Saturday, December 31, 2011

Young Adult

The drippy darkly tinted charm of Young Adult is tests its audience within the first few minutes.  Charlize Theron, playing a narcissistic, holier-than-thou vamp goes on a date with a faceless gentleman who drags on and on about humanitarian efforts in a third world country, when the comely beauty barks, "Why?"  The stinging burn, tossed-off with such a whatever-ness contempt explains the character, the films breathless, uneasy comedy from the start.  This isn't going to be a likeable portrait of a pretty young women brought to you by the award-winning crew of the mirth instilled Juno.  Yet it's the fact that director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody bring such an anti-Juno spin to their second collaboration seems to enhance and rejuvenate their spirits, their sense of play, and sense of character.  It marks a rejuvenation for Theron for herself, freed of the histrionics of having to gain weight and put on prosthetics to be taken seriously, for she is allowed to be very beautiful and entrancingly ugly at once, chewing on Cody's biting and hard to pin down dialogue with such aplomb that one must ask the question-- how has nobody ever correctly tapped into her hidden comedic talents before?  If Young Adult in the end proves nothing more than a standout vehicle for Theron's under-utilized talents, her spirit and joie de vivre in her harsh, yet deeply textured portrait of misanthropic Mavis Gary, is more than enough nourishment for comedy deprived movie-goers.

Mavis was that small town girl back in high school that everyone knew, and many probably loathed.  The prom queen, pretty-type who flaunted how much better she was.  She had the football heartthrob for her beau (played as milquetoast corn-fed grown-up by Patrick Wilson) and the drive and haughty grandeur of someone who would never come back to her hick small town roots-- her home is the quaint (and invented) town of Mercury, Minnesota.  Long ago traveled to the big city and seemingly a successful writer of young adult fiction, living her carefree existence in her very own condo, Mavis' disillusion of grandeur are apparent from the start-- she's but a ghost writer of a successful series of youth-driven books, who spends the bulk of her days finding quotes from CW-like television shows, and the bulk of her nights drinking up a storm.  With the realization that her book series work is nearly extinct, the true tailspin occurs when Mavis receives a mass e-mail blast from Buddy (Wilson) on the arrival of his newborn child.  Nearly hellbent, but utterly nonchalant, Mavis decides the only thing she can do is save her old flame from his humdrum domesticity.

Along the way, she meets a compatible drinking buddy, a former high school nobody with a tragic past (played by Patton Oswalt), the only one who instantly calls Mavis' bluff from the start, and raises lots of trouble.  However, it's the reckless abandon of Theron's performance that is utterly inspired, as well as the crisp notes that Reitman and Cody lay down from the start-- she is never let of the hook for a second, for it would be too easy for the film to be overtaken with last minutes odes of redemption.  Mavis is a strong, smart, manipulative, domineering, nearly detestable, absolutely enthralling characterization that it's shocking a major studio (in this case, Paramount) would agree to finance the film to begin with.  But it's the nimble and unmatched charm and stinging energy that Theron provides that gives Young Adult its bent and springy awkwardness-- one that's never quite laugh-out-loud funny, but impeccably timed and nearly courageous in it's go-for-broke splendor.

It's also a nice respite for Reitman, a filmmaker, perhaps slightly weighed down by the heavy lifting of his previous film-- the awards magnet Up in the Air, who has unabashedly returned with a nicely scathing humanistic portrait, one that one must concede could never have been made for the hope of gold statutes.  B+

Austin Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: Hugo


Top Ten of 2011:

  • Drive
  • Take Shelter
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Attack the Block
  • The Artist
  • Martha Marcy May Marlene
  • I Saw the Devil
  • 13 Assassins
  • Melancholia


DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Drive- Hossein Amini
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
FOREIGN FILM: I Saw the Devil
DOCUMENTARY: Senna
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
ORIGINAL SCORE: Attack the Block- Steven Price

I really love this line-up.  Not that I so much agree with everything, that's absolutely besides the point-- but for the most part, this is a totally unabashed best-of list with little intention of having any influence over Oscar or media baiting, but rather a personalized collection of a group of people's best of movies of the year.  Texas did something right.

Friday, December 23, 2011

War Horse

How could a film with such sweeping themes are war, honor, family and equines turn up so emotional distant?  A film with such a refined pedigree, based on a glowingly received novel by Michael Morpurgo, which was turned into a Tony Award winning play, and now a film directed by Steven Spielberg, War Horse is one of those leaden, somewhat obnoxious films that doesn't need to be great or adored to earn awards plaudits and generous box office numbers.  That's a shame considering the end result is decidedly hum-ho, as opposed to rapturously emotional.  For the story at hand is decidedly so up Spielberg's sentiment-heavy zone, it should be the type of the film that melts its audience within minutes, what with it's canvas of gorgeous landscapes and wartime setting, a perfect coming back party for the director the showcase his John Ford-esque skills matched with his bravura technical know how.  Perhaps it could have been a fine reminder of the depth of scope, cinematically, creatively and emotionally the franchise friendly filmmaker eschewed with films like Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, and most recently, Munich.  Instead War Horse is presented, almost arbitrarly in fine family friendly attire as a timid tale of a Disney-fied version of WWI, a tale of a horse that nobody wanted, and the one plucky boy whose spirit and optimism all meant to shake humble movie-goers to torrents of tears, while indiscriminating Academy voters check off their ballots.

Perhaps I am coming off a bit harsh, the film, warmly lit and often beautifully (if at times distractingly) photographed by longtime Spielberg collaborative cinematography Janusz Kaminski is presented as but a confection, at least at the start.  We see a warm vista of a young horse running and scampering with his mum, while a young man- we learn later that he is named Albert, our eventual co-hero in the tale, played with a wide-eyed vacancy by newcomer Jeremy Irvine- watching in nicely Spielbergian childhood glee.  Early on, comparisons to Black Beauty and Seabiscuit feel apt, as this young equine, a half thoroughbred with an inconsistent temper, is marked and labeled as nearly worthless.  Presented at auction, an older, miserly drunk named Ted Narracot (Peter Mullan) makes a bid, either as a desperate pride play or a true believer, it's a bit difficult to read.  Moreso because the first act of War Horse has such an inconsistency of tone-- it wavers from tragic to slapstick to saccharine within single scenes.  Narracot is in a bind, however, as he's nearly broke, nearly going to lose his farm and his wife, a spitfire named Rosie (Emily Watson) is less than pleased.  Luckily his son, it's Albert, is a consistent true believer and volunteers to train the cantakarious horse in hopes of plowing the family farm and saving the family from destitution.

