The 1999 National League Championship Series.
The Mets, Wild Card winners, faced the Atlanta Braves who, this being the 1990s and all, were the NL East winners. The Braves were 9-3 on the season against the Mets and many members of the Braves, led by huge asshole John Rocker, mocked them and their fans, especially when, two games back in the Wild Card with three to play, the Mets looked unlikely to make the playoffs. But they finished the season in a tie for the Wild Card with the Reds, and won the one-game playoff on my one true love (well, after Andy Pettitte) Al Leiter's complete game two-hit shutout. Both the Mets and the Braves won their division series in four games, leading to a showdown in the NLCS.
The Mets' starters gave their teams very good starts, but behind Maddux, Millwood's ridiculous career year, and Glavine, the Braves took a 3-0 series lead. At the time, no team had ever come back from that deficit or, in that situation, pushed a series to a Game 7, and only one team had even forced a Game 6. In Game 4, the Braves had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth, but the Mets managed to score twice off of their torturer John Rocker, and Armando Benitez somehow held on for the save.
Game 5 was the longest postseason game ever, at nearly six goddamn hours, until games in 2004 and then 2005 beat it (one of the worst parts of 2004 was not only that we lost in such a frigging awful way, but that the games were so unbearably long AND THEN WE LOST THEM AAARGH). The Mets scored two runs off Greg Maddux in the first, but he settled down after that. The Braves countered with two runs of their own in the fourth. Then, no scoring happened until the top of the fifteenth, when Keith Lockhart tripled in Walt Weiss. All the Braves had to do was hold on, and they would go to the World Series. But they didn't hold on; a bases-loaded walk and the generally awesome Robin Ventura's "grand slam single" led to the Mets' win.
Game 6. Al Leiter, so awesome in the tiebreaker game, obviously didn't have it. In the first inning, he hit two batters and gave up five runs, and was done before he could record an out. The Mets were held scoreless by Kevin Millwood until the sixth, when they scored three runs to make it a 5-3 game. In the bottom of the sixth, however, the Braves responded by scoring two insurance runs. With a comfortable four-run lead in the seventh, playoff pitcher extraordinaire John Smoltz came in out of the bullpen to shut the Mets down and send the Braves to the World Series.
However, maybe not fully warmed up, he let the Mets score twice, then, ahead 7-5, faced the injured but still feared Mike Piazza with a man on base. Piazza hit his first extra-base hit of the postseason, a home run. Tie game. In the top of the eighth, the Mets scored once to put themselves ahead 8-7, but John Franco couldn't hold that lead and the Braves tied it up in the bottom of that inning. Armando Benitez and John Rocker delivered a scoreless ninth inning, as the game moved into extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, the Mets scored off of Rocker in his second inning of work (hmm maybe he's not Mariano Rivera), but like Franco, Benitez couldn't hold the lead (hmmm maybe he's not Mariano Rivera either), and the tenth inning ended in a 9-9 tie. Some guy named Russ Springer shut the Mets down 1-2-3 in the top of the eleventh.
Bottom of the eleventh. For the Mets, out comes Kenny Rogers. He allows a leadoff double to Gerald Williams, then Bret Boone bunts him over to third. Looking for the double play, Rogers intentionally walks the dangerous Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan. Up steps Andruw Jones (this is when he was good, before he was fat and sucked). And the Braves win the game, and the series... on a walk-off walk.
I think this is like the worst way to lose a series, especially considering that the Mets had to watch the World Series be Yankees vs. Braves. At the time, that was the equivalent of all the agony the Mets went through with the Yankees/Phillies World Series this year. It might be worse than the 2006 NLCS for Mets fans. I mean, they went to the WS the next year, so it had to hurt a lot less, but yeah. If this happened to the Yankees, I think I'd throw shit at the wall, but because it's the Mets, LOLMets.
Showing posts with label rambling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rambling. Show all posts
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Mini-rant.
Okay, so to preface this entry, the large majority of my home friends are excessively annoying. The minute I graduate from college, I'm gonna move in with one of my college friends in not-this-state (as much as I love NYC) or something. But anyway, a few days ago, we went out to celebrate a friend's birthday, and the subject of Harry Potter was brought up (of course; they all think it's flawless, eyeroll). They all kept bitching about the fifth movie and how it was bad because it "cut so much out."
Whoah.
Here is the main point of this entry: movies and books are different things. Shocking! I know! And yes, sometimes these two forms of art can combine. And when they do, and here is my second main point: movies do not have any sort of obligation to be exactly like the books they are adapted from. Should they completely change, well, that's kinda BS (though they wouldn't be claiming it was based on a book any way), but those that make the movies have the right to do that. It's crap that fans of books/comic books/whatever they adapted complain about what they left in and what they didn't, and judge the movies primarily based on that. Movies are completely different. Of course Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix couldn't put everything from the book in the movie. The book was...I don't even remember how many pages, 800+? 900+? 1000? The movie would have been ten hours long. In fact, it's a credit to the movie (or a detraction from the book, which is how I prefer to think of it...) that it's the shortest and best of the series (without leaving anything important out - maybe the locket could have been in there, but what would they have done? just shown them all holding a locket? that would have been tooooo obvious), while the book is the longest and absolute worst of the series. I mean, we are all fans of certain books or whatever, and I'm sure many among us has held his or her breath in the hopes that that movie based on that book you loved would turn out just as good. And I'm sure you all whined when whatever scene was cut out... but I'm also sure you appreciated the movie on its own terms (unless, say, that book was Bonfire of the Vanities, in which case you have every right to be upset).
I can't write. But my basic point is: movies and books are different. The directors, writers, and editors of movies have every right to cut out what they want from books, if they feel it will make their movie better.
Whoah.
Here is the main point of this entry: movies and books are different things. Shocking! I know! And yes, sometimes these two forms of art can combine. And when they do, and here is my second main point: movies do not have any sort of obligation to be exactly like the books they are adapted from. Should they completely change, well, that's kinda BS (though they wouldn't be claiming it was based on a book any way), but those that make the movies have the right to do that. It's crap that fans of books/comic books/whatever they adapted complain about what they left in and what they didn't, and judge the movies primarily based on that. Movies are completely different. Of course Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix couldn't put everything from the book in the movie. The book was...I don't even remember how many pages, 800+? 900+? 1000? The movie would have been ten hours long. In fact, it's a credit to the movie (or a detraction from the book, which is how I prefer to think of it...) that it's the shortest and best of the series (without leaving anything important out - maybe the locket could have been in there, but what would they have done? just shown them all holding a locket? that would have been tooooo obvious), while the book is the longest and absolute worst of the series. I mean, we are all fans of certain books or whatever, and I'm sure many among us has held his or her breath in the hopes that that movie based on that book you loved would turn out just as good. And I'm sure you all whined when whatever scene was cut out... but I'm also sure you appreciated the movie on its own terms (unless, say, that book was Bonfire of the Vanities, in which case you have every right to be upset).
I can't write. But my basic point is: movies and books are different. The directors, writers, and editors of movies have every right to cut out what they want from books, if they feel it will make their movie better.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
reactions to the AFI
^ laughing at the idea of any sort of best movie list without Amadeus
This is gonna be a longy, folks. Reactions to my original thoughts from before the list was revealed, too. Let's do that first, from this post.
"1996: Forrest Gump was #71. Pulp Fiction, #95. Ewww"
Now Forrest Gump is #76 and Pulp Fiction is #94. I'm still displeased.
"Also, the, for lack of a better term, stupid fuckers said Amadeus could be replaced with 'better movies.'"
...apparently such as Sophie's Choice. And Titanic. And The Sixth Sense. And In the Heat of the Night. Though I'm fans of the last three, and I'm soooo glad In the Heat of the Night is on there instead of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, they cannot measure up, in any way, shape, or form, to Amadeus. Oh, and Yankee Doodle Dandy is apparently better too. Bullshit.
"I would cry of happiness if Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine made it onto the list, but I doubt either of them will. Still, my third or so favorite movie on there, American Beauty, will make it onto the list, and quite high, I'm hoping."
I was right about Translation and Sunshine, but everyone saw that coming. I'm kind of shocked that American Beauty wasn't there. Even by the time they got to the top 20, I was like "yeah, it wouldn't be unreasonable for it to be here."
"Saving Private Ryan will be on the list, and quite high, because they are so wet for Spielberg"
At least I was right about this one
"Titanic will be the highest debut."
Or not.
"At least one of the Lord of the Rings movies will be on there"
Yay
"Things that will probably do better: Goodfellas, Schindler's List (there's no way it's getting ranked below The Graduate now), Pulp Fiction, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part II, Amadeus better go up in the rankings you assholes, Network because it's become more than just a great movie, it's become bizarrely prophetic, anything Eastwood because since 1996, he's gone from being Legendary Actor, Okay Director with One Really Really Good Movie to The Greatest Director Of Our Time (And By That, We Mean Ever). Though if Unforgiven drops off the list totally and Million Dollar Baby is on it fairly high up, I won't be surprised."
