Polls...polls...and more polls

5 new polls have been added to the Hut to better find out what the general consensus is among our readers as far as who will be winning come Oscar night goes. Everyone who visits the site will have until the night of the independent Spirit Awards to cast your votes, so you will have plenty of time to think about your answers.

Enjoy!

Tyler j. Pratt

BAFTA Winners... Part 1

* = Correct Prediction

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire *

Best British Film: Man on Wire, I predicted In Bruges

Best Director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire *

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler *

Best Actress: Kate Winslet for The Reader *

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight *

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, I Predicted Marisa Tomei

Best Ad. Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire *

Best O. Screenplay: In Bruges *

Meditations...On The BAFTAs: Part Deux

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Brad Pitt – Burn After Reading
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This is probably the 2nd easiest category to predict after Best Film for 2008. Heath Ledger won this award long before the nominations were announced. However, I would be remiss if I didn't at least say that I feel 2008 had a wealth of great supporting turns. Every nominee in this category did a great job, especially in the case of Brendan Gleeson.

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Who Will Won: Heath Ledger for his dark, funny, scary and iconoclastic turn as the Joker.

Who Should Win: While Heath certainly did amazing work in The Dark Knight that deserves every single accolade he's received, I cant turn my back on Brendan Gleeson, who was the heart and soul of the wonderful In Bruges.

Who Was Snubbed: Since nobody else has this season, I want to bang the drum for Jason Butler Harner for his work in Changeling which has been stuck in my head since I saw the movie at Cannes. He was wonderful and the lack of attention being paid to his performance is criminal.

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Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Freida Pinto – Slumdog Millionaire
Tilda Swinton – Burn After Reading
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

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Unlike the Supporting Actor race, this one is a bit tricky. Viola Davis is curiously absent from the race, while lightweight performances from Pinto and Swinton make it in. I doubt that Swinton wins two in a row, so she's out, and the same goes for Pinto simply because she wasn't that good in Slumdog. I have to believe that Amy Adams wont win, only because she has been overshadowed by Davis all season long, but she could upset in the end. So this leaves me with Cruz and Tomei. For some reason, I have a feeling that Tomei will pull this one off. She was excellent in The Wrestler and has been very consistent during this awards season, and I think that the Brits are really digging The Wrestler. Despite Cruz's early front runner status, there doesn't seem to be much love for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, so I'm inclined to believe that she will lose once again, at least Winslet's not here.

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Wil Win: Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler, a true supporting role, and a good one at that.

Who Should Win: I loved Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, she was extremely funny and neurotically arrogant, not to mention sexy.

Who Was Snubbed: Viola Davis for the most explosive performance in Doubt. She did more in minutes of screen time than Pinto and Swinton did in two hour films.

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Best Actor
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

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I am just going to start by saying that this a two horse race between Sean Penn, the well bred front runner, and Mickey Rourke, the wily veteran underdog.

both men gave fantastic performances, and both could certainly pick up a mask tonight. Frank Langella and Brad Pitt are the "lucky to be nominated" spots as both seem to be just perennial nominees this season. And then there is Dev Patel. While youngsters have won in the past, Jamie Bell won in 2000 for Billy Elliott against all odds, I just cant see Patel going all the way. He honestly is out of his league here, his chances of beating Penn and Rourke are as likely as Slumdog Millionaire not winning Best Film.

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Who Will Win: I'm going with Rourke, he has an incredible momentum going on right now having just won the London Critics Circle Awards, and his personal story is getting so much press right now.

Who Should Win: Mickey Rourke, he was just too good in The Wrestler. Penn was very good in Milk, but Rourke's performance hit many emotional chords within myself. He made me tear up at least twice in the movie.

Who Was Snubbed: Leonardo DiCaprio, this year's perennial snub also gave the best performance of any actor this year. Years from now, people will kick themselves in the head for not realizing how good he was in Revolutionary Road.

