Monday, January 30, 2012

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Tilda Swinton's ghostly face can tell volumes more than can ever be written on a page.  Within the small details of her androgynous features, there's always a weird collection of tics and emotive clues to her characters, and whatever alien talents she inhabits, one can never call any of her creations less than interesting.  That face is the primary focal point and the main reason to talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin, a strange art house horror-existential crisis potboiler from filmmaker Lynne Ramsay based upon the novel of the same name by Lionel Shriver.  A fussy, more is more piece of finely-tuned pretentiousness that works (even at its looniest) thanks to Swinton's pure conviction, and indeed that face.  Hard and chilling and told without the treat of accessibility in sight, this an odd parental angst\nightmare drama that feels like the love child of The Omen and Elephant mixed with Euro-nuanced indie twitches.  A more sober plot description of We Need to Talk About Kevin is that it's a before and after recount of a neglectful mother and her disconnected relationship with her sociopath son who would become a nonchalant monster.  The filmmakers offer a thoughtful, if chilly mediation on the argument of nature vs. nurture, an idiosyncratic difficult doozy of a film without definition, but motivated by mood.

The best compliment that can be said about We Need to Talk About Kevin in the clearest sense is that I would find it nearly impossibly not to have an instant guttural reaction.  For filmmaking this good and a subject and treatise so eery and troubling, one might feel the need to shout for joy for the next wave of independent filmmaking, or jam their fingers in their eyes in discomfort.  For a film that's so confounding, there's so many questions left unsolved...why is the color red to predominant in the film (from the red paint thrown across Swinton's Eva's home and car window to the strangely evocative red mush slopped about in the film's carnal prologue), and why is food so bizarrely featured and it's messiness so sharply captured in close-up?  Yet for everything seemingly strange visual tic, and there's plenty more-- including a soundtrack of offbeat tunes offset to sequences of unhappiness and despair-- there's this added psychological mystery that shreds through a wacked artifice.  And again Swinton's face place a picture.  The films cuts back and forth in the span of a nearly sixteen years, but settles on a present-day gloom where Eva is alone, forced to deal with what she created, and how she may have caused it.

We cut back to more carefree days of a la-la-land party girl Eva, where she seduces a wimpy schlep named Franklin (John C. Rielly)-- they dance in the streets and kiss and hump happily and without a care in the world.  That is until a baby boy springs about.  Withdrawn and disconnected from parenting a child, a thought perhaps too bourgeois for Eva (or Swinton?) and settling with a cowardly man in nondescript suburbia is of little interest.  And it's clear (or not) that Kevin, her misbegotten offspring is aware of mom's disinterest; or perhaps he's just a monster from the start.  There's a rabble-rousing scene of Eva pushing her screaming child's stroller through a street of road work that's obvious and artful at the same time.  Kevin grows up into a nerd-chic, holier than thou spoiled teenage (played by Ezra Miller, with the same androgynous chip on his should as his mum) and scowls and screeches his hatred and unhappiness with mom in such over-stylized line readings it hard to tell whether it's a point of parody or drama that he's given such free-reign.  His ultimate showdown is a tragic high-school massacre, and while it's a subtly hinted Columbine commentary, there's hardly any mystery that the young man is deranged.

Fortunately for the films credit, it's Swinton's story, and the aftermath sequences of Eva trying to find employment, trying to find comfort and shield the grief and pain for the atrocities she's (whether fairly or not) responsible for is the far more compelling story.  It's in Eva's refrain, and lack of defense, of naysayers and the grudge-filled townspeople around her that's startling and unrelentingly emotional.  For when Ramsay calms on the gorgeously-if-needlessly staged grandeur of her talents and hallucinogenic over-stylization, and focuses on that face, We Need to Talk About Kevin feels like a lived-in thesis on grief.  For Swinton's credit, she refuses to confine her character on either side of responsibility and gives a warmly nuanced and graceful portrayal of woman final understanding the affects of misguided parenting.  Miller is chilling and effective in the sense that one should believe he did exactly what was required of him, but there's a startling amount of questions unresolved (either by choice, or by casting) of the Point A to Point B cause and relation of how his Kevin went so far.  Like Elephant, Gus Van Sant's tranquil depiction of a high school shooting spree, Kevin provides no psychological clues...unlike Elephant, Kevin doesn't even provide a snapshot of his madness.

And that's the main conundrum for a film so purposeful and elegantly made...a film that feels exactly as intended within every edit, every musical cue, ever mad splash of red and odd displayed crumble of food.  Does one condemn a film for doing exactly as one presumes it intends to do, even if the end result is a small state of madness of itself?  We Need to Talk About Kevin is a film of many values, and certainly a finely crafted piece of whatchamacallit, but is it mere high end exploitation masquerading as art, or art transcending exploitative subject matter in an attempt to find truth within its tics.  Whatever the case, that face mesmerizes, and the subject deserves a proper talking about...B+

Sunday, January 29, 2012

2012 Sundance Film Festival Winners

GRAND JURY PRIZE (Dramatic): Beasts of the Southern Wild- the film was snapped up by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

AUDIENCE AWARD (Dramatic): The Surrogate- Fox Searchlight picked up this much raved about film starring John Hawkes and Helen Hunt.

DIRECTING AWARD: Ava DuVernay, Middle of Nowhere

DIRECTING AWARD (Documentary): Lauren Greenfield, The Queen of Versailles- picked up by Magnolia Pictures. 

WALDO SALT SCREENWRITING AWARD: Safety Not Guaranteed- stars Mark Duplass as a romantic loner who wants to time travel, written by Derek Connelly 

GRAND JURY PRIZE (Documentary): The House I Live In- directed by Eugene Jarecki (brother of Andrew Jarecki, director of the acclaimed documentary Capturing the Friedmans and the not-so-acclaimed narrative All Good Things.)

AUDIENCE AWARD (Documentary): The Invisible War

WORLD CINEMA JURY PRIZE (Dramatic): Violeta Went to Heaven


WORLD CINEMA AUDIENCE AWARD (Dramatic): Valley of Saints


WORLD CINEMA JURY PRIZE (Documentary): The Law in These Parts

WORLD CINEMA AUDIENCE AWARD (Documentary): Searching for Sugar Man

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE FOR ENSEMBLE ACTING: The Surrogate

Screen Actors Guild Winners

ENSEMBLE: The Help
ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Before anyone starts to ask the question, is The Help a potential Best Picture spoiler now because of it SAG victory (a la Crash and the waves of misguided judgement that plagued Oscar Season 2005), let's all remember that the Ensemble Award at SAG is typical of responding the not necessarily the Best Ensemble of the year, but the biggest.  And that while past Best Picture winners such as The King's Speech, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago and, indeed Crash took home the top prize at SAG, so did Oscar also-rans such as Inglourious Basterds, Traffic, Gosford Park, The Full Monty as did the un-nominated big cast phenom The Birdcage.