Goodfellas = a whole 2 spaces higher
Schindler's List = a whole space higher
Pulp Fiction = a whole space higher
Annie Hall = fell 4 spots :(
The Godfather Part II = the same... it's just weird that The Godfather gets the BEST MOVIE EVER (next to Citizen Kane) hosannahs and this is stuck in the 30s...
Let's not talk about Amadeus any more as I kind of get physically angry
Network = up 2
anything Eastwood = Unforgiven up 30! Nobody talks about that film any more though. And Million Dollar Baby wasn't on the list at all. They went boxing-crazy on this list, what with Rocky and Raging Bull's crazy rises.
"Things that will probably fall in the rankings: The Graduate (boohoo), Dances with Wolves, Giant, Tootsie (waaaah), The Sound of Music, The African Queen (this is the same case as The Graduate - ranked incredibly high, but nobody talks about it!)"
Dances with Wolves and Giant, both of which were fairly high last time, are now off the list. Tootsie fell 7 spots - not nearly as much as I was expecting. The Sound of Music went up 15 =/ but The African Queen fell 48. The Graduate fell 10 spots, to #17, and I saw that coming and I think I'm the only one that's sad about it.
So, uh, I did okay on that part. I guess.
YAY!!!!
• Like I said, it's honestly not a bad list. Like, it's not cringingly embarassing. Far from it. The old one wasn't either, though.This is gonna be a longy, folks. Reactions to my original thoughts from before the list was revealed, too. Let's do that first, from this post.
"1996: Forrest Gump was #71. Pulp Fiction, #95. Ewww"
Now Forrest Gump is #76 and Pulp Fiction is #94. I'm still displeased.
"Also, the, for lack of a better term, stupid fuckers said Amadeus could be replaced with 'better movies.'"
...apparently such as Sophie's Choice. And Titanic. And The Sixth Sense. And In the Heat of the Night. Though I'm fans of the last three, and I'm soooo glad In the Heat of the Night is on there instead of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, they cannot measure up, in any way, shape, or form, to Amadeus. Oh, and Yankee Doodle Dandy is apparently better too. Bullshit.
"I would cry of happiness if Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine made it onto the list, but I doubt either of them will. Still, my third or so favorite movie on there, American Beauty, will make it onto the list, and quite high, I'm hoping."
I was right about Translation and Sunshine, but everyone saw that coming. I'm kind of shocked that American Beauty wasn't there. Even by the time they got to the top 20, I was like "yeah, it wouldn't be unreasonable for it to be here."
"Saving Private Ryan will be on the list, and quite high, because they are so wet for Spielberg"
At least I was right about this one
"Titanic will be the highest debut."
Or not.
"At least one of the Lord of the Rings movies will be on there"
Yay
"Things that will probably do better: Goodfellas, Schindler's List (there's no way it's getting ranked below The Graduate now), Pulp Fiction, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part II, Amadeus better go up in the rankings you assholes, Network because it's become more than just a great movie, it's become bizarrely prophetic, anything Eastwood because since 1996, he's gone from being Legendary Actor, Okay Director with One Really Really Good Movie to The Greatest Director Of Our Time (And By That, We Mean Ever). Though if Unforgiven drops off the list totally and Million Dollar Baby is on it fairly high up, I won't be surprised."
Goodfellas = a whole 2 spaces higher
Schindler's List = a whole space higher
Pulp Fiction = a whole space higher
Annie Hall = fell 4 spots :(
The Godfather Part II = the same... it's just weird that The Godfather gets the BEST MOVIE EVER (next to Citizen Kane) hosannahs and this is stuck in the 30s...
Let's not talk about Amadeus any more as I kind of get physically angry
Network = up 2
anything Eastwood = Unforgiven up 30! Nobody talks about that film any more though. And Million Dollar Baby wasn't on the list at all. They went boxing-crazy on this list, what with Rocky and Raging Bull's crazy rises.
"Things that will probably fall in the rankings: The Graduate (boohoo), Dances with Wolves, Giant, Tootsie (waaaah), The Sound of Music, The African Queen (this is the same case as The Graduate - ranked incredibly high, but nobody talks about it!)"
Dances with Wolves and Giant, both of which were fairly high last time, are now off the list. Tootsie fell 7 spots - not nearly as much as I was expecting. The Sound of Music went up 15 =/ but The African Queen fell 48. The Graduate fell 10 spots, to #17, and I saw that coming and I think I'm the only one that's sad about it.
So, uh, I did okay on that part. I guess.
YAY!!!!
• Vertigo up fifty-two spaces to #8, and it's above Psycho!!! Amazing!
• Raging Bull up 20 spots - in the top 5! When the list got to Gone with the Wind at #6 I was like "Fuck. I guess Raging Bull is off the list too. I hate the AFI." I'm thrilled it was so high, it totally deserves it. The 80s were indeed a shitty time for movies overall. But the three best movies of the 80s - Amadeus, Raging Bull, and AFI's #96 :D - are among the best movies ever.
• Do the Right Thing!!!! Y'all know I'm a Crash fan. But I was like "if Crash is on this list and Do the Right Thing is not, there's something wrong with the world." It should be higher, but whatever.
• Bladerunner!!!!
• SHAWSHANK!!!!!!!!!
• All the President's Men!
• I don't love In the Heat of the Night, but it's a much, much, much better movie than Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, so yay
• Singin' in the Rain in single digits :D
• To Kill a Mockingbird up 9 spots!
• Cabaret debuts at #72. I'm not its biggest fan, but hey...I'll support pretty much any musical that's not The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady or Oliver! or...come to think of it, all the '60s Best Picture winners that were musicals weren't very good (West Side Story is good, but ludicrously overrated). But anyway. I love musicals! More musicals on the AFI list please please thank you! Moulin Rouge! next time please!
• Rocky up 21, but still under Taxi Driver. The former gets a lot of flack, but it's still a great film. Though, no, it didn't deserve Best Picture, and that's reflected.
• The African Queen down 48!
• The Apartment up 13! (It should still be higher.)
• Uh, well, at least Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas did better, right...?
• Any sort of increase for The Godfather or its sequel makes me full of joy. Not that it's going to go up again, because let's face it, Citizen Kane will be #1 for all eternity.
• The great and deserved debuts of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Nashville, and let me stop lying to myself, Titanic.
BOOO!!!!
• Here's where I quote one of my favorite cheesetastic 80s songs: Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus Amadeus... oh oh oh AMADEUS!
• The Manchurian Candidate =/
• Rebel Without a Cause, The Third Man, Fantasia, Fargo, Close Encounters of the Third Kind...
• Yankee Doodle Dandy is still on the list. Hell, it even went up.
• AFI really needs to kick out the members who are actually dead, then maybe Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas will actually get on there.
• Obviously, movies that aren't on there and never were to begin with. Just going from the list of 400... I know tons of people are thrilled that American Beauty didn't actually make it, but I'm not. Star Wars is on there, but not The Empire Strikes Back. Airplane! Blue Velvet. Boogie Nights. Carrie. The Conversation. Days of Heaven. Dog Day Afternoon?!?!?!? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Harold and Maude. The Hustler. The King of Comedy. Kramer vs Kramer. MANHATTAN. NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. The Producers. Among many others.
• Sophie's Choice? What does anyone say whenever you bring up Sophie's Choice... "oh my God, Meryl Streep is amazing!!!" She is, but does anyone ever say anything else, including what AFI said on the show? No. You know why not? It's kind of a bad movie otherwise. And the AFI is saying it's better than, from the 80s alone, Bladerunner, Amadeus, and Do the Right Thing, among many others I could mention that aren't on the list but are notably better than Sophie's Choice.
• I like The Sixth Sense. I like it a lot. But better than Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas? Hahahahhahahahaha.
• Come to think of it, though, Forrest Gump over those three, as well as many other movies that are on there/could have been included, is horrifying.
• The Wizard of Oz and Sunset Boulevard down 4 =/
• One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest down 13 (do they hate Milos Forman all of a sudden? Is Goya's Ghosts really really terrible and they all got secret screenings?), All About Eve down 12, On the Waterfront down 11, The Graduate down 10, It's a Wonderful Life down 9, Some Like It Hot down 8 :( :( :(
• The French Connection and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid down 23? Ewww... and saddd... :(
• I like Star Wars but it really isn't that good.
Whatever?
• Most of the giant jumps/falls except the ones I mentioned.
• Citizen Kane at #1. It's a great, great movie. I wouldn't have it as my #1, but it will be there forever.
