A Slice of Movie Zen

Oscar Nominations: Hit me harder, I can still hear them.

2012-01-24T07:14:00.005-07:00

Oscar nomination morning is like Christmas: There's tons of build up and anticipation, but sometimes the things you wanted just aren't under the tree. Such is the case this year. Oh well. Let's get to it, shall we? I'll put an asterisk next to the ones I predicted correctly.

Best Picture

The Artist*

The Descendants*

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help*

Hugo*

Midnight in Paris*

Moneyball*

The Tree of Life*

War Horse

Nine nominees, and they managed to fit at least three mediocre films in there. Kudos, I guess? When I said that I figured Extremely Loud... had to show up somewhere, I didn't really mean it to this extent. They could have made worse choices for best picture, but not by that much. Toss in The Help and War Horse, and we've got some stunningly uninteresting choices. All I can say is thank goodness The Tree of Life made it in.

Early winner prediction: The Artist

Best Director

Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris*

Michel Hazanivicius-The Artist*

Terrence Malick-The Tree of Life*

Alexander Payne-The Descendants*

Martin Scorsese-Hugo*

Five for five, and yay Terrence Malick! I'm so happy he got recognized here. And I suppose this lineup could be worse. It's hardly the lineup I would have picked, but at least the unholy trinity (Help, Extremely Loud..., War Horse) didn't show up here.

Early winner prediction: Michel Hazanivicius-The Artist

Best Actor

Demian Bichir-A Better Life

George Clooney-The Descendants*

Jean Dujardin-The Artist*

Gary Oldman-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Brad Pitt-Moneyball*

This was a hugely surprising category this year. It's fun to see Bichir and Oldman in here, but certainly not at Michael Fassbender's expense *despair*. At least Leonardo Dicaprio didn't make it in!

Early winner prediction: George Clooney-The Descendants

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*

Well, Rooney Mara slides in after all. I haven't seen Tilda Swinton's performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin, so I'm not sure how disappointed I should be. Similarly, I haven't seen Albert Nobbs, so I can't show as much annoyance at Glenn Close getting in as other bloggers can. Give me time though; I'm sure I'll come to hate it as much as the next guy.

Early winner prediction: Viola Davis-The Help

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh-My Week with Marilyn*

Jonah Hill-Moneyball

Nick Nolte-Warrior*

Christopher Plummer-Beginners*

Max Von Sydow-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I hate, hate, hate that Albert Brooks missed for Drive, particularly when Jonah Hill did, in fact, make it. Y'know, I originally had Von Sydow in my predicted five, but then I saw the movie and thought there was no way it would happen. Maybe I saw a different movie than the Academy?

Early winner prediction: Christopher Plummer-Beginners

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo-The Artist*

Jessica Chastain-The Help*

Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs*

Octavia Spencer-The Help*

How strange is it that we can now call a performance that involves pooping into a sink an oscar-nominated achievement? Not that I'm complaining. I love Bridesmaids, so I'll take anything it can get. I'm a little surprised that Shailene Woodley/The Descendants missed, but them's the breaks.

Early winner prediction: Octavia Spencer-The Help

Original Screenplay

The Artist*

Bridesmaids*

Margin Call*

Midnight in Paris*

A Separation

Really surprised that 50/50 didn't make it here, but it's really fun to see A Separation get in. Ditto Bridesmaids; if Kristen Wiig can't break into the lead actress race, the least she deserves is a writing nomination.

Early winner prediction: Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants*

Hugo*

The Ides of March

Moneyball*

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy

No Help? This morning definitively showed us that The Help might not have been the Oscar Juggernaut we were all expecting, and that Tinker, Tailor... had more support than originally anticipated. Glad to see The Ides of March make it; it's not a great movie, but it is a well-written one.

Art Direction

The Artist*

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2*

Hugo*

Midnight in Paris

War Horse

A few surprises here. I though Midnight in Paris had a chance in a tech category, but I figured Costume Design was its most likely place. Also did not expect War Horse to make it in, because it relies so heavily on exteriors instead of elaborate sets. And since they're in the same category, I think this is a good time to float my opinion that Harry Potter is a far more interesting British war movie than War Horse. Just saying.

Early winner prediction: Hugo

Costume Design

Anonymous*

The Artist*

Hugo*

Jane Eyre*

W.E.

As I expected, the Academy just couldn't turn down Anonymous's Elizabethan antics, nor, apparently, could they turn down nominating at least one awful movie per year in this category. Hello W.E.!

Early winner prediction: Hugo

Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2*

Hugo*

Real Steel

Rise of the Planet of the Apes*

Transformers: Dark of the Moon*

What the hell is Real Steel doing here? And at the expense of The Tree of Life? This is the worst. How did The Tree of Life not make it here? This makes me sad.

Early winner prediction: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Makeup

Albert Nobbs

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2*

The Iron Lady*

Yay Harry Potter! I really wish Harry Potter had showed up in more places this morning, but I'll just have to celebrate it landing wherever it can.

Early winner prediction: The Iron Lady

Film Editing

The Artist*

The Descendants

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*

Hugo*

Moneyball*

Not sure I'm thrilled with this category. I probably should have predicted The Descendants in this race. The fact that it showed up here means it's not yet dead in the Best Picture race.

Early winner prediction: The Artist

Cinematography

The Artist*

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*

Hugo*

The Tree of Life*

War Horse*

I'm fine with most of these nominees (Tree of Life!), but I really see no need for War Horse to show up here at the expense of more competently shot films. Such is the draw of Spielberg, I guess. Even when he doesn't do his best, his movies are still awards magnets.

Original Score

The Adventures of Tintin

The Artist*

Hugo*

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

War Horse*

I suppose I'm ok with this lineup. My favorites, like Hanna and Attack the Block never had a chance here anyhow, though I'm sad Harry Potter didn't make it here. I almost predicted Tinker, Tailor, but switched at the last minute because 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' had to show up somewhere. ....Well, it did. At 48%, that movie's got to have just about the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Best Picture nominee ever.

Early winner prediction: The Artist

Sound Mixing

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Hugo*

Moneyball

Transformers: Dark of the Moon*

War Horse*

Moneyball showing up here suggests a hitherto unsuspected love for that film among the Academy. Does that mean something? Is it going to sneak in and steal screenplay or actor from The Descendants? I hope so, honestly.

Early winner prediction: War Horse

Sound Editing

Drive

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Transformers: Dark of the Moon*

War Horse*

Drive's nomination, its only one of the morning, almost feels like a slap to the face. I mean, I'd like to say it's better than nothing, but I might have preferred it to have been ignored by the Academy, rather than tossed one little bone. I'd like to further lament the absence of Harry Potter in the sound categories. Someone really needs to explain to me how Hugo's sound design is more deserving of recognition.

Early winner prediction: War Horse

Original Song

"Man or Muppet"-The Muppets

"Real in Rio"-Rio

Only two nominees, and I didn't guess either of them correctly. That's got to be some kind of record for me. On a related note, why on earth are there only two nominees?

Early winner prediction: "Man or Muppet"-The Muppets

Animated Film

A Cat in Paris

Chico and Rita

Kung Fu Panda 2*

Puss in Boots*

Rango*

In a move I should have anticipated, arthouse fare dominated this category, in a year when most of the studio stuff failed to impress. As expected, Tintin failed to show up here, most likely due to the branch's dislike of motion-capture animation. I'm glad Cars 2 didn't make it--it was pretty awful, and the last thing Pixar needs is validation for acting on their worst instincts.

Early winner prediction: Rango

Foreign Language Film

Bullhead-Belgium

Footnote-Israel*

In Darkness-Poland*

Monsieur Lazhar-Canada*

A Separation-Iran*

Israel continues its spectacular nomination streak in this category, and A Separation continues its march toward Oscar glory. Surprised to see Bullhead here: I haven't seen it, but allegedly it's a thoroughly atypical nominee, so that's fun.

Early winner prediction: A Separation

Documentary Feature

Hell and Back Again*

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory*

Pina*

Undefeated

Really, really surprised that Project Nim didn't make the cut, sad that We Were Here didn't, and excited for Pina.

Early winner prediction: I have no idea. ....Paradise Lost, maybe?

Note: of the main nominees (ie not animated, foreign, or documentary), I haven't seen Albert Nobbs, Margin Call, A Separation, W.E., or Real Steel. Margin Call is sitting on my TV right now, so I'm confident I'll be able to see that one, and I'm sure Albert Nobbs will stagger into theaters in the near future. The others? I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick them up before Oscar night.

This was not a good prediction session for me. I missed a ton. Probably because I was expecting the Academy to be a little more interesting in their choices. My mistake, I suppose.

Here's a list of the 10 most nominated films:

1. Hugo-11

2. The Artist-10

3. Moneyball-6

4. War Horse-6

5. The Descendants-5

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-5

7. Midnight in Paris-4

8. The Help-4

9. The Tree of Life-3

10. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy-3

And here's a list of some notable films that didn't get any nominations: Shame, J. Edgar, We Need to Talk About Kevin, 50/50, Win Win, Super 8, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger, Arthur Christmas, Take Shelter, Cars 2, Young Adult, Melancholia, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Coriolanus, Immortals, X-Men: First Class, Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, Hanna, Weekend, Attack the Block, Thor...Big list this year, and I'm sure there are other's I'm not thinking of.

Well, what do you think? Obviously, I'm a bit disappointed, but how about you? Good things? Bad things? Sound off in the comments.

Oscar Predictions, Part 5: Summing it Up

2012-01-23T07:53:00.003-07:00

Alright, back again. Oscar nominations come out in roughly 22 hours, which means that in 22 hours no one, including myself, will be thinking about what was predicted so much as what actually happened. Until then, though, we get to continue to have fun trying to read the tea leaves. Today, I'm just going to collect everything in one place: I'll offer up all my predictions, in order of likelihood and without commentary, and only allow myself one alternate. Incidentally, I know it's strange to write so much about predicting the Academy's best-of-the-year picks without talking about my own, so know that my own 'best of 2011' lists are coming down the pike. I've just got a few more movies I need to see. I imagine I'll get those lists up somewhere in early to mid February. Before the Oscars, anyway. Just know for now that If I could automatically guarantee a nomination, I'd have to choose between Michael Fassbender for Actor, Charlize Theron for Actress, and The Tree of Life for Visual Effects. If I could automatically prevent a nomination, it would be Leonardo Dicaprio in Actor, and while I'm not actually predicting it to happen, I'm sending plenty of "please don't be nominated" vibes Jonah Hill's way as well.

Note: Since I've posted them, I've changed four predictions: In Supporting Actor, I've kicked Viggo Mortensen out of the top 5 and replaced him with Nick Nolte, in Original Screenplay I've replaced Win Win with Margin Call (and made Win Win my alternate instead of A Separation), and I've changed the alternates for Original Score and Animated Film.

Best Picture

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Help

Midnight in Paris

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

Alternate: War Horse

Best Director

Michel Hazanivicius-The Artist

Martin Scorsese-Hugo

Alexander Payne-The Descendants

Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick-The Tree of Life

Alternate-David Fincher-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Actor

George Clooney-The Descendants

Brad Pitt-Moneyball

Jean Dujardin-The Artist

Michael Fassbender-Shame

Leonardo Dicaprio-J. Edgar

Alternate-Michael Shannon-Take Shelter

Best Actress

Viola Davis-The Help

Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams-My Week with Marilyn

Tilda Swinton-We Need to Talk About Kevin

Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs

Alternate-Rooney Mara-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer-Beginners

Kenneth Branagh-My Week with Marilyn

Albert Brooks-Drive

Nick Nolte-Warrior

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Ides of March

Alternate: Jonah Hill-Moneyball

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer-The Help

Berenice Bejo-The Artist

Jessica Chastain-The Help

Shailene Woodley-The Descendants

Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs

Alternate-Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids

Original Screenplay

Midnight in Paris

The Artist

50/50

Bridesmaids

Margin Call

Alternate-Win Win

Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants

Moneyball

The Help

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Alternate-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Art Direction

Hugo

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The Artist

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Help

Alternate: War Horse

Costume Design

Hugo

The Artist

Jane Eyre

The Help

Anonymous

Alternate: W.E.

Visual Effects

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hugo

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Tree of Life

Alternate-Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Makeup

The Iron Lady

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Alternate-The Artist

Film Editing

The Artist

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Moneyball

War Horse

Alternate: The Descendants

Cinematography

The Tree of Life

The Artist

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

War Horse

Alternate-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Original Score

The Artist

War Horse

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Alternate-Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Sound Mixing

Hugo

Super 8

War Horse

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Alternate-Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Sound Editing

Super 8

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

War Horse

Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Alternate: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Original Song

"Life's a Happy Song"-The Muppets

"Pictures in My Head"-The Muppets

"The Living Proof"-The Help

"Star Spangled Man"-Captain America: The First Avenger

"Lay Your Head Down"-Albert Nobbs

Alternate: "Man or Muppet"-The Muppets

Animated Film

Rango

Puss in Boots

Kung Fu Panda 2

Arthur Christmas

Cars 2

Alternate-The Adventures of Tin Tin

Foreign Language Film

A Separation-Iran

In Darkness-Poland

Footnote-Israel

Omar Killed Me-Morocco

Monsieur Lazhar-Canada

Alternate-Pina-Germany

Documentary Feature

Project Nim

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Pina

Hell and Back Again

We Were Here

Alternate-Buck

There we have it! Tune in tomorrow to see everything that I got wrong!

Oscar Predictions, Part 5: Craft Categories

2012-01-22T12:06:00.004-07:00

Alright, here's my last salvo of predictions. Today, we're going to tackle all the craft categories. Because there are ten of them, and because they're not the kind of races I can analyze with certainty like the major categories, I'm going to try to keep commentary fairly brief. Here goes!

Art Direction

Hugo

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The Artist

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

The Help

Alternates: War Horse, The Tree of Life

So the top three are definitely in. The bottom two aren't as set, but Tinker, Tailor has to show up somewhere, and I imagine The Help is going to rack up a pretty impressive nomination total. War Horse and The Tree of Life both have support, but I don't think it's enough. For some more adventurous options, they might consider Pirates of the Caribbean or Captain America. Alternately, if they're feeling less adventurous, Anonymous might slide in.

Costume Design

Hugo

The Artist

Jane Eyre

The Help

Anonymous

Alternates: W.E., Captain America: The First Avenger

Hugo and The Artist are golden. Jane Eyre and The Help are solid enough, and I can't imagine the Academy not responding to all the frills in Anonymous. It kind of bugs me, not having a wacky nomination in there, which is why W.E. is so close to the top. I'd like to think they're adventurous enough to do something like Captain America or (even more unlikely/more fun) Thor or Immortals, but chances are they might spring for something more traditional like My Week with Marilyn instead.

Visual Effects

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Hugo

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

The Tree of Life

Alternates: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger

Maybe I'm being optimistic, but I think The Tree of Life's spectacular creation scenes are going to find a home here. It's probably more likely that a more standard, CGI-driven affair will take the 5th spot instead, but I can hope, can't I? Incidentally, the Academy has already narrowed this category down to ten finalists. The other three possibilities are Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, X-Men: First Class, and Real Steel. Either of the first two also have a strong shot for the 5th spot, which is really the only one up for grabs.

Makeup

The Iron Lady

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Alternates: The Artist, Hugo

Similar to the Visual Effects category, this one has been narrowed to seven finalists. The Iron Lady is full of very competent aging makeup, so it's in. When something as obscure as Gainsbourg makes the top seven, then it's not a good idea to bet against it going all the way. That leaves one spot, which I imagine will be carried by "last chance to reward it" sentiments for Harry Potter. Watch out for The Artist, though. The other two finalists that I have yet to mention are Albert Nobbs and Anonymous, but I can't see either of them making it. This category is notoriously finnicky, though, so who knows what's going to happen?

Film Editing

The Artist

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Moneyball

War Horse

Alternates: The Descendants, Drive

This category tends to go for best picture hopefuls and the occasional action movie. As such, I really ought to have The Descendants in the top 5, but I have a hunch that Moneyball will make it in. Maybe War Horse isn't in the top 5? Dunno. If it's going to get nominated anywhere, it's probably here. Extra cool points to the Academy for nominating Drive or The Tree of Life; both possible, but unlikely.

Cinematography

The Tree of Life

The Artist

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

War Horse

Alternates: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The top three (maybe four) spots are completely locked in. War Horse looks awfully vulnerable, but I'm leaving it for now. Either Tinker, Tailor's icy lensing or Harry Potter's attempts at iconic imagery could easily sneak in here. Possible Drive or Moneyball, but don't count on it. I feel like this category's primed for a really surprising nominee, but I've no idea what it would be. Which makes sense, given that it's a surprise.

Original Score

The Artist

War Horse

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Alternates: The Help, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

This category's really tough. I'm only 100% confident on The Artist. All the other slots could be taken by the alternates, or by Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Adventures of Tin Tin, Jane Eyre, The Skin I Live In, or some other mystery soundtrack. Who knows? I've got Extremely Loud here because that movie's got to end up in some category, and this seems like the safest call. Shame the composer, Alexandre Desplat, isn't taking the spot for his more effective work on Harry Potter.

Sound Mixing

Hugo

Super 8

War Horse

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Alternates: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I honestly think the sound categories are the absolute hardest categories to predict this year. I'm prepared to only get one or two right come Tuesday morning. Watch out for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol, Hanna, and The Adventures of Tin Tin, just to name a few.

Sound Editing

Super 8

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

War Horse

Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Alternates: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I just might go 0/5 in this category. It's that tough. Rango, Hugo, and The Adventures of Tin Tin linger on the edges.

Original Song

"Life's a Happy Song"-The Muppets

"Pictures in My Head"-The Muppets

"The Living Proof"-The Help

"Star Spangled Man"-Captain America: The First Avenger

"Lay Your Head Down"-Albert Nobbs

Alternates: "Man or Muppet"-The Muppets, "Hello Hello"-Gnomeo and Juliet

I hate predicting this category. Its nomination process is bizarre (it involves a ten-point ranking system), the number of nominees isn't set (there could be 2-5 nominees, or no nominees at all), and the Academy never follows a pattern. That said, two Muppet songs are in (but only two, because that's the limit on nominations in this category for each movie). Past that? I don't know. These five have seemed like the most likely choices for about five months now, which of course means that at least one of them is wrong. Possible spoilers include "Bridge of Light" from Happy Feet 2, "Where the River Goes" from Footloose, "The Keeper" from Machine Gun Preacher, and "Think You Can Wait" from Win Win.

There we have it! I'll put all my predictions in one place tomorrow, but for now, they're all done. I just need to wait and see what I've gotten wrong! And really, being wrong is probably half the fun of predicting Oscars anyway.

Oscar Predictions, Part 3: Acting

2012-01-21T15:21:00.002-07:00

What better way to spend your Saturday than familiarizing yourself with some Oscar hopefuls? Read this, figure out what sounds good, and go see a movie. I'm here to help. ...Also, to predict, but I help too. Anyhow...

Best Actor

Finally, a race that makes some sense to me. The lead races are pretty easy to figure out this year, which will be a fun contrast to the hellish nightmare we'll get to enjoy with the supporting categories. I honestly think the top 5 are pretty much set here. The top three spots--George Clooney in The Descendants, Jean Dujardin in The Artist, and Brad Pitt in Moneyball--aren't going to be changing any time soon. Honestly, I don't think the last two spots will either. Leonardo Dicaprio's probably in for J. Edgar; sure, the movie got poor reviews, but so did Clint Eastwood's Invictus, which went home with two acting nominations. Bad reviews never stop the Academy from giving out "meh, you tried" nominations. Michael Fassbender is probably also in for Shame. Now, I've been hearing talk of a Fassbender snub recently, but I'm just not buying it. Admittedly, I might not be buying it because I really love the performance and am letting my own tastes get in the way, and I recognize that both the performance and the film are hardly typical Oscar fare. That being said, who's going to push him out? Surprise nominations are usually garnered by small, spunky independent contenders who are critically respected but underseen, and they tend to knock out bigger, more obvious contenders. If anything, Dicaprio's more vulnerable than Fassbender, because Dicaprio's primed to be upset by an underdog, whereas Fassbender is an underdog, at least when it comes to being a standard Oscar movie. If there is an upset, who would it be? Maybe Michael Shannon in Take Shelter, who is the only one who could do it; I don't see either Demian Bichir in A Better Life or Gary Oldman in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy making it, regardless of what other bloggers would have me believe. Nope, I'm confident with my top 5.

My predictions, in order of likelihood:

George Clooney-The Descendants

Brad Pitt-Moneyball

Jean Dujardin-The Artist

Michael Fassbender-Shame

Leonardo Dicaprio-J. Edgar

Alternates: Michael Shannon-Take Shelter, Demian Bichir-A Better Life

Best Actress

Here's the funny thing: this category is almost the same as lead actor. Swap out the names, repeat the argument, we're good to go. Top three spots--Viola Davis/The Help, Meryl Streep/The Iron Lady, Michelle Williams/My Week with Marilyn--are golden. Bottom two are spots are filled with a scrappy indie not-traditionally-oscar contender (Tilda Swinton/We Need to Talk About Kevin) and a "meh, you tried" nomination (Glenn Close/Albert Nobbs). The only difference between these two categories is I'm more open to the idea of one of the slots changing. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has been coming on really strong the past couple weeks, which could help Rooney Mara immensely. I could easily see her stealing one of the more fluid bottom slots. That being said, I think Swinton's this-nomination-is-really-an-apology-for-not-noticing-you-in-Julia-and-I Am Love narrative, as well as Close's ahmygawd-Glenn-welcome-back-at-least-you-got-the-movie-made will defeat Rooney's "exciting new ingenue" flair.

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

Viola Davis-The Help

Meryl Streep-The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams-My Week with Marilyn

Tilda Swinton-We Need to Talk About Kevin

Glenn Close-Albert Nobbs

Alternates: Rooney Mara-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Charlize Theron-Young Adult

Best Supporting Actor

I hate this category so, so much. I know exactly one thing: Christopher Plummer is a lock for Beginners. The rest? I've no clue whatsoever. Anyone could get it, and I still don't even know who I want to predict. So I'm just going to list all twelve possibilities (yup, twelve, and all of them have a good shot) and hope that when I'm done, I'll have made a decision or two. In alphabetical order:

Kenneth Branagh-My Week with Marilyn:Here's about as close to another lock as it gets. I don't understand what people love about this performance, but apparently they do. Oscar loves famous people imitating other famous peoples, Branagh's Olivier should succeed here.

Albert Brooks-Drive: I used to be way more confident here, but Brooks has missed some important precursors. Maybe the Academy just isn't cool enough to reward Drive? I really hope that's not the case.

Armie Hammer-J. Edgar: If J. Edgar feels like repeating Invictus's Oscar history, this could happen; Hammer is admittedly the best thing about this movie, and he's got Leo's coattails to hold onto.

Jonah Hill-Moneyball: I acknowledge that I really ought to predict Hill in this category, but I just don't want to. It's not right, dammit. Besides, I've got a hunch that he'll miss. Or maybe my hunch is just a hope.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Ides of March: If Hoffman gets in for this, one of his laziest, most repetitive performances, I'm going to scream. Still, The Ides of March has got to show up somewhere, and Hoffman is a tried and tested default nominee. *sigh*

Ben Kingsley-Hugo: I really, really thought Kingsley's campaign would take off more. He's a respected former nominee, playing a famous person who is the emotional backbone of the best segment of Hugo. That being said, he's shown up in almost none of the precursors. I guess people have just forgotten him.

Viggo Mortensen-A Dangerous Method: Mortensen scored a surprise Golden Globe nomination for this category, which resuscitated his campaign, but no one seems to be talking about this movie.

Nick Nolte-Warrior: About once a decade, people seem to enjoy Nick Nolte's work. He's been nominated for a lot of supporting awards this season, but I can't shake the feeling that Warrior might be forgotten altogether.

Patton Oswalt-Young Adult: Here's another movie that's been forgotten. Sure, Oswalt's charming and fairly deserving, but voters just aren't responding to his film.

Brad Pitt-The Tree of Life: Maybe this is wishful thinking, or maybe people will be voting for Moneyball and will remember just how good Pitt was in this film as well.

Andy Serkis-Rise of the Planet of the Apes: Hey, it could happen. He's earned a bunch of awards/nominations on the precursor circuit. That being said, I can't see the Academy rewarding an entirely motion-capture performance just quite yet. I'd love to be wrong, though.

Corey Stoll-Midnight in Paris: I'd love for this to happen. Stoll's Hemingway is easily the most memorable part of Midnight in Paris, and the movie has done very well for itself thus far. Could he be the big surprise?

Max Von Sydow-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: About three hours ago, I was pretty sure I was going to put Von Sydow in the top five. Then I saw the movie. Not only are the reviews brutal, Von Sydow's character isn't around much, and doesn't have much to do with the time he's given. Still, I suppose he could slip in on residual love for other movies.

Y'know, that didn't help at all. I've got no idea who to predict. Oh well. I'm just going to start typing and we'll see what happens.

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

Christopher Plummer-Beginners

Kenneth Branagh-My Week with Marilyn

Albert Brooks-Drive

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Ides of March

Viggo Mortensen-A Dangerous Method

Alternates: Jonah Hill-Moneyball, Nick Nolte-Warrior, Corey Stoll-Midnight in Paris

(Yeah, I get three, because I'm so lost. I honestly didn't even have Hoffman or Mortensen in my top 10 until about 30 seconds ago. Just watch-it's going to be Hill and Nolte. I know it. Shoot.)

Best Supporting Actress

Well, that was embarrassingly long. Supporting Actress is also very difficult to predict, but refreshingly so, in that there are only 6 women still in the running. The problem is that only one of them is safe. That's Octavia Spencer for The Help. She's won a Critics' Choice award and a Golden Globe, so she's in. The other five women? Any of them could do it. They are:

Berenice Bejo-The Artist: She's essentially a co-lead in the Best Picture front-runner, and it doesn't hurt that she's fantastic. I feel confident that she'll make it in.

Jessica Chastain-The Help: This category has a penchant for picking two women from the same movie, and Jessica Chastain has had one hell of a year, with great performances in this, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, Coriolanus, etc. Unfortunately, all those great performances might work against her; if voters can't decide which movie they like best, she'll split too many votes between all her various roles.

Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids: It's so fun that we can even consider this. Sure, she hardly gives my favorite performance in the film, but it would be such a wacky, atypical Oscar nomination that I don't even care. That being said, the wacky, atypical-ness of it all is her biggest problem right now.

Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs: People don't like this movie, which hurts, but apparently McTeer steals the show (which I haven't seen yet), which helps. Plus she's the only former nominee still in the running, which has to give her a leg up.

Shailene Woodley-The Descendants: She's in a popular film, and she's quite good, but she's just so young. Are they going to want to reward a 20-year old whose only known for being in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, or will they make her wait?

...I should probably briefly mention Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus. Allegedly, it's an incredible performance, but the film's just not being seen, and the people that do see it don't like it. If anyone surprises in this category, it'll be her; just don't count on it.

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

Octavia Spencer-The Help

Berenice Bejo-The Artist

Jessica Chastain-The Help

Shailene Woodley-The Descendants

Janet McTeer-Albert Nobbs

Alternates: Melissa McCarthy-Bridesmaids, Vanessa Redgrave-Coriolanus

Phew. That was much longer than anticipated. I completely forgive you for not reading the whole post. Tomorrow, I'll post some brief thoughts on all the craft categories, and then we'll wrap it up Monday!

Oscar Predictions, Part 2: Directing and Screenplays

2012-01-20T08:09:00.004-07:00

Back again! Let's knock a few more categories off the predictions list, shall we? First up:

Best Director

To begin with, this category has three mortal locks: Michel Hazanivicius for The Artist, Alexander Payne for The Descendants, and Martin Scorsese for Hugo. None of these guys are going anywhere. That, in my mind, leaves four directors competing for two spots. They are:

-Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris-Admittedly, I should probably have Allen in the 'lock' category. People love this movie, and he's hit all the right precursor awards. Still, I'm having the tiniest bit of doubt about the Academy rewarding the director of something so light on its feet and seemingly effortless (no matter how hard effortless is to do) as Midnight in Paris. I'm sure he'll get in, but I'm not 100% sure, so he's not a lock.

-David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Whether this nomination happens depends on A) just how sorry they are for The King's Speech, and B) whether or not enough voters stick up for more unorthodox choices, or if people just go with the previously established consensus. Not to say that Dragon Tattoo is conventional Oscar bait; it's just an easier choice than, say...

-Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life-This movie is, above all, a director's achievement, and I really hope the Academy will recognize that. Still, as I mentioned in my last post, The Tree of Life is hardly an Oscar-friendly film.

-Steven Spielberg, War Horse-I don't really think this is going to happen. I definitely could be underestimating War Horse, however, and if I am, then Spielberg could still slide in here.

-Other remote possibilities: if The Help becomes an Oscar juggernaut (god help us), then expect to see Tate Taylor here. Alternately, if the directors' branch feels really, really adventurous, we could see Nicholas Winding Refn show up here for Drive. While the directors used to give out plenty of left-field directing nominations, they haven't done anything this out-there since Fernando Meirelles and City of God in 2003 (...though I guess you could make an argument for Mike Leigh/Vera Drake in 2004 and Paul Greengrass/United 93 in 2006).

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

Michel Hazanivicius-The Artist

Martin Scorsese-Hugo

Alexander Payne-The Descendants

Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris

Terrence Malick-The Tree of Life

Alternates: Davind Fincher-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steven Spielberg-War Horse

Best Original Screenplay

Man, this category is driving me crazy this year. So Midnight in Paris and The Artist are safe. Past that, I've really got no idea. On the comedy end of the spectrum, we've got 50/50, which has done surprisingly well at the precursors, Bridesmaids, which I expect to show up somewhere on nominations morning, and Young Adult, whose Diablo Cody/Jason Reitman pedigree is excellent, but it just hasn't performed the way it should have. Since Oscar voters rarely respond to comedy (although that happens most frequently in this category), we should look at the drama options: Todd McCarthy has had success in this category, so his new dramedy Win Win could show up. Asgar Farhadi's A Separation could've had this nomination locked if it released earlier, but their 'hold onto it until December 30th and then just hope' release strategy backfired, so now I'm not so confident. The Tree of Life is bound to be honored somewhere, but I can't see Screenplay being one of those places. Still, you never know. Finally, we've got some unlikely indie contenders: Beginners could make it in on the coattails of Christopher Plummer's Oscar campaign, ditto Take Shelter and Michael Shannon and Michael Fassbender and Shame, and maybe Martha Marcy May Marlene could still have gas in its tank, but I doubt it. And we haven't even mentioned Margin Call yet.

...Y'know, after writing out an embarrassing amount of options, I still have no idea what to predict. Good grief. This category is just ridiculous this year.

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

Midnight in Paris

The Artist

50/50

Bridesmaids

Win Win

Alternates: A Separation, Margin Call

Best Adapted Screenplay

Here's a category I'm much for comfortable with, because it's just stacked with Best Picture heavyweights, which means all I have to do is pick a few. The Descendants and Moneyball are definitely in. Meanwhile, Hugo and The Help get in on the strength of their Best Picture campaigns, despite not being praised for their writing. That leaves one slot. Conventional wisdom suggests The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo gets in because it's the next strongest Best Picture contender, but sometimes the writers will pick an outside choice like The Ides of March, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or even Drive. I don't think any of those have enough support to distinguish themselves from each other, though, and when none of the smaller movies have passionate enough support, the consensus choice gets in.

