MARY'S OSCARS CORNER

2015:

This is my annual ranking of the Best Picture nominees.  This is my personal rankings, not a prediction of which film will win Best Picture.  I found this year to be a pretty weak year in the Best Picture race.  Most of the films were enjoyable but with exception of Room, most of the nominees didn’t really have a lasting effect on me that would make them a great Best Picture winner.

1.  Room- In Room, Brie Larson plays a young woman who was kidnapped as a teenager and has been living in a shed for seven years with her son, Jack, who was born in captivity.  Room can be very dark on the surface and sadly too familiar with stories taken from the headlines.  However, it is also uplifting when the woman and Jack escape and Jack sees, with wonder, the beauty of the world outside of the shed for the first time.  Brie Larson should win Best Actress because she gives an outstanding performance as a traumatized mother who shows unfailing love for her son at the same time.  I usually think children are too young to be nominated in the acting categories and that their performances are more from great directing than acting.  However, I make exception for Jacob Tremblay, who played Jack.  He should have been nominated in one of the acting categories.  He plays Jack as almost feral in the beginning but gives a very moving performance of a child adjusting to the world outside.  I found Room to be very moving and well acted and that it is why it is my top pick for Best Picture.

2. Spotlight- Spotlight is the true story of a group of journalists for the Boston Globe who investigated the child molestation scandal in the Catholic church.  The film did a good job of showing the diligent research by the reporters and it had a good ensemble cast (lead by supporting acting nominees Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as well as Michael Keaton and Liev Schreiber).  I liked that the film was not overly political but it didn’t stick with me long term for me to pick it for the top picture of the year.

3. Brooklyn- This was not a showy film but was very sweet and moving.  Saoirse Ronan plays a young Irish woman who immigrates to the United States.  The film has a sweet love story when she falls in love with a local in the States.  The film does an excellent job showing the conflict many immigrants feel of being dedicated to their home country and adapting to their new home country at the same time.  Saoirse Ronan has really grown up.  I remember her giving excellent performances as a teenager in Atonement and The Lovely Bones and she gives an outstanding adult performance in this film.

4. The Martian- Matt Damon plays an astronaut on an expedition to Mars.  He is left on Mars with limited supplies to survive on after his crew mistakenly leaves after assuming he has died.  This film has a lot of similarities with past Best Picture nominee, Gravity.  Matt Damon gives a solid performance.  The film has some stunning visual effects.  Considering this, it was a huge snub that director, Ripley Scott, was not included in the Best Director race for this film.  I am not a huge fan of “what someone will do to survive” films, but based on Damon’s performance and the visual effects, The Martian is a solid nominee for Best Picture.

5. The Big Short-The Big Short is about the crash of the housing market and a group of investors who predicted the crash before it happened.  Nominated director, Adam McKay, is best known for comedies and does a great job transitioning over to drama with this film.  He does incorporate some good comedic moments by having celebrities make cameos explaining financial concepts (for example, Margot Robbie in a bubble bath explaining subprime loans).  As he started with last year’s nominated performance in Foxcatcher, Steve Carell makes a strong transition from comedy to drama.  The film does get a little preachy and political towards the end but it is a solid exploration into the housing market crash.

6. Bridge of Spies- Bridge of Spies is a Cold War thriller directed by Steven Spielberg.  Based on real life events, Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who is reluctantly defending a man accused of being a Russian spy (played by Best Supporting Actor nominee, Mark Rylance).  With many twists, the story turns to a trade of the accused Russian spy for an American pilot and student being held prisoner in Germany.  The film was good at being a thriller.  However, I found it difficult to root for any of the characters and I think it was too political at time.  It was an OK film, but not a great film to be included in the Best Picture race.

7. Mad Max: Fury Road- Mad Max: Fury Road is a remake of the popular Mad Max movies from the late 70’s/early 80’s.  This film is about a dystopia in the Australian desert where Max and a group of female rebels try to return to their homeland and escape an evil gang that rules the desert.  The movie has some good action and effects.  However, I am not a fan of the original Mad Max movies so I didn’t really care for this film.  This film is one of the more popular nominees but it is the only Best Picture nominee with no nominations in any of the acting categories making it the weakest film in the Best Picture race.

Not reviewed: The Revenant- As stated with The Martian, I really don’t like “what someone will do to survive” films.  The Martian had other elements to the story than just this.  When I read that The Revenant was an over the top survivalist movie that included the main character living in a horse carcass and being brutally mauled by a bear (mauled, not raped by a bear as I hear more than one person comment), I am going to pass on this film.  Director Alejandro Inarritu won last year for the pretty forgettable and one of the weaker Best Picture winners in recent years, Birdman.  I hope he does not win for the second year in row for this film.

