Official 2009 Oscar Discussion (1 Viewer)

[quachita]

I do think that is unfair and biased. Do you the Heath's death had an influence on that?

 

[Steve_Tk]

"The Academy Awards" are very pretentious, always will be.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Is it just me, or does Button feel like this years Gangs of New York? A ton of noms, but possibly going home empty handed.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I think his death is the only reason they overlooked their bias against superhero films. Despite the performance being perhaps the best of the year, he would have gotten snubbed and rewarded for it via a more conventional picture a year or two down the line.
Although with Johnny Depp's nom for Jack Sparrow a few years back and now Robert Downey Jr.'s nod, maybe things are changing for the better.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I really hope it is changing, because there are great performances coming out of other genres, not just mellow dramas and period pieces.

 

[Steve Christou]

Heath Ledger got his Oscar nomination exactly one year after his death, Jan 22 2008.

This is only the fifth time in Oscars history that all five Best Picture nominees also have a Best Director nomination.

More Oscar 2009 facts here -

Oscar nominations announced - Entertainment News, Web Exclusive, Media - Variety

 

[Brandon Conway]

My predictions:

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Rourke, The Wrestler
Actress: Winslet, The Reader
Supporting Actor: Ledger, The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Animated Feature: WALL*E
Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Screenplay: WALL*E
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Cinematography: The Reader (Deakins' 8th nom, so he'll finally win)
Costume Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Foreign Language Film: Waltz with Bashir
Makeup: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Score: WALL*E
Song: WALL*E
Animated Short: Presto
Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight
Visual Effects: The Dark Knight

(I have no opinion on the Live Action short or Documentary Short Film categories).

 

[Michael Elliott]

THE DARK KNIGHT might have been left out because people didn't feel it was one of the five best movies of the year. It didn't make my top 5 so is someone going to sit here and say I'm being bias or perhaps it honestly didn't make my top 5?

And yeah, Ledger's death did have something with it. That's probably why he'll end up winning. I just read over at the IMDB that "fans" are "demanding" that the Oscar broadcast take a special moment and talk about him but I'm sorry this is just downright silly. If anyone deserves to get special attention it's someone like Newman.

If Ledger hadn't been in a comic book movie I doubt there'd be all this outpouring of so-called sympathy. If you re-read the original thread when it happened most were worried about the movie being pulled and not about his actual death.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I was looking over the nominees at the Oscar main page, and I'm surprised that this is only Brad Pitts second nomination.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Yeah, that's downright silly. He was already included in last year's In Memorium.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

Yea I forgot about that, there is no need to talk about him.
There have been much more significant people who have passed with no extra time given during the show.

 

[ZacharyTait]

The Dark Knight is only the 4th film in Oscar history to earn 8 nominations without one for Picture, Director, or Screenplay. The other 3: Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Poseidon Adventure, and Dreamgirls.

Doubt is only the 3rd film in Oscar history to earn 4 acting nominations without a Picture or Director nomination. The other 2: I Remember Mama and Othello.

WALL-E is the first animated film to compete in 6 different categories.

Slumdog Millionaire is only the second Best Picture nominee to receive two song nominations, the other one being Beauty and the Beast.

First time since 1991 more men than women are nominated for Costume Design.

Meryl Streep tied Katharine Hepburn for her 12 nominations in the leading category.

Kate Winslet, 33, is the youngest performer to receive six Oscar nominations over the course of her career. The record was previously held by actress Bette Davis, who was 34 when she received her sixth nomination for "Now, Voyager" in 1942.

Marisa Tomei is now one of only ten supporting actress winners that have been nominated more than once after their wins; the others were:

Fay Bainter.
Celeste Holm.
Shelley Winters.
Maggie Smith.
Meryl Streep.
Jessica Lange.
Anjelica Huston.
Dianne Wiest.
Judi Dench.
Cate Blanchett.

9 of the twenty acting nominees are first-timers:

- Richard Jenkins, The Visitor.
- Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon.
- Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler.
- Josh Brolin, Milk.
- Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road.
- Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married.
- Melissa Leo, Frozen River.
- Viola Davis, Doubt.
- Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

After 1997, 1998 and 2007 this is only the 4th time that SAG matched 5/5 with Oscars in Best Actor.

Stephen Daldry has now directed five actors to nominations and films by him have received 17 nominations in total including three for him.

Wall-E is the most nominated Pixar movie.

First time since 2000 that both Actors in Comedy categories failed to get nominated.

First time since 1994 that no Comedy winner at the Globes (Actor, Actress, Film) got nominated.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the first film ever shot on digital to be nominated for Cinematography.

Brad Pitt's first nomination in 13 years, and the first time in a Best Leading Actor category.

Tom Stern's cinematography nomination for Changeling is his first.

Wally Pfister is 3/3 for his last three Nolan pictures (Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight) for his cinematography!

For the 5th year in a row, Golden Globe best song winner was snubbed at the Oscars.

VCB is the 17th Woody Allen film to get an Oscar nomination, but only the 3rd to not get a writing nod.

