Oscars 2012

[Chris Knipp]

The Oscar nominatio (http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/84/nominees.html)ns are in. The Best Picture nominations are:

THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL
MIDINGHT IN PARIS
THE TREE OF LIFE'
THE HELP
HUGO
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
WAR HORSE

That's right: nine, not ten. I am in agreement with the first five. The last four are predictable Academy choices and they are all extremely well crafted films. WAR HOURSE is such a "pile of cliches" (as Richard Brody says it is by intention) that I didn't even write a review of it. THE HELP is a very well meaning film and the actors are appealing and good. For all its skill HUGE seems a big disappointment to me, but though I was taken to task for saying so, it appeals successfully to the child and the child in us. EXTREMELY LOUS etc. evidently has an extremely flawed source novel. I loved watching the boy actor at work. He's evidently quite as bright as the kid he's playing. There are some essential choices here: MONEYBALL and TREE OF LIFE and THE DESCENDANTS had to be there and I knew THE ARTIST would be. It looks like the winning but small MY WEED WITH MARILYN didn't make it, but it gets some big acting nominations, as do some other films not many people may even go out to see, like the one with Glenn Close and the mediocre biopic with Merl Streep.

Of the documentary nominations I've only seen one of the five and that is the only much celebrated one that I didn't respond to, PINA. Of the foreign film nominations there are only two I have seen, FOOTNOTE and A SEPARATION, certainly both worthy choices, though THE SEPARATION happens to be another of the most praised films that I fail to respond to. It also gets one of the Original Screenplay nominations; its intricacy (and relative clarity) has impressed many people. The five Original Screenplay nominations are:

THE ARTIST
BRIDESMAIDS
MARGIN CALL
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
A SEPARATION

I am happy for Woody Allen's getting three important nominations this year. He has written many well crafted screenplays. He has not often been celebrated for them. I'm also glad about MARGIN CALL, which I think a significant debut, an intelligent and timely film. I'm not really an Oscars person. I follow it, but not with true enthusiasm. Before I don't think of it that much and when it's over I forget about it. Except when something happens as did with BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, a travesty. I hope there won't be one this year, but it looks like there may be. I really only care about the Best Picture choice much. That's why my best lists are only of films and not of actors or other aspects of the complicated process of making a movie.

Join the fray!

[Johann]

Something tells me The Descendants will win big. I haven't seen it, but scuttlebutt for this one is big.

I can't believe The Adventures of TinTin was left out of the Best Animated Feature category, especially after winning at the Golden Globes!
Boggles the brain.

I haven't seen any best picture nominees except The Tree of Life. Here's hoping Malick wins Best Director.
He deserves that one at the very least.
All in all I'm not sure this was a stand-out year for movies.
Lars von Trier and Terrence Malick were the only bringers of serious cinematic fruit to my mind.
And Trier is ignored again by the Academy. Who knew?
They figure that just because he won't go to America to accept a statuette they can just plain ignore him.
He's a Modern Titan to me. Ignore him at your own peril.

Yes, lots of safe choices for the Oscars this year. No films that changed the game.

[tabuno]

I shared Johann's disbelief that The Adventures of Tin Tin didn't get nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, especially with having five nominees. The distinguishing feature about this British-skewed backdrop is that it has a old-fashioned enhanced by contemporary means, somewhat I would imagine The Artist (which I haven't seen) may have benefitted from. Tin Tin almost seems too old fashioned, too archaic and was perhaps too well put together that it looked too simple and too pedestrian. In other words, the movie was too good.

I am very glad that Extremely Loud and Incredible Close was recognized by the Oscar because I feel that it is among the top films of the year - especially for its well-balanced and creative handling of an important subject matter and difficult topic to bring to the screen successfully. I am wondering if the problem was the courageous decision to produce this movie and that the critics and public just aren't ready for it yet. Hopefully time will be the true gauge of what I consider this superb film.

[Chris Knipp]

The many loyal fans of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (including you, tabuno) are vindicated, because the Academy recognizes it, despite the lack of a critical consensus in its favor. Vulture includes it in its Worst Movies of the Year feature (http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2012/01/worst-movie-of-2011-critics-poll.html), however. I would never go that far, because I acknowledge that it's a well-made film, with a good cast, even if I don't like the screenplay and probably wouldn't like the source novel either.

