Posted in Reviews on January 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Mickey Rourke in his Oscar-nominated performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler
First of all, I want to say that along with probably everyone else on the planet, I am glad that in The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke has gotten such a career-changing role. He deserves the awards buzz he has been enjoying, and maybe even the win at the Golden Globes, though I’m personally still in Sean Penn’s camp.
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Posted in Awards Shows, Reviews, tagged Awards, Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino, Kate Winslet, Marisa Tomei, Oscars, SAG on January 25, 2009| Leave a Comment »
There wasn’t that much difference in the SAG nominees and the Oscar nominees, so look for SAG to be a big predictor of this year’s Academy Award winners. SAG is, of course, only handing out acting awards — so see below for a quick summary.
Best Cast in a Motion Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet, The Reader
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Posted in Awards Shows, tagged Awards, Oscars on January 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Oscar nominations are in!
I didn’t do too badly!
Overall score: 24/30
Surprises: Nothing really for Revolutionary Road, save a nod to the fabulous Michael Shannon in the supporting actor category and some non-marquee award categories. Kate Winslet is nominated in The Reader, which nabs many more noms than I expected. The Dark Knight gets its nomination for Heath Ledger, but nothing else in the major awards.
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Posted in Awards Shows, tagged Awards, Oscars on January 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Nominations for the 81st Annual Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow at 8:30 AM EST.
So, the day before Oscar noms are announced, I figured it would be the right thing to do to venture out on my limb and see how well I’ve read the Academy this year. I know I still owe three reviews (Gran Torino, The Wrestler, Milk — to come this week!) but damn it all, I’m on a deadline here! I’m only tackling the Best Picture, Best Director, and acting awards. Since I haven’t seen all the movies, I’m not going ALL the way to the end of the limb.
I know I may take some flak for leaving The Dark Knight off my Best Picture list, but I think it’s going to come down to whether the Academy includes it or WALL-E, and I think WALL-E was a better overall movie. There hasn’t been an animated movie nominated since Beauty and the Beast, and I think WALL-E stands up there with that movie.
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Posted in Reviews, tagged Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, In Bruges, Martin McDonogh, Ralph Fiennes on January 21, 2009| 4 Comments »
Brendan Gleeson as Ken and Colin Farrell as Ray
Monday morning, I watched In Bruges. I’ve got to say that I feel like the advertising for this film was very misleading. It implied all kinds of Belgian hilarity, a never-ending zany caper with two guys hiding out in Bruges. There was some zaniness, but the movie had more depth than the advertising implied. It was very much a film about redemption.
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Dinner and a Movie 