Best Supporting Actor 2011: Results

5. Jonah Hill in Moneyball- Jonah Hill's performance is functional enough, but it never really stands out as anything that needed to be awarded.

4. Nick Nolte in Warrior- Nolte tries hard and gives a descent performance, but as with all of his performances, he never completely realizes the potential of his part.

3. Christopher Plummer in Beginners- Plummer's performance almost seems misused in the course of the film muting his emotional impact, when Plummer is on screen though he gives an effective enough of a performance.

2. Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Although he is in a very bad film, and must support an awful actor in the lead, Sydow's performance is the best part of the film creating a moving and mysterious portrait of a man who refuses to speak due to his past.

1. Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn- Branagh tops this weak year, although there were plenty of not nominated supporting performances. Interesting enough the order of the nominees is almost the reverse order of how I would rank the films the nominees, something that rarely happens I must say. Branagh stands as my choice with his good but not perfect impersonation of Laurence Olivier. What really gives him the win though is his ability to actually turn Olivier into a compelling character despite the sever limitations of the script, as well as have the potential problem of getting caught trying to make just an impression.

Deserving Performances:
Albert Brooks in Drive
Bryan Cranston in Drive
Mark Strong in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life

Best Supporting Actor 2011: Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn

Kenneth Branagh received his second acting Oscar nomination for portraying Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn.

My Week With Marilyn tells of the story of the troubles of the production of the Prince and the Showgirl, and Marilyn Monroe relationship with one of the assistant directors the rather dull Colin Clark. The film takes too much of a scatter shot approach to the subject matter, and the director never has a distinct statement or opinion on the subject matter really to make the film work.

This performance is one that I really have to almost take a step back to examine for a moment as Branagh attempts to portray Laurence Olivier who is one of the greatest actors ever in my opinion with his performance, after all I think he deserved six acting Oscar victories. Kenneth Branagh and I would probably have something to discuss though as it is pretty clear that he probably likes Olivier as much as I do, since his early career seemed almost to try to replicate Olivier's, and now he in fact gets to portray Laurence Olivier.

Kenneth Branagh portrays Olivier and does try to imitate Olivier's distinct mannerisms both when he is a just being Olivier, as well as Olivier's acting style. I must say unlike some imitation where I have not seen a great deal of the person Branagh is at a disadvantage as I have a great deal of Olivier's films, as well as some his interviews. Branagh although maybe thinks he looks just like a Olivier he honestly does not look all that much like him. Kenneth Branagh again has just a natural disadvantage in this case once again.

Branagh certainly tries extremely hard to attempt to be Olivier, but he just cannot do it even if he gives his honest best shot. The truth is though I do not know if anyone could really completely be Olivier, for me, so again I really don't think I should be too hard on him for this alone. I will say I still did like his mannerisms he used and really they were very much like Olivier from his soft tender voice when quietly whispering, but still keeping the fineness of it even when he is angry and yelling. It is not a perfect realization of Olivier's voice but it is a very good one.

Branagh is as well competent at portraying the classic Olivier sort of glances, and expressions of both joy and annoyance. He even does do a technically fine job of replicating the sort of accents Olivier would use in the film, although I must admit The Prince and the Showgirl is one Olivier film I have not seen surprising enough, but still Branagh most certainly is satisfactory. He never achieves what is the purpose to become Olivier but to be honest few performances of this sort can really do that. One example is Martin Landau in Ed Wood, but than again that is also the best performance ever nominated in this category.

Well past the imitation Branagh has other challenges though. As I said the film takes a scatter shot approach to the material, which is especially true when it comes to Laurence Olivier's role in the film. There are times where he seems to be an important part of the film, and than he is quickly forgotten as well. He also unfortunately is strapped with poorly handled subplot such as wanting to have an affair with Marilyn himself, which they might well not have had considering how it is so quickly forgotten, his relationship with his troubled wife Vivien Leigh, and his supposed animosity toward method acting.

I won't argue with the film on specific points about Olivier's history even if it is all far too simplified or just inaccurate, but the problem is nothing is focused upon to really be very well developed. This though is all the more reason to give Branagh just credit in his role, for actually developing a character within the mess of one he is actually is given. He does manage to bring life to Olivier's struggle with the whole production of the film. He realizes the frustrations of Olivier's well as it slowly increases in each scene, and that part of his response almost is to find anyway to deter the problems of  his co-star.

Branagh's Olivier is going through every sort of emotion in each scene, while still having to jump into acting character from time to time as well. Branagh actually is convincing in portraying the constant downpour of emotions that Olivier must deal with, and even though the script offers little help Branagh manages to move from each emotion with a great deal of clarity and realism. In fact in his final scene Branagh really is terrific as he shows exactly what Olivier's learned from the experience in a fairly poignant moment, where he feels the most truly Olivier.

This performance is not perfect as the script, and the feat of being Olivier makes that quite difficult. It turned out to me though quite an enjoyable one, as Branagh managed to bring what he could to life despite the limitations and challenges of the part. Also I will admit freely I enjoyed seeing an Olivier depiction, and my ability to spot a few subtle moments in the script, even if anachronistic. As Olivier in the film quotes the Entertainer, the line about dead behind theses eyes, before he apparently even read the play. Although Branagh rendition of that line is good it is of course, it is not the absolute astonishing moment as it is in Olivier's performance in The Entertainer. That really sums up this performance for me Branagh managed to be good in the part of Olivier, but never able to truly become the acting greatness of Olivier.