2014:

This is my annual ranking of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscars.  These are not predictions of the winner but my personal preference.

1.  The Theory of Everything- This was a very moving portrayal of physicist’s, Stephen Hawking, first marriage to Jane.  Hawking (played by Eddie Redmayne) was a brilliant physicist when he was diagnosed with an ALS like condition in his early 20’s.  Hawking had a brilliant mind but was trapped in a body that failed him with a condition that ultimately robbed him of his voice.  The heart of the film is the love story between Hawking and his wife, Jane (played by Felicity Jones), who lovingly cared for him with devotion as his health declined.  Redmayne should win for Best Actor for portraying Hawking with dignity, strength, and wit.  He portrayed more with a twinkle in his eyes than many actors do in an entire movie.  The Theory of Everything is a weeper but it has a tremendous amount of heart.

2. Selma- This is the most underrated of the Best Picture nominees.  Like Steven Spielberg did with Lincoln, instead of focusing on Martin Luther King’s entire life, director, Ava DuVernay, focuses on King’s fight for voting rights for blacks with his march from Selma to Montgomery, AL.  DuVernay has a very sharp eye for recreating the racial tensions of this time and the historical details of the march itself.  DuVernay does not shy from King’s flaws, in particular the infidelities in his marriage, while showing him a powerful and inspiring leader.  Dave Oyelowo gives a very convincing portrayal of King from looking like him to sounding like him.  Not blaming racism, sexism, or politics, it is really a shame that DuVernay and Oyelowo were not nominated for Best Director and Best Actor respectively.  Best Picture and Best Director nominees and wins are very closely tied together.  DuVernay deserved a spot in the directors race more than Wes Anderson.  This is also the first time since the Oscars expanded the nominees from five up to ten that a director was nominated, Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher, but did not receive a Best Picture nominee, suggesting another spot DuVernay could have been in.  In a strong Best Actors race, Oyelowo could have possibly been nominated over Steve Carrell.  In a time of recent racial tension, Selma is a good historical reminder that we as a country still have a ways to go regarding racial issues.

3. American Sniper- This is the true story of US navy SEAL, Chris Kyle, who was a sniper in the wars in the Middle East.  The film does an outstanding job showing the tolls that war takes on families who are left behind and showing the horrors of war.  Like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty before it, American Sniper is not a commentary on the politics of war, i.e. whether the US should be at war in the Middle East.  I find it insulting that critics of the film have use this as a focal point of their criticism.  Bradley Cooper in his portrayal of Kyle sheds his pretty boy image and portrays Kyle as bad ass, complicated, and heroic at the same time. 

4. The Imitation Game- This is the true story of British mathematician, Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), who successfully cracked German encryptions during World War II.  Keira Knightley is outstanding along with Cumberbatch, as the only woman in Turing’s boys club of mathematicians.  The Imitation Game is a little slow paced in parts but along with its outstanding performances, it is an outstanding portrayal of the repressive views of women, homosexuals, and marriage of the time.  However, its heart is the portrayal of Turing’s underrated heroism during the war.

5. Birdman-  In Birdman, Michael Keaton plays a washed up actor, best known for playing super hero, Birdman.  He is trying to make a comeback on Broadway.  Birdman is original but very surreal in parts.  However, it is Keaton’s performance, that very much mirrors his own career, that gives Birdman depth. 

6. Whiplash-  Miles Teller plays a jazz drummer who enters a prestigious conservatory.  He has so much passion for playing the drums, he will play until his hands bleed.  J.K. Simmons is his abusive, tyrant instructor at the conservatory.  Simmons is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actor and definitely deserves the win.  It is hard to tell if Simmons’ character is just a jerk or really believes his methods will inspire passion for music in his students.  He gets in your face and leaves a memorable performance for the audience.

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel-  I’ll admit it up front, I am not a fan of Wes Anderson’s work.  I don’t like his “quirkiness” and I usually don’t “get” his films and find them dull.  With that said, I thought Grand Budapest Hotel was better than most of his works.  I liked the grand splendor of the hotel.  Ralph Fiennes as the concierge, Gustave, made the film entertaining with his dry wit.  I don’t think this is Best Picture winner material and I haven’t been converted to liking Wes Anderson but it was an entertaining movie.