The giveaway for matters of the heart is connection Albert and his horse, newly named Joey, which would be grand and harmonious if it weren't for the unabashed corniness of not just Irvine's performance, but the film as a whole-- War Horse was written by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) and Richard Curtis (Love Actually.)  Fortunately, the supporting cast, headed by great gamesman players like Mullan, Watson, Tom Hiddleston (Thor), Niels Arestrup, David Twelis and Eddie Marsan (Happy Go-Lucky) are gifted enough performers to settle personalities that may not have been there on the page.  There is certainly something moving about the bond between man and animal, there always has been-- but there's hardly enough dimension given to either Albert or Joey to make us care too deeply about their bond.  And there's a few too many throwaway faux emotional asides that play hokey and unintentionally humorous-- there's a early sequence that reads eerily similar to How to Train Your Dragon when Hiccup is trying to appease Toothless...seriously same gestures.  The first stretch of War Horse is certainly the weakest, for even as an emotonally dormant film, it gradually starts to pick up as the weight of it's subject matter rises.

That rise comes as WWI officially begins, and starts the journey of its titual creature.  As an effort to keep up the rent, Narracot is forced to sell Joey, despite Albert's cries, and the still tempestuous Joey is off to war.  Fortunately, the charmingly and seemingly noble Cap. Nicholls (Hiddleston) becomes his new guardian.  There's a certain rousing and rooting interest as the war sequences start, not just because Spielberg can usually counted on as a master showman, but also because it's the first taste of any sort of movable action in the film, and it's quite a long, somewhat slow one at that.  We follow Joey's journey through enemy lines, as the horse is forced to go both sides as collateral damage more than once, as well follow Albert's journey of becoming a British soldier, while holding on (perhaps a bit too tightly) to memories of him and his friend.  There's a brush of sentiment, but it's hardly moving as the tricks and knobs are turned, in such obvious attempts at gushes of tears.  There's certainly sadness in the subject, war is indeed sad, and a gangbuster of a scene where Joey scampers down a painfully distracting CGI field jetting from bullets, but it's mishandled with a payoff that not only martyrs Joey, but makes him a truce for peace.  War Horse ultimately gets weighted down because of it's own earnestness.

Had Spielberg kept the film from the point of view of the horse, it perhaps wouldn't be less corny, but might be have been more moving ultimately.  Instead, the film jettisons in too many windy directions with its large cast largely left to their own devices, and a quaint notion of a small-sized tale of devotion between boy and horse is overcome by a film that has both a larger and smaller scope than it's aiming for.  What's left for emotional refrain might just be the lilting over-scored music composed by John Williams to lull us in the space of story or character.  C

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Utah Film Critics Awards


PICTURE: Drive
runner-up: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
runner-up: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
runner-up: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
runner-up: Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
runner-up: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan, Win Win
runner-up: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher's take on the massively popular The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo phenom is a slick, glossy tale of nihilism and sadism, all with the pre-packaging of an exploitation flick masquerading as feminist fantasy.  That being said, he is the best suited auteur for such an undertaking.  The thriller procedural, based on the bestselling novels (and already the source for another popular film franchise; the clunky Swedish films directed by Niels Arden Oplev) starts with a teasingly abstract opening credits sequence, with a Karen O. doing her now-famous cover of the Led Zeppelin tune "Immigrant Song."  It's all splashy and dark, grinning with the impending violence and thrills to come-- Fincher has always had a gift for starting his films with the most precise mood, and here it feels like he's both showing off and having a ball.  And as ridiculous as it may sound for a film that's so sinister, there is a certain joie de vivre in watching it-- for the story and elemental mystery that rests at the center of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is really just a hyped up, R-rated version of a TV crime drama mashed up with a little Euro-spliced Silence of the Lambs matted with slight and out-dated political commentary.

Yet Fincher seems aware of this, as does writer Steven Zaillian, for the rooting factor of the series rest not of invention of story, but rather the titular lady.  The goth-agnst-ridden-punkette Lisbeth Salander has become a certain kind of icon, a variation on the women in jeopardy\women who kick ass sub-genres-- for she's a total mess, but sly and smart.  The best upgrade from the first feature to Fincher's take is the upping of the ante of her character study.  And while the original films starred the interesting Noomi Rapace-- the best decision upgrade is in the casting of Rooney Mara; she was the girl who called Mark Zuckerberg an asshole in the first scene of last years The Social Network.  Wirey and mousey, the starkly pale Mara gives an electrifying performance, one that not only elevates the film, but marks a seething impression.  She imbues her Lisbeth with such ripe timidity and rage it's startling and scary, until one gives in and falls for her anyway.  A violent, anti-social ward of the state (stemming from a doomed childhood, and bouts of lethal malevolence), Lisbeth is a hacker and feels like a stand in not only for the over-caffeinated, computer geeks of the world, but also the rebels of punk past, presented with her choice in hair styles, thrift shop clothing, and multiple piercing and tattoos.  She's an odd character, but Mara gives her such texture and expressiveness (she's even more haunting when trying to remain perfectly still), that however Lisbeth may or may not be defined by her authors creator, the late Stieg Larson, she feels almost complete.

It's a bit of shame that it takes the film so long to pick up the pieces that most of us by now can see coming.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, with its two leads-- the other being Daniel Craig as discredited journalist Mikael Blomkvist, takes its sweet time in strolling through its narrative.  It takes the film over an hour for our heroes to even meet.  What feels like endless exposition, despite featuring some incredible sequences and accomplished acting, as Blomkvst, dour and near financial ruin, accepts an assignment to investigate to the forty-year old murder case of Harriet Vanger, who was likely killed by a member of her eccentric and vindictive family, one of the richest and most lofty of all of Sweden, but most of us already know about that.  As we chart Lisbeth's life pre-Blomkvist, and her troubles with her new guardian, a tubby misogynist.  Fincher has great fun with the set-ups, as well he should, as he is totally within his wheelhouse with a story so grimy and dangerous-- he's one of the great stylists currently working in cinema; it's just a shame that generica of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's premise doesn't match his nor his actors panache.

At the very least he's lightened up the sodden Swiss version, with a bit more humor and firmer hold of the treacly relationship between Lisbeth and Mikael-- the two of course bed early after meeting, but there's both a sort of tenderness and awkwardness to their rapport that feels more appropriate, given age, background, and the fact that Lisbeth, despite her talents and scarily fit photographic memory, is a bit of a loon.  Mara is whip smart with the selective words she always her Lisbeth to say, but with the soft and pleasing Swiss accent, and always ironic eye roll, the most joyful and frightening part of the feature is her teasing but succinct line readings, off set by an ever smooth performance from Craig.  The film meanders, as it must, in solving the mystery of the Vanger clan, and adheres close enough to the original material, so as not to offend the devout, while Fincher and team gently crack the artifice of built-in franchising.  However, little can really be done with the case itself, it's solved before it's cracked.

