Fearless OSCAR Predictions, Part II

CATEGORY
Want-THINK (If I only list one name, it means I Want AND THINK they will win)

BEST PICTURE
Zero Dark Thirty - ARGO

BEST ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, LINCOLN

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain/Naomi Watts (tie) - JENNIFER LAWRENCE, Silver Linings Playbook

at the OSCAR Nominees Luncheon

I hope they BOTH WIN!

BEST DIRECTOR
STEVEN SPIELBERG, LINCOLN

BEST SUPP. ACTOR
ROBERT DE NIRO, SLP

BEST SUPP. ACTRESS
ANNE HATHAWAY, LES MIZ

BEST FOREIGN-FILM
AMOUR Want AND Think! (Although "A Royal Affair" (Denmark) was quite entertaining)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Q. Tarantino, Django - M. HANEKE, AMOUR 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tony Kushner, Lincoln - DAVID O. RUSSELL, SLP

CINEMATOGRAPHY 
Django Unchained - LIFE OF PI

COSTUME DESIGN
Lincoln - LES MISERABLES

FILM EDITING
Zero Dark Thirty - ARGO

PRODUCTION DESIGN
LES MISERABLES

ORIGINAL SCORE
Skyfall - LINCOLN

ORIGINAL SONG
"Suddenly" Les Miz  - "SKYFALL" SKYFALL

SOUND EDITING
Django Unchained - LIFE OF PI

SOUND MIXING
Skyfall - ARGO

VISUAL EFFECTS
Snow White - LIFE OF PI

Fearless OSCAR Predictions, Part I

I skipped the Best Documentary Shorts program this year (3-1/2 hours of depressing docs? No thanks) in favor of the Animated and Live Action Shorts Programs. NOTE TO ACADEMY: You have got to stop ripping-off the public by padding the 58 minutes of animated films nominated each year with the sub-par filler that fills your 90 minute program so you can charge a separate admission.

Now I feel qualified to pick winners in those two categories, as well as these other awards (that most people miss because they are TALKING during the show! -- pet peeve #1). Feel free to use these in your OSCAR pools!

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
This is no contest in my mind (even though I have only seen two of the five nominees). I am sure The Gatekeepers, The Invisible War, and How to Survive a Plague are worthy efforts, but there is only one clear choice:
WANT & THINK: Searching for Sugarman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Usually the high gloss of a major studio like Disney is a turn-off to Academy votes -- and me -- but the Best Animated Short this year is Disney's own "Paperman." While I WANT that to win, I think the voters will choose an underdog (Like last year's excellent "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore").
WANT: Paperman
THINK: Adam and Dog (2nd choice: Fresh Guacamole).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Did not see any of them, but unlike the DOC SHORTS category, I'm going to make a prediction!
WANT: Frankenweenie
THINK: Brave

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
I sincerely hope the voters do not send a message by choosing the Made-in-Afghanistan BUZKASHI BOYS, a sincere but inept and dramatically-inert effort to bring the struggles of Afghani children to a wider audience. The same intention guides the South African film about Somali refugees in ASAD, but the execution (using a similarly non-professional cast)  and light touch make this a clear winner in my book (and it features a cat!). The U.S. indie "Curfew" by Shawn Christensen, is the other worthy film in this category, but it is definitely a long-shot.
WANT & THINK: ASAD

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
I missed the memo that added "Hairstyling" to the roster of Oscar recipients -- if I were a Stuntman, I would REALLY be pissed now! By default, I WANT : HITCHCOCK.
But I THINK the voters will choose the most-UNdeserving nominee of this season (outside of Quvenzhane Wallis (more on that next post) : LES MISERABLES.

TOP TEN FOREIGN FILMS of 2012

I had no trouble picking a Top Ten among the foreign-language films I saw this year. Not only are these ten movies ones that will stay with you long after you leave the theater, most are by celebrated international directors who are at the top of their game, and a couple will prove to be lasting classics. The first five films in particular encapsulate everything I love about Foreign Films: they challenge, surprise, and engross you.

I pride myself on the scope of my selections, too -- my list goes from one end of Europe (Norway) to the other (Italy)! I can't remember the last time an Italian film made the cut. The country's absence has been missed.

I admit that I am drawn to more films from these countries than say Asia, but that is because I have been burned too many times by over-rated Asian films: examples that come to mind like Yi, Yi ... (Taiwan), Uncle Boonmee ... (Thailand) and anything created by the ponderous Chinese-Malaysian director Ming-liang Tsai, have made me gun shy. (I will go see anything by directors Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-Wai, on the other hand).

Links are to my reviews - (Director) Country:

1. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA - (Nuri Bilge Ceylan) TURKEY
I haven't written about this 157-minute cinematic masterpiece in full, but it is enthralling! Great characters, great faces ... haunting.

2. CAESAR MUST DIE - (the Taviani Brothers) ITALY
Another unexpected gem: Shakespeare performed by prisoners in a maximum security Roman prison...brilliant! (just now released in the US).

