The Popcorn Diet’s 1st Annual Hindsight Awards — Part 2 (2007)
For the second part of our Hindsight Awards, we travel back 10 years to assess if history has been kind to the Oscar winners, or if they should be replaced.
Oscar Season is upon us! Listen to Rick Williamson and David Mehlhorn discuss the current nominees as well as their Hindsight Awards on The Popcorn Diet, a podcast for those who live on a steady diet of movie theater popcorn and other movie snacks! Like, rate, & subscribe now on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, or Google Play and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
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The Academy Awards are the ultimate goal in Hollywood, giving professionals in the filmmaking business the opportunity to be heralded as the best of they ear by their peers. Yet often times, in the heat of the moment, the general public finds itself asking if the films picked really deserved what they were awarded. The only proper way to tell is to let time run its course and look back at what won, what lost, and what was completely snubbed. Then we can have a better, more educated look in hindsight at what should have been rewarded.
The Popcorn Diet aims to do just that. With it’s Hindsight Awards, we’re looking back at the films from 20, 10, and 5 years in the past to see just how on-point or off-base the Oscars really were. Granted, film is subjective, and there really are no right or wrong answers, but we’re making a run at it regardless, to pick out what we think should’ve been rewarded as the best in film of that year. This second set of Hindsight Awards, part 2 of 3, looks back at the 80th Annual Academy Awards, when Joel & Ethan Coen garnered praise and accolades for their cat-and-mouse neo-western, No Country for Old Men.
The biggest goal of the Hindsight awards to to potentially correct the narrow-minded selection that the Oscars typically present as ‘awards contenders’. We want to break the definition of what makes a film an ‘Oscar film’ by including genre’s such as science fiction, action, comedy, amongst others. Below we’ve selected who we think should stay, who should go, and who should replace them. We encourage you to vote for our new 2007 Hindsight Nominees, or even add your own!
- Note: We’ll be using a 10-nominees system for Best Picture nominees to include a wider and more diverse selection of film genre, something the Academy should consider bringing back into rotation.
BEST PICTURE
No Country for Old Men *WINNER*
Juno
Atonement
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
Films Overlooked
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ratatouille, American Gangster, Charlie Wilson’s War, The Lookout, 300, Enchanted, 3:10 to Yuma, Ocean’s Thirteen, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, 28 Weeks Later, The Bourne Ultimatum, Lars and the Real Girl, Knocked Up, The Kingdom, Hairspray, Zodiac, The Mist, Hot Fuzz, Gone Baby Gone, Once, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Sunshine, The Host, Eastern Promises
2007, in hindsight, seemed like a very political year at the movies. Numerous films were released that put modern twists on age-old stories, from modern nihilistic westerns that called male masculinity into question to delightful family films that turned animated expectations on their ear. The nominees for that year, still limited to 5 at the time, reflected that as well. Both No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood took a look at strong male characters in chaotic western settings, one new and one old. Atonement, a romantic war drama, took a twist at the end that seemingly snatched it’s happy ending away from itself. Juno was a scrappy, witty coming of age indy film that took the box office by storm. Even Michael Clayton, a taught and suspenseful legal thriller, had twists and turns that kept audiences at the edge of their seats.
I think it’s fair to say that both No Country and There Will Be Blood better stood the test of time than the other three. While No Country and There Will Be Blood are considered to be classics of their genre, Juno has become forgotten, acting as a starting point for the flood of coming of age films we’ve seen over the last decade. Michael Clayton is another in a long line of expertly made legal white-knucklers, and Atonement isn’t even the best film focusing on the story of Dunkirk anymore. Two are still being talked about, and the other three, not so much. Giving us a total of EIGHT films to select from when picking out 10 Hindsight Nominees for Best Picture.
Numerous thrillers, action films, and dramas took a look at sociopolitical issues in 2007, but none did it more effectively and heart-breakingly than Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, the effective neo-noir mystery Gone Baby Gone. Blockbusters in 2007, on the other hand, dipped in quality. While there were a handful of worthy films to be brought up, only two of the Top 15 grossing films of the year rose above. Ratatouille is a delightful commentary not only on following your passions and loves, but also about rediscovering them after old age and cynicism have taken over. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix raised the game for the Harry Potter franchise, putting the kids we had fallen in love with in real danger, and showing us the true power of not only magic, but fighting for what you believe is right.
