With pleasure...
With 1,001 good and not so good distractions keeping me away from my movie-watching life this month, I recognize I am late to the game on offering my take on this particular Oscar season. I commend my colleagues for their incredible work this year and while I may not have contributed as much as them, either in volume or in content, I have loved being a part of the Awards Circuit team for nearly one full year. I therefore recognize that once Billy Crystal tells us goodnight Sunday evening, everyone will exhale, purge all their memories of the good and bad of the 2011 Oscar year, and recharge their batteries in anticipation of which next great film will emerge out of the ether and leap off the page.
A year ago when I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to join the Awards Circuit, no one knew that a clever and loving ode to the silent film era would become the frontrunner to win Best Picture. For the few of us who are still passionate about The Artist, it takes great comfort that the film has withstood a backlash that would have derailed other films. You can call it “slight”, “understated”, “nothing all that memorable” if you choose to. However, I guarantee that Michel Hazanavicius, Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, and the team behind The Artist never, in their wildest dreams, envisioned that they would be in this position with their humble little film. If The Artist does indeed walk away with Best Picture, it will be a thrill because not only does that film work indelibly well with me, almost inexplicably so, but it marks something different and unique. For everyone who railed against the older Academy reverting back to their recliners and heating pads in selecting The King’s Speech last year, The Artist does feel like the safer, older-skewing choice but I would argue that the selection of The Artist falls more in line with an Academy who tested the unpopular waters in selecting the low budget, ambitious, and festival worn The Hurt Locker in 2009.
Excited as I anticipate being with the final call of the night, I am reminded of many films that are not here and this year provided many more disappointments than successes for me as an Oscarwatcher; or more accurately, an Awards Circuiter (I am registering the trademark…). To those who mention that this was not a good year in film, it absolutely was. However, to borrow a tired narrative for American politics, the youth vote stayed home while the older vote came out in droves. Take out the nominations for Jonah Hill and Rooney Mara this year, and the Academy plugged in older names and older-themed dramatic work to recognize this year, discarding bold and innovative cinematic offerings that would have ushered in a new crop of talented actors and filmmakers, receiving profound and global attention for the first time this weekend.
But alas.
Michael Fassbender, one last time, in "Shame"
They had no interest in watching a risky and career-making performance from Michael Fassbender and a staggering Carey Mulligan in Shame. Likewise, Drive stayed at the bottom of the DVD pile. Elizabeth Olsen went from momentary frontrunner in Martha Marcy May Marlene to bubble contender to out of the race in a couple of short months due to the welcoming of Glenn Close for the problematic and panned Albert Nobbs. Apparently that wasn’t Shailene Woodley standing toe-to-toe and matching scene-for-scene with George Clooney in The Descendants. Few, if any, would not begrudge the overdue recognition for Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but this year Oldman scores a nod at the expense of Fassbender, two considerable and worthy lead performances from Ryan Gosling, Michael Shannon’s work in Take Shelter, and others as well. And shame on Focus Features and Sony Pictures Classics for mishandling the release dates and campaigns for Pariah and A Separation, two films that, had they been better marketed and promoted, would have likely been in the conversation. If you have doubts about Pariah, listen to the ovation lead actress Adepero Oduye got from the Golden Globes audience when Meryl Streep called out her name after winning her Globe for The Iron Lady.
And I could go on and on. But the work from my fellow Awards Circuit team precedes all of what I may offer and frankly, they all have said it better than I ever could. At the end of the day, I love the Oscars passionately and always will. It was a bonding experience I shared with my family one Monday night, once a year, while growing up and it became synonymous with my love of film, which I acquired at a young age. I have accepted that anymore, the Oscars are an annual sports season, with pundits and prognosticators writing every week about “Who’s Hot and Who’s Not”, who had good weeks and bad, who may tailspin into a slump and who may launch into a winning streak. The courts, fields, and stadiums are replaced by talk shows, red carpets, and film festivals, and playing the game determines who wins the Super Bowl, World Series, or Championship at the end of the season. Our offseason is coming and the anticipated “silence” Sunday night may indeed be deafening for awhile.
Thank you to all the readers for helping make Awards Circuit bigger and better than ever. To Anna, Clayton, Joey, John, Joseph, and Robert, I cannot wait to put 2011 to bed and dive in to 2012. Your work and dedication is impressive and I have learned a great deal from all of you. And to our esteemed readers, I have likewise learned that I missed a comma here and there, misidentified a year on occasion, and most importantly, have had my eyes opened to new thoughts and ideas and films I never would have considered or been aware of, had you not taken the time to share your thoughts. I hope to have a seat at the Awards Circuit table as long as you will afford me that privilege.