3. THE KID WITH A BIKE -  (the Dardenne Brothers) BELGIUM A simple story that will tear you up inside.

4. THE TURIN HORSE -  (Bela Tarr) HUNGARY

5. FAREWELL, MY QUEEN - (Benoit Jacquot) FRANCE

6. Rust and Bone - (Jacques Audiard)  France

7. Amour - (Michael Haneke) Austria

It is shocking that this unrelentingly bleak film received a Best Picture Oscar nomination. 

8. Elena - (Andrei Zvyagintsev) Russia

9. The Intouchables - (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano) France

10. Oslo, August 31st - (Joachim Trier) Norway

The one French film I deliberately excluded was Leos Carax's HOLY MOTORS. Too impenetrable to be enjoyed.  I felt like I was missing too many of the cinematic references (and when that happens to the foreignfilmguy, you know they are obscure!).

TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2012

Unlike many of my colleagues, I found 2012 a thin year for quality American movies (this was decidedly not the case with foreign films, which I will list separately). But the December glut of releases more than made up for a lackluster year overall, accounting for six of my top ten. Here are my favorite movies of the year, in order, and the six directors I would have nominated for an Oscar (with apologies to Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master," which I inexcusably missed):

1. ZERO DARK THIRTY* - Kathryn Bigelow

2. LINCOLN - Steven Spielberg

3. ARGO - Ben Affleck

4. DJANGO UNCHAINED - Quentin Tarantino

5. MOONRISE KINGDOM - Wes Anderson

6. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK - David O. Russell

7. LES MISERABLES

8. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

9. BERNIE - yes, a comedy!

10. THE IMPOSSIBLE 

Honorable Mention:

The Deep Blue Sea - Rachel Weisz deserves that fifth Oscar slot for Best Actress

The Dark Knight Rises

Skyfall

Searching for Sugarman - documentaries do not usually make the cut, but this one is an exception

Saw & enjoyed:

Flight

Hitchcock (overlooking the many liberties it took with the truth)

Lawless*

Looper

* continuing a tradition from last year, these movies starred the lovely Jessica Chastain

2012 List #1: "Don't bother"

I have decided to break-up my 2012 year-end list into 3 separate posts. Here is my first list:

An alphabetical list of films I wish I hadn't seen in 2012.

ANNA KARENINA -- I felt like I was watching one very long perfume commercial.
DAMSELS IN DISTRESS -- the worst movie I endured in 2012.
THE HUNGER GAMES -- not a  fan.
HYDE PARK ON HUDSON -- a surprisingly limp effort, given the talented cast (I blame the director and screenwriter)
HYSTERIA--don't you hate it when a film imposes modern sensibilities on characters from the past? (Felicity Jones was great, though)
KILLING THEM SOFTLY . . . killing us softly with a surfeit of arch dialogue.
SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN -- what a waste of resources (everybody knows you can't introduce salmon into the Yemen!)
TWO DAYS IN NEW YORK -- Julie Delpy doesn't realize when she's being tiresome.

Oscar nominations recap

For an organization known for its predictability, the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards provided a few surprises today.

Surprise #1: 
The biggest surprise is cause for the biggest righteous outrage: BEST DIRECTOR. The directors of two of the most-heralded movies of the year -- Ben Affleck ("Argo") and Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty") -- were snubbed! No one saw that coming. This sets up the real possibility that the winner of the Director's Guild Award will NOT also win the Oscar (that rarely happens). Rather than blame the two surprise nominees in this category (Michael Haneke, "Amour" and Behn Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild") I choose to single out the director who has gotten a free ride this award season: Ang Lee ("Life of Pi"). Only nominated for 'technical' awards, "Pi" has no chance in the Best Picture race. I think the Academy is trying to make amends for snubbing him for his last great film, "Brokeback Mountain," rather than for his work this year.

Surprise #2: 
"Beasts of the Southern Wild." This indie hit was so under-the-radar it got shut-out of BOTH the Golden Globes and the SAGs. But Oscar showed its love with 4 nominations! As much as I enjoyed the film and the lead performance by pint-sized newcomer Quvenzhane Wallis, I can't help but think somewhere Marion Cotillard ("Rust & Bone") and Rachel Weisz ("The Deep Blue Sea") are thinking "What's a girl gotta do to get a nomination?!?" At least Rachel has hubby Daniel Craig to console her.

Surprise #3: 
You can always count of the committee for Best Feature Documentary to overlook a worthy nominee in favor of 'making a statement.' But this year all the nominees appear worthy: the snubs came to the year's over-hyped and undeserving ("Bully"; Detropia"; "Ethel"; and "The Imposter.")

Surprise #4: 
A BEST MAKE-UP nomination for "Les Miserables"? Are they kidding? The make-up in that movie looked like it was applied with a trowel!

NO SURPRISE: 
Once again, this honor falls to John Williams, who received his 48th Oscar nomination -- an obscene amount for any one person -- this time for his ORIGINAL (I use that term loosely) SCORE for "Lincoln." Halfway through that movie I entertained the idea of giving the old man a pass this time. Then the trademark Williams bombast kicked-in, drowning the later scenes with a manipulative crescendo of self-important, "monumental-sounding" music (when none was needed). Did you notice that Daniel Day-Lewis's most effective scenes as Lincoln had no musical accompaniment? His words alone provided the music and the weight.

