Oscar Breakdown: Best Director

OSCAR BREAKDOWN: BEST DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

How does the man that made Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Shallow Grave create the feel-good movie of the year? It's puzzling, sure. Boyle has been notorious for his techno-style, energy-induced, almost anarchic style of storytelling. There are still fragments of the usual Boyle-isms in last year's Slumdog Millionaire, but its safe to say he may have mellowed out in his older age. Of course, for those unfamiliar with Boyle's films may see Slumdog Millionaire as a steroid-pumping, non-stop blow-by piece of cinema, and with its incredibly distinct style, it makes sense that Boyle has been collecting critics awards like teenage girls collect Jonas Brothers paraphernalia.

His work on Slumdog is truly inspired to say the least. Traveling into Mumbai (with the help of a 2nd unit director named Loveleen Tandan), Boyle attempts to capture the energy of one of the most trafficked areas in India. It pokes fun at Bollywood films--that great dance sequence--but never in a mean way. I sometimes worry when a filmmaker decides to capture a culture he has nothing to do with (you'll occasionally see something pretty messy, like Rob Marshall trying to express Chinese culture in Memoirs of a Geisha), but Boyle became incredibly intimate with this material, contracting young non-professional child actors from the area that create some of the warmest moments of the film. The film is seldom recognized for its rough aspects--what's Boyle without rough?--because its sweet moments that stay afloat in our consciousness.

Stephen Daldry, THE READER

Stephen Daldry is quite a lucky man. He enchanted audiences with his debut film, Billy Elliot, and got himself a Best Director nomination. He allowed three great actresses (Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman) to give wonderful performances in a wonderfully crafted film entitled The Hours--and got another Best Director nomination. Now, his third film, The Reader was the big sleeper when the Academy Award nominations were announced, and he got another Best Director nomination. That makes him three-for-three for Best Director nods. Let's put this into perspective: Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Alexander Payne only has one; Richard Linklater and Jim Jarmusch don't have any at all.... And Stephen Daldry has three in three films.

Daldry makes incredibly droll films--and save for The Hours, incredibly boring films (and The Hours is only a treat because of those fantastic actresses). He tackles incredibly provocative material, but has the never-before-seen talent of making the material seem drawn-out and uninteresting. He makes films that incredibly self-award of their own quality, and they frequently are well lit and edited, they just lack emotional punch for the most part, because even subtlety has its moments of transparency. I won't knock Daldry for being nominated, he choose who gets nominated. The only thing I can pick on Daldry about is his average filmmaking.

David Fincher, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

David Finch has been a beloved filmmaker in many movie-lovers' circles. Se7en is a suspense masterpiece on par with The Silence of the Lambs, and Fight Club has become perhaps the most popular cult film of the late 90's. Then he made Zodiac last year, a film that many thought was the best film the filmmaker ever made. Of course, it was universally ignored come awards time, but they're trying hard to make up for this year. Benjamin Button was seen as a pretty large "event" at the movies: "Come see Brad Pitt look old! And Cate Blanchett!! Oh God, Cate Blanchett!!". Did it live up to the hype? Depends on how you look at it. The film got thirteen nominations overall, by far more than any movie, so that's good. Unfortunately, the film is seen as pretty mediocre thematically, so that's not too good.

History may not be kind to Benjamin Button, because it really does fumble its fascinating premise on more than one occasion. That, though, does nothing to effect how beautiful the film looks. Using breakthrough special effects, and fascinating cinematography by Claudio Miranda, Fincher does an exceptional job making the world seem fascinating, even if the characters are complete emotionless cyphers. It's the kind of movie that people try to convince themselves they enjoyed because they appreciate the filmmakers involved. Fincher's attempt to build upon Eric Roth's sloven screenplay is one of the main redeeming characteristics of Benjamin Button, and hopefully this isn't the last Oscar nod in Fincher's future.

Ron Howard, FROST/NIXON

It's incredibly interesting to watch Ron Howard's movies. He's made a good deal of great films like Splash, Cinderella Man, and Apollo 13, and won his only Best Director Oscar for A Beautiful Mind. He is the ultimate professional, and none of his movies will ever be bad because they're poorly made. He's skilled without being a perfectionist, and he is able to add warmth to his movies, without losing any of the edge. It's a testament to Ron Howard's popularity that Frost/Nixon was such an Oscar hit. I say "Oscar hit" because close to no one has actually seen the movie in the theaters, and given the material--David Frost's attempt to completely foil Richard Nixon during a television interview--I can see why few of the movie-going public (mostly teenagers) wouldn't be interested in seeing it.

Frost/Nixon was based upon a Tony-winning play, and brought in the play's two big stars to reprise their roles in the film. I really feel that the heart of Frost/Nixon is the monster two-headed performance by Michael Sheen (as Frost) and Frank Langella (as Nixon). Those two actors gel so well together, even when they're supposed to be antagonistic toward each other. Howard, always a swell director of major acting talent, does not disappoint in this aspect. There is major adjustment when coming from a stage play to the movie screen, and Howard guides the actors splendidly in creating performances that are beautifully subtle, and rarely escalating into the melodramatic, theatre-style of acting. It's always nice to see Howard at the Oscars.

Gus Van Sant, MILK

What an interesting career Gus Van Sant has had. He started as a promising independent filmmaker with such small films as Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho. In the mid-90's, he starts working more within the Hollywood studio system with films like and To Die For and Good Will Hunting (for which Van Sant also received). He made an embarrassingly bad remake of Psycho, and then retreated back into independent filmmaking, relying more on auteur styles in films like Elephant and Last Days. Now, Van Sant is back in the big leagues, directing Sean Penn in Milk. Many say it may be his best film, but how can you make that distinction when you have a man who has had so many distinctive stages within such a short career?

Van Sant's films certainly don't lend themselves toward award recognition, but its good to see it noticed here. His work with Milk is phenomenal. I don't wish to be presumptuous, saying that Van Sant's homosexuality brought him closer to the subject, but in post-Prop 8 America, the movie is totally unapologetic about its homosexual leanings. Sure, Penn is fantastic, but what Van Sant does that is so fascinating is develops a biopic that does a great job of creating a beautigul vigil to a beautiful civil rights leader, while still allowing other characters take the spotlight.

Trailer Watch: Inglorious Basterds

Uh oh, another grimy, inauthentic Brad Pitt accent. I also don't care much for the trailer's assumption that: "You've never seen war till you've seen it through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino". Last time I checked, Tarantino knows nothing about war that he hasn't learned from exploitation films. That being said, there is a certain careless whimsy in Tarantino films that can be intoxicating, and that seems very present here. It could easily be Tarantino's worst film, but I guess we'll see. Tarantino's vision never lent itself toward trailers, but more toward the big screen.

