Probably my favorite of the many first-time nominees

Yes, I realize how silly and frivolous it seems to be posting about the Oscars now, but...



Ah, Viggo. Despite your presence in a few movies, I can't say I ever really noticed you until 2001 and the Lord of the Rings series, where my first thought was "damn that guy pulls off long hair even better than Orlando Bloom." Since then, though, you've been a (happily) inescapable part of the movies. You were serviceable if not outstanding in the Lord of the Rings, but then came your work with Cronenberg...ahhhhh. You were a revelation in A History of Violence (I was never expecting a performance like that, and it was absolutely brilliant), and you're even better in Eastern Promises. Your nomination was completely deserved. You are incredibly talented, and I'm thrilled to say that you're now an Oscar nominee. Keep it up, and it won't be too long before you're a winner (The Road?).

I gotta say, though, when I look at your name for too long I just start to giggle. VIGGO!

Viggo speaks.

"...aaaand this was how I felt at the end of shooting Eastern Promises. I mean, I've done two movies with David Cronenberg! Two! And I didn't get much-deserved Oscar nominations for either!* Do you know the shit he puts you through? Trust me, you don't want to know. Well, I guess it could be worse. It could have been that other weird David guy..."

* Well, okay, it's very possible he'll get one for Eastern Promises. Shhh.

whoah!

I just saw a new and okay, probably more obvious trailer for Eastern Promises and now you can take it off of the list of movies that I'm not so excited for. Wow! It actually looks interesting, Naomi seems to be in awesome mode, and Viggo really could not get any better-looking, goddamn. Although I was amused that they said it was from the director of "The" History of Violence.

happy birthday david cronenberg!

you crazy crazy genius you. celebrate by watching the best movie of 2005, the incredible a history of violence.

well then.

I guess I'll do 2005 next, since it is easily the worst of all the years I'll cover in this teeny little series (99-06). A decent year for lead actors and supporting actresses, but sooo empty otherwise.

Best Picture
1. A History of Violence (would be at about #9 or 8 for 2006.)
2. Crash (shut the fuck up, it's a fantastic movie...but no it wouldn't make my top 10 this year)
3. The Constant Gardener
4. The Squid and the Whale
5. Pride and Prejudice
6. Grizzly Man
7. Sin City
8. Munich
9. Wedding Crashers
10. Good Night, and Good Luck.

Best Director
1. David Cronenberg for A History of Violence
2. Michael Haneke for Cache
3. Paul Haggis for Crash (!)
4. Fernando Meirelles for The Constant Gardener
5. Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, and Quentin Tarantino for Sin City
6. George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck.
7. Werner Herzog for Grizzly Man
8. Stephen Spielberg for Munich
9. Terrence Malick for The New World
10. Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain (seeeeee)

Best Actor
1. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
2. Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence
3. Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener
4. David Strathairn in Good Night, and Good Luck.
5. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain (definitely NOT supporting)
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote
7. Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin
8. Jake Gyllenhaal in Jarhead
9. Bill Murray in Broken Flowers
10. Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Best Actress (soooo weak, I love Reese but she'd be like #10 or thereabouts for '06)
1. Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line
2. Q'Orianka Kilcher in The New World
3. Gwyneth Paltrow in Proof
4. Embeth Davidtz in Junebug (OWNED her highly overrated Oscar-nominated costar)
5. Claire Danes in Shopgirl
6. Joan Allen in Yes (she was embarassing in The Upside of Anger)
7. Rachel McAdams in Red Eye
8. Nathalie Press in My Summer of Love (and not Emily Blunt!)
9. Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice (totally deserved her Oscar nomination)
10. Toni Collette in In Her Shoes

Best Supporting Actor
1. Michael Pena in Crash
2. Mickey Rourke in Sin City
3. Matt Dillon in Crash
4. Clifton Collins Jr. in Capote
5. Jeff Daniels in The Squid and the Whale
6. George Clooney in Good Night, and Good Luck. (should've gotten nominated for this)
7. Clive Owen in Sin City
8. Jesse L. Martin in Rent
9. Matt Damon in Syriana
10. Kevin Costner in The Upside of Anger (way better than Joan Allen)

Best Supporting Actress
1. Maria Bello in A History of Violence
2. Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener
3. Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain
4. Laura Linney in The Squid and the Whale
5. Rosario Dawson in Rent
6. Ziyi Zhang in 2046
7. Scarlett Johansson in Match Point
8. Gong Li in Memoirs of a Geisha
9. Maggie Gyllenhaal in Happy Endings
10. Isla Fisher in Wedding Crashers
...aaaand Amy Adams didn't really impress me that much.

Best Screenplay
1. A History of Violence
2. The Constant Gardener
3. Crash
4. The Squid and the Whale
5. Good Night, and Good Luck.
6. Match Point
7. Munich
8. Capote
9. Jarhead
10. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

...and that's that. God, what a lame year.

2005

now with 50% less random white streaks:




top films:
1. a history of violence
2. crash
3. the constant gardener
(so sublety didn't do much for me in 05. sue me.)
4. the squid and the whale
5. pride and prejudice
6. grizzly man
7. sin city
8. munich
9. wedding crashers
10. good night, and good luck.
(11. cache
12. jarhead
13. junebug
14. kiss kiss bang bang
15. batman begins
16. wallace and gromit in the curse of the were-rabbit
17. corpse bride
18. in her shoes
19. capote
20. syriana)

terrible year, maybe because i didn't like the OMG IT'S THE BEST FILM EVER HOW CAN YOU DISLIKE IT???!!! you know what i'm talking about. if you don't, well, just look at the pulpy winner for best actor in a drama...