Saturday, February 23, 2013

In Which I Hastily Pick Some Oscar Picks!

Love the look in her eyes in this poster.

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

I’ve actually managed to see all but one of these (sorry, Amour, you may well be incredible, but I haven’t had the time). I was on the edge of my seat for Argo, refrained from singing all the way through Les Miserables, and enjoyed the heck out of the Silver Linings Playbook. I was a bit underwhelmed with Zero Dark Thirty, possibly just because I wasn’t interested, and though I loved most of Django Unchained I thought the last thirty minutes or so should have been cut, did not add to the story and, quite frankly, after Leo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz were gone I was no longer interested in the main characters. Lincoln had one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, and Beasts of the Southern Wild was a sweet little indie movie. My pick, though, and the one I enjoyed the most, for its story, character and storytelling, is Argo.

Who WILL Win: Argo
Who SHOULD Win: Argo

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight

Some great performances out of the men this year. Hugh Jackman really carried the role of Jean Valjean marvellously, and I loved his choices with the character. Denzel Washington gave a better performance from him than I’ve seen in a long time. Bradley Cooper is fantastic, and really elevates his film. I haven’t seen Phoenix in The Master but I hear it’s a powerhouse of a performance. But then there’s Daniel Day-Lewis, and man, that guy is in a class all his own. The voice, the stature the little smile and the steely eyes—it all culminates in a character who is more Lincoln than Lincoln. You never once see him show his hand to the audience. Like the Grand Canyon (I’m told), this guy is worth the hype.

Who WILL Win: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln
Who SHOULD Win: Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Really into the minimalism of this one.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Here’s the thing. Quvenzhane Wallis is adorable. She does fine in her film. But it’s not challenging. It’s a performance that the director got from her, as opposed to one she gave. Take her performance against Tom Holland’s in The Impossible, and you’ll see the difference in child actors. Moving on, I think it’s quite possible Emmanuelle Riva will take this one. Jennifer and Jessica are the favourites, with Silver Linings Playbook edging out to take the lead, but if there’s an upset it’ll be from Amour. Which is sad, because the best of the performances I’ve seen is given by Naomi Watts in The Impossible. Having said that, I’d be very happy to see a worthy Jennifer Lawrence take the award—she really lights up the screen in her film.

Who WILL Win: Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook
Who SHOULD Win: Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin for Argo
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

I’ve got very little idea about this category—it’ll be a race between Hoffman, Jones and Waltz, I think. Arkin is good, but it’s nothing new, and not any better than Bryan Cranston in the same film. De Niro is great, actually, but he hasn’t garnered the buzz that the others have. Jones may have lost some ground in the lead-up to the awards, and Waltz has won the SAG and the BAFTA. Which is great, because I love him, and because he’s a phenomenal actor. Hoffman, from all reports, gives a wonderful performance, despite the fact that I find him so icky. So I think he might deserve it. But Waltz has a lot of momentum…

Who WILL Win: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained
Who SHOULD Win: Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Whee!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams for The Master
Sally Field for Lincoln
Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
Helen Hunt for The Sessions
Jacki Weaver for The Silver Linings Playbook

As close to a lock that we have tonight—this award is Hathaway’s to lose, and with good reason. She’s not long on screen, but boy does she make an impact. Her presence, in fact, carries through the rest of the film as a reminder of what poverty and an unjust and corrupt system can do to the fringes of society. Lovely.

Who WILL Win: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables
Who SHOULD Win: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour
Ang Lee for Life of Pi
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Wow. Just…wow. Wither Ben? Wither Bigelow? What the heck, in other words, is the Academy doing in this category? Embarrassment upon embarrassment is piled upon the Oscars with every directing award young Affleck gets, but let’s look at what we’ve got. Ang Lee does something magical with Life of Pi, and Spielberg has SO not lost his touch. Haneke might actually be an upset here, but the safest money is between the two heavyweights.

Who WILL Win: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Who SHOULD Win: Ang Lee for Life of Pi

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

Tarantino has been winning a lot of awards for Django lately, but his script really loses it in the last act. Amour has a lot of weight here, but I think the award will go to Zero Dark Thirty, inasmuch as a consolation for Bigelow’s absence from the Director category as for the accolades this script has received.
Ah, red. The colour of blood and
Tarantino movies.

Who WILL Win: Zero Dark Thirty
Who SHOULD Win: Amour

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Tricky. Very tricky. I’m going to say Argo because no-one’s talked much about Pi, even though it’s a faithful adaptation of a great book that people thought was unfilmable. Beasts is a nice concept, but I’m not sure how much of a challenge the script was—although it certainly was evocative. Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook are strong contenders, but I’m sticking with Argo.

Who WILL Win: Argo
Who SHOULD Win: Argo

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Only seen two of these, I’m sorry to say. Brave is Pixar, it’s set in Scotland, it has a female heroine with AWESOME hair…but it’s not the best thing to come out of that studio. Having said that, it’s winning pretty much everything. Reports give more favourable reviews of Wreck-It Ralph, and I LOVE the Pirates! books and Aardman studios, so I’d love to see them win. Frankenweenie was great—dark, Burtonesque, but great. I’m going with Pixar, I think.