Dread was another theme for the year, with several films using the uneasy feeling of something bad to fuel their narratives. Uneasy dread permeated many different films that year, but none more successfully than our final four films. Starting with The Mist, one of the most effective and dreadful horror films in recent memory, we see how dread not only dealt with the monsters outside, but the monsters inside as well. Zodiac, David Fincher’s procedural masterpiece, takes what could have been a routine crime story and coats in a beautiful, moody, and terrified mood that poisoned San Francisco during the Zodiac murders. Danny Boyle’s powerful and deeply psychological science fiction film Sunshine looked at issues of fate and mortality all aboard a doomed mission to reignite the sun. Last, but certainly not least, Edgar Wright’s hilarious ode to action films, Hot Fuzz, placed Sgt. Nick Angel in a small town setting where nothing feels right and nothing seems to be as it appears.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Picture
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Enchanted
Gone Baby Gone
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hot Fuzz
The Mist
Ratatouille
Sunshine
Zodiac
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
BEST DIRECTOR
The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men *WINNER*
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Directors Overlooked
Joe Wright, Atonement; Brad Bird, Ratatouille; Ridley Scott, American Gangster; Werner Herzog, Rescue Dawn; Danny Boyle, Sunshine; Bong Joon-ho, The Host; James Mangold, 3:10 to Yuma; Peter Berg, The Kingdom; David Fincher, Zodiac; Frank Darabont, The Mist; Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz; Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone; David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises; David Yates, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Ultimatum
Looking back on 2007 seems to give us a list of good-not-great directors that did solid work, but not career best in many respects. Even amongst the five nominees that we originally got, some never quite repeated their success. Julian Schnabel has all but disappeared from filmmaking, and Tony Gilroy, while making some decent films in The Bourne Legacy and Duplicity, has yet to get back to the heights of his direction on Michael Clayton. The Coens are probably the highest crossover of quirky and popular filmmaker out there, and Paul Thomas Anderson is perennially making acclaimed film after acclaimed film. Even Jason Reitman has had huge success with Up in the Air, Young Adult, not to mention the upcoming Tully. His direction of witty dialogue and real characters is what launched Juno into the stratosphere.
Replacing two filmmakers in the Hindsight awards it tough. Fincher weaves such a riveting narrative with Zodiac, but he’s also nominated twice more after 2007. Ben Affleck took everyone by surprise with Gone Baby Gone, but was ultimately rewarded with a Best Picture Oscar for Argo. Instead, we’re going with two genre directors who put together two of the best, most remember films of that year. Frank Darabont, only ever nominated as a writer, put together the terrifying creature feature The Mist, and Edgar Wright composed the pitch-perfect, bloody, and gut busting comedy/satire/action film in Hot Fuzz.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Director
The Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Jason Reitman, Juno
Frank Darabont, The Mist
Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood *WINNER*
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Overlooked Actors
Jake Gyllenhaal, Zodiac; Seth Rogen, Knocked Up; Jamie Foxx, The Kingdom; Christian Bale, Rescue Dawn; Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild; Brad Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages; Samuel L. Jackson, Resurrecting the Champ; Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl; Casey Affleck, Gone Baby Gone; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead; Denzel Washington, American Gangster; Russell Crowe, American Gangster; Thomas Jane, The Mist; Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson’s War; John C. Reilly, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story; Gerard Butler, 300; Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz
Just as in the Directors category, the Lead actor category of 2007 gives us many good performances that border on great, but none that stand out as truly amazing besides our winner, Daniel Day-Lewis. Clooney has been better in films both further back and more recent. Tommy Lee Jones is still a solid supporting player, but no one remembers In the Valley of Elah. Both Johnny Depp and Viggo Mortensen are on the fringe, with Viggo offering yet another understated yet intense performance, and Depp letting his wig and singing voice do most of the heavy lifting. For that reason we’re wiping the slate clean of everyone except Day-Lewis, and filling the gaps with a more diverse group of performances across genres.
Seth Rogan, John C. Reilly, Ryan Gosling, and Simon Pegg all turned in fantastic leading man comedic performances that year, but it’s Pegg, with his charm and his impeccable impersonation of a 90s action hero that puts him above the rest. Of all the purely dramatic performances of this year, Jake Gyllenhaal’s paranoid, obsessive turn in Zodiac is still one that sits with us today. Likewise for Thomas Jane in The Mist, giving him a terrifying situation both inside and outside of that small storefront to deal with and react to. His final scenes in that film are haunting. With only a single spot to fill, and a bunch of veterans to pick from, we’re going to make the bold choice and recognize Daniel Radcliffe for embodying the role that millions of people had already built in their heads, and carrying a film that saw him grow up not only as a character, but also an actor.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Simon Pegg, Hot Fuzz
Jake Gyllenhall, Zodiac
Thomas Jane, The Mist
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose *WINNER*
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christy, Away From Her
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno
Actresses Overlooked
Lena Headey, 300; Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Nikki Blonksy, Hairspray; Naomi Watts, Eastern Promises; Michelle Monaghan, Gone Baby Gone; Meryl Streep, Lions for Lambs; Amy Adams, Enchanted; Keira Knightly, Atonement; Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilsons War; Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Keri Russell, Waitress; Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart; Jodie Foster, The Brave One; Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up
The trend of unexciting hindsight nominees continues. Apparently 2007 wasn’t a great year for leading women’s performances or diversity, as most qualifying performances belonged to veteran, caucasian actresses. That being said, the list of actual nominees is absolutely dismal, with none of the films coming close to being in modern conversation. If anything, Ellen Page and her turn in Juno is what made that film so popular to begin with, so she gets a pass. Everyone else is out.