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Best Actress
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Kristin Scott Thomas – I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

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This would have been a much easier category to predict had Winslet only recieved one nomination. Because of her dual nods, she runs the risk of vote splitting, but due to the muted reception to Revolutionary Road as a whole I don't think that will be a problem. Jolie seems to be the easiest to dispose of, yes her film was well liked here but I think she is just filler this year in the best actress category. Kristin Scott Thomas could benefit from being both British and performing in a foreign language, french just like last years winner Cottilard, but I don't think this is her year to win. That leaves us with Meryl Streep for Doubt and Kate Winslet for The Reader. Even though Meryl hasn't won a BAFTA since the 80's, Doubt was only just released in the UK which puts some doubt as to her chances. So in short, I think Kate wins because The Reader was well liked by the BAFTAs, she is an international superstar, and the overdue factor may carry over from the Oscars despite her supporting win more than a decade ago for Sense and Sensibility at the BAFTAs.

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Who Will Win: Kate Winslet takes this one for The Reader, and makes her way to the Oscars.

Who Should Win: I think Kate should win, but for Revolutionary Road, not The Reader

Who Was Snubbed: Anne Hathaway for her fantastic job in Rachel Getting Married.

Meditations on...The BAFTAS

With the BAFTAs airing tommorow night, it seemed more fitting to turn in my final predictions than to star with my ever-delayed Countdown to Oscar series. So, lets dive in, shall we ?

I've decided to place each category in order of relevance to the oscars.

The Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Michael Cera
Noel Clarke
Michael Fassbender
Rebecca Hall
Toby Kebbell

Having only heard of Cera, Fassbender and Hall, this prediction should be taken with a grain of salt, even though I'm almost positive one of these three shall win.

Since it's voted upon by the public, I'm inclined to pick Cera, but I think that if Michael Fassbender wins anywhere, it'll be here.

Will/Should Win: Michael Fassbender

Snubbed: Dev Patel, and David Kross.

Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a Brit in their first feature film
Simon Chinn - Man on Wire (producer)
Judy Craymer - Mamma Mia! The Movie (producer}
Garth Jennings - Son of Rambow (writer)
Steve McQueen - Hunger (director/writer)
Roy Boulter and Solon Papadopoulos - Of Time and the City (producers)

Steve McQueen won this the day the nominations were announced.

Will/Should Win: Steve McQueen

Snubbed: Martin McDonagh for In Bruges, even though he already has an oscar for his excellent short, Six Shooter, how did he not get in for his feature length debut ?

Best Sound
Changeling – Walt Martin, Alan Robert Murray, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff
The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Richard King, Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo
Quantum of Solace – Jimmy Boyle, Eddy Joseph, Chris Munro, Mike Prestwood Smith, Mark Taylor
Slumdog Millionaire – Glenn Freemantle, Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Tom Sayers, Ian Tapp
WALL-E – Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Matthew Wood

I have no idea how Changeling made it in, I think it's safe to write that off immediately. The dark Knight, Quantum of Solace and Wall-e would all be deserving winners, and Slumdog, which I think has no buisness in this category. I think this will go to either Wall-e or The Dark Knight, but if pressed, batman picks this up.

Will Win: The Dark Knight

Should Win: The Dark Knight or Wall-e

Snubbed: Defiance. I adored the movie, and I still cant understand why it recieved so little love this year. It's a shame.

Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Craig Barron, – Nathan McGuinness, Edson Williams
The Dark Knight – Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – Pablo Helman
Iron Man – Shane Patrick Mahan, John Nelson, Ben Snow
Quantum of Solace – Chris Corbould, Kevin Tod Haug

This is easily between Button, The Dark Knight and Iron Man. Of the three, The dark Knight is probably the weakest due to the real effects used during the movie as far as the explosions go. Iron Man had great effects and probably would have won had Button not been nominated. I just cant see how any awards body could ignore the masterful technical prowess displayed in Ben Button

Will/Should Win: The Curious case of Benjamin Button

Snubbed: Nothing comes to mind.

Best Makeup and Hair
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jean Black, Colleen Callaghan
The Dark Knight – Peter Robb-King
The Duchess – Daniel Phillips, Jan Archibald
Frost/Nixon – Edouard Henriques, Kim Santantonio
Milk – Steven E. Anderson, Michael White

It seems wierd to me that the brits include hair in this category but I think that the only film that stands a chance is The curious case of Benjamin Button. The actors are aged and de-aged marvelously in the movie. And that fact that it spans throughout decades only helps it's chances.

