I actively avoided There Will Be Blood for a decade — perhaps because the famous line "I drink your milkshake!" led me to believe it was a comedy about dairy products. Glad I finally saw it. It's a terrific tale about an oilman (Daniel Day-Lewis, winning the second of his three Oscars) who gains the world and loses his soul. Look it up, you might like it. (You can read my review here).
My choices are noted with a ★. A tie is indicated with a ✪. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔. Best foreign-language picture winners are noted with an ƒ. Best animated feature winners are noted with an @. A historical winner who won in a different category is noted with a ✱.
I couldn’t vote for Phil Hoffman as BSA (I thought Bardem transcended the cartoon) (you know me and the Coens), but the *character* he portrayed in Charlie Wilson’s War was tip tip top and he was great fun
Charlie Wilson's War is actually my favorite Phillip Seymour Hoffman performance, which is saying something. But Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men has become iconic. Thus my vote.
Mister Muleboy sent me an email responding to my comment responding to his comment ...
I appended another comment (twice), but Blogger keeps throwing an error. I just noted that Hoffman somehow nails cynical, slovenly, smart, and sympathetic — all while being the collaborator you want to kill to get him out of your hair. In an old-Hollywood way that is also as real as anything anybody’s done.
Hanks makes really good old-Hollywood style movies, I’m my book. Gahd bless him.
You know what else I like about Charlie Wilson's War? It clocks in at a spritely 1 hour and 42 minutes (including closing credits). That's old-style filmmaking. Movies these days have gotten too flabby for their own good. Get to the point!
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
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4 comments:
I couldn’t vote for Phil Hoffman as BSA (I thought Bardem transcended the cartoon) (you know me and the Coens), but the *character* he portrayed in Charlie Wilson’s War was tip tip top and he was great fun
Charlie Wilson's War is actually my favorite Phillip Seymour Hoffman performance, which is saying something. But Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men has become iconic. Thus my vote.
Mister Muleboy sent me an email responding to my comment responding to his comment ...
I appended another comment (twice), but Blogger keeps throwing an error. I just noted that Hoffman somehow nails cynical, slovenly, smart, and sympathetic — all while being the collaborator you want to kill to get him out of your hair. In an old-Hollywood way that is also as real as anything anybody’s done.
Hanks makes really good old-Hollywood style movies, I’m my book. Gahd bless him.
Wonder which Marvel character he’ll play . . . ?
You know what else I like about Charlie Wilson's War? It clocks in at a spritely 1 hour and 42 minutes (including closing credits). That's old-style filmmaking. Movies these days have gotten too flabby for their own good. Get to the point!
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