Posts Tagged ‘Oscar nominations’

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OSCAR BALLOT

by Tom on February 17, 2009 at 6:58 am
Posted In: Blog
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oscar_ballot_small

If you listened to The Triple Feature last night (and if you missed it, don't worry - just subscribe to our feed on iTunes!) you'll know that Gordon, Joe and I made our official Oscar picks in advance of the televised broadcast this Sunday. We decided to make it interesting by making a tiny wager. The two people with the least amount of correct predictions has to draw a guest strip for a winning artist. So if Gordon gets the most correct, Joe and I have to draw him a guest strip. Kind of fun, right?

Part of that agreement was that the three of us would post our marked Oscar ballots and submit them to public record. That way, it keeps everyone honest. No last minute changes before or during the broadcast.

My ballot is kind of large, so you'll have to click here to view it. But it's there for anyone who is interested.

I think most of the major categories are already sewn up. But I voted for a few dark horse contenders after looking at a few statistical averages and trends among Academy votes in the past. As far as the technical categories go, I have a theory that I'm hoping pays off. Where I get really lost is in the documentary and short film categories.

You'll have to take a look at my ballot and tell me what you think. Do you think I have a shot at winning our little competition?

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MAKIN’ UP IKE TURNER-STYLE

by Tom on January 28, 2004 at 12:00 am
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Oscar nominations, pig heart, nail, flowers, Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Monday's incentive graphic proved to be fairly popular, so I'm sticking with a theme. Vote for Theater Hopper at BuzzComix to learn more! We have a really good shot of cracking the Top 5 by this afternoon!

Today's comic is supposed to be commentary on the surprising nominations the Academy presented yesterday. Quite honestly, I didn't expect to see most of the names on that list mentioned in the same breath with some of the other more established (re: popular and/or commercially) viable Hollywood stars.

There are a lot of dark horses I'll be pulling for. Bill Murray, Johnny Depp, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Alec Baldwin, Ken Wantanabe, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Sophia Coppola notably.

Hey! What did I tell you guys about that Ken Wantanabe?! He's the real deal, my friends! I don't know what the odds are of a Japanese star winning an Oscar in his first English language film, but anyone who can break through so effectively is one to watch in the future. Why, he could be like Jackie Chan, but with INTEGRITY!

Of course, it wouldn't be the Oscars with at least ONE misstep. Brother Bear for Best Animated Feature? Didn't, like, seven people go to that movie? Oh, well. There weren't a lot of animated movies to turn to this year. They actually nominated a French film - The Triples of Belleville - to round out the category. I haven't seen it, but I'm dying to. Cami and I had an opportunity when we were in New York, but it ended up passing us by.

No matter. Finding Nemo is going to clean house with both of them.

I suppose I could go more in depth with this, but I don't want to jinx a good thing. The Academy has done a very good job of recognizing talent that deserves it. I hope it's a trend that continues. What I thought was going to be another ho-hum ceremony has now become very interesting for me because the nominees reflect more of my personal taste in film. I have much more invested in my picks success or failure.

If you're interested in discussing the Oscar nominations further, be sure to register in the forums for some great round-table discussion!

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SHOCKING

by Tom on February 12, 2003 at 12:00 am
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(7 votes, average: 7.71 out of 10)
Oscar nominations, heart, cardiac arrest, defibrillator, shock, Chicago, Treasure Planet

If you didn't have a chance to stop by the site yesterday, be sure to hit the "Previous" button under today's strip. There's a treat waiting for you! An extra comic!

Kind of on a whim I decided to do a full week of strips, so I want to be sure everyone is caught up. Be sure to visit again tomorrow for another thrilling installment!

Well, on Tuesday the Oscar nominations were announced. You can go here to read the full list of nominees.

I don't know how far into things I want to go. Certainly there will be a lot of media hoopla until the ceremony telecast in March.

I guess I can say that I was more than a little disappointed that Chicago walked away with the most nominations. Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I just get this sinking feeling that everyone has resigned themselves to the fact it will win Best Picture. They're treating it like some consolation prize for Moulin Rouge not winning last year. I'm not a big fan of musicals to begin with and I think the film will coast to the finish more on the merits of Miramax's marketing power than the artistic effort of the film itself.

The Best Animated Feature category saw its nominees expand from three to five films this year. Among the chosen were Ice Age, Lilo & Stitch, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Spirited Away and Treasure Planet. Regrettably, I've only seen the two Disney flicks. If I had to choose between them Lilo & Stitch would have to get my vote. Of course I've heard great things about Spirited Away, but I'll have to wait for it on video.

I guess I was pretty shocked to learn that Treasure Planet was even considered for this award. For starters, it wasn't that great of a movie. Just a "re-imaging" of a classic book - Treasure Island - with futuristic gadgets and cyborgs. It was executed well, but not nearly as inventive of heart-warming as Lilo & Stitch.

Secondly, Treasure Planet took about an $80 million dollar loss at the box office. Reportedly it cost over $120M to make, but only raked in $40M at ticket booths. The impact of its failure was so severe, Disney actually had to scale back their animation department this year. And they're rewarding it with a nomination?!

I have to say I'm most happy for Jullianne Moore and her double nominations - Best Actress for Far From Heaven and Best Supporting for The Hours. I saw both films. I didn't care much for Far From Heaven, but I wasn't really in the mood for it at the time. I can appreciate what it was doing, but I need a fresh head to see it again. Regardless, certainly the fact that Moore received two nominations tells you she's doing something right. I certainly hope she gets it for Best Actress and not Supporting. That one will probably go to Meryl Streep in Adaptation (her 13th, I might add - beating Katharine Hepburn's record).

I was happy to see Daniel Day Lewis nominated for Best Actor in Gangs of New York. I cannot think of another performance this year more deserving. Of course, voters will probably hand it over to Jack Nicholson for About Schmidt because everyone loves to watch him do his "cool thing" when he's up on stage. This is his 12th nomination, by the way -- matchin Heapburn's record.

If anything, Martin Scorsese should win Best Director for Gangs. The Academy has been jerking him around for too long. They should give him the award now before he dries up and they're forced to give him one of those gold watch "Lifetime Achievement" awards.

I would have liked to have seen Marty win for Goodfellas or The Last Temptation of Christ, but Gangs was an epic in every sense. A win could serve double duty recognizing the efforts of that film as well as giving the nod to the immeasurable contribution he's given to American cinema over the last 40 years.

I think that about does it for my opinions on the Oscars. Cami and I plan on seeing the two Best Picture nominees we didn't get to yet - Chicago and The Pianist. If we can get to it, we'll probably see all the films with Best Actor and Actress nominees as well. A few of them like Frida and The Quiet American we probably won't see. But Adaptation and About Schmidt are definitely on our list.

What do you think of the nominations this year? Drop me a line and we can chat about it. I don't get a lot of e-mails, so I'm usually pretty good about responding. Just wait. Now I'll get a ton of mail and won't be able to get to them all. Oh, well.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another new comic!

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