What needed a bit more finessing was the excess of this overly long feature.  At two-hours and thirty-eight minutes, it felt unfathomably interminable for the last stretch of the film, where it diverges from the source, and decides it doesn't want to finish.  I'm fairly convinced that Fincher and team are still working on the film for there's more multiple endings that damage the small and graceful closing shot.  What starts and promises as a swift thrill ride, ends as a meandering and slow stroll through Fincher's angry mind.  B

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Flordia Film Critics Circle

PICTURE: The Descendants
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Artist
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
FOREIGN FILM: The Skin I Live In
ART DIRECTION: Hugo
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life
VISUAL EFFECTS: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Monday, December 19, 2011

J. Edgar

As glossy awards bait, J. Edgar seems merely impeccable what with the actorly demands of a role like it's infamous titular character.  He's a historical icon, one with a sketchy, hard-to-pin-down set of modus operandi, one with a distinctive, authoritative voice who, for better or worse (and the film offers no set conclusions on either side) was one of the most influential Americans ever.  Coyly directed by Clint Eastwood, with his typical no-frills approach and dark lighting and exhaustively scripted by Dustin Lance Black (Milk), as a feature this significant creature of history is given a dreary and dry biopic.  While Leonardo DiCaprio hems and haws his way, and fairly gracefully more often than not, through the meaty difficulties of J. Edgar Hoover, he alone can hardly save the film from the doldrums it inevitably succumbs to.  In the end of this very long, not so accomplished film, one may walk away knowing even less about the enigmatic man, the father of the FBI, than before, and the shy stance it takes on tackling one of the most cutthroat men of American politics.  Perhaps this may have been the one case where Eastwood's famous directing needed more focus, more takes, more impulse, more something...

The dithering biography begins with Hoover writing his memoirs, giving dictation and telling his stories to a cute young ghost writers (all male) all the while espousing the hype and grandeur of not only his celebrity, but of his brain child within the Bureau of Investigation, which would become the FBI.  While notions and credits are giving his way, like the very nature of criminal investigation that Hoover spear-headed, and while accomplished as it is, there's an unlikable aura and sting of social awkwardness and confusion that overcomes Hoover.  This is naturally and wonderfully projected by DiCaprio's performance, but stymied by the bullish and at-arms-length approach given by director and screenwriter.  DiCaprio is game for the ugliness, pettiness, and megalomania associated with the icon, a man who kept everyone's secrets, and was hated by many, while keeping a stern fragility all to himself.  The actor game fully goes for the awkward rumored homosexuality that battled the core of J. Edgar (Armie Hammer plays his male companion, his right arm name at the FBI, a sly and gentile man named Clyde Tolson.)  The actor, however foolishly handled, runs with the silly mother-issued subplot (Judi Dench plays his proud mum), and the even-flimsier awkward romancer at the (Naomi Watts plays Helen Gandy, his future secretary and comrade; the two first meet on an awkward date.)  The actor handles the roles with an aplomb that elevates the dreary picture, but also alienates from it as well...he's never judgmental of his J. Edgar, and seems to relish the challenge, all the while Eastwood and Black snooze on the pedigree, hoping that that is enough.

There's no passion, no fire, just an endless blithering of facts.  Some should be quite compelling...J. Edgar proved a diverting pleasure in small doses in Michael Mann's recent John Dillinger film Public Enemies, however Eastwood seems to have little finesse or control over the film, nor the audience's waning attention spans.  The distance, and non-committal approach, the lack of judgement, or simply letting the man off the hook grows tired and is frankly offensive.  If not a complete white-washing of history, there's at least a grudge to be held that Eastwood's J. Edgar is only doomed with loneliness, never once a fight of consciousness, no matter how much DiCaprio tries to texture him.  D+  

Best Original Song

Here are the 39 finalist for Best Original Song at this years Academy Awards:

  • "The World I Knew," African Cats
  • "Lay Your Head Down," Albert Nobbs
  • "Star Spangled Man," Captain America: The First Avenger
  • "Collision of Worlds," Cars 2
  • "Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu," DAM999
  • "DAM999," DAM999
  • "Mujhe Cho'd Ke," DAM999
  • "Rainbird," Dirty Girl
  • "Keep On Walking," The First Grader
  • "Hello Hello," Gnomeo & Juliet
  • "Love Builds a Garden," Gnomeo & Juliet
  • "Bridge of Light," Happy Feet 2
  • "The Mighty Sven," Happy Feet 2
  • "Never Be Daunted," happythankyoumoreplease
  • "Hell & Back," Hell & Back Again
  • "The Living Proof," The Help
  • "Coeur Volant," Hugo
  • "It's How We Play," I Don't Know How She Does It
  • "When the Heart Dies," In the Land of Blood & Honey
  • "Ja Nao Estar," Jose & Pilar
  • "The Keeper," Machine Gun Preacher
  • "Life's a Happy Song," The Muppets
  • "Man or Muppet," The Muppets
  • "Pictures in My Head," The Muppets
  • "Summer Song," The Music Never Stopped
  • "Imaginary Friends," Olive
  • "Sparkling Day," One Day
  • "Taking Your With Me," Our Idiot Brother
  •  "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard," POM Wonderful Presents the Greatest Movie Ever Sold
  • "Hot Wings," Rio
  • "Let Me Take You to Rio," Rio
  • "Real in Rio," Rio
  • "Shelter," Take Shelter
  • "Pop," White Irish Drinkers
  • "Think You Can Wait," Win Win
  • "The Backson Song," Winnie the Pooh
  • "So Long," Winnie the Pooh


A selection of the some of the possible frontrunners, including the Alan Menkin (he of Disney fame, and several Oscar for The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin) penned anthem of Captain America, the Mary J. Blige ballad at the end of The Help, and the zippy tune for Winnie the Pooh authored by Zooey Deschanel's band He & She.  However, if The Muppets loses this...this means war!  Which by all means, it surely could, their music branch is, well...you know.

St. Louis Film Critics Awards


PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS: Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Berenice Bejo, The Artist
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
DOCUMENTARY: Being Elmo
FOREIGN FILM: 13 Assassins
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
MUSIC: The Artist
VISUAL EFFECTS: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
COMEDY: Bridesmaids

Southeastern Film Critics Association


PICTURE: The Descendants

Top Ten of 2011:
  • The Artist
  • Hugo
  • Moneyball
  • The Tree of Life
  • Drive
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Win Win
  • War Horse
  • The Help

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
ENSEMBLE: The Help

Chicago Film Critics Association

PICTURE: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: The Interrupters
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
ORIGINAL SCORE: Drive- Cliff Martinez
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER: Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene

One of the more surprising facets of the awards season right now must be to the amount of critics prizes Michelle Williams keeps earning for My Week With Marilyn.  Not that she's not wonderful in the part, but it's the volume of prizes she has amassed that's most surprising, making me question not only her status as an actual contender, but perhaps as a dark horse winner...I really can't expect anyone else netting the Golden Globe for Musical\Comedy at this point, even if it's complete category fraud-- the film is light and fizzy, but here presence is the epitome of drama!

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser


Shivers...as the "epic conclusion" to Christopher Nolan's mythic revamp of the Batman saga rears.  Or as it may be referred to as the mini-Inception reunion (really Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy and Marion Cotillard all join the illustrious ranks.)  I do however have a worry here, perhaps out of nowhere, or a mere way of calming over-excited nerves, as The Dark Knight is surely a hard act to follow, if not an impossible one.  Also concerns over the more star-studded ensemble at hand...the three top drawer talents mentioned earlier also includes Anne Hathaway, Juno Temple, and but of course, the formidable crew of the past.  I have an over-crowded Spider-man 3 knee jerk reaction.  NOOOO!

