The Hurt Locker blew up the Avatar party and made history in the process

“Ladies and gentlemen, the show is so long, that Avatar now takes place in the past.”

Co-host funny man Steve Martin said it best as he wrapped up the 3-hour plus show late into the night at the Kodak Theatre while echoing the sentiments of many voters in the Academy. That the supersized show with supersized categories and many random sequences took a toll on proceedings, resulting in a less ceremonious and rushed Best Picture victory for The Hurt Locker. Academy favourite son Tom Hanks even skipped announcement of the esteemed nominees.

And Martin was right on the money on another point – Avatar became an afterthought after losing out to The Hurt Locker in the most talked-about showdown between the low budget war drama and the monster blockbuster 3D sci-fi fantasy with a monstrous budget.

David took down Goliath, didn’t he? Or rather, didn’t she?

For brevity sake, read our condensed version here,  released 5 minutes after the ceremony before you can say The Straits Times. Yep, we beat them to the punch!

For a blow-by-blow, or tweet-by-tweet account, read our twitter feeds here and red carpet transcript here.

For predictions, read here. UrbanWire’s columnist, yours truly, scored 7 correct in 8 major categories and 17 out of 20 overall. Pat on my back! The self-congratulation continues…

The score line read like a tennis game: The Hurt Locker 6 Avatar 3. Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing for THL while Avatar won in the visuals section with Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards was produced by Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic, the former a judge on reality dance show So You Think You Can Dance. So naturally, the show opened with a song and dance number by Neil Patrick Harris (that bling tuxedo jacket was as Elton John as it gets) in a throwback to Old Hollywood, all glamorous and feather boas. We heard an NBC joke somewhere in the number too.

Hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin did the usual opening jokes, dissing the dolled up stars and running the laugh riot act. Their co-star on It’s Complicated, Meryl Streep, was the butt of several jokes. “Meryl Streep holds the most number of nominations as an actress. Or, as I like to think of it, most losses,” quipped Martin. He continued later, “Can that woman act? And what’s up with all the Hitler memorabilia?” Perfect.

Others were not spared, especially George Clooney who suffered many lingering camera shots just because. “Oh, look, that’s damn Helen Mirren,” Martin pointed at the Supporting Actress nominee. Baldwin corrected with a smug, “That’s Dame Helen Mirren.”

The hosts worked like seasoned pros, or better still, like an old married couple. “Over here is the ‘Inglourious Basterds’ section,” said Martin. Baldwin jumped in, “And over here are the people who made the movie.”

There were 3D glasses thrown in for good measure, as Baldwin and Martin wore them and stared straight at James Cameron, King of the World and Ruler of 3D. And the show went into autopilot drive, dishing out award after award. Christoph Waltz picked up Best Supporting Actor for his devilish role as a Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds, in what turned out to be the only win of the night for Quentin Tarantino’s star-studded movie.

Up nailed Best Animated Feature as expected followed by ‘The Weary Kind’ by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham in Crazy Heart for Best Original Song.

Tina Fey, star of 30 Rock and Ironman Robert Downey Jr. got the audience cheering and perhaps high-fiving with a not-so-inside joke sequence. “Memorising, not paraphrasing,” Fey the writer told RDJ the actor. He retorted, shamelessly, “Actors want scripts with social relevance, warm-weather locations, phone-call scenes that can be shot separately from that insane actress that I hate.” Can we request for them to return next year?

The audience woke up from its mid-show slumber when Tina Fey read out The Hurt Locker’s win for Best Original Screenplay, beating out favourite Inglourious Basterds. Was that a sign of things to come for the war drama whose production budget was a tenth of Avatar’s? Writer and former journalist Mark Boal paid an emotional tribute to the soldiers in Iraq and his late father. The sentimentalities continued with a tribute to writer-director-producer John Hughes of National Lampoon’s Vacation and Home Alone fame.

In the spirit of the times, Ben Stiller outdid himself and appeared onstage in blue as a Na’vi to present Best Makeup. Irony: Avatar wasn’t even nominated in this category. He rattled off in Na’vi language, which he selflessly translated into “this was a better idea at rehearsal”.

He then grabbed the fishing line attached to his tail and flailed it helplessly before staring at James Cameron uttering an ambiguous and the naughtiest line of the night: “I see you, I want to plug my tail, my braid, into your dragon.” Whoa, I bet even the egomaniacal director didn’t see that one coming at all. By the way, Star Trek won Best Makeup.

Winners were kept to 45-second speeches for brevity, which to be honest, might as well not exist at all. Winners were reminded of the Thank You cams backstage where they could thank whoever they wanted, including their neighbour’s dog. But seriously, what about the audience? Where were the teary speeches and catcalls? We don’t mind a thank you speech to Sandra Bullock’s neighbour’s dog, as long it’s hilarious.

Jake Gyllenhaal and the ever gorgeous Rachel McAdams in an Elie Saab Haute Couture floral print dress presented Best Adapted Screenplay and what a shocker it turned out to be because Precious won. Up in the Air was snubbed!

UITA, considered one of the best films by critics and audiences, landed nothing in the category they were expected to OWN. This loss echoed its run-up since autumn 09 with so much promise in the beginning that fizzled out by the time awards season started. Why? My guess is still up in the air.

A standing ovation was in order for Mo’Nique, who won Best Supporting Actress for her monstrous role of an abusive mother in Precious. Her classy speech was a joy to behold as she congratulated the Academy for “showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics”. Mo’Nique refused to campaign or meet the press during awards season. She also refused to shave her legs (read: Golden Globes).

And by the time Sigourney Weaver wearing a bold red gown (didn’t she get the memo from the rest of the cast?) appeared onstage to present Best Art Direction to Avatar, there was a sense of relief that the 3D blockbuster was not slighted or ignored by the Academy. Tom Ford, fashion designer and director of A Single Man, and Sarah Jessica Parker, fashion muse, presented Best Costume to Sandy Powell for The Young Victoria. “I already have 2 of these,” said Powell. You can pass your third statuette to me, if you ask me.

The hosts appeared again to show us a spoof of Paranormal Activity. A slapstick act well done, including the watching-the-awards-show-from-backstage scene. In a conspicuous and vulgar move to boost ratings, young starlets and eye candies Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart appeared onstage looking radiant (and constipated), sending millions of Twilight fans gushing worldwide. They presented a very random Horror Movies montage, which included clips of Psycho, Rosemary Baby, The Exorcist and…Twilight. Seriously?! I always thought Twilight was a teenager stripper movie (oh the abs!). Somebody return me my $10 movie ticket money stat!

Morgan Freeman narrated the Best Sound Editing and Mixing category using The Dark Knight as an excellent example. Well done Academy for reminding us TDK was shut out from last year’s Oscars! More Young Hollywood beckoned as Zac “Immaculate” Effron and Anna Kendrick presented the abovementioned awards to The Hurt Locker.

Sandra Bullock presented Best Cinematography to Avatar and James Taylor performed In Memoriam. We saw Brittany Murphy, Natasha Richardson and even Michael Jackson. But where was Farrah Fawcett?

In another show of excess and extravagance, the Best Original Score nominees were performed and interpreted vis a vis a modern dance troupe. But we didn’t care, not even for that weird robot dance. Only if Ben Stiller danced…so Up won Best Original Score and Avatar won Best Visual Effects.

The Cove, a brilliant documentary on dolphin slaughter and trading in Japan filmed with passion and bravery, won Best Documentary Feature. In a sign of activism (remember Michael Moore?), Ric O’Barry held a banner urging audiences to text to a number for updates on the dolphin trade.

And the ceremony shifted into high gear despite the ticking bomb um, clock. 5 colleagues (Michelle Pfeiffer, Vera Farmiga, Julianne Moore, Tim Robbins and Colin Firth) appeared on stage to honour the 5 nominees. It’s a nice gesture but time’s running out! Perhaps the segment should be canned. Film an Inside Studio segment instead and screen it in future, please?

Best Actor award went to Jeff Bridges for playing Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. The highly regarded and underrated actor let out a joyous laugh and went on to thank his “Mommy and Dad (the late Lloyd and Dorothy Bridges) for turning me on to such a groovy profession.” The Dude had spoken and the self-congratulations continued in the Academy.