Will/Should Win: The Curious case of Benjamin button

Snubbed: Synecdoche, New York, despite featuring the best and most realistic aging make up I've ever seen, it has been shunned and snubbed by every awards group.

Best Costume Design
Changeling – Deborah Hopper
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West
The Dark Knight – Lindy Hemming
The Duchess – Michael O'Connor
Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky

The Duchess, Changeling, and Benjamin Button are the only realistic contenders for this award. All three movies feature great costumes which makes it difficult to predict a winner. Because of this, I have to go with my BAFTA montra: When in doubt, go with a British film". The Duchess wins.

Will Win: The Duchess

Should Win: Changeling

Snubbed: The Other Boleyn Girl had fantastic costumes.

Best Production Design
Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
Slumdog Millionaire – Mark Digby, Michelle Day

This is a tough one. Changeling, Revolutionary Road and Butto all feature fantastic period design work. The Dark Knight was contemporary design marvel, and Slumdog Millionaire's Mumbai is brought to life through it production design. I think the weakest films are Slumdog and The Dark Knight so they're out. Revolutionary Road isnt getting anything so its out. Which leaves us with Button and Changeling. I prefere Changeling, but I think Button picks this one up.

Will Win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Should Win: Changeling

Snubbed: The great sets and art direction of Indianna Jones IV, which were the best part of an otherwise unsatisfying film.

Best Music (Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
The Dark Knight – James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer
Mamma Mia! – Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman
WALL-E – Thomas Newman

Mama Mia!'s inclusion is a joke, but otherwise anyone of these films would be derserving winners. I know that Slumdog Millionaire most likely takes this in a cake walk, but I would like to believe that a work as good as Howard and Zimmer's The Dark Knight score will win at least one major award. Alas, Slumdog wins this one as it has done all season long.

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire

Should Win: The Dark Knight

Snubbed: I loved the scores for Che, Defiance and especially In Bruges. Carter Burwell's work was sublime and incredibly haunting, Albert Iglesias did great mood molding work in Che, and James Newton Howard's Defiance score was exactly the type of grand, eloquent work that I love when it comes to film scores.

Best Film Not in the English Language
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Der Baader Meinhof Komplex) • Germany
Gomorrah (Gomorra) • Italy
I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) • France
Persepolis • France
Waltz with Bashir (Vals im Bashir) • Israel

Take your pic here. I've seen all the nominees, but because of Persepolis inclusion I feel completely thrown off. I think that because of Persepolis, Waltz With Bashir and the other animated film will suffer a vote split type situation, knocking both of them out of the running.

Baader hasnt recieved the best of reviews and I disliked it so I'm crossing that one off, leaving two excellent films in Gommorah and I've Loved You So Long. I'm think they'll go with Gommorah to one up the Oscars and make them look foolish for the ridiculous snub.

Will/Should Win: Gommorah

Snubbed: The Class, one of the best films of the last three years and the most deserving Palm d'Or winner in a while.

Best Animated Film
Persepolis
WALL-E
Waltz with Bashir (Vals im Bashir)

Theres no reason to comment here.

Will Win/Should Win: Wall-e

Snubbed: Kung Fu Panda, what can I say ? I loved it.

Best Film - British (Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film)
Hunger
In Bruges
Mamma Mia! The Movie
Man on Wire
Slumdog Millionaire

I think that Slumdog has Best Film wrapped up with a bow, and I'm pretty sure that this award usually splits. I doubt that Mama mia! will win any best picture type award, if it couldnt win a globe, this is impossible. I'm not sure about Man on Wire's chances, despite being phenominal how often does a doc win this type of an award ? I just cant see it. This leaves Hunger and In Bruges. Both wonderful. Both Unique. Both auteur driven films. I think that McQueen's win earlier in the night is the films consolation prize, which leaves my personal fav In Bruges for the win.