8. Boyhood- Richard Linklater is another director I don’t care for.  I liked the concept of Boyhood, which was filmed over twelve years with the same actors.  The audience gets to see the young actors grow up on the screen which is fascinating.  However, an interesting concept does not make a good film.  I have never liked Linklater’s writing because it is just snapshots of conversations without a story arc.  People who praise Linklater say his stories are so real life but is that really a good thing?  Do audiences really need to see, I got up today, I went to work, I had a conversation with someone, etc?  With Boyhood, I felt like I was being forced for almost three hours to watch a stranger’s home movies.  I was not invested in these characters and there was not a storyline so everything was anti-climatic.  So little happens in the story, that Linklater forces cultural references so the audience knows what time period the story is happening in (ie, yard signs for the Obama-McCain election, must be 2008).  Sadly, this film has a very good chance of walking away with Best Picture.  I don’t get all the hype around this film.  An interesting concept does not make a film a “masterpiece” when the writing is this weak.

2013:

This is my annual ranking of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscars.  This is not my predictions of who will win but how I thought the nominees stacked up.  This is the best overall group of nominees since I have sarted following the Oscars. There were not any nominees I had to skip as in years past.  This is also the first year that I thought all of the movies were good.  I liked some better than others but there was not a dud in the bunch as in years past.  Also, since I saw all of the acting and directing nominees except for the two performances from August Osage County, I am going to make my picks in the acting and directing categories as well.

Best Picture

1. 12 Years a Slave- 12 Years a Slave is a deeply moving film based on a true story of a free man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery.  This film is so powerful because of director, Steve McQueen’s unflinching portrayal of this ugly chapter in history.  The three nominated acting performances are all well deserved.  Chitwetel Ejofor gives a powerful performance as a free man, unjustly enduring slavery.  Newcomer, Lupita Nyongo, gives one of the year’s best performances as a scrappy slave who constantly ensures her master’s rage and lust.  Michael Fassbender is outstanding as the sadistic plantation owner, in one of the most evil roles presented in a film.  12 Years a Slave is not a pleasant film to watch but it has left a lasting impression on me and that is why it is my pick to win Best Picture.

2. Philomena-  Philomena is a moving true story of a burnt out journalist (Steve Coogan) who helps an older Irish woman, Philomena, (played by Judi Dench) find her son.  Philomena had become pregnant as a young girl and was living at a Catholic home for wayward women.  Her son was taken without her consent and sold to an American couple.  Philomena is so moving because of Dench and Coogan’s performances.  It was also a thought-provoking look at the “lost children” from the past.

3. Her-  Her is a sweet, emotional story set in the near future of a lonely man, Theodore, (Joaquin Phoenix) who is going through a divorce.  He falls in love with the woman’s voice (Samantha) on the operating system on his computer (Scarlett Johansson). The story is not as far-fetched as it sounds because Samantha interacts with Theodore as though she was a real person.  Her is brilliant commentary on how we interact with each other as technology increases.  Shot in vibrant colors, in an age where Hollywood recycles so many movie ideas, Her is one of the most original movies I have seen in a while.  It is written and directed by Spike Jonze who started his career directing some of the most memorable music from the 1990’s, like the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage”.  I knew that Jonze had bigger, original ideas in him and I hope he wins for Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

4. Gravity- Gravity is about two astronauts (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney) who are stranded in outer space after an accident.  I personally don’t like stories about people being stranded and what they will do to survive.  I found Gravity to be slow in parts as well.  However, I rank the film is the top 5 because the visual effects are breathtaking.  This is one of the rare films where the 3D is great and not a gimmick.  I hope to see Gravity as the top winner for the technical awards for the Oscars.

5. The Wolf of Wall Street- This is Academy Awards darling, Martin Scorsese’s film, based on the real life account of Jordan Belfort’s rise and fall.  Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) makes a fortune as a stock broker in junk stocks. Everything in Belfort’s world is done in excess from spending, to drugs, to sex.  Though the film is very raunchy and over the top at times, it is an effective study in greed.  Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance as an ordinary professional, who loses his bearings because he is consumed with power and greed, sets the film apart.  My biggest gripe was that at a running time of three hours, the film was entirely too long.  About an hour could have been cut and the film would have still been effective.

6. Dallas Buyers Club- This film is based on the true story of a bigot, heterosexual man (Matthew McConaughey) who is diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980’s before effective AIDS treatments had been approved by the FDA.  He finds an unlikely ally in a transsexual AIDS patient (Jared Leto).  They start trafficking unapproved medications for AIDS treatment for themselves and other AIDS patients.  Dallas Buyers Club is a complicated movie to watch because McConaughey’s character is pretty unlikable and the story raises many ethical questions.  However, the film works because of McConaughey and Leto’s performances.  It is also a good remembrance of how AIDS was during its early days and what patients would do to survive.