Who WILL Win: Brave
Who SHOULD Win: Frankenweenie

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Amour (Austria)
War Witch (Canada)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)

Now hold on, let’s not forget the great Amelie debacle of 2002. All of these films sound fantastic, really, and it’s most likely that Amour is going to take it out. My biggest pick for an upset would be A Royal Affair.

Who WILL Win: Amour
Who SHOULD Win: Amour

Perfect. Just perfect.
For lovers of the musical in particular.
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Goodness. When will Roger Deakins catch a break? The man is one of the great cinematographers of our time, but unfortunately his work in Skyfall is up against Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi. And just look at it.

Who WILL Win: Life of Pi
Who SHOULD Win: Life of Pi


Best Achievement in Editing
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

This one is between Argo and Zero Dark Thirty. These really use their editing to its best advantage, showcasing the tension and terror of their respective situations. Plus they’re both done by the same guy. William Goldenberg for the win!

Who WILL Win: Argo
Who SHOULD Win: Argo

Best Achievement in Production Design
Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Anna Karenina’s stunning stage-themed production design is a winner here, I think. Les Miserables is the only one with the goods to beat it. Just shows that a bad movie isn’t necessarily made up of bad people.

Who WILL Win: Anna Karenina
Who SHOULD Win: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Hee. Oh go on, admit it. You laughed at a Kristen Stewart film getting nominated for something too. Harsh, I know, but it’s so fun to be harsh. The same two will fight it out here as did for production design. Anna for the win.

Who WILL Win: Anna Karenina
Who SHOULD Win: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock
Had to look hard for this, but I love the mysticism
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables

Sad that Hitchcock wasn’t better received, because it was a fun movie to watch. “Good evening,” indeed.  I’m thinking Les Miserables for this one, despite Hobbit being as beautifully crafted as the other Middle Earth films. I fear it didn’t make a big enough impact this year.

Who WILL Win: Les Miserables
Who SHOULD Win: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Anna Karenina
Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

You know what Alexandre Desplat does really well in Argo? Underscore. You don’t even know it’s there but believe me, it’s working. John Williams gives us a really good score this time around for Lincoln, though, and he’s pretty much the king of the Oscars. I would love, as always, for my beloved Thomas Newman to win for Skyfall, but at the same time I don’t want it to be for music I haven’t heard yet. 

Who WILL Win: Alexandre Desplat for Argo
Who SHOULD Win: Alexandre Desplat for Argo

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Before My Time in Chasing Ice
Suddenly in Les Miserables
Pi’s Lullaby in Life of Pi
Skyfall in Skyfall
Everybody Needs a Best Friend in Ted

I LOVE the song from Chasing Ice, even though, yes, it’s sung by Scarlett Johansson—it’s gorgeous. Soulful and bittersweet. So that’s my favourite. Then there’s “Suddenly”, which sounds like it fits perfectly into a score written 25 years ago, and in itself this is a beautiful piece. I suspect Adele has the best odds for Skyfall, but I’m saving “Suddenly” as a possible upset.

Who WILL Win: “Skyfall” in Skyfall
Who SHOULD Win: “Before My Time” in Chasing Ice

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Lots of familiar names in this category. Les Miserables did something a bit revolutionary, and it’s a bit of a showpiece of their film, so that’s a big contender. Skyfall is a big film with big action pieces and therefore a necessity for great sound mixing. And then there’s Argo. Sheesh, it gets harder every year.

Who WILL Win: Les Miserables
Who SHOULD Win: Les Miserables

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

These kinds of categories love war films, which makes me think Zero Dark Thirty is in with a big chance. Surely gunshots can only be edited so many times for a particular movie, which is why I think Django Unchained is not. Skyfall, again, has a great team on it. And then there’s Argo.

Who WILL Win: Zero Dark Thirty
Who SHOULD Win: Argo

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
The Avengers
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

It’s unfortunate. This category always wants something bigger and better. And while the effects for the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey are just as brilliant as they were in 2002, when they were REALLY brilliant, I just think it might not be enough to wow people. Gollum is spectacular, and so are the rock giants, so you never know. But then, in Life of Pi, this team gave us a riot of fantasy and spectacle, with the most realistic CGI tiger anyone’s ever seen. Plus they were working with water, and you should know that’s not an easy thing to simulate.

Who WILL Win: Life of Pi
Who SHOULD Win: Life of Pi

Best Documentary, Feature
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for Sugar Man

Ahh, the time has come for me to pick things based on their titles. I love the sound of 5 Broken Cameras, and it’s premise might be my favourite. How to Survive a Plague is a similarly great name, and has gotten some good press. But Searching for Sugar Man just won the BAFTA and the WGA awards, and it’s giving a musician a chance at the success many feel he deserved the first time around. Plus I like the name.
I love the centre strip and that the eye colour
pops out from the black and white.

