And the Nominees Are

Guillaume Schiffman
“The Artist”
Oscar Scene: Waking up from the sound dream sequence

Jeff Cronenweth
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Oscar Scene: Opening credits

Robert Richardson
“Hugo”
Oscar Scene: Traveling through the train station

Emmanuel Lubezski
“The Tree of Life”
Oscar Scene: Creation

Janusz Kaminski
“War Horse”
Oscar Scene: Joey running through the battle

This is my favorite technical category of them all.  Being a fan of photography and the illustrious works of some of the great artists that grace the backyard of New Jersey and New York, I can appreciate a beautiful depiction or dimmed sequence of war and love.  The nominees this year have produced some of the greatest images scene in film in a long time.  From simple frame work highlighting the origins of film to a full on blast of trains, nooks and crannies, the auteur that exists within these gentleman are something to marvel at fondly.

Guillaume Schiffman’s work in “The Artist” is probably the core of the charm that everyone speaks of when describing Michel Hazanavicius’ picture.  The film led by a breathtaking cast of Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, accurately captures the essence of a famous film or nickelodeon that would have been seen in the early days of cinema.  Schiffman’s simplicity and honor of the genre has been a force to be reckoned with all season.  With bigger, louder, and more dynamic films coming through the circuit, “The Artist” remains a formidable contender in this category and a possible beneficiary of a sweep.

Jeff Cronenweth, fresh off his deserved nomination for “The Social Network” teamed back up with director David Fincher and painted a dark, demented tone for the American version of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”  Cronenweth’s style, almost demanding the audience’s attention and showcasing itself as if it were a film from the horror genre, was a match made in cinematic heaven.  A opening sequence to die for with angles and shots only a master could interpret and capture, if the Academy is inclined to do so, could find a consolation prize for this box office success with four other nominations under its belt.

Robert Richardson has been working in the field for decades now.  With an impressive resume and an even better stylistic quality, Richardson and director Martin Scorsese turned “Hugo” into one of, if not the finest, 3-D experience seen on film thus far.  Rather than going after cheap limericks and camera tricks, Richardson devoted himself and the camera to a golden tone that smoothly enriches a train station that might otherwise look unsightly in person, and turn it into a stunning blockade of stone and metal.  Richardson has found himself at Oscar’s podium before with his terrific works in “JFK” by Oliver Stone and Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” Richardson shows no sign of coming up for air anytime soon.  With eleven nominations, eight of which in the technical fields, “Hugo” has huge chances of becoming one of, if not, the most rewarded film of the night without winning Best Picture.  If Oscar wants to embrace the man and team that redefined the 3-D genre, Richardson could find himself ahead of his competition.

Emmanuel Lubezski, criminally ignored for his work in Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men,” comes back bigger and better every time.  Lubezski has seen the nominations come and go over the years with his deserved citations for “Sleepy Hollow” and “The New World.”  Unbeknownst to me, Lubezski remains one of the unrewarded artists of our generation.  His lesser works are still among some of the best performed in the given year.  In the uneven “Ali,” Lubezski turned typical boxing matches into full fledged bloodbaths.  And who could forget his work in “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” a cinematic masterpiece of its own accord that didn’t break through the circuit and remains simply a nominee for Original Screenplay.  Whatever you think of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life,” there’s a hat that can be tipped to its director of photography.  Can you deny the overwhelming beauty that engulfs the screen as we watch the birth of our existence?  Or the introduction of a baby sibling to his older-toddler brother as he looks with mystery and confusion?  Lubezski’s win with the Cinematographers Guild will hopefully solidify his Oscar but he did win the same award and looked like a shoo-in for “Children of Men.”  Five nominations is enough, an Oscar is in order, don’t you think?

Janusz Kaminski is one of the most seasoned and influential cameramen to grace our screens.  When Spielberg attached him to his passion project “Schindler’s List,” the world was introduced to a different kind of experience.  Kaminski’s use of framing and placing the audience in a first-person view of epic proportions is among the best techniques in the business.  While “War Horse” contains a jagged story that some found both moving and long winded, the technical aspects of the film solely carried the film to the latter part of the season to make it a nominee.  While it’s not as brilliant as his works in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Saving Private Ryan,” Kaminski can hold his head up high as still one of the biggest dogs in the industry.

Predicted: Emmanuel Lubezski for “The Tree of Life”

Snubbed: Drive, Moneyball, Melancholia

The brightest light of Oscar's Best Pictures...

Four days left.  From time to time during my first year as The Awards Circuit’s staff writer, I have been regarded as the snobby, deliberate contrarian who panned popular movies just to get a reaction.  Those kinds of accusations are to be expected in this profession these days, but it also belied the number films I genuinely enjoyed this year, including surprisingly quite a few that improved in my eyes when giving them a second chance. Even flawed films like Shame, A Dangerous Method and Sleeping Beauty lingered far longer in my mind than most films one would label as a “disappointment.”  In fact, not since 2007 have I been so fond of so many movies, and while I am not a fan of the majority of Oscar’s Best Picture nominees, the unlikely inclusion of my #1 of the year is enough for me to cheer their judgment this time.  Indeed, I could not have hoped for a more exciting year to be drafted here, as it is the unpredictability of this year’s Oscar race that has yielded a surfeit of pleasant surprises and shifting bets.  There were thankfully few early frontrunners that will “coast” their way to a win, with the current leaders only taking shape in the past few days.  I of course have published my own ideas as to what qualified as the most award-worthy film achievements of 2011, because why should the Academy have all the fun?  Here are my Oscar 2012 Will Win/Should Win/Should Have Been Nominated selections:

Best Motion Picture of 2011

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Motion Picture of 2011

Will Win: Maybe the backlash will reach critical mass at the last minute, maybe the Globes curse will rear its head, but the reality is that there is nothing stopping The Artist at this point.  The epitome of 2011’s collective nostalgia is historically matched only by Slumdog Millionaire in its precursor run.
Should Win: I am simply over-the-moon that The Tree of Life has been given a chance to compete for Best Picture, though I know it has no actual shot at winning.  No matter, just like The Thin Red Line, this masterpiece doesn’t need a trophy to secure its place as a future classic.  Long after the pleasantries of The Artist (which I liked, promise!) fade away, I guarantee that people will still be pondering, debating, discussing Malick’s film for years to come.
Should Have Been Nominated: The astonishing A Separation would’ve been a sure nominee if it were an American production, and will be remembered more fondly than most of the actual nominees.  In the wake of all the naval-gazing films last year pining away for The Way Things Were, here was a movie of startling immediacy, one that highlighted the very complex (and mostly self-created) moral, social, religious and political issues we face here and now.  The Interrupters’ journey through a seemingly endless web of violence to find hope, however small, was a far more relevant and bold piece of social commentary than a film like The Help ever attempted.  Speaking of superior social commentaries, post-gay cinema continued to run circles around heteronormative romances with the sensual, intelligent Weekend.  All of these films would have been more than worthy Best Picture nominees and should have been nominated.

Best Director

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Direction of 2011

Will Win: Like last year, it appears that many are predicting a Picture/Director split; this time between Scorsese and The Artist.  I won’t make the same mistake I did before, as those kinds of splits are far rarer than people like to believe.  The only instances in the past twenty years where such a thing happened were shocking upsets or rare situations for the nominated directors.  Scorsese is not a dual nominee like Soderbergh was and he already won an Oscar five years ago for a better film.
Should Win: There isn’t a whole lot I can say about Malick’s monumental work on his most personal project that I haven’t already elaborated on.  What more can one ask of an uncompromising filmmaker’s 30-year project than a film that combines everything they are as an auteur, especially one as singular as him?
Should Have Been Nominated: Steve James’ achievement with The Interrupters was every bit the equal of Hoop Dreams, perhaps even more so since he dropped voiceover in favor of allowing his heroes to narrate their own stories.  With all due respect to everyone’s favorite nebbish NYC comedian-turned-filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami’s best film since Taste of Cherry was the true director comeback story of the year; a seemingly pretentious, concepty gimmick executed with uncommon warmth, wisdom and honesty.  Pina, the exhilarating dance documentary that I unfortunately missed before publishing my year-end top ten list, defied traditional biography approach to Pina Bausch in favor of letting her work speak for itself.  The genius of the film lied not in the dance numbers – which of course were thrilling – but in the artistry of Wim Wenders’ capturing of the human body in its athletic versatility.  His rich cinematic approach gave every movement simultaneous feelings of joy and mourning that revealed more about the famed choreographer than exposition ever could.  Last but certainly not least, Asghar Farhadi’s precision with A Separation was the heart and soul of great storytelling, as every decision he made was perfectly assembled into a prism of refracting ideologies.

Best Lead Actor

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Lead Actor of 2011

Will Win: To my relief, the impossibly charming Jean Dujardin has danced, beamed and delighted his way through the precursors to being the frontrunner of the Best Actor race.  I’m sure his acceptance speech will be as adorable as the others.
Should Win: Well, certainly not Clooney, who even in his best moments as Matt King only teased at actually moving past his tiresome Clooneyisms before diving right back into them for the majority of the film.  It’s no wonder the tides are favoring the more effervescent work of Dujardin, but even he comes in second to my vote for Brad Pitt, who fully worked all of his strengths to full effect in making his thorny and charismatic Billy Beane a prime example of what a “Star Performance” is capable of.
Should Have Been Nominated: Short of Pitt and the tender, appropriately stoic Bichir, none of my favorite male lead performances made headway in the Oscar race.  Peyman Mooadi’s Nader may have been the most important performance in A Separation, as it was his shift from moral absolutism into repressed uncertainty that formed the thematic backbone of the film’s many ideas.  Michael Shannon’s tendency to showboat sometimes make me forget how magnetic an actor he can be.  Luckily, the otherwise plodding, belabored thriller Take Shelter had the good sense to calibrate a slow burn performance from him; his big eyes and quivering voice as terrified of his own descent into madness as we are, so when he does get his Big Acting Scene, it feels earned.  Tom Cullen’s shy, hesitant layers slowly peeling away in the face of his budding romance in Weekend was one of the sweetest and most authentic character arcs I saw all year.  That his co-star Chris New, Shame’s committed Michael Fassbender, the ferocious Woody Harrelson, the reptilian Gary Oldman and Ewan McGregor’s best performance since Moulin Rouge! missed my personal shortlist is not a slight of their abilities but a testament to how great 2011 was for lead actors.

Best Lead Actress

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Lead Actress of 2011

Will Win: The narrative that pundits and Oscarphiles are pushing is Davis vs. Streep, and while some of the latter’s more, erm, ardent fans are jumping on her BAFTA victory as a sign that the tides are turning, I’m still betting that the industry-wide love for Davis in a far more popular film (honestly, does anyone even like The Iron Lady?) will make her the winner this year…
Should Win: …and why shouldn’t she?  Viola Davis never outright fought Tate Taylor’s anodyne narrative but still valiantly rejected one-dimensional sanctification of The Help’s true hero, and communicated through understated resentment and saucy candor the bold work that her movie should have been.  It was through her that The Help rose above the drivel of previous White Guilt films, and her refusal to let Aibileen be defined by who she served that make her the most deserving nominee by a mile and a half.  It’s strange, just last year we had a Best Actress lineup so strong that even the weakest nominee (and eventual winner) held up fairly well among past victors, and now we have only one nominee that’s worth a damn.
Should Have Been Nominated: It’s pretty much a no-brainer at this point that I would have selected Juliette Binoche’s career-best work in Certified Copy as not only a nominee but the winner of the whole thing, but the real question is why almost none of the precursors also felt that way?  Her simultaneous embodiment of a distinct woman and the idea of her was Kiarostami’s greatest asset in giving his think piece the lived-in quality it needed.  Mia Wasikowska gave what may have been my favorite portrayal of the titular heroine in Jane Eyre, using the slightest variations of her eyes and face to convey a multitude of inner reflection that the film wisely showcased for its biggest emotional dramatics.  I am confident that she will one day be given her due by the Academy.  Despite her heart-wrenching journey to express herself artistically just as her mind began to shut down in Poetry, Jeong-hie Yun’s cardinal sin in the Oscar race was being Asian, apparently, and if someone with the clout of Julie Christie or Emma Thompson gave the kind of deeply wounded performance that Olivia Colman did in Tyrannosaur, this race would have been a done deal long ago.

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Supporting Actor of 2011

Will Win: While the critics’ guilds were split between Brooks and Plummer, the former’s surprise (but not exactly “outrageous”) snub by the Academy has all but sealed the deal for the veteran player in Mike Mills’ beautiful film.
Should Win: Of all the frontrunners of this year’s Oscar race, this is by far my favorite of the lot.  If Plummer wins for his generous and delicately-played inhabitation of a renewed soul, epitomizing both the romantic core of Beginners while remaining distinctly as a foundation to his lead’s own realization, it’ll be the first time that my favorite supporting actor perfectly aligns with the Academy’s since…damn, Martin Landau?  Maybe Del Toro in 2001?
Should Have Been Nominated: Contrary to Academy Award history and hyperbolic critics, the best supporting performances of the year are not often ones that “steal the show,” either through attention-grabby acting or simply being a fraudulent lead, but ones who actually support their film and co-stars.  They arrive subtly, infuse their characters with more life and presence than their screen time allows, and leave with indelible but not always obvious contributions.  As an advocate for these kinds of unselfish performers, I took extra care to comb over and single out the most essential supporting character work this year, including a second and slightly more rewarding look at A Dangerous Method (kudos to Joseph’s review for persuading me to do so) to appreciate Viggo Mortensen’s sly, robust portrayal of Sigmund Freud.  On the surface his smug demeanor and cigar chomping seemed like mere comic relief until I noticed the deeper finesses of his characterization.  His ego proved only one facet of his focused observational eyes and pithy but meticulous voicing of his famed theories.  I complained previously at how he “simply isn’t challenged enough” by A Dangerous Method, but I now see he was the one challenging Cronenberg’s uneven film the whole time.  Or how about Shea Whigham, the least recognized but perhaps most vital player of Take Shelter, whose disintegrating trust in his friend provided us with the most relatable view of our wholly untrustworthy protagonist?  Shahab Hosseini’s hot-headedness was more volatile acting than my other preferred nominees, but his naked, unpredictable emotion was perfectly matched in the context of A Separation’s flawed characters and moral compromise.  Not that I am entirely averse to a secondary character stealing the show, as was the case of Corey Stoll’s shamelessly obvious impersonation of the Ernest Hemingway persona.  His ace monologue supplied nearly all of the humor and wit that I desperately looked for in the rest of Midnight in Paris.