That means we have four spots to fill with a list of relatively uninspired choices, so we’re going to go weird with it. Lena Headey, more famously know as Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, cut her royalty chops as the strong and iron-willed queen in 300. Michelle Monaghan was the picture of steady loyalty slowly unraveling over a complex case in Gone Baby Gone. Amy Adams was an absolute delight as a Disney princess come to life in Enchanted. We’re giving our last spot to Emma Watson, who would probably more likely end up in the Supporting Actress category, but we feel belongs here as essentially the female lead of the Harry Potter series and an important character for girls not only in film but also in literature.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Actress
Ellen Page, Juno
Lena Headey, 300
Michelle Monaghan, Gone Baby Gone
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men *WINNER*
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Overlooked Actors
Mark Ruffalo, Zodiac; Robert Downey Jr, Zodiac; Anthony Edwards, Zodiac; Nick Frost, Hot Fuzz; Paul Rudd, Knocked Up; Matt Damon, Ocean’s Thirteen; Steven Zahn, Rescue Dawn; John Travolta, Hairspray; Christopher Walken, Hairspray; Half the Cast of The Order of the Phoenix; Cillian Murphy, Sunshine; Chris Evans, Sunshine; Ben Foster, 3:10 to Yuma; Morgan Freeman, Gone Baby Gone; Ed Harris, Gone Baby Gone; James Marsden, Enchanted; Alan Rickman, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood
Finally, some nominees who’ve stood the test of time. Bardem is a no brainer, and Affleck and Hoffman were, respectfully, the best parts of their films, with Affleck bringing a quiet, starstruck sliminess to his role and Hoffman bringing gusto and A+ deliver. Holbrook and Wilkinson are out, both great actors, not resonating enough to be talked about a decade later.
Replacing them are two performances that in no way, shape or form would be recognized by the Academy, but will be recognized here. Both Matt Damon in Ocean’s Thirteen and James Marsden in Enchanted redefine what it means to be a comedic side player in an ensemble film. Damon steals every scene his in (pun intended) from his co-starts, and Marsden gives probably his best performance as a living cartoon character Prince Charming in the real world.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Matt Damon, Ocean’s Thirteen
James Marsden, Enchanted
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton *WINNER*
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Overlooked Actresses
Taraji P. Henson, Smokin’ Aces; Leslie Mann, Knocked Up; Ellen Barkin, Ocean’s Thirteen; Charlize Theron, In The Valley of Elah; Marcia Gay Harden, The Mist; Rose Byrne, 28 Weeks Later; Emma Stone, Superbad; Jennifer Garner, The Kingdom
Supporting Actress might have been the hardest to choose from in 2007, with many Lead Actress turns being politically aligned as supporting. Almost every single original nominee isn’t really discussed or talked about in hindsight to their performances here, but we’re keeping two for a few reasons. Firstly, Tilda Swinton is one of the most versatile, fearless actresses we have right now, and it’s humorous and somewhat poetic that her only Oscar has come for a role that is relatively straight-laced as opposed to all the eccentrics she’s played before. Amy Ryan, on the other hand, gave such a real, infuriating and heartbreaking performance as a mother looking for a child that she clearly doesn’t really care about, that it took audiences by storm. Who knew that she’d become the perfect romantic foil for Steve Carrell on The Office?
As for who’s replacing the other three, again, it’s not a long list to pick from, but there are a couple we feel fit in very well. Marcia Gay Harden, first and foremost, portrayed one of the most effective horror movie antagonists in years as the religious zealot who begins taking over the small store while other monsters loom outside in The Mist. Taraji P. Henson had done work before, but none quite on the level of a hit woman in love with her friend and partner in Smokin’ Aces. It’s a role that certainly had more eyes turned in her direction afterwards. Lastly, we can’t get over the debut of Emma Stone in Superbad, playing the object of Jonah Hill’s affections in such a charming, lovable, and realistic way. Everyone knew she’d be a star after this.
2007 Hindsight Award Nominees — Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Marcia Gay Harden, The Mist
Taraji P. Hensen, Smokin’ Aces
Emma Stone, Superbad
CLICK AND VOTE BELOW!
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