I've always assumed that Somerset Productions is a model based around teamwork. We all work together to achieve our film making goals. With About The Girl in particular, it was extremely difficult to distinguish between people's specific duties and roles: there were actors, and producers, and directors, and shooters, but there was also an overlap to everything we did. Scan through the credits and you will quickly see the number of repeated names throughout. Any 'official' titles have been more token assignments to identify the perceived roles of film.
I've been joking about our nominations yesterday - about riding coat tails, or being the handsome face that gets our cinematography noticed, or about sending condolences to me as the one person not nominated. A few people have now mentioned that they were sorry to hear I was shut out.
The thing is, in my mind, I wasn't. Our movie is nominated for another pair of awards and for that I am grateful. It is a great accomplishment and I really do see it as the success of our team being acknowledged. We are in this together and while I definitely surround myself with talented people, it is a conscious choice. I want to create the best possible versions of my stories and Kevin and Pat are the guys I turn to most often to make that happen. Ed was a part of that equation to while we were still working together.
With these nominations, you can all rest assured that I am as excited for our team as I would be if I was nominated myself... That is the way you need to be in the world of no-budget film making. You are part of a team and part of a process that is about collaboration, team work, and shared success.
I'm proud to be part of this team and I am hoping that we continue to grow, develop and succeed with our productions. At the end of the day, we do it for the thrill and the art. Don't get me wrong, awards are nice, but they are nice because they reinforce the fact that we are doing what we set out to do in the first place. More to the point, we are doing it well and that's the best reward...
Showing posts with label Academy Awards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Academy Awards. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Oscar Predictions - Part I
Every year I do this and every year I come close to a perfect set of predictions. Not bad considering the limited number of films that actually make it through this neck of the woods. This is going to be a fairly long two-parter, so without further adieu, the predictions for this year:
Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up!
Up in the Air
The Hurt Locker. Why? I’ve been calling this one for months now, and I’m sticking to my guns, despite what the Hollywood Foreign Press thinks. It’s nice to see District 9 in there, the better of the two ‘alien’ movies in my mind, but The Hurt Locker has been the little movie that could since Sundance ‘09.
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Jeff Bridges. It would be nice to see Jeremy Renner take this for the sheer upset alone, but I think Hollywood is going to choose Bridges as much for his contributions over the years as for this particular role.
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julia and Julia
Sandra Bullock. Carey Mulligan was an early favourite, but she seems to have drifted to the sidelines and Hollywood loves their “stars”. From what I have heard, Bullock does a good job, but I’m not sure she would be my pick, even though she is.
Best Director
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Kathryn Bigelow. This will be the first time a female has won the Best Director award, which means there will be buzz and publicity aplenty surrounding the choice. As long as I don’t have to sit through more self-servicing nonsense from Cameron I’m happy, but this one is all about Bigelow. Point Break and Near Dark were not so long ago...
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
It can’t not be Waltz. He did a brilliant job and turned what could have been a strictly evil character into a funny, frightening and incredibly unique performance.
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious
I’d have to guess Mo’Nique, although I’ve heard wonderful things about the ladies of Up In The Air and Penelope Cruz looks all right dancing around in her underwear. Being where I am though, I haven’t had the chance to see any of these performances yet though.
Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of the Kells
Up!
As much as I would like to see Coraline win, being a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's work, I know it’s going to be Up! I think this category was created especially for Pixar, but there is no denying the quality of their work. And Up! Was a wonderful movie, and deserves the win.
Best Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Allessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter & Bob Peterson - Up!
Quentin Tarantino will win and deservedly so for his most accomplished film to-date. The Coens are always favourites, but this will be Quentin’s award.
Best Screenplay (Adapted)
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air
A bit of a tough category, but I think this is where Up In The Air will finally get some love. That being said, I would love to see Nick Hornby take the win for An Education.
