- With the announcement of the Oscar nominees for 2011 released last Tuesday it is officially Oscar season. A lot of the categories went mostly as anticipated but there were several surprises and of course perceived snubs. Lets dig into the list of nominees:
Best Picture:
-The Artist
-Hugo
-The Descendants
-The Help
-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
-Moneyball
-War Horse
-Tree of Life
-Midnight in Paris
Thoughts- 8 of the 9 nominees were in my predicted 10. The only one that made it in that I didn't predict was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which was in my personal top 10 so I was pretty happy about that one. The only flaw here is the exclusion of Drive which I consider a huge snub. Drive was one of the slickest, retro-cool movies of the year and has already developed a large cult following which will probably make it one of the more remembered films of the year. With the way the other nominations came out The Artist is the prohibitive favorite trailed closely by Hugo with The Descendants, Moneyball, Midnight in Paris and The Help as long shots. Tree of Life, War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will have to be happy with their nominations because they have no shot.
Best Director:
-Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) (1st Nomination)
-Alexander Payne (The Descendants) (2nd Nomination for Directing)
-Martin Scorsese (Hugo) (7th Nomination for Directing/ 1 Previous win for The Departed)
-Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) (7th Nomination for Directing/ 1 Previous win for Annie Hall)
-Terence Malick (Tree of Life) (2nd Nomination for Directing)
Thoughts- It is the 4 highly thought of veterans against the newcomer. I had 3 of the 5 right in my predictions, with Allen and Malick sneaking in ahead of Spielberg and Fincher. Once again I don't have any problems with this group of nominees although I would have liked to see Refn for Drive (This is going to be a theme). The major surprise here is the exclusion of Spielberg who is maybe the most highly thought of director in Hollywood. It is very interesting that War Horse got nominated for Best Picture and Spielberg missed out, as I would have thought they would have been a package deal with either both missing or both making it. Most years the favorite for for Best Picture carries over to the director but this year could definitely be different because any of the 5 nominees have a legitimate shot at winning. My money right now is that the Artist will sweep the first two categories but that could change very fast.
Best Actor:
-Brad Pitt (Moneyball) (3rd Nomination for Acting)
-George Clooney (The Descendants) (4th Nomination for Acting/ 1 Previous win for Supporting Actor in Syriana)
-Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) (1st Nomination)
-Demian Bichir (A Better Life) (1st Nomination)
-Jean Dujardin (The Artist) (1st Nomination)
Thoughts- Again got 3 out of the 5. Very surprised that Bichir got in ahead of Gosling (Drive or Ides of March), DiCaprio (J. Edgar) and Fassbender (Shame). I love Gary Oldman as an actor, and it is unbelievable that he has never been nominated before with his track record, but it is disappointing that he is nominated for his role in an almost unwatchable movie. This topic will come up again later when I have a bigger problem, so suffice it to say for now that I hated Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. This is the battle between Pitt and Clooney to see who will nab their first win as a lead actor, however Oldman definitely falls into the category of getting a "career" win, and if the votes get split and dispersed enough that brings Dujardin into the mix. My thought right now is that Pitt's name gets called but like most of the categories this year there is not a lot of certainty which could make for a very interesting and surprising night.
Best Actress:
-Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) (6th Nomination for Acting) (Haven't Seen)
-Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) (3rd Nomination for Acting)
-Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) (1st Nomination)
-Viola Davis (The Help) (2nd Nomination for Acting)
-Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) (17th Nomination for Acting-not a typo/ 2 Previous wins for Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice) (Haven't Seen)
Thoughts- I got 5 out of 5 in the category. A very strong lineup and once again I can see this categoy going several different ways. A strong case could be made for Close, Williams, Davis and Streep while Mara is the only nominee I can't see winning. I have yet to see Albert Nobbs but everything I have heard is that it is a terrible movie but Close is outstanding in it, and this is probably the last time the Academy will be able to reward Close with a win. A strong case could also be made that it is ridiculous that Streep has 17 nominations and only 2 wins, with the last one coming in 1983, and a push could be made to reward her with a 3rd win. Side note- Streep has been nominated in each of the last 5 decades (70s-1, 80s-7, 90s-3, 00s-4, 10s-2) that is unbelievable. With both of those cases being said, most people tend to think (myself included) that the 2 best performances this year belong to Williams (my pick) and Davis, so this category is far from an easy pick this year.
