Two Days Until Oscar Nominations
The 2006 Oscar nominations will be released on Tuesday and I fear that this year is going to be another award year devoid of surprises...or films that actually deserve the year's top film awards.
Everyone is buzzing about Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's film that follows a 20 year secret romance between two Wyoming sheep herders. My opinion...this film is way overrated. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent film in its own right. But a great film it is not and it's a far cry from the year's best.
I could write a whole review on Brokeback and why I don't feel it deserves the top awards of the year, but that's for another piece. Instead, I'm going to share what I feel to be the cream of the crop this year. Chances are, these will get overlooked at the Oscars this year, but as we all know, the Oscars have long since quit being about awarding truly great films.
With that said, here is Jamie Parker's top picks for the 2005 film year:
Best Picture
Crash - This is a no-brainer in my mind. Not only did this film have some of the greatest performances of the year, it was a beautifully shot film and touched on subject matter that most of us are afraid to think about. Don Cheadle will once again be overlooked for the top actor award this year (he should have won for Hotel Rwanda last year) and Terrance Howard gave a stunning performance as the middle-aged black actor who is afraid to be black. All in all, the film was an amazing look at how racism touches each and every one of us whether we realize it or not.
Best Actor
Don Cheadle (Crash) - This man is the most underrated actor in Hollywood. Evertime he's on the screen he steals the show and his performance in Crash is no exception. He was shafted last year when he lost out to Jamie Foxx and chances are good that Heath Ledger will be the one taking the statue home this year for his mumbling performance in Brokeback Mountain.
Best Actress
Gwenyth Paltrow (Proof) - So chances are pretty good that you're not going to see Proof pop up on many awards lists this year. That aside, Gwenyth Paltrow gave the performance of her career (and possibly of the year) in this stage play turned feature film. Granted, Paltrow has played the character of Catherine for awhile now on stage, but that only made her performance more incredible in my opinion. The entire film I just wanted to give Catherine a hug. I felt that girl's fear and desperation as she dealt with her father's death and the possibility that she too might be going crazy. I was glad to see her nominated for the Golden Globe and hope that the Acadamy will do the same. Let's just say if I see Michelle Williams' name on that nomination list Tuesday I'm going to be more than a little miffed. I just don't see how anyone can be considered for a best actress award when she's in a film all of ten minutes.
Best Director
Stephen Gaghan (Syriana) - This one was a tough decision for me. While Crash is by far my favorite film of the year and Paul Haggis did an incredible job at directing it, Stephen Gaghan's direction of the incredibly complex and beautiful Syriana took the top spot. Syriana is one of those films you either love or hate. It's intricate plot and heavily political themes are not very accessible to many moviegoers, but one cannot deny that Syriana is a stunningly gorgeous film to watch and Gaghan managed to get rather amazing performances out of typically mediocre actors (think Matt Damon and Amanda Peet). And as far as I'm concerned, if you can get a decent performance out of those two, you deserve an award.
Best Screenplay
Elizabethtown (Cameron Crowe) - WHAT?! Did he just say Elizabethtown? Yes...yes I did. Call me crazy, but this film had something about it that I just couldn't get out of my head for days after seeing it. You probably have to have lived or visited Kentucky for a length of time in order to get a lot of the jokes and quirks in the film, but what really makes this film shine is the way in which Cameron Crowe wrote the characters in the film. Cameron Crowe is usually hit or miss with me (I hated Almost Famous), but one thing that Crowe can do is write characters. In Elizabethtown, the character that really stands out is Kirsten Dunst's character of Claire. She was just so incredibly quirky. So fine, sue me...I think it was a wonderfully written (and even directed film although I thought the performances were rather lackluster) film that didn't get the attention it really deserved.
My Top Five Films of the Year (in no particular order)
- Crash
- Proof
- Elizabethtown
- Manderlay
- Charlie & the Chocolate Factory
Five Worst of the Year
- Cinderella Man
- The Family Stone
- A History of Violence
- Star Wars: Episode III
So that's that. There's still a few films I haven't been able to catch yet that I plan to watch in the up-coming week, so this list could change a bit (and if it does, you'll hear about it here). So enough ranting for tonight. In a couple of days we'll find out what the Almighty Acadamy has to say about the year's best.