My overdue Halfway Awards for 2009....

I know that most of what you're about to see will have changed dramatically by the time the Oscars draw near, but hell, it's fun to do this now to have something to compare. It's as simple as it sounds: I'm going to reveal where my personal Oscars (the Texans) would go at this point in the year (I waited a little longer, so that now I'm judging out of 30 films total). I'm just putting up the nominations (and I won't do 10 Best Picture nominees until my lineups are just about finalized in early 2010). So, without further adieu, your current (picture-free) slate of nominees for the 2009 Texan Awards ("winners" will be revealed later this week)...

Best Picture:

(500) Days of Summer

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Moon

Star Trek

Best Director:

JJ Abrams - Star Trek

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Duncan Jones - Moon

Marc Webb - (500) Days of Summer

David Yates - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Best Actor:

Johnny Depp - Public Enemies

Jesse Eisenberg - Adventureland

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - (500) Days of Summer

Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Sam Rockwell - Moon

Best Actress:

Amy Adams - Sunshine Cleaning

Emily Blunt - Sunshine Cleaning

Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer

Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri

Maya Rudolph - Away We Go

Best Supporting Actor:

Michael Gambon - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Jackie Earle Hayley - Watchmen

Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker

Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Watchmen

Zachary Quinto - Star Trek

Best Supporting Actress:

Marion Cotillard - Public Enemies

Eva Green - Franklyn

Maggie Gyllenhaal - Away We Go

Kristin Scott Thomas - Easy Virtue

Rachel Weisz - The Brothers Bloom

Best Original Screenplay:

(500) Days of Summer

Adventureland

Away We Go

The Hurt Locker

Sunshine Cleaning

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

State of Play

Watchmen

Best Editing:

(500) Days of Summer

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Best Cinematography:

Cheri

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Public Enemies

Watchmen

Best Art Direction:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Franklyn

Watchmen

Best Costume Design:

Cheri

Easy Virtue

Franklyn

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Watchmen

Best Original Score:

Alexandre Desplat - Cheri

Michael Giacchino - Up

Elliot Goldenthal - Public Enemies

Clint Mansell - Moon

Hans Zimmer - Angels and Demons

Best Original Song:

N/A

Best Animated Film:

Coraline

Up

Best Foreign Language Film:

N/A

Best Makeup:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Star Trek

Watchmen

Angels and Demons

Best Visual Effects:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Star Trek

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen

Watchmen

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

81st Academy Award Winners and reactions (with more pictures!)

In case you missed it, here's who took home a statue...

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn, Milk

Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Actress in a Supporting Role: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Animated Feature Film: WALL-E

Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan)

Original Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Original Song: "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; Slumdog Millionaire

Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design: The Duchess

Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary Feature: Man on Wire

Documentary Short Subject: Smile Pinki

Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Sound Editing: The Dark Knight

Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Jerry Lewis

The Good:

• Slumdog's epic 8-Oscar sweep (out of 10 nominations). A fantastic final reward for a fantastic film.

• Hugh Jackman as host. He brought class, energy, and an old school charm to the show, which was beginning to become somewhat tiresome after years of comedians hosting (save for the brilliant Billy Crystal). The best part of Jackman's performance? He didn't try to crack some one-liner every 15 minutes. Even though his 2 or 3 opening quips were just OK, he rebounded with a lively "recession-budget" musical sequence that ended with a brief duet with Anne Hathaway, earning Jackman a well deserved standing ovation. Things were off to a great start.

• The Baz-Luhrmann-directed musical extravaganza halfway through the show. Even the presence of those two High School Musical twits couldn't take down the spectacular sight of Jackman, Beyonce (who sounded INCREDIBLE), and a slew of backup dancers in tuxedos.

• The stage. Any misgivings I had about it when I saw the first mock up sketches was done away with the instant the lights went up. Absolutely gorgeous design.

• The idea to structure the presentation of the awards (mostly) around the order in which films are actually made. Had it been done in a more traditional order, Slumdog's sweep would have become boring really fast.
  

