Winner Breakdown: Best Picture

Best Picture

Best Picture
-The Artist
-Moneyball
-Hugo
-The Descendants
-War Horse
-Midnight in Paris
-Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
-The Help
-The Tree of Life

And here we are! Best Picture. I thought I'd give a little, tiny, mini review of each film, just a couple of thoughts, and then tell you who I think is going to/could/possibly/who I want to win is. 

Hugo: I wasn't a huge fan of Hugo. I think that was mostly because I couldn't stand the 3D. While I know a lot of others found it revolutionary, I felt like I was watching a motion capture film for the first little bit, and was confused at the beginning, because I knew it was supposed to be live action. I'm picky, so this bothered me a lot, because it was excessive 3D, and made everything look unrealistic. However, the acting was great. Asa Butterfield was very strong, and held his own as Hugo. And of course, Ben Kingsley was great. The pacing of the story I found to be a little off. The last 45 minutes or so were very strong, while the first hour or so were a little weak. Not my favourite, but very willing to give it a 2nd chance. 

Moneyball: Moneyball was my absolute favourite film of the year. And I do not like baseball. Wittily wrote by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, with fantastic performances from Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, this movie is not a typical underdog movie. I went into this movie not expecting much, but I came out adoring it. Brad Pitt's work was subtle but just great. Jonah Hill did extremely well in his first drama, and rightfully nominated. It was a great story, different, but had a good point to it, and didn't go overboard on the underdog thing. Well paced, well told, well acted. I would NOT mind it winning at all. 

The Descendants: Honestly, I really, really enjoyed this movie. It was the very first R-rated film I saw in theaters (no, The King's Speech was not rated R in Canada), and I thought it was great. It's a sad, yet comedic story, and I found myself laughing one moment and tearing up the next. Clooney does so well as the clueless father, and Shailene Woodley steps up to the plate and really owns all the material she's written. Another well told story, with lots of emotions, but it never tries too hard like....

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: I went and saw this one with one of my best friends who has read the book. So naturally I felt bad telling her I didn't enjoy the movie much. Granted, I feel it would work a lot better as a book, and am willing to read it. I just felt everyone making this movie tried way too hard to make it emotional, and sad, but didn't follow through with a lot of things Oskar told us about himself. There were inconsistencies, and it was just an okay movie. 

War Horse: I adored War Horse. I'd read the book before seeing the movie, and recently went and saw the stage production in Toronto. It was a really well done movie. While most people thought it was a little choppy, the beginning too long, and just very sappy, I'd disagree. While I agree the beginning was long, I loved every second of it. I would've been happy watching 2 hours of Albert and Joey bonding on the farm, to be honest. I like character development the best. But this film I just genuinely really enjoyed. WWI is so hopeless, and while they didn't touch on it as much as they did in the book/play, I can't help feeling sad and emotionally attached to films about WWI. All the performances were great, and you saw a lot of different sides to the war. (However, after watching the play, which was a lot more war focused, I'd have loved to seen the movie version of that. Which was gritty, and sad, and just so.. war sucks). 

Midnight in Paris: I didn't love this movie the same way other people did. It was quite good, and charming, but it wasn't my favourite movie of the year. It was a clever idea, and really talked about nostalgia in a clever way. Owen Wilson surprised me as being a decent actor. Rachel McAdams was as adorable as ever (even though she was a stupid character). And of course, Marion Cottilard was great. Along with a huge list of cameos, including those of Allison Pill, Tom Hiddleston, Kathy Bates, etc. A cute movie, that I felt I would've enjoyed more had I picked up on a lot more of the literary references. 

The Help: I read the book before seeing the film. The book was just so good, and the movie was too. I'm a sucker for enjoying these movies. Things like the Blindside, and Dolphin Tale, and The Help. The Help had a truly magnificent cast, and they were all brilliant in their own. It was a great story, with fantastic performances from all the cast; Emma Stone (though her accent wasn't great all the time), Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, etc. A good girly movie. 

The Tree of Life: Reading reviews before this movie, I saw 95% of the reviews either looooved the film, or despised it with all their hearts. Wondering which box I was going to be in after watching, I found it was neither. I enjoyed the movie, yes, but it wasn't my favourite of the year, nor did I lurrrve it. It was an interesting story, with Jessica Chastain being awesome, Brad Pitt being boss, and lots of lovely cinematography. it was  a very good picture, but certainly not for everyone. 

