Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar ‘08 Winner

oscar blurbs shorter than the acceptance speeches will be

Cinematography

Cinematographer Roger Deakins has been nominated five times for the Oscar for Best Cinematography but has never won. He defined the visual looks of many Coen Brothers films (nominated for both Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou?), and he is now nominated for his work in the Oscar frontrunner, No Country for Old Men. But there is one competitor that could seize his opportunity to win the gold: himself. Roger Deakins is nominated not only for No Country, but also for his work in the Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck Western, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Both films are visually stunning, and Deakins certainly deserves both nominations, as the visual style of each film is crucial to the overall quality. Deakins must compete against himself for the Oscar, and a split vote could spoil his chance to win. But what will win in its place? The answer lies in blood, as in There Will Be Blood. Robert Elswit, the cinematographer for the Daniel-Day Lewis oil epic, is widely considered to be the frontrunner by many, after winning the award from the American Society of Cinematographers. Also in contention is Janusz Kaminski, who developed the visually arresting style of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Seamus McGarvey of Atonement, who helped create the film’s breathtaking six-minute uncut shot. With very strong work from each of the four cinematographers, it’s hard to say which one will, or should, receive the statuette on Sunday night.
–By Peter Labuza

Actor in a Supporting Role

T om Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) was neurotic, Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild) was endearing, Charlie Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War) was godlike, and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) was terrifying—but these are all just one-dimensional characterizations pushed to their extremes, a trap into which many supporting actors fall. Complexity should be rewarded, and Casey Affleck’s Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has more layers than my winter wardrobe. It’s beyond me how he managed to craft a character whose non-focused gaze and gritting teeth elicit simultaneous panic and pity, but I’m certain that, unlike his brother, he’ll soon be regarded as one of the premier actors of our time. Successfully characterizing attributes is difficult, and the four other actors in this category nobly execute that task, but reconciling contradictory emotions within a single character is a much more laudable feat.
–By Alex Greer

Foreign Language Film

L ast year in the Foreign Language Film category, the incredibly successful Pan’s Labyrinth faced off against the critically acclaimed German hit, The Lives of Others. In marked contrast, this year features contestants almost unknown in the U.S. Only one (Israeli selection Beaufort) has premiered in the States thus far, while another (The Counterfeiters from Austria) will premier in limited release the Friday before the ceremony. Two others (12 from Russia, and Katyn from Poland) do not even have potential release dates. The typical culprit of American cultural isolationism cannot be to blame this time, as foreign films from 2007—including The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Persepolis, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the Romanian winner of Cannes—have been warmly received here. The Academy, ever unpredictable, just chose not to go mainstream this year.–By Brandon Hammer

Original Song

D isney struck gold with its latest fairy-tale megahit Enchanted. The film, a huge winner at the box office (and featuring 116th Street locales familiar to any CU student), received not one, but three Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song. The nominees, “Happy Working Song,” “So Close,” and “That’s How You Know” represent Disney at its finest. The tunes are the products of the talented duo of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Menken, a veteran Disney composer who helped make The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin major hits, is no stranger to Oscar success. And it is likely that he will be taking home another golden statue—a “Prince Charming” in Disney lingo—for either “Happy Working Song” or “That’s How You Know.” Success with any of these songs would be a happily ever after for Disney at the Oscars.
–By Susan Cohen

Best Picture

All five Best Picture nominees are thoughtful and thought-provoking movies that insinuate themselves into the viewer’s consciousness long after the credits have rolled. And yet, Michael Clayton is the only one that gets better the more you think about it. On the surface it’s the most boring movie of the Oscar pack, a well-made, old-fashioned political thriller contending against Anton Chigurh and “I drink your milkshake!” But to call Michael Clayton boring would be a disservice not only to its virtuosic cast and impeccable pacing, but also its own formidable eccentricity. One of the main characters is a brilliant but unstable lawyer who stops taking his medication, strips naked in court, and starts taking life advice from a young-adult fantasy novel. Another is an executive at a nefarious “green” corporation, a prescient villain in a year when most political movies went for the obvious target, Iraq, and failed both artistically and financially. Consider the nominated films’ endings: the fluffy, arch Juno sing-along, the Atonement speech that—in spite of welling strings and nostalgic flashbacks—seems to damn the character giving it, Tommy Lee Jones’ Big Meaningful Ending Monologue in No Country for Old Men (blame Cormac McCarthy, not the Coen Brothers), and the ambitious but not-fully-successful gush of There Will Be Blood. Michael Clayton ends with a light, savory grace note, and the competition ends up looking like it’s trying harder, yet saying less.
–By Paul Barndt

Disregarding the unmemorable Surf’s Up, this year’s Best Animated Feature award is most likely to veer between two equally astounding films: Persepolis and Ratatouille. Ratatouille, the latest Pixar release about a French rat who dreams of being the next great chef, is a marvel. The plot is accessible yet quirky, and the art direction is magnificent. Ratatouille also grossed highest of all Oscar nominees, drawing in a whopping $206 million. Persepolis, originally a graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, is equally endearing—a complex autobiographical plot, refreshingly portrayed in stark black-and-white. And yet, Persepolis grossed a mere $2 million after a limitedrelease on Christmas Day. It is doubtful that Persepolis, though a rare treasure, will win over a film as overwhelmingly popular as Ratatouille.
–By Julia Alekseyeva

This year, Saoirse Ronan from Atonement and Ellen Page from Juno compete against long-established talent in the Supporting Actress and Lead Actress races. Saoirse Ronan, an Irish actress of merely thirteen years, embodies her pitiless character from her very first scene, holding her own alongside Keira Knightley and veteran Vanessa Redgrave. Ellen Page—20 years old, but playing a pregnant girl of 16—brilliantly embraces her teenage anti-hero, showing vulnerability and complexity while throwing out a series of one-liners. Neither girl may be likely to win (after all, Julie Christie and Cate Blanchett are nominated), but both have very promising futures in film. So move over Dakota Fanning and Keisha Castle-Hughes, new actresses of astounding maturity have joined the stage.
–By Annick Banoun

Never before and never again will there be a chase sequence quite like the end of North by Northwest, when the characters slide down the faces of Mount Rushmore. The cinematic magic occurred on a massive set, intricately recreated to Alfred Hitchcock’s perfectionist standards. On February 24th, the man responsible for this scene will finally get his due. Robert F. Boyle, production designer and art director for over 90 films and television programs, will receive the Academy’s Honorary Award, for a job mostly overlooked by the general film-going public. Aside from his impeccable work in North by Northwest, the man created the visuals of such classics as Fiddler on the Roof, The Birds, and The Thomas Crown Affair.
 –By Sam Laskey

A way from Her begins with a flashback: a young woman’s face, framed only by the ocean, comes into focus as she stares directly into the camera. The scene is a husband’s memory of his wife at the age of 18. Struggling with Alzheimer’s disease, she has begun to forget him despite more than 40 years of marriage. In an instant, the image effortlessly recalls the distant past, bringing reflection and memory to vivid life. Never bogged down in the literal transcription process, Away From Her retells Alice Munro’s short story, “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” in a distinctly cinematic way.–By Ariel Karlin