Sean Penn, in an incoherent speech, presented Best Actress to Sandra Bullock who gave a heartfelt speech, considered the best of the night. “Did I really earn this or did I wear ya all down?” exclaimed Sandy. For the record, she earned an Oscar and a Razzie, setting a new record. She went on to praise (“Carey, your grace, your beauty and your talent… makes me sick”) and flirted (“Meryl, you’re such a good kisser”) with her fellow nominees. And to her mom, whom she considered a trailblazer. That’s when we all started to well up.

And out came diva and 2-time Academy Award winner Barbra Streisand to present Best Director, an obvious hint Kathryn Bigelow would win. She opened the envelope and announced fittingly, “Well, the time has come.”

There were cheers and catcalls, which we then saw Kathryn Bigelow making history and walking onstage to collect the Best Director award. Bigelow is the first female director to win Best Director in an industry crowded with alpha males and infused with gender politics. She is also the first female director I have seen with such nice biceps.

Bigelow dedicated her award to Mark Boal “who sacrified his life”, the people of Jordan, and the soldiers overseas. “May they come home safe,” said Bigelow. By then, the air of excitement was palpable. The Hurt Locker looked all ready to blast.

Academy Governor Tom Hanks rushed onstage, skipped announcing the 10 esteemed nominees and uttered The Hurt Locker for Best Picture. Bigelow rushed back onstage to collect her award and the entire Academy looked on at Cameron in sympathy. The contest between Avatar and The Hurt Locker turned out to be pedestrian, as THL took home 6 awards and had all the languishing independent film studios believing they can.

The show closed with Martin stealing Bigelow’s statue, finally introducing Baldwin, and Baldwin quickly bidding farewell (“That’s all the time we have!”) to the weary audience (half of them were already at the bar or canoodling backstage), informing us once again why the Academy showmasters never learnt.

In an age of online streaming, live twitter updates and minute-after uploads, the Oscars broadcast on television may seem out of touch but it can still be relevant. If the audience waited months watching Hollywood turn into a circus during awards season, the additional 20 or 30 minutes showing Ben Stiller dancing or actresses giving long-winded teary speeches would be just fine. Just spare us the modern dance segments.

Images captured from recorded footage.

And the winners are…

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker

Best Adapted Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious

Best Animated Film
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)

Best Art Direction
Avatar

Best Cinematography
Avatar

Best Costume Design
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary
The Cove

Best Film Editing
The Hurt Locker

Best Makeup
Star Trek

Best Original Score
Up

Best Original Song
‘The Weary Kind’ from Crazy Heart by T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing
The Hurt Locker

Best Sound Mixing
The Hurt Locker

Best Visual Effects
Avatar

Best Documentary Short
Music by Prudence

Best Animated Short
Logorama

Best Live-Action Short
The New Tenants

The Hurt Locker blazes apart a predictable Oscar night with six wins, including one with history made. Uploaded at 12:35pm.

Boom. The bomb squad is moving in now at the Kodak Theatre.

And so it has just been decided after 3 hours of glitz, self-congratulations, spilled Moet, brief speeches and making history at the 82nd Academy Awards, war drama The Hurt Locker wins Best Picture. Coupled with Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow (first ever female director to win), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing,  Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, the low-budget (production budget is 1/10 of Avatar) and low-grossing film at the box office ends up the biggest winner with six awards.

What can we make of James Cameron and the Na’vi people from Avatar, the monster blockbuster and one of the favourites to win Best Picture? At least it scores in the less glamorous categories – Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. No matter, the awards are always secondary to the titanic box office takings.

Jeff Bridges, Mo’Nique and Christoph Waltz win Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively. Yawn. All were locked in winners before James Cameron ruled 3D and the box office. What about the match up between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep? No drama there either, as Sandra Bullock clinches Best Actress with panache. To boot, she won the Razzie earlier and even showed up to accept it. Don’t we just love Sandy?

The only shocker here? Up in the Air’s loss to Precious for Best Adapted Screenplay. Most considered the film to be the best this year, including this writer. At least writer-director Jason Reitman is still young full of remarkable potential and we can’t wait for his next hit after Thank You for Smoking, Juno and UITA. Another almost empty-handed loser is Inglourious Basterds, save for its Best Supporting Actor win.

But perhaps, the real biggest loser is the audience. What happened to a great awards show? Where is Brangelina?! Speeches are so short thanks to the backstage Thank You cams so here’s to an average awards show with predictable winners, succinct speeches without any dramatic tears or catcalls and safe dresses in safer colours at the red carpet.

Nonetheless, we love the triumph of the underdog and how The Hurt Locker reminded us that the little movie can.

Check back here for a full and complete coverage of the Oscars tonight. Until then, see you at the movies.

And the winners are…

Best Picture
The Hurt Locker

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker

Best Adapted Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious

Best Animated Film
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)

Best Art Direction
Avatar

Best Cinematography
Avatar

Best Costume Design
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary
The Cove

Best Film Editing
The Hurt Locker

Best Makeup
Star Trek

Best Original Score
Up

Best Original Song
‘The Weary Kind’ from Crazy Heart by T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing
The Hurt Locker

Best Sound Mixing
The Hurt Locker

Best Visual Effects
Avatar

Best Documentary Short
Music by Prudence

Best Animated Short
Logorama

Best Live-Action Short
The New Tenants

Join us for live tweets on www.twitter.com/theurbanwire on the awards show!

This is what you missed:

End of Oscars preshow and red carpet. Onto the awards show.

Favourites at the red carpet: Meryl Streep, Rachel McAdams, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe, Zac Effron and Jennifer Lopez.

Meryl Streep: “I like seeing all my friends all cleaned up.” Referring to all the stars descending at the awards show.

I found out what Rachel McAdams is wearing. It’s an Elie Saab Haute Couture gown.

“I’m all Gucci-ed up,” Jeff Bridges, Best Actor nominee and hot favourite.

“Everyone’s taller and better looking,” Tina Fey.

Last min attempt to bet in the office pool. For help, check my predictions at http://theurbanwire.com/2010/03/06/oscarspredictions/

15 minutes before show starts. They have stopped serving Moet at the bar.

Morgan Freeman talks about jewellery!

Deep juicy burger, fries and milkshake. Sandra Bullock’s post-Oscar diet.

OMG. She actually said you have commitment issues to George Clooney in front of Elizabeth Canalis.

Penelope Cruz is smoking hot in maroon gown.

Everyone in America is switching from E! News to ABC for more red carpet action. In Singapore, we switch to Channel 5.

Ryan Seacret asked Cameron Diaz if this is the last Shrek movie. Please say yes!

Cameron Diaz at the red carpet. Her eyes are really small. Bad makeup or shudder, surgery?

Robert Downey Jr will present with Tina Fey. LOL already!

Spotted: Taylor Lautner descending at the red carpet.

Gerard Butler, presenter at the awards, wants to do a “mooney”.

“If fashion was porn, this dress is the money shot, and you know it!” Gabourey Sidibe on her gown.

Robert Downey Jr wears a blue bow tie at the red carpet. Did he vote for Avatar?

Gabourey wears a beautiful blue on the red carpet.

Gabourey Sidibe hijacks Keanu Reeves’ chat with Ryan and does an awkward buddy punch with him.

Jenny from the Block wears a yummy Princess dress with a funny train.

Rachel McAdams is looking beautiful and dreamy at the red carpet. I love you Rachel!

Meryl Streep, Lead Actress nominee, at the red carpet: “You were cheerleading a little.” Referring to Seacret’s dalliance with Bullock.

George Clooney, “I’m not the lonely guy. I’m surrounded by women in long dresses. You (Ryan Seacrest) are the lonely guy.”

George Clooney, Oscar nominee at the red carpet: “I voted for Jeff.”

Spotted: George Clooney worked the crowd signing autographs. Is it me or is his hair growing longer?

Charlize Theron is gorgeous in fuschia gown but too much details at her chest.

Whoa. Kathryn Bigelow is almost a head taller than Ryan Seacrest.

“She scared me. She still scares me.” Sandra Bullock on meeting Leigh Anne Tuohy, the character she played on The Blind Side.

Sarah Jessica Parker is wearing Chanel couture at the red carpet.

Ryan Seacrest and Jake Gyllenhaal share a brief bromance on the red carpet.

“I thought you got creeped out!” Tina Fey to Ryan Seacrest after he apparently pushed her to get a better view in front of the camera.

Diane Kruger at the red carpet: “Mad.” When asked to describe Quentin Tarantino on set.

