Welcome to the third annual Oscar Roundtable here at The Clemens Papers.  Joining me this year are...

-Co-host of Movie Geeks United and critic for God knows how many websites, Jerry Dennis.

-And critic for Fatally-Yours and the best export from our neighbors to the north since Chris Jericho, Jeff "The World's Sexiest Canadian" Timbrell.

And we start our long-as-fuck roundtable with...

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams-DOUBT
Penelope Cruz-VICKI CRISTINA BARCELONA
Viola Davis-DOUBT
Taraji P. Henson-THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Marisa Tomei-THE WRESTLER

JERRY’S PICK: Penelope Cruz-VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
I like everyone nominated in this category, but the actress I want to win has captivated me for the last ten years. While watching Stephen Frears’ The Hi lo Country, Penelope Cruz forever stole my heart. As Josepha O’Neill, she walked away with the film. I went back and watched many of her films. There was a lot of great stuff to go back to such as Open Your Eyes, Jamon, Jamon, Live Flesh and Belle Époque, just to name a few. I liked her in Blow, but I found many of her American films to be lacking. Like Nicole Kidman, she had to leave Tom Cruise to find her true greatness. Vicky Cristina Barcelona does not come to life until Penelope Cruz’s Maria Elena enters the film. Before her entrance, the film is sadly lacking in excitement. I kept wishing I was watching Whit Stillman’s Barcelona instead, but once Maria Elena does enter the film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona does come to life. Javier Bardem finally has someone to engage with in the film. I feel that a win in this category would recognize her astounding performances in Elegy and Volver. Speaking of Volver, her work for Pedro Almodovar is nothing short of astonishing. She was excellent in All About My Mother and Live Flesh. The best supporting actress award belongs to Penelope Cruz this year.

JEFF’S PICK: Marisa Tomei-THE WRESTLER
I wasn’t a huge fan of Doubt, and I really didn’t like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button although I am a big fan of Taraji.  Penelope Cruz is always good, regardless of the role, but I think Marisa Tomei really deserves it this year.  If she deserved to win an Oscar for My Cousin Vinny; her performance in The Wrestler should net her another.

ROYCE’S PICK: Viola Davis-DOUBT
More than just deserving the Oscar for DOUBT (a movie I frankly didn’t like), she should swoop in on a rope like a pirate and swipe it.  Because in DOUBT, the following happens:

STREEP: A priest is touching your son’s butthole!

DAVIS: Well, as long as he graduates.

Terrible, when logic and reason are applied, but it doesn’t play that way on screen.  Davis’ input is invaluable.  She provides the only honest emotion in an otherwise entirely fake film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin-MILK
Robert Downey Jr.-TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman-DOUBT
Heath Ledger-THE DARK KNIGHT
Michael Shannon-REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

JERRY’S PICK: Heath Ledger-THE DARK KNIGHT
Heath Ledger deserves this award. In another year, Robert Downey Jr. would have gotten my vote for Tropic Thunder because that role is the work of a comic genius. I like the other actors in this category too. I hope that one day someone realizes what a terrific actor Josh Brolin really is because this man is on fire in every role he creates. Heath Ledger does not become the Joker, he is the Joker. He manages to scare us in ways that Jack Nicholson’s portrayal never did in 1989. Jack Nicholson scared a lot of us as Jack Torrance in The Shining, but Heath Ledger’s performance is the stuff of legend. His Joker is the very definition of anarchy in The Dark Knight. His Joker is the bogeyman of our nightmares. His Joker is the heir apparent to Keyser Soze; all cinematic anarchists must acknowledge their shadows.

JEFF’S PICK: Heath Ledger-THE DARK KNIGHT
I’m a fan of all these actors and I think Brolin and Downey turned in some of the best performances of the year, just not in the movies they were nominated for at these Oscars.  Brolin in “W” was incredible and Downey made Tony Stark more three dimensional than any comic book writer who’s ever worked on the source material. Philip Seymour Hoffman is always fantastic, but Doubt just didn’t work for me.  Shannon’s a strong talent as well, but Road is just too flat.  I have to go with the fan favorite Ledger in this one, not out of some sense of dramatic sentimentality, but simply because his performance as the Joker was incredible.

