The Mad Professah Lectures

The five nominees for Best Original Score this year are:

How To Train Your Dragon - John Powell
Inception - Hans Zimmer
The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours - A.R. Rahman
The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

To me, the winner should be Hans Zimmer...I could listen to the score all day. Zimmer and Rahman have won before, for The Lion King and Slumdog Millionaire, respectively. This is Zimmer's 9th nomination and Rahman's 2nd. Desplat has been nominated four times (The Queen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The King's Speech) and never won. This is John Powell's first nomination.
Trent Reznor is more well-known for his work with Nine Inch Nails. It is his first nomination as well. Reznor & Ross won the Golden Globe for Best Score, but if you actually sit down and listen to the score it is almost assaultive. I would be fine with Desplat winning, I think his work is the second best in the category.

The husband and I saw Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle's 127 Hours at our usual theaters in Alhambra recently. 127 Hours is the follow-up to his multiple Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire  (Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Mixing, Score and Song) stars James Franco in the incredible true story of Aron Ralston. Ralston is the guy who went hiking in a Utah canyon without telling anyone where he was going and after a freak accident left him trapped under a boulder was forced to cut off half of his own right arm in order to escape after nearly 5 days (127 hours) with minimal food and water.

127 Hours is currently rated 93% positively on rottentomatoes.com, one of top-rated movies of 2010. Franco is also stating to garner multiple notices from critics for his riveting performance in the film.

Initial marketing of the film concentrated on the audience reaction to the graphic nature of the scene where Franco's character saws off his own arm with a dull knife in order to escape his entrapment under a boulder in a canyon crevice. More recently, Fox Searchlight has started marketing a "I Kept My Eyes Open For 127 Hours" website, button and t-shirt campaign to rebrand the intense film experience as a rite of passage (or possibly indication of machismo) for some filmgoers.
Actually, I don't think I could wear the t-shirt because although I may have kept my eyes open for the entire
film, I was definitely squirming in my seat during the scene where Franco's character starts to cut into his own flesh. Director Danny Boyle does an incredible job of really placing the audience in the position of Aron Ralston. You really do feel like you are trapped in that canyon with James Franco, which is an amazing feat of immersive filmmaking.

The visuals and impact of the film are the most impactful of any film that I have seen all year. You are filled with immense respect and admiration for Aron Ralston and it really makes you question what you would do in a similar situation.


127 Hours really makes you think about the limits of human endurance and marvel at the power of film in the hands of a gifted filmmaker and a fully committed actor.

Title: 127 Hours.

I want my Top 10 to be of the movies released in 2008, although in general I think it is probably a better idea to probably just do a Top 10 of the movies that I saw in 2008 (that were released domestically that year). Anyway, (finally) here is my Top 10 movies for 2008:

10. Doubt / The Reader. Featuring the two best performances by female actresses in 2008, Doubt and The Reader were basically vehicles for sceneet-chewing turns by Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, respectively. Only one of them could win, and I do believe the best woman took home the Oscar.

9. Sex and the City. Like a two-and-a-half hour long version of a Sex in the City episode. If you're a fan, this is a good thing. If you're not a fan, you won't enjoy this movie. Jennifer Hudson appears for no apparent reason, primarily as a Magic Negro. But Carrie looks fabulous throughout.

8. The Wrestler. .An absolutely shattering meditation on the unpredictability of life by former wunderkind director Darren Aronofsky (π, The Fountain) featuring an unforgettable physical transformation by Mickey Rourke who is plays a character whose life and unfortunate career arc uncomfortably mirror the actor's own life

7. The Class. A fascinating, faux documentary look at the French school system, seen through the prisms of race, immigration and class. As a professor, this film was incredibly engrossing and engagin.

6. The Visitor. This was a surprising find. I'm a huge fan of the incredibly handsome Arabic actor Haaz Sleiman who I knew was appearing in this little film written and directed by Tom McCarthy and starring the actor who played the patriarch of the Six Feet Under family in his first leading role. What I found was a heart-warming tale about immigration animated by Sleiman's 1000-watt smile.

5. The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan put all the pieces of his prodigious talent together he had previously hinted at with Memento and The Prestige in this mega-blockbuster sequel that blew away critics and box-office records while containing a performance-of-a-lifetime by Heath Ledger.