7. Captain Phillips-  Another film based on a true story about an American ship captain (Tom Hanks) whose cargo ship is captured by Somolian pirates.  I liked the intensity of the story.  My gripe is the wrong acting performance was nominated.  I did not find newcomer, Barkhad Abdi’s, performance as the leader of the pirates to be extraordinary.  However, Tom Hanks effectively conveyed the fear of the hostage, ship captain and should have been nominated for Best Actor.

8. American Hustle- This film is the most overrated on the Best Picture nominees.  I liked the movie well enough about a group of con artists in the 70’s.  It was funny at times and I liked the recreation of the style and pop culture of the 70’s.  However, I found the story to be pretty convoluted in parts.  The film has a nominee in all four of the acting categories.  While the performances were all good, I wouldn’t rate any as the best.  Compared to a film like 12 Years a Slave, this film doesn’t have much depth.  The film is considered a front runner for a Best Picture and all I can say is why?

9. Nebraska- Nebraska is a quirky story, shot in black and white, about an older man (Bruce Dern) who believes he has won a million dollar sweepstakes and must travel to Nebraska to claim it.  He sets out on a cross country journey from Montana to Nebraska with his son (played be Saturday Night Live alumni, Will Forte).  They encounter a cast of quirky relatives and acquaintances along the way.   Though not nominated, I was impressed with Forte’s performance.  He was effective in a dramatic role and has come a long way as an actor considering some of the bad comedies (ie MacGruber) he has been in.  This film was directed by Alexander Payne, whose family drama, The Descendants, was nominated for Best Picture in 2011.  I enjoyed Nebraska but I didn’t think it had the depth that the other nominees did or The Descendants did.

Best Actor

Christian Bale- American Hustle

Bruce Dern- Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio- The Wolf of Wall Street

Chitwetel Ejiofor- 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey- Dallas Buyers Club

This is the best and tightest Best Actor race is a while.  My pick would be favorite, Matthew McConaughey, but I would follow very closely by Leonardo DiCaprio and Chitwetel Ejiofor.  I would have nominated Tom Hanks for Captain Phillips instead of Bale in this category.  Though I had problems with The Butler, I would have considered Forest Whitaker for a nomination.

Best Actress

Amy Adams- American Hustle

Cate Blanchett- Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock- Gravity

Judi Dench- Philomena

Meryl Streep- August Osage County

Hands down, this should go to favorite, Cate Blanchett.  Her performance as a fallen socialite who slowly starts to unravel is top notch.

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhard Abdi- Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper- American Hustle

Michael Fassbender- 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill- The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto- Dallas Buyers Club

Leto is the favorite to win but my pick is Michael Fassbender.  It takes talent to play such an unlikable character and Fassbender is completely effective.

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins- Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence- American Hustle

Lupita Nyongo- 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts- August Osage County

June Squibb- Nebraska

My pick is definitely Lupita Nyongo.  I usually have reservations about newcomers being nominated for first time performances but Nyongo gives the most gut wrenchingly emotional performances of the year.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron- Gravity

Steve McQueen- 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne- Nebraska

David O. Russell- American Hustle

Martin Scorsese- The Wolf of Wall Street

Historically, the winner’s for director film will go on the win Best Picture (last year being an exception).  However, my pick is Alfonso Cuaron because of the stunning visual effects in Gravity, followed very closely by Steve McQueen.  I would have nominated Spike Jonze for Her over David O. Russell for American Hustle.

My 5 Favorite Best Picture Winners and the 5 Most Overrated Best Picture Winners since 1980

When I started following the Oscars pretty closely in 2008, I decided that I wanted educate myself on the Best Picture winners of the past.  I found many movie gems that I probably would not have seen otherwise.  I also found several films that have not stood the test of time and made me wonder how they were Best Picture winners.  To me the best of the Best Picture winners have the total package, they are well acted, well directed, and visual stunning.  They also are still relevant and not dated to an audience watching the film years down the road.  I have watched all of the Best Picture winners since 1980 except for three (all three were war movies, a genre I almost always dislike).  These were my 5 favorite winners and 5 most overrated rated winners.

The Best:

Gladiator (2000)- Gladiator was one of the better Best Picture winners because it was done in the tradition of the classic Hollywood epics like Ben Hur.  It was a stunning recreation of ancient Rome that was well acted and had a great visual effects and scenery.  It had a moving story of good vs. evil and was action packed.  This film excelled in every aspect.

Titanic (1997)- Director James Cameron is easy to dislike because of his constant arrogance.   Love him or hate him, he is a master of creating films that look good because of his use of technology.  Cameron meticulously recreates the Titanic sinking while creating a believable and beautiful love story.  While a big epic movie, some of the film’s best moments are the more quiet observations of what it must have been like on the Titanic.  Titanic can be over the top at times but it is one of the more memorable Best Picture winners.  

