A little less Revolutionary Road..and more of The Reader please...
It would seem the Academy and the members of the jury were not impressed by what they saw in Revolutionary Road. That should explain why the movie was almost completely ignored in the final list of major nominations (save for the one category - best supporting actor for Michael Shannon). To be honest, I haven't watched Revolutionary Road, and I based my predictions off popular and positive reviews. Just goes to show there are no sure things when it comes to Oscars. Sally Hawkins, for instance, was strangely omitted, in spite of her dazzling performance in Happy Go Lucky. Director Christopher Nolan also found himself falling short despite creating one of the biggest movies of the year. Wall-E too, another victim.
If many(including yours truly) were led to believe that this could possibly be the year the Academy traversed off the beaten track and considered alternative motion pictures such as Wall-E or The Dark Knight or hopefully honor some of the creative forces behind these movies, they were sadly mistaken. Instead two movies in particular were showered with attention - Milk (which I haven't watched) and The Reader (which I have watched). The other nominations for best motion picture were as expected.
And having watched the Reader, I do have some reservations from it being proclaimed as one the top five 'best' movies of the year. Yes, it was effectively directed, had coherent storyline, decent performances, but best movie and best director? Really? The movie had a detached feel throughout. I personally could not empathize with any of the characters though the movie dealt with the aftermath of the holocaust and German guilt and all that. Both pertinent, powerful subjects those. But the movie strangely fails to capture the grief. I suppose that might have been the intention to begin with - portraying an emotional subject without actual emotion.
I was partly aroused but never moved. People who watched the movie would comprehend, but I suppose the members, and its their votes which really count in the final tally, got their emotions mixed up?
In any case, the exclusion of Revolutionary Road by the Academy threw my predictions off whack. I will discuss my predictions for the Oscar winners in a latter post.
Here is a link to the actual 2009: 81st Academy Award nominations -
http://www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=nominees
Nav
If many(including yours truly) were led to believe that this could possibly be the year the Academy traversed off the beaten track and considered alternative motion pictures such as Wall-E or The Dark Knight or hopefully honor some of the creative forces behind these movies, they were sadly mistaken. Instead two movies in particular were showered with attention - Milk (which I haven't watched) and The Reader (which I have watched). The other nominations for best motion picture were as expected.
And having watched the Reader, I do have some reservations from it being proclaimed as one the top five 'best' movies of the year. Yes, it was effectively directed, had coherent storyline, decent performances, but best movie and best director? Really? The movie had a detached feel throughout. I personally could not empathize with any of the characters though the movie dealt with the aftermath of the holocaust and German guilt and all that. Both pertinent, powerful subjects those. But the movie strangely fails to capture the grief. I suppose that might have been the intention to begin with - portraying an emotional subject without actual emotion.
I was partly aroused but never moved. People who watched the movie would comprehend, but I suppose the members, and its their votes which really count in the final tally, got their emotions mixed up?
In any case, the exclusion of Revolutionary Road by the Academy threw my predictions off whack. I will discuss my predictions for the Oscar winners in a latter post.
Here is a link to the actual 2009: 81st Academy Award nominations -
http://www.oscar.com/nominees/?pn=nominees
Nav
posted by Nav at 1:29 PM
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