Best Supporting Actress

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Supporting Actress of 2011

Will Win: Precursor support would suggest that Octavia Spencer will take this one to the bank, and while she still doesn’t “feel” like a Best Supporting Actress winner, I can’t honestly see anyone else overtaking her at this point.  Bejo and Chastain’s nominations seem to be viewed as breakthrough “nomination is the reward” deals, McTeer’s film is a dead shark, and I don’t have faith that the Academy will Go There with a performance as raucous as McCarthy’s.
Should Win: Yep, I’m still rooting for the woman who shit in the sink.  Sure, Melissa McCarthy got the funniest lines handed to her on a silver platter, but she earned each and every one of them with her bold, fiercely dedicated portrayal of what could have easily been a vulgar stereotype.  Because of McCarthy, we laughed at Megan’s chutzpah, but not at her, and that’s an important and praiseworthy distinction.
Should Have Been Nominated: The infidelity drama Tuesday, After Christmas boasted not one but two remarkable supporting performances from Mirela Oprişor and Maria Popistaşu as the wronged wife and the cheating mistress, respectively.  Popistaşu avoided the easy naïveté or cynicism that most would lazily portray the Other Woman with, instead discovering a character of unexpected poise even as she slid into doubt.  Oprişor’s contained breakdown at discovering her husband’s betrayal was unbearably heartbreaking to witness.  One of the most clichéd stock characters to emerge in recent cinema is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, which is why it was so refreshing to see Mélanie Laurent – an actress I normally don’t care for – convey the moony, charming and slightly odd Anna as much more than a tired screenwriter’s conceit.  Towering above them all, however, was the tremendous Sareh Bayat.  Visibly weighed down by her lack of education and the unforgiving doctrines of her religion, Razieh’s conflicting motivations of fear, faith and an unexpectedly strong sense of pride ended up the standout of the best ensemble of 2011.  While I applaud Jessica Chastain’s phenomenal year, there just wasn’t enough room for her on my own shortlist, though her fleshing out of the Concerned Wife stock character in Take Shelter came the closest.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Adapted Screenplay of 2011

Will Win: Only a field as weak as this one could turn the most offensive Oscar contender of the year, and really of the past several years, into an Academy Award winner.  Opening with an in-your-face elitist monologue about how misunderstood the obscenely wealthy are, this supposed glimpse into a “complicated” relationship and “flawed man” proceeded to bend over backwards to protect Matt King from us feeling anything even approaching conflicted thoughts toward him, surrounding us with an array of coarse, ugly exaggerations of implausible characters to distract us from his own passive-aggressive behavior.  Then it had the gall to expect us to cry with him during his constipated farewell to his wife (whom we get zero insight into) that had not one iota of believability.  This reprehensible attempt to have its tearjerking cake and eat it too is going to win an Oscar for its writing.  Despicable.  Payne and co. can happily join Simon Beaufoy and Eric Roth among the worst Adapted Screenplay winners of the past twenty years.
Should Win: While the narrative was dense to a fault, O’Connor and Straughan’s simultaneous condensation and restructuring of John le Carré’s byzantine spy novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was the most ambitious feat of adaptation this year, peppered with sharp touches in plotting and dialogue that made its shadowy intrigue all the more compelling…if occasionally hard to follow.
Should Have Been Nominated: Speaking of making interesting changes to source material, Moira Buffini’s take on the seemingly over-adapted Jane Eyre was a deft blend of faithfulness and creative changes that placed it among the best of the Brontë adaptations.  Despite a tad too much exposition in its first hour, 13 Assassins nevertheless breathed new life into the jidaigeki genre by blending equal doses of reverence and satiric bite toward the Edo value system.  Kudos also to Carolyn S. Briggs and Tim Metcalfe for conveying through Higher Ground what must have been a lifelong struggle with faith in just under two hours without setting up strawmen or narrative contrivances.  No film adapted from an existing source material last year was an unqualified success, but these five all had noteworthy merits.

Best Original Screenplay

Robert Hamer's Personal Ballot: Best Original Screenplay of 2011

Will Win: I don’t think I’ll ever “get” the widespread adulation for Woody Allen’s thin, airless Midnight in Paris, but at this point I am fully on board with the theory that they’ll honor his most financially successful film here.  It is exactly the kind of “writer’s film” that can overthrow a Best Picture juggernaut in this category, as Eternal Sunshine did in 2005, The Pianist pulled off in 2003 and Almost Famous managed in 2001.
Should Win: The more I think about A Separation – which is a lot, by the way – the more I fear that its widely-agreed upon brilliance may be taken for granted over time.  While I have no illusions of an upset win for the best-written film of 2011, I feel a stronger desire for it live on past the Oscars; to have its potent insights continue to haunt us for years to come.
Should Have Been Nominated: Abbas Kiarostami and Andrew Haigh infused their romantic dramas with probing ideas on relationship ambivalence and identity, ending up with far more to say than Allen managed in the entirety of Midnight in Paris.  While not nearly as heady, Mike Mills’ semi-autobiographical script for Beginners was beautifully tender and generous in creating its achingly sympathetic characters.  Even with its occasional long-winded and overfamiliar moments, Chang-dong Lee still accomplished an impressively literary and, yes, poetic screenplay for Poetry, with one of the year’s most bracing endings.

Below-the-Line

Best Art Direction
Will Win: One of the few done deals of this race, Ferretti and Lo Schiavo have all but won the Oscar for their colossal (if overwrought) undertakings on Hugo.
Should Win: As I argued in my Oscar Circuit piece on the subject, War Horse’s showcase of international film styles was made all the more impressive by its handsome, era-specific production design.
Should Have Been Nominated: The Academy’s snub of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s bleak, oppressive post-Modern offices and seedy meeting rooms ranks among the most infuriating this year.  It was a blessing in this age of unimaginative visual sense to see a director utilize detailed, evocative mise-en-scène (among other tools unique to cinema) to pull his audience into his story, especially one as convoluted as that one.  Only slightly behind it was Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty, with striking, thematically relevant spaces recalling the best of Buñuel and Breillat.  No love either for the thick, eerie locations of Jane Eyre, Antxón Gómez’s textured use of color, props and locations to fit the deviousness of The Skin I Live In, or the deceptively peaceful deathtrap constructed for 13 Assassins.  Oh well…

Best Film Editing
Will Win: In the past ten years, this award has been doled out to the Best Picture winner six times and the ACE Eddie winner every time.  With no visibly edited films competing for this prize, it looks like The Artist has yet another Oscar in the bag.  Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall perhaps might spoil due to their nominee being the “most” edited, but with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo missing out in Best Picture I can’t imagine this category’s first ever back-to-back winners.
Should Win: Moneyball’s back-and-forths were as zippily cut as the best of classic screwball comedies, with enough measured pacing to make its dips into backstory and introspection feel organic rather than jarring.
Should Have Been Nominated: Any editor that works on a Malick film deserves credit for cutting the piles of footage that he assembles into a manageable feature.  For the team behind The Tree of Life, their work was a triumph, deliberately pacing their intangible memory-poem like a symphony flowing through all of its expansions and collapses of time and space.  Beginners also managed similar feats of organically moving through past, present and future with the free-flow momentum of memory.  Less smooth but no less vital to its effect was Melancholia.  Arguably the best edited Lars von Trier film yet, its disorienting cuts threw me off in the first half before implying an odd continuity between it and the second chapter, which was the most convincing factor in me theorizing that “Claire” was Justine’s dream.  When it came to fast pacing, no movie could match the relentless roller-coaster ride that Paul Tothill constructed out of Joe Wright’s admittedly empty thriller Hanna.  But even that did not amaze me as much as how uncannily precise the editing of A Separation was, not only because of the exactitude of its story progression, but in how Hayedeh Safiyari’s invisible hand so easily manipulated my own perspective through the layers of conflicting accounts and muddled truths of its feuding characters.

Best Cinematography
Will Win: I’m REALLY trying not to get my hopes up here, but with all the critics’ awards, ASC victory and nomination for a Best Picture contender, it looks like Emmanuel Lubezki will finally score his long-overdue Academy Award for The Tree of Life.  If by some travesty he doesn’t, I think it’s safe to assume that he has at some point killed and eaten the first-borns of every Academy member.
Should Win: That this is only the third-best lensing in the career of my favorite living cinematographer should tell you just how accomplished this man is.  But honoring his prolific career is certainly not the only reason why his expert use of soft light is far and away the most deserving nominee.
Should Have Been Nominated: Manuel Alberto Claro has been praised – and rightly so – for his visually stunning apocalypses that bookend Melancholia, but even smarter was his use of dim yellow lighting and stark digital photography to match Justine’s inner gloom.  I’ve advocated for the neon haze of Drive and the haunting greyness of Jane Eyre before, but I should also extend kudos to Chris Blauvelt’s captivating use of 1.33:1 aspect ratio to capture the harshness of Meek’s Cutoff in a way that felt both old-fashioned and appropriately anachronistic.

Best Costume Design
Will Win: This category, as we noted in this week’s podcast, is a fucking crapshoot this year.  There are persuasive arguments for each and every one of the nominees.  While I originally advocated for Jane Eyre’s complex threads, I am now switching my vote for the glamorous costumes of The Artist, winner of the BAFTA, BFCA, CDG award for its outfits.
Should Win: Having not seen the affront to literary integrity that is Anonymous, or Madonna’s W./E. (yes, that’s how it’s officially spelled), I will admit upfront that my initial stumping for Jane Eyre’s textured work was based partially on it being my personal favorite of the nominees.
Should Have Been Nominated: 2009’s winner, the legendary Sandy Powell, hilariously and refreshingly scolded the Academy for rarely recognizing the achievements of contemporary costume design.  If they had listened to her, David Robinson’s work in Jason Reitman’s otherwise rubbish Young Adult would have almost certainly been a nominee here for his ingeniously character-specific costumes revealing tantalizing details about its mostly far-fetched characters.  Also a contemporary achievement were the simple, memorable outfits of Drive, with the scorpion jacket being the most iconic single piece of clothing I saw last year.  The most vital costume work of the year arguably goes to Meek’s Cutoff, not only for its historically accurate and realistically worn-out designs, but their vital contributions to the psychological intensity and themes of its characters holding on in the the desolate frontier that had become their prison.

Best Makeup
Will Win: Looking at the history of fantasies scoring in this category, as well as the decade-long buildup of goodwill leading its jaw-dropping box office success, I am inclined to believe that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will score the franchise’s only Oscar here.
Should Win: I would normally be very happy with the boy wizard’s final film winning for its impressive prosthetic work and transformation of Ralph Fiennes into a noseless monstrosity…but then I remember the ending.  Oh sweet Jesus, that ending.  I just can’t support any makeup award going to such laughably poor old age effects, especially with The Iron Lady doing a much better job of making Meryl Streep into an elderly, broken shell of Margaret Thatcher.
Should Have Been Nominated: The work that went into Sigmund Freud alone should have guaranteed a spot for A Dangerous Method in this category, but even without him you had impressive accentuation of Knightley’s ruddy, bony features and Fassbender’s chiseled handsomeness.  The surprising severity of Jane Eyre’s hair and makeup, especially for the women, contributed greatly to its gothic iconography.  Choosing a winner, I would go with Contagion taking full advantage of its audience’s biological paranoia with makeup work that nailed the look of both disease and fatigue on a terrified populace.

Best Visual Effects
Will Win: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, on top of being a surprise sleeper hit last summer, has by far the most widely-praised and technically ambitious motion capture work of the nominees and has been touted as the frontrunner.  However, since Best Visual Effects was officially established as its own category in 1977, no Best Picture nominee has ever lost this award, so I am betting that Hugo takes it instead.
Should Win: I just never fell in love with Rise of the Planet of the Apes the way my colleagues did, and not just because of its bland story and character arcs being spelled out in the first act, or the almost comically wooden performances from its “human” actors.  What disappointed me most was how its much-ballyhooed visual effects left me cold.  The final effect just didn’t persuade me at any point that I was looking at anything other than CG apes, and that sense that they were just a little bit “off” took me out of the experience, but I cannot deny the extraordinary technical undertaking it must have been…
Should Have Been Nominated: I try to avoid calling these categories the “technicals.”  It comes off as a backhanded put-down to some very hardworking folks whose contributions are no less artistically vital than the actors and writers of a film.  But when I see the Academy ignore the beautifully abstract cosmos, planets and single-celled organisms rendered for The Tree of Life in favor of more expensive but far less interesting visuals for films like Real Steel, I wonder if maybe they too see themselves as nothing more than simple technicians.  The joyous Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol boasted some of the most organic visual effects of the year, giving its often ridiculous sequences a modicum of plausibility.  Of course it wasn’t nominated.

Best Sound Mixing/Editing
Will Win: No use having separate entries for what will most likely go to the same film.  Despite its flat sound, Hugo has won the CAS, MPSE and BAFTA awards, and since the winner of one sound award usually wins the other, I’m inclined to believe that it will take both Mixing and Editing.
Should Win: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is easily my pick among the Sound Mixing nominees, with its foreboding, constant howls of its setting’s perpetual snowstorm giving the film the refreshing feel of an ominous horror flick.  As for Sound Editing, I’d love to see a bone thrown to the roaring engines of Drive’s only nod (cheer up, fans; Fight Club’s only Oscar nomination was also for Sound Editing!).
Should Have Been Nominated: Other than Rampart, which I’ve argued for previously, Meek’s Cutoff and The Tree of Life had essential soundscapes that contributed greatly to their respective experiences.  I’m a bit more of a sucker for loud and obvious sounds when it comes to Sound Editing, though, so sue me for believing that the crashes, engine purrs and revs of Fast Five and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol were almost as delicious to hear as Drive’s.  Rango also was a smorgasbord of wonderfully inventive sounds to compliment its cartoon logic, from Rattlesnake Jake’s gattling gun to the chaos unleashed by the falcon in Dirt.  Hell, I’d even give a nod to We Need to Talk About Kevin.  As much as I disliked its puerile themes and lurid imagery, the individual sound effects of Lynne Ramsay’s freak show were exquisite.

Best Original Score
Will Win: The debate over whether or not the Best Picture frontrunner will pull off a “sweep” or not rages on, but if there is only one below-the-line Oscar that The Artist is poised to take it’s this.  Crammed with music from start to finish, not even the mini-controversy over its aping of a Bernard Herrmann piece really slowed down Ludovic Bource’s momentum.
Should Win: Alberto Iglesias’ idioms were well-matched with the shadows of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  The insinuating blend of delicate melodies and sinister rhythms gave a quirky personality to Alfredson’s Cold War maze.
Should Have Been Nominated: This year – even more than the last – was a standout for experimental/electro-rock scores for films.  My favorite among them was Cliff Martinez’s slick synth score for Drive.  While I have cooled on that film in the months since, its dazzling flow of music and sound cannot be overpraised.  The Chemical Brothers achieved a similar synergy with Hanna, with their distinct style kiln-blasting Joe Wright’s thrill ride with forceful and sometimes disorienting electronica.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did not create a score as iconic as The Social Network but in many ways more fitting and effective to David Fincher’s tight, rough textures applied to a project far beneath their collective abilities.

As for the rest, it goes without saying that I’m thrilled to see Gore Verbinski’s fabulously bonkers Rango be the frontrunner for Best Animated Feature, I’m still wary of thinking A Separation will beat out a Holocaust drama for Best Foreign Language Film, and that I just don’t give a shit about Best Original Song anymore to even care that The Muppets’ third-best song will probably win the award.

So…what do you all think?  Am I on to something with my predictions, or do you think I shamefully overlooked someone or something when giving you my own personal picks?  Let loose in the comments.  Don’t hold back!

Excellence in Period Film: W.E.

Excellence in Fantasy Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Excellence in Contemporary Film: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Essentially, the category is still a crapshoot, though perhaps we can look at ‘W.E.’ as less of a long shot than before. Or maybe not…who knows. I am pleased to see ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo cited as well…that was a snub in my book.

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

As you’re reading this, the Oscar voters have already made their final selections

The Artist- A tribute to an era of film that never really got its due from the Academy, it’s a classical tale with a happy ending, production values that honor both the old and the new, along with simply being one of the most unique nominees in a long time. Across the board support would definitely be achievable due to its strong acting as well. I feel like this would be an easy sell to voters no matter what, though when you bring nostalgia into play, you’re always doing a good job of helping out your cause. A comparable Best Picture winner might be Chicago.

The Descendants- The most emotional work yet from one of the best directors never to see his film win Best Picture or his work behind the camera honored with Best Director, voters could see this as the most pure “actors” film of the group as well. Alexander Payne’s “due” factor wouldn’t hurt, and since its early precursor love wouldn’t be factored in, there wouldn’t be the backlash that we’ve seen of late, making it a real strong player for Oscar members. A comparable Best Picture winner might be Terms of Endearment.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close- The resident tearjerker of the group, the case here is that no film brought out stronger emotions from a tougher premise than this one. You also have a consistently honored director and screenwriter doing different work than normal for them. Voters who cried more than once could be inclined to check it off. Worth noting is the fact that it’s a 9/11 film that was embraced by the voters, and very few of them have so far, so that’s a badge of honor for the movie. A comparable Best Picture winner is harder here, but I’d say Platoon or Rain Man are the best fits.

The Help- An appeal here to a difficult part of American history, you also have a large cast ensemble all doing showy work. Backed by Disney, it’s the type of film that could solidify the female vote and work as an appropriate flick for multiple age groups in a way that most of the other nominees (with one exception) can’t while also being the rare Best Picture nominee to not be an all white cast affair. This is another case of a movie with potential for across the board appeal from members helping its cause. A comparable Best Picture winner would be Driving Miss Daisy or Slumdog Millionaire.

