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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!
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.imgcake.com%2F2008oscars.png&hash=494606d4b66f63b316307ae378f5bfb926f0a1d3)
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.
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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!
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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
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Our Oscar Preds/Discussion/Results from Years Past
* 2007 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/265889 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/265889) Winner: Ngamer (15)
* 2006 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/68801 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/68801) Winner: QB/frantic (15)
* 2005 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/73889 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/73889) Winner: Ngamer (18)
* 2004 - eaten
* 2003 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/235356 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/235356) Winner: Ngamer (19)
* 2002 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/218956 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/218956) Winner: Ngamer (14)
* 2001 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/214195 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com/reply/214195) Winner: Ngamer (??)
* 2000 - http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com?topic=9185 (http://perfectdarkelite.yuku.com?topic=9185)
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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
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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.
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You're a fucking homo if you don't like American Idol and/or NASCAR.
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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.
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I feel bad for Benjamin Button. 13 Nominations and it's going to win ~2 awards.
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I'll have to agree with youse here!
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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 (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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 (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.yuku.com%2Fimage%2Fpng%2Fa622633124578cf2938c1175e852b72639c06013.png&hash=5ae5f66d80e9ff16a829421047376a3132ceac7d)
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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!
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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
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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.
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LOL at fans calling "Twilight" The Most Over-rated Movie Of The Year! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Flaugh.gif&hash=657f1346088ce2081c398c7379c3a47e4cf5861b)
http://joblo.com/index2.php (http://joblo.com/index2.php)
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also a poll done by Yahoo has fans voting Return of the King as The Best Best Picture ever, beating out Godfather! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fhappy.gif&hash=7b9cd982f9a41f9aefcd7ea74682d5f1e4caf4c6)
http://www.theonering.net/ (http://www.theonering.net/)
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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.
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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!)
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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 (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsick.gif&hash=147d83ab69333060437ede2e0058676600b3ea8c)
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"Quantum of Solace: Probably the best Bond movie since the 80s, possibly even 70s"
I lol'd
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(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffile%3A%2F%2F%2FC%3A%2FDOCUME%257E1%2FJessica%2FLOCALS%257E1%2FTemp%2Fmoz-screenshot.jpg&hash=3cd7415aaebdc7a4cd4547963df9c7ab58f80aea)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.
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi242.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fff77%2Fnindif%2Funtitled-3.jpg&hash=07eb90583ce11995ab7a25dd99dce52496ffb5c4)
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- 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.
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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 (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsick.gif&hash=147d83ab69333060437ede2e0058676600b3ea8c)
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.
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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.
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http://img54.imageshack.u...eliteoscarsmatt800009.png (http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/3846/eliteoscarsmatt800009.png)
Where's the Best Supporting actor for Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder? (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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.
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Directive?
mmm *makes box of garbage*
OOOOOO
...dirrrrrectttttive?
Directive?
*nod*
Classified.
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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" (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Ffrown.gif&hash=9bb8520656650a7c2457ae0ae2ee8996e4109fd6)
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
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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
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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
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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
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Less than 24 hours left to get those picks in! Don't delay much longer!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi5.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fy180%2Ffoxbite2%2FSHKotH%2FQBsOscarEntry.png&hash=a6b834d551c72c5fe3e8d2b4274eb1d85adeeebe)
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!
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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
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The Oscars have begun! All preds are now LOCKED!
And here is my entry:
(https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.imgcake.com%2Fngamers2008oscars.png&hash=727e5515749b02a95091a98100c84170d2566127)
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Congrats to Ngamer, winner of the elite's Oscar pool!
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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!
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I looked up my wager--I had +125 on ledger (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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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.
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LOL @ Ben Stiller's Joaquin Phoenix rendition! (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Flaugh.gif&hash=657f1346088ce2081c398c7379c3a47e4cf5861b)
http://www.mtv.co.uk/chan...scars-2009-academy-awards (http://www.mtv.co.uk/channel/mtvuk/news/475995-ben-stiller-mocks-joaquin-phoenix-at-the-oscars-2009-academy-awards)
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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!
