BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The Nominees Are:

• As It Is In Heaven (Sweden)


• The Chorus (France)


• Downfall (Germany)


• The Sea Inside (Spain)


• Yesterday (South Africa)

Erin’s Pick: The Chorus

Marisa’s Pick: The Sea Inside

Mandy’s Pick: The Chorus

The Winner Last Year Was: The Barbarian Invasions (Canada)

The Chorus actually sounds like something I might see someday. I don’t know much about the other movies.

I will probably have another Movie of the Week for you tomorrow.

I thought this was interesting: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=493&ncid=790&e=1&u=/ap/20050216/ap_en_mo/oscars_low_turnout

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Nominees Are:

• The Aviator


• Finding Neverland


• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events


• Ray


• Troy

Erin’s Pick: Finding Neverland

Marisa’s Pick: Finding Neverland

Mandy’s Pick: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Winner Last Year Was: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Traditionally, the costume design nominations go to either fantasy, musical, or historical movies. Obviously, these fit the mold, with one fantasy and four histories. Still, they seem weird to me. I mean, why nominate Troy instead of Phantom? Somehow that’s just wrong.

Okay, I’ve got another bone to pick with the Oscar producers. First there was the “new” way of handing out some awards, which sounds almost sacrilegious to me. Now they’re giving us a veritable overload of Beyonce. Apparently she’s singing not one, but two and a half songs on Oscar night. She’s gonna be singing “Learn to Be Lonely” (I guess Minnie Driver’s not available?) and “Look to Your Path” (no clue on the original singer here, but I wonder if she’ll sing it in French) outright. But this is the part I don’t get. They’re also turning “Believe” into a duet with Beyonce. Now, why would you turn a song that was originally sung solo into a duet when the original singer (who sings well enough despite the fact it’s only an “okay” song) is going to be there to perform it anyways? Someone on an Academy Awards predictions forum I went to answered this question by saying, “One word: RATINGS. If Usher could sing in Spanish they’d have him do ‘Al Otro Lado Del Rio.” Is there really that big a demographic that will ONLY tune into Beyonce if she sings a minimum of 2.5 songs? But I digress.

I watched part of the Grammys last night. Most of my picks (as in artists I actually like and listen to) went home empty-handed, except for U2. I was glad that Ray Charles beat Usher, though.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Nominees Are:

• The Aviator


• House of Flying Daggers


• The Passion of the Christ


• The Phantom of the Opera


• A Very Long Engagement

Erin’s Pick: The Phantom of the Opera

Marisa’s Pick: A Very Long Engagement

Mandy’s Pick: The Passion of the Christ

The Winner Last Year Was: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

What can I say? I liked Phantom of the Opera (I also want to see A Very Long Engagement). I’d say something more in-depth and intelligent, but I’m tired.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Nominees Are:

• Born Into Brothels


• The Story of the Weeping Camel


• Super Size Me


• Tupac: Resurrection


• Twist of Faith

Erin’s Pick: Super Size Me

Marisa’s Pick: Super Size Me

Mandy’s Pick: Twist of Faith

The Winner Last Year Was: The Fog of War

It’s a shame Michael Moore took the gamble of not submitting Fahrenheit 9/11 for Documentary so that it had a better chance of being nominated for Best Picture, because it didn’t pay off. I would have gladly voted for it here, because it was really good. I haven’t seen any of these, but I went for Super Size Me because I hate McDonald’s food anyways. Mandy’s being arbitrary, but she wants to see the documentary she picked.

Susannah and I were at the grocery store last night. In the frozen food section I happened to notice a box of what looked like cheesy bread with the brand name Artie Bucco’s. I thought that was kind of funny, because Artie Bucco is a character on The Sopranos, and that would be an amazing coincidence. Then I saw the Sopranos logo on the bottom of the box and I just laughed. Suz and I thought it was so funny we bought a box, and we’re gonna make it the next time Darby and I watch Sopranos.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

The Nominees Are:

• Autism is a World


• The Children of Leningradsky


• Hardwood


• Mighty Times: The Children’s March


• Sister Rose’s Passion

Erin’s Pick: Mighty Times: The Children’s March

Marisa’s Pick: Autism is a World

Mandy’s Pick: Mighty Times: The Children’s March

The Winner Last Year Was: Chernobyl Heart

Mandy and I are pretty much being arbitrary, but I’m pretty sure Marisa has a specific reason for her choice.

BEST EDITING

The Nominees Are:

• The Aviator


• Collateral


• Finding Neverland


• Million Dollar Baby


• Ray

Erin’s Pick: Finding Neverland

Marisa’s Pick: Finding Neverland

Mandy’s Pick: Finding Neverland

The Winner Last Year Was: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Once again, this is starting to become the field that I could give a professional opinion on, but I’ve only seen one of the movies (Finding Neverland) and so my expertise can’t be used. I’ve been trying to see The Aviator, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Million Dollar Baby or Ray (which would be as easy as a trip to Blockbuster, since it’s out on DVD now), but until then I have to go with the ones I’ve seen, unless they suck, and this one didn’t.

