Wednesday, April 13, 2011

If I Were An Academy Voter - 2001 Part 2

Best Art Direction
Academy Winner/My Pick - Moulin Rouge!
Commentary - The vibrant sets of Baz Luhrman's musical masterpiece were simply spectacular.

Best Cinematography
Academy Winner/My Pick - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Commentary - I know that I refrained in other years from giving this award to the franchise, but I acutally preferred the shots in the first one. The constrasts of light and dark that encapsulate the story are simply overdone by darkness in the last two (I know that is because of the story). Anyway, in this year, it was the clear winner for me.

Best Costume Design
Academy Winner/My Pick - Moulin Rouge!
Commentary - Once again, Moulin Rouge's technicals made it vibrant and popped off the screen in a way that was a treat for the eyes. So naturally, costumes, as well as the sets, deserved as much recognition as they could have gotten.

Best Film Editing
Academy Winner/My Pick - Black Hawk Down
Commentary - I actually loved this pick for Film Editing, because I feel that the best films are the ones that make you forget that you are sitting in a theater, and never linger. Even LOTR, a fantastic film, had moments that could have been cut. But Black Hawk Down was so intense, so taut, so much so that every moment counted.

Best Makeup
Academy Winner - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
My Pick - Moulin Rouge!
Commentary - In my book, the trilogy would have won later down the line, and in this case I would have gone for the circus esque makeup of Moulin Rouge. Sure it is over the top, but it is another reason that it was so pleasing to look at.

Best Original Score
Academy Winner -Howard Shore "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"
My Pick - John Williams "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
Commentary - So I know that the LOTR had an incredible score, but the one that Williams wrote for the first couple Harry Potter's is one that is recognizable to anyone who hears it being played or hummed. To me, the best scores are the ones that are stuck in your head long after you leave the theatre, and Harry Potter's was one of those scores.

Best Original Song
Academy Winner/My Pick - Randy Newman "If I Didn't Have You" from Monster's Inc.
Commentary - Finally, Randy Newman won his Oscar (he now has two!). Not only would I have voted for this because it was Newman, but because it is a wonderful song that was perfect for a wonderful movie.

Best Sound Mixing
Academy Winner/My Pick - Black Hawk Down
Commentary - This should have been nominated for Sound Editing, for all of its intricate detail, which is probably why it won this award, because people felt they needed to give it something for the incredible, yet coherent sound of the gritty Black Hawk Down.

Best Sound Editing
Academy Winner - Pearl Harbor
My Pick - Monster's Inc.
Commentary - I cannot, in good heart, give an Academy Award to the mess that was Pearl Harbor. So even though it was probably superior in terms of this category, I am going with it's competitor Monster's, Inc., simply for being a much better film. I know this is bad, and is probably why we have undeserving winners at the Oscars, but in some cases I believe it is okay.

Best Visual Effects
Academy Winner/My Pick - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Commentary - Duh.

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