BFCA Winners

As the title says, the BFCA has announced their winners (more love for "Slumdog Millionaire" to be found):

Picture, Director, Score, Screenplay, Young Actor: Slumdog Millionaire
Animated: WALL•E
Documentary: Man on Wire
Foreign Film: Waltz With Bashir
Comedy: Tropic Thunder
TV Movie: John Adams
Action: The Dark Knight
Song: "The Wrestler" Bruce Springsteen
Actor & Acting Ensemble: Sean Penn and the cast of Milk
Actress: (tie) Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married and Meryl Streep for Doubt
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet for The Reader

The Good, The Bad, & The Confusing (SAG 2008)

The Good

Richard Jenkins and Robert Downey Jr. scored Best Actor and Supporting Actor nods for their great work in "The Visitor" and "Tropic Thunder." "The Dark Knight" gets more then one nomination. Penelope Cruz is riding her way to a locked Oscar win.

The Bad

"The Dark Knight" is snubbed in the Best Ensemble Cast category (though it did get nominated in the Stunt Ensemble category). Rosemary Dewitt gets snubbed for "Rachael Getting Married." "Doubt" leads the nominations (though the acting is great, the movie is not, so hopefully the Academy will take that into consideration when looking at these noms). Sally Hawkins is robbed of a nomination. What? Don't the members of SAG like to laugh?

The Confusing

Basically, I don't get the whole "Slumdog Millionaire" nominations. For starters, that Best Ensemble nomination is very stupid. There are many films beyond "The Dark Knight" that have better ensembles that that movie ("Burn After Reading," "Tropic Thunder," even the virtually unseen "Mrs. Petigrew Lives For A Day"). Then, to add more confusion to the situation, Dev Patel was nominated in the Best Supporting Category, even though he's pretty much the main character. Look, I know people in Hollywood love this film, but even if they want this film to be godfather to their children they shouldn't be nominating it for things just to nominate it. Frankly, I think 'Slumdog,' good as it was, had no place being nominated here (though I wouldn't rule it out for Oscars).

"The Soloist" Trailer

Seeing as how Joe Wright's previous two films have attracted Oscar attention (particularly "Atonement," which got a Best Picture nomination) I feel that we can expect great things from "The Soloist." It looks like a movie with great performances, it a personal film, and (if the trailer is to be believed) it's based on a true story. Sounds like Oscar bait to me. Robert Downey Jr. has been having an esspecially good year. With "Iron Man" he revived his career in a big way. In "Tropic Thunder" he stole the show and looks to have a good shot at a Best Supporting Actor nomination. And now we have "The Soloist," which looks like potential Best Actor material. There's just five things standing in his way right now:

1. Voters could get confused as to which role to vote for, and he could walk away nomination-less.
2. Jamie Foxx could steale the nomination here.
3. The two actors could split the vote and neither get nominated.
4. Too much Downey could prove fatel to his chances.
5. "The Soloist" could be a terrible film, and thus not be award worthy.

Well, either way, glad to see Downey making films again. Whether he gets an Oscar nod or not it's difficult to revive a troubled career (just as Ben Affleck), and he managed to revive his in several big ways. So bravo to him.

Power To The Black Man (I Think)

"Tropic Thunder" is a very funny movie. This much is obvious to those who have seen it. What is even more obvious is that Robert Downey Jr. is brilliant as a white man playing a black character.



This image may be offensive to some, but frankly I don't care because the character is just so stinking funny. Every time he's on screen the movie gets better instantly. It's a comedy role, but one that I think would have a great chance at winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar almost any year. So it's kind of a shame that the movie was released during The Year of the Joker (as I'm going to call it.



Heath Ledger has got this award in the bag. Not only because this is a great performance, but because Ledger is dead (sorry guys, but it's hard to beat a dead guy). I think Downey will at least get a nomination in the supporting category, it's just a shame the movie wasn't released next year when he'd (more then likely) have a chance at winning it. Oh well, that's the Oscar game for you.