Overall, like I said: It's not an awful list, it's not an amazing list. It's got some bits of brilliance and some forehead-smacking horribleness. And hey - they're accomplished, far more than this silly blogger can say. I have my top 100 from their ballot of 400, which I'll list...eventually, but to rank it would be SO HARD. Oh, and AFI, in 2016 or whenever, please please please put Amadeus back on your list. That's all I ask for. Thanks.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies
yes, this is probably my only opportunity for an "I LOVE YOU!" moment tomorrow nightAs anyone reading this (anyone out there?) would probably know, AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies series is being updated, and the new list will be revealed tomorrow! I am ridiculously excited. No, the AFI really doesn't make the best choices. They favor bland Best Picture winners over true originals and trailblazers (1996: Forrest Gump was #71. Pulp Fiction, 95. Ewww.). Still, if you're not at least interested, you're lying (I've got my eye on you, certain bloggers). I tried to find just a plain list of the movies and their ranking back in 1996; here's the Wikipedia page, which won't copy and paste correctly, grr. Anyway, my search made me realize just how much I hate filmsite.org, which whines about how OMG THERE ARE THREE MODERN CRIME MOVIES ON IT (yeah, at #84, 94, and 95.) AND THERE NEED TO BE MORE SILENT MOVIES OMG OMG OMG. Also, the, for lack of a better term, stupid fuckers said Amadeus could be replaced with "better movies." Yes, "stupid fuckers" are rather harsh terms, but insult Amadeus in front of me and THAT'S WHAT YOU GET. Anyway. Here are the post-1997 movies on the ballot:
American Beauty *
As Good As It Gets
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery -
The Aviator
A Beautiful Mind * (ew?)
Being John Malkovich -
Boogie Nights
Brokeback Mountain
Chicago
Crash
Erin Brockovich
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -
Fight Club -
Finding Nemo
Gladiator
Good Night, and Good Luck
Good Will Hunting
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -
Hotel Rwanda
The Hours
The Insider -
L. A. Confidential
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King *
Lost in Translation
The Matrix -
Memento -
Million Dollar Baby * (this will probably replace Unforgiven)
Moulin Rouge! -
Mystic River
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -
Ray
Requiem for a Dream -
Rushmore -
Saving Private Ryan *
Shakespeare in Love
Shrek
Sideways
The Sixth Sense
Spider-Man 2 -
There’s Something About Mary -
Three Kings -
Titanic *
Traffic
I put dashes next to the movies that have no chance of making it onto the top 400, because they are just far too weird for AFI. I starred the ones with the very best chances. I'm amazed Three Kings even freaking made it onto the ballot. I would cry of happiness if Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine made it onto the list, but I doubt either of them will. Still, my third or so favorite movie on there, American Beauty, will make it onto the list, and quite high, I'm hoping. Saving Private Ryan will be on the list, and quite high, because they are so wet for Spielberg (a note: I love Spielberg. A post in defense of Spielberg is coming soon, because today at work I was reading his Wikipedia article [I work so hard], and the "criticism" section pissed me off so goddamn much. It reminds me of the reason why I refuse to interact with my fellow bloggers. But I'll get into that in another entry. But anyway, the AFI loves him EVEN MORE. Like, if they ever heard someone dissing him, they would KILL THAT PERSON.). Titanic will be the highest debut. At least one of the Lord of the Rings movies will be on there (Return of the King having the highest likelihood), but please God not two/three because I don't want that to clog the list. If Crash is on there I will be thrilled and laugh a lot, especially if it is above Brokeback Mountain (or if the latter isn't even on the list!).
As far as the movies that are on the list...
Things that will probably do better: Goodfellas, Schindler's List (there's no way it's getting ranked below The Graduate now), Pulp Fiction, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part II, Amadeus better go up in the rankings you assholes, Network because it's become more than just a great movie, it's become bizarrely prophetic, anything Eastwood because since 1996, he's gone from being Legendary Actor, Okay Director with One Really Really Good Movie to The Greatest Director Of Our Time (And By That, We Mean Ever). Though if Unforgiven drops off the list totally and Million Dollar Baby is on it fairly high up, I won't be surprised.
Things that will probably fall in the rankings: The Graduate (boohoo), Dances with Wolves, Giant, Tootsie (waaaah), The Sound of Music, The African Queen (this is the same case as The Graduate - ranked incredibly high, but nobody talks about it!)
Coming tomorrow: my ballot based on the 400 movies, for what it would be worth. And of course, bitchy commentary on the new list, and much more complaining about stupid filmsite.org.
* Entry disclaimer: I can't say I really like the Lord of the Rings movies, but I recognize that they are great-to-good movies.
American Beauty *
As Good As It Gets
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery -
The Aviator
A Beautiful Mind * (ew?)
Being John Malkovich -
Boogie Nights
Brokeback Mountain
Chicago
Crash
Erin Brockovich
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -
Fight Club -
Finding Nemo
Gladiator
Good Night, and Good Luck
Good Will Hunting
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -
Hotel Rwanda
The Hours
The Insider -
L. A. Confidential
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring *
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King *
Lost in Translation
The Matrix -
Memento -
Million Dollar Baby * (this will probably replace Unforgiven)
Moulin Rouge! -
Mystic River
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl -
Ray
Requiem for a Dream -
Rushmore -
Saving Private Ryan *
Shakespeare in Love
Shrek
Sideways
The Sixth Sense
Spider-Man 2 -
There’s Something About Mary -
Three Kings -
Titanic *
Traffic
I put dashes next to the movies that have no chance of making it onto the top 400, because they are just far too weird for AFI. I starred the ones with the very best chances. I'm amazed Three Kings even freaking made it onto the ballot. I would cry of happiness if Lost in Translation or Eternal Sunshine made it onto the list, but I doubt either of them will. Still, my third or so favorite movie on there, American Beauty, will make it onto the list, and quite high, I'm hoping. Saving Private Ryan will be on the list, and quite high, because they are so wet for Spielberg (a note: I love Spielberg. A post in defense of Spielberg is coming soon, because today at work I was reading his Wikipedia article [I work so hard], and the "criticism" section pissed me off so goddamn much. It reminds me of the reason why I refuse to interact with my fellow bloggers. But I'll get into that in another entry. But anyway, the AFI loves him EVEN MORE. Like, if they ever heard someone dissing him, they would KILL THAT PERSON.). Titanic will be the highest debut. At least one of the Lord of the Rings movies will be on there (Return of the King having the highest likelihood), but please God not two/three because I don't want that to clog the list. If Crash is on there I will be thrilled and laugh a lot, especially if it is above Brokeback Mountain (or if the latter isn't even on the list!).
As far as the movies that are on the list...
Things that will probably do better: Goodfellas, Schindler's List (there's no way it's getting ranked below The Graduate now), Pulp Fiction, Annie Hall, The Godfather Part II, Amadeus better go up in the rankings you assholes, Network because it's become more than just a great movie, it's become bizarrely prophetic, anything Eastwood because since 1996, he's gone from being Legendary Actor, Okay Director with One Really Really Good Movie to The Greatest Director Of Our Time (And By That, We Mean Ever). Though if Unforgiven drops off the list totally and Million Dollar Baby is on it fairly high up, I won't be surprised.
Things that will probably fall in the rankings: The Graduate (boohoo), Dances with Wolves, Giant, Tootsie (waaaah), The Sound of Music, The African Queen (this is the same case as The Graduate - ranked incredibly high, but nobody talks about it!)
Coming tomorrow: my ballot based on the 400 movies, for what it would be worth. And of course, bitchy commentary on the new list, and much more complaining about stupid filmsite.org.
* Entry disclaimer: I can't say I really like the Lord of the Rings movies, but I recognize that they are great-to-good movies.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
oscar nominations!
Whoo, boy. These are fun.
Best Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
My final predictions: Babel, The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen (4/5)
Personal ballot: The Departed, The Fountain, Children of Men, Inside Man, Dreamgirls (1/5 agreement)
Ranking the nominees: The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, Babel, The Queen
Comments: Wow. Remember when Dreamgirls was the lockiest lock that was ever locked? And then it got snubbed??!?! Please kill anyone that complains about how "boring" the Oscar nominees are because of this.
Will win: Oh God! It's so hard to call! Can I go with The Queen because I really don't want that to happen?
Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
My final predictions: Condon, Eastwood, Frears, Iñárritu, Scorsese (4/5)
Personal ballot: Aronofsky (The Fountain), Scorsese (The Departed), Cuaron (Children of Men), Coppola (Marie-Antoinette), Greengrass (United 93) (2/5)
Comments: I knew the LMS duo wasn't gonna make it, but I thought United 93's hype was pretty much d-e-a-d. This is a pretty good lineup, save Frears who just...zzz.
Will win: Is it finally Marty's year?? Can I say that without jinxing it???
Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forrest Whittaker, Last King of Scotland
My final predictions: Baron Cohen, DiCaprio (for The Departed though...), O'Toole, Smith, Whittaker (3/5)
Personal ballot: Jackman (The Fountain), Gosling (Half Nelson), Whittaker (Last King), Owen (Children of Men), Baron Cohen (Borat) (2/5)
Comments: Cannot believe Leo got in for Blood Diamond and not The Departed. Ew. Still, it's not an embarassing performance, and this category is quite strong.
Will win: Ooh this is tough, but I think DiCaprio, Gosling, and Smith are basically out of the race...it's between Whittaker and O'Toole. I'm pretty sure O'Toole can take it, based on the past (think 1986...sorry Paul, you know I utterly adore you, but you really didn't deserve it much then).
Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
My final predictions: Cruz, Dench, Mirren, Streep, Winslet (5/5, but who didn't get this?)
Personal ballot: Streep, Dench, Winslet, Cruz, Dern (Inland Empire) (4/5)
Comments: Locked up since forever, but...this is an AMAZING lineup, even if I don't go 5/5 with it in my personal ballot. It's the best lineup I can think of since...like...1975's Best Picture nominees (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon). Wow. I wish they could all get the Oscar.
