Best Films of '08 [Oscar preds, plus Ng & QB's Top Ten of the year!]

[Ngamer]

It's that time of year again!  The 81st Academy Awards will be presented this Sunday night starting at 7:30 EST; you have until then to submit your Oscar Pool picks, if you would like.  Now traditionally we've done these at oscars.com, the official site, but they've ruined the contest this year with a flash-based form that's a pain to get working.  So instead, we'll just skip that mess and do our picks here on the board!

There are two ways to send in your entry.  The first is to pull the image below to your desktop, then open it in Paint and fill in the bubbles for your picks.  When you're done, upload it and post a link to the image, and you'll be entered!



Otherwise, you could just send in a plain old text ballot.  To do that, hit spoiler below and copy down all the noms, then post back with just your pick for each category.

Spoiler

   
    Best picture    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Frost/Nixon    
    Milk    
    The Reader    
    Slumdog Millionaire    
   

Best director    
    Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire    
    Stephen Daldry - The Reader    
    David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon    
    Gus Van Sant - Milk    

     

Best actor    
    Richard Jenkins - The Visitor    
    Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon    
    Sean Penn - Milk    
    Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

     

Best actress    
    Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married    
    Angelina Jolie - Changeling    
    Melissa Leo - Frozen River    
    Meryl Streep - Doubt    
    Kate Winslet - The Reader

     

Best supporting actress    
    Amy Adams - Doubt    
    Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona    
    Viola Davis - Doubt    
    Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

     

Best supporting actor    
    Josh Brolin - Milk    
    Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder    
    Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt    
    Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight    
    Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

     

Best foreign language film    
    Revanche - Austria    
    The Class - France    
    The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany    
    Departures - Japan    
    Waltz With Bashir - Israel

     

Best animated feature film    
    Bolt    
    Kung Fu Panda    
    Wall-E    

     

Best adapted screenplay    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Doubt    
    Frost/Nixon    
    The Reader    
    Slumdog Millionaire    

     

Best original screenplay    
    Happy-Go-Lucky    
    Milk    
    Wall-E    
    In Bruges    
    Frozen River

     

Best original score    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Defiance    
    Milk    
    Slumdog Millionaire    
    Wall-E

     

Best original song    
    Down To Earth - Wall-E    
    Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire    
    O Saya - Slumdog Millionaire

     

Art direction    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Changeling    
    The Dark Knight    
    The Duchess    
    Revolutionary Road

     

Cinematography    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Changeling    
    The Dark Knight    
    Slumdog Millionaire    
    The Reader

     

Costume design    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Australia    
    Milk    
    The Duchess    
    Revolutionary Road

     

Best documentary feature    
    The Betrayal    
    Encounters at the End of the World    
    The Garden    
    Man on Wire    
    Trouble The Water

     

Best documentary short subject    
    The Conscience of Nhem En    
    The Final Inch    
    Smile Pinki    
    The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

     

Film editing    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    The Dark Knight    
    Frost/Nixon    
    Milk    
    Slumdog Millionaire

     

Make-up    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    The Dark Knight    
    Hellboy II: The Golden Army

     

Best live action short film    
    Auf der Strecke (On The Line)    
    Manon on the Asphalt    
    New Boy    
    The Pig    
    Spielzeugland (Toyland)

     

Best animated short film    
    La Maison en Petits Cubes    
    Lavatory - Lovestory    
    Oktapodi    
    Presto    
    This Way Up

     

Sound editing    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    Iron Man    
    Wanted    
    Slumdog Millionaire    
    Wall-E

     

Sound mixing    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    The Dark Knight    
    Wanted    
    Slumdog Millionaire    
    Wall-E

Visual effects    
    The Curious Case of Benjamin Button    
    The Dark Knight    
    Iron Man    

Special Note: Per a request by QB, the following three categories will not count toward determining the Elite Oscar pred champ:
* Documentary Short Subject
* Live Action Short Film
* Animated Short Film

Feel free to predict them anyways, just for fun.
---
Coming soon: The Top Ten Films of 2008, as reviewed by both Ngamer and QB!  Plus some other cool stuff!

Also, feel free to discuss your own choices for the best movies of the last year, even if they're ones that the Academy didn't nominate.

Whoo Oscars!