The bigger deal is the wondrous inclusion of Dujardin as Best Actor in a year that has spelled pretty much nothing but CLOONEY throughout...the big question mark out of this years SAG awards is not the relevance of The Help dominating, but the momentum of the charming Frenchman, whose a possibly contender with him SAG award, Golden Globe award, and bona fide charisma...plus a little Weinstein publicity magic and being in the Oscar Best Picture frontrunner likely doesn't hurt either.  The other question is the race between Doubt square-offs and off-screen friends Viola Davis and Meryl Streep for Best Actress...the jury is possibly out for now, but neither can be counted out.  Plummer and Spencer will be safe as they've dominated all the majors heading into the home stretch...

Directors Guild of America Winners

DIRECTOR (Feature): Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
DIRECTOR (Documentary): James Marsh, Project Nim

It's worth noting that the top top critical and guild prizes for Documentary Feature film were given to titles either not shortlisted by the Academy (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Into the Abyss, Senna, Beats, Rhymes & Life) or ones shortlisted, but snubbed (Project Nim.)

Anyhow, the DGA is best historical record there is that will predict the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner..which should make Hazanavicius and The Weinstein Company very happy Oscar night.

Only 12 times times since the DGA's inception has it not corresponded with the eventual Best Picture winner.

*Driving Miss Daisy is the real fluke as it's the only Best Picture winner that wasn't even nominated for a DGA directing award.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Critical Intake

The inclusion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close as a Best Picture finalist got me thinking: How could a film widely critically derided score a slot as one of the finest of cinema of the year.  While critical reaction of any film should always be taken as with a grain of salt, and sites such as Rotten Tomatoes as a scope of evil on movie making-- it's about the conversation, not about a score (how does one score a work of art anyway?)-- there is a piece that critical response plays a part (how big is up to interruption) in mounting an Oscar campaign.  How else could one explain the dominance of a critical favorite, but barely seen film like The Hurt Locker rising the ranks to the pantheon of Hollywood's biggest stage.  And while such a reductive "it's a dud" and "it's a hit" response does nothing and belittles the conversation that cinema really should be, we live in a universe where that can help or kill a film right off the bat...the Twitterers can claim a film's a piece of crap within seconds of opening and doom it right off the bat.  Let's check in on the lowest reviewed (as per the Tomatometer) of films nominated for Best Picture in the last ten years for a glimpse:

10- Seabiscuit (2003)- 77%
War Horse (2011)- 77%
8- The Help (2011)- 76%
Moulin Rouge! (2001)- 76%
6- Gangs of New York (2002)- 75%
5- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)- 72%
4- Babel (2006)- 69%
3- The Blind Side (2009)- 66%
2- The Reader (2008)- 62%
1- Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)- 46%

Based on this summation, 2011 was the worst crop of Best Picture finalists critically, with 3 films placing in the bottom ten of the 64 movies nominated in the last ten years.

RIP: 2011 Oscar Also-Rans

There's so much at play when it comes down to Oscar nominations-- the glorified popularity contest of it all, the media-schmoozing decadence, and perhaps less so, the actual quality of the product.  With film as such the subjective art form it is, it's always bullish to call something "the best,"-- the Academy has thus spoken.  Here's a few of the shunned this season:

Michael Shannon in Take Shelter
The actor, nominated in 2008 for his supporting performance in Revolutionary Road, goes down a seemingly familiar road playing a paranoid middle-American husband and father, who may be experiencing allusions of a looming apocalypse, or losing his mind.  However, this is perhaps one of the finest performances of the year and the compassionate, resonate portrait of a struggling average joe trying to grasp his grasp of reality.  For a subtle, small performance in a tiny independent film, Shannon did quite well this awards season, taking a handful of critics prizes but didn't make it all the way; would have been a nice surprise (ahem...Demian Beshir!)
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
The Academy has now gone three for three in snubbing the alien goddess that is Swinton now after the past two years of gigantically esteemed work in Julia and I Am Love and now this...the Academy has some problems I since.  The sick joke is that Swinton did so well in the precursor race (starting with her win at the National Board of Review), and earned nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild; a damning tease.  The snub likely says more about the film itself than the performance (more on Kevin later), because the nutty creepiness of the flick can't come close to diminish the unique power of Swinton's expressive and grief-stricken mother of a sociopath.
Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
Yes, it would be hard to say it's a shock that Dunst's extraordinary, career-expanding performance in Lars von Trier's Melancholia was snubbed for an Oscar, but it's still a bit sad that such a performance didn't gain a bit more traction.  Her win at the Cannes Film Festival last May, and the National Society of Film Critics just last month notwithstanding, here is a big name actress in a game-changer of a performance from a visionary (if divisive) auteur.  It's always strange in years like this one, in which the product is (or least perceived) as week, that the Academy always tends to go moreso to their bandwagon than expand into more startling territory.  That's an error, I believe, since Dunst proved with her massive mediation of depression and passivity clearly isn't afraid of such danger.
Albert Brooks in Drive
This must fall into a case of a performance (one that's massively received critically, that just missed the ball) as a case of the Academy not really digging a certain film versus the performance or the actor.  Drive was always going to be way to cool for the Academy-- too hip, too arty, too over-stuffed with glossy 80s music and way too hyper-stylized to be taken seriously by the stodgy members of AMPAS.  The first tell-tale sign came from Brooks' lack of a Screen Actors Guild nomination, and the general sense of surprise that the supporting categories sometimes bring...c'mon nobody predicted Max von Sydow (from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Loud) and Jonah Hill and Kenneth Branagh...
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Again, like Dunst this wasn't exactly a shocker-- Olsen strangely never quite received traction in a very competitive best actress race.  Still what's startling is that in a year with an impressive roster of younger ladies in impressive, moody roles, that it was Rooney Mara who received the nomination.  Olsen's work is (arguably) a bit more skillful, as she exhibits a range and control of emotions, as well as charming movie star veneer, all the while playing acharacter whose lack of an identity and sense of self is a strikingly mature piece of work.  Subdued, but emotive as hell...I look forward to a career of more nominatable work in the future.
Ewan McGregor in Beginners
One day, the Academy will realize the error of its ways in the disservice to this fine Scotsman-- perhaps the most generous leading male in the past decade without an Oscar nomination to his credit.  Thinking about it, would Nicole Kidman (Oscar-nominated for Moulin Rouge!) shinned quite so dazzlingly or even Christopher Plummer (nominated this year for Beginners) radiated such gravitas without such a stellar chemistry with McGregor.  His work tends to be more recessive than the Academy prefers in their leading men, but he always manages to make a connection with the actors he shares a scene with-- his charm radiates.  Even as a male lead-- he's the best supporting actor.
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Even though the South African beauty has an Oscar already on her mantle (for Oscar's favorite female trick of a pretty face going ugly for Monster), and even though she's been a movie star\sexpot\Dior salesman for some time, 2011 was a true year of discovery for Theron.  That she managed to be so funny, deliver such pointed and brilliant line readings and turn the table of an actress being so ugly, whilst being so pretty was a feat that was sadly unappreciated.  Whatever the turn of the Academy, what she accomplished with her tart, startling and complicated work as brittle writer Mavis Gary was utterly inspired and a career-elevator that makes me long for the next messy portrait she tackles.
Kristen Wiig in Bridesmaids
While the actress scored a nomination for co-authoring Bridesmaids, the first ever of Apatow-produced affair mind you, it would still be great fun to consider what spunk she would have been as a nominee for Best Actress.  It's certainly no great shocker she was excluded...the Academy thinks lesser of comedies in general, and raunchy ones at that, forget about it (oh wait, they kinda liked this one.)  It is however, the achingly universal qualities she brought to her performance-- that of jealousy, depression, immaturity and depravity that differentiate this as a bargain basement feminine slant of The Hangover, and that she managed to be riotously hilarious at the same time is some kind of miracle in of itself.