4. Milk. I saw this film on opening day with a friend the day before Thanksgiving in Atlanta, Georgia and there were very few dry eyes in that (sparsely attended) matinee showing. Sean Penn's widely celebrated portrayal of the gay community's modern-day Martin Luther King, Jr. was a relevation which powered the film. However, it was Dustin Lance Black's Oscar-winning original screenplay that was the surprise, since the story of Harvey Milk's life had previously been covered in an award-winning documentary and a well-regarded book by Randy Shilts called The Mayor of Castro Street. However, Black's screenplay and Gus Van Sant's direction combined to create a masterpiece that will be long treasured.

3. WALL-E. Another Pixar masterpiece. The first (nearly completely dialogue free) forty-five minutes is pure cinematic bliss. The story of WALL-E is universal, timeless, ageless and nearly perfect. The only flaws are the inclusion of humans into the story in the second half of the film. Still, the sheer joy of storytelling comes through loud and clear.

2. Slumdog Millionaire. The winner of the Best Picture Oscar and basically the consensus pick for the best film of the year. I have been a longtime fan of Danny Boyle's work and the director produced his best work to date with this brilliant amalgam of Bollywood and Hollywood. At its core Slumdog is a love story, but it is also an exciting, breathtaking rollercoaster ride set in India.

1. Tell No One (Ne Le Dis A Personne). The most enjoyable time I spent at the movies all year was watching this incredibly suspenseful, well-written French thriller based on the Harlan Coben novel. In fact, this was the only movie that I saw twice in theaters during the year. The script is incredibly intricate, but although the film is in French with English subtitles one is never lost and one's attention is grabbed almost instantly from the first surprising scene. Although the actors are generally unknown French actors (apart from an amusing cameo of Kristin Scott Thomas as a lesbian sister-in-law of the central character)

Honorable Mentions: Iron Man, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Bolt.

The winners of the 81st Annual Academy Awards are:

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire
Best Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan)
Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Art Direction: Benjamin Button
Best Costume Design: The Duchess
Best Makeup: Benjamin Button
Best Live Action Short: Toyland
Best Animated Short: La Maison en Petites Cubes
Best Documentary Short: Smile Pinki
Best Visual Effects: Benjamin Button
Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight
Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Music Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Song: Jai Ho, Slumdog Millionaire

I predicted the top 8 categories completely correctly, with 20 out of 28 correct overall.

The 2009 Academy Awards will be revealed next Sunday, and shown live on ABC television starting at 5pm PST. The show is sometimes called "the Gay Superbowl." Last year I won an online Oscar prediction contest. Here are my choices for who will take home the Oscar in the top 8 categories this year:

BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
"The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Hat/tip to Awards Daily.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning. MadProfessah posted his predictions last night. I ended up with 30/40 correct (damn that original screenplay category and The Dark Knight snub or I would be at close to 90% accuracy).
Here goes the actual list of Oscar nominations in the top 8 categories:

Best Picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
"The Dark Knight"“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Director
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight"“Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Cate Blanchett,"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"“Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"““The Reader”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Dev Patel, "Slumdog Millionaire"“Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"“Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
"The Dark Knight"“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Original Screenplay
"Rachel Getting Married"“Frozen River”
"Vicky Christina Barcelona"“Happy-Go-Lucky”
"The Visitor"“In Bruges”
“Milk”
"The Wrestler"“WALL-E”

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads with 13 nominations followed by Sumdog Millionaire with 9 and Milk and The Dark Knight with 8. The Reader was nominated in 4 major categories (5 overall).

Best Director

• Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
• David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
• Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
• Gus Van Sant, Milk

Best Actress

• Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie, Changeling
• Meryl Streep, Doubt
• Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Best Actor

• Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
• Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn, Milk
• Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, Doubt
• Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
• Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
• Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Supporting Actor

• Josh Brolin, Milk
• Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
• Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
• Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Screenplay

• Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Dustin Lance Black, Milk
• Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married
• Tom McCarthy, The Visitor
• Robert Siegel, The Wrestler

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
• Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
• Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, The Dark Knight
• Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• John Patrick Shanley, Doubt

Total Nominations

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 9
2. Slumdog Millionaire, 8
3. Frost/Nixon, Milk 6
4. Doubt, The Dark Knight, 5

Slumdog Millionaire won four Golden Globes this weekend and is now the frontrunner for the Oscars. Check out the video below for yourself why people love this film so much (see MadProfessah review.)