Hugo- The rare live action children’s film (although it’s more than that) up for the top prize, this also has the added benefit of three things. One is Martin Scorsese as the director, doing something very different than he’s ever done before. Another is this being another love letter to cinema, and this one being about film preservation as well, something near and dear to plenty of members’ hearts besides Scorsese himself. The other thing is the strong and showy technical aspects, which can unite voters. A comparable Best Picture winner of sorts would be Oliver! or The Sound of Music.

Midnight in Paris- What could be the final chance to honor Woody Allen with the top prize could weigh in on the minds of voters here. A focus on how this the most purely enjoyable nominee of the group and a great case of escapism and wish fulfillment for audience members would help in the sell as well. Someone who is at least a bit jealous of the main character’s journey in the flick could combine that with their love of Allen and give him what could turn out to be one last salute (he is getting older, and the Academy doesn’t nominate him as frequently these days as they used to). A comparable Best Picture winner would be The Departed or Forrest Gump.

Moneyball- The rare sports movie up for the big Oscar, voters who love America’s Past Time and underdog tales in general could see fit to cast their vote in this direction, while on the flip side the business and personal quest aspects of the movie would be able to assist in getting other members to not even think of it as a baseball or sports flick. It’s also the sole biopic (or as close as you’re going to get out of the nominees) of the class this year, which helps its case to a degree, though it’s hardly the be all-end all (honestly, it’s writing would be a bigger draw, as it’s the wittiest of the nominees). Focusing on the underdog tale of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics would be its surest path to votes. A comparable Best Picture winner would of course be Rocky.

The Tree of Life- One of the most experimental films ever nominated for Best Picture, that rebellious aspect could catch on with enough members to give it the votes needed for a win. Consider the rare movie output by the reclusive director and the fact that no flick this year is more unique, and the temptation to have a winner so different from any other in history would be a great selling point. Being among the most visually stimulating and beautiful films of this or any year is a plus too. A comparable Best Picture winner is almost impossible, but the closest might be The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King or The Silence of the Lambs.

War Horse- A throwback war epic that voters could see as the most traditional Best Picture contender of the bunch, it might be all but muscle memory to vote for this, while still being different enough by focusing on a different war than is the norm. Steven Spielberg in the director’s chair doesn’t hurt things either in the least. Beautiful technical work and happy ending combine to make this the kind of thing that an Academy member looks at as being a worthy winner if they found the quality to be on par with what they’ve voted for in the past. A comparable Best Picture winner would be All Quiet on the Western Front.

Obviously this doesn’t completely take into account the reality of the situation, but it’s interesting to wonder how you might look at these nominees if they were each on equal footing with each other for the award. Best Picture is really down to either The Artist or The Help, with The Descendants, Hugo, and The Tree of Life likely to get their share of votes as well, but for a moment it was fun to look at the race a little differently. Anyway, now it’s your turn…what case would you make for each of the nominees for Best Picture? Have at it!

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

When the names of winners are revealed on Oscar night, months of suspense give way to tears, smiles and speeches. Yet when the curtain falls, one question remains: Who cast the votes?

About 37 million people tuned in to the Academy Awards last year, and a great deal rides on the show’s outcome. Winning a golden statuette can vault an actor to stardom, add millions to a movie’s box office and boost a studio’s prestige. Yet the roster of all 5,765 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a closely guarded secret.

Even inside the movie industry, intense speculation surrounds the academy’s composition and how that influences who gets nominated for and wins Oscars. The organization does not publish a membership list.

“I have to tell you,” said academy member Viola Davis, nominated for lead actress this year for “The Help.” “I don’t even know who is a member of the academy.”

A Los Angeles Times study found that academy voters are markedly less diverse than the moviegoing public, and even more monolithic than many in the film industry may suspect. Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%.

Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership.

The academy calls itself “the world’s preeminent movie-related organization” of “the most accomplished men and women working in cinema,” and its membership includes some of the brightest lights in the film business — Tom Hanks, Sidney Poitier, Meryl Streep and Steven Spielberg, among others. The roster also features actors far better known for their television acting, such as Erik Estrada from “CHiPs,” Jaclyn Smith of “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Love Boat’s” Gavin MacLeod.

The academy is primarily a group of working professionals, and nearly 50% of the academy’s actors have appeared on screen in the last two years. But membership is generally for life, and hundreds of academy voters haven’t worked on a movie in decades.

Some are people who have left the movie business entirely but continue to vote on the Oscars — including a nun, a bookstore owner and a retired Peace Corps recruiter. Under academy rules, their votes count the same as ballots cast by the likes of Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio.

To conduct the study, Times reporters spoke with thousands of academy members and their representatives — and reviewed academy publications, resumes and biographies — to confirm the identities of more than 5,100 voters — more than 89% of the voting members. Those interviews revealed varying opinions about the academy’s race, sex and age breakdown: Some members see it simply as a mirror of hiring patterns in Hollywood, while others say it reflects the group’s mission to recognize achievement rather than promote diversity. Many said the academy should be much more representative.

The Times found that some of the academy’s 15 branches are almost exclusively white and male. Caucasians currently make up 90% or more of every academy branch except actors, whose roster is 88% white. The academy’s executive branch is 98% white, as is its writers branch.

Men compose more than 90% of five branches, including cinematography and visual effects. Of the academy’s 43-member board of governors, six are women; public relations executive Cheryl Boone Isaacs is the sole person of color.

“You would think that in this day and age, there would be a little bit more equality across the board, but that’s not the case,” said Nancy Schreiber, one of a handful of women among the cinematography branch’s 206 voting members. “Being a cinematographer should not be gender-based, and it’s ridiculous that it is.”

Academy leaders including President Tom Sherak and Chief Executive Dawn Hudson said they have been trying to diversify the membership but that change is difficult because the film industry is not very diverse, and slow because the academy has been limiting membership growth for the last decade.

“We absolutely recognize that we need to do a better job,” said writer-director Phil Alden Robinson, a longtime academy governor. But “we start off with one hand tied behind our back…. If the industry as a whole is not doing a great job in opening up its ranks, it’s very hard for us to diversify our membership.”

Independent studies of some film crafts show that the academy’s demographics mirror the industry’s. Women make up 19% of the academy’s screenwriting branch, and a 2011 analysis by the Writers Guild of America, West found that women accounted for 17% of film writers employment. The academy’s producers branch is about 18% female, and the directors branch is 9% female, figures comparable to those in a study by San Diego State University’s Martha Lauzen. She examined the 250 top-grossing movies of 2011 and found that women accounted for 25% of all of the films’ producers, and 5% of all their directors.

“Is most of commercial narrative filmmaking the product of mostly white men? Sadly, the answer is yes,” said Alexander Payne, the director and co-writer of best picture nominee “The Descendants” who belongs to the director branch.

Frank Pierson, a former academy president who won an Oscar for original screenplay for “Dog Day Afternoon” in 1976, said merit is the primary criterion for membership.

“I don’t see any reason why the academy should represent the entire American population. That’s what the People’s Choice Awards are for,” said Pierson, who still serves on the board of governors. “We represent the professional filmmakers, and if that doesn’t reflect the general population, so be it.”

Some academy members, though, believe the organization should do more to reflect the demographics of the nation. Denzel Washington, who won the lead actor award for 2001′s “Training Day,” said the academy needs to “open it up” and “balance” its membership.

“If the country is 12% black, make the academy 12% black,” Washington said. “If the nation is 15% Hispanic, make the academy 15% Hispanic. Why not?”

A frequent criticism

Questions about the academy’s diversity, or lack thereof, have persisted for years. In 1996, the Rev. Jesse Jackson organized nationwide protests over the absence of black and minority Oscar nominees, claiming it was evidence of “race exclusion and cultural violence” in Hollywood. The question came to the fore again last year, when not a single minority was among the 45 people nominated for actor, actress, supporting actor and actress, director and original and adapted screenplay.

In the past 83 years of Oscars, less than 4% of the acting awards have been bestowed on African Americans. Only one woman — Kathryn Bigelow — has received the Academy Award for directing “The Hurt Locker.”

After the 2011 ceremony was staged without a single black male presenter, actor Samuel L. Jackson complained in an email to The Times: “It’s obvious there’s not ONE Black male actor in Hollywood that’s able to read a teleprompter, or that’s ‘hip enuf,’ for the new academy demographic!”

Asked about the diversity of Oscar presenters, Sherak said officials did not instruct this year’s ceremony producers, Brian Grazer and Don Mischer, to include more minorities. “Producers produce the show, end of subject,” he said. Past Oscar hosts have included African Americans Chris Rock and Whoopi Goldberg, and Eddie Murphy was initially slated to host this year’s broadcast.

Age and gender have also prompted questions. Sony Pictures executives said last year that they believed their Facebook film “The Social Network” lost the best picture race to “The King’s Speech” because older Oscar voters didn’t relate to the Internet story. This year, some believe that Stephen Daldry’s 9/11 drama “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” made the best picture shortlist because it appealed to middle-aged men.

“The film is about men trying to be good fathers, sons trying to be good sons,” said Terry Press, a member of the public relations branch who for years has helped mount Oscar campaigns for filmmakers. “It’s about unfulfilled conversations with your father and that’s an extremely middle-aged man thing. It’s like ‘Field of Dreams.’”

African American actress and academy member Alfre Woodard, 59, cited the sexually explicit “Shame,” which got no nominations, as an example of a film whose Oscar hopes may have been doomed by the academy’s demographics. “Maybe if the median age was 45 to 50, a film like ‘Shame’ might show up, which I thought was a brilliantly rendered piece but a subject matter that you don’t expect a certain older demographic would flock to see,” she said.

Woodard, who joined the organization in 1985 and has been active on academy committees, said she often encourages women to apply for membership in the academy, believing the best way to effect change is from within. “It’s like sitting out an election,” she said. “The country is only going toward its ideals when people participate.”

But others have lost patience. Academy member Bill Duke, a black actor and director, said: “The black community sees the academy as an entity that ignores the needs, wants, desires and representation of black directors, producers, actors and writers. Whether it is true or not, that is how it’s perceived — as an elitist group with no concern or regard for the minority community and industry. And there doesn’t seem to be any desire to change that perception.”

Some academy critics believe the organization, through its membership and Oscar picks, reinforces a lack of diversity on screen and in studio decision-making.

“People of color are always peripheral,” said veteran African American character actor Bernie Casey (“Under Siege”), who said he recently quit the academy because he was disenchanted with its racial makeup. “Asians, Latinos, black people — you never see them. We are 320 million people in America and about 48 million black people and the same of Latin descent — but you would not believe that based on what you see in films and television shows.”

This year, several minorities did land nominations in the acting categories: Davis and her fellow cast member from “The Help,” supporting actress nominee Octavia Spencer, and Demián Bichir, a Mexican-born performer who starred in “A Better Life.” All of the year’s five nominated directors are white men, and none of the 21 producers of the nine best picture nominees is a person of color.

Were there more Latino academy members, Bichir said, opportunities for Latinos would improve. “That would mean there would be a lot more roles for Latin actors,” the actor said, “and a lot more movies for [Latin] cinematographers.”

Growth and change

The academy was founded in 1927 with two aims: to mediate labor disputes and improve the movie industry’s image. Louis B. Mayer, the legendary head of MGM, initiated the idea and invited an elite cadre of professionals, including actress and United Artists studio co-founder Mary Pickford, director Cecil B. DeMille and producer Irving Thalberg, to join.

The academy’s membership grew steadily over the years as the organization moved away from labor management issues to focus on film preservation, research and the Oscars, first presented in 1929 in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

Today, the academy oversees more than $196 million in assets and dispenses more than $20 million in grants and scholarships a year, including to Streetlights, a job training and placement group that works to promote ethnic diversity in Hollywood. It donates $750,000 annually to film festivals around the country and sponsors an annual screenwriting competition that rewards winners with $35,000 fellowships. According to its tax filing for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the Oscars generated $81.3 million in total revenue for the organization.

The academy grew rapidly between 1990 and 2000, adding close to 800 members. Former executive director Bruce Davis alerted the board to the steep increase and noted there had not been a commensurate growth in the film business. The organization attributed the membership surge to a relaxed attitude toward admission.

“The guilds are a democracy. If you have credits, nobody asks how good you were,” said Davis, the executive director from 1989 to 2011. “But the academy has to be different.”

In response, the organization in 2004 began limiting membership growth to 30 per year, not including those admitted to fill vacancies created by deaths, resignations or retirement. It also clarified and stiffened its policies for admittance. The available slots are allocated among the 15 branches and the academy’s at-large division.

There are three ways to become a candidate for membership: land an Oscar nomination; apply and receive a recommendation from two members of a branch; or earn an endorsement from the branch’s membership committee or the academy staff.

The membership committees then vote on the candidates; those who get a majority are invited to join. The academy says almost everyone accepts the offer.

Actors, for example, now must have three significant credits to be considered for membership, and producers need two solo producing credits or the equivalent. Such criteria benefit people with more experience. “The academy is always going to be slightly older — if just because you have to have about five years of credits before you’re even considered,” said Joe Letteri, a four-time Oscar winner for visual effects.

In practice, the bar for admittance varies widely from branch to branch. Last year, actress Rooney Mara and visual effects supervisor Tim Burke were among 178 invitees academy wide. Mara had had small roles in “The Social Network” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (she had yet to star in her current Oscar-nominated role in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). Burke, in contrast, had won an Academy Award a decade earlier for his work on “Gladiator.”

The academy began making public the names of its invitees in 2004, but does not say which ones accept and become members.

The more than 1,000 people invited to join since 2004 include black actors such as Jennifer Hudson, Mo’Nique and Jeffrey Wright. But overall, the group was only slightly more diverse than the academy it was joining — 89% white and 73% male. Sherak pointed out that in 2011, the invitees were 30% female and 10% nonwhite.

The academy’s overall composition before and after the 2004 policy shift remained close to 93% Caucasian and 76% male, and its median age dropped from 64 to 62.

As part of the 2003 tightening of membership rules, Davis urged that a wider circle of potential invitees be considered. In 2009, he suggested to the sound branch committee that it had overlooked India’s Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar that year for sound mixing on “Slumdog Millionaire.” Davis admired the technician’s work and was moved by his emotional acceptance speech on Oscar night. (The committee extended the invitation a year later.)

“When I got the letter from them saying they would like to invite me into the academy, I was literally screaming in the studio,” said Pookutty, who flew from Mumbai to Los Angeles to attend the new member luncheon. “It means a great deal. More than the pride of it, I feel that my whole fraternity in India has been recognized and honored.”

Sherak and other academy officials said they’re eager for more applications from women and minorities, and more involvement from those who are already members.

“I’m hoping your story runs and 7,000 phone calls break the lines here,” Sherak said. “We’ve been trying to reach out to the constituency and we’re looking for help. You want to be on a committee? Tell us what committee. If you are sitting waiting for us to find your name in our make-believe book and we are going to call you, we are not going to do that. Come to us, we’ll get you in. We want you in. That would help us a lot.”

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

FDR (Pine) and Tuck (Hardy) are the best operatives that the CIA has got, and they also happen to be deep into a bromance that a human sexuality college course could have a field day on. They’ve been hunting a terrorist named Heinrich (Til Schweiger), and after a particularly brutal mission in which they take out Heinrich’s brother, the two are grounded at home base. They’re okay though, since they have each other…except for one thing. Both are a bit on the lonely side when it comes to women. FDR is a player and never has any level of commitment in his life (outside of Tuck, of course), and Tuck is divorced with a young kid and looking to meet someone he can connect with. At the same time that he’s compelled to make an online dating profile (not that this would be a national security risk or anything), workaholic Lauren (Witherspoon) has one made by her sassy married friend Trish (Chelsea Handler). Lauren and Tuck immediately are paired up and have a nice first date, though sparks fly later that day between Lauren and FDR (who was running surveillance on the date) as well. Fueled by Trish’s terrible advice, Lauren does what anyone in her position would do…she continues to date them both. As for FDR and Tuck, they’re both shocked to find out they’re falling for the same girl, but want to let her decide. That quickly devolves into sabotage on each of their parts, wasting billions in government funds in the process. Oh, and the terrorist wants revenge on them too, but the movie frequently forgets about that. Yep, it’s that kind of flick…

The acting here is likely going to be looked at as low points for this talented trio. Tom Hardy is one of the most versatile up and coming actors today, but he’s given the least to do. He’s sort of the “straight” man (and I use this term a bit loosely considering all the latent homosexuality and sexual tension that exists between FDR and Tuck) in the cast, but is never given a single interesting thing to do. As for Chris Pine, he’s a more talented actor than given credit for, but he does little more than muck for the camera and act like a dick. He’s got the most backstory, but it doesn’t do anything for him sadly. As for Reese Witherspoon, she’s done this role more than once in her life, and she doesn’t bring anything new to it this time around. As for the rest of the cast, most aren’t worth mentioning, but of the bigger names Til Schweiger has about 4 forgetful scenes as the villain, Angela Bassett is also wasted completely as the boys’ boss, and Chelsea Handler annoys as the best friend. Admittedly, the only decent lines come out of her mouth, but they’re few and far between.