Oscar's Best Screenplay: Tale of Two Categories

OSCAR'S BEST SCREENPLAY: TALE OF TWO CATEGORIES

I don't have the energy, or the enthusiasm to break down each and every nominee in the two screenplay categories, but I will do by my best to discuss all the nominees at once. It's literally night and day with these two categories, this year, for me, so let's jump in with some analysis:

With Best Original Screenplay, there are five scripts that I absolutely love. Probably no coincidence that only one of the films are up for Best Picture, Milk. Dustin Lance Black's screenplay is touching and informative at just the right moments and times, never overextending Harvey Milk as a character, but creating a ferocious monolith of Harvey Milk as an icon. Likewise, Mike Leigh's script for Happy-Go-Lucky focuses mostly on the development of one character, Poppy (DAMN YOU ACADEMY for not recognizing Sally Hawkins' beautiful performance). Leigh's script is funny and poignant, but never relents on its cerebral atmosphere. How much did Leigh actually write? Not much, I presume. He's infamous for utilizing improvisation, but it can't be forgotten how much he had to do with the development of the film's "plot" (that's a relative term with Leigh).

My name is Dustin Lance Black and I'd like to recruit you... into knowing who the hell I am.








But the meat of these nominations come from the other three nominees. First, there's Courtney Hunt's Frozen River, which could have easily settled for being a melodrama about white trash, but instead relies heavily on the nature of its characters. No character ever does anything surprising, but they never disappoint you with their decisions--that's a lot tougher than it seems. Then there's wordsmith Martin McDonaugh's screenplay for In Bruges, in which McDonaugh utilizes his skills as a playwright and translates it almost perfectly into a wonderfully realized film. Of course, those great performances don't hurt.

I'm Andrew Stanton, and I wrote a masterpiece of modern cinema, but people prefer the movie I made about fishies.





I don't think it'll surprise anyone when I say that the screenplay I'm most enthusiastic about in this category is Andrew Stanton's WALL-E. An animated film with only a handful of dialogue; how important could a screenplay have been to something like that? Well, for one, WALL-E's most appealing aspect is its love story, which is mainly a creation of Stanton's mind. But let's not forget the moments in the film that do have dialogue, because they're not cheapily written. The film's subplot about fat humans in space does not get enough credit for its clarity, and lack of pretension. It's a screenplay of beautiful subtlety and grace.

In the Adapted Screenplay category, it's a whole different story. I enjoyed Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire. Doubt's script is based on a Tony-winning play, so for that, it actually does a good job of not being particularly "theatre-y". These are all great screenplays, but none are really spectacular examples of wondrous writing, unless the criteria is long, arduos speeches which wouldn't work unless spoken by Philip Seymour Hoffman or Frank Lengella. Not to say that these scripts are unworthy, but what about Nicholas Meyer's Elegy script, or Snow Angels by David Gordon Green? No attempt at a splash move.

As for the other two nominees--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader--it's almost a joke. The main problem that both of these films have is that there screenplays don't seem to get the point that there story is simply going on too long. Both films want so badly to be sincere and profound but these scripts make no attempt to earn it. Eric Roth, who penned Benjamin Button, relies on borrowing devices from his other Oscar winning screenplay (*couch* Forrest Gump *cough*), and hopes his name will gain the film recognition on its own--well, it worked. As for David Hare's work on The Reader, I'll admit I simply don't like the film, but I honestly find Hare's script to be uninspired.

"If I plagiarize MY OWN film, it's fair game, right?" -Eric Roth









Predictions for these and other categories, as well as the Oscar Breakdown for Best Director will be coming very soon.

Joaquin Phoenix: The New Mickey Rourke

I don't usually comment on non-movie subjects in this blog... but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX LATELY!?!?!? First, he quits acting for life. Then he pops up doing freestyle rap songs in odd clubs (with his performances being filmed by Casey Affleck, no less). Now, he shows up on David Letterman looking like a rock & roll Osama Bin Laden, and talking less articulately than a grade school student. I smell one of two things. Either this is some quasi art project (remember how Affleck is documenting him), and Phoenix plans to show us all how foolish we were for taking this kind of stuff seriously. It could also be some thing else: Joaquin could the next talented young star to really fall off the face of the planet. He's had trouble with substance and alcohol abuse, and I fear that he's heading for Mickey Rourke-like career destruction. Rourke has taken decades to rebuild himself, but with Phoenix's history (his brother, River, died of substance abuse), I'd like to hope he'll be more careful in the future.

P.S. It's a shame that Phoenix has chosen to perform this charade as he's trying to promote Two Lovers. From all accounts, I've heard it's a wonderful film, but small films like these have trouble finding audiences when its star is up to antics like this. If I were an investor or producer, I wouldn't be too happy.

Michael Cera Flips Out

Too bad Cera's new film Youth In Revolt is being delayed from its original Feb. 20 release due to reshoots. It's hilarious, self-deprecating humor like this that keeps me coming back to Cera, even through a mediocre mess like Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Yeah.... this is fake and a recreation of the now-infamous set meltdown Christian Bale had on the set of Terminator Salvation. Too funny.

Oscar Breakdown: Best Leading Actor

OSCAR BREAKDOWN: BEST LEADING ACTOR

Richard Jenkins, THE VISITOR

People really rallied behind this performance last year, to the point that its most loyal supporters were able to overtake the already rabid Oscar fan club inhabited by Clint Eastwood's performance in Gran Torino. Surely, Jenkins' nomination is pleasant in many ways, if only because Jenkins is a fine supporting actor who has pledged his time in small but memorable comedic roles in films such as There's Something About Mary and Flirting With Disaster. In Tom McCarthy's film The Visitor, Jenkins is finally given his opportunity to take on a lead role, and what a juicy role it is. Playing the clinically reserved widower, Walter Vale, Jenkins never lavishes in the melodramatic opportunities that the film opens to him, instead taking advantage of the subtleties of a very layered character.

The Visitor's biggest flaw is when it doesn't focus its sights on Jenkins. When Vale makes friends with two immigrants who were squatting in his city home, he's disturbed to find out how easily his friends can be taken out of the country. By the time this major plot point hits the story, the film's focus becomes muddled, but Jenkins stays consistent throughout. It is always a pleasure when films take advantage of actors not usually remembered--much like Melissa Leo in Frozen River--but this recognition of Jenkins is so much sweeter because there are so many who know who Jenkins is, if not by name. Jenkins went from the man in the background, and became the man in the spotlight. So, let's hope he gets more roles along these lines.

Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON

Playing people from popular American culture is a big 'A+' if you're hoping to win an Oscar nomination. Play Richard Nixon, while still reprising a role that won you a Tony award for, and you become the valedictorian of the Oscar contenders. After playing the notorious president on the stage, notable stage actor Frank Langella decided he would also like to play Richard Nixon in the play's big screen makeover. Watching Frost/Nixon, you are presented with a very obvious observation, and that is that Langella neither looks or sounds very much like Nixon. Isn't that a negative? Remember when you couldn't tell the difference between Jamie Foxx and Ray Charles? That single-handedly won him the gold statue, but in Langella's case he used his crafty veteran acting tactics to create something more rapturous than glorified mimicry.

