08 Oscar afterthoughts ... My Oscar Thank U Speech

For my group of Oscar kaki punters, the past two winners of previous Oscar pool and I had a neck to neck race till the last catergory before all our bets were the same.

And I like to thank Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova's Falling Slowly, Freeheld and Taxi to the Darkside for going my way, therefore allowing me to win the $20 pot of Oscar pool.



Falling Slowly (my current Earworm now) gave me the lead over Stefan (1st Yr Winner), Freeheld helped me held Mei (2nd Yr Winner) from coming on par with me and Taxi to the Darkside made sure everyone except Shaiful stayed at their respective scoreline ... thrus sealing the fate of all those had betted.

Now to trival observation ... I didn't managed to guess any category right by myself which unlike Stefan and Mei whom both got 2 categories right by themselves. My total number of correct guesses were the same as Mei's winning score from previous year.

and to my 2 cents worth of Afterthoughts .... hehehe more Transformer bashing !!! nominated for 3 technical awards and winning none ! tho I betted on them, I am just glad that this horrible movie about my favourite robots back in the 80s won none ... now I can't wait to get my hands on the Bourne Ultimatum : )

and the 08 Oscars goes to .. + punter's result Live

9.46am
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Stefan + 1)
Stefan Drew First Blood !

9.55am
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Ratatouille (Stefan, John, Mei & Richard + 1)

9.55am
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose (Mei, John & Richard + 1)

HMMMM Shaiful out of the Race ?? All scores r tied at this stage

10.07am
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
YEAH - TF suck my balls ! hehehehe !!!!

10.10am
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Sweeney Todd (Stefan, Shaiful & Richard + 1)

Finally , Shaiful joins in the game

10.19am
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men (ALL + 1)
First of the many wins for No Country ?

10.28am
Best Short Film, Live Action
Mozart des picpockets (Stefan +1)
Stefan draws away from the crowd again

10.30am
Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf (ALL Except Shaiful & John +1)

10.40am
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

10.47am
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
No Country for Old Men (Shaiful & Richard + 1)
YEAHHHHHHHHh 2 ups for us !!! Stefan ... I lm coming for ya

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
the Bourne Ultimatum
Bugger ... wonder who told me that The Bourne won't win anything one ... One Less win for TF !

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
the Bourne Ultimatum
Double Bugger !!! should have trusted my instinct instead ... ZERO FOR TF!!! ALL RIGHT !

11.12am
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose (Mei + 1)
Mei catching up to the two top dogs

11.28am
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
the Bourne Ultimatum
JOHN !!! U FUCKED ME !!!

11.43am
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Counterfeiters (Austria) (ALL Except Shaiful + 1)

11.49am
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once (All Except Stefan & John + 1)
OH YESSSSSSSSSSSS !!! I'm in the LEAD LIAO !!! will buy the OST & Movie Ticket if it turn out to be the turning moment for this betting

11.59am
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
There Will Be Blood (Mei +1)
ohhhhhhh MEI !!! OHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO

12.09pm
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement (ALL + 1)

12.14pm
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld (Stefan, John & Richard +1)
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I LIVE .... I LIVE !!! (Shaiful was saying if Mei wins this round ... I die)

12.16pm
Best Documentary, Features
Taxi to the Dark Side (Shaiful + 1)
Yeah !!! haha cheering for Shaiful ... which he pointed out !!! becos we had the same choice for the rest of the categories ... the Oscar Gold Pot goes to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .... finally !!! after 3 years of waiting !!! I shall give my thank u speech at my afterthoughts !!

12.24pm
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno (ALL + 1)

12.29pm
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There will be Blood (ALL + 1)

12.43pm
BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men (ALL +1)

12.45pm
BEST MOTION PICTURE
No Country for Old Men (ALL + 1)

ScoreBoard
Stefan + 13
John + 10
Mei + 13
Richard + 14
Shaiful + 10

and the OSCAR punter's stats

BEST MOTION PICTURE
No Country for Old Men (ALL)

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men (ALL)

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There will be Blood (ALL)

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie - Away From Her (ALL Except)
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose (Mei)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men (ALL)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There (Mei, John & Richard)
Rube Dee - American Gangster (Stefan)
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone (Shaiful)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
No Country for Old Men (Shaiful & Richard)
There Will Be Blood (Mei)
Atonement (Stefan)
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (John)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno (ALL)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Ratatouille (ALL Except)
Persepolis (Shaiful)

