Academy sets Oscar dates

Looks like things are getting earlier.  No objections here!

 Academy moves Oscar nominations even earlier to January 10

via In Contention 

Summer breezes by

There wasn't a ton of big talk about movies this summer.  'The Dark Knight Rises' ended up being quite an impressive technical achievement, but maybe not quite on the level of 'The Dark Knight' in terms of being a hopeful Best Picture nominee.  We all remember the fans who were disappointed a few years ago, and I imagine they will be again.  I just don't see the Academy jumping into the superhero Best Picture thing this year.  I think it will mostly likely pop up in the sound categories.


The one film I'm beating myself up over that I haven't seen is 'Beasts of the Southern Wild'.  I've heard fantastic things from friends and family, and am looking forward to seeing the much talked about performance of Quvenzhané Wallis, who seems poised to become the youngest Best Actress nominee of all time.  It will be out on DVD next month where I will be sure to catch up with it.  

Judi Dench in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

Other possibilities in the summer that may carry over include the hugely successful 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', 'Moonrise Kingdom', and 'Take This Waltz'.  "Take This Waltz" simply for Michelle Williams if she is campaigned.  She gives some of her best work in the film.

'The Best Exotic...' may strike a chord with the older Academy and I can see Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson jumping into weaker supporting categories if the back end of the year doesn't fill them up solidly.  'Moonrise Kingdom', a film which I enjoyed, but wasn't my favorite of Wes Anderson's work, is likely to be a contender for Best Original Screenplay.  I also thought the Production Design was wonderfully quirky and could be remembered.  I don't see it holding on for a Best Picture nomination despite stellar reviews.   I can't remember anything else from the summer which may factor in to awards season, but I'm always ready for a surprise. 

Let the buzz begin

I have to say, it's fairly amusing to look back on my last post before the summer began.  "Gravity" and "The Great Gatsby" are not coming out until 2013 and "The Hunger Games" turned into one of the most successful blockbusters of the year.  Jennifer Lawrence remains as relevant a topic as ever though, with incredible reviews coming out of the Toronto International Film Festival for "Silver Linings Playbook" and Oscar buzz swirling around her performance.  I'm sure her success with "The Hunger Games", (which I quite enjoyed), will only help her as she gears up for another awards season from the sound of things in Toronto. 

The Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) have given critics and lucky audiences lots to talk about, and the rest of us wait eagerly to get the chance to see the films when they make way their way to us over the coming weeks.  Although I was quiet on the blog for the summer, I'm excited to get back to discussing what I believe will be a great year at the movies.  Film remains one of my greatest passions and I hope to use this space as an area to voice excitement and discussion over new fall film discoveries and awards season.  Call me crazy but I find the whole thing a blast.  Sure, awards season is full of politics and lots of strange, even unfair choices at times, but this is the game I signed up for.  I know what I'm getting into.  I will be back tomorrow with more thoughts on what lies ahead, as well as a few summer films that jumped out to me.

The Oscars almost a distant memory, anticipating what 2012 has in store...

The Oscars ended over a month ago and I guess I didn't really feel I had anything to say on the matter.  My usual excitement seemed to fade out about halfway through the ceremony.  Everything about the night seemed very safe.  The "was that a nipple?" moment with Jennifer Lopez and the Angelina Jolie leg thing definitely woke me up a little, however, and prompted a good laugh for all in the room.  'The Artist' inevitably won the big prize and the only real jolt of the night seemed to come in how poorly I did in some of the tech categories and Meryl Streep winning Best Actress.  Despite not finding the film particularly strong, I thought Meryl was phenomenal in 'The Iron Lady'.  Things just seemed to be going Viola's way with the SAG win.  It would have been wonderful to see Viola on the stage of the theatre formerly known as the Kodak, but it was not in the cards.  I expect she will have another chance at Oscar gold in the near future.  The comedown from the Oscars was surprisingly quick and I stepped away from the 2011 award season hoping that 2012 was going to hold a lot more in terms of films that would take my breath away and inspire me to think.  2011 just seemed to be lacking in some inexplicable way and I found it interesting to talk to many friends who had felt the same way this year.  So....c'mon film in 2012.  Bring it.  I'm ready for you.