Now, let’s do this.
My “Should Win” selections are based on the category’s nominees and do not include snubs I would give an Oscar to personally.
Best Picture:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Artist
Thoughts: How can I possibly root against my #1 film of 2011?
Best Directing:
Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Should Win: Terrence Malick, The Tree Of Life
Thoughts: Without question, Terrence Malick made the greatest case I have seen yet for a Director being worthy of a win in this category, even if his film is not arguably the best of the year. The scope. The vision. The grandness of the attempt. The Tree Of Life is so many things, so personal and confusing, powerfully moving and frustrating, mesmerizing and beautiful and unexplainable and at times indefensible. Like the human experience, The Tree Of Life is a microcosm of everything we experience in our lives and the fact that Malick tells such an epic tale with a child-like wonderment and sensibility is remarkably bold and unshakable. Watch it again, please. This is a film that people will be talking about for years to come and writing about in the decades that follow.
Best Actor:
Will Win: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Should Win: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Thoughts: I vacillate between Dujardin and George Clooney winning this award and am reminded of the Sean Penn/Mickey Rourke battle a couple of years back. If you want to consider Brad Pitt, then I recall the Sean Penn/Bill Murray/Johnny Depp triple-threat match which headlined this category a few Oscars ago. In the end, Dujardin rides the wave of SAG, BAFTA, and an awesome “I want this Oscar” guest shot on Saturday Night Live a few weeks back. And even Clooney has remarked about how great Dujardin is in the role, so…there you go…
Best Actress:
Will Win: Viola Davis, The Help
Should Win: Viola Davis, The Help
Thoughts: From the opening moments of The Help, I called Viola Davis winning this award and while I may look elsewhere on my personal ballot, that does not mean that I still do not find her work to be extraordinary here. She is the centerpiece and the heart of a film that so many actors (look at SAG once again) have fallen in love with. And she’s due and Meryl Streep has all but endorsed her for the win. I frankly would be shocked if Davis does not win this Sunday.
Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Should Win: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Thoughts: I actually have grown to like this category a lot, minus Max Von Sydow’s performance which says nothing about his performance and everything to do about the reaction I had to the film. I love Nick Nolte’s performance in Warrior and have no real qualms with the rest of these nominees. Von Sydow creates an intriguing narrative being his film’s only other nominee in a Best Picture contender, but for those wondering if an octogenarian steel cage match has been occurring behind the scenes with voters, Von Sydow tapped out long ago I think.
Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Octavia Spencer, The Help
Should Win: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Thoughts: I have still not worked past my disappointment in Shailene Woodley being snubbed for her performance in The Descendants, but with that said, and with acknowledgments to several other women not in this category, I would rank Octavia Spencer fourth on my list of these nominees, just ahead of a strong performance from Janet McTeer. I cannot decide if I would check the box of Melissa McCarthy over Jessica Chastain and Bejo (category fraud much?), but let me say this. The very people who are railing against the McCarthy nomination happening are many of the same people who decry the Academy’s ignoring of comedies each year. Bridesmaids did break through a glass ceiling of sorts with Oscar this year. What remains to be seen is whether it merely chipped or cracked the glass or did some real damage. A win for Melissa McCarthy would signify a shattering of that ceiling for the time being and in all honesty, her performance is unabashedly genuine and unforgettable, quotable and original. All of these women are great to fantastic, but McCarthy is a reward that pays off every time you view her film.
Best Animated Feature Film
Will Win: Rango
Should Win: Chico & Rita
Thoughts: I am no fan of Rango, as I found the film deceitful in its approach and conveniently championed post-haste as a tribute to cinema and not for kids. Love revisionist history. With that said, this is an interesting mix of films with ties to just two main studios – Paramount (and an affiliate release with DreamWorks) and GKIDS (all caps necessary…). GKIDS moved away from being the studio to throw a title or two in each year to pad the numbers to try and hit the 5-film nomination threshold with the Academy and this year scored TWO slots in this category!?!?! Few, if any, have seen A Cat In Paris, but I had the chance to take a look at quite a bit of Chico & Rita and while the animation is less polished and crisp than people expect from animation nowadays, the adult story of romance, sex, love, in and amongst the backdrop of the world of jazz is a stunner and well deserved of its nomination. If you dig a little bit, momentum has been swirling around Chico & Rita as a possible shocker and while I have no belief that it will win, wait till you see it. The best of this bunch for sure (apologies to an unseen Cat…).