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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.
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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 (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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.
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So where are these top 10 films of 2008 lists? hmmm....??
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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.
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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.
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Brolin's character in Milk is heterosexual.
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then who the fuck was Sean Penn making out with in those clips they showed at the Oscars?
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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OSCAR THOUGHTS!
First allow me to just quickly go over the thought process for my picks. There were basically three things I thought had happened in the month leading up to Oscar night:
1. David/Goliath. Slumdog Millionaire was the cute 'little film that could', a small budget independent film that was so enjoyable and heart-warming that it became the critical darling of the season. Like Juno and Little Miss Sunshine before it, the classic Oscar script said that Slumdog would get to play the darkhorse David that makes a last-week push at someone's big budget Goliath... presumably Benjamin Button or The Dark Knight. But Slumdog was too charming, steamrolling the box office in the last month while dominating every pre-Oscar awards show, and by Oscar night little David had become Goliath. Trouble is, that's not supposed to happen, and when it does it produces a backlash; see Brokeback Mountain. Fortunately for Slumdog there was no Crash in this year's lineup- Ben Button was supposed to be the challenger, but it had lost so much steam by the final week that frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Milk was actually the one who came second in that category!
In summary, I still thought Slumdog was a lock for Best Pic and Director, but that the indy Goliath backlash would put it at a disadvantage in the more contested categories. Which leads into
2. Becoming the villain. ABC must have died a little bit inside when the Best Pic noms were announced. The $1 billion Dark Knight snubbed in favor of The Reader and its... $37 million worldwide? Had Batman been up for Best Picture with any kind of chance at the win, this could possibly have been the most-watched awards since Titanic's big night in '98, or at LEAST on par with the huge numbers Return of the King pulled down in '04. For the last month leading up to the show that was the big story everyone was talking about, and so...
Combined with the semi-backlash on Slumdog for getting too popular too soon, I expected people feeling bad for TDK missing out on the big awards to result in a really strong showing in all the smaller technical categories. Clearly there was going to be some good will toward the film with the landslide Heath victory; it seemed reasonable for that to roll on into a few other awards as well.
3. Oscar is here to recruit you. The other thing the Academy likes is to make a statement with their choices as part of the night's storyline. See Halle and Denzel's Actor/Actress wins, or "supporting the green movement" with wins for An Inconvient Truth (Doc, Song) and Happy Feet (the only time Pixar has been defeated for Best Animated). With the whole Prop 8 fiasco still being a hot topic out in California, I figured Hollywood would consider this an excellent chance to make a stand for gay rights.
Which explains why I stuck with Milk for Best Original Screenplay even though traditionally the Academy likes to make a more "non-traditional" choice there (both In Bruges and Wall*E were legit contenders IMO) and also why I went with an upset for Actor by picking Penn (although it actually seemed as though Rourke was losing a little steam in the last couple weeks to the point where Penn was all the way back into favorite status, at least according to some).
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Sooo, I went 1 for 3 with those "factors" and as a result Slumdog's wins over TDK in the technical cats cost me the picking pool championship. Ah well, I stand behind all three factors as well-reasoned and think they were all fairly close to coming through for me, so I can live with it.
And now its time for...
Thoughts on the Oscar Broadcast itself!
* Hugh Jackman's a fantastic actor, clearly very talented, and you could tell he was trying his heart out up there. I'm happy for him that these Oscars are generally being considered a success (ratings were up significantly over last year- not a HUGE accomplishment given that '08 were the least-watched Academy Awards in our lifetimes, but still). That being said, I'm still a bigger fan of the laid back wise-cracking jokester host in the Steve Martin/Jon Stewart vein than I am that kind of high energy all-singing-all-dancing hosting that you get out of Billy Crystal or Jackman. Just a personal preference though.