[Ngamer]

Ah yes, meant to post this list. These are all the movies that were nominated for at least two categories (there were 15 of them this year):

13 nominations
o The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
10 nominations
o Slumdog Millionaire
8 nominations
o The Dark Knight
o Milk
6 nominations
o WALL-E
5 nominations
o Doubt
o Frost/Nixon
o The Reader
3 nominations
o Changeling
o Revolutionary Road
2 nominations
o The Duchess
o Frozen River
o Iron Man
o Wanted
o The Wrestler

Some "interesting" notes
- with 13 total noms, Benjamin Button is the third most-nommed film in Oscar history.  it trails only All About Eve and Titanic (both earned 14).  unfortunately it might also set an untied record... for most categories lost by something with 13 noms.  the current record-holder is Fellowship of the Ring, which was beaten out 9 times (but still won 4 awards) in 2001
- Doubt marks Meryl Streep's 15th acting nomination, further cementing her (untouchable?) WR in that category (the next closest is Kate Hepburn with only 12).  however, she has only won twice... if she can win for Doubt it will move her to 2nd all time for acting wins (behind Hepburn who won 4 times)
- Slumdog is the most successful low budget film since 1984, in terms of total noms (tied with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which also earned 10 noms)
- with 8 noms, The Dark Knight is the most successful superhero movie in Oscar history
- Wall*E tied the record for most noms by an animated film (Beauty and the Beast originally set the mark).  if it can take home the win for Best Screenplay, it will be the first time an animated film has ever managed that feat
- Stephen Daldry has only directed three films: Billy Elliot (2000), The Hours (2002), and The Reader.  yet all three have earned him Best Director nominations

---

Our Oscar Preds/Discussion/Results from Years Past
* 2007 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/265889 Winner: Ngamer (15)
* 2006 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/68801 Winner: QB/frantic (15)
* 2005 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/73889 Winner: Ngamer (18)
* 2004 - eaten
* 2003 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/235356 Winner: Ngamer (19)
* 2002 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/218956 Winner: Ngamer (14)
* 2001 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/214195 Winner: Ngamer (??)
* 2000 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com?topic=9185
---

The Ngamer Tally
(will be kept up to date for Durk's sake)

Oscar-Nominated Films Seen (17)
Doubt
Rachel Getting Married
The Dark Knight
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Wall*E
Bolt
Australia
Slumdog Millionaire
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Man on Wire
The Wrestler
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Milk

Oscar-Nominated Films on 'To See' List (4)
Frozen River
The Visitor
In Bruges
Waltz with Bashir

Seen Films that Deserved Oscar Nominations
Gran Torino
Mongol
Burn After Reading
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Cloverfield
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Blindness

[youseinthehouse]

The Oscars blew it especially hard this year, and that's saying something. Gran Torino is the top film of '08. One of my least favorite annual rituals of American culture. Right up there with American Idol and NASCAR.

[RWG]

You're a fucking homo if you don't like American Idol and/or NASCAR.

[Ngamer]

Hey hey, it's the Youse-bashes-the-Oscars post- one of my favorite annual rituals of internet culture! Right up there with wheat's "I haven't seen any of these movies" post and QB's "I barely saw enough movies this year to create a Top Ten... only watched about 175" post.

[RWG]

I feel bad for Benjamin Button. 13 Nominations and it's going to win ~2 awards.

[Time was untied when set.]

I'll have to agree with youse here!

[RWG]

Goose's Top Movies of 2008

1. Wall-E: This movie changed the way I look at things in life really.  I already wrote a big synopsis of this in the film topic in FFA, so I will just post it here.  Note, it contains spoilers.

Spoiler

I found the dynamics of the two main characters, Wall-E and EVE to be very interesting. On one hand, you have this near   perfectly created robot, EVE (pronounced Eva, which is one of the hottest girls' names,) who well, is perfect, has clear set goals, beautifully designed   and all that. On the other hand, you have Wall-E who is a clumsy dude with an impossible task set before him who doesn't really do anything significant   with his life, yet for whatever reason EVE is clearly attracted to him. Why is this? The only thing I can come up with is that Wall-E was always true to   himself, always believed in what he did and didn't try to be someone he was not. This is certainly a nice thought  
 
  There was one particular scene in the movie which really affected me. This was the scene where a shuttle is heading back to Earth and Wall-E is on it. EVE   flies through space, the shuttle self destructs and they end up meeting in space while Wall-E saves the plant. Then EVE kisses Wall-E, to which he is   completely flabbergasted and they dance through space. Counterimposed with the captain asking his super computer to define "dance," it almost   brings a question into what is human and what is not (which is a big theme throughout the movie, but I digress.) This scene was just so filled with love, and   showed how great love is (I mean there are these robots who are in love... it's just amazing.)  
 
