nelsoncarvajal.com/blog

-Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

My pick for the best film of 2007 is "There Will Be Blood"--and I cannot imagine a single reason why Oscar should not think the same.  Oh, wait, that's right: it's been a monkey-see-monkey-do awards season, with packs of critics hording around their "critical faves" and pitching to the world how this time they've found the 'perfect' movie.  It's total bullshit, as films (in the Best Picture category) like "Atonement," "Michael Clayton" and "Juno" have inexplicably found themselves beating the likes of such towering achievements as "The Diving Bell & The Butterfly," "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead" and "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford." I mean, I thought "Atonement" was entertaining and had a wham-bam ending, and I very much admire "Michael Clayton" for its lean exercise of making the ideal adult thriller that every John Grisham adaptation aspired to be (hell, I think I even said it just like that to Director Tony Gilroy himself during the Chicago Film Festival last fall) but ultimately they were not better than the above mentioned titles.  Oh, and "Juno."  The more I hear misled critics and audience members gush and rave over it being "the year's best fim" the more I'm starting to dislike it.  That's not good.  I thought "Knocked Up" was the more engaging, utterly hilarious accidental-pregnancy movie of the year.  I'd be curious to see what would have happened if "Juno" had come out over the summer, and "Knocked Up" released with a coveted Christmas release date.  Hmmm. 

If "Juno" wins Best Picture tomorrow night, I hope the 2-disc unrated DVD has a big "Oscar Fucking Blew It" sticker slapped on it.

There's hope though.  "No Country For Old Men" is the fifth Best Picture nominee and here's an actual nominee deserving the nod (alongside "Blood"); it's ingenious in its minimal use of sound effects (the hotel scenes for example), it's strong pacing (for most of the movie anyway), and for its flat out unconventionality, largely due to author Cormac McCarthy himself.

But it's not the best film of the year.  Those last couple of scenes with the excess articulation of the film's already prominent and obvious themes were not needed.  They simply were not and they hurt the film's slick pacing.  In the novel, those scenes played better.  But film is a different medium.  On the big screen, in a dark auditorium, you can almost hear the air coming out of a tire while Tommy Lee Jones is talking about dead fathers and nightmares.

The shitty thing is, people have actually said, "Oh you don't get the ending..."  I obviously do, if the film landed on the number 3 spot on my yearly top ten list.  I think it's great.  But little mistakes like the all-too-literal adaptation the Coens took with the closing chapters just bumped it down from a possible higher spot.  Just the other day, I was in discussion about it, and someone perfectly explained it: "It's a good book ending.  It's not a good movie ending."

That's that.

I could go on about how many mistakes the Academy has already made, like where's the Best Original Song nomination for "Into The Wild"? Or where's Jonny Greenwood's Best Original Score nomination for "There Will Be Blood"?  Yeah, yeah the Academy and other pundits have aleady "explained" their omissions, but still, what the hell are they thinking?

So, without further wait, here goes my Oscar predictions on the day before its big telecast:

Note: The ACTUAL WINNER slots will be filled in as they are announed on Sunday February 24, 2008

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

My Preference: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets

My Prediction: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets

ACTUAL WINNER: *Le Mozart Des Pickpockets*

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

My Preference: I Met The Walrus

My Prediction: I Met The Walrus

ACTUAL WINNER: *Peter & The Wolf*

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

My Preference: Freeheld

My Prediction: Freeheld

ACTUAL WINNER: *Freeheld*

BEST DOCUMENTARY

My Preference: Sicko

My Prediction: No End In Sight

ACTUAL WINNER: *Taxi To The Darkside*

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

My Preference: Persepolis

My Prediction: Ratatouille

ACTUAL WINNER: *Ratatouille*

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

My Preference: "Falling Slowly" Once

My Prediction: "Falling Slowly" Once

ACTUAL WINNER: *"Falling Slowly" Once*

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

My Preference: The Golden Compass

My Prediction: Transformers

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Golden Compass*

BEST MAKE-UP

My Preference: La Vie En Rose

My Prediction: Pirates of the Caribbean-At World's End

ACTUAL WINNER: *La Vie En Rose*

BEST FOREIGN FILM

My Preference: Die Falscher (Austria)

My Prediction: Die Falscher (Austria)

ACTUAL WINNER: *Die Falscher* (Austria)

BEST SOUND EDITING

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Bourne Ultimatum*

BEST SOUND

My Preference: No Country For Old Men

My Prediction: No Country For Old Men

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Bourne Ultimatum*

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

My Preference: Atonement

My Prediction: Atonement

ACTUAL WINNER: *Atonement*

BEST ART DIRECTION

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *Sweeney Todd*

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

My Preference: Across The Universe

My Prediction: Atonement

ACTUAL WINNER: *Elizabeth: The Golden Age*

BEST FILM EDITING

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: The Bourne Ultimatum

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Bourne Ultimatum*

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

My Preference: The Savages

My Prediction: Juno

ACTUAL WINNER: *Juno*

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: No Country For Old Men

ACTUAL WINNER: *No Country For Old Men* 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *There Will Be Blood*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

My Preference: Cate Blancett, I'm Not There

My Prediction: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

ACTUAL WINNER: *Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton* 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

My Preference: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

My Prediction: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

ACTUAL WINNER: *Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men*

BEST ACTRESS

My Preference: Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose

My Prediction: Julie Christie, Away From Her

ACTUAL WINNER: *Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose*

BEST ACTOR

My Preference: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood* 

BEST DIRECTOR

My Preference: Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: Paul Thomas Anderon, There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Coen Bros., No Country For Old Men*

BEST PICTURE

My Preference: There Will Be Blood

My Prediction: There Will Be Blood

ACTUAL WINNER: *The Coen Bros., No Country For Old Men*

My instincts tell me, 'NO COUNTRY IS GOING TO WIN' and it pretty much has won almost every major prize up until now.  But it is Saturday afternoon, and the Oscars are tomorrow.  I've admired Paul Thomas Anderson for some time now; he being the most influential of Directors to me personally.  I love the Coens, and if they win tomorrow, they're getting away with murder (c'mon, a pair winning Best Director?).  I guess as long as "Juno" doesn't win, "No Country's" assumed victory won't leave that much of a bad taste in my mouth.  Nevertheless, I'm going to take a chance and predict "Blood" going for the gold tomorrow.

It's the best film of the year; a masterpiece, pure and simple.