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Oscar Worthy Gadgets
The 2009 Oscar Worthy Gadgets
Roll out the red carpet, it's almost Oscar time! Check out geeksugar's selection of the gadgets that played best supporting roles in this year's Oscar-nominated films. And when you're done, make sure you fill out Buzz's Oscar ballot for the chance to win big!
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Revolutionary Road
Concluding this year's Oscar Worthy Gadgets series is a movie up for three Academy Award nominations, including best costume design, art direction, and Michael Shannon's nomination for his performance in a supporting role. Starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road takes us inside the lives of a couple who struggle with the mundane realities of living in a Connecticut suburb.
Because the movie is set during the mid-1950s, there were many vintage tech shots.
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Benjamin Button's Behind the Scenes Tech
The main themes of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button involve love, life, and death, but behind the scenes, it was all about the technology. From the first scene, Benjamin Button was shot digitally, going from camera's hard drive, to director David Fincher's Mac Pro, and uploaded straight to Final Cut Pro for editing.
Using a Thompson Viper Digital camera, nearly all of Button was captured digitally, with only a few scenes filmed with traditional film.
Oscar-Worthy Gadgets: Tropic Thunder's Tech Addiction
I love that Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for his role in Tropic Thunder — next to all these very serious roles, there's a "dude playing a dude disguised as another dude." Classic. So besides the hilarious performances by the cast (Hello, Tom Cruise!), technology took some very nice supporting roles throughout the film.
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: The Dark Knight's Cell Phone Capers
One of my favorite films of last year, The Dark Knight unquestionably shines with the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker, nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The film's up for a slew of other nominations that I'm really interested in because of their technical slants, like Best Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects.
That's not just why the Batman sequel was a geek's dream; it featured the Nokia Tube as Lucius Fox's cell, and a couple pivotal scenes centered around cell phone communication as a plot device.
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Cameras
Set in Spain and starring breathtakingly gorgeous actors like Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, and the Oscar-nominated Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is memorable for its amazing scenery — in the humans and the geography.
A subplot of the film centers around the scenery and visuals when Cristina, played by Johansson, discovers that she's a talented photographer. Her shots frame the other characters and amazing backdrops, but what could I not take my eyes off?
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: The Wrestler
Nominated for an Oscar for his brilliant performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke is certainly deserving of his new "comeback king" title. His costar in the film, Marisa Tomei, is also nominated for an Oscar for her role as Cassidy, an exotic dancer who Randy ends up developing feelings for. This poignant film is definitely a "must see" as we watch Randy endure all of the trials and tribulations associated with being a professional wrestler.
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Wall-E's Junkyard Vintage Geek Finds
It's only fitting that I'm reviewing Wall-E's Oscar worthy gadgets during the week before Valentine's Day, since enduring love is one of the film's main themes. And naturally, Wall-E was one of my top rated movies of last year, since a few of his costars are some of my favorite things: gadgets and robots. Nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Screenplay at this year's Oscars, Wall-E takes animation to new heights, and keeps the geeks happy at the same time.
Oscar Worthy Gadgets: Milk's Cameras
Nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor for Sean Penn in the title role, Milk is the moving story of San Francisco's first openly gay city supervisor Harvey Milk. After moving to the Bay Area, Harvey Milk opens up a camera repair shop — the real life Castro Camera.
Of course, the shop wasn't used as just a repair shop for long; it would become the heart of Milk's political career — first as a gathering place, then his campaign headquarters.
Geeksugar's Oscar Mania 2008 !
This past week, we kicked off our second annual Oscar Worthy Gadgets feature to showcase the tech from this year's Best Picture Nominees. Not only that, but we highlighted some of our favorite movies from the past year (and an oldie or two), that had some awesome gadget cameos worth mentioning. In case you missed a post or two, check out our slideshow, which is guaranteed to bring you up to speed, just in time for tonight's festivities!
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