Winners indicated (*). I still need to see films like Everlasting Moments, Chop Shop, Encounters at the End of the World, Still Walking, My Winnipeg, Choke, W., Turn the River, Silent Light, Medicine for Melancholy, Brideshead Revisited, Redbelt, Miracle at St. Anna, Stop-Loss, Flash of Genius, Towelhead, The Beautiful Person, and Cadillac Records.
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| In Bruges |
BEST PICTURE:
The Class
Hunger
In Bruges*
Man on Wire
Somers Town
BEST DIRECTOR:
Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In
James Marsh, Man on Wire
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges*
Steve McQueen, Hunger
Shane Meadows, Somers Town
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| Hunger |
BEST ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Colin Farrell, In Bruges*
Michael Fassbender, Hunger
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS:
Kate Beckinsale, Nothing But the Truth
Juliette Binoche, Flight of the Red Balloon
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long*
Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
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| Flight of the Red Balloon |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Ralph Fiennes, In Bruges
Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight*
Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Patricia Clarkson, Elegy
Trine Dyrholm, Troubled Water
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona*
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Elsa Zylberstein, I've Loved You So Long
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| The Class |
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Class*
Flight of the Red Balloon
Gomorrah
Let the Right One In
Paranoid Park
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Ballast
A Christmas Tale
The Edge of Heaven
In Bruges*
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
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| Man on Wire |
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Dark Knight
Hunger
Let the Right One In*
My Blueberry Nights
Paranoid Park
BEST FILM EDITING:
Burn After Reading
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Man on Wire*
Slumdog Millionaire
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| Somers Town |
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Happening
In Bruges
Slumdog Millionaire*
BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
"Another Way to Die", Quantum of Solace
"Gran Torino", Gran Torino
"Jai Ho", Slumdog Millionaire
"Low are the Punches", Somers Town*
"The Wrestler", The Wrestler
Additional Categories
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| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
BEST ART DIRECTION:
Australia
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
The Fall
Synecdoche, New York
BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess*
The Fall
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
BEST MAKEUP:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Synecdoche, New York
Tropic Thunder
.jpg) |
| The Dark Knight |
BEST SOUND (MIXING AND EDITING):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight*
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
The Dark Knight
Speed Racer
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Bolt
WALL-E*
Waltz with Bashir
Updated: 7/30/15
I love In Bruges and Let The Right One In. Speed Racer though, that movie was like having a two hour seizure. So many bright lights!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great ballot. I never did catch Flight of the Red Balloon though.
Thanks! Glad you dig those 2 films. Oh, I loved the visuals of Speed Racer!
DeleteYou should check out Flight of the Red Balloon.
They picked Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight over Fiennes in In Bruges and Marsan in Happy-Go-Lucky? Wow. He beat out some really stiff competition. Though to tell you the truth, I don't think I even saw The Dark Knight, so officially, I don't have an opinion. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah, there were several categories that were tough. Like Best Actress. I HATED leaving Kate Winslet (Rev. Road), Anne Hathaway (RGM), Naomi Watts (Funny Games) and Kelly Reilly (Eden Lake) off.
DeleteThough I think it's overrated, I'd recommend The Dark Knight. For Ledger alone.
Awesome to see Clarkson in Elegy here - she was so lovely in that movie! Great win for Best Actor, too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) Nice to see more love for Clarkson's and Fassbender's performances.
DeleteHere's my list of the best films of 2008.
ReplyDeleteI don't recommend Towelhead. It's one of the worst films I had ever seen.
That's a good list. I really need to see Man on Wire and Still Walking.
DeleteI'll keep that in mind. I'm not sure I'll ever get to Towelhead anyway, but there's a small chance I might give it a look.
