Slumdog Millionaire Still Looking Like a Million in Oscar Best Picture Race

Oscar nominations are out. Going by my top 10 contender lists for Best Picture and Best Acting categories, there were no out of left field nominations this year. However that doesn’t rule out big surprises. THE READER over THE DARK KNIGHT was a big shocker. The lack of love for the difficult REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (which I believe upsets viewers so much that they confuse not liking that feeling with not liking the film) wasn’t too surprising, but Kate Winslet’s supporting work in THE READER getting a Best Actress nod over her challenging lead work in ROAD was. DiCaprio getting left out is just a repeat of TITANIC; only this time it’s one of his best performances.

Happy surprises came in the form of Richard Jenkins (THE VISITOR) and Melissa Leo (FROZEN RIVER) getting Best Actor and Best Actress nods. FROZEN RIVER also received deserved recognition in the Original Screenplay category as well. Leo’s nod for her indie work left out other indie contenders. Most surprising was Golden Globe winner Sally Hawkins for HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, another example of the Comedy/Musical GG category meaning nothing come Oscar time. Another indie performance left out was Kristin Scott Thomas in the little seen French-language film I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG, which as of mid-December still looked like a near lock. How things change so quickly.

Other minor surprises popped up in the so often messed up categories of Best Foreign Language Feature (no GOMMARAH), Best Documentary Feature (no STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE) and Best Animated Short (no SKHIZEIN). A not-all-that-unexpected surprise happened in Best Animated Feature with BOLT sneaking in instead of the critically acclaimed WALTZ WITH BASHIR. But the latter Israeli film is the leading contender for Best Foreign Language Film. A little spreading the wealth possibly?

So because the big film buzz this week is all Oscars, I’m going to take an early stab at picking the winners for the major categories. When I’ve seen more of the films in other categories, I’ll return with a full list of projected winners closer to Oscar night on Sunday, Feb. 22.
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Check Out the Trailer

It’s nothing new for Hollywood to copy a hit to death. Following the success of HARRY POTTER every studio wanted its own fantasy franchise based on a best selling young adult book. Some trends are not always a bad thing, especially when it brings books like Cornelia Funke’s INKHEART to the screen. While the story seems better suited to the written medium, director Iain Softley (HACKERS) retains the sense of discovery and adventure that the source material has.

Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser, THE MUMMY series) has a powerful gift (or curse depending on how you look at it). When he reads written words out loud items from the stories come into the real world. The problem is that he has little control over how it works. Folchart is a book collector and travels around the world with his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett, NANCY MCPHEE), looking for a copy of the rare book Inkheart, which seems to have something to do with the disappearance of his wife Resa (Sienna Guillory, ERAGON). But when he finally does find a copy, it sets off a strange series of events, which include a bitter and selfish fire-blower named Dustfinger (Paul Bettany, A BEAUTIFUL MIND), the lonely author of the book Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent, MOULIN ROUGE!), one of Ali Baba’s 40 thieves named Farid (Rafi Gavron, BREAKING AND ENTERING) and the Inkheart villain Capricorn (Andy Serkis, LORD OF THE RINGS), who likes the real world’s riches and firearms. Also whipped along on the adventure against her will is Mo’s reclusive, but feisty, book-loving aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN).

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