McG sets back his goal to be taken seriously as a filmmaker in a big bad way by directing this crap. Between the aforementioned underrated gem ‘We Are Marshall’ and the decent ‘Terminator Salvation’, he was on the cusp of being known for more than being the director with the dickish fake name. Here, he reverts back to ‘Charlie’s Angels’ mode, but without any of the charm. The film is kinetic, but never feels like fun. It’s just annoying. As for the screenplay, Simon Kinberg wrote ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ and this appears like the world’s worst first draft of that admittedly mediocre flick. Kinberg’s work with Timothy Dowling and Marcus Gautesen is among the most half assed you’ll see all year. Between the over the top action that serves no purpose, the plot holes, the lack of any sort of logic, and the scumminess that permeates every frame, there’s not a damn thing here to like about any of it.

‘This Means War’ is a rather dreadful experience, made all the more porous by the involvement of talented performers. Hardy and Pine are on the way up in the business and should have avoided this project, while Witherspoon has been around long enough to have known better. Alas, they wound up in this crud and are going to pay the price for it. Any way that you slice it, this is another terrible movie that tries to do too many things and can’t manage to succeed at any of them. Avoid ‘This Means War’ as best you can, since this review means war…war on bad movies like…well, ‘This Means War’ (sorry, couldn’t resist).  It’s likely going to end up as one of the worst flicks of 2012 for me.

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

Here are my final predictions for the winners of the Academy Awards.

Best Picture:
Will Win: The Artist has been a non-stop roller-coaster since it was screened at Cannes and I don’t see any movie stopping it from winning Best Picture.
Should Win: The Artist is a beautiful commentary of the evolution of  film and I enjoyed it very much but I don’t think it’s the best picture of the year. I think because it is a silent black & white film, people are making too big of a deal out of it. Having studied silent film, if The Artist would have come out in the silent era it would have been played off as just another entertaining flick on the same level of Chaplin’s work.
I feel The Help, Moneyball, Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredible Close are the better films of the nominated nine. The Help has an amazing cast, a genuine story and a touch of heart that makes it great. Hugo is just amazingly filmed and the true love letter to film. No one can deny that Moneyball has one of the best scripts written of the year. The acting is impeccable and even if you don’t like baseball the story never loses your attention. Lastly, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is the “Oscar” film but it never failed to disappoint. And the story of how lives are affected by such a tragic event was done in such a touching way that it never once made mockery of 9/11. The story focused on the aftermath of 9/11 as opposed to other films where it’s only about the towers collapsing.
But my vote for Best Picture goes to The Help.
Snubs: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Shame, Warrior.

Best Director:
Will Win: Michael Hazanavicius took home the DGA and Scorsese took home the Golden Globe. It’s tradition that whichever director wins the DGA will win Best Director. Since last year Fincher won Globe and Hooper won DGA and Hooper ended up taking the Oscar, I’m going to go with history and say Michael Hazanavicius.
Should Win: I’m not on the Terrence Malick bandwagon so, don’t expect me to sit here and idolize The Tree of Life and what a “visual masterpiece” it was because honestly, it was crap. “Oh my god, did she say that?” I did. Leave your comments below. But out of all of the directors nominated I can’t seem to figure out which director deserves the Oscar more. But in the end my decision lies with Martin Scorsese for making a truly remarkably alluring film.
Snubs: Stephen Daldry- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, David Fincher- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steve McQueen- Shame

Best Actor:
Will Win: Michael Fassbender… Oh, wait. This is the part of the Oscar’s that gives me a headache… like a big one. There are two obvious frontrunners and one I don’t want to see win and the other I wouldn’t mind winning. George Clooney has won every major award except for SAG and BAFTA, which could be considered the two most important awards. Clooney is the nominee I don’t want to see win. I don’t think he has any versatility and he is the same in every movie, the only thing that’s different is the name of his character. A part of me feels that Clooney could win because he’s been nominated previously for Actor, Director, screenplay and won previously for Supporting Actor and also scored a surprising nomination for The Ides of March this year. For whatever reason people love him and everybody in Hollywood adores him. Part of me feels that Jean Dujardin could win because of his BAFTA, SAG, and Globe win and because The Artist is the frontrunner. So, my decision lies with Jean Dujardin. Let’s hope I’m not wrong.
Should Win: Brad Pitt. I’m not the biggest Pitt fan but he gave one of the best performances of the year playing Billy Bean in Moneyball. I can’t imagine any other actor playing Billy Bean as accurate as Pitt did and he deserves to be rewarded for playing such an incredibly demanding role. Pitt was focused, vulnerable, emotional and sensational and it was so refreshing to watch. This is Brad Pitt’s career best and it’s a damn shame he has no chance of winning that Oscar.
Snubs: Michael Fassbender- Shame… Hello. Joseph Gordon-Levitt- 50/50, Tom Hardy- Warrior, Thomas Horn- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Best Actress:
Will Win: This award will go to Viola Davis. Only two actresses can cause an upset for her; Meryl Streep and Glenn Close. Glenn Close hasn’t won anything for Albert Nobbs and if she wins it will only be a career, sympathy win. As far as Meryl Streep goes, there is always a fear that she will win each year she is nominated because she is the best actress of the bunch, but this is not her year to win her third statue.
Should Win: Viola Davis. She gave a powerhouse performance that was backed with heartbreak and pain. You felt every word she said and every word she didn’t. This is her award to win, not one nominee deserves to take that away from her.
Snubs: Charlize Theron- Young Adult.

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Christopher Plummer seems to be the nominee taking home the Oscar in this category. He has won every major award thus far and I don’t see any other actor stopping him.
Should Win: Max Von Sydow. I watched Beginners and didn’t love it like I hoped to. The same goes for Christopher Plummer’s performance. It bothers me when this category honors veterans when they don’t deserve it and I don’t think this role is the one Christopher Plummer deserves to win for. He gave a better performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Max Von Sydow’s performance in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was exquisite. Jonah Hill was originally my favorite to win but after seeing Close, Sydow won me over. Sydow makes every second of his wordless appearance count as he joins Oskar on his journey.
Snubs: Albert Brooks- Drive, Patton Oswalt- Young Adult, Alan Rickman- Harry Potter.

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win: Critics Choice, Golden Globe, SAG, and BAFTA wins puts Octavia Spencer in position to win her first Oscar.
Should Win: Melissa McCarthy is one of the nicest people off screen, but when that camera turns on she has the dirtiest mouth. So it made sense why this role fit her like a glove. A lot of people have made remark that Bridesmaids proved women are funny, but this movie reminded people that this is how women are. We are as dirty and crude as the next person and people like Megan exist everywhere. McCarthy stole the show with her outrageous antics, incredibly high self-esteem and a bluntness that made you sit back and wonder if she really said what she said. Kristen Wiig wrote a good character, but McCarthy made it great and deserves to win that Oscar.
Snubs: Sandra Bullock- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Anjelica Houston- 50/50, Bryce Dallas Howard- The Help

And now, the rest of the minor categories for the 84th Academy Awards:

Best Animated Feature Film:
Will Win: Rango
Should Win: Rango

Best Cinematography:
Will Win: The Tree of Life
Should Win: Hugo

Best Art Direction:
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: Hugo

Best Costume Design:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Jane Eyre

Best Documentary Feature:
Will Win: Pina
Should Win: Hell and Back Again

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Will Win: Incident in New Baghdad
Should Win: Incident in New Baghdad

Best Film Editing:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Hugo

Best Foreign Language Film:
Will Win: A Separation
Should Win: A Separation

Best Makeup:
Will Win: The Iron Lady
Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Best Original Score:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Artist

Best Original Song:
Will Win: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets
Should Win: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets

Best Animated Short Film:
Will Win: La Luna
Should Win: La Luna

Best Live Action Short Film:
Will Win: Time Freak
Should Win: Raju

Best Sound Editing:
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Sound Mixing:
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: Hugo

Best Visual Effects:
Will Win: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: Moneyball
Should Win: Moneyball

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win: Midnight in Paris
Should Win: Bridesmaids

Now that that’s over, I’m going to take a few Advil and bite my finger nails doubting my decisions until Oscar night.

January

Before Sunrise: Richard Linklater’s romantic classic was an early year release in 1995, hitting theaters on January 27th. Tiny yet ambitious films like this usually fall through the cracks regardless of the time of year (making January even harder for it), but this one didn’t, and it’s only grown in stature since then. One really great sequel (with another one potentially on the way, with no complaints from me) later, there’s no denying that this is one of the best films ever to come out of this usually less than stellar month, and a really wonderful little flick in its own right.

Blood Simple: An early Coen Brothers film from before they could do no wrong in most viewers’ eyes, this film noir was a January 18th, 1985 release. I don’t always love the Coens, but I really enjoyed this gritty little flick. For my money, it’s better than some of what they’ve been doing of late, but that’s just me of course.

Broadway Danny Rose: This is considered a bit of a “lesser” Woody Allen movie from the 80′s when his stature was still pretty high, but it’s nonetheless a solid entry into his filmography. When you consider that in 1984 it came out on January 27th, it looks even better. I always enjoy Allen, and think this is a middle range work for him, but one not without many charms. Compared to most January releases, though…it’s terrific.

Cloverfield: I know not everyone dug this found footage monster movie, but I loved and still love it. It’s a real roller coaster ride of a flick, and was a hell of a lot of fun during that initial viewing. Everyone remembers it’s “1-18-08″ slogan slapped everywhere, but no matter how you slice it, this is still a better film than the month usually gets.

Dr. Strangelove: Some consider this Stanley Kubrick comedy the funniest movie of all time. I don’t find it the laugh riot that something like ‘Blazing Saddles’ is, but this is definitely one of the all time best early year releases (back in 1964 it came out on January 29th), bar none. It also happens to be my favorite Kubrick work, and that might have something to do with its selection, but quality is paramount, and it certainly contains more than its share of that.

From Dusk Till Dawn: Robert Rodriguez’s action/horror hybrid came out on January the 19th during the year that was 1996. It’s a cult classic of course, but for me it’s notable for introducing me/a lot of audience members to Michael Parks (just like it did for Kevin Smith, who then made brilliant use of him in last year’s film ‘Red State’, another superior early year title). Considering what January can sometimes hold in the action/horror genre, this is easily a title that deserves a spot on the list.

The Grey: Even this year we had a movie far better than its release date. Joe Carnahan’s survival drama was so much more than “the movie where Liam Neeson punches wolves”, but you’d never have known it going by its January 27th release date. Of course, it was supposed to get an Oscar qualifying run in 2011, and might get re-releases later this year for the same consideration, so quality was never going to be an issue. It’s just nice to see that we still get good films in January…

M.A.S.H.: Another undisputed classic that debuted in the first month of the year, Robert Altman’s war dramedy hit on the 25th of January back in 1970. Besides launching a beloved television show, this was a delightful flick that stands tall among Altman’s historic slate of projects. I like to watch it every so often, and it entertains me every single time. It’s hard to believe that it was a January release, but it truly was.

Radio Days: Perhaps no Woody Allen film is underrated more than this one. It came out during the first part of 1987 (January 30th, to be precise), and it’s a lovely little movie about the days before TV. I love it like few other Allen flicks, and it shocks me that this wasn’t given a prime Oscar season slot (it didn’t stop the film from being honored though). When it comes to Allen, the release date didn’t matter much back then…he’d put out two films a year sometimes, so they needed to be spread out. Still…this film, in January? Wow.

Tremors: A real B movie if ever there was one, this is still a fun movie to watch and has become far more admired since its opening on January 19th, 1990. Little was expected of this horror comedy, but 846 sequels later, it’s a classic compared to what came next. In January, you don’t expect much, but this silly thing is still better than that.

February

Blazing Saddles: Arguably the funniest film of all time, this movie came out on February 7th of 1974 and immediately became a hit. As good as any film I’m going to highlight on this list, Mel Brooks’ satire of racism and the Western genre is a comedy classic, plain and simple. There are tons of classic lines, most of which I can’t print here, but just writing about this movie has made me want to go watch it again (it was a staple of my childhood in terms of family movie nights, along with ‘Young Frankenstein’, another Mel Brooks classic, actually released the same year), so that’s how great it truly is.

Boiler Room: This film wanted to be the ‘Wall Street’ and ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ of its generation when it opened in 2000 on February 18th. I’m not sure that it’s quite gotten to that level, but it certainly didn’t fade away and features some nice acting and a story you’re never bored with. For a February release, it’s pretty damn good actually.

Dark City: A sci-fi thriller that’s about as complex as films get, it’s not surprising that the flick was dumped on February 27th, 1998. It was a hard sell, but the forthcoming years have proved that it’s a cult classic, and a high quality genre work. It took me 2 viewings to get it, but many people have seen it far more times than that. It didn’t do too much at the box office back then, but it’s aged nicely since then.

Groundhog Day: Another comedy classic and one of Bill Murray’s finer hours, this popular movie came out right before Valentine’s Day on February 12th of 1993. It’s a flick that’s well regarded and as high concept as it gets…something you usually only get one of during this month. I know I love it, and I’m far from alone.

Hannah and Her Sisters: Woody Allen makes another appearance on this list with this phenomenal work. February 7th, 1986 was the start of the flick that’s regarded as one of Allen’s very best movies. An Oscar winner, it’s further evidence (and not the last on this list) that when it comes to Woody, the release date doesn’t matter that much. It’s just crazy that it came out during this particular month.

Miracle: I’m not sure how many other fans are out there, but I thought Kurt Russell gave a nomination worthy performance in this really underrated sports flick about the Olympic Miracle on Ice. February 6th of 2004 was when it hit theaters, and it’s one of Disney’s best sports flicks to date. A winter release date actually might have gotten the performance some traction, now that I think about it. Alas…

Shutter Island: Another instance of a film that wasn’t put out during a down month due to quality, this Martin Scorsese flick was pushed from an Oscar season run the year before to February 19th, 2010. It’s a clear genre exercise from Scorsese, but it’s still a fun flick to watch. This case is of a film being moved for financial reasons, not issues of quality, and that’s a plus.

The Silence of the Lambs: Our first Best Picture winner on this list, can you believe that this Oscar juggernaut actually came out in 1991 on Valentine’s Day? Talk about an ironic choice to see with your loved ones. This movie’s success is proof that the release date doesn’t fully matter in terms of an Academy Award campaign. Obviously November or December is prime territory, but if this flick could do it, there’s hope for others now and in the coming years.

Witness: In 1995, this Oscar player hit on February 8th. It’s not my favorite flick ever made, but I like it just fine and it shows (as many others on this list do) that an early year release isn’t a death sentence. Quality can sometimes win out, and I’m always happy when it does, regardless of my personal thoughts on the work.

Wonder Boys: A would be Oscar player, this 2000 dramedy got lost in the shuffle due to its early release on February 3rd. Michael Douglas deserved a nomination for his lead performance, something he’s spoken of being disappointed about in the past. It’s a step up from the indies that get ignored during the beginning of the year, but it sadly wasn’t able to go all the way that season.