Forrest Gump (1994)- Forrest Gump is one of the more iconic Best Picture winners.  Who can forget the quotable lines from the film like “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get”.  Tom Hanks gives one of the best performances of his career.  The story seems illogical story at times, however, Forrest Gump creates a heartwarming fable where you believe that all of these life events could really happen, even to the simplest person.  

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)- A lot of the memorable Best Picture winners are this sweeping epic movies.  Driving Miss Daisy is a more subtle film but was one of the better winners.  The film deals with sensitive issues like race and aging with grace and charm.  The acting is exceptional.  My biggest gripe is that Morgan Freeman did not win Best Actor this year.  This was probably the biggest snubs since I have followed the Oscars.  Also, this is the last film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination.

Rain Man (1988)- I include Rain Man among my favorite Best Picture winners mostly because of Dustin Hoffman’s performance.  Hoffman created an iconic character and gave probably the best performance I have seen in my years of following the Oscars.  The story is so well written.  The audience sees Tom Cruise’s character shift from self centered to caring while Hoffman’s character is not capable of changing his heart.  Rain Man is moving and top notch in acting.

Most Overrated:

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)- I know many love this film.  I didn’t dislike the film but I think it was a weak choice for Best Picture.  I thought the film went from one extreme to the other.  It gave a very realistic look at living in poverty in India but then resolved the story with an unrealistic, forced happy ending.  I always have hesitation about films winning Best Picture that receive no nominations in the acting categories.  This film did not have any stand out performances as evidence by the lack of acting nominations.  I also felt that director, Danny Boyle, exploited the Indian crew and received all the accolades for himself.  Not a bad film, but there were more deserving winner this year.

Crash (2005)- Crash was a pretty good film on its own.  However, in a year that had Brokeback Mountain and Walk the Line, this was a weak choice for Best Picture.  This film was a long shot to win and people really wondered how this film won for Best Picture.  Instead of being viewed as an underdog winner, this film is best remembered as the film that gypped Brokedown Mountain for Best Picture.  An interesting piece of Oscar trivia: a win in the Best Director category almost always guarantees that film to win Best Picture.  The last time this was not true was when Ang Lee won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain but Crash went on to win Best Picture.

Million Dollar Baby (2004)-  I’ll say it, I absolutely hated this movie.  An over the top depressing film about a woman trying to make it in the world of boxing that ends in tragedy.  I don’t know what the message of this movie was except that life really sucks and don’t follow your dreams.  This was one of several Clint Eastwood films where he type casted himself as the grumpy old man.  Morgan Freeman for Best Supporting Actor for this film.  I think that Morgan Freeman is very talented but he should have won the Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy instead of this one.

American Beauty (1999)- I had trouble enjoying this film because I didn’t like a single character in this movie.  I found it disturbing that the viewer was suppose to sympathize with a middle age man lusting after a teenage girl.  I found it disturbing that there was nudity from a minor at the time actress (Thora Birch).  The “symbolism” of the plastic bag blowing in the wind was pretentious crap.  I have never been a fan of director, Sam Mendes’ dysfunctional family portraits and this is where it started.  The Sixth Sense was also nominated for Best Picture this year and it has proved to be a more memorable film than American Beauty.

Chariots of Fire (1981)- The uplifting story of a Jewish man and Christian man preparing to run track in the Olympics.  This movie was so boring and really hasn’t proved to be one of memorable Best Picture winners.  How many slow motion shots of guys running can be interesting?  The only memorable thing about this movie was its score.  This movie beat the iconic and more worthy Raiders of the Lost Ark for Best Picture. 

2012:  

My annual ranking of the Best Picture nominees.

1.  Lincoln- Lincoln is a masterpiece of a film.  It is the story of the last few years of President Abraham Lincoln’s life as he tries to end slavery and bring a divided nation back together.  It greatest strength comes from the acting.  On the surface, the casting choices seem off in a British actor playing one the most beloved American presidents and Sally Fields seemed too old to be playing Mary Todd Lincoln.  However, the cast makes it work perfectly.  Daniel Day Lewis BECOMES Lincoln down to his every mannerism.  This is acting at its very best.  If Daniel Day Lewis does not win for Best Actor, it will be a glaring injustice.  The supporting cast is stellar as well.  Sally Fields perfectly executes Mary Todd Lincoln’s emotional instabilities. Tommy Lee Jones is perfect as the vocal and fierce abolitionist congressman, Thaddeaus Stevens.  He deserves to walk away with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.  Steven Spielberg’s direction is perfect.  The scene where Lincoln rides through a battle field is realistic and haunting.  In these current times of political division, Lincoln is a good reminder of the effectiveness but sometimes slow process of democracy.  Lincoln has a good chance to win Best Picture and overwhelmingly is my pick.

