Mo’s Oscar Picks

February 18, 2009 by Maura Reilly
Filed under Ones2Watch4 Blog

Its Oscar time chickens! Once again Hollywood puts on the dog and honors some of last year’s performances. I think we’ve all figured out by now that Oscars don’t necessarily go to the best performances. It’s all a matter of popularity and timing. I think that will be the case again this year. Let’s look at the major categories and I’ll give you my picks, for what they’re worth.

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

I try and see all the Best Picture nominees before Oscar Sunday. This year I managed all but Frost/Nixon, which I figure won’t win anyway. This year is all about the little movie that could, Slumdog. And frankly I’m torn. I loved Milk but it can’t compare with the freight train that is Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Director – Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Usually the best pic and the best director go hand in hand. And hat’s off to Boyle, he worked in a country where he didn’t speak the language, shot in the slums of Mumbai and pulled off an incredible picture. This is well deserved.

Best Actor – Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

My second choice is Sean Penn. I swear I’ve never seen the man smile as much as he did in Milk. He completely transforms into that character. But I think sentimentality gives The Mick an edge.

Best Actress – Kate Winslet in The Reader

This is a hotly contended category. Kate’s got some momentum behind her. The Reader is an imperfect adaptation of the novel and loses many of the nuances you can read but can’t film (which makes it’s nomination as Best Picture questionable to me, but whatever). However, Kate is excellent as the German woman hiding deep dark secrets. Melissa Leo in Frozen River is amazing as well. And then you have Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married. Honestly any one of these women deserves the award but popularity is in Kate’s favor.

Best Supporting Actor – Heath Ledger in The Dark Night

I have to ask the insensitive question: “Would Heath have been nominated (and won if the prediction is right) if he hadn’t tragically died?” I thought he was phenomenal as The Joker. It was a performance that changed how many looked at him as an actor. But compared to the other nominees like RDJ in Tropic Thunder or Josh Brolin in Milk I have my misgivings. Once again, people are going to vote sentimentally and award the Oscar to Heath.

Best Supporting Actress – Penélope Cruz in Vicky Christina Barcelona

I’ll be honest; I had no idea how to vote on this one. There’s a lot of buzz behind Viola Davis in Doubt but I think Penelope’s passionate and crazy performance will stand out a little more. If you haven’t seen Vicky Christina Barcelona I recommend it. That Javier Bardim does things to me….

Animated Feature Film – WALL-E

While I thought Kung Fu Panda rocked, no one can beat Pixar.

Original Song – “Down to Earth” from WALL-E

I’m sad that Peter Gabriel won’t perform, but I stand with him in protest. Who wants to hear just a fraction of a song? The two songs nominated from Slumdog Millionaire are awesome but I think the Academy will award it to the one in English.

Some odds and ends, just to show off:

Original Screenplay – Milk, Dustin Lance Black. I saw Dustin in person at a Q&A and he looks about 15 years old. All the screenplays nominated this year are top notch and about as diverse as you can get.
Adapted Screenplay – Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy
Foreign Language Film – Waltz with Bashir. It’s the only one I saw and a Sony Classics release (Sony is my employer) so it wins by default.
Costume Design – The Duchess. You gotta love those period pieces.
Documentary Feature – Man on Wire. This one and Encounters at that End of the World are both available on DVD. Check them out. Man on Wire is simply incredible.
Makeup and Visual Effects – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Animated Short – Presto. Again, this was the only one I saw so it wins by default.
Sound Editing and Mixing – WALL-E. The experts at Yahoo say WALL-E will take these but my first choice was Wanted. There’s some crazy stuff in that one.

There are a few categories left like Film Editing and Documentary Short that I’m clueless about so I’m going to leave them blank.

I’m breathlessly waiting to see how Mr. Jackman does as a first-time host. Would a shirtless salute to the work of Meryl Streep be wildly inappropriate? We’ll reassemble on Monday to survey how we did. Good luck on all your Oscar Polls!