Trailer looks cool, though!

Arthur Christmas

The fine wizards at Aardman Animation, the same nifty conjurers of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, have come, at the very least slightly, to the rescue of mundane Christmas-y filmmaking with their latest concoction Arthur Christmas.  A refreshing and spirited holiday yarn that should find its inclusion onto a box set of Christmastime features that get rehashed year after year.  Set in the North Pole, it's a fun and clever inside view of Santa's workshop, a place that runs like the tightest of ships, newly restored with the latest state of the art technology.  With Santa (amusingly voiced by Jim Broadbent) making his rounds on this Christmas night, hemming and hawing like the celebrity he is to his to his worker elves, while his two sons Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie), the militaristic alpha male, and Arthur (voiced by Jim Broadbent), the clumsy doormat in charge of Santa's letter writing, eagerly await who will be the heir the Santa throne.  Adding more whimsy and humor to the familial dimension is Grand Santa (voiced to the hilt by Bill Nighy.)  What sounds like a merely throwaway premise (which in essence, it is) makes for a charming lark of a feature, one, that like most of the Aardman pleasures may find itself to be more clever than hilarious.  The set-up follows, as Santa returns from his nighttime sleigh ride (now thanks to Steve, a super-powered engine craft thingy that looks nothing like we've seen before-- on film, or in the heads of eager children's imaginations), there's a hitch-- one little British girl didn't receive a present, which prompts Arthur to go against orders and make his voyage in the sky.  All of which brings about nicely greased lessons of the the real spirit of Christmas, and family loyalty and all that well and good stuff.  Thankfully, Arthur Christmas with its gentle charm and manic speed never takes any preaching too seriously, nor wears out its welcome.

And for a year that's been so uncharitable on terms of quality animated features, I'd handily argue that this small confection may turn out to be the best this year.  B

San Diego Film Critics Society

PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, The Artist
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Brit Marling, Another Earth
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Nick Nolte, Warrior
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: Arthur Christmas
FOREIGN FILM: La Quattro Volte
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Hugo
FILM EDITING: Beginners
SCORE: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
ENSEMBLE: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
BODY OF WORK: Jessica Chastain

The fine film folks in San Diego have made a vivid impression in both going against the grain and adhering to group think with their selection of the best of 2011.  A top nod to The Artist is no but old news, but welcome, since the film is nearly irresistible.  However, the oddest choice made by an governing body this season must be the inclusion of Brit Marling as Best Actress for Another Earth, an ambitious if ultimately unsatisfying arty fun house.

Golden Satellite Awards

PICTURE: The Descendants
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Ryan Gosling, Drive
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Tree of Life- Terrence Malick
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
DOCUMENTARY: Senna
FOREIGN FILM: Mysteries of Lisbon
ART DIRECTION: The Artist- Gregory S. Hooper & Laurence Bennett
CINEMATOGRAPHY: War Horse- Janusz Kaminski
COSTUME DESIGN: Water for Elephants- Jacqueline West
SCORE: Soul Surfer- Marco Beltrami
SONG: "Lay Down Your Head," Albert Nobbs
SOUND: Drive
VISUAL EFFECTS: Hugo
FIRST FEATURE: Tyrannosaur- Paddy Considine
ENSEMBLE: The Help

The Satellites can't really ever be trusted, neither as Oscar prognosticator, nor as a legitimate film society based on some of the nuttier mentions, and the constant "Who are they?" factor.  How else to explain a Screenplay mention for The Tree of Life, which features little to none actual spoken dialogue, an esoteric (or nearly invisible) structure or narrative...visually daring, absolutely...as a master class of writing, probably not.
Still it's a little fun to see such oddball mentions thrown out there as well, such as the score for Soul Surfer getting a random slot, as well as the costume design for Water for Elephants, which is a film that should be getting more mentions for it's technical achievements...it's a very pretty movie for a vacant drama.  The rest, a predictable lot...

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Dallas-Ft. Film Critics Association

PICTURE: The Descendants

Top Ten of 2011:
  • The Artist
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • Midnight in Paris
  • The Tree of Life
  • Hugo
  • 50/50
  • Drive
  • Shame
  • Moneyball

DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne, The Descendants
runners-up:
  • Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
  • Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
  • Martin Scorsese, Hugo
  • Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
runners-up:
  • Jean Dujardin, The Artist
  • Michael Fassbender, Shame
  • Brad Pitt, Moneyball
  • Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
runners-up:
  • Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
  • Charlize Theron, Young Adult
  • Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
runners-up:
  • Albert Brooks, Drive
  • Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
  • Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
runners-up:
  • Berenice Bejo, The Artist
  • Octavia Spencer, The Help
  • Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
  • Carey Mulligan, Shame

SCREENPLAY: The Descendants
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
RUSSELL SMITH AWARD: We Need to Talk About Kevin

Detroit Film Critics Awards



PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week My Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, Shame
SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter
ENSEMBLE: Carnage
DOCUMENTARY: Tabloid


Finally some love for Carey Mulligan for Shame, and a nicely formidable line-up from the folks at Detroit.

Roger Ebert's Top Ten of 2011

Agree with him or not, he sets the standard for modern film criticism, and one can never dismiss his taste nor influence within the industry.  A stamp of approval from him always looks nice on FYC ads.



  1. A Separation
  2. Shame
  3. The Tree of Life
  4. Hugo
  5. Take Shelter
  6. Kinyarwanda
  7. Drive
  8. Midnight in Paris
  9. Le Havre
  10. The Artist
A Separation is a strong contender for Best Foreign Language Film (Iran's official selection), and is getting a strong push from distributor Sony Pictures Classics, given it's end of the year release date...and Ebert's endorsement.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Golden Globe Nominations

PICTURE (Drama)
  • The Descendants
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • The Ides of March
  • Moneyball
  • War Horse

PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
  • 50/50
  • The Artist
  • Bridesmaids
  • Midnight in Paris
  • My Week With Marilyn

DIRECTOR
  • Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
  • George Clooney, The Ides of March
  • Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
  • Alexander Payne, The Descendants
  • Martin Scorsese, Hugo

ACTRESS (Drama)
  • Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
  • Viola Davis, The Help
  • Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
  • Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

ACTOR (Drama)
  • George Clooney, The Descendants
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
  • Michael Fassbender, Shame
  • Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
  • Brad Pitt, Moneyball

ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
  • Jodie Foster, Carnage
  • Charlize Theron, Young Adult
  • Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
  • Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
  • Kate Winslet, Carnage

ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
  • Jean Dujardin, The Artist
  • Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
  • Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love
  • Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  • Berenice Bejo, The Artist
  • Jessica Chastain, The Help
  • Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
  • Octavia Spencer, The Help
  • Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  • Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
  • Albert Brooks, Drive
  • Jonah Hill, Moneyball
  • Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
  • Christopher Plummer, Beginners

SCREENPLAY
  • The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
  • The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
  • The Ides of March- George Clooney & Grant Heslov
  • Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
  • Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin

ANIMATED FEATURE
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Arthur Christmas
  • Cars 2
  • Puss in Boots
  • Rango

FOREIGN FILM
  • The Flowers of War (China)
  • In the Land of Blood & Honey (USA)
  • The Kid With the Bike (Belgium)
  • A Separation (Iran)
  • The Skin I Live In (Spain)

ORIGINAL SCORE
The Artist- Ludovic Bource
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Hugo- Howard Shore
War Horse- John Williams
W.E.- Abel Korzeniowski

ORIGINAL SONG
"Lay Your Head Down," Albert Nobbs
"Hello Hello," Gnomeo & Juliet
"The Living Proof," The Help
"The Keeper," Machine Gun Preacher
"Masterpiece," W.E.

