And the Oscar goes to...

It's about 45 minutes til showtime, so I'll get right to the point. I'll give you who I think WILL win and who I think SHOULD win. The only way to be fair though is to make my picks from films I've seen, so if I missed ya (sorry Dreamgirls, Blood Diamond, and Children of Men) so sorry, see ya at the party. (I'll put a DNS by the films I did not see).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

Who will win: Cars
Who Should win: Monster House. The funnest film of the three and not just for adults. My 4 year old agrees.



BEST ORIGINAL SONG
An Inconvenient Truth - "I Need to Wake Up"
Cars - "Our Town"
Dreamgirls - "Listen" DNS
Dreamgirls - "Love You I Do" DNS
Dreamgirls - "Patience" DNS

Who will win: One of the Dreamgirls songs, probably Listen
Who should win: I can't pick from the Dreamgirls trio so I'll pick I Need to Wake Up. Even though it played over the credits, there were interesting environmental facts and tips that also ran, and the song made it more watchable.



BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Babel
The Good German DNS
Notes on a Scandal DNS
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

Who will win: Babel
Who Should win: Babel. The score actually served the film and moved it along. The most memorable score of the three films I've seen.



BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Curse of the Golden Flower DNS
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls DNS
Marie Antoinette
The Queen

Who Will win: Marie Antoinette
Who Should win: Marie Antoinette. The Queen and Prada are too modern to stand out here. Marie Antoinette was stunning.



BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns

Who Will Win: Pirates of the Caribbean
Who Should win: Pirates of the Caribbean. Didn't really blow me away, but Superman was not as Super as it could have been and Poseidon just blows.



BEST SOUND EDITING
Apocalypto DNS
Blood Diamond DNS
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest

Who will win: Letters From Iwo Jima
Who Should win: It's hard to seperate Letters and Flags, both were done by the same team. So here's another for Pirates of the Caribbean.



BEST SOUND MIXING
Apocalypto DNS
Blood Diamond DNS
Dreamgirls DNS
Flags of Our Fathers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Who will win: Dreamgirls
Who Should Win: Flags of Our Fathers. The Musical will win, but of the two I've seen Flags had a better mix.



BEST ART DIRECTION
Dreamgirls DNS
The Good Shepherd DNS
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige

Who Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Who Should Win: While I wish The Prestige could take home something, Pan's Labyrinth is most deserving of this one.



BEST MAKEUP
Apocalypto DNS
Click
Pan's Labyrinth

Who will Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Who Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth. Hollywood's still mad at Mel and Click is Click.



BEST FILM EDITING
Babel
Blood Diamond DNS
Children of Men DNS
The Departed
United 93

Who Will Win: Babel
Who Shoudl Win: United 93. Incredibly skilled editing. The best in years.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Deliver Us From Evil DNS
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq in Fragments DNS
Jesus Camp DNS
My Country, My Country DNS

Who Will Win: An Inconvenient Truth
Who Should Win: An Inconvenient Truth. It's not the Presidency, but Hollywood loves Al Gore.



BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Borat DNS
Children of Men DNS
The Departed
Little Children DNS
Notes on a Scandal DNS

Who Will Win: The Departed
Who Should Win: The Departed. Well, It's flawed, but it's the only one I've seen here.



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

Who Will Win: Little Miss Sunshine
Who Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine. It gets honored here cause it ain't winning Best Picture.



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Black Dahlia
Children of Men DNS
The Illusionist
Pan's Labyrinth
The Prestige

Who Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Who Should Win: This race is so close. I could give it to The Illusionist, but I'll ultimatly say Pan's Labyrinth.



FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
After the Wedding - Denmark DNS
Days of Glory - Algeria DNS
The Lives of Others - Germany DNS
Pan's Lanyrinth - Mexico
Water - Canada DNS

Who Will Win: Pan's Labyrinth
Who Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth. It could pick up the most Oscars tonight.



SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adiana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal DNS
Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls DNS
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel

Who Will Win: Jennifer Hudson
Who Should Win: Hudson is out for me, haven't see Dreamgirls. So here's to Adriana Barraza.



SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children DNS
Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond DNS
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls DNS
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

Who Will Win: Eddie Murphy
Who Should Win: Mark Wahlberg. That's Marky Mark bitches!



BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Volver DNS
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal DNS
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet - Little Children

Who Will Win: Helen Mirran
Who Should Win: Helen Mirran. No doubt here. But will be The Queen's only trophy.



BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond DNS
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Peter O' Toole - Venus DNS
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness DNS
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland DNS

Who Will Win: Forest Whitaker
Who Should Win: I abstain. I only saw Half Nelson here, and hated it.

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood - Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu - Babel
Paul Greengrass - United 93
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

Who Will Win: Scorsese
Who Should Win: How can you not give it to Scorsese? You could give it to Paul Greengrass for brilliant work in United 93.

BEST PICTURE
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Who Will Win: The Departed
Who Should Win: The Departed.

Here's how I rank them
1. Departed
2. Letters From Iwo Jima
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. The Queen
5. Babel

Now to fire up the Tivo and see what happen tonight. Enjoy!

Sprint to the Oscars - Marie Antionette

A tenacious Sneaky Cheetah knocks out one more film this afternoon during a snow storm!

Marie Antoinette
Nominated for Best Costumes

I'm somewhat torn by this film. On one hand it's a fresh angle on portraying 18th century royalty with humor and a modern spin in attitude and music, on the other it's overly long and features several amateurish montages that seem thrown in by whimsy. Using a New Age/Punk soundtrack was great, especially combined with the portrayal of the young royals as hard-partying rich kids completely out of touch with the people and country they are supposed to represent. Once the young Louis XVI becomes king, they drink, they gamble, there's even a scene of one royal lady doing coke. It contrasts with the ridiculous pomp and ceremony of Marie Antoinette's first year at Versailles. Of course the film takes a dark turn during the whole French Revolution thing, which is jarring after the frivolous first 3/4 of the story, though sadly it doesn't show Marie's eventual beheading at the guillotine. Kirsten Dunst is good and naked alot (bonus!). The costumes are incredible, definitely Oscar worthy. It also should have gotten an Art Direction nomination on the strength of the amazing food and chocolate shown throughout the film. It may have been overlooked since it was actually shot at Versailles, which couldn't have needed much more set decoration. B

The costume designer is the legendary Milena Canonero, winner of two Oscars in 1976's Barry Lyndon and 1982's Chariots of Fire, and nominated five other times for 1986's Out of Africa, 1989's Tucker: A Man and his Dream, 1991's Dick Tracy, 2000's Titus, and 2002's The Affair of the Necklace.

Sprint to the Oscars - Babel

This shall be the last film reviewed by the Sneaky Cheetah before Oscar showtime. sob...sob

Babel
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Music (Score), Supporting Actress (Adriana Barraza), Supporting Actress (Rinko Kikuchi)

Hmm. That's my thoughts after watching Babel. Looking at the bevy of nominations it earned, I expected a lot more. Babel disappointed me. The story simply does not work. It tries to tell 4 stories that all interconnect, and judging by the title, shows how the language barrier screws things up. Ehh. I guess it does. This may have been 2 good movies instead of mashing these threads together into one film. I felt each could have benefited from added storytelling, but they're all small parts that suffer from too much story to tell. The Moroccan boys who get their hands on a rifle was the best story to me. They shoot a bus and hit Ctae Blanchett, vacationing with hubby Brad Pitt after they lost a baby to SIDS (so they head to Morocco??), which causes problems for their illegal alien babysitter who crosses the border with their kids to get to her son's wedding. Oh yeah, the gun was given to a Moroccan villager by a Japanese hunter who's wife killed herself and their teenage deaf/mute daughter has some serious issues and acts slutty. WTF!??!?!

