Oscar Awards 2009

I'm so excited that "Slumdog Millionaire" won 8 awards tonight. I really loved that movie and I feel it's a really important, classic film that will be seen and revered forever. I first saw it almost 3 months ago and it knocked the wind out of me... I was totally blown away and obsessed with it. I've seen it 3 times now, and it's gotten better every time. I'm glad the Academy finally got one right (this ALMOST makes up for "Crash" winning a couple years ago) and I'm really excited for all the young actors who were in the film.




I really can't believe that Sean Penn won tonight. His performance was great, and he definitely turned in the second-greatest performance of the year. But this year's award belonged to Mickey Rourke. His performance was heartbreaking and soul-crushing and entirely brilliant. His performance was so understated and quiet too, something I really value in acting. Anybody can do the loud, angry Pacino delivery. It takes a true master to play a broken down piece of meat so softly and REAL. His performance really reminded me of Heath Ledger's wounded, understated role in "Brokeback Mountain", and goes down as some of the finest acting of this generation. It was written in the stars that he would win this award and complete his career comeback, and it was all dashed by the Academy awarding political importance over technical achievement.

I'm not sure why Penn won tonight. Maybe the Academy awarded him for political purposes, and as a big F U to the Prop 8 supporters. I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved "Milk" and Penn's performance, and I think that the film is incredibly important and relevant with our human rights struggles we are all going through. But I don't think that the Academy should give an award for political purposes. Maybe they awarded Penn to make up for "Brokeback Mountain" snubs from a few years ago, when many accused the older Academy members of homophobia. Maybe Mickey Rourke had made a bunch of enemies in the industry during his long absence, and they refused to vote for him. Either way, I feel that Mickey wuz robbed. If "The Wrestler" was set in Nazi Germany and The Ram was Ram-Slamming Nazi's, he would of won for sure.

Another thing I'm really sick of is the Academy giving their prestigious acting awards to nonfictional biopics. Seriously, think of the the winners of the last couple years... actors won Oscars for playing Harvey Milk, Marion Cotillard, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Ray Charles, Idi Amin, Truman Capote, Queen Elizabeth II, Aileen Wuornos, Virgina Woolf and Erin Brockovich. That's just during this decade, and only for Best Actor/Actress. The Academy is just lazily awarding these biopic performances, and I'm so sick of it. I mean, seriously, how hard is it to play a historical figure? Especially a historical figure of the last couple years, one that you can study on film and even possibly meet, learning their mannerisms and basically performing an impression on camera. Seriously, why don't we just give Tina Fey a "Best Actress" award for her impression of Sarah Palin? I'm so sick of these biopics, and especially their dominance in the acting categories.

I feel it's so much harder to make up a fictional character and to imbue him with life. Seriously, look what Heath Ledger did with the Joker (and Ennis Del Mar). He didn't have a person to copy and impersonate... he had to make up a HUMAN BEING, his mannerisms, his tics, his cadence, even his limped walk. This kind of performance is much more difficult than studying tapes of a real person and simply copying them. And that's what Mickey Rourke did in "The Wrestler". He invented The Ram, using only his own life experiences to see into this broken man with a final chance. I feel that's REAL ACTING. That is ART.

NO MORE BIOPICS!!!




Here's my Oscar predictions.

Best picture
“Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Slumdog)
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Best actor
Sean Penn, “Milk” (I had Mickey Rourke)
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Best actress
Kate Winslet, “The Reader” (I had Kate Winslett)
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Best supporting actor
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” (I had Heath Ledger)
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Best supporting actress
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (I had Taraji P. Hensen)
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Best director
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Danny Boyle)
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Best foreign film
“Departures,” Japan (I had Waltz With Bashir)
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Best adapted screenplay
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Slumdog Millionaire)
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Best original screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk” (I had Wall-E)
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Best animated feature film
“WALL-E” ( I had Wall-E)
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Best art direction
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (I had Benjamin Button)
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Best cinematography
“Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Slumdog)
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Best sound mixing
“Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Wall-E)
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Best sound editing
“The Dark Knight” (I had Wall-E)
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Best original score
“Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman (I had A.R. Rahman)
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Best original song
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar (I had "O Saya")
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Best costume
“The Duchess” (I had Benjamin Button)
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Best documentary film
“Man on Wire” (I had Man on Wire)
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Best documentary short
“Smile Pinki” (I had The Witness)
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Film editing
“Slumdog Millionaire” (I had Slumdog)
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Makeup
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (I had Benjamin Button)
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Animated short film
“La Maison en Petits Cubes” (I had Presto)
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Live action short film
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” (I had New Boy)
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Visual effects
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (I had Benjamin Button)

I had 12 out of 24... I'm not very good at this. I picked Wall-E to win a couple more (it was the best film of 2008), but I forgot that the Academy is biased toward animated movies and doesn't consider them worthy enough to win "real awards".