Will/Should Win: In Bruges

Snubbed: I'm not sure, I guess The Reader is the most obvious snubee as it was directed, produced and written by brits.

Best Cinematography
Changeling – Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle

I hate this category this year as i am at a loss. Last year I felt I had a personal favorite to win which led me to correctly predict There Will be Blood, but this year no film had photography that just completely grabbed me and spoke to me. Hunger comes the closest, but it was snubbed.

I'm going to go with Slumdog Millionaire, but I prefer The Dark Knight and Changeling slightly more.

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire

Should Win: The Dark Knight

Snubbed: Hunger's cinematography was a true technical achievement, and a testament to Bobbit's skill as a dp and McQueen's talent as a director.

Best Screenplay - Adapted
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth
Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan
The Reader – David Hare
Revolutionary Road – Justin Haythe
Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy

Simon Beaufoy, a brit, wins this as easy as one, two, three.

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire

Should Win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Snubbed: I think The Dark Knight had the most criminally passed over screenplay of 2008. It created a world that captured the minds of people all over the world, and featured some of the best dialogue ever written, especially in the case of The Joker's monologues throughout the film.

Best Screenplay - Original
Burn After Reading – Ethan and Joel Coen
Changeling – J. Michael Straczynski
I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime) – Philippe Claudel
In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
Milk – Dustin Lance Black

The only movie I can see winning here is In Bruges.

Will Win/Should Win: In Bruges, heres hoping that Oscar is next !

Snubbed: Vicky Cristina Barcelona, just like at the oscars, for some reason Woody is being screwed this year despite seeing his best reviews in years.

I'm out for the night, part two comes tommorow morning, I promise.

Apologies...

For the lack of posts lately, but things have been extremely hectic for me in my personal life.
Exams, illness, injury and relationships and The Oscars can be hard to balance on a day to day basis. On the brightside, during my time away I was fortunate enough to re watch all of the best picture nominees and films with acting and screenplay nods.
So... what that means is, with any luck I will be doing a category countdown to the oscars that should begin tonight or tommorow.

Enjoy !

Tyler j. Pratt

PGA Quick Pick

Slumdog Millionaire wins. Duh...

Meditations...on the Oscar Nominees. Part II

Best Actor
- Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
- Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
- Sean Penn for Milk
- Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

These nominees are not bad at all. In fact they are pretty decent, nearly great. Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn gave two of the top three performances of the year, with bith men giving career best performances in Milk and The Wrestler respectively. Either one of these two men should and will win the oscar. Brad Pitt was great in Button, giving the most internally complex performance of his career, and he deserved a nod. Frank Langella's Nixon was a shining example of wonderful mimicry mixed with actorly invention, and even though Michael Sheen was his equal performance wise, Langella provided Frost/Nixon with it's most poignant moment when he apologizes to the American People. Finally, Richard Jenkins. Jenkins wa absolutely wonderful and reserved in the Visitor. Giving his second best performnce ever, behind Nathaniel Fisher Sr. in Six Feet Under, Jenkins is overdue for a nomination.

Now for the negatives of this shortlist...

No Leo. In my oppinion, Leonardo DiCaprio gave the best male performance of the year and the best of his own career. He was raw, vulnerable and at times frighteningly explosive. His snub will be much more talked about in the coming years, as his performance was better than Jenkin's, Langella's and Pitt's. It's inexcusable that acting of this callibre can be so ridiculously ignored by an actors branch that loves actors movies above all else. I just don't get it.

Best Actress
- Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
- Angelina Jolie for Changeling
- Melissa Leo for Frozen River
- Meryl Streep for Doubt
- Kate Winslet for The Reader

This is a list that is definitely weaker than the Best Actor race. Anne Hathaway was great, boldly daring to strip away all remnants of her squeaky clean persona and playing an ex drug addictwith a complex emotional history. Pretty much a stretch for her, and despite this, she was wonderful. Meryl Streep's performance is one that crept up on me. As I was watching Doubt, it struck me as odd that the only performance that was weak was coming from Ms. Streep. The next day, I had eased up on her, thinking that maybe she wasnt bad at all. Three weeks later, I was positive that she gave the second best female performance of the year. Jolie was good, really good in changeling. Probably the best I've seen her do since Girl, Interupted.

