Oscar Picks

It's Oscar time again. Here's my picks and a short reason why I think he/she/it will win.



Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
Milk (2008): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
The Reader (2008): Nominees to be determined
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson

-Haven't seen The Reader, Frost/Nixon, or Milk. Out of those three my instinct is that The Reader has the best shot. Frost/Nixon is only an above average political film on a subject no one cares about anymore. (Yes, we know Nixon was a corrupt asshole. Let's move on with our lives). And Milk is just a film pushing the rights of homosexuals, neither is enlightening. The race is really between Benjamin Button and Slumdog. Both fine films, but Slumdog is more of the type that the Academy seems to go for.


Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)
Sean Penn for Milk (2008)
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

-I really wanted Brad Pitt to win for Benjamin Button, but next to Mickey Rourke he, unfortunately, has no chance.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)
Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)
Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)
Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

-I'm a little ignorant in this category, but I think it's Winslet's year. She won at the Golden Globes and just about shit herself.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

-Sorry, no contest here. The funny thing is, Ledger would still win this hands down if he were still alive. Thank you for such a memorable role, Ledger. Rest in peace, sir.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:
Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)
Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

-Fairly ignorant in this category as well. Marisa Tomei was pretty good in The Wrestler, but not good enough I think. Taraji Henson, eh, same scenario. Gonna say Viola Davis.

Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees:
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)
Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)

-David Fincher really is an amazing director--one of my favorites. I think Danny Boyle might win (I expect Slumdog to clean house), but I think Fincher is more deserved of it. Sadly, this is one of the few categories I expect Benjamin Button to win.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees:
Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh
In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh
Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black
WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

-Trust me.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan
The Reader (2008): David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:
Changeling (2008): Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister
The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle

-Slumdog very close to win this. But I think Benjamin Button will.

Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Milk (2008): Elliot Graham
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens

-The Dark Knight's plot was extremely complex, props to the editors of this for making it all work.

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Nominees:
Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:
Australia (2008): Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West
The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor
Milk (2008): Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky

Best Achievement in Makeup
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom
The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat
Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard
Milk (2008): Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman
WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar("Jai Ho")
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, M.I.A("O Saya")
WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")

Best Achievement in Sound
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
WALL·E (2008)
Wanted (2008)

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:
The Dark Knight (2008)
Iron Man (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
WALL·E (2008)
Wanted (2008)

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Edson Williams
The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin
Iron Man (2008)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:
Bolt (2008)
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
WALL·E (2008)

When you cant hear a sound...

Will the silence drown you too?

Tolkien on Creation

This just about sums it up.

"Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and the likeness of a maker."

--J.R.R Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories"

Novel idea: The Miraculous Mind of San Mateo

I was lying in bed the other night and the muses began to speak to me. This happens every so often, so I thought it might be appropriate to write about it here--seeing as this is a blog dedicated to, well, fiction.

This idea started, as most of my ideas do, as somewhat speculative in nature. It centered around the premise of a extraordinary man named Matthew (Mateo in Spanish) who had the ability to manifest his thoughts into reality. (Think Michael Crichton's Sphere).

Anyway, half of any novel is how you present it and I thought how I could present this is not in tradition novel format, but rather, as a collection of short stories. Each story would be a first person account of people who somehow knew this man at various stages in his life and some of the things he did with his power.

The short stories could be arranged in such a way to make the story flow chronologically, but never from Mateo's perspective. I thought it would be neat to present things in a non-fantastic way. Don't think of X-Men Origins: San Mateo, but rather, a very close character study of an unusual person told from various perspectives.

Additionally, I thought that it would enrich the narrative if the world was going through some kind of crisis (post-Apocalyptic, perhaps?) and the emergence of an extraordinary figure could give humanity some hope. Not to necessarily mirror the second coming of Christ or anything like that, but rather, the emergence of a secular messiah. Through it being told primarily secondhand accounts, you could filter the narrative to make it seem mythic---as we would never actually see first hand accounts of Mateo himself.

Origin:

Ideas like this usually came from when I ask myself an unusual question. In this particular instance, I asked myself--- What would happen if a child was born with the ability to manifest it's own thoughts. What would an infant create? As the child grew, how would it's upbringing affect what it would/wouldn't manifest? When the child was old enough to understand it's power, how would it use it? Could he control it? What happened if he had dreams? Nightmares?

Some interesting stuff. If I come up with anything cool I'll post it.