* Having five former winners come up and discuss the nominee's work before handing out the award was a nice touch- I liked the way Goose described it, as kind of a neat "passing of the torch." I understand where Third is coming from with wanting to see the short clips, but honestly, those things are only like 10 seconds long and then you run into so many problems- you can't show the most emotional moment because the clips have to be spoiler free, and there's no swearing allowed, etc etc until you're pretty much just choosing something at random. Plus, this gave Cuba Gooding Jr a chance to leave the house for the first time in a few years, which is always a good thing.
* The longer Actor/Actress sequences meant they had to condense down the smaller awards a little bit, with the same presenters awarding Adapted and Original screenplay back to back or doing all the Animated stuff at once, but that was fine by me. Kept the show moving along at a pretty health clip- only downside was that the show pretty much ran itself, and so we barely saw Hugh Jackman for like an hour in the middle there.
* Jackman's opening number had some problems, but it ended up winning me over with the very funny homemade props, Hugh admitting he (along with 90% of the audience) still hasn't seen The Reader, and Anne Hathaway's incredible cuteness. Oh yeah, and "I'm Wolverine!"
* Favorite presenters of the night: Steve Martin and Tina Fey- just the kind of dry, witty humor you would expect from those two. Especially liked the subtle dig at Scientology. Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix was timely, and Portman played a great straight man, but the gag wasn't really that unexpected (Jim Carrey pulled off the same look at the MTV movie awards a little while back) especially coming from him (Ben came out dressed as either Starsky or Hutch, whichever one he was, alongside Owen Wilson a few years ago). Jack Black was also good, "I star in one DreamWorks movie a year, then take all the cash to the Oscars and bet it on Pixar!", but I can't decide if my absolute favorite presenter line of the night was Will Smith referencing "Boom Goes the Dynamite" or Janusz Kaminski becoming the first Cinematographer to present an award and using the opportunity to announce that his jealous fellow 60 year old cinematographers friends could "suck it!"
* The Oscars are always a little too montage-heavy, but I was actually quite impressed by that Action Film montage, and Franco/Rogan praising the horrible movies but laughing uproariously at the serious/nominated films was pretty good. The Animation and Romance montages I could have done without (Space Chimps at the Oscars? come on now).
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Favorite live-blogging comments from the editors at The Onion's AV Club!
Noel Murray: Hard to believe that Frozen River and In Bruges, two movies I saw at Sundance over a year ago, are up for Oscars. Who says Sundance is irrelevant?
Tasha Robinson: Incidentally, because of the crowd at our party, we've got one group downstairs watching on cable, and one group upstairs watching on broadcast, which is about 10 seconds ahead. We can hear their reaction to each award and take a few seconds to calculate what the happy/sad noises mean.
For the animated award, they all yelled variations on "What? Kung-Fu Panda? Seriously?" just to fuck with us. Bastards.
Tasha Robinson: Daniel Craig is delivering his nomination speech as though he's trying to shoot it in the face by spitting words at it.
Nathan Rabin: Wow, Jessica Biel is wearing part of the curtains from the set.
Amelie Gillette: Ghosts of supporting actors past presenting to an actual ghost = super weird.
Josh Modell: Didn't Eddie read the EW article in which Jerry said he wishes he hadn't let Eddie re-do The Nutty Professor?
Amelie Gillette: Alicia Keys and Zac Efron are having a disconcerting eyebrow contest!
Tasha Robinson: "I'm sorry, Meryl, but you have to just suck that up!" In my imaginary Oscars, Streep stalked up on stage and slapped her one. My imaginary Oscars are way more violent than the real ones.
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I saw Slumdog Millionaire last night in the local independent film theater. Also playing the reader and milk, and all started between 7 and 720. Needless to say it was pretty crowded!
I enjoyed the movie, very well put together, a different kind of cinematography than I'm used to. A good message and really eye opening as well. Mixed in with good comedy, strong emotions, etc. All in all, a bit (entirely?) predictable, but told a good story in a good way.