Best Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
Avatar won’t be shut out and is a shoe in for this award. It would be nice to see Gilliam get some love for the maligned Parnassus, but this is Avatar’s win.
Best Cinematography
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon
I think Richardson by a hair over Ackroyd, although it would be interesting to see Haneke’s bleak (and black & white) White Ribbon win. And the latest Potter film really was nicely filmed, but I’m sticking with Richardson.
Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
Again, it would be nice to see Gilliam’s film take this award, but how do you compete against Coco Chanel? My gut is with Nine (although I usually tank this category if there isn’t a Lord of the Rings film in the running).
Part II to follow!
Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up!
Up in the Air
The Hurt Locker. Why? I’ve been calling this one for months now, and I’m sticking to my guns, despite what the Hollywood Foreign Press thinks. It’s nice to see District 9 in there, the better of the two ‘alien’ movies in my mind, but The Hurt Locker has been the little movie that could since Sundance ‘09.
Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Jeff Bridges. It would be nice to see Jeremy Renner take this for the sheer upset alone, but I think Hollywood is going to choose Bridges as much for his contributions over the years as for this particular role.
Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julia and Julia
Sandra Bullock. Carey Mulligan was an early favourite, but she seems to have drifted to the sidelines and Hollywood loves their “stars”. From what I have heard, Bullock does a good job, but I’m not sure she would be my pick, even though she is.
Best Director
James Cameron, Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Kathryn Bigelow. This will be the first time a female has won the Best Director award, which means there will be buzz and publicity aplenty surrounding the choice. As long as I don’t have to sit through more self-servicing nonsense from Cameron I’m happy, but this one is all about Bigelow. Point Break and Near Dark were not so long ago...
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
It can’t not be Waltz. He did a brilliant job and turned what could have been a strictly evil character into a funny, frightening and incredibly unique performance.
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious
I’d have to guess Mo’Nique, although I’ve heard wonderful things about the ladies of Up In The Air and Penelope Cruz looks all right dancing around in her underwear. Being where I am though, I haven’t had the chance to see any of these performances yet though.
Best Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of the Kells
Up!
As much as I would like to see Coraline win, being a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's work, I know it’s going to be Up! I think this category was created especially for Pixar, but there is no denying the quality of their work. And Up! Was a wonderful movie, and deserves the win.
Best Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Allessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter & Bob Peterson - Up!
Quentin Tarantino will win and deservedly so for his most accomplished film to-date. The Coens are always favourites, but this will be Quentin’s award.
Best Screenplay (Adapted)
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air
A bit of a tough category, but I think this is where Up In The Air will finally get some love. That being said, I would love to see Nick Hornby take the win for An Education.
Best Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
Avatar won’t be shut out and is a shoe in for this award. It would be nice to see Gilliam get some love for the maligned Parnassus, but this is Avatar’s win.
Best Cinematography
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon
I think Richardson by a hair over Ackroyd, although it would be interesting to see Haneke’s bleak (and black & white) White Ribbon win. And the latest Potter film really was nicely filmed, but I’m sticking with Richardson.
Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
Again, it would be nice to see Gilliam’s film take this award, but how do you compete against Coco Chanel? My gut is with Nine (although I usually tank this category if there isn’t a Lord of the Rings film in the running).
Part II to follow!
Oscar Predictions - Part II
And on with PART II...
Best Documentary
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
A heavily stacked category, but I’m going with The Cove, a clandestine examination of annual Japanese slaughter of dolphins and the efforts that former Flipper-trainer Ric O’Barry has taken to expose the practice.
Best Documentary - Short Feature
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Lost Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
A tough category again, especially since I haven’t seen any of these, and know little about them, but I’m going to go with China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province.
Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
My gut is with Basterds again, if for no other reason than the dread-filled build-up of the cabin scene at the beginning of the film. It would be nice to see The Hurt Locker or District 9 on the podium as well.