Of course, it must be stated that Langella's brilliant work is matched by fellow actor Michael Sheen's performance as flamboyant television personality David Frost. In the American TV spots of Frost/Nixon, the film is promoted as David slaying Goliath, an underdog journalist bringing big shame to an insecure former president. That is not what the film is about at all. Surely David Frost eclipsed expectation when getting Nixon to admit wrongdoing, but the movie itself is about how these two men met mano y mano. The film itself doesn't really take a side, and with that Langella is able to make so much more of his Nixon character than a curmudgeon politician, and is able to formulate a sometimes ferocious, sometimes charming destructive icon.

Sean Penn, MILK

Milk is an incredibly beautiful film, not only for its modern relevance with gay rights issues today, but because of its relevance with all human rights struggles throughout history. Penn, playing Harvey Milk, does some of the best work of his career. The performance is neither fearful of the homosexuality, nor is it exploitative of gay culture. Nobody cries foul for Harvey throughout the film (except for the film's ending), and he's not lionized into legendary status, but the character is so charismatic and enrapturing that its a wonder to watch him on the screen. In Penn's Oscar-winning performance in Mystic River, you could single out several scenes that really got him the award. Not so in Milk, the performance as a whole works strongly despite its lack of real 'actorly' flash.

Milk has one of the very best ensemble casts of 2008, but not one of the great performances in the film touches Penn. I'll admit that I am not incredibly knowledgable on Harvey Milk as a historical figure--about ninety-five percent of what I know of Milk I learned from this film--but the way he dissolves into the role is fantastic. Penn, a notorious Hollywood badboy, does his job so well that you never question the sexual prowess of the character--kind of like the EXACT OPPOSITE of when Rupert Everett attempts to play a straight man. Penn is already seen as an iconic actor within his generation, but this performance, along with Dead Man Walking and Mystic River, is a true cornerstone to a career that may be seen as one of the best ever.

Brad Pitt, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Supposedly, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is about a man who ages backwards. How come, then, is he born as an infant? Sure, he's all wrinkly and a doctor says he has the health of an old man, but he is still born as a baby, just ugly. It's things like this that make me scratch my head when I think of Benjamin Button. Surely, the work of director David Fincher is inspired visually, helped greatly by wondrous cinematography (dir. of pho.: Claudio Miranda) and top-notch special effects. But when I hear some say that Button is a rip-off of Forrest Gump (like its been accused of in this video) I feel doesn't give the either film proper justice, since Forrest Gump is an immensely entertaining film about those unexpected moments in life, while Benjamin Button is a gloomy, hum-drum film about death.

So, let's talk about Pitt. Like I did with Kate Winslet in the 'Best Actress' category, I'm going to talk about a 2008 Brad Pitt performance I enjoyed (why focus on the negative?): Burn After Reading. The Coen Brothers film has a screenplay lined with inept characters, but Brad Pitt's Chad Feldheimer is easily the most incompetent. As a gregarious gym employee who is intensely interested in useless CIA intelligence, Pitt encompasses an entire class of men who know nothing about life that isn't learned inside a locker room or on a bicycle. Sure, Chad meets himself with some very unfortunate circumstances in the movie, but even in his absence, the film is saturated by his presence.

Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER

Much has been said of Rourke's big screen comeback in The Wrestler. The film has made the once troubled actor an envied talent once again. Once so cherished as a young man in films like Diner and Angel Heart, Rourke became a story of warning: tarnished by drug abuse, mishandled career choices, and basically immaturity. His fall from grace was so far down that many forgot about his thespian talents, and that there were many who considered him "the next Brando". To be sure, the title of "next Brando" has never been placed upon the most accomplished actors, but Rourke seemed at times to earn it. Now, at age 56, Rourke is given another opportunity to flex his muscles--literally--and he comes through with the performance of a lifetime.

There are certain movie roles and performances that are so perfect that you can't imagine anybody else playing the part. Most actors are never given their one big role. Pacino got his Dog Day Afternon, and Nicholson got his One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Now, Rourke was given the perfect character and he rose to the occasion. Rourke not only gives the best performance in this category, but the very best performance of the year--and its not that close. There's a magic that forms when there is that perfect blending of player and part, and the magic of watching Rourke play Randy "The Ram" Robinson is intoxicating. Some may say that the character's resemblance of Rourke's actual fortune may have helped, but I say range has nothing to do with it. This is one of the best acting jobs I've seen in a while, and Rourke has earned his comeback.

Oscar Breakdown: Best Leading Actress

OSCAR BREAKDOWN: BEST LEADING ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

The Academy Awards really dropped the ball when it comes to their recognition of Rachel Getting Married. Nearly all of its stupendous cast, as well as Jonathan Demme's masterful direction, was left hanging out to dry. The one consolation, though, came with the announcement that the film's most important piece, Hathaway, was receiving her first career nomination. As Rachel's sister, Kym, Hathaway plays a struggling drug addict who's given a free weekend pass out of rehab to visit her family on her sister's wedding day. Family is a big theme, obviously, within this film, but the story's interesting aspect is how this entire family--which isn't exactly stable to begin with--focuses all of their attention on this one cog, whose erratic behavior and deep insecurity makes it almost impossible to spend time with.

In terms of the role, this is certainly an Oscar magnet. There's nothing that the Academy loves more than actors playing recovering addicts, except for young, beautiful women playing gritty characters (Charlize Theron in Monster; Hally Berry in Monster's Ball). Hathaway, though, doesn't settle for the contrived route. Instead she indebted Kym with so many idiosyncratic mannerisms and mood swings that she sometimes comes off as a bit of a sympathetic figure despite her sometimes horrid actions. This performance has seemed like a long time coming. Trained in theater and highly knowledgeable in literature, Hathaway has come a long way from The Princess Diaries, and Rachel Getting Married is her at her full potential.

Angelina Jolie, CHANGELING

The most puzzling snub at last year's Academy Awards was the mysterious absence of Jolie's incredible performance in the small, but breathtaking film A Mighty Heart. It's the kind of performance that draws Oscar traction--weepy, independent female lead--but in the end she was left in the dust. So one year later, she takes a role that is even more bait-y: still weepy, still an independent female, but this time we'll mix in a little Clint Eastwood magic and voila!, we have an Oscar nomination. I realize I'm coming off as smarmy, but this nomination is truly a retake for last year's blunder (as well as a chance to see Jolie and her main squeeze Brad Pitt walk the red carpet together). I guess I'm saying that I'm still disappointed that Sally Hawkins wasn't accepted into the shortlist.

But enough of that, let's talk about Jolie's performance. It's certainly a performance of 'actorly' mannerisms, where buckets of tears and melodrama can easily take the place of an actual character arc. Not that that's precisely Jolie's fault- she does make the most of her character. As Christine Collins, a mother of a kidnapped boy, she expresses the natural emotions that a mother would have if she'd lost her son, but the fun begins when the boy the police return isn't even her son. Jolie is given full opportunity to scream, throw dishes, and be enlisted in the occasional insane asylum. Perhaps if the film were a bit shorter and not so self-aware (actually referencing the Academy Awards within the film? Come on, Clint), it would have been more effective, and though Jolie does make the most of her chance, I still don't find it more than manufactured sentiment.