Tina Fey wears Michael Kors at the red carpet: “[Hosting the Oscars] is easier than doing SNL. Steve (Martin) tells me it’s only 20 minutes.

Ryan Seacrest asked Tom Ford of A Single Man what was he wearing at the red carpet: “It’s…a Tom Ford suit.”

Elizabeth Banks, presenter, at the red carpet: Pretty in soft lilac Versace frock.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Supporting Actress nominee, and Peter Sarsgaard at red carpet: “My birthday gets postponed if she wins.”

James Cameron: “We don’t feel any competition at all. She (Kathryn) saw Avatar 5 times.”

James Cameron at the red carpet: Tuxedo with blue hanky slipped into breast pocket. Nice touch.

Vera Farmiga, Supporting Actress nominee, at the red carpet: “I voted for Kathryn (Bigelow).”

Spotted: James Cameron at the red carpet. Not wearing blue.

Nicole Richie at the red carpet: What is she wearing? It looks like an expensive blanket.

Zoe Saldana at the red carpet: Gorgeous in purple and bling.

Mariah Carey at the red carpet: “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” Ryan Seacrest: “I’m not sure what diamonds you’re referring to.” Cheeky

Get the brollys out! It’s raining at the red carpet.

Anna Kendrick, presenter and Oscar nominee, meets Mo’Nique at the red carpet.

Zac Effron at the red carpet: 2 minutes of airtime translate into 2 million females gushing worldwide.

Sam Worthington (Avatar) at the red carpet: That’s why I’m here. You put on your monkey suit on.

Random fact: Moët & Chandon is the official champagne of the Oscars.

Sandra Bullock wins Razzie and shows up to collect it. Will she be the first actress to win a Razzie AND Oscar in the same year?

This is it. We are live tweeting at the Oscars. Thank you for joining us. We will begin from the red carpet shortly!

Ronald Wan imagines what Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, the two co-hosts for the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards, would say and pip against each other

It will be a riot at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The two co-hosts are terrific in hosting (Alec Baldwin hosted Saturday Night Live 14 times while Steve Martin hosted the Oscars twice in 2001 and 2003) and are qualified comedians themselves. We can’t wait to hear what they have to say at the awards so we imagine up some not-so-funny quotes for our own amusement.

Steve: “Alec, I admire you. You are dashing and you have Tina Fey as your partner on 30 Rock.”
Alec: “You’re not that bad either. You have…the Pink Panther?” – Steve Martin starred in The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther 2.

Alec: “Steve, I just realised the earnings for our last 5 movies combined together can’t even buy us the craft service for Avatar.” – Both actors had rather dismal film careers recently.

Steve: “Alec, I love you and I will always answer your calls. If the producer wants to change the script, I will answer your call. If you want to do a movie together, I will answer your call. If you want to have supper at Rodeo Drive, I will do it too. Just do not leave any voicemail messages on my phone!!!” – Alec Baldwin’s infamous incident involved leaving an angry voicemail message on his daughter’s cell phone.

Steve: “Alec, we shared the same woman on set. But I do not want to share your woman in our personal lives!” – Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were co-stars with Oscar nominee Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated. Baldwin’s ex wife is actress Kim Basinger, who’s been involved in an ugly divorce and custody battle with him.

Steve: “Alec, you know, I had better co-hosts.” – Steve Martin co-hosted with Donald Duck in Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years shown at Disneyland.

Steve: “You know, Alec, you’re not that bad a host yourself and you are a successful TV personality. Ever considered getting your own TV talk show?”
Alec: “Seriously?”
– Alec stars in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. NBC was recently flagged for mishandling the Jay Leno-Conan O Brien late night talk show saga.

With the Oscars just days away, The Zeitgeist weighs in on his 10 Best Pictures of 2009. Guess what? It doesn’t even include half the Oscars’ snooty list

(500) Days of Summer
(500) Days of Summer is a romantic film made for the Youtube generation, kinda like what Grease or When Harry Met Sally did for Mom and Pop. From the montages, split screens, musical numbers, cool soundtrack to the starry-eyed cast, (500) possesses a goofball quirk and charm unlike any other romantic shows. Besides the fluff and puff, (500) stands out for its real and honest take on love: it’s not as idealistic or easy as it seems.

Avatar
A definite fixture on everyone’s list and we know why – spectacular effects, layered narrative and the creation of a new world filled with fantasies, impossibilities and wonder. Avatar offers the audience a sensational cinematic experience and a mesmerising visual fest in 3D no less! Movies are meant to be escapist and Avatar had us believe Pandora can be a reality, at least for those three hours. It’s entertainment at its purest and magical best.

The Cove
After watching The Cove, one should feel upset and sad at the same time. That was how I felt – fighting back tears and raising my fists halfway through the movie. And this is how documentaries should be made – filmed with a cause, passion and bravery. In fact, The Cove is an unconventional documentary that feels like watching a thriller, as it exposes the inhumane dolphin trade in Japan and…shame on those Japanese fishermen! I’m still trembling with anger as I type this.

District 9
What a mind-boggling movie! District 9 is a sci-fi classic in the making. We’re talking about a movie layered with deeper understandings on partheid, military porn, invasion of privacy, distortion of reality and perception, aliens as humans, humans as aliens and many other wildest possibilities that gotten us (or at least the geeks) seriously thinking and excited.

The Hangover
If there were ever a party like the one Bradley Cooper et al had in The Hangover, I want to be there. Let’s recap: A tiger in the bathroom, runaway stripper bride, baby in the closet, a missing tooth, playing (or was it counting?) cards, driving a police car, cash stashed in the satchel and all of them don’t even make sense! The movie was so full of laugh out loud moments, which were enough to warrant a mention on the list. Cheers (pun intended) to that!

The Hurt Locker
The seconds leading up to the explosion (or not) is so suspenseful audiences are sitting on the edge of their seats. The Hurt Locker is intense and nerve wrecking, as skilfully and emotionally crafted by Kathryn Bigelow. Besides the thrills, the war movie is also a psychodrama revealing how the soldiers are affected by the traumas of war, fighting the unseen enemies, dealing with death daily and feeding on the war like a drug. Will the craziness ever end?

Paranormal Activity
I’m not a fan of horror films, especially the slash and gore kind or worse, torture porn. Paranormal Activity isn’t like that. It’s a clever horror flick that scares you with absolutely nothing – the silences, the slight sounds in the house, the anticipation. Its comparison to Blair Witch Project is heartening because we know we would still be talking about classics like these many years from now. That’s horror for you. By the way, sleep tight.

Invictus
There was this fear of falling for the maudlin trap but Clint Eastwood rises above the challenge and made Invictus truly beautiful, moving and inspiring. It could have been your predictable sports movie fare but with history, politics, emotions and especially the nuances and gravitas portrayed by Morgan Freeman, the movie becomes a graceful epic. It has heart.

Taken
To some, it may seem like a puzzling choice but it was sure fun watching Liam Neeson does a Jack Bauer and fights villain after villain to rescue his kidnapped daughter. So what if the script and characters seem somewhat one-dimensional? Let the fists and bullets fly. Fun times.

Up in the Air
This is filmmaking at its best from its inventive screenplay, perfect casting with the perfect chemistry, smooth direction to a layered narrative that intertwines issues and resonates with stories closer to home: retrenchment, unemployment, ambitions and coping with a brave new world. There’s even romance for good measure. You should hate George Clooney for carrying that cocky swagger while firing folks like us but by the end of the movie, you have fallen for his charm and most humane spirit. This is a movie of our times, of the moment and never once a flightless entertainment. It soars and lands with wit, grace and style.

With every vote up in the air, a blind side is in order. Will Avatar be banished to the losers’ hurt locker? It takes a serious man and resident film buff like Ronald Wan to offer UrbanWire his precious annual predictions and an education on the Oscars

The Oscars race this year feels rather lacklustre, perhaps a telling reflection of the movie calendar for the past year, thanks to the writers’ strike in 2008 that seriously affected the industry, creating a ripple effect and dearth of quality screenplays. A look at the 8 major categories and I can lock in at least 6 dead certain winners. Where’s the fun then?