Best Foreign Film
Ajami, Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
The Milk Of Sorrow, Peru
Un Prophete, France
The White Ribbon, Germany
Some dark and heavy subject matter in the foreign films category this year. I’m leaning towards The White Ribbon, but I think it’s a pretty tight race.
Best Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
Star Trek by a hair, although this category often favours period makeup over creature prosthetics, so…
Best Original Score
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Sherlock Holmes
Up!
Michael Ginacchino for Up! Zimmer had some fun with Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Mr. Fox is playful, but Up! Has it all for the win.
Best Original Song
"Almost There", The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans", The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname", Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
"Take it All", Nine, Maury Weston
"The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart, Ryan Bingham & T-Bone Burnett
"The Weary Kind". Not sure why I like it for the win, but that’s my call.
Best Animated Short Film
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
A Matter of Loaf and Death, created by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, UK (my former stomping grounds). For those of you unaware, it’s a Wallace and Gromit short, which is always a good thing.
Best Live Action Short Film
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
I don’t see The Lake on this list… Weird. Again, I never know with this category, but I’m going to go with Kavi.
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up!
It will probably be Avatar, although there isn’t a bad pick in the bunch. The Hurt Locker or Star Trek could pull an upset, but this one is Avatar.
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Just to shake things up, I’ll go with The Hurt Locker on this one. Go ahead, tell me I’m hedging my bets, but that’s my call.
Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Avatar. Loved the work done in District 9, but Cameron spent 10 years getting this one right and really did create a whole new world.
Make sure you come back on March 8 for my recap. I’m shooting for an A+ this year…
Best Documentary
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
A heavily stacked category, but I’m going with The Cove, a clandestine examination of annual Japanese slaughter of dolphins and the efforts that former Flipper-trainer Ric O’Barry has taken to expose the practice.
Best Documentary - Short Feature
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Lost Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
A tough category again, especially since I haven’t seen any of these, and know little about them, but I’m going to go with China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province.
Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
My gut is with Basterds again, if for no other reason than the dread-filled build-up of the cabin scene at the beginning of the film. It would be nice to see The Hurt Locker or District 9 on the podium as well.
Best Foreign Film
Ajami, Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Argentina
The Milk Of Sorrow, Peru
Un Prophete, France
The White Ribbon, Germany
Some dark and heavy subject matter in the foreign films category this year. I’m leaning towards The White Ribbon, but I think it’s a pretty tight race.
Best Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
Star Trek by a hair, although this category often favours period makeup over creature prosthetics, so…
Best Original Score
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Sherlock Holmes
Up!
Michael Ginacchino for Up! Zimmer had some fun with Sherlock Holmes and Fantastic Mr. Fox is playful, but Up! Has it all for the win.
Best Original Song
"Almost There", The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
"Down in New Orleans", The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
"Loin de Paname", Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
"Take it All", Nine, Maury Weston
"The Weary Kind", Crazy Heart, Ryan Bingham & T-Bone Burnett
"The Weary Kind". Not sure why I like it for the win, but that’s my call.
Best Animated Short Film
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
A Matter of Loaf and Death, created by Nick Park at Aardman Animations in Bristol, UK (my former stomping grounds). For those of you unaware, it’s a Wallace and Gromit short, which is always a good thing.
Best Live Action Short Film
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
I don’t see The Lake on this list… Weird. Again, I never know with this category, but I’m going to go with Kavi.
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
Inglourious Basterds
The Hurt Locker
Star Trek
Up!
It will probably be Avatar, although there isn’t a bad pick in the bunch. The Hurt Locker or Star Trek could pull an upset, but this one is Avatar.
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Just to shake things up, I’ll go with The Hurt Locker on this one. Go ahead, tell me I’m hedging my bets, but that’s my call.
Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Avatar. Loved the work done in District 9, but Cameron spent 10 years getting this one right and really did create a whole new world.
Make sure you come back on March 8 for my recap. I’m shooting for an A+ this year…
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