"Life's a Happy Song," from The Muppets
The Best Original Song category is typically grating for not just movie fans, but musical ones too, and this year...a stranger one than usual that included just two (Rio's "Real in Rio" and The Muppets' "Man or Muppet)  Shamefully, or perhaps expectantly, they shunned the most joyful song in the most joyful musical of 2011...further anguish should be given to Alan Menken's cheerful and delightfully catchy (and story-mover) "Star Spangled Man" from Captain America.
Michael Fassbender in Shame
This one actually stings.  I can understand that dark, disturbing drama about a man battling a sex addiction may not be the Academy's cup of tea.  I can understand one's perhaps difficulties of the film itself, what with it's patches of reductive reasoning and a dash of Lost Weekend cliches.  I can understand one being turned off by the sight of a naked man.  However, I can't quite settle why Fassbender's tremendous and volcanic work could be overlooked by an Academy of actors who, seemingly, would kill for a role that requires such subtlety, vulnerability and humanity.  For his performance was far more than the over-publicized quick shots of his anatomy, but an aching portrait of loneliness in search of human connection.  And with a cinematic resume that overachieves most in a lifetime in the span of a single year...this was a node that the cinema deserved.

Whilst on the subject of the Oscar-shunned, it's time to consider that will a surprise Best Picture slot was made available to Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and films as varied as W.E., Real Steal and actors as varied as Jonah Hill and Glenn Close were considered, the following films of 2011 received zero nominations:

Martha Marcy May Marlene- the best debut of the year about a young woman trying to re-assimilate  into normal society after being seduced by a cult.  Sean Durkin's debut as a writer and director is a nifty introduction of what hopefully will be a terrific career, as is Elizabeth Olsen's breakthrough performance.

Melancholia- Lars von Trier doesn't make Oscar-type films (in fact- the famously plane shy auteur will likely never step foot in America), but there's an almost accessible and absolutely romantic quality to his end-of-the-world melodrama that's rapturously operatic and thrillingly dramatized that I wish the Academy had a bit more of an open mind to.

Shame- yes this NC-17 tale of the depths of sex addiction may not appear to be prime Oscar bait, but with performances so tight and such style behind the camera, it really should.  It's a shame (!) that one relatively weaker years such as these that the Academy usually tends to go back to its tried and true formulaic mindsets rather than expanding its range and honoring something a bit more dangerous.

Take Shelter- a small, but astonishing portrait of a middle class American struggling to keep him family taken care whilst having end of days allusions.  Is it a mid-life crisis, a mental breakdown, or a damning reality.  What's wonderful about this feature, is that it offers no easy solution, but delivers a startling case study of recession-era Americans at odds, with a final scene of absolute power and control, one that's tight and scary and moving all at once.

Weekend- a surprise snub, hardly!  As this independent British mood piece was snubbed by it's own country.  But queer sexuality aside, this is one of the very best romantic pictures in years-- a startlingly frank, smart and bittersweet chamber piece of brief encounters and  soulful connection.  I hope the truest award this film earns is a small, but treasured slot in film history as one of the most romantic (gay or straight) movies of all time.

Further gripping to come...

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Academy Award Nominations

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

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne, The Descandents
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR
Damian Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

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

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids- Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Margin Call- J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
A Separation- Asghar Farhardi

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo- John Logan
The Ides of March- George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon
Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Hell & Back Again
If A Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist- Laurence Bennett & Robert Gould
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillian
Hugo- Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris- Anne Siebel & Helene Dubreuil
War Horse- Rick Carter & Lee Sandales

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist- Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo- Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse- Janusz Kaminski

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous- Lisy Christl
The Artist- Mark Bridges
Hugo- Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre- Michael O'Connor
W.E.- Arianne Phillips

BEST FILM EDITING
The Artist- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants- Kevin Tent
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter
Hugo- Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball- Christopher Tellefsen

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Adventures of Tintin- John Williams
The Artist- Ludovic Bource
Hugo- Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Alberto Iglesias
War Horse- John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets
"Real in Rio," Rio

BEST MAKE-UP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Short Subject)
The Barber of Birmingham
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident is the New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

BEST SHORT FILM (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

BEST SHORT FILM (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

BEST SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

BEST SOUND MIXING
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Nine is the number!  But still quite a lonely number it may be.  Future gripping and musings to come (please join me.)  Hugo leads the field with 11 nominations (despite zero acting nods); The Artist comes in second with 10 nominations.  The only real surprise comes in the (questionable?) inclusion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close which may certainly holds the distinction of the lowest critically regarded Best Picture nomination of all time...way to go Stephen Daldry!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Producers Guild Winners

