As a group, we’re big movie buffs here at Hammock. We often end our Monday morning staff meeting with our latest reviews of which movies we saw over the weekend. Our own Jamie Roberts in the last year has even seen AFI’s list top 100 films. Most of don’t have quite that depth of background in film history under our belts, but we still like to share our picks for Oscar. When I asked my co-workers who they’ll be rooting for on Sunday night, this is what they shared:
Emily McMackin
Leading Actor: Brad Pitt for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Cinemotography and Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John
Picture: “The Reader”
Actor: Mickey Rourke
Actress: Kate Winslet
Supporting actor: Heath Ledger
Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz
Megan M.
I’m voting for “Milk” in every category that it’s nominated. It was a phenomenal film and a story that I don’t think a lot of people have heard. The way it was shot, the way the characters interacted, everything about it was perfect. I also think Sean Penn is one of the most underrated actors.
Ben
I haven’t seen really any of the nominated movies in the running, so I don’t really have any ideas on who to vote for. I did see “Tropic Thunder” and “Batman”, and I think Robert Downey Jr. and Heath Ledger both had amazing performances in a supporting role. I will say that I would love to see Heath win the award. He really blew me away with how deep he got into the character.
Jamie
I’m always blown away by Sean Penn’s performances, and he gave another
amazing one in “Milk.” He truly inhabited the life of the famous American activist, and I was fascinated by the way history is told in that film. Josh Brolin was also very good in the movie, but my favorite supporting actor performance last year was Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder.” (He was so inappropriate and so dang hilarious.) Although “Milk” probably is the superior picture, I think there’s no stopping the train of “Slumdog Millionaire,” a thoroughly enjoyable, creatively told story. I’m a big fan of Kate Winslet (and thought she was robbed for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), so I’ll be rooting for her to win this year. I also thought Anne Hathaway was terrific in the “Rachel Getting Married,” an under-appreciated film. I still have several Oscar nominated movies to see–for some reason, I couldn’t make myself sit through three hours of “Benjamin Button,” despite the considerable aesthetic charms of Brad Pitt.
As for me, I’ll be cheering for “Slumdog Millionare.” These days I’m all for the happy ending.