I'm not keen enough on the whole oscar style. Had I seen this unbiased, I'd have no clue it would even be considered for an oscar let alone win 8 awards. But watching it with that perspective may have just given it too much hype for me.
Still a good movie and worth seeing, though.
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Okay, I guess it's time to stop putting this off. I don't want to say these are the 20 Best Movies of 2008. I'm not sure if these are even my 20 Favorite Movies of 2008. Let's just say these are 20 Movies from 2008 that I Liked A Lot and Remember Fondly Some of Which Were Maybe Underappreciated So I Thought I'd Make a List and Share Some of Them With Everybody.
As of now, I've seen at least 173 movies from 2008, listed here - http://www.geocities.com/ss_skyhawk/2008movies.txt (http://www.geocities.com/ss_skyhawk/2008movies.txt)
I've yet to see Synecdoche, New York or Last Chance Harvey or Valkyrie or any number of movies released at the end of the year, but I'll have to make do with what I've seen, and that said, on with the list!
QB's Top Twenty Films of 2008
20. Paranoid Park
In the "other" Gus Van Sant film this year, he goes back to his minimalist roots, but without stripping it completely of dialogue, structure, and plot, like say, Gerry. It's still not for everybody, but this mellow, dream-like story of a teenage skateboarder who accidently kills a security guard and battles his conscience while the police investigate is realistic and captivating, and it shows once again that Van Sant isn't afraid to test the limits of what moviemaking can or should be. (You should probably put your fingers in your ears during the opening credits though, because he also tests the limits of what music can be, and the result could induce suicide.)
19. Frozen River
These characters aren't exactly made to be likeable, but somehow their pathetic circumstances drew me in emotionally within the first minute. The family at the center of this story is depressingly poor (the kids survive off of popcorn and tang), and they're in danger of losing their small mobile home. The mother and eldest son have their quarrels, some rather serious, but it's apparent that they care for one another, and the son's willingness to help financially combined with his desire to watch after his younger brother, insulating him from the problems facing them is quite admirable. Melissa Leo's acting performance as a mother desperate to keep a roof over her children's heads was easily one of the year's finest.
18. The Wackness
In a surprising turn from Nickelodeon's Josh Peck, he takes on the role of Luke Shapiro, high school drug dealer/outcast in mid 90s New York. The classic rap soundtrack does a fantastic job setting the mood. Ben Kingsley is great, as always, as the Luke's psychotherapist who also happens to be one of the teen's best clients. I liked Olivia Thirlby a lot in last year's Snow Angels, but it was her role in this film that made me fall in love with her. When she broke Luke's heart, she broke mine as well.
17. In Bruges
One of the 2008's stunning 11 films to make IMDB's top 250, In Bruges is primarily a drama, but it blends both action and comedy seamlessly into the mix. While it was the clever script that received a well-deserved Best Original Screenplay nod at the Oscars, the directing and acting were similarly fantastic. In short, In Bruges is great filmmaking.
16. Sex Drive
Bizarrely, this movie was based on a book written by my favorite Yahoo Fantasy Sports writer, Andy Behrens, and while some may dismiss it as a cookie-Cutler raunchy teen comedy, this vehicle delivered fully on its promising trailer. A 7.0 IMDB rating for this type of film is nothing to sneeze at; even the original American Pie only sits at 6.9. Seth Green's biting sarcasm is on full display, most of the situational humor is really funny, and I can also thank this movie for introducing me to the lovely Amanda Crew; those are just 3 reasons why I found Sex Drive to be among the best comedies of the year.
15. Iron Man
Up until last summer, I had known little about Iron Man and had no desire to learn more. This movie then, came as quite a pleasant surprise. Robert Downey Jr., who has quickly become a favorite of mine, was perfectly cast in the role of Tony Stark. In true blockbuster fashion, the film combined action, witty one-liners, and great special effects, but it also managed to include an impressive amount of exposition and background for a Superhero movie. This well-paced and well-rounded popcorn flick was one of the highlights of the summer.
14. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
I have a tough time getting excited for Holocaust movies but this one approached the idea from a new and interesting perspective. A kind, innocent German boy living in the shadow of a Nazi concentration camp befriends a boy on the other side of the fence, leading to unforeseen and devastating consequences. The entire cast give solid and memorable performances, led by extremely likeable newcomer Asa Butterfield as the naive German boy. The emotional ending left audiences stunned in their seats.
13. Role Models
This crude R-rated comedy was surprisingly well-received by masses and critics alike. Sean William Scott and Paul Rudd have a natural chemistry and both turn in strong comedic performances. Also, Bobb'e J. Thompson is one funny little motherfucker. In the end, there is significant character growth shown by all parties, and the movie reveals a surprising amount of heart - but let's be clear, you're watching this movie for the lulz.
12. Wanted
Wanted is the most innovative and exciting action movie since The Matrix, if not quite as deep. It's cool, it's sexy, and the special effects are amazing. Pass the popcorn!
11. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Another year, another great Woody Allen film, and the 3rd of the last 4 to feature Scarlett Johansson. The first half could be described as light fluff by its detractors, but it's a very intelligent romantic comedy with some beautiful scenery (mainly Barcelona, but Vicky and Cristina count too). About halfway into the picture, things get more complicated than they already are when Penelope Cruz storms in and steals every scene from that point on, sizzling with real passion and...shall we say, craziness. If you at all enjoy Woody Allen's signature style of filmmaking, give this one a try. Most critics agree it's his best in years.
10. Tropic Thunder
This isn't normally the type of movie where I'd expect to be talking about award winning performances, but not only was Robert Downey Jr widely nominated and praised for his work, but Tom Cruise also took down a BSA nod at the Golden Globes, for what basically amounted to a cameo (albeit, a hilarious cameo). Between those two, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black, Tropic Thunder managed to get a nice little ensemble cast together. It all results in a very fresh satire, featuring as much action as it does comedy.
9. Doubt
The premise of the film did little to excite me, but the resulting picture is intriguing, moving, and thought-provoking, primarily because of the stellar cast assembled; the 4 largest acting parts were all deemed worthy of Oscar nods, with Viola Davis perhaps delivering the most gut-wrenching performance of the year, despite its brevity. Adapted from a play, there's an abundance of set scenes and dialogue, but with a cast this good, it's easy to consider that a positive. I think the thing that makes this movie sort of interesting and fun is that the serious issue at the heart of the movie, whether the school's priest sexually abused one of his students, is as much a mystery to the audience as it is to the nuns trying to unravel it. We're left to wonder for ourselves, did he, or didn't he?
8. Appaloosa
The year's de facto #1 Western was of a high quality. Ed Harris wrote, directed, produced, and starred alongside Viggo Mortensen in this story of two old friends hired to rid the town of Appaloosa of its incumbent gang of outlaws. The two are very convincing as partners; it's as if they've been riding together for years. Jeremy Irons, as the villain, also stands out for his performance. Unlike some lesser westerns, the film is quite accessible, the scenes are punctuated with a certain wry, subtle humor, and the characters are detailed. It doesn't exactly re-invent the western genre, but Appaloosa is a very well-made and engaging film.
7. Wall-E
Pixar hits the mark again, bringing us one of the most endearing characters of the year. Wall-E is a beautiful film, both visually, and emotionally. The early stages of the film show Wall-E to be a portrait of loneliness, the last of his kind, with only a cockroach to keep him company. In Eve, he finds a much needed partner with whom to share life's experiences and his first real chance to not only love, but be loved in return. Wall-E is a joy to watch, and I can only hope Pixar continues making films of this quality for a long, long time.
6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
A rather stunning debut from first time screenwriter and lead actor Jason Segel, who shows a surprising level of vulnerability and the unique ability to make human misery into a comical affair. Mila Kunis departs from her usual roles to show us her fun, life-loving wild side, Kristen Bell is solid as the titular character, and BloodE's boy Russell Brand is terrifically hilarious as her new beau. In addition, the secondary cast consisting primarly of Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, and Paul Rudd also fit into the film well and deliver laugh out loud moments. FSM is another Apatow success story; his best work yet, in my opinion, and sure to satisfy anybody in search of a smart, gut-busting, wild romp of a comedy.
