Ok, admittedly it’s a day later than I usually have this up, but with Oscar nominations out tomorrow morning, I gotta get it done. Here are Brian’s choices for what/who he would like to see nominated for an Oscar, not that it matters much.
For those curious, still no “Invictus,” “The Blind Side,” “Nine,” “Crazy Heart,” “Amelia,” “Bright Star,” “An Education,” “Broken Embraces,” “A Single Man,” or “Me and Orson Welles” seen, so if you don’t see them on here, don’t freak out.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
2009 Oscars: Brian’s Picks (in order of preference)
Best Picture
“Red Cliff”
“Up”
“Moon”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Precious”
“(500) Days of Summer”
“Avatar”
“Knowing”
“The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans”
“Drag Me to Hell”
Best Director
John Woo, “Red Cliff”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Terry Gilliam, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
Lee Daniels, “Precious”
Alex Proyas, “Knowing”
Other Top Choices: Duncan Jones, “Moon”; James Cameron, “Avatar”; Marc Webb, “(500) Days of Summer”; Werner Herzog, “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans”; Steven Soderbergh, “The Informant!” & “The Girlfriend Experience”; Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”; Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”; Sam Raimi, “Drag Me to Hell”; J.J. Abrams, “Star Trek”; Neill Blomkamp, “District 9”; Wes Anderson, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; Michael Booth, “Diary of a Bad Lad”; Ramin Bahrani, “Goodbye Solo”; John Hillcoat, “The Road”; Zack Snyder, “Watchmen”; Spike Jonze, “Where the Wild Things Are”; Sam Mendes, “Away We Go”; Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson, “The Invention of Lying”; Jim Sheridan, “Brothers”; Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”; Jeffrey Goodman, “The Last Lullaby”; Peter Jackson, “The Lovely Bones”; Michael Mann, “Public Enemies”; Russ Camarda, “Night for Day”; David Yates, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; Brian Ackley, “Uptown”; Phil Messerer, “Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries- Part I”; Nicholas Jasenovec, “Paper Heart”; Robert Zemeckis, “A Christmas Carol”; Princeton Holt, “Cookies & Cream”; Guy Davis, “Zorg and Andy”; Doc Duhame, “The Open Door”; David C. Snyder, “The Quiet Arrangement”; Joel & Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”; Scott Sanders, “Black Dynamite”
Best Actor
Matt Damon, “The Informant!”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”
Sam Rockwell, “Moon”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Two Lovers”
Nicolas Cage, “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans”
Other Top Choices: Red West, “Goodbye Solo”; George Clooney, “Up in the Air” & “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; Patton Oswalt, “Big Fan”; Ricky Gervais, “The Invention of Lying”; Michael Jai White, “Black Dynamite”; Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”; Johnny Depp, “Public Enemies”; John Krasinski, “Away We Go”; Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”; Tom Sizemore, “The Last Lullaby”; Willem Dafoe, “Antichrist”; Tony Leung, “Red Cliff”; Ed Asner, “Up”; Ben Foster, “The Messenger”; Sam Worthington, “Avatar”; Adam Sandler, “Funny People”; Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; Jim Carrey, “A Christmas Carol”; Max Records, “Where the Wild Things Are”; Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”; Jamie Foxx, “The Soloist”; Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”; Ewan McGregor, “The Men Who Stare at Goats”; Sascha Baron Cohen, “Brüno”; Michael Caine, “Is Anybody There?”; Jamal Woolard, “Notorious”; Chris Riquinha, “Uptown”; Michael Cera, “Paper Heart”; Adrian Brody, “The Brothers Bloom”; Seth Rogan, “Observe and Report” & “Funny People”; Brad Pitt, “Inglourious Basterds”; Jonathan Williams, “Diary of a Bad Lad”; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “Pirate Radio”; Larry David, “Whatever Works”; Nicolas Cage, “Knowing”; Mark Robert Ryan, “carter.”; Paul Rudd, “I Love You, Man”
Honorary Mention (Best Actor): Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Best Actress
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Saoirse Ronan, “The Lovely Bones”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Jace Nicole, “Cookies & Cream”
Natalie Portman, “Brothers”
