My Oscar Scorecard
It's been a couple of years since I've written an Oscar article, and seeing as how the Academy Awards are tonight, I thought I'd do it again! This is pretty simple and straight-forward: I wanted to see just how nominations I've actually seen. Not nominated films, but the actual, individual nominations themselves. So I made some simple tables and tallied up my scores. I'll put some commentary between the categories if I see fit.
| Actor in a Leading Role | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Richard Jenkins - The Visitor | |
| Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon | |
| Sean Penn - Milk | |
| Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler | X |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
1 |
Only one point so far, which isn't that big of a surprise. I never had any interest in Frost/Nixon or Benjamin Button, and I'm not really sure what The Visitor even is. But professional wrestling!? Hell, yeah!!
| Actor in a Supporting Role | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Josh Brolin – Milk | |
| Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder | X |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt | |
| Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight | X |
| Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road | |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
3 |
Someone got nominated for a comedic performance! And I've actually seen it! True, I didn't see Tropic Thunder until earlier this month, but that counts. I don't see how anyone will beat Heath Ledger.
| Actress in a Leading Role | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married | |
| Angelina Jolie - Changeling | |
| Melissa Leo – Frozen River | |
| Meryl Streep – Doubt | |
| Kate Winslet – The Reader | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
3 |
This was apparently not a good year for me and chick flicks. I didn't see any of these. Oddly enough, my wife actually saw Rachel Getting Married. This is the only time I can think of when she saw an Oscar-nominated film and I didn't.
| Actress in a Supporting Role | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Amy Adams – Doubt | |
| Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona | |
| Viola Davis – Doubt | |
| Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler | X |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
4 |
Whew! Thanks, The Wrestler. I almost got a big, fat zero again. I'm at four points out of a possible 20.
| Art Direction | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Changeling | |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| The Duchess | |
| Revolutionary Road | |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
5 |
As far as I understand it, Art Direction is the design of the sets and props, but excluding costumes, which is its own category.
| Cinematography | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Changeling | |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| The Reader | |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
7 |
Yes, The Dark Knight was pretty to look at. And thank goodness I actually went and saw Slumdog Millionaire.
| Costume Design | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Australia | |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Duchess | |
| Milk | |
| Revolutionary Road | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
7 |
Big fat Zero. I guess the Academy didn't like the new Bat Suit from The Dark Knight? Or all of the crazy monster outfits in Hellboy II? It always kinda bugs me when they nominate films like Revolutionary Road, when all you have to do to design costumes for them is get your hands on a clothing catalog from the year the film takes place.
| Film Editing | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| Frost/Nixon | |
| Milk | |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
9 |
Usually there are a bunch of action movies in this category, but this year all we have is The Dark Knight, which I actually thought was pretty poorly edited in parts. When you can't actually tell what's happening in some scenes, it's probably not a good idea to nominate that film.
| Makeup | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
11 |
Baby Grandpa vs Joker Scars vs Hellboy, Abe, and Elves, and Trolls. I'll be sorely disappointed (but not surprised) if Hellboy II doesn't win.
| Original Score | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| Defiance | |
| Milk | |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| WALL•E | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
13 |
I can't actually remember any of the music from either of the films I saw in this category. Some of the only scores I can actually remember from 2008 movies came from Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
| Original Song | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| "Down to Earth" from WALL•E | X |
| "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire | X |
Subtotal |
3 |
Total |
16 |
Only three songs? really? I remember when they nomiated five songs... and three of them were from Disney musicals.
| Sound Editing | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| Iron Man | X |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| WALL•E | X |
| Wanted | |
Subtotal |
4 |
Total |
20 |
I'm not sure what Slumdog Millionaire is doing in this category. I remember nothing at all unusual or special about its sound effects. Actually, what sound effects?
| Sound Mixing | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| WALL•E | X |
| Wanted | |
Subtotal |
3 |
Total |
23 |
This Sound Mixing category has always been kinda weird to me. "Make sure that explosion is JUST loud enough, but not too loud! Move that volume slider one more millimeter or you won't get nominated for an Oscar!"
| Visual Effects | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| The Dark Knight | X |
| Iron Man | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
25 |
Wait, wait, wait... where's Hellboy II? Why is The Dark Knight in here when Hellboy II isn't? Grumble, grumble. I guess my brother and I (and Ebert) liked that movie more than most people.
| Original Screenplay | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| WALL•E | X |
| Happy-Go-Lucky | |
| Frozen River | |
| In Bruges | |
| Milk | |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
26 |
Y'know, I probably should have seen Milk. I would have a lot more points by now.
| Adapted Screenplay | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| Frost/Nixon | |
| The Reader | |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| Doubt | |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
27 |
Isn't that the list of Best Picture nominees? Just swap out Doubt for Milk and there you have it. Four out of five Best Picture nominees were based on previously-written material. Does that say anything about the level of creativity in today's screenwriters? Discuss amongst yourselves.
| Short Film (Live Action) | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| On the Line (Auf der Strecke) |
|
| Manon On the Asphalt | |
| New Boy (Ireland) | |
| The Pig (Grisen) | |
| Toyland (Spielzeugland) | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
27 |
No surprise that I got a zero here. How do you even go about seeing these movies?
| Short Film (Animated) | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| La Maison En Petits Cubes |
|
| Lavatory - Lovestory | X |
| Oktapodi | X |
| Presto | X |
| This Way Up | |
Subtotal |
3 |
Total |
30 |
No surprise that I've seen the majority of these. I'm kind of an animation buff, and most of these are on iTunes and YouTube.
| Documentary Short | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki |
|
| The Final Inch | |
| Smile Pinki | |
| The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306 | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
30 |
Again - how does one go about seeing these? I've never even heard of any of them.
| Documentary Feature | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Nerakhoon (The Betrayal) |
|
| Encounters at the End of the World | |
| The Garden | |
| Man on Wire | |
| Trouble the Water | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
30 |
I've heard of all of these except The Garden. I actually kinda want to see Man on Wire. Too late to help my score now, though!
| Foreign-Language Film | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Revanche (Austria) in German |
|
| The Class (France) in French | |
| The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German | |
| Departures (Japan) in Japanese | |
| Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew | |
Subtotal |
0 |
Total |
30 |
Waltz with Bashir is an interesting pickle. It's an animated, foreign documentary. But it's only nominated in the Foreign Film category. Is it illegal to be nominated for more than one Best Film category? Why wasn't it nominated in all four (including Best Picture)? Not that I've seen it, but I think it's kinda strange...
| Animated Feature | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| Bolt |
|
| Kung-Fu Panda | X |
| WALL•E | X |
Subtotal |
2 |
Total |
32 |
...You're trying to tell me that Waltz with Bashir was NOT better than Bolt?
| Director | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
|
| Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire | X |
| Stephen Daldry - The Reader | |
| Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon | |
| Gus Van Sant – Milk | |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
33 |
Good for you, David Fincher! I've always thought you were a top-notch director. Too bad you were nominated for a film that I had ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in seeing.
I would be shocked but delighted if Danny Boyle won. The guy made a zombie movie a few years ago. How many people have directed a zombie movie and then won Best Director?
| Best Picture | |
|---|---|
| Nominee | Seen It? |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
|
| Frost/Nixon | |
| Milk | |
| The Reader | |
| Slumdog Millionaire | X |
Subtotal |
1 |
Total |
34 |
Slumdog gets me one final point, not that I really think it deserves to be in this category.
So unless my math is incorrect (which is a good possibility), I got 34 out of 111. That's, what, 30%? Solid F. Good job, Harris. Truth be told, though, there are years when I've probably done worse. In conclusion, I probably should have seen Milk.