2.  Argo- Based on real life events, Argo tells the story of how the CIA created a fake movie production as a cover up in order to release six people stranded in Iran during the Iran hostage crisis.  Though the film does take several creative liberties, Argo is an edge of your seat thriller that is an entertaining real life being stranger than fiction story.  I never thought I’d heard myself say this but Ben Affleck was completely robbed by being snubbed from the Best Director’s race for this film.  Affleck has a very keen eye for recreating this time period down to very tiny details.  The ensemble cast is outstanding but I didn’t feel there were any individual stand out performances that were as good as any of the ones in Lincoln.  Argo is a well made and entertaining film but has too great a competitor in Lincoln to win Best Picture.

3.  Silver Linings Playbook- In Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper plays Pat, a bipolar man who is desperately trying to reunite with his estranged wife.  Jennifer Lawrence is Tiffany, a young widow he befriends.  The Silver Linings Playbooks looks like it would be depressing but it actually works well as a romantic comedy.  Director David Russell, as he did with 2010 his Best Picture nominee, The Fighter, does an excellent job capturing the family dynamic.  In addition to Cooper and Lawrence’s outstanding performances, the film has a strong supporting cast with Robert Di Nero and Jacki Weaver playing Pat’s parents and Chris Tucker as a mental patient with a habit of escaping (in his first non-Rush Hour role in a while, welcome back).  Silver Linings Playbook is entertaining, well acted, and is smart romantic comedy breaking down many of the clichés of the genre.

4.  Zero Dark Thirty-  Zero Dark Thirty grabs from recent headlines and tells about the almost decade long search for Osama Bin Laden.  Much as she did with 2009 Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow turns the typical war movie into an intense action thriller.  Jessica Chastain deserves a Best Actress win for her portrayal of a tough CIA agent who relentlessly searches for Bin Laden.  The role is a dream role for a woman portraying such a strong heroine.  The film has been criticized for its scenes of torture on terrorist suspects.  The scenes are disturbing but realistic and not as disturbing as the glorified violence in fellow nominee Django Unchained.  As with Ben Affleck for Argo, it angers me that Kathryn Bigelow was also snubbed for a Best Director nomination.  The first part of the movie could be tedious at times but the scene where the Navy Seals raid the compound where Bin Laden is hiding, is an example of film making at its best.  Bigelow has a meticulous eye for detail and the scene is realistic and gripping.   I don’t know why Bigelow why snubbed but if it was because Oscar voters didn’t like to politics of the film, what a shame for such a well made film.

5.  Les Miserables-  I am a music lover but I have never been a fan of musicals.  I have never understood why someone would just randomly sing a song about everyday life occurrences.  With that said, I did think that Les Miserables was a good film.  I did think the singing was good, especially since the actors really sang their parts without lip synching and voice overs.  The film did have an epic look that worked.  Hugh Jackman deserved the Best Actor nomination but should not win considering he competing against Daniel Day Lewis.  Anne Hathaway was tragic as Fantine, the young mother turned prostitute.  She is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actress and deserved the nominations but I thought her big “I Dreamed a Dream” performance was a tad bit melodramatic.  She has more deserving competition in Sally Fields and Helen Hunt (for The Sessions).  While I thought Les Miserables was well made, it is not my top pick for Best Picture because it felt too long and melodramatic.  There are only so many songs the audience can take from characters on their deathbed and close ups of people sobbing with runny noses.  However, for a musical, Les Miserables is top notch.

6.  Django Unchained- I have always admired Quentin Tarantino for making films that are unique and original.  Django Unchained is a revenge fantasy in the vein of Tarantino’s last Oscar nominated film, Inglourious Basterds.  While Inglourious Basterds took out revenge on the Nazis, Django Unchained has a black slave avenger taking out bloody revenge on his masters.  I liked the original idea of making a western that gave commentary on slavery.  Best Supporting Actor nominee, Christoph Waltz, give another fabulous performance as an abolitionist bounty hunter who buys Django’s freedom and leads him to seek revenge on his former masters.  Waltz won for Best Supporting Actor in 2009 for Inglourious Basterds and he and Tarantino continue to have a mutually beneficial collaboration.  I thought that the movie was entirely too long at two hours and forty five minutes.  The film has too many subplots that could have been condensed.   The violence in Tarantino’s films is always over the top but in Django, there were parts where the violence was too disturbing even by Tarantino standards.   I give Django props for originality and Waltz’s performance.  However, Tarantino has made some better films so this would not be a top pick to win.

