Posts Tagged ‘Best Supporting Actor’

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SORE LOSER

by Tom on January 23, 2009 at 7:03 am
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(11 votes, average: 8.36 out of 10)
Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr, Oscar, nomination, Best Supporting Actor, Tropic Thunder

I kind of cheated a little bit on the backgrounds for today's comic. They're screen captures from Tony's garage in Iron Man. I had a hard time grabbing them. I would scan the frames for the shots I needed, but then go back and start watching scenes from the movie. Total time suck!

As you may or may not know, the 2009 Oscar nominations were announced yesterday and Robert Downey Jr. being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Tropic Thunder stuck out the most to me across a field of otherwise safe choices.

Obviously RDJ won't win, citing the Academy's aversion to comedic performances. If anything, it's a tip of the hat to the comeback year Downey Jr. has had and they certainly couldn't nominate him for Iron Man for fear of losing complete credibility.

I was a little surprised that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button racked up 13 nominations and even more surprised that it earned nominations in the Big 5 - Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Adapted Screenplay. Seriously - I thought interest had wained on this thing. Everyone I've talked to says it's an exhaustive slog to get through and nothing much happens.

But, statistically, it's the front-runner. So I suppose I will have to check it out.

I guess I was also surprised that The Wrestler was no nominated for Best Picture. Almost everyone I talk to seems to love that movie. Meanwhile, The Reader made the cut despite critics taking it to task for being a bit of a mess (aside from Kate Winslet's performance, of course).

Any while we're talking about the Best Picture nominations, I'm personally disappointed that Wall-E couldn't bust out of the Best Animated Feature Film ghetto and lock down a Best Picture nomination. One of the most critically adored and respected film's in Pixar's history and it's been relegated second-class citizenship. If the Academy had not created the Best Animated Feature Film category, Wall-E would have been a contender for sure. If the Academy saw fit to nominate Beauty and The Beast for Best Picture nearly 20 years ago, surely Wall-E could compete.

Interesting that there was no gold watch nomination for Clint Eastwood and his contributions to Gran Torino. Going into nominations, I thought buzz was building on that one. I guess not.

Of course, everyone is talking about Heath Ledger being nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his revolutionary turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight. But I don't think he'll win. The Dark Knight was conspicuously shut out of any other major category. The highest grossing film of the year - one of the highest grossing since Titanic and no recognition with a Best Picture or Best Director nomination? Sure it cleaned up with 7 nominations in the technical categories, but c'mon!

Ultimately, I think Nathaniel R. from The Film Experience hit the nail on the head with his Oscar nominations talking points posted yesterday. I found this by way of Jeffery Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere:

Oscar Preferences

The Oscar's will be broadcast February 22 on ABC. For your reference, here is a list of the most prominent 2009 Oscar nominations:

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins--The Visitor
Frank Langella--Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn--Milk
Brad Pitt--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke--The Wrestler

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin--Milk
Robert Downey Jr.--Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman--Doubt
Heath Ledger--The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon--Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway--Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie--Changeling
Melissa Leo--Frozen River
Meryl Streep--Doubt
Kate Winslet--The Reader

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams--Doubt
Penelope Cruz--Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis--Doubt
Taraji Henson--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei--The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard--Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant--Milk
Stephen Daldry--The Reader
Danny Boyle--Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
Wall-E

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth--The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley--Doubt
Peter Morgan--Frost/Nixon
David Hare--The Reader
Simon Beaufoy--Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

So, what's your take? Is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button worthy of 13 nominations? Who films or performances do you think were ignored? What are your predictions for who will take home the little golden man?

Leave your comments below!

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THE WINNING CAMPAIGN

by Tom on October 22, 2008 at 12:00 am
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(15 votes, average: 8.33 out of 10)
The Solist, Robert Downey Jr, Jamie Foxx, Oscar, Iron Man, Best Supporting Actor, Tropic Thunder

I normally wince at doing comics about "industry news" because I think most people won't have the background information needed to get the joke. Thus, I feel compelled to establish the situation with some kind of long-winded exposition. Hence, the super-wide first panel with Jared giving us the lowdown.

Truthfully, I'm completely tapped in terms of commentary for upcoming movies like Saw V and Pride and Glory.

Incidentally, this is the article Jared is talking about regarding Paramount's decision to push back The Soloist from November to March.

