My Final Oscar Predictions

The government has declared it a holiday on Monday so I'll be able to watch the Oscars without having to miss a day of work. Here are my final Oscar predictions:

BEST PICTURE
No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Julie Christie, Away for Her

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody, Juno

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Counterfeiters, Austria

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End In Sight

BEST ART DIRECTION
There Will Be Blood

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
No Country for Old Men

BEST FILM EDITING
No Country for Old Men

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Atonement

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly" from Once

BEST SOUND MIXING
Transformers

BEST SOUND EDITING
Ratatouille

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Transformers

BEST MAKEUP
La Vie En Rose

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Peter and the Wolf

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
The Substitute

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Sari's Mother

Three Reviews

It's time I post something in my blog. I haven't done it in so long. Here are three full-length reviews of films I've seen the past couple of weeks.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Tim Burton) - I've been a fan of the original Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim for quite some time now. The story of barber who slits the throats of his customers and his landlady who bakes the bodies into meat pies have been around since the 1800's. It was immortalized on the stage through Stephen Sondheim's music and in a genius pairing with director Tim Burton, brought the material to the big screen. The music and story come to life in vivid, bloody, austere colors. This is Burton at his very best. The entire cast is outstanding. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter may not be Broadway-level type singers but their acting and characterization more than make up for their lack of vocal prowess. It's one of the best films of the year.

American Gangster (Ridley Scott) - This is a slickly produced (like what most Ridley Scott films are) but ultimately hollow crime drama that tells the true story of the rise of Frank Lucas, the biggest drug lord in Harlem in the late 1960's, 1970's and the cop that took him down, Richie Roberts. The story itself would've made a compelling film but the film only does an adequate job of bringing it to the screen. The colorful supporting cast (including Josh Brolin and the Oscar-nominated Ruby Dee) make the dull leads, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, half-way intersting.

Cloverfield (Matt Reeves) - Described as Blair Witch meets Godzilla which is quite accurate. It's a very novel and inventive way of making an old-fashioned disaster/monster movie. Although the characters and performances make it feel like the monster element just walked in an episode of Felicity which is not necessarily a bad thing. For what it is, it's a harmless time killer. It's a genius of marketing but nothing to go crazy over.