We know you have to win the office pool and impress the female receptionist.Well, try upping the stakes in the dramatic showdown between David and Goliath, ex-wife versus ex-husband, bomb squad versus blue creatures, $1.5 million versus $237 million, you versus the impressionable female receptionist, or simply The Hurt Locker and Avatar. Despite upsizing to include 10 nominations, the playing field narrows into a lockdown between the low-budget suspenseful war drama The Hurt Locker (picture below) and the spectacular 3D fantasy epic Avatar (picture above) in the Best Picture category.

Both films have been sweeping wins at awards’ dinners and critics’ circles, but in my opinion, the year’s best belongs to Up in the Air, the all-American movie about retrenchment, unemployment, ambitions, traditions and coping with the new world order, clearly a true reflection of our times. The Zeitgeist would agree (in fact, read about his top 10 movies of 2009). Doesn’t the Academy just love to award movies that are of the zeitgeist, of the moment (read: Chicago’s win in 2003)? How UITA lost its frontrunner momentum still befuddles me. But I digress from the Avatar-Hurt Locker love fest.

Maybe the Academy couldn’t resist some drama. After all, they are in the business of moviemaking. The recent controversy surrounding THL producer Nicolas Chartier’s ban from attending the Oscars after his email urging voters to not vote presumably for Avatar is an example of raising alarm over smoke. Plus all eyes will be on THL director Kathryn Bigelow and Avatar director, a.k.a. king of the world, James Cameron, once-married couple and present rivals in the Best Director category.

And who can resist a triumph of the underdog story? We want THL to win, not just Best Picture, but also Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. We want indie pictures to put in a good fight. Slumdog Millionaire, Little Miss Sunshine, Brokeback Mountain – these are some of the movies we were rooting for in recent times. We hear some folks still can’t quit griping over Brokeback’s loss to Crash.

Categories from Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress to Best Adapted Screenplay are locked in and those Up in the air include Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and just maybe, and I meant maybe in the strictest sense, Best Actress. And that’s because I’m in love with Carey Mulligan, whom Variety hails as the next Audrey Hepburn. Again, I digress with this crush. And so here are my humble and serious predictions for your consideration. You can paint me Na’vi blue if I don’t score at least 6 out of 8 correct predictions this time round. Eltu ayoe eywa hapxi kewong!

Best Actor

Colin Firth, A Single Man

George Clooney, Up in the Air

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

Alcoholic, estranged father, triple divorcee and a has-been country singer relegated to singing in the saloons. Jeff Bridges inhabits the multiple challenging roles as Bad Blake in Crazy Heart, which is what voters love. During an early scene where Bridges reclined in a chair with his beer belly exposed and a glass of whiskey in his hand, you knew that sense of grittiness would send him on the highway to Oscar glory. Bridges is one of the most underrated – 5 nominations so far – actors who deserves to win.

Best Actress

Carey Mulligan, An Education

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Helen Mirren, The Last Station

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

My heart says Carey Mulligan, but my head knows Sandra Bullock will be the sentimental favourite to win as the fearless and feisty Leigh Ann Tuohy, mother to an African-American teenager who life coached and pushed him to succeed in football. Bullock is a spitfire and the Academy loves a comeback win (after a series of flops before The Blind Side) for one of their own darlings. Brit Mulligan ranks as an outsider with her classy turn in An Education. Fingers crossed she wins, which would be a wonderful blind side.

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Matt Damon, Invictus

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Evil reigns in 2 outstanding roles here – Stanley Tucci as a serial killer and Christoph Waltz as the delicious and devilish Nazi officer Colonel Hans, who strikes fear with his cold and calculated gaze. Don’t bet against the latter evil incarnate.

Best Supporting Actress

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart

Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Penelope Cruz, Nine

Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

We know Mo’Nique is a sure-win as the abusive and deranged mother of a teenage daughter. She was a monster who made us hate her despite playing a character that was supposed to win our hearts. Mothers are supposed to be nice. I wanna do a shout out to the sensational Penelope Cruz as the mistress who seduces the audience with a sexy and titillating dance number. Damn, those legs are hot! Who knew ropes could be so fun?

Best Director

Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

James Cameron, Avatar

Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

We’re about to witness history here. Kathryn Bigelow will be the first female director to win the award for steering The Hurt Locker. Bigelow worked magic not in the explosion but in the sequence leading up to it, the minutes, the seconds and suspense that is killing the audience. It’s a masterful and realistic work of Hitchcockian suspense – way better than rendering 3D effects on a computer.

Best Picture

An Education

A Serious Man

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Up

Up in the Air

Stranger things can happen when it comes to a Best Picture. Gatecrashers (Crash), surprised winners (Shakespeare in Love) and those with momentum that never made it. Up in the Air is an example of a piece of work with great buzz as early as last autumn, but somehow the pendulum has swung in The Hurt Locker’s favour after it won several awards, including its esteemed win at the Directors Guild of America awards.

The category takes another strange or complex turn with a new voting style: voters vote in order of preference, which means every film gets a vote, so it boils down to the second, third or even fourth choices. This translates into a tight race hence many are throwing Avatar into the mix for a two-horse race thanks to its populist wave.

I’ll go with The Hurt Locker simply because it has momentum.

More insights on the 10 nominees here.

Best Original Screenplay

A Serious Man

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The Messenger

Up

It’s a tale of 2 brilliant screenplays so vastly different in their treatment – one doesn’t say much except to build on what is unseen and the other talks way too much, smacking of wit, pomposity and fun. We’re referring to The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds, the 2 films locked in a tight race. Quentin Tarantino is such a fave with actors and actresses in the Academy so the lobbying might help. We’ll go with The Hurt Locker considering its potential in Best Picture. Usually, a Best Picture and Original Screenplay go well together, like entrée and dessert.

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9

An Education

In the Loop

Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Up in the Air

It’s my favourite film of the year so I will be partial and generous in my plaudits here: The writing is sharp, clever and lucid, possessing a playful wit. Jason Reitman proves he can write and direct and after 3 successful features (Thank You For Smoking, Juno and Up in the Air). It hurts to know UITA might not win Best Picture, but at least, it lands and wins something.

And the rest of the categories:

Best Animated Film – Up, up and away!

Best Art Direction – Lush forest, forest fairies and those darn mountains hanging in mid-air! Somebody bring me to Pandora. Avatar by a mile.

Best Costume – It’s a fine, fine line between fashion and costume and the pieces in Coco Before Chanel serve the film well.

Best Cinematography – Again, bring me to Pandora. In 3D. Avatar, no contest.

Best Documentary – The Cove. Inspiring, moving and this is how a documentary is supposed to be made: with bravery and passion.

Best Film Editing – How do you create suspense? Cut scenes according to precision (wires, facial expression, cutting wires, facial…boom!). Kudos to The Hurt Locker.

Best Makeup – I’ve no idea and it’s the strangest category with 3 nominations only. Say, Star Trek?

Best Music (Original Score) – Avatar. Hello? It’s James Horner, the Titanic man.

Best Music (Original Song) – ‘The Weary Kind’ in Crazy Heart. That song has so much gravitas especially after you’ve watched the film.

Best Sound Editing – The Hurt Locker.

Best Sound Mixing – See above.

Best Visual Effects – No brainer. Give it up for Avatar.

Do you agree with Ronald’s predictions? Take the challenge! Let’s see who shall paint who blue! Comment away.

Ronald Wan discusses the 10 nominees in the expanded Best Picture category.

It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and we’re not referring to James Cameron’s maniacal ego. The Best Picture category has been upsized to include 10 nominations for obvious reasons. In a bid to attract more TV eyeballs come Oscar night on March 7 (March 8 morning Singapore time), the Academy expands the playing field to include more populist choices like Avatar, The Blind Side and even Up. But with more films in the running, everyone is scrambling to watch all 10 films in order to make an informed bet, a task almost as impossible as speaking the incredulous Na’vi language for busy mortals like you. This writer does a favour and recaps the 10 nominated films for your consideration.

Avatar

Eltu ayoe eywa hapxi kewong?!?! I have no idea what I just wrote either. From the wondrous Na’vi language to the enchanting Pandora planet, in glorious 3D no less, director James Cameron has created a whole new spectacular world and crowd-pleasing movie so rich in conceptual storytelling and special effects. Avatar is the Titanic of this awards season and it might just avoid the iceberg to secure a Best Picture win.

The Blind Side

Some Academy insiders didn’t see (pun intended) this surprise nomination coming but we know why. The Blind Side, starring the feisty Sandra Bullock as the white Christian mother of an African-American teenager who went on to become a very talented football player, is your typical sports movie filled with good family values that appeal to the Christian conservatives in Middle America. Will the movie strike a Hallmark chord with the voters residing largely in Los Angeles and New York? Not a chance in Hollywood hell.