March

Erin Brokovich: A March 17th, 2000 release date didn’t stop this true story legal drama from marching on to the Oscars and winning one for Julia Roberts. As you’ll see with these March selections, quality goes up during this month (I actually kind of separate it from January and February, personally), and this movie is a good example of that. It’s definitely good enough to have been a fall release.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Few films are cited as being the exception to the early year lack of quality rule more than this particular one. I certainly don’t disagree, as it’s one of my 10 favorite films of all time and was able to move from a March 19th, 2004 release date to an Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay. It’s an adored modern classic and one of the best releases of any month, let alone March.

High Fidelity: Another all time favorite of mine and one of John Cusack’s very best works, this was another 2000 release (a really good year for film) that managed to circumvent its March release date (March 31st, to be precise…so it just barely qualified here). It’s kind of a cult favorite, but it’s a really well liked film any way that you slice it. Go figure, a film that loves lists would end up on this list…kind of makes you think, doesn’t it? No? Well, moving on then in that case…

How to Train Your Dragon: I wasn’t as in love with this animated flick as most, but it’s certainly better than most cartoons that come out these days, regardless of the month. A March 26th, 2010 release date helped make its success both all the more noticeable and unlikely as well. It was ultimately overshadowed by the higher profile and admittedly far superior Pixar flick ‘Toy Story 3′, but it’s still a movie worth taking note of and well deserving of inclusion in this piece.

Inside Man: Spike Lee’s most mainstream and entertaining work to date looks, feels, and acts like a summer blockbuster, but it actually came out in 2006 on March 24th. A really solid crime thriller that isn’t completely reliant on its twist, this is yet another flick (obviously) that’s better than its release date. Go figure, that’s what this article is on.

My Cousin Vinny: One of the 10 funniest films of all time in my humble opinion, this fish out of water legal comedy sprang up in 1992 on my birthday actually (March 13th for those of you who were wondering). I love it dearly, and yes, I think Marisa Tomei’s Oscar win was fully deserved and not a blotch on the Academy’s reputation (or a mistake, as some odd conspiracy theories have postulated) in the least.

The Purple Rose of Cairo: My final Woody Allen flick, it’s also one that sadly hasn’t been admired as much as others by the current generation. A love letter to cinema (apt to mention in a year where ‘The Artist’ and ‘Hugo’ have won major acclaim for just that) and wish fulfillment in the depression, it was hailed as a top notch Allen work. It also happened to come out on March 1st of 1985 and hardly let that get in its way, just like most other flicks by the Wood man. Okay, I’m done with Woody now, I promise.

Splash: An early Tom Hanks collaboration with Ron Howard, it was a hit (and an Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay, actually) when it came out on March 9th of 1984. It’s an enjoyable comedy, if not the best work of anyone involved, but it’s certainly better than many other March releases of late.

V for Vendetta: I remember actually thinking that this could be a dark hors Oscar player in 2006. It came out on March 17th to positive reviews and ended up with a solid box office take, but it never really moved beyond that. No Academy Award nominations wound up coming its way, but I maintain that it’s a visually stimulating and rather thought provoking action flick, more so than you’d initially expect. Regardless of all that, it’s a great March release and deserves a spot here.

Zodiac- Not all David Fincher flicks come out during the Oscar season, as you can see with this entry into his filmography, which hit during the 2007 season on March 2nd. It couldn’t score any Oscar nominations, but this is often ranked higher on more lists of people’s favorite Fincher films than you’d expect and is undeniably an ambitious work. March sometimes lacks ambition, so it gets style points here.

As you can see, a number of these titles have become cult favorites, signaling that sometimes a studio releases a great film in these months that they simply don’t know what to do with. Also, Oscar hopefuls can sometimes start their quests here in this months, so it’s not completely the wasteland that you’ve been led to think that is. Going forward, look for the upcoming early season weeks to contain potentially strong fare like ‘Wanderlust’, ‘This Is Not a Film’, ‘Being Flynn’, ‘Silent House’, ‘Detachment’, ‘Jeff, Who Lives at Home’, ‘The Raid’, and ‘Bernie’. We shall see which of these could break onto the list, but for now…what are you favorite early year releases of all time? Let us know!

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

The Way

This small Emilio Estevez flick is a wonderful little one, full of strong performances and beautiful cinematography. Martin Sheen plays a man paying tribute to his recently deceased son by partaking in a pilgrimage that the son (played by Estevez) was set to take part in. Along the way he meets a lot of colorful characters and comes to understand his boy more. It all sounds a bit standard, but it’s so well done that you never notice. Sheen deserved Oscar consideration for his work here, but no one really noticed. The release by Estevez was small and self contained, yet successful…not unlike Kevin Smith’s strategy for ‘Red State’. In any event, there’s a joy to be found in watching a son direct and co-star with his father, and that’s in full force here. I highly recommend grabbing this movie now that it’s out and available to own. It’s one of last year’s most underrated titles.

-Coming in second place today is the release of the highly regarded Martha Marcy May Marlene. I didn’t quite go head over heels for the movie like many did, but I loved Elizabeth Olsen’s lead performance and think filmmaker Sean Durkin is one to watch. I know this is an anticipated DVD release for some of you, so now that you can own it, make sure that you pick it up and enjoy!

-Also worth mentioning on its own is the fact that J. Edgar is out as well. What a disappointing film this was. I don’t know that anyone really loved this movie, and lots of people downright hated it. I’d like to think that Clint Eastwood still has a good film or two left in him, but he didn’t show it here. Yes, Leonardo DiCaprio was good here, but he’s usually much better, so that wasn’t even all that special. If for some reason though you find this a worthy title to purchase, don’t let me stop you…

-The rest of the releases this week include the decent spinoff Puss in Boots, the mediocre crime drama London Boulevard, the forgettable suspense flick The Son of No One, the bland comedy Tower Heist, as well as films I didn’t see like the sports drama The Mighty Macs, the indie action flick Retreat, and the Direct to DVD Melissa Leo drama The Space Between, which I actually heard decent things about. I can’t quite come out and recommend any of these titles to you, but if you’ve got an interest in one or more of them, now’s the time to grab them and take a watch.

-My Vintage pick, in honor of this week’s release of Act of Valor, is a collection of notable modern war movies. They are, in alphabetical order: Black Hawk Down, The Hurt Locker, Jarhead, and Stop-Loss. These all take rather fascinating and unflinching looks at recent/current conflicts, and do so in a way that makes them a cut above the rest. I’m sure most of you have seen these flicks (or at least most of them), but if you haven’t, now’s the perfect time to do so…and be sure to report back on what you think of them!

-What will you be watching on DVD this week? Discuss on the Forum!

As usual, let’s kick-start things with some tidbit reviews of those who didn’t make the judges swivel their chairs around. Again, the talent was stronger but the cuts were more calculated as the spots on each judges team is filling up fast. This is also kind of making me wonder whether they will have a second-chance round like last season. From the previews, it looks like there are fresh auditions, and that kind of leaves me pissed. I always enjoy Wild Card shows (Jennifer Hudson would not be where she is without a Wild Card show, if you can believe that), because they give opportunities to singers who had potential but just didn’t show it on a performance that mattered. Let me cross my fingers in the hopes that some singers, turned down a few episodes ago, will be making a return. Before I do that, here are my snapshot takes of the acts who failed their blind audition this week:

Ducky. Performance Review: (**) — With a name like that, are you really that surprised? The guy had a nice gravelly tone to match his rock star persona, but the song choice of “Tighten Up” was just bizarre and unnecessary. If you’re going to perform a lesser-known song, you’d better bring your A-game to make us really stand up and pay attention. Jamar Rogers did that with “Seven Nation Army,” but Ducky failed to elevate the song or his performance to a standard that would certify worthy recognition. The audition was shouty in parts, but mostly it came across as amateur and boring. Mediocre voice, bad song choice, and a lack of charisma on stage are what failed to earn Ducky a spot on a judge’s team.

Eric Macek. Performance Review: (**) – Eric’s voice wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t projected well enough. His version of “Free Fallin’” never even met the bar established by the original artist, with its gloriously sung chorus and pained vocal intonations. Eric tried to put a singer-songwriter spin to the song, which is admirable, but ultimately failed in its experimentation.

Dylan Chambers. Performance Review: (***1/2) — What weren’t the judges listening to? The kid’s tone was strong and unique, and his pitch was perfect throughout the entire performance. “Valerie” might be an obscure choice, but the kid did it justice without relegating himself to typical vibrato inflections that Broadway singers are known for. We’ve seen far worse blind auditions make it through this season, and so I was surprised this kid didn’t get a chance. Here’s to hoping next week the judges will change their mind. Based on the voice alone, Dylan Chambers should have been a slam-dunk choice. Earwax removal kit, next time?

Nathan Anderson. Performance Review: (*) – “Walking in Memphis” should forever be banned as an audition song. All I could think of when I saw Nathan sing is that he’s had one too many late nights at the karaoke bar. Time to get a real vocal coach.

Luna Searles. Performance Review: (*1/2) — Luna’s rendition of “Come to My Window” was the kind of performance that would just scrape by at an American Idol audition. Good thing The Voice has higher standards.

Adam Lasher. Performance Review: (zero stars) – So unmemorable, I forgot he even competed. When I I can’t remember what you sung, it’s an automatic failing grade.

Eric Tipton. Performance Review: (**1/2) — There is no denying this guy has soul, but his performance of “You Make My Dream Come True” sounded nervous and was lazily delivered. Every time Eric had the opportunity to push himself further, he failed to take it. I think nerves ultimately got the best of him, because his vocals are solid, but maybe a song choice that wasn’t such a beloved track would have been less daunting to tackle. The judges made the right call, but this may not be the last we see of Eric Tipton.

And that completes this week’s portion of reviewing the failed acts. I’m going to do something a bit different and give you a list of singers, one from every episode seen thus far, who I feel deserve a second chance in the final blind auditions. Based on the previews, The Voice may deprive us of a “Wild Card” segment, but I sincerely hope they give a few acts one last opportunity to prove themselves. So, here goes:

Second Chance Hopefuls:
Blind Audition #1 — Daniel Rosa (by default)
Blind Audition #2 — Dez Duron
Blind Audition #3 — Winter Rae
Blind Audition #4 — Dylan Chambers

Now let’s turn our focus on those who were successful in getting at least one judge to turn their chair around, automatically garnering a spot on a team and making it past the blind auditions:

We begin first with with Brazilian-born family man, Johnathas, who delivers a greater vocal on “U Got It Bad” than its original artist, Usher. With a silky and smooth tone, Johnathas has a natural pop voice and is effortless with his command of the audience. I was just missing that one magical moment that would have given him a perfect score, but the kid has the chops to go the distance, and is so far one of my favorite acts on Team Christina.

Performance Review: (***1/2)
Judge Selected: Team Christina
Listen to Johnathas:

Next up is street-performer, Naia Kete, who looks and dresses like your typical artsy musician. I’ve actually been to Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and there are better singers than Naia on the promenade. She delivered a competent version of Bruno Mars’ “The Lazy Song,” but she will get eaten alive in this competition if she sticks solely with her coffeehouse vibe. I’m not seeing a strong contestant yet, but I am open to the possibility of being proven wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.

Performance Review: (***)
Judge Selected: Team Blake
Listen to Naia Kete:

Charlotte Sometimes was the next successful act to follow, and I thought she was slightly overrated. Singing “Apologize” was an uninspiring choice, and it didn’t help that Charlotte’s low tone failed to make waves through my television screen. I feel like the girl’s voice is unique, but she doesn’t quite know how to use it and just shows fragments as a ploy to get the judges to turn their chairs around. The whole performance felt inconsistent, and Charlotte was lucky Adam really dug her sound. I don’t particularly find her as special as Mr. Levine seems to believe, mostly because her low notes were so specifically timed, resulting in the performance coming across incredibly disingenuous. Still, Charlotte’s falsetto was pretty darn impressive. If it weren’t for such calculated phrasing, I would be singing her praises. As it stands, I’m a bit miffed.

Performance Review: (***)
Judge Selected: Team Adam
Listen to Charlotte Sometimes:

The next act, Tony Vincent, I enjoy more for his raw potential than his actual performance of Queen’s infamous “We Are the Champions.” Tony Vincent may be The Voice’s solution to Idol’s Adam Lambert, but Vincent is going to have to find a way to control his vocals if he wants to be the next Glam Rock icon. He started off so well with the opening verses, but then once the chorus kicked in his voice went a bit off the rails. I love his enthusiasm and drive, but control and precision are necessary if he wants to make it past the grueling Battle Rounds. Tony Vincent is a star in the making, but needs some serious fine-tuning by mentor, Cee Lo Green.

Performance Review: (***)
Judge Selected: Team Cee Lo
Listen to Tony Vincent:

Anthony Evans continues the soul sounds that have permeated this season with his rendition of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” I really loved Anthony’s intro package because he seemed fully aware of what type of artist he is. He’s the perfect mix of soul and R&B, and he blends the two genres together without a hitch. I appreciate his earnestness, but I still wish some of these song choices were a bit more original instead of recycled. Anthony Evans needs to prove that he is an individual artist and not just a copycat vocalist. However, this guy’s soulful voice is the strongest I’ve heard from any of the soul singers that made it past the blind auditions this year. I just pray we aren’t hearing a “Motown’s Greatest Hits” session throughout the rest of the season.

Performance Review: (***)
Judge Selected: Team Christina
Listen to Anthony Evans:

The subsequent performer is one to watch. Jamie Lono, unafraid to admit he makes sandwiches for a living, delivers a completely original version of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” The guy is lite-country with major crossover appeal, complimented by a voice that is rich and delivers every vocal nuance with aplomb. Lono completely reworks “Folsom Prison Blues,” and turns it into a song that sounds every bit a hit on today’s Billboard Charts. I just hope the guy continues on this path following his initial strong impression. I’d hate to see him be overwhelmed by the pressures of this heavy competition. I’m not sure if Cee Lo Green is the perfect match for Jamie Lono, but time will certainly tell.

Performance Review: (***1/2)
Judge Selected: Team Cee Lo
Listen to Jamie Lono:

By far, the best performance of the night came from the overly energetic, Monique Benebou, who finally broke the Kelly Clarkson curse by doing a beyond-valiant job with “Mr. Know It All.” Monique doesn’t sound like Clarkson, which is great because she can make whatever changes she wants to with the arrangement without drawing vocal comparisons. Those chances gave the song more pop flavor that’s just as impacting as Clarkson’s original rock-fused version. Monique Benebou may be a ringer for Gloria Estefan, but her voice sets her apart from all the other acts this week. It was booming when it needed to be and controlled when required. Having both a dynamic voice and stage presence, I hope Benebou goes far. Christina didn’t seem too thrilled with Monique as a team member after her chair spun around, but I hope Benebou turns Christina’s frown upside-freaking-down!

Performance Review: (****)
Judge Selected: Team Christina
Listen to Monique Benebou:

The weakest act who made it past the blind auditions, Justin Hopkins, was one whose producers were heavily influenced by Carson Daly’s endorsement. Turns out Hopkins played the drums on Daly’s MTV show, and so the two already were well acquainted before Justin would tried out for The Voice. Hopkins’ voice was shaky at the beginning of “Babylon,” and even when it got a tad stronger further into the song, I never really felt like his talent was anything worth noting. Like most of these singers, Hopkins’ voice improved more after Cee Lo turned his chair around, boosting his confidence, but it still wasn’t enough to crawl out of the pool of mediocrity. Hopkins isn’t going to go far, and I fully expect Daly’s BFF to get the boot come Battle Round time. I wish I was more optimistic in regards to Justin Hopkins, but I have to call it like I see it.

Performance Review: (**1/2)
Judge Selected: Team Cee Lo
Listen to Justin Hopkins:

Runner-up for best blind audition of the episode goes to the beautiful country singer, Nicole Galyon. Nicole finds it ignorant that most country singers scoff at the idea of an artist in their genre playing a piano, and she certainly proves them wrong with an emotionally stirring rendition of “You Save Me” with piano accompaniment. The judges preyed on her nerves, but they only added to the weight surrounding the song’s tragic lyrics. Nicole has the most lovable family, and is the one country singer I will absolutely back this season. Thank god Adam pushed his button.

