Does this old house look familiar? It's the ruins of the Reata, the Victorian mansion isolated on the windswept Texas plain of Marfa, Texas in George Stevens' Giant (1956), the saga of cattle, oil and egos big as the Lone Star State, that won Stevens a best-director statuette. Something about that austere landscape that Oscar loves, for the two-most nominated films of 2007 are No Country for Old Men (8 nominations) and There Will be Blood (8 nominations), both shot in Marfa. And both regarding the sprawling Texas plain as an epic stage for its outsize characters.
All in all, no earth-shaking surprises among the Oscar nominations, though I was surprised at the Denzel Washington shutout: I predicted he'd cop an acting nomination for American Gangster and a directorial nod for The Great Debaters. I was also sad that Into the Wild received only one bid, for Hal Halbrook's transcendent performance (unbelievably for this 83-year-old, his first Oscar nomination!). Zodiac, alas, received no recognition. Likewise disappointed that Mira Nair's The Nakesame and its extraordinary actors were passed over. Am encouraged that four out of the 10 screenwriting nominees are female.
Are you happy with the results? Predictions? My gut tells me the gold will be distributed among many movies and that Michael Clayton will probably take the top prize. It's a film that everybody likes. If Juno, the only nominee that's made real money at the box office, won, it would be the first win for a comedy since, I think, Annie Hall 31 years ago.
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Oscarama
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Carrie Rickey has been The Philadelphia Inquirer’s film critic for 21 years. She has reviewed films as diverse as “Water” and “The Waterboy,” profiled celebrities from Lillian Gish to Will Smith, and reported on technological beakthroughs from the video revolution to the rise of movies on demand. Her reviews are syndicated nationwide and she is a regular contributor to Entertainment Weekly, MSNBC and NPR. Rickey’s essays appear in numerous anthologies, including “The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll,” “The American Century,” and the Library of America’s “American Movie Critics.”
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 22, 2008 12:35 PM.
The previous post in this blog was The Contender.
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Comments (16)
Look for Clooney and the Coens to clean up.
Posted by Bob Ross | January 22, 2008 3:46 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 15:46
Depending on your definitions, the last comedic Best Picture winner was Shakespeare in Love or Forrest Gump.
Am disappointed in the ZODIAC shut-out, much like I was a decade ago when THE ICE STORM got zero.
Posted by Adam B. | January 22, 2008 4:29 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 16:29
I was sorry that Amy Adams wasn't nominated. But not surprised, since hers is exactly the kind of work that nearly always gets the shaft.
I'll be happy if "No Country For Old Men" doesn't win. Good acting and photography, shallow and adolescent grasp of morality.
Posted by wwolfe | January 22, 2008 4:29 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 16:29
I'll concede that "Shakespeare in Love" is an almost-comedy: I'd call it a romance with serious undertones and comic overtones. But does anyone think "Forrest Gump" is a comedy?
Posted by Carrie | January 22, 2008 4:33 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 16:33
My only disappointment is that voters are seemingly voting for actors instead of performances. Johnny Depp, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett are all regular honorees who were nominated for subpar work. And Tommy Lee Jones was seemingly nominated for the wrong movie.
Posted by David | January 22, 2008 4:43 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 16:43
Checked out Dave Kehr before coming here and just had to share his view of "Juno." Seems he's the loan holdout where this movie is concerned:
"The stealth candidate remains 'Juno,' the phony, feel good comedy about teen pregnancy (as opposed to 'Knocked Up,' the phony, feel good comedy about twentysomething pregnancy), which racked up four key nominations — picture, director, actress, screenplay. This piece of cheese could still take it, as I imagine it’s a film that the worried parents of the Academy would clutch to their hearts far more firmly than 'Atonement,' a film that wears its sense of Oscar entitlement on its sleeve."
I concur with Dave.
Also, not to bring everyone down but I just read that Heath Ledger was found dead.
Posted by Mike | January 22, 2008 5:54 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 17:54
How sad. It was almost two years ago exactly that Ledger was nominated for an Oscar, right?
Posted by Jan | January 22, 2008 6:08 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 18:08
A talented actor. A tragic loss. My colleague Karen Heller is writing his obituary as I type, and all I could say was, what other actor had the range to play the extroverted seducer Casanova and the closeted homosexual Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback" in back-to-back performances? Yes, Jan, he was nominated exactly two years ago, the same year he became a father.
Posted by Carrie | January 22, 2008 6:12 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 18:12
Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Lois Nettleton and now Heath Ledger. Such diverse actors, all gone within a couple weeks. It's difficult to get excited over the usual Oscar hype when these performers (in my opinion) never received the regard they all so richly deserved.
Posted by Pat | January 22, 2008 7:28 PM
Posted on January 22, 2008 19:28
Carrie,
Here's one person who didn't like Michael Clayton; a bad cross of Silkwood and And Justice For All...great acting though; I guess the Academy felt Denzel Washington has enough Oscars already...his being shut out floored me; and where's Don Cheadle for "Talk to Me"?
Posted by Jon Caroulis | January 23, 2008 11:08 AM
Posted on January 23, 2008 11:08
I loved loved loved Cheadle in "Talk to Me," a movie seen by too few people. I also loved "The Great Debaters" and think its young performers were robbed. I like "Clayton," and think it's a likely compromise candidate for the Academy voters who might reject the heavyosity of "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country" and dismiss the helium-lightness of "Juno."
Posted by Carrie | January 23, 2008 11:25 AM
Posted on January 23, 2008 11:25
Once again this year it's quite likely the Academy will give only the nomination but not the Oscar to the year's most enjoyable film. "Juno" is this year's "Little Miss Sunshine," a film that, more than any of the other nominees, gives us what we all go to the movies for: Entertainment. Last year we were left with the heavyhanded-ness of the been-there, done-that "Departed," while this year we likely will have to endure a nod for the pedestrian "Michael Clayton," with it's "is-my-hair-alright" star, George Clooney. It's enough to make you sear off the awards entirely.
Posted by Steve G. | January 23, 2008 2:17 PM
Posted on January 23, 2008 14:17
What in the heck is Steve G. talking about when he he refers to George "is-my-hair-alright" Clooney? Clooney is one good-looking actor who seemingly has no vanity at all and, from I what gather, tends to joke about his looks. Anyway, it has nothing to do with his acting ability - which is considerable.
Posted by Joe | January 23, 2008 7:32 PM
Posted on January 23, 2008 19:32
Finally, Jon! Someone else who didn't like Michael Clayton! None of my friends enjoyed it, either-- and we're all just scratching our heads over all the critical raves and awards.
Posted by Jill | January 25, 2008 1:33 AM
Posted on January 25, 2008 01:33
watching "there will be blood" was like watching "2001," completely otherworldly and transporting...a movie to be endured and studied, if not to love. in 20 years, which movie will film critics and film lovers still be pondering and watching? i have to think "there will be blood," but i'm committing to watching that and the coen brothers' "no country for old men" again to see what i think.
Posted by jamesinphilly | January 27, 2008 7:36 PM
Posted on January 27, 2008 19:36
The comparison to "2001" is apt. I'm going with "There Will Be Blood" over "No Country" as the one cinephiles will still be parsing 50 years hence.
Posted by Carrie | January 27, 2008 8:10 PM
Posted on January 27, 2008 20:10