TINTIN probably should have gotten an animation nomination. I believe its use of motion capture was an advance, so it was not so old fashioned.

Other disappointments or lacks are that THE ARTIST did not get more nominations for its technical and acting work, and Albert Brooks, who was expected to get a nomination for Supporting Actor in the snubbed DRIVE, was passed over, and tweeted ""I got ROBBED. I don't mean the Oscars, I mean literally. My pants and shoes have been stolen. And to the Academy: 'You don't like me. You really don't like me.'"' Richard Brody of the NYer (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2012/01/in-nominee-days.html), who was among various bloggers and movie writers who commented on the nom pros and nom cons, was quite disappointed, as I am, that the grwoudswell of critical opinion for MARGARET got it no nomination at all. He commented
The biggest surprise in the major categories is the well-deserved nomination of Demián Bichir for Best Actor for his role in Chris Weitz’s “A Better Life He calls A BETTER LIFE "a passionate, meticulously realistic drama ," but I frankly found it lackluster and it didn't make a lasting impression on me. I like Bechir better in "Weed." Brody wanted BRIDESMAIDS to get more. He notes (which explains my not seeing them) that most of the Best Foreign nominations "came in from the blue," with super short qualifying showings so nobody has seen them. BEGINNERS was expected but left out (not my beef)

I agree (with you, Johann) that Lars von Trier should not be shut out of the Oscars, and the omission of any mention of MELANCHOLIA is glaring. But the awards season is when you find out who's been charming the judges and who's been ignoring or offending them. Von Trier has traditionally done very well at Cannes, which is more sophisticated and more international than the Academy Awards. But this year at Cannes -- after a favorable reception of MELANCHOLIA -- he was later declared persona non grata for a statement at a public interview that was considered offensive. And it wasn't the kind of comportment that endears directors to the Academy.

I would consider the nomination of blockbusters and CGI-laden actioners irrelevant; that's why I put them in a separate list this year. However they are more entertaining than some of the Oscar nominated films that are viewed as entertaining.

[Chris Knipp]

A writer on Word & Film had this to say:
It’s a scandalous year at the Oscars. Despite being recognized as one of the year’s best films by … pretty much everyone, Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia” earned zero nominations, not even for Kirsten Dunst’s bravura performance as a clinically depressed newlywed with a penchant for global cataclysm. Meanwhile, two actors who we typically associate with ridiculous comedies — Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”) — both got the nod. And once again, Glenn Close and Meryl Streep will fight to the death over that Best Actress statuette.

Business as usual?

I would bet against TREE OF LIFE, and am prepared to be disappointed this year in the Best Picture category. Still it is not such a terrible year when some seemingly mainstream movies like MONEYBALL, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, MONEYBALL, AND THE DESCENDANTS are all very good, and can attract Oscar nominations too.

P.s. I was surprised and disappointed that Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, who has been broadcasting from Sundance this week, made no mention on the show of the sudden death of Bingham Ray, the SFFS's new director.

[tabuno]

It's great to hear Chris mention the "glaring" omission of Melancholia, a movie I haven't seen yet but is on my must see list (one of the reasons I haven't posted my ten movies of the year list yet).

[Chris Knipp]

I have seen it twice, once in a press screening in San Francisco and at the New York Film Festival. It was impressive both times. It's possible still to see TREE OF LIFE and MELANCHOLIA in theaters in NYC now. MELANCHOLIA can be seen also in 8 other cities, TREE OF LIFE in one other.

[tabuno]

This year is perhaps the first time that I feel content and excited about the Best Picture category and the Oscar nominations. I look foward to this year's run-up to the announcements, though I still don't understand the attention given to The Descendants and (understandably) Warhorse.

[Johann]

I know Trier is persona non grata at Cannes. He hates press conferences.
I sympathize with him to a degree, because the fact of the matter is he is cranking out genius film after genius film and people just brush him off.

He's won the Palm D'or before, so it's not essential that he be singled out all the time, but Holy Chuck, Melancholia blew my head off.
I said it is on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey and I stand by that statement. It's that Grand a film. The theme is just as huge as 2001.
It ratchets up an unsettling tension that is unbelievable. I've never seen a film quite like it.