Screen Actors Guild Nominations

THE HELP LEADS WITH 4!

BEST ENSEMBLE
  • The Artist
  • Bridesmaids
  • The Descendants
  • The Help
  • Midnight in Paris
Actors were in a more comedic mood than typical, or "lighter" as all five films are bent in a lighter way (even though one film deals with a tragic family, and another with racial discordance in the South.)  No Moneyball, no The Tree of Life, no Hugo, no Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, no Carnage (despite it's starry cast), although I suppose those aren't exactly strange omissions.  I liked each of these five films (and in the case of The Artist...I luurve), but a strangely soft line-up.

BEST ACTOR
  • Demian Bichir, A Better Life
  • George Clooney, The Descendants
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
  • Jean Dujardin, The Artist
  • Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Whoa boy! While a great out-of-left-field nomination for Bichir is nicely unexpected (however at the loss of say Michael Fassbender for Shame or Michael Shannon for Take Shelter, perhaps not so much) the real issue with the otherwise formidable, if predictable line-up is DiCaprio's presence, despite J. Edgar being, well, a fairly awful movie-going experience, despite his careful mugging.  Perhaps this helped:

 


BEST ACTRESS
  • Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
  • Viola Davis, The Help
  • Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
  • Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Those who doubted that Close was out should have known better, as how could actors resist the temptation of pitting Close vs. Streep, as both are nominated.  I keep half expecting the other shoe to drop for Tilda Swinton, based on the fact that her film is small, disturbing, and critically divisive, but she keep showing up everywhere...I suppose the past two years of stellar work that was universally ignored has helped.  Missing in this competitive year are: Elizabeth Olsen (for Martha Marcy May Marlene), Kristin Wiig (for Bridesmaids), Kirsten Dunst (for Melancholia) and Charlize Theron, miraculous in Young Adult...more on that soon.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  • Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
  • Armie Hammer, J. Edgar
  • Jonah Hill, Moneyball
  • Nick Nolte, Warrior
  • Christopher Plummer, Beginners


This had better be an easy get for Plummer in this strange young vs. old line-up.  The rest aside from his graceful performance in Beginners must be a prank on the actors part I assume, as great performances like Ben Kingsley's in Hugo and Albert Brooks' in Drive are snubbed in favor of Branagh's easy as cake take on Laurence Olivier and Armie Hammer ridding DiCaprio's ill-advised coattails.  Hill and Nolte were just fine in their respective parts, but still.  On the case of Brooks, I remain hesitant on his Oscar chances, because (and critics awards be damned) I doubt Drive will seriously be their thing.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  • Berenice Bejo, The Artist
  • Jessica Chastain, The Help
  • Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
  • Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
  • Octavia Spencer, The Help
Another very comedy friendly line-up, and whilst I have yet to view Albert Nobbs, it's just fine I suppose...however I adamantly stand up that Chastain was best in Take Shelter of her ten 2011 films.  Dramatic roles missing include Carey Mulligan in Shame, Shailene Woodley in The Descendants and Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Toronto Film Critics Association

PICTURE: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
FOREIGN FILM: Mysterious of Lisbon
DOCUMENTARY: Nostalgia for the Light
FIRST FEATURE: Attack the Block

Houston Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Descendants
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
FOREIGN FILM: I Saw the Devil
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
SCORE: The Artist- Ludivoc Bource
SONG: "Life's a Happy Song, " The Muppets
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR: Your Highness

Las Vegas Film Critics Society

PICTURE: The Artist

Top Ten of 2011:
  • Hugo
  • Moneyball
  • The Descendants
  • Drive
  • The Help
  • 50/50
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Shame
  • Warrior

DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
FOREIGN FILM: 13 Assassins
ART DIRECTION: The Artist- George S. Hooper
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
COSTUME DESIGN: The Artist- Mark Bridges
FILM EDITING: Hugo- Thelma Schoonmaker
SCORE: The Artist- Ludovic Bource
SONG: "Man or Muppet," The Muppets
VISUAL EFFECTS: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
FAMILY FILM: Hugo
YOUTH IN FILM: Asa Butterfield, Hugo

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Critics Choice Award Nominations

The nominees for the Broadcast Film Critics Association-- they are typically a solid (if often irritating) predictor of the Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE
  • The Artist
  • The Descendants
  • Drive
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Moneyball
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse

DIRECTOR
  • Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
  • Alexander Payne, The Descendants
  • Nicolas Welding Refn, Drive
  • Martin Scorsese, Hugo
  • Steven Spielberg, War Horse

ACTOR
  • George Clooney, The Descendants
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
  • Jean Dujardin, The Artist
  • Michael Fassbender, Shame
  • Ryan Gosling, Drive
  • Brad Pitt, Moneyball

ACTRESS
  • Viola Davis, The Help
  • Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
  • Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
  • Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Charlize Theron, Young Adult
  • Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

SUPPORTING ACTOR
  • Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
  • Albert Brooks, Drive
  • Nick Nolte, Warrior
  • Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
  • Christopher Plummer, Beginners
  • Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  • Berenice Bujo, The Artist
  • Jessica Chastain, The Help
  • Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
  • Carey Mulligan, Shame
  • Octavia Spencer, The Help
  • Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
  • 50/50- Will Reiser
  • The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
  • Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
  • Win Win- Tom McCarthy
  • Young Adult- Diablo Cody

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
  • The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close- Eric Roth
  • The Help- Tate Taylor
  • Hugo- John Logan
  • Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin

ANIMATED FEATURE
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Arthur Christmas
  • Kung Fu Panda 2
  • Puss in Boots
  • Rango

FOREIGN FILM
  • In Darkness
  • Le Havre
  • A Separation
  • The Skin I Live In
  • Where Do We Go Now?

