Oscar-nomics: Golden Globe Nominations

So, today the Golden Globes were announced today. Quick thoughts, I’m kind of surprised how stacked the Musical/Comedy side is. I generally prefer the Drama section, but there are a lot of good films in this section. I think the Drama section is good, but I’m getting a little upset with Jessica Chastain’s campaign for The Help taking off instead off the Tree of Life (which got snubbed, AGAIN!!!). The Help was good, but I don’t think it deserved Best Drama nomination. I would have given it to Tinker Tailor (another surprising snub) or maybe even Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, though the latter is wishful thinking on my part. Glad Brooks got back into the supporting actor ring, may he never leave again. Also good to see Moneyball and Midnight in Paris getting a strong showing, even though I must admit I haven’t seen the former, I think these two are the ones to pose threats to the Artist and the Descendants, the obvious frontrunners.

The Inclusion of the Ides of March is also surprising. I thought it was good, but I don’t see it getting much traction going into awards season, but its good to see Ryan Gosling getting love for a strong year. This is all nice and well, except for one major snub, and that is the Muppets. NOT A SINGLE NOMINATION!!! I felt Man or Muppet was a sinch for best song, oh well. Fingers crossed for Midnight in Paris, among a few other films.

Here are the nominations below:

(Maybe I should also do the nominees for television… Nah…)

Best Motion Picture - Drama

"The Descendants"

"The Help"

"Hugo"

"The Ides of March"

"Moneyball"

"War Horse"

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical

"50/50"

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Midnight in Paris

My Week with Marilyn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Georege Clooney, "The Descendants"

Leonardo DiCaprio, "J. Edgar"

Michael Fassbender, "Shame"

Ryan Gosling, "The Ides of March

Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"

Viola Davis, "The Help"

Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

Tilda Swinton, "We Need To Talk About Kevin"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical

Jodi Foster, "Carnage"

Charlize Theron, "Young Adult"

Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"

Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"

Kate Winslet, "Carnage"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical

Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"

Joseph Gordon Levitt, "50/50"

Ryan Gosling, "Crazy Stupid Love"

Brendan Gleeson, "The Guard"

Owen Wilson, "Midnight in Paris"

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Berenice Bejo,  "The Artist"

Jessica Chastain, "The Help"

Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"

Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"

Albert Brooks, "Drive"

Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"

Viggo Mortensen, "A Dangerous Method"

Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"

Best Director - Motion Picture

Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"

George Clooney, "The Ides of March"

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"

Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

"Midnight in Paris"

"The Ides of March"

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

"Moneyball"

Best Animated Feature Film

"The Adventures of Tintin"

"Arthur Christmas"

"Cars 2"

"Puss in Boots"

"Rango"

Best Foreign Language Film

"Flowers of War"

"The Land of Blood and Honey"

"The Kid with A Bike"

"A Separation"

"The Skin I Live In"

Best Original Score - Motion Picture

"The Artist"

"W.E"

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

"War Horse"

"Hugo"

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

“HELLO HELLO” — "Gnomeo & Juliet"

Music by: Elton John

Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin

“THE KEEPER” — "Machine Gun Preacher"

Music & Lyrics by: Chris Cornell

“LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN” — "Albert Nobbs"

Music by: Brian Byrne

Lyrics by: Glenn Close

“THE LIVING PROOF” — "The Help"

Music by: Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr.

Lyrics by: Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas

 “MASTERPIECE” — "W.E."

Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

Oscar-nomics: Broadcast FIlm Critics Awards Nominations

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of Critics Award reviews, work has kept me rather busy. I will try and make some more concrete predictions in the coming weeks, as well as more updates on everything going on in the Awards race, such as the nominations for the Critics Choice Awards. They have a great track record in predicting the majority of the Best Picture Oscar Nominations (9/10 last year), and were four for four in predicting the acting winners (it should be noted that Sandra Bullock tied Meryl Streep for Best Actress).

In terms of the nominations, I’m not too surprised by the list. The safer bets, Hugo and The Artist, led with 11 nominations, I think its safe to assume its between those two films, but I’m hoping I am wrong. Not that I don’t respect either film, its just it would be great to see an upset, perhaps Drive can take one of them out. Great to see some love go that films way with its 5 nominations, with Albert Brooks, in my opinion, being the films best chance for a win.

Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy are surprisingly absent, as well as Terrence Malick for directing Tree of Life. I kind of expected some of these snubs, but Malick’s directing snub is the most surprising in my opinion. I’m going to start making my predictions for the Oscar race, but I’m going to hint that my Best Actor predictions might be something like the one we have here. Oh, and Muppet’s for Best Original Song!!! Honestly though, my favorite nomination has to be Thomas McCarthy's wonderful Win Win in the Original Screenplay category.

