I knew this day would come, and it is with a sense of both excitement and sadness. By the end of my long deployment, I will have earned the most difficult and significant achievement of my life – Surface Warfare Officer Qualification, and finally perform the mission that my ship and I have been training toward for over a year. On the other hand, I must sacrifice the time and effort I have placed into a site that has grown so much in such a short time.
As our Editor himself would agree, what makes me value Awards Circuit is the staff – all the different backgrounds and perspectives on film from all walks of life. To proudly welcome Nicole and Tiff into our family, I will be assisting Clay in integrating them into the staff top tens dating all the way back to 2000 before my departure. After that, for operational security purposes, you will not be hearing from me for a while. But I will not be gone forever! One of my shipmates advised me a long time ago not to let the Navy become my sole identity, and I will hold to that. Come late 2013/early 2014, I will be back to resuming my full staff writer duties. Read more on Oscars 2013: Will Win/Should Win (Hamer)…
Categories: Article Tags: Amour, Argo, awards season, Beasts of the Southern Wild, divisive films, great performances, Holy Motors, How to Survive a Plague, Lincoln, Looper, Magic Mike, oscar predictions, Robert Hamer, Tabu, The Turin Horse, Will Win/Should Win
 Film: Red Hook Summer
For Your Consideration: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Spike Lee and James McBride
Realistic Nominations: None
Oscar Scene: “We live in a world of SHOULD! NOT! BE!”
Even for a Spike Lee joint, the reactions to Red Hook Summer were extremely polarizing, which probably explains its half-hearted distribution by Variance. Though I lean toward the “pro” side of that debate, it’s hard to argue the criticisms of Lee’s shaky setups, utterly dreadful performances from Jules Brown and Toni Lysaith, and a third-act twist that almost (more on that in a minute) derails the whole picture. Even with those flaws, conviction goes a long way in my book, and Red Hook Summer is enriched with rare levels of hope and passion. Giving that emotional conviction its lasting power, however, is Clarke Peters’ astounding performance as Da Good Bishop Enoch Rouse.
Read more on Circuit Consideration – Clarke Peters…
Oh my, what is this? One of the most anticipated movies of the year seems to be causing a bit of a stir if the early responses are an indication of what’s to come when everyone sees it (and certainly everyone from Awards Circuit will/has)…
That’s right; Ridley Scott’s long awaited sort-of-Alien-prequel-but-not thriller Prometheus is finally upon us! Is it the sci-fi masterpiece that fully lives up to the standard Sir Scott set with Blade Runner and Alien? Well…depends on who you ask. While the majority of critics are leaning positive overall for its visual wizardry and performances, some frustrations have been raised about the film’s script, including our own Mike Ward’s mostly positive take. Frankly, I welcome the debate. Even if it’s as flawed as some of its harshest detractors are saying, I’d rather watch a misfire with huge ambitions than a proficient example of assembly-line filmmaking.
Read more on Weekend Openings (June 8-10)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Ben Stiller, Best Animated Feature, Best Supporting Actress, Best Visual Effects, Bruce Beresford, Catherine Keener, Chris Rock, christina ricci, Christopher Walken, David Schwimmer, divisive films, Greta Gerwig, Idris Elba, Jane Fonda, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lola Versus, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Martin Short, Mia Farrow, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Oscar hopefuls, Peace Love & Misunderstanding, Prometheus, Ridley Scott, Robert Pattinson, sacha baron cohen, Safety Not Guaranteed, Selma Blair, Uma Thurman, Weekend Openings
 Anyone who describes Julia Leigh’s almost startlingly assured debut film as erotic either hasn’t seen the film or has some seriously deranged kinks, as sexiness is the last thing that this film invokes (In fact, there are no actual sex scenes in the entire film). It is so precisely visually controlled and keeping its main character such a puzzling enigma, it’s really in a class of its own. Whether or not such a distinction makes it worthwhile or not is another matter entirely, but for those willing to see a near-100% depersonalized and usually intriguing exploration of the female body and male voyeuristic gaze, Sleeping Beauty is a uniquely creepy if somewhat arch experience.
Emily Browning (from Sucker Punch, but let’s not hold that against her) stars as Lucy, a college student who takes on a number of odd jobs to support herself. These include guinea pig, office worker, waitress, and possible prostitute…though whether or not she gets paid for hooking up with anonymous men at bars for sex is left unclear. In fact, much of what is presented about her – aided by Browning’s deliberately vacuous performance and doll-like appearance – is intended as a cipher, each scene another new twist in her personality without actually giving us a clear idea of “who” she really is, sometimes maddeningly so. Read more on Sleeping Beauty (***)…
 For Your Consideration – Achievement in Directing – Terrence Malick
Film: The Tree of Life
Director: Terrence Malick
Screenplay: Terrence Malick
Realistic Nominations: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing/Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Picture
To the surprise of some, Terrence Malick’s challenging, divisive and indispensable spiritual odyssey has stayed alive in the awards conversation, racking up a number of nominations and wins from critics organizations, most recently the Online Film Critics Society. Such success has no guarantee of Oscar recognition, however, and a film as heady as The Tree of Life still faces an uphill climb to the Kodak Theater. Craft nods and even Best Picture are certainly in the cards, but none of those would make a whole lot of sense without recognizing the singular vision behind this film. While not necessarily his best work (but, let’s be honest, how many filmmakers have ever topped The Thin Red Line?), it is not unreasonable to suggest that this is perhaps the defining film of his career, taking all of his artistic risks and thematic ambitions and combining them into a single motion picture. Read more on Circuit Consideration: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life…
 “In Turin on 3rd January, 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, the driver of a hansom cab is having trouble with a stubborn horse. Despite all his urging, the horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche comes up to the throng and puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his arms around the horse’s neck, sobbing. His landlord takes him home, he lies motionless and silent for two days on a divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another ten years, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters. Of the horse…we know nothing.”
And who more appropriate a filmmaker than Béla Tarr to attempt an answer to that question? For those unfamiliar, the Hungarian director is somewhat of an arthouse celebrity whose singular brand of style is among the most instantly recognizable in the world: extremely long and painstakingly choreographed takes, shot in stark black-and-white photography, that last for several minutes (this film supposedly has only thirty in its entire two-and-a-half hour running time, though I wasn’t counting), usually in chaotic settings on the margin of reality that strangely feel like some plausible corner of human existence. He also is one of the most divisive auteurs in the world; some – like me – believe him to be a brilliantly unique and challenging voice in world cinema, and others who find him an embodiment of the worst of artsy pretension. Read more on The Turin Horse (***½)…
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