District 9

Besides the impressive action and effects in this sci-fi movie, District 9 is heavily layered with subtext and speaks of issues of our times from discrimination, apartheid to military porn. It’s your rich and intelligent sci-fi yarn dreamt up by geeks that confuses reality and perception, humans and aliens and then makes it so real for our disbelief. It’s an indie favourite but due to its earlier-than-awards-season release, the movie might not register on voters’ minds.

An Education

Carey Mulligan, Carey Mulligan, Carey Mulligan.  The British actress is the life of this charming movie about a teenage school girl who was swept off her feet by a charming and suave older man, thrown into a post-war world of new riches, style and class. The movie is sweet and sophisticated like Mulligan and as the title suggests, a learning experience for all on the fallacies and ideals of youth.

The Hurt Locker

The suspenseful war film is gaining momentum to be the underdog to crash Avatar’s party. Recognised for its straightforward storytelling and intense moments, The Hurt Locker is the war film that makes the audience sit up in suspense and see the effects the Iraq war had on Americans. “War is like a drug” is a quote that opens the movie and induces the audience into a visceral, mind-blowing and dramatic ride through the Gulf desert.

Inglourious Basterds

What a crazy movie! Inglourious Basterds had all the wit, action, kosher porn, terrible spelling, gory violence and an awesome shootout sequence in a local bar that had fans all stark raving delighted. Like how the movie made by geek-director Quentin Tarantino is made for the geek fans, its nomination perhaps serves as the Academy’s calling card for all geeks and fan boys to tune in on awards night.

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

The premise is depressing but as you watch along the struggles of Precious and her determination to bury her past and make a bright future, you feel a sense of joy and quiet relief for the protagonist. Characters, personalities and emotions are strong in this tough film about life in the poorer inner-cities and how life is sometimes treated unfairly with the shadiest circumstances. The movie is inspiring nonetheless, enough to earn Best Picture street cred.

A Serious Man

What is the meaning and morality of life? Can we live on faith alone? Such are the pondering questions A Serious Man posits in doses of wit, humour and death. Directed by the Coen brothers, the movie is sort of an autobiographical look at their serious Jewish lives determined by families and faith. It’s a personal movie that will warm the cockles of very important Jews in Hollywood from writers, directors, producers to actors. In short, almost the entire Academy.

Up

Possibly the best animated feature to come out of the brilliant Pixar studios (what do they serve in the pantry seriously?), Up is on a high achieving the distinction of nominated in the Best Picture category in addition to Best Animated Feature. Up sets the benchmark in animation filmmaking with its creative imagination, rich visuals, fantasy unlike any other and a sense of adventure in its plot and storytelling.

Up in the Air

If there’s an overused phrase or bad pun to describe this amazing movie, I apologise. But Up in the Air soars! The Academy loves to award movies that are current and timely (read: Chicago) and UITA is the perfect in-flight entertainment and parable of our dire economical times. From its arrival scene of airplane views of the American landscape to the departure scene of well, rolling credits, the movie throws up a good mix of humour, sadness, nuances, wit and romance weighing in on the American job market, retrenchment, ambitions, traditions and coping with a new world order. Up in the Air is such a joy ride you kinda hope it continues flying and never lands.

The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have just been announced and true enough, there are a few surprises (or should we call it a blind side) and several predictable fares. This is what I, the self-important film buff and zeitgeist, can recap/analyse in a matter of minutes after the announcement.

1. OMG, there are 10 nominated films in the Best Picture category instead of the usual 5? Wait, you already knew that. Next.

2. The Blind Side in Best Picture? Clearly, we didn’t see (pun intended) that one coming. This movie has Hallmark written all over it.

3. We expected Up in the Best Animated Film category but Best Picture? Epic!

4. Meryl Streep is nominated for the 16th time in the Best Actress category for her role in Julie & Julia. Tres bien!

5. Former married couple James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow are nominated for Best Director. Don’t the Oscars just love some ex-marital drama?

6. Where is The Hangover?  The crowd favourite that won at the recent Golden Globes is snubbed for Best Picture. I say bring on the lads and crash the party!

7. And what about the geek fave Star Trek directed by J.J. Abrams? Somebody at the Academy is not on board the Enterprise for sure.

8. But sci-fi fans need not lose heart. At least the excellent District 9 makes the cut for Best Picture.

9. Expect to see an increase in movie downloads of obscure movies like The Last Station and The White Ribbon, which are all nominated in various categories. Are the distributors reading this?

10. Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien are hosting the Oscars together. Right.

Return to this Oscar Special section every week for more updates, analysis and predictions from yours truly. This is IAMAMORON (that’s my Avatar name, cool huh?) signing out.

Complete List of Nominations

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

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

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’Nique, Precious

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)

Best Art Direction
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Best Cinematography
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Best Documentary
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Best Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Best Score
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Best 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, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham

Best Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Live-Action Short
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

As you hedge your bets on the nominees, have you wondered how actors like Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke and Michael Shannon were selected? RONALD WAN finds out the magic formula

Kate Winslet: I told you it's a complicated process!

When I asked people if they knew who selected the Oscar nominees, they usually gave me a similar response, “Oh, just a bunch of folks at the Academy.” Seriously, if I knew who these folks were, I would kill them for missing out on Paul Giamatti in Sideways and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland several years ago.

Anyway, I found out how the Oscars nominees were selected. It’s a tedious process. Whatever I’m about to tell you, it’s as complicated as Lost or Whitney Houston’s love life. I have divided my thesis into 10 bulleted points for your easier understanding. I hope.

1. Firstly, all members of the Academy get to nominate within their own branches. For example, a director who belongs to the directing branch will vote for the directing categories. Nobody belongs to multiple branches and thus actors vote in the acting categories, directors for directing categories and so on. Everyone gets to vote for Best Picture.

2. Voting is based on a preferential system so voters choose their favourite actors. Anything goes! Each category is given a magic number, which is calculated by taking total number of ballots for the category and dividing it by the number of nominees plus one. Confused? Let’s say Best Actor has 600 ballots received. There are five nominees in the Best Actor category, right? So we take 600 divided by five nominees plus one, which equals 100. And that my dear is your magic number for the category.

3. Whoever reaches that magic number first will automatically become an official nominee for that category. And they begin counting the ballots from top-down, meaning they start with first-choice votes. So, any actor who reaches 100 (the magic number) based on first-choice votes becomes an official nominee. For example, Sean Penn received 130 first-choice votes. He’s an official nominee now and all the ballots for him are set aside.

4. The actor who received the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed to the second-choice pile.

5. Another four nominees remain. And so we count from voters’ second-choice selections. Another round of counting begins. For example, Mickey Rourke already has 95 first-choice votes and receives another five votes from the redistributed second-choice pile. He reaches 100 (the magic number!) and he’s now another official nominee.

6. Lost? See above to recap.

7. The same process is repeated for the remaining nominees. Again, the actor with the fewest ballots in his pile will be redistributed to other piles of third-place, fourth-place and fifth-place selections respectively.

8. In any case when the ballot runs out of selections, the ballot is voided. So voters are reminded to choose 5 different nominees in order not to waste their ballot.

9. When ballots are voided, the magic number will decrease. For example, 18 ballots are voided so 600 – 18 = 582. 582 is then divided by 6 = 97.

10. The actors will get eliminated and the ballots redistributed until the remaining nominees reach the current magic number. And then it is done. Give yourself a round of applause for getting this far.

*This article has been re-routed from http://www.theurbanwire.com, which is currently experiencing server problems.

Some of the best pictures in 2008 according to RONALD WAN, including those in the Best Picture category and of course, those that unfortunately aren’t

Granted, the five Best Picture nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards are terrific. But why stop at five nominees? Here at UrbanWire, we honour some of the best films shown in 2008, including three from the Best Picture category. Yes, we’re going with as many selections as possible because it has just been a great year for the movies.

And the Oscar goes to…each of these movies that is worth its weight in gold.

The Dark Knight

Oh the horrors. I meant its exclusion in the Best Picture category when most of the film critics’ circles have gingerly acknowledged the film. If the film were nominated, it would have been a wonderful shot in the arm for the Oscars. Imagine the ratings. The Dark Knight was more than a comic-book blockbuster movie. It was a Shakespearean drama steeped in mythology, dark neuroses, dualism of justice and vengeance and a striking inference to the way we live now.