It does feature some compelling visuals, including using different lighting and cameras for Morocco, Mexico, and Japan (why no cinematography nom?). The strongest scenes are when the actors shut up and the soundtrack cranks up and lets the scene unfold, be it eerie flamenco guitar or the Mexican wedding band, playing something very similar to Cajun Swamp Pop. The rest of the time left me not caring for these characters because of their own stupidity. The film is not nearly as thrilling or emotionally wrenching as I was led to believe by the trailer and critics. Between the Supporting actresses nominated, Barraza is the more compelling. But neither will win this Oscar. The editing was very good, especially scenes in a Japanese rave. It actually made me take note and say, wow, great editing. And the soundtrack, while not beautiful or even good sounding, does play a major role in moving along the film. This is an only an OK film with an average screenplay executed by a talented visual director. Nothing more. C

The man responsible is Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, a first time nominee as director and as producer. He shares the Best picture nom with Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, both first time nominees. Also earning their first nominations are actresses Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, and editor Douglas Crise. Editor Stephen Mirrione won in 2001 for editing Traffic and composer Gustavo Santaolalla won in 2006 for the incredible score in Brokeback Mountain.

Sprint to the Oscars - The Prestige

One day to go as The Sneaky Cheetah valiantly tries to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

The Prestige
Nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction

A few minutes into the Prestige, I thought, "Damn you Christopher Nolan, can't you tell a story in a linear fashion? The first scene is the death of one of the main characters! WTF!" As the film ended, I was again stunned into admiration of perhaps the greatest filmmaker to emerge in the last few years. The Prestige grips you with it's style and acting and keeps you guessing til the end (except for me! I figured it all out about halfway through! Bet you didn't!) It was the perfect way to tell this story, as it kept the lines between protagonist and antagonist blurred by obsession and revenge. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine are all marvelous as turn of the century magicians, constantly one-upping each other. And don't blink or you'll miss a well disguised David Bowie! The twists are worth it. The cinematography is similar to The Prestige's sister film The Illusionist, though not as stylized. The art direction in very strong. The magician's props alone are marvelous, let alone the period costumes and all the lightning spewing thing-a-ma-jigs. I think The Prestige is the most under appreciated films of '06. It's in my top 5, and it easily deserved a Picture, Directing, Screenplay and Editing nominations. Though a dark film with themes exploring the worst side of human beings, it is always interesting and feeds you just enough clues to make you think you know what's really going on. But you don't. (But I did!) A

Nolan's cinematographer of choice is Wally Pfister, also nominated in 2006 for Batman Begins. The Art Director is Nathan Crowley and the Set Decorator is Julie Ochipinti, both receiving their first Oscar nominations.

Sprint to the Oscars - Half Nelson

One day to go as the Sneaky Cheetah valiantly tries to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards

Half Nelson
Nominated for Best Actor (Ryan Gosling)

Skip this one folks. It's a real stinker. That enough voters actually sat through this to give Ryan Gosling a nomination shocks me. His performance is what people call "understated." Which means he doesn't say much or show much emotion. He performance is actually ok, he makes great use of his eyes and body language, but is not great, or Oscar worthy. In fact this whole film is so "understated" and "nuanced" that it took me three sittings to get through it. And I have no idea what a half nelson is. Maybe it's poop. D

This is the first Oscar Nomination for Ryan Gosling, star of The Notebook. Hehe.

Sprint to the Oscars - The Queen

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards.

The Queen
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Helen Mirran), Best Original Screenplay, Best Music (Score), and Best Costumes

I found this film fascinating. Much like United 93, I felt I was watching a documentary, reliving a moment in time that I actually remember. Beyond the use of news footage of Princess Diana and the events unfolding in the week after her death, the portrayal of the Royal Family and Prime Minister Tony Blair was simply brilliant. It took a minor interest I have for the British Monarchy and politics and fanned it to a burning desire to learn more about The Queen, a desire I took to Wikipedia as soon as I returned home. There's no argument that Helen Mirran's performance borders somewhere between acting and actually becoming Queen Elizabeth II herself. Mirran's complete transformation has Best Actress all over it. Michael Sheen also deserves honors for his role as Tony Blair. It made me generally admire Blair, something that's been hard to do in recent years. While incredibly interesting (a testament to the top notch screenplay, I mean, how cool is it to see The Queen tooling around off-road in her Land Rover?) and impeccably acted, this is not a Best Picture. Nor a Best Directed film. Don't ask me why. I can't really tell you why, but I know it when I see it. The costumes were well done, but the goal was accuracy to 1997, which isn't really too hard, is it? And the score was not overly memorable. Look for the Queen to take home an Oscar for and possibly Screenplay. Most of my friends are sleeping on this film and it's apparent boring plot (no action, no thrills, no mystery, no sex, and we basically know the ending). This is a film that will be better viewed at home on DVD then the theater, in it's almost History Channel-esqueness. But if you're into that, and want to see some great acting, The Queen should not be missed. A

