I’m going to be honest with you – I don’t normally watch awards shows. I find them dull, and I have little desire to watch famous people in fancy clothes have a self-congratulatory ceremony for hours upon hours.
But I’ll be watching Sunday’s Academy Awards for two reasons: First, what kind of pop culture columnist would I be if I didn’t watch and report on the Oscars? And secondly, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are hosting. Hijinks will surely ensue.
I’m also pretty ecstatic that Up is nominated for Best Picture. I was among many who felt WALL-E was wrongfully ignored last year, simply because it was animated and marketed as a children’s movie. A great movie is a great movie, and both Up and WALL-E were filled with tangible emotion, well-rounded characters, fascinating plots and, most importantly, substance and insight into humanity.
I don’t necessarily have high hopes, though. Avatar was somehow nominated in 9 categories, which blows my mind a little bit. I can understand the Visual Effects and Art Directing nominations, and I can maybe even get behind Cinematography, but Best Picture?
Dear Oscar judges, there’s this thing called subtlety. Watch A Single Man for more info on not whacking viewers over the head with clichés.
A Single Man and Up are my favorites for Best Picture. Neither of them has any shot of winning, of course, but they’re the best movies I’ve seen this year, and they’re also two of the best movies I’ve ever seen. The Hurt Locker, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds are all close seconds – each great movies, and I’d be happy to see any of them win. I haven’t seen the rest of the unprecedented 10 nominees, but they all seem like respectable, sensible contenders — aside from The Blindside.
I purposefully didn’t see The Blindside because I’m a little bit over the “rich white people help poor black folks” trope, and I don’t want to reward it with my $8. I didn’t see Invictus for similar reasons; I don’t think the triumph of a white soccer team is the best way to tell Nelson Mandela’s incredible story.
I do have big plans for Precious though; Gabourey Sidibe is hilarious and incredibly cool in every interview I’ve seen of her. I can’t wait to see Precious next week when it’s released on DVD.
One category I am excited for is Animated Feature Film. I haven’t seen The Secret of Kells or The Princess and the Frog yet, but Coraline, The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up were all excellent. I feel like Coraline or Mr. Fox should get special consideration here (rather than my beloved Up) because their actual animation was both amazing and different from normal children’s fare, or other typical animated films.
I’m really hoping The Hurt Locker will get its due in the Cinematography category. It’s become the Little Movie That Could, and I wouldn’t mind seeing Jeremy Renner win Best Actor, either.
I haven’t seen many of the other Best Actor/Actress nominees’ films, though I do wish Colin Firth the best of luck for Best Actor.
He generally comes off a little too stuck-up and “British” for me, but his performance in A Single Man was heartfelt and nuanced.
No matter what happens, I’ll be watching with wide eyes and crossed fingers to see how the Oscar’s latest incarnation works on live TV, and I’ll be back next Thursday to let you know how mad it probably made me.
Sara Boyd is a 23-year-old general studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_sboyd, and check back next Thursday for her post-Oscar commentary.
Contact Sara Boyd at [email protected]