ROYCE’S PICK: Josh Brolin-MILK
Eh, I have my reasons.  http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=440824590&blogID=466082139

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway-RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Angelina Jolie-CHANGELING
Melissa Leo-FROZEN RIVER
Meryl Streep-DOUBT
Kate Winslet: THE READER

JERRY’S PICK: Melissa Leo-FROZEN RIVER
For the last two years, it is who is not nominated which always perplexes me. Last year, I would have nominated Nicole Kidman for Margot At The Wedding, Belen Rueda for The Orphanage and Tang Wei for Lust, Caution. This year I must ask where are the nominations for Sally Hawkins in Happy Go-Lucky, Michelle Williams in Wendy And Lucy and Kristin Scott Thomas in I Have Loved You So Long? Personally, I feel Kristin Scott Thomas gave the best actress performance of the year. It is a given that Kate Winslet will win for The Reader and while I feel she is the only thing the film has to offer, that is bloody shame. She is long overdue for an Oscar, but her performances in The Reader and Revolutionary Road cannot begin to equal some of her greatest work. Here is the thing; I think her performances in both films tower over her peers, but the films themselves seem beneath her. This is going to be the mercy fuck of an Oscar win for her just as it was for Helen Mirren getting it for The Queen. Anne Hathaway is devastating as Kym in Rachel Getting Married, but Melissa Leo gives the most emotional performance of any nominated in this category as Ray Eddy in Frozen River. It is a character many of us can relate to and Leo gives it her all. While it is just an honor to get nominated as it was for Emily Watson for Breaking The Waves, I feel Leo deserves it. Frozen River is a bleak film and I saw it only days before we entered the economic downward spiral we find ourselves in today, but Ray Eddy’s plight is a metaphor for where America is right now. Topicality has never been one of the Academy’s strengths, but it would be nice to see Melissa Leo win. Having said that, I would not complain if Anne Hathaway walked away with it.  Her performance is a revelation. 

JEFF’S PICK: Anne Hathaway-RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
I loved Melissa Leo in Frozen River, and I’m a big sucker for Angelina Jolie, she’s one of the most iconic actresses of our generation, but Anne Hathaway gets my vote for this one.  Bride Wars not withstanding, Anne has been absolutely fearless in her performances since Brokeback Mountain and I really respect that.   It takes a lot of courage to be so openly vulnerable on screen and Anne brings that to every single role. Anne’s acting in Rachel Getting Married is the strongest part of the movie, it is the glue that holds the film together, and it’s one of the best performances of the year. I hope she’s rewarded for it.

ROYCE’S PICK: Anne Hathaway-RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Yup, Miss Hathaway is indeed the best actress of the Best Actresses, but being as three of them didn’t even deserve to be nominated, that’s not saying much.  Nevertheless, Hathaway is brilliant is a young woman who wants acceptance but can’t manage to walk the road to get her there.  Her heroin addict Kym is not always likeable, but therein lies the genius of her performance.  Most would resort to cute little mannerisms to get sympathy, but Hathaway dives in to her character’s faults and doesn’t even flinch.

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins-THE VISITOR
Frank Langella-FROST/NIXON
Sean Penn-MILK
Brad Pitt-THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Mickey Rourke-THE WRESTLER

