Every year I do the same thing--when the Oscar nominees are announced, I try to see as many of the nominees as I can, then after the ceremony, I don't give a damn anymore (my other tradition is drinking my way through the ceremony and passing out for the second half).
Anyway, my first reaction was that I have to go see "Atonement" now. Done, see my previous post. Now "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is at the top of my list.
However, I can guarantee I won't see every nominee. Chances are the foreign pictures will be impossible anyway, but even if I get everything else there's no fucking way in hell I will ever see "Norbit" (nominated for makeup)! You can't make, and I hate you for even suggesting it! I'm saddened to even live in a world where "Norbit" can advertise as an Oscar nominated film.
I will, however, see "The Bourne Ultimatum" on DVD. I liked the first Bourne movie, mostly because it was one of the few recent action movies that didn't use too much shaky-cam. I could actually see what was going on, hooray! And it was relatively smart for an action film. The second one still had a clever enough plot, but the action scenes drove me bonkers with the shaky-cam. I heard from a trusted friend that the third was likewise shaky, so I skipped it. But I'll give it a chance on DVD.
I'm very happy to see "Juno" get a Best Picture nod. Ditto for Ellen Page. This movie is keeping form as this year's "Little Miss Sunshine" (which was the last highly touted indie-hipster comedy that I actually liked).
Categories in which I've seen all the nominees (now that I've seen "Atonement"): Best Picture, Supporting Actress (BTW, I love Cate Blanchett getting a nomination for a male role), Art Direction, Score, Visual Effects (and I'll kill someone if "Transformers" wins).
"Enchanted" has three nominations--all for songs? Way to split the vote, guys!
For feature length documentary, "Sicko" was a given, but I'm very happy that "Taxi to the Dark Side" got a nod. I haven't seen the other entries (although 2 of them are available on DVD already), but if it came down to those two, I'd vote for Taxi. It's the same team that made "Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room" (which I'd recommend highly) and they have a great gift for explaining the concrete facts of a very complicated issue (sometimes complicated only by media and spin) in a way that makes it very understandable without dumbing it down. They're providing a truly great service and need to be encouraged as much as possible.
I have some lawyer friends who will be very happy about how many nominations "Michael Clayton" got. And it is a very good movie, but I just don't see it winning much.
Okay, that's all my thoughts for now. I'll go into each category later, and at least until the end I'll only go into categories where I've seen all the nominees.
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