Some critics are saying that this was not a great year for film and reference their disapproval of some of the 5 Oscar nominated films to support their argument.In the last few years there has been some dissent against the Oscar Best Picture nominations or Oscar winner. A huge uproar occurred when Crash came from behind to beat out Brokeback Mountain. In my mind Crash was the best picture. I'm prejudiced though as I predicted it to win as soon as I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival that year.
Last year Juno was unfairly dismissed as not worthy due to its lighter comedic tone as compared to the heavy hitters No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Dramatic comedies get no respect. We have to go all the way back to 1960 and Billy Wilder's wonderful The Apartment to find a Best Pic winner that is classed as a comedy (in this case a dark dramatic comedy - All out comedies will almost certainly never win a Best Pic Oscar).
This year quite a few critics are upset that Wall-E and especially The Dark Knight were omitted from the list of Oscar Best Pic nominations. The two films that get the most heat for being on the list are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader.
Here's a fine article by Roger Ebert on The Reader with many interesting side discussions. The article again shows why Ebert won a Pulitzer Prize for his film critiques. NOTE: Beware if you have not seen the film. The article concludes with significant spoilers so you may want to stop when Ebert indicates the spoilers follow and catch the movie before continuing. There is still plenty to read up to that point.
Ebert's article supporting The Reader
In my opinion, Kate Winslet will win best actress this year for her amazing performance in The Reader. She is a phenomenal actress and this is already her sixth nomination (she has yet to win). She is ahead of the pace set by the marvellous Meryl Streep who received her fifteenth nomination this year. Winslet was also superb in Revolutionary Road in 2008 and many predicted that she would be nominated for best actress for that film and also receive a supporting nomination in The Reader. Her performance in the latter film was a lead performance though and she was nominated in the proper category but that precluded her from that strong possibility of receiving two nominations.
Ebert's article supporting The Reader
In my opinion, Kate Winslet will win best actress this year for her amazing performance in The Reader. She is a phenomenal actress and this is already her sixth nomination (she has yet to win). She is ahead of the pace set by the marvellous Meryl Streep who received her fifteenth nomination this year. Winslet was also superb in Revolutionary Road in 2008 and many predicted that she would be nominated for best actress for that film and also receive a supporting nomination in The Reader. Her performance in the latter film was a lead performance though and she was nominated in the proper category but that precluded her from that strong possibility of receiving two nominations.
Go Kate!
Julian D.
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