JERRY’S PICK: Mickey Rourke-THE WRESTLER
Maybe I was wrong; this is the category where I like everyone. Frank Langella captures Richard Nixon not as caricature, but as the very essence of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson’s arch nemesis. There is no denying that Frank Langella has all of Richard Nixon’s mannerisms down in Frost/Nixon. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is a testament to how handsome Brad Pitt really is and we spend the first half of the film waiting for him to become Brad Pitt. He should have gotten the best supporting Actor Oscar for Twelve Monkeys because he is more than a pretty boy, but this is not his year. Sean Penn was born to play Harvey Milk in Milk. I do not feel he gives a false note throughout the whole film, but it feels too much like a standard biopic rather than a Gus Van Sant film. In another year, Richard Jenkins would own this category as Walter Vale in The Visitor. Richard Jenkins is one of the great character actors of our time, but his first starring role is one of the great performances of last year. As great as Richard Jenkins is, he is no match for Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. The Wrestler is an excellent character study. It is an excellent film that never delivers a false note. Mickey Rourke gives his greatest performance, even greater than Barfly or The Pope Of Greenwich Village.  I know my review for The Wrestler emphasized how Mr. Rourke’s biography informed his character of Randy  “The Ram” Robinson, but for those of us who looked up to Mickey Rourke in our teens, this was the role of the lifetime.  His performance in the film is nothing short of an emotional blitzkrieg; his performance is a reminder to everyone that no one is ever washed up in this life; there is always a chance for redemption. He and his character are interchangeable. The highest praise I can give is that no one else could ever play the part. The film simply would not work with anyone else. The Wrestler is a vivid reminder of why I have always adored Mickey Rourke.

JEFF’S PICK: Mickey Rourke-THE WRESTLER
This category is stacked; I’m really torn on who I want to give the award to.  It’s difficult to choose between Langella, Jenkins and Rourke , because each one of them inhabits their character so convincingly.  I think Ron Pearlman gave a better performance under tons of make-up and effects than Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button.  Ultimately, Rourke deserves the Oscar for The Wrestler, because his performance is going to be iconic.  It’s a role that will come to define him as one of the greats of our generation.  Rourke in The Wrestler is comparable to Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, where the acting works so well with the direction and the script that three become perfectly in-synch. Mickey busted his ass for this one and he deserves it.

ROYCE’S PICK: Mickey Rourke-THE WRESTLER
Of the five Best Actor nominees, it is Mickey Rourke as pro-wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, whose character is not borne aloft by his own self-importance.  Robinson is just some shlub trying to get from one day to the next in the most unconventional ways, all the while trying to be loved as his whole world falls apart.  Rourke is a genuine howl of pain going places physically and even emotionally that few have the vigor or the sheer nerve to go.

BEST PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

JERRY’S PICK: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
I feel we were spoiled by the last two years in regards to the best picture category. Last year we had There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Atonement, Michael Clayton and Juno as the nominees. That is a very good year in my book. This year seems very lackluster in comparison. To be fair, last year and the previous year would be hard to live up to under any circumstances. You do not get the Best Picture nominations you want, but the Best Picture Nominations you have. I like four of the films nominated and I think one has no reason to be on the list at all. Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Milk and Frost/Nixon are good films in my opinion, but none of them blow me away. I actually prefer The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. I know people are comparing the two because both screenplays were written by Eric Roth. I have always seen Forrest Gump as a Republican fairy tale. Perhaps, it is even fair to call it Zelig For Dummies. I also just happen to dig David Fincher a great deal, but I am going to jump on the gravy train and say that I think Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire deserves to take home the top prize because it is upbeat and we need that right now.  The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is about death, but not nearly as obsessed with it as was Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche New York. Milk certainly is relevant and part of me feels the Academy may put this one over the top because so many felt Brokeback Mountain deserved it several years ago. Slumdog Millionaire deserves to win plain and simple. The film is about the triumph of the underdog. While the film may take place in Mumbai, India, it is certainly a story that the whole world has identified with so far. Danny Boyle has certainly earned a place along with such directors as David Fincher, Gus Van Sant and Ron Howard. He is certainly a versatile director along with David Fincher and Gus Van Sant. Harvey Weinstein’s avarice can sit this one out as far as I am concerned-- The Reader does not deserve the nomination.

