jamie Foxx won, people thought it was showboating.
Hey BeautifulM, had to edit that for length reasons, but like I said, I can't speak for others. Personally Walk the Line was not worthy of a nom, even Ray (the film) had flaws such as length and you and I already discussed The Great Debaters, which I skipped.
I think people tend to hear what they want to hear and dismiss the other stuff. Some people may read upset folks saying Great Debaters got nominated and shouldn't have, but here is the thing about Across the Universe. The Globe category is Musical/Comedy… there aren't a lot of quality films in that category each year. I never saw Across the Universe, I can't speak to its quality, but I know there weren't a lot of films to fill that genre and there traditionally aren't.
You also have to understand that 99.9% of the population is ignorant and online forums are havens for these folks. They hide behind their online personas and can say whatever they like. Then you have the uptight film lovers that have their opinions and don't sway. It is a losing situation.
I understand your frustration, but I can't really explain why people act the way they do. :)
Oh, and as for Juno, I think I already spent all of my outrage on that one. That's the article and then I get slammed over here.
I cried myself to sleep after getting bashed around on that one. :)
I mean Waitress could've been nominated. Anyway, like I said I'm not accusing you guys of this , I just thought it would be good to ask around other blogs. Oh I know you hate Juno, I thought it was okay, but Ellen Page was good.
im just psyched there will be blood got 8. thats all i need to know other than that i dont take the oscars to serisously.