It's Time!

That's right, in just 2 1/2 hours the Academy Awards will start, officially ending my 2008 Oscar Watch. It's been fun. Seen some good movies, seen some bad movies. Spent too much on popcorn. Here is my final analysis and official predictions. We'll see how close I come.

Yep, I ended up having to buy Michael Clayton. Good thing it was on sale. And I came away disappointed. For a movie that has been nominated for many multiple awards, it really wasn't that good. It didn't leave me in suspense. The plotline was predictable. George Clooney played George Clooney. Nothing special. Tilda Swinson was decent as was Tom Wilkinson. But I sure don't feel the need to watch it again.

No End In Sight was basically a toned down version of Farenheight 9/11, only using official sources instead of randoms off the street like Michael Moore is good at doing. There were some surprising revelations about the ongoing war in Iraq, but in general it was all stuff that you would know if you follow the news at all. This one is predicted to win by some, but I don't think it will.

Eastern Promises was alright, Viggo Mortenson was really good. He did a fight scene in the nude! That right there deserves an Oscar. But the movie itself wasn't anything special. I was glad it wasn't very long.

I went into Across The Universe knowing that it was well reviewed and anticipating good music, but I had a dread in the back of my head that I was going to witness a 21st century Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a movie so bad that it is on my must watch list. You have to see it to believe it. But it turns out that the reviews were right, this was a really good movie. The costuming and all the camera worky stuff was great, the acting was great, the singing was great, the choreography was great, I love this movie. I think I'll take the money I get from selling back Michael Clayton to buy Across the Universe.

My predictions: Best Picture--No Country for Old Men; Actor--Daniel Day Lewis; Actress--Julie Christie; Supporting Actor--Javier Bardem or Hal Holbrook, I can't decide; Supporting Actress--Amy Ryan; Director--the Coens; Documentary--I'm predicting an upset: Taxi to the Dark Side; Animated Feature--Ratatouille; Original Screenplay--Juno; Adapted Screenpla--No Country for Old Men; Visual Effects--Pirates of the Caribbean; Art Direction--Sweeney Todd; Costume Design--Elizabeth; Sound Mixing--Transformers; Sound Editing--There Will Be Blood; Original Score--3:10 to Yuma; Makeup--La Vie en Rose (but I'd laugh my ass off if Norbit actually won). I can't judge Original Song because I haven't seen either movie. Didn't Hairspray have any original songs in it? I'm saddened that it didn't get nominated. Oh well.

Yay!

The rest are ones