My Take On the Oscars

Ok, basically this will be just like my Golden Globe Predictions, but more important because they're the Oscars.


BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood


Ok, despite No Country being shot down at the Globes that doesn't change my view that it was the best movie this year. It does however increase my fear that it and There Will Be Blood (the only other film I think deserves the award) will split the votes and third less deserving flick will take the prize.



BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones, The Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Again this a race betwixt Clooney, Day-Lewis, and Depp. Now I favored Day-Lewis over Clooney at the Globes and that opinion still holds and I will also back Day-Lewis over Depp as well. Danny Boy was just too damn good. I will seriously be surprised if he doesn't walk away with this one.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchette, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Mome
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

Now at the Globes Marion Cotillard snagged Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy that I thought for sure was for Ellen Page. Now I based this on not seeing or even hearing of Marion's performance, so I didn't think twice about it. But I don't think this will be an issue her, as I'm pretty sure Julie Christie as got this one.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Pretty much the GG best Best Supporting in a Drama again. I went with Javier then (who won), I'm sticking with him now.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Some new blood as opposed to Golden Globes, but like then I still say it's a battle between Cate Blanchett and Amy Ryan. Now I still say Ryan's was the better performance, but that is nothing against Cate's. But I was wrong with backing Ryan for the Golden Globes, so I'll probably wrong again here.

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Butterfly and the Diving Bell

Another award the Coens's deserved at the Globes that they didn't get. Foreign guy directing foreign movie got it, again another one that I just didn't factor in last round, and like Best Picture I'm more worried that the Coen Brothers will be denied.

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN
Diablo Cody, Juno
Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkavo, Jim Capobianco, Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

I had Juno for screenplay at the Globes, were it was beaten by No Country. A deserving beat, but I figured with all the Juno love it was a shoe-in (is that how it's spelled? literally?). Well, Juno buzz has waned since then and many are even in hatred. Whatever, it's still a great script. I am glad that Ratatouille and Lars (my fav on the list) are up there, truly great scripts as well. And if Juno continues to be shunned I think Lars's also quirkier script could snatch, but probably not.

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PRODUCED OR PUBLISHED

Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Sarah Polley, Away From Her
Ronald Harwood, The Butterfly and the Diving Bell
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Ok, I won;t hide the fact that I have a huge boner for the Coen Brothers. And in fact if they made a not so stellar flick that managed to get nominated for anything, I'd probably be rooting for them to win because their entire body of work is just so fucking superb, but that being said No Country is the best they've done, and they are the greatest screenwriters to come out in the last twenty years (possible exception to Quienten Tarantino, but he's gonna have to step it up).

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Seamus McGarvey, Atonement
Roger Deakins, No Country For Old Men
Jamusz Kaminiski, The Butterfly and the Diving Bell
Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood

I'm going with Roger Deakins for this one. And not just because he's up there twice and thus has the best odds. It also has to do with the fact Deakins deserves this award for his stellar work in the past and his contributions this year excel past those (well, most of them anyway). I pick Jesse James over No Country because it was the more visual beautiful film, which is kind of what cinematography is (I think; should probably double check that one of these days).

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL EFFECTS

Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, Trevor Wood, Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End
John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charlie Gibson, John Frazier, The Golden Compass
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier, Transformers

Let me just say this right now: I hated Transformers. Hated it. The movie was boring and nonsensical with no redeeming value. My friends will cite Megan Fox as a redeeming value, but I don't need to spend eight bucks and waste two hours to look at her being hot. Of course I realized too late it was going to a rough ride when it's opening line was: "Before time itself, there was the cube." And yet whenever I ranted at the atrocity of film making this was, I always cited that sure looked damn pretty. The one thing this movie did good (and pretty much the only thing Michael Bay can do good) was its special effects. Despite how utterly crappy this movie was, it deserves this award.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Vinceny Parannoud, Marjane Satrapi, Persopolis
Ash Brannon, Chris Buck, Surf's Up
Brad Bird, Ratatouille

It's possible that Persopolis will get this, but I have not seen this cannot vouch for it. I do know Ratatouille was pretty fucking brilliant both as story and especially animation. I think this will be the second Oscar for Brad Bird. Wait, did he win an Oscar for The Incredibles? Was The Incredibles nominated for an Oscar? Hold on, let me check. Wikipedia tells me yes to both of these.

I don't think I can give a very good account for the rest of the categories so I won't bother. Anyway those are my picks for the upcoming Oscars.

