THE OSCARS

When I was younger I watched all the big awards shows (except the Tonys). Now that I'm older, I've lost touch with the music scene and the "MTV generation" is unrecognizable to me. I also watch a lot less TV than I used to, so the Emmys hold no interest for me. That leave me with the Oscars. I still love movies.

Here are my thoughts for this year:

ACTOR
Richard Jenkins. THE VISITOR was a small little film with basically only four roles. It was good, but not great. Richard Jenkins was very good and subtle in the film but I merely thought he did his job well. I don't think he went above and beyond, nor did the film really give him an opportunity to.

Frank Langella. FROST/NIXON, again, was good but not great. The reverse of THE VISITOR, FROST/NIXON gave Frank Langella a meaty role to tackle. He lumbered and hurumphed throughout the whole thing and I felt it was a bit forced and cartoonish.

Sean Penn. Harvey Milk may have been an over-the-top gay Jew from New York in real life, but seeing Sean Penn be that way for over two hours was a bit grating. He threw himself into the part, but I always felt he was acting.

Brad Pitt. I think Brad Pitt is an underrated actor. Just see 12 Monkeys or Fight Clubfor an example of how good he can be. This wasn't one of his most impressive acting jobs. Like Jenkins, it was fine.

Mickey Rourke. Looking at all the other actors, you'd think nothing could impress me. THE WRESTLER impressed me in a number of ways, most of all Mickey Rourke's performance. If he doesn't win, it'll be a tragedy. This was a small movie like THE VISITOR, but there was nothing showy or boring about the lead role. Rourke was subtle and heartfelt and I believed every word he spoke and every movement he made. A truly award-worthy performance



SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin. Nothing noteworthy about his performance in MILK. If anything, his drunk scene was scorn-worthy. He wasn't actually BAD, and I've seen him do great things in other movies, but this just wasn't his best work by a long shot.

Robert Downey Jr. Once again, a great actor taking on a challenging role in TROPIC THUNDER. But after all, it's a silly comedy and Downey's character is a one-joke role. He pretends he's black. OK, fine, no problem. But a better job than all the other supporting actors in every other movie this year? Please.

Philip Seymour Hoffman. DOUBT was a jewel of a film and Hoffman was the best thing in it. He ran through every emotion with ease and believability. I think he's a great actor and he took this role with both hands and made it his own.

Heath Ledger. Jeez. Talk about over-rated. THE DARK KNIGHT was presented to me as the greatest superhero film ever. It wasn't. It was laughably bad in spots. It was too long. Character motivation was non-existent. And it played like it was trying to be realistic within the context of superheros, but then it went off the deep end with Dent's injuries at the end. It just didn't gel for me. Now, Heath Ledger was good in that he totally immersed himself into the Joker character and really made it something new. But it was just a crazy, over-the-top character. OK, he was fearless in his lunacy. But there was no realism to it. I never thought of him as anything but a comic book character. The big question is, "will the Academy give him the Oscar because he died and showed promise as an actor?" I hope not. No offense. He just doesn't deserve it this year.

Michael Shannon. I didn't see REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, so I can't say.


ACTRESS
Alright, this is lame, but the only movie I saw that has a lead actress nominated is DOUBT. Meryl Streep was awesome as always, but without seeing the others, I make no predictions.


SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams. She was good in DOUBT, but the story was good, the direction was good, the lead actors were great...I feel like she just got carried along for the Oscar ride.

Penelope Cruz. Didn't see VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA, so I can't say.

Viola Davis. She had one scene in DOUBT where she had to be upset. She cried amiably, but I wasn't blown away at all.

Taraji P. Henson. I enjoyed BENJAMIN BUTTON a lot, but the more I read about it and think about it afterwards, the more I feel manipulated by it. I'll have to see it again to judge. In any case, Taraji's performance was not awards-worthy in my book.

Marisa Tomei. Next to Mickey Rourke, Tomei's performance paled. That said, she was very believable and engaging. As someone who knows her best from MY COUSIN VINNY, this was a huge departure from that and an impressive performance. Out of all the nominees, I think Tomei gave the most of herself to her performance.


ANIMATED FEATURE
It's WALL-E, who you kidding? I'm frankly surprised it wasn't nominated for best picture.


Let's fast forward to best picture because I don't have anything intelligent to say about art direction, score, sound editing, documentary short, etc.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Again, I loved it when I saw it, but now I have my doubts about its worthiness. I think it was good, but not an award winner.

FROST/NIXON
Another good movie, but it didn't WOW me. All it really did was make me want to see the original interviews.

MILK
MILK was a biopic and I am not a fan of biopics. People's lives can be fascinating, but they just don't have the same story arc as a fictional story. I always find these movies to be a list of things that happened, as opposed to a "story." Ray, Man in the Moon, Walk The Line... They were all done well, but felt very unsatisfying to me. MILK was no exception.

THE READER
Didn't see it, sorry.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
Wow, did I want to see this one. I heard about it first from NPR and then from all around everywhere. The buzz was hot! The movie was not. Sorry, but I just didn't feel the love. It was a simple, dopey love story after all. I must say I liked the structure of the whole thing, with the questions and how he knew the answers, although some of them really really stretched plausibility. The brother's character arc was totally unconvincing. And how did he get on the show to begin with if he only knew those 12 things? My father-in-law is an intelligent, educated man who has tried half a dozen times to get on and couldn't. Then you have to get past the fastest-finger thing to actually get on the show. It was a silly fable that left me feeling nothing. I've heard that you "should" see this movie, as if it were an important film that had deep social significance. I just didn't feel it.


So my picks for Sunday night are:
MICKEY ROURKE, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, MERYL STREEP, MARISA TOMEI, WALL-E, oh and WALTZ WITH BASHIR for Foreign Language film, only because it's the only one I've heard of and I've heard great things about it. I have no pick for best picture. I think DOUBT and THE WRESTLER were better overall films that the ones nominated this year.