Ronald Wan
Stop the presses! The Oscar nominations are out. But who cares? At least I do. And pretty much the reader, which is clearly you. I know, dark times are looming in this recession climate so let’s cheer ourselves up with some glitz and glamour of the 81st Academy Awards. Watch this space for more updates, news, features and profiles on the nominees over the next month till Oscar day itself on Feb 22. And here are the nominees (and some curious case of observations):
- Dark times for The Dark Knight, which gets shut out of the Best Picture race. Everyone was hoping the crowd-pleaser to receive a nom and boast the TV ratings for the awards show. Nah. Even Batman can’t save the day.
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button receives a staggering 13 nominations after being shut out of the Golden Globes and Broadcast Critics awards. Can the time-travelling movie pick up the momentum and win Best Picture? Time (pun intended) will tell.
- A couple who receives noms together stays together. Yes, I’m referring to power couple Brangelina, where the former (Brad) gets a nom for Curious in the Best Actor category and the latter (Angelina) in Best Actress for Changeling.
- Can Kate Winslet finally win fresh from her double Globes victory? Everyone thought she would receive two noms for The Reader and Revolutionary Road but only the former prevails. At least the votes won’t be split this time.
- Zilch nomination for Clint Eastwood’s drama Gran Torino. Sometimes, life is just unfair.
- Clearly, some people in the Academy are thinking/drinking Milk. Ok, bad pun. Anyway, the biopic makes a comeback after being shut out of the Globes. That Harvey Milk smile on Sean Penn’s face is evident.
- Slumdog Millionaire could very well be the little-movie-that-could this year. Keep a close watch.
- 15th nomination for Meryl Streep in Doubt. Nuff said. Somebody give her a Lifetime Achievement already.