How We'd F*ck Up Casablanca

Today my fellow traveler in the world of blogging and I unveil the first installment in a series entitled: How We'd F*ck Up A Classic. Essentially what we're going to do is take a classic flick that pretty much reaches the heights of iconic perfection and decide what we'd do for the remake if it were today. Mostly this will entail what actor choices we'd make, but there may be some other subtle differences we'd make. Now hopefully with the dear god of cinema's help these remakes will never happen, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun speculating. So with out further ado, here's how we'd f*ck up



Ugarte
Played By: Peter Lorre


Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Steve Buscemi

I had always thought of Steve Buscemi as this era's Peter Lorre, odd looking, able to play weasels, sychophants, and creepy guys, but still be funny. Now Buscemi is older than Lorre was when playing in the original, and I'm not sure if he can sound like he's from a European or North African country, but in my eyes there is no one else to replace Peter Lorre.

Stads: Steve Buscemi

A lot of these roles were difficult to determine, but to me Peter Lorre has always reminded me of a Steve Buscemi so Ugarte was easy. I would also go as far as to say Buscemi would improve the role. Buscemi firing a pistol into a group of attacking soldiers just makes more sense to me.

Signor Ferrari

Played By: Sydney Greenstreet

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: John Rhys-Davies

Now this is basically solely based on John Rhys-Davies's portrayal as Sallah in the two great Indiana Jones flicks. Essentially a big guy who sounds foreign. That's good enough to replace Sydney Greenstreet.

Stads: John Rhys-Davies

Greenstreet actually isn't nearly as Indian as Casablanca makes him look, I mean they just add a hat. My thought on Davies is of course from Sallah in Indiana Jones, but that's not to take away from Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He just happens to be my favorite fat North African looking fellow. Which you know... are a little hard to find.

Major Strasser

Played By: Conrad Veidt

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Ralph Fiennes

I was a tad apprehensive to give Fiennes another Nazi role, but come on he was just so damn good the first time around. And I think Fiennes gives something to the character that's much more intimidating then there was the first time around. I thought about Peter Stormare for the role (the go to European guy in any flick see: German, The Big Lebowski, Russian, Armageddon, French, The Brothers Grimm, Swedish, Fargo, the Devil, Constantine), but he is perhaps a bit too creepy for the role.

Stads: Robert De Niro

I really wish De Niro didn't have such the history of great acting that he has. I truly do believe that he could do a great job in this role, but too many people would watch him and see that bad ass from Heat, Goodfellas, or of course young Vito Corleone (if anyone sees him and thinks of Meet the Parents, you know nothing of this man). If you can see past this, I think you can see that De Niro would make a wonderful Nazi.

Sam

Played By: Dooley Wilson

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Jaimie Foxx

Sam is certainly a notch above token black guy, but I think as Rick's only true friend he should have a more forceful character in the film other than the guy who plays "As Time Goes By". That being said I'm thinking Jaimie Foxx, great actor and we know he can play the piano and sing. Plus he's the right skin color.

Stads: Morgan Freeman

Sam is really not as in depth of a character as I think he could, or rather should, have been. He needs to be an older guy who is always looking at for his friend Rick. Morgan Freeman just seems like the type who is full of advice as well as just a nice guy to have around. Really can't see him singing all that well, but let's be honest, Sam didn't have the best voice either(not that I don't love As Time Goes By)

Victor Lazslo

Played By: Paul Henreid

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Jude Law

I don't know. Jude Law just seems like he can play a selfless heroic champion who you still don't want to get the girl.

Stads: Aaron Eckhart

Eckhart has little under his belt aside from Thank You For Smoking, but that was an impressive role. So I have great hope for this man(soon to play Harvey Dent in the new batman film), and I think he would fit Lazlo great. He's a strong, independent looking guy, but you still want to root for the other guy.

Captain Renault

Played By: Claude Rains


Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Ricky Gervais

Captain Renault is cleary a comedic role, so a comedian makes sense for him. But while still keeping the comedy there I do want to highlight his dark side of using his power for sexual favors. And I am banking on Ricky Gervais being able to comedy that isn't just self depracating.

Stads: Robin Williams

Williams is a funny guy, which is an important aspect. He's also a great actor when given the chance, just think of Good Morning Vietnam, as well as to a lesser extent Man of the Year. Also, he always struck me as the type that would use his power to sleep with women.

Illsa Lun

Played By: Ingrid Bergman

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shandeaux: Eva Green

Essentially because she's French and hot. And the only other French actress I know is whats-her-face (I realize I could just look it up and sound impressive, but I'm too lazy) from Amelie, and though I have a huge crush on her based on the that movie she's not exactly right for the part. I probably have some better reasons, but non come to mind.

Stads: Rachel McAdams

Illsa is all in the eyes. The role is really all in the expression she gets when looking at Rick. Bergman's big pouting eye's could make even the toughest guy cry. Well I think McAdams mirrors this look. I admit I also find her attractive, and that plays a role in my choice, but it damn well should.