Frost/Nixon

Many are mistaken this is a political film. It’s not. It’s simply a character study on two people – David Frost and Richard Nixon. Frost is the down-and-out interviewer while Nixon is put under the nation’s spotlight. Both engage in a series of TV interviews weighted in nuances. It’s like watching two men engaged in a fight or less violently, a dance. Frost corners Nixon. Nixon perspires. Frost sits forward. You don’t have to know Watergate to understand this film. Just watch the men go at each other. It’s beautiful.

The Reader

Many wondered, “Not another Holocaust movie!” Really? Is it? I think the provocative film reveals more about human nature than post-war Germans struggling with war guilt. We see Hanna Schmitz and Michael simply as a couple transfixed in an illicit affair. And later, her shameful secret not being able to read and (much later) his refusal to reveal her secret and help Hanna in her court case. The secrets and choices made define who they are. And the ending where we come face to face with Hanna’s choice is painful and heartbreaking.

The Visitor

The Visitor is about change. How a professor moves out of inertia in near-retirement age towards embracing love once again. How a foreign couple living in New York lost one another to the tangled mess called bureaucracy. How a mother sheds her tough exterior while in search of her son. This film by Tom McCarthy does not have a happy ending. It lays bare the story and shows us who the characters are, and how they behave in their circumstances. Richard Jenkins as the widowed professor and perhaps the visitor himself brings this film to life with a stellar performance. Easily the best film for 2008.

Rachel Getting Married

Everyone I know who saw the film wants to attend Rachel’s wedding. Me too. That’s the beauty of Rachel Getting Married. Director Jonathan Demme has shot the film in a homemade video style that suggests intimacy, realness and familiarity. It’s as if you know the couple or extended family. It strikes close to the heart because it centres on familial ties, especially the sibling rivalry between Rachel and Kym, played by Anne Hathaway. That’s the way a movie should be – personal and affecting.

Iron Man

The way I see it, Iron Man seems more like a comedy. You find Robert Downey Jr. hamming it up as Tony Stark, the playboy billionaire and weapons manufacturer. He drinks a Scotch in the Afghanistan desert while flirting with a female operative. He asks for a cheeseburger. Amidst the action and pyrotechnics, here is a comeback actor performing perfect comic timing complete with brains and brawn. Forget the angst (Hulk) and romance (Spider-Man). Iron Man is the most fun comic movie to watch.

Frozen River

The frozen river in the movie is actually a dangerous terrain to cross, caused by the forces of nature. Inevitable, treacherous and cold. And that’s the allegory for the movie. A mother (played by the brilliant Melissa Leo) who struggles to bring up her two kids in a trailer home after the father walks out with the money. Who struggles to make ends meet at a discount store. Who resorts to illegal means inadvertently to raise the cash. It’s a raw story about survival and making sure there’s dinner on the table for the family. Can’t help but feel a little warm in your heart at the end of the movie.

Milk

Milk is a movie on a man approaching 40 and the choices he made to define the rest of his life. Harvey Milk, as portrayed by the magnificent Sean Penn, is a joy to watch. It isn’t so much the politics the audience is interested in. It’s Milk. His personal and political convictions. His ever-flowing milk of human kindness. His ability to put on that smile even when the going gets tough. In the end, Milk simply endears us to love the film.

Wall-E

All you consumers be damned. At least that’s the moral of this animated Pixar film. But what we love best is of course, the good old love story between Wall-E, the trashed collector robot protagonist and Eve. And their love story is told in little gestures and body language, which brings us back to the era of silent movies and Charlie Chaplin flicks. It has the potential to be a classic in the distant future. Wait, it already feels like it.

Other notable mentions:

Burn After Reading for being such an insane madcap! Watching the ensemble cast let loose is a guilty pleasure.

Cloverfield for its not-too-subtle dig at a voyeuristic generation and creating a B-list monster flick. And thanks for those darn headaches.

Doubt for stellar casting across the board from Meryl Streep to Viola Davis.

Man on Wire for a well-made documentary sprinkled with a narrative style and for showing us what it means to live life on the edge.

Irina Palm for deftly pushing a midlife woman to a limit and moral ground in a light-hearted British drama filled with humour and love.

The Band’s Visit for portraying cultural differences (Israel and the Arab world) and the ordinary, lonely people caught in them. And for allowing us to revisit our inner selves and finding that glimmer of hope somewhere.

Red Cliff for being an epic war movie the way it should be – beautifully choreographed action and amidst the drums, arrows and sword fights, poetic scene after scene of verbal sparring and intellectual verbosity.

*Considering some films are slower in screening in Singapore theatres, pardon me for missing out on certain films that might be good, if not better, than my choices.

Do you agree with the writer’s choices? What about the exclusion of Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? Tell us your favourite film for 2008 here in the comment box.

*This article has been re-routed from http://www.theurbanwire.com, which is currently experiencing server problems.

Who will win the Oscars? Will it be FROST/NIXON or curiously enough, BENJAMIN BUTTON? Or will the SLUMDOG bite the dust? The winner will walk away with the golden statuette and a glass of MILK. You, THE READER, will have to help RONALD WAN figure this out

I don’t blame anyone for not being interested in the Oscars. After all, four out of the five films nominated for Best Picture have not even cross the $100 million mark at the box office. And The Dark Knight, that one blockbuster film worthy of a shot and drawing the audiences, has been left out cold. So, why would you care?

Because the economy is suffering, dear. For a few hours on Feb 22 (Monday morning in Singapore), forget your financial or job worries and get caught in the excitement, buzz and magic of the biggest movie event of the year. The new producers of the Oscars promise the show would be set in a more intimate setting and with a song-and-dance actor Hugh Jackman as host, it would be like dinner theatre all over again. Fun times.

And besides, don’t we all love to hedge a bet? Here are my annual analysis and predictions (I have managed to watch all nominated films in the six major categories so I do have some credibility here) for the major categories. If I get all six-for-six predictions, the glass of milk is on you. Cheers.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Frost/Nixon and Milk are trapped in the political machinery, which voters are most likely to steer away from such subject matter. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which holds a record 13 nominations, has better chances in the technical category. Harvey Weinstein of The Weinstein Company has been aggressively pushing for The Reader and nobody should doubt the powers of this maverick studio head (case in point: Miramax’s domination at the Oscars in the 90s through the millennium). The Reader could be the dark horse but seriously, I doubt nothing could really stop Slumdog Millionaire in its gun-blazing path. From the Globes, BAFTA to the various Guild awards, this crowd-pleaser fairytale is certainly behaving like a millionaire. Final Answer? Yes, this slumdog will take a bite off the Oscars.

[polldaddy poll=1386234]

Best Director

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Gus Van Sant for Milk

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon

Stephen Daldry for The Reader

What a stellar category. First-time nominee David Fincher of Fight Club and Zodiac fame tackles a love story and a movie heavy handed by its technical wizardry. Gus Van Sant, an indie favourite and previously nominated for Good Will Hunting, brings such sensitivity to Milk. Ron Howard, who won for A Beautiful Mind, makes Frost/Nixon so much easier to watch than expected. As for Stephen Daldry, who receives his third nomination for his third movie ever made, is a talent to watch out for in years to come. That leaves Danny Boyle, the comeback director (hello, remember Sunshine?) who improvised and brought his crew into the streets and alleys of Mumbai and shot with a handheld camera. The effects? Amazing. Lock this winner down.

[polldaddy poll=1386286]

Best Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Josh Brolin for Milk

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder

Heath Ledger wins.

Back to the recap: Michael Shannon was a tour de force in a handful of quick-fire scenes in Revolutionary Road. His riveting performance acted as a catalyst for the breakdown of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet’s marriage. A surprise nominee to some but absolutely well deserved. John Brolin as city supervisor Dan White was a closeted counterpoint to Sean Penn’s openly gay Harvey Milk. As the suspicious priest, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s return in this category (nominated for Charlie Wilson’s War last year) is a beautiful blessing (pun intended). I’m glad Robert Downey Jr. received a nomination for portraying a comical role – something the Academy often overlooked. And that, my friends (chuckle, chuckle, chuckle), paves the way for Heath Ledger, the late Aussie actor who managed to make the Joker his defining role and whose death would honour him in memory and time with a posthumous Academy award. A standing ovation is due.