My Predictions, in order of likelihood:

The Descendants

Moneyball

The Help

Hugo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Alternates: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Ides of March

That just about wraps it up for today. I'm going to leave off acting predictions for tomorrow, because by then I'll have finally gotten around to seeing Shame. So come back tomorrow for what's got to be the second-hardest (hardest? That'd be Sound Mixing) category to predict this year.

Oscar Predictions, Part 1: Best Picture

2012-01-19T15:41:00.004-07:00

It's that time of year again; the magical one-month space in which I come back to play yet another blogging farewell tour, clogging everyone's news feed with Oscar predictions/preferences/general silliness. What can I say? It's tradition. Today, I'm starting my sure-to-be-scintillating five-part post predicting Oscar nominations, which are revealed Tuesday, Jan. 24th. Doing one post a day, I should be able to wrap everything up on Monday, just in time for y'all to see how many predictions I get wrong. Tomorrow, I'll do directing/screenplays, Saturday will be Acting, and Sunday will be Craft categories. I'll post final predictions on Monday, just to put everything in one convenient location.

Let's start with the big one, the only one that normal people will probably ever hear about: Best Picture. The Academy's done a funky thing this year. They've changed the rules: no less than 5 and no more than 10 movies will be nominated. To secure a spot, a film must land at least 5% of the total #1 spots on Academy voters' ballots. If more than 5 movies do this, then we'll have a bizarre number of nominees, like 9 (which just slays the obsessive-compulsive part of me). And we aren't going to know how many Best Picture nominees there will be until the presenter on Tuesday (the always-wonderful Jennifer Lawrence this year) stops reading. In other words, this year it's going to be hell to get everything right, and it's going to mess up statistics for decades to come. Whee!

Ok, to start off, I'm narrowing things down to three groups.

Group 1: Movies that are in for sure

Admittedly, there's no such thing as a sure thing, but any of these five movies missing would be a huge shock. They are:

The Artist

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

That's five movies. Potentially, that could be it. Five movies, five nominees. I don't think so, however. Too many other films have had success with other awards bodies/critics/box-office/etc. for there to be only five nominees. So, with that in mind:

Group 2: Movies that will be fighting like starving hobos for the extra slots

This is where it gets ugly, because up to five more movies *can* make it in. The trick is whether they will or not. The films most likely to fill out the nominee list to a respectable number are:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

War Horse

All of these movies have something going for them. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, though not the most critically beloved movie of the year, has done surprisingly well with the Guilds (which are other industry awards) as well as the box office. It seems awards voters already feel like apologizing to David Fincher for last year's King's Speech triumph over The Social Network. I'm all for people admitting that The King's Speech is inferior, I just wish it would benefit a better film than Dragon Tattoo. Next up, Moneyball is a very successful, well-liked and respected film. I'm not sure it's got the passion to go the distance, though. Remember, movies need 5% of the #1 votes. That means that well-liked but not loved movies can fall to divisive movies with incredibly vocal fanbases. Which brings us to The Tree of Life. It's incredibly polarizing; some people call it a masterpiece, while plenty of other people can't even sit through the whole thing. Still, it's got awfully passionate support. And finally, War Horse. Once considered the front-runner, its less-than-enthusiastic reception with critics, audiences, and award-giving organizations means it's barely holding on. Old-fashioned voters may respond to War Horse as an ode to classic-era film-making, but they just might vote for Hugo or The Artist instead, which do the exact same cinema-homage thing without all the really poor directorial choices.

Now, these four films will almost undoubtedly fill out the rest of the nominees, but we've got one more group...

Group 3: Sneaky Bastards Who Might Ruin Someone's Day

In the unlikely event that there are 10 nominees, we'll need one more film. More likely, however, is that one of these films will sneak in and steal a spot from a movie in group 2. They are:

Bridesmaids

Drive

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The Ides of March

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Now, I'm not saying that any of these films will be nominated. They all, however, have some kind of angle that could make them successful. Drive and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, for instance, are adored by critics, and could find their way to the top of enough ballots. Bridesmaids has huge love and support in the industry, but being a raunchy comedy (however successful) makes it difficult to get serious Oscar traction. Harry Potter was also critically successful, made an obscene amount of money, and will surely benefit from the "let's reward the last one" thing that awards shows love to do. Still, it's Harry Potter, a franchise which has never taken off with the Academy (the most nominated film in the series was the first one, which received a whopping 3 technical citations). And finally, apparently someone somewhere loves The Ides of March, because it keeps popping up at these end of the year awards, even though know one quite knows why.

So, all that said:

My predictions, in order of likelihood:

The Artist

The Descendants

Hugo

The Help

Midnight in Paris

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

Alternates (or if we have 10 nominees): War Horse*, Bridesmaids

*note: I really, really should be predicting War Horse, and reserve the right to change this before my final predictions on Monday. I just really, really need The Tree of Life in Best Picture: Dinosaurs! 30 minute long creation sequences! More random shots of nature than there is dialog! Please guys, just let me have something this bizarre become a Best Picture nominee.

Now, I know this is where I'll lose just about everyone, but I've got a couple of more obscure categories to get out of the way which just don't fit thematically with any of my other planned posts. So:

Best Animated Feature

From the start, I should tell you that I'm absolutely lost in this category. Sans the absence of a preordained Pixar win (sorry Cars 2, but everyone hates you), there's a strange vacuum in this category. Three movies seem likely: first, the undeniable front-runner, Rango, which is almost universally respected, for some reason. Next, Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2 were both successful and painless enough to secure a berth here. After that? Hell if I know. On the commercial side, possibilities include The Adventures of Tin Tin, which is respected by critics but the animation branch has yet to embrace an animated film made entirely with motion-capture technology. Arthur Christmas garnered largely positive reviews, but it was kind of a box-office flop. As stated before, Cars 2 was hated by most everyone, but chances are that the animation branch will give it a nod anyhow, because it's Pixar and this hasn't been a sterling year for animation. On the "pretty but stupid" front, we have Rio, which no one really loves but made tons of money. And finally, there's Winnie the Pooh, which is a really rather delightful movie, but will probably play too young for Oscar. Now, 2009's nomination for The Secret of Kells taught us that sometimes little foreign contenders will come along and make everyone look foolish. On that front, Wrinkles, Chico and Rita, or A Cat in Paris could all succeed, but I just don't know enough about any of them to feel confident predicting a nomination.

My predictions, in order of likelihood:

Rango

Puss in Boots

Kung Fu Panda 2

Arthur Christmas

Cars 2

Alternates: Rio, Wrinkles

Best Foreign Language Film

Here's another category that's a monster to predict, largely because most of these films will never come within 1000 miles of me. Every year, the Academy narrows this category down to 9 eligible films. This year, we have:

A Separation-Iran

Bullhead-Belgium

Footnote-Israel

In Darkness-Poland

Monsieur Lazhar-Canada

Omar Killed Me-Morocco

Pina-Germany

SuperClasico-Denmark

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale-Taiwan

So let's start with what we do know. A Separation has been at the top of a bunch of best-of lists, it's won just about every foreign-film prize under the sun, and it's hugely respected and admired. It has to be in. Next, In Darkness is a holocaust movie from a previous Oscar nominee. This category can never say no to the Holocaust, so it's also in. Next? I just don't know much about many of these films. Bullhead is apparently strange and unpleasant, but hell, so was last year's nominee Dogtooth, so I guess it's got a shot. Israel is on a roll with nominations, and Footnote has won some minor film festival prizes, so it's got a good shot. I don't know anything about Monsieur Lazhar, but other, more knowledgeable prognosticators seem to think it's in the running, so that's good enough for me. The makers of Omar Killed Me have been nominated for their past two films, so odds are they'll find success again. And Pina? Well, this dance documentary has got the second-most recognition in the US, and it's supposed to be wonderful, but this category has never nominated a documentary before. I'm just not sure. Finally, Warriors of the Rainbow showed up out of nowhere, and seems to be more of a "See, we have an Asian film, we don't only watch European movies" choice than anything else.

My predictions, in order of likelihood:

A Separation-Iran

In Darkness-Poland

Footnote-Israel

Omar Killed Me-Morocco

Monsieur Lazhar-Canada

Alternates: Pina-Germany, Bullhead-Belgium

(Can I just say that I hope both Iran and Israel are nominated, if only because it would make the most awkward nominees' luncheon table in decades?)

Best Documentary Feature

Here, annually, is the category about which I'm least educated and least passionate about. And to make it worse, this year's race is generally agreed to be a dull one, as critical favorites and crossover hits like Senna and The Interrupters and Tabloid were all deemed ineligible. So here are the things I do know: Project Nim, the monkey doc, is the front-runner, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory apparently has a large following, and this branch will probably be much more susceptible to Pina than the foreign-language category will be. The rest of the predictions I'm just going to make up.

My predictions, in order of likelihood:

Project Nim

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Pina

Hell and Back Again

We Were Here

Alternates: Buck, Undefeated

Well, that does it for today. I'll return tomorrow with predictions for directing and screenplays! In the meantime, any movies you're rooting for? Actually, I suppose the more pertinent question is how many of the possible best picture nominees have you actually seen?

Final 2010 Oscar Predictions, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The King's Speech

2011-02-24T15:05:00.003-07:00

So, here's the deal: I absolutely should be writing a paper right now, but I've decided that I'm going to be a little naughty. Instead, you get all of my final Oscar predictions in one fell swoop. Lengthy? Yes. Awesome? Absolutely not. Necessary? Debatable. As good an excuse as any to not write about Confucianism? Definitely. So, here we go. I'll break down every category, and tell you who will win, who might win, and who should.

Best Picture
The nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

So, the conventional wisdom pretty much has this one narrowed down: The King's Speech will probably win. It's won the BAFTAs, the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild...Pretty much if there's a guild, The King's Speech has taken some piece of shiny hardware from it. But, just for funsies, let's look at the upset possibilities. Most obvious is The Social Network. It started the season as the frontrunner, and it still has some pretty considerable juice left to it. If anything else will win, it will be this one. Another (slim) possibility is The Fighter; I don't see it happening, but you never know. It's pretty well-liked. And finally, I seem to be the only one who thinks this way, but I honestly think Toy Story 3 has a tiny chance to upset. It makes the most sense, narrative-wise: Pixar has been cranking out great movies for years now, and this is a return to the franchise that started it all. Plus, pretty much no one hates this movie. It's going to be near the top of a lot of ballots, which is important when the winner is chosen based on overall rankings, not just the number of #1 votes.
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: The Social Network
Dark Horse: Toy Story 3
Should Win: Black Swan

Best Director
The nominees:
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Let's get the obvious out of the way: the Coens won three years ago, so they won't win again. Darren Aronofsky is still too weird to get an Oscar. That leaves three options. Chances are David O. Russell won't have enough steam to muscle past the heavyweights in this category. Conventional wisdom suggests that the best picture picks up best director as well, but I'm going to go out on a limb here for The Social Network: I'm calling a split. This is probably a fool-hardy choice, but no Oscar night is complete without some kind of surprise, and here's where I think it's going to be.
Will Win: David Fincher, The Social Network
Could Win: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Dark Horse: David O. Russell, The Fighter
Should Win: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Best Actor
The nominees:
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Don't really need commentary here. Colin Firth has all the momentum; it would be almost unthinkable for him to lose. Franco, Bardem, and Eisenberg all have pockets of support, but it's just not going to happen. This is one of the easiest predictions of the night.
Will Win: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Could Win: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Dark Horse: James Franco, 127 Hours
Should Win: James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Actress
The nominees:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

This race has me a little nervous. See, Natalie Portman absolutely deserves to win, and she's the perceived frontrunner, but I still can't help but feel like this movie is a little too cool for the Academy. Plus, the Bening camp has been making a stink lately, and many bloggers claim that the category is primed for an upset. Is it possible that Portman and Bening may divide the votes too much, and allow a third party to run away with the win? I don't think so, really. None of the other women have a passionate enough fanbase. If someone were to do it, though, it would be Nicole Kidman. Not likely, though.
Will Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Could Win: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Dark Horse: Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Should Win: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Supporting Actor
The nominees:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

First things first: Renner, Hawkes, and Ruffalo have no chance of winning whatsoever. Secondly: Christian Bale is almost guaranteed the win here. The only thing against him? There's talk of The King's Speech sweeping the Oscars; if it's as popular as people think, and it does sweep, who knows how many awards it could take? If The King's Speech sweeps, Geoffrey Rush could very plausibly steal the statue here.
Will Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Could Win: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
Dark Horse: Jeremy Renner, The Town
Should Win: Christian Bale, The Fighter

Best Supporting Actress
The nominees:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham-Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

This category is fascinating, in that every single nominee could very easily win it. Let's break it down:
Melissa Leo has won the majority of the precursors, but she's splitting votes with costar Adams, who many people prefer. Plus, Leo had a bit of a campaigning mistake (she took out her own FYC ads), and the Academy doesn't look kindly on that. Still, both performances are loved, and either actress could win. Bonham-Carter could easily capitalize on a King's Speech sweep. Even if the film doesn't sweep though, she could still ride Colin Firth's coat-tails, and a fantastic and under-appreciated career, to the win. A lot of people love Steinfeld, and this category loves to give the Oscar to "supporting" actresses who are really the leads, but she is only 14, and many voters might choose to reward her later in her career. That leaves Weaver: she's fantastic, but her film is very small. She could win if enough voters see her film, but there's no guarantee that will happen. So what do I think? I don't know. I'll honestly be a bit surprised, no matter who takes the statue. I'm going to go with Bonham-Carter here, but Leo could still very easily pull off the win.
Will Win: Helena Bonham-Carter, The King's Speech
Could Win: (apart from everyone) Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Dark Horse: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Should Win: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay
The nominees:
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

The King's Speech is a universally loved frontrunner for Best Picture. I don't see it losing here. The Kids Are All Right could surprise, and Inception did win the Writers Guild, but at the end of the day, only one movie's going to win here.
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: The Kids Are All Right
Dark Horse: Inception
Should Win: The Kids Are All Right

Best Adapted Screenplay
The nominees:
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Same story as above. The Social Network is a beloved best picture front-runner, and has been cited time and again for it's screenplay. This is the one place where this film is almost guaranteed a win. Though, much as I love The Social Network, it would be pretty cool to see Pixar take this away.
Will Win: The Social Network
Could Win: Toy Story 3
Dark Horse: True Grit
Should Win: The Social Network

Art Direction
The nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Two ideas at war here: 1) The King's Speech is the BP frontrunner, it could sweep, and people love its production design. 2) No Tim Burton film nominated for Art Direction has ever lost. Could Speech and Alice split the vote and make room for Inception? Definitely possible.
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: Alice in Wonderland
Dark Horse: Inception
Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Costume Design
The nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King's Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Reprise the Art Direction discussion: Alice vs. The King's Speech. I'm a little more confident on this one, though, as only two fantasy films have won this award (Star Wars and LOTR: The Return of the King), and this award has gone to a period royalty drama for five years in a row.
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: Alice in Wonderland
Dark Horse: True Grit
Should Win: I Am Love

Visual Effects
The nominees:
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Inception wins this in a walk. Easiest call of the night.
Will Win: Inception
Could Win: Alice in Wonderland
Dark Horse: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Should Win: Inception

Makeup
The nominees:
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

This category is awfully interesting, because none of the films are nominated in any other category, and none of the nominees have been honored for makeup at any time during the precursor circuit. Essentially, any of them could win. The Wolfman has tons of obvious effects, Barney's Version has lots of aging, which the Academy loves, and in The Way Back, apparently people get sunburn. Really, throw a dart and you'll make as accurate prediction as I will. Hell, I've only seen one of these movies, so I'm definitely guessing blind here. That being said, Wolfman's Rick Baker has won six times before, so the Academy must like him.
Will Win: The Wolfman
Could Win: Barney's Version
Dark Horse: The Way Back
Should Win (abstain)

Film Editing
The nominees:
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
The Social Network

This contest is between the two best picture frontrunners. If The King's Speech takes this, then I'd expect it to take most everything that it's nominated for. I figure The Social Network's complex rhythms will emerge victorious here, even if the win won't mean much for its overall chances in other races.
Will Win: The Social Network
Could Win: The King's Speech
Dark Horse: The Fighter
Should Win: The Social Network

Cinematography
The nominees:
Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Yet another race that could fall victim to The King's Speech sweeping the awards. A more likely scenario, though, is the Academy finally recognizing demigod Richard Deakins for his work on True Grit: it's pretty, it has landscapes, it's in a Western, he's overdue. All the right ingredients are there. Watch out for Wally Pfister and Inception, though. It did win the American Cinematographers Association award.
Will Win: True Grit
Could Win: The King's Speech
Dark Horse: Inception
Should Win: Black Swan

Original Score
The nominees:
127 Hours
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Here's a place where the Academy can honor The King's Speech, you know, in case they get sick of honoring it in 11 other categories. The Social Network is a definite possibility, as is Inception. Still, I think boring and traditional is going to save the day here.
Will Win: The King's Speech
Could Win: The Social Network
Dark Horse: Inception
Should Win: How to Train Your Dragon

Sound Mixing
The nominees:
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Inception seems the likely choice here, but True Grit did win the Cinema Audio Society, and I've heard complaints about Inception's mix. Still, it's the biggest and the loudest. Plus, Salt isn't well-liked enough, The Social Network is too subtle, and I desperately hope they don't love The King's Speech *that* much.
Will Win: Inception
Could Win: True Grit
Dark Horse: The King's Speech (I'm getting so sick of including this in every category as a win possibility)
Should Win: Inception

Sound Effects Editing
The nominees:
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Same story as before, only Inception has even less competition.
Will Win: Inception
Could Win: True Grit
Dark Horse: Toy Story 3
Should Win: TRON Legacy

Original Song
The nominees:
"If I Rise"-127 Hours
"Coming Home"-Country Strong
"I See the Light"-Tangled
"We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3

So Country Strong's not going to win. Past that, though, is anybody's guess. "If I Rise" won the Golden Globe in this category, but a lot of people don't like the song, or the movie. "I See the Light" is the only place to recognize Tangled, but obviously this movie doesn't have a huge amount of Academy love, since it wasn't nominated in animated feature. Alan Menken has won four times before, though. Is that a plus or a minus? I think the likeliest outcome is Toy Story 3: this category is a good place for voters to honor the film outside of animated feature. Plus, the song is bouncy, fun, and Randy Newman, of whom they're quite fond. Still, this category could go any of three ways, and it'll be interesting to see where the Oscar ends up.
Will Win: "We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3
Could Win: "I See the Light"-Tangled
Dark Horse: "If I Rise"-127 Hours
Should Win: "We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3

Animated Film
The nominees:
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

I don't think commentary is necessary here.
Will Win: Toy Story 3
Could Win: How to Train Your Dragon
Dark Horse: The Illusionist
Should Win: Toy Story 3

Foreign Language Film
The nominees:
Above the Law-Algeria
Biutiful-Mexico
Dogtooth-Greece
In a Better World-Denmark
Incendies-Canada

Dogtooth won't win. Above the Law probably won't either. Some say Biutiful has the advantage, as it's the only film here to show up in any other category. It also has plenty of detractors, though. Incendies is either loved or hated. I'm thinking In A Better World for the win: it's supposed to be very good, and Susanne Bier, the director, has won here before.
Will Win: In a Better World-Denmark
Could Win: Incendies-Canada
Dark Horse: Biutiful-Mexico
Should Win: Dogtooth-Greece

Documentary Feature
The nominees:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

I feel like this should be pretty sewn up. Inside Job is allegedly very good, topical, and emotional. Then again, so are all the others. Waste Land is the crowd-pleaser, but it's subject is pretty lightweight. Gasland probably won't win. I'd love to see Restrepo take the prize, but my gut tells me it won't. Smart money is on Inside Job, but I'm gonna be silly and go with Exit Through the Gift Shop, because I bet the Academy wants to see what happens if Banksy wins an Oscar just as much as I do.
Will Win: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Could Win: Inside Job
Dark Horse: Waste Land
Should Win: Restrepo

There we have it. For those keeping score at home, films with multiple wins break down like this:
The King's Speech-7
The Social Network-3
Inception-3
Toy Story 3-2

I guess we'll see how things turn out, huh? What about y'all any predictions?

Best of 2010, part last: My Dream Oscar Ballot

2011-02-20T11:11:00.004-07:00

Welcome back again. We're here to wrap the best of 2010 in a nice little bow and send it to someone who will love it. Today, I'm going to offer you guys a cheat-sheet for what I think is the best this year (in case 40 pages of lists feels too daunting to read); I'm giving you my Oscar Ballot. No commentary, no rankings, just five nominees, with the winner in bold. Just for funsies, I'll also denote actual Oscar nominees with asterisks, so y'all can see the surprising amount of overlap this year between my taste and the Academy's. So:

Best Picture
127 Hours*
Animal Kingdom
Black Swan*
Blue Valentine
Dogtooth
How to Train Your Dragon
The Kids Are All Right*
Restrepo
The Social Network*
Toy Story 3*

Director
Darren Aronofsky-Black Swan*
Danny Boyle-127 Hours
David Fincher-The Social Network*
Yorgos Lanthimos-Dogtooth
Roman Polanski-The Ghost Writer

Actor
Jeff Bridges-True Grit*
Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network*
Colin Firth-The King's Speech*
James Franco-127 Hours*
Ryan Gosling-Blue Valentine

Actress
Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right*
Julianne Moore-The Kids Are All Right
Natalie Portman-Black Swan*
Emma Stone-Easy A
Michelle Williams-Blue Valentine*

Supporting Actor
Christian Bale-The Fighter*
Andrew Garfield-The Social Network
Josh Hutcherson-The Kids Are All Right
Ben Mendelsohn-Animal Kingdom
Jeremy Renner-The Town*

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams-The Fighter*
Mila Kunis-Black Swan
Melissa Leo-The Fighter*
Lesley Manville-Another Year
Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom

Original Screenplay
Animal Kingdom
Black Swan
Easy A
The Kids Are All Right*
The King's Speech*

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours*
The Ghost Writer
How to Train Your Dragon
The Social Network*
Toy Story 3*

Art Direction
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1*
Inception*
The King's Speech*
Shutter Island
TRON Legacy

Costume Design
Burlesque
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
I Am Love*
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
TRON Legacy

Visual Effects
Clash of the Titans
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1*
Inception*
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
TRON Legacy

Makeup
Black Swan
Clash of the Titans
Splice

Film Editing
127 Hours*
Black Swan*
Inception
Restrepo
The Social Network*

Cinematography
Black Swan*
Dogtooth
Inception*
Shutter Island
True Grit*

Original Score
How to Train Your Dragon*
Red Hill
The Social Network*
Toy Story 3
TRON Legacy

Sound Mixing
127 Hours
Black Swan
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception*
TRON Legacy

Sound Effects Editing
127 Hours
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
How to Train Your Dragon
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
TRON Legacy*

Original Song
"Express"-Burlesque
"Sticks and Stones"-How to Train Your Dragon
"Black Sheep"-Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
"Mother Knows Best"-Tangled
"We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3*

Well, there we have it. Another year of movies done with. I'll probably return next week for a bit, just to discuss Oscar predictions/wins, but, until then, thanks much for reading!

Best of 2010, part 4: Tech Categories

2011-02-19T09:15:00.003-07:00

Last list post for 2010, and it's a doozy, so I ought to get started. First things first though: I feel like I should define the categories I'm about to talk about, so here you go:
Art Direction: Production design: creating, designing, and building the world in which the movie takes place. Generally associated with set-building, but also stretches to conceptual aspects
Costume Design: ...The design of the costumes.
Visual Effects: Special Effects. CGI, models, etc.
Makeup: ...makeup.
Film Editing: Editing the movie: cutting in some places, lengthening in others. Generally responsible for the rhythm of a film, as well as keeping continuity and making sense of the plot.
Cinematography: In layman's terms, how pretty the movie is. Screen composition, lighting, camera techniques, etc.
Original Score: Music composed for the film itself.
Sound Mixing: Blending the four film sound elements (dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise, music) to create a coherent overall mix.
Sound Effects Editing: creating the sound elements and sound effects heard in the film.
Original Song: Songs written specifically for the film.

Art Direction
5. Shutter Island-Grand Guignol-inspired, instantly memorable locations. That grungy cell-block, the bright white patient ward, the creepy mausoleum in the woods.
4. The King's Speech-wonderfully specific set design, with locations built to look interesting for long periods of time. Lionel's study is delightfully off-kilter.
3. Inception-Paris dreamscapes, rotating hotels, and snowbound strongholds. This movie looks as classy as it feels.
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1-Our protagonists leave Hogwarts for the first time, and the world they discover is dark, surreal, and beautiful. Malfoy Manor and Godric's Hollow stick out in my mind.
1. TRON Legacy-Nothing could beat the creation of a new world. TRON's visualization of the secret world of computers is gorgeous and unique. I love Jeff Bridge's hidden townhouse, and the futuristic dance club.

Honorable Mention: Black Swan's terrifying apartments and foreboding performance spaces.

Costume Design
5. TRON Legacy-Sci-fi minimalism. The designs are simple, but evocative and memorable.
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-Clothing for the Canadian hipsters out there, and their slightly psychotic exes. All the threads are great and character-specific.
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1-Wizard-chic and scared teen formal-wear. The beginning wedding scene is a particular standout.
2. Burlesque-Delightfully wacky performance clothes. That dress made entirely out of fake pearls, or the one with the big silly handprints on it. Or what about that beautiful green dress Christina Aguilera wears with the huge train? Great stuff.
1. I Am Love-I love the incredibly rich colors used to garb this group of filthy rich Italians. These people dress like they're expensive food. Tilda Swinton's wardrobe is consistently gorgeous.

Honorable Mention: A melodramatic interpretation of ancient Greek fashion for Clash of the Titans.

Visual Effects
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-Constantly appearing video game effects, coupled with flashy fight scenes.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1-Dementors, giant snakes, silvery Patronuses. Plus, the duels look better than they ever have.
3. Clash of the Titans-So many monsters! Giant scorpions, winged horses, plus that ridiculous turtle-Kraken. Delightfully goofy work here.
2. Inception-Nolan and team tweak the laws of reality to jaw-dropping effect. Folding cities, exploding cafes, rotating hotels, and a disintigrating Limbo.
1. TRON Legacy-Beautifully evocative digital spaces, spectacular light cycle races, and the coolest fight scenes all year. Oh, and they de-aged Jeff Bridges too. How did the Academy not nominate this?! *despair*

Honorable Mention: Helping Nina transform, physically and mentally, in Black Swan.

Makeup
3. Black Swan-lots of memorable gore effects; broken toe-nails, peeling skin, people getting stabbed. Plus that already icon Black Swan ballet makeup.
2. Splice-creating one of the strangest, most realistic almost-human creatures I've seen in a while. Dren looks too lifelike to exist.
1. Clash of the Titans-Lots of silly hair, A half-man-half-scorpion, those amazing, troll-like Fates, and that beautiful rendition of Charon, who looks like he's been carved out of driftwood.

Honorable Mention: The movie sucked, but everyone looked appropriately unhealthy in Frozen.

Film Editing
5. Michael Levine-Restrepo-sifting through a year's worth of footage to create a compelling, tightly structured film.
4. Lee Smith-Inception-sorting through a number of different plotlines in three different levels of reality and still coming out completely understandable in the end.
3. Jon Harris-127 Hours-splitscreens and quick cuts create a desperate rythm to counterpoint Aaron Ralston's own desperation.
2. Andrew Weisblum-Black Swan-Beautifully realized dance sequences, frenetic scenes of psychological distortion, and a plodding inevitability. Black Swan is edited like a train-wreck.
1. Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall-The Social Network-Things like typing and coding shouldn't be interesting to watch, but the pulsing, churning rythm of the film makes it that way. This movie plunges in from the very first scene and doesn't come up for breath until the end.

Honorable Mention: The clean-cut, effortlessly suspenseful Animal Kingdom

Cinematography
5. Thimios Bakatakis-Dogtooth-Sumptuously lit with slightly off-kilter framing. I love the shot of the son playing with his airplane, where we can only see his hands and his toy.
4. Robert Richardson-Shutter Island-Contrasting between the low-key present day scenes, and the high-key flashbacks. The use of light in this film is nothing less than painterly. Points for that horrific concentration camp tracking shot.
3. Wall Pfister-Inception-Clean, competent, with evocative use of slow motion. The framing/camera choices are exquisite.
2. Roger Deakins-True Grit-It's not his best work, but even mediocre lensing from modern day demigod Roger Deakins is head and shoulders above the rest. Beautifully lit, intelligently filmed. The scene with the hanged man in the grove is really stunning.
1. Emmanuel Libatique-Black Swan-Beautifully monochrome shots with stunning compositions. Great use of reflective surfaces, both thematically and stylistically.

Honorable Mention: Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak's roving camera in 127 Hours

Original Score
Two notes: 1. I know the winner here won't be a surprise to anyone who has talked to me for five minutes for the last three months, but bear with me here.
2. This was a really close race. The top four slots could all have easily won in a different year, and I wouldn't be surprised if the top three all showed up on a best of decade list (if I'm still making lists in ten years...)
(I'll link to my favorite tracks from each movie.)
5. Randy Newman-Toy Story 3-A classic score in the best sense, Newman's compositions are big and bold, but find the right quiet beats to help the movie rip your heart out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-y90KLoqdA
(Further listening: 'Sunnyside,' 'What About Daisy?')
4. Dmitri Golovko-Red Hill-A giddy Ennio Morricone-esque riff on Western music. Big trumpet themes, inventive percussion use, aggressive acoustic guitars.
(It's not on youtube, but if you have iTunes, search "Red Hill Soundtrack" and listen to a couple of the sampels. 'Alice's Theme,' 'Shane's Theme,' 'The Panther,' and 'Finale' all stick out to me.)
3. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross-The Social Network-totally atypical movie scoring. Pulsing electronic rythms, strange orchestrations, and the tiniest bit of decorative piano.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ajArNJmjY&feature=related
(Further listening: ''Hand Covers Bruise,' 'The Gentle Hum of Anxiety,' 'Complication With Optimistic Outcome')
2. John Powell-How to Train Your Dragon-I love this score. It's so huge. Big brass fanfares, Celtic/Irish influences, ethnic instruments. Plus it's just gorgeous. Just go listen to this score. It's awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ei2HSGeLHo
(Further listening: 'Test Drive,' 'Forbidden Friendship,' 'Romantic Flight,' 'Dragon Training')
1. Daft Punk-TRON Legacy-Come on, what else was it going to be? Daft Punk's score is an sometimes an orchestra, sometimes a dance hall anthem, and always, always awesome. This music elevated the movie beyond anything it could have been on its own.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4dUiBfMQVU&feature=related
(Further listening: ...Really, the whole score, but especially 'Son of Flynn,' 'End of Line,' 'The Game Has Changed,' 'C.L.U.,' 'Arena')

Honorable Mention: Inception has some greally fantastic tracks, but a few too many "BRAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUs" for me.

Sound Mixing
5. Inception-a complex wall of sound that never gets (too) muddled.
4. How to Train Your Dragon-huge dragon battles, aerial acrobatics, and just the right amount of quiet.
3. Black Swan-Nina is completely nuts, and it shows on the Sound Mix. Bird noises, whispering voices, and breaking glass are all incorprated alongside the bombastic Swan Lake score.
2. TRON Legacy-This film creates an entirely new space, with a soundscape of its own, and Daft Punk's music is effectively integrated to seem like part of the world itself.
1. 127 Hours-Sometimes the simplest design is the most effective. 127 Hours takes the few sounds it has and uses them to conjure the fear of being stuck in the same place for a long, long time.