Rick Blaine

Played By: Humprey Bogart

Who We'd F*ck Up the Role With:

shanedeaux: Clive Owen

Ok, no one could replace Humphrey Bogart, and Clive Owen's got a strike against him for being British (but I'm sure he could do an American accent), but while watching Children of Men I definatly got a vibe of Rick Blaine. I mean his relationship with Julianne Moore strikes a similar chord to Rick's and Illsa's and how he gets over his apathy to sacrifice himself in order to help fix the world in chaos around him. Plus he is pretty fucking cool.

Stads: George Clooney

I have been in love with Clooney since Ulysses Everett McGill in O' Brother Where Art Thou. Oddly enough, that role is about the polar opposite of Rick Blaine. Clooney can still do a great job of being that cynical, dark guy that you still love and root for. Be it getting the girl, or stealing the money from the casino.

Our Issues With Our Choices
Here's the part of the section where we piss all over ther other guy's picks (metaphorically of course, Rachel McAdmas has yet to return my calls).

Stads: First two are the exact same, which is nice, because I would be amazed if you saw them as anyone else.

shanedeaux: Indeed we were both great in our picks.

Stads: Fiennes is outdated and past his prime, he did a great Nazi in 1993.

shandeaux: Outdated? Past his prime? Even if that were the case, which it's not, John Travolta has proved time and time again that a washed-up actor can still land a great role and do a great job at it. Now as for your pick with Bobby, while no one is going to argue that he is without question one of the greatest method actors ever, he worries me. Only because he'll be doing a German accent (I'm presuming), which to me, seems very, very funny.

Stads: Jaimie Foxx is a superb actor, and he actually is capable of singing. My only issue with him, is I feel that he lacks that old-man vibe that I feel Sam needs.

shanedeaux: Ok, here we just have different views on where Sam needs to go, you say sage, I say closest friend. To me going the wise old friend route dips a bit into the "magic Negro" character. Plus Freeman won't be nararrating, so why would he want to be a part of it?

Stads: Jude Law irritates the hell out of me. Too british, too suave. I feel like he would steal away my girlfriend and sleep with her before my american ass can do anything about it. I do feel that Lazlo needs to be hated, but I also think he deserves some respect, which I can not and will not, give to Jude Law.

shandeaux: Again to me, Jude Law could easily portray a respected hero, but still come off as a douche. And as for him being British, at least I'm not just picking Americans for a movie set in North Africa during the beginnings of World War II. As for Eckhart, kinda the same complaints you had with Jude. Except he seems more sleazy than suave.

Stads: Unfortunately I can't really attack Gervais because I have never seen him act. Writing and acting are two separate skills, but hell, look at Conan O'Brien. In the same way that I can't attack him, however, I really can't see how anyone could defend him.

shandeaux: Fortunatley I can attack Robin Williams. Yes, the cat can act, but you're putting Robin Williams in a comedic role. That's just dangerous. It's like giving a pyromaniac a flamethrower, sure he'll find creative and interesting ways to use it, but someone's going to get hurt. I don't see how he can stop himself from being the coked out Mork from Ork he always is. And yes you cite movies where he had great dramatic parts, but they were counter-poised with him riffing and doing funny voices.

Stads: As I stated earlier, Illsa is all in the eyes. To me, Eva Green looks way more dark and cynical than young and naive. I will give you that she is a looker though.

shandeaux: Ok, your comment about the eyes is well put and damn insightful, but I disagree that Illsa needs to be played young and naive. She's given up on her true love, spent years helping combat Nazis, and now she's the center of the same love triangle she almost died inside giving up years ago. I agree not cynical, but certainly not naive, and I think Eva can play that balance.

Stads: I respect Clive Owen as an actor, and will watch almost anything he is in(much the same as George Clooney). Also, he is a bad ass, given. The issue with Owen is that I think he lacks that cool, respected, look, Americans seem to have done so well. Sure he could sound American, but could he throw on a white suit and sit at a table playing chess against himself? Owen just could not come across as a club owner to me.

shandeaux: George Clooney is an inspired choice, so much that I can't believe he hadn't crossed my mind. But to me he's just too friendly. I don't think he can pull off the hard nature and flippant apathy that is required of the role, and that I think Clive Owen could do so well. He'd be a different, darker Rick Blaine granted, and no one can do what Bogart did with that role, but I think Owen has the capacity to embody the essesnce of role better than anyone else.

Ok, how about you out there? Were we spot on with some choices? Did we affront you delicate sensibilities with others? Is Stads a closeted homosexual? Now's your chance to comment. I mean c'mon we can't do all the wrok you lazy bastards. Form your own opinions.