What was pretty and funny, and what was just pretty.
Animated Feature Film
Coraline = Yay! Glad to see it get nominated as I’m a fan of Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick. This follows the standard formula for the two of them (Neil – ancient gods type stuff, Henry – Burtonesque look and flawless stop motion, Both – weirdness). I wasn’t blown away by the film but it was enjoyable.
Fantastic Mr Fox = Another quirky stop motion effort, with indie film type dialogue and semi-Aardman crazyness.
The Princess And The Frog = Looks absolutely stunning, feels like classic Disney, its funny, well written in general. Fantastic stuff
The Secret of Kells = Dunno why this is here except to maybe make the Academy look like it has range. There’s normally the odd foreign animation and this might be all they could find?
Up = It’s Pixar. Pixar don’t make bad movies. They may make bad-for-Pixar films, like Cars and Ratatouille, but even those are better than most other films in general (at least in looks). This is a good for Pixar effort. Not their best, but still really good.
Normally Pixar would walk away with this and everyone else would wonder why they bother to make cartoons. There’s actually two animated films I’d maybe give it to over Up though, and definitely one. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is the maybe and it’s not nominated, but Princess and The Frog is the definite one and it is. Won’t be too upset if Pixar get yet another statue, but plain old Disney deserve it more this year. And it’s the same shareholders who’ll be happy.
Art Direction
This is set design in my head, though I may be wrong.
Avatar = The guy who made the green screens gets this?! Okay, that’s unfair. Pandora is very pretty yes
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus = Crazy imagination land is visually stunning though I’m a bit unsure if that applies, much like Avatar’s everything, and real world is very bleak and miserable.
Nine = a big musical stage set like the coliseum and some hotels. Wow.
Sherlock Holmes = Victorian England essentially, though slightly steam punk sylised
The Young Victoria = a different aspect of earlier Victorian England. Strictly not Victorian at the very start actually.
Avatar will probably get it, but I’d say the art direction and special effects are so closely married that that is unfair. Not sure what I’d pick for this otherwise, probably Parnasus? It’s going to Avatar though.
Cinematography
Avatar = yes it looks pretty. BUT due to the amount of post production I don’t think this deserves to win.
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince = Looks pretty similar to the other Potters, not that that’s a bad thing.
The Hurt Locker = Looks brilliant and its fully live action. Kind of a dusty hue to everything, considering the environment and subject matter. Also if I remember correctly its not all shaky hand held like everything is now
Inglorious Basterds = also looks great, slight vintage feel to the footage
The White Ribbon = Yeah looks fine.
Why The White Ribbon gets a nod but El Secreto de Sus Ojos doesn’t baffles me and is a travesty. Due to the similarity to the other Potters, Half Blood is out. Avatar might get this too but I still don’t agree because of how it was made. I’m fine with either of the other two, but edge towards Hurt Locker more.
Next up: Costume Design, Editing and Make Up
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