Honorable Mention: living inside a tank that sounds like a sentient being in Lebanon.

Sound Effects Editing
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1-This series has never sounded so interesting. Points for the duelling scenes, which sound unlike anything we've heard in movies before.
4. 127 Hours-The biggest cringe of the entire film is the sound of an arm breaking. This sound team plays the audience like a piano.
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-This movie is convinced it's a video game, and it sounds like it. Beeps, boops, 8-bit sound effects, and silliness.
2. TRON Legacy-Whirs, hums, mechanical screams, all in service of realizing a reality completely seperate from our own.
1. How to Train Your Dragon-Every type of dragon sounds unique and believable. Add in amazing combat, pyrotechnic, and weapons work, and all those great flying noises, and you've got something special.

Honorable Mention: Creating Nina's aural manifestations of her psychoses in Black Swan.

Original Song
5. "Express"-Burleseque-A trashy dance-hall anthem, belted as only Christina Aguilera can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyMK78jAi8A
4. "We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3-Bouncy, energetic, happy. All the things you need to stop crying at the end of this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBBT7K7LmGo
3. "Mother Knows Best"-Tangled-A mix of saccharine sweetness and veiled threats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MGTkIFG8kM&annotation_id=annotation_715021&feature=iv
2. "Black Sheep"-Scott Pilgrim vs. The World-An angry chick-rock anthem. It wouldn't be out of place at Lillith Fair. It's the best of Scott Pilgrim's decidedly awesome soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19-RS02R0H4
1. "Sticks and Stones"-How to Train Your Dragon-It's a four-minute ball of pure joy. Fast-paced, energetic, and sometimes in Norwegian. What else could we want?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBYg3N-uvAc

Well, there we have it. I'll finish up tomorrow with my dream Oscar ballot. Until then, what do you think?

Best of 2010, part 3: Acting

2011-02-18T12:19:00.006-07:00

Here we are again. Today is all about acting, and, since I'm sure I don't need to define acting for you fine people, we'll get right to it. Here are the best performances of 2010.
I'll try to include clips of every performance, but no guarantees.

5. Colin Firth-The King's Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka2g2ehdLj0
Funny story here. I'm not a huge fan of this performance, but this year suffered an ungodly dry spell of interesting performances in lead roles (of the movies I've seen anyway. I am missing quite a few films which reputedly feature great male performances). Still, I needed five, so Colin Firth stammers his way in. It's not a great performance, but it's a heartfelt one, and Firth hits all his emotional beats well. It's not a virtuoso performance on the level of A Single Man, but it's certainly passable in its own right.

4. Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMeYdSYCC7A&feature=related
I love how internalized this performance is. I'm not sure Eisenberg raises his voice throughout the movie, nor does his body language ever seem anything less than restrained. This quiet, bound up approach is absolutely vital for The Social Network's take on Mark Zuckerberg. Instead of portraying him as a charismatic innovator or a stereotypical antihero, Jesse Eisenberg creates a quiet, frustrated little boy who stumbles into billions. Watching him morph from grumpy college boy to confused kid pretending to be an adult is fascinating.

3. Jeff Bridges-True Grit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvmJWzewMEE&feature=related
This performance is sort of Crazy Heart: The Early Years, but I love it anyway. Admittedly, stumbling alcoholic is ground that Bridges has covered before, but he does it delightfully well. In True Grit, he infuses his performance with something woefully lacking from Crazy Heart: humor. Rooster Cogburn may be a burnout, but try telling him that to his face. This tongue-in-cheek self-importance lends the character some version of wounded dignity, which lends his legitimate fear and empathy for young Mattie Ross startling poignancy.

2. Ryan Gosling-Blue Valentine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXMQQs6z5M&feature=related
Ryan Gosling had to play two different people in this movie: an excited young man with his whole life ahead of him, and the same man, four years later, who's had his optimism beaten out of him, but is still trying to hold onto the past. It's an interesting thing, having to play yourself four years older: it's not a large-enough time period to really affect you physically, four years of hardship have still changed who you are. Gosling's bravura performance finds the common threads between his younger and older selves, and exploits them to devastating effect. We can see both the young and the old man occupying the same space, and it's heartbreaking.

1. James Franco-127 Hours
(Best I can get is the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5oTlfCGWKE&feature=relmfu)
127 Hours is absolutely a one-man show. Without James Franco, there's no movie. And if his performance had fallen flat, the movie would have been unbearable. Lightning struck, though, and Franco gives a performance that's completely engrossing. He creates a fully realized, all-too recognizable individual; a man whose overconfidence isn't too much to be off-putting, but enough to get him into trouble. Watching this man, pinned under a rock, slowly come to terms with his own death, and his subsequent determination to avoid it, is extraordinary. Franco's screen presence is nothing less than magnetic.

Horable mention: Ryan Reynold's justifiably upset truck-driver in Buried

Best Actress
5. Emma Stone-Easy A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIqUDHT5UCk
Sure, some people might be confused by a performance in a lightweight high-school comedy getting in over other, meatier parts, but I don't care. Emma Stone takes this movie, rips it apart, refashions it, and wears it on her chest. She owns the whole damn film. And rightfully so: her performance is effortlessly light and physical, her timing is perfect, and she brings a perfect sort of winking naivete to the proceedings. This is the very definition of a star-making turn: after this movie, Emma Stone's going to drown in role offers.

4. Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VREJyLpzzU
I love the clip here, because it's just about the only time Annette Bening allows her character to be vulnerable. And even then, she spends the whole time pushing her feelings down and moving on. Her character always has to feel in control of her emotions, even when the world conspires to push them to the forefront. Bening is tough and assertive; almost too assertive, as if she wants to become the father figure that her children don't have. And then, when her grouchy exterior is finally violated, her lonely vulnerability is all too believable.

3. Michelle Williams-Blue Valentine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIqhOJAWuX8&feature=related
Like her on-screen partner Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams has to play two people throughout the course of the movie. Where Gosling's character was two version of the same person, however, Williams' character is two completely different individuals. The four years that pass during the movie exact a harsh toll on the younger, naive version, and turn her into a world-weary slave to her job and her marriage. Williams' transformation is astounding; her moments of realizing that she can never get back the love she's lost for her husband stick out in my memory.

2. Julianne Moore-The Kids Are All Right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBwht54TDOI
Where Annette Bening is too tough and cold, Julianne Moore is a whirling dervish free spirit. She's trying so hard to be fun and cool and open, she's forgetting to be a real person. She's loving, but sometimes glaringly immature; many of her conversations are punctuated by petulant little asides. Still, her loneliness and her marital dissatisfaction are honestly and expertly portrayed. She manages to look like a victim, even as she acts in ways that threaten her entire family.

1. Natalie Portman-Black Swan
(believe it or not, the best I can get is a trailer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViWQUOGIaSU&feature=related)
Nina just wants to be perfect. Sure, she's nuts, emotionally unstable, violent, and bi-curious, but hey. To play this role, Natalie Portman had to hit pretty much every high and low in the spectrum of human emotion. Then she had to do it while dancing. Portman trained for months to be able to dance for the film. Her Nina is an emotionally sheltered little girl whose world slowly opens up to reveal all the things that go bump in the dark as Nina transforms herself into a woman and a swan. That final dialogue-less closeup: right before the end, while she's in her dressing-room, fixing her makeup, is alone worthy of an Oscar.

Honorable Mention: Nicole Kidman's fragile, slowly imploding mother in Rabbit Hole

Supporting Actor
5. Jeremy Renner-The Town
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2ATw11GWy8
Violent, angry, and twitching with nervous energy, Renner is a perfect ball of manic gleeful energy. Points for the stressed brotherly relationship he sells with Affleck.

4. Josh Hutcherson-The Kids Are All Right
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsEo-xE4e2U&feature=relmfu
Though he's only 18, Hutcherson holds his own with far more practiced thespians, effortlessly capturing the emotional roller-coaster of wanting a father figure, finding one, and realizing that he's kind of a dick.

3. Ben Mendelsohn-Animal Kingdom
(no clip, and the trailer doesn't really feature him...Sorry!)
The second-best villain of the year. Mendelsohn's Pope can only be described as a sociopath: cold, calculating, not really there. His stare is almost too blank. It's unnerving.

2. Christian Bale-The Fighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY_emnRnntY
Christian Bale plays a strung-out junkie whose one shot at legitimacy and fame has passed. He holds on to that one memory while slowly strangling the life from those around him. Bale is energetic, charismatic, completely alive: in his eyes however, lingers just the right flash of bitterness and hate.

1. Andrew Garfield-The Social Network
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlzlVegfbA&feature=related
It was a nail-biter between Garfield and Bale, but, in the end, Garfield's kicked puppy won out. Garfield's goofy energy, his Hardy Boys-style fundraising, and his confused, bitter betrayal make for some of the best scenes of the year.

Honorable Mention: Geoffrey Rush's amusingly cavalier speech therapist in The King's Speech

Supporting Actress
5. Mila Kunis-Black Swan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ykq5V1--Bc
Strong, self-assured, sensual: everything Nina's not. Mila Kunis plays the real-life Black Swan, and pulls it off with smoky intensity.

4. Amy Adams-The Fighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qmjAqkRCjc
Loving and supportive, but tough as nails. Adams' blunt realism is a nice foil for the more optimistic worlds that the other characters inhabit.

3. Lesley Manville-Another Year
(Only a trailer, sorry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDVJwhj5EgA&feature=related)
Achingly vulnerable, lying to herself incessantly, and drinking too much, Lesley Manville provides a far more interesting story than the actual plot. One keeps hoping that the movie will give up and follow her around instead.

2. Melissa Leo-The Fighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qmjAqkRCjc
Melissa Leo chews the scenery with frantic intensity; she's a loud-mouthed mother to a changeling brood of well-haired spawn, and she loves it. Leo plays her like a Lady Macbeth in way over her head.

1. Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db9kgfsvuGs
The best villain of the year, and the craziest mother as well, which was no mean feat, given this year's movie-obsession with overbearing mommies. Jacki Weaver is sunny, outgoing, friendly, and also the cold-blooded head of a crime-family. She does everything thinkable (and unthinkable) to protect her boys, and she does it with a smile on her face.

Honorable Mention: Marion Cotillard's vengeful dead spouse in Inception.

Well, there we have it. Tomorrow I post the tech awards, and on Sunday I'll wrap up with my dream Oscar ballot. Groovy!

Best of 2010, part 2: Directing and Screenplays

2011-02-17T16:39:00.005-07:00

Hello again. Since yesterday's post was so devastatingly gargantuan, I'm going to follow it up with a short-ish post today, so maybe I can avoid carpal tunnel. Today, we'll look at a few specific behind-the-camera film aspects: directing and screenplays.

Best Director
5. Danny Boyle-127 Hours
It's not an easy task to stick a movie in a canyon for 90 minutes with an immobile protagonist and still be entertaining. To accomplish this feat, Danny Boyle used every cinematic trick in the book; split-screens, time-lapses, unpredictable camera placing, big zoom shots, interesting sound choices, etc., etc. 127 Hours is primarily an exercise in style. The screen just sweats Boyle visual style.

4. Roman Polanski-The Ghost Writer
Almost nothing endears a director to me like restraint does. The Ghost Writer is an ode to reigning one's impulses in and taking the careful, controlled route. This approach pays off in spades; The Ghost Writer is effortlessly paced, unnerving, almost painfully suspenseful. Not only do the visuals succeed, but Polanski somehow drew a fantastic performance from Pierce Brosnan, which is something near an impossibility.

3. Yorgos Lanthimos-Dogtooth
This movie could have gone so terribly wrong in so many, many ways. Only a perfectly executed tightrope walk could have landed this film's bizarre mashup of comedy and cat-murdering. Lanthimos maintains his film's unique tone throughout, never once stopping to pander to the audience, or flinch away from the story's uglier aspects, and he still manages to wring some guilty laughs out of the audience. Lanthimos must be a Schadenfreudist at heart, because the fun he has at his characters' expense is pretty horrific. It doesn't hurt that the film looks spectacular, either. Bonus points for some of the strange framing decisions.

2. David Fincher-The Social Network
David Fincher is something of a perfectionist. Not since Kubrick, I've read, has there been a director so slavishly devoted to monitoring every aspect of a film production. While this cold, sterilized approach may ring false with some storylines (not sure "cold and emotionless" were the best adjectives to bring to Benjamin Button), Fincher's style suits The Social Network perfectly. The whole movie is about building a tiny, perfectly controlled world. It only makes sense, then, that the world the characters inhabit is perfectly controlled. The film also achieves the strongest, most compelling rhythm of any film this year, no doubt due in large part to Mr. Fincher. It also must have been a major feat in itself just finding ways to make Aaron Sorkin's verbose screenplay sound perfectly natural. The Social Network is a great film, and a great film can't exist without a great director.

1. Darren Aronofsky-Black Swan
Yeah, yeah, no surprise who's at the top. Black Swan, like Dogtooth, is another flawless balancing act. It would have been all too easy for the movie to fall into silly, melodramatic territory. Aronofsky sure throws himself at the line between drama and camp, but always manages to keep at least one toe on the side of serious. What results is a genuinely disturbing movie, due in part to the seeming dissonance between the subject matter and gleefully malovolent way that it's handled. With Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky again proves that he would make the coolest horror movie we've seen in years. How insane would his rendition of an exorcism movie be? Aronfsky is also one of the most interesting visual directors working today. Moving past his earlier Requiem-esque style, he treats Black Swan with the same grainy, cinema-verite style that he used on The Wrestler. I've heard a few complaints about the seediness of it all, but what else should a story about a psychotic ballerina be but seedy? Black Swan shouldn't look like a postcard, and Aronofsky knew that. He nailed the visuals, the tone, and the performances; the three major obstacles a director has to face to create a great film.

Honorable Mention: David Michod's taut, intelligently paced work on Animal Kingdom

Best Original Screenplay
5. Mar Heyman, Andres Heinz, and John J. McLaughlin-Black Swan
The dialogue is minimalist, like so much else in the film, but the story achieves a sort of grandly tragic inevitability by chaining itself to 'Swan Lake.'
"Everything Beth does comes from within, from some dark impulse. I guess that's what makes her so thrilling to watch. So dangerous. Even perfect at times."

4. Will Gluck-Easy A
Witty, hilarious, full of genuine humans instead of stereotypes. How often in a teen comedy are the two funniest characters the parents?
Mr Griffith: I don't know what your generation's fascination is with documenting your every thought, but I can assure you, they're not all diamonds. 'Roman is having an OK day, just bought a Coke Zero at the gas station. Raise the roof.' Who gives a rat's ass?
Olive: That Roman! Another Coke Zero? He's incorrigible.

3. David Michod-Animal Kingdom
Conjures suspense from the most mundane situations, creates some of the most engaging and vicious characters of the year. Enough great twists and turns to keep the viewer from ever nailing down where the movie's going.
"Things survive because they're strong. You may think you're one of the strong creatures, but you're one of the weak ones. You've survived because you've been protected by the strong. But they're not strong anymore."

2. David Seidler-The King's Speech
Intelligent, emotionally resonant and incredibly light on its feet. The King's Speech understands and wonderfully conveys the processes by which friendships develop.
Queen Elizabeth: My husband's work involves a great deal of public speaking.
Lionel Logue: Then he should change jobs.
Queen Elizabeth: He can't.
Lionel Logue: What is he, an indentured servant?
Queen Elizabeth: Something like that.

1. Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Bloomberg-The Kids Are All Right
Wonderfully observed human comedy, and the year's most believable family. Writing this natural is something of a minor miracle.
"Marriage is hard. Just two people slogging through the shit, year after year, getting older, changing. It's a fucking marathon, okay? So, sometimes, you know, you're together for so long, that you just... You stop seeing the other person. You just see weird projections of your own junk. Instead of talking to each other, you go off the rails and act grubby and make stupid choices. I don't know, maybe if I read more Russian novels..."

Honorable Mention: Derek Cianfrance captures first love and romantic breakdown in Blue Valentine.

Best Adapted Screenplay
5. William David, Dean DeBlois, and Chris Sanders-How to Train Your Dragon, based on the book by Cressida Cowell
Manages to sidestep a minefield of cliches to become funny, honest, and heartwarming.
Hiccup: He never listens! And when he does, it's with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimmed the meat on his sandwich. 'Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered a boy with extra-beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side. This is a talking fish-bone!'
Gobber: Now you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like, it's what's inside of you that he can't stand.
Hiccup: Thanks for summing that up.

4. Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy-127 Hours, based on the book by Aaron Ralston
Great scripts aren't always about the dialogue, and 127 Hours manages to tell a great story without anyone explaining it as it happens. Extra points for that gallows-humor self interview.
"This rock has been waiting for me my entire life. Its entire life, ever since it was a bit of meteorite a million, billion years ago. In space. It's been waiting, to come here. Right, right here. I've been moving towards it my entire life. The minute I was born, every breath that I've taken, every action has been leading me to this crack on the out surface."

3. Robert Harris and Roman Polanski-The Ghost Writer, based on the Robert Harris novel The Ghost.
Great dialogue, great pacing, and characters that leap off the screen. Fitting that a movie about a book should sound so literate.
"Do you know what I'd do if I was in power again? I'd have two queues at the airports. One for flights where we'd done no background checks, used no intelligence gained under torture, infringed no one's precious bloody civil liberties. The other for flights where we'd done everything possible to make passengers safe. Then we'd see which plane the Rycarts of this world would put their bloody kids on."

2. Michael Arndt-Toy Story 3, based on characters created by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich
The crowning achievement of an already impressive trilogy. An inspired mix of comedy and no-holds-barred tearjerking.
"Now Woody, he's been my pal for as long as I can remember. He's brave, like a cowboy should be. And kind, and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special, is he'll never give up on you... ever. He'll be there for you, no matter what."

1. Aaron Sorkin-The Social Network, based on the The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
This film is a scalpel; it cuts in all the right places at all the right times. There's not one ounce of fat. The dialogue is some of the sharpest I've heard in quite a while.
Gage: Do you think I deserve your full attention?
Mark Zuckerberg: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition, and I don't want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.
Gage: Okay - no. You don't think I deserve your attention.
Mark Zuckerberg: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?

...So, it wasn't as short a post as I had dreamed it would be, but these things to happen. I'm just terribly long-winded when it comes to movies. So where did I mess up? What did I get right? I'll continue tomorrow with the acting laurels.

Best of 2010, Part 1: Top 20, Zen Awards

2011-02-16T15:09:00.011-07:00

Well hello there! Writing on this blog sort of feels like dressing up in full Aztec regalia and prancing around Mexico City: it happened frequently a long time ago, but doing it now just makes me feel a bit strange. That being said, I've been posting about my favorite movies of the year since I was fifteen, and I sure ain't gonna stop now. So, here begin the Zen Awards: the name sucks, I know, but tradition, dammit. Today, I'll do the best movies of the year, plus my annual silly awards. Tomorrow will come directing, acting, and screenplays (or just directing and screenplay if I'm feeling lazy). Next will be technical citations, and I'll finish up with my dream-Oscar ballot. Should be fun!
So, it occurred to me that y'all never really know what movies I've seen. I always preface posts like these with "I haven't seen ____" statements. This year, I believe in transparency. I'll list all the movies I've seen from the 2010 calendar year. If you wonder why some film/performance/whatever isn't included in some upcoming list, check to see if I've seen it. Chances are, I haven't. And, if I have, and you still wonder why I'm not talking about it, then chances are your movie taste sucks. Ok, that was a joke, but I'll stand by it. Argue with me! So here they are:
127 Hours, Alice in Wonderland, Animal Kingdom, Another Year, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Buried, Burlesque, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Clash of the Titans, Conviction, Country Strong, Date Night, Despicable Me, Dogtooth, Easy A, Edge of Darkness, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Expendables, The Fighter, Frozen, The Ghost Writer, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Green Zone, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, How to Train Your Dragon, Howl, I Am Love, Inception, Iron Man 2, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Last Airbender, Lebanon, Legion, Let Me In, Letters to Juliet, Love and Other Drugs, Machete, Monsters, Never Let Me Go, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Piranha, Please Give, Rabbit Hole, Red, Red Hill, Restrepo, Robin Hood, Salt, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Secretariat, Shrek Forever After, Shutter Island, The Social Network, Somewhere, Splice, Tangled, The Town, Toy Story 3, TRON Legacy, True Grit, Unstoppable, Winter's Bone, The Wolfman
Well, there are your contenders. Now let's get to it, shall we?
The Best Films of 2010
20. I Am Love
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Not a perfect movie, but beautifully designed and realized. Guadagnino's tale of sexual repression and xenophobia among Italian billionaires is dazzlingly acted and wonderful to look at.

19. Buried
Directed by Rodrigo Cortes
This movie has the balls to drop Ryan Reynolds in a box for 90 minutes and just leave him there. the claustrophobia is palpable. I could have done with a better script (sans snake attacks, for instance), but the sheer chutzpah of the one location/one character premise is impressive.

18. Red Hill
Directed by Patrick Hughes
This utterly delightful mash-up of the Western and Cop drama genres, with its own distinct Australian flavor, had me grinning from square one. The film is wonderfully shot, full of (intentionally?) ridiculous action, and solid performances. Plus, it has a shootout in which a boomerang is involved. Only in Australian movies, man.

17. Please Give
Directed by Nicole Holofcener
Holofcener's quietly observed comedy about a woman with too much politically correct heart to succeed in her profession as a post-mortem apartment scavenger is both scathingly amusing. The ensemble performance drags this movie toward something nearing greatness.

16. The King's Speech
Directed by Tom Hooper
Handsomely mounted, efficiently directed, well-performed, with a fantastically literate screenplay. The King's Speech is a great little time at the movies with an uplifting climax. I just wish it weren't going to win best picture.

15. True Grit
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
True Grit is a lesser Coen film, to be sure. That being said, even a lesser Coen film is better than many directors can even dream of accomplishing. Aided by demigod cinematographer Roger Deakins and a performance from Jeff Bridges far more Oscar-worthy than his Crazy Heart hamming, True Grit provides images and moments to stick with you long after other films have evaporated. The film missteps occasionally, and it lacks a strong emotional impact, but the film succeeds as a Swiss watch of film craftsmanship.

14. Exit Through the Gift Shop
Directed by Banksy
Banksy, best known for his guerrilla street art, comes to the multiplex with this strangely engrossing documentary. What begins as a film about the process of making such temporary art slowly morphs into a treatise on the definition of art itself, and where the line between art and cynical, manipulative images begins. This is easily one of the most entertaining films of the year, and it shines a spotlight on a rarely seen subculture.

13. Easy A
Directed by Will Gluck
I'm love a good comedy as much as the next guy; I'm just much more selective with what I consider 'good.' Imagine my surprise, then, to discover that Will Gluck's silly high-school movie is both incredibly funny and pretty damn smart. So many favorite moments; the best might involve the running gag about Huckleberry Finn, but as far as one-off moments go, it's hard to argue with the Quizno's Man accidentally infiltrating a protest ("not now, Quiznos!"). Add a star-making turn from Emma Stone and you've got the best, most intelligent comedy since Mean Girls.

12. The Fighter
Directed by David O. Russell
David O. Russell and a rockstar cast take material that could have been tired and melodramatic, and turn it into something fresh and alive. This film is really about the performances: Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Christian Bale all do their best to steal the show from Mark Wahlberg, A reliable (if less showy) lead. The true stars might be the gaggle of seven well-coiffed women who play Wahlberg's sisters. The film wanders down a few dark roads, but emerges victorious in the end.

11. The Ghost Writer
Directed by Roman Polanski
Ewan McGregor, the Ghost, stumbles into a far-reaching political conspiracy when he agrees to ghost-write the memoirs of the ex-Prime Minister. This movie is the definition of classic thriller. It's lean, efficient, and as tightly wound as possible; crafted as only Polanski can do it. The last shot is amazing.

10. Animal Kingdom
Directed by David Michod
I can't believe this is David Michod's debut film. A crime thriller in the vein of GoodFellas, Animal Kingdom tracks the potential fall of a local Australian crime family. Our protagonist is the young, unwitting nephew, thrown to four lions in the shape of uncles, all presided over by one nasty den mother. Animal Kingdom conjures unbelievable tension from the smallest looks, words, and actions. Who knew that grocery-shopping, or backing down the driveway, could make me so apprehensive? The film wouldn't achieve the greatness it does, however, without the villainous turns by Ben Mendelsohn and Jacki Weaver, in particular. Weaver's conniving little mommy is one of the year's greatest screen characters.

9. Blue Valentine
Directed by Derek Cianfrance
It almost feels fair to file this one under 'disaster movie,' right next to The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. Blue Valentine tells the story of a couple at two points in their life: when they first fall in love, and when they know that they don't love each other anymore. I suppose this movie is bittersweet. Some parts of it are sweet, and some parts of it are indescribably bitter. The death throes of this relationship are almost violent in their pain and vulnerability. The two leads, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, demonstrate here why it would be fair to call them the best two actors of their generation.

8. 127 Hours
Directed by Danny Boyle
Y'all know I'm a Danny Boyle fan, and that I'm a fan of movies that experiment with cinematic form, so of course 127 Hours makes the cut. Boyle's camera seems to find itself just about everywhere: in the sky, among the rocks, in Aaron Ralston's camera, in Aaron Ralston's water bottle, in Aaron Ralston's arm...It makes a nice counterpoint to a main character who is essentially stuck in the exact same position for the majority of the movie. The film's frenetic style is balanced out by its static location and one single plot point (there's a rock on this man's arm. That's pretty much the crux of the film). Of course, 127 Hours wouldn't work without James Franco, who proves again how ridiculously talented he is.

7. Dogtooth
Directed by Yorgos Lagrimos
Dogtooth is possibly the most unique film of the year. It's a bizarre interpretation of home-schooled life, in which three children, all 20-somethings who have never left their house, are raised into a world completely different from our own. In their house, cats are murderous monsters, home videos are the only form of entertainment, planes routinely fall out of the sky into the lawn, and sex between siblings is a pretty groovy way to pass the time. Dogtooth is perversely violent, disturbingly sexual, and, admittedly, kind of funny. You've never seen anything like it, and, once you've seen it, you probably won't want to see anything like it ever again. The last shot, for my money, provides a much more intriguing question than the much-discussed "did the top fall?" that Inception offers.

6. The Kids Are All Right
Directed by Lisa Cholodenko
To paraphrase a friend: "this movie writes awkward silences so well that I feel like I should say something." First off, Cholodenko's script is next to brilliant. Rarely do characters and situations feels so authentic and lived-in. Secondly: the acting is across-the-board fantastic. Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, and Josh Hutcherson create such a cohesive family unit, it's honestly kind of difficult to remember that none of them are related. The Kids Are All Right is funny, honest, and quite moving, sometimes all at the same time. It probably might panic a few stuffy folks to see a gay family portrayed so very normally; by normally, I mean that their orientation is never the issue or the focus. Instead, much like real life, Nic and Jules have the same problems any other parents do, and confront them the same way many other parents would. This authenticity helps the movie become one of the finest films offered up this year.

5. How to Train Your Dragon
Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
Not gonna lie: I'm a little surprised this film managed to stay so high on my list. When the group I was with decided that this was the film we were going to see, I was more than a little disappointed. A Dreamworks movie? Everyone knows their films are tongue-in-cheek cutesy movies with too many pop culture references. Miracle of miracles! How to Train Your Dragon is actually a beautifully rendered, fantastically written, and thoroughly delightful movie. Perhaps it's John Powell's bombastic score that gets me, or the gorgeous animation (that learning-to-fly sequence is a stunner), or maybe the literate, intelligent screenplay that eschews cliche in favor of hard-won truths. Whatever specific factor it is that makes this film for me, there's no denying that How to Train Your Dragon was my most pleasant surprise all year, and one of the year's best films.

4. Restrepo
Directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Two documentaries in one top 20 list! Madness! Where Exit Through The Gift Shop was playful and light, though, Restrepo dives in with the intention of making you walk through the streets feeling lonely and confused. Honestly, Restrepo probably shouldn't even exist: the film was created by two journalist/documentarians who entrenched themselves for a year with a combat company in one of Afghanistan's deadliest combat zones. The footage that the film captures is absolutely astounding, and serves to redefine any civilian view of the kind of combat in Afghanistan. It's not just a miracle of documentary film-making: it's a piercing look at the psychological effects of battle on soldiers, and the commitments we ask of the young men who go to fight. Not every cause is worth fighting for, but every fight has a consequence, and Restrepo demonstrates that to shattering effect.

3. Toy Story 3
Directed by Lee Unkrich
Should I be surprised that a threequel ended up this high on the list? Nah, it's Pixar. Everything they touch turns to gold. Pixar movies have a penchant for dealing with themes far more grown up than their plot would suggest. Toy Story 3 tackles a very difficult subject: how to act when the person you love doesn't need you anymore. Heavy stuff for a movie about a bunch of toys. Sure, Toy Story 3 is funny. Hell, it's flat-out nuts; Mr. Tortilla-head, a mushroom cloud of monkeys, a murderous baby doll, what can only be described as a hateful view of toddlers. But Toy Story 3 doesn't just want to make you laugh--it wants you to cry. And it has no mercy. The last act, in which Woody, Buzz, and the gang, make peace with death and obsolescence, is heart-breaking. Then, it gives all the toys the thing they want more than anything else: the love and attention of their friend, if only for one afternoon. I'll be honest: I cried at the end of this movie. Three times. This movie reduces me to a blubbering manchild.

2. The Social Network
Directed by David Fincher
Here's the best screenplay of the year, shepherded by one of the best directorial jobs of the year, containing some of the best performances of the year. The Social Network pretty much has it all. It's far more entertaining and relevant than any movie about the founding of Facebook has any right to be. The movie succeeds, really, because it's not actually about the founding of Facebook: it's about loneliness, and the need for acceptance, and wanting to make a connection with someone, even though you're not sure how. It's about the things that power makes people do, and about the frailty of friendship compared with the temptation of fame and glory. The Social Network eloquently addresses all of this, while never missing a beat with its fast-paced, incredibly verbal dialogue. Throw in an amazing score by 9 Inch Nails front-man Trent Reznor, a killer ensemble, and the year's best editing rhythm, and you've got something truly special...

1. Black Swan
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
...Not special enough to take #1, though. Admittedly, I'm a huge Aronofsky fan, so I might be a bit biased here. Black Swan takes a simple enough premise (ballerina wins huge role, struggles with pressure), and turns it into a writhing, quivering mess of psychological horror. This is the kind of film that crawls under your skin and dies there. It's stunningly shot, with an incredibly detailed and unnerving sound mix. Natalie Portman gives the performance of the year as a psychologically disturbed ingenue. The visuals are psychedelic, and by turns hypnotic and disturbing. The pace of the film is relentless. The story plods forward with a horrific inevitability. We can see what's coming a mile away, but can't escape it, which makes it all the more distressing. And of course, Darren Aronofsky. The man is a rockstar among directors. He's slain a Minotaur. He perfectly toes the line between psychological horror and sheer absurdity, creating one of the most fundamentally unnerving films I've seen recently. Black Swan succeeds on every level, and then some. It's a legitimately great movie, and is further proof that Aronofsky is one of the most important directors working today.

There we have it. Lord, that took a while. It's a good time, then, to let our hair down and enjoy ourselves. The awards that happen next will never come within 50 miles of the Oscars, though I wish they could. Next: The Zen Awards!