Melissa Leo, FROZEN RIVER

Is Frozen River 2008's "little movie that could"? There are a few films from last year that could make that claim, but none of them are of the thematic quality of Frozen River. As the story of a middle-aged woman's struggles to get her young boys a new home, it displays its characters so transparently that there is never a moment that seems unearned. As Ray Eddy, Leo digs her teeth into the role of a lifetime. Leo was never said to be a movie star, being known mostly for her spot work on television and the film 21 Grams, and I'm sure that was the only way filmmaker Courtney Hunt could rationalize being able to make this film for only $200,000.

Back to Leo, though. Many a film producer or studio head would look at her less-than-youthful face and turn a blind eye. What they don't understand is that there is so much more to be told with a face like that than any young woman's visage. It's a face that breaks hearts, and in River, Leo does just that. When Ray Eddy decides to help smuggle in illegal aliens, we don't question the ethics; we just look at her face and know that it is something she has to do. It's my favorite of the nominated performances, and the one that many consider to be the superior one. If enough people go into their ballots and say, "Well, Leo has the actual best performance," then I think there is much more momentum for a huge upset than people seem to realize.

Meryl Streep, DOUBT

Streep alluded to this fact as she won the Best Actress award at the SAG ceremony: she is almost unanimously considered to be the greatest living actress. Surely she has the pedigree: a record fifteen Oscar nominations, and probably more impressive is that it has never been more than four years between her nominations, meaning that she is seldom out of the social conscience. Now with the film Doubt, Streep shows that she is still the acting titan of legend. Playing the conniving, but insecure Sister Aloysius, Streep flexes her muscles and plays the harsh character with as much bite as needed. But probably more impressive is the fact that she relents, allowing the other actors to take center stage and grab the spotlight.

But let's not get carried away: the spotlight is always Streep's. Utilizing John Patrick Shanley's screenplay, Streep represents the self-conscious vanity and intolerance that is always present in the incredibly old school Catholic church. That being said, Doubt does not necessarily live up to "bad Catholic priests'" gimmick that it promotes itself with. If anything, the film devotes a good chunk of its time dissecting behaviors of the flawed but pious personalities. It's easy to get frustrated when Streep seems to get nominated for anything (at least this time it wasn't for Mamma Mia!), but it's the restraint combined with the intensity that really sneaks her in this time. Its amazing to see an actress as honored as Streep still being able to evolve further.

Kate Winslet, THE READER

I recently saw the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures, which is most notable because of the fact that it was Kate Winslet's screen debut. At only eighteen, Kate Winslet was already fearless- was already adept at the balance between her innocent beauty and her ferocious ability- and it was obvious that she would be a great actress for years to come. Fifteen years and one Titanic later, Winslet has only solidified that pedestal that we placed her on so many years ago. With six career nominations and no wins, Winslet has already inspired the "when is she finally going to win one?" debate- even at the ripe age of 33. With Stephen Daldry's film The Reader, Winslet seems to have her best opportunity yet, and without a specific front-runner, she could certainly end up with that coveted Oscar.

Now, I have been a avid hater of The Reader. I don't care for its smugness, and its seemingly insensible use of the Holocaust to boost its prestige potential. Moreover, I didn't find Winslet particularly Earth-shattering in it. So I'm just going to talk about another Winslet performance from 2008 that I did love: Revolutionary Road. In Road, Winslet plays April Wheeler, a suburban housewife fed up with the mundane life that she and her husband Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) have fallen into. She's willing to do anything, even move to another country, to escape the Hell she seems trapped in. There is no happy ending for April, nor a happy beginning nor middle for that matter, and Winslet never takes her foot off the pedal here, driving the dim, harrowing aspects of the storyline right into the minds of the audience. I would be happy to see Winslet win for The Reader on Feb. 22, but forgive me if I think she'll be winning it for her work in two films from 2008.

Coraline (***1/2)

CORALINE
Written for the Screen and Directed by Henry Selick

***1/2

I grew up within a generation that owes a great deal of its culture to the film The Nightmare Before Christmas. Without that film, there would be no emo, and goth would have never become as conventional as it is today. I was never a huge fan of the film, but it was such a staple of those I know, and it frequently lends those same people to blurt (no kidding): "Tim Burton is God!". There's only one problem, Tim Burton had relatively little to do with Nightmare, and the film was in fact directed by animator Henry Selick, who comes back to the big screen with Coraline, his best film to date.

The film is based on the Neil Gaiman book of the same title, and tells the story of a young girl named Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning). Coraline and her family have just moved into a new home, because her parents wish to find a more peaceful place where they can do their writing. Their both nature writers, an occupation which is much more time-consuming than I ever imagined before seeing this film. Neither her mother nor her father pay much attention to her, and with no siblings, Coraline is frequently left alone to her own imagination.

While searching through her new, strange home, Coraline finds a small door by the fireplace, about big enough to fit an infant. Curious, Coraline opens the door, enters and falls into a seemingly wonderful world, where she's equipped with a brand new set of parents that not only devote loads of attention to her, but cook loads of delicious meals. Then, Coraline wakes up, and she's in her old room. Its just a dream. Back to the mundane, normal world of alienation. So, she goes through the door again, and thinks possibly about staying in this wondrous new world.

Well, there's only one problem, everyone who lives in this world has sewn buttons for eyes, and her new mother informs Coraline that in order to stay, she would have to have the buttons sewed into her eyes. Coraline refuses, naturally, and then her once nice, homely new mother evolves quickly into a wicked woman who not only refuses to let Coraline go, but captures her real parents as well. While trying to free herself, Coraline must figure out a way to save her two parents too.

I don't know how much of the film was effected by its 3D format--I wasn't even aware that it was 3D until I reached the theatre. To be honest, I don't really feel that its third dimension adds any extra whimsy or magic, but instead is probably something put in place to make the children more interested. Surely, like Nightmare Before Christmas, there are some truly terrifying aspects within this film that could easily turn the little ones off. If 3D is what gets people to go out and see it, well then so be it.

The magic in Coraline, though, is its pure faith in the imagination. Surely, most children are greatly adept at creating fantasy worlds of their own. I remember when I was young, all I had were toy cars, but I was able to create a wonderland of characters and setting with just those cars. Its something that kids are just known to do, and Coraline is an exuberant love song to those impressionable years. Its a testament to the voicework of Fanning (that girl makes me feel so useless with all she's accomplished in such little time), that Coraline comes off as a rather charming young girl, when she's meant to be annoying to almost everyone within the story.

Selick resorts back to stop-motion animation, though I doubt he took the arduous route he went through with Nightmare or James and The Giant Peach. Why go through all of that when you have computers? To the film's credit, it does not make much of its animation. With films recently like WALL-E and Waltz with Bashir, animated films are no longer meant to be just whimsical films with children. They can have great depth with their character development, and discuss themes much more adult than its target audience.