  When I thought about this scene (while megavideo quit out at 72 minutes :P) I thought about how special it was. But then something hit me. I realized it was   only special because I made it special from my beliefs and emotions. I also realized that watching this scene, it could always be special, even though I had   seen it already before. For example, if I was watching this movie with a loving girl, this scene could also be incredibly special and meaningful.  
 
  This relates directly to kissing girls. I guess I never thought about it this way (even though everyone has told me already, it just never   "connected" with me) that your first kiss is not always the most special one, but any kiss can be special, if you make it so. Using this scene as a   metaphor for a kiss, I could see clearly that things are what you make them (which I always knew, just never related it to girls, for whatever reason I   always saw the aspect of girls and love as completely different from the rest of life.)  
 
  This realization obviously made me want to experience special moments like this with a beautiful girl whom I could share love with. A girl who I can share   LIFE with. A girl who I can sit back with and watch things like movies, sports, major world events, look at our places in this world and then play our roles   in this generation in relation to where and who we are in the world. This is what I really want. A chick I can see Wall-E with and share that emotion I   experienced during that scene... that is the kind of thing I want to feel. Not only watch the movie, but know that we too can be Wall-E and EVE and live out   remarkable stories that are all in the context of this wonderful life we are blessed to have.  
 
  Now, I've never experienced these kinds of things before, so maybe I don't want a girl who is like this, I will have to find out, but at the very   least I have an idea of a kind of girl I want to TRY. Now I just need to go out and find a girl like this

2. Iron Man: Absolutely awesome.  This is what a superhero movie should be.  Great character development and a lot of excitement.  Second best superhero/super action movie of this generation (next to Transformers) and just a great watch overall.

3. Quantum of Solace: Probably the best Bond movie since the 80s, possibly even 70s.  The character development in this was just so awesome and throughout the whole thing you could just feel the masculinity oozing off Bond.  It was a great, fun watch that kept you on the edge of your seat.  I don't care if you thought the plot was stupid, fuck you.  It was a greatly executed movie and everything a spy movie should be.

4. High School Musical 3: No point in me explaining anything since you guys won't understand.  The scene where Troy and Gabriella... nevermind.  You guys are too insecure about your sexuality to ever give in to watching one of these.

5. Bolt:  

Spoiler

    I was pleasantly surprised by this film.  It started out a bit childish and I was worried that it would continue to be so.  I was also worried that it     would be difficult to believe Bolt's discovery that the new world is the real world to be sincere (as there are problems with this in the "cave     metaphor" seen in Plato's Republic which explores a similar concept,) however neither of these were an     issue.  The film matured as it went on and it was easy to develop emotion for Bolt and Penny's relationship.  While the ultimate ending of the film was     predictable, the path it took near the end certainly was not.  All in all, another worthwhile animated feature from Disney.    
   
    In comparison to Wall-E; Bolt was definitely a lot funnier, though the humor was mainly achieved through easy techniques, common to this kind of movie.      There was a very strong emotion for the main characters in Bolt, however it is one that is commonly explored throughout film and life in itself.  The same     goes for the main conflict.  In Wall-E, the relationship between the two protagonists is incredibly interesting to watch unfold.  The breaking point is     that the issues and conflicts taking place in Wall-E are much more numerous, unique and have deeper meaning.  I think this is where it will beat out Bolt     for the sure win of Best Animated Picture.  Bolt is your standard Disney animated feature, which as usual, is a very nice movie, but Wall-E, even with     it's errors and vices still has a depth that few great live action films dare to explore.  This is my conclusion.  

