Oscar Predictions 2012: Best Picture

At one point in the early going with so few quality movies to pick from it really felt like this could be anyone's year. But then one of these movies, as it usually goes, kept winning all the awards and receiving all the praise. So below is a look at this year's best picture nominees

And the nominees are
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Hugo
The Help
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

This must have been an off year for me because I didn't see a couple of the movies on the list. So feel free to denounce me as an expert but I really have no desire to see some of these movies. Those movies are Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Tree of Life. I didn't want to see them for different reasons. I didn't want to see Extremely Loud because it got a forty fuckin six on rotten tomatoes. How is this movie nominated for the award? Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol came out the same weekend and got a 93. What the hell is that, I would much rather see Mission Impossible nominated because as far as I can tell it was a better movie. But because Extremely Loud's explosion was a sad one, it got the nod. I can't wait to never see this movie. I also did not see Tree of Life because I am so worried that I may actually like this movie and what that would say about me as a person and pretentious movie-goer. What if I actually liked it and became one of those people looking down on everyone else mocking them because they thought the flower was just a flower. I can't support that. There was just such a polarizing feel to the movie that I couldn't take it seriously and never wanted to spend the money to see it.

There are a couple movies on here that I didn't enjoy either but did see in theaters. Namely Horse War and The Help. Spielberg really went all Spielberg on this one, but he forgets that horses are not as universally beloved as other animals, while beautiful I don't know many people that would call them cute, they're too big to be cute. And then he asked his old pal John Williams to keep on Spielberging it with that overly dramatic soundtrack. Then there was The Help which is actually high on people's list for movies that could win. Partially attributed to the fact that people love movies about overcoming racism just look at The Blindside or Crash for recent proof. What else do those movies have in common, white people fixing racism. Probably because the academy is full of old white dudes who I'm sure thought Birth of a Nation was brilliant. This is the only kind of overcoming racism that the older voters can really support. But with nothing going for it besides the acting of Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer this movie is still a long shot.

Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese are beloved directors, but you know who does hate Woody Allen, The Academy. Midnight in Paris is too quirky to be considered for best picture but just quirky enough to grab an award for the screenplay so that will probably have to do. Meanwhile while The Academy does love movies about movies but they are too old to enjoy the 3D technology and plus they didn't win anything from the guilds and that may be too much to overcome for Hugo to win.

Moneyball really is a tremendous movie, it is sharply written, has fantastic actors, it’s a great story that anyone can enjoy. But being a sports movie is driving it down the ballots list, also not helping is the fact that their director Bennett Miller didn't get nominated for directing. And if there is one category most closely linked to the best picture field it is best director. Lacking this nomination hurts any realistic shot this movie has. Despite it actually being one of the best movies on this list.

The Descendants won the Golden Globe for best picture in the drama category. This is usually a great precursor for the Oscars. George Clooney is fantastic, Alexander Payne is beloved by The Academy and it is the perfect mix of comedy and tragedy. But the biggest selling point of the movie is Clooney and his performance, and the fact that The Artist's Jean Dujardin is so close in the voting hurts the chances to overtake the clear favorite...

The Artist is going to win the award for Best Picture no doubt about it. And for all the reasons mentioned above, Michel Hazanavicius is a favorite to win Best Director, it is a movie about movies, it’s quirky and lighthearted and as I previously mentioned it is impossible to walk out of the theater without a smile. Plus the dog is adorable. Academy voters are old enough to remember seeing the black and whites and that nostalgia will certainly lock in their votes. While it will win the award this year, any other year it probably wouldn’t, it really is a cute movie and that is the best way to describe it but cute is not synonymous for a great film. This cute movie is a fry cry away from the brilliance that was Social Network, Black Swan, or Blue Valentine.

Let me know what you think. What did you think were the best movies of the year? Let me know. And enjoy Sunday.

Oscar Predictions 2012: Part 1

Here is the problem with this year's award ceremony. It was a down year for movies. Last year there were so many good movies to pick from (and they still went with the obvious choice in the King's Speech). After that they showed their age leaving movies like Drive and 50/50 off the ballots. Meanwhile love them or hate them movies like Tree of Life and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close were nominated for best picture because of the way the voting is structured. So with some big snubs and with so few movies to choose from it seems like everything is pretty much locked up but we'll take a look at eight of the biggest categories. Today I'll take a look at the writers and directors

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, and Stan Chervin, Moneyball
Peter Staughan and Bridget O'Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

It looked like at one point Hugo could win the award but has since been taken over by the Hawaiian wave that is The Descendants. With a win from the WGA and major last minute surge overall The Descendants have been creeping up the Oscar ballots. Typically the Academy likes to recognize only one writer rather than a team for whatever reason. But Alexander Payne has been receiving much of the adulation for the movie, including this blog, more so than his contributors so that may give it the advantage. Moneyball probably deserves the award though as Sorkin was able to take a book that was completely unfilmable and turn it into an Oscar contender full of quick dialogue and a story that can be enjoyed by the non sports fan. That is talent.

