Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Memoirs of an Oscar-Baiter

You know. Tonight is the Project Runway reunion episode. And it's also Sasha Cohen's long program at the Olympics. So do I have time for a bunch of phonetics happy geisha? Sure. I can write today's countdown entry with a single spurt. I am ready.



One of my favorite moments this past year here at the site? The day when Memoirs of a Geisha actually opened and I stopped getting hate mail for my review. Instantly! Funny, no? Scathing e-mails about my critical ability and obvious bias and suddenly vindication and I'm one of the kinder reviews. But let's put that aside. Back patting is boring in large doses. Let's talk Oscar. After all, plentiful stinky reviews aside, Geisha came up nearly smelling like a cherry blossom on January 31st when the nominations were announced.

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15 comments:

Javier Aldabalde said...

Well this film didn't look all that pretty, really. One Oscar seems like an exaggeration already. Sigh... I'll be angry if this crap takes my favorite of awards, Cinematography.

John T said...

I'm hoping that Williams doesn't make it for one of his worst scores ever (I say this as a big fan of his). Personally, I wouldn't give it anything, but I'm also shooting for two (in this case, it is Art Direction and Costume). As for the Cinematography-I think it's the least of the five (but that didn't stop Chicago from winning).

adam k. said...

Noms for Art Direction, Costumes, Cinematography and Score were always inevitable, but the sound nods shocked me. And yeah, when something's up for 6 tech awards, it generally wins one or two. I am thinking costumes and art direction... Williams has the globe and BFCA award for this, but I think Gustavo will win for Brokeback since it needs some more wins (and since he deserves it). But I think score is actually kinda wide open... I think votes will be thrown all around and Williams will cancel himself out, and I could even see P&P or something pull a surprise upset... but I think Brokeback will win cause it's the best picture.

I think Brokeback takes Pic, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Score, and hopefully an acting award, G&G goes home emptyhanded, and Memoirs takes art/costume.

Nathaniel, have you seen the Memoirs spoof on you tube? It's so funny. The link is in an old post on my blog.

Glenn Dunks said...

I think Brokeback will also win score because a) it's great and b) some people are probably upset the song wasn't eligable, hence they may want to reward Gustavo here.

Memoirs will most likely win for Costume but I do think that is all it will get. I really hope Dion Beebe doesn't win for Memoirs (i am a HUGE fan of his but here his work was sub-standard and bland), I really hope John Williams doesn't win (Munich is the far superior score of Williams' anyway), I really hope it doesn't win for production design because it is so historically incorrect and the lighting was so dark you couldn't even see the sets on occasions.

The sound categories? I have no idea how that happened.

Anonymous said...

Wow again our opinions diverge, I didn't think Memoirs was that bad, it was enjoyable, worst thing about the movie for me was still Ziyi Zhang... she didn't show many emotions there.

As for the awards, Costume should be a lock, and Art Directions is very good too, but to me, both Score and Cinematography should go to Brokeback, because those are really the top points of the movie! The Sounds are not even in question... a nomination there is already too much.

Calum Reed said...

I love Sasha Cohen. She's fab. By the way, where is Michelle Kwan these days? I saw a short program by her a couple of years ago and was totally blown away. Probably the reason I love figure skating.

Anonymous said...

Slightly off-topic, but I think this is funny.

The Australian TV-trailer for Memoirs of a Geisha very prominently says "nominated for 2 Academy Awards!"

NATHANIEL R said...

javierag & Kamikaze -me too. i love dion beebe but this is not his best work.

john -if it has to be two i'm hoping art dir and costume too so that my gustavo can win score.

adam k -i have seen that memoirs spoof yes. I'm thinking of uploading some video edits to youtube for you guys to see. just haven't decided (copy infringements and all -ha ha)

scorp -people rarely agree with me on everything. i hope you'll keep coming back.

cal -you didn't hear that Kwan dropped out. it was the talk of the olympics for a day or two.

goran -that is funny. I alway scratch my head at which nominations ads choose to play up. must be from marketing research I don't understand. (like the BBM ads that were playing here for awhile that listed everything EXCEPT michelle williams. which was so weird. usually it's the tech stuff they ignore if they're going to cut down the commercial length.

Anonymous said...

Memoirs is going to pull out 4 wins. Just a gut feelin on it.

Calum Reed said...

Ohh really? What a shame. Was it an injury?

I've been searching for some kind of video clip of this short program she did, but I don't know the year or the event or anything. Something major though. She got some sixes.

Anonymous said...

What about Matrix? It won 4/4 oscars all outside major 8 and most importantly Editing!

Anonymous said...

Can anyone explain the sound effects editing nomination? Were the geisha noises that impressive?

NATHANIEL R said...

yes but for the most part the Matrix was a respected film. not unlike Terminator 2: Judgment Day which also won 4 tech awards. But both films were giant hits AND well reviewed.

Anonymous said...

Both were huge technical achievements, as well. Both in visual and aural designs.

Anonymous said...

Well you can't compare the technical achievements of The Matrix to the ones of Memoirs, for once, The Matrix has revolutionized the special effects, where Memoirs doesn't even come close. I'm sticking with my (maximum) 2 awards.

Wow it sounds like I didn't like Memoirs when I actually did.

oh and nathaniel, I'll keep coming, I don't care if we have different opinions, this is still one of the best oscar sites around.