Best Supporting Actor:
-Christopher Plummer (Beginners) (2nd Nomination for Acting)
-Jonah Hill (Moneyball) (1st Nomination)
-Nick Nolte (Warrior) (3rd Nomination for Acting)
-Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) (2nd Nomination for Acting)
-Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) (2nd Nomination for Acting)
Thoughts- Only got 2 out of 5 here. Very happy to see that Sydow got a nod for his emotional turn in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I was a little surprised that Hill and Nolte both received nominations. While Hill is very good in Moneyball, that movie is carried by Pitt's performance and the outstanding screenplay. It is also unusual for the Academy to nominate someone whose career had previously consisted of raunchy humor that the Academy usually turns a disdainful look at. Nolte is a respected veteran actor but I didn't think he had enough screen time in an underseen movie that didn't generate buzz in any other categories, so that one was a little surprising. The glaring omission and possibly the biggest surprise of the nomination morning was the exclusion of Albert Brooks for turn as a cold, heartless mob boss in Drive. Brooks was easily my favorite supporting role of the year and topped the list for several other respected critics. The frontrunner here appears to be Plummer for his turn as the gay father of the protagonist in Beginners. He is the respected veteran without a win and he gave the performance that has been the most heralded of the year for the group, so it is his award to lose coming down the homestretch.
Best Supporting Actress:
-Berenice Bejo (The Artist) (1st Nomination)
-Jessica Chastain (The Help) (1st Nomination)
-Octavia Spencer (The Help) (1st Nomination)
-Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) (1st Nomination)
-Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) (2nd Nomination for Acting)(Haven't Seen)
Thoughts- Nailed 3 out of 5 predictions in this category. This is another category where I am disappointed at the exclusion of Carey Mulligan for either Shame or Drive, as both performances deserved to be recognized. I know there is group of supporters for McCarthy and Bridesmaids, but I just didn't get it and can't do anything but shake my head when I think about her being nominated. Spencer and Chastain both made it in for The Help and rightfully so. It is looking like one of them will take home the award and the precursors all suggest that it is going to be Spencer, although I would personally vote for Chastain. The upset could happen if The Help ladies split the vote which would leave a pathway for Bejo to win, especially if The Artist continues to gain momentum and push votes in all of its categories. McTeer will have to just be happy about a nomination because I doubt enough people have even seen Albert Nobbs to vote for her.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
-Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin for Moneyball (1st Nomination for Chervin, 2nd Nomination for Sorkin/1 win for The Social Network, 4th Nomination for Zaillian/1 win for Schindler's List)
-John Logan for Hugo (3rd Nomination)
-Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for The Descendants (3rd Nomination for Payne in Writing/1 win for Sideways, 1st Nomination for Faxon, 1st Nomination for Rash)
-George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon for Ides of March (2nd Nomination for Clooney in Writing, 2nd Nomination for Heslov, 1st Nomination for Willimon)
-Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1st Nomination for O'Connor, 1st Nomination for Straughan)
Thoughts- Another 3 for 5 category, and another disappointing snub for Drive. This category is really a 3 way race between Moneyball, The Descendants and Hugo, and by declaring a winner this category is in essence eliminating the other 2 from any hopes of winning Best Picture. The screenwriting marvel of turning a dry economics of baseball book into a compelling and entertaining movie is a huge feat and should land Moneyball a win in this category in my opinion. The Descendants and Hugo would also be deserving winners and definitely have shown the support and acclaim to pull off the win. Clooney will have to be happy with his nomination in this category for Ides of March. That brings me to the part where I get to rant a little as I mentioned a few categories previously. How in the world can you take an acclaimed novel about cold war era spies and make an almost unwatchably boring and incoherent movie and it be considered an Oscar nominee... Yes i'm talking about you Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Best Original Screenplay:
-Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris (15th Nomination in Writing/2 wins for Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters)
-Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist (1st Nomination)
-Kristin Wiig and Annie Mumolo for Bridesmaids (1st Nomination for both)
-Asghar Farhadi for A Separation (1st Nomination) (Haven't Seen)
-J.C. Chandhor for Margin Call (1st Nomination) (Haven't Seen)
Thoughts: Usually one of the hard categories to predict, and this year was no exception with surprise nominations for both the Iranian foreign film A Separation and little seen political movie Margin Call. It is a shame that 50/50 was excluded here as it really was one of the most well writting movies this year in my opinion as it seamlessly walked the line between comedy and drama while dealing with a topic as heavy as cancer. There is also another nomination for Bridesmaids that makes me cringe but it has no shot at winning along with A Separation (It will probably win Foreign Picture) and Margin Call. So this category is a two way shoot out between the break out star Michel Hazanavicius and tidal wave that is The Artist and the consumate veteran in Woody Allen who has written one of the most touching and entertaining works of his distinguished career in Midnight in Paris.
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