This is a Dan

5. In every picture of him, it’s very evident that he’s trying to project this “indie aura” about him. I hate artists that I can tell are trying too hard. What’s with the looking down? Are you trying to make it look like you’re pondering something important? You’re not Abe Lincoln, man.

4. “Today I was gazing out a window at the leafy Pennsylvania countryside, pressed against the glass in the back seat of a fifteen passenger van, suspended over a rushing liquid interstate, serenaded by the soothing rumble and whir of tires on pavement… and it was there that I realized something.”—If you actually say things like that you find the rumble and whir of tires “soothing,” you’re lying—and trying too hard.

3. http://www.districtlines.com/14519-Owl-City-Adult-Onesie-Misc/owl-city

2. This motherfucker has the balls to actually get annoyed when interviewers ask him about The Postal Service? Get the fuck outta here. If you’re gonna rip someone off, you have to be prepared to live with the consequences. Even Seth MacFarlane admits the influence the Simpsons had on Family Guy, and that’s nowhere near in the league that Owl City is a rip off of The Postal Service

1. Sometimes I think about what a real owl city would be like. Surely it would be an inspiring look into the life of owls. Owls living their daily lives, kissing their children as they leave to go to school—a real owl metropolis. Unfortunately, this is something I can never google search, as the results would be far too buried under this guy’s shitty ass pictures to ever see.

So that’s why I hate Owl City.

As much as I hate it, I cant ever resist being swept up in it. Pixar movies are the closest thing I have to having a “team,” so this is really the “big game.” (or at least that’s what I would say if i was a douchebag, and i still kind of do say it, so there you go).

Anyway, it’s looking more and more like a lot of the “big” contenders (Lovely Bones, Nine, etc) are bottoming out, and it’s seeming like SUPER slim pickins for a year that’s supposed to be the first year with 10 nominees.

shootthepianoplayer:

*Who won

^ Who I thought should have won

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls (“Reinaldo Arenas”)

^*Russell Crowe - Gladiator (“Maximus Decimus Meridius”)

Tom Hanks - Castaway (“Chuck Noland”)

Ed Harris - Pollock (“Jackson Pollock”)

Geoffrey Rush - Quills (“The Marquis de Sade”)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jeff Bridges - The Contender (“President Jackson Evans”)

Willem Dafoe - Shadow of the Vampire (“Max Schreck”)

*Benicio Del Toro - Traffic (“Javier Rodriguez”)

Albert Finney - Erin Brokovich (“Ed Masry”)

^Joaquin Phoenix - Gladiator (“Commodus”)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Joan Allen - The Contender (“Laine Hanson”)

Juliette Binoche - Chocolat (“Vianne Rocher”)

Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream (“Sara Goldfarb”)

Laura Linney - You Can Count on Me (“Samantha ‘Sammy’ Prescott”)

^*Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich (“Erin Brockovich”)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Judi Dench - Chocolat (“Armande Voizin”)

*Marcia Gay Harden - Pollock (“Lee Krasner”)

^Kate Hudson - Almost Famous (“Penny Lane”)

Frances McDormand - Almost Famous (“Elaine Miller”)

Julie Walters - Billy Elliot (“Mrs. Wilkinson”)

ART DIRECTION

^*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Gladiator

Quills

Vatel

CINEMATOGRAPHY

^*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Gladiator

Melena

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Patriot

Costume Design

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

^*Gladiator

102 Dalmations

Quills

DIRECTING

Billy Elliot - Stephen Daldry

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Ang Lee

Erin Brockovich - Steven Soderbergh

Gladiator - Ridley Scott

^*Traffic - Steven Soderbergh

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

*Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

Legacy

Long Night’s Journey into Day

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

^Sound and Fury

(NOTE: The only one I’ve seen here was Sound and Fury so it wins by default. It was really good)

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

*Big Mama

Curtain Call

Dolphins

The Man on Lincoln’s Nose

On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom

(NOTE: Haven’t seen any of these docs)

FILM EDITING

Almost Famous

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Gladiator

^*Traffic

Wonder Boys

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

^Amores Perros

*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Divided We Fall

Everybody Famous!

