2008 Oscar Comments

It was a disappointing year for me, Oscar predictions wise, as I only got 15 of the 24 categories right. Following Entertainment Weekly's picks exactly would have also resulted in 15 correct predictions, and following the consensus picks from AwardsDaily's prediction chart would have gotten 16 correct. The one major variation from the consensus picks that I got right was Marion Cotillard for "La Vie En Rose." See my comments below for why I ended up choosing her. Unfortunately, at the last minute I decided to predict a great night for "No Country for Old Men," which led me to go against the consensus picks for Cinematography and Editing. Had I stayed with the consensus picks, I would have ended up at 17 correct, which would have been enough to share the win at Mike Ryan's Oscar party. On to my thoughts on the major categories!

Best Picture
Winner: No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood

Since I listed "No Country for Old Men" as my top movie of 2007, it's no surprise I was happy to see the Coen's win. The buzz was that "There Will Be Blood" was the only movie with a shot to top "No Country." I would have been seriously pissed if "There Will Be Blood" had won.

Best Actor
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)
Viggo Mortenson (Eastern Promises)

As I mentioned in my review of "There Will Be Blood," I never like performances like Daniel Day-Lewis's as much as Oscar voters. I would have preferred that George Clooney won. I never saw "In the Valley of Elah."

Best Actress
Winner: Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Laura Linney (The Savages)
Ellen Page (Juno)

I actually only saw two of these performances (Cotillard and Page.) I feel confident in saying that Cotillard definitely deserved the win, though, because her performance was simply astounding. The range she showed playing Edith Piaf was amazing. She's delightful as a young Piaf (20), healthy, and full of hope. She's equally wonderful as Piaf, wracked by illness and alcoholism, looking far older than her 48 years. She shows us the full gamut of human emotions and experiences, ranging from joy, love, and hope to illness, despair, and grief. "La Vie En Rose" isn't like other recent biopics about famous musicians such as "Walk the Line" or "Ray" where you feel like you've only seen a snapshot of the person, and never really got to know them. Because of the depth, power, and passion of Cotillard's performance, you feel like you really know Piaf after "La Vie En Rose" closes. Her performance was simply one of the best I've seen in the last 5 or 10 years. I ended up predicting she would win the Oscar despite all the buzz being for Christie, because I felt that anyone who saw "La Vie En Rose" would definitely vote for her. It seemed like there was some noise being made about Cotillard as the awards approached, and I felt this would mean that enough voters would check out her performance to catapult her to an upset victory.

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

I didn't see Affleck's or Holbrook's performance, but it was no surprise or disappointment to me that Bardem's memorable turn as Anton Chigurh took home the statue.

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)
Ruby Dee (American Gangster)
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

This was the major category with the greatest uncertainty, I thought. I saw predictions of wins for all of the nominees other than Ronan. I didn't see Blanchett's performance in "I'm Not There." Of the other 4, I'm glad that Ruby Dee didn't win (and she was probably co-favorite with Blanchett amongst Oscar prognosticators.) It's not that I thought here performance was bad, it was simply way too short to deserve an Oscar in my mind. She's on screen for less than five minutes! I had a very slight preference for Ryan's performance over that of Swinton or Ronan.

Best Director
Winner: Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
Jason Reitman (Juno)
Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

I didn't see "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," but considering how good I thought "No Country" was, I'd be surprised if it changed my feeling that the Coen's clearly deserved their win.

Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

Of the three I saw ("Juno", "Michael Clayton", and "Ratatouille") I thought "Juno" was the deserving winner. I'd be curious to see what I think if I ever get around to seeing "Lars and the Real Girl," though. From the previews, I though the concept seemed really unique.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
There Will Be Blood

I didn't see "Away from Her" or "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." I'm not going to complain about any win for a movie as great as "No Country for Old Men," but I was also greatly impressed with the job that Christopher Hamilton did in adapting "Atonement." Ian McEwan's novel isn't one where a lot happens. Instead, it's the time you spend in the characters thoughts and impressions that make the novel enjoyable. This doesn't really sound like a recipe for a good movie, though. The movie manages to capture the essence of McEwan's novel without resorting to anything clunky like voice overs or narration to reveal the character's thoughts.