The Artist: And this movie, ladies and gentlemen, it our very clear winner. The Artist has been winning everything in sight since it debuted at Cannes last year. Sure, many saw it as a gimmick, but most agree that even if there had been talking in the film, it still put out the 2 most charming performances of the year. Jean Dujardin was fabulous as George Valentin. He has the most expressive face, and carried the story so well. Berenice Bejo was equally charming, overacting the way they did in silent films, but still giving us a cute and powerful performance. This movie was simply a charming, charming movie, which was incredibly well done. While Moneyball was my favourite film of the year, I'm not unhappy to see the Artist take this. These newcomers to Hollywood were fantastic, and truly deserve recognition for their film. Any film that could take this from The Artist, is most likely Hugo. Hugo is up for the most nominations this year (11), and has won a Best Picture here and there (though not very often), it's another homage to silent films, and it's helmed by Scorsese. Others film to make a little competition (though not very much), are The Descendants and The Help. But count on The Artist winning. Really. 

Will Win: The Artist
Could Win: Hugo
Dark Horse: The Descendants/The Help
Who I Want to Win: Moneyball

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, 2011
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Nominations Include Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor.

Synopsis: Oskar Schell is special child. Being an amateur inventor, pacifist, tambourine-player, etc, he and his father have a special connection, playing a game called "reconnaissance expedition", which Oskar must find clues and solve mysteries his father sets him on which makes him talk to people, and do more things he's scared of, all while learning. But then tragedy strikes and his father is killed in 9/11. Oskar is shattered, and feels alone, scared, and angry. A year after his death he finds a key in his father's closet, labelled black, inside a vase he breaks by accident. Immediately he assumes it's another clue, something he needs to figure out, and he sets out to find the lock for this key, and to try to find out what his father left him.

I watched the trailer for this film several months ago, when the initial buzz started forming around this film. I remember watching it and thinking "seriously? Best Picture potential?" and I shrugged it off, knowing it was stlil 2 or 3 months until it's release. Then  it got nominated for Best Picture (after poor reviews) and again I thought, really? But knowing it was one of 2 films I still needed to see of the nominees, I'd have to go see it. I opened my mind to give it a blank slate, and expected nothing of it. I gave it a chance.

And, well, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't that great either. Hm, where to start this review.

Oskar was an extremely unsympathetic character, which probably would've been a lot better read in the book. You can get away with a lot more things in books than you can on film. And I think this film was a good example. Oskar would frequently ask nosy questions he really had no business asking strangers, he had many quirks about him (like shaking a tambourine to calm himself), counting his lies, listing the things he was afraid of, giving random facts and just having a general inner-monologue that was slightly unnecessary in a film. All would've worked well in the book, but didn't work quite as well on film. Additionally, a lot of the time Oskar would say things about himself, but would act almost hypocritically later. For instance, he has a fear of bridges, but darts right across when the Renter (a mute neighbor of his who offers to help him on his quest) offers to share his story. He's also scared of public transit, but is okay once the Renter, once again, coaxes him on, and they exchange Oxymorons (his father and him used to have "Oxy-moron wars"). This was no fault of Thomas Horn's (the actor of Oskar), or even Jonathan San Froer's (the authors). It was that of the screenwriter, who didn't seem to follow through on things written. Additionally, there seems to be much more to Oskar than is shown in the film. We get a list read to us that he's an Inventor, a Francophile, a Pacifist, and we never get to see any of that. We only get it read to us on a list.

Thomas Horn, who played Oskar, was quite good, but you can tell he has not had too much experience. This is Thomas Horn's very first film, and I must say he did quite well for this being his first. However, many of the voice-overs were very monotone, and he, in fact, spoke monotone a lot of the time, except for when he was angry and yelling (the latter, he did very, very well). He was convincing as the quirky, unique Oskar, even if a little stiff or awkward at times.

One part I was excited for about this film though, was Alexandre Desplat would be scoring it. Desplat, being my favourite film composer, I was delighted, and as always, he didn't disappoint. His music was simple, and so melancholy, but it had a great effect. Mr. Desplat was indeed snubbed this year, missing out on several different opportunities, having scored Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part II, Carnage, The Ides of March, and a Better Life.