7.  Life of Pi- Director Ang Lee’s visually stunning film based on the novel of the same name is the story of a young man shipwrecked on a life boat with a tiger.  I personally don’t care for stories about people being shipwrecked.  However, I do believe that Life of Pi deserved the nomination because of the visual effects.  It is amazing to think that all of the animals in the film were computer generated.  Many of the scenes are beautiful to view.  While I usually think that 3-D is a rip off, marketing tactic, the 3-D works very well in the film.   I always have hesitation about a film winning for Best Picture that has no nominations in the acting categories but Life of Pi should be a frontrunner in the technical categories.

8.  Beasts of the Southern Wild- Every year, an indie film that is the critics’ darling will get a Best Picture nomination and I don’t really understand the hype around the film.  This year that honor goes to Beasts of the Southern Wild.  This film is the dull, depressing story of a scrappy young girl, Hushpuppy, living in poverty in New Orleans with her alcoholic father and sometimes with her prostitute mother.  Hurricane Katrina hits causing further devastation.  This film is a less disturbing, Winter’s Bone, from two years ago.  Newcomer, Quvenzhane Wallis, the youngest nominee Best Actress ever, gives a good performance for a child.  However, she is too young and inexperienced to deserve an acting nomination.  My biggest gripe is newcomer Benh Zeitlin getting a Best Director nomination.  Though not on a blockbuster budget, the film is very amateur looking, even for an independent film, especially with the shaky camera work.  It is an outrage Zeitlin was nominated over Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow.   This is the only film of this year’s nominations that didn’t deserve a Best Picture nomination.

Not reviewed: Amour-  I don’t know of anyone who has seen this movie, outside of critics.  The film is in French and is the story of an old man taking care of his wife after she has a stroke.  The movie sounds like it is well acted but it sounds beyond depressing and voyeuristically realistic  from what I have read about the film.  I’ve seen this in real life, I don’t need to see a film about it.  Also, a movie has to sound incredibly good to me for me to sit and read subtitles.  I can’t say this definitively but this film probably should have stayed in the Best Foreign Language film category.  Also, since he was not originally predicted as a nominee, Michael Haneke’s Best Director nomination probably should have gone to Ben Affleck or Katherine Bigelow.  After watching eight nominees, I will pass on Amour.

Should Have Been Nominated:  I think this year’s Best Picture race is pretty solid and there are not any other films that should have been nominated.  However, in addition to glaring snubs of Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow in the Best Directors race, another snub that really bothered me was John Hawkes for The Sessions in the Best Actor race.  In the past I thought Hawkes was type casted too frequently as the crazy redneck (see Martha Marcy May Marlene and his Best Supporting Actor nominated performance in Winter’s Bone).  In The Sessions, he was charming as Mark O’Brien, a severely disabled man who learned about sex from a sex surrogate.  Hawkes realistic portrayed Mark with all his handicaps.  This is the type of performance the Oscars really recognized in the past.  It was not right to nominate Helen Hunt’s performance (it was a well deserved nomination) and ignore Hawkes’ performance. 

2011:

It’s that time of year again for my annual ranking of the Best Picture nominations for the Oscars.  My rankings are not predictions of which film will win Best Picture.  I ranked the nine nominations based on my personal preference as to which of the nominations are the best overall films in terms of the script, the acting, the direction, and the audio and visual effects.

1.  The Help- Based on the bestselling novel, this film is set in Mississippi during the era of the civil rights movement.  Skeeter (Emma Stone) is a college student who write a tell all book giving a voice to the black maids who work for wealthy white families.  The Help deals with touchy subjects like racism and class differences with heart and without being preachy.  The Help is my pick for Best Picture because it is the best acted of all the nominations due to its strong female ensemble cast.  It has the most acting nominations (3- Viola Davis for Best Actress and Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain for Best Supporting Actress) and Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer are the favorites to win in their respective races.  I think Bryce Dallas Howard was excellent, as well, playing the ultimate mean girl, racist, Hilly.  The Help’s chances of winning Best Picture were hurt by the exclusion of the director, Tate Taylor, from the Best Director race.  Since 1980, there have only been five incidents where the winner of the Best Director race’s film did not go on to win Best Picture (the last being in 2005 when Ang Lee won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain and Crash won for Best Picture).  

