Monday, February 23, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire dominates the Oscars


I got home and still got to see watch the Oscars. I was quite curious at how Slumdog Millionaire, which has been in numerous blogs everywhere, will fare considering they have 10 nominations. Eventually the movie won 8 including Best Picture and Best Director. The only category they lost was sound editing since they were nominated twice in Best Song.

What was very nice for me was the different way the Oscars introduced the nominees for Best Actress and Best Actor. In order to put class in the introducing the five best actors and actresses in 2008 the Academy brought together ten previous winners. For Best Actress the presentors were 1961 Best Actress Sophia Loren, 1983 Winner Shirley Maclaine, 2001 Winner Halley Berry, 2002 Winner Nicole Kidman and 2007 WinnerMarion Cottillard. For the Best Actor Award the presentors were Academy Award 1980 Winner Robert de Niro, 1982 Winner Sir Ben Kingsley, 1987 Winner Michael Douglas, , 1991 Winner Anthony Hopkins and 2002 Winner Adrien Brody.


Kate Winslet bested Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married) Angelina Jolie (The Changeling) Merryl Streep (Doubt) Melissa Leo (Frozen River) with her one of a kind acting in the movie THE READER. I never really thought that Kate would win. After seeing her in Titanic I never thought she would improve her acting. Her portrayal as a German woman in her thirties whose teenage lover is unaware of her dark secret in the past was really a coming out party for Kate. She was previously nominated twice in a supporting role and this is her fourth nomination in a leading role.


Sean Penn on the other hand joined an elite group as he cornered his second statue with his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the movie Milk. This is Penn's fifth nomination and second Oscar as he previously won one in 2003 for the movie Mystic River. Sean bested notable actors such as Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Brad Pitt (The curious case of Benjamin Button) and Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) It it the fifth nomination for Sean Penn and his second award which incidentally puts him in a tie with other notable greats such as Jack Nicholson.


Lastly, Heath Ledger's one of a kind and different approach to the role of Joker won him an academy award for best supporting role. He was once nominated in the lead role category for the movie Brokeback Mountain in 2005.

Congratulations to all the winners specially the makers of Slumdog Millionaire.

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