I feel this review written doesn't directly sound like the kind of rave you'd read for a three-and-a-half star film. Surely, Coraline is not a perfect film, but it is surely my favorite film in this short-lived year, and even though it doesn't push its frightening throttle as hard as I would have hoped it would, it really grabs a hold of its audience, no matter their age. I feel that there are many children who may be turned off by the dark material (that's what happened to me when Nightmare originally came out), but there is no doubt that Coraline is a beautiful cinematic experience.

Oscar Breakdown: Best Supporting Actress

OSCAR BREAKDOWN: BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, DOUBT

If Adams' nomination is any proof, Doubt was THE actor's movie of the year. Adams possesses one of the four acting nominations the film received. Sure, in terms of buzz, Adams was the one who was most vulnerable--particularly since her main competition was co-star Viola Davis. But let's just get this straight: there is nothing not to like about Amy Adams. Ever since the first time I saw her as the sweet, virginal Brenda in the highly-underrated Catch Me If You Can, I knew she was tremendous. From that to her astounding Oscar-nominated performance in Junebug, Adams has built a substantial career in just a few years. Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention the incredible job she did with the unbelievably light material in Enchanted?

Within Doubt, Adams plays Sister James, a woman who even in a nunnery seems overtly pious. She is the one who first makes the rumbling accusation of Father Flynn, only to wish she'd never made it moments later. For Adams, it's not necessarily a tough performance in terms of her range--she has played sweet and weepy before. It's the job she does providing this usually glum film with an unusually bright character. For the first two-thirds of the film, we really see the movie from her point-of-view. Do we follow the light in our hearts that suspends suspicion or do we listen to the logical answers? Her moral imbalance represents our imbalance in the entire Father Flynn whodunit.

Penélope Cruz, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

Was Woody Allen's newest film a real hum-drum, drawn-out piece of filmmaking that didn't really explore anything other than the same themes we've seen over and over again in his films? Well, I certainly think so. But there are certain things that Woody never loses, and that's his gift in dealing with actors. It's true in particular when talking about the Best Supporting Actress category, where he's won it for Dianne Wiest twice and also for Mira Sorvino (forgot about that, didn't you?). This year, it's Penélope Cruz who ends up being the beneficiary of the Woody Factor. Simply appearing in Allen's film assures critical attention, and glory be to those who take their opportunity and run with it; and boy, does Cruz run with it.

Sure, Cruz had a much better, and more stunning performance in another film from 2008, Elegy, but Cruz's work here leaves heads rattled. It's amazing how one film--Volver--has turned Cruz from an American movie dish rag to a very much-respected actress in no time. With Vicky Cristina, Cruz embodies one of the usual Woody female archetypes: the woman so far off balance mentally that men can't help but fall in love with her. Cruz's Maria Elena is funny, suicidal, homicidal, and at her best sexy. Never really knowing what she's after, Maria Elena seems to only attract one thing consistently and that's chaos and mental torment. Cruz surely lives up to a "fiery Latina" stereotype, but not without first giving the character a soul and a vibrancy few other actresses could have pulled off.

Viola Davis, DOUBT

I think most everybody knew that Viola would end up here for some time--at least I did. Supporting acting categories are interesting, because it is completely relative from case to case what is "supporting" and what is a lead. Davis' co-star, Amy Adams, was nominated in this category as well, despite spending a good percentage of her time on screen battling for a lead role. Where as, with Viola Davis, she's only given a handful of minutes and scenes to accomplish what she needs--and she hits a home run. Playing the son of the possibly molested boy, Mrs. Miller, Viola Davis is a complete powder-keg of emotion, grasping every line, sniffle, and snot bubble till it creates what is probably the greatest single-scene performance of 2008.

Outside of her stage work, Davis is not really a star, even if she does work frequently, but this role may change that. Despite it's Tony-winning pedigree, Doubt really stays in one solid direction in terms of its storytelling, that is, until Mrs. Miller emerges. When Sr. Aloyious (Meryl Streep) takes her to have a talk, only a sane person would conclude that La Streep would wipe the floor with a lightweight such as Davis, but not so. Not only does Davis steal the scene that she's in, it's almost as if Streep isn't even there. Streep, herself, will tell you that that is high praise indeed. It's a tough role to pull off, surely, but Davis does it so naturally, never going too haywire on the waterworks, and always allowing the emotions of the scene as a whole take center stage.

Taraji P. Henson, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

There are few things in Benjamin Button that aren't chilly and distant. The film itself is an exercise in alienating its audience with a story that is preposterous for the sake of being preposterous. Only one member of the film's cast was able to break through the movie's hard cast shell, and that was Henson. Henson, known before mostly for her impressive work in the film Hustle & Flow, is known mostly for her incredible blend of heart and soul. Of coarse, there are moments when her Benjamin Button character--a New Orleans rest home attendant--falls into parody, but since its all in the name of humor, it doesn't come off as offensive.

Benjamin Button's warmest moments are when Henson is on the screen. Playing Queenie, the woman who finds and raises Benjamin, she fully embraces the role of the film's source of wisdom, while also being the only character that makes sense of the film's "life and death doesn't matter when you live" premise. There are a lot of things that happen in Benjamin Button that is unearned--that "Fate" sequence?; old Cate Blanchett?--but for sure, Henson earns every minute that she's on the screen. She doesn't earn her sincerity cheaply, through plot and script contrivance, but by doing something that few others in that cast were able to do: play into the subtle aspects of their character.

Marisa Tomei, THE WRESTLER

Its hardly difficult to remember the few years after Marisa Tomei won an Academy Award for her memorable, but low-brow role in My Cousin Vinny. She had gotten the curse. You know the one: where young beautiful actresses are thrown Oscars at an incredibly impressionable age, and they are not able to really build a consistent career after that. Geena Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mira Sorvino and more recently Jennifer Hudson* are all trying to recover from this curse. Of coarse, Tomei didn't truly break the curse until 2001, nine years after her win, when she had the heart-breaking role in the film In The Bedroom. It won her a nomination, and she was no longer just a wasted Oscar win, but a substantial acting force.

Now, at forty-four, I don't think anybody really questions Tomei's ability as an actress, and now she has just received her third Oscar nomination. Some can say that her performance in The Wrestler is the best work of her career--I certainly would--but that is not exactly what sticks out about the role. Put back to back with her equally lusty role in Before The Devil Knows You're Dead last year, Tomei has turned herself in the most transparent actresses out now. Few actresses put themselves in such vulnerable positions and are still able to perform so brilliantly (to name a couple, Kate Winslet and Julianne Moore are masters at this). Across from a career-topping performance from Mickey Rourke, Tomei compliments him perfectly and gives The Wrestler a much-needed heart.

Oscar Breakdown: Best Supporting Actor

OSCAR BREAKDOWN: BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, MILK

Last year, everybody said that Josh Brolin had "arrived". He had extensive roles in several pictures, including a misogynistic superior in In The Valley of Elah, and a corrupt, smart-ass police detective in American Gangster. But let's not get misguided as to what was truly Brolin's breakthrough: the lead character of the Coen Brothers masterpiece No Country For Old Men. The film was a stirring, perfect piece of cinema, and Brolin was the main star of it all. He embraced the main character of Lwellyn Moss, but come awards time, other heavy-hitters pushed him out. So, how does Brolin follow up that year? Well, for one, he does an exceptional job impersonating a disgraced president in W., but more importantly, he played Dan White in Milk.

