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Oscar Picks by Alyn Darnay
Being a film critic, at this time of year I always undertake the humbling task of picking the Oscar winners. This year it seems a bit less challenging as it appears that the road is actually clear for a few audience favorites to grab top honors. So, without further ado, here’s my best guesses for who will walk away happy at the 81st Academy Awards.
Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Sean Penn will win for his brilliant performance in “Milk” (Focus Features), He’s an Academy favorite and this time around he’ll get the statue. If anyone can take it away from him it would be Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight), but I don’t think so.
Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Nobody can argue that his was an outstanding performance by an actor who was on the top of his game. The Academy will recognize that and honor him. If he wasn’t in the running, my money would be on Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), great acting in a small but outstanding role.
Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), no actress was better this year and her performance here was flawless and compelling. My vote hands down. If not Kate, then it’ll probably be Meryl Streep for “Doubt” (Miramax)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax), she electrifies the screen in this role and deserves to win. I wouldn’t mind seeing Penélope Cruz win for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company), but it won’t happen nor will it happen for the very talented Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight).
Achievement in directing
Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight),. Brilliant vision, brilliantly executed under the hardest conditions lead to an outstanding film. It’s Danny Boyle’s style that makes this film what it is. If anyone has any chance of unseating him, it could only be Gus Van Sant for “Milk” (Focus Features).
Best motion picture of the year
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer. The little film that could, will! And it deserves to win.
Best animated feature film of the year
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton, beyond comparison the best.
Best foreign language film of the year
“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel. A challenging and controversial animated film approach that makes for great storytelling.
Best documentary feature
“Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall in association with Red Box Films Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn. Just because.
Achievement in cinematography
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle for capturing the shear beauty, sweep and style that the director and script demanded.
Achievement in art direction
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo will win for the beautiful sets that added to every frame of the film. Though the competition is stiff, “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway, is stunning and “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis, captured the era perfectly.
Achievement in costume design
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor, I could be wrong here, but the costuming was perfect and added a new dimension to the typical period wardrobe we generally see. From there I’d say “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin or “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West.
Achievement in film editing
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens. Films are made in edit, and this film is a prime example of that; moving, lyrical, and compelling in its journey.
Achievement in makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom. I don’t think that anyone can argue with this pick. Pitt’s age progressions will win over the Academy and capture the vote.
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman will win it; the score is unusual and exciting and blends perfectly with the story’s visuals and performances.
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam. Just an old fashion good tune and the best song nominated this year.
Achievement in sound editing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King. Hands down the best sound of any film nominated, rich, dynamic, and pure. Great Job.
Achievement in sound mixing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick. Mixed to perfection and delivered with a deft touch and an amazing range.
Achievement in visual effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron, certainly the most challenging story to create, it treads new ground in character effects. If there’s a close runner up, I’d say the next most challenging effects film would be “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin.
Adapted screenplay
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. A beautifully realized adaptation of the original source material.
Original screenplay
“Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black, is a beautifully realized biopic that captures the characters and period to perfection as it tells the very human and compelling story of its main characters. “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh is just as good with its twists, sparkling dialog and humor, but unfortunately it’s not a favorite.
That wraps it up for this year’s guess work. Hopefully I’ve gotten more than a few right. We’ll see on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific when the “Biggest Movie Event of the Year” gets under way hosted by actor Hugh Jackman (who by the way should have been nominated for his turn as “The Drover” in Australia). Enjoy the Telecast. -Alyn ‘09
Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Sean Penn will win for his brilliant performance in “Milk” (Focus Features), He’s an Academy favorite and this time around he’ll get the statue. If anyone can take it away from him it would be Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight), but I don’t think so.
Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Nobody can argue that his was an outstanding performance by an actor who was on the top of his game. The Academy will recognize that and honor him. If he wasn’t in the running, my money would be on Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), great acting in a small but outstanding role.
Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), no actress was better this year and her performance here was flawless and compelling. My vote hands down. If not Kate, then it’ll probably be Meryl Streep for “Doubt” (Miramax)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax), she electrifies the screen in this role and deserves to win. I wouldn’t mind seeing Penélope Cruz win for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company), but it won’t happen nor will it happen for the very talented Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight).
Achievement in directing
Danny Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight),. Brilliant vision, brilliantly executed under the hardest conditions lead to an outstanding film. It’s Danny Boyle’s style that makes this film what it is. If anyone has any chance of unseating him, it could only be Gus Van Sant for “Milk” (Focus Features).
Best motion picture of the year
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer. The little film that could, will! And it deserves to win.
Best animated feature film of the year
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton, beyond comparison the best.
Best foreign language film of the year
“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel. A challenging and controversial animated film approach that makes for great storytelling.
Best documentary feature
“Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall in association with Red Box Films Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn. Just because.
Achievement in cinematography
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle for capturing the shear beauty, sweep and style that the director and script demanded.
Achievement in art direction
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo will win for the beautiful sets that added to every frame of the film. Though the competition is stiff, “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway, is stunning and “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis, captured the era perfectly.
Achievement in costume design
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor, I could be wrong here, but the costuming was perfect and added a new dimension to the typical period wardrobe we generally see. From there I’d say “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin or “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West.
Achievement in film editing
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens. Films are made in edit, and this film is a prime example of that; moving, lyrical, and compelling in its journey.
Achievement in makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom. I don’t think that anyone can argue with this pick. Pitt’s age progressions will win over the Academy and capture the vote.
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman will win it; the score is unusual and exciting and blends perfectly with the story’s visuals and performances.
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam. Just an old fashion good tune and the best song nominated this year.
Achievement in sound editing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King. Hands down the best sound of any film nominated, rich, dynamic, and pure. Great Job.
Achievement in sound mixing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick. Mixed to perfection and delivered with a deft touch and an amazing range.
Achievement in visual effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron, certainly the most challenging story to create, it treads new ground in character effects. If there’s a close runner up, I’d say the next most challenging effects film would be “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin.
Adapted screenplay
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. A beautifully realized adaptation of the original source material.
Original screenplay
“Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black, is a beautifully realized biopic that captures the characters and period to perfection as it tells the very human and compelling story of its main characters. “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh is just as good with its twists, sparkling dialog and humor, but unfortunately it’s not a favorite.
That wraps it up for this year’s guess work. Hopefully I’ve gotten more than a few right. We’ll see on Feb. 22 at 8 p.m Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific when the “Biggest Movie Event of the Year” gets under way hosted by actor Hugh Jackman (who by the way should have been nominated for his turn as “The Drover” in Australia). Enjoy the Telecast. -Alyn ‘09
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