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My Oscar Scorecard

It's been a couple of years since I've written an Oscar article, and seeing as how the Academy Awards are tonight, I thought I'd do it again! This is pretty simple and straight-forward: I wanted to see just how nominations I've actually seen. Not nominated films, but the actual, individual nominations themselves. So I made some simple tables and tallied up my scores. I'll put some commentary between the categories if I see fit.
Actor in a Leading Role
Nominee Seen It?
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor  
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon  
Sean Penn - Milk  
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler X
Subtotal
1
Total
1

Only one point so far, which isn't that big of a surprise. I never had any interest in Frost/Nixon or Benjamin Button, and I'm not really sure what The Visitor even is. But professional wrestling!? Hell, yeah!!

Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominee Seen It?
Josh Brolin – Milk  
Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder X
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt  
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight X
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road  
Subtotal
2
Total
3

Someone got nominated for a comedic performance! And I've actually seen it! True, I didn't see Tropic Thunder until earlier this month, but that counts. I don't see how anyone will beat Heath Ledger.

Actress in a Leading Role
Nominee Seen It?
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married  
Angelina Jolie - Changeling  
Melissa Leo – Frozen River  
Meryl Streep – Doubt  
Kate Winslet – The Reader  
Subtotal
0
Total
3

This was apparently not a good year for me and chick flicks. I didn't see any of these. Oddly enough, my wife actually saw Rachel Getting Married. This is the only time I can think of when she saw an Oscar-nominated film and I didn't.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominee Seen It?
Amy Adams – Doubt  
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona  
Viola Davis – Doubt  
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler X
Subtotal
1
Total
4

Whew! Thanks, The Wrestler. I almost got a big, fat zero again. I'm at four points out of a possible 20.

Art Direction
Nominee Seen It?
Changeling  
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
The Duchess  
Revolutionary Road  
Subtotal
1
Total
5

As far as I understand it, Art Direction is the design of the sets and props, but excluding costumes, which is its own category.

Cinematography
Nominee Seen It?
Changeling  
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
The Reader  
Slumdog Millionaire X
Subtotal
2
Total
7

Yes, The Dark Knight was pretty to look at. And thank goodness I actually went and saw Slumdog Millionaire.

Costume Design
Nominee Seen It?
Australia  
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Duchess  
Milk  
Revolutionary Road  
Subtotal
0
Total
7

Big fat Zero. I guess the Academy didn't like the new Bat Suit from The Dark Knight? Or all of the crazy monster outfits in Hellboy II? It always kinda bugs me when they nominate films like Revolutionary Road, when all you have to do to design costumes for them is get your hands on a clothing catalog from the year the film takes place.

Film Editing
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
Frost/Nixon  
Milk  
Slumdog Millionaire X
Subtotal
2
Total
9

Usually there are a bunch of action movies in this category, but this year all we have is The Dark Knight, which I actually thought was pretty poorly edited in parts. When you can't actually tell what's happening in some scenes, it's probably not a good idea to nominate that film.

Makeup
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
Hellboy II: The Golden Army X
Subtotal
2
Total
11

Baby Grandpa vs Joker Scars vs Hellboy, Abe, and Elves, and Trolls. I'll be sorely disappointed (but not surprised) if Hellboy II doesn't win.

Original Score
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
Defiance  
Milk  
Slumdog Millionaire X
WALL•E X
Subtotal
2
Total
13

I can't actually remember any of the music from either of the films I saw in this category. Some of the only scores I can actually remember from 2008 movies came from Iron Man and The Dark Knight.

Original Song
Nominee Seen It?
"Down to Earth" from WALL•E X
"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire X
"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire X
Subtotal
3
Total
16

Only three songs? really? I remember when they nomiated five songs... and three of them were from Disney musicals.

Sound Editing
Nominee Seen It?
The Dark Knight X
Iron Man X
Slumdog Millionaire X
WALL•E X
Wanted  
Subtotal
4
Total
20

I'm not sure what Slumdog Millionaire is doing in this category. I remember nothing at all unusual or special about its sound effects. Actually, what sound effects?

