Oscar Crap
It's that time of year again, when a bunch of people from the movie industry get together and give themselves awards. I, of course, have my opinions of who should win, so here they are (bearing in mind there are a couple of movies I haven't seen yet, including AmericanMovie). First, you might want to check out the official nominees.
1. Best Picture: I would have nominated American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, The Insider, The Limey, Man on the Moon, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Eyes Wide Shut, Election. For some richly bizarre reason, the Oscar people think that The Cider House Rules and The Green Mile deserve an award (Cider House Rules was good, but not Oscar territory, and The Green Mile was just bad). I think I would end up giving the award to either The Insider or Being John Malkovich (or both; is that allowed?). I expect that American Beauty will take the Oscar.
2. Best Actor: Denzel Washington? Please. It's too bad Jim Carrey wasn't nominated for his truly excellent work in Man on the Moon. He nailed the voices for Andy Kaufman and, Kaufman aside, does an excellent, excellent job in the role. Man on the Moon is one of Carrey's best movies yet. Kevin Spacey, who has always been excellent, deserves to finally get an Oscar and, since Jim Carrey isn't nominated anyway, Spacey should get the Oscar (although I'd give it Carrey).
3. Best Supporting Actor: Haley Joel Osmet, from The Sixth Sense should definitely get this Oscar. He was great, even ignoring the fact he's still really, really young. Too bad the Oscar will follow the misguided Golden Globes and give it to Tom Cruise for Magnolia. Cruise was pretty good in Magnolia, but pretty good doesn't cut it for Oscars (I wouldn't even nominate him).
4. Best Actress: I haven't seen any of the movies nominated for this Oscar besides American Beauty, so can't comment on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the nominations, but of the movies I have seen, this should go to Wynona Rider for Girl, Interrupted. If Annett Benning gets this, well, then, ``bah, humbug!'' because she really overplayed her role in American Beauty. Sadly, she'll probably get the Oscar.
5. Best Supporting Actress: Angelina Jolie was ``decent'' in Girl, Interrupted, but not good enough for an Oscar (if she was nominated, why not Rider...grrr!) Of the nominees, I'd give the Oscar to Catherine Keener. Samantha Morton was really good in Sweet and Lowdown, however.
6. Cinematography: This is a no-brainer and should definitely go to Snow Falling on Cedars. Beautiful shots. (Haven't seen Sleepy Hollow, though). The Oscar will probably go to a bigger movie, though, like The Insider.
7. Director: Magnolia should get this, but isn't nominated. Oh well. American Beauty or Being John Malkovich or The Insider will get this, depending on which one hasn't yet been given an award. Me cynical? Never!
8. Editing: The Limey isn't even whispered about; why not? It should definitely get the Oscar here.
9. Visual Effects: The Matrix, because giving an Oscar for Star Wars Episode One would just be a travesty. If Toy Story 2 counts as visual effects, then it should get the Oscar (despite a lack of nomination).
10. Screenplay: Either American Beauty or Magnolia. I'm not commenting on best adaptation, because I haven't read any of the books that the screen plays are adapted from.
I don't really pay close enough attention at the rest of the categories while watching a movie for the first time to render an opinion, so I'll just skip exciting things like Art Direction and Sound Editing.