Best Scenes of the Year

10. The Mexicans break things-Machete

It's that big, delightfully ridiculous fight scene at the end, which includes every silly stereotype you could imagine (the ragtag army rides to battle in low-riders and taco trucks, and they do their slaying with garden tools). It also involves Lindsey Lohan dressed as a nun armed with automatic weapons, and this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0JCB24Ld8

9. Family Dinner Turned Awkward-The Kids Are All Right
*spoiler warner!*
Nic finally decides to let Paul into the family life, discovers the affair, and does her best to keep cool. Tough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Un30wigGM8

8. The Three Brothers-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Really gorgeous shadow animation makes this my favorite part of any Harry Potter movie ever.
(Note: I know this video has a stupid, annoying song in it, but it's the only version of the scene on youtube that wasn't filmed in a theater.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPwi-cgH6pw&feature=related

7. Hospital Fight-Blue Valentine
Dean and Cindy's relationship problems finally come to a disastrous head when Dean awakes from his ill-conceived hotel romp to find that his wife has left for work. He follows her there, and she finally tells him the truth about their doomed relationship. This is acting at its best.
(sorry, no video)

6. Test Drive-How to Train Your Dragon
Possibly the best argument I've seen for 3-D, and a flight scene to match anything from Avatar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuuK7QQCkrw&feature=related

5. Hey, I guess my tooth fell out-Dogtooth
The kids of Dogtooth have been told that they're only ready to leave the house when their dogtooth falls out. One of their children has a problem with patience on this front. This makes the list because it still makes me cringe.
(Warning: this is pretty violent.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuADJ_3Ff0g

4. Eduardo Confronts Mark-The Social Network
Just great acting and great writing put together. Eduardo finds out his share of Facebook has been diluted to almost nothing, and he's a little upset.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlzlVegfbA&feature=related

3. Rotating Hallway Fight-Inception
I've got some problems with Inception, but it's impossible to deny how amazing that unbroken hallway shot is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QGPtDiia0g

2. Nina's Dance and Transformation-Black Swan
Nina finally overcomes (becomes?) her demons for a moment to dance the part of the Black Swan, and finds herself transforming, growing feathers with every spin.
(note: the video doesn't show the cool part, which is the transformation. Just the dance.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsvtIzebNcw

1. The End-Toy Story 3
I've given this award three years running, and Pixar has won it three times. Not a bad record. This scene wins because it makes me bawl like a child.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwR-KnPl4sg

The "I'm Too Awesome to Have an Award Named After Me" Award for Outstanding Young Actors-Emily Hahn-Toy Story 3
Bonnie is absolutely one of the most adorable children I've ever encounted at the cinema, and a huge part of that is due to how well her character is voiced. So congrats, Emily Hahn! I've never heard of you, but I'm sure you're wonderful.

The New Image Award
-for movies that show us something completely original and unique.
Dogtooth-The world of this movie is so strange, it might as well be alien.
TRON Legacy-the movie wasn't particularly good, but its visualization of the inside of a computer is just dazzling.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1-for the Tale of the Three Brothers animation scene, which we already discussed. Man, I loved that scene.

Best inanimate object in a movie
-Nina's music box-Black Swan. For being hypnotic and creepy, even when it's broken.
-Mark's fuck-you-flip-flops-The Social Network. For being alliterative and carrying a message.
-the boomerang-Red Hill. Because it's a BOOMERANG in a SHOOTOUT. Guys, this movie is really awesome.
-the Famous Amos cookie box-Burlesque. If you've seen this movie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Day-um.
THE WINNER: The Dead-Baby-Box-Country Strong. I'm not lying. There is legitimately a dead baby box in this movie. I laughed for about five minutes straight.

The Child I'd Most Like to Punch in the Face With a Punch-Operated Shotgun
Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, and Will Poulter from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Man, this movie was awful. Bonus points to Will Poulter for managing to sound like an old British lesbian for two hours.

The "You're Not This Gay, but Dammit, You're Trying" Award
-Huckleberry Finn and his modern counterpart in Easy A. "Did you hear? Brandon just ran off with a big black guy!"
Honorable mention: all that distracting unintentional chemistry between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy Inception.

Best Worst Movie
The Last Airbender. This is honestly the funniest movie of the year. It's just jam-packed with profoundly retarded statements. It's the only movie I've seen in which Dev Patel, dressed in a tunic, yells "Give Me All Your Elderly!" to a crowd of frightened Inuits.

Absolute Worst Sex Scene
Splice. Because Adrien Brody's nose is scary enough when it's not nuzzling the deformed busom of a mutated alienbaby.

Incontrovertible Proof that Alice in Wonderland Sucks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEFydbOFoU8&feature=related
I will never unsee this.

And finally:

The Worst Films of the Year
5. The Wolfman
This movie would have been great if it were pitched at a Mystery Science Theater 3000-spoof level. But no, they took it seriously. Anthony Hopkins gets lit on fire.

4. The Expendables
Overly long, overly violent, way too much Stallone. This movie kind of hates Hispanic people. Dolph Lundgren plays Stallone's lovable retarded sidekick who is given firearms more than can be considered safe.

3. Alice in Wonderland
Tim Burton figured if he threw enough color and noise at the screen, he'd be ok. He was terribly wrong. Johnny Depp should have his legs removed as punishment.

2. Edge of Darkness
Mel Gibson's daughter is poisoned, and then shot in the stomach 4 hours later. Mel Gibson clearly doesn't know what people sound like, as he dances through the movie sounding like a giraffe getting raped.

The Peter Travers "Did I Really Just See That?" Award for Biggest Piece of Crap to Smear its Way onto Screens
Legion. Shark teeth, terrible effects, "acting" from some guy named Jeep. This movie was made to be ridiculed.

Well, there everything is. If anyone made it this far, leave a comment so I know you're still alive. Man, that was long.

Oscar Nominations: What Sucks and What Doesn't.

2011-01-25T06:54:00.008-07:00

Well, a couple shockers right out of the gate here, a couple snubs that make me incredibly depressed, and a couple nominations that I love. Let's get into it, shall we?
I'll put asterisks next to the ones I predicted correctly.

Best Picture
127 Hours*
Black Swan*
The Fighter*
Inception*
The Kids Are All Right*
The King's Speech*
The Social Network*
Toy Story 3*
True Grit*
Winter's Bone*
Got all 10 of 'em. I'd like to say I'm really good at this, but, honestly, it just wasn't hard to do this year. I suppose I'm pleased enough with the results here. There's nothing egregiously bad like, say, The Blind Side. I'm thrilled that the Academy managed to not nominate another terrible movie.
Early winner prediction: The King's Speech

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky-Black Swan*
Joel and Ethan Coen-True Grit
David Fincher-The Social Network*
Tom Hooper-The King's Speech*
David O. Russell-The Fighter*
The huge surprise here, obviously, is that Christopher Nolan and Inception were left out here. I'm not his biggest fan, but even I gotta ask, what did he do to the Academy? They must really despise him. That being said, I wouldn't have nominated him either. Still, the Internet is probably going to throw an Internet-riot when they find out.
Early Winner Prediction: David Fincher

Best Actor
Javier Bardem-Biutiful
Jeff Bridges-True Grit*
Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network*
Colin Firth-The King's Speech*
James Franco-127 Hours*
It's delightful to see Robert Duvall ignored this morning, though it does mean I probably won't be able to see all the nominees before Oscar morning. Also groovy to see Eisenberg here for a thoroughly atypical performance, and of course, Mr. James Franco, who deserves to win.
Early winner prediction: Colin Firth

Best Actress
Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right*
Nicole Kidman-Rabbit Hole*
Jennifer Lawrence-Winter's Bone*
Natalie Portman-Black Swan*
Michelle Williams-Blue Valentine
I absolutely love that Michelle Williams made it in here. That being said, it kills me that Julianne Moore didn't. C'est la vie.
Early winner prediction: Natalie Portman

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale-The Fighter*
John Hawkes-Winter's Bone
Jeremy Renner-The Town*
Mark Ruffalo-The Kids Are All Right*
Geoffrey Rush-The King's Speech*
Why the hell isn't Andrew Garfield here?! This could be the worst part of the ballot. It just breaks my heart to see him left off for his fantastic Social Network performance. I hate this.
Early winner prediction: Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams-The Fighter*
Helena Bonham-Carter-The King's Speech*
Melissa Leo-The Fighter*
Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit
Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom*
This category made me yell 'DAMMIT', followed quickly by loud clapping and whooping, no doubt making the neighbors wonder how I spend my mornings. Sure, Hailee Steinfeld got in at the expense of Black Swan's Mila Kunis, which sucks, but I'm absolutely thrilled that Jacki Weaver got in. In a fair world, she'd win this Oscar in an instant.
Early winner prediction: Melissa Leo

Original Screenplay
Another Year
The Fighter*
Inception*
The Kids Are All Right*
The King's Speech*
No Black Swan? Strange. Did not expect that. Still, it's nice to see Mike Leigh get some recognition for Another Year.
Early winner prediction: The King's Speech

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network*
Toy Story 3*
True Grit*
Winter's Bone*
I love that 127 Hours made it in here, as it's not really a dialogue-heavy piece. A little disappointed that The Ghost Writer missed, but that was a long-shot anyway.
Early winner prediction: The Social Network

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception*
The King's Speech*
True Grit*
I'm really glad Harry Potter made it here, as this was one of the best-designed of the series. I hate, hate, hate that Alice in Wonderland shows up here for its ugly, joyless, stupid design. And no TRON.
Early winner prediction: The King's Speech

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland*
I Am Love
The King's Speech*
The Tempest*
True Grit*
So, here I was, all set to unveil my 'best of 2010' costume category, full of movies too cool and contemporary for the Academy, and then they go and nominate I Am Love. I mean, I'm thrilled that it's here, but it steals a bit of my "I've got discerning taste and they don't" thunder. Sad that Burlesque didn't make it. Come on, there was a dress made entirely out of fake pearls!
Early winner prediction: Alice in Wonderland

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1*
Hereafter
Inception*
Iron Man 2*
As I'm sure you can guess, I am absolutely slain by the fact that TRON isn't on here. Maybe the Academy and I saw different movies, because if they'd seen the version I saw, they'd know how incredible it looked. Also, I hate that Hereafter made it, because now I actually have to try and see it.
Early winner prediction: Inception

Makeup
Barney's Version*
The Way Back
The Wolfman*
No Alice in Wonderland!! Rejoice!! That being said, I also really don't want to have to see Barney's Version. Meh, all my favorite movies in this field were ineligible anyway, so I don't care about this category much one way or the other.
Early winner prediction: Barney's Version

Film Editing
127 Hours
Black Swan*
The Fighter*
The King's Speech*
The Social Network*
Kind of wild that Inception didn't make it here. Boy, the Academy sure didn't love that one like the rest of the world did, huh? Great to see 127 Hours and Black Swan, though.
Early winner prediction: The Social Network

Cinematography
Black Swan*
Inception*
The King's Speech*
The Social Network
True Grit*
Kind of annoying to see The King's Speech show up here. Still, they nominated Black Swan, and that's something.
Early winner prediction: True Grit

Original Score
127 Hours
How to Train Your Dragon*
Inception*
The King's Speech*
The Social Network*
I hate that TRON didn't make the cut, especially boring crap like The King's Speech did, but that was never going to happen anyway. At least How to Train Your Dragon and The Social Network made it, which are both completely amazing. Incidentally, Trent Reznor (of '9 Inch Nails' fame) is now an Oscar nominee. Trippy.
Early winner prediction: The King's Speech

Sound Mixing
Inception*
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit*
What the hell is The King's Speech doing here?! I mean, seriously. I get that the Academy loved this movie, but putting it over TRON, How to Train Your Dragon, 127 Hours, Black Swan, or any other of the hundreds of more interesting sound jobs this year is just heinous. This is probably my least favorite nomination of the morning. AAAAAAUUUGGGHHH. This pretty much raped my soul. Seriously? So. Many. Good. Mixes. THE KING'S SPEECH. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Early winner prediction: Inception

Sound Effects Editing
Inception*
Toy Story 3*
TRON Legacy*
True Grit
Unstoppable
Thank God The King's Speech didn't show up here. You know they thought about doing it. This is also TRON's only sad, lonely little nomination. Don't worry, big guy. We know you're better than the rest of them. Also, it's an utter travesty that How to Train Your Dragon didn't make it here. Note: it's really strange to see a year when the two sound categories don't really line up. This year, they only share two nominees. Normally, they share four.
Early winner prediction: Inception

Original Song
"If I Rise"-127 Hours*
"Coming Home"-Country Strong
"I See the Light"-Tangled*
"We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3*
It's hard for me to get worked up about this category, but it's a little sad that Cher's hilarious power ballad, "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," from Burlesque, didn't make it. Turns out Burlesque didn't get any nominations. Sure, it's a bad movie, but it's fun! And they can't care if song nominees are from bad movies. After all, they nominated Country Strong.
Early winner prediction: I See the Light

Animated Film
How to Train Your Dragon*
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3*
I haven't seen The Illusionist (yet), so I can't comment on it beating out Tangled. At least Despicable Me didn't make it.

Foreign Language Film
Biutiful-Mexico*
Dogtooth-Greece*
In a Better World-Denmark*
Incendies-Canada*
Outside the Law-Algeria
Hurray Dogtooth! I haven't seen it yet, but it's allegedly a graphic movie about incest and animal-slaughter, which is absolutely not up the Academy's alley. Congrats to them for this, the most bizarre nomination this morning.
Early winner prediction: In a Better World

Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop*
Gasland*
Inside Job*
Restrepo*
Waste Land
I'm just thrilled that both Exit Through the Gift Shop and Restrepo made it, as they're both great movies. Also, Waiting For Superman, which is supposedly awful, but, for some reason, was the favorite to win, missed out, which I guess is probably awesome.
Early winner prediction: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Note: of the main nominees (ie all categories but animated, foreign language, and documentary), I haven't seen Biutiful, Another Year, The Tempest, Hereafter, Barney's Version, or The Way Back. I'm sure that I can see Another Year and The Way Back before the Oscars. The others? ...We'll see.

Incidentally, I did pretty well with predicting. With the exception of the sound categories, I averaged 4/5 nominees guessed correctly.

Here's a list of the 10 most nominated films:
1. The King's Speech-12
2. True Grit-10
3. The Social Network-8
4. Inception-8
5. The Fighter-7
6. 127 Hours-6
7. Black Swan-5
8. Toy Story 3-5
9. The Kids Are All Right-4
10. Winter's Bone-4

And here are a few notable films that got nothing: Shutter Island, Burlesque, Despicable Me, Waiting For Superman, Secretariat, The Ghost Writer, Life Above All, Made in Dagenham, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Easy A. ...I'm sure there are others, but they aren't coming to mind right now.

There we have it. What are your reactions? Pleased? Angry? Surprised? Apathetic? Sound off!

Oscar Predictions, Part 5: Summing it Up.

2011-01-24T12:55:00.003-07:00

All right, last time before the big day. Nominations are revealed in roughly seventeen hours, which means that, in seventeen hours, all of this guesswork will be completely worthless. Still, it's fun, so we keep doing it. Anyway, I'm just going to post my final predictions, in order of likelihood, for each category, sans commentary. And I'm only allowing myself one alternate. Incidentally, I know it's silly of me to do all these Oscar prediction posts without actually weighing in on what deserves to be nominated, but, living in the Southwest, I just don't have access to all the films I need to see in time to put together a fair 'Best of 2010' list before Oscar nominations. That post will be coming soon-ish, however. Maybe mid-February. I will allow myself this however: If I could automatically guarantee one nomination, it would be TRON for best original score, and if I could automatically guarantee someone not getting a nomination, it would be Hailee Steinfeld missing for True Grit.

Note: I changed two predictions since I posted them. First, I the alternate for best original song is different, and the number one and number two spots in best documentary feature switched with each other.

Best Picture
The Social Network
The King's Speech
The Fighter
Toy Story 3
Black Swan
Inception
True Grit
The Kids Are All Right
Winter's Bone
127 Hours
Alternate: The Town

Best Director
David Fincher-The Social Network
Tom Hooper-The King's Speech
Darren Aronofksy-Black Swan
Christopher Nolan-Inception
David O. Russell-The Fighter
Alternate: Joel and Ethan Coen-True Grit

Best Actor
Colin Firth-The King's Speech
James Franco-127 Hours
Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network
Jeff Bridges-True Grit
Robert Duvall-Get Low
Alternate: Javier Bardem-Biutiful

Best Actress
Natalie Portman-Black Swan
Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence-Winter's Bone
Nicole Kidman-Rabbit Hole
Julianne Moore-The Kids Are All Right
Alternate: Lesley Manville-Another Year

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale-The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush-The King's Speech
Jeremy Renner-The Town
Mark Ruffalo-The Kids Are All Right
Andrew Garfield-The Social Network
Alternate: John Hawkes-Winter's Bone

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo-The Fighter
Amy Adams-The Fighter
Helena Bonham-Carter-The King's Speech
Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom
Mila Kunis-Black Swan
Alternate: Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit

Original Screenplay
The King's Speech
The Kids Are All Right
Inception
Black Swan
The Fighter
Alternate: Another Year

Adapted Screenplay
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
The Ghost Writer
Alternate: 127 Hours

Art Direction
The King's Speech
Inception
True Grit
Alice in Wonderland
Shutter Island
Alternate: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
The King's Speech
Burlesque
The Tempest
True Grit
Alternate: Black Swan

Visual Effects
Inception
TRON Legacy
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Iron Man 2
Alternate: Hereafter

Makeup
Alice in Wonderland
The Wolfman
Barney's Version
Alternate: Jonah Hex

Film Editing
The Social Network
Inception
The Fighter
Black Swan
The King's Speech
Alternate: 127 Hours

Cinematography
True Grit
Inception
Black Swan
Shutter Island
The King's Speech
Alternate: The Social Network

Original Score
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
How to Train Your Dragon
The Ghost Writer
Alternate: 127 Hours

Sound Mixing
Inception
True Grit
Black Swan
TRON Legacy
How to Train Your Dragon
Alternate: Salt

Sound Effects Editing
Inception
TRON Legacy
How to Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3
127 Hours
Alternate: Salt

Original Song
"I See the Light"-Tangled
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"-Burlesque
"Shine"-Waiting For Superman
"We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3
"If I Rise"-127 Hours
Alternate: "Chanson Illusioniste"-The Illusionist

Animated Film
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled
Alternate: The Illusionist

Foreign Language Film
In a Better World-Denmark
Incendies-Canada
Life, Above All-South Africa
Biutiful-Mexico
Dogtooth-Greece
Alternate: Simple Simon-Sweden

Documentary Feature
Waiting For Superman
Inside Job
Gasland
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Restrepo
Alternate: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

There we have it. I'll be back tomorrow morning with the official nominee list, as well as my reactions.

Oscar Predictions, part 4: technical categories

2011-01-23T10:39:00.003-07:00

Alright, slightly different format today. In the major categories, it's not too hard to whittle things down to a manageable number of possibilities. In the tech categories, everything is pretty much a crapshoot. So, instead of breaking down every possibility, I'm just going to give my predictions and alternates, and offer up a couple brief thoughts below them. We've got ten categories to get through, so I'll try to be brief.
Note: all predictions are listed in order of likelihood.

Art Direction
The King's Speech
Inception
True Grit
Alice in Wonderland
Shutter Island
Alternate: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Black Swan

The King's Speech and Inception are safe. True Grit probably is too. I'd like to predict Harry Potter, but I just can't make room for it. TRON or Robin Hood might show up unexpectedly. We'll see.

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
The King's Speech
The Tempest
Burlesque
True Grit
Alternate: Secretariat, Black Swan

I'm only confident about the first two; any of the others could slip away. I wouldn't be surprised if Made in Dagenham pulled a nomination here, or Robin Hood. For a real shocker, watch for The Fighter or Inception; both contemporary, atypical possibilities that have nonetheless garnered their share of attention in this category.

Visual Effects
Inception
TRON Legacy
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Iron Man 2
Alternate: Hereafter, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

This category has already been narrowed down by the Academy to a seven-film shortlist, which is to say that the only movies that can be nominated here are the ones I just listed. I feel pretty confident about this lineup, but Iron Man could drop out.

Makeup
Alice in Wonderland
The Wolfman
Barney's Version
Alternate: Jonah Hex, The Way Back, The Fighter, True Grit
Another seven-film finalist list here. The top two slots are probably locked, and any of the other five films could take the last spot. I tried both Jonah Hex and The Way Back in my predictions before settling for Barney's Version, if only because I assume the Academy is going to spite me and nominate a movie I've no chance of seeing before the show, thus killing my dreams of seeing all the nominated films. Curses!

Film Editing
The Social Network
Inception
The Fighter
Black Swan
The King's Speech
Alternate: 127 Hours, Shutter Island

This is one of the only tech categories I feel fairly confident about. Maybe True Grit or The Town could slip in, but I doubt it. I think we're looking at our five nominees up there.

Cinematography
True Grit
Inception
Black Swan
Shutter Island
The King's Speech
Alternate: The Social Network, 127 Hours

This one is tough. The top three slots are locked in. Shutter Island, The King's Speech, and The Social Network are neck-and-neck for the last open spots. 127 Hours could take advantage of how close the others are and slip in, as could The Way Back.

Original Score
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
How to Train Your Dragon
The Ghost Writer
Alternate: 127 Hours, Alice in Wonderland

This category is maddeningly difficult. Inception and The King's Speech are probably in. I should be more confident about The Social Network and How to Train Your Dragon, which are two of the best scores of the year, but Dragon hasn't been nearly as strong in the precursors as I'd like it to be, and I'm struggling to imagine Trent Reznor become Academy-Award Nominee Trent Reznor, even if he just won a Golden Globe for The Social Network. We'll see. That last spot is just a wild guess. I would honestly sell my first-born to see TRON take that spot, but that's, at best, incredibly far-fetched. 127 Hours could make it, but they'll probably honor A.R. Rahman in original song instead, and Alice in Wonderland could feasible get in, even though the very thought of it gives me seizures. Also possible: Never Let Me Go, Harry Potter, Get Low, The Tempest, The Town, etc., etc.

Sound Mixing
Inception
True Grit
Black Swan
TRON Legacy
How to Train Your Dragon
Alternate: The Social Network, Salt

This is a total crapshoot. The only nominee I'm sure of is Inception. Every other prediction could easily miss, and the alternates could easily crack the top five. Other movies with just as good a shot at a nomination: 127 Hours, Unstoppable, Shutter Island, The Town, Toy Story 3. I can easily imagine getting most of these predictions wrong come Tuesday morning.

Sound Effects Editing
Inception
TRON Legacy
How to Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3
127 Hours
Alternate: Salt, True Grit

Funnily enough, I feel much more confident about this category. I'm probably wrong, but I feel good about 4 out of 5 of these nominees. The alternates could knock 127 Hours out, as could Black Swan, Unstoppable, or Iron Man 2.

Original Song
"I See the Light"-Tangled
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"-Burlesque
"Shine"-Waiting For Superman
"We Belong Together"-Toy Story 3
"If I Rise"-127 Hours
Alternate: "Bound to You"-Burlesque, "Chanson Illusionist"-The Illusionist

We honestly might as well just throw darts. This branch is nigh-impossible to figure out. There might not even be five nominees, and even if there are, there's no guarantee that the generally agreed-upon frontrunners will be nominated, and there's a strong possibility that one of the nominees will be from a movie I've never heard of (remember last year, when "Loin de Paname" from Paris 36 was nominated? I still don't know what that movie is). So, I'll just play it safe, prediction-wise, and go for the five most obvious choices, and expect to be wrong. Watch out for "Coming Home" from Country Strong. Sure, the movie was awful, but that hasn't stopped this branch before.

Well, that just about wraps it up. I'll compile everything tomorrow into one post sans commentary, just to set things in stone, and then I'll be back sometime on Tuesday to discuss the actual nominees. Anybody else have predictions they'd like to share? Hunches? Hopes? Don't be shy.

Oscar Predictions, part 3: Acting

2011-01-22T08:43:00.003-07:00

Here we are again. Four categories today; the acting categories.

Best Actor
Only one slot is up for grabs here. Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, Colin Firth, and James Franco are all locked. Any of them missing would be bizarre, though, if I had to bet one one missing, it would be Bridges. Don't count on it, though. The last spot is a little tricky, but I've a feeling the Old Hollywood Guard will pull their own through. In other words, Robert Duvall's nothing-special work on Get Low will probably get nominated because, let's face it, he's Robert Duvall. The man's pretty much a Hollywood legend. Plus, he just turned 80, and people might want to celebrate his becoming an octogenarian in style. I'd love to see Ryan Gosling show up here for Blue Valentine here, but it's probably not in the cards. Same goes for Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter (His performance is too bland) and Leonardo Dicaprio in Shutter Island (too many people hate the movie/the fact that this is the third movie in a row in which Leo has played a mentally unstable man grieving a dead wife. Show some range, man). One possible spoiler: Javier Bardem in Biutiful. Even though the movie's gotten mixed reviews, most everyone agrees that Bardem's performance is fantastic. I'd like to predict an upset here, but I just can't believe that Duvall won't pull through.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
Colin Firth-The King's Speech
James Franco-127 Hours
Jesse Eisenberg-The Social Network
Jeff Bridges-True Grit
Robert Duvall-Get Low
Alternate: Javier Bardem-Biutiful, Ryan Gosling-Blue Valentine

Best Actress
I hate this category. It's a monster to predict this year. First things first: Annette Bening, Natalie Portman, and Jennifer Lawrence are all in, for The Kids Are All Right, Black Swan, and Winter's Bone, respectively. Past that, things get a little confusing. Nicole Kidman will probably become a default nominee for her prickly work in Rabbit Hole, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see her left out. And then, the last spot...Hell if I know. There are at least five women with a strong shot at it, with two more waiting in the wings. Here they are:
Lesley Manville-Another Year: Earlier in the year, she was considered a threat to win. Something terrible and unexplained happened to Another Year, though, and it all but vanished from the circuit. That being said, if it shows up in one category, it would probably be this one. Another problem, though: category confusion. People can't decide whether Manville is lead or supporting, and, as such, she could split her votes and not get nominated in either category.
Julianne Moore-The Kids Are All Right: this nomination would come out of nowhere, but not be unexpected. Costar Bening has black-holed all the acting praise for this movie, leaving poor Julianne out in the cold. Still, both performances are fantastic, and it's sort of hard to imagine people putting Bening on their ballots without her better half Moore.
Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit: People love this performance, though it's a mystery to me just why that is. Steinfeld has (mostly) been considered supporting throughout the precursor circuit, but, then again, so was Keisha Castle-Hughes in 2003, and she ended up in the lead category. I'm hoping Steinfeld's category confusion results in her missing entirely. Fingers crossed!
Hilary Swank-Conviction: I really, really hate that I have to consider this performance as a valid option for an Oscar. Seriously? Still, people love this chick, and she did get a Screen Actors Guild nomination. Another Oscar mystery. I just can't believe this would happen. It would hurt too much.
Michelle Williams-Blue Valentine: I'd love to see this happen, but they've ignored Williams before, which is a shame, as she's easily one of the best working actresses of her generation. Sigh. It's just too hard to look past Hilary Swank's dazzling Boston accent, isn't it? -___-
The two long shots, both from foreign films:
Noomi Rapace-The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo: People love this movie and this performance, but it's probably too little to make it in.
Tilda Swinton-I Am Love: This movie's even smaller, but Tilda's got a legion of rabid fans who will do anything to secure her a spot. Not sure there are enough of them, though.
...Honestly, any of these women could show up on Tuesday in the fifth spot, or even the fourth spot, in place of Kidman. Expect the unexpected!
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
Natalie Portman-Black Swan
Annette Bening-The Kids Are All Right
Jennifer Lawrence-Winter's Bone
Nicole Kidman-Rabbit Hole
Julianne Moore-The Kids Are All Right
Alternate: Lesley Manville-Another Year, Hilary Swank-Conviction
(note: right until I typed that last line, I fully intended to go with Manville. Sometimes I surprise even myself. I'm not promising that I won't change my predictions in this category on Monday, though.)

Best Supporting Actor
This category is strange this year, in that I'm not too comfortable with a couple of the men I'm predicting, but there just aren't any other really valid options to take their place. Let's start with the obvious: Christian Bale is in for his work on The Fighter. Ditto Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech. Jeremy Renner is probably safe for his role in The Town. That leaves my last two slots. I'd like to give them to Mark Ruffalo and Andrew Garfield, but niether of them feel like 'Oscar' performances, and both have stumbled some in the precursors. Still, who would replace them? John Hawkes in Winter's Bone? Possible, but the film is so little. It's hard to imagine it getting more than a couple nominations. Sam Rockwell in Conviction? I thought people hated that movie, but if Hilary Swank's a possibility, than he certainly is too. Matt Damon in True Grit? He hasn't gotten any attentions whatsoever on the precursor circuit. And then there are the Social Network guys: Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer. But Garfield is struggling to get in, and he has the showy performance. If he's struggling, there's no way the smaller, less noticeable roles will make it. So I'll just stick with the five most obvious choices, even if they don't feel quite right.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
Christian Bale-The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush-The King's Speech
Jeremy Renner-The Town
Mark Ruffalo-The Kids Are All Right
Andrew Garfield-The Social Network
Alternate: John Hawkes-Winter's Bone, Sam Rockwell-Conviction

Best Supporting Actress
This one's even tougher than Best Actress. There are two sure things: Melissa Leo and Amy Adams, both from The Fighter. Past that, six women have pretty much equal shots, and at least four more women could surprise. I have no idea where this category will go. The six most likely:
Helena Bonham-Carter-The King's Speech: This performance is fairly bland, but it's in what will likely be the most-nominated film. She'll probably be swept in. Still, she might miss in favor of showier work.
Barbara Hershey and Mila Kunis-Black Swan: Both women have a strong shot. Kunis has shown up more frequently on the awards circuit, but Hershey has the showier role. Maybe both of them will miss? Black Swan is very much a one-woman show.
Lesley Manville-Another Year: Yup. Her again. She's more likely to show up as a lead, but don't count her out here.
Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit: Most people are predicting Steinfeld will show up here (some even predict she'll win), but I'm hoping that enough people consider her a lead that the category confusion will keep her from getting nominated for anything. This could be one of my biggest hopes for nomination morning. Please, please, please let Hailee Steinfeld miss. There is NOTHING SPECIAL about this performance.
Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom: I'm conflicted here. If voters see this movie, they'll almost undoubtedly include one of the best villains of the year on their ballots. This is a great performance. That being said, this is a little Australian movie that came out during the summer and left theaters without a sound. This performance absolutely deserves to get in, but deserving usually doesn't have much to do with the nomination process.
And now, four women with less-but-still-possible odds:
Marion Cotillard-Inception: This performances is one of my favorite aspects of Inception, and it's sad that she hasn't taken off this season. Still, people love the movie, and I wouldn't be shocked to see her included.
Rebecca Hall-The Town: I don't think this will happen, but you never know. Call it a tiny hunch.
Miranda Richardson-Made in Dagenham: Here I thought this movie was dead, and then the British Academy resurrects it. That being said, I can't see this nomination happening.
Diane Wiest-Rabbit Hole: Same thing here. Rabbit Hole just hasn't gotten enough momentum. Hell, it's struggling to get its lead actress in. I can't imagine in getting any more love than that.
Once again: any of these twelve women could make it in. I've really no clue what will happen.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
Melissa Leo-The Fighter
Amy Adams-The Fighter
Helena Bonham-Carter-The King's Speech
Jacki Weaver-Animal Kingdom
Mila Kunis-Black Swan
Alternate: Hailee Steinfeld-True Grit, Lesley Manville-Another Year

Well, that post was longer than I expected. Still, there was an awful lot to cover. The acting races are tough this year.
Here's a schedule of the next couple days:
Tomorrow: all my tech category predictions
Monday: my final predictions: no commentary, just solidifying things.
Tuesday: Oscar nominations, complete with my inevitably indignant reaction.

