And the Winner is...

Yesterday I read a story in the Hollywood Reporter about what type of mood will be the trend at the Oscars this year. Such moods from prior years include the 2008 Oscar’s applauding of ominous movies like No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton, and 2009’s return to Hollywood-happy-endings with Slumdog Millionaire’s best picture win. This year’s possible trend could be even more difficult to determine since the usual number of 5 films nominated for best picture has doubled to 10. “With the widened field, there's a wider split between the feel-good contenders and the downbeat ones, between movies that depict the world as it is and those that show the world as we wish it to be,” said Steven Zeitchik of the Hollywood Reporter.

Oscar nominations won’t be released until February 2010, but rumors of possible entries include: The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break); Precious, the film adaptation of Sapphire’s Push, directed by Lee Daniels (co-produced Monster’s Ball) and introducing Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe as Sapphire; the Coen brother’s A Serious Man; and Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, starring George Clooney. Since the Academy has recently attempted to appeal to a larger audience, expect to see films like Inglorious Basterds, The Hangover and Star Trek in some type of category.

Don’t expect to see movies like Amelia, starring Hilary Swank as Amelia Earheart, and Michael Mann’s Public Enemies in contention for any major award. Mann’s direction of the John Dillinger biopic starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale generated only a 59 percent tomato-meter rating on Rottentomatoes.com. “Mann excels at staging the chaotic bank jobs and bloody shootouts that were just a day at the office for Dillinger, but even at 140 minutes the movie is so dense with incident that there isn’t much room for cultural comment or character development,” said J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader. Amelia, on the other hand, earned an 11 percent tomato meter rating. To give it some scale, Eddie Murphy’s Meet Dave earned a 27 percent rating.

One entry I'm not so sure will be in contention for an Oscar is Jane Campion’s Bright Star, reviewed by Cat Pham, which has generated a lot of buzz. The film was beautifully shot, but I’d be very surprised if it were to receive a nomination for any major award outside of best actress; Abbie Cornish killed her part as John Keats love interest, Fanny Brawne. The movie seemed a bit robotic outside of Cornish, especially Ben Whishaw’s portrayal of John Keats. Regarding the chemistry between Cornish and Whishaw, Pham said, "What I wanted from these 'star-crossed lovers' was to see that they cared for one another with equal amounts of intensity. Keat’s feelings for Fanny, as portrayed in this film, [are] pale in comparison to the young woman’s ardent and unwavering love." Tom Long of the Detroit News had a similar review - "for a film about love, Bright Star is curiously cold, more pretty than emotional."

Also questionable is Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, starring Matt Damon as rugby player Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela during the 1995 Rugy World Cup. Check out the trailer:


I’m including this now in the best picture category; however, it's only questionable because it hasn't come out yet. Eastwood’s films can’t miss. What movie of his in the past 10 years hasn’t been nominated for some type of Academy Award, if not for best picture? Check his resume: Gran Torino, Letters from Iwo Jima, Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, etc. There’s another 3 or 4 I intentionally left off that could’ve been included on this list. Unfortunately, like so many other pictures, some of Eastwood’s work was beaten by other, arguably lesser films.

I hope the Academy gets it right this year. I was disappointed that Slumdog Millionaire won so many awards last year. I’m putting it in my too-much-hype category along with Crash and Chicago. Other factors have gone into films winning at the Oscars, which include producers lobbying for their films by distributing them, along with gifts, to as many judges as possible. I’d like to think that judges have kept an unbiased perspective, but with some of the wins I’ve seen over the years I wonder just how much Academy judges are influenced.

Check back for my review of the Coen brother's A Serious Man.