To be fair, Milk is filled with a number of exquisite supporting performances to back up the main star, Sean Penn. Brolin, though, does a stupendous job of making the stage his whenever he's on the screen. White, a homophobic politician who would become the eventual assailant of Harvey Milk is a deeply disturbed man with twisted fantasies that interrupt the conservative ways he's been taught to believe all his life. Was Dan White a homosexual? Well, the film certainly leads you to believe so, but that is hardly the point. What Brolin is able to do with White--create a horrific, but still empathetic portrait of a strait-laced man breaking down--is masterful acting. After 2007, people realized that Brolin was much more than just a country boy with a sweet mustache. After Milk, they realized that he is truly one the best actors in the game today.

Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER

Years from now, people may look back at this nomination and scratch their heads--the Academy actually recognized broad comedy? Interestingly enough, this nomination has seemed, now, to be a long time coming. Downey Jr., a true thematic chameleon since he first burst onto the scene, has had a much publicized roller coaster career. Constantly battling drug abuse and eventual jail time, nothing has ever prevented Downey Jr. from embracing his roles to their fullest potentials. No matter what he does in his own life, it's always a wonder to watch him up on the screen. Of coarse, his more successful film from 2008 was the comic book film Iron Man--a film in which its success is almost forgotten because of The Dark Knight. That film cemented Downey Jr.'s comeback, so what else for him to do?

How about a satire co-written and directed by Ben Stiller. That description alone certainly isn't something that screams Oscar nonination, but seeing is believing as Downey Jr. becomes a character so entrenched in vanity and self-congratulatory mannerisms, it's almost impossible not to laugh hysterically. As "five-time Oscar winner" Kirk Lazarus, Downey Jr. plays upon the bad-boy images of touted actors Russell Crowe, and the puzzling method acting of Daniel Day-Lewis, all while maintaining a certain objectivity as to point the finger at all actors. As Lazarus dyes his skin brown to play an African American character, nobody says a thing, except his black co-star. It's a performance of comedic genius, and an example of Downey Jr.'s unbelievable versatility and charisma.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, DOUBT

Interesting piece of trivia: Hoffman is the only actor nominated this year who was also nominated last year as well. I point that out for two reasons: for one, Oscar noms usually tend to come in bunches for actors and having only one holdover is rare; also, because Hoffman has quickly emerged to a point in his career where he has become a default nomination. True, all of the principal actors within Doubt were nominated, but Hoffman has truly gained "best actor of his generation" status since his win for Capote in 2005. Not that I'm complaining, Hoffman has been a brilliant and versatile thespian since the mid-90's, riveting in such films as Magnolia and Happiness. On top of that, he has accomplished all of this with a physique that does not cry out movie star, and that is always to be commended.

But let's stick to Doubt, and Hoffman's Father Flynn. The movie itself revolves around the obligatory question: did he do it? In search of guilt, a nun goes through a unseemly means to prove her intuition that Father Flynn may have, in fact, sexually abused a child at a Catholic School. The casting of Hoffman is interesting, when you consider that Flynn's guilt is meant to always be up in the air, and Hoffman has a history of playing grimy figures. That aside, Hoffman brings great warmth to the character, inparticularly in the inpromptu scenes not directly involved with the film's mystery plot. Speaking with the young boys, laughing with the towns church cardinals, Hoffman creates a gregarious man who isn't afraid to defend himself in a boisterous manner. Doubt may flub in some areas of its story construction, but it never does with its actors, and Hoffman is no exception.

Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT

Is it a long-gone conclusion that Ledger will win the Oscar posthumously? Probably. It's a shame, since it seems like too little too late, especially after his loss for the tremendous, generation-defining performance in Brokeback Mountain. Win or loss, one thing is true: no other performance from last year has had a stronger effect on audiences and critics alike. In the Batman series, The Joker is a character that we as viewers feel we have already defined in our minds. Particularly, we know that he's a sadist, equipped with a wicked wit and an unquenchable thirst for mayhem. He was defined by the zany antics of Cesar Romero in the 1960's Batman televison program, and then encaptured by Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's Batman. So like I said, everything we know about the Joker is pre-supposed.

Then, not only does Ledger do a great job in the role, but he revolutionizes everything we'd ever thought about the character. Adding an anarchic, self-loathing aspect to the Joker, this version is no longer fun, nor is he particulary fear-enducing. It's the length at which Ledger goes to express this Joker's anguish that makes him so compelling. Does he want total chaos? Well, the meticulous nature in which he orchestrates the said chaos is a complete contradiction of that. It is not chaos that this Joker wants, but he wants suffering. We don't know about the Joker's past, but Ledger expresses enough in his stream-of-concious monologues to know that he has lead a life of pain. All he wants from life is for the whole world to share his pain, and he is just demented enough to pull it off.

Michael Shannon, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Michael Shannon has been kicking around the film industry for the last couple of years playing unsightly characters within harsh films such as Before The Devil Knows You're Dead and Bug, but when you cast a film with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, you expect them to own every scene that they're in. That's true, except for two scenes, and those are the two scenes that involve Shannon. Playing John Givings, a formerly brilliant mathematician, now deranged due to shock therapy treatment, Michael Shannon is flabergasting, ripping through his dialogue with such ferociousness that nobody else on the screen can be seen. Surely, it's a credit to screenwriter Justin Haythe that the character is so rich, but Shannon takes a character that can easily be seen as a sack crazy man, and makes him intricate to the story.

As the story goes, John therapy treatments may have effected his math skills and more or less his judgement, but it has not effected his honesty. Staring at the phony harmony in which Frank and Arpil Wheeler attempt to display their haggard marraige, John goes out of his way to expose them for what they are: a quixotic couple who will never fully grasps their ambitions. What Shannon does with the character is interesting, because he is supposed to be antagonizing for almost the entire time that he's on the screen, yet when he is there, there is no other character that seems more sensible. Brewing with agressiveness and an itch to start trouble, it's Shannon's miracle that John does not come off pithy or annoying. It's always fun to see an actor of Shannon's versatile ability, yet limited star appeal, get recognition.

The SAGS Tonight

THE SAGS TONIGHT

The Screen Actors Guild awards are tonight, and they're going to be playing on TBS & TNT simultaneously at 8 p.m. eastern time. If you're lucky, you'll be able to see it yourself, and won't be working--like me. Either way, nothing to really say here, but here are some quick predictions to throw out at you:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST LEAD ACTOR
Sean Penn, Milk

BEST LEAD ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

BEST ENSEMBLE
Slumdog Millionaire

I don't have much conviction behind any of these predictions. Slumdog has won everything, so why not this one as well? As for the individual awards, I find it hard to think anyone can beat Ledger, and I think Cruz wins to cement her front-runner status in the Oscar campaign. For the leads, Penn is lucky that his only real competition--Rourke--is the only person in Hollywood that has a worse public relations record than he does, and that helps Penn in the end, though that race is getting a lot closer. For lead actress, I really have no idea. Hard to bet against Streep, but she hasn't had a major win at all during the Oscar season; and it seems to be destiny for Winslet to win the Oscar this year, but she wasn't Oscar-nominated for this performance. I say Hathaway, for little reason other than its my favorite performance of the group. Enjoy!