FEATURE: The Artist
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest

Saturday, January 21, 2012

MPSE Sound Editors Nominations

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS & FOLEY IN A FEATURE FILM
  • Drive
  • Fast Five
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Super 8
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • War Horse
BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A FEATURE FILM
  • Drive
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hop
  • Hugo
  • Priest
  • Super 8
  • Transformers: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • The Tree of Life
BEST SOUND EDITING: DIALOGUE & ADR IN A FEATURE FILM
  • Abduction
  • The Help
  • Moneyball
  • Quarantine II: Terminal
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • Super 8
  • War Horse
  • The Way
BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A MUSICAL FEATURE FILM 
  • Footloose
  • The Muppets
  • Perfect Age of Rock 'N' Roll
  • Pina
BEST SOUND EDITING: ANIMATED FEATURE
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Cars 2
  • Kung Fu Panda 2
  • Puss in Boots
  • Rango
  • Rio
  • The Smurfs
BEST SOUND EDITING: DOCUMENTARY
  • Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
  • Cave of Forgotten Dreams
  • George Harrison: Living in a Material World
  • Lemmy
  • Pearl Jam Twenty
BEST SOUND EDITING: FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
  • 1920. The World's Most Important Battle
  • Circumstance
  • Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within
  • The Flowers of War
  • In the Land of Blood & Honey
  • Sarah's Key
  • The Skin I Live In     

Iowa Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Descendants
DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne, The Descendants
ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
BEST FILM YET TO OPEN IN IOWA: We Need to Talk About Kevin; Project Nim

London Film Critics Circle

PICTURE: The Artist
BRITISH PICTURE: We Need to Talk About Kevin
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
ACTRESS: (tie) Anna Paquin, Margaret; Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sareh Bayat, A Separation
BRITISH ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
BRITISH ACTRESS: Olivia Coleman, Tyrannosaur
SCREENPLAY: A Separation
YOUNG BRITISH ACTOR: Craig Roberts, Submarine
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Senna
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT: Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (production design)
BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER: Andrew Haigh, Weekend

Costume Design Guild Nominations

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (Period Film)
The Artist- Mark Bridges
Jane Eyre- Michael O'Connor
The Help- Sharon Davis
Hugo- Sandy Powell
W.E.- Arianne Phillips

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (Fantasy Film)
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- Janey Temime
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides- Penny Rose
Red Riding Hood- Cindy Evans
Thor- Alexandra Byrne
X-Men: First Class- Sammy Sheldon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (Contemporary Film)
Bridesmaids- Leesa Evans & Christine Wada
The Descendants- Wendy Chuck
Drive- Erin Benach
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Trish Summerville
Melancholia- Manon Rasmussen

Melancholia received a guild nomination-- WOOHOO!

Cinema Audio Society Nomiations

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • Hanna
  • Hugo
  • Moneyball
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
  • Super 8

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Best Foreign-Language Film

The always contentious battle for Best Foreign Film is underway as the Academy has whittled some 69 films to 8 semi-finalists for the Academy Award.  They are:

  • Bullhead (Belgium- 5 nominations\no wins)- directed by Michael R. Roskan
  • Footnote (Israel- 9 nominations\no wins)- directed by Joseph Cedar
  • In Darkness (Poland- 8 nominations\no wins)- directed by Agnieszka Holland
  • Monsieur Lazhar (Canada- 3 nominations\1 win)- directed by Philippe Falardeau
  • Omar Killed Me (Morocco- never nominated)- directed by Roschdy Zem
  • Pina (Germany- 16 nominations\3 wins)- directed by Wim Wenders
  • A Separation (Iran- 1 nominations\no wins)- directed by Asghar Farhadi
  • Superclasico (Denmark- 8 nominations\3 wins)- directed by Ole Christian Madsen
  • Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (Taiwan- 3 nominations\1 win)- directed by Wei Te-sheng

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Georgia Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
ACTRESS: Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
ENSEMBLE CAST: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moneyball
FOREIGN FILM: Certified Copy
ANIMATED FEATURE: The Adventures of Tintin
DOCUMENTARY: Senna
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life
ART DIRECTION: The Tree of Life
SCORE: War Horse
ORIGINAL SONG: "Man or Muppet," The Muppets
BREAKTHROUGH AWARD: Jessica Chastain

BAFTA Nominations

The British are coming!  The British are coming!
BEST FILM
  • The Artist
  • The Descendants
  • Drive
  • The Help
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST BRITISH FILM
  • My Week With Marilyn
  • Senna
  • Shame
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST DIRECTOR
  • Tomas Alfredson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
  • Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
  • Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR
  • George Clooney, The Descendants
  • Jean Dujardin, The Artist
  • Michael Fassbender, Shame
  • Brad Pitt, Moneyball
  • Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST ACTRESS
  • Berenice Bejo, The Artist
  • Viola Davis, The Help
  • Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
  • Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
  • Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  • Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
  • Jim Broadbent, The Iron Lady
  • Jonah Hill, Moneyball
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Ides of March
  • Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  • Jessica Chastain, The Help
  • Judi Dench, My Week With Marilyn
  • Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
  • Carey Mulligan, Drive
  • Octavia Spencer, The Help

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
  • The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
  • Bridesmaids- Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
  • The Guard- John Michael McDonagh
  • The Iron Lady- Abi Morgan
  • Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
  • The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
  • The Help- Tate Taylor
  • The Ides of March- George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon
  • Moneyball- Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Arthur Christmas
  • Rango

BEST DOCUMENTARY
  • George Harrison: Living in a Material World
  • Project Nim
  • Senna

BEST FOREIGN FILM
  • Incendies
  • Pinna
  • Potiche
  • A Separation
  • The Skin I Live In

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
  • The Artist- Guillaume Schiffman
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Jeff Cronenweth
  • Hugo- Robert Richardson
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Hoyte van Hoytema
  • War Horse- Janusz Kaminski

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
  • The Artist- Mark Bridges
  • Hugo- Sandy Powell
  • Jane Eyre- Michael O'Connor
  • My Week With Marilyn- Jill Taylor
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Jacqueline Durran

BEST FILM EDITING
  • The Artist- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
  • Drive- Mat Newman
  • Hugo- Thelma Schoonmaker
  • Senna- Gregers Sall & Chris King
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Dino Jonsater

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
  • The Artist- Laurence Bennett & Robert Gould
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillian
  • Hugo- Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Maria Djurkovic & Tatiana MacDonald
  • War Horse- Rick Carter & Lee Sandales

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
  • The Artist- Ludovic Bource
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
  • Hugo- Howard SHore
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Alberto Iglesieas
  • War Horse- John Williams

BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING
  • The Artist
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • The Iron Lady
  • My Week With Marilyn

BEST SOUND
  • The Artist
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
  • War Horse