The Taste of Others

MAKEUP

The Cell

*^Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Shadow of the Vampire

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Chocolat

*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

^Gladiator

Melene

The Patriot

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“A Fool in Love” from Meet the Parents - Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman

“I’ve Seen it All” from Dancer in the Dark - Music by Bjork; Lyrics by Lars von Trier and Sjon Sigurdsson

“A Love Before Time” from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Music by Jorge Calandrelli and Tan Dun; Lyric by James Schamus

“My Funny Friend and Me” from The Emperor’s New Groove - Music by Sting and David Hartley; Lyric by Sting

“Things Have Changed” from Wonder Boys - Music and Lyric by Bob Dylan

BEST PICTURE

Chocolat

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Erin Brockovich

^*Gladiator

Traffic

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

*Father and Daughter

The Periwig-Maker

Rejected

(NOTE: Haven’t seen any of the animated short films)

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

By Courier

One Day Crossing

*Quiero Ser (I want to be…)

Seraglio

A Soccer Story (Uma Historia de Futebol)

(Haven’t seen any of the live action short films)

SOUND

Castaway

*^Gladiator

The Patriot

The Perfect Storm

U-571

SOUND EDITING

Space Cowboys

^*U-571

VISUAL EFFECTS

*^Gladiator

Hollow Man

The Perfect Storm

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Chocolat - Screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Written by Wang Hui Ling and James Schamus and Tsai Kuo Jung

O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

^*Traffic - Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan

Wonder Boys - Screenplay by Steve Kloves

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

^*Almost Famous - Written by Cameron Crowe

Billy Elliot - Written by Lee Hall

Erin Brockovich - Written by Susannah Grant

Gladiator - Screenplay by David Franzoni and John Logan and William Nicholson; Story by David Franzoni

You Can Count on Me - Written by Kenneth Lonergan

ANALYSIS:

As you can tell, I didn’t stray much from the original choices. Gladiator is by far my favorite movie this year but Traffic was also an outstanding movie. It was hard to deny Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for some of it’s technical achievements…. I prefer different supporting actors/actresses. I loved Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator and supporting actress was a toss up. It was between Harden, Hudson, and McDormand…. Bob Dylan’s song was an easy choice. I’ve been listening to it ever since it won…. Hardest decision? Directing. I really wanted to go Ridley Scott. Ang Lee would have been a great choice too. But the great acting and ensemble cast in Traffic gives it the edge…. My upset special was Amores Perros over Crouching Tiger. I liked it more.

you probably have seen rejected (best animated short)— it’s the “my spoon’s too big” short.

shootthepianoplayer:

A little premature because the decade hasn’t ended yet, but it was an interesting list. I haven’t seen most of the foreign movies on the list. I haven’t seen #1. Some of the choices were really… interesting. I’ll respond at the end of the list.

100. The Devil Wears Prada (David Frankel, 2006)

99. Battle Royale (Kinki Fukasaku, 2000)

98. Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004)

97. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-Wook, 2005)

96. Morvern Callar (Lynne Ramsay, 2002)

95. Amores Perros (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, 2000)

94. An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006)

93. House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou, 2004)

92. Dirty Pretty Things (Stephen Frears, 2002)

91. Lantana (Ray Lawrence, 2001)

90. Wedding Crashers (David Dobkin, 2005)

89. School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003)

88. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

87. Time and Winds (Reha Erdem, 2006)

86. The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Bayona, 2007)

85. The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001)

84. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George, 2004)

83. The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Ken Loach, 2006)

82. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000)

