Heard But Not Seen
January 30, 2008
Would you believe that I'm really not all that into the Oscars? I've never even watched the Oscars. In fact, I don't even know when the Oscars are happening. (Though I suspect it's sometime soon.) And while, in general, I like watching movies, let me go on record here: I've never seen ANY of these nominated films.
That said, I have at least HEARD of all of them. So that's something, right?
[Editor's Note: Actually, I just watched one of these movies ("Atonement") this weekend, but it was totally unintentional and it was after I began writing this entry. My husband and I meant to watch another film, and at the last minute we changed our minds. This was mainly because Roger and I were both interested in seeing different movies, and when I came up with the idea that he see his movie and I see my movie, and then we reconvene afterward, he wasn't having any of it. Apparently, "that's not a date." So my original statement about having never seen any of the nominated films is now only partially true. Roger, on the other hand, has seen almost all of them. Maybe. I actually don't know, so I'm not really a credible source of information about my own husband. Onward!]
As such, I thought I should cast my totally uninformed ballot for the Oscars.
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Choices include:
* George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”
* Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
* Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
* Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah”
* Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”
Chirky votes for:
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Choices include:
* Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
* Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War”
* Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild”
* Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”
Chirky votes for:
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Choices include:
* Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
* Julie Christie in “Away from Her”
* Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose”
* Laura Linney in “The Savages”
* Ellen Page in “Juno”
Chirky votes for:
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Choices include:
* Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There”
* Ruby Dee in “American Gangster”
* Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement”
* Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone”
* Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”
Chirky votes for:
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
Best animated feature film of the year
Choices include:
* “Persepolis”
* “Ratatouille”
* “Surf’s Up”
Chirky votes for:
"Ratatouille"
Best motion picture of the year
Choices include:
* “Atonement”
* “Juno”
* “Michael Clayton”
* “No Country for Old Men”
* “There Will Be Blood”
Chirky votes for:
"Atonement"
Achievement in directing
Choices include:
* “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Julian Schnabel
* “Juno” Jason Reitman
* “Michael Clayton” Tony Gilroy
* “No Country for Old Men” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
* “There Will Be Blood” Paul Thomas Anderson
Chirky votes for:
"No Country for Old Men" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
And that's it. Seven. Seven? Is that all the categories there are? I feel like something's missing.
Anyway, I hope you'll play along, too. Leave a comment telling me if you think I'm right or wrong, and if you're feeling wordy, tell me why. Or give me your own list of who/what film you think will win. Or create your own list on your own blog, and leave a link so we can all compare notes.
Comments
I too love! movies, but have not seen ANY of them. Yet. But as I am probably waiting to Netflix them all, it will probably be awhile.
(She IS a waif, yes. But I too like her movies. Sometimes for unexplainable reasons. "Bend it like Beckham"? I mean, really? But I liked! it.)
(Daniel Day-Lewis always gets my vote. Because he is awesome. Did you see "Gangs of New York"? AWESOME.)
Posted by: kerrianne | January 30, 2008 03:40 PM
I'm in the same boat as you (were) -- I've seen NONE of the movies.
I have to disagree with your pick of Casey Affleck, though, because I did see a portion of the SAG Awards last week (nothing else was on), and he was chewing gum -- with his mouth open, no less -- on camera in every shot. CHEWING GUM!!! On CAMERA!!!
I'm surprised you chose Atonement to win for "Best Motion Picture of the Year." I've not heard a single positive word about it from non-critics. In fact, my friends who've seen it all said there's not one good thing about it, that it's frustrating and sad through the whole thing.
I personally am enjoying how they've changed the preview on TV to have Timbaland's "Apologize" in the background instead of the originaly weepy violin music. That's quite a change in genre. I guess the movie isn't as popular as they'd hoped ...
Posted by: my life is brilliant | January 30, 2008 05:08 PM
Since I gave you crap about being so silent, I thought I would drop my two cents into your comment bucket.
When Eric was in town, we went to see Atonement. This is one I will purchase.... why? It was perfectly tragic.
I know... the ending sucked but really, could it have ended any other way... Im sorry if you have not seen it. You should. I wont say how it ends. Just know it must end in this manner.
I love the cinematography and art direction (I think these may be two of your missing categories).
I also love Keira Knightley and that fabulous green dress.... I need one although it will never look the same on me no matter how much spin i endure.
American Gangster was a very good movie as well. Not a "movie of the year" movie but I love Denzel... not as much as Will Smith. He is so yummy and totally my hollywood crush (along with Blair Underwood - you have no idea what I just went through to remember his name!) But I digress as it did not get a nod for film of the year from the academy....
Posted by: Willow | January 30, 2008 09:50 PM
I'm glad to see that you pick Oscar winners the same way I do! And you know, I think you have just as much of a chance at picking the winners as people who have actually seen the movies.
Posted by: JLR | January 31, 2008 08:12 AM
I haven't seen ANY of the nominated films. But I'd also pick Ratatouille, because it had a cute commercial.
I'm not a big Keira Knightley fan, so I'd have to vote for someone else. I would have gone with the whole "Assassination . . . " because I like the title, except that it's not nominated for Best Picture. Oh, well.
Posted by: Lia | January 31, 2008 08:55 AM
WILLOW: You are absolutely right - that green dress. WOW. I loved, loved, loved it. Few people could look as good wearing it as Keira did. Also, I've just awarded you my brownie points of the day: I didn't know that ANYONE else I knew was a Blair Underwood fan.
Posted by: chirky | January 31, 2008 11:41 AM
I have only seen Ratatouille, and while it was a cute and original story, I couldn't help but throw up in my mouth a little when I saw all the (animated) rats running around the kitchen on the food and food surfaces...ewwww! I don't care if you're animated - it's still totally sick! I would actually like to see ALL the movies that were nominated - they all looked good to me - but I just haven't been out to the movies lately! Oh, and I like your justification for voting for Casey Affleck...he's a cutie pie! I totally support all of Chirky's choices and rationale's! Bravo!
Posted by: beyonka | February 1, 2008 08:24 AM
Your choices sound good to me! I may go see one of these movies today - I think atonement. I can barely walk, but I don't know if I can stay another day couped up in my casa. Plus, I haven't really tried to walk today. I am typing this from bed.
Posted by: eddo | February 6, 2008 08:25 AM