Who WILL Win: Searching for Sugar Man
Who SHOULD Win: 5 Broken Cameras


Best Documentary, Short Subject
Innocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

Eenie, meanie, mynee…mo.

Who WILL Win: Innocente
Who SHOULD Win: Open Heart

Best Short Film, Animated
Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Paperman
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare

I’ve actually seen one of these! No, TWO! The Simpsons short is great fun, silent and featuring Maggie Simpson as herself, with a nice little payoff against the baby with one eyebrow. Fresh Guacamole I saw on YouTube, and it’s SO. CLEVER. Difficult to describe, but it’s stop motion and has such attention to detail. So I’m voting for it.

Who WILL Win: Paperman
Who SHOULD Win: Fresh Guacamole

Much more excited about this
poster than about the movie.
It's awesome!
Best Short Film, Live Action
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

Here we go again. Um…

Who WILL Win: Curfew 
Who SHOULD Win: Buzkashi Boys

Happy Oscars everyone!!!

In Which I Can't Believe It's Oscar Time Again

Hello Oscar people!

I had big plans this year--well, plans--to do a proper lead-up-to-the-oscars blog, but Life, that pesky, addictive habit, got in the way. So as a means of entertaining you a little before I send through my picks for this year, here are my Oscar Beanie alternative Oscar nominations and winners. No waiting!

On that, for those who do not understand what I mean about Oscar Beanies, because it's been a while, they are so named because they are my favourite piece of winter clothing (the possible TV offshoot of these awards would probably be called the Mittens). One day I imagine a little gold beanie statue with a pompom on top being presented to proud recipients.

Also, please bear in mind that I haven't seen ALL the movies ever. Including Skyfall. I know, I know, I'm getting to it!

Anyway, here are this year's Beanie nominees:


Best Performance by an Inanimate Object in a Motion Picture
The homemade clan hoods—Django Unchained (it’s the effort that counts)
The silver candlesticks—Les Miserables (guilt in corporeal form)
Pi’s raft—Life of Pi (hardest working raft in showbiz)
These are his ANGRY eyes
Winner: Les Miserables. Because they drove the entire story. And because I felt bad for thinking of nominating Keira Knightly for Anna Karenina.


Best Folicular Performance in a Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz’s beard—Django Unchained (just plain impressive)
Anne Hathaway’s haircut—Les Miserables (of the minimalist design)
James Spader’s mustache—Lincoln (changing an entire face and looking awesome)
Tommy Lee Jones’s wig—Lincoln (mostly for what it covered)
Quvenzhane Wallis’s ‘fro—Beasts of the Southern Wild (whee!)
Wheee!
Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild. Because WHEE, that’s why!


Best Performance by an Animal in a Supporting Role
Richard Parker—Life of Pi (for blurring the lines between CGI and real life and for expressing a heck of a lot with one unblinking glare)
The Aurochs—Beast of the Southern Wild (they sure came a long way for that payoff)
Tom Waits’s rabbit—Seven Psychopaths (managing to be menacing simply by not having a point to being there)
The salmon—Salmon Fishing In the Yemen (swim away! Swim away!)
MY fish.
Winner: Life of Pi. Because you don’t want to piss of that tiger.


Best single line of dialogue
Alan Arkin: ‘Argofuckyourself.’—Argo
Quvenzhane Wallis: ‘Once there was a Hushpuppy, and she lived with her daddy in the Bathtub.’—Beasts of the Southern Wild
Jennifer Lawrence: ‘You say more inappropriate things than appropriate things!’—The Silver Linings Playbook
Dev Patel: ‘Everything will be all right in the end, so if it is not all right it is not yet the end.’—The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
CHEERS!
Winner: Argofuckyourself. Because it’s so damn fun to say.


The Viggo Mortensen Award for Best Entrance
John Goodman—Flight (also a contender for the Rocky Award for Working That Music)
Leonardo DiCaprio—Django Unchained (ahh, the smiling malevolence)
Ian McKellen—The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Jackson knows his entrances)

He's on the list.
Winner: Flight. Because everyone who has ever wanted to stomp their stuff down a hallway has wanted to pull this kind of thing off.

Achievement in Gratuitous Violence
The last 30 minutes—Django Unchained
Welcome to Candieland—Django Unchained
Revolutionary French dentistry—Les Miserables
The opening 30 minutes—Zero Dark Thirty
Seriously, Quentin, calm the F*^& down!
Winner: Django Unchained, the last 30 minutes. Because it SO didn’t need to be there.


Best Meal in a Motion Picture
Raisin Bran and tea—The Silver Linings Playbook (because it’s not a date)
Bilbo Baggins’ entire larder—The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (stomachs all over the cinema world rumbled)
Cocaine, orange juice and gin—Flight (for that get up and go!)
Fish, fish and more fish—Life of Pi (soo much fish)
The dwarf eating some kind of greenery is about to be bitch-slapped.
Winner: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Because did you SEE the stuff he had in there?

Stay tuned for full Oscar picks!