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes
  • War Horse

BEST DEBUT OF A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
  • Attack the Block- Joe Cornish (director\writer)
  • Black Pond- Will Sharpe (director\writer), Tom Kingsley (director) Sarah Brocklehurst (producer)
  • Coriolanus- Ralph Fiennes (director)
  • Submarine- Richard Ayoade (director\writer)
  • Tyrannosaur- Paddy Considine (director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer)

ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD
  • Adam Deacon
  • Chris Hemsworth
  • Tom Hiddleston
  • Chris O'Dowd
  • Eddie Redmayne

The Artist continues its awards domination with 12 nominations from the British Academy of Film & Television Awards, as homegrown espionage tale Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy follows with 11 nods.  There's both a telling difference and similarity between the British equivalent and the Oscar itself-- message pictures (like The Help) transcends geography, as does star power-- look at the overwhelming effects of both the Clooney and the Streep-factor-- The Descendants, almost an epitome of American domesticity (despite it's tropical setting) managed a Best Picture nomination, and The Iron Lady, despite being fairly horrible (outside of Her Majesty's greatness) managed a few extra nods of her coattails, despite portraying a woman widely denounced in Great Britain.  I'm sorry but that Screenplay nod is absolute nonsense.  The BAFTA also cherishes their own-- with hometown pride sewn up with Tinker Tailor, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Senna and My Week With Marilyn, a screenplay nod for The Guard all making strong impressions and earning lofty mentions for it's lofty British cast members.  Then again, they also are strong risk-takers than the AMPAS, given the Drive popularity-- way to cool for the stodgy American film Academy...also Pedro Almodovar films are considered for Best Foreign Film-- Spain hasn't submitted a feature of his for Oscar consideration since All About My Mother (1999.)

Best mentions worthy of applause include nominations for Arthur Christmas in the animated feature category (the best animated feature of 2011, in my opinion), which has been ignored erroneously stateside, Best Film Editing for Senna is absolutely deserved...it's a masterwork of woven storytelling presented all through archival footage, the costume nod for Jane Eyre (by Michael O'Connor, who won the Oscar for The Duchess in 2008) and of course the richly deserved across the board continued success of The Artist.

Questionable mentions include the abundant love for My Week With Marilyn (Branagh and Dench are terrific actors, but they're coasting here...come please), as is Jim Broadbent in The Iron Lady and the aforementioned screenplay.  And with all the honoring of prime British work, why is there not one mention for one of the strongest British debuts in recent years: Weekend, the subtly soulful queer romance.

Snubbed completely: The Tree of Life

Monday, January 16, 2012

ACE Eddie Nominations

Here's one of the biggies.  The ACE Eddies honor the best in film editing, which many have argued that without a complementary Best Film Editing Oscar nomination, a film simply cannot win Best Picture.  No motion picture has done so since 1980's Ordinary People, which Crash-fans rally as the defacto argument in its triumph over Brokeback Mountain in 2005.  Of course, the ACE Eddie offer both drama and comedy categories, so this honor helps only slightly.  Here are the nominees:

BEST FILM EDITING (Drama)
The Descendants- Kevin Tent
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter
Hugo- Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball- Christopher Tellefsen
War Horse- Michael Kahn

BEST FILM EDITING (Musical or Comedy)
The Artist- Anne-Sophia Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids- William Kerr & Michael L. Sale
Midnight in Paris- Alisa Lepselter
My Week With Marilyn- Adam Recht
Young Adult- Dana E. Glauberman

BEST FILM EDITING (Animated Feature)
The Adventures of Tintin- Michael Kahn
Puss in Boots- Eric Dapkewicz
Rango- Craig Wood

The big snub: The Help

The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards



PICTURE (Drama)- The Descendants
PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)- The Artist
DIRECTOR- Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTRESS (Drama)- Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
ACTOR (Drama)- George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)- Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
SUPPORTING ACTRESS- Octavia Spencer, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR- Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SCREENPLAY- Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ANIMATED FEATURE- The Adventures of Tintin
FOREIGN FILM- A Separation
SCORE- The Artist- Ludovic Bource
SONG- "Masterpiece," W.E.

The naval gazing of the Hollywood Foreign Press is done with, and usual suspects like George Clooney and Meryl Streep added shiny new statues to go with their several old dusty ones, and The Artist lead the field with 3 wins and The Descendants followed with 2 awards.  I'm curious if this share the good-will act will continue with the Academy Awards, as this year has but a few consensus titles, but of which (The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo, The Help, Moneyball) could all find themselves in small spots of recognition.

One question that I've been hovering on lately is if the race is in fact between The Artist and The Descendants, might the Clooney-ness of it all be enough for a Best Picture win.  The Artist is the clear winner of the critical derby, and has the Weinstein loyalty for it, but it's also a low-grossing black and white silent film made by and starring a French guy.  In truth, inside Hollywood types of films, even glowing homages to old-Hollywood have never been awarded Best Picture in the past.  Some crystal ball gazing tells me the next month may not be as kind to The Artist.  I fear of backlash-- though am glad that that silly Kim Novak-raping-of-Vertigo fuss wasn't enough to start one.

The Descendants, one the other hand (despite not being the best film of 2011) is an all-American drama-comedy, one with an exotic-enough Hawaiian location that is distinctive, but not off-putting.  It seems reminiscent of past Best Picture winners like Kramer vs. Kramer, Terms of Endearment and Ordinary People.  Then again, movies like that haven't been honored in twenty-eight years.  I assume that some questions might be solved come SAG Award evening...

For the record, Meryl Streep's victory for The Iron Lady marked her 25th Golden Globe nomination and eighth award.  Her Golden Globe collection:
  • Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, Best Supporting Actress)
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981, Best Actress-Drama)
  • Sophie's Choice (1982, Best Actress- Drama)
  • Adaptation. (2002, Best Supporting Actress)
  • Angels in America (2003, Best Actress- TV Mini-Series)
  • The Devil Wears Prada (2006, Best Actress- Musical or Comedy)
  • Julie & Julia (2009, Best Actress- Musical or Comedy)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Nevada Film Critics Society

PICTURE: Hugo
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
ACTOR: Tom Hardy, Warrior
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, EVERYTHING
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
ANIMATED FEATURE: Puss in Boots
ENSEMBLE: The Help
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: (tie) Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene; Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
CHILD ACTOR: Asa Butterfield, Hugo

