Oscar-nomics: Best Actress Predictions

Not going to lie, this is a nice batch of lovely ladies this year. Its mixed with the "saw coming from a mile away" nominees to the "good for her" nominees to the "Sweet, SHE MADE IT!!!" nominees. This maybe me balancing out my frustration of the Best Actor Race, but I am pretty ok with this list. I would've liked to see them take a chance with say Tilda Swinton, but a surprise nominee in this category made me overlook it, mostly since I have yet to see her movie (though the trailers are rather haunting in my opinion). That being said, while there has been talk of this being a highly competitive category, I think the winner was solidified at SAG's. Here are the nominees:

 
Glenn Close: Albert Nobbs
I chalk this one under "saw coming from a mile away" nominations, but its still a "good for her" nomination nontheless. Mrs. Close takes on the role of a transgender female so effortlessly, which might be chalked up to this being her dream project for quite some time. However, the film wasn't very well liked and her chances are slim based on the lack of awards support. She could gain some overdue love, but many are playing that up more so for Meryl Streep, which is kind of annoying when you think about it (Meryl Streep: 2 gold statues, Glenn Close: 0!?!?!). Sad to see her go 0-6, but I am still hopeful she will win one day.

Viola Davis: The Help
While many, including myself, saw this coming, I am still very happy for it because she was my favorite part. of the film. As a maid and, in reality, a second mom to a upper-class white family back in the times of racist segregation, Mrs. Davis gives the role, as well as the film, a heart and a sense of direction. She is very powerful in the role as Aibileen and slowly but surely finds the power within her to rise up against the segregation. While I thought the role to be a bit more on the supporting side, I have no problems calling this lady as your winner. Her role is very showy, the movie practically revolves around her, and she has been really passionate with her speeches and humility around the awards circuit, she's the perfect candidate in my opinion. The fact that she, as well as the win, won the SAG awards further points to a big, deserving, win for her.

Rooney Mara: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
This might of came at the expense of Tilda Swinton, but I am ok with that because this is my "Sweet, SHE MADE IT!!!" nomination. Its a role that one must truly commit to in all facets of the character, and she never skips a beat. Many will have qualms when comparing this to the original film, but if you read the book, Lisbeth is the pure image of Stieg Larsson's masterpiece (not saying Noomi Rapace's work was weaker by any means). It is too bad she, like Mrs. Close, didn't gain much awards momentum, because I could see Ms. Mara being an excellent competition. Sadly, the nomination is the reward, but on the plus side.... THE NOMINATION IS THE REWARD!!!

Meryl Streep: The Iron Lady
Raise your hand if you didn't see this one coming? Mrs. Streep can read the phonebook and get a nomination, she's just that darn good, and the Iron Lady is no exception. Many thought she could take down Mrs. Davis because of her Golden Globe win, but lets be honest, the Globes love Mrs. Streep. The fact is, her film wasn't that great, she is the reason why many people gave it a pass, and I think that hurts her more than helps her (Davis' film is a Best Picture nominee). I think as great a Streep's performances are and probably will be for years to come, she will be the bridesmaid and not the bride for many more excellent leading ladies (although I was upset Sandra Bullock took it from her when I felt Carey Mulligan should've).

Michelle Williams: My Week with Marylin
Another no-brainer nominee, but still a welcomed one. Ms. Williams throws herself into the role as Marylin Monroe, not simply a mimic but a transformation. In another year, I could see her taking this one, but I don't see that happening. Her film, while liked, wasn't as loved as our previous nominees and has done so so with audiences as well. I think Michelle Williams will one day receive the Oscar, but for now the nomination is the reward so I am happy for her, and I am sure the great Marylin Monroe would be as well.

Will Win: Viola Davis The Help
Runner-Up: Meryl Streep The Iron Lady

Should Win: Viola Davis The Help or Rooney Mara The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (I'm not picky)
Should've Been Nominated: Tilda Swinton We Need to Talk About Kevin

Oscar-nomics: Screen Actors Guild Predictions

So tomorrow the Screen Actor's Guild will reveal their choices for best in acting, both individually and as an ensemble. They also have this for tv, but I think I will stick with the film side for now. Supporting Actor is pretty well set, Plummer should have no problem. However, I am not 100% on Spencer, and if she were to lose momentum it would be here. This award is pretty much the other nominee's last shot at an upset, as this award is the last major one before the Oscars, and it aligns pretty well most of the time. The lead categories are where most of the action will be, as the Clooney/Pitt and Davis/Streep competition will probably be settled. Clooney and Streep are the safe bets. However, I am pulling for Pitt and Davis because I think they are due and I think they deserve it (Fassbender deserves it more, honestly, but sadly was ignored). I would be happy with any of them winning, so we'll just have to wait and see. Ensemble is between the Help and the Artist. I think the Artist will take it cause it has the momentum, I just see the Help as a possible spoiler, so again we'll have to wait and see. Here is the list below:

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer Beginners
Best Actress: Meryl Streep The Iron Lady
Best Actor: George Clooney The Descendants
Best Ensemble: The Artist

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"

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)?