I would have given his slot to either Alexander Desplat's work in "Moonrise Kingdom" or to Danny Elfman's playful, spot-on score for "Hitchcock."

And don't even get me started on the snubs in the BEST FOREIGN FILM category!!

Rust and Bone

"Rust and Bone" is the latest film from French director Jacques Audiard ("Un Prophet" (2009)), and he once again delivers an audacious, gritty, and at-times beautiful film. The story revolves around Ali (a very good Matthias Shoenaerts), an out-of-work and out-of-money Belgian boxer forced to move in with his his older sister when he takes custody of his son from his drug-dealing mother. He takes a job as a bouncer and meets an unhappy Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) one night at the club. She works as an Orca-whale trainer for a SeaWorld-type outfit, until an accident renders her a double-amputee (no spoiler alert, as this happens early on and has received a great deal of media attention). The scene is not graphic, but since you know it is coming, it is quite suspenseful.

Aside from the technical wizardry of showing the lovely Mlle. Cotillard as a double amputee (she swims! She has sex! She gets tattoos!), the film is matter of fact about her physical struggles; it is more concerned with her psychological journey to reshape her life and identity. Not wearing a bit of make-up and sullen throughout the film, she remains stunning; you cannot take your eyes off of her. Regrettably, the film focuses more on Ali and their relationship, who is really a brute and somewhat of a louse. But he undergoes a slow redemption as well.

Two characteristics recur from Audiard's previous, Oscar-nominated film: 1) the subject matter--the lower end of French society ("Un Prophet" took place in a French prison); and 2) a soundtrack dominated by American songs (he memorably used a Jimmie Dale Gilmore tune in his last movie; here, he uses a Bruce Springsteen song from "Nebraska" at a pivotal moment).

One drawback in comparison to his previous film: Audiard introduces a needless subplot involving corporate snooping on employees that entangles both Ali and his sister. It is a leaden attempt to make a political point, and it belongs in another movie. In spite of its rather bleak, unvarnished portrait of life on the margins of society, "Rust and Bone" is a well-made and compelling film that I recommend seeing (but I cannot explain the title).

Broadway!

"Look, it’s me on Broadway! Tonight is my 4th preview in front of an audience. Working with this group has been so inspiring. I love meeting people from the audience at the stage door after the show, everyone has been very kind and supportive." (October 2012).

"Look, it’s ME on Broadway! Picking up my tickets to "The Heiress" starring the lovely Jessica Chastain on November 20, 2012."

"And here I am finally meeting my favorite actress of all time, after her riveting performance as Catherine Sloper in "The Heiress." She was as beautiful, gracious and friendly as I expected she would be. Thanks, Jess!"

Why is this woman smiling??

"Jessica Chastain is close to perfect in her Broadway debut." 

 - Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg

A "crisp, first-rate production...Grade: A."

- Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly 

LAWLESS

Lawless

Directed by John Hillcoat

Starring Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, and the lovely Jessica Chastain

I have to get this poster!!

"Boardwalk Empire" for Hillbillies -- that is not the movie's tagline, but it could well have been used the pitch meeting for this gritty, violent, but beautifully-shot movie. Set in the hills of Franklin County, Virginia during the Depression (but filmed in Georgia), the film is loaded with moonshiners, evil lawmen, even more evil Chicago gangsters, and, of course two love interests for the two main characters (LaBeouf and Hardy): one a pure and innocent preacher's daughter (Mia Wasikawska, who makes the most of this under-written role) and the other a former stripper from Chicago named Maggie (played sympathetically by Ms. Chastain). How she ended up in this backwater is a bit improbable, but I for one am glad she did.

At the time, Franklin County was called "The Wettest County in the World" for all the illegal stills in operation. And the three Bondurant brothers (real characters) were notorious for flouting the corrupt authorities who tried to control their operations. I'm not sure what official role Guy Pearce's slick, big-city (Chicago again) "Special Deputy" played in all this, but he is the main villain on the law's side, and he (and his hair) make a compelling presence. Kudos to the hairstylist for giving all the male actors striking and severe haircuts. 

Tom Hardy dominates the movie as the leader of the family, and he gives a daring, barely audible performance (he conveys a lot by a look and a well-placed grunt). Poor Maggie has to enter his bedroom stark naked to get a reaction out of him (and I for one am glad she did). Hardy pulled off an even bigger acting challenge as the villain Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises" (acting with that contraption over his mouth), making a name for himself with these unconventional performances -- let's hope he doesn't descend into caricature like Nicolas Cage did!

The soundtrack and musical selections (by Nick Cave, who also wrote the screenplay!) mesh with the time-period, reminiscent of the great work done by T. Bone Burnett for "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" I admire (but do not love) Boardwalk Empire for its attention to details like this, so I enjoyed this equally blood-splattered tale of America in the Twenties.