While the summaries of this story boast about it being about Oskar's quest to find the lock that the key his father had, it isn't really. While it certainly was a part of it, it wasn't too as well as it could've been. Many a times we see little clips of the different people he visited (usually all looking purposefully at the camera, no Oskar involved), or very small clips with no conversation where we see Oskar interacting. We get the idea he's met so many people, since we see him scrap-booking pictures of everyone he's met, but we don't really get to see any of that, besides one or two characters. Instead, what we mostly see if the many tantrums of Oskar, the many times he leaves his apartment in the night, in his pajamas, out doing something or other, or flashbacks to "the worst day". In a way, I felt like, well, not a lot happened. The movie didn't go very far forward, and I felt like we had very little character development. Most of the time Oskar was rude to the Renter, or his mother, or the doorman, or he was in his room either crying, or looking at his maps. It could've been a meaningful story,  had the option of the people he'd met, heard their stories, and realizing we all have stories, and we've all lost someone. It could've been very impactful. Instead that route isn't taken and it's a shame. There was potential.

Overall, the word that floated through my mind while watching this movie was "pretentious". I had never really understood what people meant when they said a film tried too hard. I do now. It tried to hard to be "deep", it tried too hard to have a quirky little boy, and it tried too hard to show Oskar's grief and his thoughts. Several times in the film we get this image of a man falling through the air (presumably out of one of the twin towers), and it just seems so forced. Force for an emotional reaction. Of course, there is one (as I could tell from the sniffling from those around me in the audience), but the times that were the saddest were the conversation, were the "i love you"s that were almost unheard, and those moments that seemed more natural. Those were the moments where the film was at it's best, and really had something going for it. But in the end, I feel like we hardly moved forward. It was countless moments of Oskar being sad, when we could've gotten more in-depth to some of the people Oskar and the Renter met. While it was a sad film with a good message, it look a long time to get there, and with too many 2d characters.

Will it win Best Picture? It hasn't a hope. I still wonder why it was nominated, especially given that it had to get at least 5% of the overall number #1 choice votes. While it was an okay film, it was definitely the bottom of the 9 nominated, though I have seen a lot, a lot worse films this year. And Max von Sydow hasn't a hope either. Christopher Plummer already has it all wrapped up. Not that I thought Von Sydow's performance was particularly noticeable, much less award-worthy, but nevertheless.

Not a terrible movie, but not a great one either. Again, when asked if I liked this film, I simply shrugged, because there wasn't a whole lot to say about it. It was just okay.

6.5/10

The 84th Annual Academy Awards

The nominations are finally out! The Academy went with nine Best Picture nominees. I went with eight in my predictions and all eight of those made the list. How could I have known EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE would snag a nod in the top category? And what? A tenth film would have really been that bad? Round it out, people!

First of all, I was 82% right with my predictions. My worst showing came from the Original Screenplay category. MARGIN CALL? Who knew? There are some mistakes I'm quite pleased about. The first is Terrence Malick for Best Director for THE TREE OF LIFE, which also made its way into the Best Picture race when so many people had written it off. The new Best Picture voting system favours films that have passionate followings and that definitely applies to this polarizing picture.

Other happy surprises this morning include Gary Oldman's Best Actor nomination for TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, which also managed a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination; Melissa McCarthy for Best Supporting Actress in BRIDESMAIDS, which also scored a Best Original Screenplay nod; and Max von Sydow for Best Supporting Actor in EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. All three names were tossed around but were never sure things and I'm happy to see them amongst this list.

Unacceptable oversights on the Academy's part include Michael Fassbender for Best Actor in SHAME. This snub is reason enough for me to consider not watching the show. Tilda Swinton in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN was also overlooked. I never really thought she could make it in such a competitive year but Elizabeth Olsen was incredible in MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. 50/50 missed on the Best Original Screenplay category too. And Albert Brooks was overlooked for his delicious turn in DRIVE. Oh, and what about PROJECT NIM for Documentary Feature or the Golden Globe winner for Best Animated Feature, THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN?! And to top it off, all of these incredible films were ignored completely in all the other categories (except for DRIVE, which scored a Sound Editing, and TINTIN, which scored an Original Score nod).

Oh, and did anyone notice that THE HELP did not score a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination? I guess that Best Picture win is looking a little less likely.

Here is the full list of nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards. The winners will be announced on February 26, 2012.

(Scroll over any film title for the original Black Sheep review.)

BEST PICTURE

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MONEYBALL
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Demian Bichir in A BETTER LIFE
George Clooney in THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin in THE ARTIST
Gary Oldman in TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Brad Pitt in MONEYBALL

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Glenn Close in ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis in THE HELP
Rooney Mara in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Meryl Streep in THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kenneth Brannagh in MY WEEK WITH MARIYLN
Jonah Hill in MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte in WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer in BEGINNERS
Max von Sydow in EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Berenice Bejo in THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain in THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy in BRIDESMAIDS
Janet McTeer in ALBERT NOBBS
Octavia Spencer in THE HELP

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

A CAT IN PARIS
CHICO AND RITA
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO

CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE ARTIST
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

ART DIRECTION

THE ARTIST
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
HUGO
WAR HORSE

COSTUME DESIGN

ANONYMOUS
THE ARTIST
HUGO
JANE EYRE
W.E.

