Friday, February 23, 2007

Oscar! Oscar!

Time to look into my crystal ball:

Best Picture: Letter From Iwo Jima
The Departed is a decent film but we have certainly seen better, especially from Scorsese. Babel is a sham. I won't be too surprised if the award eventually goes to Little Miss Sunshine or The Queen, but my money is on Eastwood.

Best Director: Clint Eastwood
Many people will go for Scorsese in this category. But let's face it, first it's an adaptation that doesn't stray too far from the original, and second, Scorsese was never the darling of Oscar. The political climate in the US seems to favor our good old Clint to pocket that little gold man.

Best Actor: Forrest Whitaker
Oscar has a soft spot for underdogs these days, not to say anything about peculiar roles. It's Forrest Whitaker's turn to receive the Oscar nod. DiCaprio's performance in The Departed/Blood Diamond is solid but short of outstanding. He'll be a serious contender in the future though.

Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Veni, vidi, vici. Helen Mirren rulez! Her onscreen persona overshadows all the regulars in this category. Now, bow before your majesty!

Original Screenplay: Pan's Labyrinth
Torn between Little Miss Sunshine and Pan's Labyrinth here.

Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
No contest.

Best Editing: United 93
Two serious contenders in this category: United 93 and Babel. Babel feels tedious and jumbled at times, so... Did I mention Babel is a sham?

Best Animated Feature: Happy Feet
Talking cars? Gimme a break. I prefer dancing penguins.

Best Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth
Easy one.

Best Documentary Feature: Any film but An Inconvenient Truth
Can you seriously believe a guy who claimed to have created the Internet and failed to spell potato correctly to enlighten you on climatology? Al Gore is a joke, and this fear-mongering, political propaganda branded as a documentary sucks big time. Anyone wants to have a more balanced view on the state of global warming should read Patrick Michaels instead.

3 comments:

YK said...

hi there! eye-popping indeed. the an-inconvenient-truth-debacle aside (I'd love to see Al "Dimwit" Gore in Borat 2; seriously, i'm not so sure at this moment who's more laughable and ridiculous: Al Gore or his admirers... disclaimer: i'm all for environmental protection, just that we should pursue a just cause such as this in an informed manner not out of fear or worst, manipulation, not to mention being manipulated by a dickhead like al gore is such an insult...okay enough...), the departed pockets both best directing and editing was a bit of a shock for me. i'm 100% in tune with yr argument that the oscar system favours its winning, but still... it's a pedestrian film by all means. the editing is nothing short of shabby. it's plain confusing at times. the timline is all jumbled up unnecessarily. and directing, mmm... no wonder hollywood these days are flooded by remades and adaptations: why create when copy sells.
-i fell asleep watching Cars...i mean, c'mon...talking cars?! and the storyline is more old-fashion than my underwear...
-Babel is a sham! yeah, i say it again...
-Guillermo del Toro's just great. go watch Chrons & Devil's Backbone, even Blade II. this guy has a knack for storytelling and an eye for visual style.
-now, who's gonna win the next presidential race? your bet? Hilary-who-was-hated-by-both-left-and-right, Obama-the-charismatic-panda, or the-man-who-benefits-the-most-from-911?

Asuka said...

Ellen, Melissa, Hilary..... all belong to "Dyke Club"... no wonder I could smell some undercurrent even I'm an ignorant of USA politics...hahah =)P
------------------------------
信報財經新聞
副刊 By 金維宜 2007-03-19
她既穿褲也穿裙

  希拉莉克林頓的助選隊伍加添生力軍多位,都是荷里活名人,計有愛蓮迪珍妮羅絲(Ellen DeGeneres,今屆奧斯卡司儀)、祖迪科士達、Portia de Rossi(女演員)、 Patricia Field(戲服設計師)、Melissa Etheridge(歌星)╱Tammy、奧普拉╱Gayle King(《O》雜誌主編)等等。

  公關由愛蓮打點,她能言善道,已證實為主流所喜;祖迪能演能導,夠斤,她講人們會聽;希拉莉不久前才被人批評過其衣不當,不喜她穿長褲而願見她長穿裙,有個戲服設計提名人(《The Devil Wears Prada》)助選,一定打扮到人見人投(票);得獎歌星又可唱番首主題曲,相當別出心裁,以前未有過提名人或候選人有主題曲者;奧普拉是多媒介女王,有她助陣不愁見光不足。無疑這是個dream team,不過,都是八卦界在玩口水,講得起勁,一切言之尚早。

  怎會把這批精英拉在一塊的呢?她們是(可能是,個別還存疑)「長堤俱樂部」(dyke club)的成員。

  1997年是俱樂部最關鍵性的一年,那年,勇敢的愛蓮在奧普拉的節目中公開她是同性戀者,之後,在她收視相當高的節目《Ellen》中也有同樣情節。跟來的很長一段時間,她與情人Ann Heche的新聞充斥小報,在白宮當克林頓夫婦的面也糖黐豆般(都是熟人),令人很厭煩,連紐頓莊都告誡她們﹕「要的是有趣,不是要gay。」但收不回了,愛蓮衰了好幾年,分手後Ann且得了精神分裂症(結了婚)。自這一對高調出櫥,女同性戀在圈中在社會變得平常。

  愛蓮的現任情人是澳洲演員Portia de Rossi,名字來自莎劇《威尼斯商人》,姓則是意大利的,在《甜心俏佳人》中有過角色;祖迪科士達從未出過男女緋聞,無端連生兩子,怎不疑雲陣陣?Patricia Field一向公開性取向;Melissa Etheridge以唱《絕望真相》的主題曲得獎,領獎時致詞「多謝我的妻子Tammy」,Tammy在台下笑得甜滋滋;奧普拉寵愛她的閨友King,K是她的代表、影子、好友。另一位長堤會員著名清談節目主持人Rosie ODonnell在《The View》說﹕奧普拉和Gayle King必有多少……(奧已在她的雜誌《O》否認)。

  主角希拉莉是L?只因多穿長褲?上述多位會員全穿得十分性感暴露,現在已不興扮男人來表態了。第一個說希拉莉是女同志的,是其夫當州長時的情人、小歌星Gennifer Flowers。她寫書說是克林頓爆其妻是雙性戀的。最近,《The New York Times Magazine》前主編Edward Klein在新作《The Truth About Hillary》中又提及,希拉莉被勸喻﹕快點出櫥,不是也認是,食住「而家興」個勢。

YK said...

leung, neither the republican or the democrat has the next precidency in the pocket. looks like it's going to be one hell of a fight (and one hell of show) next year:)