Tomorrow's the Big Day! (and Oscar Legacy Project)

Well, tomorrow is Oscar Day!

I believe Robyn and I are adequately prepared for the occasion... we haven't seen ALL of the nominated films, but between us I think we've done better than in past years. It can be hard to squeeze in viewings of all the nominated films between the announcement of nominations and the awards show. And there's always some random out-of-nowhere nomination like Melissa Leo in Frozen River. Not that she doesn't deserve a nomination, but how and where would we have a chance to see that?

Oscar day for us is a fairly informal ritual. There is always the pre-show discussion and debate of the nominations and completing the ballot with our official predictions (we always separate our prediction of who will win from our personal vote of who should win). There is always food - snacks and dinner - but tending much more towards informal than formal. Occasionally we will watch one of the nominated films in the afternoon - if there's something conveniently available that we haven't yet seen. But this practice is intended to add to our annual celebration and has backfired more than once... Once we tried watching two movies but the day was too long and we didn't get all the way through the second movie (Sherry Baby, which wasn't actually nominated) and then we were rushed to get through our discussion and voting. And once we painfully suffered through a stupid movie about a camel - nothing like a bad movie to put a damper on the day!

This year it's a fairly long all-day plan... we hope to view Vicky Cristina Barcelona if there's time but we decided to do a long-term reflection on Oscar wins in the past 10+ years and revisit which ones were (in retrospect) Gross Miscarriages of Justice. There are some well-known burs under my saddle. (Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream, and Annette Bening in Being Julia, for starters...) I expect there will be many interesting topics to debate - such as when a sentimental win is ok and when it isn't. And what exactly makes a "best movie" anyway? Groundbreaking achievement in storytelling or effects? A movie that remains a favourite many years later? An overall combination of excellent performances and outstanding production? Some of my all-time favourite movies wouldn't necessarily meet those criteria, so what gives? Can a movie be a Best Movie if it didn't really qualify for Best anything else? Can a movie be Best everything else and yet not be a Best Movie? Hmmmm...... We shall discuss at length...

As part of this we'll be looking at groups of years, instead of just year-by-year (though we'll be doing that too), because some years have very strong contests and so perhaps the awards would be better if they were more like Olympics - a top 3 every 4 years? Again, we shall discuss at length...

Reviewing these many years of past Oscar nominations and wins, I was immediately struck by the fact that if I hadn't seen a nominated film by Oscar time, I rarely saw it later, even if it won (like The Insider, and Unforgiven). And there were movies in the not-too-distant past that I recall loving and supporting in the Oscars - but which I never watched again and had even quite forgot them until this exercise (like The Hours, and Affliction). This disturbs me and makes me almost contemplate whether these awards mean anything. (emphasis on almost, I'm re-watching The Hours, and Affliction tonight).

As for the actual show tomorrow - I'm most excited about Hugh Jackman as host! Billy Crystal was my favourite host, and think Hugh Jackman will have the same kind of spirit and style. (One Oscar time-waster that I hope disappears is "introducing the presenters." When Julia Roberts struts onstage to give an award, I don't need a voiceover reminding me about her upcoming film or her undeserved win for Erin Brockovich! (meow! hiss!)

Revelling in movie geekness,
Surely much much more to report after tomorrow,

JODI (& Robyn)


I might have exaggerated the lack of fomality in our Oscar-day ritual. One of the reasons we often watch the show without other people is because we're very intolerant of chatter during the important moments of the show! Most family and friends know not to try calling because we won't answer the phone or we'll answer with 'Why are you calling?? The Oscars are on!" We have had a friend or two join us and it has always been fine, but there was one tragic year long ago when Robyn's husband kept stealing the remote and changing the channel in the middle of speeches (while laughing hysterically at our indignation and outrage). Ever since then we've been pretty uptight about the whole thing...

More 2008 films seen

A true sign of being an Oscar geek - in the first 2 months of the year, almost all the movies seen are from the previous year. Could it be because not much in the way of good film is released at this time of year? Or are not many good films released this time of year because people like me don't go see them because we're too busy watching films from last year? A vicious circle...

Body of Lies - not very good. I think that Leo is wanting to a bit like Tom Cruise - moving from action/thriller/blockbuster where he plays scruffy tough guys to beautiful serious films where he plays more real people - but he is much more believable in the serious roles than the action ones (Blood Diamond would be the only exception, and that was a quasi-serious/action film). Whenever he has to don fake facial hair, swear a lot, and perhaps throw a punch, he is less than convincing. And in Body of Lies, he wore perhaps the worst fake beard ever. Russell Crowe was just irritating, and the overall story was lame. However, this movie was a classic compared to...

Miracle at St. Anna - this movie made no sense whatsoever. It never becomes clear what the miracle actually was. The story is predicated on a ludicrous coincidence and a rambling boring tale of some WWII soldiers in Italy, one of whom is carrying around a statue head that seems to be blessed. When St. Anna is finally revealed, it remains unclear what it has to do with anything in the story. Spike Lee's outburst at Clint Eastwood was completely uncalled for - it was not racism that made people prefer Clint's war movies to Spike's, it was the fact that Spike's movie was bad and Clint's were good.

It is Oscar weekend, and I did not make it this year to see all of the films, but am looking forward to the big shew, and to a full day of discussion, dissection, debate and delight with Jodi. No phone calls after 4pm!

 

Some 2008 films seen

Bottle Shock - disappointing. Alan Rickman was great as always, but the story lacked intensity, and the contrived romances (even if they were based on a true story) were silly.

The Reader - very good, but not great. Both actors were wonderful, but there were problems with the script and dialogue that they could not get around. I've since read the book, which is much better; I cannot understand why they changed the elements that they did for the film.

The Visitor - very good. A story about kindred friendships, hope, and tragedy in this new world order of Homeland Security.

Pride and Glory - would probably have made my worst of 2008 list if I'd seen it earlier. I haven't heard such flagrant use of the f-word since Joe Pesci in Casino.

Passchendaele - while the battle scenes were very well done (especially for a Canadian film which likely had a limited budget), again the contrived romance and sappy story diminished the films overall effect. The blatant historical inaccuracies in the dialogue were also disturbing. However, the chance to look at Paul Gross for two hours was okay :-) and the film score was very well done.

Rocknrolla - a characteristic Guy Ritchie film, not as good as Lock, Stock.