The negative thoughts...
Melissa Leo over Sally Hawkins. The fact that Leo got in pissess me off when Sally Hawkins who gave the superior performance was snubbed. I knew it was going to be one or the other, I went with Sally, why shouldn't I have, she did great on the precursor circuit, got raves and she young and beautiful. Leo is none of these things.
Also, Kate Winslet was nominated for the wrong film. She was good in the Reader, but I agree with the supporting campaign, Michael was the main character not hannah. Winslet turns in the best performance of the year for Rev Road and she is snubbed for it. I just dont understand why the academy is so fucking stupid.

Part III: Monday

Meditations...On the Oscar Nominees, Part I

Well, after months of prognostication, wishes, and viewings, the Oscar finally announced their nominees yesterday morning. For the readers who know what happened, I am not extremely upset about the results. It could have been much worse, Mickey Rourke cold have been snubbed, Milk could have been completely shut out, Kate Winslet could have gone without any nominations. We should all be greatful that this year the Oscars are honoring films directed by Danny Boyle, David Fincher and Gus Van Sant, and whats more is that their films all received at least 8 nominations. Be greatful that actors like Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella and Mickey Rourke have finally recieved a nomination, and that Michael Shannon, Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis are being honored. The Oscars may not have rewarded The Dark Knight, but they were brave enough to give movies like In Bruges, Happy-Go-Lucky and Frozen River nominations.
Yes, The Dark Knight was snubbed, yes Woody Allen and Jenny Lumet were robbed, yes, Leonardo Dicaprio wasn't nominated for the best male performance of the year.
The only snub that angered me was the Boss' not being recognized for his genius.
But in the end, at least the Oscars once again gave us something to talk about, at least we can all now bitch until the next January. That's half the fun of the Oscars anyways isnt it.
Either way, here are my thoughts on this year's nominees.

Best Picture
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
- Slumdog Millionaire

This is what we all expected isnt it. The entire year, bloggers battled over whether or not the Dark Knight was going to be nominated, and in the end it wasn't. Yes, I thought the Dark Knight was one of the superior films from 2008, but there is not one film on that shortlist that was completely undeserving. The Reader, was not a bad film. In fact, it was actually a pretty decent movie, one that was generally well liked by critics and awards bodies alike. Frost/Nixon & Milk were fantastic biopics, boasting great direction and performances. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was one of the most fascinating film going experiences of the year, and Slumdog Millionaire was universally acclaimed despite a now rising backlash.
This is not a bad short list at all.

Best Director
- Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
- Stephen Daldry for The Reader
- David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Ron Howard for Frost/Nixont
- Gus Van Sant for Milk
Once again, how can you complain when Danny Boyle, David Fincher and Gus Van Sant show up as nominees. They are three of the most beloved cult directors, and they all nailed their movies with phenominal direction. I feel ambivalent towards Ron Howard's nod, and while Stephen Daldry did his best directing yet in The Reader, I still think that Christopher Nolan was robbed. His direction was iconic, and any number of images in that movie can be remembered with staggering clarity.

Meditations...

I dont know what to say about this morning's nominations right now...
Once I can contain my thoughts and gather them up, you readers will be hearing a diatribe against the AMPAS.

On a side note, I did not miss more than two nominees from any of the individual categories.

But...The Dark Knight snub....

I will be back later today

bet on it.

Tyler j. Pratt

Meditations on...The Innauguration andMy Final Oscar Predictions.

Wow, what a day, what a day. First off, I am still freezing from the hours spent waiting for the innauguration which really only lasted about an hour and a half, maybe two hours plus. But, this morning was one for the history books. Despite my personal feeling that this man has yet to prove himself in any political arena, it was hard to not be caught up in the emotions, inthe history that was being made before the eyes of millions of americans.

Well, thats it for the political crap today, lets move on to my favorite topic...the Oscars !

My Final Predictions will be up 100 percent sometime tommorow, once i get home from D.C., I will try to get something done on the plane, but I doubt it.