Will win: Mirren much?
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
My final predictions: Murphy, Nicholson, Hounsou, Pitt, Wahlberg (3/5)
Personal ballot: Sheen (The Queen), Murphy, Nicholson, Haley, Owen (Inside Man) (2/5)
Comments: Err. Mark over Jack? I still don't see what was so great about Mark in The Departed. Hell, I'd rather have Alec Baldwin. And Alan Arkin? Eh. He was the second-worst in that film and only bested Paul Dano. Oh well. I do love Grandpa.
Will win: Though Murphy's film is deader than most thought, I still think he can win this pretty easily.
Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
My final predictions: Barraza, Blanchett, Breslin, Hudson, Kikuchi (5/5 go me...but this one wasn't hard to call either)
Personal ballot: Hudson, Kirshner (Black Dahlia), Epps (Half Nelson...gooo category fraud!), Kikuchi, Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) (2/5)
Comments: ...Oh? What's that, bitches?! NO EMILY BLUNT!!!!!!!!! I don't even care that Blandshitt got in as long as she didn't. party time!
Will win: Jennifer Hudson is still locked. Even though Dreamgirls didn't fare as well as many thought, it still has a pretty big group of supporters.
Best Original Screenplay
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
My final predictions: Um...
Personal ballot: Volver, Little Miss Sunshine, Stranger than Fiction, Half Nelson, Pan's Labyrinth (2/5)
Comments: Uh, I dunno. Not much to complain about. Hahaha Haggis again.
Will win: The Queen zzz
Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
My final predictions: Uh yeah.
Personal ballot: The Departed, Little Children, Children of Men, The Painted Veil, The Prestige (3/5)
Comments: OMG THIS IS AN AMAZING LIST! Except I didn't think Borat really had a script but still OMG THIS IS AMAZING.
Will win: Um, The Departed? Please?
Other comments:
- the Cinematography nominees are pretty cool (actually they are awesome), except The Prestige. It's cool that Oscar spread the love, and a lot, this year (especially because The Prestige has been ignored all season long), but what did The Prestige do? Make Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Scarlett Johansson look good. That's really hard!!!!!
- Best Costume Design is making me come hard. Err...
- So, based on last year and that whole Best Editing thing, I guess it's The Departed versus Babel for Best Picture? I'm kidding, sort of
- how long until people start going "not only is the Academy HOMOPHOBIC, they are RACIST"????
- um so. Volver got ripped off much??!?!
- ...Click for Best Makeup? I didn't see the movie but was it really better than, you know, Pirates 2?
- I don't know which song from Dreamgirls is "Patience" but GOD I hope it's not that one about they all being a family and, like, a tree, at the same time. That song was awful.
- Best Score? Eh. The Painted Veil and not The Queen you fools!!!
Overall? Pretty good nominees, as a lot of the stuff I really loved I knew had no chance at Oscar love (The Fountain, Inside Man, Marie-Antoinette, and I guess Volver, heh). And it's really nice to see Oscar nominating stuff like Pan's Labyrinth so much. Yay!
Best Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
My final predictions: Babel, The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen (4/5)
Personal ballot: The Departed, The Fountain, Children of Men, Inside Man, Dreamgirls (1/5 agreement)
Ranking the nominees: The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, Babel, The Queen
Comments: Wow. Remember when Dreamgirls was the lockiest lock that was ever locked? And then it got snubbed??!?! Please kill anyone that complains about how "boring" the Oscar nominees are because of this.
Will win: Oh God! It's so hard to call! Can I go with The Queen because I really don't want that to happen?
Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed
My final predictions: Condon, Eastwood, Frears, Iñárritu, Scorsese (4/5)
Personal ballot: Aronofsky (The Fountain), Scorsese (The Departed), Cuaron (Children of Men), Coppola (Marie-Antoinette), Greengrass (United 93) (2/5)
Comments: I knew the LMS duo wasn't gonna make it, but I thought United 93's hype was pretty much d-e-a-d. This is a pretty good lineup, save Frears who just...zzz.
Will win: Is it finally Marty's year?? Can I say that without jinxing it???
Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forrest Whittaker, Last King of Scotland
My final predictions: Baron Cohen, DiCaprio (for The Departed though...), O'Toole, Smith, Whittaker (3/5)
Personal ballot: Jackman (The Fountain), Gosling (Half Nelson), Whittaker (Last King), Owen (Children of Men), Baron Cohen (Borat) (2/5)
Comments: Cannot believe Leo got in for Blood Diamond and not The Departed. Ew. Still, it's not an embarassing performance, and this category is quite strong.
Will win: Ooh this is tough, but I think DiCaprio, Gosling, and Smith are basically out of the race...it's between Whittaker and O'Toole. I'm pretty sure O'Toole can take it, based on the past (think 1986...sorry Paul, you know I utterly adore you, but you really didn't deserve it much then).
Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
My final predictions: Cruz, Dench, Mirren, Streep, Winslet (5/5, but who didn't get this?)
Personal ballot: Streep, Dench, Winslet, Cruz, Dern (Inland Empire) (4/5)
Comments: Locked up since forever, but...this is an AMAZING lineup, even if I don't go 5/5 with it in my personal ballot. It's the best lineup I can think of since...like...1975's Best Picture nominees (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon). Wow. I wish they could all get the Oscar.
Will win: Mirren much?
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
My final predictions: Murphy, Nicholson, Hounsou, Pitt, Wahlberg (3/5)
Personal ballot: Sheen (The Queen), Murphy, Nicholson, Haley, Owen (Inside Man) (2/5)
Comments: Err. Mark over Jack? I still don't see what was so great about Mark in The Departed. Hell, I'd rather have Alec Baldwin. And Alan Arkin? Eh. He was the second-worst in that film and only bested Paul Dano. Oh well. I do love Grandpa.
Will win: Though Murphy's film is deader than most thought, I still think he can win this pretty easily.
Best Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
My final predictions: Barraza, Blanchett, Breslin, Hudson, Kikuchi (5/5 go me...but this one wasn't hard to call either)
Personal ballot: Hudson, Kirshner (Black Dahlia), Epps (Half Nelson...gooo category fraud!), Kikuchi, Collette (Little Miss Sunshine) (2/5)
Comments: ...Oh? What's that, bitches?! NO EMILY BLUNT!!!!!!!!! I don't even care that Blandshitt got in as long as she didn't. party time!
Will win: Jennifer Hudson is still locked. Even though Dreamgirls didn't fare as well as many thought, it still has a pretty big group of supporters.
Best Original Screenplay
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
My final predictions: Um...
Personal ballot: Volver, Little Miss Sunshine, Stranger than Fiction, Half Nelson, Pan's Labyrinth (2/5)
Comments: Uh, I dunno. Not much to complain about. Hahaha Haggis again.
Will win: The Queen zzz
Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
My final predictions: Uh yeah.
Personal ballot: The Departed, Little Children, Children of Men, The Painted Veil, The Prestige (3/5)
Comments: OMG THIS IS AN AMAZING LIST! Except I didn't think Borat really had a script but still OMG THIS IS AMAZING.
Will win: Um, The Departed? Please?
Other comments:
- the Cinematography nominees are pretty cool (actually they are awesome), except The Prestige. It's cool that Oscar spread the love, and a lot, this year (especially because The Prestige has been ignored all season long), but what did The Prestige do? Make Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Scarlett Johansson look good. That's really hard!!!!!
- Best Costume Design is making me come hard. Err...
- So, based on last year and that whole Best Editing thing, I guess it's The Departed versus Babel for Best Picture? I'm kidding, sort of
- how long until people start going "not only is the Academy HOMOPHOBIC, they are RACIST"????
- um so. Volver got ripped off much??!?!
- ...Click for Best Makeup? I didn't see the movie but was it really better than, you know, Pirates 2?
- I don't know which song from Dreamgirls is "Patience" but GOD I hope it's not that one about they all being a family and, like, a tree, at the same time. That song was awful.
- Best Score? Eh. The Painted Veil and not The Queen you fools!!!
Overall? Pretty good nominees, as a lot of the stuff I really loved I knew had no chance at Oscar love (The Fountain, Inside Man, Marie-Antoinette, and I guess Volver, heh). And it's really nice to see Oscar nominating stuff like Pan's Labyrinth so much. Yay!
Sunday, January 21, 2007
dear everyone,
you're all morons.
please stop complaining about how it is "the most boring oscar season ever" and at the same time bitching about how there is no frontrunner for best picture. thanks!
please stop complaining about how it is "the most boring oscar season ever" and at the same time bitching about how there is no frontrunner for best picture. thanks!
Monday, January 15, 2007
globe comments
oh my God it's Letters from IWO (not two, idiot self) Jima. Duh. Duh. Duh. AND I FRIGGIN' SAW THE MOVIE!!!
Hallelujah Emily Blunt didn't win (well she won for something else, but whatever). I had this horrible premonition right as Clooney opened the envelope...but nope. Hallelujah! Hopefully her chances at even an Oscar nomination are gone.
America Ferrera and Isla Fisher are adorable.