Last. The Dark Knight: Simply put, the most overrated movie of all time.  For such a high budget, great cinematography, film editing and all the kicks, the movie lacked severely.  The plot was extremely boring, you couldn't relate to anyone in the movie, the characters didn't even have any cool powers given they weren't outrageous or anything (they were essentially normal people who didn't really have much interesting about them... the joker was crazy and the Batman could kind of fly, I guess, and was pretty strong... way more boring than a fucking Transformer or flying iron suit.)  Halfway through the movie I thought to myself "wow, this is way shittier than I thought.  I'm fucking disappointed in this shit."  The acting wasn't even very good aside from Heath, which even so was not "OMG THE BEST THING EVER" but more like a very decent performance (which all top level actors in Hollywood should always be giving anyways...) Freeman and Caine were good as well, but Gyllenhaal, Bale and the other dude were all well below what a millionaire Hollywood star should be expected to give.  Unfortunately Heath's very good performance wasn't enough to save this movie from being a crappy watch.  Epic fail.  It's just pure luck everyone is too stupid to realize that the movie is shit (except for like Axel Z, and he's the biggest movie expert we have here, so that should say a lot.)  I never want to see this movie again in my life.  At least the soundtrack is decent.


Goose's 81st Academy Awards Predictions

[youseinthehouse]

Heh, I was going to point out that this was an annual ritual for me, but then I couldn't remember if I even bothered to Oscars-bash in past years on these boards. Looks like you straightened that out for me, N. I won't disappoint you next year!

[flukey lukey]

this year sucked for movies and because Wall-E is not even nominated for Best Picture it proves (along with 2007 where There Will Be Blood got beaten by No Country, and many other upsets) how retarded the Academy Awards is. Not a single Kubrick film ever won for Best Picture. mmm

[RWG]

Wall-E's ending was too weak for it to be nominated for best picture... and the humans in the movie were pretty crappily explored and developed. I haven't seen any of the 5 best picture nominations but I'm sure they're better works of cinematographic art than Wall-E.

Keep in mind Wall-E was my #1 favorite that I've seen this year... I'm just the best at being objective and analyzing almost anything from any aspect of life so I can accurately describe Wall-E's pros and vices for example.

[Scrambler Fanny]

LOL at fans calling "Twilight" The Most Over-rated Movie Of The Year!

http://joblo.com/index2.php

[Scrambler Fanny]

also a poll done by Yahoo has fans voting Return of the King as The Best Best Picture ever, beating out Godfather!

http://www.theonering.net/

[Quiet Bol]

Looks like I've been roped into making a top ten list again, eh. I'll try to get my master list of movies I've seen this year assembled soon. I think I watched a lot less than the past few years, but it should still be over 200.

I'm not a big Oscars fan either, Youse. I actually think the Onion A/V Club does a much better job with their staff's top ten lists at the end of the year. To me, those are the most important awards in film!

For the record, I made no request about discounting the predictions of short films. I think putting the blame on me was supposed to be some kind of Jon "joke". I would like to see these predictions count as usual.

[wheatrich]

I haven't seen any of these movies

but I DO have interest in a certain ledger winning an oscar! (bet him to get nominated [easiest bet I made last year] and to win quite a long time ago and the wait should be worth it!)

[RWG]

I can't imagine what the line would be right now if any were open. Pinnacle doesn't even have lines up for Supporting Actor. I'm just glad I didn't load money into my account and bet on Hathaway at +300 when now she's at a +1000

[Soft-Hedwig]

"Quantum of Solace: Probably the best Bond movie since the 80s, possibly even 70s"

I lol'd

[Nindif]

So many films this year that missed out, sure CCOBB was good and although i haven't seen SM yet im sure its fine too, but surely a few more films would have surfaced throughout the year worthy of nomination?
Nevertheless, these are fine films.

[AZ]

- with 13 total noms, Benjamin Button is the third most-nommed film in Oscar history. it trails only All About Eve and Titanic (both earned 14).   unfortunately it might also set an untied record... for most categories lost by something with 13 noms. the current record-holder is Fellowship of   the Ring, which was beaten out 9 times (but still won 4 awards) in 2001

Interesting stuff. If "Slumdog Millionaire" doesn't win any award it'll even "beat" "The Colour Purple" (1986) and "The Turning Point" (1977), both of these films was nominated for 11 Academy Awards without winning a single one. But I doubt that will happen.

On Saturday I think I'll go to a bigger town to see "Benjamin Button" and "The Wrestler". After that I'll probably make my preds.

[Quiet Bol]

I can't imagine what the line would be right now if any were open. Pinnacle doesn't even have lines up for Supporting Actor. I'm just glad I   didn't load money into my account and bet on Hathaway at +300 when now she's at a +1000

On Bodog, you can risk $35 to win $1 on Ledger. His competitors were all at 50-1, though Hoffman is down to 20-1 now and someone else was at 40-1.

