Thoughts on the Oscar Nominees

~ Lincoln Spector

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, but I had a busy day, so I’m only writing about it now.

Every year I get excited and hyped-up about the Oscars, and yet I always know how stupid the whole thing is. If the best picture of the year actually becomes the Best Picture of the Year, I consider that a happy accident.

My quick thoughts on the Best Picture nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: The only nominee I haven’t seen, so I suppose I can’t render a verdict. But the reason I didn’t see it was because bad and lukewarm reviews convinced me that I didn’t want to see it. (Okay, Rotten Tomatoes says 72% of the reviews were positive, but so maybe I’m just reading the wrong reviews.) And yet it received 13 nominations–more than any other movie this year.

Frost/Nixon: I liked this one, very much. I gave it a B, but it’s a high B. Certainly not one of the best films of the year, though.

Milk: The one I’m rooting for. This and Revolutionary Road tie in my book for the best picture that stands a chance of winning an Oscar.

The Reader: An excellent film. I won’t feel bad if it wins.

Slumdog Millionaire: The traditional low-budget, arguably foreign film that became a surprise art house hit and doesn’t stand a chance of winning Best Picture. Only this year, it’s a movie I didn’t like.

Thoughts on some other nominees.

Kate Winslet up for Best Actress…again. One of these years she may win it. She’s up for The Reader, but gave a better performance (which is saying a lot) in Revolutionary Road, which was also a better film. (That’s saying a lot, too.)

Speaking of Revolutionary Road, I’m glad it’s up for Best Art Direction. It won’t win, but it made the 1950’s all the more oppressive.

”Down to Earth” from WALL-E is up for Best Original Song. Was there a song in WALL-E?

Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.

One thought on “Thoughts on the Oscar Nominees”

  1. Funny, you’re the first I’ve read who thinks the crowd-pleasing Slumdog Millionaire is out of serious contention. I tend to agree with folks who see it as a Chariots of Fire-like contender to beat more Oscar-esque fare.

    The Peter Gabriel song in Wall-E is from the closing credits.

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