THEY DIDN'T SHOW PETER SARSGAARD ONCE AND I AM MAD! I know he was there, but all I saw was this disembodied hand sort of make its way around Maggie Gyllenhaal when her name was announced.
Martin Scorsese was adorable. And so is, please forgive me for saying this, Hilary Swank. She's totally bubbly, personable, and adorable (fun job: count the number of times I say "adorable" in this post) and I retract all bad things I may have said about her winning the Oscar in 2004. Yes, Kate, Imelda, and Catalina deserved it more, but she's so darn adorable (there we go again).
OMG SASHA BARON COHEN'S SPEECH HAHAHA. Meryl's was great too, as was America Ferrera's. Uh...what was up with Forrest Whittaker's? And what's up with his eye????!!!
I knew all chances of a Little Miss Sunshine upset were gone when they were using "One Night Only" as the Golden Globes theme song.
Sharon Stone is on drugs. A lot of them.
Looked fantastic: Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore (!!! after last year), Hilary Swank (except for that flower thing), Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Renee Zellweger (dress and shoes only, she's just so...pucker-y), Emily Blunt (except it was too tight and made her look pregnant), Helen Mirren, Sarah Jessica Parker
Looked awful: Cameron Diaz, Cate Blanchett (comb your hair), Jennifer Lopez (would be on the looked fantastic list, except for the fact that the sides of her dress looked incredibly cheap), Toni Collette (the haircut wasn't doing anything for her), Angelina Jolie (she looked draaaained), Beyonce (really cheap looking), Nicolette Sheridan, RINKO KIKUCHI OMG WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT???
I have officially decided on my favorite celebrity couple: Bennifer 2.0
It was kinda funny when Kyra Sedgewick forgot her husband's name for a second.
Mary-Louise Parker was probably stoned.
I have fallen in love with Michael Urie. I have not fallen in love with creepy, creepy Forrest Whittaker and his creepy eye, and Jamie "I might not be nominated for anything but the movie I'm nominated in is so I'm going to ruin awards season by existing anyway" Foxx.
JEREMY PIVEN WUZ ROBBED
Babel clearly won the Best "uh sorry we didn't even nominate Crash last year even though it was much better than all these other nominees except maybe A History of Violence" Picture - Drama award.
And finally, GOD BLESS JACK NICHOLSON.
"that's all..."
Hallelujah Emily Blunt didn't win (well she won for something else, but whatever). I had this horrible premonition right as Clooney opened the envelope...but nope. Hallelujah! Hopefully her chances at even an Oscar nomination are gone.
America Ferrera and Isla Fisher are adorable.
THEY DIDN'T SHOW PETER SARSGAARD ONCE AND I AM MAD! I know he was there, but all I saw was this disembodied hand sort of make its way around Maggie Gyllenhaal when her name was announced.
Martin Scorsese was adorable. And so is, please forgive me for saying this, Hilary Swank. She's totally bubbly, personable, and adorable (fun job: count the number of times I say "adorable" in this post) and I retract all bad things I may have said about her winning the Oscar in 2004. Yes, Kate, Imelda, and Catalina deserved it more, but she's so darn adorable (there we go again).
OMG SASHA BARON COHEN'S SPEECH HAHAHA. Meryl's was great too, as was America Ferrera's. Uh...what was up with Forrest Whittaker's? And what's up with his eye????!!!
I knew all chances of a Little Miss Sunshine upset were gone when they were using "One Night Only" as the Golden Globes theme song.
Sharon Stone is on drugs. A lot of them.
Looked fantastic: Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore (!!! after last year), Hilary Swank (except for that flower thing), Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Renee Zellweger (dress and shoes only, she's just so...pucker-y), Emily Blunt (except it was too tight and made her look pregnant), Helen Mirren, Sarah Jessica Parker
Looked awful: Cameron Diaz, Cate Blanchett (comb your hair), Jennifer Lopez (would be on the looked fantastic list, except for the fact that the sides of her dress looked incredibly cheap), Toni Collette (the haircut wasn't doing anything for her), Angelina Jolie (she looked draaaained), Beyonce (really cheap looking), Nicolette Sheridan, RINKO KIKUCHI OMG WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT???
I have officially decided on my favorite celebrity couple: Bennifer 2.0
It was kinda funny when Kyra Sedgewick forgot her husband's name for a second.
Mary-Louise Parker was probably stoned.
I have fallen in love with Michael Urie. I have not fallen in love with creepy, creepy Forrest Whittaker and his creepy eye, and Jamie "I might not be nominated for anything but the movie I'm nominated in is so I'm going to ruin awards season by existing anyway" Foxx.
JEREMY PIVEN WUZ ROBBED
Babel clearly won the Best "uh sorry we didn't even nominate Crash last year even though it was much better than all these other nominees except maybe A History of Violence" Picture - Drama award.
And finally, GOD BLESS JACK NICHOLSON.
"that's all..."
Saturday, January 13, 2007
rating those who shouldn't rate
Oh, look at her eyes! They're so big! She must be such a good actress!
Semicolon not so much. In Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, and Jake Gyllenhaal are all almost unspeakably brilliant. They invest their roles with tons of emotion and ridiculous amounts of subtext. Anne? Uh...she's just kinda there. She is kinda lively at the beginning, but can't really be compared to the other three just for a bit of liveliness. As for the phone conversation scene...some will say genius. I say FLAT. You could tell this was a young (untalented) actress in way over her head, so she probably just thought "uhh...I'm not gonna act at all!!"
In The Devil Wears Prada, you actually root AGAINST Anne because she is so bland, whereas the actors playing alongside her that play "bad" people (Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt) are actually fun, so you cheer for them. Way to ruin the movie, Anne.
In The Princess Diaries and the like she's...yup...bland, but at least she doesn't stand out as mediocre in comparison to brilliance like the performances of Ledger, Williams, Gyllenhaal, and Streep. People are talking about how she's going to get an Oscar nod for Becoming Jane and she probably will (ew), but why are these same people saying she's "owed?" (Ewwwww.) If we're looking for young actresses that have been ripped off in the past, Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, and even Kirsten Dunst come to mind before Anne.
Semicolon not so much. In Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, and Jake Gyllenhaal are all almost unspeakably brilliant. They invest their roles with tons of emotion and ridiculous amounts of subtext. Anne? Uh...she's just kinda there. She is kinda lively at the beginning, but can't really be compared to the other three just for a bit of liveliness. As for the phone conversation scene...some will say genius. I say FLAT. You could tell this was a young (untalented) actress in way over her head, so she probably just thought "uhh...I'm not gonna act at all!!"
In The Devil Wears Prada, you actually root AGAINST Anne because she is so bland, whereas the actors playing alongside her that play "bad" people (Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt) are actually fun, so you cheer for them. Way to ruin the movie, Anne.
In The Princess Diaries and the like she's...yup...bland, but at least she doesn't stand out as mediocre in comparison to brilliance like the performances of Ledger, Williams, Gyllenhaal, and Streep. People are talking about how she's going to get an Oscar nod for Becoming Jane and she probably will (ew), but why are these same people saying she's "owed?" (Ewwwww.) If we're looking for young actresses that have been ripped off in the past, Scarlett Johansson, Claire Danes, and even Kirsten Dunst come to mind before Anne.
rating the overrated, again
emily blunt is SHOCKED that she found someone on the internet not falling all over herself to praise her performance!Okay, I don't come to bash Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada. I liked her. She was fun. She's on my Supporting Actress list for the year. ...at #21, but yeah. Now, let's see what Emily does right in Prada:
1. She is funny and she's clearly having fun.
2. She plays it very straight, which works wonders.
3. She has several perfect line deliveries.
...that's it. THAT IS IT, PEOPLE. Yes, #1 and 3 count for a lot, but merely having fun on screen does not entitle one to an Oscar (or whatever your personal awards may be called; in case you didn't pick up on it, mine are the Pulpys). Blunt does the best job she can, but her part is, let's face it, the typical bitchy co-worker, and no, despite what the rest of the blogsphere seems to think, she doesn't elevate it much beyond that. This already puts her at a disadvantage to parts that were actually, you know, written, such as Hudson's, Kirshner's, Kikuchi's, Epps', Somerville's... And no, she doesn't steal scenes from Meryl Streep (she certainly steals them from Anne Hathaway, who is pathetic as usual in the movie...more on her later). In conclusion: a fun performance, but nothing special. I won't ever understand those who say it's one of the best performances of the year.
Meryl Streep freaking rocks this movie though, which is excellent for summer entertainment but then it feels the need to get all moral. Drat. B
1. She is funny and she's clearly having fun.
2. She plays it very straight, which works wonders.
3. She has several perfect line deliveries.
...that's it. THAT IS IT, PEOPLE. Yes, #1 and 3 count for a lot, but merely having fun on screen does not entitle one to an Oscar (or whatever your personal awards may be called; in case you didn't pick up on it, mine are the Pulpys). Blunt does the best job she can, but her part is, let's face it, the typical bitchy co-worker, and no, despite what the rest of the blogsphere seems to think, she doesn't elevate it much beyond that. This already puts her at a disadvantage to parts that were actually, you know, written, such as Hudson's, Kirshner's, Kikuchi's, Epps', Somerville's... And no, she doesn't steal scenes from Meryl Streep (she certainly steals them from Anne Hathaway, who is pathetic as usual in the movie...more on her later). In conclusion: a fun performance, but nothing special. I won't ever understand those who say it's one of the best performances of the year.
