The Academy has official shortlisted the documentaries that are eligible for Best Documentary Feature. Below are the 15 films in alphabetical order by their title:
The Beaches of Agnes, Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
Burma VJ, Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
Every Little Step, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
Facing Ali, Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
Food, Inc., Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
Garbage Dreams, Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
Mugabe and the White African, Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
Sergio, Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
Soundtrack for a Revolution, Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
Under Our Skin, Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
Valentino The Last Emperor, Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
Which Way Home, Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)
A nice surprise is to discover Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story" has been shut out of the documentary race (and now most certainly the Best Picture race). My deepest condolences to him. It must not be easy to be snubbed another unearned award on TOP of your film underperforming at the box office!
Well, Michael Moore has officially released his first teaser trailer for his upcoming "documentary" on the Wall Street scandal. I will save you all some money and let you know what it's going to be about: Rich greedy Republicans robbed poor people, the Bush Administration helped, only a poor Democratic president like Barack Obama can save us. This is more or less what the film will be, I fully expect the fact sheets to be the size of dictionaries shortly after the film opens. That said I have to admit that this teaser was actually pretty cleaver and funny. I still think the "documentary" is going to be a pile of doggie doo, but because Moore's involved you can bet it will be an Oscar contender in the Documentary race.
Keith Olbermann touched on a topic that was on many peoples minds after the show was over: Did the free speech at the Oscars get too political? Just a few years ago Michael Moore was booed off stage for his political comments but this year Sean Penn gets a standing ovation. What's up with that? Well, there are a few things to keep in mind (some of these points may be in the video). First of all, when Moore made his anti-Bush speech we had just gotten into the war with Iraq and people weren't feeling very opposed to the war for the most part. We had just come off of September 11th and America was in a bit of a depressed state where we were having trouble doing the things that made us happy. The feeling was so strong that the Oscars were in fear of being canceled out of guilt that it was wrong to be handing out awards when America was still grieving from it's tragic loss.
Another thing is that when Moore made his speech he did so to make the night about him, him, and him. Other actors, producers, and cameramen made comments about the war, but they were graceful and understanding. Not to mention at the time Hollywood was actually fairly polarized on what to feel about the war. It had supporters and opponents, so a mixed reaction was bound to happen. Fast forward to this years Oscars and it should come as no surprise why most of these controversial speeches didn't bother anyone. Prop 8 is still weighing heavy on peoples minds. Most of the people in Hollywood aren't religious and I can almost assure you that the few that are weren't at the show to boo Bill Maher. Then we had Dustin Lance Black, who made his political speech elegant and understanding. Compassionate as well.
Even people who don't agree with his statement had a difficult time not tearing up during it. And in truth, the only speech that rubbed people the wrong way was that of Sean Penn. Yeah, there was no booing at the show, but keep in mind: He was in a crowd of people who agreed with him. In the real world his speech has caused the biggest rift. Telling people that they should hang their head in shame for the hate they display by voting for the passing of Prop 8 is not how you make your point. Agree or not, people had their own reasons for voting the way they did. Besides, Penn has been known to be a bit homophobic himself in the past, so who's he to lecture people on how to act towards the gays and lesbians? As with every year there were speeches I liked and speeches I didn't like. But actors always make political speeches like these at the Oscars.
Do I feel they belong there? No. To quote screenplay writer Paddy Chayefsky after Vanessa Redgrave gave the audience her pro-Palestinian views during her acceptance speech:
"Before I get on to the writing awards, there's a little matter I'd like to tidy up--at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say, personal opinion, of course, that I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda.
I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed."
This small speech, which should be played before an Oscar telecast every year there is a politically sensitive topic in the running is - I feel - the poster child for what's wrong with political Oscar speeches.
Controversial documentary maker Michael Moore won't be at the Academy Awards despite releasing a new film this year. That's because he intends to release the film for free online and then sell the DVD. Personally, I think this makes sense. The new film, entitled "Slacker Uprising," is about Moore's sixty-two city tour to try and get college students to vote. The trailer is below:
And while I don't want to get all political I have to say that I'm glad this movie won't be up for Oscar consideration because this looks like a self-promotional film if ever I saw one. I'm happy when people try to encourage the younger generation to vote (a generation, it seems, that would rather blog about their problems then actually take the time to vote on them), but if Mikey thinks his tour was successful at all then he's nuts. The poll statistics showed that the droves of college students that would vote didn't even register...or in other words they didn't show up.
In the preview you see kids committing to vote President Bush out of the White House, and we all know how THAT worked out! Basically Mike's tour was a wash, and this is him trying to make a buck off his disappointment (and to maybe try and convince himself the whole thing wasn't a wash). The only reason he's not releasing it in theaters is because he knows no one will pay to see it. So he's giving it away. And the DVD...well, that's for his fans who just HAVE to have everything!
You've found yet another blog dedicated to predicting the Academy Awards (AKA: The Oscars). This is probably the most stupid and pointless game people play on the internet, seeing as how the Oscars aren't science and there are no rules, just guesses. Playing the Oscar prediction game is like playing roulette without being able to see the numbers, and you always end up looking like a fool at least once for predicting something that was just a bunch of hot air. But what the heck, it's also a lot of fun trying to predict nominations and wins off information that has nothing to do with anything. As with most Oscar sites I have my list of potential nominees on the right. Unlike many sites though, a guess won't appear until the movie has been released, otherwise I feed a hype machine that may have little merit to it. Anyway, hope you enjoy the blog.
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