81. In The Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009)

80. Me, You, and Everyone We Know (Miranda July, 2005)

79. Le Grand Voyage (Ismael Ferroukhi, 2004)

78. About Schmidt (Alexander Payne, 2002)

77. Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)

76. Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007)

75. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodovar, 2002)

74. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006)

73. The Beat That My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard, 2005)

72. The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008)

71. Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter/David Silverman/Iee Unkrich, 2001)

70. The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)

69. Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, 2007)

68. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)

67. Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone, 2008)

66. City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund, 2002)

65. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)

64. L’enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne, 2005)

63. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

62. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)

61. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)

60. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)

59. Etre et Avoir (Nicholas Philibert, 2002)

58. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)

57. The Consequences of Love (Paolo Sorrentino, 2004)

56. Volver (Pedro Almodovar, 2006)

55. Chopper (Andrew Dominik, 2000)

54. Bad Santa (Terry Zwigoff, 2003)

53. Milk (Gus Van Sant, 2008)

52. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)

51. The Son’s Room (Nanni Moretti, 2001)

50. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson, 2003)

49. Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007)

48. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris, 2006)

47. My Summer of Love (Pawel Pawlikowski, 2004)

46. Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)

45. Touching the Void (Kevin Macdonald, 2003)

44. Under the Sand (Francois Ozon, 2000)

43. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

42. The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)

41. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron, 2006)

40. Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, 2005)

39. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

38. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

37. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar Wai, 2000)

36. Capturing the Friedmans (Andrew Jarecki, 2004)

35. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Alfonso Cuaron, 2002)

34. Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich, 2003)

33. Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2002)

32. Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)

31. Iraq in Fragments (James Longley, 2006)

30. Irreversible (Gaspar Noe, 2002)

29. Being John Malkovich (Spike Jonze, 2000)

28. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)

27. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)

26. Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

25. Dancer in the Dark (Lars Von Trier, 2000)

24. 28 Days Later… (Danny Boyle, 2002)

23. Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008)

22. Far from Heaven (Todd Haynes, 2002)

21. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005)

20. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)

19. United 93 (Paul Greengrass, 2006)

18. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)

17. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005)

16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004)

15. Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004)

14. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007)

13. This is England (Shane Meadows, 2007)

12. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

11. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Larry Charles, 2006)

10. Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)

9. The Queen (Stephen Frears, 2006)

8. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)

7. The Last King of Scotland (Kevin Macdonald, 2006)

6. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)

5. Team America: World Police (Trey Parker, 2004)

4. Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)

3. No Country for Old Men (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2007)

2. The Bourne Supremacy/The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2004/2007)

1. Hidden (Cache) (Michael Haneke, 2005)

Knocked Up in the top 50?Donnie Darko at #20!? BORAT at #11!!? TEAM AMERICA AT #5!!!?!??!

Sometimes I feel like this list was written by someone with refined movie tastes and then sometimes I’m just baffled with the stupidity. Why have the Bourne Supremacy and the Bourne Ultimatum at the same number and bypass The Bourne Identity? Why didn’t they just put Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers on the same number as Return of the King? The top 10 was a little weird. I think we are still giving a little too much credit to Slumdog Millionaire and I don’t see why The Queen and The Last King of Scotland would be in the top 10. They have INCREDIBLE performances (Forest Whitaker may have one of the top 5 of the decade) but I don’t see the films being as powerful as this list thinks they are. I’d say Hotel Rwanda is more powerful than both of these two.

What I Liked: All the Pixar on this list. But where is WALL-E? I liked seeing No Country for Old Men as high as it was. I liked seeing Children of Men get some more respect and The Squid and the Whale being on the list. Loved seeing Mulholland Drive and Gladiator in the 30s (It’s been 9-10 years since those films and they have not been forgotten).

Overall, I don’t like the list that much but that’s the fun of this list. To have the ego of knowing that I’m right and everyone else is wrong. :)

Do you have any opinions?

city of god should be higher than slumdog millionaire for SURE