[polldaddy poll=1389252]

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams for Doubt

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Viola Davis for Doubt

Whoa. This is the most wide-open category. Anyone stands a chance. The way I see it, it’s toss up between Penelope Cruz and Viola Davis. Cruz as the crazy ex-girlfriend in Vicky Cristina Barcelona was just a joy to watch as she tears apart Javier Bardem and Scarlett Johansson in her fluent native language. Davis, as the mother of a boy caught in the midst of a scandal in the parish, was brilliant in just two sparing scenes in Doubt. She absolved his son of a wrongdoing and portrayed her love wholeheartedly (this was done without the son in the scene). And all this time, she was choking back tears and squaring up with the eminent Meryl Streep. My heart says Davis but I’m going with Cruz, who is more accessible with the Academy voters.

[polldaddy poll=1389253]

Best Actor

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor

Sean Penn for Milk

It will be a race to the wire between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. I heart character actors like Richard Jenkins and his subdued performance in The Visitor struck gold with perhaps a number of voters. Frank Langella as the ex-president in denial brings a stately grace and humanity to a misunderstood person. Brad Pitt? I’ll just let the girls swoon. I thought the makeup and effects overshadowed the pretty face’s performance. Penn will have the votes of many voters who reside in California due to the political nature of his gay character Harvey Milk. But the Academy loves a comeback hero too and Rourke fulfills that role both on-screen and off-screen very well. After years in Hollywood exile, it’s glad to see the star actor in the 80s putting in a fight once again. I’m going on a limb to say Rourke clinches the award.

[polldaddy poll=1392452]

Best Actress

Angelina Jolie for Changeling

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married

Kate Winslet for The Reader

Melissa Leo for Frozen River

Meryl Streep for Doubt

Will we finally see the bridesmaid marrying off with Oscar? That bridesmaid-in-waiting is none other than Kate Winslet, who was surprisingly given a nod for The Reader instead of Revolutionary Road. Was her performance in The Reader stronger? I think she was just as good as the Nazi guard who suffered her secret in silent anguish and reserved dignity. The audience (or least I do) realise how much we miss her character after – spoiler alert – she hung herself in the prison cell. It was quite an affecting moment and you realise her performance was truly brilliant. Of course, Meryl Streep might spoil the party considering her performance in Doubt is equally impressive. Besides, she’s a sentimental favourite (15th nomination, if I recall). Kudos to Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo and Angelina Jolie receiving noms but I am hoping this is the night reserved for Winslet. She will probably receive one of the loudest cheers of the night second to Ledger’s.

[polldaddy poll=1392448]

For the Record

And the other nominated categories and second-guesses.

Best Original Screenplay Milk, since it’s the only Best Picture nominee in this category. Wall-E stands a chance, except a good half of the film is pretty quiet.

Best Adapted Screenplay Close call between The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire. Simon Beaufoy takes it for Slumdog Millionaire on a roll.

Best Editing Slumdog Millionaire takes another bite thanks to its frenzied pace editing in the slums of Mumbai.

Best Cinematography Benjamin Button stands a chance but Slumdog Millionaire should lap it up for its lush cinematography. Mumbai feels alive in its warm colours.

Best Art Direction Benjamin Button should take this award but I think The Duchess will at least put up a fight.

Best Costume Design Always a winner for period films. The Duchess will be crowned for its hyperbolic pieces. Have you seen the (burning) wig on Keira Knightley’s head?

Best Makeup Definite winner for the ageless and timeless Benjamin Button.

Best Sound Editing The Dark Knight.

Best Sound Mixing See above.

Best Visual Effects Benjamin Button wins again for its technical achievements in making Brad Pitt look so yummy at 15 again.

Best Original Song Don’t you just love the song and dance by A.R. Rahman in Slumdog? Jai Ho!

Best Original Score A.R. Rahman locks this category down. Slumdog Millionaire wins.

Best Animated Feature Wall-E, without a doubt.

As you hedge your bets on the nominees, have you wondered how actors like Brad Pitt, Mickey Rourke and Michael Shannon were selected? RONALD WAN finds out the magic formula

Kate Winslet in The Reader: I told you it's complicated.

When I asked people if they knew who selected the Oscar nominees, they usually gave me a similar response, “Oh, just a bunch of folks at the Academy.” Seriously, if I knew who these folks were, I would kill them for missing out on Paul Giamatti in Sideways and Kate Winslet in Finding Neverland several years ago.

Anyway, I found out how the Oscars nominees were selected. It’s a tedious process. Whatever I’m about to tell you, it’s as complicated as Lost or Whitney Houston’s love life. I have divided my thesis into 10 bulleted points for your easier understanding. I hope.

1. Firstly, all members of the Academy get to nominate within their own branches. For example, a director who belongs to the directing branch will vote for the directing categories. Nobody belongs to multiple branches and thus actors vote in the acting categories, directors for directing categories and so on. Everyone gets to vote for Best Picture.
2. Voting is based on a preferential system so voters choose their favourite actors. Anything goes! Each category is given a magic number, which is calculated by taking total number of ballots for the category and dividing it by the number of nominees plus one. Confused? Let’s say Best Actor has 600 ballots received. There are five nominees in the Best Actor category, right? So we take 600 divided by five nominees plus one, which equals 100. And that my dear is your magic number for the category.
3. Whoever reaches that magic number first will automatically become an official nominee for that category. And they begin counting the ballots from top-down, meaning they start with first-choice votes. So, any actor who reaches 100 (the magic number) based on first-choice votes becomes an official nominee. For example, Sean Penn received 130 first-choice votes. He’s an official nominee now and all the ballots for him are set aside.
4. The actor who received the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed to the second-choice pile.
5. Another four nominees remain. And so we count from voters’ second-choice selections. Another round of counting begins. For example, Mickey Rourke already has 95 first-choice votes and receives another five votes from the redistributed second-choice pile. He reaches 100 (the magic number!) and he’s now another official nominee.
6. Lost? See above to recap.
7. The same process is repeated for the remaining nominees. Again, the actor with the fewest ballots in his pile will be redistributed to other piles of third-place, fourth-place and fifth-place selections respectively.
8. In any case when the ballot runs out of selections, the ballot is voided. So voters are reminded to choose 5 different nominees in order not to waste their ballot.
9. When ballots are voided, the magic number will decrease. For example, 18 ballots are voided so 600 – 18 = 582. 582 is then divided by 6 = 97.
10. The actors will get eliminated and the ballots redistributed until the remaining nominees reach the current magic number. And then it is done. Give yourself a round of applause for coming this far.

Some of the best pictures in 2008 according to RONALD WAN, including those in the Best Picture category and of course, those that unfortunately aren’t

Granted, the five Best Picture nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards are terrific. But why stop at five nominees? Here at UrbanWire, we honour some of the best films shown in 2008, including three from the Best Picture category. Yes, we’re going with as many selections as possible because it has just been a great year for the movies.

And the Oscar goes to…each of these movies that is worth its weight in gold.

The Dark Knight

Oh the horrors. I meant its exclusion in the Best Picture category when most of the film critics’ circles have gingerly acknowledged the film. If the film were nominated, it would have been a wonderful shot in the arm for the Oscars. Imagine the ratings. The Dark Knight was more than a comic-book blockbuster movie. It was a Shakespearean drama steeped in mythology, dark neuroses, dualism of justice and vengeance and a striking inference to the way we live now.

Frost/Nixon

Many are mistaken this is a political film. It’s not. It’s simply a character study on two people – David Frost and Richard Nixon. Frost is the down-and-out interviewer while Nixon is put under the nation’s spotlight. Both engage in a series of TV interviews weighted in nuances. It’s like watching two men engaged in a fight or less violently, a dance. Frost corners Nixon. Nixon perspires. Frost sits forward. You don’t have to know Watergate to understand this film. Just watch the men go at each other. It’s beautiful.

The Reader

Many wondered, “Not another Holocaust movie!” Really? Is it? I think the provocative film reveals more about human nature than post-war Germans struggling with war guilt. We see Hanna Schmitz and Michael simply as a couple transfixed in an illicit affair. And later, her shameful secret not being able to read and (much later) his refusal to reveal her secret and help Hanna in her court case. The secrets and choices made define who they are. And the ending where we come face to face with Hanna’s choice is painful and heartbreaking.