DIRECTING

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
THE TREE OF LIFE

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

HELL AND BACK AGAIN
IF A TREE FALLS: A STORY OF THE EARTH LIBERATION FRONT
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
PINA
UNDEFEATED

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM: FOOT SOLDIER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
SAVING FACE
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

FILM EDITING

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
MONEYBALL

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BULLHEAD (Belgium)
MONSIEUR LAZHAR (Canada)
A SEPARATION (Iran)
FOOTNOTE (Israel)
IN DARKNESS (Poland)

MAKEUP

ALBERT NOBBS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
THE IRON LADY

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
THE ARTIST
HUGO
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
WAR HORSE

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

MAN OR MUPPET from THE MUPPETS
REAL IN RIO from RIO

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

DIMANCHE/SUNDAY
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
LA LUNA
A MORNING STROLL
WILD LIFE

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

PENTECOST
RAJU
THE SHORE
TIME FREAK
TUBA ATLANTIC

SOUND EDITING

DRIVE
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

SOUND MIXING

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
HUGO
MONEYBALL
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

VISUAL EFFECTS

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
HUGO
REAL STEAL
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

THE DESCENDANTS
HUGO
THE IDES OF MARCH
MONEYBALL
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MARGIN CALL
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
A SEPARATION

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Written by Eric Roth
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Starring Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock, Max von Sydow and Tom Hanks

Making movies about the September 11 tragedies is unquestionably tricky. You don’t want to gloss over the facts and you definitely don’t want to exploit the pain but you also have to ensure that your movie is not so bleak and depressing that no one ends up seeing it. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, the latest film by Oscar nominee, Stephen Daldry (THE READER), does a pretty decent job of oscillating between the morose and the uplifting, without ever succumbing too much to either side, but it also never truly finds its voice as a result.

The story itself, adapted from the well regarded novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, is a poignant one. Young, precocious, Thomas Schell (played by Teen Jeopardy winner, Thomas Horn, in his first film), loses his father (Tom Hanks) in the September 11 attacks. Naturally, this causes his already rampant anxiety to expand greatly. He no longer takes trains, fears tall buildings and carries a tambourine around with him at all times to help ease his mounting tension. All of this makes his quest to find the lock for a key he found amongst his father’s belongings particularly difficult. Before his father passed away, he would orchestrate mysterious puzzles for his son to solve and Thomas sees this key as a way to keep his father alive just a little bit longer. Not surprisingly, he pushes away his mother (a touching Sandra Bullock) in the process and subsequently befriends a stranger (Max von Sydow, in an incredibly telling turn considering the character is mute) in an effort to replace his absent father figure. Across the board, the acting is quite understated and very respectful to the horror that inspired this story. The way the events unfold though is at times too whimsical to be fully believed.

What I found most moving about EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE was how perfectly it captured that newfound sense of danger, apprehension and confusion that didn’t exist in Western society before the World Trade Center towers collapsed. At nine years old, Thomas cannot make sense of what happened on that day. Heck, most adults couldn’t make sense of it. And so, without being able to understand how his father was taken from him when planes flew into buildings, he now fears most everything instead. The beauty in the final journey Thomas finds himself on, is that it not only brings him closer to his father, but it also brings him closer to healing without his even realizing it. Maybe Daldry will have the same effect on you.

July Oscar Predictions

Okay, so I'm new at this official Oscar prediction thing. Before this, I would just haphazardly post my predictions in a forum post and call it a day. But now I'm going to do it monthly like most of my colleagues and sooner to Oscar season, weekly. If not daily.

Check out other notable predictors from my fellow bloggers: Nathaniel R. at The Film Experience, Kris Tapley at InContention, and Julian Stark at Movies and Other Things.

Individual categories clickable in the above tabs.  All listed in alphabetical order.

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

The Descendants

A Dangerous Method

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Ides of March

The Iron Lady

J. Edgar

Midnight in Paris

My Week with Marilyn

Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy

BEST DIRECTOR

David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method

Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar

Michel Haznavicius, The Artist

Steven Spielberg, War Horse

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method

Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Felicity Jones, Like Crazy

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Ides of March

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Zoe Caldwell, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method

Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus

Marisa Tomei, The Ides of March

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Techs and screenplay races coming soon.