OSCARS, … schmoscars?
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009Well, the nominations for the 2009 Academy Awards were announced about 12 hours ago and… they’re pretty boring, but not exactly free of surprises. The academy (AMPAS) avoided having their ceremony picketed by legions of 15-year-olds by giving Heath Ledger the nomination he so justly deserved, but The Dark Knight went un-nominated as did its director, Christopher Nolan. [while I haven’t yet seen it] Benjamin Button seems to me just as much a Hollywood product if not more than The Dark Knight, so it’s a little tough to see Nolan’s film benched when B.Button makes Oscar’s starting five. I’ll probably have to see the damn thing (B.Button) now, especially since the last time I nearly passed on a film because of my perceptions despite its director having a near-perfect filmmography (Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie), I was wrong. Dirt‘s review, the mixed reviews of others, and its 2 hour 45 minute runtime will make it less than a top priority. Running time is a lame excuse, though, after seeing 4 hour 20 minute CHE, another film surely on MY Top 10 that was overlooked for major academy nominations. [Having not seen all the nominated performances] I have no problem with Benecio Del Toro’s not being talked about as the year’s best performance, but it is still odd for the central, titular character of a biography I would consider possibly the year’s most significant cinematic achievement to go without even a nomination. The last unfair omission in my opinion was overlooking Bruce Springsteen’s song for The Wrestler. Although it doesn’t play until the closing credits, it has been years since I’ve heard an original song so completely define a film’s protagonist. The song by “The Boss” just captures the emotions of that film so perfectly that it deserves recognition. Until I see more films, I will end all complaints here because the academy did include Trouble The Water in the Best Documentary category. I only wish the awards were of a mindset that would include it in the best Feature Film category.
THE 2009 OSCAR NOMINATIONS via Dark Horizons, one of my favorite sites for movie news.