I don’t know if it will, but I thought WALL-E was one of the best films of the year.
But in general I think this was a weak year.
Yeah, it’s been one of the worst of my life. WALL-E was my favorite movie of the year though, along with Kung-Fu Panda.
A few months ago I would of laughed at the prospect of The Dark Knight being nominated for Best Picture, but it seems like Hollywood is preparing itself for such a thing. It’s even being re-released in January in an attempt to gather more buzz/try to beat Titanic’s record.
Not that Christopher Nolan doesn’t deserve the recognition in general, and Heath Ledger will win Supporting Actor with just cause, but Best Picture is, to me, insane for a movie in which a man has super-bat sonar goggles and a third act featuring the most ridiculous of morality plays ever committed to film.
My Best Picture nominee would be to reinstate There Will Be Blood into the running, and give it the award it deserved last year, but that’s just me.
@ Brendan Bedaw
My Best Picture nominee would be to reinstate There Will Be Blood into the running, and give it the award it deserved last year, but that’s just me.
I don’t think it works like that.
There Will Be Blood sucked. I can make a movie about random events in someone’s life where, by the end of the movie, I learn and know absolutely nothing new about the character. Maybe I should have, then I’d have tons of indie hipsters salivating all over me.
Just kidding. But seriously. I heart Dark Knight, but I don’t think it’ll win (even though I think it deserves to). But what the hell do I know?
Milk, Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, Doubt, The Dark Knight
The Givens:
Slumdog Millionaire (Mumbai boost)
Milk (Prop 8 boost)
The Practically Givens:
Che
Revolutionary Road
The Toss-Ups:
Benjamin Button (Fincher got dicked over last year so he might get pity because of that, or maybe they’ll just dick him over again.)
Frost/Nixon (Has all the makings of an Oscar movie. The Academy keeps getting younger and younger, though, so who knows.)
The Wrestler (The Academy may be feeling indie this year, but I doubt it, especially with Slumdog being a given and Rourke being a nutbag.)
Doubt (Sure looks like an Oscar nominee to me, but the race is getting tight.)
The Unlikelys:
WALL-E (Deserves a nomination, won’t get it.)
The Dark Knight (Does not deserve a nomination, might get it because people are stupid.)
Slumdog Millioinaire and Che are definitly not givens. They will probably get nods for their screenplays, however.
Slumdog
Benjamin Button
Milk
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Pretty sure about this.
I’m going to go with Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler (If Aronofsky decides not to overkill the ending with ridiculousness), WALL-E, Che, and Benjamin Button (if it manages to be half as good as the trailer)
I know, Jake, I know it doesn’t work like that.
I’m looking forward to revisiting this thread when the nominations come out.
Shotzi: Why would it be stupid for Dark Knight to get a Nomination for best picture?
Ya know, at the end of the day I can’t really decide what will get a best picture nom this year. It’s just been too weird, in that nothing’s really been too outstanding other than The Dark Knight, which is not the kind of film the Academy would go for. So my hands are in the air on this one.
If Slumdog Millionaire doesn’t get at least nominated, I’ll be very disappointed. TDK was better than it had any right to be, and I wouldn’t at all be sad to see it win.
You all seem really intent on Slumdog Millionaire, but I consider it a very long longshot.
Slumdog Millionaire is (so far) cleaning up with the precursor awards, and while I haven’t seen it it’s apparently the “feel-good” movie of the year, which Oscar loves to acknowledge. My early pick is that it wins the whole thing.
My guesses as of now:
Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Spoilers: The Wrestler (could be like Capote aka one great central performance could carry it in other categories), Doubt (strong buzz and great cast but is lacking the reviews it needs), Wall-E (it’s animated…‘nuff said, but we could hope), Rachel Getting Married (it’s gonna need a LOT of critics awards to pull it off), Revolutionary Road (reviews are solid but the precursor awards are ignoring it…), The Reader (doesn’t have anyone championing it…yet).
I usually try to see as many “oscar” movies as I can during the winter, but between my new job and grad school applications this is gonna be tough. Of all the movies I just listed I’ve only seen 2 (The Dark Knight and Wall-E). I hope the two of them end up getting nominated…not only because they were good but also because thy’re not usually what oscar goes for…they need to shake things up!
1. Milk
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
4. The Dark Knight
5. Frost/Nixon or Revolutionary Road
@ Ron B.
When you say “they need to shake things up!” I find myself kind of disagreeing with you, but kind of agreeing at the same time.
I don’t know if I like the idea of them nominating something just BECAUSE it’s not something that would normally be on their radar, but at the same time, it would be nice to see the academy looking a little harder at the year’s films and trying to find something that really sticks out, but hasn’t received the advertising and whatnot that the usual suspects get.
Am I making any sense? I can’t tell sometimes.
Re: SACREDCHAO
Actually, I understand you 100%. And I agree, I don’t think they should nominate something just because it’s something they wouldn’t normally go for. But, judging from the reviews I’ve read and from my friends’ reactions to the movies that have come out, I think this is a particularly weak year for wide-release films. So why not go out on a limb and nominate something like Wall-E, especially since it was outstanding?
But you’re def right…they shouldn’t try and be edgy for the sake of being edgy.
David Dandinelli:
Because The Dark Knight wasn’t one of the top five or top ten best movies of the year. AND the Academy generally frowns on superhero movies because it’s a way for them to pretend they are high-brow. It wouldn’t even be a consideration if there weren’t a huge campaign for it.
Slumdog could probably pull all their reels from theaters now and still got a best picture nomination. That is in the bag. I expect Che to come on strong in 2009.
I wouldn’t rule out “The Reader” as this year’s “English Patient”/“Atonement” clone, since “The Duchess” looks to have fallen short. I’d like to see “Frozen River” in the hunt, too, but that’s just a dream some of us had.
Jake Howell
Not necessarily your favorites of the year, but just what you think will get nominated.
I’m going with
Milk, Doubt, Revolutionary Road, Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight