Friday, February 23, 2007

2007 Oscar Picks

Reviving a Daily Quickie tradition:

Picture: Departed
Director: Scorsese
Actor: Whitaker
Actress: Mirren
Supp. Actor: Murphy
Supp. Actress: Hudson
Screenplay (Adap.): Departed
Screenplay (Orig.): Sunshine
Doc: Inconvenient Truth
Foreign: Lives of Others

Is it me, or is this the easiest field to pick in years? So in the Comments, present your locks or your darkhorses.

27 comments:

LaziestMovieCriticofAllTime said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Brian in Oxford said...

If Murphy wins, should he go up on stage dressed as Norbit?

LaziestMovieCriticofAllTime said...

I'm hoping Scorsese wins, but won't be surprised if he loses.

Like Jon Stewart said last year:
3-6 Mafia: 1
Martin Scorsese: 0

Rob I said...

There will be definitely be one surprise win; hopefully it will be Alan Arkin or Jackie Earle Haley.

Also, Paul Greengrass over Scorsese would be cool.

Unknown said...

What about Pan's Labyrinth for the foreign nod?

ToddTheJackass said...

I could see some voters holding it against Scorsese in that the Departed really isn't his movie, it's a reiteration of a Hong Kong movie(s).

That being said, I think Scorsese is termendously overrated in a lot of his previous works (haven't seen Casino though, which I need to do at some point I'm told).

Also, I think Alan Arkin has a shot for Little Miss Sunshine. And I'm holding out for Happy Feet!

How is Borat nominated for Adapted Screenplay? Then again, the naked wrestling was genius.

professorperkins said...

Borat the book was definitely better.

The Big Picture said...

this is like soooo out of my realm:

but...

Picture: The Queen
Actor: Whitaker
Actress: Mirren
Sup. Actor: Murphy (but Arkin was great!)
Sup. Actress: ???
Director: Scorsese by a mile

Unknown said...

Isn't Eastwoods 'Letters from Iwo Jima' up? I think that may take foreign film.

I never saw departed, so i can't comment

BLUE said...

letters from Iwo Jima is a domestic film. Just because it has subtitles doesn't make it a foreign film.

RevScottDeMangeMD said...

@todd ching.

overrated??? goodfellas and raging bull are easily top 10 movies! casino is fantastic!

UconnFan32 said...

Why have Murphy and M. Lawrence been in so many movies where he plays a fat person and dresses up as them? Do they have a running bet of some sort?

ToddTheJackass said...

I know a lot of people who really like Scorsese, I'm just not one of them.

I thought Raging Bull was alright, but didn't keep my interest well in the 2nd half of the film. Taxi Driver was good, but again it just had some moments that seemed a little too overdone in some parts, and underdeveloped in others.

And I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I didn't really like a lot of Goodfellas. Just seemed unneccessarily violent in some parts, and the story never really grabbed me as some of the other mob flicks have. Some of the style choices and camera angles in the movie did work well though.

Can we at least agree Gangs of New York was terrible (not including Daniel Day Lewis)?

Again, totally just my opinion, and I respect anyone who disagrees with me. I just don't like that he tries to use brutality to ensure all his movies have that gritty edge. I don't think he belongs in the upper echelon of movie directors in history, that's all.

(I also didn't see Aviator... which I'll watch at some point, after Casino though).

CMFost said...

Never saw raging bull but Goodfellas and casino are excellant movies.

futurelegendvinceyoung said...

I bought the Departed on DVD last week but have not seen it because the wife is not down with violent movies. I hope Scorsese wins, I love Goodfellas and Casino.

I know that we are discussing Oscars on this thread but I wanted to share this story about Ken Griffey, Jr. He has been my favorite player since he came into the league. Since he has been hurt most of the last 5 years he has been forgotten what he did when he was the best player on the planet. It is a good read.

kway34 said...

future, GREAT article on Griffy. I was never a big baseball fan but Griffy was always my favorite player and I was pumped when he signed with the Reds. It's a real shame that the injuries have taken him down like that, but he should be apprciated more than he his for being so great and doing it clean.

