Awards Season Will Not Suck Quite So Bad!
Writer's strike is over, so the Oscars are back on. Yay! this will probably be a multi-part post, and I promise to include some info about what I'm up to at the end of each post.
Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Who I Want to Win: Viggo Mortenson. Daniel Day-Lewis was fantastic, but my heart belongs to Viggo, who played a Russian mobster in a culturally sensitive and subtle performance worthy of acclaim. Plus you get to see his wang in the movie -- how hot is that?
Who Deserves to Win: Day-Lewis, Mortenson and Clooney, who (imo) will sadly never win a lead acting Oscar.
Who Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis. And his speech will be all class. He really was the force behind There Will Be Blood, and his final scene extolling the drainage virtues of the milkshake is perhaps one of the funniest and most disturbing scenes filmed in the past 10 years.
Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, Assassination of Jesse James
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
I Want: Tom Wilkinson or Javier Bardem, because they're both fab.
Deserves: Wilkinson, Bardem or Affleck.
Will Win: Javier, because he deserves something for having one of the worst haircuts in cinematic history.
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno
I Want: Meh, no real preference here. I like Ellen Page in Juno but I thought Jennifer Garner was stronger overall.
Deserves: Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard and Laura Linney. Actually, I really like Laura Linney and I think she deserves some big awards.
Will Win: Christie or Cotillard. My gut says Cotillard.
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
I Want: Saoirse Ronan. She was fucking chillingly fantastic in Atonement. I could not believe she was only 12 at the time.
Deserves: Blanchett, Ronan, Swinton.
Will Win: Cate Blanchett will get what she deserves here, as opposed to the sad make-up nom for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
I Want: My heart still lies with Atonement.
Deserves: Atonement and There Will Be Blood are the strongest, imho.
Will Win: There Will Be Blood.
Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman, Juno
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
I Want: P.T. Anderson.
Deserves: Schnabel, Coen Brothers, P.T. Anderson
Will Win: Schnabel or Anderson. Too close to call.
When I say "deserves," I don't mean just a qualitative judgment. The politics of Hollywood means a lot of really deserving stuff will never win, no matter how great it is. Deserves also takes into account the entire body of work of a performer/director/composer etc, and what recognition I feel they've earned to this point.
In other, less glamorous, news, I've finishing the first chapter of my dissertation this week, crocheting my second handbag and contemplating a hair cut. I've also decided that I need to play more piano, but I need an extension cord first. It's a long story.