Oscar noms...

As a certified Film Geek, I felt the need to make some kind of comment on the freshly announced Oscar nominations... I haven't seen all the films, so it will be far from a complete assessment, and I'm only going to waffle on about a few of the major catagories...

Best Picture + Best Director : The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher), Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard), Milk (Gus Van Sant), The Reader (Stephen Daldry), Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)
Since the nominations for both catagories cover the same films, I thought I'd lump them into a single block rather than repeating myself. I've seen all of these apart from Benjamin Button (which I'll be seeing at a free preview over the next week), so a quick look at what I thought about each of them...
Frost/Nixon - interesting, but probably worth catching on dvd rather than forking out for at the cinema, and one to miss if you've no interest in politics. Not one I'd rush back to see again - the film is all about the tension and build up to the interviews and I don't think that could be replicated on a second viewing...
Milk - probably the film I enjoyed the most out of the group. A truly compelling and engaging film that I highly recommend. A genuine insight into an important political moment as well as an enjoyable film, and a valuable message in the light of the current Proposition 8 situation that echoes some of the issues covered in the film...
The Reader - having read the book, there's always that slight difference between what was written and what's seen on film, but they captured it well. A moving film, marred slightly by a slightly slow second half, but still a fascinating glimpse at a generation struggling to come to terms with the actions of their parent's generation.
Slumdog Millionaire - a thoroughly enjoyable and well made film. While there wasn't anything wrong with the film, it never quite reached excellence in my opinion. Definately worth catching though and probably the one I'd recommend most to the average film watcher...
General comments - Firstly, it's a crime that The Dark Knight didn't make the Best Picture catagory at least. If it had been, it would have had my vote... Although I haven't seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button yet, I fear it's a bit long to win Best Picture and has more of a chance in Best Director... My vote would go to Milk for Best Picture and Slumdog Millionaire for Best Director, but in reality, I expect Slumdog Millionaire to take both...


Best Actor : Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Sean Penn is outstanding in Milk and deserves and Oscar. However, Mickey Rourke has had rave reviews of his performance in The Wrestler (another one I'm yet to see), and it would be a suitably unexpected but deserved shock career comeback if he were to win... I would be disappointed if Frank Langella if were to win, and to be honest, I'm not sure Brad Pitt has much of a chance... I have no idea about Richard Jenkins, but Hollywood loves an outsider... My money would be on Sean or Mickey though.

Best Actress : Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Again, an outsider in this catagory in the form of Melissa Leo. I'm not convinced of Angelina Jolie's chances either - while she was good in Changeling, it was nothing in comparison to the calabre of her performance in Girl, Interrupted for which she won an Oscar. Could it finally be Kate Winslet's year though, after 5 nominations and not a single win? She's up against serious competition in the form of Anne Hathaway, who's been receiving serious praise for Rachel Getting Married, and twice winner Meryl Streep for awards material Doubt. It may be heretical for me to say it, but I don't really like Meryl Streep, so I'd rather it went to Anne or Kate...

Best Supporting Actor : Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)
A tricky one to call. As much as I love Robert Downey Jr, I don't think he's likely to win - similarly to Johnny Depp not winning for Jack Sparrow in the past - comic performances don't tend to win awards... Josh Brolin and Michael Shannon were good in their roles, but not mindblowing... Philip Seymour Hoffman is reliably great, and criminally undervalued as an actor, so he's in with a good chance. However, along with much of the rest of the planet, I'd love to see Heath Ledger win... His take on the Joker was magnicient and one of the most impactful performances I've seen in years. Of all the people in this catagory, his portrayal is the one who people will still talk about in 10 years...

I'm not going to say anything about any of the other catagories (I've not seen any of the Best Supporting Actress films yet!) other than to say it's nice to see both Waltz with Bashir and Man on Wire getting nominated in the Best Foreign Language and Best Documentary catagories respectively. I haven't seen any of the other films in either section so can't comment on their chances, but both of these are definately worth checking out...