Ebert endorses 'Milk'

So as usual, Roger Ebert as chosen a film to endorse through Oscar voting (usually with positive outcomes for that said film in the winning department), and this time it's...'Milk'! I'm so excited that he's done this, but is it too late? Is it the best timing possible? All I know is that I'll have died and gone to heaven February 22nd if Van Sant's masterpiece takes home the big one. No more blog posts for me, unless they have computers in heaven.

I especially love the karma that stems from that fact that if 'Milk' were to conquer over 'Slumdog,' then that would mean that it would be like Ebert correcting his mistake of backing 'Crash' over 'Brokeback' back in 2005. We all know what happened then... Just, please God let good conquer over evil (also known as Jamal Malik) this time!

Of the five nominees, "Milk" was far and away my personal leader in Elevation. I think it worked because Gus Van Sant's direction, Sean Penn's performance and Black's screenplay earned the right to that final shot. It didn't exploit it, it deserved it.

Amen.

A few words on ... 'The Wrestler'

This was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I was bawling my eyes out by the end, which seems to be happening a lot these days. Mickey Rourke was sensational. I can't even imagine this movie without him. That being said, I still don't think that he is better than Sean Penn in 'Milk,' but whatever--he's one of the closest seconds that I can recall. Marisa Tomei was great as well. Very sad. I mean the whole thing is just really depressing, which I have to say kind of surprised me. From the trailer I was expecting something much more saccharine, and thankfully it wasn't at all (minus the Evan Rachel Wood scene that was basically a repeat of the ending to 'Thirteen').

I loved this to pieces. Aronofsky's best film to date.

Oh dear.

I (sadly) saw 'My Bloody Valentine 3-D' instead of 'The Wrestler' today. It was, without a doubt, one of the most poorly acted, scripted...anything movies I've seen it quite some time. With that said, it was also one of the most hysterical and endlessly quotable. I'm assuming that the filmmakers didn't have that in mind, but whatever. Kerr Smith fortunately is still really cute and Jensen Ackles isn't so bad either, so at least there was eye candy for moi.

All I'm going to say is that if you want to see it, you might as well just see it now. It'll more likely than not lose some, or rather all, of its "wonder" when on the small screen. The gimmick, added to the comicality of it all, overall made it a fun time out.

SAG Winners + Reactions

Best Ensemble: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn - Milk
Best Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep - Doubt
Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet - The Reader

I'm thrilled, tickled pink really that Penn won. Hopefully this will just cement his name on that Oscar statuette. The fact, though, that 'Slumdog' did indeed take Ensemble is absolutely revolting. I'm really starting to feel the backlash.

I'm really starting to feel it.

SAG Predictions

Best Ensemble: Milk
Alt: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn - Milk
Alt: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Female Actor in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep - Doubt
Alt: Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Alt: Josh Brolin - Milk

Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet - The Reader
Alt: Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I swear, if 'Slumdog Millionaire' wins Best ENSEMBLE over 'Milk,' I'll die.

Quick Reactions

WHAT I LOVED

-- Got 'Milk'
Like some, I was terrified, terrified, terrified that 'Milk,' the true best picture of the year, was going to be left out of the BP/BD categories. Fear not! Its 8 nominations were like music to my ears.

-- Heath
If they had snubbed him like they so disgustingly did the rest of 'TDK' I would have flipped. Luckily, they didn't make that mistake.

-- 'Button' sweep
13 nominations! 13! The eleventh film ever to receive 13 or more. I adored it, so I was pleased to see that it pulled through, just like I thought it would. I especially love the Pitt mention.

-- Kate showed up somewhere
I'm thrilled that Winslet was nominated, though I'm pretty shocked that it was 1.) only in leading and 2.) for 'The Reader'. At least she wasn't yet another victim of category fraud. I am, still, a little bit bitter over the fact that her marvelous performance from 'Revolutionary Road' was looked over. Oh well.

-- 'In Bruges' gets recognized
Martin McDonagh's brilliant script showed up! Fantastic choice by the Academy, even though they should have found some room for Colin Farrell.

-- The state of the Supporting Actress race
So with no Winslet to challenge her, does Cruz have it sewn up? I'm hoping it'll be more exciting than that, but who knows as of now.

-- No Dev Patel!
Look I loved 'Slummy,' and Dev was cute and all, but the most he deserved was an honorable mention.

WHAT I HATED

-- 'The Dark Knight' is...where now?
'The Reader'. Great movie. One of the best of the year, surely. Better than 'TDK'? Absolutely not. Sure, it picked up 8 nominations, Heath thankfully being one of them, but...no Nolan? No Picture? Well you win some, you lose some. However, if they give Supporting Actor to anyone other than Ledger, I will kill someone. Kill someone.


-- Sally Hawkins's snub
Unforgivable. Angelina was good and all, but I could just as easily cried and thrown plates around my house. Would I get an Oscar nomination? I mean I'd hope, but I'm betting on "no" as the correct answer. She should have been rewarded with a nom last year for her vastly superior portrayal of Marianne Pearl in 'A Mighty Heart'. Sorry Sally! You still have your Globe!

-- James Franco's snub
My personal pick for the best supporting player in a sea of fabulousness (Van Sant's ensemble), and even though I wasn't really expecting him to be nominated, it was still a disappointment.

-- Bruce Springsteen's snub
I haven't seen 'The Wrestler' yet, but "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen was one of, if not the best song written for a motion picture this year. Shameless. And what the hell is so bad about 5 nominees? Why sink to 3 this year? As long as M.I.A. performs "O Saya" with A.R. Rahman, I won't be as mad. Kind of.

81st Annual Oscar Nominations

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

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

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

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

Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River
Happy-G0-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Costume Design
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Best Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Original Score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E

Best Original Song
"Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire
"O... Saya" - Slumdog Millionaire
"Down to Earth" - WALL-E

Best Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Best Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

Best Documentary Feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Best Live Action Short Film
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)