Best Supporting Actor 2011

And the Nominees Are:

Max Von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn

Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Jonah Hill in Moneyball

Nick Nolte in Warrior

Posters for A Dangerous Method, The Artist, and My Week with Marilyn

Three of my most eagerly-anticipated awards seasons releases have new posters.  One I adore, another I enjoy, and the final leaves something to be desired.  Either way, I'm sure we're looking at the mug of at least 5 future Oscar nominees.

Below, David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, staring Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, and Michael Fassbender.

Below, Michel Hazanavicius' ode to silent films, The Artist, staring John Goodman and Jean Dujardin.

Below, Simon Curtis' much-talked-about film about Marilyn Monroe, aptly titled My Week with Marilyn.  Staring Michelle Williams as the title character, Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier, and Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe

The newest picture of Dawson's Creek alum and two-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams as the famous blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe from her upcoming Oscar-hopeful My Week With Marilyn.  Myself, and many other Oscar pundits are predicting Williams to nab a nomination for her work in this picture.

My Week with Marilyn also stars Tony-winner Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier, Julia Ormond as Vivien Leigh, and Judi Dench as Dame Sybil Thorndike.

[Photo courtesy of Napier News and The Weinstein Company. ]

REVIEW: Thor (B+)

(dir. Kenneth Branagh, 2011)

  

For starters, I was a major skeptic of this thing.  Just goes to show was a little restraint can do to an overblown genre.

Kenneth Branagh's surprisingly subdued superhero film, Thor, is something godly indeed.  Living within a genre that recently has been known for CGI-injected heroes, Chris Hemsworth has proven himself apt as the titular God of Thunder.  Much like Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man, Hemsworth's stalwart performance is grounded in his earnest acceptance of the situations.  That sounds a little Acting 101, doesn't it, but it actually makes the fantasy elements within the genre seem more believable.  He's never amazed that he's a God, never in awe of himself or his surroundings, and that is where the character of Thor is crafted.

One can credit this to Branagh, but also credit must be due to Hemsworth and the writing.  From the script up, this is a character study.  Not an origin story, or something rooted in a climactic battle, but rather a small tale of a god becoming the man he was meant to be.  Again, much like Iron Man, the heart of the film is in the characters.  You care about Thor, and halfway through, you don't even realize that you haven't witnessed an enormous battle on Earth yet, and even when you do, you don't care all that much that it was relatively lame.  The beauty of Thor  is that you see the change a normal, more bloated battle would tell you...but Branagh and Hemsworth show you instead.  Like that less-than-awesome RDJ vs. Bridges fight to close out Iron Man, this Thor vs. Hot Laser Machine is more of an means to and end than an attention grabbing climax.  The greatest of all superhero movies hold their climaxes for off the battle field—Iron Man, Spider-Man 1 & 2, The Dark Knight, etc.—because they know the hero is what really matters.

Sure, some of the secondary acting is flat and useless, but that all goes back to Thor being the only character we need to worry about.  All the Asgard—Thor's home planet, er realm—scenes have their touch of silliness, but most of them don't last long enough to be too obnoxious.  When Asgardians visit Earth, however, hilarity truly ensues.  There is much intentional comedy within this action film, which adds to the heart of the picture.  When Thor's quartet of friends travel to Earth complete in their Dungeons and Dragons convention costumes, a lesser filmmaker wouldn't have noticed the inherent absurdity in that situation, but Branagh did.  Even the "can you repeat that?" Thor lore is spiced up with comedy, since no one can pronounce let alone understand what Mjölnir is.  It's rare, but some of the dialog is actually clever!  A pretty predictable but nevertheless rewarding ongoing gag about stealing computer equipment actually made the audience laugh—every time.

But basically where the film excels is where it isn't heavyhanded, where is allows the words and the actors to move the scene instead of CGI or battles.  The soft scenes outweigh the bombastic ones in both quality and interest; you hardly care that Thor is fighting some laser machine, you just want him to beat it and get on to the next scene.  The least interesting scene in the whole film is probably the most CGI-ridden, where Thor and his comrades travel to an ice planet to beat-up some Ice Giants and a faux-rancor monster.  Totally boring.

From a technical standpoint, the cinematography was exciting if not typical of the current action film lens flair style.  The Costumes are absurd, yet appropriately absurd, I think, the best someone could do to recreate the style present in the comics.  Set designs for Asgard are gaudy at best, but it's again the Earth scenes that are the highlight; while hearkening back to 1950s-style small-town-in-the-middle-of-a-desert look, designers Bo Welch, Maya Shimoguchi, Lauri Gaffin create a distinct atmosphere in Thor that somehow helps with the believability of a God landing in the desert.

Overall, though it has many faults, Thor has the chops of not only a great superhero film, but a great film.  For me, it ranks somewhere in the league with but below Iron Man, Spider-Man and Batman Begins, and handedly above The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Wolverine.  The wonderful Natalie Portman and the underused Kat Dennings are luminous as the human counterparts to Hemsworth's Thor, yet any and all Asgard residents (sleepwalking Anthony Hopkins' Odin and iron-jawed Tom Hiddleston's Loki) could have done much, much more.  For the many inside references to the upcoming Avengers, they all play too much into the hand of super-fans to actually be entertaining.  There's a scene where a soon-to-be Avenger appears, that falls totally flat by virtue of the unknown nature of both the actor and said hero.

Nevertheless, with Hemsworth and Downey Jr. on board for the Avengers project, I'm slightly less critical about this than I initially was.  If they can capture the magic that Thor did, I think we'll be in fine condition.  GRADE: B+

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