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Wouldn't you love to see Bridesmaids win, well I would but if you had to go with a nostalgic pick that vote would probably be going to Midnight in Paris which seems like a lock for the award. It has the rare quality of being a movie that should win and many experts are predicting to win. If for nothing else you had to enjoy the conversations from Ernest Hemingway and Salvador Dali. Although with a big night predicted from Michel Hazanavicius don't be surprised if this movie takes this award with all the momentum the movie has gathered.

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

What a group of talented directors this year. Yes Malick is a weird guy, but Badlands is frickin bad ass. Then again he has dinosaurs in his movie so he is probably out of any serious contention. Scorsese made a wonderful movie about movies, and the Academy loves self promotion, plus he ventured far out of his comfort zone. Payne and Allen went the opposite direction and told a story they have told before but both do a really good job telling it. Frankly any of these directors are deserving but all of the momentum seems to be surrounding Hazanavicius and with a win from the DGA and favored to win the big award he seems like a lock to win for best director.

Tomorrow we'll take a look at the acting category.

Oscars 2012: First Thoughts

The Road to Wrestlemani...the Oscars have finally begun. Most would agree it was a pretty weak year in film. There are a score of movies that came out last year which would probably be taking home the award this year. That is just not the case though, so let's take a look at some of the nominations or lack there of

Best Picture
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

With different rules this year one of the biggest questions was how many movies would be nominated in this category. In order to be nominated for best picture the movie needed to receive at least 5% of the vote. Many thought that because the field was weak this year it would lead to fewer nominees. Instead it led to more. With the most surprising selection being “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” followed closely by “The Tree of Life.” Both of these movies left critics and audiences highly divided walking out of the theater. Despite the Academy not normally supporting comedies, I honestly thought that “Bridesmaids” would make it through this year, sadly it was not to be as the combination of Tom Hanks and September 11th seems too strong a pull for the older Academy voters. While it was never going to happen weren’t you kind of hoping to see the final Harry Potter movie get nominated, say what you wish about the series, bit if you put away any bias you may have it was a good movie, and one of the best this year. Not an artistic choice, but a really well done movie.

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")
Terrence Malick ("The Tree of Life")


Four of the five directors nominated also were nominated for the Director's Guild Award. While it may shock some to see Steven Spielberg off the list, the more surprising diss is without question David Fincher for his take on “The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.” Spielberg is usually snubbed come awards season, it didn't help that his horse movie wasn't as so much good as it was sentimental. Fincher did terrific work, well maybe not terrific but certainly better than Terrence Malick whose own star couldn’t even understand “The Tree of Life.”

BEST ACTOR
Demián Bichir ("A Better Life")
George Clooney "The Descendants")
Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")
Gary Oldman ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy")
Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")

Clooney, Pitt, and Dujardin, were obvious selections and while it seems to be a two man race between Clooney and Dujardin many thought that two of the biggest rising stars in Hollywood would get the nod as well. Without a doubt the biggest snubs of the day came in this category with the exclusion of Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling. Gosling had three fantastic performances in “The Ides of March,” “Drive,” and “Crazy, Stupid Love” (which would actually get him a supporting nomination). But Fassbender seemed like the bigger snub of the two, though it makes more sense as Academy voters typically don't support naked men. But seriously has anyone seen “A Better Life’ besides Christoph Waltz?

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close ("Albert Nobbs")
Viola Davis ("The Help")
Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")
Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")

A lot of people are surprised that Rooney Mara made the list; I am not one of them. She did well but many of the experts thought that took away from Tilda Swinton for Let's Talk About Kevin. I didn't see this one so can't speak to it. Moving on.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn")
Jonah Hill ("Moneyball")
Nick Nolte ("Warrior")
Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")
Max von Sydow ("Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close")

Love that Nick Nolte got nominated for “Warrior.” This was one of my favorite movies of the year and I suggest every guy out there go out and watch this one. This is one of the reasons that Tom Hardy got cast as Bane. The movie was marketed wrong initially, but it had a lot of great action sequences and was a fun watch. I did not think that Jonah Hill was going to get nominated either, but was glad to see him on the list. Now the question is did Albert Brooks deserve the nomination. He certainly was good but I completely forgot about his performance until people kept talking about it which may be the most telling sign of his deserving the honor.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bérénice Bejo ("The Artist")
Jessica Chastain ("The Help")
Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")
Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs")
Octavia Spencer ("The Help")

It is surprising that Bejo got nominated in this category and not for lead actress, but that was her decision to make as she submits herself into the category. Melissa McCarthy getting nominated was well deserved for her performance and also a way to make up for the fact that her movie didn't make it to the big one. But everyone knows this award will belong to Octavia Spencer by the end of the night.