Again, not too predictable, a little safe, but still, we shall see what happens. Here are the nominations below:

BEST PICTURE

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

"Drive"

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

"The Help"

"Hugo"

"Midnight in Paris"

"Moneyball"

"The Tree of Life"

"War Horse"

BEST ACTOR

George Clooney – "The Descendants"

Leonardo DiCaprio – "J. Edgar"

Jean Dujardin – "The Artist"

Michael Fassbender – "Shame"

Ryan Gosling – "Drive"

Brad Pitt – "Moneyball"

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis – "The Help"

Elizabeth Olsen – "Martha Marcy May Marlene"

Meryl Streep – "The Iron Lady"

Tilda Swinton – "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Charlize Theron – "Young Adult"

Michelle Williams – "My Week With Marilyn"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh – "My Week With Marilyn"

Albert Brooks – "Drive"

Nick Nolte – "Warrior"

Patton Oswalt – "Young Adult"

Christopher Plummer – "Beginners"

Andrew Serkis – "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Berenice Bejo – "The Artist"

Jessica Chastain – "The Help"

Melissa McCarthy – "Bridesmaids"

Carey Mulligan – "Shame"

Octavia Spencer – "The Help"

Shailene Woodley – "The Descendants"

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Asa Butterfield – "Hugo"

Elle Fanning – "Super 8"

Thomas Horn – "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Ezra Miller – "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Saoirse Ronan – "Hanna" 

Shailene Woodley – "The Descendants"

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

"The Artist"

"Bridesmaids"

"The Descendants"

"The Help"

"The Ides of March"

BEST DIRECTOR

Stephen Daldry – "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Michel Hazanavicius – "The Artist"

Alexander Payne – "The Descendants"

Nicolas Winding Refn – "Drive"

Martin Scorsese – "Hugo"

Steven Spielberg – "War Horse"

         

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"The Artist" – Michel Hazanavicius

"50/50" – Will Reiser

"Midnight in Paris" – Woody Allen

"Win Win" – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni

"Young Adult" – Diablo Cody

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"The Descendants" – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" – Eric Roth

"The Help" – Tate Taylor

"Hugo" – John Logan

"Moneyball" – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin

BEST ART DIRECTION

"The Artist"
Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan

"Hugo"
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo

"The Tree of Life"
Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank

"War Horse"
Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

"The Artist" – Guillaume Schiffman

"Drive" – Newton Thomas Sigel

"Hugo" – Robert Richardson

"The Tree of Life" – Emmanuel Lubezki

"War Horse" – Janusz Kaminski

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

"The Artist" – Mark Bridges

"The Help" – Sharen Davis

"Hugo" – Sandy Powell

"Jane Eyre" – Michael O’Connor

"My Week With Marilyn" – Jill Taylor

BEST EDITING

"The Artist" – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion

"Drive" – Matthew Newman

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

"Hugo" – Thelma Schoonmaker

"War Horse" – Michael Kahn

BEST MAKEUP

"Albert Nobbs"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"

"The Iron Lady"

"J. Edgar"

"My Week With Marilyn"

BEST SONG

"Hello Hello" – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – "Gnomeo & Juliet"

"Life’s a Happy Song" – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – "The Muppets"

"The Living Proof" – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – "The Help"

"Man or Muppet" – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – "The Muppets"

"Pictures in My Head" – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – "The Muppets"

BEST SCORE

"The Artist" – Ludovic Bource

"Drive" – Cliff Martinez

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

"Hugo" – Howard Shore

"War Horse" – John Williams

BEST SOUND
"
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Super 8"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"

"Hugo"

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

"Super 8"

"The Tree of Life"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

"The Adventures of Tintin"

"Arthur Christmas"

"Kung Fu Panda 2"

"Puss in Boots"

"Rango"

BEST ACTION MOVIE

"Drive"

"Fast Five"

"Hanna"

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

"Super 8"

BEST COMEDY

"Bridesmaids"

"Crazy, Stupid, Love"

"Horrible Bosses"

"Midnight in Paris"

"The Muppets"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

"In Darkness"

"Le Havre"

"A Separation"

"The Skin I Live In"

"Where Do We Go Now"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"Buck"

"Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

"George Harrison: Living in the Material World"

"Page One: Inside the New York Times"

"Project Nim"

"Undefeated"

Washington D.C. Critics Award Winners

Another Day, another Critics Award in the bag. With my voice on the mend, I think I will stick to writing on this one. The Washington Film Critics Awards were given out today, after having announced the nominees this past weekend. The Artist was nominated for 8 awards, leading to the unsurprising win for best picture. I was happy Win Win got a nomination for Best Picture, but unhappy its only other nomination (albeit deserving) was for Tom McCarthy’s Screenplay.

            While The Artist did win Best Picture, its only other win was for score (which kind of makes sense considering that’s all we would hear with a silent film). Since I haven’t had the chance to seen it (hasn’t quite made it here yet), I’m remaining skeptical on its chances on winning the Oscar for Best Picture because it isn’t getting much traction anywhere else.

            Now, if we want to talk about traction, Albert Brooks seems to be gaining momentum for his performance in Drive, which I am very happy about. Also, as from Emanuel Lubezki’s brilliant cinematography for Tree of Life, 50/50’s screenplay came out with another award after its NBR win. Could this be a sign its could go on to more than just a Writer’s Guild nomination?

