My musings on the Oscar nods

First of all, why the hell was The Dark Knight not nominated for best motion picture? WHY? Seriously, you can not argue that a) the dialogue is TDK is not as good, nay, better than Frost/Nixon b) the special effects and acting is not 1000 times better and more concise than all of the other nominees put together and c) TDK  in story, direction, production, editing and execution is not a more worthy nominee than Frost/Nixon, The Reader and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I understand the Academy has a tendency to neglect the obvious brilliance of films in the action adventure category but how can they honestly justify not including TDK (as a nominee at the very least)? It is a masterpiece, pure and simple. The worlds most respected and experienced film critics have all agreed on this point so why the mongoloids at the Academy couldn't take their dick out of their hands and acknowledge the same fact is beyond me. For imagery purposes only, if there was a movie heavyweight title The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would be Woody Allen and TDK would be Muhammad Ali and, naturally, it would beat that bitch into a coma. Sigh. Moving on from my original frustration, I'm quite content with the rest of the nominees in the other categories. Particularly Heath Ledger and Robert Downey Jr for best supporting actor because obviously they were both amazing. I'm also particularly happy about Penelope Cruz's nomination for best supporting actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona as her performance was UNREAL and award worthy. 

Above: Aussie lass Catherine Martin has been nominated for the best costume design Oscar for her work on Australia

I'm also happy Australia wasn't over looked like it was at the Golden Globes and got the nomination it deserved. TDK and In Bruges are some of my other favourite nominees. However, the real surprise and underdog has to be British rapper M.I.A's Oscar nomination with A.R Raham for best song written for a motion picture for `O Saya' which they wrote and produced for Slumdog Millionaire. Wow, its been a big year for M.I.A (pictured below) whose song `Paper Planes' got an awesome boost of publicity when it was used as the theme song for Pineapple Express which in turn helped put the song at #5 on the Billboard charts even though it was released six months earlier. `Paper Planes' was nominated for a Grammy for single of the year, M.I.A had a baby with her long time boyfriend and now she has been nominated for an Oscar. Wow. I certainly hope they take it out especially because rap songs (an alternative rap song at that) rarely get nominated, let alone win in this category. 

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And the junior Oscar goes to . . . .

The Golden Globes are all but over and here's a complete list of the winners:

• Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
• Best Original Song: Bruce Springsteen, “The Wrestler”
• Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, “John Adams”
• Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Dern, “Recount”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama: Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”
• Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama: Anna Paquin, “True Blood”
• Outstanding Animated Feature: “WALL-E”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
• Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: “John Adams”
• Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
• Best Foreign Language Film: “Waltz With Bashir”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Laura Linney, “John Adams”
• Best Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Paul Giamatti, “John Adams”
• Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy: “30 Rock”
• Best Original Score, A.R. Rahman: “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy: Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
• Cecil B. DeMille Award: Steven Spielberg
• Best Director - Motion Picture: Danny Boyle “Slumdog Millionaire”
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: Colin Farrell, “In Bruges”
• Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -Drama: Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”
• Best Television Series - Drama: “Mad Men”
• Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
• Best Motion Picture - Drama: “Slumdog Millionaire”

Thoughts? Feelings? Deepest, darkest secrets? The last part was a joke but I'm curious to know what everyone thought of the results. It was definitely a night for the underdog and suprisingly I think majority of the awards went to the right people, for once! It's good to see the Golden Globes give two awards to Kate Winslet because although she definitely deserved them, the judging panels tend to steer away from awarding the same actor twice. I must admit I'm dissapointed James Franco didn't win for Pineapple Express but Colin Farrell's performance was definitely better and I'm SO SO SO stoked he got the globe for it! And kudos to Anna Paquin, now she has another Globe to go with the others (and her Oscar) for her role in the vampire tv series True Blood, based on the cult Sookie Stockhouse novels. Get a Woody! It's nice to see what I thought was Woody Allen's return to form Vicky Cristina Barcelona getting the chops it sincerely deserves. Good on ya Woody and lets keep the good work up. But, the night was all about HEATH LEDGER and director Chris Nolan accepted the award for best supporting actor on his behalf. Lets hope this winning momentum carries through to the Oscars where Heath SHOULD win best supporting actor.

In conclusion, I don't think I can ever remember being so satisfied with the results of an awards ceremony. No doubt, I wanted Milk to pick up a few awards however Slumdog Millionaire is apparently brilliant and a worthy winner. The official Oscar nominations are being released on Tuesday, January 20 and I think it's about time The Dark Knight gets nominated for best motion picture. Just because it's an action film and not an emotional drama, that doesn't make its brilliance any less warranted. Come on Academy, give it the nod it clearly deserves.

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Advance Pacific Fair!

There must be something in the water (beside fluoride) because Gold Coast cinemas are being kind of awesome at the moment. The term `advance screening' used to be as commonly used on the GC as the phrase 'natural beauty' but in the past few months the local Arts Centre has been showing a small selection of films at least a fortnight before their wider release date. In my books that equals a high five and playful punch on the arm to the ol' sport making those decisions. Sometimes if you're lucky, Greater Union might have an un-advertised advanced screening a few days before the said movie is released on a national scale but the Arts Centre has been showing movies on a three day run at least a fortnight before the national release date. Maybe this is to gauge how popular the film is going to be amongst local audiences. Whatever the reason, this is how I got to catch Vicky Cristina Barcelona 10 days before it was released everywhere else which made me feel just a little bit special. Turns out Pacific Fair Greater Union cinemas are now doing the same thing and screening movies on a three day run a week before their national release. These movies obviously aren't blockbusters but they are DEFINITELY movies I've been dying to see for a long time. Using my creepy-blogger investigative skills I found out Pacific Fair (also commonly referred to as Pac Fair by those under the age of 15) has been added to a list of around 12 Greater Union cinemas across the country who regularly have advance screenings of minor releases to estimate how many sittings they will need when the film opens nationally in the coming week/s.  Can I get a woot whoop! (You go "woot whoop!"). Thanks. 

So with the combined powers of Pacific Fair and the Gold Coast Arts Centre's advance screenings I will be able to review severl Movie Mazzupial must-sees within the next two days, namely The Wrestler.

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