Carey Mulligan in 'The Great Gatsby'

Most anticipated films of 2012?  Right up there has got to be Alfonso Cuarón's 'Gravity', 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'The Master' and 'The Great Gatsby'.  The thought of Carey Mulligan playing Daisy Buchanan excites me, and I hope crazy Baz keeps things interesting.  I'm very interested in 'The Paperboy', mostly because of the intriguing cast and premise.  'Anna Karenina' and 'Great Expectations' are my adaptations that I'm most intrigued about, and as someone who studied musical theatre, I'm more than a little intrigued to see how the musical version of 'Les Misérables' fares on the big screen.  'Lincoln' should be another huge performance out of Daniel Day-Lewis and it will be nice to see Sally Field back in a buzzed about film.  On paper, 2012 looks as if it could hold some real gems and I look forward to diving in to what the year has to offer.  


I'm finally getting around to seeing 'The Hunger Games' this weekend.  Love that Jennifer Lawrence.

Oscar Weekend: Final winner predictions and my favorite films of 2011

So, it's been a while.  I think I may have disappeared because the thrilling nature of Oscar season never truly took hold of me this year.  My predictions for the nominations weren't great, but mostly because I didn't play it safe enough in the performance categories.  Next time Tilda!  I guess I have to work on thinking like an old, white man.  'The Artist' steam train on Sunday is inevitable.  I guess I didn't really feel like my brain had much to the add to the conversation.  Even in a seemingly predictable year, I have no doubt I will be just as excited as I always am on Oscar morning.  Below are my final predictions and some of my favorite films of 2011.  I'm not really going out on any crazy limbs this year, only if you think 'The Artist' will also take screenplay and cinematography home, which it very well could.  My winner predictions are below.  Bring on the upsets!

My favorite actress Kate Winslet winning
Best Actress for the "The Reader"

Best Picture:  The Artist
Best Director:  Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor:  Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress:  Viola Davis, The Help
Best Supporting Actor:  Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress:  Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Original Screenplay:  Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay:  Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon, The Descendants
Best Editing:  The Artist
Best Cinematography:  The Tree of Life
Best Costume Design:  Jane Eyre
Best Art Direction:  Hugo
Best Original Score:  The Artist
Best Original Song:  “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets
Best Makeup:  The Iron Lady
Best Sound Editing:  War Horse
Best Sound Mixing:  Hugo
Best Visual Effects:  Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Foreign-Language Film:  A Separation
Best Documentary Feature:  Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Animated Feature:  Rango
Best Animated Short:  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Best Live-Action Short:  Tuba Atlantic
Best Documentary Short:  Saving Face

2011 offered a lot of great films, most which found themselves outside the scope of awards season.  I'm disappointed that I did not get around to see 'Win Win' and 'A Separation' among others before this post.  You're never going to get around to seeing everything and I will definitely catch up on Netflix, iTunes or on a movie channel down the road.  I did a pretty good job this year though.

Favorite Films of 2011

50/50 - In another world, Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be at the Kodak...er now the Hollywood & Highland Center for the time being.  Although I haven't numbered my favorites, this is probably my number one. 
Drive - This one will be remembered in the years to come.  So much can be said without words.  It may be violent, but if you can get past that, there is truly exquisite filmmaking going on.    

Weekend - The best gay film to come along in many years.  Incredible performances.  

My Week with Marilyn - Michelle Williams' performance has stayed with me.  The backstage stories and the price of fame will always be fascinating to watch.  

Jane Eyre - An incredible adaptation.  Wasikowska was born to play this role and Fassbender nails it yet again.

Bridesmaids - Such great laughs and performances from Wiig, McCarthy and Byrne and the whole ensemble.  My favorite comedy of the year.

