Oscar worthy gadgets

To wrap up our week of Oscar-worthy gadgets, is the final 2008 Best Picture Oscar Nominee There Will Be Blood. Based on the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood is set in the late nineteenth century in Southern California and stars main-man Daniel Day-Lewis. Unlike the other Best Pictures, There Will Be Blood lacks any modern technology, since it's set in a time way before electronics . . . certainly not as gadget filled as some other movies from 2007, (yes we've been spoiled)!
Although there was one regularly featured gadget that can't go unnoticed in this film — the mechanized oil drill, whereby rods were turned by hand via a rope for it to slowly chip away at the rock below. In the movie, we see this method regularly being used, especially when the big explosion occurs with the derrick (the massive lifting device). Definitely an important piece of technology during the big oil boom, which has now been fined tuned into massive, complex pieces of equipment.

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As Anton Chigurh, Javier Bardem could be one of the scariest characters at this year's award show. Additionally, the transmitter/receiver that he used to track down the loot in No Country For Old Men could be one of the most annoying gadgets in an Oscar-nominated film. Why, you ask? First off, the receiver couldn't even tell you the address, area, or even general location of the loot — it only beeped when it was in proximity of the transmitter! Secondly, did you see the size of said transmitter inside that wad of bills? You'd have to sacrifice at least 10 grand, just to fit it in without it being noticed!

Although, I suppose I could cut the Cohen brothers a break. The film was set in 1980 and as you may remember, 1980 was not at the height of sleek and compact gadgets. Remember those very first cell phones we were all excited about? Thankfully today, we have great GPS systems like the Garmin Nuvi 660 to help us get where we need to go, and now even Lojack for our laptops for those worrywarts who need that extra blanket of protection. You could even call us spoiled with all the advances we've become accustomed to compared to those great days of the '80s. We've sure come a long way from the metal box that beeps!

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Because of Oscar Week (don't forget to cast your ballot!) and our Oscar Worthy Gadgets feature, I've been thinking about the gadgets of past Oscar winners too. One of my favorite movies of all time is Forrest Gump, and this epic movie never fails to bring me to tears — or make me want to listen to oldies. Forrest Gump wasn't exactly geeky himself, but fictionally, he's responsible for an obsession I and many of you have today. Forrest mentions that Lieutenant Dan has made an investment for him in "a fruit company" — we of course then see a letter with the unmistakable (vintage) Apple logo.

In present day 1994, the film Forrest Gump needed a whole team of geeks to make several important scenes possible. Gary Sinise (as Dan), who had lost his legs in Vietnam, had his legs "removed" through CGI. To enable Forrest to "meet" historical figures like JFK and John Lennon, the filmmakers used chroma key, warping, morphing and rotoscoping, and Tom Hanks was later added in. The film won Best Visual Effects for this, which was, as is the case for the many awards they won that year, completely deserved.

Needless to say while writing Atonement, Ian McEwan was not contemplating ways to incorporate technology into the story. And who can blame him? Set in 1935, big inventions of that year were the "Supreme" Pedestal Hair Dryer and the Moving Coil Speaker. Talk about exciting. Although the typewriter is obviously a vintage gadget, it's an Oscar worthy gadget indeed. For much of the 20th century, typewriters were important tools in business, journalism, and paved the way for more modern and advanced word processing devices — like the one you are using today. They also came in handy when writing the occasional dirty love letter, as in the case of Atonement. Who wouldn't want a love letter from Robbie Turner delivered with the romanticism of the old fashioned type? Sigh.

Not only was the typewriter an important prop in the story of Atonement, it was also an important character. A character that became more engraved when the sounds of the machine were incorporated into the soundtrack, setting the stage for emotion when you heard the ticking of the keys. Taking such a low tech gadget and turning it into something so hi-fi is a super creative way to bring the classic gadget into the 21st century.

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As the title character of Michael Clayton, George Clooney is stunning as a conflicted lawyer, and as that lawyer, he's outfitted appropriately with the latest gadgets and technology. Most notable is his BlackBerry, which is glued to his hand and ear and provides the picture of a modern, hardworking attorney on the case of his life. Happily for me, the BlackBerry wasn't the only tech eye-candy — in fact, there were many gadgets that played important roles in the plot.