DOCUMENTARY
  • Buck
  • Cave of Forgotten Dreams
  • George Harrison: Living in a Material World
  • Page One: Inside the New York Times
  • Project Nim
  • Undefeated

ART DIRECTION
  • The Artist
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse

CINEMATOGRAPHY
  • The Artist
  • Drive
  • Hugo
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse

COSTUME DESIGN
  • The Artist
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • Jane Eyre
  • My Week With Marilyn

FILM EDITING
  • The Artist
  • Drive
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hugo
  • War Horse

SCORE
  • The Artist
  • Drive
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hugo
  • War Horse

SONG
  • "Hello Hello," Gnomeo & Juliet
  • "The Living Proof," The Help
  • "Life's a Happy Song," The Muppets
  • "Man or Muppet," The Muppets
  • "Pictures in My Head," The Muppets

MAKE-UP
  • Albert Nobbs
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • The Iron Lady
  • J. Edgar
  • My Week With Marilyn

SOUND
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Super 8
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse

VISUAL EFFECTS
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Super 8
  • The Tree of Life

YOUNG ACTOR\ACTRESS
  • Asa Butterfield, Hugo
  • Elle Fanning, Super 8
  • Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Saoirse Ronan, Hanna
  • Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

ACTING ENSEMBLE
  • The Artist
  • Bridesmaids
  • The Descendants
  • The Help
  • The Ides of March

ACTION FILM
  • Drive
  • Fast Five
  • Hanna
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Super 8

COMEDY FILM
  • Bridesmaids
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love
  • Horrible Bosses
  • Midnight in Paris
  • The Muppets

African-American Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Tree of Life

runners-up:
  • Drive
  • Pariah
  • Rampart
  • Shame
  • Moneyball
  • The Descendants
  • A Better Life
  • My Week With Marilyn
  • The Help
DIRECTOR: Steven McQueen, Shame
ACTOR: Woody Harrelson, Rampart
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
SCREENPLAY: I Will Follow
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Adepero Oduye, Pariah
INDEPENDENT FEATURE: Pariah
FOREIGN FILM: Kinyarwanda

Indiana Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Artist

Top Ten of 2011:
  • The Descendants
  • Coriolanus
  • Drive
  • Hugo
  • Martha Marcy May Marlene
  • The Muppets
  • The Skin I Live In
  • Super 8
  • The Tree of Life

DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
runner-up: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Paul Giamatti, Win Win
runner-up: Ralph Fiennes, Coriolanus
ACTRESS: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
runner-up: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
runner-up: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
runner-up: Amy Ryan, Win Win
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Win Win- Tom McCarthy
runner-up: Margin Call- J.C. Chandor
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
runner-up: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
runner-up: Winnie the Pooh
FOREIGN FILM: The Skin I Live In
runner-up: 13 Assassins
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
runner-up: Into the Abyss
SCORE: The Artist
runner-up: Hugo
ORIGINAL VISION AWARD: The Tree of Life
runner-up: The Artist

San Francisco Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Margin Call- J.C. Chandor
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
FOREIGN FILM: Certified Copy
DOCUMENTARY: Tabloid
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
SPECIAL CITATION (for unrecognized independent cinema): The Mill & the Cross

The inevitable eventual critics prize for The Tree of Life finally occurred (aside from the Gothams)...as well as mentions for Oldman and Redgrave.  Kudos however for the recognition of Tabloid!

Los Angeles Film Critics Association

PICTURE: The Descendants
runner-up: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
runner-up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Shame, Jane Eyre, X-Men: First Class
runner-up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry
runner-up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
runner-up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields
runner-up: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
SCREENPLAY: A Separation- Asghar Farhadi
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
runner-up: The Adventures of Tintin
FOREIGN FILM: City of Life & Death
runner-up: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
runner-up: The Arbor
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmnanuel Lubezki
runner-up: City of Life & Death
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Hugo
runner-up: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
SCORE: Hanna
runner-up: Drive
NEW GENERATION AWARD: the creative team of Martha Marcy May Marlene

LA gave it's nod to The Descendants (some day, I'll get around to posting a review of it; I wasn't as fond as some)...I suppose The Artist is a New York thing.  However, that's all it won, as the Los Angeles film critics spread their love to The Tree of Life, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain, and even Hanna.

One can always count on Los Angeles to have their sort of personality with Best Actress; rarely is a frontrunner (or an American) on their roster, for instance:

2010: Kim Hye-Ja, Mother
2009: Yolande Moreau, Seraphine
2008: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
2007: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
2006: Helen Mirren, The Queen
2005: Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone
2004: Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake


Sure two of these were eventual winners...one other was a nominee, and another a just-missed nominee...the rest however...

AFI Top Ten of 2011

The American Film Institute has announced its ten best of the year:

  • Bridesmaids
  • The Descendants
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • J. Edgar
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Moneyball
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse
J. Edgar, really?  I mean that has to be a joke, right?

New York Film Critics Online

PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
runners-up: Michael Fassbender, Shame; Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Solder Spy
ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
MUSIC: The Artist- Ludovic Bource
DEBUT DIRECTOR: Joe Cornish, Attack the Block
ENSEMBLE: Bridesmaids
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Jessica Chastain (everything)

Boston Film Critics Society

PICTURE: The Artist
runners-up: Hugo; Margaret
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
runner-up: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
runners-up: George Clooney, The Descendants; Michael Fassbender, Shame
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
runner-up: Jeannie Berlin, Margaret
SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
runner-up: Hugo- Ralph Richardson
EDITING: The Clock
runner-up: Hugo
DOCUMENTARY: Project Nim
runner-up: Bill Cunningham New York
FOREIGN FILM: Incendies
runners-up: Poetry; A Separation
BEST USE OF MUSIC: (tie) Drive; The Artist
runner-up: The Descendants
BEST NEW FILMMAKER: Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene
runner-up: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
ENSEMBLE: Carnage
runner-up: Margaret

Another win for The Artist, and some usual suspects-- however some personality must be paid to the win for Melissa McCarthy's performance in Bridesmaids, and the overall affection for the Kenneth Lonergan long-delayed (and dumped) opus Margaret which snared three runner-up prizes, as well as a deftly worded summation from the Beantown film critics:

"The Boston Society of Film Critics expresses its regret that Fox Searchlight refused to distribute screeners of the film "Margaret" and scheduling only a last-minute screening after numerous requests. The film, which received an extremely limited release, was a favorite of many BSFC members and could have won several awards had it been made available for viewing within a reasonable timeframe.  Despite this disadvantage, "Margaret" was a runner up in three of the BSFC’s award categories. We encourage Fox Searchlight not compound this oversight and to make screeners available to the voting body of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and so give the film a fair chance in the upcoming awards competition."

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Best Visual Effects

Here are the 15 finalists in contention for Best Visual Effects at this years Oscars.  For the first time, there will be 5 nominees, instead of 3.  Here are the big guns:

  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Cowboys & Aliens
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Mission: Impossible- The Ghost Protocol
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Real Steel
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
  • Sucker Punch
  • Super 8
  • Thor
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • The Tree of Life
  • X-Men: First Class
What's the odd fit here?  Obviously the esoteric origins of the universe (complete with dinosaurs) Tree of Life feels lost in the shuffle of noisy blockbusters and franchise stuff.  The victory, I'm suspecting, will likely be Rise of the Planet of the Apes in a nod at recognizing Andy Serkis.  Thoughts?