Chaddogg said...

Dan, you're dead wrong about foreign film. I'll eat my hat if Pan's Labryinth does not win. That movie arguably would have been a best picture nominee if they hadn't entered it in Best Foreign Film.

As for the Griffey story, I whole-heartedly agree - it's about time we recognize the greatness of some of the "clean" athletes of baseball's steroid era. When we talk about Griffey, we really, too, need to discuss Frank Thomas, who probably is the best "clean" hitter of the steroids era.

Mega said...

chaddog- as a White Sox fan, I agree about Frank Thomas, but we cannot forget Jeff Bagwell too. Their career numbers are very similar. Both are HOF material in my opinion.

Unknown said...

Basically..the guys the media says 'should retire'.
I was elated when Junior came to the Reds. And despite it all, I still am elated.

Re: Letters of Iwo Jima
But I thought that movie won a foreign film award. Wasn't it a golden globe?

Lou Pickney said...

The Oscars are often about "make up" wins, like a ref making up for a borderline call the next time around.

The best example of this, in my opinion, was Jennifer Connelly winning Best Actress for A Beautiful Mind when she should have taken it for Requiem for a Dream the previous year.

Maybe the undercard is predictable, but Best Picture is wide open. As a longtime Scorsese fan, I hope The Departed runs wild, but Babel may land Best Picture. We'll see.

TJ said...

You're right that it seems easy to pick, so that means tome that either The Departed or Forest Whitaker will lose out. My guess is a huge upset: Peter O'Toole.

Everything else will probably fall just as you put there, except I am hoping against hope that Children of Men gets recognized for the screenplay. Much like Almost Famous several years ago, it's a movie that should have gotten the Picture nod and instead will have to settle with a consolation Oscar instead. So lets hope it gets it.

DP said...

Picture: Departed
Director: Scorsese
Actor: O'Toole
Actress: Mirren
Supp. Actor: Haley
Supp. Actress: Hudson
Screenplay (Adap.): Departed
Screenplay (Orig.): Sunshine
Doc: Jesus Camp. because Liberals hate Christianity
Foreign: Pan's Labyrinth
Animated Feature: Happy Feet
Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
Cinematography: " "
Makeup: " "
Music: " "
Costume Design: DreamGirls
Film Editing: The Departed
Music: Love You I Do from Dreamgirls
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean

Brian said...

For those who are confused the Globes give out an award for "Foreign Language Film," (i.e. Iwo Jima) while the Oscars give out an award for "Foreign [Made] Film" so Iwo Jima doesn't qualify

TJ said...

Doc: Jesus Camp. because Liberals hate Christianity

That's Christianity? I know a few Christians who would balk at the idea of being lumped into a group with the people in that movie.

My Random Picks:
Picture: Babel (I keep hearing people on TV and on the internet say that Little Miss Sunshine will pull a Shakespeare in Love, but... I doubt it. This year's Crash will be... this year's Crash.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Actor: Peter O'Toole (my 12-over-5 pick)
Actress: Helen Mirren
Supp. Actor: Eddie Murphy
Supp. Actress: Jennifer Hudson
Screenplay (Adap.): Borat (the Academy likes to give consolation prizes, and I think Children of Men's will be the cinematography Oscar)
Screenplay (Orig.): Little Miss Sunshine (more consolation prizes)
Doc: An Inconvenient Truth (lock of all locks)
Foreign: Pan's Labyrinth
Animated Feature: Cars
Cinematography: Children of Men
Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean

Unknown said...

The only thing I disagree with you Dan about is Babel is going to win Best Picture over Departed.

I'm a huge fan of Scorsese but I think the voters will give him Best Director and then snub Departed for Babel. I can't see Scorsese getting both the big awards tonight.

Although I have my fingers crossed for Mark Wahlberg over Eddie Murphy.

Ken Dynamo said...

departed? more like de farted.

teaboyNC said...

Good job Dan! You only missed Murphy. But I'm glad Alan Arkin won!