The nominees for the 81st annual Academy Awards have been announced. Thus i must discuss....
Best Actor
Eh, i'm not bummed about DiCaprio not making the cut, simply because he'd give the Academy a more people-friendly alternative to Penn or Rourke. Ditto my happiness at Eastwood not showing up either--even he would admit he's not that great of an actor and McCain has already proven that 2008 was not the year of the angry old man. The nomination and the Golden Globe was the award for poor, addled ol' Mickey, which means Penn may get this as a double-makeup nod. You know: "We're sorry Tom Hanks has so many more of these than you do and, uh, we're sorry about Proposition 8." Back-patting ensues. Unless they go Langella, which would be the easy choice--he's known as a brilliant actor, has been for decades, but he's done enough hackwork to make the Academy and its denizens feel comfortable. And he was probably the most smoking hot Dracula ever. The movie was so-so, but my mom saw the play (also with sets and costumes by Edward Gorey) and has never gotten over it.
Best Actress
Winslet is obviously a lock. I mean, what, they're gonna give it to one of the Vogue/Elle/Harper's/Glamour covergirls or waste it on Streep, who, i believe, keeps them in her garden shed at this point. Melissa Leo, no way, because i recall making a bad indie movie with her about 15 years ago and she was a total "I am a great artiste" annoying bitch. And then she got to make a movie with Benicio Del Toro so i kind of hate her for that too. It'd be fine if she had been cool, but since she was annoying it makes me kind of jealous. Although i dunno how much of that is also the eternal "what if," as in what if i had continued on with my studies at Tisch at NYU and done the whole actress thing (and at least if I'd kept my major, i wouldn't have lost the scholarship) and maybe i'd be Chloe Sevigny right now. I say her because we have the same birthday and lived int he same neighborhood and at least two people that I know of have muttered something about how that would've been the kind of career I'd have had. Nice to think of as i sit here thumping away with a cold in the ghettos of Las Vegas. But, hey, i fight the good fight and i make more of a difference in people's lives than a dozen appearance in critically acclaimed independent films ever could... But yay Kate and her bodacious ta-tas. She is more lovely and talented than i could ever dream of being, so i envy her nothing. And she's pretty overdue herself.
Best Supporting Actor
Ledger gets the Peter Finch Memorial Best Supporting Dead Actor Award. The Academy continues to ignore Robert Downey Jr. Even when he's not in blackface.
Best Supporting Actress
Who are these people? As long as it's not Marisa Tomei, who may deserve this one, but did not deserve her last one, so we're all even here. (Speaking of which, please tell me i will not be forced to praise Mira Sorvino next year.) So this can go two ways. Supporting actress is traditionally the "pretty young thing" award, so Amy Adams. Or, go with one of the Black chicks 'cause, y'know, Obama and all.
Best Foreign Film
I hope for The Baader-Meinhof Complex, because i've always been a fan. Anti-fascist, anti-capitalist terrorists with leather trenchcoats and a cool shag haircuts. In Berlin, no less. If that is not the dream of every radical-politics art-punk teen, what is?
Best Original Song
This will obviously go to Peter Gabriel for the WALL-E number, which I guess is okay. However, the presence of two Slumdog tunes means we'll get at some big Bollywood numbers (Take that Debbie Allen!) and M.I.A. will get blasted as worst-dressed, since i'm sure she'll be doing her usual over-the-top 80's neon ensemble. Entertaining, but i do wish she'd just get into some super-glam Galliano/Dior.
Best Picture
Probably freaking Benjamin Button because it's the only big-studio epic on there. Besides, Slumdog has brown people, Milk has gays, Frost/Nixon has intellectuals, The Reader has Nazis, you do the math.