The Queen's trio of producers, Andy Harries, Christine Langan, and Tracey Seaward are all up for their first Oscar nomination. Director Stephen Frears was honored with a nomination in 1991 for The Grifters. Helen Mirren has two past nominations, both Supporting roles in 1995's The Madness of King George and 2002's Gosford Park. This is the first nomination for Screenwriter Peter Morgan, Composer Alexandre Desplat, and Costume Designer Consolata Boyle.

Sprint to the Oscars - Little Miss Sunshine

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

Little Miss Sunshine
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin), and Best Supporting Actress (Abigail Breslin)

This is a really good film that has assumed the role of "the little film that could" at the Oscars this year. Every year there's one indie comedy that sneaks into the races with the Big Boys. This year, it's a film that takes an honest look a family that lives together without knowing each other and the road trip to a child's beauty pageant that brings them together. This family is so alienated from each other, no one has even seen the dance young Olive will perform at the Pageant. It's funny, sweet, and you'll feel good after watching it. But it's not the Best Picture, folks. It's cast is excellent, Arkin and Breslin both got nods, and Steve Corell MAYBE should have gotten one instead of Arkin. Breslin steals the film every time she smiles. The screenplay is brilliant, it's characters are arch types without being caricatures. The screenplay has the best shot at taking home Oscar gold Sunday night. Little Miss Sunshine is in my top 10 of 07, and though a lot of films claim it, this really is the feel-good film of the year. A

There are three Producers listed as recipients of Little Miss Sunshine's Best Picture nomination. David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, and Marc Turtletaub are all first time nominees, as is Supporting actress Abigail Breslin and Screenwriter Michael Arndt. Alan Arkin was nominated twice before for Best Actor in 1967's The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming and 1969's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Year of the Pig

The year of the Pig started Sunday, and I've managed to eat pork everyday since.

Sunday - Pork Chops

Monday - Red Beans and Rice w/ Sausage

Tuesday - Leftover Red Beans and Rice w/ Sausage

Wednesday - Ham Sandwich

It was unintentional at first, but now I feel obligated to keep the streak alive, like Cal.

I don't know how much longer I can keep this up...

Sprint to the Oscars - The Departed

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

The Departed

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actor (Mark Wahlberg)

This is it folks. I don't even have to see Babel or the Queen. The Departed is the Best Picture of the Year. And the reason is the best cast in a crime drama since Heat. Jack Nicholson has his juiciest role in years here, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon are two of the best actors of their generation, but the supporting cast of Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and especially Alec Baldwin almost steal the show. This film is electric. It may be a tad long, but it zips along at a frantic pace, accompanied by a great soundtrack and score. (Bonus points for using Comfortably Numb during a sex scene, and a live Roger Waters/Van Morrison version at that!) Some have said they were confused by it, or there were a couple of loose strings that were never explained, but I was totally engrossed in the plot and found it extremely smart and comprehendable. As for the loose strings (mainly The Envelope) well, the shit hits the fan when people start dying. And if you haven't seen this yet, 4 of the 6 actors mentioned above meet their maker. This film is infinitely rewatchable and takes it's place as one of the greatest modern crime dramas. A

Martin Scorsese and the Oscars have become such a joke, it seems almost inevitable that he's gonna win one for this film. And he deserves it. It's a masterwork. But if the Best Director statue goes to Paul Greengrass for United 93, you won't hear a cry of outrage from me. The screenplay is strong, especially the filthy dialogue between the state troopers which is why Wahlberg got his nomination and Balwin should have also. Wahlberg was great, and I will finally stop calling him Marky Mark. Now he shall be known as Marky Mar..uh..Oscar-Nominated Actor Mark Wahlberg. But he's a long shot to actually win Sunday. The film has great editing that could easily win, but could also easily be beaten by United 93.

