Oscars Results 2007

 

 Well, the results are in. How did I do against my predictions I hear you ask? Well, exactly average. Out of twenty categories I got 10 right. Good job I didn’t bet the mortgage on it eh? Good to see Marty winning at last I guess, even if it is for a average picture and Pan’s Labyrinth will hopefully get a further boost at the box office so Del Torro can take forward his ultra expensive proposed ‘At the Mountains of Madness‘ Lovecraft adaptation. I am however getting a little nauseous at Helen Mirren’s repeated salutes to how ‘great’ the Queen is. Give it a rest…..

 And the winners are:

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight)
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
Did I get it Right? – No 

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Did I get it Right? – No

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (Fox Searchlight)
Did I get it Right? – No

Best animated feature film of the year

“Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller
Did I get it Right? – No

 Achievement in art direction

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)
Did I get it Right? – No

Achievement in cinematography

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse)
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in costume design

“Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in directing

The Departed” – Martin Scorsese
Did I get it Right? – Yes 

Best documentary feature

“An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in film editing

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Thelma Schoonmaker
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Best foreign language film of the year

“The Lives of Others” A Wiedemann & Berg Production
Did I get it Right? – No

Achievement in makeup

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Marti and Montse Ribe

Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat

Did I get it Right? – No

Best motion picture of the year

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in sound editing

“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros).
Did I get it Right? – Yes

Achievement in sound mixing

“Dreamgirls” (Fox Searchlight) 

Did I get it Right? – No

Achievement in visual effects

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson 

Did I get it Right? – No

Adapted screenplay

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan

Did I get it Right? – Yes

Original screenplay

“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)

Did I get it Right? – No

Oscars blog. Just in case you’re unaware of Thompson’s and Bordwell’s pedigree, I’ll simply state that this is the set text for any film English language film course, and indeed most of the media courses. It’s the best book I’ve read on film ‘art’, and technique – believe me I’ve got through a few.

Sorry to keep harping on about ‘Crash’, but I felt I had to include this review of last years Oscar winner as it made me laugh out loud, particularly the ‘issues’ baseball bat and the last sentence: 

Crash(Paul Haggis, 2004). I only managed to catch up with this on DVD this year. So what happened there then? The first half was a serviceable, if heavy-handed, slice of LA life but 50 minutes in it appears the directors were switched. The film ended and we felt as though someone had broken into our house and beaten us up with an ’issues’ baseball bat – an experience akin to being locked in a small room with Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and George Cloooney while they harangue you with a megaphone for 120 minutes. The sequence where the young girl gets ’shot’ is the most ridiculously manipulative piece of film I have seen this century. Quite an achievement, when even our cats predicted the dénouement. I’m as liberal as the next man, but I had to go outside and set fire to a homeless guy to make myself feel cleansed again.

March 1, 2007 | Categories: Film | Leave a comment