One of the only genuine surprises of the 2011 awards season is the striking success of Hugo, what with it's 3-D, based on a popular children's book pre-package looked not exactly like pure Oscar-bait-- the Scorsese factor notwithstanding.  And as a fan of the film, I'm still surprised by it's enormous critical acceptance.  Yes, the film is a lovingly and superbly crafted ode to cinema, which certainly would make any cinephile or movie-buff, or perhaps even passer-by fan swoon to some extent.  And yes, Hugo has moments of inspired filmmaking magic.  However, it is still a slow burn of a film, with long patches of inconsistency of tone, dull characterizations and mediocre performances (especially the young ones), coupled with the top-dollar price tag that Paramount Pictures (despite the high number of Oscar nominations the film will likely earn) will likely never recoup.  Scorsese is the medium's biggest champion, which I suppose is reward enough.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Critics Choice Awards

PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: George Harrison: Living in a Material World
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
ART DIRECTION: Hugo
CINEMATOGRAPHY: (tie) The Tree of Life; War Horse
FILM EDITING: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
COSTUME DESIGN: The Artist
SCORE: The Artist
SONG: "Life's a Happy Song," The Muppets
SOUND: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
MAKE-UP: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
VISUAL EFFECTS: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
ENSEMBLE: The Help
YOUNG ACTOR: Thomas Horn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
ACTION MOVIE: Drive
COMEDY: Bridesmaids
HONORARY AWARD: Martin Scorsese
JOEL SIEGEL AWARD: Sean Penn

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Denver Film Critics Society

PICTURE: The Tree of Life
DIRECTOR: (tie) Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life; Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Moneyball
ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
ENSEMBLE: The Descendants
SCREENPLAY: The Descendants
DOCUMENTARY: Page One: Inside the New York Times
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
SCORE: The Artist
BREAKOUT STAR: Jessica Chastain

American Society of Cinematographers Nominations

The best pieces of cinematography of 2011, as per their own peers are:
  • The Artist- Guillaume Schiffman
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Jeff Cronenweth
  • Hugo- Robert Richardson
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Hoyte Van Hoytema
  • The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
The biggest surprise must be the inclusion of Van Hoytema for his work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which has had a soft awards run so.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo's inclusion should be surprising, considering films it bested, but it's awards (and specifically guild) turn-up has been the most surprising element of the second stage of Oscar mania.  With it's near perfect (save for SAG) guild run, could this film really be on its way to a Best Picture nomination?  Really...this is second-tier Fincher people; just stating.

SOME TRIVIA:
Schiffman, a longtime collaborator of The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius back in France is celebrating his first ASC nomination.  His work also includes last year's art house flick Gainsbourgh: A Heroic Life (a Best Make-Up finalist for this years Oscars.)  Very likely he'll be championed by the Academy.
Cronenweth has collaborated with David Fincher before, earning both an ASC and Oscar nomination last year for his (far superior) work on The Social Network.  He has also lensed Fight Club, Down With Love and One Hour Photo.
Richardson is one of the biggest and most acclaimed cinematographers currently working, and the current go-to-cameraman for both Scorsese and Tarantino.  He started to gain notoriety for his work with Oliver Stone, earning his first ASC nomination for 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and his first Oscar nomination for 1987's Platoon.  While this is his tenth ASC nomination (he was last nominated for 2009's Inglourious Basterds), he has yet the win the prize.  Richardson has, however, been Oscar-nominated six times and the Oscar twice-- for The Aviator (2004) and JFK (1991.)
Van Hoytema is receiving his first ASC mention, but has produced memorable work on films such as The Fighter and his last collaboration with Tinker Tailor director Tomas Alfredsen-- the dreamy vampire coming of age tale Let the Right One In.
Lubezki is one of the major cinematographers of modern cinema.  While that sounds like hyperbole, his work backs up that statement.  The preferred DP of Alfonso Cuaron and, now Terrence Malick has illuminated movie screens with some of the astonishing and inventive camera work of last fifty years.  He earns his third ASC mention for his work on The Tree of Life, a film I didn't even care for mostly, but still deserves to win-- he was previously honored by the ASC for the startlingly brilliant work he did for 2006's Children of Men and was also nominated in 1999 for Sleepy Hollow.  He has earned four Oscar nominations for Children of Men, The New World, Sleepy Hollow and A Little Princess-- he has yet to win!!!!

Last years line-up was:
  • Black Swan
  • Inception
  • The King's Speech
  • The Social Network
  • True Grit
In a rare move-- the Oscar nominations matched 100% and Inception took both prizes.  If that holds true this year, than films like War Horse, Drive and Midnight in Paris will be one nomination-less than perhaps hoped for.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Vancouver Film Critics Awards

FILM: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
ACTRESS: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help
SCREENPLAY: The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation

BEST CANADIAN FILM: Cafe de Flore
DIRECTOR OF A CANADIAN FILM: David Croenberg, A Dangerous Method
ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM: Peter Stormare, Small Town Murder Songs
ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM: Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A CANADIAN FILM: Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A CANADIAN FILM: Helene Florent, Cafe de Flore

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Awards

PICTURE: The Artist
DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs; Octavia Spencer, The Help
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Moneyball- Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
ENSEMBLE CAST: Bridesmaids
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Buck
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
FILM EDITING: Hugo- Thelma Schoonmaker
SCORE: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross; Hanna- The Chemical Brothers

BEST WOMAN DIRECTOR: Lynne Ramsay, We Need to Talk About Kevin
BEST WOMAN SCREENWRITER: Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
KICK-ASS AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE ACTION STAR: Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Saorise Ronan, Hanna
BEST ANIMATED FEMALE: Bean (Isla Fisher), Rango
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
FEMALE ICON AWARD: Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
THIS YEARS OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT BY A WOMAN IN THE FILM INDUSTRY: Jessica Chastain
AWFJ AWARD FOR HUMANITARIAN ACTIVISM: Angelina Jolie, In the Land of Blood & Honey

Monday, January 9, 2012

Directors Guild of America Nominations

When it comes to Oscar prognosticating, nobody is closer than the DGA in terms of ratio to Best Picture wins.  Like last year, when there was still a contentious race between The King's Speech and The Social Network, both parties (as sad as it was) had to concede that when Tom Hooper won the DGA, the fate had been sealed.  Here comes the five men, all middle-aged (and in two cases, beyond such) white men (no diversity this year, unless a French white man counts) that have been named as the frontrunners for this years honor:

  • Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
  • Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
  • David Fincher, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Alexander Payne, The Descendants
  • Martin Scorsese, Hugo
The big winner of the field must be Fincher, whose film, while critically acknowledged if not salivated over and completely outside the traditional wheelhouse for such distinctions, has been doing a great job as of late in keeping itself in the Academy mindset, with it's PGA nomination to coincide.  Is it a pity vote for last year, one may wonder...I'm somewhat baffled by his inclusion.  The snubbed list includes Steven Spielberg for War Horse, a surprise since the DGA salivates over him whenever it gets the chance to, Bennett Miller for Moneyball, Tate Taylor for The Help (not so much a surprise except for the films near sweep of guild honors so far), and George Clooney for The Ides of March.