Best Animated Film
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

How did Puss in Boots get nominated? And while “Cars 2” didn't make it, and didn't deserve to make it I'm still surprised it didn't make it. This will be the first year in a while that Pixar won't walk away with the major award, which means this field is wide open.

Finally how are there only two songs nominated for Best Song. Man or Muppet will go head-to-head with Real in Rio. But where is the love, for songs from Elton John, Mary J. Blidge, and this year's Golden Globe winner Madonna all being left off the list. Even with the prospect of a Muppet performance at The Oscars it is surprising not to see more nominations, and for that matter where is the love for last year's winner Trent Reznor. His score for “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” is what garnered a lot of the early buzz for the movie. You certainly could take off one of John Williams’s two nominations for scores as that are completely interchangeable and sound like every other Spielberg movie he worked on
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Those were my thoughts. What did you think? Let me know.

The Artist

The Artist has the opportunity to alienate a lot of people before anyone even steps up to the ticket counter. The movie is done in black and white, it is mostly a silent movie, and there is little chance you will recognize either lead actor. While this may deter some people from seeing it I encourage you not to be one of them. The Artist is a beautifully crafted movie, and within a couple months may be declared the best movie of the year.

The Artist is a silent movie about the silent movie era. It follows two different careers and how they intersect while the industry transitions to the talkie era. These two actors could very well be right out of the 1920's. It stars Jean Dujardin as George Valentine, the king of Hollywood during the silent film era. After his most recent premiere he bumps into Peppy Miller played by Berenice Bejo. You may not know their names now, but I'm sure the Academy does, these two play to the era perfectly and look the part to boot. While on camera they are able to capture the era by hamming it up, but when the characters are alone they play down their parts. They display every thought perfectly to the audience, who needs words when you already know exactly what’s been said.

It isn't exactly a silent movie though, not only is there a scant bit of dialogue but there are also some perfectly placed sound effects to accentuate the moment. Also throughout the movie is a beautifully made soundtrack done by Ludovic Bource. While far more elaborate than any orchestra would play at the time; the score keeps a modern audience engaged throughout the many mood swings of the story. Listen closely and you may also hear pieces of Bernard Herrmann's score from Vertigo. Actually they pretty much lift the piece entirely, along with the breakfast table scene from Citizen Kane. No matter though, they fit the piece perfectly.

While all about the Hollywood era this isn't like one of the movies that the studios would look to crank out by Thursday. It looks more like an early French film than early Hollywood which would make sense because while it was shot in LA this is a French movie. Although you would never notice it as there are plenty of American actors and no French accents. The moments that give away the film’s origin are on screen in the director's artistic choices that very few American directors would even attempt. Contemporary directors would have a hard time getting support to make a silent, black and white film in this era. Making it all the more impressive that Michel Hazanavivius wrote and directed such a beautifully crafted film, in a 1.33 aspect ratio no less.

While careful to detail some aspects of the time the production crew are quick to abandon others. Gone are the soft focus close ups of the time, replaced with a clearer image more prevalent today. More important to the filmmakers are capturing the mood, energy, and emotional appeal. A direct tribute may have kept more people away; capturing moments using techniques from across the first half of the century will get more people inside the movie house. This isn't a movie done in the times, so much as a tribute to times gone by.

The movie has it all and captures almost every genre from comedy to melodrama to romance; it is as silly as it is serious. The plot is probably as predictable as any goodhearted movie of the era. Part of the charm of the movie is they are playing with old Hollywood clichés especially in the first half. While it comes off as corny at times we allow this trespass to occur because despite knowing what is coming we want to see how.

The technique of The Artist is grand but it is the performances of the artists that capture the audience. Every look and movement by these two actors brings to life an era that reflects a modern life of things constantly being left behind. They are able to be cheesy when showing off for the camera, but also capture a soft sincere look that will melt your heart. This is a beautifully done movie that will have you smiling long after you leave the theater. A