The Oscar Nominations: A Review/Rant

THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS: A REVIEW/RANT

There is a reason people dislike the Academy Awards--even film people. There are times when the Academy can seem so out of touch with everything that's going on in the real world, and settle for conventional films. They always tend to say 'no, thank you' to genre pictures, whether they be action, animated. Hell, even Michael Clayton's nomination last year was a surprise cause they don't even care for legal thrillers. As always, the Academy gravitates towards the same handful of genres: biopics, epics, costume dramas, and the Holocaust is a plus. Perhaps I was just spoiled because the Academy truly nailed it on the head with last years nominations (There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men? There will never be another year like that), and I forgot that it's not like that every year. Let's jump in with some analysis:

BEST PICTURE

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

Despite the combined critical praise and populist adoration, neither WALL-E nor The Dark Knight were able to make it onto this year's shortlist. There was no film in 2008 that had the magnitude of The Dark Knight or the beauty of WALL-E, but alas, they're a superhero movie and a cartoon respectively, so they're out. Instead, they honored the laborious, much-more-shallow-than-people-seem-to-realize The Reader. Benjamin Button and Slumdog were locks, so there's no surprise there, but I really felt that the lack of commercial success--and an apparently absent passionate fan base--of Frost/Nixon would cost it a nomination, but I was wrong. Not to be all negative, I'm very happy that they recognized Milk, though I think that all of its buzz for the win has vanished in the wind behind 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

A five-for-five match with the Best Picture line-up. Once again, The Dark Knight's Chris Nolan is booted out, despite doing the best film directing of the year (nobody made a more full realization of his film's world than Nolan). It's important to state that Stephen Daldry is now three-for-three for director nominations--he was nominated twice before for his only other two films, Billy Elliot and The Hours. Fincher, Howard, Boyle, and Van Sant round out the other four nominees, and other than Van Sant's Milk nomination, it is a very boring, uninteresting short list. I was hoping for either Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky) or Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married), but I already knew that was too much to ask.

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

In the war between the screen legend (Eastwood) and the dependable character actor (Jenkins), it seems that Richard Jenkins won. In The Visitor, Jenkins subtly displays a wide variety of emotions, and its good to see a hard-working actor get his due. Brad Pitt, playing the virtual spectre at the center of Benjamin Button gets his second career nomination--and first since 1995. I won't hate too bad on Pitt (though its a very lazy performance), as he's a very talented, seldom recognized actor, but where's the love for Burn After Reading? Langella, Penn, and Rourke round up the rest of the nominees.

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie, CHANGELING
Melissa Leo, FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep, DOUBT
Kate Winslet, THE READER

Well, here's a surprise for you: the Academy does not succumb to category fraud, and Kate Winslet's performance for The Reader is recognized in the lead category. It bumps out her other--superior--performance from Revolutionary Road, but I'm sure it doesn't make a difference to Winslet, whose longing for the coveted Oscar has been well-documented. Much like Jenkins in the actor category, Melissa Leo scraps her way to an Oscar nomination for her wonderful turn in Frozen River; unfortunately, she bumped out the other indie darling, Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky. Jolie, fresh off last year's major snub for A Mighty Heart, grabs the nomination for Changeling. Lastly, Anne Hathaway gets the nod for Rachel Getting Married, and Meryl Streep stretches her Academy-record with her fiteenth career acting nomination for Doubt.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Josh Brolin, MILK
Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman, DOUBT
Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT
Michael Shannon, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

The only real surprise in this line-up is the inclusion of Michael Shannon in his scene-stealing turn as the brutally honest, but deranged mathmatician in Revoltutionary Road. I guess the Academy couldn't help at least one category fraud nomination, as Hoffman is nominated for his lead role in Doubt. In a performance that is particularly brilliant for its anti-Oscar sentiment, Robert Downey Jr.'s hilarious performance from Tropic Thunder gets recognized here, while Josh Brolin's Dan White from Milk also gets noticed (doesn't it seem like they're recognizing him for all of the great performances he had last year?). One thing that surely wasn't a surprise was the posthumous nomination for Ledger's haunting Joker in The Dark Knight. A win for Ledger seems imminent.

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

Doubt doubles up here with nominations for both Adams and Davis. They're both great in the film, but that logjam was probably what prevented Debra Winger or Rosemarie DeWitt getting recognition for their wonderful work in Rachel Getting Married--not to mention the brilliant supporting turns from numerous actresses in Synecdoche, New York, Samantha Morton particularly. Penelope Cruz's fiery performance from Vicky Cristina Barcelona gets noticed, as well as the matriarchal, sweet portrayal by Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button--the one aspect of that film that doesn't chill you to the bone. Lastly, Marisa Tomei's stipper-with-a-heart-of-gold (Academy loves those types) gets the nod for The Wrestler.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Dustin Lance Black, MILK
Courtney Hunt, FROZEN RIVER
Mike Leigh, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Martin McDonaugh, IN BRUGES
Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, & Jim Reardon, WALL-E

Both Martin McDonaugh (yay!) and Andrew Stanton (double yay!) are nominated for In Bruges and WALL-E respectively, which makes my day, but Jenny Lumet's wonderful script for Rachel Getting Married is left out (BOO!). The greatest-hits tour for Frozen River continues here, as the films writer-director Courtney Hunt gets recognition, while Happy-Go-Lucky gets its one and only notice for Mike Leigh's script. Finally, Milk, the category's sole Best Picture nominee, gets a nomination for Dustin Lance Black.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Simon Beaufoy, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
David Hare, THE READER
Peter Morgan, FROST/NIXON
Eric Roth & Robin Swicord, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
John Partick Shanley, DOUBT

When Doubt is the one non-Best Picture nominee that gets noticed in this category, it makes you wonder how close it may have been to getting a nod. Other than that, nothing very interesting here, except that The Dark Knight is ignored once again.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

What a shocker, the Academy reserves WALL-E for this little three-picture ghetto. Is there ever a year in this category when it isn't one great film nominated against two obligatory choices? Stop hating on cartoons!

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Jai-Ho" and "O Saya" from SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
"Down To Earth" from WALL-E

Pardon me, but WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?! Where on Earth is Bruce Springsteen's wonderful song for The Wrestler? Last year, there was the problem of Enchanted taking three of the five nominations, and this year the Academy explicably switches the nominations from five to three, and once again, one film grabs more than half of the recognition.

For a full list of all the Academy Award nominees, click here.

2008: Year In Movies (Part V: The JC Awards)

Well, I've exhausted everything I can say about my favorite films of the year, but this here is different. Here, I'll give out my awards for what I feel are the best performances, screenplays, etc. of 2008. There's an overall ballot of five, including one gold, one silver, one bronze, and two honorable mentions.