Jonah Hill? He's not a character actor. They are really stretching it with his nomination.
I like him- I'd share a blunt with him, but come on.
And Kirsten Dunst being snubbed is simply unforgivable.
As I said last year: the Oscars are supposed to award EXCELLENCE.
What is with these threadbare nods?
Melissa McCarthy? Who?!?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a movie that makes me cringe. I've seen the trailer ad nauseum and it ain't my cup of tea.
I feel it reduces a tragedy like 9/11 to a set dressing, a plot point.
Hunter S. Thompson said that 9/11 will always be a festering high water mark for the USA, and while trying to make a positive movie out of such a giant tragedy is admirable, it turns me off huge. Oliver Stone's World Trade Center showed how you handle that event in terms of human drama. You shouldn't do it with sweeping music and timed cues to cry.

And I have to say that I'm not capable of believing in Tom Hanks anymore.
His acting treasury is bankrupt. As Brando said once: "You only have so many faces in your pocket".
Hanks has run out of juice. I simply can't believe in his acting anymore. It's like "Oh there's Tom Hanks". Yawn.
Like Bruce Willis. He plays himself in every role. "There's Bruce Willis again!"
"John Travolta in another generic role with no fire in his belly!" Yawn.
These guys need to be told to kick it up a notch. Do something totally unorthadox. Because your well has run dry boys.
Will Smith just needs to put his FACE on a movie poster and we're supposed to salivate.
I demand more from these rich fucks. You are paid OBSCENELY well (way more than James Cagney ever was) and I expect large swaggering roles, meaty ones, the kind that your name is supposed to attract, the kind that Al Pacino hunted down with a vengeance.

Instead we have a hell of a lot of Cop-Out actors just going through the motions and getting obscenely wealthy for it.
No big dents in cinema history being made by these guys.
Jack Nicholson asked some years ago why people just can't make GOOD MOVIES?
Is that too much to ask?
DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and George Clooney seem to be the only stars who want to do quality work.
Maybe it's just me.

[Chris Knipp]

As so often your comments were sharp and funny, Johann, I agree with a lot of them and you inspire me to add a few.

EXTREMELY LOUD didn't really make me cringe, exactly. Surprisingly, it was watchable. But the idea of it it made me first cringe and then shrug. The novel-based screenplay was manipulative, twee, and ultimately irrelevant.

Jonah Hill does a good job but it seems a bit early to consider him for a supporting role Oscar. Surely there are more deserving candidates who'e paid more dues. And look at what else he lent his name to last year, THE SITTER. (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1970) There's another one I could add to my Worst Movies I Saw in 2011 list. I just added I MELT FOR YOU, with Rob Lowe trashing his already shaky reputation in it. Naturally really bad movies, I tend to repress. Roger Ebert said about THE SITTER: "I am so very, very tired of movies like this. " He's seen it all before. The only difference was this one manages to be a little more tasteless. And this was David Gordon Green, whose YOUR MAJESTY I couldn't sit through and so didn't review. YOUR MAJESTY is another Worst Movie I Saw in 2011 (April; THE SITTER was December), only I didn't see it all.

Look at the difference between Jonah Hill, Clooney, and Pitt -- and Ryan Gosling. Clooney and Pitt built cred because they ere were each associated with two of the year's best films. Jonah Hill was associated with one of the good ones and one of the worst. It cancels out.

Ryan Gosling seems to have gotten screwed. I have problems with DRIVE, but it got screwed; it gave Gosling another of his strong, intense roles. Only a nomination for Sound Editing? It was a strong and much admired film.

Gosling has a great CV. Just over the past five years he's starred in:

THE IDES OF MARCH
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE
DRIVE
ALL GOOD THINGS
BLUE VALENTINE
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

Wow. I don't know who can match the variety and interest of that list, in all of which he gives a 100% committed, strong performance. And before that he's got HALF NELSON, MURDER BY NUMBERS, and, most of all THE BELIEVER.

Jonah Hill? Yeah, a string of successful Apatow comedies. But is he an actor?

Whilyl Jonah Hill can't compete with Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara has only one actor to compete with, but she can't be compared because that one is the unbeatable, classic performance of Noomi Rapace. The mold was essentially broken after Rapace.