Thursday, December 8, 2011

My Week With Marilyn

There's two movies inside My Week With Marilyn, the latest frothy confection sewn with an ultra tidy bow by Harvey Weinstein made for optimal awards bait potential.  The first one is a rote, easy to swallow revisit to the set of the lightweight Laurence Olivier-Marilyn Monroe comedy The Prince & the Showgirl, reveling in Old Hollywood mirth and the best production design a meager budget could provide.  The second film, and the juicier, more complicated is that of the iconic actress at odds with herself, the public and her ever-more-weary movie making team-- this film, the better of the two is provided in an ace solo effort by the wondrous Michelle Williams, who tackles the iconography and legacy, the very Marilyn of Monroe with such a fragile grace, it's a shame that director Simon Curtis (TV's Cranford) and writer Adrian Hodges didn't have more confidence to make that same feature.  Instead, what's left is a fairly routine, vaguely inside-Hollywood lightweight with the same simple observations and lazy commentary that's been regurgitated for decades.

The problem from the start is the My part of the title, which belongs to Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), a privileged young man with an aspiration to contribute to the cinema.  He gets his chance, thanks to family acquaintances and that old hedgehog gumption, as the third assistant director on Olivier's latest project, set to star the already infamously troubled glamor girl.  Whatever significance the relationship between Colin and Marilyn may have been in real life, it's a bit of snooze on screen, and hard to fathom that it would make a great book (in which Clark wrote, and is the basis of the film), but here it is.  There's the typical notes of Monroe's famed tardiness on set, a beleaguered Olivier (played in an amusing bit of Shakespearean symmetry by Kenneth Branagh) agitated by his leading lady's lack of professionalism and endless need to be coddled, while famed spouses Vivien Leigh and Arthur Miller get name-checked.  There's a slight nod of heft, that's sadly never fully developed, in the flip side of the same coin that Monroe and Olivier may have felt-- she a movie star forever longing, yet fearful of being a great dramatic actor; he a great dramatic actor, but not quite a movie star.  The dynamic would have changed (and certainly Branagh might have had more to chew on) had the film choose to examine something significant about these fascinating creatures.

However as checked by master publicist Weinstein, My Week With Marilyn chugs along with the false mirth and facile tacks at heft, keeping it's train humming along with amusing, if innocuous charm-- Judi Dench plays Dame Sybil Thorndike with such efflorescence, one might assume she was slipped pills similar to Monroe back in the day, while Emma Watson pops up as a simple costumer in perhaps a silly attempt to woo tweens to this prestige trifle.  That leaves Williams to do all the heavy lifting herself, and while it appears disjointed that such a prime, detailed and substantial performance centers an increasingly silly film, she's more than capable.  Never relying on pure mimicry, and determined not to wither her Marilyn as a cartoon, she inhabits the soul of this sad woman, her hopeless need to be reassured, by her co-stars, her acting coach (Paula Strasberg is played by Zoe Wanamaker), her neglectful husband (a cameo by Dougray Scott) and Colin.  Afraid, but vivacious, joyous, but tormented.  What Williams may lack physically as Marilyn, she embodies in spirit, presenting the only spark of anything the least bit messy, titillating or interesting in My Week With Marilyn.

Had the film taken a cue from its leading lady, and grown a pair, this might perhaps be one of the best films of the year... C+

Immortals

Old news for sure, but here goes anyways...Immortals, presented in gold saturated 3-D is the latest in the the trashy gods and generals swords and sandals collection.  Directed by Tarsem, the visual stylist of such flicks as The Cell and The Fall, one would expect at the very least some delightful eye candy.  Instead, what's there is a half cooked warrior tale with little dimension, despite the plentiful bespectacled things thrown our way.  Our hero, Theseus (played with grave nonchalance by Henry Cavill, who proves he might be a fetching Superman when the Zach Synder flick arrives, however has little presence or humor in the warrior role), is a peasant, a bastard child, but shined so greatly by the gods he at first believes not in.  He's an outsider, as a war looms, led by a scene-stealing Mickey Rourke, as King Hypernon, who wants something, or is mad at something...well it's a bit hard to tell, and I suppose it hardly matters anyway.  A few mighty talents (including Rourke, John Hurt and Stephen Dorff) slum it admirably, grabbing the paychecks they seek, but there's little to rouse and holler about, as the events are all slogged and earthbound.  Neither pitched as high camp or hot-boiler, this humorless, hum-drum, mortal affair leaves a sad, but urgent case for the delights of trash like the original Clash of the Titans, which was fully aware of it's own quasi-Greek inspired nonsense.  Zeus makes an appearance, as well he would, and is played by the handsome but expressionless Luke Evans, but again, where's Laurence Olivier's hamming when you really need it.  D

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Cahiers du Cinema's Top Ten of 2011

1.  Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope)- Nanni Moretti
2.  L'etrange affaire Angelica (The Strange Case of Angelica)- Manoel de Oliviera
--  The Tree of Life- Terrence Malick
4.  Hors Satan (Outside Satan)- Bruno Dumont
--  Essential Killing- Jerzy Skolimowski
6.  Melancholia- Lars von Trier
--  Un ete brulant (A Burning Hot Summer)- Philippe Garrel
8.  Super 8- J.J. Abrams
--  L'Apollonide (House of Tolerance)- Bertrand Bonello
--  Meek's Cutoff- Kelly Reichardt

Any recurring theme?

British Independent Film Awards

PICTURE: Tyrannosaur
DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin
ACTOR: Michael Fassbander, Shame
ACTRESS: Olivia Coleman, Tyrannosaur
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michael Smiley, Kill List
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus
SCREENPLAY: Submarine- Richard Ayoade
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Senna
DEBUT DIRECTOR: Paddy Considine, Tyrannosaur
TECH ACHIEVEMENT: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (production design)
ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION: Weekend
PROMISING NEWCOMER: Tom Cullen, Weekend

Washington D.C. Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: 50/50- Will Reiser
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nate Faxon & Jim Rash
ENSEMBLE: Bridesmaids
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
FOREIGN FILM: The Skin I Live In
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Hugo
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life
ORIGINAL SCORE: The Artist

Remember the glee when the NY Film Critics and the National Board of Review made their choices and neither of them matched...well the smoke has cleared and now I fear (the third critics group mention at that) that the age of monotony might settle in, as The Artist tops Washington (just as it did NY), Scorsese wins direction (just as he did at the NBR), Clooney for leading actor (NBR again), and Brooks wins supporting actor (NY), however at least there appears some personality on the part of the ladies as the first end of the year props are given to Michelle Williams and Octavia Spencer, respectively.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The WGA Rejects