• Having a presenter/a pair of presenters present two or three awards back to back. While it (somewhat) cut down on the number of presenters, it sped up the process of giving the awards out, and helped keep the acceptance speeches to a reasonable length (for the first time, there was no one who I wanted to get thrown off stage).

• Having five previous winners pay tribute to/present the four acting awards. The only downside was that there weren't any clips from the nominated performances.

• Best Presenter/s: Tina Fey and Steve Martin presenting Original and Adapted Screenplay.
• Runner Up: Best Actress, presented by Sophia Loren, Shirley Maclaine, Marion Cotillard, Halle Berry, and Nicole Kidman.

• Best Acceptance Speech: Penelope Cruz, after winning a much deserved Supporting Actress Oscar, pays tribute to her castmates, her family, her country, and ends her tribute in Spanish, just live Javier Bardem did last year when he won Supporting Actor.

• Best Inside Joke: Ben Stiller (presenting alongside Natalie Portman), pokes fun at Joaquin Phoenix's recent bizarre appearence on Letterman.

• Livliest Moment: Best Original Song, in which the stage was filled with Indian dancers, drum players, and an African choir. Exhilarating and spectacular.

• Funniest Sketch: James Franco, Seth Rogen, and (randomly enough) cinematographer Januz Kaminski paying tribute to the comedies of 2008, before accidentally laughing at serious films like The Reader and Doubt.

• The montages dedicated to romance and action in 2008 (even if the romance one did include High School Musical and Twilight).

• The "star" of documentary Man on Wire makes a coin disappear and balances the film's Oscar on his chin as he walks off stage.

• The amount of unrestrained applause. Everyone was having a great time, and it showed.

The In-Between:

• Milk wins Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Sean Penn, killing my dreams of upsets by In Bruges and Frank Langella respectively. No offense to the film, which I did like, but altogether I found Milk to be, well, nowhere near award worthy. And the more I think about my experience watching Milk, I finally realized what that funny feeling I had in my stomach was everytime Sean Penn was on-screen (no, it wasn't the disgusting artificial butter I put on the popcorn): Though Penn gave a good performance, there were many times when it all felt too calculated, as though he was still rehearsing and hadn't figured out how to make all of Harvey Milk's ticks flow naturally.

• Nicole Kidman being forced to pay tribute to Angelina Jolie and call her "unforgettable". I'll agree with you Nicole, she was unforgettable...but for all the wrong reasons.

• No Daniel Day-Lewis or Javier Bardem. *sigh*

• The final third of the show, where everything started to slow down a little, causing the show to run overtime by 30 minutes (although, to be fair, it still felt faster than some of the shows that made it under 3 hours...).

• Bill Maher presenting Best Documentary. His comment about how our "silly gods" have done too much harm was funny, even to this Catholic, but there's just something so innately SMUG about him that it almost ruined the joke. Almost...

The Ugly:

• What the **** happened to Sophia Loren and Goldie Hawn?

• Whoever decided to keep cutting back to Queen Latifah during the In Memoriam montage. It's about the people who DIED, not the person SINGING.
  

• Waltz with Bashir LOST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM! ACADEMY, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

So, overall, the 2009 Oscars were nothing short of a massive success. The structure, the stage, the stars, the host, etc... Despite his 81 years, Oscar has never felt so vibrant and alive.

Overall show grade: A (perhaps the best show since Billy Crystal hosted in the 04 ceremony).

And now, a quick glimpse at what 2009 holds in store for us...

The day has come: my predictions for the 81st Academy Awards

Well, this is it; another award season is about to come to a close in a spectacular gathering of stars. This season has had plenty of surprises, some good, (Mickey Rourke's "return" to the big screen), some bad, (Benjamin Button collapsing under the hype, Australia being too divisive), and the unexpected (Slumdog Millionaire moving from Toronto Festival crowd pleaser to Best Picture Frontrunner). So finally, after weeks of critics awards, precursors, and guild awards, we'll finally find out who's going home a winner, and who will have to try again next year.