Performance Review: (***1/2)
Judge Selected: Team Adam
Listen to Nicole Galyon:

Next, we have our weekly montage clip of four performers who made it on a judge’s team, so I’ll make this short. I have to assume Ashley De La Rosa was selected by Christina more for her unusual song choice, titled “Shark in the Water,” than her so-so rendition of it. I heard some distinct vocal characteristics, but not enough to make Ashley memorable. Blake Shelton took back the night, country style, by selecting Jordan Rager for his team, a singer who seemed to have crawled out from a Nashville barbeque with his rendition of “Chicken Fried.” It was pleasant to hear and certainly a funny song choice, but like Ashley, I’ll have a hard time caring or remembering this contestant once we reach the Battle Rounds. Karla Davis delivered the finest performance of this montage group with a sympathetic take on The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young.” Her tone drew me in, just like it did Adam Levine, and he rightfully snatched her up from the rest. Last to perform was ALyx (yeah, that’s how she spells her name…), a rocker who caught Blake’s attention with her cliche rendition of Pink’s “Just Like a Pill.” I guess Blake hasn’t heard that song in awhile, because there certainly wasn’t anything in ALyx’s version that was original or distinctive.

Performance Reviews: Ashley De La Rosa (***), Jordan Rager (***), Karla Davis (***1/2), ALyx (***)
Judges Selected: Ashley De La Rosa (Christina), Jordan Rager (Blake), Karla Davis (Adam), ALyX (Blake)
Listen to them all:

The final contestant of the episode was one I found incredibly overrated. Mathai’s “Rumor Has It,” sounded too teenage-girl cloying, and you could just envision this girl with a fake microphone singing in her room while looking at her Adele posters. Her voice was slightly grating, and whether it’s the love of this song or not, something was definitely affecting the judge’s objective hearing. It certainly wasn’t a horrible version, but I don’t believe it deserved such high praise. Mathai better review this performance and make note of ways she can improve, specifically elongating her soulful rifts instead of just playing it safe with karaoke pop noises.

Performance Review: (***)
Judge Selected: Team Adam
Listen to Mathai:

Now that week four is finished, here is the up-to-date roster of each team:

Team Christina
Jesse Campbell
Chris Mann
The Line
Lindsey Pavao
Geoff McBride
Moses Stone
Monique Benebou
Anthony Evans
Ashley De La Rosa
Johnathas

Team Blake
RaeLynn
Gwen Sebastian
Jermaine Paul
Erin Willett
Brian Fuente
Jordis Unga
Naia Kete
Jordan Rager
ALyX

Team Cee Lo
Juliet Simms
Jamar Rogers
Angie Johnson
Sarah Golden
Erin Martin
James Massone
Tony Vincent
Jamie Lono
Justin Hopkins

Team Adam
Tony Lucca
Kim Yarbrough
Angel Taylor
Pip
Katrina Parker
Chris Cauley
Nathan Parrett
Charlotte Sometimes
Nicole Galyon
Karla Davis
Mathai

Once again, Cee Lo Green’s team looks pretty frickin’ awesome. Adam’s team is the next strongest team, but Cee Lo has a good mix of genre artists, eclectic performers, and seasoned professionals. Christina really gave her team a boost tonight with Johnathas and Monique as additions, but it’s not enough to overcome Cee Lo or Adam. Blake still has to bank on Jordis Unga, because every single member of his team has zero shot at winning besides Unga. It’s another fluke year for Blake, but just like last year, he only needs one standout to clinch victory. Things are going to get interesting. I’m glad next week is the final blind auditions, because it’s high time we move on to Battle Rounds, another unique process that no other singing competition show has. Cannot wait! Who were your standouts in this week’s episode, and which Judge has the most powerful group? Please post thoughts and opinions below in the comments section.

Director Charles Ferguson and Producer Audrey Marrs celebrate a win for 2010's Best Documentary, "Inside Job"...

The 2011 Nominees For Best Documentary Feature Film are…

• HELL AND BACK AGAIN • Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
• IF A TREE FALLS… • Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
• PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY • Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
• PINA • Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
• UNDEFEATED • TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, Rich Middlemas

One of the most polarizing categories historically in Oscar’s canon, the Best Documentary Feature prize has been the source of great controversy throughout its existence.  Year to year and season to season, the list of films snubbed and/or directors and filmmakers flat out ignored by the Academy’s esteemed documentary branch is an impressive one.  Some would say impressive for all the wrong reasons.

Fledgling television network Current TV aired an ambitious program entitled “The 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die” in August 2011 and the show was a well-made talking heads countdown show hosted by Oscar nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me).  Spurlock counted down 10 films per episode and the list was a solid one, but hardly definitive and capped at films made within the past 25 years.  Topping that list was the film that many have cited as one of, if not the greatest documentaries ever made, Steve James’ Hoop Dreams, a 1994 documentary which famously was not even nominated for its genre’s most prestigious trophy.

The controversy and outcry over the Academy failing to nominate Hoop Dreams for Best Documentary (the film did receive a nod for Editing that year) saw a complete overhaul of the Documentary Branch’s standards and practices.  Little by little, the category moved away from its Jethro Tull moment (look up the list of Best Metal Recording Grammy winners for the reference) and gained a bit more credibility with its award winners.  And still, year to year, the list of films left out of the final nomination list have some eye-raising snubs and surprises.  However, when looking at the stretch of winners from the early 2000′s to last year’s recipient, Inside Job, the films at least look and feel the part of a Best Documentary Oscar winner, even if people remain outraged at the failure to nominate films such as Grizzly Man, Touching The Void, The King of Kong, Standard Operating Procedure, Dear Zachary, Anvil! The Story Of Anvil, Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster, and countless others.

I mention all of this history to make the point that if in 1994 the Academy failed to nominate what many feel to be the greatest documentary of all time, Hoop Dreams, then in 2011, the controversy has returned once again as 2011′s most acclaimed and championed documentary, The Interrupters, failed to even make the publicized longlist of 15 semifinalists for this award.  The commonality between Hoop Dreams and The Interrupters is that Steve James directs both and somehow and for some unknown reason, James is simply not allowed a seat the Academy’s Documentary Filmmakers Table.  Is he too good?

The Interrupters snub caused another wave of controversy in how the Documentary branch goes about its business and while this year’s nominees are, in all honesty, an intriguing and sturdy group of films, people have rightfully questioned how Werner Herzog’s Into The Abyss, Asif Kapadia’s Senna, Bill Cunningham New York, We Were Here, Errol Morris’ Tabloid, and Oscar winner James Marsh’s Project Nim all missed the mark here.  In the case of Nim, a film I placed in my personal 10 best of 2011 list, the publicist mentioned to me that everyone from the top of the line on down were flat out stunned on nomination morning that their film failed to make the cut.

But imagine how Steve James feels.  All he does is make consistently memorable and incredible work and the Academy could care less.  James, in all likelihood, likewise has next to no concern over whether the Academy rewards his work or not, but it is certainly not hard to argue that he might be one of the the most talented filmmakers working today to have never been nominated for his work (yes, he did receive a nod as an editor on Hoop Dreams, but still…).  So, while James sits home and a handful of terrific films fail to have their names called this Sunday, let’s suppress those frustrations and dive into the five films which somehow made it to the movie industry’s biggest stage.

HELL AND BACK AGAIN

Remember the name Danfung Dennis because Oscar win or not, he has emerged as an impressive filmmaker and storyteller.  At first blush, Hell And Back Again, appears to be another captured footage/embedded journalist war film which takes a strong reserve to experience and endure.  And truth be told, Hell is a difficult watch, because it hits closer to home in unique and unsettling ways.  Dennis brings war home and depicts a different form of war – the war of adjustment…following injury…following domestication…and following an addiction to pain medication.  Dennis, embedded as a filmographer and journalist in Afghanistan, befriended Nathan Harris, who is called into a leadership role following the death of his commanding officer.  A few days before he is to return home, a machine gun sniper’s bullet destroys Harris’ hip and leg and Harris’ injuries are so severe that he learns he might never walk again.  And waiting at home is his wife and high school sweetheart, Ashley, who must learn to live with a Nathan much different than she knew prior to his deployment and for whom she fell in love with.

Dennis and Harris became close friends and the Harrises agreed to allow Dennis to film everything as a means of documenting the unrelenting difficulties our soldiers face returning home from war.  Hell And Back Again is anything but ordinary and Dennis delivers his film like a traditional fiction film, using sounds, comments, and words to pull us back to war and back to the war at home.  Masterfully edited and told, Hell And Back Again is an impressive film debut.

Nomination history:
• These are the first Oscar nominations for Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner.

IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT

Activism, when not documented by Steve James (sorry, I’ll leave it alone…), is often considered by this branch and there may be no more polarizing figure in this year’s Documentary Feature Film slate than Daniel McGowan, the man at the heart of Marshal Curry’s If A Tree Falls…  McGowan is the central figure in Curry’s film which documents the Earth Liberation Front (“ELF”), branded as an eco-terrorist organization that the Bush Administration cited as the largest domestic terror threat in the United States.  The Department of Justice underwent a detailed and intensive investigation in finding McGowan and Curry details not only how a calm and kind-hearted McGowan could have become an active and influential member of ELF, but also what defines terrorism and whether McGowan and other ELF members meet the definition.  Curry, a previous Oscar nominee for his brilliant documentary Street Fight, may struggle at times to link the pieces together of his message, but If A Tree Falls is a timely film which tries to pinpoint the shifting and often transparent line between activism’s intent and the taking of activism too far.  Clearly committing acts of arson and violence against others in an unprovoked manner is deplorable and distancing, but Curry successfully presents these acts and those of ELF in shades of grey, making his film both thought-provoking and contemplative.

Nomination history:
• This is the second nomination for Marshall Curry, previously nominated for his documentary Street Fight in 2006.  This is the first nomination for Sam Cullman.

PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY

While not entirely surprising to see the incredible Paradise Lost series finally nab a nomination for the final entry in its unintended trilogy of documenting the facts, the details, and the ultimate convictions and overturning of those convictions for the West Memphis Three, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory‘s nomination raised a series of questions amongst Oscar watchers somewhat privy to and/or savvy to the rules of the Documentary Branch.  Essentially, how was this eligible?  With no box office receipts to speak of and an unreported and under-the-radar qualifying run, a film which many believed to be, like its predecessors, a made-for-HBO documentary and thus ineligible for the Oscar, scored a nod here.  And if it truly does meet the micromanaged and overwrought criterion, it is hard to argue against it landing a nomination here, because Paradise Lost, as a franchise, is simply an incredible example of the power of filmmaking and the series served as a catalyst in overturning the wrongful convictions of three child killers, themselves teenagers, who were rounded up by an angry mob of a community who earmarked them as killers simply because they were different and non-conformist.

Co-directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky have saved lives with their efforts here and while the families of the children who died in May 1993 did petition the Academy, requesting that Paradise Lost 3 not be considered for Oscar consideration, the release of Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and James Baldwin could not have been put into motion had Berlinger and Sinofsky’s work not been so detailed, so meticulous, and so well crafted.  Paradise Lost 3 was intended to be a 10-year update on the lives of the West Memphis Three as they remained in prison, but became a film of redemption, success, and liberation, all in the face of profound tragedy and loss.

Nomination history:
• These are the first nominations for Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.

PINA

Pushing the definition somewhat on what defines a documentary, Wim Wenders’ Pina is a film that, for a time, people felt could be the first film to ever land a dual nomination in the categories of Documentary Feature and Foreign Language Film.  Missing the mark in the Foreign Language category, Pina landed a nod here and while the film has opened to near universal praise and respect, this nomination cocked more than a few heads on nomination morning.

Pina is a dazzling mix of performance, archival footage, and out of context depictions and descriptions of the famed choreographer and ballerina, Pina Bausch, which was started and then scrapped by Wenders when Bausch passed away unexpectedly early on in the production.  Wenders shelved the project and restarted his film only when many of Bausch’s former students and current dancers working within a style she championed asked Wenders to honor Bausch as he originally intended.  What Pina became is a 3-D visual experience where dancers of the Tanztheater Wueppertal perform Bausch’s most famed dances in various indoor and outdoor locations, exhibiting bold and impressive physicality.  The dances are supposed to provide us insight into the enigmatic Pina Bausch and some attendees of my press screening for the film a few months back were openly weeping as the dance sequences came and went.  Pina is an experience for sure, but with its emphasis on dance performance and punctuated comments about Bausch herself, Pina missed the mark with me and fellow staff writer Joseph Braverman in some key and distinctive ways.  My reservations towards the film aside, I did indeed admire the effort and found Wenders to have an interesting connection with his source material.  Ultimately, I would not have personally nominated the film but in all honesty, the Documentary Branch has not seen anything this unique and eccentric in a long, long time, and it is easy to understand how they were mesmerized by the audacity of it all.

Nomination history:
• This is Wim Wenders’ second Oscar nomination; previously landing a nomination in this category for Buena Vista Social Club.  This is the first Oscar nomination for Gian-Piero Ringel.

UNDEFEATED

The unknown commodity in this lineup, Undefeated is a festival favorite that was acquired by The Weinstein Company and given a late qualifying run to compete for this award.  Those who have seen it have fallen in love with it and Undefeated has already drawn eye-raising comparisons as this generation’s Hoop Dreams.  So what is this thing?  How did it get nominated?  Does it even have a credible shot if no one has ever heard of it and/or seen it outside of the film critic beltway?

Undefeated seems custom made to be as much of the underdog on Oscar night as its subject high school football team, the Manassas Tigers, a Memphis, Tennessee high school program that had forever been the perennial losers in the community and had not won a competitive playoff game in its 110 year history.  In 2004, Manassas’ football program underwent a series of changes which ultimately led to a few new recruits and a new volunteer football coach in Bill Courtney, whose unbridled demeanor and academic-driven approach to success started to reap major benefits in an impoverished and largely African-American community.  Undefeated is a galvanizing film, which speaks far beyond the gridiron and scoreboards, but never shies away from the importance that football plays in the hearts and minds of so many of our communities.  Detractors, and there are a few, have branded this as The Blind Side as documentary and when the film requires more than one dip into the Kleenex box, a couple of critics have recoiled from the emotional moments so present in the film.

Regardless, some big names have championed this film and I may be as naive as anyone, but it would not surprise me at all to see Undefeated, in one of the most wide open categories on the card this year, walk away as an Oscar winner in this category.

Nomination history:
These are the first nominations for TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard Middlemas.

PREDICTIONS?

Oh boy.  I am a huge fan of documentary film and this is without question, one of my most anticipated categories every year.  With that said, I got nothing on this race.  I can make an argument for any of these films winning the prize, although I think Pina and perhaps If A Tree Falls are the weaker entries in the series.  Essentially, my take is that if Restrepo could not win this prize last year, Hell And Back Again will face similar resistance and so we are ultimately left with two films which are inspiring, emotional, and speak to a tried-and-true narrative of overcoming huge adversity and fighting through insurmountable odds.  So, with that said…

My pick today: Undefeated.

My Alternate:  Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.  Just do not ask me this question tomorrow, because I will likely flip-flop the two.