Hugo - The history of cinema theme pops up once again and from one of my favorites directors.  Just lovely.    

The Help - The performances took this well known subject to new places.  Team Viola Davis for life. 

We Need To Talk About Kevin - Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller did wonders with this dark material.  Difficult to watch but hard to shake that kind of intensity and commitment.  

Poetry  -  An extraoridnary South Korean film I caught on Netflix Instant.  Aside from being anchored by a incredibly raw central performance, the film manages to say so much about the beauty in the world that can help us through truly dark times and circumstances.  

The Descendants  - A interesting rumination on life and death and the connections between our past and our future.  It's Clooney's best performance to date and features some of the most creative casting of the year.  

Final predictions - 2012 Academy Award nominations

Here are my final predictions in the major six categories.  It's one of those weird years where I wouldn't be shocked to see a few surprises in the nominations and things not matching up with Globe, SAG or Critic's Choice.  In categories I haven't predicted, I am rooting on Bill Cunningham New York and We Were Here in documentary and Winnie the Pooh in animated.  How has Pooh not been nominated so far this year?  Just sad.  :-)  I'm also hoping 50/50 gets in for Best Screenplay like it did with the Writer's Guild.  This year there can be anywhere from 5-10 nominees for Best Picture.  I am currently predicting 7 but have put down my other three guesses in case there are more.  Here we go!  Nomination morning is in mere hours.  

Best Picture
'The Artist
'The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
(If there are 8-10 nominees:  War Horse followed byBridesmaids and Ides of March)
Should have been a contender:  Drive

Best Director
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
(alt.  Tate Taylor, The Help)
Should have been a contender:  Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Best Actor
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
(alt. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter)
Should have been a contender: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Best Actress
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
(alt. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs or Charlize Theron, Young Adult)
Should have been a contender:  Mia Wasikowska, Jane Eyre

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Patton Oswalt, Young Adult
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
(alt. Jonah Hill, Moneyball)
Should have been a contender:  Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
(alt. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants)
Should have been a contender:  Carey Mulligan, Shame

Nomination morning looms

So here we are.  Oscar nomination morning is on Tuesday and a consensus seems to have been reached.  'The Artist' has become the clear front runner for Best Picture, with 'The Descendants', 'Hugo', 'The Help' and 'Midnight in Paris' in competition to be a second place finisher in some ways.  They always say the downside to being a front runner is backlash, though at this point it's hard to see anything mowing down 'The Artist' to take the top prize.  I always welcome a surprise though, especially as 'The Artist' doesn't personally rank in my top of the year, although I deeply admire the craftsmanship and the heart of the film quite a lot.

I can definitely see this being a year quite like the 'Brokeback Mountain'/'Crash' year (which I often don't like to think back on) where Best Director goes to the director of a film that doesn't win Best Picture.  I could easily see Alexander Payne or Martin Scorsese pulling this off.  As Dave Karger mentioned on GoldDerby with Tom O'Neil, only if the 'The Help' manages to pull off the Best Director nomination do things start to look a little more interesting.  But seeing as Tate Taylor was not recognized by the DGA likely in favor of David Fincher for that fifth slot, the chances of this happening appear to be slim.

Yes, I'm one of those crazy people here on the West Coast who voluntarily wakes up at 5:30 a.m. PT for the nominations and then promptly goes back to sleep.  For some reason, I find this exciting.  Also, it's kind of nice to see things as they happen live instead of immediately being greeted to the Facebook posts, Tweets and complaints about the nominations otherwise.

I will post my final predictions on Monday.  As far as those who could potentially be in danger on nomination morning, I'm rooting for Tilda Swinton, Melissa McCarthy and Michael Fassbender to get the nominations they deserve and keep their streaks going.  If AMPAS wants to give me something really out there and incredible like nominating Mia Wasikowska, or showering 'Drive' with love in any way, I'd be downright elated.