First nomination for Werner Herzog.

First time ever that both winners of Lead Actress Globe have been snubbed at the Oscars.

Meryl Streep extends her record of most nominations for acting to 15.

Each of the five best-pic contenders saw its director nominated -- which, incredibly, is only the fifth time that’s ever happened.

“Button’s” Kathleen Kennedy earned her sixth producing bid, tieing her with Stanley Kramer and Steven Spielberg for the record for individual producers.

Stephen Daldry makes Oscar history by going three for three: With this year’s “The Reader,” he has scored a directing bid for the trio of films he’s helmed.

Lora Hirschberg (“Dark Knight”) becomes the third woman nominated in the sound mixing category.

Viola Davis and Michael Shannon are supporting contenders (for “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road,” respectively) though each has only about 10 minutes of screen time.

“Waltz With Bashir” is the first animated feature nominated for a foreign-language Oscar (though it’s the 13th toon to be submitted in that race; last year’s “Persepolis” didn't even make the short list).

A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog”) is a triple nominee, for his music score and two songs: “Jai Ho” and “O Saya,” which rep the third and fourth bids for songs not in the English language.

France maintains its lead in the foreign-language race, with its 35th bid for “The Class.”

Andrew Stanton (“Wall-E”) is only the fourth person to score a second bid in the animated feature category(The other three: John Lasseter, Hiyao Mizaki and Brad Bird). He also earned a citation in original screenplay as one of the scribes on the film.

Two best-pic contenders center around real-life TV shows: “Frost/Nixon” (the 1977 interviews) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (India’s version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”).

Seven of the 10 lead actors are aged 45 or older.

Robert Downey Jr.’s nom (“Tropic Thunder”) marks the first time since Laurence Olivier’s 1965 “Othello” that an actor has been nommed for playing a role in blackface.

Kate Winslet was nommed as leading actress in “Reader,” though she won a Golden Globe as supporting actress for the same film.

Heath Ledger scored a supporting actor nom for “The Dark Knight” on the first anniversary of his death. This marks the seventh posthumous acting nomination, including the sole winner so far, Peter Finch (“Network”).

 

[TravisR]

I'm sure it will but it's a comic book movie. Not to knock it (it's a very good movie) but having one of the most beloved characters in pop culture history gives it an advantage that The Thin Red Line or The Hours can never have.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I'm so glad the grossly overrated THE DARK KNIGHT hasn't received a Best Picture nomination. It has no business even being considered.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

(Emphesis added)

Absolutely! I'm glad someone said it.

It also makes me question their motives for nominating Heath, did they truly think he gave a nod-worthy performance or were they just "throwing us a bone" so to speak? Nolan's direction was top shelf all the way, easily on par with Heath's performance, as was the film he created, it should have been nominated.

 

[John Stell]

People also have to remember that the Academy uses what's called a preferential ballot system for determining nominations. They don't just add up all the votes and the top 5 vote getters are the nominees. Instead, they go through all of the ballots and first pull out all of the number one choices. So if a film gets listed on enough ballots at number one, it's going to get nominated even if, in total, it gets less votes than other films that are listed lower. So let's say there are 5 ballots, and each ballot listed one of the five nominees at number one, but did not include any of the other nominees on the list so that when you add up all the votes each BP nominees only got one vote. Even if TDK was listed on all five ballots at number 2, it doesn't get nominated. The five at number 1 do. This example simplifies things but that could partially explain why certain films that are popular - even with voters - do not get nominated.

 

[Edwin-S]

I have heard of the film but, as usual, I haven't been able to see it because a film of this type never makes it into wide enough release to reach where I live. I watched the trailers and it looks outstanding.

I wouldn't have had a problem with it being nominated for Best Animated Feature, as well as Best Foreign Film. If it is the best then it deserves to win, regardless of language or origin. Being that it is both foreign and animated I cannot see why it shouldn't have qualified for both categories. At least, then it could be said that the BAF award actually meant something for whichever film won.

 

[Brook K]

While I found Benjamin Button to be the most emotionally resonant and touching of the films being discussed and Milk and Slumdog to be good, solid films but no more than that...my chief pleasure/displeasure is:


To Werner Herzog finally getting recognized. I haven't seen Encounters at the End of the World yet, but after an astonishing work like Grizzly Man was completely ignored, Werner finally gets to put on the tux and have a small modicum of Hollywood limelight.


Nothing for Gran Torino??!!

LOL to the comment about the Academy being pretentious. All the films chosen are mainstream Hollywood (or Bollywood if you will) fare that follow the formulas of their genres the same as the Dark Knight does. It's just that the majority of voters are your parents' and grandparents' age.

 

[Edwin-S]

This doesn't surprise me in the least and that is all I can say.

 

[John Stell]

The "overrating" for TDK is nothing compared to the overrating for Slumdog Millionaire, a contrived piece of manipulation full of stereotypes. It's good but far from great. And the fact that it's the front runner in the Best Picture race saddens me.