Oscar Buzz

With the Oscars looming on the horizon I thought it was necessary to get my picks on paper for the major awards this year.

Best Achievement in Directing:  Win: Danny Boyle(Slumdog Millionaire), Should Win: Ron Howard(Frost/Nixon)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:  Win: Viola Davis(Doubt), Should Win: Amy Adams(Doubt)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Win: Heath Ledger(The Dark Knight), Should Win: Heath Ledger(The Dark Knight)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Win: Meryl Streep(Doubt), Should Win: Kate Winslet(The Reader)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Win: Mickey Rourke(The Wrestler), Should Win: Mickey Rourke(The Wrestler)

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Win: Slumdog Millionaire, Should Win: Frost/Nixon

Bale Tantrum on Set

Dark Knight star Christian Bale went on a 4 minute tirade at the director of photography, Shane Hurlbut, for disrupting a key scene on the set of Terminator Salvation. Bale drops various profanities at Hurlbut threatening to walk off the set. It is hard to say if any of this was warranted by Bale. This might have been a recurring problem with Hurlbut on the set and Bale could have finally become fed up with it. Whatever the situation resulted from Bale received some support from actor Terry Crews. Crews told  Hollywoodscoop.com “I’d get mad too if I was the number one star in the world and people started to mess with me. He is a class act! He is one of the greatest actors ever. You can catch anyone on a bad day” He then went on to say “I’m vouching for him, I know he’s a nice guy. I know he’s all about his work. He’s one of the greatest actors out there.” One of the better actors or not I don’t think it is right how he treated Hurlbut. Bale having past instances in the negative press certainly does not make him look any better in this situation. It will be interesting to see if this affects any work for him in the future.

The Wrestler

Finally this past Friday, much to my surprise The Wrestler finally came to the Kalamazoo, MI area. Having been released several weeks ago with no show times at any local theater I thought I was destined for the DVD release. As soon as I found out it was playing I immediately jumped on a midday showing on Friday afternoon with a couple friends. My expectations for the movie were fairly high as I had been hearing wonderful things about Mickey Rourke’s acting as well as how deeply affecting the film was itself. I would say my expectations were definitely upheld and I came away pleased. My favorite thing about the film was the gripping cinematography throughout. Rourke’s acting as Randy “The Ram” Robinson clearly stole the show, however, Marisa Tomei held her own as did Evan Rachel Wood playing the distant daughter of Rourke. Overall I would say this is an absolute must see in theaters that will leave the viewer with emotions coming out that they did not have before.