Oscar Predictions, part 2: Director and Screenplays

2011-01-21T15:52:00.003-07:00

Back again. Today we'll tackle the other non-acting major awards: Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Adapted Screenplay

Best Director
This category is somewhat problematic this year. To begin with: David Fincher will almost undoubtedly win for The Social Network. He's got this in the bag. So, obviously, he's golden for a nomination. Past him, however, I'm unwilling to commit to anyone as a sure thing. I feel six directors have all got a pretty solid shot at the other four slots:
-Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan: his movie is both well-loved and well-respected, and it's a surefire best picture nominee. Plus, he's considered well overdue for a nomination after making four fantastic movies. Still, they've resisted nominating him before for respected films like Requiem For a Dream and The Wrestler. Black Swan might be a little too hip and violent for Academy voters.
-Danny Boyle for 127 Hours: 127 Hours is nothing if not a director's film, and Boyle comes through in spades. Plus, he's a recent winner, and the Academy might still be radiating with that post-win afterglow. Still, his film hasn't done nearly as well on the precursor circuit as I thought it would, and that'll hurt his chances.
-Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit: To be honest, I'm of the opinion that True Grit is definitely a lesser Coen film. Still, it has amazing box-office, considering the genre, and a ton of people seem to love it. True Grit is also the sort-of 'manly' choice for Academy voters looking to overcompensate. That being said, there are just too many other big players this year to consider the Coens a lock.
-Tom Hooper for The King's Speech: Why am I not considering Hooper a lock? After all, his film has a pretty strong chance of winning best picture, and a movie without a director nom hasn't won best picture since 1989 (God, I hate Driving Miss Daisy). The King's Speech, however, has always been considered an acting/writing showcase, and not without good reason. Simply put, there are showier directors in the competition, and Hooper's still a newbie (King's Speech is only his second film). Still, his movie is right at the top of the best picture list...
-Christopher Nolan for Inception-If Chris Nolan doesn't get in this year, I'm reasonably sure the Internet will think very seriously about getting off its collective ass and doing something. Nolan is considered massively due, thanks to his snub for The Dark Knight, and succeeded in creating one of the more impressive and original films this year, all within the confines of the major studio system. Still, Inception is 100% an action film, which is to say that it's the kind of film that rarely scores here.
-David O. Russell for The Fighter-Let's face it. Oscars are essentially a popularity contest. And word on the street is that pretty much everyone hates David O. Russell. Most everyone loves The Fighter, however, as well as the artistic touch Russell brought to it (I wasn't overly impressed by the direction, but hey, I liked Tron, so I've forsaken my credibility this year). It's hard to decide whether Russell's terrible rep will overcome the respect for his movie, or vice versa.
Apart from these six, I can't really see anyone else getting in. Maybe, if the Academy feels like proving that Kathryn Bigelow's win last year wasn't a fluke, Debra Granik or Lisa Cholodenko could get in for Winter's Bone or The Kids Are All Right, respectively. And I suppose we should never rule out Another Year and Mike Leigh, who has snagged more than one director nomination from the jaws of defeat.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
David Fincher-The Social Network
Tom Hooper-The King's Speech
Darren Aronofsky-Black Swan
Christopher Nolan-Inception
David O. Russell-The Fighter
Alternate: Joel and Ethan Coen-True Grit, Danny Boyle-127 Hours

Best Original Screenplay
Here's another tough category to read. The King's Speech and The Kids Are All Right are locked and loaded. Beyond that, nothing is safe. Mike Leigh is always, always successful in the writing category, so watch out for Another Year. That being said, this film has received almost no precursor attention. Black Swan seems like a common-sense pick, but it's not much of a writer's film; it's about the style, not the dialogue. Blue Valentine, if seen enough, could sneak in here. I'm not sure I'd bet on it, though. The Fighter is a best picture front-runner, but I'm skeptical about its screenplay chances. And Inception could score for its fantastic concept, but its rather clunky dialogue could slow it down. Outside of these movies? I'd love to see Animal Kingdom, the Australian crime thriller, make it in, and I suppose Please Give, recently nominated by the Writers Guild, has a sliver of a hope.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
The King's Speech
The Kids Are All Right
Inception
Black Swan
The Fighter
Alternate: Another Year, Blue Valentine

Best Adapted Screenplay
This is an easier category to take a stab at. I'd say four movies are pretty much locked: The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone. But what for the last spot? 127 Hours hasn't been loved like I hoped it would; besides, it's not much for snappy dialogue. Still, as a potential best picture nominee, it could crack the top 5. Though The Ghost Writer was released at the beginning of the year, the awards circuit has remembered it, and this category seems like a great place to throw Roman Polanski and underage bone (sorry for the sex joke...I couldn't resist). I suppose The Town also stands a chance here, but, for that to happen, the Academy would need to love Ben Affleck and his little crime movie a lot more than I'm willing to bet they do.
Not that any of this matters, because The Social Network is going to win, regardless of who's nominated.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone
The Ghost Writer
Alternate: 127 Hours, The Town

That's it for today. I'll be back tomorrow to discuss the acting categories!

Oscar Predictions, part 1: Best Picture

2011-01-20T16:59:00.002-07:00

Hey all. It's been awhile. I figure I can't resist doing Oscar predictions every year, and I might as well put them here, as opposed to on Facebook. So I'll just dive in: this will kick off my five-day prediction blitz. Today, I'll do picture. Tomorrow I'll do director and screenplay, Saturday will be acting categories, Sunday will be the tech awards, and I'll do a final predictions list on Monday to put everything in one place. So here we go! Bear in mind that Oscar season is a year-round prognosticating event, and jumping into the season this late will be disorienting, at best. Apologies if I don't explain things as well as I ought to.

Best Picture
The precursor award circuit, critical acclaim, box-office totals, and conventional wisdom all suggest that this race is narrowed down to exactly 11 titles. They are, in alphabetical order:
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
Winter's Bone
Of these 11, I would say that The Social Network, The King's Speech, The Fighter, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, and Inception are completely safe. Any of these missing the nomination would be a huge surprise. True Grit and, to a slightly lesser extent, The Kids Are All Right are also on fairly solid ground. That leaves three films fighting for two slots. Which two will get in? 127 Hours is well-respected, and has performed fairly well with various guild and critic citations. Many Academy members, though, have allegedly refused to watch it because of it's graphic nature (the plot involves a long, intimate look at how one removes an arm with a blunt knife). The Town was a large box-office success, and could slip in if voters feel like rewarding the mainstream studio choice. The antithesis of mainstream is Winter's Bone, which is a tiny indie drama about meth-cooking in Missouri. Normally, I'd say it's too small a film to make it into the 10, but, for whatever reason, people love this movie, and it's looking fairly strong. Of this group, I'd say that Winter's Bone is far and away the least deserving of a nomination, but I recognize that I'm in a very small minority here.
What about other movies outside this 11? I don't really see it happening, but stranger things have occurred on nominations morning. Blue Valentine, the art-house relationship disaster movie, could conceivably sneak in. Another Year, Mike Leigh's latest attempt at middle-class ennui, was looking like a frontrunner out of Cannes, but, for whatever reason, it's completely fallen by the wayside. Other titles with a (very small) chance include Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer, and Animal Kingdom. Any of these making it would be completely gobsmacking.
My predictions, in order of likelihood:
The Social Network
The King's Speech
The Fighter
Toy Story 3
Black Swan
Inception
True Grit
The Kids Are All Right
Winter's Bone
127 Hours
Alternates: The Town, Blue Valentine

Now, to get a few other categories out of the way that most people don't care about...

Best Animated Film
I'd like to claim that this race is down to five movies, but last year's out-of-the-blue nomination for The Secret of Kells makes me doubt myself. Still, last year had five nominees, while this year will only have three (due to Academy rules limiting nominees based on the number of animated films released this year), so a giant surprise like last year's is unlikely. Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon will both almost definitely get in, and deservedly so. That leaves three horses for one slot. I would have originally thought that Despicable Me wouldn't have been a threat, but, lo and behold, it keeps showing up at the precursor awards. Plus, it made bank. Don't count it out. Sylvain Chomet has found success in the animated race before with his 2003 feature The Triplets of Belleville, and is now working from a script by the late Jacques Tati, which grants him huge amounts of nostalgia points. His entry, The Illusionist is a definite threat. Still, it's a very small film, and might not have been seen. Last but not least is Tangled, Disney's attempt at a return to the glory years. Tangled won critical respect and a big ol' pile of money, which is a nice ancillary benefit. And what about wierd left-field choices? I'm just not sure. Idiots and Angels? My Dog Tulip? The Dreams of Jinsha? It just sounds like I'm making titles up. I really don't know how to predict this one. Right now, I'm going to veer populist, but I can't guarantee that I won't have changed my mind come final predictions on Monday.
My predictions, in order of likelihood:
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Tangled
Alternate: The Illusionist, Despicable Me

Best Foreign Language Film
This category is insanely tough to predict, even though the Academy already narrowed the field down to a list of nine finalists. They are:
Biutiful-Mexico
Confessions-Japan
Dogtooth-Greece
Even the Rain-Spain
In a Better World-Denmark
Incendies-Canada
Life, Above All-South Africa
Outside the Law-Algeria
Simple Simon-Sweden
I must admit that I haven't seen any of these, and, as such, my predictions are essentially stolen from other,better-movied men. That being said, Susanne Bier is a regular player here, and her film, In a Better World, just won the Golden Globe in this category. She's probably in. Similarly, Incendies and Life, Above All are well-respected and loved efforts, and will probably show. But what next? Biutiful has gotten bitterly divide reviews, but is the only title of the nine that can claim any sort of stateside notoriety, which is a huge deal in this category. Outside the Law is a sort-of-sequel to Days of Glory, which was nominated here in 2005. Maybe voters will love this creative team again? Even the Rain is allegedly a well-made production, and Confessions is apparently to bizarre to resonate with the infamously boring nominating committee. Tragically, Simple Simon is right up their alley: sappy, sentimental, and altogether awful. I should go with that one, but I'm going out on a limb for Dogtooth; this Greek movie about incest and animal slaughter is not exactly the nominating committee's cup of tea, but it shocked the world by making it onto the shortlist, and is easily the most critically revered of the bunch. I think it made it this far--it'll make the final step (note: this time next week, I'll have seen Dogtooth, and will know how psychotic it actually is). I fully expect to mess these predictions up on nominations day, but for what it's worth...
My predictions, in order of likelihood:
In a Better World-Denmark
Incendies-Canada
Life, Above All-South Africa
Biutiful-Mexico
Dogtooth-Greece
Alternate: Simple Simon-Sweden, Outside the Law-Algeria

Best Documentary Feature
I'll be honest: I really don't know much of anything about this race, and, quite frankly, I don't care too much for it. Allegedly, this was a banner year for documentaries, but I wouldn't know. It was, however, a banner year for my documentary viewing, in that I saw two: Exit Through the Gift Shop and Restrepo. I'll be rooting for both of them, and will probably predict them both, just for funsies. Feel free to ignore this prediction list, as I'm pretty much just pulling things out of my butt here.
My Predictions, in order of likelihood:
Inside Job
Waiting For Superman
Gasland
Restrepo
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Alternate: Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, The Tillman Story

There we have it. First round done. Come back tomorrow for a look at best director and the writing categories.

In case anyone stumbles by...

2010-07-13T21:44:00.002-06:00

So, yes, the blog is pretty much dead. It got to the point where there were only two or three people reading it, and they were only doing so out of pity, so I threw in the towel. Honestly, it was kind of hard for me to not feel like a bit of a douchebag whenever I posted an 'at the blog' status update. If you really want me to keep writing, let me know, and I'll give it a shot. I suspect, however, that this post will go mostly unnoticed, and, as such, might be the last thing I put on here. It was fun while it lasted!

Best of the Decade: Volume Four

2010-04-12T11:47:00.005-06:00

Here we are, back again, a little later than anticipated; my fault, sorry, I really do suck at this whole prompt delivery of content thing. So as to quickly alleviate the terrific suspense you all must surely be feeling, we'll jump straight into it. Here we are, the ten best films of the new millennium:

10. City of God (2003)
-directed by Fernando Meirelles
City of God is all about energy. From the opening shots of children chasing a chicken through crowded city streets, to the final shot, the same children walking down an alley, City of God traps the viewer in a whirlwind of color and motion. This is easily one of the most vibrant films of the decade, whose visual style and look would go on to be mimicked by other movies (see Slumdog Millionaire, for one). No other director, however, can quite find the lightning rod on which Fernando Meirelles has so memorably placed his hand. The film never stays still: the camera paces, circles, zooms, and dances through city streets, effortlessly highlighting the beautiful cinematography of Cesar Charlone. The camera-work works to serve one hell of a story: a tale with the sweep of The Godfather, the gritty crime realities of GoodFellas, and the desperate search for redemption of Pulp Fiction. The story, taken from the autobiography of Paulo Lins, is chock-full of shocking moments of brutal violence, made all the more horrifying for their basis in fact. An enormous ensemble of characters work their way through the film, all rising and falling to whatever heights their destiny requires, yet the film never feels overstuffed, thick, or confusing. Indeed, if anything, City of God is light on its feet. It moves fast, and it doesn't linger, but City of God will knock you off your feet.

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
-directed by Peter Jackson
I suppose that, by putting just one of the Lord of the Rings movies on here, I'm allowing it to stand for the whole trilogy. As a trilogy, The Lord of the Rings is unarguably one of the most staggering cinematic achievements of all time. The logistics of the gargantuan 15-month shoot are mind-boggling. The sets designed, the costumes created, the technology invented, all in service of the singular vision of Peter Jackson, who is one of the last living directors whose films can earn the 'epic' moniker and deserve it. I choose the first film because, simply, it's the best. Contrary to the opinion of most, I think the trilogy starts at its best and gets progressively worst. The Two Towers is very, very solid, with only a few minor quibbles, but The Return of the King contains some baffling directorial decisions, some groan-inducing moments, but also, admittedly, the most stirring, huge, and powerful moments of the whole trilogy. So why do I pick the first film? For starters, it has yet to reach the towering heights that the story will reach: where Return of the King is all loud music, giant close-ups, and huge action sequences, Fellowship of the Ring has time for poetry. Easily the best-looking of the three films, the first is a lyrical poem of a road movie, allowing time for interludes of beauty and majesty. The other films have no time for dalliance, but Fellowship takes the time to admire the world in which it takes place. It's also the most well-made: Jackson's sense of pacing would never quite be as controlled, nor the story so focused, nor the actors so appealing. The Lord of the Rings is, arguably, The most impressive cinematic achievement of our time, and The Fellowship of the Ring is the best movie within the trilogy. That alone earns it a place on this list.

8. Billy Elliot (2000)
-directed by Steven Daldry
Aaaaand now for a complete change of pace. Where Lord of the Rings is unbelievably large, Billy Elliot is small, quiet, and inobstrusive. Billy Elliot, the story of a twelve year old boy from a conservative North-English coal-mining family who discovers his talent for dance, is Steven Daldry's directorial debut; Daldry would go on to make The Hours and The Reader. Fun trivia fact: Daldry is almost certainly the only director, or movie artisan of any field, to be Oscar-nominated for every film he's ever done. That's right, shoppers: Daldry is three-for-three in the nominations field. Billy Elliot is easily his best film: Daldry negotiates difficult material (striking workers, repressed feelings, forgotten dreams, perceptions of homosexuality, etc.) to make a beautifully stirring, immensely powerful film. I really can't choose which scene moves me the most: Billy dancing in defiance of his father, the letter from his mother, Billy's father breaking the strike to raise money, selling his mother's jewelry, or perhaps, the scene in which Billy says goodbye to his brother from the bus: neither can hear what the other is saying, and it's just heartbreaking. Suffice to say I'm an emotional wreck for most of this movie. All of this could have felt like a made-for-TV Movie of the Week, but Steven Daldry imbues it with a sense of quiet verisimilitude. He also succeeds in shepherding some of the best performances of the decade: Julie Walters, as Billy's burnt-out coach, Gary Lewis, as his skeptical but loving father, and, of course, Jamie Bell as Billy, who, at fourteen, showed more talent than most of us can even dream of. Man, I'm such a wuss. This movie makes me all weepy. I gotta stop writing about it before I lose more man-points.

7. Kill Bill (2004)
-directed by Quentin Tarantino
Let me start out by saying that Kill Bill is not two movies. It was written as one movie, filmed as one movie, and treated as one movie: the studio just decided, and not without good reason, that they weren't going to release a four-and-a-half hour long bloody kung fu revenge epic, so they split it up for commercial purposes. Still; one movie. Singular. That's not my opinion, that's fact. That aside, I firmly believe that Kill Bill is one of the great modern masterpieces that has been completely misunderstood in its time. Tarantino delivers, as usual, a sharply observed, darkly comic, emotionally resonant film full of blood and gore; a film with a furiously pumping heart. In Kill Bill, we witness what must be the best performances seen in a Tarantino film, as delivered by Uma Thurman and David Carradine. Bill and The Bride are two of the most fascinating characters in recent memory, and the performance that create them are beautifully realized. The fact that neither of these fine actors received Oscar nominations for their work, much less the wins they deserved, is a sin. Seriously: every time the Academy gave Million Dollar Baby an Oscar over Kill Bill, God killed a panda. Awards, I suppose, are irrelevant, but it would have been nice to see the real cinematic achievement of the year be awarded. (...Million Dollar Baby? Best Picture? Really? Man, I hate this game.) Kill Bill is masterful in all its aspects: the script switches effortlessly between moments of bizarre comedy and honest drama: Bill's monologue about Clark Kent and Superman is a highlight, as is the pitch-perfect ending, which cannot be improved upon in any way. The film looks wonderful, both in its design aspects and its cinematography, and is edited skillfully. On the surface, Kill Bill is just violent, and, admittedly, it is. But it's more than that: it's an explanation of violence. It's a meditation on cruel, violent people, and why they act the way they do. It dramatizes how no one truly believes they're a bad person, no matter what they do. It gives no one character the moral high ground, and paints no one as being 100% evil (...with, maybe, the exception of Daryl Hannah's character. Elle Driver is just plain nasty.) Kill Bill is an incredibly entertaining film, but also an important one: it shows us what happens in a world without moral accountability.

6. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
-directed by Ang Lee
God, what a beautiful movie. It pains me to put this at #6, but I can't, in good conscience, demote any of the movies above it, so here we are. Brokeback Mountain has been dismissed as 'that gay cowboy movie.' Admittedly, it's a movie about gay cowboys, but to compartmentalize it is to deny its universal power. As Roger Ebert said in his review, 'the more it understands its individual characters, the more it applies to anyone. I can imagine someone weeping at this film, identifying with it, because he always wanted to stay in the Marines, or be an artist, or a cabinet-maker.' Brokeback Mountain is about all of the things we deny ourselves because our world, our surroundings, say we can't have them. It's about the happiness we sacrifice for the appearance of normality. It's about the regrets we keep in our head for years, which we may never speak about, but will always feel. It's also, simply, a love story. Two young men meet and share one innocent summer together. Only later, when they find themselves trying to make their emotions gel with the real world, does it become a conflict of interest. It's also a study on the effects of repression on the people around the repressed: the beautiful character study of Ennis's wife Alma comes immediately to mind. It helps that the movie is staggering to look at: Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography is stunning. I feel like I can pause this film at any moment, print the frame on which I paused, and hang it as a piece of art. And...that scene. That damn scene. To avoid spoilers, I'll simply say that it involves a room, a shirt, and no words. You'll know it if you've seen the movie. That scene is possibly the only scene in all of cinema (that I know of) that can choke me up every time I watch it. This movie hurts, but in a worthwhile, bittersweet way.

5. Lost in Translation (2003)
-directed by Sophia Coppola
Speaking of bittersweet...Lost in Translation is one of the most spectacular movies I've ever seen, in that it accomplishes so much by doing so little. The characters don't say much; they don't do much. Most of the film consists of its two stars sitting in their hotel, or walking around the streets of Tokyo. The only time in the entire film in which a character chooses to say something dramatic and big and obvious, we don't get to hear it. This movie is an elegiac love-letter to all the things we can never have. Bill Murray turns in his best performance, as well as one of the seminal performances of the decade. He's so..understated, but somehow incredibly affecting. The whole movie, in fact, is incredibly understated. As I previously said in my entry on The Virgin Suicides, Sophia Coppola is a director less interested in words and actions than she is in moods and feelings. She attempts to convey, without words, loneliness, quiet desperation, contentment, and that most elusive of emotions: happiness. Coppola understands what it feels like to be completely in a moment: to look at something: a blossoming cherry tree, petals falling to the ancient stone walkways of a shrine's pavilion, and be completely, utterly happy with the world, if only for a moment. Not the giddy, showy happy: the kind of happy that settles under your stomach like a fire. Coppola understands how one moment can encapsulate everything you've ever needed to feel. Lost in Translation is absolutely full of this moments. Unlike most films, Lost in Translation understands what it is to be human.
(Fun game for people who've seen the movie: What do you think Bob says to Charlotte at the end? My favorite theory, which I think perfectly fits the movie, is this: "As soon as you can, call your husband and tell him you love him.")

4. Black Hawk Down (2001)
-directed by Ridley Scott
If any scene can rival the Brokeback Mountain scene in terms of its ability to move me to something nearing tears, the end of Black Hawk Down would be that scene. This movie is incredibly emotionally draining: We are allowed brief moments of peace at the beginning, but once the action starts, Black Hawk Down is two hours of demonstration of the costs of war. For most of the film, we, like the characters, don't get a moment that isn't drenched in blood, sweat, and the constant promise of realized mortality. There are moments of courage, of heroism so moving it's difficult to believe that it actually happened: there are also moments of anger, doubt, grief, and failure. One of the most powerful moments in the film comes at least two thirds in: a man is dying on a table, and a young medic labors to save his life. A fellow soldier assists in the improvised operation. Something goes wrong: the wounded soldier is screaming, and the medic looks up at his comrade for a moment, almost imperceptibly shaking his head. Every time I see this, I'm struck by how young they all are, how men my age are being thrown into situations that would scare the toughest and most world-weary adults. I, like the medic, see all the lost potential, the terse reality that a bullet creates when it enters a human being. At the end of the film, we encounter the same realities: there are moments of courage, of heroism, of success, but at the end of the day, there are seventeen boxes filled with wasted bodies, and countless more on the street. We all like to think that we'd be willing to die for the people we love: Black Hawk Down shows, accurately and graphically, exactly what that looks like. It shows the price that we ask young men to pay for abstract notions of patriotism and freedom. Not every cause is worthwhile, but every cause has a cost. Black Hawk Down doesn't judge what cause it worth dying for and what isn't: it simply shows who dies, and who doesn't.

3. Children of Men (2006)
-directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Here, possibly, is one of the greatest technical achievements of our time. Before I can talk about anything else, I have to talk about Children of Men's camera-work. Consider a battle-scene, near the end: a shot begins by following the main character; it follows him through an attempted murder, a desperate escape through a bus of wounded refugees, and into the middle of a firefight through a crowded building. The take lasts for at least five minutes, and every single element shown on screen is real, planned and orchestrated in perfect time. It's absolutely jaw-dropping. So is the design of the movie: never has an apocalyptic future looked so effortlessly real, so thoroughly lived-in. I could watch this movie every day and still find some new aspect of design in the background worth seeing. This movie is more detailed than a Da Vinci fresco. Superficially, the film is an action-thriller: We get characters, the characters have to run, they are chased, and eventually the plot is resolved. What makes this film special, however, is the documentary aesthetic that Children of Men achieves. I've never seen a movie that looks and feels so completely, thoroughly realistic. Children of Men doesn't stop for cliches, or Hollywood ideas of action: if someone dies, they die quickly, regardless of how important a character they might be. There are no great dramatic death scenes, filled with inspiring monologues. Someone is shot in the neck and bleeds out like a pig in a slaughterhouse. Another person is done in by a brick. Another is captured, never to be seen again. And the film, like life, just keeps moving. The world doesn't stop and take respectful notice of events. Aside from its technical achievements, which are incredibly impressive, the film is rife with great dramatic moments: take, for instance, Theo overhearing his friend explain Theo's past to someone else. Notice how the camera never leaves his face. A lesser film-maker wouldn't have had the courage to let the actor make the scene: Alfonso Cuaron, arguably the greatest working director, lets Clive Owen say all that needs to be said in his face. Other great moments include Miriam talking in the abandoned elementary school, or Jasper's final actions. This whole film is one damn string of great moments. Children of Men will be respected and studied for generations, long after crap like Twilight has melted away.

2. Almost Famous (2000)
-directed by Cameron Crowe
Finally, some levity. While the last eight films have been depressing in some way or another, Almost Famous makes me almost incalculably happy. It's like free-basing 150 CCs of joy directly into your veins. This whole movie leaves me with a big, dumb grin on my face. Much of this can be attributed to the script, which is easily one of my favorite scripts ever. It's witty, light on its feet, insightful, and wonderfully balanced. One can also blame the actors: this ensemble delivers a veritable deluge of wonderful performances: the standout is Kate Hudson as Penny Lane, the band-aid, but Patrick Fugit, Frances MacDormand, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Billy Crudup, Jason Lee, Fairuza Balk, Anna Paquin, Jay Baruchel, Zooey Deschanel, and more besides give some of the best performances of their careers. Seriously, has there been another film recently with such a bounty of great performances? Perhaps what endears this movie to me the most is how heartfelt it is: it truly loves its subject. As a fellow music-lover, I can't help but like anyone or anything that loves music so openly and innocently. Almost Famous is full of tiny moments that make the movie, set to one hell of a soundtrack: Penny Lane dancing alone in an abandoned venue to "The Wind," by Cat Stevens, Zooey Deschanel leaving home to Simon and Garfunkel's "America," the whole tour-bus singing "Tiny Dancer" as a way of showing forgiveness. This movie is funny, heartfelt, and moving. It's harder to write about happy films, as there are fewer heavy-weight words and phrases with which I can express my admiration, but trust me: Almost Famous is as deserving of all the big words it can get as any film on this list.

Now, #1. Drum-roll, please!

1. Y Tu Mama, Tambien (2002)
-directed by Alfonso Cuaron
This might be a controversial choice. Of all the movies this decade, I pick the low-budget sex-comedy-turned-road-movie? Damn straight I did. Y Tu Mama, Tambien is one of the most beautiful, intelligent, resonant movies ever made, and deserves to be treated as such. The movie is incredibly layered. On the surface, it's, like I said, a sex-comedy-turned-road-movie. Below that, it's a bittersweet coming of age tale. Below that, it's a treatise on the current state of Mexico. Below that, it's an examination of the human capacity for callousness as well as selflessness. Below that, it's about life and death. About the way people choose to live, and the way people choose to die. Y Tu Mama, Tambien works on every one of these levels, as well as others that I have yet to mention. Admittedly, this film is tough to appreciate the first time around: I don't want to spoil anything, but the film's plot unfolds in such a way that you need to see it more than once to fully appreciate the film's nuances. Things that seem irrelevant or out-of-place the first time become tragic and eloquent when you know the whole story. That's not to say, of course, that the film isn't good the first time. Far from it. Y Tu Mama, Tambien does what all the best books and movies do: they read as if you wrote them, if you had words beautiful enough to do it. As if they know how to express the primal feelings you don't have words for. They take the intangible, and turn it into something extraordinary. Y Tu Mama, Tambien is a singular, incredibly powerful cinematic experience. It can speak to anyone about anything: it understands the human condition, loves it, embraces it, and shapes itself into a beautiful mirror of it. Look into it, and you'll see more than yourself: you'll see yourself as you wish you could be, you'll see yourself as the kind of person you envision before you fall asleep at night. This movie puts a name to the things we all feel, but can never quite express.

Well, there we have it. Where did I go wrong? Where did I go right? How would you rank these movies? Don't be shy! I want to argue.

Best of the Decade: Volume 3

2010-04-08T17:01:00.005-06:00

Let's pretend that I posted something yesterday, and I'm off to a great start in my firestorm of content. Can we do that? I think we can do that.

20. Mystic River (2003)
-directed by Clint Eastwood
If nothing else, see Mystic River for its acting. Featuring an ensemble comprised of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburn, Emmy Rossum, and supremely underrated young actor Tom Guiry, Mystic River could very well be the most well-acted film of the decade. Bring some tissues, though, as this movie is anything but cheery. The plot centers around three adults who were friends in their youth (played by Penn, Bacon, and Robbins): one day, one of the children is kidnapped and held for nefarious purposes (screw discretion: molestation). The film explores how that one event creates a maelstrom of chaos that tears through otherwise happy lives. The spark that ignites the forest fire comes when Penn's daughter is murdered on the same night that Robbins (the child-abuse victim) comes home with blood on his hands. I won't explain any further, so as to avoid spoilers, but, to quote my Twitter feed, "this shit's intense." Sean Penn and Tim Robbins receive most of the acting accolades, and rightly so, but one of the stand-outs for me was young Tom Guiry, who plays the murder victim's boyfriend, who becomes the first suspect. The scene in which he finds out about his girlfriend's death, and confesses that he was going to marry her, is utterly heartbreaking. Hell, this whole movie is. Doesn't mean it's not a great movie, though.

19. WALL-E (2008)
-directed by Andrew Stanton
Sometimes, the simplest concepts are the most difficult to execute, the easiest to screw up, and the least attempted kind of film. Sometimes, though, the simplest concept is the best movie. WALL-E has a premise any child could, and does understand it: boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy and girl save the day. Who cares if the boy is a trash compactor and the girl is a glorified iPod? These are the movies, dammit. WALL-E has to be one of the bravest films in recent memory, in that it refrains from dialogue for almost half of the film. This, especially coming from a purported 'children's movie,' is astounding. Too often, movies attempt to cover up lack of content with quick editing, or an overload of content, or a frenetic pace. WALL-E is quiet, controlled, and methodical; it has enough faith in its material to sell itself. The film has plenty of time for small moments of sublime beauty: WALL-E and EVE watching the sun set over burning oil tankers, WALL-E trailing his hand through a planet's ice-ring, and, of course, the 'define dancing' scene, in which the two heroes simply move through space to music. It all sounds so very elementary, but it creates moments of pure magic. That the rest of the film is spectacular doesn't hurt, either: WALL-E looks better than any animated movie I've ever seen, no doubt partly because of cinematographer Roger Deakins' (aka God's) help with the film's look. The design, as well, is utterly engrossing. Every frame of WALL-E has something inventive, creative, beautiful, and worth seeing. And you know what? The film works wonderfully on an emotional level. The plight of WALL-E and EVE moved me far more than any of their more serious, live-action counterparts of 2008. Jamal and Latika can suck it. Benjamin and Daisy can go cry to their mothers. I don't even want to get started on Frost and Nixon. My heart belonged to a little trash compactor and his iPod.