Best Picture:

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire or Benjamin Button
Should Win: Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Horse: Milk or The Reader (never underestimate the Weinstein's)
No Chance in Hell: Frost/Nixon

Best Director:

Will Win: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Should Win: Danny Boyle
The Dark Horse: Stephen Daldry - The Reader
No Chance in Hell: Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Best Actor:

Will Win: Mickey Rourke or Sean Penn
Should Win: Frank Langella
The Dark Horse: Frank Langella
No Chance in Hell: Richard Jenkins

Best Actress:

Will Win: Kate Winslet - The Reader (she'll finally win) or Meryl Streep - Doubt (she'll finally get her third statue).
Should Win: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
The Dark Horse: Melissa Leo - Frozen River
No Chance in Hell: Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Best Supporting Actor:

Will Win: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Should Win: Heath Ledger
The Dark Horse: Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder or Josh Brolin - Milk
No Chance in Hell: Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt or Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress:

Will Win: a toss-up between Penelope Cruz, Marisa Tomei, and Viola Davis
Should Win: Penelope Cruz
The Dark Horse: Amy Adams - Doubt
No Chance in Hell: Taraji P. Henson - Benjamin Button (if she wins, I will throw something at the TV screen)

Best Original Screenplay:

Will Win: WALL-E or Milk
Should Win: In Bruges
The Dark Horse: In Bruges
No Chance in Hell Happy Go Lucky and Frozen River

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire, Benjamin Button, or Doubt
Should Win: Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Horse: The Reader
No Chance in Hell: Frost/Nixon

Best Cinematography:

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire
Should Win: Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Horse: Benjamin Button
No Chance in Hell: Milk, Changeling

Best Editing:

Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire or The Dark Knight
Should Win: The Dark Knight
The Dark Horse: Benjamin Button
No Chance in Hell: Milk, Frost Nixon

BAFTA Winners!

Best Film

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Other Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Milk (2008)

The Reader (2008)

Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year

WINNER

Man on Wire (2008)

Other Nominees:

Hunger (2008/I)

In Bruges (2008)

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Best Actor

WINNER

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)

Other Nominees:

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Dev Patel for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Best Actress

WINNER

Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)

Other Nominees:

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Kristin Scott Thomas for Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road (2008)

Best Supporting Actor

WINNER

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

Other Nominees:

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Brendan Gleeson for In Bruges (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

Brad Pitt for Burn After Reading (2008)

Best Supporting Actress

WINNER

Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Other Nominees:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)

Freida Pinto for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Tilda Swinton for Burn After Reading (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)

David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction

WINNER

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Other Nominees:

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

Clint Eastwood for Changeling (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Best Screenplay (Original)

WINNER

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh

Other Nominees:

Burn After Reading (2008): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Changeling (2008): J. Michael Straczynski

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2008): Philippe Claudel

Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy

Other Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

Revolutionary Road (2008): Justin Haythe

Best Cinematography

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle

Other Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Tom Stern

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister

The Reader (2008): Chris Menges, Roger Deakins

Best Editing

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens

Other Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Joel Cox, Gary Roach

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall

The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

In Bruges (2008): Jon Gregory

Best Production Design

WINNER

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

Other Nominees:

Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis

The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando

Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Mark Digby, Michelle Day

Best Costume Design

WINNER

The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor

Other Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Deborah Hopper

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West

The Dark Knight (2008): Lindy Hemming

Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky

Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman

Other Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat

The Dark Knight (2008): James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer

Mamma Mia! (2008): Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus

WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman

Best Make Up/Hair

WINNER

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Other Nominees:

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Duchess (2008)

Frost/Nixon (2008)

Milk (2008)

Best Sound

WINNER

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Other Nominees:

Changeling (2008)

The Dark Knight (2008)

Quantum of Solace (2008)

WALL·E (2008)

Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects

WINNER

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Other Nominees:

The Dark Knight (2008)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Iron Man (2008)

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Best Film not in the English Language

WINNER

Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2008)

Other Nominees:

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)

Gomorra (2008)

Persepolis (2007)

Vals Im Bashir (2008)

Best Animated Feature Film

WINNER

WALL·E (2008)

Other Nominees:

Persepolis (2007)

Vals Im Bashir (2008)

Orange Rising Star Award

WINNER

Noel Clarke

Other Nominees:

Michael Cera

Michael Fassbender

Rebecca Hall

Toby Kebbell

Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer

WINNER

Steve McQueen for Hunger (2008/I)(Director/Writer)

Other Nominees:

Simon Chinn for Man on Wire (2008)(Producer)

Judy Craymer for Mamma Mia! (2008)(Producer)

Garth Jennings for Son of Rambow (2007)(Writer)

Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter for Of Time and the City (2008)(Producers)

Best Short Animation

WINNER

Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (2008) (TV)

Other Nominees:

Codswallop (2008)

Varmints

Best Short Film

WINNER

September (2008)

Other Nominees:

Kingsland #1: The Dreamer (2008)

Love You More (2008)

Ralph (2008)

Voyage d'affaires (2008)

It's time: nominees for the 2nd Annual Texan Awards (it's like the Oscars, minus the acceptance speeches)

With the 2008 Award Season entering its last few weeks, I've decided to unveil my own set of nominees. This year was particularly difficult to narrow down to five-per-category, and in a few I've made an exception and allowed a sixth nominee. While this would seem to indicate that I found 08 to be an amazing year for movies, it's actually quite the opposite. There were only a handful of GREAT films, with everything else worth watching landing in "solid", "good", or "very good" territory. At times I was banging my head over who should get the "fifth slot" in a certain category, but hopefully, these are really the people/movies that I think are the top 5 in their respective categories. You'll see some that may surprise, delight, or even disgust you (which is another similarity the nominees have with the Oscar roster); there are a few unconventional choices, and nominees that come from films that deeply divided critics and/or audiences. So, without further adieu, your 2008 Texan Award Nominees are.....(I've tried my best to keep them in alphabetical order)

PS: If you haven't seen the 2007 Nominees and Winners, click HERE and HERE

BEST PICTURE




BEST DIRECTOR


Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire


Ari Folman - Waltz With Bashir


Baz Luhrmann - Australia


Martin McDonagh - In Bruges


Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight



BEST ACTOR




Colin Farrell - In Bruges


Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon


Sean Penn - Milk


Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler


Michael Sheen - Frost/Nixon




BEST ACTRESS




Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married


Sally Hawkins - Happy Go Lucky


Melissa Leo - Frozen River


Meryl Streep - Doubt


Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long


Kate Winslet - The Reader




BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR




Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder


Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges


Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess


Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight


Brandon Walters - Australia




BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS




Amy Adams - Doubt


Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona


Viola Davis - Doubt


Samantha Morton - Synecdoche, New York


Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler


Evan Rachel Wood - The Wrestler



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Australia: Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood
Happy Go Lucky: Mike Leigh
In Bruges: Martin McDonagh
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Woody Allen
WALL-E: Andrew Stanton

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon: Peter Morgan
Let the Right One In: John Lindqvist
Slumdog Millionaire: Simon Beaufoy
The Dark Knight: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer

BEST EDITING
Australia
In Bruges
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Waltz With Bashir



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Australia


In Bruges


Slumdog Millionaire


The Dark Knight


The Fall



BEST ART DIRECTION & SET DESIGN

Australia

Hellboy II: The Golden Army


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


The Fall


Slumdog Millionaire


Waltz With Bashir



BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Australia


Hellboy II: The Golden Army


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button


The Duchess


The Fall

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Carter Burwell - In Bruges
David Hirschfelder - Australia
AR Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Max Richter - Waltz With Bashir
James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
By The Boab Tree by Angela Little - Australia(CLICK)
Rock Me Sexy Jesus by The Ralph Saul Experience - Hamlet 2(CLICK)
The Wrestler by Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler(CLICK)
Jai Ho by AR Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire(CLICK)
Little Person by John Brion - Synecdoche, New York(CLICK)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

I've Loved You So Long (France)


Let the Right One In (Sweden)

Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir

BEST MAKEUP
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Dark Knight
007: Quatum of Solace

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Australia
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
007: Quantum of Solace

BEST SOUND MIXING
Australia
In Bruges
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight

BEST SOUND EDITING
Australia
In Bruges
Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight

The winners will be announced on February 21st, the day before the Oscars. Additional "special" categories will also be revealed that day.