If the Departed wins best picture, producer Graham King (nominated for the Aviator in 2005) will hit the stage.

Director Martin Scorsese is the Dan Marino of the Academy. Great QB, never won the Super Bowl. He was nominated as Best Director 5 times previously, for 1981's Raging Bull, 1989's The Last Temptation of Christ, 1991's Goodfellas, 2003's Gangs of New York, and 2005's The Aviator.

Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker has won two Oscars, for Raging Bull and The Aviator, and also been nominated for 1971's Woodstock, Goodfellas, and Gangs of New York.

This is the first nomination for screenwriter William Monahan and Marky Mar..uh..Oscar-Nominated Actor Mark Wahlberg.

IMHO: Besides a Supporting Actor nod to Baldwin, There should have been a Best Music (Score) nomination. That Irish themed music with the pounding drums is still stuck in my head. And it actually propels the film along.

Sprint to the Oscars - The Devil Wears Prada

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

The Devil Wears Prada

Nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Meryl Streep) and Best Costume Design

Yes, it's a chick flick. But it's a damn good chick flick, one that I really enjoyed. The plot was nothing new, your basic "girl gets job, girl changes to succeed at job, boyfriend doesn't like the change, girl realizes she doesn't want to be like her bitchy boss and leaves job, gets boyfriend back and new job, the end." Those films are dime a dozen. What separates Prada is it's stellar cast and setting in the high powered fashion magazine world. Not only is Streep excellent as the worst boss ever, but so are Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and especially Stanley Tucci, who probably should have gotten a Supporting Actor nomination. As far as the Costume design, I must admit that fashion is over my head. The stuff that supposedly looked great didn't look much different then the stuff that was horrible. They changed clothes a lot, so there was definitely a great volume of costumes. What do I know? Hathaway is a hottie. A

Meryl Streep is the Hank Aaron of the Oscars. She's won 2 (Supporting Actress in 1980's Kramer vs. Kramer and Leading Actress in 1983's Sophie's Choice) and has racked up 11 other nominations (For Leading Actress: 1982's The French Lieutenant's Woman, 1984's Silkwood, 1986's Out of Africa, 1988's Ironweed, 1989's Evil Angels, 1991's Postcards From the Edge, 1996's The Bridges of Madison County, 1999's One True Thing, and 2000's Music of the Heart, and for Supporting Actress: 1979's The Deer Hunter and 2003's Adaptation.)

The costume designer is Patricia Field, scoring her first Academy Award Nomination.

Sprint to the Oscars - Flags of Our Fathers

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

Flags of Our Fathers
Nominated for Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing

After Letters from Iwo Jima, I couldn't help but be disappointed by Flags. It's definitely the lesser of two films, but a great companion piece if viewed as two sides of the same event. Eastwood even used identical shots in both films, which helps observant viewers match up the time line and locations of both films. When a certain gun pokes out of a concealed cave, Letters viewers will you know which Japanese commander is in that cave. There's also parallels in scenes where a Japanese unit commits suicide with grenades and an American soldier is pulled into a hidden cave and brutalized. Flags weakness is the half of the film that deals with the three surviving "Flag Raisers" celebrity status when they return to the states. The story is told in a confusing back and forth style. The soldiers on a money-raising tour back home with flashbacks to the battle. Even though the story concentrates on the six grunts who raised the flag (you get no insight into the commanders of the battle or the strategy, which is badly missed), you also don't really get to know the soldiers very well. I didn't care about any of them and had a hard time telling one from the other. C

Flag's nominations are Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. The sound effects editing is good, as it is in most war films. Nothing stands out to me. But the mix is very strong. There's some haunting piano music that weaves in and out of the battles that really brings home the mournful tone of the film. Flags is the front runner in this category out of the two films I've seen (the other is Pirates 2).

