by Jennifer Johnston
Photograph by Anne Siegel
I had planned to write my next post (which of course is now this post) on matters which may be of concern to us as we wander deeper into the euphemistic twilight of our years. However ... we have had such wonderful contributions from Raenell and Betty and Clara and Nicki since my last post, I am postponing (grin) that topic to talk about something which is of more immediacy ... since I am firmly and hopefully convinced that most of us are not going anywhere for the next week or so. (I have often said that I am a creature of hope.)
So ... let's talk Academy Awards ... Oscars!!! This is a subject of great interest at our house. It is likely that some of you couldn't care less, don't go to/enjoy movies, haven't seen a movie since you were traumatized by Old Yeller back in the '50s or since John Wayne went off to that big round-up in the sky. [Sidebar: I must confess I have not watched a Walt Disney animal movie since Yeller bit the dust ... I cried for daaaaays ... nor any other movie where the animal hero dies at the end ... just can't take it!] Nevertheless, I suspect that there are many who wouldn't miss the Academy Awards telecast ... the glitz, the gowns, the interminable speeches thanking everyone the recipient has ever known ... and Enough Already with that!
Anyhoo ... the Academy Awards ceremonies have been big in our "social season" (grin) for as long as we've been married (41 years in May) and even back into my junior high/high school years. Gonna go on the record here that there has never been a host as good as Bob Hope was ... even the very competent Johnny Carson and the okay Billy Crystal ... certainly not Whoopi Goldberg... ack! I am reserving judgment on Hugh Jackman (definitely a hunk, but a host?) until after the Sunday, February 22 telecast of the 81st annual fete of the purported crėme de la cinema.
Yahn and I are reviving an old tradition this year ... our formerly annual Academy Awards party. No cast of thousands ... just some friends sharing a few favorite libations and making small wagers on the outcome of the Academy voting. We'll print out ballots with all (not just the biggies) of the categories and people will kick $5 each into the "pot" (I almost said the "kitty" ... but our cats react sooo adversely to to any suggestion of being kicked ... which of course we would never ever do ... but Calamity always knows these things). Of course the person who correctly picks the most winners collects the loot at the end of the night. In ye olden days (1968 to about 1988, we referred to it around our house as "the Yahn and Jennifer Benefit Gala" ... since invariably Yahn or I would always win. For the past few years we've just competed with each other, for chores, or whatever ... and I must say that I am ahead of Yahn at this point. We are generally good at this (despite a couple of spectacular flame-outs) ... some might say slightly psychic ... even though we usually don't see the majority of the films until after the Awards.
Kodak Theater, Los Angeles, Home of the Academy Awards Ceremony
Also receiving attention this year are The Dark Knight (which we have seen on PPV); Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood (who got shut out for Gran Torino); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (absolutely love Javier Bardem, but have a personal rule against watching Woody Allen movies); and The Wrestler (it's gotten some good reviews, but I have no desire to see it and am not particularly fond of Mickey Rourke, recent rehab notwithstanding).
[Sidebar: When the ads for Gran Torino ran here, one of the hype lines said: "Clint Eastwood gives the performance of his life!" Well yeah, I guess.... He's been giving the same performance for the last 40+ years ... so I suppose it is THE performance of his life....]
Best Picture (1920), reproduced citing "fair use" provisions of U.S. Copyright Law
So let's visit the categories and nominees for this year's fete ... and it is helpful to note that at-home Academy Awards competitions are frequently won or lost in the down-ballot nominations for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Costume Design etc. Bear in mind that these predictions are based solely on my reading, TV watching and my feelings ... the vibes ... and I am not responsible for monies (or honor) lost on incorrect guesses. Also, you may infer a lot of "IMHO"s prefacing and interspersing the following comments. And, as ever, I reserve the right to change my mind up to and including the very minute before the telecast begins.
For the Best Animated Feature Film, the nominees are Bolt, Kung-Fu Panda and Wall-E. I think you can probably bet the farm on Wall-E. Without reciting the list of nominees, I think Waltz With Bashir (though animated) is going to take the Best Foreign Language Film category. Also without reciting the nominees, I'll go with Slumdog for Cinematography; Benjamin Button for Visual Effects; Slumdog for Sound Editing and Benjamin Button for Sound Mixing (never hurts to split a vote); The Duchess for Costume Design (period pieces generally have an edge in this category); Benjamin Button for Art Direction and Slumdog for Cinematography (same theory about splitting votes); and Benjamin Button for Makeup.
As for Animated and Live Action Short Films, and Documentary Shorts and Documentary Features ... who knows (or really cares, except the makers ... although I think Man on Wire just might take Documentary Feature). Throw a dart or consult the crystal ball ... unless of course you are a true aficionado and have seen them, therefore have a true opinion.... (Yahn and I are not even that dedicated....) For Music (Song) ... haven't heard any of them, but I have the feeling that it will be one of the two nominated for Slumdog ... gonna take a chance on "O Saya" but it's strictly a guess). Since I think it may be Slumdog's year, I'll give Slumdog the nod for Music Score too....
The nominees for Writing (Original Screenplay) are Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky, In Bruges, Milk and Wall-E. In contention for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (adapted from a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald); Doubt, adapted by John Patrick Shanley (who won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award in 2005 for Doubt, the play); Frost/Nixon, screenplay written by Peter Morgan, from the original Broadway production; The Reader, written for the screen by David Hare (formerly nominated for The Hours); and Slumdog Millionaire, screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (previously nominated for The Full Monty). For Original, I'm gonna go with Dustin Lance Black for Milk (unless the spirits whisper something else in my ear before next Sunday ... and I understand In Bruges is really good,) and for Adapted, with some reservation because of Slumdog's momentum, I'll pick Shanley.
Nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role are Amy Adams for Doubt; Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Viola Davis for Doubt; Taraji P. Henson for Benjamin Button; and Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler. I am personally convinced that Tomei's Supporting Actress Award for My Cousin Vinny a few years ago was a fluke; Ms. Henson (of The [now defunct] Division on Lifetime cable, who performed the song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" at the 78th Academy Awards presentation) will be "so happy with the nomination." Amy Adams and Viola Davis may cancel each other out ... so, by a slight edge, I'm going with the charming Penelope Cruz.
Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role are Josh Brolin for Milk (playing "Twinkie" killer Dan White); Robert Downey, Jr. for Tropic Thunder (a clever turn, but I don't think it'll win the Oscar for him); previous Best Actor winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (for Capote in 2005 ... although Toby Jones was better in the same role that same year and didn't even receive a nomination for his work in Infamous, which also featured a great turn by Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee) for Doubt; the late (and might have been stellar, had he lived) Heath Ledger for his role as "The Joker" in The Dark Knight; and Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road. Tough category ... primarily because of the sentiment for Heath Ledger's last eligible role, although Hoffman is good in everything I've seen of his, and I've read that Josh Brolin nails Dan White (as he did the title character of Oliver Stone's W). Brolin was so good in No Country for Old Men, too. By a hair, I'm going to predict that Ledger will win posthumously.
Best Actress nominees are Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (a Tomei-type fluke, I think); Angelina Jolie (absolutely love her for her acting and her wonderful humanitarian work, and she is a previous Supporting Actress winner for Girl, Interrupted) for Changeling; Melissa Leo (a long shot, but possibly the proverbial dark horse) for Frozen River; for Doubt, the marvelously-talented (although frequently one-note) Meryl Streep (secure enough in her gifts to do Mamma Mia!, which BTW I thoroughly enjoyed, even with Pierce Brosnan's "singing"); and my personal favorite in this category, Kate Winslet for The Reader. This one is basically between Streep and Winslet ... both fantastic from what I've read/heard/intuited ... and no one in his/her right mind would ever bet against Streep ... but I'm going to go (I think) with Winslet here. Streep has won Oscar previously (twice, and has been nominated a phenomenal 15 times!) and Winslet is overdue. Streep recently won the SAG (Screen Actor's Guild award) in this category, but Winslet won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) this year. Seems there may be a bit of nationalism going on here ... but not all U.S. Academy voters are Americans, sooooo.... Really a toss-up....
Kate Winslet (photo authorized under Wikipedia Commons)
For Best Actor, we have Richard Jenkins (say, who?) for The Visitor, in a reportedly moving performance; the superb Frank Langella (the most romantic Dracula ever!!!) for Frost/Nixon; Sean Penn, apparently turning in a terrific performance as the title character in Milk; for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt (another wonderful actor, a concerned humanitarian and just a great human being, along with his partner Angelina Jolie); and Mickey Rourke on the "Redemption Ticket" for The Wrestler. Redemption and rehab notwithstanding (and probably to be short-lived), I don't want Rourke to win. I would be happy with Pitt, Langella or Penn. Jenkins may be great, but another year.... The vibes and personal preference tell me it's going to be Sean Penn, although his "maverick" reputation could hurt him with Academy voters.
The Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director are frequently (but not always) related; indeed they are all connected this year, so to wrap up, let's tackle them together. We have David Fincher (his first nomination) directing Benjamin Button; Ron Howard (his fourth nomination, with a win for A Beautiful Mind) at the helm of Frost/Nixon; the űber-edgy Gus Van Sant behind the camera for Milk; twice-nominated Stephen Daldry (The Hours and Billy Elliott) for The Reader; and first-time nominee Danny Boyle for Slumdog. On occasion the Academy has split on these categories ... but I don't think so this year. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that we might see Van Sant and and the uplifting Milk take these awards, but there are still a lot of homophobes in Hollywood and elsewhere (witness the slighting of Brokeback Mountain a few years ago, for which Heath Ledger should have won), and Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon might have a chance ... but "critter of hope" that I am, I've gotta give the gold statues to Boyle and what is touted as THE feel-good film of the year, Slumdog Millionaire. In these times, we all need a little feel-good....
And speaking of feelin' good ... my longtime friend, on-air personality (DJ) and regular blog reader Johnny Goyen, who did the tapes and later CDs for the Class of '63 of Childress High School (which some of you have ... see Raenell's comment to Clara's post) has a free (repeat, free) Internet-accessible slot on Play It, where he's put together a lot of the music we grew up with back in the day. I enjoy listening to it while I'm at the computer, and I think many of you might like it as well. It has a wide range of music, from Elvis and Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry to Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, Patsy Cline and others. Click on this for "Good Timin' '50s and 60s":
... then all you have to do is click the triangle-shaped "play" button and enjoy!
As for me, I am cleaning the house (and hopefully will be cleaning up! ... grin) for our Academy Awards "do." And ... as the denouement for the possibly apocryphal story about the filming of the "Exodus" scene from The Ten Commandments goes: "Ready when you are, C.B."
)O(