Meryl Streep freaking rocks this movie though, which is excellent for summer entertainment but then it feels the need to get all moral. Drat. B
Friday, January 12, 2007
rating the overrated
and in regards to my posting: when it rains, it pours, i guess.
1. elizabeth (1998 pulpy winner: best actress, drama)
2. the good german (this should be the movie she's getting hype for...)
3. oscar and lucinda
4. coffee and cigarettes (2004 pulpy nominee: best supporting actress, musical/comedy)
5. the aviator (2004 pulpy nominee: best supporting actress, drama)
6. heaven
7. veronica guerin
8. the talented mr. ripley
9. notes on a scandal
10. the life aquatic with steve zissou
11. bandits
12. lord of the rings series
13. babel
14. the shipping news
the problem i have with her is that every performance on this list after the talented mr. ripley is merely good (her performance in the shipping news is pretty bad though), and only her performance in elizabeth is incredible - certainly not a bad filmography to be sure, but she is totally undeserving of the "best contemporary actress" accolades she recieves. in 2004, her performance paled in comparison to those of linney, madisen, and portman (i felt she was better in coffee and cigarettes, as you can see, but even then the three of them were better). add a (very) undeserved oscar (it's not like they really owed her - yeah, yeah, she deserved it for elizabeth, but look at kate winslet.) and extreme overexposure in parts that don't really work for her (notes on a scandal), and it = me not liking cate blanchett very much.
she's really great in the good german though i must say.
hey, where's my FYC campaign?
update quite a few months later (4/3): wow, was I on crack with that performance list??? Yeah Elizabeth is her best work, but the others should be in...a much different order, to say the least.
Monday, January 08, 2007
or maybe i'm just bored
something fun to do: watch everyone on blogs try to out-hate Crash. It's actually hysterical. One thing nobody accuses it of being is boring. I can't say the same for Brokeback Mountain...
my favorite overreactions (these are not exact quotes, but they're damn close):
3. "Crash was made by Satan to promote racism." -some blog
2. "Crash is a disgusting venereal-disease-infected piece of genitalia, dripping itself all over cinemas everywhere." -some blog (was this really necessary?)
1. this one needs backstory. On some IMDb board, someone asked for everyone's choice for worst movie ever. Someone said Crash and someone else said something like "Really? Crash as the worst film ever? I don't like it, but..." And the original respondee said:
"I only see movies that look good. I avoid what I know will be disasters. Crash looked good and then it was horrible. So, not only is Crash the worst movie ever made, it is the only bad movie I have ever seen in my life." This is one of my favorite idiotic IMDb quotes, which says a lot, because there are so many.
Coming really soon I promise: my 2006 awards and some retrospective awards.
my favorite overreactions (these are not exact quotes, but they're damn close):
3. "Crash was made by Satan to promote racism." -some blog
2. "Crash is a disgusting venereal-disease-infected piece of genitalia, dripping itself all over cinemas everywhere." -some blog (was this really necessary?)
1. this one needs backstory. On some IMDb board, someone asked for everyone's choice for worst movie ever. Someone said Crash and someone else said something like "Really? Crash as the worst film ever? I don't like it, but..." And the original respondee said:
"I only see movies that look good. I avoid what I know will be disasters. Crash looked good and then it was horrible. So, not only is Crash the worst movie ever made, it is the only bad movie I have ever seen in my life." This is one of my favorite idiotic IMDb quotes, which says a lot, because there are so many.
Coming really soon I promise: my 2006 awards and some retrospective awards.
thoughts on the BAFTA longlist
Okay, so the BAFTA longlist came out a while ago, and here are my scattered thoughts on it. Yay. Some of these nominations are great; some are all fucked up. Also, I suck at predicting nominees...deal with it.
Best Picture
Babel, Bobby, Casino Royale, Children of Men, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, Flags of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen, United 93, Volver
The best 5 nominees - The Departed, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, Volver, Casino Royale
The likely nominees - The Queen, The Departed, The History Boys, Babel, Children of Men
WTF? - Bobby (it must have more support than everyone thinks), Flags of Our Fathers (Letters from Two Jima is fanfreakingtastic but not nominated, this is...eh), Notes on a Scandal (mediocre movie), no Dreamgirls WTF!!!
Best Director
Apocalypto, Babel, Bobby, Casino Royale, Children of Men, The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen, United 93, Volver
The Best 5 nominees - Scorsese (Departed), Cuaron (Children of Men), Greengrass (United 93), del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), Almodovar (Volver) - Eastwood for Two Jima was actually better than him but w/e
The likely nominees - The Departed, Children of Men, The Queen, United 93, Babel
WTF? - Dear Bill Condon, stop being snubbed. Love, me. A lot of these movies don't have the best direction, either...or at least, not my choices for best direction. (ew, Mel Gibson.)
Best Actor
Cillian Murphy - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Clive Owen - Children of Men
Daniel Craig - Casino Royale
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Greg Kinnear - Little Miss Sunshine
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
Matt Damon - The Departed
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Richard Griffiths - The History Boys
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Timothy Spall - Pierrepoint
Toby Jones - Infamous
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
The Best 5 nominees - Owen, DiCaprio (Departed!!!), Whittaker, Cohen, Damon
The likely nominees - DiCaprio (Departed), Craig, Smith, Whittaker, O'Toole
WTF? - Depp EWWW. Griffiths (understandable though). Spall (haven't even heard of that movie). Jones.
Best Actress
Annette Bening - Running with Scissors
Beyonce Knowles - Dreamgirls
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Emma Thompson - Stranger than Fiction
Eva Green - Casino Royale
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Ivana Baquero - Pan's Labyrinth
Jodie Whittaker - Venus
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Juliette Binoche - Breaking And Entering
Kate Winslet - Little Children
Kirsten Dunst - Marie Antoinette
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Renee Zellweger - Miss Potter
The best 5 nominees - Streep, Dench, Winslet, Cruz, Mirren
The likely nominees - uh...see above! YAY!
WTF? - weird placement here. BAFTA, thank you for nominating Cate Blanchett where she belongs...but unfortunately, you'll fuck this up later with Anne Hathaway and the other weird placements here (Thompson, Green, Whittaker). It's nice to see some great performances that haven't gotten attention here, though (Thompson, Binoche, Dunst).
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Bill Nighy - Notes On A Scandal
Brad Pitt - Babel
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Gael Garcia Bernal - Babel
Jack Nicholson - The Departed
James McAvoy - The Last King of Scotland
Leslie Phillips - Venus
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed
Michael Caine - Children of Men
Michael Sheen - The Queen
Stanley Tucci - The Devil Wears Prada
Steve Carell - Little Miss Sunshine
The Best 5 nominees - Nicholson, Murphy, Affleck, Caine, Carell
The likely nominees - Nighy, Murphy, Nicholson, McAvoy, Sheen
WTF? - I really like Little Miss Sunshine but I still don't understand Arkin's hype. Bernal. MCAVOY IS A LEAD!!!, Tucci. It's nice to see Caine.
Best Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Anne Hathaway - The Devil Wears Prada
Cate Blanchett - Babel
Diane Lane - Hollywoodland
Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Emily Watson - Miss Potter
Frances de la Tour - The History Boys
Helen McCrory - The Queen
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Judi Dench - Casino Royale
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
Sharon Stone - Bobby
Sylvia Syms - The Queen
Toni Collette - Little Miss Sunshine
The Best 5 nominees - Hudson, Kikuchi, Collette, Barazza, Breslin (I'm boring)
Likely 5 - Hudson, Kikuchi, Barazza, Breslin, Blunt
WTF? - Emily Blunt's extreme supporters still make me scratch my head. Good, yes, but the most overrated performance of the year. And...WTF is Anne Hathaway doing in Supporting?!?!?!? She's clearly lead (oh, and terrible). That said, this is the most WTF?y category of all. Blanchett (sucked in Babel). Lane (great, but hasn't had any attention at all). Watson. De la Tour. McCrory, Syms (goddamn you, The Queen). Dench. You get it.
Overall? Good job, BAFTA. Except on that Anne Hathaway thing.
Best Picture
Babel, Bobby, Casino Royale, Children of Men, The Departed, The Devil Wears Prada, Flags of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen, United 93, Volver
The best 5 nominees - The Departed, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, Volver, Casino Royale
The likely nominees - The Queen, The Departed, The History Boys, Babel, Children of Men
WTF? - Bobby (it must have more support than everyone thinks), Flags of Our Fathers (Letters from Two Jima is fanfreakingtastic but not nominated, this is...eh), Notes on a Scandal (mediocre movie), no Dreamgirls WTF!!!
