Awards Season Forecast #1

Appaloosa:
I have already reviewed the film at some length and said this:

Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are excellent as the leads, which is important because the film is essentially a buddy picture with western tropes. I was reminded of Peckinpah's transcendent classic Ride the High Country. Like Randolph Scott and Joel McRae, Harris and Mortensen were born to be in westerns, and Jeremy Irons as the villain is pitch perfect. The way Irons is able to turn off his accent but still growl in that gravelly basso never ceases to impress. Renee Zell-whatever is the love interest, and the fulcrum on which the balance of the story rests, and as such she is serviceable...but not great. She thankfully doesn't descend to much into her Cold Mountain character, but she never is very convincing.

I was worried at the outset that I was in for a "modern"or "revisionist" western along the lines of Unforgiven (an excellent film, don't get me wrong) not knowing what to expect from Harris. My fears were in vain however, because Appaloosa turned out to be very classical in its story, with clear cut good guys vs. bad guys. There was even a little cowboy vs. Indian action thrown in. Also worth mentioning is the soundtrack. All of the recent westerns (The Proposition, Assassination, Yuma) have been outstanding in regards to music, and Appaloosa is no exception. The score is reminiscent of classic westerns, spiced up with a bit of period flare (banjo, baby). Although the Tom Petty song over the end credits was a bit odd...

Suffice to say that this was one of my personal favorites of 2008. I actually waited with anticipation for the release, and when I wasn't able to catch the special showing while in Toronto, I scrambled quickly to the local theatre down the street from me as soon as the film released in Atlanta.
I nominate Appaloosa for Best Adapted Screenplay (from the novel), Best Picture, and Viggo for Best Supporting Actor. I have always liked Mortensen, and his past few films have displayed an impressive range and intensity. He in no way plays second fiddle to Harris, and in many ways he one-ups the director/star.
Choke:
Likely if you are reading this, you did not see Choke. The film was the second onscreen adaption of a Chuck Palahniuk novel, the first of course being Fight Club which is in every way a superior film. The movie is quite funny, but raunchy as it deals with exceedingly odd characters and insane subject matter (not unlike Fight Club). The title is derived from the main character's (played by Sam Rockwell) propensity for faking choking to death to get people to love him.
Rockwell is great in the lead role, and he continually impresses me with his chops-- and has ever since I first saw him on an episode of Pete and Pete when I was a kid (check out The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford last year). Choke is the directorial debut of Clark Gregg, who is an actor who also shows up in the film. As such, the movie is rather blandly shot, with very little style. However, there were some surprisingly profound moments that shine through from the novel that make solid and sympathetic arguments for Christian love and the authority of Jesus Christ, but you'd have to make it through all the gratuitous sex scenes to find them (the movie, to be fair, is about sex addicts.)

Anyway, this one doesn't really deserve any nominations, except for a shout out to Rockwell. However, in a year populated by solid male lead performances, there really just isn't a place for him this year. Maybe in a few, he's still young.