18. Before Sunset (2004)
-directed by Richard Linklater
This recommendation comes with one corollary: to fully appreciate Before Sunset, you must first see its 90s predecessor, Before Sunrise. With its companion piece, Before Sunset reveals itself to be one of the most intelligent, bittersweet treatises on young love, failed expectations, and the slow acceptance of reality ever made. In the first film, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), spend one night together in Vienna. They're young, they're in love, and they think that doing such pedestrian things as exchanging numbers or contact information will dim the passion of their experience. Instead, they agree to meet again in Vienna in exactly six months time. In Before Sunset, Jesse and Celine meet at a book store in Paris, ten years later. The entire film consists of them walking around in real time, having a conversation. But my God, it's a conversation worth hearing. They start simply: catching up on each other's lives, finding out what kind of person they've each become, but all too soon, the bare threads of their lives begin to show, and they confess that the lives they've led aren't the lives they wanted to lead. Restrained, slightly sad, and more than a little autobiographical, Before Sunset perfectly captures the way that reality slowly takes the place of dreams, until the dreams are forgotten and the reality is set in stone. It's almost impossible to describe this film and do it justice: Watch Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Together, they're hardly longer than the second Transformers movie, and they are much, much more worth your time.

17. The Departed (2006)
-directed by Martin Scorsese
The Departed is all kinetic energy. Despite its run-time of over two hours, The Departed chases, jumps, turns, dashes, and fights through to the end, attacking the viewer like a whirlwind. Scorsese is one of the most gifted working directors, and, for The Departed, he leaves everything he has at the altar of cinema. This film's complicated web of plot threads, involving lies, deceptions, and hidden identities, is easily navigated, thanks to a literate, concise script, a sure directorial and editing hand, and virtuoso performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. The movie is jam-packed with memorable sequences: the chase to the roof-top, fueled by mistaken identities and ended in a moment of sudden violence, the shoot-out in the warehouse, and, of course, the blood-soaked finale, which will simply blow your mind (for readers who've seen the movie, I really do apologize for such an aggressive pun).

16. The Hurt Locker (2009)
-directed by Kathryn Bigelow
How does she get away with it? Kathryn Bigelow has created a movie that just seems to ooze contradictions, but somehow, improbably, it all works. The film is so quiet in its issues that some have labeled it completely apolitical, yet it's almost impossible to walk out of this film without understanding what it was trying to convey. It's a film of staggering dramatic impact, but seems to be based entirely on action sequences. The movie has little to no plot: it's a string of vignettes that happen to the same characters, yet it feels like it's telling one hell of a story. How does it all work? Maybe it's the talent involved: Kathryn Bigelow is nothing short of a genius, and brings an uncompromising artistic sensibility to the movie. It could be the acting: Jeremy Renner delivers one of the best performances of 2009, as do Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty in supporting roles. Perhaps it's the cinematography of Barry Ackroyd, which is beautiful while appearing pedestrian (yet another contradiction), and the editing of Bob Murawski and Chris Innis, which is laser-focused and intense. I don't know. It's probably all of these things. The Hurt Locker gathers a bevy of disparaging elements and fuses them into something elementally profound, pulse-pounding, and moving.

15. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
-directed by Terry George
Dramatizing a genocide isn't easy. There's something about the murder of millions that just seems...hard to bring to the screen convincingly. Maybe it's the fact that crimes occurring on a scale so large are almost impossible to fathom; that any attempts at drama will be met with skepticism. Hotel Rwanda manages the subject with dignity and grace. I think much of its success comes from the decision to compartmentalize and reduce the scale of the events portrayed: director Terry George uses the events happening at the Milles Collines hotel to represent the event as a whole. Amazingly, it works. We almost never leave the confines of the hotel, yet are given a clear, resonant picture of the chaos that happens outside its walls. Indeed, setting the film at the Milles Collines has an ancillary benefit: as the story is ultimately one of hope, its body count is relatively low. To create a more graphic representation of the Rwandan genocide would have been too much for most viewers. Luckily for us, the story is one of hope and redemption. If every death is a tragedy, than every life saved is a miracle. Hotel Rwanda is in the business of miracles, and, after watching the film, it's hard not to feel like you got your money's worth of miracles.

14. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
-directed by Baz Luhrmann
I really don't know how to approach this film objectively. This was one of the keystone movies of my adolescence, in that I watched it early, loved it, and watched it again and again. There's something in the pulsing energy, the frenetic but not chaotic pitch, the perfect balance of sublime silliness and melodrama-level tragedy, that just draws me in. And why shouldn't it? Moulin Rouge! is a spectacularly well-made film: everything looks great, everything works great. The music numbers are inspired, the performances are pitch-perfect, and the story is, if not dazzlingly original, dazzling in its execution. And you know what? This movie is just plain fun. Not all of it, admittedly, but the parts that go for levity pay off wonderfully. The movie is compelling drama: though I've since moved past such a phase, my sister still cries every time she watches it, even though she's seen it more times than is possible to count with all her fingers and toes. Moulin Rouge! is a bit silly, but it knows that, it embraces that, and it uses that to its advantage. The film's heart is in exactly the right place: it breathes beauty, freedom, truth, and love, and encourages all viewers to do the same.

13. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
-directed by Charlie Kaufman
Here's a misunderstood masterpiece if there ever was one. On its release, Synecdoche, New York was dismissed as thick, difficult, and nearly incomprehensible. Only Roger Ebert stood on its side, and recently christened it the best film of the decade in his version of the list I'm transcribing now. Well, to put it simply: Roger Ebert is right, the other critics are stupid. End of story. Now, I'm not saying that Synecdoche, New York is easy: I've seen it at least six times since its release, and I'll be damned if I can tell you what actually happens in the movie. On the surface, it tells the story of theater director Caden Cotard, who attempts to stage a play encompassing the entirety of the human experience. I'm not even going to attempt to describe what happens from there, but, honestly, it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter. The whole is less relevant than the sum of its parts. Each scene is beautifully crafted, well acted, and, above all, exquisitely written. I honestly think this could be the greatest screenplay ever written. Writer/director Charlie Kaufman imbues his scenes with such tenderness, such insight, that they become poetry. The last monologue of the film deserves to be recognized as a genuine piece of literature, and treated as such. Who cares if everyone who watches this film doesn't understand every part of it? There's something worthwhile here for everyone; more than something. Lots of things. Synecdoche, New York is an abyss which, if one stares long enough, will begin to stare back.

12. Waltz With Bashir (2008)
-directed by Ari Folman
For me, Waltz With Bashir is the cinematic equivalent of a sucker punch to the stomach. No, more than that: it's being beaten by a baseball bat, it's being obliterated by a locomotive. It's having your soul sucked out through your teeth. Sounds fun, right? Waltz With Bashir is possibly the only film of its kind: it's an animated documentary that uses a macabre, surrealist lens to make sense of a massacre. The visuals are astounding. From the opening moment, in which a wild dog charges down the street, to the closing shot, in which the viewer's animation safety net has been brutally substituted for live action, Waltz With Bashir provides an endless parade of moments both horrifying and fascinating in their combination of unspeakable crimes and surreal beauty. The scene, roughly twenty minutes into the film, in which a young Ari Folman and his two friends in the war rise out of the sea to approach a screaming crowd, illuminated by flares, still sticks with me. I don't know how to describe this movie, visually speaking. It's completely unique. It's fascinating. It's unsettling. The whole film strikes an uncanny balance between interest and revulsion: through the unreal medium of animation, Waltz With Bashir strikes at the heart of how much can go wrong in a world fueled by the dark side of human nature.

11. Gosford Park (2001)
-directed by Robert Altman
Alright, it's time for a tempo change. Gosford Park isn't exactly a feel-good comedy, but it's much brighter than the past few entries. Even if it's a murder mystery. The point isn't the murder here: the point is the complex web of human interaction that takes place between the rich guests of a hunting party in 1930s England, the servants of its well-staffed house, and the flashpoints of conflict when the two socioeconomic worlds merge. Gosford Park is one of the most engaging, complex, witty, labyrinthine films I've seen in a long time. It's almost impossible to grasp the full implications of every action on first viewing, but even for the casual viewer there's many a gem to be found. The acting ensemble is both gigantic and talented: Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Kelly MacDonald, Emily Watson, and Michael Gambon immediately stand out in my mind, but this could because their names are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. Gosford Park contains no bad performances, and almost no mediocre ones (sorry, Ryan Phillipe). The web of humanity that the script casts is almost impossibly interesting: I feel like I could watch this movie every day for a year and find something new every time. Robert Altman, one of America's great directors, shepherds his bemused herd of actors through the plot's twists and turns with wonderful dexterity. Watching Altman direct an ensemble like this is like watching a master pianist use the entire range of a grand piano.

Tune in...later (I'm not promising tomorrow this time. If not tomorrow, then Sunday, perhaps?) as I reveal the top 10 of the decade. Any predictions?

Best of the Decade: Volume 2

2010-04-06T13:20:00.005-06:00

Back again, and ready to list so hard your metacarpals fall off. It's that kind of day. Moving right along then, we'll continue the best films of the decade. Today: #30-21.

30. A History of Violence (2005)
-directed by David Cronenberg
I love this movie because viewers can get exactly as much out of it as they like. If you want a standard action-thriller, you've got it. If you want a familial drama that explores the passed-on similarities between parents and posterity, you've got it. If you want an intellectual piece about man as animal, and the prevalence of violence in society, you've got it. This film offers an abyss of thought, but never foists it on the viewer. In other words, if you feel like interpreting things ad infinitum, this movie works great. If you'd like to watch Viggo Mortensen break several noses, the movie's great for that as well. It's rare that a film like this comes along; one that seamlessly merges stereotypical action violence with stronger thematic undertones. Director David Cronenberg's trademark, however, is doing just that. Watch for a brilliant turn by William Hurt: he enters the film at the very end, and only for about ten minutes, but he leaves an unforgettable mark on the film.

29. Collateral (2004)
-directed by Michael Mann
Here's another film that plays in the intersection of art and commerce. On the surface, Collateral is a fast-paced action film, involving hit-men, car chases, and gun-fights on the elevated train. All this is just fine, but alone, it wouldn't be enough to get the movie on this particular list. Director Michael Mann takes the material and elevates it with style, substance and great performances. Special mention must go to Tom Cruise: though I can't say I'm a fan of his, Collateral, like Magnolia and Born on the Fourth of July, show Cruise to be an actor of subtlety, range, and unplumbed depth. His Vincent, a world-weary hit man with a knack for words, is a great creation. Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett-Smith are more than up to the task of matching him, however, and both give finely tuned performances. Mann's signature directorial style is easily evident here, as he returns to the crime world in LA after so memorably capturing it in Heat. The film's script is witty and literate; the monologue about Santa Claus and his ugly, unloved brother, Black Peter, is a wonderful highlight.

28. The Virgin Suicides (2000)
-directed by Sophia Coppola
Let me just get this out there: I love Sophia Coppola. I love her writing, which is poetic without being stilted. I love her style, Which is fluid, surreal, almost dream-like, while taking place in seemingly mundane environments. I even love her employment of indie bands for soundtracking, even if it launched the heinous 'Nick and Nora'-style movies that we get now. She's only made three movies, but two of them will appear on this list, and the other easily could have as well. The Virgin Suicides is Coppola's most lyrical piece; she errs toward poetry and visual beauty more often than not, and it's never more evident than in this adaptation of the already poetic and dreamlike novel by Jeffrey Eugedenides. This film eloquently and touchingly captures a snapshot of youth, both before and after the loss of innocence. The Virgin Suicides evokes, perhaps, a warm summer, a chat by the fire, a night with a lover: things that are beautiful and cherished, but disappear all too easily. More than any other director working today, Sophia Coppola paints with tones and moods more than with words or images, and her films are great because of it.

27. Sunshine (2007)
-directed by Danny Boyle
I'll be the first to say it: Sunshine isn't perfect. I'm not the biggest fan of the last fifteen to twenty minutes; I'll admit the film very nearly loses itself before finding redemption in the last two shots. What comes before that, however, is so accomplished, so memorable, so balls-out brave, that I'm willing to forgive the film its mis-steps. Sunshine is valiant stab at achieving 'hard' science fiction, aka science fiction with an emphasis on science rather than fiction. Danny Boyle seems to be channeling Kubrick in the film's early passages, which build up a slow, creeping sense of unease that burns under the film like a persistent itch. The design of the film is absolutely spectacular: made for a fraction of the budgets of larger sci-fi films, Sunshine looks much, much better and far more realistic. The Icharus 2 is one of recent cinema's most memorable set-pieces. To the fantastic sense of pacing, eye for style, and beautiful designs, the film adds an accomplished ensemble: Cillian Murphy, Cliff Curtis, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans, Troy Garity, Benedict Wong, and Hiroyuki Sanada create a perfect machine of believability. Rarely does one find such a fleshed-out, developed cast. As if all this weren't enough, Boyle and screen-writer Alex Garland play with the idea of what happens when you find and converse with God.

26. No Country For Old Men (2007)
-directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
This is easily one of the most technically proficient, classically well-made films in recent memory. Everything in this film approaches perfection: the pacing is almost unbearable, and I mean that in the best way. Suspense builds and builds and builds, pay-offs come fast and unbidden, and then the slow, steady building of tension starts again. This film hits you like the ocean: slowly building, moving faster and faster until you're slapped by a wall of water, and then as quickly as it came, it's gone again, and there's nothing you can do but wait for the next wave. The performances are exercises in brilliance: Javier Bardem, as Anton Chigurgh, the angel of death, gathers most of the laurels, but it's hard to ignore Josh Brolin, Kelly MacDonald, and Woody Harrelson acting for all they're worth. The script is filled with moments of cold, stark beauty that pierce like wind on a winter day. So why isn't this one higher on the list? I don't know. If this were a list of greats, it'd be near the top. I suppose my only complaint about No Country For Old Men is it doesn't quite stir the emotion in me that the other films on this list do. Not that this film doesn't stir any emotion: I'm just saying that what the films higher on this list do to me mean more than the technical perfection of this one.

25. Minority Report (2002)
-directed by Steven Spielberg
Say what you like about Spielberg: some people complain, saying he's too mainstream, too sentimental, too commercial. Well, yes: Spielberg is mainstream, commercial, and sentimental. He's also created some of the most iconic films in memory. I've always been one to prefer Spielberg's more 'out there' attempts to his Big, Serious Dramas. In other words, I'll take Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and Raiders of the Lost Ark any day over Schindler's List. Minority Report tiptoes the line between the two kinds of Spielberg: yes, the film is quite serious, but in a rather goofy sci-fi sense of the word. I mean 'goofy' with the best possible connotations: I love this film. I love the performances (even Tom Cruise), I love the gorgeous futuristic design, I love the impressionistic cinematography of modern-day demigod Janusz Kaminski. I love the film as a treatise on free will. And, God help me, I love the moments of levity, of which there are many. This film is commercial, mainstream, and sentimental, but it's also flat-out dazzling.

24. Adaptation (2002)
-directed by Spike Jonze
Charlie Kaufman. What can I say about Charlie Kaufman? In short: he's the most inventive writer working today. Most people will hold up Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as the peak of his creativity, but I prefer his other films; specifically, this one, the film in which, for whatever reason, he writes himself into the story. More than that, he writes his own story: attempting to adapt The Orchid Thief. He dramatizes this while dramatizing the book itself, and then throwing good taste out the window to make the kind of ending that he himself promises in the movie that he'll never write. It's crazy, meta fun at its absolute best. Toss in Nicholas Cage, who here proves that he's a fantastic actor when he wants to be, Chris Cooper, being both incredibly compelling and completely insane, and Meryl Streep as a journalist turned drug-runner, and you've got something completely and utterly unique. This is undoubtedly one of the best screenplays of the decade, but it's also one of the best films.

23. Undertow (2004)
-directed by David Gordon Green
Before he was making stoner comedies like Pineapple Express, David Gordon Green was a real film-maker. Not just a film-maker: an artist. In Undertow, Green reaches the zenith of his creative talent, bringing a perfect storm of story, actors, and style to create a film unlike any other. Green's style is often described as 'Southern Gothic,' but I prefer Southern Surrealism, in that his films take place in the deep south, and watching them feels like walking through a dream. On the surface, Undertow is a chase movie about a pair of adolescents running from their blood-crazed uncle. To give a plot description, however, is to undersell the quiet, haunting nature of this little film. It's jam-packed with little moments of surreal beauty and oddness; very few films can get away with a long, involved monologue about chigger bites without seeming stupid. Undertow does it in spades.

22. Munich (2005)
-directed by Steven Spielberg
Munich is a bit of a Spielberg rarity in that it doesn't fit comfortably into either of his accepted personas: it's certainly not goofy or fun-filled, but it doesn't quite gel with his accepted dramatic style. Munich is a large, angry movie with lots of questions, but no answers. The plot recounts the events following the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics; namely, a 'counter-terrorism' unit whose principle goal is to eliminate enemies of Israel through bombs, murder, and other forms of subterfuge. Munich adroitly displays a never-ending cycle of violence, but has no easy answers for how to stop it. To augment the film's intellectual maturity, Spielberg brings the full brunt of his film-making experience, crafting a taut, engrossing thriller that never feels like its beating you over the head with its message.

21. 28 Days Later (2003)
-directed by Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle is one of the most visually interesting directors at work, and what strikes me most about 28 Days Later are the visuals. Has there ever been a more effective prologue than Cillian Murphy's long, solitary walk through a deserted London? The images Boyle captures are beautifully evocative: a taxi weaving through a city of the dead, a city on fire, framed by wind turbines, a rain-soaked castle filled with soldiers and women in red dresses. What's all the more impressive is that all this beauty comes in the midst of a graphically violent zombie movie. Boyle effortlessly meshes his more lyrical interludes with truly horrific encounters with the recently un-deceased. Throw in musing on the state of mankind (best exemplified during the final dinner, in which Christopher Eccleston's character says that all he sees is people killing people), and you've got something special, something far more worthwhile than Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle's best-known film.

I'll keep cranking these out later, then. Twenty more to go, and I figure, just for funsies, I'll do a decade-wide Oscar ballot, which is to say, my picks for the five best in every category this decade. Will the fun never end?

The Best of the Decade: Volume 1

2010-04-05T14:26:00.003-06:00

Hello all! I realize that it's been forever-and-a-half since I last posted on here, and I apologize for that. In hopes of earning your good graces again, I've prepared a veritable barrage of marketable content that I'm going to rain on your unsuspecting minds like fire-bombs on Dresden. As a sort of welcome-back celebration, I've decided to tackle the topic that most other movie-related sites have long since covered: the best film of the last decade: the 2000s. The Aughts. The Naughties. The Thousands. Whatever you feel like calling them. Point is, there were movies. Some were good, many were bad, many more were ball-shrivellingly terrible, and a few were great. This week, I intend to introduce you to the great ones. So, for your viewing pleasure, I've compiled a list of the 40 best films of the Aught/Naughties/Thou--last decade.
A reminder: I say 'best,' but I probably mean 'favorites.' I'm too arrogant to think that I don't have good taste, so, chances are, I think my favorites list isn't too shabby as far as quality is concerned. That being said, bear in mind that this list is nothing if not subjective. If you disagree with something, which I'm sure you'll do at least once, then there's a fairly good chance that you're right. I'm just going to pretend that you aren't. So there. Anyhow, without further ado: I'll do ten movies a day, starting today, hopefully ending Friday. We'll see.

40. Lat den Ratte Komma In (Let the Right One In) (2008)
-Directed by Tomas Alfredson
Screw you dumb kids and your ridiculous Twilight. If I want to subject myself to a vampire movie, I don't want angsty sparkling Mormon vampires. I want my vampires bloody, angry, and overall monstrous. They're MONSTERS, dammit. Twilight may not deliver as a vampire movie, but Let the Right One In certainly does. Taking place in Sweden, its country of origin, Let the Right One In explores the relationship between Oskar, a bullied, angry twelve-year-old, and Eli, a vampire who has been twelve for a very long time. The movie's greatest strength is that it never shies away from the brutal content associated with its subjects: this vampire is more Nosferatu than Dracula. The fact that the vampire in question looks like an adolescent girl makes the moments of brutal violence all the more shocking. Let the Right One In has the audacity to turn Eli into a tool of Oskar's adolescent angst and rage. As I'm sure you can imagine, the idea of every pubescent tween having a monster in tow willing to wreak havoc on whomever they like is more than terrifying. The film uses this plot device to thoroughly explore the psychological issues it addresses, while never losing its horror-film edge: Let the Right One In is not for the faint of heart. Those who can stomach it, however, will find one of the only truly satisfying horror films of the past ten years.

39. Sin City (2005)
-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
I'm just not sure how to classify this movie. It contains plenty of action, but doesn't feel like an action film. It has all the trappings of film-noir, but doesn't quite feel right as a film-noir. It's certainly not a sit-down drama, but it offers compelling emotional moments. Perhaps Sin City is truly unique. Certainly its visual style has yet to be equalled, despite the efforts of a few copycat films. The black-and-white/negative/three-color effects are gorgeous in a way that doesn't take away from the action prevented. Similarly, the three-story structure doesn't distract from the film's pulsing energy: rather, the presence of different narratives clashing against each other serves to heighten Sin City's frenetic intensity. Beautifully shot, skillfully directed, and effortlessly acted by a gaggle of talented thespians: Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, and Brittany Murphy immediately come to mind, but the whole film is packed with wonderful performances. Sin City is a singularly unique cinematic experience.

38. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
-directed by Peter Weir
Everything about this film's marketing; the title, the posters, the publicity shots, are trying desperately to convince you that this movie is some lost B-movie from the 60s, released on a whim. How wrong they are. Master and Commander doubles as both a pulse-pounding action film and an engrossing meditation on the consequences created by every action. Sure, there are huge battle scenes, epic set-pieces filmed with an eye for entertainment, but the film never allows the viewer to forget that the rush of battle always leads to the grim morning-after realization of the price that has been paid. I'm making this movie sound like a downer, but it isn't. At its heart, it's a sea-faring adventure that just happens to retain its conscience when other action films happily make theirs walk the plank. An extra goodie: the film is rife with wonderful violin/cello duets performed by the actors themselves.

37. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
-directed by Ang Lee
There have been larger kung-fu films recently: grander scales, bigger action scenes, more beautiful vistas. None of these, however, can claim the emotional heart and maturity that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can. The film's plot, which revolves around two pairs of lovers, one in their reckless youth, the other in repressed old age, never takes a false step: it avoids becoming the cliche that it could have easily became, and instead cuts right to the center of the issue at hand: the things people are willing to do when they have decided that love is the motivating factor. It's a nice ancillary benefit that these actions just happen to take the form of kick-ass fight scenes, beautifully choreographed by Yuen Woo-Ping. The fight scenes are instantly iconic and memorable: Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh soaring over the roof-tops of a sleeping palace, Zhang Ziyi destroying a tavern as a lesson in manners, the wonderful climactic fight in the bamboo grove. And who could forget, of course, the final duel between the two lead women: if I've ever seen a better fight in a film, I can't remember it.

36. Grizzly Man (2005)
-directed by Werner Herzog
One of only two documentaries to find their way onto this list, Grizzly Man is a bizarrely fascinating portrayal of Timothy Treadwell, the 'Grizzly Man,' who lived for thirteen summers in close contact with Grizzly bears in the Alaskan wilderness until he was mauled and killed with his girlfriend. Werner Herzog is never sentimental or overly sympathetic: he shows us Timothy at his best and most philanthropic, but also shows him when he is petulant, immature, and selfish. Herzog, through testimonials, interviews, and footage that was shot by Treadwell himself, paints a picture of a troubled individual, and the effect that his life and death had on the people around him. Most people use 'documentary' as a synonym for boring, but I was completely engrossed by Grizzly Man from start to finish.

35. The Hours (2002)
-directed by Steven Daldry
Three women, three parties, three eras, one day. The Hours adapts Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer-winning masterpiece to capture the lives of three women as they plan their own parties. One must first give special mention to the acting: Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep are at their best in the three lead performances, and receive considerable support from the likes of Ed Harris, John C. Reilly, and Miranda Richardson. The Hours tells three different stories, but never allows its characters to get lost within their own labyrinth. The film weaves each of the three threads together with skill and confidence, tying in the recurring themes as each character faces their fate. Of special note is Phillip Glass's evocative score, which is almost obsessive-compulsive in its ability to uncover hidden meaning through repetition. This film is ambiguous, challenging, dark, and altogether satisfying.

34. Requiem For a Dream (2000)
-directed by Darren Aronofksy
It's quite hard to place this film in any sort of list. Yes, it is very well-made. Yes, it's incredibly effective in what it sets out to do. It's just so...so...Soul-destroying. Depressing. Suicide-inducing. So, to place it on a list, I have to reconcile my immense respect for it as a piece of art with the terrible, terrible feelings it inspires. Perhaps I should just focus on the acting: most impressive is Ellen Burstyn, whose Sarah Goldfarb is one of the most impressive creations of the new millennium. Jennifer Connolly is no slouch, however, and turns in a performance if untold depth and resonance. Perhaps I ought to focus on the direction: Darren Aronofsky whips out every trick in the cinematic playbook to viscerally evoke the highs and lows of drug addiction. Perhaps I should focus on the technical elements: the quick, merciless editing, the blankly effective cinematography, the haunting and memorable Clint Mansell score. Maybe if I draw attention to these aspects, I can pretend the movie doesn't make me feel so bad. Maybe...

33. Memento (2001)
-directed by Christopher Nolan
Memento begins with an amazing concept: it sets out to tell its story in reverse-chronological order. In other words, it goes backwards. This alone, done successfully, would be a significant cinematic achievement. Christopher Nolan doesn't just do it, however: he does it with style, insight, and wit. Memento is incredibly well-made, insightfully written, and contains one hell of a twist, which must have been difficult to pull off, given that the movie starts at the end. Structurally, Memento is innovative, but it wouldn't be nearly the film that it is if it weren't a great story in its own right.

32. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
-directed by Guillermo Del Toro
Pan's Labyrinth offers one of the richest, most creative cinematic worlds to grace the silver screen in recent memory. Pan's Labyrinth takes its main fantasy plot, involving Ophelia, a young girl who must deal with fauns, giant toads, fairies, pale men with tiny legs, and all manner of fantasy beasties to take her place in the Underground Kingdom, and seamlessly integrates it with the harsh realities associated with living in Franco-era Spain. The film effortlessly transitions from glossy fantasy to guerrilla war film and back again without breaking a sweat. When the two worlds intersect, it's both beautiful and shocking. The cast is strong all-around, with a wonderful breakout performance from Ivana Baquero, with fantastic supporting performances from Sergi Lopez, as Captain Vidal, and the always-great Maribel Verdu as a house-keeper turned double agent. Pan's Labyrinth would be unable to achieve greatness, however, without the signature power of its visuals, namely the painterly, impressionistic cinematography, and the macabre, surreal production design. Special mention goes to the makeup department for creating The Pale Man, one of recent cinema's most indelible monsters.

31. The Incredibles (2004)
-directed by Brad Bird
Pixar has been consistently churning out quality film after quality film: almost any of their films this decade would make a worthy addition to the list. Sadly, I can't find room for all of their films, but I certainly intend to include a few. Among them is The Incredibles, arguably Pixar's most complex effort. The Incredibles paints a multi-faceted portrait of the lives of the mediocre, and those who can't quite fit in. What's more, they paint this portrait with super-heroes. Sure, there are insights about life in America's middle-class, but they come in between fighting killer robots and vanquishing super-villains. The Incredibles works as an action movie, as a comedy (really, this movie's flat-out hilarious), and a family drama. Doing all this with characters who can turn invisible, stretch themselves, freeze things, etc., is no easy task, but Brad Bird and team are more than up to the task. The Incredibles isn't a great family film. It's a great film, period.

There's volume 1. Tune in later for the rest. Until then, what do you say? Solid choices? Not so much? Anything I'm rating too high? Any predictions for the #1 spot? Let me know.

Best of the Decade, Volume 5: Wrapping it up

2010-03-31T16:13:00.002-06:00

So, it occurred to me that 40 is a ridiculous number for a best of' list. Admittedly, my list was 40 movies long due to a clerical error and a bit of laziness (ie, by the time I realized that I didn't have 50 movies listed, I had already posted ten of them, and didn't feel like going back and redoing it all). So, as a little bonus, I figured I'd toss in ten honorable mentions that y'all can use to fill out my list to a respectable 50. They are, in alphabetical order:

Across the Universe (2007)
-directed by Julie Taymor
Antichrist (2009)
-directed by Lars Von Trier
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
-directed by Andrew Dominik
Away From Her (2007)
-directed by Sarah Polley
Capote (2005)
-directed by Bennett Miller
In Bruges (2008)
-directed by Martin McDonagh
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
-directed by Quentin Tarantino
Junebug (2005)
-directed by Phil Morrison
Monster (2003)
-directed by Patty Jenkins
There Will Be Blood (2007)
-directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Fun stats: counting those honorable mentions, the year with the most entries on the list is 2005 with seven entries (Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Grizzly Man, A History of Violence, Junebug, Munich, Sin City), and the year with the fewest entries is a tie between 2009 (Antichrist, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds) and 2006 (Children of Men, The Departed, Pan's Labyrinth).

Now, on to part 2: my unofficial Oscar ballot for the decade. The best in every subject. Also in alphabetical order, though the winner will be in bold. Also included, just for funsies, is an honorable mention. Because you can never have enough.
(note: The Lord of the Rings could dominate the tech categories, in that all three films probably deserve a place on the list. So as to promote spreading the wealth among films, if I feel a Rings movie deserves to be in the top 5, I've simply selected the installment of the trilogy that I feel best exemplifies the category at hand.)

Picture
Almost Famous
Billy Elliot
Black Hawk Down
Brokeback Mountain
Children of Men
City of God
Kill Bill
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Lost in Translation
Y Tu Mama, Tambien
Honorable Mention: Gosford Park

Director
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men
Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Ang Lee-Brokeback Mountain
Quentin Tarantino-Kill Bill
Honorable Mention: Ferndando Meirelles, City of God

Actor
Jamie Bell, Billy Elliot
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Sean Penn, Mystic River
Honorable Mention: Bill Murray, Lost in Translation

Actress
Ellen Burstyn, Requiem For a Dream
Ellen Page, Hard Candy
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Charlize Theron, Monster
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill
Honorable Mention: Julie Christie, Away From Her

Supporting Actor
David Carradine, Kill Bill
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Honorable Mention: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Junebug
Kate Hudson, Almost Famous
Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Mo’Nique, Precious
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain
Honorable Mention: Meryl Streep, Adaptation

Original Screenplay
Almost Famous
Gosford Park
Kill Bill
Synecdoche, New York
Y Tu Mama, Tambien
Honorable Mention: Lost in Translation

Adapted Screenplay
Adaptation
Before Sunset
Brokeback Mountain
No Country For Old Men
The Virgin Suicides
Honorable Mention: The Departed

Art Direction
Avatar
Children of Men
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Fall
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Honorable Mention: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Costume Design
The Cell
The Fall
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Marie Antoinette
Moulin Rouge!
Honorable Mention: Memoirs of a Geisha

Visual Effects
Avatar
King Kong
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Honorable Mention: Transformers

Makeup
The Cell
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Pan’s Labyrinth
Honorable Mention: La Vie En Rose

Film Editing
Black Hawk Down
City of God
The Hurt Locker
No Country For Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
Honorable Mention: The Departed

Cinematography
Roger Deakins-The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Rodrigo Prieto-Brokeback Mountain
Emmanuel Lubezki-Children of Men
Christopher Doyle-Hero
Eduard Grau-A Single Man
Honorable Mention: Slawomir Idziak, Black Hawk Down

Original Score (Four-way tie. Because I can't decide, and it's my blog.)
Alexandre Desplat-The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Phillip Glass-The Hours
Howard Shore-The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Abel Korneziowski-A Single Man
James Newton-Howard-The Village
Honorable Mention: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Sound Mixing
Avatar
Black Hawk Down
King Kong
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
WALL-E
Honorable Mention: Children of Men

Sound Effects Editing
Black Hawk Down
King Kong
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Transformers
WALL-E
Honorable Mention: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Animated Film
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Monsters, Inc.
WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir
Honorable Mention: Persepolis

Foreign Language Film
City of God-Brazil
Let The Right One In-Sweden
Pan’s Labyrinth-Mexico
Waltz With Bashir-Israel
Y Tu Mama, Tambien-Mexico
Honorable Mention: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-Taiwan

Well, there we have it. Questions? Comments? Observations? Care to break that four-way music tie for me?