Other Top Choices: Meissa Hampton, “Uptown”; Maya Rudolph, “Away We Go”; Michelle Pfeiffer, “Cheri”; Sasha Grey, “The Girlfriend Experience”; Zooey Deschanel, “(500) Days of Summer”; Gwyneth Paltrow, “Two Lovers”; Alison Lohman, “Drag Me to Hell”; Charlotte Gainsbourg, “Antichrist”; Renee Zellweger, “My One and Only”; Amy Adams, “Sunshine Cleaning” & “Julie & Julia”; Zoe Saldana, “Avatar”; Charlyne Yi, “Paper Heart”; Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”; Devon Bailey, “Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries- Part I”; Amber Benson, “Strictly Sexual”; Nia Vardalos, “My Life in Ruins”; Rachel Weisz, “The Brothers Bloom”; Lily Cole, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”; Allyson Sereboff, “Baystate Blues”; Evan Rachel Wood, “Whatever Works”; Beyonce Knowles, “Obsessed”
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Souleymane Sy Savane, “Goodbye Solo”
Jackie Earl Haley, “Watchmen”
Christopher Plummer, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Other Top Choices: Zack Galifianakis, “The Hangover”; Billy Crudup, “Watchmen” & “Public Enemies”; Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”; Tom Waits, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”; Michael Gambon, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; Jason Schwartzman, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; Bob Peterson, “Up”; Anthony Mackie, “The Hurt Locker”; Steve Buscemi, “The Messenger”; Jake Ghyllenhaal, “Brothers”; Jeff Bridges, “The Men Who Stare at Goats”; Takeshi Kaneshiro, “Red Cliff”; Alec Baldwin, “It’s Complicated”; Jude Law, “Sherlock Holmes”; Christian Bale, “Public Enemies”; Tom Felton, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; Zhang Fengyi, “Red Cliff”; Karl Urban, “Star Trek”; Verne Troyer, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”; Jason Segel, “I Love You, Man”; Brian Geraghty, “The Hurt Locker”; Jason Batemen, “Up in the Air”; Stanley Tucci, “Julie & Julia”; Robert Downey Jr., “The Soloist”; Zachary Quinto, “Star Trek”; Jim Broadbent, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; James Gandolfini, “Where the Wild Things Are”; George Clooney, “The Men Who Stare at Goats”; Richard Dreyfuss, “My Life in Ruins”; Logan Lerman, “My One and Only”; Richard Kind, “A Serious Man”; Steve Martin, “It’s Complicated”; Ed Helms, “The Hangover”; Mark Ruffalo, “The Brothers Bloom”; Alan Arkin, “Sunshine Cleaning”; Eugene Levy, “Taking Woodstock”; Bill Milner, “Is Anybody There?”; Mark DiConzo, “New York Lately”; Rob Lowe, “The Invention of Lying”; Henry Goodman, “Taking Woodstock”; Ewan McGregor, “Angels & Demons”; Eric Bana, “Star Trek”; Clifton Collins Jr., “Sunshine Cleaning”; Liev Schreiber, “Taking Woodstock”; Ben Affleck, “State of Play”; Simon Pegg, “Star Trek”
Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Melanie Laurent, “Inglourious Basterds”
Ali Larter, “Obsessed”
Leslie Mann, “Funny People”
Samantha Morton, “The Messenger”
Other Top Choices: Betty White, “The Proposal”; Mariah Carey, “Precious”; Rinko Kikuchi, “The Brothers Bloom”; Paula Patton, “Precious”; Marion Cottilard, “Public Enemies”; Lorna Raver, “Drag Me to Hell”; Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”; Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”; Imelda Staunton, “Taking Woodstock”; Kathy Bates, “Cheri”; Patricia Clarkson, “Whatever Works”; Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”; Diane Kruger, “Inglourious Basterds”; Emily Blunt, “Sunshine Cleaning”; Catherine Keener, “The Soloist”; Kristen Kerr, “Strictly Sexual”; Eilis Cahill, “Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries- Part I”; Jennifer Garner, “The Invention of Lying”; Zoe Saldana, “Star Trek”
Best Original Screenplay
“Moon” (Nathan Parker, Duncan Jones)
“Knowing” (Ryne Pearson, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Stuart Hazeldine)
“The Invention of Lying” (Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson)
“Up” (Pete Doctor, Bob Peterson)
“(500) Days of Summer” (Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)
