What happened to 'The Descendants?'
They bitched, they moaned, and after all this about David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo not being screened in time, the New York Film Critics ignore the film completely. The big win of the day was Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist which landed a Picture and Director win respectively. I felt when I first saw the film that it would be a Sideways-type of affection among critics throughout the season but then Alexander Payne’s The Descendants swooped in and started gaining a lot of momentum. The film, which garnered three four-star reviews from our own writers here at the site, was looking signed, sealed, and delivered for some true awards attention. Clooney even failed to get a mention today and he’s one of the best things to come out of an actor’s performance this year.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: What Happened Today?…
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Brad Pitt, Drive, Jessica Chastain, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Meryl Streep, Moneyball, Oscar Circuit, Take Shelter, the artist, The Help, The Iron Lady, The Tree of Life
 You bet it could.
The film opened back in the summer and was very successful at the box office, along with critics and audiences, maintaining that trajectory up to this moment. Based on a bestselling novel, beautifully adapted and brought to the screen with no less than six Oscar caliber performances from gifted women, dealing with a subject that is to this day sensitive and difficult, the film has all the ingredients of an Oscar winner. And let’s never forget Crash (2005) won with a hell of a lot less just a few years ago!!
Read more on Could “The Help” Win Best Picture?…
"Hello Oscar, I've finally arrived."
When witnessing the evolution of film, it’s hard to grasp how it went from a seemingly simple concept of silent imagery into a loud, uproarious third dimension experience. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film The Artist plays homage to the origins of our cinema in a general manner while attaining a massive respect that can’t be denied. The film tells the story of George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent film actor megastar who withers away into obscurity when the introduction of “talkies” meets monumental popularity. Movie extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo) is a star on the rise who’s admiration for George’s work runs much deeper than the film’s they share.
Writer/Director Michel Hazanavicius explores the deepest parts of his soul which he calls “a love letter.” What a beautiful letter it was. He makes conscious choices to illustrate the medium in the most toxic and potent fashion. A Q & A with Hazanavicius’ at the end of the picture placed much into perspective. His funny, mild-tempered personality will carry him extremely far in this year’s Oscar race. He could easily be the new director that everyone roots for. His stamp on the film is evident and his adoration and tribute to the genre is clear and ostentatious. Read more on The Artist (****)…
 All winners are below!
@NYFCC2011
Official Twitter of the 2011 New York Film Critics Circle
Best Picture – The Artist!!!!
Best Cinematography – The Tree of Life!!!!
Best Screenplay – Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball (Why isn’t Stan Chervin’s name listed? He’s just as much a part of it.)
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist!!!
Best Actor – Brad Pitt – Moneyball, The Tree of Life
Best Actress – Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor – Albert Brooks – Drive
Best Supporting Actress – Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life, The Help, Take Shelter
Best Non Fiction – Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best First Feature – Margin Call
Best Foreign Language Film – A Separation
Read more on The Artist wins NYFCC Best Picture!!!!…
 Best Feature:
50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Descendants
Best Director category:
Mike Mills (Beginners)
Nicholas W Refn ( Drive)
Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Best Int’l Film:
A Separation
Melancholia
Shame
The Kid With a Bike
Tyrranasaur
Read more on Independent Spirit Award Nominations…
 This week there’s a pretty big slate of movies hitting shelves for your purchasing/viewing pleasure. It’s been a number of weeks since this many films have been recommendation worthy in my eyes. To be fair, none of these blew me away, but there’s lots to like with this grouping, so I’m hardly complaining here. For my PICK OF THE WEEK, I had a hard time making the choice, as 3 top contenders all were about the same in my eyes…good comedies that weren’t outstanding but entertained me. Ultimately, I went with the one that I had the least amount of reservations about. It’s not an amazing work, but I did dig it quite a bit and thought it was better than it had any right to be. It’s:
Friends with Benefits
I was very pleasantly surprised with this romantic comedy, as it had some of the best chemistry between leads in 2011. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis made a great pairing, and the supporting cast was eclectic and well used. While not on the level of director Will Gluck’s last flick Easy A, it still was a very good time at the movies. It suffered at the box office a bit due to comparisons between it and the similarly themed rom com from earlier in the year No Strings Attached. This is a much edgier, hipper, and ultimately better film, so this is the one to see. It’s ultimately a feel good flick, but the first half is an excellent deconstruction of the romantic comedy genre. Give it a look and DVD and you should enjoy yourself more than a little.
Read more on Joey’s DVD Picks of the Week (11/29/2011)…
Malick and Mills 1, everyone else 0…
Are we underway now? If so, we start the 2011 Oscar season with a TIE?!?!?!
Yep. A tie. Between two films that could not be more diametrically opposed to one another. Mike Mills’ Beginners and Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life each get a tally mark for winning a Best Feature/Best Picture prize.
Read more on 2011 Gotham Award Winners!…
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