Last year we admitted to being a bit slack so we felt like we needed to step it up this go round. And step it up we did!! With the exception of Richard Jenkins in THE VISITOR, we saw each and every Oscar acting nominated performance (Katy did watch the trailer for THE VISITOR though, and found it very moving for whatever that is worth). For the 2009 Oscar ceremony we put on our Awards cap and went to work. Ladies and Gentleman, roll out the Red Carpet - here comes the Krassner/Rhodes Oscar Picks of 2009! *
*If you’re a member of the fan community you can hear an extended Oscar episode of Katy’s Kafe
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
WILL WIN: While we can't fib and say we saw every film in this category, we do know that MAN ON WIRE will win this Award.
SHOULD WIN: MAN ON WIRE should get the nod, it's subject matter is just so unique, though TROUBLE THE WATER was pretty outstanding and could be a surprise upset. But both Katy & Nick are sticking with MAN ON WIRE.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
WILL WIN: Nick loved WALL-E, it was one of his favorites of the year “animation often gets too much cheese for me but WALL-E was a fantastic story, beautifully conceived and executed. And it looked extraordinary.” Katy didn't like WALL-E and felt it lost potential half way thru - AND it made fun of fat people! - but admits it is going to win. Sigh.
SHOULD WIN: WALL-E, says Nicholas. Whatever, say Katy. No wait, let’s throw a little love to Miley Cyrus, cos you know, she hasn’t won enough this year – go BOLT.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)
WILL WIN: WALTZ WITH BASHIR or THE CLASS? The trailers for THE CLASS annoyed Katy so she’s sticking with her people and going with WALTZ. Just kidding! Though she hasn't seen the whole thing, it looks like a terrific, hard hitting and creative interpretation. Nick thinks the technology for WALTZ is beautiful and it will win the Award for its uniqueness.
SHOULD WIN: Nick would like THE CLASS to win, he feels it’s a very real story about a teacher and his students but not enough people seem to have seen it and WALTZ is all the rage. Nick does give an honorable mention to THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX, a film about Terrorists in the 70s. Nick is far more educated than Katy in this category, so she is going to stick with WALTZ for Should Win, but really because she doesn't know any better (!)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Milk, Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
WALL-E, Thomas Newman
WILL WIN: The first of many SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE picks for Mr. Rhodes. He is giving the Best Original Score Oscar to SDM. Nick feels that movie soundtracks need to "enhance the film but you shouldn’t exactly notice them – they should be part of the film. It helps when it’s done beautifully – the SLUMDOG Soundtrack is dynamic and doesn’t get in the way." Katy will just agree for the sake of agreeing because Nick is a musician and Katy just runs a Kafe.
SHOULD WIN: Just to be defiant, katy says she wished DEFIANCE would win. Nick feels like SLUMDOG really should win it but being a big fan of Danny Elfman, Nick thinks he always deserves to win something. To complicate matters, he likes the score for WALL-E as well but wouldn’t be upset if the Award went with Danny and MILK.
ORIGINAL SONG
''Down to Earth,'' WALL-E
''Jai Ho,'' Slumdog Millionaire
''O Saya,'' Slumdog Millionaire
WILL WIN: We’re sort of boycotting this Award because we can’t understand who chooses the songs to be nominated, why there are only 3 choices (no Bruce? No Clint?) plus we hear the Oscar Producers have treated Peter Gabriel poorly by not allowing him to perform his song in its entirety - so Peter is sitting it out. But you just know something from SLUMDOG will win this one. Bummer.
SHOULD WIN: PETER GABRIEL shout Krassner and Rhodes! A lifelong fan (Nick) and a "Solsbury Hill" enthusiast (Katy), we'd both like to see the eloquent and elegant Mr. Gabriel take home an Academy Award. Says Nick, "Peter is a groundbreaking artist and he really deserves this award."
BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTATION
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy
WILL WIN: Can you tell that Nick likes SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE? He is going with it for Best Adapted Screenplay. And for this category, Katy agrees, it WILL win. By far "the most original and unique film" for Nick, who isn’t surprised it has been cleaning up at the Award Shows this year, though he acknowledges all the other nominees certainly have their merit. Katy agrees that SDM is certainly dynamic and was was both "complex and simple" in its storytelling.
SHOULD WIN: Katy wishes FROST/NIXON would win just because SLUMDOG will win everything and FROST/NIXON took a potentially boring subject and made it absolutely riveting. But it won’t win. Nick thinks SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE should win – and, you know, it will.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter
WILL WIN: There seems to be no JUNO this year (clear cut winner). Well then we will have to both stick our necks out and say Dustin Lance Black it shall be your night for MILK. Katy thinks MILK was "compelling and beautiful without being manipulative." Nick acknowledges that there are two wonderful British films in the list of Nominees (IN BRUGES/HAPPY-GO-LUCKY) but feels MILK has largely been over looked and overpowered by the SLUMDOG phenomena. It should win something, and this will be it.
SHOULD WIN: Nicholas would like to give honorable-you-could-win-and-I-wouldn’t-be-upset-mention to IN BRUGES and WALL-E but is sticking with MILK for Should Win. Did Katy mention she wasn't in to WALL-E? She thinks MILK should (and will) win, but if forced to pick a runner-up, it would be Mike Leigh’s HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (which was ROBBED of acting nominations).