[the Blueline Goddess]

Milk was really good, though I suspect few in the Elite would see it (and appreciate it). I wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon, did see The Dark Knight and Wall*E, but everything else there gets a pretty resounding "meh" from me.

[matt8k]

http://img54.imageshack.u...eliteoscarsmatt800009.png
Where's the Best Supporting actor for Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder?
The Best Picture category is surely going to Slumdog. I'd agree that something like Wall-E would at least offer some competition, cos at the moment I can't see any!

My faves of 09: Burn after Reading, Dark Knight, Wall-E (in that order)
Will see Gran Torino shortly.

[RWG]

Directive?

mmm *makes box of garbage*

OOOOOO

...dirrrrrectttttive?

Directive?

*nod*

Classified.

[AZ]

I better make my predictions now cause we're going to the movie theater on Sunday instead of today. That means we'll be home just in time for the 81st Annual Academy Awards and I will have no time to make my preds after I've seen "The Wrestler" and "Benjamin Button"

Anyway, here's my preds:

Best picture
Slumdog Millionaire

 

Best director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Best actor
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

 

Best actress
Kate Winslet - The Reader

 

Best supporting actress
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best supporting actor
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

 

Best foreign language film
Waltz With Bashir - Israel

 

Best animated feature film
Wall-E

 

Best adapted screenplay
Frost/Nixon

 

Best original screenplay
In Bruges

 

Best original score
Slumdog Millionaire

 

Best original song
Down To Earth - Wall-E

 

Art direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Cinematography
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Costume design
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Best documentary feature
Man on Wire

 

Best documentary short subject
The Conscience of Nhem En

 

Film editing
Slumdog Millionaire

 

Make-up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Best live action short film
Auf der Strecke (On The Line)

 

Best animated short film
This Way Up

 

Sound editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Sound mixing
The Dark Knight

 

Visual effects
The Dark Knight

[Adam-Bozon]

Actor, Leading - Mickey Rourke

Actor, Supporting - Heath Ledger

Actress, Leading - Kate Winslet

Actress, Supporting - Taraji R Henson

Animated Feature - WALL-E

Art Direction - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cinematography - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume Design - Milk

Directing - Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary Feature - Man on Wire

Documentary Short - The Final Inch

Film Editing - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Foreign Language Film - The Class

Makeup - The Dark Knight

Original Score - WALL-E

Original Song - Down to Earth from WALL-E

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film, Animated - This Way Up

Short Film, Live Action - New Boy

Sound Editing - WALL-E

Sound Mixing - WALL-E

Visual Effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Screenplay, Adapted - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Screenplay, Original - WALL-E

[Thiradell]

Best picture
Slumdog Millionaire (EXCELLENT movie)

Best director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

 

Best actor
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

 

Best actress
Kate Winslet - The Reader

 

Best supporting actress
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Best supporting actor
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

 

Best foreign language film
Departures - Japan

 

Best animated feature film
Wall-E

 

Best adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Best original screenplay
Milk

 

Best original score
Wall-E

 

Best original song
Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire

 

Art direction
The Dark Knight

 

Cinematography
Slumdog Millionaire

 

Costume design
Revolutionary Road

 

Best documentary feature
Trouble The Water

 

Best documentary short subject
The Final Inch

 

Film editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Make-up
The Dark Knight

 

Best live action short film
Manon on the Asphalt

 

Best animated short film
Presto

 

Sound editing
Wall-E

 

Sound mixing
Slumdog Millionaire

Visual effects
The Dark Knight

[Cyberwrath87]

My Preds:

Leading Actor - Mickey Rourke

Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger

Leading Actress - Meryl Streep

Supporting Actress - Penelope Cruz

Animated Feature - Wall-E

Art Direction - Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cinematography - Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design - Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directing - Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary - Man on Wire

Documentary Short - The Witness

Film Editing - Slumdog Millionaire

Foreign Language Film - The Class

Makeup - Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire

Original Song - Down to Earth

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film, Animated - Presto

Short Film, Live Action - Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Sound Editing - Wall-E

Sound Mixing - Wall-E

Visual Effects - The Dark Knight

Adapted Screenplay - Slumdog Millionaire

Original Screenplay - In Bruges

[Ngamer]

Less than 24 hours left to get those picks in! Don't delay much longer!

