Little Golden Guy

I have waxed poetic on the Academy Awards in my other blog and while that was almost a full year ago, I think everyone gets the point. Generally speaking I don't see many of the films, but I have a keen interest in the pomp and ceremony of the whole thing. Also, I tend to be quite okay @ predicting the winners [except for last year when I got just over 50% accuracy]. So, I was up today to listen to the reveal of the nominees, but then I couldn't get on to the live stream thing so I gave up and waited until they were released in plain old text form. And today, for your reading pleasure, I'm going to offer some commentary on the so-called "main" awards. These are not predictions - that will come in the week leading up to the awards - and I will do every category, not just the ones that most people care about. Here we go:

Leading Actor
Why? Just why is Brad Pitt nominated? And I say this as someone who actually vaguely likes the dude. Not because of his alleged sexiness or star-ness, but I think he has good comedic timing and a knack for picking the right projects [or that's probably his agent]. But, just say no to him winning this [because makeup and visual effects is not acting]. It's nice to see Milk/Sean Penn recognized as it was rumoured that it would be shut out due to "omg - teh gay!". However, it's very clearly all about Mickey Rourke - yeah!

Supporting Actor
Heathus has risen again! Really no surprise @ all [and won't be a surprise when he wins either] - but I'm finding the rest of the dialogue about The Dark Knight to be rather...stupid. Critics and other assorted dumbasses are going on about how it was Heathus that elevated the entire film and that it would have been a standard blockbuster popcorn summer flick if it weren't for him. That's simply not true. And honestly, I appreciated the complexity of Harvey Dent as much as [if not more] than the Joker [but he was still great]. Also, nice to see RDJ get a nomination [even though I'm still kinda upset with him for being a bit of a douche]. Just last night I had a dream that RDJ was trying to put the moves on me, so I'm going to take this as a shout out.

Leading Actress
Again, as with Brad - just say no to Angelina. I've come a long way with her actually - I used to firmly detest her and I don't anymore. I appreciate all of her good works and what not, but now she just seems so dull. I miss crazy Angelina. Unfortunately niether Angelina can act, so this nomination is mystifying [except not - clearing the Academy is just interested in ratings]. I've liked Anne Hathaway since Brokeback Mountain [she deserved a nomination for that actually] and no one else does...but she gives great late night interview so good for her [oh yeah and Kate Winslet can keep waiting].

Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz is awesome and hot and everything, but I refuse to watch a Woody Allen film so I dunno if this nomination is legit. She was amazing in Volver...and also that amazing buddy/crime flick she did with Salma Hayek. And Marisa Tomei makes her triumphant return - it would almost be cool to see her win one for real this time. Her other win was pretty legendary.

Best Picture
Okay - I officially don't get why Benjamin Button got like...a million nominations. It got lukewarm reviews and a mediocre commercial reception. I just can't address the whole Best Picture thing when the best picture didn't even get a nomination. I only want to see one of these films - Frost/Nixon [and maybe Milk, but I'm very familiar with that story so less so] and I don't think that one will win. I just...I don't get the fuddy-duddy-ness of the Academy. Snubbing The Dark Knight [and Christopher Nolan for Best Director] just shows how completely out of touch they are with the film industry. You want ratings? Nominate the right films. It was beyond commercially successful and the critics loved it. Yes, it's a superhero action film. Who cares? It has reinvented how we will think of the genre and will have lasting effects on the industy. You stupid, stupid idiots. And yet, of course I'm going to watch. I suck the most of all.

Oh, and I would also comment on Animated Feature, but I refuse to even comment on a category that includes Bolt. I love that they have this category [and all the other weirdo categories], but most times it nominates the dumbest and most LoCoDe bullcrap aimed firmly @ kids. And animation can be so much more than that. So there.