The Sound mixers are the Oscar winning team that did The Matrix. John T. Reitz (winner for The Matrix, nominated of 1978's Days of Heaven and The Perfect Storm), David E. Campbell (winner for The Matrix, nominated for Dick Tracy, Legends of the Fall, The Perfect Storm, and Curse of the Black Pearl), Gregg Rudloff (winner for Glory and The Matrix, nominated for The Perfect Storm), and Walt Martin (first nomination) make up a well traveled team of mixers.

The Sound Editors are the same team as Letters From Iwo Jima, and they're competing against themselves in the category.Alan Robert Murray (past nominations for 1985's Ladyhawk, 1989's Lethal Weapon 2, 1996's Eraser, 2000's Space Cowboys) and Bud Asman who also worked on Eraser and Space Cowboys.

Sprint to the Oscars - The Black Dahlia

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

The Black Dahlia
Nominated for Best Cinematography

Director Brian De Palma has created a nice little modern work of Film Noir. Not a great work, but it's got some good performances and some nifty camera work. The plots a bit too confusing and doesn't make a whole lot of sense by the end. Josh Hartnett is as stiff as ever, but Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank turn in solid efforts. Kudos to De Palma for making Swank actually look almost hot. That deserves an award.

The Cinematography is good in that it follows all the Film Noir traditions. Shooting through windows, rooms lit only by sunlight streaming through blinds, faces mysteriously covered in shadow while the rest of the person is plainly visible. There's also a few De Palma traditions. A POV shot from Hartnett's eyes that lasts a good 2 minutes without an edit. It's good cinematography, a bit "by the book," and probably not deserving an Academy Award. C

The Cinematographer was old pro Vilmos Zsigmond, who won an Oscar back in 1977 for shooting Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and was nominated in '79 for The Deer Hunter and '85 for The River.

Sprint to the Oscars - Click

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

Click
Nominated for Best Makeup

I thought I had outgrown Adam Sandler. I grew up with the Sandler /Farley /Myers SNL, and I find most of that cast's film work to be hilarious (Billy Madison = Most quotable movie ever!). But Sandler's films have been slipping of late. Click reverses that trend. It's a funny though predictable film. Great one-liners point to a better script than films dependant on Sandler doing a funny voice for 90 minutes. But it's still low-brow comedy at it's best/worst. So how did land an Oscar nom? Well, there is smokin' hot Kate Bekinsale, who should get the Oscar for Best Wearing of Short Shorts. Or maybe for throwing Hasselhoff a bone. But no, it's for makeup.

When Sandler uses his universal remote to fast forward time, it eventually starts to fast forward on it's own. So we get to see middle age Adam Sandler in a big fat suit and then old man Sandler in his 70s. The makeup is fantastic. It's hard to look at Sandler in the makeup and be fooled, but the work on Kate Bekinsale and Sean Astin is makeup magic at it's finest. Also, there's an Arab Sheik at the beginning of the film and it took me a few minutes to recognize Rob Schneider. Now that's great makeup! B

The Makeup Nomination is for Bill Corso, who previously won in 2005 for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and first time nominee Kazuhiro Tsuji.

SPOILER! - How cool would it have been to end the film as Sandler dies an old man, regretting the use of the remote and bitter at having missed the lives of his wife and kids? Tragic and Memorable. But instead we get the Scrooge ending. "It was just a dream! I can do things differently! It's not too late!" Bah Humbug!

Sprint to the Oscars - Monster House

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

Figured I'd round out the animated feature category so I rented...

Monster House

Nominated for Best Animated Feature

Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be a fun film. It's exec producers are Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemekis. Creators of the films that defined my childhood. Monster House reminds me of one of the best of those films, The Goonies. It's just kids on a fantastic quest with no adult help. The Goonies were following a treasure map, while the kids of Monster House battle a truly Monstrous House. Which can be pretty scary at times (at least to a 4 year old). But it's a better film because of it. The story of the monster house is creepy and morbid, it's got clever dialogue where the kids actually talk like kids, and it's funny on different levels, for adults and kids. The film uses 3D motion capture animation, a la Polar Express, but the technology has advanced and the humans don't look as mannequin-esque as that film. The vocal cast is very good, in that there's some big names that you don't immediately recognize, as opposed to Robin Williams hamming it up as multiple Penguins in Happy Feet.This is the most enjoyable animated film I've seen since The Incredibles, and believe me, I've seen 'em all. The animation is not the best you'll see, but the story is. Even if you don't have kids, rent this on a Saturday night, pop some popcorn, and prepare to enjoy a good film that 'll take you back to the fun films of your childhood. A