[Johann]

Gosling is coming along great. He is being ignored, but have no fear: he'll do more great things in the future. Canadians are like that. ;)

Jonah Hill hasn't got reams of acting talent. He says his lines well. He hits his marks. But is he dazzling? Erm, no.
I heard THE SITTER was an abomination, completely dumb.

Clooney, Pitt, Matt Damon, DiCaprio, Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pierce, Daniel Craig and others are trying to bring it with every piece of work.

"Incredibly Loud" seems like it's timed to jerk on your heartstrings, that it manipulates the viewer, and nothing can turn me off quicker than a movie telling me how to feel.

[Chris Knipp]

EXTREMELY LOUD is about a little boy who is borderline Asperger's -- mild autism -- running all around the boroughs of New York searching for a meaningless clue. He is essentially avoiding feeling anything. And that cuts against making us feel anything, even with the intro showing people jumping from the Twin Towers and a series of desperate phone messages from Tom Hanks. It didn't jerk my heartstrings. I guess I was paying too much attention.

[tabuno]

It's disappointing to me that this lofty and reputable Forum would treat Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close like a stepchild of films and not discuss this movie on a thread of its own, instead of a sidenote under 2011 Oscar topic. Personally, this movie so far is in the running for my top pick for 2011 Best Movie and I'm extremely glad that this movie was incredibly close and making Best Picture Oscar nomination that I feel it deserves.

As a social worker who has worked with grief issues and also children with disabilities, I found myself transfixed by the powerful, emotive portrayal of the devastating impact of random, sudden death syndrome can be. This movie captured both the painful psychological intensity, the almost insane anger and the need to either close up or hyper-actively seek out some explanation. There was no manipulation in this movie, except for real life and how humans are manipulated by their experential perceptions and their resulting emotions. This movie is a powerful and important contribution to the human experience and worthy of time-tested standard in its depiction of a major incident in human history.

Too many critics are seeking some lofty, artistic overarching unifying theory of 9/11 which is likely lost in the physical parallel of string theory and quantum mechanics. This movie doesn't have to rely on fancy photograph cinematography or gimmicks but good acting and dialogue to move the audience that is able to fathom the depths of this movie in its raw form. Sometimes, simplicity and straight-forward ordinary human "everyman" characters count for more than the sometimes sophisticated and convoluted character acting required in films.

This superb presentation offers us a much needed human look into some of the most important elements of being alive even as some of die.

[Chris Knipp]

It's disappointing to me that this lofty and reputable Forum would treat Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close like a stepchild of films and not discuss this movie on a thread of its own, instead of a sidenote under 2011 Oscar topic. It does have a thread of its own. You just needed to scroll down a bit. The thread has had 122 hits. We can discuss the movie there, if you like

http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3201-EXTREMELY-LOUD-AND-INCREDIBLY-CLOSE-%28Stephen-Daldry-2011%29

[tabuno]

This is my second oops on this Website and the second in the past month. I'm getting too old.

[Johann]

The movie is clearly needed by some.

[Chris Knipp]

Oscar handicappers may find the BAFTA nominations interesting. The following BBC America comments point out where the Oscars have followed or departed from BAFTA final choices. A full list of the BAFTA nominations will be found here. (http://www.bafta.org/film/awards/nominees-winners-2012,2449,BA.html) The BAFTAawards ceremony will air on BBC America February 12, 2012. Following are the nominations in key categories with comments from a BBC America website.

Best Film
Of the past five winners of the Best Film Academy Award, three have also been BAFTA winners, the exceptions being The Queen in 2007 (the Oscar went to The Departed), and Atonement in 2008 (beating No Country For Old Men). The nominees are:
The Artist
The Descendents
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Actor
Again, three out of the past five winners have been a direct match, Mickey Rourke’s astonishing work in The Wrester took BAFTA gold over the Academy-preferred Sean Penn in 2009, and Colin Firth getting his BAFTAs in early for A Single Man in 2010. He won both the following year for The King’s Speech. The BAFTA nominations are:
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney – The Descendents
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame

Best Actress
Here we’re on even safer ground, with four of the past five winners being a direct match. The sole exception being Carey Mulligan, who won the BAFTA for her role in An Education, where Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for The Blind Side.
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton – We Need To Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis – The Help