JEFF’S PICK: FROST/NIXON
I have to go with Frost/Nixon.  I loved Slumdog Millionaire and I loved Milk.  Slumdog was a fantastic emotionally charged film; and Milk had some of the strongest performances of the year, but they were both conventional stories.  Frost/Nixon is a fantastic film with great performances and a very unconventional and daring style.  It’s a film that captures the audience with a stranglehold of tension that most action and horror films can’t generate by putting their characters into direct peril.  And Frost/Nixon achieves this level of tension with a simple interview between two personalities.

ROYCE’S PICK: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
I remember the day I called SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE the best film of 2008.  Some of you were thrilled with it, while some of you looked at me like I just punched Rihanna.  But I don’t give a damn either way.  SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was the only film all year that let me have a whole lot of fun.  A fairy tale writ bold and beautiful and a vibrant display of pure stylism.  And of the five nominees, this is the only one that didn’t seem to grub for the Oscar that was gonna come its way anyway.  It’s too good for arbitrary business displays like the Academy Awards.  SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is just happy to be here.

WHAT WIN IN ANY OF THE MINOR CATEGORIES WOULD MAKE YOU THE HAPPIEST?

JERRY’S PICK: Best Original Screenplay: Martin McDonagh-IN BRUGES
I would love to see Martin McDonagh win best original screenplay for In Bruges. It is my favorite film of 2008. I love crime films and this is one of the best in a long time. The film is as good as they come.

JEFF’S PICK: Best Original Screenplay: Pete Docter, Jim Reardon, Andrew Stanton-WALL-E
Wall-E winning for Best Screenplay would tickle all the major pleasure centers in my brain.  I think I’d fall over in a crumbling mass of giggles and squeaks if that happened.

ROYCE’S PICK: Best Sound Editing-WALL-E
This one should be obvious.  For the first third of WALL-E, sound editing was all the film had.  The guys who worked on this movie took clanging trash and electronic beeps and created a whole ‘nother universe.

And finally… WORST NOMINATION

JERRY’S PICK: Best Director: Stephen Daldry-THE READER
Stephen Daldry for The Reader is the worst nomination. Really, I liked The Hours and Billy Elliott much more than The Reader. Stephen Daldry is not Rainer Warner Fassbinder and let us hope we never forget it.  The Marriage Of Maria Braun was far superior to The Reader. . Maybe The Reader should have been directed by Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, Tom Tykwer, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Carole Link or Marc Rothemund.  The Reader, like the other films which deal with the Holocaust this year, have trivialized the subject matter more than anyone will dare to admit.  Agnieszka Holland’s Europa Europa, Roman Polanski’s The Pianist and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List are in a class far above The Reader.  The Reader is the Bernie Madoff of Holocaust films-- a cinematic Ponzi scheme. I kind of wished Nicole Kidman had stayed in the film. It would have been the perfect companion piece to her character in Margot At The Wedding. The film never packs the punch it should in the end. It rings hollow and borders on the absurd in the Third Act. Stephen Daldry’s The Reader only exists to placate Academy members. 

JEFF’S PICK: Best Picture-THE READER
The Reader is a cold, conservative and boring nomination for Best Picture.  The Reader is another atypical “Important Film”; that mistakes attempting to be profound with actually being profound.  The Reader gives a superficial nod to the Holocaust and political group-think, but in reality, The Reader hangs most of its weight on explicit sex scenes that aren’t convincing and are generally dull. It used to be a joke that if you wanted to see your favorite actress naked in a movie, all you had to do was look up a slasher flick that they acted in before they got famous. Nowadays if perverts want to see their favorite actress in the buff, they troll the Oscar Nominations aisle of their video store. Sex and nudity is fine, but it’s no more daring filmmaking than violence and explosions and the only people who think otherwise are prudes.  There’s a backwards and conservative sense of exploitation and misogynist tones in these dramatic sex scenes that mirrors the pretentiousness of the rape/revenge films of the 70s that followed Last House on the Left.  When Oscar Winners are being populated more and more with films about beautiful women sleeping with either much younger or much older men, it starts to feels less and less provocative and more like fan service.

ROYCE’S PICK: Best Picture-THE READER
Dammit, kids!  READ SO YOU DON’T INCINERATE JEWS!