Woody Allen has been nominated by the DGA before four previous times, winning the prize in 1977 for Anne Hall, and nominated for Manhattan (1979), Hannah & Her Sisters (1986) and Crimes & Misdemeanors (1989.)  He also received the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.

This is Michel Hazanavicius' first DGA nomination.

David Fincher was nominated for the DGA last year for The Social Network and in 2008 for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  In 2008, he was nominated for Best Achievement in Direction of a Commercial, and in 2004, he won the DGA for the same category.

Alexander Payne was previously nominated for the DGA for directing Sideways in 2004.

Martin Scorsese received his first DGA nomination for Taxi Driver in 1976.  Since then, he has been nominated seven other times: Raging Bull (1980), GoodFellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and the pilot episode of Broadwalk Empire (2010).  He has won the DGA twice (for The Departed and Boardwalk Empire) and received the 2003 DGA Lifetime Achievement Award.

Best Make-up

Far and away the nuttiest category on the Oscar ballot...for which we can thank for forever qualifying movies like Norbit and Click as Oscar nominees have announced their semi-finalist for the Best Make-Up Academy Award.  None such dubious selections this year as the seven films vying will be:

  • Albert Nobbs
  • Anonymous
  • The Artist
  • Gainsbourgh: A Heroic Life
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Hugo
  • The Iron Lady
While I'm no fan of The Iron Lady, the make-up and aging process of Ms. Streep is pretty immaculate.

Missing: the aging prosthesis used to make Leonardo DiCaprio old-man J. Edgar

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Kansas City Film Critics

PICTURE: The Descendants
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: George Clooney, The Descendants
ACTRESS: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Beginners- Mike Mills
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Moneyball- Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin

ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
FANTASY FILM: Hugo

National Society of Film Critics

PICTURE: Melancholia
DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
ACTOR: Brad Pitt, Moneyball; The Tree of Life
ACTRESS: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life; Take Shelter; The Help
SCREENPLAY: A Separation
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki

Central Ohio Film Critics Awards

PICTURE: Drive

Top Ten of 2011:
  • Martha Marcy May Marlene
  • Take Shelter
  • Melancholia
  • The Descendants
  • Midnight in Paris
  • The Tree of Life
  • The Artist
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • Hugo

DIRECTOR: Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive
ACTOR: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS: Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
ENSEMBLE: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Source Code- Duncan Jones
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Steven Zaillian
ANIMATED FEATURE: Arthur Christmas
DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life- Emmanuel Lubezki
SCORE: Hanna- The Chemical Brothers
ACTOR THE YEAR: Jessica Chastain
BREAKTHROUGH FILM ARTIST: Nicholas Winding Refn
MOST OVERLOOKED FILM: Margaret

Writers Guild Nominations

I'm terribly behind, but let's pretend I'm not, for that would make me sad...The Writers Guild is a strange bird, not necessarily for bad choices (many every year, including this year are quite stellar) but for their rules and guidelines.  So many scripts get tossed aside because the writers are not WGA members, or certain paper work isn't processed in time, or it's an animated feature.  There's so many (perhaps too many) obstacles.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
  • 50/50- Will Reiser
  • Bridesmaids- Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
  • Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
  • Win Win- Tom McCarthy
  • Young Adult- Diablo Cody
A good line-up, albeit a strangely comically-bent one.  Bridesmaids continues guild domination, which is an eye-brow raiser, but a nicely raised one at that.
Not Eligible: Arthur Christmas, The Artist, Beginners, The Iron Lady, Like Crazy, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Melancholia, Rango, Shame and Take Shelter 


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
  • The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Steven Zaillian
  • The Help- Tate Taylor
  • Hugo- John Logan
  • Moneyball- Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
Also notable is the striking success for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a decidedly non-awards type of film, in the guilds.
Not Eligible: Albert Nobbs, Carnage, Drive, Jane Eyre, My Week With Marilyn, The Skin I Live In and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Iron Lady

There's always a difficult tightrope that must be walked when making a biography film about a controversial historical figure.  The tone, it seems, matters more than the performance more times than not-- even if it's the performance that always must invariably carry the picture.  There must be, at some end, I suppose, a conscious decision of said person.  Oliver Stone has walked this murky path several times, with varying degrees of success-- spinning his liberal conspiracy theories on several US presidents, typically throwing away accuracy, consistency of tone, even logic aside to distill his nervy point of view.  Just in the past two months, Clint Eastwood struggled with his J. Edgar tale with his cultural reverence and political timidity weighing down the figure's controversy and unpopularity.  Now Margaret Thatcher gets the big screen treatment in a wacky new mess directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) and written by Abi Morgan (Shame), both of whom leave the heavy lifting to it's leading lady, Meryl Streep.  Whether due to sheepishness or reluctance of convictions, The Iron Lady succumbs to typical biopic standards of greatest hits speechifying and meandering thoughtlessness; any verve or style or hard-pressing dialogue of Thatcher-the-woman vs. Thatcher-the-politican is dismissed in favor of it's leading lady's technical grace.

That grace is pure, as Streep is as thrilling and commanding as ever.  Of course, that's hardly surprising-- this great actress has always been such a fine technician and a joyful presence.  All of her legendary qualities are put on display from the outset-- the voice, the poise, the pearls that Thatcher loves so, but what makes the performance pop in such a vibrant way (one that the film itself has no idea of what do with) is the great sense of texture and nuance she brings to her Thatcher, one that despite the filmmaker's all too quiet reverence, doesn't let her off the hook so easily, but presents a challenging portrait of a challenging woman whose decisions invariably, and unfortunately, are still being felt today.  Streep has also always been kind of a ham, and that marvel that comes through when a character that she can bite her teeth into comes her way, there's always been a certain charm to it.  Too bad nearly everything that surrounds this adept and powerful character study is nearly all a waste.