BEST DIRECTOR

Gold: Christopher Nolan, THE DARK KNIGHT
Silver: Jonathan Demme, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Bronze: Andrew Stanton, WALL-E

Honorable Mention:
Darron Aronofsky, THE WRESTLER
Gus Van Sant, MILK

BEST LEAD ACTOR

Gold: Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER
Silver: Sean Penn, MILK
Bronze: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT

Honorable Mention:
Richard Jenkins, THE VISITOR
Frank Langella, FROST/NIXON

BEST LEAD ACTRESS

Gold: Kristen Scott-Thomas, I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
Silver: Sally Hawkins, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Bronze: Melissa Leo, FROZEN RIVER

Honorable Mention:
Penélope Cruz, ELEGY
Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Gold: Brad Pitt, BURN AFTER READING
Silver: Ralph Fiennes, IN BRUGES
Bronze: Bill Irwin, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

Honorable Mention:
Robert Downey Jr., TROPIC THUNDER
Eddie Marsan, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Gold: Debra Winger, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Silver: Samantha Morton, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Bronze: Kristen Bell, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Honorable Mention:
Rosemary DeWitt, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Elsa Zylberstein, I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG

BEST ENSEMBLE

Gold: Rachel Getting Married
Silver: Milk
Bronze: Burn After Reading

Honorable Mention:
The Dark Knight
Synecdoche, New York

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Gold: Andrew Stanton, WALL-E
Silver: Jenny Lumet, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Bronze: Martin McDonaugh, IN BRUGES

Honorable Mention:
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, BURN AFTER READING
Jason Segel, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Gold: Peter Morgan, FROST/NIXON
Silver: John Patrick Shanley, DOUBT
Bronze: Justin Haythe, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Honorable Mention:
David Gordon Green, SNOW ANGELS
Nicholas Meyer, ELEGY

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Gold: Claudio Miranda, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Silver: Wally Pfister, THE DARK KNIGHT
Bronze: Mandy Walker, AUSTRALIA

Honorable Mention:
Roger Deakins, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Salvatore Totino, FROST/NIXON

BEST ART DIRECTION

Gold: Nathan Crowley, THE DARK KNIGHT
Silver: Adam Stockhausen, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Bronze: Chris Lowe, IN BRUGES

Honorable Mention:
Brian Rzepka, FROZEN RIVER
Kristin Zea, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST EDITING

Gold: Chris Dickens, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Silver: Daniel P. Hill, FROST/NIXON
Bronze: Lee Smith, THE DARK KNIGHT

Honorable Mention:
Jon Gregory, IN BRUGES
Dan Lebantal, IRON MAN

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Gold: Michael O'Conner, THE DUCHESS
Silver: Lindy Hemming, THE DARK KNIGHT
Bronze: Catherine Martin, AUSTRALIA

Honorable Mention:
Danny Glicker, MILK
Albert Wolsky, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Gold: Thomas Newman, WALL-E
Silver: James Newton Howard, THE DARK KNIGHT
Bronze: Danny Elfman, MILK

Honorable Mention:
David Hirschfelder, AUSTRALIA
Hans Zimmer, FROST/NIXON

Last Chance Harvey (***1/2)

LAST CHANCE HARVEY
Written and Directed by Joel Hopkins

***1/2

When you think of that great crop of method actors that came out during the late 60's and early 70's, our minds directly go to Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and occasionally we think of Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman's name doesn't automatically roll off the tongue the way those other names would, perhaps because his love for whimsy has separated him from the cut-throat characters by the other characters listed above. There is nothing truly rebellious about Dustin Hoffman, and some people think that makes him less edgy, when the truth is he's probably more versatile than any actor since Cary Grant.

So we have Last Chance Harvey, which uses Hoffman in an apparently simple role, but brings out some of the best from him in decades. In Harvey, Hoffman plays Harvey Shine, a commercial jingle writer who is standing on his last legs with his job. He has to fly to London in order to be at his daughter's wedding, but promises to come right back in order to close a deal for a client. When he gets to London, he feels greatly alienated by his daughter and ex-wife, finds out that his daughter would rather have her step-father give her away at the ceremony, and soon after hears that he's being let go from his job.

Meanwhile, we have Kate Walker (Emma Thompson), an airline surveyor who's life is constantly interrupted by her meddling, lonely mother and friends always trying to fix her up with single men. Kate's mother sees her being single, almost as a condition, and worries greatly about her when she sees men. On top of that, Kate herself has become increasingly frustrated with her lack of luck with men and life. She finds it harder and harder to meet men, or even talk to them, and much rather succumb to a life of disappointment.

Disparaged at the wedding ceremony, Harvey cuts out early to try and catch his plane. Bumper-to-bumper traffic causes him to miss his plane, and he's forced to stay in London until the next morning. He goes to the bar, hoping to drink away his problems, and finds Kate looking to do the same thing. At first they are slightly contemptuous toward each other, but once they realize that they're both going through the same emotional hardship, a bond is formed. Harvey walks Kate to her class, they stroll through London discussing various things, and Harvey even invites Kate to join him at the wedding reception. Seemingly downtrodden earlier in the day, Harvey now finds an opportunity to replenish everything that he's been missing in life.

There is nothing in Joel Hopkins' script that is unpredictable, and the characters never take a step outside of the usual romantic dramedy guidebook. But watching this movie, I was totally entranced by the work of Hoffman and Thompson, that nothing could have erred it. Surprise is certainly the most overrated aspects of good films--only a film that is thematically lackluster should have to depend on surprise in order to be entertaining, and this film is anything but stilted in its themes.

Certainly this film could have been a real clunker if any other two actors had been chosen. I'm sure a studio head would have much rather made a film in America with George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer ("It would be a One Fine Day reunion!"). Certainly, actors like Clooney and Pfeiffer are more beautiful, but there is so much more to be said in Hoffman's or Thompson's face. There are stories to be told in those faces, and those stories go far beyond "I'm attractive". Not that Hoffman and Thompson are ugly, mind you, just that they know how to play subjugated using only their cheekbones, and that is not always very pretty.

Hoffman is really in his element here, with his best work since 1997's Wag The Dog. Playing a man who is simply never the star of the room, Hoffman does not reject Harvey's character detractions, but is full-on with charm and humor. Playing alongside fellow Oscar-winner, Thompson, the two create a wonderful chemistry, despite over a twenty-year age differance. It sometimes hard to accept that Thompson started off her career as a stand-up comedian, but it makes sense when you figure the vast range she has as an actress. Sure her character here is a little too needy and forseeable, but her warmth makes the perfect companion to Hoffman.

Last Chance Harvey was released around Christmas time, though it wasn't really hitting any major audiences until this weekend. I'm not sure how big its target audience is, and unfortunately middle-aged romance isn't the hot ticket these days (I do realize calling the 71-year-old Hoffman "middle-aged" is stretching it, but I'll give him a bone here). Hit or not, the film is unbelievably effective, if sentimental. Certainly, its a film about groping with loneliness, and how that loneliness only gets harder with age.