Guest Author - Peggy Maddox

Some years I wonder what prompts the "deciders" to choose the films they do as Oscar winners. That is, if I've even seen the films that are nominated. A film popular with general audiences at the box office is not always among the Oscar Noms.

This year, however, I've managed to watch several of the Oscar-nominated films and have to agree that the winners deserve their awards. Here are some general comments on the winning films that I got to see before the Awards. Stay tuned for reviews on each.

Slumdog Millionaire
I almost didn't go see Slumdog Millionaire. Both the title and the information that the story revolved around a young man playing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire put me off. But then my son-in-law arranged for me to attend a movie marathon the Saturday before the Oscars. Slumdog Millionaire was one of the features. It is an excellent film that deserves the eight Oscars it won:

Best Motion Picture
Directing (Danny Boyle)
Adapted Screenplay
Original Music Score (A.R. Rahman)
Original Song "Jai Ho"
Cinematography
Film Editing (Chris Dickens)
Sound Mixing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Although I saw this one before Oscar weekend, I haven't reviewed it yet. I did write a comparison between the movie and the original short story of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I predicted that the movie would win the Oscar for Makeup.

Art Direction
Visual Effects
Makeup

The Dark Knight
I don't think there was ever any doubt that the Best Supporting Actor Oscar would go to the late Heath Ledger for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. The other actors nominated for this one were: Josh Brolin in Milk, Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt, and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road.

The only film in this list that I've seen so far is Milk so I can say that Ledger's performance tops Brolin's. Judging from the clip I saw during the Awards show, Downey's part as an African American must be pretty remarkable. Here are the two Oscars won for this film:

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Heath Ledger)
Sound Editing

Milk
I remember the news coverage of the assassinations of Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk in 1978 so I found it interesting to see what led up to the murders. This is the first Sean Penn movie I've seen so I don't have anything to compare it to. Clearly he is an exceptionally-gifted actor. I'm sorry the award couldn't have been presented to two actors this year. Frank Langella was equally dazzling as Richard Nixon. Awards for Milk:

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn)
Best Original Screenplay (Dustin Lance Black)

Wall-E
I haven't seen Bolt,, but I have seen Kung Fu Panda and I can testify that Pixar's Wall-E is a far more original film than the latter. I know that makers of animated films are not thinking only of children when they make them, although the films are then marketed heavily to children. Wall-E is a gentle film with a meaningful message. And I don't recall (I've watched it only once so far) seeing any of the tiresome vulgar "humor" so common in the DreamWorks and Disney animated films. You can read my review to see what I think of Kung Fu Panda. I'm glad that Wall-E won for Best Animated Feature.

Now I've got to get busy and see the rest of this year's nominations before it's time for next year's batch.