Spielberg and Zemekis put this film into the hands of first time director Gil Kenan. I heard he created a short animated film that caught Spielberg's eye and landed him this job. Good call Steven. You're pretty good at this.

Sprint to the Oscars - Happy Feet

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

So, after knocking out Letters From Iwo Jima, Pan's Labyrinth and United 93, I badly needed to see something happy, something bright, something NOT F-ING DEPRESSING!

CUE THE DANCING PENGUINS!!!
Happy Feet
Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film

I snuck The Dominator out of daycare one evening to catch a matinee of Happy Feet. The animation is near Pixar quality. The panoramas of Antarctica are breathtaking, the Leopard seal and Killer Whale chases are frantic and heart stopping. But the story is truly bizarre. It seems penguin society is based on singing. And when one penguin can't sing, but instead tap dances like a mofo, he's branded and outcast and banished from the tribe. So he meets other more tolerant Penguins and wins the heart of the hottest, bestest singing girl penguin. But wait. There's more. Then begins an entire new plot when said dancing penguin goes on a quest to stop humans from over-fishing the penguin feeding spots . He attacks a huge fishing ship, somehow swims to America, gets put in an aquarium, communicates
to the humans through dance, and is returned to Antarctica with a transmitter on his back. Huh? This is a kids film? Well, Dominator liked it, but was bored at times. The mix of songs sung by the Penguins is quite clever (reminiscent of Moulon Rounge) and the voices are well cast, but something's just out of step for Happy Feet. It's the weakest of the Best Animated Film noms, and it's nomination probably should have gone to The Ant Bully, a much more enjoyable film. C

Happy Feet was directed by George Miller, Oscar nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay in 1996 for Babe. He also scored an original screenplay nomination in 1992 for Lorenzo's Oil.

Sprint to the Oscars - United 93

The Sneaky Cheetah continues his quest to see every nominated film before the Academy Awards!

United 93

Nominated for Best Director and Best Editing


I actually saw this on DVD about a week ago, but it's taken me awhile to collect my thoughts on it. The film depicts the events of September 11 from the perspective of the air traffic controllers, the military air defense command center, and the terrorists and passengers of United 93, the plane that didn't hit it's intended target that day. The film is unique in that it has no "stars." It follows no one character and most of the dialog is conversational with other actors talking at the same time and words running over each other. It's hyper-realism make this feel like your watching a documentary of the actual events themselves. And it's superbly well done. I didn't want to get up during this film. I couldn't turn away. I didn't want to blink. It is ensnaring in it's content and the memories and emotions that resurface during the viewing.

I don't think this will win in Directing but it should. It is a unique film with a deliberate style that is perfect for the message the director was trying to communicate. Paul Greengrass (center in the picture) knocked one out of the park with this film.
It has a much better chance at winning the Editing Oscar. The film almost occurs in real time, bouncing between New York and Newark air traffic control rooms, the military, the national air control room, the and flight 93 itself. It has great pacing, and the tension builds and builds til the end. I hope this film gets some recognition, and should have gotten a Best Picture nod. Since it didn't, winning in Editing would be the best way to reward this film.

Don't be scared to see this film. It's way too good to let fear dissuade you from watching it. And we NEED to remember that day. It's not too soon. It's been five years. I hope television starts showing this film EVERY September 11th. It's not about evil terrorists. It's not about the people who lost their lives in the twin towers or the Pentagon. It's about how America was attacked, and how Americans responded to the attacks. It's about the first Americans who fought back. And won. At the cost of their lives. To save countless others. And that should be celebrated. A

This is Paul Greengrass's first Directing nomination, and fist nominations for all three editors: Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson, and Christopher Rouse