Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Oscar Nominations Are Out!

Complete list here.

Four acting awards nominations for Doubt. I wrote about it earlier, but will say here that I'm so glad Amy Adams and Viola Davis are nominated. The Streep and Hoffman nominations were a given. Their roles were difficult to play. So much of this movie is about feelings and thoughts. You expect them to pull it off, however, no matter how difficult. Amy Adams and Viola Davis, on the other hand, had reactive roles. They were not setting the agenda, they were responding to what two other stronger personalities were doing to them. As the naive and impressionable Sister James, Amy Adams made you want to hug her and console her, and as the mother caught in the cross-fire between a domineering husband, a son who's trying to find his way and a church that seems to giving with one hand and taking away with the other, Viola Davis' performance was heart-rending and evocative. How did she manage to pull off a runny nose along with the teary eyes? When the camera lingered on her for so long?

Slumdog (two noms for best song, one for best music, cinematography, best picture, editing best director, adapted screenplay, sound mixing and sound editing) and The Wrestler (Rourke already won the Golden Globe) are on our list for this weekend. Don't know which we'll make it to. We saw the trailer for The Wrestler and it seemed like an out-and-out tear-jerker, which the husband wants to see too. Expecting to be red-eyed no matter which one we pick.

Any thoughts on the other movies in the various lists?

6 comments:

Kavi said...

There is such a noise about Slumdog being nominated for 10 categories !! Its almost as if none of the other movies existed !!

But i guess, this is ok !! Once in a while !

And by the way, if you didnt know already, there is a case thats been filed in Patna. Against Rehman and Anil Kapoor. Reason : The movie is insulting as it has Slum 'dog' in its title.

Ok !

Cantaloupes.Amma (CA) said...

The music of Slumdog millionaire is just great ... but that is to me ... one of Indian origin. Would the west be able to appreciate it as much ??
Can't say ... will be glad if they did !

Sujatha Bagal said...

CA, I think so. So many Hollywood movies in which the Indian music sensibilities are seeping in!

Kavi, apparently there's an article running around somewhere that says Anil Kapur grew up in a slum!

I love Lucy said...

We absolutely loved Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood kicks ass. I don't understand why it isn't getting the attention it truly deserves.

Anonymous said...

i'm kind of surprised the Reader got a nom for Best Pic instead of The Dark Knight. Does this mean I have to watch it? Keh do ki yeh jhoot hai! It'll be interesting to see if Slumdog can still win given the backlash that's begun.

Somewhere in India, Aamir Khan is sticking pins into an Anil Kapoor voodoo doll.

Sujatha Bagal said...

ILL, we loved the trailer and promised ourselves we would see it. Thanks for that comment, now all the more reason to go! :)

Ams, The backlash and the Oscars will be running parallel, in two worlds that will never meet. Yeah, I don't feel like watching Reader either. May be down the road, on Netflix.