Review: Alice in Wonderland

2010-03-10T17:24:00.003-07:00

Alice in Wonderland

*1/2/****

I had to think for quite some time about the rating that Alice and Wonderland would receive. Was it really bad enough to warrant less than two stars? I thought for a while, attempting to come up with reasons that would endear this film to me slightly, and, quite frankly, I drew a blank. It's an entertaining enough film on its own terms, but it's certainly not a good film. And, honestly, if removed from 'its own terms,' which is to say with friends in a crowded theater, I don't think I would have enjoyed myself here. Hence the one-and-a-half stars. The half is for the enjoyment that it offers while in the company of others.
I think it's quite safe to say that Tim Burton has hit a creative rut. With the exception of the muted, lovely Corpse Bride, Burton hasn't made an original (aka not a sequel, franchise, or previous work) film since Ed Wood in 1994. Nor has his style changed in any discernible fashion. No, let me rephrase that: his macabre, Gothic affectations, which once felt fresh and innovative, have since congealed into something stilted, dull, and altogether devoid of life. Alice in Wonderland is, without a doubt, one of his most generic, lifeless films yet.
Mind you, I've never found myself squarely in the Tim Burton camp. I'll admit that he can make wonderful films when he wants to (though he hasn't wanted to since the early 90s), but, generally speaking, he's not a very interesting film-maker. I've always thought that Burton would be an endlessly fascinating painter or sculptor: the images and designs he conjures are extraordinary. But is film really the correct medium for him to manifest his images? Yes, he creates bizarre, surreal tableaus, but he rarely marries them to any form of film-making style. Tim Burton, technically speaking, fits the traditional definition of an auteur by virtue of his distinct visual style, endlessly repeating themes, and slave-like dedication to perfecting his 'type' of movie. Yet, for all that, I've always found him to be lacking the cinematic bravura and visual panache that most other anointed auteurs possessed. In laymans' terms? Tim Burton makes pretty pictures, but he doesn't make interesting movies. His compositions are tedious, his bag of film techniques woefully limited, and his structure repetitive. Every now and again, Burton uses his few tricks to makes something wonderfully compelling. Alice is not one of those circumstances.
I suppose what surprised me more than the lack of directorial flair was how uninspired I felt Wonderland's design to be. On the surface, it's all dazzling, but if one looks for a bit, it's all too easy to see the same basic machine that labor behind every Tim Burton world, and I, for one, am getting a little bit tired of them. The decision to shoot this film almost entirely on green-screen doesn't help either. I don't have a problem with CGI when necessary, but it's all too easily used to make up for laziness.
Speaking of laziness, I confess that I find myself less than thrilled by the acting involved. The notable exception is Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, who is by turns petulant and intimidating. She alone captures the right amount of crazy that the film needs. I suppose I can't be too hard on Mia Wasikowska: the role of Alice has always been one of a passive viewer, so I guess I shouldn't fault her for being nothing more than politely confused throughout the film. Anne Hathaway is likable as always, but skin deep. And Johnny Depp. God, Johnny Depp. I regard Depp as one of the better working actors, whose chameleon-like abilities allow him to completely and believable immerse himself in any role. Readers, I've been shown what happens when Johnny Depp takes it too far. Never mind that every now and again he adopts a Scottish brogue only to drop it in favor of a silly lisp. He just doesn't feel...authentic. I know, I know, he's the Mad Hatter, he's not authentic, he's mad. But I never believed for a second that I was watching anything other than Johnny Depp flop around with metric tons of makeup. There was no character: only a celebrity seeing how goofy he could get before his producers committed suicide.
And...that dance. That goddamn dance. The moment in which the movie becomes a parody of itself. The moment in which the movie gives the finger to the audience and gleefully jumps off the rails. Like the whole third act, really. Was a large battle scene, complete with a Lord-of-the-Rings-inspired catapult, really necessary? Complete with punny one-liners? Anyone who argues for the dazzling originality of Alice's vision must tell me how this battle scene, looking for all the world like a low-rent Narnia movie, possibly serves to further Burton's singular achievement. Because it feels like desperation to me. No, not desperation. Apathy. This whole damn movie reeks of apathy. Apathy in Mediocreland. New title. Go nuts.

Review: Shutter Island

2010-03-10T17:01:00.003-07:00

Shutter Island

**/****

Shutter Island. Hmmm. It's hard to describe my feelings for this one. Let's try this for an opening bit: never have I seen so many incredibly talented artists doing such admirable work in service of such a worthless effort. Shutter Island follows Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) and partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they travel to Shutter Island, a penitentiary for the criminally insane. One of the island's prisoners have gone missing, and the hospital staff has requested assistance. What begins as a routine missing-person case quickly twists into a labyrinth of lies, charades, and emotional baggage.
Let me start off by saying that almost everyone involved with this film is immensely talented, and is clearly giving it their all. Leonardo Dicaprio, who has been described as 'a character actor stuck in a leading man's body' produces yet another intriguing character study; doubtlessly, he's one of Hollywood's best young actors. Mark Ruffalo provides a believable and charismatic foil for Dicaprio's sullen brooding. The 'evil psychiatrist' roles are fleshed out beautifully by Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow, and extended cameos from the likes of Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, and Jackie Earle Haley are intensely acted and fiercely memorably. The below-the-line work is stunning: cinematographer Robert Richardson, a frequent Scorcese collaborator, creates images of astounding beauty, with almost tactile stylizations. Production design by Dante Ferretti is inspired by Grand Guignol horror films, but takes on its own noirish sensibilities. Thelma Schoonmaker, editing demigod, effortlessly draws tense rhythms from the scenes and creates a pushing, grating suspense that will leave more than a few viewers shaken. And of course, one must mention the maestro behind it all, Martin Scorsese: a vibrant, kinetic film-maker who appeals to all five senses, Scorsese is at the top of his game here. The flash-back sequences in particular are stunning: one scene, set in Auschwitz, in which American soldiers gun down unarmed prisoners, is an astounding piece of film-making: its unrelenting horror combined with its ability to immerse the viewer, did more to dramatize the horrors of The Holocaust for me than the entirety of the more stiffly and formally made Schindler's List (...with the exception of the Warsaw ghetto liquidation sequence. That still messes with my head). Additionally, the imagined scenes between Dicaprio's character and his dead wife are jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

So where the hell did this film go so terribly, terribly wrong?

The review has been glowing thus far, so I imagine you must think I'm over the moon about this film. Wrong. I very, very strongly disliked it. That second star is in acknowledgement of the potential film, lurking under the surface of this one. Shutter Island could have been a masterpiece; instead, it's well-made crap. My best guess for pointing out where this one shot off the rails must point toward the screenplay. No, before the screenplay even: the story. The source material, a Dennis Lehane mystery potboiler, is just a terrible, terrible story that follows this infuriating movement in Hollywood that dictates that all horror/thriller films must have some grand twist at the very end. Well, readers, Shutter Island has a twist, but what's the point? Does the point deepen the story, or comment upon it? Does it enrich the viewing experience? No. It's done entirely for that 'Gotcha!' moment that, for whatever reason, our moviegoing culture has deemed necessary. Well, I may have been gotten, but I sure didn't like it. An ending like this only serves to show that the writers and film-makers were too nervous about the quality of their story to allow it to speak for itself. Throw in a hokey twist, and bam! No one cares about the crappy story that came before it.
The screenplay certainly doesn't help, either. Most of the lines fall somewhere between banal and absolutely ridiculous. That all the actors were capable of giving such impassioned performances whilst working with dialogue from my seventh grade English notebook is miraculous.
...Do you ever get the feeling that you're watching a movie that should have been made as a silent film? I do, increasingly frequently. Shutter Island is one of those films. Indeed, Scorsese seems to recognize that as well. Take the fantasy sequences, for example: the images are beautiful, compelling, and tell a story in their own right. The dialogue needlessly and clumsily retreads what we've already seen. Imagine how perfect these sequences might have been without dialogue, or, if we must, a title card every now and then offering a bit of information. The same applies for almost all of Shutter Island. If only Scorsese had the balls to cut the chatter, this could have been a real work of art. Instead, we get a veritable gaggle of talented artists doing their best to save a story that has long since given up on redemption.

Oscar Reactions

2010-03-08T09:28:00.003-07:00

I always feel so...let down after the Oscars. Y'know, insane, lifeless people like myself follow the Oscar Season all year round, and then they're done in three hours. Oh well. As far as this year is concerned, I must say that the awards were generally deserving and pleasing (with a few noticeable exceptions), and the show was mostly garbage. Seriously. The John Hughes tribute was great, but Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin never really hit their comedic stride. Most of their lines fell flat. The orchestra must have been on crack or something, because I've never seen them so quick to jump on a speech. Plus...That dance number. That stupid, stupid dance number. I can say with confidence that a man in a navy jacket doing the robot to the score for Up is the worst thing I've ever seen. And I've seen Transformers 2. I hated it. So, so much. Admittedly, some of the choreography was cool, but it was absolutely ridiculous in context and didn't fit the music at all. I mean, do we really need someone spinning on their head during clips from The Fantastic Mr. Fox? Adam Shankman, one of the show's producers and the choreographer of 'So You Think You Can Dance' should be ashamed of himself for so unabashedly shoe-horning his own career into a night that shouldn't be about him at all. But enough about the show. It wasn't good, we'll get over it. The important things are the awards. I predicted 17/24 correctly (22 if you count my alternates).

Picture-The Hurt Locker (predicted correctly)
I'm just so happy that this one. What a wonderfully atypical winner to finish off a decade of, frankly, lackluster winners in this category. It's quite rare for the Academy to give the top award to the best film of the year, but they did it this time, and for a politically ambivalent, action-fueled war movie as well. This is the first full-out war genre pic they've rewarded since Platoon in 1986.

Director-Kathyrn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (predicted correctly)
Yay Kathryn! Completely sidestepping the whole "first woman" deal, I'm glad that Ms. Bigelow won the Oscar because she's just a fantastic artist. She refuses to compromise her artistic sensibilities in the face of studio pressure or genre stereotypes. Good for her.

Actor-Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (predicted correctly)
This is one of the awards I'm disappointed about. I know, I get it: Jeff Bridges is due. But honestly, this performance wasn't anything special, and the film it's in is just piss-poor. Jeremy Renner, Colin Firth, and George Clooney would all have been more deserving here. Oh well.

Actress-Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side (I predicted Gabourey Sidibe for Precious)
Sandra Bullock is wonderfully charismatic and likable, and that's probably why she won. It sure as hell wasn't on strength of performance. Yes, she's a comedian doing a dramatic role, but said role is bland and hardly three-dimensional in a film with very few redeeming qualities. I know I should have predicted this, but I couldn't do so without crying. So I went for Gabby; not because I thought it was correct, but because it was right, dammit.

Supporting Actor-Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (predicted correctly)
This award has been his to lose since Cannes in May. And he wasn't going to lose. Not up against such weak competition.

Supporting Actress-Mo'Nique, Precious (predicted correctly)
If Mo'Nique had lost, I would have driven to Hollywood and killed everyone, as this is easily one of the best performances of the decade.

Original Screenplay-The Hurt Locker (predicted correctly)
Inglourious Basterds is showier, but I admire Mark Boal's taut, suspenseful script that gets its ideas across without any overt moralizing.

Adapted Screenplay-Precious (I predicted Up in the Air)
This was easily the biggest surprise of the night. But kudos to Geoffrey Fletcher: Push can't have been an easy book to adapt, and he did it with style and heart.

Art Direction-Avatar (predicted correctly)
Of course it won. They designed an entirely new world, for goodness sake.

Costume Design-The Young Victoria (predicted correctly)
I'm kind of sick of the Academy's royalty fetish. They haven't given this award to anything other than an Elizabethan/Victorian era European Monarchy Movie since 2005. Grow an imagination, people.

Visual Effects-Avatar (predicted correctly)
Commentary not needed. This is the most deserving award of the night.

Makeup-Star Trek (predicted correctly)
I loved Star Trek's creature effects. Thank goodness this won over The Young Victoria. Seriously, even watching their little nomination featurette, I couldn't figure out what makeup made that movie awards-worthy. I could do that makeup.

Film Editing-The Hurt Locker (predicted correctly)
The Hurt Locker dominated the technical awards, and this one was very deserving. The Hurt Locker was shot in a Super-16 format, which means that four cameras shot it simultaneously. This left the editors with over 400 hours of footage, and they sifted through all that and created something fast-moving, suspenseful, and breathlessly entertaining. Bravo!

Cinematography-Avatar (predicted correctly)
Some people will complain about the CG imagery, but someone still had to plan and shoot that. Plus, they invented an entirely new camera just to make this movie, which deserves the award in and of itself. Doesn't hurt that the movie looks beautiful, either.

Original Score-Up (predicted correctly)
I love Michael Giacchino's score for this movie, and it was easily the most important to its film success of all the nominees. Plus, any win for Pixar is welcome in my book.

Sound Mixing-The Hurt Locker (I predicted Avatar)
More than a little surprised here. The Hurt Locker's sound design is complex and nuanced, but Avatar is big and loud, and the Academy normally loves big and loud. Chalk this one up to more love for The Hurt Locker than Avatar.

Sound Effects Editing-The Hurt Locker (I predicted Avatar)
Doubly surprised here. Hurt Locker has an impressive soundscape, but the Avatar folks created an entire new world of sound. Perhaps the voters, like myself, noticed the re-used sounds from Jurassic Park (the T-Rex sounds an awful lot like the thanator, and the raptors sound a lot like the horses whose name I forgot), and that put them off.

Original Song-"The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart (predicted correctly)
I suppose I can't complain. It's a good-enough song.

Animated Film-Up (predicted correctly)
Pixar continues their winning streak, then. Fun fact: since the inception of this award in 2001, the only Pixar films to lose this have been Monsters, Inc. and Cars, which lost to Shrek and Happy Feet, respectively. They've taken this award 4 times out of 9 times. Not a bad track record.

Foreign Language Film-The Secrets of Their Eyes-Argentina (predicted correctly)
Once again, the Academy chooses the big, dramatic, obvious, easy movie over the challenging one. Michael Haneke goes home empty-handed. I hate this.

Documentary Feature-The Cove (predicted correctly)
I haven't seen any of the nominees, but I like watching dolphins getting slaughtered as much as the next guy, I suppose.

Documentary Short Subject-Music By Prudence (I predicted China's Unnatural Disaster)
I should have seen this coming. This branch loves heart-warming, inspirational tales, and this story of a poor, developmentally-challenged girl becoming a singer fits that bill to a T.

Live Action Short-The New Tenants (I predicted The Door)
Man, I sucked on the shorts. I'm surprised they went for gritty over classy here.

Animated Short-Logorama (I predicted A Matter of Loaf and Death)
Also surprised here, but thrilled that they went for the clever, inventive Logorama over the incredibly safe territory of A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Well, there we have it. The only winners that weren't my first or alternate choice were Music by Prudence (my first two choices were China's Unnatural Disaster and The Last Truck) and The New Tenants (my first two choices were The Door and Kavi). Not too bad, I suppose.

What do y'all think of the winners? Surprises? Regrets?
Fun fact: this was my 12-year-old sister's first year at attempting Oscar predictions, and she guessed 15/24 correctly. She missed all three shorts, like myself, Actor (she was predicting an upset for Jeremy Renner), both Screenplays (she went with Basterds and Up in the Air, which was where the smart money was, so it's not her fault), cinematography (her love for Harry Potter kept her from being objective), sound effects editing (like everyone else on Earth, she predicted Avatar), and Foreign Language Film (she optimistically went for The White Ribbon). Not too bad, considering she hasn't really followed the season. She also called The Hurt Locker winning at least one sound award, which impressed me, and had Music by Prudence as her alternate choice. Not bad, kid.

Oscar Winner Predictions, Part 3: Tech Awards

2010-03-05T15:35:00.003-07:00

Last day of winner predictions. I'll try to keep the commentary brief, as there are more than a few tech awards to get through. So here we go!

Best Art Direction
The nominees:
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

It's hard to argue against Avatar here. They created an entire world out of scratch. Sherlock Holmes did win at the Art Directors Guild, however, and Nine is a traditional sort of winner. Still, I can't see anyone taking Avatar down.
Winner: Avatar
Alterante: Sherlock Holmes
Dark Horse: Nine

Costume Design
The nominees:
Bright Star
Coco Avant Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

The Academy loves their period royalty, as evidenced by the winners for the past three years in a row (The Duchess, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Marie Antoinette). That makes this category The Young Victoria's to lose. Nine is awfully flashy, and Bright Star has a devoted fanbase.
Winner: The Young Victoria
Alternate: Nine
Dark Horse: Bright Star

Visual Effects
The nominees:
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

No need for commentary.
Winner: Avatar
Alternate: District 9
Dark Horse: Star Trek

Makeup
The nominees:
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Star Trek has this in the bag. The other two nominees, frankly, aren't well-liked enough to pull an upset over one of the biggest hits of the year.
Winner: Star Trek
Alternate: The Young Victoria
Dark Horse: Il Divo

Film Editing
The nominees:
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

This category is both incredibly important and quite difficult to call. Whoever wins this has a very good chance of winning Best Picture. That said, I'm defaulting to The Hurt Locker. Avatar is a real threat however, as the Academy loves to reward action movies here. Inglourious Basterds could also sneak in if the film has more support than I think it does.
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Alternate: Avatar
Dark Horse: Inglourious Basterds

Cinematography
The nominees:
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

This category is infuriating, in that every nominee has a potential case to win. Avatar is gorgeous, and people may be looking to check it off across the tech board, but it's also possible that people will react negatively to its largely computer-generated world. The Hurt Locker is the Best Picture front-runner, and is a technical masterpiece, but could be too gritty, as voters prefer postcard-pretty films here. Inglourious Basterds is a very formal, classically made film with iconic images, but could have trouble pushing past the others. The White Ribbon is pretty and black-and-white, which doesn't hurt, but arguably the least seen film of the bunch. And Harry Potter could be considered one of the most stereotypically pretty films in the group, but, let's be honest, it's a Harry Potter movie. They have yet to win an Oscar, and, if they do, I don't know if it will be in a more 'prestigious' tech category like this one. Like film editing, this category will be a good barometer for which film has Academy support on Sunday night.
Winner: Avatar
Alternate: The Hurt Locker
Dark Horse: Inglourious Basterds

Original Score
The nominees:
Avatar
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

This one's easier. Michael Giacchino, who scored Up, has won most every prize out there. Plus, his contributions to Up are, arguably, more instrumental (pardon the pun), to his film's success than any of the other composers. Avatar could pull a win here, but James Horner's already got an Oscar; they might not want to reward him again just yet.
Winner: Up
Alternate: Avatar
Dark Horse: The Hurt Locker

Sound Mixing
The nominees:
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

This is between two movies: Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Plenty of bloggers have been arguing for a split of the sound categories, tossing this one to The Hurt Locker's complicated, tense mix, but I'm not buying it. Avatar is nothing if not a technical marvel, and I can't imagine Academy voters are going to be voting against it in any of the effects-driven categories.
Winner: Avatar
Alternate: The Hurt Locker
Dark Horse: Star Trek

Sound Effects Editing
The nominees:
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Same argument as before.
Winner: Avatar
Alternate: The Hurt Locker
Dark Horse: Star Trek

Original Song
The nominees:
"The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart
"Take it All"-Nine
"Loin de Paname"-Paris 36
"Almost There"-The Princess and the Frog
"Down in New Orleans"-The Princess and the Frog

Another easy category. People love Crazy Heart's songs, for whatever reason. Plus, none of these others are viable contenders: the Princess songs will cancel each other out, Nine was almost universally hated and had terrible new songs, and no one's even heard of Paris 36, much less think "Loin de Paname" is a chart-topper. This goes to Crazy Heart.
Winner: "The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart
Alternate: "Take it All"-Nine
Dark Horse: "Almost There"-The Princess and the Frog

Well, there we have it. For those of you counting at home, the films with the most wins are as follows:
1. Avatar-5
2. The Hurt Locker-4
3. Precious-2
4. Crazy Heart-2
5. Up-2

We'll see Sunday how wrong I am. In the meantime, how about you? Any predictions before the weekend?

Oscar Winner Predictions Part 2: Acting/Screenplays

2010-03-04T18:18:00.004-07:00

Welcome back, sofa monkeys! Today we'll look at the acting and writing categories: two places where I probably won't have the balls to call the upsets that I should. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Best Actor
The nominees:
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

This one's just about a done deal, and it breaks my heart. Jeff Bridges has won everything in sight (seriously, he just won your computer), and there's no signs of slowing. Some brave, hopeful people have suggested that Jeremy Renner might surprise us all and take this one come Oscar night, but, as much as I'd like to see it, it's just not going to happen.
Winner: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Alternate: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Dark Horse: George Clooney, Up in the Air

Best Actress
The Nominees:
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sibide, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

I really, really wish I had the cojones to predict Gabourey Sidibe here. Precious showed up on nomination morning with more support than anticipated (editing nomination? Really?), which could work in Sidibe's favor. People will be remembering Mo'Nique come ballot time, and perhaps they'll remember Gabby as well. Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep are neck-and-neck here. Either one could take it, and, as a result of their close competition, someone else could slip through. Actually, you know what? I'm gonna go with Sidibe here. Screw it.
Winner: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Alternate: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Dark Horse: Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia

Best Supporting Actor
The nominees:
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

A few sad, lonely bloggers are trying to convince me that Christopher Plummer will ride the whole "Dear Lord, he's 80, let's give him an Oscar before he hits the ground" thing to a win, but they just want someone to talk to. This is Waltz's. Plain and simple.
Winner: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Alternate: Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Dark Horse: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
The nominees:
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious

I'm not even going to dignify this with discussion.
Winner: Mo'Nique, Precious
Alternate: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Dark Horse: Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay
The nominees:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Here's another maddeningly tight race. The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds stand about equal chances of winning. The Hurt Locker is the Best Picture frontrunner, but people really love Tarantino when he writes. I'd say that a third film might sneak in and grab the prize while the other two are fighting, but I honestly can't imagine any of the other nominees getting enough votes to do that.
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Alternate: Inglourious Basterds
Dark Horse: Up

Best Adapted Screenplay
The nominees:
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious
Up in the Air

This screenplay race, on the other hand, is just jaw-droppingly obvious. Up in the Air used to be the film to beat for Best Picture. Now it's getting a consolation prize.
Winner: Up in the Air
Alternate: Precious
Dark Horse: District 9

There we have it. Tomorrow I'll wrap this up. Sunday I'll post my 'final' predictions. I'll wrap up the Oscars later, and then we can get back to content that people might want to read. Super!

Oscar Winner Predictions, Part 1: Picture/Director/Other Bests

2010-03-03T17:18:00.002-07:00

The Oscars are this Sunday: the madness is almost over. I've got a slew of fascinating, insightful content ready to release into the blogosphere when the Oscars are over (I'll avoid spoilers, but I'm throwing together some pieces on a recent film obsession, a director whose short filmography deserves analysis, contrasting two very disturbed Europeans, and looking at a trilogy that, to this day, still haunts my nightmares). Until then, it's predictions ho! I'll start my three-part winner analysis today with Picture, Director, and the other categories you probably don't care about (foreign film, animated film, documentary short, etc.). Tomorrow, I'll cover acting and screenplay, and Friday we'll hit the tech awards. Sunday afternoon, I'll post my FINAL predictions (in case, y'know, I change my mind about them within the next three days, which is totally possible). For now, make due with these:

Best Picture
The nominees:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Let's take a moment to dispel a commonly-held misconception. This is not only a two-horse race. Sure, The Hurt Locker has won the notable precursors, like the Producers Guild, Directors Guild, and Writers Guild, and Avatar won the Golden Globe, plus made enough money to sink a well-sized cruise ship. That doesn't mean the others are ruled out. Bear in mind that this year, the winner will be determined by a preferential ballot system, which is to say that the film with the most #1 votes doesn't necessarily win. The film that's most well-liked does. So let's take a look at who benefits from that the most. Inglourious Basterds did win the SAG ensemble award, and actors are the largest branch of the Academy. Plus, it's been seen by most everyone, which is certainly beneficial. It's mix of historical revisionism and violence can be a bit polarizing, however. Up and Up in the Air are more likely to get highly placed on most ballots, though they probably won't grab many #1 spots. Avatar will get plenty of top billings, but will also find itself on the bottom half of a fair few ballots. You either love it or you hate it. Doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground. Which brings us to The Hurt Locker. It's going to receive a fair majority of the #1 votes, and no one actively dislikes this movie, so if it doesn't get the #1 spot, it won't be too far away from it.
Winner: The Hurt Locker
Alternate: Avatar
Dark Horse: Inglourious Basterds

Best Director
The nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

I think we can all agree that Lee Daniels and Jason Reitman are out. Their films were perfectly fine, but they're both too young, not showy enough, and are being eclipsed by bigger names. The safe choice here is Kathryn Bigelow. Academy voters are looking for a historic moment, and she'll be the first woman to win. Cameron is a possibility, but, simply put, he's kind of a dick and the Oscars are a popularity contest as much as anything else. I've heard whispers of Quentin Tarantino pulling an upset, and he does have Harvey Weinstein behind him, which one can't underestimate, but I'm not buying it. This one is Bigelow's.
Winner: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Alternate: James Cameron, Avatar
Dark Horse: Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Foreign Language Film
The nominees:
Ajami-Israel
The Milk of Sorrow-Peru
A Prophet-France
The Secrets of Her Eyes-Argentina
The White Ribbon-Germany

At first glance, this seems like an easier choice. A Prophet and The White Ribbon have been huge critical successes that have battled for the top spot since Cannes in May. But let's take a moment to remember that this is the Academy: you know, the organization that awarded Departures last year over Waltz With Bashir and The Class. Oscar loves emotionally uplifting, obvious, dramatically satisfying, easy movies. A Prophet is a prison epic surrounding the life of a Muslim convict, and The White Ribbon is a surgical, casually horrific WWI fable. Neither are easy, uplifting, or overly emotional. Of the other nominees, The Milk of Sorrow is a classically made film about defective breast-milk, and Ajami is a lived-in, docudrama about Israeli-Palestinian ties. The Milk of Sorrow is out. Ajami has the prestige, but Oscar doesn't like their winners here to feel too improvised or gritty, and apparently Ajami is both. That leaves The Secrets of Her Eyes, which, allegedly, completely fits the Academy bill here. I know I should probably be predicting The White Ribbon, but I'm not going to. The Academy loves bland here, and that's what they'll go for.
Winner: The Secrets of Her Eyes-Argentina
Alternate: The White Ribbon-Germany
Dark Horse: A Prophet-France

Best Animated Film
The nominees:
Coraline
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

This one's fairly obvious. Only one of these films landed a best picture nomination. I've heard people say that The Fantastic Mr. Fox can pull an upset, or The Secret of Kells has lots of underground support, based on the fact that it got nominated. Too few people have seen it, however, and Wes Anderson's style turns too many people off. Plus, Pixar pretty much owns this category. They don't like losing here, and they don't do it very often.
Winner: Up
Alternate: The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Dark Horse: Coraline

(now for the categories you all know and love!)

Best Documentary Feature
The nominees:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America
Which Way Home

Another easy one. The Cove has steamrollered through awards season, taking every prize it can lay its flippers on. Food Inc. is good enough, but lacks the emotional punch the Academy loves here. Which Way Home has that punch, but it's too late to rally for an upset. Burma VJ is a feat of film-making, but Oscar hates feats of film-making.
Winner: The Cove
Alternate: Food, Inc.
Dark Horse: Which Way Home

Best Documentary Short Subject
The nominees:
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of the Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

I'm going against the crowd here. Most pundits agree that The Last Truck taps into the Zeitgeist in a particularly American way. True. Something makes me favor China's Unnatural Disaster, however. Call it a hunch. Music by Prudence is sweet, Rabbit a la Berlin is technically innovative, and The Last Campaign... features an old fellow who'd like to die, but I really think it's between the first two.
Winner: China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of the Sichuan Province
Alternate: The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant
Dark Horse: Music by Prudence

Best Live Action Short
The nominees:
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tennants

It's hard for me to comment here, as I've only seen half of one of these. Instead of Abracadabra is too lightweight, The New Tennants is too profane and bizarre. The Door is allegedly a technical and visual accomplishment, which the Academy favors here. Kavi is about Indian children, which Oscar has loved in recent years. Miracle Fish, the only one I've viewed (part-way), is good, but a little too strange for Academy tastes.
Winner: The Door
Alternate: Kavi
Dark Horse: Miracle Fish

Animated Short
The nominees:
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Part of me really wants to go with Logorama here, but I'm hesitant. It's a little...hardcore to be an Academy Award Winner for Animated Short. Plus, Oscar really, really loves Wallace and Gromit. The only time they've lost is when they had to compete with themselves. Sadly, my favorite of the bunch, The Lady and the Reaper, will probably go unnoticed.
Winner: A Matter of Loaf and Death
Alternate: Logorama
Dark Horse: The Lady and the Reaper

That's it for now. Check back in tomorrow when I resume with categories that you knew existed! Yay!

This Year's Oscar-Nominated Animated Shorts

2010-03-01T16:26:00.006-07:00

Dear Lord, it's been a long time since I've been on here, hasn't it? Apologies. First social life, then travelling intervened. For today, I'd like to offer up a fantastic little opportunity. Brace yourself, readers: the link below will allow you to view 4 of the 5 2009 Oscar-nominated short films.

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/movie-review-animated-oscar-nominated-short-films-2010

Oh hell yes. Sadly, one of the films has been yanked off the Internet since I saw it. Such is life. Anyhow, take a moment to watch a few of these. Watching all of them back-to-back takes less than an hour, so if you've got a little time to kill, go crazy. If you don't feel like watching all of them, I'm going to take a brief look at each one below; scan through, see what sounds good, and watch one or two.

In order of their video appearance:

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (6:06 minutes)
This is, far and away, my least favorite short. In the film, the titular Granny tells her granddaughter the timeless tale of Sleeping Beauty, with a few embellishments and twists of her own to make the story fit into her world-view. The film has a fantastic premise (re-imagining fairy-tales from a decidedly cynical perspective), but fails to capitalize on that promise. There are amusing moments (I did giggle at the rather literal birth sequence, as well as the visual realization of 'the old fairy), but they never add up to a compelling whole. That this was nominated over other, superior shorts like The Cat Piano and Partly Cloudy is somewhat depressing. Oh well. It's only six minutes, so check it out anyway.

French Roast (8:17 minutes)
This tale of an uptight business-man in a cafe who realizes he's forgotten his wallet is a fantastic example of the storytelling potential of animation as a medium, as well as a showcase for stories told without dialogue. French Roast is entertaining, funny, and never over-stays its welcome. It might be a little too light-weight to win this category, but it's thoroughly enjoyable.