I guess I kind of misrepresented things in the comic because Paramount didn't bump The Soloist from November explicitly to support a Best Supporting Actor campaign for Robert Downey Jr.'s performance in Tropic Thunder. That was more of a by-product of the situation. Paramount was pressured by its parent company to cut 4th quarter costs and The Soloist was easiest to move. So, really, it's all about money - as it often is.

I'm thinking it's somewhat misguided on Paramount's part to finance a campaign for RDJ's role in Tropic Thunder. Not just because comedies typically do not fare well during awards season, but also because of the controversy of putting an A-list actor in black face for nearly 2 hours.

Look, the film ruffled a few feathers, but they managed to pull it off. No one walked away from it sustaining any permanent damage to their careers. Just let the thing flourish on DVD and let sleeping dogs lie. The less said about this, the better. Quit trying to take advantage of RDJ's resurgence in 2008. Yes, it's a crime that the man hasn't been nominated for anything since Chaplin, but Tropic Thunder is not the film to break that streak. All things in due time.

Switching gears, I wanted to talk about Monday's strip and the wave of e-mails I received about having a mid-life crisis at 30. It was surprising how many people wrote in to express the same misgivings about getting old. One reader sent me a couple of links detailing The Quarter-Life Crisis and the astrologers theory of Saturn's Return.

I guess I was familiar with the idea of a quarter-life crisis from a lyric in John Mayer song. Of course, there's also that album from No Doubt called Return of Saturn, so I guess I'm kind of of familiar with that as well. I just never made the connection between these ideas and my own station in life.

Weird how I know about these things through my exposure to pop music.

Anyway, it was nice to get e-mails from people answering the question "Is it possible to have a mid-life crisis at 30?" and agreeing with it. A lot of you have been there or could sympathize with the feeling and that was reassuring. So... thanks!

I don't know why I felt the need to share that beyond how I find it interesting what topics will generate a response from you guys. Makes me feel good you're reading the blogs!

That does it for me today. Have a great Wednesday!

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HOW AMERICA VOTES

by Tom on February 25, 2008 at 12:40 pm
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(2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
Oscars, Javier Bardem, Best Supporting Actor, No Country For Old Men, voting, American Idol, George W. Bush, talent, logic

I kind of painted myself into a corner with today's comic because, originally, the set up required there to be some kind of massive upset at last night's Academy Awards ceremony. The only problem, there were no real upsets! Pretty much everyone who was supposed to win, did. There weren't really any awards handed out that I was upset with. I didn't finish watching the show thinking anyone was snubbed or robbed. So I had to reconfigure the point I was making a little bit, but I think it comes off well.

Discussing today's comic with Cami, I actually hit up a little mini-arc that addresses some of the politics behind the Oscar voting as well as attempt reveal some truth about persona biases.

That sounds pretty lofty. It's not high-concept, or anything. I'm just trying to give you the head's up that there will be a mini-arc this week. So if that gives you an excuse to come back to the site on Wednesday and Friday, feel free to use it.

Thinking back on last night's show, the only real upset I can recall is French actress Marion Cotillard winng her first Academy Award for her portrayal of singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Then again, Best Actress is always a crap shoot anyway. And - not to be xenophobic - the award hardly ever goes to an American actress, so I just kind of ignore it.

I was pleased beyond reason that "Falling Slowly" from Once won Best Original Song. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance made me want to stop what I was doing and watch Once all over again - easily my favorite movie last year.

Beyond that, nothing much to get excited about. Certainly it was obvious that there weren't any huge blockbusters or A-level celebritires like Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts being celebrated. I'll be curious to read about the ratings sometime today.

But when your Best Picture nominees include downers like There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men, it's likely to ostrisize the casual movie goer. Maybe that's a good thing? More left over for the die-hard fans?

We discussed these issues and more on a special Sunday night recording of The Triple Feature over at TalkShoe. Gordon, Joe and I hopped on the line immediately after the Oscar telecast wrapped up and we shared our immediate impressions. You should really think about downloading a copy of the show. We kept it brief - 30 minutes since we recorded on a day we don't typically record. It's a good introduction to what we do. If you have a chance, give us a listen!

That said, we still have ANOTHER broadcast going on this evening. The three of us will be talking about NEW movies tonight including Be Kind, Rewind, Vantage Point and the recent multiple cast announcements for the upcoming Wolverine: Origins.

So be sure to tune in tonight at 9:00 PM CST for another episode of The Triple Feature! See you there!

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