Saturday, January 28, 2006

The Films They Don't Let Us See

And the last bit of this year's Oscar prediction madness is coming to a close. Today I've completed the Foreign Film Pages as well as detailed my predictions for the categories that never get the love they deserve: Animated Short, Live Action Short, Documentary Short, and Documentary Feature. So take a look.

These categories are notoriously hard to predict because you have to do it blind. We don't get to see the films. Even if you live in NYC (as I do) it's tough to see many of them. With the shorts.... well occassionally they'll have one or two special showings after nominations of the shortlisters only. They usually sell out in the blink of an eye, causing much wailing and gnashing of teeth on my part as I'm not always quick on the draw. Today's distribution and theatrical exhibition system has no room for many of these films (gotta show those Coca Cola student filmmakers commercials and the video game ads!) which is a real shame.

Anyway. Predictions are basically done. Tonight, I sleep on it. Tomorrow I give it a once over. Convince myself I'm not crazy. Maybe make one or two changes and the whole thing is complete. On Tuesday the AMPAS voters let us know how right or how wrong I am in reading their collective mind. On March 5th they hand out the shiny men. Then the whole thing starts all over again for the 2006/2007 season. It's the circle of (Oscar Obsessive) life.

8 comments:

Javier Aldabalde said...

i dont know if you guys have seen the INOCA (sp?) nominations but they have some of the best lineups of the year. awesome picks.

Kevyn Knox said...

You have Everything in This Country Must as a possible nominee for Best Live Action Short. This film was nominated last year at the Oscars (but lost to Wasp).

Glenn Dunks said...

Okay, I saw The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello at the cinema (in a double-bill with 1929's Man with a Movie Camera no less) and it is really good. Consider it as the Catch Me If You Can opening gone via Tim Burton.

I wonder if One Man Band will screen alongside Cars

9's IMDb page has it's plot as: A rag doll fights a monster that has been stealing the souls of his people. Yet, the IMDb page for the 9 feature film has this plot: A post-apocalyptic nightmare in which all of humanity is threatened.

Well done though to Shane Acker, he's been allowed to direct the feature adaptation for a movie that sounds like it could be really big.

Anonymous said...

Nat, can you elaborate a bit on the reception Adam's Apples have been given? You said it has passionate fans - and I am baffled, because I don't think the film is very good, and the humor couldn't be more anti-AMPAS..

NATHANIEL R said...

I know adams apple seems anti-thetical to what they like. but i'm hearing the people who like it are crazy about it. and passion you have to have.

you can't vote against something but only for something.

Anonymous said...

Nathaniel, for feature documentary, After Innocence not only has an oscar bait subject, but the director's mother is the head of the documentary committee (and won in 1994 for her Maya Lin doc. Remember the year Hoop Dreams was snubbed. It was by her mother).

Just sayin'

Glenn Dunks said...

ugh. Let's not bring up the single worst Oscar mistake. OF. ALL. TIME.

Cause seriously, what were they thinking? Disastrous, really.

Lyn said...

I don't know what it's chances are realistically like, but the Aussie live action short "Green Bush" is lovely.
And yeah, "The Mysterious . . . Jasper Morello" in the animated category is every bit as good as the hype.