January 26, 2005

Movie buffs around the globe will have heard the news by now: The Academy has announced its nominations for the 2005 Oscars.

While my pick for best actor is 100% on Jamie Foxx for "Ray", I presume the Academy is going to be sentimental again and give it to DiCaprio for "The Aviator" (they love mentally challenged characters....). And after all - it's a big-budget studio movie with plenty of star power and 3 hours of running time, dwarfing all other movies nominated. Booh. It was good, but not *that* good.

"Ray" however was great. And Jamie Foxx didn't just play Ray Charles - he *was* Ray Charles. Bend-ites can catch the movie right now at McMenamins Theater. If you haven't seen it, get down there and take it in.

Movies that were grossly ignored by the Academy this year:
Fahrenheit 9/11
Hidalgo (I know - unlikely, but still a very good movie)
Hero
Spiderman 2 (which really was an excellent movie in all aspects)

Performances that were ignored:
Colin Farrell in A home at the end of the world
Dustin Hoffman in Meet the Fockers (funny, funny, funny)
Jim Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ (let's face it: the movie was one big guilt trip, but I still admire Jim's performance in it)

Movies I'm rooting for:
Ray
Super Size Me (I'll have to be starving to ever set foot in another McDonald's again)
The Incredibles (mainly due to the best animated character to come along in a very long time: Edna Mode)

The year's biggest cinematic disappointments (and rightfully NOT nominated):
Troy (sure, Brad Pitt was beautifully buff, but overall, the movie just didn't pull it off)
Alexander (Colin Farrell with cinematic history's worst wig job)
Van Helsing (looked like it might be an awesome video game though)
The Life Aquatic (this movie just plain sucked)

And 10 points go to the "Queerer-than-thou" Bravo for airing the Golden Globes so even people who don't get NBC (thanks, DirecWay) can see it (albeit a week later).