The Lady and the Reaper (8:20 minutes)
What a great little film. The Lady and the Reaper tells the tale of an old woman who is approached by Death: she tries to accompany him to the Other Side, but is thwarted at every turn by the efforts of an ER doctor straight out of a soap opera, accompanied by his three buxom nurses. The Lady and the Reaper is another film without dialogue, yet its silent style never hurts the film, which is visually inventive and full of (very) dark humor. The ending is a quite the shocker. Bonus points: make sure you watch through the first few credits. About thirty seconds in, we get a vision of Charon and the River Styx that's absolutely priceless.

Logorama (16:04 minutes)
Sadly, this one can no longer be found on the Internet. Too bad, because it's one hell of a short. The visual concept is rather brilliant: the entire film is comprised entirely of corporate logos. The main characters are two Pringles cans, a Michelin Man, and Ronald McDonald (whose crime spree is all too believable). The film is profane, violent (Mr. Peanut loses his head to a sniper battle), and cynical. I'll let you know if I can find this one to watch anywhere else, because it's completely worth the time.

Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death (29:00 minutes)
I suppose I ought to just say it: I'm not a huge fan of Wallace and Gromit. I love the stop-motion animation, and it's all amusing enough, but I find it curiously lacking. Almost soulless. In this outing, Wallace and Gromit run a bakery, and are forced to pit their wits against a serial-killer who has been systematically knocking off other bakers in the area. The film isn't without its charms, but the constant film references took me out of the moment. Seriously, why do we need an Aliens homage, as well as references to Batman, Ghost, Psycho, The Blues Brothers, and The Empire Strikes Back in a film about a bakery? Cinematic in-jokes can be fun in moderation. Throw too many in, and you just look desperate.

Were I pressed to order the shorts according to my preference, it would be as follows:
1. The Lady and the Reaper
2. Logorama
3. French Roast
4. Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
5. Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

This is, of course, not ordered according to the likelihood of their win. I'll get into that later this week, but suffice to say that the Academy loves Wallace and Gromit. Did you catch any of these? If so, which did you like best?

My (unofficial) Oscar Ballot

2010-02-19T10:54:00.002-07:00

Hey again. Short post today. I figured, for the sake of aesthetically pleasing summarization, I'd post my Oscar ballot, were I able to cast one. This is just a way of rounding up all of my Best of 09 in one place. I'll give each category: Winner in bold, and the choices that actually got Oscar nominations with an asterisk.

Picture
(500) Days of Summer
Antichrist
Avatar*
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds*
Precious*
A Single Man
Up*
The White Ribbon

Director
Kathryn Bigelow-The Hurt Locker*
James Cameron-Avatar*
Michael Haneke-The White Ribbon
Quentin Tarantino-Inglourious Basterds*
Lars Von Trier-Antichrist

Actor
Sharlto Copley-District 9
Colin Firth-A Single Man*
Joseph Gordon-Levitt-(500) Days of Summer
Jeremy Renner-The Hurt Locker*
Sam Rockwell-Moon

Actress
Charlotte Gainsbourg-Antichrist
Carey Mulligan-An Education*
Saoirse Ronan-The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe-Precious*
Meryl Streep-Julie and Julia*

Supporting Actor
Brian Geraghty-The Hurt Locker
Anthony Mackie-The Hurt Locker
Peter Sarsgaard-An Education
Stanley Tucci-Julie and Julia
Christoph Waltz-Inglourious Basterds*

Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick-Up in the Air*
Diane Kruger-Inglourious Basterds
Melanie Laurent-Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique-Precious*
Julianne Moore-A Single Man

Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds*
Up*
The White Ribbon

Adapted Screenplay
An Education*
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Precious*
A Single Man
Up in the Air*

Art Direction
Avatar*
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man
Star Trek

Costume Design
Bright Star*
An Education
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus*
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man

Visual Effects
Avatar*
District 9*
Star Trek*

Makeup
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Road
Star Trek*

Film Editing
Avatar*
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds*
A Single Man
Up in the Air

Cinematography
Antichrist
Avatar*
The Hurt Locker*
A Single Man
The White Ribbon*

Original Score
Avatar*
The Fantastic Mr. Fox*
Sherlock Holmes*
A Single Man
Up*

Sound Mixing
Avatar*
District 9
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds*
Star Trek*

Sound Effects Editing
Avatar*
District 9
Star Trek*
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Original Song
"I See You"-Avatar
"The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart*
"Smoke Without Fire"-An Education
"Almost There"-The Princess and the Frog*
"Ma Belle Evangeline"-The Princess and the Frog

Best of 2009, Part 4: Tech Awards

2010-02-18T12:37:00.005-07:00

Last installment, kids. Today, I'll briefly run down my favorite technical achievements for the year. I suppose I ought to take a moment to define the categories:
Art Direction: Production design: creating, designing, and building the world in which the movie takes place. Generally associated with set-building, but also stretches to conceptual aspects
Costume Design: ...The design of the costumes.
Visual Effects: Special Effects. CGI, models, etc.
Makeup: ...makeup.
Film Editing: Editing the movie: cutting in some places, lengthening in others. Generally responsible for the rhythm of a film, as well as keeping continuity and making sense of the plot.
Cinematography: In layman's terms, how pretty the movie is. Screen composition, lighting, camera techniques, etc.
Original Score: Music composed for the film itself.
Sound Mixing: Blending the four film sound elements (dialogue, sound effects, ambient noise, music) to create a coherent overall mix.
Sound Effects Editing: creating the sounds heard in the film.
Original Song: Songs written for the film.

Here we go!

Art Direction
5. Star Trek-wonderfully imaginative sci-fi worlds; Futuristic San Fransisco, Vulcan, plus the new Romulan ships and technology.
4. Inglourious Basterds-memorable, iconic locations. The basement tavern, the french restaurant, the farmhouse in the beginning, and, of course, that beautiful theater that gets absolutely trashed.
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince-this series always looks great. In this installment, the London of Voldemort's youth is realized, as are the haunts of his adult life. England has never looked so creepy and surreal.
2. A Single Man-Near-perfect, immaculate designs. Every set, from George's apartment to the seaside bar to the surgically sterile bank, look like pages from a designer catalogue.
1. Avatar-Who else was going to be here? A whole new world, drawn from scratch, as well as futuristic military technology. Everything looks fantastic and plausible.

Honorable Mention: Industrial London looks both intimidating and inviting in Sherlock Holmes.

Costume Design
5. An Education-nice balance of 40s working-class British wear and more extravagant period style. The costumes are beautiful and character-specific.

4. A Single Man-Much like the sets, all the duds seem like they're torn out of a fashion magazine from the early 60s.

3. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus-the movie sucked, but the costumes were wickedly inventive. The players on Doctor Parnassus's stage look unlike anything found in the 'real world.'

2. Inglourious Basterds-the leaders of the Third Reich, as well as the well-to-dos of German Expressionist Cinema, are decked out in their best in this film, whose costumes manage to look both accurate to their period and slightly anachronistic.

1. Bright Star-Janet Patterson's designs for this movie are playfully silly in their coloring and complexity. I doubt anyone in the Victorian Era looked quite like this, but I wish they did.

Honorable Mention: the only aspect of quality in Amelia

Visual Effects
3. Star Trek-Starships, world implosions, and bizarre aliens; all look completely real.

2. District 9-The prawns and their mothership are seamlessly integrated into the Johannesburg slums.

1. Avatar-Do I really need to explain this? Photo-realistic CGI coupled with huge advancements in motion capture=cinematic gold.

Honorable Mention: the futuristic, pissed-off cyborgs from Terminator Salvation

Makeup
3. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus-Making Christopher Plummer look 700 years old can't have been easy. Extra points for the ridiculous theater makeup the players wear.

2. The Road-Everyone looks so...dirty. And unhealthy. You'd think they kept Viggo and friends out in the wilderness without food for three years.

1. Star Trek-realistic aliens, plus some tinkering to make new actors look like old, familiar ones. Seriously, did Zachary Quinto look like Leonard Nimoy or what?

Honorable Mention: making lead actor Toni Servillo look old and creepy in Il Divo.

Film Editing
5. Joan Sobel-A Single Man-tightly edited, with skillful juxtapositions of fantasy and reality, flashback and present.

4. Dana E. Glauberman-Up in the Air-minimalistic, smart cuts. This film doesn't have an ounce of fat.

3. Sally Menke-Inglourious Basterds-skillfully draws all the plot-lines together, while summoning tension out of thin air.

2. James Cameron, John Refoua, and Stephen E. Rivkin-Avatar-manage to make sense of hundreds of hours of raw footage, create intense battle sequences, and edit around all the effects. Not an easy job.

1. Chris Innis and Bob Murawski-The Hurt Locker-this movie is so tightly wound it hurts. They create an unmistakable film rhythm. Plus, they had to sift through 400 hours of footage, because this film was shot with the 'Super 16' style, aka with four cameras simultaneously. They distilled all that footage into this impeccable film. Impressive.

Honorable Mention: The tense, brooding rhythm of The White Ribbon

Cinematography
(My favorite category! Yay!)
5. Christian Berger-The White Ribbon-Stark, black and white imagery add to the overall menacing tone of the film. It's like American Gothic come to ghastly, unnatural life.

4. Barry Ackroyd-The Hurt Locker-on the surface, it feels like a documentary, but always pauses to catch images of macabre beauty. It's an incredibly tactile film: you can almost feel the sand, the heat, the sweat.

3. Anthony Dod Mantle-Antichrist-Stunningly gorgeous, even if what's being photographed isn't very nice. Wonderful color-work, and incredibly skillful use of slow-motion.

2. Mauro Fiore-Avatar-captures the world of Pandora with a sense of awe and wonder. The success of the film is due in large part to its visuals, and it certainly doesn't trip up here.

1. Eduard Grau-A Single Man-one of the prettiest films I've seen in a long time. The images are jaw-droppingly beautiful, almost hypnotic. The color work is extraordinary, as is the film's sense of composition. Watching this movie feels like swimming through a Monet painting.

Honorable Mention: Andrew Lesnie's expressive, moody work for The Lovely Bones

Original Score
(I'll embed my favorite piece from the film.)
5. Hans Zimmer-Sherlock Holmes-manic, aggressive, wickedly gleeful. Mandolins, low strings, and percussive elements congeal into something driving and compelling.

4. Alexandre Desplat-The Fantastic Mr. Fox-performed by small, quirky instruments, as well as whistling and snapping. It skips across genres, pretending to be a western one minute, a caper the next, while never losing its heart.

3. James Horner-Avatar-Cultural elements like chanting, clapping, and African percussion incorporated with traditional orchestration to great dramatic effect. It's a little bombastic, but hell, could Avatar have been made with any other kind of music?

2. Michael Giacchino-Up-alternates between delightfully whimsy and bittersweet. Playful, melancholy, and bouncy all at once. This score can do anything.

1. Abel Korzeniowski-A Single Man-String quartet is used to fantastic effect in this completely brilliant score, which effortlessly captures the emotions onscreen, while providing an appropriate counterpart to the more surreal aspects of the film. The whole score's just achingly beautiful. It hurts.

Honorable Mention: Michael Giacchino's bombastic, memorable contributions to Star Trek.

Sound Mixing
5. Inglourious Basterds-just the right balance of all the right elements. The last scene in the theater stands out.

4. District 9-combines slum life with alien noises and warfare, and nothing gets lost in the process.

3. Star Trek-combines the deadness of space with the liveliness of the ships floating through it. Battle scenes are crisp and aurally pleasing.

2. The Hurt Locker-gains much by being simple. The sound design is of singular importance to the film's tense atmosphere, and it succeeds with flying colors.

1. Avatar-Mixing this film must have been a nightmare. So many different elements, all woven together to create a different planet. Just wonderful.

Honorable Mention: G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra might not have been a great movie, but it sounded just fine.

Sound Effects Editing
5. Disrict 9-bizarre alien weaponry, a new language, and that stentorian roar of the mothership. Memorable stuff.

4. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen-I hate the movie, but even I have to admit that the sound effects were innovative and effective.

3. Terminator Salvation-creating a robot-led dystopia isn't easy, but these guys do it. The sounds are unique, believable, and creative.

2. Star Trek-incorporates well-known sound-effects into gleefully inventive new ones. Probably the most inventive sound design this year.

1. Avatar-I've got to give first place to this one though, by virtue of the sheer volume of sounds that had to be created realistically. It's a staggering achievement.

Original Song
5. "Smoke Without Fire"-An Education-Breathy, melancholy, fitting the period. Fun to listen to when you're feeling whiny.

4. "I See You"-Avatar-Sure, it's not a great song, but it's a POWER BALLAD. I love that they had the balls to finish this movie off with a big, 90s-esque ballad.

3. "Ma Belle Evangeline"-The Princess and the Frog-Sweet, lilting melody and lyrics aided by some great instrumental work. This song makes me swoon a little.

2. "The Weary Kind"-Crazy Heart-I wasn't a fan of the movie, but I can't deny this song's power. It's the perfect, bittersweet coda to the main character's journey.

1. "Almost There"-The Princess and the Frog-at once optimistic and sad, this upbeat-sounding tune captures the youthful hopes of the film's protagonist, as well as the reality that almost making it can be harder than not even getting close.

Well, there we have it! Tomorrow, I'll post my unofficial Oscar ballot, just as a sort of wrap-up, but we're pretty much done. What do you think? How did I do? Any movies I rewarded too much? Too little? I had to make a mistake in there somewhere.

Best of 2009, Part 3: Directing, Screenplays

2010-02-17T13:39:00.004-07:00

Back again, it would seem. Today, we'll be looking at the most vital parts of film-making: sure, acting is nice, tech is great, but without a screenplay, you're not gonna get very far, and without a director, you're not going to go in the right direction. When these two elements come together, a cinematic masterpiece is born. When these two elements fail on every level, someone makes Transformers 2. Also, a puppy dies. So, help me honor the best writing and directing achievements of the year:

Best Director
5. Quentin Tarantino-Inglourious Basterds
Without Tarantino's steady hand, Basterds would have been an overly long, violent cavalcade of silliness. Instead, it's a wonderful, violent cavalcade of silliness. Quentin brings his signature visual style to the film, as well as his fantastically appropriate soundtrack choices, his near-poetic use of violence, and his well-documented foot fetish. This movie could have very easily flown off the rails: instead, it's a thrill ride.

4. Michael Haneke-The White Ribbon
It must have taken great restraint to make this film the way Haneke did. Lesser film-makers would have succumbed to the desire to play this movie like the melodrama it easily could have been. Instead, Haneke has the guts to stay passive. Instead of plunging into his film, showing everything in graphic detail, editing in a frenzy, and throwing events into a fever pitch, he always maintains a respectful distance. Because of this, his film becomes something much more than a 'who-dun-it', WWI style. Particularly interesting is his choice to abstain from using anything other than diagetic music, and the effect it has on ramping up the film's intensity.

3. Lars Von Trier-Antichrist
This was another near-impossible film to make. Yet Von Trier not only makes it; he knocks it out of the park. Von Trier is an auteur in every sense of the word, and his fierce, incessant dedication drives every moment of the movie. He's not afraid to highlight the abject perversity of the script, nor is he afraid to step back from the action when necessary. His visual choice are consistently brilliant: his prologue and epilogue, filmed in black and white, semi-slow motion, are achingly gorgeous, and he employs slow motion in the rest of the film to devastating effect. This film was the work of a man of singular, uncompromising vision.

2. James Cameron-Avatar
Speaking of uncompromising vision...I struggled a little before putting Cameron this high up on the list, but I think it's warranted. The effort he made to keep this film from completely falling apart must have been gargantuan. Bear in mind how hands-on a director Cameron is: believe it or not, almost every shot of Avatar was personally filmed by Cameron. He also invented a new type of camera to deal with the technology he needed. Add to this that the man has a sense of epic scope like no one else working today, as well as an innate knack for directing action scenes and an eye for surreal beauty, and you get one of the most visually distinctive, impressive films of the year.

1. Kathryn Bigelow-The Hurt Locker
I'm running out of superlatives for directors here, so look at it this way: everything I've said about the other four directors applies to Bigelow, and then some. For The Hurt Locker, she creates a world so painfully, vividly real that it feels like a documentary. Her main priority was to recreate every-day life for troops in Iraq, and she does so with a vengeance. The film is unbearably tense, the performances are just about perfect, and the action never eclipses the drama. I said before that this is one of the best films of the past ten year: this is due in no small part to the efforts of Kathryn Bigelow.

Honorable Mention: it killed me to not include Tom Ford for A Single Man here, but I had to draw the line somewhere. it was a great year for directing.

Best Original Screenplay
5. Michael Haneke-The White Ribbon
Sparse, effective prose that highlights all the right moments, and full of insights lurking underneath the surface.
"I've given God a chance to kill me, and I'm still alive, so that must mean he likes what I'm doing."

4. Bob Peterson and Pete Docter-Up
Clever, heart-felt, and endlessly original. Full of great one-liners, emotionally resonant moments, and unique images.
Carl-This is crazy. I finally meet my childhood hero and now he's trying to kill us. What a joke.
Doug (the talking dog)-Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says "I forgot to store acorns for winter, and now I am dead." Ha! It's funny because the squirrel gets dead.

3. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber-(500) Days of Summer
The funniest movie as the year, and also one of the most honest. It makes you laugh one second, and breaks your heart the next. It's a fantastic balancing act.
Partygoer-So, Tom, what is it that you do?
Tom-I, uh, I write greeting cards.
Summer-Tom could be a really great architect if he wanted to be.
Partygoer-That's unusual, I mean, what made you go from one to the other?
Tom-I guess I just figured, why make something disposable, like a building, when you can make something that lasts forever, like a greeting card.

2. Mark Boal-The Hurt Locker
Structured as a series of vignettes, Boal's screenplay never loses its drive or intensity. It provides each character with an emotional breaking point, then mercilessly pushes them all far past that point.
Sgt. Eldridge: Y'know, I've been thinking about that song, 'Be All You Can Be.' What if all I can be is a body on the side of an Iraqi road?

1. Quentin Tarantino-Inglourious Basterds
Nobody, I repeat, nobody working today writes dialogue like Quentin Tarantino. His movies could work as audiobooks. Everything is entertaining, absorbing, and delightfully absurd. With this dialogue, he fashions a plot both intense and humorous.
"...A German soldier conducts a search of a house suspected of hiding Jews. Where does the hawk look? He looks in the barn, he looks in the attic, he looks in the cellar, he looks everywhere he would hide. But there are so many places it would never occur to a hawk to hide. However...it does occur to me. Because I'm aware of what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity."

Honorable Mention: Lars Von Trier-Antichrist. "Nature is Satan's church."

Adapted Screenplay
5. Geoffrey Fletcher-Precious, based on the novel Push, by Sapphire
It's not the most florid prose, but it's accurate to the era in which it occurs. The characters are lovingly, realistically conceived, and the film never tries too hard for drama.
"Some folks has a lot of things around them that shines for other people. I think that maybe some of them was in tunnels. And in that tunnel, the only light they had was inside them. And then long after they escape that tunnel, they still be shining for everybody else."

4. Nick Hornby-An Education, based on the memoirs of Lynn Barber
Most of the film is wonderfully intelligent, light, and memorable. The script gets a little bogged down by monologues explaining too much at the end, but, until then, it's great work.
Miss Stubbs-You seem very old and wise.
Jenny-I feel old, but not very wise.

3. Tom Ford-A Single Man, based on the book by Christopher Isherwood
Beautifully realized, with passages of brutal honesty. The film's not afraid to embrace the book's darker aspects, nor is it afraid to leave its characters alone with nothing but dialogue.
"Would you like to meet Charlton Heston? He's our scorpion. Every night, we throw in something new to him and watch him kill it. Daddy says it's like a coliseum. Daddy says he wants to throw you into the coliseum. He says you're light in your loafers, but you're not even wearing any loafers."

2. Jason Reitman and Tom Sheldon-Up in the Air, based on the book by Walter Kirn
Both funny and poignant, Up in the Air skips lightly through different moods and feelings without making ripples. The dialogue is quick, witty, and tight as a drum.
Ryan: You know that moment when you look into somebody's eyes, and you can feel them staring into your soul, and the whole world goes quiet, just for a second?
Natalie: Yes!
Ryan: Right, well I don't.

1. Wes Anderson-The Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the book by Roald Dahl
Another great balancing act. Anderson takes Dahl's quirky novel and gives it a completely unique spin, creating something both entertaining and emotionally honest. The characters are brought to life wonderfully, and the dialogue is worth hearing more than once.
Mr. Fox: Who am I, Kylie?
Kylie: Who how? What now?
Mr. Fox: Why a fox? Why not a horse, a beetle, or a bald eagle? I'm saying this more as, like, existentialism, you know? Who am I? And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?
Kylie: I don't know what you're talking about, but it sounds illegal.

Honorable Mention: Ron Clements, John Musker, and Rob Edwards-The Princess and the Frog, based on the classic fairy-tale. For being both heartwarming and a little weird.

One more part to go: tune in tomorrow for the technical awards!

Best of 2009, Part 2: Acting

2010-02-16T16:14:00.006-07:00

Welcome back! Here we are again, taking a delightful romp through wild list territory. On today's menu: the best performances of 2009. I'll try to provide youtube links for these performances, but some of them will require you to use your imagination. Here we go!

Best Actor

5. Sharlto Copley-District 9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08kUDI76_2Y
It's not easy being a corporate prick. Nor is it easy being a prawn. Sharlto Copley manages to do both with incredible believability. His character, Wikus van der Merwe, starts the film as an inept, joyfully incompetent bereaucrat, runs afoul of some mysterious black goop, and starts his slow, agonizing descent into prawndom. Let's be honest: District 9 is a little silly (in the best sense). But somehow, Copley makes everything feel brutally real. That's no small accomplishment.

4. Sam Rockwell-Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPj6aNTXaoo
(not a great clip, but oh well.)
This very well could have been the toughest film on the list to act. Moon has only one central character (essentially. We don't need to quibble over technicalities), a character who's forced to endure some supremely trippy happenings. It's a gargantuan feat that Sam Rockwell takes this one-man show and makes something completely absorbing. His performance is a fascinating study of a blue-collar worker doing his best to stay professional as he slowly loses his mind.

3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt-(500) Days of Summer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIVdVrIz19Q
(just about the only clip I could find)
It seems to be the consensus among actors that being genuinely funny is the hardest trick of all to play. Gordon-Levitt pulls it off in spades. He's effortlessly charismatic, hilarious, and, the masterstroke, achingly vulnerable. He hits all the highs associated with being in love, but he also resonates on all of the lows associated with rejection. This performance demonstrates a huge range, but Gordon-Levitt makes it look effortless.

2. Colin Firth-A Single Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNQT7gvOz1I
This here, ladies and gentlemen, is your study in control for the year. Terrible things happen to Firth's character, George Falconer; it would have been all too easy to let a little bit of melodrama seep into the performance. Colin Firth is too talented for that, however. Instead, he, like his character, puts on a facade of mildly boring cheeriness before plunging into his day. His facade shows some all-too-visible cracks, however, and he can never erase the pain in his eyes. This performance is a perfect study of nuance and subtlety: nothing is shown outright, but everything can be inferred.

1. Jeremy Renner-The Hurt Locker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNCtmFwgGs0
There are showier performances this year: roles that require screaming, crying, boozing, gnashing of teeth, and all other forms of baity acting, but none of those gripped me the way Renner's powder keg of a man did. On the outside, Sgt. James is cocky, outgoing, and courageous. Every now and again, though, Renner allows the audience to glimpse something dangerous lurking beneath the surface. The rare moments when he allows himself a hint of vulnerabilty are enough to break your heart.

Honorable Mention: Willem Dafoe's prideful, cruel husband in Antichrist

Best Actress
5. Saoirse Ronan-The Lovely Bones
(No clip. Sorry!)
The Lovely Bones is an awfully flawed film, and the majority of the performances are somewhat south of quality. This can't be said for Saoirse Ronan, however, whose performance, when combined with her turn in Atonement counts as definite proof that this actress is one of the great up-and-coming talents. Ronan nails the emotionalized world of a thirteen year-old girl easily, then effortlessly transitions into the more mature emotions associated with death: desperation, grief, loneliness. Her portrayal keeps the film afloat when it should sink.

4. Charlotte Gainsbourg-Antichrist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro_cRsfsdPY
Filming this movie must have been torture. Charlotte Gainsbourg has to be somewhat of a masochist to subject herself to the horrors that Antichrist puts her through. Yet she does, and, somehow, against all odds, succeeds with flying colors. It can't be easy to reach the depths of evil that she does while maintaining believability, but it happens. Her character's signature emotions is grief, followed closely by despair. When she fully embraces her darker nature, it's hard not to see something sinister lurking behind her eyes.

3. Carey Mulligan-An Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geynqrdO2BI
On the complete opposite end of the acting spectrum, we have Carey Mulligan, who maintains a delightful, charismatic presence through what could have become a sappy, sentimental role. Her character, Jenny, is capricious and headstrong, but Mulligan provides her with moments of quiet dignity and grace. Her performance acknowledges the impulsiveness of her character's desires, while hinting at a greater woman buried inside.

2. Gabourey Sidibe-Precious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKcYo5uMRH4
It's difficult to believe that Sidibe had never acted before she made Precious. She exudes a talent so raw and uncompromising that it all but burns the audience with its intensity. Gabourey Sidibe isn't acting here: she is Precious. She becomes her character so completely it's mind-boggling to see her outside of the film: the actress herself is witty, energetic, and cheerful. How she so adroitly embraced her character is anybody's guess.

1. Meryl Streep-Julie and Julia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqLTAHnrac
As an avid Streep fan, y'all must have known that this performance would take the cake. I don't know if I've ever seen a performance so giddy or joyful. Streep is obviously having a ball here, and she doesn't mind sharing this experience with the audience. A sense of fun and dead-on impersonation would all be for naught, however, if Streep didn't imbue her Julia Child with an almost-buried sense of furious determination. She may be smiling, but she'll go to hell and back before she doesn't get what she want. This performance makes me smile every second it's on screen.

Honorable mention: Meryl Streep's warm, slightly slutty ex-wife in It's Complicated.

Supporting Actor
5. Stanley Tucci-Julie and Julia
(...Just watch the last one again.)
Most people this year have lined up for Tucci's serial killer in The Lovely Bones as his best acting this year, but I heartily disagree. In The Lovely Bones, he's forced, overly mannered, rather unbelievable. Here, however, he exudes a warmth and kindness that oozes off the screen. He holds his own with Meryl (no easy task, I'm sure), whilst efforstlessly supporting her. This performance really is a textbook sample of a 'supporting actor': He makes Meryl look great, and doesn't look too shabby himself.

4. Peter Sarsgaard-An Education
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeG1Sz8qKwU
Peter Sarsgaard creates exactly the character needed to seduce a young girl: he comes off as charming, articulate, respectful, but not without the slightest hint of danger, like a promise of things to come. Sarsgaard conveys all of these without losing any of his appeal, making it easy to believe that a younger woman might fall for an older man such as he. He's determined to have fun at any cost, and as such, we sense the moments that he spends calculating when he should be feeling. It's a fascinating performance, and it deserves more attention than it got.

3. Brian Geraghty-The Hurt Locker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl_cFzTjI10
(not a great clip, but oh well.)
Poor Owen Eldrich. He just isn't cut out for a combat zone. Brian Geraghty's performance shows the 'good ol' boy' stereotype when pushed, pulled, and stretched past its breaking point. Eldrich is a careful study in measured implosion: we see his character slowly melt, but almost never in large steps. Special props have to be given for the scene in the desert: his friends are under fire, they ask him to wash a dead man's blood off of a magazine, and he just loses it. He must maintain face, however, and does his best to cover it up. That terrified, nervous giggling that he does whilse 'spitting and rubbing' is both scary and heartbreaking.

2. Anthony Mackie-The Hurt Locker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ1OokJWSik
Mackie's performance is similar to Geraghty's in that it shows a man who is beaten down and finally broken. What makes this role different, however, is that Lt. Sanborn is man who seems custom manufactured to function in times of duress. He maintains his cool (to an extent) in most situations, rarely showing signs of emotional vulnerability. This makes his final breakdown all the more affecting: when he dissolves into tears in the humvee, asking Sgt. James if anyone will care if he dies. It's a perfectly controlled, completely realized performance.

1. Christoph Waltz-Inglourious Basterds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkQZVJshgc
As good as the other roles are, the laurels this year must go to Christoph Waltz as 'Jew Hunter' Hans Landa. Never has a Nazi looked so charming and gregarious. Waltz's character is so very, very likeable. It makes it all the more shocking when he reveals the monster within. What's so fascinating about this performance is that the glimpse of the monster come so rarely. Most of the film, Landa bounces around, smiling and pontificating in four languages. Every now and again, though, a cold undercurrent cuts through his voice, and he leaves us no doubt as to what kind of a man he really is. This is a phenomenal performance, and will surely be remembered for years to come.

Honorable Mention: Zachary Quinto does his best Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek

Supporting Actress
5. Julianne Moore-A Single Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIPoW5AMBOk
She may not have the most screen time, but Julianne Moore makes the most of it. Playing Charley, George's alcoholic one-time lover, Moore perfectly plays quiet desperation masquerading as apathy. She's achingly vulnerable, but tries to hide it with booze, music, and laughter that's too loud. Moore plays all of this easily, while retaining her sense of pride. Her last shot, in which she stares out the door, broken-hearted, is unforgettable.

4. Diane Kruger-Inglourious Basterds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M71yXdf4Nyo
I love this character. Bridget Von Hammersmark is a wonderful cinematic creation, brought to life with seductive glitz and glamour. Kruger is fantastic as a double agent who begins to regret her decisions. Regardless of her situation, though, she is first and foremost a movie star, and will go down acting like one. Whether she's involved in a tavern shoot-out, having her leg operated on, or getting what Colonel Landa thinks she deserves, Hammersmark always seems like a god of the Silver Screen.

3. Melanie Laurent-Inglourious Basterds
(Can't find a good clip. Sorry!)
On the other side of things we have Melanie Laurent, whose principal goal is to be inconspicuous. She does this very well, even when faced with the emotionally tricky task of having lunch with the man who murdered her family. I love how Laurent almost never loses her cool, regardless of the situation. That one shot, though, right after Landa leaves her lunch table, is amazing: suddenly, she breaks down, going from calm and composed to sobbing in an instant. Great work.

2. Anna Kendrick-Up in the Air
(can't find a clip for this one either.)
What a beautifully subdued performance. Anna Kendrick's character, Natalie, is all about moving forward in her career, regardless of how it might affect her emotionally. Since her job is jetting around the country telling people they're fired, it's easy to understand that her job must take its toll. Kendrick perfectly balances the young, go-get-em attitude with the discomfort of walking into people's lives and ruining them. Her character is idealistic and chipper, but ultimately naive. Kendrick's masterstroke is to never try to play too much: her character never completely loses it. Cracks show, but she remains in control. That amount of restraint is rarely seen in movies.

1. Mo'Nique-Precious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJGNfpPFVrk
This is, in my opinion, the best performance of the year. Mary, Precious's abusive, angry mother, is, for all intents and purposes, a monster, and Mo'Nique plays her like one. She never strays into caricature, however: it would have been easy to overplay this role, making her into something ridiculous, but Mo'Nique always maintains believability. The most impressive moment, however, comes at the very end (the clip above is part of this scene): she loses her ferocity and becomes a child again. In one fell swoop, Mo'Nique humanizes this monster, making the audience feel the tiniest bit of sympathy for her, regardless of the heinous acts she commits. It's a virtuoso performance, and deserves every award it gets.

Honorable Mention: the ladies of Nine: Judi Dench, Marion Cotillard, and Penelope Cruz.

There you have. What did I do right? What did I do wrong?
Tomorrow: Directing and Screenplays