[octoinky]

Straight from Jon's list, here are the movies I've seen and my comments:



The Dark Knight - loved this movie, if just for Ledger. I don't know who else was nominated in his category, but death or not his performance was one of the best I've seen in a movie, ever.

Wall*E - I enjoyed this, but as Goose said the humans seemed poorly developed (though their gluttony sure had a point in the movie!), but it was a great animated film.

Gran Torino - Just saw this, Eastwood tried a bit too hard IMO. The story was nice, his acting was a nice change of pace (I don't see many eastwood films, so maybe it wasn't actually a change of pace?), enjoyable. Shocked for no noms.

Burn After Reading - Turned it off halfway through, gross.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Best comedy I've seen in years. Years! Maybe the best since anchorman. Instant classic, and wasn't overly retarded / full of smoking weed etc., like most of today's comedies.

----

I've seen plenty of other movies this year. If Jon listed it and I didn't respond, I DIDN'T see it. Other movies of note were uh.. Quantom of Solice b/c Goose mentioned it. Very disappointing Bond movie. Hmm I can't even recall anything else that great this year, to be honest.

[RWG]

Just watched Bolt, so now I can give my input into Best Animated Picture fully (since I don't think Kung Fu Panda will be a factor.)

Bolt (2008)

Spoiler

   
   
    I was pleasantly surprised by this film. It started out a bit childish and I was worried that it would continue to be so. I was also worried that it would     be difficult to believe Bolt's discovery that the new world is the real world to be sincere (as there are problems with this in the "cave     metaphor" seen in Plato's Republic which explores a similar concept,) however neither of these were an issue. The film matured as it went on and     it was easy to develop emotion for Bolt and Penny's relationship. While the ultimate ending of the film was predictable, the path it took near the end     certainly was not. All in all, another worthwhile animated feature from Disney.    
   
    In comparison to Wall-E; Bolt was definitely a lot funnier, though the humor was mainly achieved through easy techniques, common to this kind of movie.     There was a very strong emotion for the main characters in Bolt, however it is one that is commonly explored throughout film and life in itself. The same     goes for the main conflict. In Wall-E, the relationship between the two protagonists is incredibly interesting to watch unfold. The breaking point is that     the issues and conflicts taking place in Wall-E are much more numerous, unique and have deeper meaning. I think this is where it will beat out Bolt for the     sure win of Best Animated Picture. Bolt is your standard Disney animated feature, which as usual, is a very nice movie, but Wall-E, even with it's     errors and vices still has a depth that few great live action films dare to explore. This is my conclusion.    
   
 

[Quiet Bol]

I'll get a top 10 (or however many) list up sometime soon, probably tomorrow. I went a bit light again, only seeing 170 movies from 2008, and I've got another list of 120+ that I could/would/or should have seen, most of which I'll never get around to now and the ones I do see won't be able to count towards next year or put in a top 10 list. Such are the drawbacks of being released near the end of the year! I thought this year was a bit weak originally, but looking over the films I've seen, I can say that I remember most of them fondly. It's really just a problem where not much stands out to me as being worthy of top 5 status, let alone top 1. But I'll wrestle with that problem...later!

[TheFlash]

No clue, random'D

Best picture
The Reader

Best director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

 

Best actor
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

 

Best actress
Kate Winslet - The Reader

 

Best supporting actress
Amy Adams - Doubt

 

Best supporting actor
Josh Brolin - Milk

 

Best foreign language film
Waltz With Bashir - Israel

 

Best animated feature film
Wall-E

 

Best adapted screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Best original screenplay
Wall-E

 

Best original score
Wall-E

 

Best original song
O Saya - Slumdog Millionaire

 

Art direction
Revolutionary Road

 

Cinematography
The Reader

 

Costume design
The Duchess

 

Best documentary feature
Trouble The Water

 

Best documentary short subject
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

 

Film editing
Slumdog Millionaire

 

Make-up
The Dark Knight

 

Best live action short film
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

 

Best animated short film
This Way Up

 

Sound editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

 

Sound mixing
The Dark Knight

Visual effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[Ngamer]

The Oscars have begun!  All preds are now LOCKED!

And here is my entry:

[RWG]

Congrats to Ngamer, winner of the elite's Oscar pool!

[Ngamer]

Goose, you spoke too soon!