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
WILL WIN: My goodness we are just agreeing on everything this year. No fun! We both think Penélope Cruz will win this Award for her performance as Maria Elena in VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. Katy thinks that like Kate Winslet, Penelope will probably win for her overall career thus far. She was good in VCB, but the character was "a terrific one to play." In his own way, Nick agrees, feeling "very strongly about this one, I really loved VCB and would love Penélope to win." Having seen every Woody Allen film – even the less popular ones - Nick feels he is way back on form and that it was an extraordinary role for Penélope and she delivered.
SHOULD WIN: Nick just loves him some Penélope Cruz and he thinks she should win. Katy is stuck between Marisa Tomei’s excellent performance in THE WRESTLER and Amy Adams terrific job in DOUBT. If she must chose, Katy thinks Amy, out of all the nominees, had the most difficult - and pivotal - role, and would choose her.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, Milk
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
WILL WIN: Josh, Robert, Philip and Michael can stay home. Heath is the only sure thing on this night.
SHOULD WIN: Yes, Katy agrees that Heath was awesome as The Joker, but the-Best-Supporting-Actor-kind-of-awesome? No, he wasn’t. Philip Seymour Hoffman was wow-wow-wow as a “did he or didn’t he” Priest in DOUBT, and in a different year, Katy feels he'd win. Nick thinks it is difficult to bring a comic book role to life with depth, and Heath pulled it off immaculately in his opinion. He feels Heath's death was "an incredible loss as he had such potential" so Nick won’t be sad to see him win. However his "Honorable Mention" goes to Robert Downey Jr. in TROPIC THUNDER – Nick believes that way back he should have won for CHAPLIN so he is happy RDJ’s back on top.
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
WILL WIN: Agreeing again, both Nick and Katy want Kate Winslet. Katy thinks Kate will win it for all the work she’s done, and all the nominations she has racked up, but believes she was 100x better in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD than she was in THE READER, which Katy thought was a completely over-rated film. But ok, she deserves an Oscar cos she’s such a crazy good actress. Nick thinks Kate's role in THE READER was a difficult one to play, so even though he didn’t love the movie, he loved her performance.
SHOULD WIN: As great as Meryl Streep was in DOUBT, Katy still thinks Kate should win, even if it’s for the wrong film (see REVOLUTIONARY ROAD commentary above). Nick thinks Kate should win – she was so good in both THE READER and REVOLUTIONARY ROAD – they owe her one.
BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
WILL WIN: Let’s get ready to rumble! While torn on this one, more so than any other category, Nick is giving the Best Actor nod to Mickey Rourke. Sean was terrific in MILK, it was a difficult role. But Mickey in THE WRESTLER "was a transformation – those parts, to take them on and get them right, is extraordinary." Katy is going headlock to headlock with Nick and says “Sean Penn has to get it, he was a triumph. As good as Mickey was, he was playing...Mickey Rourke. Sean lost himself in that role. You did not even know you were seeing someone act, you were seeing Harvey Milk.
SHOULD WIN: Jeff Spicoli. Harvey Milk. Can you even BELIEVE the same actor played both roles? Exactly, says Katy. Nick would be happy with either Sean or Mickey.
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Gus Van Sant, Milk
WILL WIN: Agree-Agree-Agree we do (“Again? Geeze”) that Danny Boyle will get the Award. Katy supposes he deserves it because the crowd scenes were plentiful and difficult to navigate and the story did unfold beautifully. Nick thinks he should of course win – "to put this film together, on location, in India, the logistical nightemares they had, to pull that off and have it look so incredible, there’s no question, he’s the favorite and deserves it."
SHOULD WIN: Nick believes Danny Boyle will win but is thrilled for Gus Van Sant's nomination as he is a big fan of all his work. Katy was very partial to FROST/NIXON but knows that Ron Howard has no chance. Once again, she'd like to see Gus Van Sant/MILK take this award because of what a wonderfully told story this was. There wasn't a single moment wasted in this film.
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
WILL WIN: This selection of films show that "it has been quite a good year for movies," says Nicholas – and interestingly, all the nominated films also had their Directors nommed, which doesn't always happen (and confuses us both when it doesn't). Nick and Katy know the Award for Best Picture will go to SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. We'd both like to point out though, that in a way, all these nominated films are love stories, and beautiful in their own right. We are both delighted for them all and wish them all the best of luck.*
*Except for THE READER, which Katy strongly feels was better suited for a Hallmark Movie
SHOULD WIN: Katy has gone on the record many times saying that she thinks SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is overrated - and hello! - turned in to a Bollywood STEP IT UP at the end. She’d like to see MILK get the award.
Nick says that from a personal point of view, he is happy that British films are doing so well – a country less than the size of Texas with such remarkable movies and performances coming out this year. But he is sticking with his Will Win to be his Should Win - it was SLAMDUNK MILLIONAIRE for Nick Rhodes this Oscar season!
Tune in this Sunday and see how we did this year – we think it’s our strongest, and best educated, Oscar Picks in ages. Next year, we’re looking to be Presenters so if you know any one...
Pass the popcorn!
Katy & Nick