REMAINING CATEGORIES:
Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Win: The Descendants
Should Win: Moneyball
Best Original Screenplay
Will Win: Midnight In Paris
Should Win: A Separation
Best Art Direction
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: Hugo
Best Cinematography
Will Win: The Tree Of Life
Should Win: The Tree Of Life
Best Costume Design
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Jane Eyre
Best Documentary Feature
Note – I have indeed flip-flopped from my article on this category…and so help me if Undefeated wins this…
Will Win: Paradise Lost 3- Purgatory
Should Win: Paradise Lost 3- Purgatory
Best Documentary Short
Will Win: Saving Face
Should Win: Saving Face
Best Film Editing
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Best Foreign Language Film
Will Win: A Separation
Should Win: A Separation
Best Makeup
Will Win: The Iron Lady
Should Win: The Iron Lady
Best Original Score
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Artist
Best Original Song
Will Win: “Man Or Muppet”, from The Muppets
Should Win: “Man Or Muppet”, from The Muppets
Best Sound Editing
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: War Horse
Best Sound Mixing
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: War Horse
Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
Should Win: Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
I have to think it wins somewhere and this seems the easiest pick…
Best Animated Short Film
Will Win: The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Should Win: The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore
One of the finest animated short films in recent memory. See this.
Best Live Action Short Film
Will Win: The Shore
Should Win: Tuba Atlantic.
Based on their YouTube video, I am rooting for the nominated team behind Time Freak, but The Shore is cinematic, made by the Oscar-nominated Terry George, and has an impressive cast and balance of drama and comedy.
Alright, pencils down. See you back in school on Monday. Enjoy the Oscars everyone!
FIN
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19 Comments
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Out of interest, what was behind your reaction, evidently strong, to Extremely Loud? I know it has polarised opinion, at least in the US, yet I found it excellent after going in with pretty low expectations. Extremely polished, in fact…
billdale(Quote) (Reply)
For me, the film has some powerful moments and the scene which finally brings son and mother together in her revealing her secret hit me emotionally. And then not even 5 minutes later (give or take) Tom Hanks is shown falling from the sky. I think the problem I have with the film is largely that it veers to unnecessary mawkishness and manipulation. When I see a film adaptation of a beloved and emotionally exacting novel, and the film misses the mark, I often wonder how the screenwriter feels. I think Stephen Daldry pushed too hard here and Eric Roth beat us over the head with a mallet in trying to make us feel the emotions we are supposed to be feeling. There’s something to be said about letting things happen, trusting in your screenplay, and while I am a big fan of Thomas Horn’s performance where others are not, and Max Von Sydow was great in the film, overall I felt a bit icky afterwards and remain baffled that the film got enough first-place votes to score a nomination.
I do know many people who feel the way you do however and I welcome hearing how it affected you…
Michael Ward(Quote) (Reply)
I would strongly agree with your positive points, I just didn’t get the mawkishness and manipulation – and my ‘mawk’ radar is usually finely tuned (just watched Forrest Gump again, and it blew a fuse – but then I have always hated that film!) If anything, I thought Daldry et al were quite consciously restrained – a light touch with the 9/11 backdrop, a not obviously sympathetic lead character, and a level of detachment preserved for many of the supporting roles (notably Bullock and Von Sydow). I found myself fully involved in Oscar’s search and story, much more than I expected to be. I am not familiar with the novel, and maybe that helped me a lot – often the way with high-expectation adaptations!
I saw it at a special screening, in the company of Daldry and a quite eclectic audience – most really liked it and a few hated it, so I can relate to the polarisation of opinion elsewhere (and hence I was NOT surprised by the BP nom). I just got the impression, going back and re-reading the reviews, that there was an element of pack-hunting prejudice working against it. Though your views are better balanced and argued than most! Time will tell if, as I suspect, it will be more kindly remembered.
billdale(Quote) (Reply)
What a fitting cap to our part in the Oscar race. Mike, I can’t tell you how rewarding it was to work with you this season. Your writing set a personal standard for my own and served as a reminder to me that film criticism is not a soapbox, but an active dialogue.
Robert Hamer(Quote) (Reply)
And you have made me trust in my opinions and gain confidence related to those opinions. Thank YOU my friend…
Michael Ward(Quote) (Reply)
Whilst I agree she wasn’t the best, it would feel cruel not to give Octavia the Oscar at this point. She and Plummer in the weaker supporting categories have long had this sewn up. Is there a precedent for someone winning every precursor only to have the Oscar snatched from them at the last minute? Also, at least she has had nice speeches (some praising the fact she doesn’t harp on about Jesus) so that also makes her harder to root against.
