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
Showing posts with label best of 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best of 2009. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Best of 2009, Part 3: Directing, Screenplays
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 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!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Best of 2009, Part 2: Acting
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.
There you have. What did I do right? What did I do wrong?
Tomorrow: Directing and Screenplays
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.
There you have. What did I do right? What did I do wrong?
Tomorrow: Directing and Screenplays
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