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Sweeney Todd (ALL Except)
Atonement (Mei)
There will be Blood (John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Country for Old Men (Shaiful & Richard)
The Assassination of Jesse James (Stefan)
There Will Be Blood (Mei)
Atonement (John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Sweeney Todd (Richard)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Stefan)
Atonement (Shaiful, Mei & John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (ALL Except)
No Country for Old Men (Mei & John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose (Mei, John & Richard)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Stefan & Shaiful)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement (ALL)

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once (All Except)
"That's How You Know" - Enchanted (Stefan & John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
Transformers (ALL Except)
3:10 to Yuma (Richard)
Ratatouille (John)

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Transformers (ALL)

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Transformers (ALL)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Counterfeiters (Austria) (ALL Except)
Mongol (Kazakhstan) (Shaiful)

Best Documentary, Features
Sicko (Richard)
No End in Sight (Stefan, John & Mei)
Taxi to the Dark Side (Shaiful)

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld (Stefan, John & Richard)
Sari's Mother (Mei & Shaiful)

Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf (ALL Except)
I Met the Walrus (Shaiful & John)

Best Short Film, Live Action
Tanghi argentini (Richard & John)
Mozart des picpockets (Stefan)
Om Natten (Mei & Shaiful)

My Pick for 08 Oscar

Best Picture
Haiz ... my heart is with Juno, followed by There Will Be Blood but it seems that it will be an upset that No Country for Old Men didn't win ... so
No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Just as difficult to choose as Best Picture .... my heart is with Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell & the Butterfly , Jason Reitman - Juno & Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood but as again .... I think it will go to
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Even before watching his performance, my hunch was already on Daniel Day-Lewis and after catching There will be Blood (and without Tommy Lee Jones or Viggo Mortensen's ones)... it's pretty much a lock on for me

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Like Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose & Ellen Page - Juno but based on what Stefan said, I got a feeling this award will be won by Julie Christie ...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Only managed to catch Javier Bardem and Tom Wilkinson's act for this category and my bet is on Javier Bardem's unrelenting killer performance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Between Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There & Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton ... tho I only caught Tilda Swinton's performance ... I got a feeling that Cate's portray of Bob Dylan will win this
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Hard to choose ... tikam choice would be
No Country for Old Men

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Ratatouille
It's the year of the Rat !!! The other one is too serious & I don't think the penguin movies will win two in a row

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
could be The Golden Compass or Sweeney Todd ... will go with
Sweeney Todd

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Laggi hard to choose ... all beside The Assassination of Jesse James which I haven't got the chance to watch it yet .... I love The Diving Bell and the Butterfly or There Will Be Blood to win but I think it will be won by
No Country for Old Men

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Toss between La Vie en Rose & Sweeney Todd but I think I will go with
Sweeney Todd

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose
PotC: AWE might just win this too ... but my tikam choice will be Rose ... would be fun to see Nobit pull an ironic upset

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement
I only remember the Original Score for Atonement ... partly also thanks to John's recommendation during CNY visit to his place

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Didn't liked any of the Disney songs from Enchanted .. August Rush's nominated song didn't go well with me ... the only song that I dig would be
"Falling Slowly" - Once

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
3:10 to Yuma
Loved the intense finale with the chung-king of the steam train ... tho TF might just win this ... I'm putting bet where my heart is

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Transformers

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Transformers
As much as I don't like TF ... I think it will win .. or Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End might win it ... either way, an upset won't be too upsetting to me

And categories that I have yet to watch a single nominee

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Counterfeiters (Austria)
the only trailer I saw & very much wanted to watch it ... but Singapore don't have leh

Best Documentary, Features
Sicko

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Freeheld

Best Short Film, Animated
Peter & the Wolf

Best Short Film, Live Action
Tanghi argentini

My Pick for 07 Oscar

hmmm no one want to watch oscar with me .. sob sob ... haiz .. here my choice ...

Best Picture
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
The Last Film I caught before the OSCAR ! ... and it's the best film among it's 07 Oscar peers , i know its a long shot but hey ... I hope

Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Everyone's Pick ... it's hard but if its who I really feel should win .. it will be
Will Smith, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

Actress in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN

It's pretty much a confirm award ...