I hear they’re changing the format for handing out awards at the Oscars, wherein the people who win the “less important” awards just stay at their seat, while with other awards ALL the nominees will be paraded onstage like it’s the Miss America pageant. As long as they don’t mess with clip showings, it’s fine, I guess.

I did watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. Susannah and I had a Super Bowl party and cheered the Patriots on to victory. The halftime show went according to plan, wherein nothing happened. Still, I’d rather watch Paul McCartney than Nelly any day of my life. The commercials have taken a bizarre turn, though. Except for the Burt Reynolds FedEx commercial (which was funny), there weren’t any that really stood out.

CINEMA 328’S MOVIE OF THE WEEK

Glengarry Glen Ross

1992

Dir. James Foley

Stars Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey

            Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, this movie takes place in a real estate office (of the telemarketing kind). Three of the agents (Lemmon, Harris, and Alan Arkin) are in a sales slump while one (Pacino) is on a hot streak. A belligerent representative from the office’s firm (played by Alec Baldwin) arrives one night and hands down an ultimatum as part of the month-long sales contest: whoever comes in last is fired. Furthermore, whoever sells the most in a week will get the “golden” Glengarry sales leads while the others will be stuck with old “deadbeat” leads. The pressure mounts as each man gets more desperate to save his job.

            It pretty obvious that this movie is based on a play, as it gets stagey at some points. Other tell-tale signs are that there are very few sets and very few characters, plus there is a LOT of dialogue. Personally I think the best performances are Jack Lemmon (whose character is flawed but still likeable) and Al Pacino. However, with the sheer amount of dialogue the movie got kinda boring, although it still is somewhat amusing to watch British actor Jonathan Pryce (who plays one of Pacino’s clients) attempt an American accent. I still could think of worse movies, though.

MPAA Rating: R

Oscar Fare: Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Al Pacino)

My Rating: 2.5

BEST MAKEUP

The Nominees Are:

• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events


• The Passion of the Christ


• The Sea Inside

Erin’s Pick: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Marisa’s Pick: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Mandy’s Pick: The Passion of the Christ

The Winner Last Year Was: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I don’t know what in The Sea Inside warrants makeup (knowing nothing about the movie except Javier Bardem is in it), but with the other two it comes down to elaborate character makeup vs. realism. It could go either way.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Nominees Are:

• Finding Neverland
  
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  
• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events
  
• The Passion of the Christ
  
• The Village

Erin’s Pick: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Marisa’s Pick: Finding Neverland

Mandy’s Pick: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The Winner Last Year Was: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

John Williams (the most nominated living person) is back again, and you can’t go wrong with John Williams. BTW, in response to the comment in the last entry, “Rockin’ on Top of the World” was not on Warner Bros. FYC list (“Believe” was the only song from The Polar Express that was), so it stood no chance of being nominated.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

The Nominees Are:

• “Accidentally in Love” from Shrek 2
  
• “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from The Motorcycle Diaries
  
• “Believe” from The Polar Express
  
• “Learn to Be Lonely” from The Phantom of the Opera
  
• “Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin) from The Chorus

Erin’s Pick: “Learn to Be Lonely”

Marisa’s Pick: “Accidentally in Love”

Mandy’s Pick: “Accidentally in Love”

The Winner Last Year Was: “”Into the West” from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Yeah, I’m sure some of you thought I would pick “Believe.” To tell you the truth, I almost did. In actuality, I firmly believe that the best song of the year was, by and large, “Remember” from Troy (No, I have absolutely no intention of seeing the movie, but the song is incredibly awesome and I have actually had the good fortune to see it performed live). Unlike most of my favorite movie songs, “Remember” had a fairly good chance of being nominated, but then Warner Brothers decided not to put it on their FYC (For Your Consideration) campaign list, which means it suddenly had no chance of a nomination. I was pretty disappointed, but I cut my losses and prepared to vote for “Old Habits Die Hard” from Alfie (another movie I don’t plan on seeing), which is also a good song and it won the Golden Globe. Then that didn’t even get nominated, putting me in this position of being stuck between “Believe” and “Learn to Be Lonely.” Without any consideration towards artist or movie, I like both songs about the same. If it were to come down to artist preference, “Believe” would win. If it were to come down to movie preference, “Learn to Be Lonely” would win. This is what led me to my final decision. The Academy Awards are about honoring movies, not singers (that’s what the Grammys are supposed to be for). Therefore, “Learn to Be Lonely” wins out, plus it’s probably Phantom’s best shot at winning something (and I’m ashamed at you people for not giving it a better box office run). I won’t be too terribly upset if “Believe” wins, and I’d just like to add that it’s most unusual for two foreign-language songs to be nominated. Mandy had kind of the opposite problem, where she wanted to pick "Believe" but the fact that it pales in comparison to "Remember" (same artist, BTW) discouraged her from doing so.

Not much else to say except for one bit of exciting news: I FINALLY BEAT MY INSTRUCTOR IN FENCING!!! That was one of my “before-I-graduate” goals. Granted, it was in epée, and he’s not as good at that as he is in the other two classes, but I also nearly beat him in sabre, which is his specialty (If we had played to 5 points instead of 10, I would have won that too).

Also, do any of my college-student subscribers have their schools listed in The Facebook? If you do, please tell me your school so I can add you to my friends list on that site.