Best Director
Apocalypto, Babel, Bobby, Casino Royale, Children of Men, The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, The History Boys, Last King of Scotland, Little Miss Sunshine, Notes on a Scandal, Pan's Labyrinth, The Queen, United 93, Volver
The Best 5 nominees - Scorsese (Departed), Cuaron (Children of Men), Greengrass (United 93), del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), Almodovar (Volver) - Eastwood for Two Jima was actually better than him but w/e
The likely nominees - The Departed, Children of Men, The Queen, United 93, Babel
WTF? - Dear Bill Condon, stop being snubbed. Love, me. A lot of these movies don't have the best direction, either...or at least, not my choices for best direction. (ew, Mel Gibson.)
Best Actor
Cillian Murphy - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Clive Owen - Children of Men
Daniel Craig - Casino Royale
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland
Greg Kinnear - Little Miss Sunshine
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
Matt Damon - The Departed
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Richard Griffiths - The History Boys
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat
Timothy Spall - Pierrepoint
Toby Jones - Infamous
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
The Best 5 nominees - Owen, DiCaprio (Departed!!!), Whittaker, Cohen, Damon
The likely nominees - DiCaprio (Departed), Craig, Smith, Whittaker, O'Toole
WTF? - Depp EWWW. Griffiths (understandable though). Spall (haven't even heard of that movie). Jones.
Best Actress
Annette Bening - Running with Scissors
Beyonce Knowles - Dreamgirls
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Emma Thompson - Stranger than Fiction
Eva Green - Casino Royale
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Ivana Baquero - Pan's Labyrinth
Jodie Whittaker - Venus
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
Juliette Binoche - Breaking And Entering
Kate Winslet - Little Children
Kirsten Dunst - Marie Antoinette
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Penelope Cruz - Volver
Renee Zellweger - Miss Potter
The best 5 nominees - Streep, Dench, Winslet, Cruz, Mirren
The likely nominees - uh...see above! YAY!
WTF? - weird placement here. BAFTA, thank you for nominating Cate Blanchett where she belongs...but unfortunately, you'll fuck this up later with Anne Hathaway and the other weird placements here (Thompson, Green, Whittaker). It's nice to see some great performances that haven't gotten attention here, though (Thompson, Binoche, Dunst).
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Bill Nighy - Notes On A Scandal
Brad Pitt - Babel
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Gael Garcia Bernal - Babel
Jack Nicholson - The Departed
James McAvoy - The Last King of Scotland
Leslie Phillips - Venus
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed
Michael Caine - Children of Men
Michael Sheen - The Queen
Stanley Tucci - The Devil Wears Prada
Steve Carell - Little Miss Sunshine
The Best 5 nominees - Nicholson, Murphy, Affleck, Caine, Carell
The likely nominees - Nighy, Murphy, Nicholson, McAvoy, Sheen
WTF? - I really like Little Miss Sunshine but I still don't understand Arkin's hype. Bernal. MCAVOY IS A LEAD!!!, Tucci. It's nice to see Caine.
Best Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Adriana Barraza - Babel
Anne Hathaway - The Devil Wears Prada
Cate Blanchett - Babel
Diane Lane - Hollywoodland
Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Emily Watson - Miss Potter
Frances de la Tour - The History Boys
Helen McCrory - The Queen
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Judi Dench - Casino Royale
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel
Sharon Stone - Bobby
Sylvia Syms - The Queen
Toni Collette - Little Miss Sunshine
The Best 5 nominees - Hudson, Kikuchi, Collette, Barazza, Breslin (I'm boring)
Likely 5 - Hudson, Kikuchi, Barazza, Breslin, Blunt
WTF? - Emily Blunt's extreme supporters still make me scratch my head. Good, yes, but the most overrated performance of the year. And...WTF is Anne Hathaway doing in Supporting?!?!?!? She's clearly lead (oh, and terrible). That said, this is the most WTF?y category of all. Blanchett (sucked in Babel). Lane (great, but hasn't had any attention at all). Watson. De la Tour. McCrory, Syms (goddamn you, The Queen). Dench. You get it.
Overall? Good job, BAFTA. Except on that Anne Hathaway thing.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
life-affirming masterpiece of the day
a man looks at a photo.
the camera pulls away.
gunshot. blood splatter.
a boy looks at the dead man. he's smiling.
try as i may i cannot do justice to american beauty. unlike, um, everyone else that keeps a blog on the internet, i think it's easily one of the best movies of the '90s and...ever. it's certainly a favorite. that image above is what i think of when i think cinema, honestly. it is a brilliant film. "look closer."
the camera pulls away.
gunshot. blood splatter.
a boy looks at the dead man. he's smiling.
try as i may i cannot do justice to american beauty. unlike, um, everyone else that keeps a blog on the internet, i think it's easily one of the best movies of the '90s and...ever. it's certainly a favorite. that image above is what i think of when i think cinema, honestly. it is a brilliant film. "look closer."
Friday, January 05, 2007
ho-ly shit.
i think i just died a little. one of the most emotionally exhausting films (experiences?) of my life, but genius in all aspects. A
in other news, don't believe the inland empire hype. it's all, predictably, lynch fans. lynch is by no means a bad director (i loooove blue velvet, the elephant man, and the straight story, and many of his other films have their moments too - mulholland dr. and wild at heart most notably), but this is just...ugh. his fans are (ludicrously) hyping it, though, because i think of all the directors working today, he is the one that could, more than likely, film a piece of shit and get incessantly praised for it. dern is amazing but cannot in any way shape or form save the film (though actually, she's stopping me from giving it an F), which plays like self-parody. awful, awful self-parody. sorry, dave. D
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Globes?
I can never decide whether I like the Globes or not. On one hand, they really do seem to vote what they like. On the other hand, they're basically starfuckers and will nominate those they love for either terrible work or work that is so obscure nobody else recognizes it (Kidman, Zellwegger, Johansson, Depp) rather than those who deserve it. Aaaanyway.
Best Picture - Drama
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen
Will win: The Departed
Should win: The Departed
Ew: Nothing, this lineup is pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of Babel or Bobby but neither was terrible.
WTF?: Bobby. It seemed so dead, but again, the starfucking Globes probably nominated it just to get all those celebrities there. Strange, though, considering they didn't nominate Crash last year.
Best Picture - Musical/Comedy
Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You For Smoking
Will win: Dreamgirls
Should win: ...I haven't seen Dreamgirls yet but I'm sure it deserves it. For now, let's go with Prada (it's between that and Sunshine, and though I gave them both the same grade, a B+, I like Prada a little bit more, probably because I was expecting a lot less from it. On the other hand, Sunshine would make the love of my life happy [don't ask]. Hmm)
Ew: None. This lineup's pretty good.
WTF?: I can't complain. But I think Dreamgirls has far less support than many think :(
Best Actor - Drama
DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
DiCaprio, The Departed
O'Toole, Venus
Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Will win: Ooh...tricky. For here, I'll go with Whitaker. The Globes don't feel the need to reward him for past snubs. The Oscars, on the other hand...
Should win: I've only seen Departed DiCaprio and Whitaker so far, and I'll go for DiCaprio. Both are fantastic, though.
Ew: None. Happyness is apparently getting lambasted by critics but Smith generally manages to shine... but I'll have to see.
WTF?: No Ryan Gosling. Matt Damon got snubbed for both The Departed (where he was almost as good as Leo but has a much, much, much less flashy part so he's getting way less attention) and The Good Shepherd (haven't seen it).
Best Actress - Drama
Cruz, Volver
Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby
Mirren, The Queen
Winslet, Little Children
Will win: Mirren, Mirren, Mirren.
Should win: Uhh...Winslet.
Ew: None. I haven't seen Notes on a Scandal but I'll trust what everyone's saying about Judi Dench (namely, that she's amazing). This lineup is actually flawless and would probably be my very own in this category (maybe Li over Gyllenhaal).
WTF?: Nothing, really, except Mol over Gyllenhaal. I'd think she had more of a chance.
Best Actor - Musical/Comedy
Cohen, Borat
Depp, Pirates 2
Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking
Ejiofor, Kinky Boots
Ferrell, Stranger than Fiction
Will win: Cohen
Should win: Cohen, Ferrell and Eckhart were good too (I haven't seen Ejiofor but looking at his past work, he was probably good. The man's an acting genius)
Ew: JOHNNY DEPP. Ugh! If he gets an Oscar nomination...
WTF?: Ejiofor. Where did that come from? Depp is pretty WTF-y too.
Best Actress - Musical/Comedy
Bening, Running with Scissors
Collette, Little Miss Sunshine
Knowles (...Beyonce.), Dreamgirls
Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Zellweger, Miss Potter
Will win: Streep
Should win: Streep!
Ew: Bening...I loved her in American Beauty and then I realized that's really the only way she ever acts in films and now I kind of hate her. She was wildly uneven in Running with Scissors and wasn't anywhere near the best performance in the film (that'd be the ridiculously underappreciated Cross, thanks). I haven't seen Miss Potter but I've heard Renee is comically bad in it. I actually loved her in Cold Mountain (don't kill me) but she was just...meh in Bridget 2, and they nominated her for that, so yeah...
WTF?: Collette. She's great in everything (including Sunshine), but let's face it, Breslin was better. Most people weren't picking Zellweger or Bening, either (I thought Zellweger would get in, but not Bening...but that might have been wishful thinking). I would have absolutely loved to see O'Hara here, or even Dunst or Johansson (was I the only one that liked her in Scoop? And the Globes did nominate her for Bobby Long...).