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
As again, I am going with the mass but hey , deep down, I really want to see Clint do it again to Marty
Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Actor in a Supporting Role
Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS
Seems like Eddie is a lock in but I love to see Alan do a upset here !
Alan Arkin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Actress in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
as again ... buzz is too strong with her and since I have yet to catch Dreamgirls, my heart is with
Rinko Kinkuchi, BABEL

Best Original Screenplay
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Best Adapted Screenplay
THE DEPARTED

Best Original Score
BABEL
Strangely ... the Brokeback Mountain didn't appeal to me but this time round, the Original Score stood out to me

Best Animated Film
CARS

Best Foreign Film
PAN'S LABYRINTH
yeah ... just going with the rest but the film that touch me a bit more would be
WATER

Best Art Direction
THE PRESTIGE

Best Cinematography
THE PRESTIGE

Best Costume Design
DREAMGIRLS

Best Documentary Feature
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
ha .. I have yet to catch this but since this is the most famous film among the lot ...

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT

Best Film Editing
BABEL

Best Makeup
PAN'S LABYRINTH
heheh I love Click ... so I am hopping it will win
CLICK

Best Short Film (Animated)
NO TIME FOR NUTS

Best Short Film (Live-Action)
WEST BANK STORY

Best Sound Editing
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
if not this .. then
LETTERS FROM IWON JIMA

Best Sound Mixing
APOCALYPTO
My Head says Apco , my heart says Flags
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

Best Visual Effects
SUPERMAN RETURNS

Best Original Song
“Listen” – DREAMGIRLS, Beyonce Knowles

Oscar 2007: Afterthoughts

The Winners and Losers

Last Year Winner came in last and out of no where, a dark horse came out and left everyone in the dust ... even before the race was officially over ..

Nope I wasn’t talking about the Oscar Winners or Loser ... I am talking about Oscar Bets that we are had this year!

the Dark Horse (Mei) took off from the first category and by the 4th category, the Sound Editing, none of us could even stay on par with her ... our last hope (for Shaiful and Me) was that we get the Film Editing right and she got it wrong which might give us more hope at the final category where our choice differ again ... but The Departed helped Mei departing from the rest of the group for good.

For the Major categories, there isn't really any upset except for Eddie Murphy who didn't get the Best Supporting Actor award ... which I am pretty glad that because Alan Arkin of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE got it ... Best Original Song was quite a surprise where the 3 Songs from Dreamgirls couldn’t make it in the end.

I was hopping that Little Miss SunShine would win the Best Picture too Since Departed was a Hong Kong rip off remake, The Queen was too British, Letters from Iwo Jima was too Japanese and Babel was too everywhere ... Little Miss SunShine was a testament to the independent spirit of film making and the only film among it's group that really touch me (if I seen it in 2006, I am pretty sure there a place for LMS in my top ten)

While watching the Oscars in the comfort of our own home, Shaiful and I decided to have a few side bets ... One was on Babel not winning any awards which I initially thought the odds was against Shaiful until the final results showed how close I was to losing a movie pass to him ... and thinking back, it's quite a long short for a composer to win back to back (plus amidst all the bad reviews)

The other one was on an upset that I hope will become a long tradition in Oscar and that Clint beating Marty for Best Director again .. which didn't happened (yawn) and Marty finally got his first one (moot point: couldn't have done it without the help of Hong Kong!)

My Prediction

I did rather badly this year ... compared to last year which I got 12 / 19 right .. this year (we open all the category for guessing) and I only got 11 / 24 right

Instead of showing the categories I got wrong this year, here are those that I got right

Actor in a Leading Role
Actress in a Leading Role
Best Director
Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Score
Best Documentary Feature
Best Documentary (Short Subject)
Best Makeup
Best Short Film (Live-Action)

Overall

Was Quite Sad that 6 /7 of the Oscar Kaki couldn't make it to my place for the Oscar ... Maybe I wasn't a good host last year so no one want to come to my place ... sigh ... 5 cited work and 1 cited better Oscar coverage with her cable leaving only me and Shaiful who are still on about watching it together ... but in the end, I cancel it because I got a little terror who will be having his routine crying and hogging of TV in the morning

But still it was fun chatting with Shaiful over the MSN while watching the Oscar ... I also realized I spend so much time tabulating the score that I didn't really watch the Oscar but hey, at least it's keeping me awake in the morning

Don't think I will open house next year since the respond was sooooo bad : (