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DVD Diggers #26 - February 22, 2005 Welcome back to the new DVD Diggers, rebuilding for a better tomorrow. Watch your step please, kindly watch your step.
For those of you who don’t read our forums and wonder what happened to the column you all used to know and love here’s the long and the short of it: I got too preachy. I was really proud of the last few editions (what is the proper term for a web column anyway - editions? episodes? issues?) but they got off tangent from the wonderful world of DVD. I ranted about Scott Kurtz’s misuse of web fame, complained about the weather and community theater, and basically talked myself out of a job. Just kidding. Josh and I looked at what Diggers had become and decided that while we liked the editorial style of it, it had lost focus. So DVD Blend was born to talk about each week’s big releases on DVD, and Diggers will be more of an open editorial column, hopefully tying things back to DVDs. What is an Editorial Anyway? For those out there who seem to miss the point, an editorial is “ An article in a publication expressing the opinion of its editors or publishers” (dictionary.com). That means what I say in here, or in DVD Blend is my opinion. That means what Josh writes in The Weekend Blend or The Film Habit is his opinion. Does that make it fact? No, although I typically like to support my opinion with facts if I’m trying to make a point (like the definition of editorial above). Does that render your opinion incorrect? No, you are entitled to your opinion, just as I am entitled to mine. The difference is: I have a platform for my opinion in this column. As an editorial column, I can write what I want or feel in here. Please don’t try to tell me what I should or shouldn’t write when I’m writing my opinion, and I won’t tell you what your opinion should be. As the old saying goes, Opinions are like as... hey there Josh. Yup, keeping this family friendly as you asked. Oscar Time The big entertainment event is upon us - The Academy Awards. Despite my poor attendance in theaters last year, I’ve managed to catch just about every major nominee in the last few weeks (thank god for re-releases). That leaves me feeling qualified to give you my opinion on who should win, and who will win in the major categories this year. 
Best Supporting Actor nominees: Alan Alda (The Aviator), Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Jamie Foxx (Collateral), Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby), Clive Owen (Closer)Let me tell you who doesn’t deserve to win: Alda and Church. Neither of these actors really stretches themselves in their roles, and Church seems just like his character from “Wings”. However, I have to agree with Roger Ebert - Alda may be one of the biggest under appreciated actors around just because we’re all comfortable with him. I would be surprised (but not disappointed) to see him take it home though. Expect Foxx to take this home as a consolation prize for Best Actor, or Freeman to take it in the off chance Foxx does get the big prize. 
Best Supporting Actress nominees: Cate Blanchett (The Aviator), Laura Linney (Kinsey), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), Natalie Portman (Closer)This is probably the tightest competition in this year’s Oscars, with five very deserving actresses. That said, most of the talk seems to be brewing about Blanchett and Madsen. Okonedo does a fantastic job in Rwanda, but doesn’t exactly have a high profile part, and the same can be said about Linney. Although Blanchett is great as Hepburn, she’s doing more mimicry than anything else (although what a great job), and I think Madsen will walk home with the statue. 
Best Actress nominees: Annette Bening (Being Julia), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)Now for my moment of honesty - this is the one category that’s so off kilter with the rest of the nominations, that I’ve barely scratched the surface of these. The two front runners seem to be Swank and Staunton (sorry Katie, but it was honor just to be nominated) and I can’t make my mind up between the two. I’m going to say Staunton takes it home because Swank is a prior Oscar winner, but either of them deserve the award. 
Best Actor nominees: Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Jamie Foxx (Ray)Strictly on the merits of their performances, any of these actors deserve this award, although I think Cheadle has the best evenly keeled performance of the bunch. However, we all know the Oscars are not always based strictly on the performances. As brilliant as Cheadle or Foxx may be, they are pretty much newcomers to this league, whereas there are many who think DiCaprio and Depp are overdue for a shiny bald man on their mantle. The wild card is Clint because, as others have said, the Academy may love the idea of a director/actor/composer win. I’m rooting for Depp though. While I don’t think his Barrie is the best he’s done, Capt'n Jack Sparrow might not get another shot at the big time. 
Best Director nominees: Martin Scorsese (The Aviator), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Taylor Hackford (Ray), Alexander Payne (Sideways), Mike Leigh (Vera Drake)Again, all of these movies are deserving, but only one truly stands out: The Aviator. It’s not even that The Aviator is a better movie than the other flicks, but Martin Scorsese is long overdue for his Academy Award. The fortunate thing is unlike other directors (cough *Ridley Scott* cough) The Aviator is worth Scorsese winning an award for. His Oscar might be for Raging Bull, but he should still be proud to have The Aviator’s name on it. I would be seriously surprised if anyone else takes this home, with the possible exception of Clint Eastwood, again for the whole actor/director/composer first. 
Best Animated Film nominees:The Incredibles, Shark Tale, Shrek 2Are you kidding? Do you even think there’s a chance Dreamworks will take this one? The Incredibles has already won so much acclaim (including one of the winners for CinemaBlend’s Most Impressive Visual Effect award) there’s no way it won’t take this one. In fact, it was even hinted that The Incredibles was almost the second animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. Pixar and Brad Bird have this one in the bag. 
Best Picture nominees: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, SidewaysAnd it all comes down to this. By saying Scorsese is going to win Best Director it’s considered that I’m automatically for The Aviator for best picture. It’s almost a constant that both director and picture win, so far so in fact, that people automatically discount directors if their pictures aren’t nominated and vice versa (automatically removing Finding Neverland from consideration). However, this year things are a bit strange. “Indicator” award ceremonies have gone on strange tangents, and almost no critics seem to agree on winners. Personally, I think so many awards will be delivered to people for their past accomplishments that’ll mess with the usual connection and expect this to go to Million Dollar Baby. Of course, that’s based on the idea that Clint won’t win much else. If it’s not Baby then The Aviator has the best chance out of any of them. But what does this have to do with DVDs? Well, it’s simple. All movies, good or bad, eventually come to DVD. By their Academy nominations, these five films are considered to be the best films of 2005 (by critical standards of course - my favorite is still Spider-Man 2). So, if these films are the best 2005 has to offer, wouldn’t you want them on DVD? Well, here’s your chance. I’m going to give away a set of the “Best of 2005” DVDs. Now most of these films aren’t out yet, but almost all of them have a release date announced: Ray - Already Available Finding Neverland - March 22nd Sideways - April 5th The Aviator - TBD Million Dollar Baby - TBD So what do you have to do to win such a fantastic prize? Well, I’ve put my picks for the Oscar winners on the line. What are yours? Send me an e-mail with the subject line You Really Like Me with your choices for Best Supporting Actress and Actor, Best Actress and Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture and then join us on Sunday, February 27th for Oscar Chat 4. The person who picks the most winners gets DVDs. Obviously, future DVD releases will be sent as they come out - think of it as a sort of Columbia House membership, with no money at stake. The catch is (of course there’s a catch) you must be present at Oscar Chat 4 to win. In the event of a tie, the winner will be determined by who spent more time with us at our annual chat. And lets not forget Josh’s words of wisdom ”If you don't follow directions you won't win, even if you send me a sob story about how you're disabled, or have 15 children, or frittered away all your money on hookers and beer and you deserve to win one more than anyone else because your life sucks (you people know who you are). Well my life sucks too and I'm not getting free stuff! So keep all that to yourself.” Good luck on picking the winners, and I hope to see you at Oscar Chat 4 |
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