I also agree with you about Streep, even if you want to complain about her being on autopilot, I loved that she said that in her speech, a great gesture and shows how she uses her power for good. At least she’s still interested in films and other performances unlike most self-absorbed big name actors.
thereisaray(Quote) (Reply)
I am fine with Octavia Spencer winning the Oscar, I just have her 4th best in that lineup. The actors love The Help and it is hard to not tick the box next to Spencer when you also tick the box marked Viola Davis. The precursor question is a good one. The only name coming to mind would be Julie Christie losing to Marion Cotillard, but I am flying by my seat on knowing how the precursors fell that year for Best Actress. Seemed like Christie was a solid lock and Cotillard was a shock.
I actually find Meryl Streep’s work in The Iron Lady to be impressive in a dismal and miserable film. I am a huge fan of hers and welcome the chance to see her in anything, but at some point…I mean…other than Doubt and some will argue one-half of Julie & Julia, name the last fantastic Streep film. Perhaps that is why she will see her “losing streak” continue on Sunday. Be in better films that are not only about the performance and she may finally win again. I tend to think she came close with Doubt.
Michael Ward(Quote) (Reply)
Oh yes, how could I forget Cotillard. There’s a whole blog dedicated to her Oscar race and there were some very passionate fans of her in LVER.
The turning point for Marion was really the BAFTAs, up till then like you say Christie had steamrollered everything but the sentiment was that when they actually saw her with her charming speech, it was hers (the GGs were cancelled that year cause of the WGA strike of course).
And from this year the BAFTAs became a more important precursor to watch as they predicted all 4 winners including Swinton who was in a split field. There was something in the air though then as the E! movie reviewer Ben Lyons said on the red carpet that some of the potential winners like Marion were locks. It was still a shock though, as it seemed Christie’s.
thereisaray(Quote) (Reply)
Mike, I echo Robert’s sentiments. A beautiful end to the staff will win/should win selections. It has been a great year working at The Awards Circuit, and 2012 is just going to continue this cycle of incredible times.
Joseph Braverman(Quote) (Reply)
Things have been crazy for me literally from about the first day you started. I welcome the chance to kick more and more around with you and should be around more and more going forward. Love your work…
Michael Ward(Quote) (Reply)
I could not disagree more.
Ryman Lloyd(Quote) (Reply)
A perfectly written piece. Agree with your choices for the most of the categories. But I was a little perplexed by your reaction to Rango ( …deceitful in its approach and conveniently championed post-haste as a tribute to cinema and not for kids. Love revisionist history.). Can you explain a little bit more?
Rudrajit Chakraborty(Quote) (Reply)
Good piece, ” The should Win Director” section was especially well written. If only the majority of academy members shared that same view (sigh).
Massimo(Quote) (Reply)
It’s nice to see someone on here agrees Jean Dujardin deserves to win. I agree with most of your picks!
Eric McCainley(Quote) (Reply)
Love your work as always Michael. Agree with most of your opinions too, McCarthy the only real exception.
Jim Wilson(Quote) (Reply)
Always enjoyed your pieces Michael, especially the documentary article, and I like this one was well. I too am very passionate about The Artist, and think a wonderful choice for BP if Tree of Life or Midnight in Paris can’t win. You paragraph over Best Director is also quite well-written, couldn’t agree more about why Malick should win. He would be most-deserving.
Brave of you to still claim The Artist as your number 1, I know it isn’t quite popular to side with the front-runner, but I agree with your sentiments about it. Lovely movie, and a good read.
WillQ(Quote) (Reply)
You could state whatever you would like to but DAVIS IS NOT OVERDUE. How exactly is she overdue? What makes her overdue??
Zooey(Quote) (Reply)
Yes, and congratulations all round with the “should win / will win” pieces, a nice precursor to the event. And there is a clear consensus across the board…. so, cards on the table time, there WILL be at least one major shock, and I think it will be Streep! Though I’d prefer it to be Pitt… while you all (and most other sooth-sayers) are arguing for Davis, the fact that you are all still debating it perhaps betrays the nagging undercurrent that it really could easily happen?
I just think there’s a point, as with Scorsese, where the collective inner-voice convinces them that, maybe they can no longer wait for the knock-out performance / film to finally bestow the garland they feel they are going to have to hand over eventually? That they can obliquely nod to Davis with a Spencer win could be the clincher here. The BAFTA was interesting – Davis was expected to win that too.
Of course, I can hardly be amazed if it doesn’t happen! Maybe I just can’t be bothered with ANOTHER repeat of the ‘Streep vs AN Other, is she really good enough THIS time…?’ show two years down the line, four years down the line, seventeen years down the line……..
billdale(Quote) (Reply)
I’m prepping for Hazanavicius…but I wouldn’t be all too shocked if Malick were in the envelope. There are only a handful of films this year that I think could not have been directed by anyone other than their nominee. Malick is at the top of that list.
sc62788(Quote) (Reply)