Snubs or Worthy of Consideration: I will wait for you to grab a pen and paper.  Okay, we all set?  Queue these 15 additional films now…

• An African Election
• The Arbor
• Bill Cunningham New York
• Buck
• Cave Of Forgotten Dreams (although not technically eligible this year as it was submitted last year)
• The Interrupters
• Into The Abyss
• Nostalgia For The Light
• Page One: Inside The New York Times
• Project Nim
• The Redemption Of General Butt Naked
• Semper Fi: Always Faithful
• Senna
• Tabloid
• We Were Here

Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film: “War Horse”

Music in a Feature Film: “Hugo”

Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film: “Super 8″

Music in a Musical Feature Film: “The Muppets”

Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in an Animated Film: “The Adventures of Tintin”

Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music in a Feature Documentary: “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”

Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Foreign Language Film: “The Flowers of War”

Career Achievement Award: George Watters II

Filmmaker Award: Gale Anne Hurd

I’m still pretty confident in ‘Hugo’ being the Sound favorite at the Oscars, but perhaps ‘War Horse’ could sneak in with a last minute win in one of the categories? We shall see…

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”

Best Documentary Screenplay: Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega, “Better This World”

Paul Selvin Award: Tate Taylor, “The Help”

Laurel Award: Eric Roth

So essentially, ‘The Descendants’ now may be locked in for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Original Screenplay is still a battle between ‘The Artist’ and ‘Midnight in Paris’. It’s going to be fun to see how that one turns out…

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

Here’s the agenda:

• News (Cinema Audio Society, USC Scripter, ACE)
• Talk a little about the Awards Circuit Community Awards 2011.
• Adapted Screenplay (The Descendants vs. Moneyball)
• Original Screenplay (Midnight in Paris vs. The Artist)
• Hardest Categories to Predict
• Taking Questions from the Awards Circuit Readers!
• Director (Is it Hazanavicius’ to lose?)
• What film can upset “The Artist?”
• Best Picture
• We talk about Billy Crystal hosting
• Should Oscar do away with the Best Song category?
• 2013 Oscar Contenders and when we will reveal the year-in-advance predictions
• ACADEMY IDOL TOP 3 RESULTS!

Comment and discuss.

Outstanding Sound in a Motion Picture: Hugo
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series: TOO BIG TO FAIL
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for TV Movies & Mini-Series.. – Into the Wild
Technical Achievement Award for Post Production: AVID Pro Tools 10
Sound mixing for non-fiction variety show: DEADLIEST CATCH: NEW BLOOD!
Technical Achievement Award for Production: ZAXCOM: Nomad Production Sound System

I think this bodes well for both Sound Editing and Mixing, but we shall ultimately see. It has some strong competition. Don’t bet against ‘Hugo’ though…

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

"Hey Mom, I coulda been a contender...(In 'The Tree of Life')."

Oh boy, where do I even begin. All of us at The Awards Circuit had many of our predictions thrown back in our faces when the 2012 Academy Award Nominations were announced last month. None of us had a clue how many films would be up for “Best Picture,” and what kind of surprises were in store for us concerning the new Oscar voting system, where only the top selected film from each Academy member’s list would garner a nomination if it received 5% of the total vote. Actually, our predictions weren’t too spot off collectively, but this awards season certainly wasn’t an easy one for us prognosticators. We now find ourselves making our final Oscar predictions, just one week shy of the Academy Award ceremony. This time, however, we not only have the enjoyment of predicting the winners of this year’s Academy Awards, but we also get to have a little bit of fun with some personal discourse by stating who we think should win from this year’s list of nominees. Finally, it’s high time the staff at the Awards Circuit discussed snubs that angered us to the core by contributing our choices for “Who Should Have Been Nominated.” Here are my Oscar 2012 Will Win/Should Win/Should Have Been Nominated selections:

Best Picture:
Will Win: Ever since last fall, The Artist has been the one to beat, and it has yet to lose steam after winning the majority of awards this season. I would have been skeptical in a pre-Hurt Locker world, where incredibly low grossing films rarely received the top prize, but now I remain unconvinced the box office will have any impact in Academy member’s minds. In fact, this is one of the easiest landslide wins since Slumdog Millionaire.
Should Win: Had Drive or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, two of the films who had legitimate shots at landing in the nomination circle, been on this list, I would be pushing for either in this selection. As it stands, The Artist is the most high-quality film in the roster and the one that delivered the most emotionally gratifying experience. It’s as deserving a “Best Picture” winner as any.
Should Have Been Nominated: No film this year affected me as much as Steve McQueen’s Shame. It was brave in its storytelling, and contained two of the best performances of 2011 from Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. From its beautiful cinematography to its haunting musical score, there wasn’t a more balanced film as far as film technique went. The acting, directing, screenplay, and overall impact of the film should have resonated with Academy members who want their nominated films to have a pulse yet still remain timeless and powerful. I wouldn’t even call Shame edgy or controversial based on its subject matter. It’d simply call it a flawless film that accurately revealed the darker truths of life. Oscar, how could you be so submissive?

Best Director:
Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius’ DGA win sealed the deal despite the surprise Golden Globe for Scorcese. Hazanavicius brought us back to a wondrous era of film, and capitalized on its imagination and carefree spirit. Without such adept direction, The Artist may not have elevated itself to such high praise and universal love this awards season. Look for Hazanavicius to reap the huge win next Sunday.
Should Win: No director this year had as grand a vision than auteur Terrence Malick in regards to his magnum opus, The Tree of Life. The film failed to make my Top 10 of 2011, but even when its narrative, or lack thereof, threatened to alienate me, I found myself intrigued and spellbound by Malick’s direction. Terrence Malick has had an illustrious career, and this is his best, most polished work yet. 
Should Have Been Nominated: Nicholas Winding Refn turned what could have been a standard action flick into something that was so stylistically impressive, it made me long for the days when Hollywood took chances in film. Drive was a passion project for Refn, and every nanosecond of running time contained this passion in spades. From his choice of casting to his eclectic taste in music, I don’t remember seeing a more stylish, retro film in decades pulled off with such panache. Refn was wrongly snubbed, and I hope the Academy realizes they need to recognize innovators instead of recyclers in the future.

Best Actor:
Will Win: I’ve debated this win back and worth for the past week or so. In last Sunday’s podcast I was adamant that George Clooney would win, but the more I think about it the more of a likelihood it is that Jean Dujardin will walk away victorious. That SAG and BAFTA win were essential for Dujardin, and The Artist’s universal love will only benefit Dujardin in the end if the Academy plans on giving the film a sweeping victory. Sorry Clooney, you nearly had me.
Should Win: Brad Pitt delivered his most professional acting performance yet and deserves highest recognition. Billy Bean may not be Pitt’s most favorite or popular role, but it is the one that seems the most Oscar-worthy to date. Pitt has proven in Moneyball that his acting skills are continuously improving the older he gets. Like a fine wine, this actor gets better with age. Of the five performances nominated, Pitts was the most surprising and effective.
Should Have Been Nominated: You all know what I am going to say. Words cannot describe the incredible year that Michael Fassbender had in 2011, capped by a vulnerable and emotionally stirring performance as Brandon Sullivan, a sex addict who is every bit the human we all are. Fassbender’s mastering of the subtle and graphic nature of this role proved he is one of cinema’s most talented actors working today. When he broke down in the rain, letting his tears overwhelm every fiber of his being, who didn’t have their jaws drop in awe of such virtuoso acting? The Academy may have truly angered me with this snub, but at least you readers at The Awards Circuit showed who was 2011′s top dog in acting.

Best Actress:
Will Win: After that SAG speech, any winner other than Viola Davis would seem like a cruel and mean-spirited joke. Sorry, Meryl Streep fans. The best performance from this lineup of talented women goes to a performance that proved to me Viola Davis can do no wrong. “You’re a godless woman” better not be changed to “you’re a godless Academy” if Davis fails to garner her deserving win. I don’t think we have to worry about that happening, though.
Should Win: Like I mentioned before, Davis struck Oscar waves with her performance in The Help, where every line delivered held the weight of pain and suffering beneath it. Davis drew my attention in Doubt, and after The Help, I only know bigger and better things are to come from Ms. Davis. I sure as hell cannot wait to see what’s next!
Should Have Been Nominated: Mia Wasikowska’s performance in Jane Eyre may have been forgotten as the film came out so early in the year, but that doesn’t mean it was any less effective than the five women nominated for “Best Actress.” Wasikowska proved to me that she is forever on the Oscar bubble with her subtle delivery and command of Jane Eyre’s complex script. She had us rooting for her the whole time with her naive charm and tragic ability to love someone who was so wrong for her but at the same time so perfect. Wasikowska has always impressed me since I saw her in The Kids Are All Right, but now her craft is more refined, and certainly more respected. I just wish the Academy had reviewed her work in Jane Eyre, and saw it as a testament to great acting in an incredibly challenging role.

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Christopher Plummer has this award hook, line, and sinker. Of all the nominations, this one is the most sewn up win. Plummer is well respected, and at his age the Academy is dying to honor a living legend for work that is both different and demonstrates Plummer’s dynamic range as an actor.
Should Win: Even before the prognosticators began predicting Jonah Hill in Moneyball, I always felt like this performance towered above any other supporting performances all year aside from a select few. It demonstrated Hill’s mastery of dialogue, which when performing from a Sorkin script is incredibly difficult, and he sunk into that role with such ease and believability. If the Academy weren’t so obsessed with honoring the living legends, maybe they’d turn their blinders off and see Hill’s performance as one that fits the perfect definition of “supporting.”
Should Have Been Nominated: Again, is there really any question of who I am going to place in this selection? Albert Brooks’ villainous turn in Drive was as shocking as it was effective. Unlike Perlman, who I thought seemed slightly cartoonish and affected, Brooks went from likeable supporter to deadly enemy in a realistic way. I hate how in mob films the main gangster has to always have a larger-than-life personality. Brooks didn’t need that. He just was an ordinary gangster who got screwed over by unfortunate circumstances, and was forced to show he meant serious business with unwavering vengeance. Everything about the performance felt fresh and necessary. Brooks delivered career-best work, and it was a shame the Academy couldn’t go for it.

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win: With the Globe, Critics Choice, and BAFTA awards under her belt, Octavia Spencer seems the most likely bet come Oscar night. Her role is inoffensive, inspiring, and very easy to embrace. She and Davis were as great a duo as any last year in film, and it seems likely that both will be honored for such powerful work.
Should Win: Berenice Bejo, for me, was the single best part of The Artist. I loved how natural she fit into the old Hollywood glam starlet role, the way her eyes lit up in fascination of Hollywood’s fantasy allure, and the way she was so sympathetic towards Dujardin’s George. Bejo couldn’t have been greater if she tried, and thus deserves the highest of praise next Sunday.
Should Have Been Nominated: Carey Mulligan was the other half of two perfect performances in 2011′s greatest film (in my opinion). Her work in Shame took such courage and commitment, it actually turned me into a fan of Mulligans. Unlike most, I was never a huge fan of An Education and thought she was miscast in Drive, but it was her work in Shame that made me a Mulligan fan for life. Singing “New York, New York” for that long of a take could never have been accomplished with such unwavering commitment from any actress this whole year. I have no clue how Mulligan’s performance wasn’t a slam dunk nomination, but it seems like the film’s subject matter drew some nasty backlash from conservative Academy voters. Mulligan should be proud of the work she did in Shame, and I truly believe Oscar is in her immediate future.

And now, the rest of the minor categories for the 84th Academy Awards:

Best Animated Feature Film:
Will Win: Rango
Should Win: Rango
Should Have Been Nominated: The Adventures of Tintin: Rise of the Unicorn

Best Cinematography:
Will Win: The Tree of Life
Should Win: The Tree of Life
Should Have Been Nominated: Shame

Best Art Direction:
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: Hugo
Should Have Been Nominated: Jane Eyre

Best Costume Design:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Jane Eyre
Should Have Been Nominated: A Dangerous Method

Best Documentary Feature:
Will Win: Pina
Should Win: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Should Have Been Nominated: Project Nim

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Will Win: Incident in New Baghdad
Should Win: Incident in New Baghdad
Should Have Been Nominated: Witness

Best Film Editing:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Should Have Been Nominated: Drive

Best Foreign Language Film:
Will Win: A Separation
Should Win: A Separation
Should Have Been Nominated: 13 Assassins

Best Makeup:
Will Win: Albert Knobbs
Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Should Have Been Nominated: The Artist

Best Original Score:
Will Win: The Artist
Should Win: The Artist
Should Have Been Nominated: Shame

Best Original Song:
Will Win: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets
Should Win: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets
Should Have Been Nominated: “Life’s a Happy Song,” The Muppets

Best Animated Short Film:
Will Win: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Should Win: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Should Have Been nominated: I Tat I Taw a Puddy Tat

Best Live Action Short Film:
Will Win: Raju
Should Win: Raju
Should Have Been Nominated: The Road Home

Best Sound Editing:
Will Win: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Should Win: Drive
Should Have Been Nominated: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Best Sound Mixing:
Will Win: Hugo
Should Win: Hugo
Should Have Been Nominated: Drive

Best Visual Effects:
Will Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Should Win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Should Have Been Nominated: The Tree of Life

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: Moneyball
Should Win: Moneyball
Should Have Been Nominated: The Help

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win: Midnight in Paris
Should Win: Bridesmaids
Should Have Been Nominated: 50/50

Phew, that’s it everyone for my selections on Will Win/Should Win/Should Have Been Nominated. Please share your thoughts, and most importantly, list some of your selections from these three breakdowns. I look forward to hearing some excellent choices, especially the snubs!

Drama – The Descendants
Comedy/Musical – The Artist
Animated Feature: Rango

One Hour series for non-commercial TV: Homeland
1-hour series for commercial TV: “Breaking Bad” – “Face Off” Skip Macdonald
Half-hour TV series: “Curb Your Enthusiasm” – Palestininan Chicken” – Steven Rasch
Best Edited Documentary: Lewis Erskine & Aljernon Tunsil, Freedom Riders
Reality Series: No Reservations
Mini Series: “Cinema Verite” Sarah Flack & Robert Pulcini

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“The Descendants” won the USC Libraries Scripter Award, a prize that honors the best adapted screenplay of the year as well as the book the film is based on. Screenwriters Alexander Payne (who also directed the film) and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash shared the prize with novelist Kaui Hart Hemmings at the Saturday ceremony at the university’s Edward L. Doheny Library.

The drama set in Hawaii about a father of two coping with betrayal, loss and forgiveness was in competition for the 24th annual Scripter Award with “Jane Eyre,” “A Dangerous Method,” “Moneyball” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”

The screenplay has been up for numerous awards, including the BAFTA and Golden Globe, and is up for a Writers Guild of America honor, which will be announced Sunday, the Independent Spirit Award and an Academy Award.

Last year’s Scripter winner, “The Social Network,” went on to win the adapted screenplay Oscar for Aaron Sorkin.

Paul Haggis was this year’s recipient of the Scripter Library Achievement Award.

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As teased above, the plot of this film concerns the romance that blooms between two people while a cataclysmic epidemic begins to sweep the globe, robbing people of their sensory perceptions one by one. First, their sense of smell goes, then their sense of taste, and so on, until none are left. There’s no cure and no warning, except for an outburst that overwhelms the individual before the sense is removed, be it tremendous sadness, hunger, or aggression. During this calamity, a chef named Michael (McGregor) and an investigating scientist named Susan (Green) begin a tentative relationship and fall in love. Michael is working in a restaurant and continually has to make adjustments to the menu, just like the individuals are making adjustments to their lives so that some semblance of normalcy remains. Susan is trying to get to the bottom of it all, while also poetically narrating what the symptoms are like and how the world is reacting to it. That larger story is more interesting than the smaller one of two damaged souls coming together, and (not unlike last year’s similarly interesting ‘Another Earth’) that’s ultimately what keeps this flick from truly succeeding.

Neither of the actors are doing the type of work that screams for awards attention, but both are very solid. Ewan McGregor is his normal low-key self, a man who struggles with commitment until it seems to be all that’s left for the world. He’s got a good personality and genuinely wants to maintain his job so that society can still go out to dinner and enjoy that moment of calm. This isn’t out of his comfort zone by any stretch, but McGregor definitely does a credible job as the everyman here. Eva Green is a more soap opera-y version of Kate Winslet’s character from ‘Contagion’, but with a bit more dimension thrown in. Green is an underrated actress, and while she’s hardly going to dominate the precursors this year from this movie, she definitely gives us its best performance. They’re really the only characters given any real screen time or point at all, but the rest of the cast has some decently recognizable performers like Ewen Bremner, Stephen Dillane, and Connie Nielssen. They’re there, but it’s McGregor and Green who have our complete attention.

Individual moments in this film work very well, and that’s a credit to the eclectic director David Mackenzie. This is a man with a filmography that includes an NC-17 feature (Young Adam, also with Ewan McGregor) and a mediocre Ashton Kutcher outing (Spread, though one of Kutcher’s better performances honestly), to name a few. This is probably his best film to date, but Mackenzie still hasn’t completed the package. His finest choices are with his actors as well as both when he makes the sensory loss scenes into sort of their own little mini movies and the aftermaths of each loss. They’re fascinating and the best parts of the film (though they pale in comparison to some similar choices made by Mike Mills in ‘Beginners’). As for the screenplay by Kim Fupz Aakeson, it’s fine but never really goes beyond the basics (it also never clears up a lot of questions that loom as potential plot holes, but they’re not a huge deal). It’s got indie leanings in its execution, but the set-up is pure Hollywood. One wonders if the script wasn’t originally written with a big budget Oscar bait project in mind. In any case, the final product from the team is decent enough, but just not quite as good as it could have been.

In the end, ‘Perfect Sense’ is a movie that’s far from perfect, but one that’s interesting enough to potentially warrant a viewing if you’re so inclined. I was a bit let down, but still admire the flick for what it tried to achieve. I couldn’t go all the way with it, but perhaps you can. If this sounds like a movie you think you’d like to see, give it a shot. I suspect you’ll wind up feeling similar to me, but don’t let that deter you. There are some charms to be had with this film, but just not enough…

-Thoughts? Discuss on the Forum!

Filing from Berlin, Cineuropa.org’s Fabien Lemercier has posted a speculation piece about Cannes 2012. Possible American entries, he says, include Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Andrew Dominik’s Cogan’s Trade with Brad Pitt, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, Woody Allen’s Nero Fiddled, Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time (the IMAX-y flow-of-time documentary component to Tree of Life) and possibly James Gray’s Low Life.

Other likely-maybe’s include Michael Haneke’s Love, Ken Loach’s Angels Shares, Walter Salles’ On the Road, David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis, Carlos Reygadas’s Post Tenebras Lux, Abbas Kiarostami’s The End, Pablo Trapero’s Elefante blanco, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, Matteo Garrone’s Big House and Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone.

Possibly more serious contenders are Olivier Assayas’s Something in the Air, Sergei Loznitsa’s In The Fog, Michel Gondry’s The We and the I, Ulrich Seidl’s Paradise trilogy, Hong Sang-soo’s Another Country, Im Sang-soo’s The Taste of Money and Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways.

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The 15 best moments in 2011′s cinematic offerings:

-Shame (Carey Mulligan singing “New York, New York”): The best scene of the year for me was a simple one. We see Carey Mulligan’s Sissy singing the classic tune in a way I’ve never quite heard it before, while Michael Fassbender’s Brandon silently watches her, likely for the first time. She’s almost pleading to the city to make things work for her, and to an extent her brother Brandon. When she finishes, Fassbender is in tears. It’s the most beautiful and heartbreaking scene of 2011 to me, and I know that I’m hardly alone in thinking this particular scene has a power that’s unmatched.

-The Muppets (The Rainbow Connection returns): A close second was this blast of nostalgia. When Kermit is singing his classic tune and is joined by Miss Piggy and then all of the Muppets, I was moved to tears. I’m still not fully sure why that happened, but I know that it means something. Nostalgia and happiness came together and moved my emotions that fully, which is the mark of an amazing scene, no matter how you slice it. Yes, I have a soft spot for the Muppets, but that was only part of why this worked so well for me.

-Drive (The Elevator Scene): This scene sums up the movie perfectly for me. Beauty, romance, and sudden violence all at once as Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan share a kiss before Gosling’s Driver literally puts a boot in a villain’s face. The opening scene was a close second for me (as were one or two other choices from this terrific work), as it establishes The Driver at his best, but this is just one of the very best scenes of 2011, period.

-50/50 (Joseph Gordon-Levitt breaking down in the car): Without this powerful breakdown by JGL on the eve of his character’s dangerous cancer removal surgery, the film wouldn’t have worked quite like it did. The comedy gave way to life and death drama, but in a way that felt completely organic. It’s such an improbably great flick, and this scene helps to show you why that’s the case. Between his acting and the emotional investment you have in the character at this point, you’re right there with him in the car, as worried as he is.

-Red State (John Goodman’s monologue): Ironically, in a Kevin Smith film that’s highlighted by his direction more than his writing, the best scene is a monologue. John Goodman’s ATF agent Keenan perfectly sums up the mess that he’s just seen between the religious fundamentalists and the government. Simply put: “People just do the strangest things when they believe they’re entitled. But they do even stranger things when they just plain believe”.

-Warrior (The Final Fight): By the time brothers Brendan and Tommy meet in the cage at the climax of this flick, you have so much invested in both of their stories and want things to work out so badly for both that you don’t know who to root for. One is trying to keep his home for his family, and one is trying to keep a promise to a friend…while their father is caught in the middle. It’s surprisingly powerful stuff, and that doesn’t even take into account that the fight is amazingly well choreographed and feels like a real sporting event.

-The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (The opening credits): It’s hard to argue that this isn’t the coolest sequence of 2011…those metallic liquid shapes forming a dragon and just looking badass? The whole movie may have been great, but in a way it never quite beat the opening credits. David Fincher knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat, even when he’s just letting you know who the casting director was.

-We Bought a Zoo (Matt Damon tells his kids how he met his wife/their mom): Not everyone bought into the “up with people” vibe that Cameron Crowe’s latest film had, but this final scene where Damon relives for his children how he first met the woman who would become his wife and their mother. They all miss her terribly, and his power of storytelling literally brings her back before their very eyes, if only for a moment. It’s a very touching scene, and is on par with Crowe’s earlier work, even if the entire film isn’t.

-Moneyball (Working the phones at the Trade Deadline): The film version and the book version of Moneyball are different beasts (though both are terrific and work well together too), but one instance that fits the movie with the book rather well is the scene while Billy Beane and Peter Brand are working the phones to all but trick Major League Baseball into letting them get a player cheap in a trade when he’d otherwise be pricy. Brad Pitt plays Beane as an obsessive the whole way through, but never more than here, especially when he hangs up on people before the conversation is even done. He got the answer he wanted, and we got the scene we wanted, so everyone wins!

-Bellflower (The first date sequence): I’m cheating a bit here because this is a bunch of scenes put together, but they’re some of the most unique and somehow realistic sequences of two weirdos falling in love that I’ve seen in a long time. The film is a pretty surreal one, but it captures a lot of realism within it, if that makes any sense, and this is one very good instance of that. Most of you haven’t seen this flick, but if you get the chance, see it for this scene if for no other reason (but stay for the rest of the movie, you’ll thank me later).

-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (The details of the 6th message): I have a lot of issues with this flick, but I won’t deny the power of the scene where Thomas Horn reveals to Geoffrey Wright what the final answering machine message that Tom Hanks left was about. I cried, I’ll admit it. This was a hint of what the film could have been like, and even if the film itself can’t live up to that, it’s so good on its own that it makes the cut on this list.

-Bridesmaids (A certain scene involving trying on dresses): Undoubtedly the crudest scene in the movie, but also one of the funniest, this is the scene from Bridesmaids that I’ll remember most. It’s got the women all interacting, it’s got an urgency that’s hilarious, and let’s face it, it’s just one of the funniest scenes of the year hands down. I understand that some found it to be out of place, but I hardly was one of them.

-The Descendants (The final scene on the couch): So much is said without really a word as you watch George Clooney and his children on the couch. They’re watching ‘March of the Penguins’, and as Morgan Freeman narrates that documentary, a feeling of calm washes over both them and you.  They’ve been through a lot in this film, and know pretty much all that they have is each other. Despite that, you don’t feel bad for them, and you don’t think Matt King won’t be able to handle his daughters. In short, you finally feel like the King family is going to be alright…

-Margaret (The classroom debates): I’m cheating again, but these scenes only work when put together. Lisa Cohen’s debates on Post 9/11 New York and America with her classmates are an overarching theme in the film, even if they’re not explicitly talked about otherwise. These arguments do a perfect job of setting the time and place in a way that most films otherwise wouldn’t think to do. A lot of things work in this film (though not everything does), but nothing more than the scenes in the classroom.

-Like Crazy (Felicity Jones waits at the airport): As Felicity Jones drops Anton Yelchin off at the airport, they plan to meet again a period of time later. The scene shows her waiting there as the months go by in an instant all around her. It’s a bit of an arty touch for a flick otherwise grounded in realism, but it worked for me. You feel how much they want and need each other, and it almost hurts.

Honorable Mentions: Seeing A Trip to the Moon in Hugo, Ethan Hunt climbing the tallest building in the world in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the first scene of Paris in the 20′s during Midnight in Paris, the creation of the universe in The Tree of Life, the final speech in The Ides of March, everyone coming together in the backyard in Crazy Stupid Love, seeing the film that the kids made during the credits of Super 8, George Valentin and Peppy Miller dancing at the end of The Artist, meeting the Beaver in, well…The Beaver, and the first time we gaze at the extra planet in the sky during Another Earth.

Well…there you have my list, but what about you and yours? Would any of these make the cut? Did I pick the right movies but the wrong scenes? Am I just completely off the mark? Let me know and be sure to make your personal choices known!

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We continue to keep John, Sherri, and their children in our prayers and hope you all can send them good fortune during this difficult time.

Leave John a message here.  He will still be checking the site.

We’ll be reading them on the podcast.  Have at it!

Can’t wait to hear them!

"Really, Oscar?!"

What better way to continue celebrating the most romantic holiday of the year than with this weekend’s This Means War, a romantic spy comedy that features things that both men and women like!  Y’see, it’s about two superspy BFFs who find out they are dating the same woman…AT THE SAME TIME!  So they pull all sorts of over-the-top spy action hijinks on each other to win her heart instead of just saying to each other, “Wow, what an amoral bitch, let’s both dump her and move on to the next guaranteed lineup of women more than happy to sleep with our gorgeous asses” like any normal human being would in that situation.  Why, that doesn’t sound like a cynical focus group premise at all!  And look, it stars Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and, um, Academy Award-winner Reese Witherspoon.

Remember that she won an Oscar?  It’s hard to tell with her career choices since then.  Not only were all four of her major films since her victory (would anyone argue that Penelope and Monsters vs. Aliens even exist now?) ho-hum nothings with unremarkable performances from her, but they represent the breadth of what has befallen many Academy Award winners before her: the “Oscar Curse.”  Also known as F. Murray Abraham Syndrome, there have been a variety of theories as to why this is such a trend among actors who recently win an Oscar.  Some speculate that the actors simply can’t live up to their monumental achievement, others think awards season overexposure backfires on them, while others still point out certain performers who simply aren’t easily cast by the typical Hollywood studio.  In most cases it’s probably a mixed combination of several factors, but either way the curse usually manifests itself in these four ways:

The Rendition Curse
Rendition was just one of a tidal wave of preachy, simplistic anti-war movies that hit (and mostly bombed) cinemas in 2007.  It also happened to be Witherspoon’s first “serious” movie after her Academy Award win.  Suppressing her own self-aware tongue-and-cheek star power, Witherspoon ended up a confused, listless collection of Oscar bait clips.  This is not new with actors who become unexpected awards darlings and then spend the next few years trying to live up to it.  For years the most distressing recent precedent of this was Charlize Theron, who, after winning Best Actress for her astonishing performance in Monster, lined up for strained drama after strained drama performances with diminishing results all to reassure everyone that her Oscar-winning work was not a fluke.  It so often has the effect of suppressing the very strengths that distinguish them from their peers.  Luckily, it appears as though Theron has finally embraced herself as a Movie Star instead of constantly trying to prove herself as a Serious Actress with her recent performance in Young Adult and the upcoming Snow White & the Huntsman, but what of, say, Nick Nolte?  While I’m glad that an actor I love is experiencing career resurgence, his upcoming projects are mostly high-profile prestige pictures that could give us more self-consciously ostentatious performances from someone who is at his best when allowed to subtly inhabit his characters.  Oscar-winning actors should not feel intimidated by their wins but instead take the opportunity presented to comfortably evolve their career and abilities on their terms (Tilda Swinton’s post-Michael Clayon arthouse influence is a great example of this).

The Four Christmases Curse

Seriously, though, what THE HELL was she thinking?

As frustrating as it is to witness an actor try too damn hard after winning, it’s even worse when they give up seemingly all efforts to put out decent work.  Remember when Halle Berry, after her historical achievement, just threw up her hands and sleepwalked through bomb after bomb after bomb?  I understand the desire to maybe “take it easy” after such work, but her career decisions calcified her abilities to the point where her eventual return to more serious fare was, well, less than stellar (Note: I have not actually seen the made-for-TV drama Their Eyes Were Watching God.  If that’s a huge flaw in my argument against her, feel free to call me out in the comments).  The same thing happened to Adrien Brody, who for some reason thought his Oscar win for The Pianist was a mandate to reinvent himself as some sort of heartthrob matinee idol instead of the soulful character actor that got him the part of Władysław Szpilman in the first place.  The only nominee who seems guaranteed to do this after their nomination is, to be fair, someone who’s been slumming it for a while now: Gary Oldman.  Short of his final reprisal as Commissioner Gordon, it doesn’t look like we’re getting another Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy-caliber performance any time soon.  Then again, I’m sure he of all people cares the least about this…

The How Do You Know Curse
While I disliked How Do You Know and the work of James L. Brooks in general (with the exception of the marvelous Broadcast News), he at least had the good sense to understand Witherspoon’s strengths and – more importantly – her limitations as an actress.  She’s at her best when she embraces her bubbly, attentive persona instead trying to jam into a character that doesn’t really gel (*cough*Walk the Line*cough*).  While How Do You Know was a failure, it at least represented a step in the right direction, and for some reason a lot of Oscar winners who know what they are and what they are not get a lot of flak for it.  Julia Roberts had the good sense to realize that it was precisely her marquee charisma that made her Erin Brockovich performance so compelling, but acknowledging this seems to have attracted an unusual amount of ire from Oscar fans more than willing to retroactively pan her Best Actress victory.  Look, not every actor can pull off a Raging Bull.  But they can be great actors in different ways, and only the bully pulpit of narrow-minded awards season mentalities has corrupted that seemingly obvious point.  Will we pan Jonah Hill or Melissa McCarthy if they decide to remain comedic actors?

The Water for Elephants Curse

Justly celebrated today, shafted tomorrow...

This gorgeous but ultimately forgettable drama represents for me the worst kind of career stall for an actor, as the fault is not really on them.  Francis Lawrence’s lame romance had the bright idea to cast her not only opposite the decade-younger Robert Pattinson, made her character the typical boilerplate female lead; an emotionally vacant, perpetually despondent, “ethereal” romantic fantasy that a perky actress like her is completely ill-equipped to play.  But sexism has absolutely nothing on how racism can cause an Oscar nominee/winner’s career to fizzle out due to Hollywood boneheadedness.  Demián Bichir is the Cinderella story of the year; an outside-outside-outside shot that The Awards Circuit covered only because we loved his performance as much as the Summit Entertainment reps promoting him.  It was not as though we thought he had a real shot or anything.  But then something amazing happened: voters saw the film and agreed that he really deserved a nod.  It’s a wonderfully inspirational development in this season…until you see that his next film is Savages, about two pot dealers who “face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.”  Gee, I wonder which character he’ll play?  Jennifer Hudson – who I admit I’m not really a fan of as an actress – was also cursed being stuck with Magical Negro parts after being ecstatically praised for her work in Dreamgirls.  Her next movie?  The Three Stooges.  Even worse is Forest Whitaker, a man who has extraordinary star power but will probably never get to utilize it because he’s not a young, lean, white male.  Notice a theme developing here?  This is partially why minorities have such a hard time getting awards season traction.

Will more of this year’s nominees fall into this trap?  Hard to tell for sure.  I based my warnings of a curse mainly on their slate of upcoming projects, for which we shouldn’t sweat the immediate future of Rooney Mara or, surprisingly, Octavia Spencer. Then again, with all the actors who’ve never even been nominated, maybe it’s a little silly to even be worrying about the well-being of actors who’ve just received the industry’s highest endorsement.  Even Abraham, the man who became synonymous with Oscar Curse had this to say about his supposed jinx, “The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I’ll take two.”

Do you think the Oscar Curse will manifest with the other nominees?  What are some of the most heartbreaking examples of F. Murray Abraham Syndrome to you?