Best Supporting Actor
And once again the two academies are in almost total accord, with Geoffrey Rush’s win last year for The King’s Speech being the sole exception over the past five years. Christian Bale won the Oscar for The Fighter.
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March

Best Supporting Actress
Had Melissa Leo not won the Academy Award last year, and allowed Helena Bonham Carter to sweep in regally and swipe it for her performance as The Queen Mother in The King’s Speech, there would be a clean sweep of accord between our two nations. So close, and yet…
Carey Mulligan – Drive
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Judi Dench – My Week With Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Director
Here, we’re on shakier ground again, with only three out of five shared winners. Last year, David Fincher won the BAFTA for The Social Network, whereas the Oscar went to Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech. And back in 2007, Paul Greengrass won the BAFTA while Martin Scorsese took the Academy Award.
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Lynne Ramsay – We Need To Talk About Kevin

Elsewhere in the BAFTA nominations sheet, there are a couple of noteworthy categories that have no equal at the Oscars:

Outstanding British Film
My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director or Producer
Attack The Block – Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
Black Pond – Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
Coriolanus – Ralph Fiennes (Director)
Submarine – Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

Some critics have already noted that Olivia Colman has been cruelly snubbed for her astonishing performance in Tyrannosaur, either as Best Supporting Actress or even Best Actress. So if you want our tip for a future awards dead cert, it is her.

--January 30, 2012.

[Johann]

I've decided not to watch the Oscars this year.

I wish luck to Robert Richardson and Martin Scorsese and hope that Tree of Life wins something.
Other than that, I couldn't care less about the other nominees. Yawnfest.

The contributions to cinema were few and far between in 2011...

[Chris Knipp]

Samuel Johnson: "Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. . ."

Johann, when a man is tired of the Oscars, he's tired of movie gossip.

You may be right, but it's a part of life too.

[Johann]

Right now I am tired. Not of movie gossip, but of the lack of QUALITY films.

Of all mediums, I look to film for creative expression that DESTROYS the status quo (if only for a couple hours).
We have a shitload of movies that pander to the fears of our current reality, that badly and not so cleverly "reflect" or give answers to our world's problems. Or they just try to "make us feel good" with not-so-good stories.

Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino don't do that, which is why I really admire those two.
When and if I ever decide to make a movie, I'll petition Rodriguez to have it released under his Troublemaker Studios banner. I would want to be a part of his film company. That is THE studio to me.
Robert has done it all, Quentin has done it all. They have lived their dreams.
Their filmographies pack a fuckin' WALLOP.
People can disagree, but they can go fuck themselves. I know those guys are Titans.

My first film would be outrageous. Bevies of Russ Meyer beauties (in pigtails) and cigar-chompin' gun-totin' badasses exacting justice on certain "archetypes", with a soundtrack so cool you'll be saying to yourself "I gotta buy that soundtracK!!

HA HA HA

[Chris Knipp]

I don't think the films have been so bad this year. Tree of Life, Melancholia, Submarine, Incendies, The Kid with a Bike, Take Shelter, The Descendants, Warrior (which I never got around to reviewing), Moneyball, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Margin Call, Miss Bala, Attack the Block. . . and some great American indie films, Bellflower, Pariah, Terri, etc. And fine documentaries like Nostalgia for the Light, Into the Abyss, The Interruptors, and really fun blockbusters, Colombiana, Fast Five, MI4, Planet of the Apes. I don't see any dip in quality here. And those are just from my Best Lists. The Oscars lists are not so bad, in fact they're all pretty good, even if some of them are too pop or sentimental for my taste. Even the ones I consider terribly overrated are still mostly very well made.

[cinemabon]

Michel Hazanavicius wins DGA award as Best Director for "The Artist" usually an indicator of who will win the Oscar.

http://www.dga.org/Awards/Annual.aspx

[Chris Knipp]

THE ARTIST made a sweep of the BAFTA's: Best film, best director, best actor, as well as best cinematography, original screenplay, costumes and music. THE ARTIST had received 12 nominations.

Meryl Streep got best actress and THE IRON LADY bot best makeup and hair.

TINKER TAILOR was chosen outstanding Brithsh film.

Octavia Spensor won best supporting actress, Christopher Plummer best supporting actor.