2.  The Descendants- The film could have easily played out like a soap opera.  George Clooney plays Matt King, a real estate attorney in Hawaii, whose wife is in a coma after a boating accident.  In addition to his wife’s tragic condition, he now is responsible for taking care of his two difficult daughters and is debating about selling land that has been in his family for multiple generations for development.  He also finds out that his wife has been cheating on him.  What separates this film from typical soap opera drama is the intelligence of the screenplay.  George Clooney gives his best performance since Up in the Air, playing Matt sympathetically and also with humor and wit.  The supporting cast is strong as well, with Shailene Woodley playing Matt’s rebellious older daughter and Matt Lillard breaking the mold as the “other” man (though Lillard’s casting did leave me wondering, would a woman really cheat on a guy who looks like George Clooney with the guy from Scream?).  The Descendants is a well acted drama that is moving and witty at the time making it one of the strong contenders in the Best Picture race.

3.  The Artist- On paper, this film appears to be the pretentious stuff that only the Academy could like but no one in the movie going crowd would actually watch and enjoy.  A silent movie starring unknown French actors doesn’t really sound like a movie with a broad appeal.  However, this movie is a delight to watch.  George Valentin (Jean Dujardin)is the top silent film star of his time.  However, his star is falling when refuses to act in the new “talkies”.  An up and coming actress, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) falls for George.  Her career is the opposite of George’s, she becomes a star in the new age of the talkies.  The Artist is a wonderful tribute to the golden age of Hollywood.  Jean Dujardin conveys so much emotion without saying a word in the familiar story of the Hollywood star who has it all and quickly loses it.  The Artist also has one of the best non-human performances from Uggie, the dog, George’s faithful companion.  The Artist will probably win Best Picture.  I enjoyed The Help and The Descendants a little more but I would not be upset to see The Artist take the top prize at the Oscars.

4.  Hugo- Like The Artist, Hugo is a tribute to the golden age of Hollywood.  Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan living in the clock tower at a Paris train station in the 1930’s.  His father was working on an automaton before his death.  Hugo goes on a journey to finish working on the automaton and encounters a grumpy old man (Ben Kinsley) who owns a toy store at the train station.  Hugo finds a link between the old man, the automaton, and his love of classic cinema.  Director, Martin Scorsese, makes a visually stunning love letter to the golden age of Hollywood.  My only gripe with Hugo was how mis-marketed it was.  Hugo is advertised as an adventure for children.  Though it is based on a children’s book, it is too slow for children.  Children will also not pick up on many of the references from the past and the old Hollywood nostalgia will be missed.

5.  The Tree of Life- This film is the most polarizing of the nominations.  Many critics love this film and many movie goers hated it and there aren’t many opinions in between.  The story is about an unhappy man (Sean Penn) who searches for meaning to his life by fondly remembering his childhood in the 1950’s.  His father (Brad Pitt) was a stern disciplinarian and his mother (Jessica Chastain) was the symbol of love and compassion.  Oh, and there is a side interlude about the creation of the world.  What I loved about this film is that it is so beautifully filmed.  I couldn’t stop thinking about the ideal snapshots of life in the 1950’s and the beauty of the creation sequence after the film was over.   It is my pick to win in the Best Cinematography category.  What I didn’t like about the movie is the creation sequence is a pretentious side story and the film can be confusing and slow in parts.  Sean Penn was also grossly underutilized in the film.  It is amazing to me that an actor of Sean Penn’s caliber was hired only to look sad and gaze off before a flashback.   I can understand many of the criticisms of this film.  However, though confusing to determine how all of the elements of the story are tied together, the film did make me think and was hard to write off.

6.  War Horse- This film is about a young man’s, Albert, (Jeremy Irvine) relationship with an extraordinary horse.  The horse, Joey, starts by plowing on the farm of Albert’s family in England. Joey then goes through a heroic journey in the cavalry during World War I.  Parts of War Horse are beautifully filmed in the English countryside.  The war sequences can be intense at times but not as bad as many of the R-rated war dramas.  However, some of the battlefield scenes were touching like a scene where an English soldier and a German soldier work together to free Joey from a barbed wire fence on the battlefield.  War Horse does not downplay the horrors of war but it is ultimately an uplifting film about the special relationships between animals and their human companions.

7.  Moneyball- This movie is about the owner of the Oakland A’s baseball team (Brad Pitt), who uses unconventional statistical methods to recruit his team.  This movie was not exceptional but I couldn’t really judge it objectively.  I don’t like sports, especially baseball, so I thought it was boring.  However, I could see where those interested in baseball would like it, it just didn’t have a universal feel to it.  The thing that struck me the most about it was seeing Jonah Hill step outside of his usual raunch comedy roles and play a descent dramatic supporting role.  Apparently the Academy thought so to, because Jonah Hill is in the Best Supporting Actor race for this film.