On the biggest things that grates me personally come awards season is the endlessly convoluted and confusing eligibility requirements set forth by the Academy and its various guilds.  The music branch of the Academy is likely the easiest target, as submissions are vetoed and scratched for nearly anything; so much so I feel sometimes the categories themselves should be stricken from the record.  The foreign film and documentary races are also heavily contented and need adjusting.  However, the one guild that's the most guilty of sending out rejection letters has to be unequivocally, the Writer's Guild of America.  Tossing out dozens of scripts year after year for lapses in paperwork or signatory guidelines...whatever the case, it muddles the Screenplay races up year after after, and I feel hurts many films (several of which that are smaller and need the added lift of prestige) but also makes the annual guild announcements somewhat irrelevant.  Films that won't be in contention for Writer's Guild Awards this year include:

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
  • The Artist
  • Arthur Christmas
  • Beginners
  • The Iron Lady
  • The Lady
  • Like Crazy
  • Margin Call
  • Martha Marcy Mall Marlene
  • Melancholia
  • Rango
  • Shame
  • Take Shelter

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
  • Albert Nobbs
  • Carnage
  • Drive
  • Jane Eyre
  • My Week With Marilyn
  • Sarah's Key
  • The Skin I Live In
  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

European Film Award Winners

EUROPEAN FILM: Melancholia
EUROPEAN DIRECTOR: Suzanne Bier, In a Better World
EUROPEAN ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
EUROPEAN ACTRES: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER: Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne, The Kid With the Bike
EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER: Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia
EUROPEAN EDITOR: Tariq Anwar, The King's Speech
EUROPEAN PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Jette Lehmann, Melancholia
EUROPEAN COMPOSER: Ludovic Bource, The Artist
DOCUMENTARY: Pina
ANIMATED FEATURE: Chico & Rita

Melancholia, Lars von Trier's rapturously beautiful end of the world take won top honors at the European Film Awards, scooping up three prizes, despite being snubbed for director and leading lady Kirsten Dunst.  Tilda Swinton appears, possibly a formidable contender, following her leading actress victory from the National Board of Review two days ago, while leftovers from last year made an impression with In a Better World (last years Foreign Film Oscar winner) winning the director's prize, and that old menace The King's Speech winning leading actor and film editing, in a hopeful nod that this will be the very last time this is mentioned by an awards governing body ever again!

Hugo

There's odd mixture of elements in Hugo, Martin Scorsese's latest, part Dickensian fable, part cinemaphile fan piece.  The question turns to who is this oddity truly intended for, a beautiful and meticulously crafted piece of work made with the sturdiest of precision-- is it a family tale (perhaps, but the wee ones might grow tired of references and literate dialogue and pacing that may extend their respective heads) or movie buffs and historians (who will certainly rejoice the tone and style, but will likely not add too much to the ticket sales of this costly affair.)  That divide, I suppose, is merely for the distributors to sort out, for the pleasures of Scorsese's latest, an unabashed and lovingly crafted ode to cinema, far outweigh the deficiencies, so much so that will dark themes run unbridled throughout, the most meaningful and resonant purpose of Hugo is it's heart on it's sleeve for that of film preservation.  And conjured by the medium's strongest supporter, here's a film that preserves that the art of filmmaking touches upon everything.  And that's the take away from Hugo, that movies are the grandest of all, projected moving pictures that connect the world viscerally, emotionally and historically.  That the filmmaker, at the point where he could surely call it a day, has amassed his greatest respect with such an ambitious scope (and in beautiful 3-D, now less), shows that his sense of play is as alive and well as ever.

Hugo begins with a sweeping prologue of a young boy and his daily adventures at a Paris train station in the 1930s.  He fixes and sets the clock (later exposition will explain how he got there), but there's a sweeping and majestic magic as our young hero darts through the walls of that station he calls home.  The clanks and cranks and gadgets all larger than life, darting through and through, with the train engine steam seems to come close enough to smell.  He's a fixer of things, the son of an inventor, with an appropriately dramatic name, Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield.)  There's little dialogue in the bristling first sequence, but swift and wondrous tracking shots, of a bustling train station and picturesque, only in the movies, views of Paris.  And while at first, and through large chunks of Hugo, it may appear to be mere window dressing, the immaculate production design (courtesy of Dante Ferretti) provides itself not just another character in the piece, but another loving nod to the possibilities of movie making.

We learn that Hugo has had a rough go at things.  His father, an inventor and clock builder (played by Jude Law is flashbacks) passed some time ago.  His uncle, a drunken oaf and clocks-man at the train station (played by Ray Winstone) became his unrequested guardian.  And he wiles away, tinkering with the clocks, while trying to discover a path to connect his father's past (an unfinished robotic automotion) to a happier future.  All along the way, trying to keep out of sight from the station engineer (a slapsticky menace played by Sasha Baron Cohen) and his pit bull and stealthily pilfering supplies from an old toy maker (played by Ben Kingsley.)  The first half of Hugo is somewhat a labor, due to exacting and elongated backstories and multiple characters coming and going and a momentum that pendulums back and forth between manic and hay wired and cold and chilly.  What offsets every over the kilt climax is a burst of pure cinematic ambition, either visually or emotionally-- no spoilers, but Kingsley's the heartbreaker of the story, perhaps slightly by default as the orphaned Hugo as played by Butterfield is a bit bland and inexpressive, when he should be spirited and brimming from his impassioned quests.  It takes an unlikely friendship between a local young girl Isabelle (played by Chloe Moretz, of Kick-Ass and Let Me In fame) to slightly crack him; she's an adventure seeking bookworm, longing for a sense of play and abandon she's only read about.  The preternaturally precocious Moretz is engaging, but seems a bit more proficient in fine tuning her British accent moreso than playing a character.  One of the many cinematic asides that must quickly be gotten over is that this a film set around French characters with British accents...or perhaps that just another comment on the filmmaking process.

The connection, it turns out for not just Hugo and Isabelle, but from Scorsese to us is that power of film.  Hugo regales with proud stories of going to cinema with his father; while the more closed in Isabelle has never been.  There's a reason for that, and I dare not give it away, since that's the key to Hugo, and the source of it's power.  The connective tissue between the glossy bits of celluloid and the personal attachments and resonances illuminates the features (from a busy screenplay by John Logan, based on the children's story by Brian Selznick) and frees Scorsese to tell his family friendly (all bet it, made for adults) tale with the passion and yearning one would expect from one of the art forms finest.  It's in that technological precision, that one might grow tired of, perhaps just slightly as Hugo reaches it's ultimate, and most potent climax-- for the exhaustive shifts in tone and manic pacing certainly start to take its toll.  The final trick of the master's sleeve, however, turns out to be potent and utterly charming, Kingsley's game and noble performance ultimately shepherds us through Scorsese's movie land dream, it's a connection of glee and devastating heartbreak of the power of movies themselves; that Hugo ultimately becomes his story makes it all the better.

And what it speaks of Scorsese is fairly nifty as well.  The auteur and long championing historian, whose resume reads like a ridiculous best of list, has built a different sort of passion project, and an altogether unexpected one.  The same giant behind Taxi Driver and Raging Bull crafting a children's movie in it of itself would mark a knee-jerk reaction; that he made one that's really a mediation on his own personal love affair with the cinema is the audiences ultimate gift.  B+
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