The Oscar Picks

We’re down to the last third of the year and recently the question was posed to me for the first time this year,

“Do you have any early Oscar ideas?”

Welcome to the Fall Movie Season, where the studios try to pretend as if the previous eight months of the season weren’t just about making money and throw out their prestige pictures with aspirations of golden statuettes.

With the exception of the outliers like Seabiscuit and Gladiator from years past, this is the season where Oscar nominations are born.

So, I’ve gone through the recent Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview and picked out the biggest films of the season and I’m asking everyone to make a few picks. A couple acting nominations, a couple directing nominations, maybe a documentary or two…

But everyone has to pick their 5 Best Picture Candidates. Then we can see who came the closest when the nominations are announced this coming January.

So here are the Fall movie titles. If you think a movie from earlier in the year will garner a nomination, feel free to include it –

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Road
Burn After Reading
The Soloist
Body of Lies
Miracle at St. Anna
Changeling
Ashes of Time Redux
Milk
Gran Torino
Pride and Glory
The Brothers Bloom
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Quantam of Solace
Revolutionary Road
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
Australia
W.
The Lucky Ones
Synecdoche, New York
Seven Pounds
Appaloosa
Religulous
Blindness
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Marley & Me
The Spirit
Four Christmases
Defiance
What Just Happened
The Duchess
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Lakeview Terrace
Elite Squad
Rachel Getting Married
The Women
Yes Man
Happy-Go-Lucky
Righteous Kill
RocknRolla
Eagle Eye
Role Models
The Secret Life of Bees
Bedtime Stories
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Ghost Town
Sex Drive
My Best Friend's Girl
An American Carol
City of Ember
The Express
Soul Men
Nights in Rodanthe
Choke
The Burning Plain*
Che*
The Wrestler*

*no set 2008 release date

Resurrecting the Champ (Rod Lurie, 2007)

A pleasant, modest story that just spends too much time awkwardly stumbling around like its protagonist, Resurrecting the Champ is about a sportswriter (Josh Hartnett) who uncovers a former heavyweight fighting contender now living on the streets. Nicknamed “The Champ” and long believed dead, the writer sells Champ on the story idea as a potential return to glory for the browbeaten pugilist and a chance to again be a celebrity in the community, but is clearly more interested in parlaying the story into his own high-end magazine job and chance to climb out of his famous father’s shadow.

Samuel L. Jackson throws his Caveman’s Valentine dreads back on to play Champ and adopts an exasperated, gasping-for-air voice that echoes the hardships of his character. He’s out of touch, maybe a little bit crazy and walks around as if he’s shimmying into the ring, always up on his toes. But he’s also genuinely endearing, disarmingly funny and easily the best reason to watch Resurrecting the Champ.

Unfortunately the film is a bit sloppy, and supporting star Alan Alda nails it when he throws some of Harnett’s news copy back at him and tells him, “It lacks personality.” It could be considered an extended commentary on Hartnett’s character in the film as well. Plus, there’s pacing problems. The film revolves around moral ambiguities, mostly about father’s trying to impress their sons, and doesn’t quite know if it wants to be an uplifting feel-good story or not, and ends up choppy and lurching towards the end.

Jackson makes it worth checking out, but it’s no return to glory for “The Champ”.

Must See Movie of the Month: August 2008

Again, I couldn't choose just one. Two potentially great comedies in the course of two weeks? No idea why these two comedies that basically target the same demographics would open only a week apart, but I'm not complaining...

Who else wants to see it and what are your "must see's" of the month?

Other Notables:
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Hamlet 2, Traitor, Babylon A.D., Swing Vote

In the Screening Room - Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve

Session 022 - All About Eve

Who saw it and what are your thoughts on it?

RIP Bernie Mac

1957-2008

Reactions to The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

Post reactions, highlights, drawbacks, best/worst moments, or whatever else you feel needs saying.

Recent Watches: August 2008

I suppose there's no reason we have to rely on Brian for EVERYTHING here...! :)