Other Top Choices: “Goodbye Solo” (Bahareh Azimi, Ramin Bahrani); “Diary of a Bad Lad” (Jonathan Williams); “Away We Go” (Dave Eggers, Vendela Vida); “Two Lovers” (James Gray, Richard Menello); “Uptown” (Brian Ackley); “The Hurt Locker” (Mark Boal); “The Messenger” (Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman); “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown); “Inglourious Basterds” (Quentin Tarantino); “Knuckle Draggers” (Alex Ranarivelo); “Zorg and Andy” (V.Z. Montengo); “Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries- Part I” (Phil Messerer); “Cookies & Cream” (Princeton Holt); Geoffrey Stephenson, “A Good Alibi”; “The Girlfriend Experience” (Brian Koppelman, David Levien); “Avatar” (James Cameron); “The Last Lullaby” (Max Allen Collins, Peter Biegen); “Ponyo” (Hayao Miyazaki); “Funny People” (Judd Apatow); “Don’t Shoot the Pharmacist!” (Dave Broitman); “The Hangover” (Jon Lucas, Scott Moore); “A Serious Man” (Joel & Ethan Coen); “Night for Day” (Russ Camarda); “Baystate Blues” (Mark Lewis); “Observe and Report” (Jody Hill); “It’s Complicated” (Nancy Myers); “Antichrist” (Lars von Trier); “The Quiet Arrangement” (David C. Snyder); “I Love You, Man” (Larry Levin, John Hamburg); “Whatever Works” (Woody Allen); “The Open Door” (Doc Duhame); “Thirst” (Seo-Gyeong Jeong, Chan-wook Park)
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Precious” (Geoffrey Fletcher)
“The Informant!” (Scott Z. Burns)
“Watchmen” (David Hayter, Alex Tse)
“Star Trek” (Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci)
“Coraline” (Henry Selick)
Other Top Choices: “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach); “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Steve Kloves); “Red Cliff” (John Woo, Khan Chan, Cheng Kuo and Heyu Sheng); “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans” (William Finkelstein); “The Lovely Bones” (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens); “Up in the Air” (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner); “Brothers” (David Benioff); “Public Enemies” (Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman & Michael Mann); “Cheri” (Christopher Hampton); “District 9” (Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell); “The Soloist” (Susannah Grant); “Taking Woodstock” (James Schamus); “Brüno” (Sascha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, and Jeff Schaffer)
Best Original Score
“Up” (Michael Giacchino)
“The Lovely Bones” (Brian Eno)
“The Informant!” (Marvin Hamlisch)
“Coraline” (Bruno Coulais)
“Star Trek” (Michael Giacchino)
Other Top Choices: “Black Dynamite” (Adrian Younge); “Where the Wild Things Are” (Carter Burwell); “Moon” (Clint Mansell); “Red Cliff” (Tarô Iwashiro); “The Brothers Bloom” (Nathan Johnson); “Night for Day” (Vincent Nigro); “Drag Me to Hell” (Christopher Young); “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call, New Orleans” (Mark Isham); “Ponyo” (Joe Hisaishi); “The Last Lullaby” (Ben Lovett); “Knowing” (Marco Beltrami); “Watchmen” (Tyler Bates); “District 9” (Clinton Shorter); “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Nicholas Hooper); “Avatar” (James Horner); “The Hurt Locker” (Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders); “A Serious Man” (Carter Burwell); “Land of the Lost” (Michael Giacchino); “Sherlock Holmes” (Hans Zimmer); “The Men Who Stare at Goats” (Rolfe Kent); “Up in the Air” (Rolfe Kent)
Best Original Song
“All Is Love” from “Where the Wild Things Are” (Karen O & Nick Zinner)
“Dynomite” from “Black Dynamite” (Adrian Younge)
“Dove of Peace” from “Brüno” (Sascha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Mazer, and Jeff Schaffer)
“The Spirit of Adventure” from “Up” (Michael Giacchino)
“Sirens of the Sea” from “Coraline” (Bruno Coulais)
Other Top Choices: “Capsize” from “Where the Wild Things Are” (Karen O, Aaron Hemphill, Dean Fertita & Bradford Cox); “Other Father Song” from “Coraline” (Bruno Coulais); “Trust Me” from “The Informant!” (Marvin Hamlisch); “Red Cliff” from “Red Cliff” (Tarô Iwashiro)
Best Animated Feature
“Up”
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Ponyo”
“The Princess and the Frog”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Red Cliff”
“Gamorrah”
“Thirst”
“Rudo y Cursi”
Best Documentary Feature
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It”
“The Cove”
“Tyson”
“Food, Inc.”
“Earth”
Best Visual Effects
“Avatar”
“District 9”
“Watchmen”
Best Sound
“Red Cliff”
“Avatar”
“Up”
“Star Trek”
“Coraline”
Best Sound Editing
“Drag Me to Hell”
“District 9”
“Avatar”
Best Cinematography
“Red Cliff”
“The Lovely Bones”
“Black Dynamite”
“Drag Me to Hell”
“District 9”
Best Film Editing
“Star Trek”
“Red Cliff”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Drag Me to Hell”
“Knowing”
Best Art Direction
“Red Cliff”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Watchmen”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The Lovely Bones”
Best Makeup
“Drag Me to Hell”
“Star Trek”
“Thicker Than Water: The Vampires Diaries- Part 1”
Best Costume Design
“Red Cliff”
“The Lovely Bones”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Watchmen”
“Black Dynamite”
