Amour – Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Benh Zeitlin Life of Pi – Ang Lee Lincoln – Steven Spielberg Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
Faithfully and successfully adapting an original source into a workable feature film screenplay often poses itself as a daunting task to even the most seasoned writers. Combined with the constant concern of providing a captivating narrative to drive a story, the added pressure of doing justice to the source increases expectations. Ranging from a stage play to best-selling novels to a sweeping biopic, this year’s nominees tackle their adaptations with the vigor and mastery to propel their respective films into the life-affirming endzone, out of a hostage crisis, within safe distance from ancient aurochs, out of a morally-divisive Civil War, and into a colorful voyage of survival.
The Nominees are:
Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
Argo – Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild – Lucy Alibar, Benh, Zeitlin
Lincoln – Tony Kushner
Life of Pi – David Magee
In his adaptation of the Matthew Quick novel, David O. Russell provides his Silver Linings Playbook cast with the necessary ammunition to fire off at one another with the electric energy that’s the lifeblood of this human comedy. As one of only two director-writer combos in this category, he exerts a masterful command over the material his actors deliver, coaxing a natural chemistry between them. This marks the first time the three-time nominee–including Best Director for The Fighter in 2011 and this year for director and adapted screenplay– has been in contention for a writing award with the Academy. Read more on Oscar Circuit: Adapted Screenplay…
Via Kris Tapley over at HitFix/In Contention, he took a look at the ballot for the Writers Guild of America upcoming awards and took note of several omissions that include Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Michael Haneke’s Amour. He counted fifteen in total.
Tarantino has never been a member of the WGA but has found success with his other films Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Pulp Fiction (1994). Tapley has explanations for many of the contenders that won’t be getting a boost from the WGA. I encourage you to take a look. The nominations for the Writers Guild Awards will be announced on January 3, the day Oscar ballots are due. The list of films DISQUALIFIED are listed below and after the jump. Read more on Writers Guild of America Disqualifies Several Films for their Awards!…
In the grand scheme of film criticism and the notion that groundbreaking directors can be born right out of their first feature, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild is a perfect blend of emotional rapture and glorious narrative. The film tells the story of young Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis), a girl living among her father (Dwight Henry) and neighbors following a natural disaster that may or may not be Hurricane Katrina. Hushpuppy faces the deteriorating environment that threatens her very existence and everyone she loves.
Zeitlin’s direction is controlled and spot-on as he operates the film with a heavy hand of love. His interpretation of a world that belongs to an eight-year-old girl is accurately and effectively moving. Zeitlin casts a spell and digs his way into your soul with his creation of some of the most beautiful characters of the year. The film, reminiscent of an older, more mature version of Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, encapsulates many of the qualities that makes films really extraordinary. Zeitlin’s vision is paramount and while he allows the imagery to become a secondary character, a tactic many director can only dream of, his artistic abilities haven’t even been fully realized…yet. Read more on Beasts of the Southern Wild (***½)…
Beasts of the Southern Wild has slowly but surely been working its way into critics’ hearts (and Oscar charts). After winning the Camera d’Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury award at Sundance, Beasts has made quite an impression, leading many to search for creator Benh Zeitlin’s other works. Thanks to the good people at Slate, you can now see Glory at Sea, a short film that served as the forefather for Benh Zeitlin’s critically acclaimed film. The short deals with the aftermath of that flood, and a community’s Orpheus-like efforts to keep alive its old traditions and loved ones. Much Like Beasts it concerns a southern Delta community endangered by a flood and focuses on a young girl who also serves as the film’s narrator. Check it out after the jump!
It’s the first of the month. Not only that, it’s the first day of the second half of the year. Anybody else feel like that was fast? Yet, here we are.
It’s time to start getting serious, Oscar-wise. Not many things have come out, and not many films are looking like Best Picture nominees from the first half. Some will argue The Avengers with a $600 million dollar bank is in talks. Some think the little indie-film Moonrise Kingdom from Wes Anderson could be our “Little Miss Sunshine” of the year. In limited release, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild has opened and received one of the best word-of-mouth reviews of the year. Is that a contender for the big prize? I’d say it is.
I’m ready to start getting down and dirty with these predictions.
Another year, another widely loved indie Oscar contender that I just can’t get as excited about as the masses do. Last year, it was ‘The Tree of Life’ that left me cold and wanting more (and ‘The Artist’ to a much lesser extent), and now I find myself not as crazy about ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ as I’d hoped to be. I’m certainly in the minority (even here at The Awards Circuit) with this opinion after wildly successful runs at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, but I just can’t see what all the fuss is about. This modern-day fairy tale of sorts is a good movie, I grant you that, and at times a very good movie, so it’s certainly got plenty going in its favor, but it doesn’t ever reach that next level for me, and its flaws are readily apparent. For every good element in the flick, there’s a part that I wish was done differently. The acting is mostly terrific, especially by Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry in the lead roles, but the supporting cast is forgettable. The direction by Benh Zeitlin is ambitious, but only some of his choices wind up helping the film, and the same goes for the screenplay by Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar. I definitely appreciate this movie (much like ‘The Tree of Life’ last year), and I like it more than I don’t, but overall I don’t really see what’s inspiring such adoration from the majority of people who’ve seen it so far. It may very well end up getting some Oscar nominations, and I don’t think it’d be a terrible selection, but I sure hope 2012 has some better movies in store for us than this odd mix of ‘Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close’, ‘George Washington’, and ‘The Tree of Life’.
The first major Academy Award™ contender is officially upon us with Benh Zeitlin’s hypnotically spellbinding Beasts of the Southern Wild. The hype for this film has been building following the huge responses it received from the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, so anything less than what we’ve heard to be true would be one massive letdown. I’m not one who buys into hype or goes into a film screening expecting certain emotions to be attained — I simply come at each film as if it’s one untouched, pure and innocent child that I see grow before my eyes. This is why I tend to avoid trailers and plot synopses before checking out a movie. For me, a film’s beauty lies in its organic unfolding, letting your eyes and your mind reap all that is streaming before you, completely unfiltered and without taint. I am very thankful I stuck to my guns before watching Beasts of the Southern Wild. The less you know, the greater you’ll appreciate. I’ll even take it a step further: this is one of those masterpieces that hits you so hard and so fast, it’s nearly impossible to control the urge to immediately re-watch the film. Brimming with speed, ferocity, and performances that will make your eyes turn into miniscule waterfalls, Beasts of the Southern Wild has the potential to take the globe by storm in the same all-encompassing manner as Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. It’s just that powerful. Read more on Beasts of the Southern Wild (****)…
Via Kris Tapley over at 