Sound Mixing
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
Slumdog Millionaire X
WALL•E X
Wanted  
Subtotal
3
Total
23

This Sound Mixing category has always been kinda weird to me. "Make sure that explosion is JUST loud enough, but not too loud! Move that volume slider one more millimeter or you won't get nominated for an Oscar!"

Visual Effects
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
The Dark Knight X
Iron Man X
Subtotal
2
Total
25

Wait, wait, wait... where's Hellboy II? Why is The Dark Knight in here when Hellboy II isn't? Grumble, grumble. I guess my brother and I (and Ebert) liked that movie more than most people.

Original Screenplay
Nominee Seen It?
WALL•E X
Happy-Go-Lucky  
Frozen River  
In Bruges  
Milk  
Subtotal
1
Total
26

Y'know, I probably should have seen Milk. I would have a lot more points by now.

Adapted Screenplay
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button  
Frost/Nixon  
The Reader  
Slumdog Millionaire X
Doubt  
Subtotal
1
Total
27

Isn't that the list of Best Picture nominees? Just swap out Doubt for Milk and there you have it. Four out of five Best Picture nominees were based on previously-written material. Does that say anything about the level of creativity in today's screenwriters? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Short Film (Live Action)
Nominee Seen It?
On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
 
Manon On the Asphalt  
New Boy (Ireland)  
The Pig (Grisen)  
Toyland (Spielzeugland)  
Subtotal
0
Total
27

No surprise that I got a zero here. How do you even go about seeing these movies?

Short Film (Animated)
Nominee Seen It?
La Maison En Petits Cubes
 
Lavatory - Lovestory X
Oktapodi X
Presto X
This Way Up  
Subtotal
3
Total
30

No surprise that I've seen the majority of these. I'm kind of an animation buff, and most of these are on iTunes and YouTube.

Documentary Short
Nominee Seen It?
The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki
 
The Final Inch  
Smile Pinki  
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306  
Subtotal
0
Total
30

Again - how does one go about seeing these? I've never even heard of any of them.

Documentary Feature
Nominee Seen It?
Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
 
Encounters at the End of the World  
The Garden  
Man on Wire  
Trouble the Water  
Subtotal
0
Total
30

I've heard of all of these except The Garden. I actually kinda want to see Man on Wire. Too late to help my score now, though!

Foreign-Language Film
Nominee Seen It?
Revanche (Austria) in German
 
The Class (France) in French  
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German  
Departures (Japan) in Japanese  
Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew  
Subtotal
0
Total
30

Waltz with Bashir is an interesting pickle. It's an animated, foreign documentary. But it's only nominated in the Foreign Film category. Is it illegal to be nominated for more than one Best Film category? Why wasn't it nominated in all four (including Best Picture)? Not that I've seen it, but I think it's kinda strange...

Animated Feature
Nominee Seen It?
Bolt
 
Kung-Fu Panda X
WALL•E X
Subtotal
2
Total
32

...You're trying to tell me that Waltz with Bashir was NOT better than Bolt?

Director
Nominee Seen It?
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
 
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire X
Stephen Daldry - The Reader  
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon  
Gus Van Sant – Milk  
Subtotal
1
Total
33

Good for you, David Fincher! I've always thought you were a top-notch director. Too bad you were nominated for a film that I had ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in seeing.

I would be shocked but delighted if Danny Boyle won. The guy made a zombie movie a few years ago. How many people have directed a zombie movie and then won Best Director?

Best Picture
Nominee Seen It?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
 
Frost/Nixon  
Milk  
The Reader  
Slumdog Millionaire X
Subtotal
1
Total
34

Slumdog gets me one final point, not that I really think it deserves to be in this category.

So unless my math is incorrect (which is a good possibility), I got 34 out of 111. That's, what, 30%? Solid F. Good job, Harris. Truth be told, though, there are years when I've probably done worse. In conclusion, I probably should have seen Milk.

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