milking the case of the slumdog frost reader.

so i realized that i never talked about LOST this week. how silly of me! i agree with the folks over at the lost diary, i think this was a strange yet wonderful episode. ms. hawking's pendulum room--aka the lamp post--was creepy and cool, just like her.

thoughts/theories:

• ben didn't tell hurley to be on the plane. hurley had a guitar with him. i think ghost charlie told him to be on the plane, and he was carrying charlie's guitar.
• i think sayid's arrest has something to do with recreating the circumstances of the flight. (re: kate in handcuffs.)
• i still think boone and shannon will be back, mark my words.
• who built the lamp post?

questions:

• where the hell are bernard and rose? i've been wondering it for like 3 episodes now.
• why was jin in a dharma outfit?
• what happened to aaron?
• who beat up ben?

and now for un-LOST related  news: the oscars are on tonight!

oscar predictions:

(the * indicates who i think will be the winner.)

Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor"
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn in "Milk"
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 

*Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" 

i wish this was going to sean penn, but it seems like mickey's gonna take it.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:
Josh Brolin in "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"
*Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" 
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" 

sad, but definitely deserves the recognition.

Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" 
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" 
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" 
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" 
*Kate Winslet in "The Reader" 

love of my life. i can't wait to see her win.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Amy Adams in "Doubt" 
*Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" 
Viola Davis in "Doubt" 
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" 

this one i'm not positive about, but i'll be happy with any of these ladies winning.

Best animated feature film of the year:
"Bolt" 
"Kung Fu Panda" 
*"WALL-E"

duh.

Achievement in art direction:
"Changeling" Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography:
"Changeling"  Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight"  Wally Pfister
"The Reader"  Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design:
"Australia" Catherine Martin
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Jacqueline West
"The Duchess" Michael O'Connor
"Milk" Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road" Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon"  Ron Howard
"Milk"  Gus Van Sant
"The Reader"  Stephen Daldry
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Danny Boyle

i think daldry and van sant deserve recognition, but this is just a landslide.

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"

Achievement in film editing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight"  Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon"  Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk"  Elliot Graham
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year:
"The Baader Meinhof Complex"  - Germany
"The Class"   - France
"Departures"   - Japan
"Revanche"   - Austria
*"Waltz with Bashir"  - Israel

Achievement in makeup:
*"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight"  John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army"  Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

it should be "the dark knight."

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (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

i'm relatively obsessed with the soundtrack.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"  Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
*"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"  Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"  Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" 
"Frost/Nixon" 
"Milk" 
"The Reader" 
*"Slumdog Millionaire" 

it should be "the reader" or "milk," but it won't be.

Best animated short film:
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi" 
*"Presto" 
"This Way Up"

everytime i watch "wall-e," i get excited to watch "presto" first.

Best live action short film:
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" 
"Manon on the Asphalt" 
"New Boy" 
*"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

Achievement in sound editing:
*"The Dark Knight" Richard King
"Iron Man"  Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire"  Tom Sayers
"WALL-E"  Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted"  Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight"  Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
*"Slumdog Millionaire"  Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E"  Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted"  Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
*"The Dark Knight" Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man" John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"  Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord

"Doubt"  Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon"  Screenplay by Peter Morgan
*"The Reader"  Screenplay by David Hare
"Slumdog Millionaire"  Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

let's hear it for the playwrights reppin' at the oscars! repruhzent!

Original screenplay:
"Frozen River"  Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky"  Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges"  Written by Martin McDonagh
*"Milk"  Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E"  Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

if the people in the academy read the new york times review of "wall-e" then it would win. it is absolutely brilliant.