The Visitor

The Visitor is about change. How a professor moves out of inertia in near-retirement age towards embracing love once again. How a foreign couple living in New York lost one another to the tangled mess called bureaucracy. How a mother sheds her tough exterior while in search of her son. This film by Tom McCarthy does not have a happy ending. It lays bare the story and shows us who the characters are, and how they behave in their circumstances. Richard Jenkins as the widowed professor and perhaps the visitor himself brings this film to life with a stellar performance. Easily the best film for 2008.

Rachel Getting Married

Everyone I know who saw the film wants to attend Rachel’s wedding. Me too. That’s the beauty of Rachel Getting Married. Director Jonathan Demme has shot the film in a homemade video style that suggests intimacy, realness and familiarity. It’s as if you know the couple or extended family. It strikes close to the heart because it centres on familial ties, especially the sibling rivalry between Rachel and Kym, played by Anne Hathaway. That’s the way a movie should be – personal and affecting.

Iron Man

The way I see it, Iron Man seems more like a comedy. You find Robert Downey Jr. hamming it up as Tony Stark, the playboy billionaire and weapons manufacturer. He drinks a Scotch in the Afghanistan desert while flirting with a female operative. He asks for a cheeseburger. Amidst the action and pyrotechnics, here is a comeback actor performing perfect comic timing complete with brains and brawn. Forget the angst (Hulk) and romance (Spider-Man). Iron Man is the most fun comic movie to watch.

Frozen River

The frozen river in the movie is a dangerous terrain to cross and caused by the forces of nature. Inevitable, treacherous and cold. And that’s the allegory for the movie. A mother (played by the brilliant Melissa Leo) who struggles to bring up her two kids in a trailer home after the father walks out with the money. Who struggles to make ends meet at a discount store. Who resorts to illegal means inadvertently to raise the cash. It’s a story about survival and making sure there’s dinner on the table. Can’t help but feel a little warm in your heart at the end of the movie.

Milk

Milk is a movie on a man approaching 40 and the choices he made to define the rest of his life. Harvey Milk, as portrayed by the magnificent Sean Penn, is a joy to watch. It isn’t so much the politics the audience is interested in. It’s Milk. His personal and political convictions. His ever-flowing milk of human kindness. His ability to put on that smile even when the going gets tough. In the end, Milk simply endears us to love the film.

Wall-E

All you consumers be damned. At least that’s the moral of this animated Pixar film. But what we love best is of course, the good old love story between Wall-E, the trashed collector robot protagonist and Eve. And their love story is told in little gestures and body language, which brings us back to the era of silent movies and Charlie Chaplin flicks. It has the potential to be a classic in the distant future. Wait, it already feels like it.

Other notable mentions:

Burn After Reading (pictured left) for being such an insane madcap! Watching the ensemble cast let loose is a guilty pleasure.

Cloverfield for its not-too-subtle dig at a voyeuristic generation and creating a B-list monster flick. And thanks for those darn headaches.

Irina Palm for deftly pushing a midlife woman to a limit and moral ground in a light-hearted British drama filled with humour and love.

The Band’s Visit for portraying cultural differences (Israel and the Arab world) and the ordinary, lonely people caught in them. And for allowing us to revisit our inner selves and finding that glimmer of hope somewhere.

Red Cliff for being an epic war movie the way it should be – beautifully choreographed action and amidst the drums, arrows and sword fights, poetic scene after scene of verbal sparring and intellectual verbosity.

*Considering some films are slower in screening in Singapore theatres, pardon me for missing out on certain films that might be good, if not better, than my choices.

Do you agree with the writer’s choices? What about the exclusion of Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? Tell us your favourite film for 2008 here in the comment box.

The claws are out. Question is, can Hugh Jackman deliver at the Oscars?

We all know what Hugh Jackman is capable of. Leading the X-Men to fight against mutants and hosting the Tony Awards – thrice. He even won an Emmy in 2005 for it. But the Oscars? “In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think it would be for another decade – in the best scenario,” said the Aussie in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Some raised eyebrows and others cheered at the choice of host. Frankly speaking, we’re relieved (refer to bad gigs by Chris Rock and Ellen DeGeneres). We can’t wait to see what the charming actor will be up to come Feb 22. For starters, Jackman quipped, “I’m planning on getting nude for a lot of it.” Ladies, you’ve been warned.

To get into the mood, we would like to offer Mr Jackman 10 suggestions on what to do on Oscar night – nudity not included (UrbanWire’s a family-friendly e-zine).

1. Spontaneously grab your Aussie mate and co-star of Australia Nicole Kidman, who is known to be very shy, onto the stage. Plant a big kiss a la Adrien Brody-on-Halle Berry.

2. Utter “G’day mate” at least once. The Australian Tourist Commission will be proud.

3. Give away free copies of autographed People magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2008 (that would be you) issue. We think Jack Nicholson wants a copy.

4. Sing and dance. You’re an accomplished stage performer so show the world your musical chops.

5. Give Daniel Craig a hard slap on the back in front of live cameras. Surely you haven’t forgotten that Craig clinched the James Bond role ahead of you.

6. Mention Wolverine at least once. Fan boys everywhere will roar in approval.

7. While you’re at it, tear off your clothes and show the ladies the famous Wolverine’s chest hair.

8. Perform some magic tricks. You seemed to be very good at it in The Prestige.

9. Every time Jack Nicholson tries to steal someone else’s attention with a diabolical smile, stare at him like an evil mutant.

10. Yes, show us those claws of steel. Whip them out already!

What do you think? Is Hugh Jackman the right choice as host of the Oscars? Tell us in the comment box below!

While we wait in eager anticipation for the 81^st Annual Academy Awards, we shall relive our favourite Oscar moments since the 90s. Why not go as far back to days when Bob Hope hosted the event (18 times between 1939 and 1977 to be precise)? Because at UrbanWire, we know our young readers grew up with those special moments in the past decade or two. See you at the movies.

Musical Chair

Roberto Benigni conducted a master class in how to celebrate an Oscar victory – by jumping out of his seat and on top of chair after chair at the awards ceremony in 1999 when Life is Beautiful won the Best Foreign Language Film award. Every actor and actress cheered at the Italian actor-director’s stunt (he hopped onto stage for good measure) and subsequent delightful acceptance speech, which nobody could really understand. All those boring speeches should be canned in favour of moments like this.

Kissing the Trophy (Girl)

One of the perks of winning an award at the very announced moment is to get up from your seat, kiss fellow actors around you, sashay onstage and then kiss the presenter (maybe not if it’s Jack Nicholson). Adrien Brody got the memo and went a step further when he won Best Actor for The Pianist in 2003. He planted a long and wet kiss on Halle Berry, who was taken back by surprise (or disgust). We suppose Brody mistook Berry for the Oscar statuette.

King James

All hail James Cameron, the self-declared King who shouted, “I’m the king of the world!” when he won the Best Director award for Titanic, which swept 11 Oscars that eventful night. Strange somehow the king never seems to repeat a coronation like this again. We can safely say the king has since been dethroned whose career probably hit an iceberg.

Hello Billy

We’ll let the picture do the talking. In case you’re clueless, that’s Oscar host Billy Crystal disguised as Hannibal Lecter wearing a muzzle strapped to the gurney at the 1992 awards show where Silence of the Lambs won the major categories. We want Crystal back as host!

Moore Guts Than Anyone Else

“Shame on you, Mr Bush!” yelled Michael Moore after going onstage to accept the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for Bowling for Columbine. Kudos to the director for berating the ex-President on sending America to war. And that tirade was way back in 2003, which made so much sense of late. Shame on the show’s producers for drowning Moore’s speech with the band’s music and the not-so-liberal audience for booing.

And Peter Jackson Rules Them All

At last, our favourite film won for its third instalment. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King swept all the awards and director Peter Jackson invited all his cast and crew onstage to celebrate the Best Picture victory. Reunited and it feels so good…

Show Him His Money

He didn’t utter that famous line but we heard something else. Before there was Katie Holmes, there was Cuba Gooding Jr, who declared his love for Tom Cruise (and everyone else in the audience). “I love you brother!” The actor won Best Supporting Actor for Jerry Maguire and since 1997, we haven’t heard or seen him as much. Probably somewhere with TomKat.

What’s your favourite Oscar moment? Tell us in the comment box below. For more Oscar history, go to http://www.oscars.com