Tuesday, February 19, 2008

If Special K Picked the Oscars

Best Actor
Will Smith, I am Legend. Because he's the last man on Earth, Smith really has to carry this film. Forced to battle his inner demons as well as the one's that have taken over the earth, Smith brings his usual wide range to the role. My favorite parts were the ones that were more human than hero.

Best Supporting Actor(s)
Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrian Brody, The Darjeeling Limited. Why shouldn't all three actors win Supporting Actor? A group of male actors supporting each other so well I've hardly seen before.

Best Actress
Ellen Page, Juno. Page's loquacious character has a lot of swagger, but occasionally her sarcasm (thanks to the brilliant script by Diablo Cody) falls away to reveal a young woman who is "dealing with things well above [her] maturity level." Like Molly Shannon in The Year of the Dog, her tight performance is for a character who wears a mask, when it slips aside, we glipse the insecurities she tries to hide. My favorite line (Up there with The Virgin Suicides, "Clearly, Doctor, you have never been a 13 year old girl.") is Juno's "I don't really know what kind of girl I am." Page beautifully portrays a very bright young woman trying to figure it out.

Best Supporting Actress
Tabu, The Namesake. The parents of Gogol (Kal Penn) really steal the show. The one-named Tabu is amazing as his mother, a young woman at the beginning of the film who's aging (beautifully!) by the end. Her moving performance and chemistry with her co-star was simply incredible.

Best Director
Craig Gillespie, Lars and the Real Girl. Truthfully, I don't know too much about film directing, but I do know I like this movie, and whoever made it collected a good story, great actors, interesting spaces and terrific performances, so I figure he did a really good job.

Best Picture
The Bourne Whatever. When it comes right down to it, when I go to the movies, I really wanna have a good time, some laughs, maybe *one* tear that I pretend I didn't cry, and I want a certain husband to go with me. Sure, I might go see the art-housey Margot at the Wedding and spend the rest of the night depressed and wishing I hadn't gone, and I'm through the blood-drenched dick flicks like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be (whatelse?) Blood. But a good, old-fashioned spy-type movie like the last Bourne movie really does it for me (as does a certain lead actor).

1 comment:

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