Best Supporting Actor
Affleck, Hollywoodland
Murphy, Dreamgirls
Nicholson, The Departed
Pitt, Babel
Wahlberg, The Departed
Will win: Uh, probably Nicholson...but if Pitt wins this, he can easily ride it all the way to Oscar, just like Clooney last year.
Should win: Nicholson. So-o-o-o friggin' nuts in The Departed and I love it. These are great nominees though (I haven't seen Murphy).
Ew: None. Like I said, it's a great lineup. I know a lot of people don't like Affleck but really, the criticism toward him seems kinda...petty (like the criticism toward Little Miss Sunshine, which is actually really mean-spirited).
WTF?: None. It's a typical Globes starfuckery lineup. It's good though, so yeah.
Best Supporting Actress
Barazza, Babel
Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
Hudson, Dreamgirls
Kikuchi, Babel
Will win: Hudson.
Should win: Uh, I haven't seen Dreamgirls, but I'm sure the answer to this should be Hudson... but I can only go with what I've seen. Kikuchi.
Ew: I've heard Blanchett is not at all right for the part in Notes on a Scandal and I generally don't like her, so... and Blunt. I like her in this movie, but not as much as many (a lot thought she was better than Streep?! Come onnnnn...), and there could have been better choices here. Then again, not that many have been taking traction, so meh.
WTF: Poor Mia Kirshner has not and will not get any awards for the best female supporting performance this year (so far...still need to see Hudson among others) in The Black Dahlia.
Best Director
Eastwood, Flags of Our Fathers
Eastwood, Letters from Two Jima
Frears, The Queen
Iñárritu, Babel
Scorsese, The Departed
Will win: Scorsese (please, please, please...)
Should win: Scorsese
Ew: WHERE. IS. CONDON?!?!?!?! And Greengrass. Eastwood 2x? The Queen is a good movie but Frears' direction there is kinda...overrated? It doesn't have that stamp of distinction like other, more flawed movies here, do (Babel).
WTF: No Condon. :( Major, major snub.
Best Screenplay
Babel
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
Will win: Uh...this is the hardest category to call. Let's go with... The Queen?
Should win: No contest, The Departed
Ew: This category seems pretty good.
WTF: Uh...no Little Miss Sunshine I guess.
And I don't really want to do the rest except to say that Best Foreign Language Film might be the most exciting race of the night (all five nominees have quite a good chance of winning), and Helen Mirren is winning two Golden Globes.
The longest post yet? I think so!
Best Picture - Drama
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen
Will win: The Departed
Should win: The Departed
Ew: Nothing, this lineup is pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of Babel or Bobby but neither was terrible.
WTF?: Bobby. It seemed so dead, but again, the starfucking Globes probably nominated it just to get all those celebrities there. Strange, though, considering they didn't nominate Crash last year.
Best Picture - Musical/Comedy
Borat
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You For Smoking
Will win: Dreamgirls
Should win: ...I haven't seen Dreamgirls yet but I'm sure it deserves it. For now, let's go with Prada (it's between that and Sunshine, and though I gave them both the same grade, a B+, I like Prada a little bit more, probably because I was expecting a lot less from it. On the other hand, Sunshine would make the love of my life happy [don't ask]. Hmm)
Ew: None. This lineup's pretty good.
WTF?: I can't complain. But I think Dreamgirls has far less support than many think :(
Best Actor - Drama
DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
DiCaprio, The Departed
O'Toole, Venus
Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Will win: Ooh...tricky. For here, I'll go with Whitaker. The Globes don't feel the need to reward him for past snubs. The Oscars, on the other hand...
Should win: I've only seen Departed DiCaprio and Whitaker so far, and I'll go for DiCaprio. Both are fantastic, though.
Ew: None. Happyness is apparently getting lambasted by critics but Smith generally manages to shine... but I'll have to see.
WTF?: No Ryan Gosling. Matt Damon got snubbed for both The Departed (where he was almost as good as Leo but has a much, much, much less flashy part so he's getting way less attention) and The Good Shepherd (haven't seen it).
Best Actress - Drama
Cruz, Volver
Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby
Mirren, The Queen
Winslet, Little Children
Will win: Mirren, Mirren, Mirren.
Should win: Uhh...Winslet.
Ew: None. I haven't seen Notes on a Scandal but I'll trust what everyone's saying about Judi Dench (namely, that she's amazing). This lineup is actually flawless and would probably be my very own in this category (maybe Li over Gyllenhaal).
WTF?: Nothing, really, except Mol over Gyllenhaal. I'd think she had more of a chance.
Best Actor - Musical/Comedy
Cohen, Borat
Depp, Pirates 2
Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking
Ejiofor, Kinky Boots
Ferrell, Stranger than Fiction
Will win: Cohen
Should win: Cohen, Ferrell and Eckhart were good too (I haven't seen Ejiofor but looking at his past work, he was probably good. The man's an acting genius)
Ew: JOHNNY DEPP. Ugh! If he gets an Oscar nomination...
WTF?: Ejiofor. Where did that come from? Depp is pretty WTF-y too.
Best Actress - Musical/Comedy
Bening, Running with Scissors
Collette, Little Miss Sunshine
Knowles (...Beyonce.), Dreamgirls
Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Zellweger, Miss Potter
Will win: Streep
Should win: Streep!
Ew: Bening...I loved her in American Beauty and then I realized that's really the only way she ever acts in films and now I kind of hate her. She was wildly uneven in Running with Scissors and wasn't anywhere near the best performance in the film (that'd be the ridiculously underappreciated Cross, thanks). I haven't seen Miss Potter but I've heard Renee is comically bad in it. I actually loved her in Cold Mountain (don't kill me) but she was just...meh in Bridget 2, and they nominated her for that, so yeah...
WTF?: Collette. She's great in everything (including Sunshine), but let's face it, Breslin was better. Most people weren't picking Zellweger or Bening, either (I thought Zellweger would get in, but not Bening...but that might have been wishful thinking). I would have absolutely loved to see O'Hara here, or even Dunst or Johansson (was I the only one that liked her in Scoop? And the Globes did nominate her for Bobby Long...).
Best Supporting Actor
Affleck, Hollywoodland
Murphy, Dreamgirls
Nicholson, The Departed
Pitt, Babel
Wahlberg, The Departed
Will win: Uh, probably Nicholson...but if Pitt wins this, he can easily ride it all the way to Oscar, just like Clooney last year.
Should win: Nicholson. So-o-o-o friggin' nuts in The Departed and I love it. These are great nominees though (I haven't seen Murphy).
Ew: None. Like I said, it's a great lineup. I know a lot of people don't like Affleck but really, the criticism toward him seems kinda...petty (like the criticism toward Little Miss Sunshine, which is actually really mean-spirited).
WTF?: None. It's a typical Globes starfuckery lineup. It's good though, so yeah.
Best Supporting Actress
Barazza, Babel
Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada
Hudson, Dreamgirls
Kikuchi, Babel
Will win: Hudson.
Should win: Uh, I haven't seen Dreamgirls, but I'm sure the answer to this should be Hudson... but I can only go with what I've seen. Kikuchi.
Ew: I've heard Blanchett is not at all right for the part in Notes on a Scandal and I generally don't like her, so... and Blunt. I like her in this movie, but not as much as many (a lot thought she was better than Streep?! Come onnnnn...), and there could have been better choices here. Then again, not that many have been taking traction, so meh.
WTF: Poor Mia Kirshner has not and will not get any awards for the best female supporting performance this year (so far...still need to see Hudson among others) in The Black Dahlia.
Best Director
Eastwood, Flags of Our Fathers
Eastwood, Letters from Two Jima
Frears, The Queen
Iñárritu, Babel
Scorsese, The Departed
Will win: Scorsese (please, please, please...)
Should win: Scorsese
Ew: WHERE. IS. CONDON?!?!?!?! And Greengrass. Eastwood 2x? The Queen is a good movie but Frears' direction there is kinda...overrated? It doesn't have that stamp of distinction like other, more flawed movies here, do (Babel).
WTF: No Condon. :( Major, major snub.
Best Screenplay
Babel
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
Will win: Uh...this is the hardest category to call. Let's go with... The Queen?
Should win: No contest, The Departed
Ew: This category seems pretty good.
WTF: Uh...no Little Miss Sunshine I guess.
And I don't really want to do the rest except to say that Best Foreign Language Film might be the most exciting race of the night (all five nominees have quite a good chance of winning), and Helen Mirren is winning two Golden Globes.
The longest post yet? I think so!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
so, critics' awards!
...go anyone that wasn't Helen Mirren! Love her I do (she's currently #2 in my Best Actress lineup), but...seriously. This year was just great actress-wise and it'd be fantastic to see the likes of Winslet, Dench, Streep, Li, Cruz, Gyllenhaal, Mol, Dern, O'Hara (though it looks like she's going supporting?) etc... mentioned.
Major update December 15ish when all my finals are done, AND THE GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES ARE ANNOUNCED!
Major update December 15ish when all my finals are done, AND THE GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES ARE ANNOUNCED!
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