A GPS device goes haywire, foreshadowing an upcoming scene. Bluetooth earpieces and digital cameras are made sinister by villains to undertake evil deeds, while an iPod is outfitted completely in black — including headphones — to echo the ominous scene it appears in. Finally, in my favorite gadget scene in the whole movie, Michael Clayton uses a camera phone after he delivers the best line in the film. Of the Best Picture nominees, I'm pretty sure Michael Clayton is the geekiest — and that Clooney ain't too shabby, either.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

"Can you hold on for a second? I'm on my hamburger phone. It's just like really awkward to talk on."

I'm beyond excited that Juno got nominated for so many Oscars, including Best Picture, because it was one of my favorite movies of 2007. The awesome music, the whip-smart dialogue, and the hipster-geek coupling of Michael Cera and Ellen Page? Perfect. And we all know what was my favorite part of the movie, and it must have been yours too because I've seen it brought up in comments, and all over Buzz and Yum: Juno's hamburger phone!

Not only is it a hilarious-looking phone, I think it mirrors Juno's characterization at that part of her life: Quirky, fun, and unexpected. Juno may not be a high-tech geek, but she's a geek nonetheless and I loved her for that. I heard that Diablo Cody actually had a hamburger phone when she was younger, and wrote it into the script. If you're equally as entranced by the hamburger phone, you can buy your own for $16 — and check out the one they released as a promotion. Stay tuned for more Oscar worthy gadgets this week!

Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight

• Fab may have been checking out the hot messenger bag by La Rue that Andy carries in The Devil Wears Prada, but my eyes were locked on the Sidekicks that seemed to sneak into every single street scene in the movie.
• Helen Mirren is on everyone's list as a top contender for best actress - her old school phone is pretty snazzy too.
• My first celebrity crush and Oscar nominee Leo DiCaprio will be rocking the trendy Samsung Black Carbon Phone this Sunday. Swoon.
• The Departed is not only an Oscar nominated action-packed film with some of the greatest actors of our time, but it is also a gadget-packed movie featuring some of the most advanced technology of our time.
• The ladies of Dreamgirls busted out their tunes on an Electro-Voice from the '50s and early '60s and an old Neumann mic, which among others was perfectly accurate for the time.
• I'll never forget the scene where Little Miss Sunshine's Olive unleashes a scream more intense than a stampede of hundreds of people getting their hands on a Wii when she finds out she was accepted to the "Little Miss Sunshine" beauty and talent competition. Of course, the answering machine she yells at is Oscar worthy itself.



• Blood Diamond is set in 1990's Sierra Leone and filled with civil war and conflict, which Jennifer Connelly's character captures on a fancy Leica camera.
• Nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography Children of Men features some of my favorite things: Clive Owen, Sci-Fi and awesome gadgets.
• According to Borat, iPod minis are for girls. Enough said.
• What would you do if you had an all-controlling remote like the one in Click?

In the hilarious Oscar nominated movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Borat (played by Sacha Baron Cohen) is a TV personality from Kazakhstani TV who is sent to the United States to report on all aspects of American life. At the very end of the movie he says this funny quote about the iPod: "My neighbor Nushuktan Tulyiagby is still assholes. I get iPod, he only get iPod mini. Haha! Everybody know it for girls!" The iPod nano might not hold as many songs as the 30 or 80GB iPod, but we all know that they aren't only for girls!

Want to know another tech tid-bit about the movie? In the RV scene with the frat boys, you can see a microphone attached to the wall in the front of the RV in one of the frames. Time to re-watch and look closely!

Nominated for an Academy Award for cinematography Children of Men features some of my favorite things: Clive Owen, Sci-Fi and awesome gadgets. The movie takes place in 2027, as humankind faces extinction and a government agent agrees to help transport and protect a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary of scientists.

My Buzzsugar spy tells me that in this scene a tech wiz teenager is zoned out and playing with this wild futuristic toy of some sort by just staring at it and flickering his fingers. As far as we can remember, there’s no mention of what it’s called or what the game is or anything. He’s just completely absorbed in it with half-closed eyes and his dad tells him to take his pills. Yes, it's one of those moments and it kind of makes you wonder...what will my world be like in 2027? For more photos, just read more

In Blood Diamond Academy Award-winner Jennifer Connelly plays Maddy Bowen, an American journalist who gets caught up in the story of two men, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, in search of a rare pink diamond. The film is set in 1990's Sierra Leone and filled with civil war and conflict, which Connelly's character captures on a fancy Leica camera.

According to camera fans, Connelly's character uses an M6 Classic and a 35mm Summicron. However, the sound director dubbed an SLR sound whenever Connelly took a photo. For more Blood Diamond photos - Leo has an awesome watch!- and another filming goof, read more