In Bruges for Best Pic! Man, I just love that. And Fass for actor is brilliant. The '08 Oscars would've been better if all your picks rang true.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks so much man! :)
DeleteI haven't seen Flight of the Red Balloon, I could imagine the title was inspired by that brilliant short film The Red Balloon (1956)
ReplyDeleteYeah, the film was loosely inspired by The Red Balloon. And Binoche is brilliant in it, of course. ;)
DeletePicture:
ReplyDeleteFrost/Nixon
In Bruges
I've Loved You So Long
Milk
Tell No One-Winner
Not sure if this was a thin year or I just haven't seen enough films from it but I had a difficult time arriving at five nominees and two of my choices, Milk and I've Loved You So Long, while I liked them it was more for the performances than the overall mastery of the films. Almost everything the academy favored left me with a feeling of indifference. Of the other three Frost/Nixon is a terrific recreation of a fascinating chapter in Watergate and American history. I see we are both fans of In Bruges and while it's a close runner up I was knocked out by Tell No One's brilliant take on the suspense thriller. Also I love that for a change an American book was adapted into a French thriller so successfully when it has by and large been the reverse through the years.
Director:
Guillaume Canet-Tell No One-Winner
Phillippe Claudel-I've Loved So Long
Ron Howard-Frost/Nixon
Martin McDonagh-In Bruges
Gus Van Zant-Milk
As most people do I like a film and director that surprises me. I watched Tell No One initially because I had read the book and really liked it then heard positive word of mouth on the film. Even with good intentions there is usually an inevitable letdown when the story has been changed too much. However Canet always makes the right choices in editing the book to the screen and where to turn his camera to maximize the tension.
Actor:
Francois Cluzet-Tell No One
Colin Farrell-In Bruges-Winner
Brendan Gleeson-In Bruges
Tom Hardy-Bronson
Michael Sheen-Frost/Nixon
Whereas the film choices were thin this year the leading male choices were rich and I had to eliminate much fine work, in particular Sean Penn in Milk and Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon. Great though all the others were, and making easier my choosing De Caprio over him in 2004, Colin Farrell is flat out brilliant in In Bruges. I think he's one of the best of current actors, his continued inability to break through to the top rank is baffling but his big vehicles never seem to utilize him properly.
Actress:
Kate Beckinsale-Nothing but the Truth
Sally Hawkins-Happy Go Lucky
Angelina Jolie-Changeling
Frances McDormand-Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Kristen Scott Thomas-I've Loved You So Long-Winner
Hawkins and McDormand gave wonderfully nutty portrayals that raised the quality of their films. Beckinsale had one of the few roles worthy of her talents in Truth and Jolie was compellingly anguished in Changeling. Scott Thomas blew them all out of the water though with her riveting work in I've Loved You So Long.
Tell No One is a great thriller, indeed. It just missed my Best Adapted Screenplay lineup. Scott Thomas barely loses to Binoche for me. LOVE both of those performances. Great to see Farrell win and Hardy nominated. I really wanted to include the latter for Bronson, but I couldn't squeeze him in. Fortunately, I finally nominate Hardy in 2014 for Locke.
DeleteSupporting Actor:
ReplyDeleteRalph Fiennes-In Bruges
Emile Hirsch-Milk
Christian McKay-Me & Orson Welles-Winner
Brad Pitt-Burn After Reading
Alan Rickman-Bottle Shock
Pitt whose extreme handsomeness often gets in the way of his talent is the sole saving grace of the Coen misfire Burn After Reading with his hilariously goofy work. Hirsch and Rickman are super in their films and Fiennes my runner up for his wryly observant performance in In Bruges. McKay, immensely charismatic, who somehow was almost completely ignored this year captures Welles essence completely-the good and the bad. While there was other good work in the film it would have collapsed without him.
Supporting Actress:
Viola Davis-Doubt
Rosemarie DeWitt-Rachel Getting Married
Taraji P. Henson-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Emma Thompson-Brideshead Revisited
Elsa Zylberstein-I've Loved You So Long-Winner
Brideshead Revisted is a ponderous, interminably dull slog except for Emma Thompson's brief scenes when she single handedly brings the film to life. Henson and DeWitt brighten their films and Viola Davis storms the curiously inert Doubt and like Thompson energizes her picture for far too short a time. Had she had more to do she's be my winner. As with Kristin Scott Thomas Zylberstein astonishes as her sister grappling with long hidden secrets in I've Loved You So Long being my easy pick for the winner.
Love these. I have McKay's film in '09, and Zylberstein is probably my #3, with Tomei at #2. Pitt, DeWitt and Davis just missed. I love Doubt, and I couldn't it anywhere, unfortunately.
Delete