So I'm embarking on an undertaking so ambitious, the surgeon general slapped a warning on me as soon as I thought of it.
(drum roll please)
The Oscars are on Feb 25. I have ONE MONTH to see EVERY FILM NOMINATED! This is my mission and it started 2 days ago!
I figure I've seen 22 films this calender year and only 3 have scored Oscar nods.
Here's what I thought:
Cars
Nominated for Best Animated Film, Best Music (Original Song)
Cars is up against Happy Feet and Monster House. I figure it's the favorite because Pixar's last two films (The Incredibles and Finding Nemo) have won this cat and while Cars is not as strong as those two, it's in my top 5 films of the year (of what I've seen so far!). It's really funny and touching and I've seen it 4 times. Have I mentioned I live with a 3-year-old boy? It SHOULD win, but never underestimate the power of dancing penguins!The Song is ok. It's "Our Town," the tearjerker played during flashbacks of Radiator Springs glory days. The music rocks as a whole on this, though. Any use of a Tom Cochrane song is to be praised! But i'm assuming 1 of the 3 songs from Dreamgirls will take this award.A
Director John Lasseter was also nominated for best animated film for Monsters, Inc, got a sceenplay nod for Toy Story, and won Best Animated Short in 1988 for Tin Toy.
"Our Town" was written by the immortal Randy Newman who has won only one Oscar, for Song from Monsters, Inc. That was after 13 other Song or Score nominations. The List: Ragtime, The Natural, Parenthood, Avalon, The Paper, Toy Story, James and the Giant Peach, Babe: Pig in the City, A Bug's Life, Pleasentville, and Meet the Parents.
IMHO: Cars deserved a cinematography award. It may not qualify since no actual cameras were used, but the shot composition was stunning. From the nascar-like races to the route 66 desert scenery, the visuals on this film were flat-out scrumtrelescent.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Nominated for Best Visual Effects, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing
Pirates 2 was a disappointment. It never seemed to get moving, seemed disjointed in it's plot devices, and expected us to gawk at Johnny Depp's performance and maybe we won't notice it's crappy. It was shot simultaneously as Pirates 3 and it shows. It feels like an unfinished film. Luckily for it, all that has nothing to do with it's nominations.The VizEffects were done by about 10 different companies, including ILM. They were VERY impressive. The destruction of the ships by the Kraken, Davy Jones fishy crew and Jones himself, aided by a great performance from Bill Nighy are very strong. I think it's the favorite here.
The Art Direction was top notch also. Almost overdone at times. There's immense detail in the construction of the ships, especially The Flying Dutchman, and EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is so grimy and slimy, you can almost smell the fish and salt-water through the screen.
Sound editing is for Sound Effects. Cannons booming, swords clashing, that sort of stuff. It's a veritable smorgasbord of sound effects. It's just that kind of film. Big, Loud, Over the Top.Sound mixing is the combining of the sound effects, voices, and music into the finished product. My 10 year old home audio system is not the best environment for this, so I'll be Canadian and say 'eh' to this cat. My memory of the sound mix was this: it's not memorable.B
The Visual Effects team is John Knoll (previous nominations for The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Curse of the Black Pearl), Hal T. Hickel (Curse of the Black Pearl), Charles Gibson (winner in 1996 for Babe, also worked on Black Pearl), and Allen Hall (winner in 1995 for Forrest Gump, nominated in 1992 for Backdraft and 1999 for Mighty Joe Young)
The Art Director is Rick Heinrichs (winner in 2000 for Sleepy Hollow, nominated in 2005 for A Series of Unfortunate Events). The Set Decorator is Cheryl Carasik (4 previous Oscar noms for 1996's A Little Princess,
1997's The Birdcage, 1998's Men In Black, and 2005's A Series of Unfortunate Events).
The Sound Editors are Christopher Boyes (winner as sound editor for Titanic and Pearl Harbor, nominated for Curse of the Black Pearl) and George Watters II (winner for The Hunt for Red October and Pearl Harbor, 5 nominations for Top Gun, Star Teak VI: The Undiscovered Country, Crimson Tide, Armageddon, and Curse of the Black Pearl).
The Sound Mixers are Paul Massey (4 noms for Legends of the Fall, Air Force One, Master and Commander and Walk the Line), Christopher Boyes, pulling double duty (oscar winner for mixing Return of the King and King Kong, nominated for mixing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Curse of the Black Pearl), and Lee Orloff (winner for mixing Terminator II: Judgement Day and 5 nominations for The Abyss, Geronimo: An American Legend, The Insider, The Patriot, and Curse of the Black Pearl).
Superman Returns
Nominated for Best Visual Effects
After I saw Superman Returns, I was gushing over it. After reflexion, I think that was from the mere experience of seeing Superman, and seeing it done better then the last one, with today's modern effects. It was ok, but could have been much, much more. Brandon Routh was a good Clark Kent, but an average Supes. Maybe because Supes had very little dialogue. He didn't say much. Just swooped in, TCB, swooped out. It's expected to see Kent stumble and bumble over Lois, but we don't want Superman to seem so obsessed. ANYWAY... the effects were good. The rescue of the Space Shuttle was the best Visual Effects scene of the year. Read that again. The best of the year. But the bullet to the eye was CHEESY. Chester Cheetah Cheesy. It's already being mocked in Epic Movie. So in a foot race, I'd say this is below Pirates in this cat. It had the best scene, but on a whole, it wasn't as consistent, and had no WOW scenes in the end. BThe Visual Effects guys who worked on Superman Returns are Mark Stetson (previously nominated in 1984 for the film 2010 and a winner in 2002 for The Fellowship of the Ring), Neil Corbould (winner in 2000 for Gladiator), Richard R. Hoover (nominated in 1999 for Armageddon), and Jon Thum (winner in 1999 for The Matrix)
I've already started my quest by viewing The Illusionist (Cinematography) and An Inconvenient Truth (Documentary Feature, Song) this week. I'll post reviews in the coming days. Wish me luck and if anyone will offer their baby sitting services, I'll accept. GODSPEED! and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ME!
The Sneaky Cheetah
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