Match Cuts

The next five days will find Match Cuts exploring the grand North West, Seattle, WA in particular. When I return, tales of the epic mountain ranges, crisp cityscapes, and Scarecrow Video will be told. I leave you with the above image, a stunning still from the opening sequence of Alan J. Pakula’s still-mesmerizing conspiracy film The Parallax View, a doosy set on the top of the Space Needle. I’ll let you know if I get embroiled in any intrigue a long the way.

…is in the works. I’ll be unveiling this joint venture in the next few weeks, as soon as the final touches have been ironed out. In the meantime, I’ll have some more thoughts on Inglorious Basterds, which I just saw for the second time today and think is most certainly the best American film of 2009. Only Spike Jonze has a chance to top it.

-GH

A slew of ridiculously busy days, including attending a wedding with my lovely lady, and an epic Labor Day weekend of work and research at the Del Mar Racetrack has left me considerably lacking in the movie department. However, come Wed., I’ll be back to full throttle, checking out a number of new films, including Monte Walsh, Sin Nombre, Duplicity, District 9, Martel X 2 (The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman), and for me the long anticipated debut from Steve McQueen, Hunger. Can’t wait.

Here are my projected winners, not necessarily who I think deserves to win! If it were up to Match Cuts, I’d go with Milk for Best Picture, Mickey Rourke for Best Actor, Kate Winslet for Best Actress, Penelope Cruz for Best Supporting Actress, Heath Ledger for Best Supporting Actor, and Gus Van Sant for Best Director. Anyways, on to the projected results.

* – indicates actual winner

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire *

Best Director
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire *
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk

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

Best Actress
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, The Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet,  The Reader *

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr, Tropic Thunder
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight *
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona *
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk *
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire *
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button *
Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Film: Waltz With Bashir, dir. Ari Folman, Departures
Best Original Score: WALL-E, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Film: WALL-E, Dir. Andrew Stanton*
Best Costume Design: Michael O’Connor, The Duchess*
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Best Original Song: “O’Saya”, Slumdog Millionaire, “Jai Ho”, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire*
Best Make-Up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight*
Best Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire, dir. James Marsh*

16/21 correct, not counting those pesky Short Subject Categories.

Best Documentary Short Subject: The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306, Smile Pinki
Best Animated Short: “Presto”, PIXAR, La Maison en Petits Cubes
Best Live Action Short: Manon on the Asphalt Toyland

The Academy Award Nominations will be announced on Thursday morning. This has been a down year for Hollywood after the great output from 2007, but there’s still plenty of good films to chose from. I’m attempting to catch up with some of the contenders but here’s a purely tertiary list of films I think will get nominated for the top six categories. Also, for fun, I’ve added my own choices for the award.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight The Reader
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Correct – 4/5

Match Cuts Best Picture: WALL•E

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Correct: 3/5

Match Cuts Best Director: Jeff Nichols, Shotgun Stories

Best Actor

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

Correct: 4/5

Match Cuts Best Actor: Guillame Depardieu, The Duchess of Langeais – the other great tragedy of 2008 besides Ledger.

Best Actress

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

Correct: 3/5

Match Cuts Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go Lucky

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr, Tropic Thunder
James Franco, Milk Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Correct: 4/5

Match Cuts Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress

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

Correct: 4/5

Match Cuts Best Supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler