The Curious Case of Forrest Gump

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Oscar Disappointment

Eric Roth has convinced the Academy once again that he has written a story with actual content, that is actually substantial.

Only one film from my top ten list was nominated for best picture.

The best female performance of the year wasn't nominated.

Bill Irwin's endearing turn as a loving father in Rachel Getting Married was forgotten, although I'm sure the voting was tight.

The best original song of the year, that actually won at the Golden Globes, is not even nominated.

Kate Winslet's inferior performance in The Reader is nominated, rather than her work in Revolutionary Road. I guess it's because The Reader has Nazis.

Leonardo DiCaprio's career best was not honoured.

The Dark Knight is pretty much snubbed. I thought it to be a natural step for the Oscars to allow a comic book film to be nominated, after giving Lord of the Rings so many awards.

There are things for me to be happy about, however.

In Bruges is nominated for best screenplay.

The brilliant french film Entre Les Murs is nominated for best foreign film.

I will get to see Mickey Rourke win best actor.

Heath Ledger will win, although who knows if it's for the right reasons anymore. Doesn't matter because he deserves it.

Richard Jenkins is nominated.

Michael Shannon is nominated.

The documentary Encounters at the End of the World, which was about 2 spots short from making my top ten, is nominated.

Anyways, there are some bright points, but overall I'm disappointed. In a big way. Especially after the Oscars were so satisfying the last few years. Now I get to live through one of the weaker Best Picture categories I can recall.

Here is a complete list of noms:

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner

Milk (2008): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

The Reader (2008): Nominees to be determined

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)

Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)

Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh

Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Tom Stern

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister

The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Milk (2008): Elliot Graham

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando

The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway

Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Australia (2008): Catherine Martin

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West

The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor

Milk (2008): Danny Glicker

Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky

Best Achievement in Makeup

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom

The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat

Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard

Milk (2008): Danny Elfman

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman

WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar("Jai Ho")

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")

WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")

Best Achievement in Sound

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten

The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

WALL·E (2008): Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt

Wanted (2008): Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

The Dark Knight (2008): Richard King

Iron Man (2008): Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Tom Sayers

WALL·E (2008): Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood

Wanted (2008): Wylie Stateman

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin

Iron Man (2008): John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

Bolt (2008): Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Kung Fu Panda (2008): John Stevenson, Mark Osborne

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)(Germany)

Entre les murs (2008)(France)

Revanche (2008)(Austria)

Okuribito (2008)(Japan)

Vals Im Bashir (2008)(Israel)

Best Documentary, Features

Nominees:

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath

Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser

The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn

Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Nominees:

The Conscience of Nhem En: Steven Okazaki

The Final Inch: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant

Smile Pinki: Megan Mylan

The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306: Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

Best Short Film, Animated

Nominees:

La Maison en Petits Cubes: Kunio Kato

Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya (2007): Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi (2007): Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

Presto (2008): Doug Sweetland

This Way Up (2008): Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Best Short Film, Live Action

Nominees:

Auf der Strecke (2007): Reto Caffi

Manon sur le bitume (2007): Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont

New Boy (2007): Steph Green, Tamara Anghie

Grisen (2008): Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

Spielzeugland (2007): Jochen Alexander Freydank

Best of 2008. Top Ten List

2008 seemed to be a much poorer year in film than 2007, but by the end the 10 best movies rival that of last year. I also have to give honourable mentions to 9 movies, the most I ever have. 2007 was still far superior in comedy, but 2008 excelled with a tremendous blockbuster, riveting dramas, brilliant small pictures, and stunning originality. Every movie that ended up on my list is wholly unique, and it's difficult to compare any of them to any previous year's films, let alone with each other. This made it an especially difficult list to make, but ultimately a more rewarding one. The best films of 2008 were...

Honourable Mentions
-in alphabetical order

Chop Shop (Bahrani)

Encounters at the End of the World (Herzog)

The Fall (Tarsem)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Stoller)

Frost/Nixon (Howard)

My Winnipeg (Maddin)

Religulous (Charles)

Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle)

Snow Angels (Green)

Top Ten Films of 2008
-from 10-1, with 1 being best


10. Revolutionary Road (Mendes)



9. Rachel Getting Married (Demme)



8. Milk (Van Sant)



7. Wall-E (Stanton)



6. The Wrestler (Aronofsky)



5. Paranoid Park (Van Sant)



4. Entre Les Murs (Cantet)
Note: Known in North America as "The Class"



3. In Bruges (McDonagh)



2. The Dark Knight (Nolan)


1. Synecdoche, New York (Kaufman)

Best of 2008. Performances

2008 was yet another male dominated year in movie roles, and that shows through when looking at the year's best performances (don't blame me, it's the industry's fault). All in all there were many great performances from both sexes, and I have decided to highlight what I thought were the best. For each category, I narrowed it down to three, and chose one as the best.


.Best Supporting Actress

Runners-up...

Amy Adams, Doubt

Kathy Bates, Revolutionary Road

The best...

Olivia Thirlby, Snow Angels

Note: I actually think the best supporting performances by females were in Synecdoche, New York, but there were so many great actresses that I couldn't single one out.


.Best Supporting Actor

Runners-up...

Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married

Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

The best...

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight



.Best Actress

Runners-up...

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Meryl Streep, Doubt

The best...

Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road



.Best Actor

Note: Coincidentally working with my system, there were truly 3 stand out lead male performances. There were a few great ones, but 3 stand as some of the best performances of the decade. Each role is the best of each respective actor's career.

Runners-up...

Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road

Sean Penn, Milk

The best...

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best of 2008. DVDs

There were, of course, many great movie/TV releases on DVD and Blu Ray this year, but a select few did stand above the rest. The must have releases of 2008 are...

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (DVD)


The Internet musical sensation from Joss Whedon was one of the biggest events of 2008 and now it's a must own DVD. Not only is the masterpiece included, but so are some cool special features and a brand new full length commentary musical. The cast and writers provide commentary through delightful song and everyone gets their moment, even "groupie #3".


Baraka (Blu Ray)


A little known cinematic treasure known as Baraka was released on Blu Ray, and it stands as one of the most incredible visual experiences one can have in their own homes. The clarity is unmatched and the film itself is a unique and beautiful masterpiece.

The Dark Knight (Blu Ray)

Yes, The Dark Knight was one of the year's best films, and it's visual and audio quality on Blu Ray is remarkable. The IMAX shots are especially glorious. However, what makes this one of the best 2008 releases is it's revolutionary special features. Through "BD-Live", viewers can access a host of online features. The two biggies, which in my opinion, have changed home video forever. First off, 100 000 owners of the Blu Ray (me included) we're able to chat with director Christopher Nolan during an online community screening of the film. Also, anyone, using the web cam on their computer, can record their own "picture-in-picture" commentary for the movie.

The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration (Blu Ray)


An absolute must-own for all cinephiles, this collection includes all 3 parts of The Godfather in gorgeous high definition. It doesn't look perfect, but in comparison to prior releases of these films, it is very impressive. The features are extensive, and Part I & II are two of the best films ever made.