81st Oscars - Elite Prediction Results
(this list does NOT score for Short Doc, Animated Short, or Live Action Short)

1. QB - 17 wins
2. Ngamer - 16
3. Goose - 13
4. Cyber - 12
5. Axel Z. - 10
5. Matt H. - 10
7. Ninja - 9
7. Third - 9
9. Bonzo - 8
10. Thingy - 6

Congrats to your Elite Champ for the 81st Oscars, QB! Had the three smaller awards been counted it would have been a tie for first between QB and myself, as we both went 18-5 overall, but with the new rules in place he beat me fair and square.

Remember to keep an eye on this topic for your Top Two's upcoming Best of '08 listings!

[wheatrich]

I looked up my wager--I had +125 on ledger

[AZ]

Congrats QB!

I have yet to see "Frost/Nixon" and "Milk". None of the winners were any shocking really. Maybe Sean Penn for "Milk" was a bit of a surprise, but nothing really exceptional. And I swear to god that if Ledger hadn't accidentaly died, he wouldn't even been nominated for best supporting actor; what a lame, sentimental jury. Now I didn't say Ledger was bad as the Joker, he was magnificent, but he would have never won if it weren't for his tragic death.

Anyway, yesterdays show was pretty good; one of the best I've seen. It wasn't as boring and long as last years AAs; everything was either fun or entertaining.

[Scrambler Fanny]

LOL @ Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix rendition!

http://www.mtv.co.uk/chan...scars-2009-academy-awards

[RWG]

Agreed with Axel on Ledger, and also agreed that the show was amazing. The new style made it very fun to watch. It was more intimate and less fancy Hollywood stuff so everyone felt like they belonged watching it. Hugh Jackman is the best host I've ever seen too. What a surprise there!

[Thiradell]

For Best (Supporting) Actor/Actress, I didn't like replacing showing clips of movies (which is what I most look forward to) with five past winners congratulating the nominees, but everything else was good.

[RWG]

Sure Tyler, but I like the symbolic "passing of the torch" and thought it was a nice thing to do and should be repeated for future awards ceremonies.

I really enjoyed the montages of film, particularly the romance one. Ending it with Wall-E and EVE was adorable

I also found it interesting how the Academy put images from HSM3 in the romance montage, as well as having Zanessa perform in the musical number. Compelling how they take HSM seriously when not a lot of other people over 16 years old do.

[Cyberwrath87]

So where are these top 10 films of 2008 lists? hmmm....??

[octoinky]

I'm shocked you think Ledger wouldn't have won. His performance was absolutely brilliant. Maybe you didn't like the role but from an unbiased perspective take a watch at that again. He was sick, it was a great performance.

[RWG]

Yeah... and how many times have superhero movies been taken seriously at the Oscars?

That is why he wouldn't have won.

Besides, Josh Brolin played a homosexual. The academy loves that. He would easily have got it if Heath didn't die.

[Ngamer]

Brolin's character in Milk is heterosexual.

[RWG]

then who the fuck was Sean Penn making out with in those clips they showed at the Oscars?

[Quiet Bol]

They actually insinuate that Brolin is a closet homosexual that's unhappy with his marriage. Anyway, while I agree Ledger probably wouldn't have won if he hadn't died, I do think he legitimately had the best performance in the category, at least of those nominated. I haven't thought about it any more than that.

[Ngamer]

In all the Oscar clips Sean Penn was making out with James Franco. That's why it was funny when, when watching Milk on the couch, James Franco's stoner character started to get a little emotional and tried to throw his arm around Seth Rogan.

EDIT - And for the record I think Heath was always a lock for the nom, and still would have been the favorite regardless of if he'd still been alive.  The Academy most likely still felt a little bad about him losing his Brokeback Oscar to Philip Seymour Hoffman, and this would have been a great opportunity to reward him.

[flukey lukey]

i remember heath saying how he was incredibly relieved he didn't win the oscar for brokeback mountain. he hated the idea of having expectations built up for future projects and its in his shy, modest nature to not want to win such an award. winning an oscar means fuck-all anyway

[RWG]

Jon brings up a fair point about his loss on Brokeback, especially to such a great like Philip Seymour Hoffman, though Terrence Howard and Jaoquin Phoenix both had reasonable chance to win that year. All it takes is a look at Kate Winslet, who took 6 nominations for her first win to suggest that Brokeback and TDK wouldn't have been enough for Heath... yet.

But then people like Marion Cotillard win out of nowhere and it's negates any reason or pattern the Oscars use.