5. Gran Torino
In what was perhaps Clint Eastwood's last acting appearance he plays a gruff and grumpy old war hero, who is at first rather off-putting in his crotchety, antisocial, and racist ways, but through interaction with his immigrant neighbors, ultimately has a change of heart and finds redemption. It's another impressive job from Eastwood, both in front of and behind the camera. Alongside a cast of newcomers and nobodies, Eastwood carries the film with ease and gives us one of the finest movies of the year.
4. Rachel Getting Married
Definitely one of the most interesting films of the year as far as cinematography is concerned. The unsteady camera and multitude of close shots give the impression that you're actually a guest at the wedding, observing the action firsthand. The drama never ends, the characters are all heavily flawed, and some have described the film rather unpleasantly, comparing it to attending a wedding where you hate everybody and don't want to be there. Personally, I think the masterful performances turned in by the bride's sister, Anne Hathaway, and the father, Bill Irwin, make it worth staying while the family tries to patch up its myriad problems.
3. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Having just watched it for the 2nd time, I can safely say that this is where the real list begins. There were 3 movies that I loved in 2008, and Nick and Nora was certainly one of them. Michael Cera brings his usual awkward comedic style, Kat Dennings is funny, down to earth, and charming, the secondary characters are fun and loveable, the soundtrack is brilliant, and New York is portrayed as a beautiful, lively city, with magic in the air and endless possibilities. You can tell they had a lot of fun making this movie and I had a lot of fun watching it.
2. Definitely, Maybe
A "love story mystery", as told by Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) to his 11-year-old daughter (Abigail Breslin). The daughter wants to hear about how her parents met and why they got together in the first place; after much begging, he agrees to tell her about all 3 of his serious girlfriends and the various stories associated with them, but he changes the names to hide which one is the girl's mother. The story does a good job of keeping the viewer guessing, which is nice. Ryan Reynolds has long been a favorite of mine, as he's got the ability to play both comedic and dramatic roles convincingly, and both of those skills are on display here. Breslin is impossibly cute as the inquisitive daughter. Strong turns are also delivered by Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, and my personal favorite, Isla Fisher as the 3 love interests of our protagonist. It's funny, charming, and heartwarming, but without being overly mushy, as it is told from a guy's perspective after all. I'll give it the nod as the best romantic comedy of the year.
1. Taken
In the most thrilling and action-packed epic of the year, an ex-CIA agent's daughter is kidnapped while visiting Europe. Like a colder and more efficient version of James Bond, he cuts a swathe of destruction through Paris, desperate to find his daughter before she's lost forever. Liam Neeson does a great job of carrying the film, while the constant action and severity of the situation kept me on the edge of my seat. Taken is a brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride.
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In retrospect, I'd probably tack Eagle Eye onto the back somewhere because I'm a Shia LeBeouf fanboy and really like Michelle Monaghan as well. I enjoyed that one quite a bit. I'm also disappointed that the eye-catching titles of Young People Fucking and Good Dick narrowly missed the cut, but ah well. There's nothing to be done for it now!
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Hooo ray, great work QB!
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Nick and Nora? I couldn't finish the movie! I've got Tropic Thunder rented here, need to watch that still then I'll comment (https://forums.the-elite.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ezboard.com%2Fintl%2Faenglish%2Fimages%2Femoticons%2Fsmile.gif&hash=1adea417e08e9042f9ce1a5426616bf29f2ca20e)
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Does anyone think naming the girl robot from Wall-E, EVE, have anything to do with the biblical story of Adam and Eve? Adam simply means "a man" so Wall-E didn't need a referential name. He's the first man, and EVE is the first woman... didn't notice that until recently.
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Nick and Nora... dude