Oscar-nomics: SAG Winners

Well, it certainly seems that the Help had a fun night. Not only did it take the Best Cast (and justifiably so), it also took the obvious Best Supporting Actress and less obvious Best Lead Actress, and I am thrilled about that. I liked the film ok, but Davis was my favorite part so to see her win was huge (a sign of things to come at the Oscars perhaps?). In the men's corner, one widely expected and one not so expected winners were chosen. Plummer has this, I am wary about Von Sydow, but this is really Plummer's to lose he has been set up to take this in every way possibly. Dujardin's win is a bit surprising, but I think it was just as much of a possibility as Pitt or Clooney, and I'm cool with it, a lot of the film works mainly because of him (Bejo also made the film great, but truth be told its Dujardin's film). I am glad this wasn't terribly predictable as the past awards have been, at least the Artist isn't completely steamrolling the competition. Still, I won't say this hurt the Artist or really aided the Help to being a contender, but still nice to see it get some love outside of Davis or Spencer. Here is the list of winners, now back to my Oscar predictions:

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer The Help
Best Female Lead: Viola Davis The Help
Best Male Lead: Jean Dujardin The Artist
Best Cast: The Help

Oscar-nomics: Best Supporting Actor Predictions

Here comes, yet again, another category in which I am extremely upset about. There are less welcoming nominees than there are welcomed nominees. I overlooked SAG for snubbing Albert Brooks, I knew an actual Oscar win was a long shot. BUT TO NOT BE NOMINATED!!!! Argh. Oh well, I am going to contain my disdain for this category at that was my favorite category last year. This is also the category where while there maybe a race early on, we generally see one person take the "way out front" position and can't possibly lose (I thought Brooks had that for a little bit, but oh well). I like to take the stance that they are 90-95% probably going to win, mostly out of respect for the nominees. This one, however, I have no problem picking as the winner, but first the nominees:

Kenneth Brannagh- My Week with Marylin


He's only 1/2 people who have been consistently nominated on the awards circuit, so this was not all that surprising. Personally, I saw this coming the day I heard Brannagh would play Olivier (a match made in heaven). While I am glad to see him here, he has gained little to no momentum towards an actual win, so at least he got to enjoy the fun ride (unlike Brooks should've, sorry).




Jonah Hill-Moneyball
 

This nomination was a bit out of left field (sorry for the pun). My gut says this was a filler nominee, but I have nothing to back that up with (I am waiting to see it, one reason why I haven't released a top 10 yet). Its nice to see the film was liked so much that he got in, but he doesn't quite have the momentum to even come close, though its nice to see him here (even if Brooks is not).



Nick Nolte- Warrior



Here's a man that I have mixed feelings about. On the one side, his film did poor at the box office, so the prospects at a nomination was a long shot. He did get some awards nominations love, but it was still not certain. Now, here we are. While it is nice to see box office not being an issue here, the fact is he doesn't stand a chance. His film, while it got good reviews, the film never found an audience to gain further momentum for him. Another man where the nomination is the reward.







Christopher Plummer- Beginners

Here, ladies and gentlemen, is your winner, and I am completely happy with this. He has earned this beyond simply being an honorary award. He brings life to a character who, for 75 years, has contained his homosexuality and has chosen now to experience the life he never had but always wanted. Plummer is a seasoned vet who deserved this many years ago, but I am happy with him winning for this awesome film. He's been tearing up the awards circuit (save for Brooks of course), and come oscar night, its all his.


Max von Sydow- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Now this is a nominee I didn't see coming. I mean, I was thinking it was a possibility early on. The problem is the film was not liked by critics, its not doing well at the box, I thought this film was dead in the water. Seeing him here (over Brooks grrrr). While its a surprise to see him here, I would be even more surprised if he wins. The only plausible chance would be for honorary reasons, but Plummer debunks that. Oh well, I guess the nomination is, you guessed it, the reward.

Will Win: Christopher Plummer

Runner-Up: Kenneth Brannagh

Should Win: Christopher Plummer

Should be here: Albert Brooks "Drive" 

Tune in next Monday for more exciting Oscar predictions...

Oscar-nomics: Indie Awards

I decided to begin a new segment for my movie blog. Now, I will be giving you updates on the awards circles as well as some statistics I will discuss throughout the rest of the awards season. I shall start with the Indie Spirit Awards (The pictures were kind of a pain uploading this time around, so sorry for such front-loaded pictures on this blog):

Hey all, its that’s time of year again. We are now delving into the awards season and today come the nominations of the Independent Spirit Awards as well as the Winners of the New York Film Critics Circle awards. Now, I will discuss the NYFCC awards a little later, as they are slowly coming out, I will say I’m rather content with what I am seeing. For now, let us take a look at the nominations for the Spirit Awards:

Best Feature 
(Award given to the Producer)
"50/50"
"Beginners"
"Drive"
"Take Shelter"
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"

  Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"

Best First Feature 
(Award given to the director and producer)
"Another Earth"
"In The Family"
"Margin Call"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Natural Selection"

Best Screenplay
"Beginners"
"The Descendants"
"Footnote"
"The Artist"
"Win Win"

Best First Screenplay
"Another Earth"
"Terri"
"Cedar Rapids"
"50/50"
"Margin Call"

Best Female Lead
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"
Rachael Harris, "Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"
Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"

Best Male Lead
Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"
Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Ryan Golsing, "Drive"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"
Anjelica Huston, "50/50"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana, "Gone Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, "Drive"
John Hawkes, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Corey Stahl, "Midnight in Paris"
John C. Reilly, "Cedar Rapids"

Best Cinematography
"Bellflower"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Artist"
"The Off-Hours"
"The Dynamiter"

Best Documentary 
(Award given to the director)
"An African Election"
"Bill Cunningham New York"
"The Interrupters"
"We Were Here"
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"

Best Foreign Film 
(Award given to the director)
"A Separation"
"Melancholia"
"Shame"
"The Kid With a Bike"
"Tyrannosaur"

Piaget Producers Award
Chad Burris ("Mosquito y Mari")
Sophia Lynn ("Take Shelter")
Josh Bond ("Martha Marcy May Marlene")

Now, there are a couple of other awards worth noting, but I thought I would keep it slightly more narrow so as to not to make this too lengthy. Critical Darling “The Artist” tied with “Take Shelter” with 5 nominations. The big surprises came with the snub of festival favorite “Like Crazy” is all categories and Clooney’s supposed (I haven’t seen it yet) superb performance in “The Descendants.” I am particularly surprised Win Win didn’t get much love (only for its superb screenplay). Also, such little love for Midnight in Paris, at least Christopher Stahl got a nomination in what appears to be a stacked Supporting Actor category (I'm happy with any of them winning).  Drive got 4 nominations, my gut is telling me it will have a big night (look out for Al Brooks in supporting), and even directing (in my opinion). Awards contender Jessica Chastain had only one film she could contend with here (all of her other films were budgeted over 25 mil.), so her chances may not be as hot (I would pick “Tree of Life” for her awards run), her performance in the film has gotten steam, but again I haven’t had the chance to catch it so I can’t place a for sure win in her corner just yet. Beginners is getting a lot of love after the surprise win at the Gotham Awards, so it may continue into this Indie Awards, time will tell. I think as much as “The Artist” and “The Descendants,” are being touted for Oscars, I think “Drive” and “Beginners” will give them a run for there money. Still, its early, and we will just have to wait and see how the awards season plays out. For now, we will just have to keep our fingers crossed. Now, on to the NYFCC!!!