Like J. Edgar, The Iron Lady is framed by the old icon looking back-- in this case, we meet a present-day Margaret, applied with heavy make-up work for Streep.  She's a recluse for the most part, battling dementia, eating breakfast with Denis (Jim Broadbent-- the go-to prestige Brit actor to tango with legends playing legends losing their minds; also included Iris), her long deceased husband.  Seen as increasingly over-the-top stages of grief, Thatcher looks back at her life-- her drive and fortitude that brought her from a small-town grocer's daughter to Oxford graduate to the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain.  Framed more so by montage than flashback, the primary chord of The Iron Lady is that of feminist pride.  And by which there is nothing wrong with-- whatever one may feel about Thatcher's politics, her decisions, or the repercussions of both-- there is always something moving about anyone outside who can join the ranks of the all-white-male party and not only stand beside them, but move above them.  There's a certain flake that the movie can be forgiven for because of that; it is the fault of the film that, however, that any of the criticism or cultural distress caused by Thatcher gets nearly thrown away or white-washed completely, or turned-off in the case of a slightly unflattering TV news program.  It would almost feel akin to a Hitler biopic that fails to mention the Nazis.  Reckless and irresponsible, but also a missed opportunity, for Thatcher's story-- while perhaps permanently at odds--  is a compelling one.

Feminist agenda and white-washing of history aside, there's one big piece of bull that discredits the film from any serious merit.  When the young Thatcher, then a determined outside named Margaret Roberts (played by Alexandra Roach) meets her future husband- young Denis is played by Harry Lloyd, she makes a pointed speech she makes after he proposes-- that she, a grand lady of many speeches to come, will never the be the dutiful housewife type, she is meant and destined to do and serve and blather, blather, blather.  The saddest and most difficult thing to swallow in The Iron Lady is while Thatcher's determination of reminded (yet hardly taken into actual account) in scene after scene, the film succumbs to a simple, stand by your man theme that feels fake, not just its conceit, but to Thatcher herself, and the great services that Streep does in embodying her.

There's an even nuttier spin as the film meanders to it's climax, as we spend more time with the losing-her-grips modern day Thatcher.  She's drinking too much and dismissive of her ill health, and while Streep and Broadbent appear to be having marvelous actorly play, there's an altogether strange and baroque undercurrent to the way Lloyd films the last stretch of the film.  Shot in bizarre angles (and while it may appear to be an improvement from the stilted shots of Mamma Mia), it has a jarring, almost horror fun-house effect.  The Iron Lady moves away from conservative porn to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? campiness, with nothing but the stern, but surely tired, shoulders of Streep keeping it afloat.  The actress does her part, and her legend will remain intact, but this film doesn't deserve it in the least. D+

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Art Directors Guild Nominations

BEST ART DIRECTION (Period Film)
  • Anonymous- Sebastian Krawinkel
  • The Artist- Laurence Bennett
  • The Help- Mark Ricker
  • Hugo- Dante Ferretti
  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy- Maria Djurkovic

BEST ART DIRECTION (Contemporary Film)
  • Bridesmaids- Jefferson Sage
  • The Descendants- Jane Anne Stewart
  • Drive- Beth Mickle
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close- KK Barrett
  • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Donald Graham Burt
BEST ART DIRECTION (Fantasy Film)
  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Cowboys & Aliens
  • Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
    For these keeping track with us, of the three guilds to announce nomination (PGA, SAG and now ADG), four films have swept thus far-- The Artist, The Descendants, The Help and Bridesmaids.

    Producers Guild Nominations

    FEATURE FILM
    • The Artist
    • Bridesmaids
    • The Descendants
    • The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
    • The Help
    • Hugo
    • The Ides of March
    • Midnight in Paris
    • Moneyball
    • War Horse

    ANIMATED FEATURE
    • The Adventures of Tintin
    • Cars 2
    • Kung Fu Panda 2
    • Puss in Boots
    • Rango
    I would critique, but instead I yawn!

    Online Film Critics Society

    PICTURE: The Tree of Life
    DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
    ACTOR: Michael Fassbender, Shame
    ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
    SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
    SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life
    ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris
    ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
    ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango
    DOCUMENTARY: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
    FOREIGN FILM: A Separation
    CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life
    FILM EDITING: The Tree of Life

    SPECIAL AWARDS:
    Jessica Chastain (breakout performer of the year)
    Martin Scorsese (in honor of his work and dedication in the pursuit of film preservation)

    Sunday, January 1, 2012

    Happy New Year

    As we say goodbye to the somewhat daffy, somewhat dreary, whatever-you-make-of-it year of cinema that was 2011, and welcome a time of reflection and hope for a better one to come, I offer some of my favorite memories of the past year of movies.  Note this is not a best-of list (that comes with more reflection and timing...damn the critical society for their silly Oscar dazing; filmmaking requires a time to breath to truly absorb.)  Here's some happy gems I savored:

    The grotesque, but fascinating demise of Gwyneth Paltrow in Steven Soderbergh's outbreak horror global flick Contagion.

    When Owen Wilson's Gil met Salvador Dali (played with a never before seen sense of humor by Adrien Brody) in Midnight in Paris.

    The nuttiest and most hilarious sequence of the year: when the Bridesmaids gals took that ill-fated plane ride to Las Vegas-- Kristen Wiig was "ready to paarrtttyyy," and welcomed everyone to the celebration of perhaps the most artfully executed girls-gone-wild piece ever created for the silver screen.

    The nervy, stomach-inducing sequence atop the world largest building in Dubai, whereTom Cruise scaled in Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol.  Shot with such tense, such verve, such "how the hell did do that" kind of cinematic magic that franchise filmmaking appears to have lost some time ago.  I didn't feel good watching it, what with the butterflies in my stomach churning of the fear of heights I never knew I had, but damned if I wasn't compelled.

    The alarming and worthwhile sense of discovery in watching the absorbing charm of Elizabeth Olsen tackling a dense, hard to define character of many names in Martha Marcy May Marlene.  Ditto the arrival of Rooney Mara in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, just to cheat a little.

    The shock and awe of George Valentin's nightmare possibly becoming a reality as everyone has a voice but himself, the greatest silent movie star in the world in The Artist.

    "Life a Happy Song," the best musical sequence in a feature film since Catherine Zeta-Jones belted "All That Jazz" in The Muppets.

    The opening prologue to Melancholia, in which director Lars von Trier romantically and beguilingly scored his end-of-the-world operetta to tune of Wagner's Tristan & Isolde.  von Trier has never been quite so unnervingly and beautifully poetic.

    That nifty, ultra cool, so-stylized it hurts elevator shot in Drive, where Ryan Gosling became not just a movie star, but a generational icon.

    The sad and haunting conclusion to best romantic story of the year-- the bittersweet farewell of the lovers from Weekend.

    What are your favorite cinematic moments of 2011?
    HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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