            As for the rest of the awards, they seem pretty deserving. A little surprised Michelle Williams won over Viola Davis or Meryl Streep, but Williams has been touted as an Oscar contender, so good choice. I am also happy with Documentary and Foreign language, if the former hadn’t qualified for last years Oscars and the other one wasn’t Spain’s selection for Best Foreign Film (argh!!!). Oh well, like I said, another one in the bag, here’s hoping Brook’s can continue this run into the next Critics Award and beyond.

Here is the full list of winners below:

Best Picture: "The Artist"

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Actor: George Clooney, "The Descendants"

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive" (WOO!!!)

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Descendants"

Best Original Screenplay: "50/50"

I mean come on, with shots like this, how can Tree of Life lose...

Best Art Direction: "Hugo"

Best Cinematography: "The Tree of Life" (Also WOO!!!)

Best Score: "The Artist"

Best Animated Feature: "Rango"

Best Documentary Feature: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Best Foreign Language Film: "The Skin I Live In"

Oscar-nomics: NYFCC Awards Recipients 2011

Best First Feature: "Margin Call"

Thoughts: Kind of felt “Martha Marcy May Marlene” would be the one to take this in the awards circuit, but oh well my thoughts overall are limited to what I’ve heard and read.

Best Non-Fiction Film: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Thoughts: Any win for the great Werner Herzog is a win in my book, glad to see him win, especially for him being snubbed from the Oscar Documentary shortlist a couple of weeks back.

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, "The Help," "Take Shelter" and "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: She is my pick to win in the long run, glad to see her start off strong. I’m sure hoping she will choose soon which film she will submit for Oscar consideration. I will keep drumming the “Tree of Life” drum as long as I damn well have to, “The Help,” was fine but she doesn’t really stand out in that film as she does in “Tree of Life.” Still, great to see her off to a strong start.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

Thoughts: Not a big surprise, considering its Streep we are talking about here. Word on the street is its Streep vs. Davis (rightfully so for the latter lady), but since “Iron Lady” hasn’t opened yet, I will stick with the simple idea that Streep is simply the best.

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

Thoughts: This might be my favorite win of the day. Mnay have pegged Plummer as the one to beat, and that is still rather plausible, but I am really glad Brooks get his due for a strong performance. Side note, upon hearing he won, he tweeted "Was just told about N.Y.F.C.C. and Spirit Awards! THANK YOU. I feel like Herman Cain at a Dallas Cheerleader convention." Albert “Hank Scorpio” Brooks for the win!!!

 

Best Actor: Brad Pitt, "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: Glad to see Pitt getting his due for a strong year. Though many, myself included, consider his “Tree of Life” performance as more of a supporting turn, to see Mr. Pitt get some awards attention means Best Actor is going to be a fun competition to watch this year, especially with Clooney not off to as such a strong start that many thought he would when “Descendants” came out a week or so ago.

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"

Thoughts: Heard good things, will check it out when I can, but for now, congratulations on the win.

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Thoughts: Not my first choice, what with Malick, Refn and perhaps even Bennett Miller, but I won’t rag on the choice, but I probably still don’t see this as truly being the best with all the choices I have previously mentioned, particularly Malick (I would also like to mention Soderbergh, but I don’t really feel as though Contagion has much of a chance to get nominated, let alone win).

Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"

Thoughts: This is a huge win for the film. Sorkin and Zaillian are arguably the best of the best in terms of writers, so seeing them get their due (even though each have received Oscar gold in the past) is always welcome, congrats!!!

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: I've said it before, and I will say it again, if this man doesn't dominate the awards season, then I'm giving up on movie awards/reviewing all together. Emmanuel Lubezki deserves Oscar gold!!!!

Special Award: Filmmaker Raoul Ruiz (posthumously)

Thoughts: Not terribly familiar with his work, so I'll stick with congrats on this one...

Best Picture: "The Artist"

Thoughts: Again, haven't seen it so my view on this is limited. It looks like the kind of film that has the right fluff to win over audiences and critics, much like how King's Speech did the previous year. However, by only receiving one other win for directing, its not terribly safe to assume that this automatically makes it the frontrunner. Still, congratulations are in order, and I have little to go on to hate the film, so congratulations and best of luck on the circuit.

Overall Thoughts: Surprised "The Descendants" was completely shut out really. Clooney's acting was considered to be the best of the best, though I am not complaining that he was defeated by Pitt. I think that even though "The Artist" won Best Picture, "Moneyball" was the real victor. Few films get released as far back as September and maintain such awards love, so to see it nab both best actor and screenplay is definitely huge. I am rather happy with both supporting picks, particularly Brooks since his hasn't been as touted, but I think we will be seeing him, most certainly Chastain, as well as Pitt and Streep come February.  

Well, thats it for now, Thursday will be the announcement of the National Board of Review awards.These are the tricky ones cause they were 2 for 2 in picking best picture in 07 and 08, but struck out in 09 and 10 (to their credit, they did pick Social Network last year). Will they be able to get back on track? Only time will tell. Check back for more on the awards seasons as well as my commentary and possible predictions, will this award ceremony shape whats to come or are we in store for something completely out of left field (pun not intended.... at first)?