2008 Awards/Critical Lists Discussion Thread

[DavidSeven]

Hm. Weren't The Dark Knight and Milk supposed to be the sure things this season? Shows what people on the internet with absolutely no information know.

[Ezee E]

Hm. Weren't The Dark Knight and Milk supposed to be the sure things this season? Shows what people on the internet with absolutely no information know.

I still say they'll be nominated for Oscars.

[Watashi]

Hm. Weren't The Dark Knight and Milk supposed to be the sure things this season? Shows what people on the internet with absolutely no information know.

This is the Golden Globes, remember? They nominated The Great Debators last year.

Milk and Dark Knight will be fine.

[Ezee E]

But Tom Cruise. Still strange, even though I kinda like it.

[Spinal]

Two supporting actor nominations for Tropic Thunder and yet it doesn't get nominated for Best Comedy? Mamma Mia?

[Raiders]

I like that their Best Director and Best Drama noms are exactly the same.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I really couldn't care less about the Golden Globes, but kudos to them for nominating James Franco.

[Hugh_Grant]

Two supporting actor nominations for Tropic Thunder and yet it doesn't get nominated for Best Comedy? Mamma Mia?

Well, as the lone Mamma Mia! fan on this board, I have to defend that choice--but they should have found room for Tropic Thunder.

[Watashi]

The best actor choices for Musical or Comedy is terrible.

Mark Wahlberg should have been nominated for The Happening instead.

[Ezee E]

The best actor choices for Musical or Comedy is terrible.

Mark Wahlberg should have been nominated for The Happening instead.

I really like the In Bruges love.

[Hugh_Grant]

I really like the In Bruges love.

Me, too. Brendan Gleeson is the bee's knees.

[balmakboor]

Mamma Mia?

I know a lot of middle aged and older women who consider it the best movie of the year. How many of this demographic are on the nominating committee for the Golden Globes?

[Ezee E]

I know a lot of middle aged and older women who consider it the best movie of the year. How many of this demographic are on the nominating committee for the Golden Globes?

It's a small group. I think only 200 voters, which is why I think it's strange that the Golden Globes have such a narrow list of nominations.

[Grouchy]

Also for ArtForum (but not online, copied from here), James Quandt's typically obscure but intriguing top ten:

I've not seen the Lisandro Alonso, but Martel's The Headless Woman... not so good. It goes further and further into that mysterious style and offbeat framing choices she does, but this time there's not an engaging story or characters. It's like the point about social classes she wants to make is already shown in the first 10 minutes. And it sounds like a good idea to make it a thriller of sorts, but it falls apart when Martel makes it purposefully anti-thrilling!

I liked The Holy Girl a lot.

[Sxottlan]

The Dark Knight snub by the Globes I find a little worrisome (wasn't until I got here that I noticed that Milk was also snubbed), but I'm glad Ledger was nominated. It'll be interesting to see if the buzz about the film getting nominated will be distilled over time to focus on the source of that buzz, that being Ledger. I however still hope it can snag a Best Pic nod.

A pleasant surprise for the multiple acting nomations for Tropic Thunder. While I'd like to think they want to recognize the bizarro performance by Cruise (too bad the Globes don't roll clips; I'd love to see what they pick), he was nominated because he's Tom Cruise and it's the Golden Globes. They need celebrities on the red carpet. This is the group that had something like eight nominations for acting in a TV movie last year because that's where film actors like to slum and it gets recognizeable butts in the seats at the awards for them to cut to.

Given the delay to The Soloist, which had seemed like an arbitrary choice to recognize Downey because they didn't feel comfortable doing so for Iron Man, it looks like an Oscar nod for for Downey in Tropic Thunder looks more likely as time passes. Here's hoping.

[Mysterious Dude]

Movie City News has started to keep track of critics' top ten lists. They haven't started a scoreboard yet, but here's what I counted:

1. Wall-E (11 lists)
2. Slumdog Millionaire (9)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (8)
3. Milk (8)
5. The Dark Knight (7)
6. The Visitor (6)
7. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (5)
7. The Wrestler (5)
9. Doubt (4)
9. Frost/Nixon (4)
9. In Bruges (4)
9. Iron Man (4)
9. Rachel Getting Married (4)
9. Revolutionary Road (4)
9. Waltz with Bashir (4)
16. Defiance (3)
16. I've Loved You So Long (3)
16. Man on Wire (3)

I'm bored.

[Watashi]

Boston Film Critics:

Best Picture
TIE - Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E

Best Director
Gus Van Sant - Milk and Paranoid Park

Best Actor
TIE - Sean Penn - Milk and Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Actress
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Supporting Actor
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Screenplay
Milk

Best Cinematography
Paranoid Park

Best Documentary
Man on Wire

Best Animated Film
WALL-E

Best Editing
Slumdog Millionaire

Best New Filmaker
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges

Best Ensemble
Tropic Thunder

[eternity]

Paranoid Park love, nice.

[Spinal]

Ties are lame. Pick a lane!

[DavidSeven]

Safe to assume that The Dark Knight is no longer a front runner and will be lucky to get a BP nomination at this point?

[Watashi]

Safe to assume that The Dark Knight is no longer a front runner and will be lucky to get a BP nomination at this point?

No.

[Ezee E]

Safe to assume that The Dark Knight is no longer a front runner and will be lucky to get a BP nomination at this point?

AFI Top Ten:

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
FROZEN RIVER
GRAN TORINO
IRON MAN
MILK
WALL*E
WENDY AND LUCY
THE WRESTLER

[DavidSeven]

Ties are lame. Pick a lane!

All ties should be resolved by defering to a formulated ranking combining a fim's RT Percentage and Metacritic Score with minor points allotted to Strength of Box Office.

[Sxottlan]

While the steady release of these lists seem to build momentum one way or the other, in the end they don't seem do that much for the more major nominations and awards. I look more towards the buzz in the time period after the Globes but before the Oscar nominations are announced.

[dreamdead]

Slant's 2008 year in review is up.

Time to seek out Summer Palace and Rachel Getting Married, apparently. A bit surprised by Boarding Gate's inclusion in Nick's list, though I understand its appeal.