RANGo got best animated film, SENNA best documentary.

Peter Straugham got best adapted screenplay for TINKER TAILOR, which had received 11 nominations.

There are usually some predictors here too.

[tabuno]

I agree with Chris about this year having a good number of decent, very decent, good movies. Probably agree and disagree on a number of them, especially since I'm a poor social worker who doesn't get out much in the far away state of Utah, most of which movies, I probably never even heard of.

[Chris Knipp]

Hopefully many of them will be available to you online or on DVD for a small price, but not right away. My ability to be in the Bay Area and New York is something I appreciate. Utah is beautiful though.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6183/24oscarbust.jpg
OSCAR NIGHT

"The Carpetbagger" article in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/movies/awardsseason/the-carpetbaggers-2012-oscar-predictions.html?_r=1&nl=movies&emc=mua1) the other day had these predictions, which we can measure against the actual awards that will be announced tonight. My personal comments: I originally wanted Tree of Life to win, but I have switched to The Descendants, which I think has more to say to people in the audience. Then I thought The Help, the only film that has done some popular box office, would be the favorite. I had no idea that The Artist would come in and do such a sweep. It's quite beyond me. But for me, it's a neutral choice, not my absolute favorite but still one that I liked, whereas some of the other choices I really did not respond to. I would like Brad or George to get recognition. I am not really convinced that this year's best actor was a mugging Frenchman who did not speak at all. (Jean Dujardin is talented and charming though.) I pride myself on seeing a lot of the foreign film contenders, but i have not yet seen the Polish or French Canadian one yet. The Polish one is available in NYC, where I am now; I'm not sure about Monsieur Lazhar.

Best picture: “The Artist”

Contender: “The Descendants”

Best director: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”

Contender: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

Best actor: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

Contender: George Clooney, “The Descendants”

Best actress: Viola Davis, “The Help”

Contender: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”

Best supporting actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”

Contender: Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Best supporting actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

Contender: Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”

Best adapted screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”

Contender: Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best original screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”

Contender: ?

(Long shots: J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”; Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”; Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”; Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”)

Best animated film: “Rango”

Contender: None

(Long shots: “A Cat In Paris,” “Chico & Rita,” “Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Puss in Boots” )

Best foreign language film: “A Separation,” Iran

Contender: “Monsieur Lazhar,” Canada

Long shots: “Bullhead,” Belgium; “Footnote,” Israel; “In Darkness,” Poland

Best documentary: “Undefeated”

Contender: “Pina”

[cinemabon]

One could say last night’s Academy Award ceremony was a tribute to Hollywood itself – “The Artist,” an homage to the silent film by a French film crew, was shot on soundstages in Hollywood and “Hugo” was a tribute to film’s beginnings in France. The French people have given us so much – that famous lady with her arm raised in New York and the very word, “liberté” come from the French language idiom. How ironic that the two films should be up for Best Picture the same year.

The night started out with Billy Crystal, despite looking his age, was as fun and witty as ever, even if his antics fell flat at the start (I expected a standing ovation when he walked out. I thought his reception rather cool). He is part of a lexicon of funny witty men – Bob Hope and Johnny Carson – who have repeatedly held together this clunking old vehicle when it nearly ran out of gas going up hill against the stream of young ideas. In fact, the very mention of the word “Kodak” was stricken from the rooster of words last night as Crystal skirted around the idea that Kodak, like the very idea of physical 35mm movie film, were things of the past, things that were not part of Hollywood’s current trend and most certainly not part of Hollywood’s future.

Last night was all about Hollywood’s past with Kodak film left out. But Hollywood’s strong present is definitely part of the feminine now. Women were praised for the most part as being part of that future with films like “Iron Lady” taking Best Actress for Meryl Streep and “Undefeated” (a film of Pakistani women, who despite having acid thrown in their faces, continue to pursue education in a country dominated by antiquated male opinion). Octavia Spencer’s strong black female character in “The help,” gave black women another boost in social morale and reminded this viewer of Hattie McDaniel in how she accepted her Oscar in 1939 with such humility and graceful effacement.

However, the night remained comfortable and safe for the most part with no controversy, no unsettling moment, and no audacious outbursts… just the one “fuck” that Dujardin managed to sneak past the five second delay censors as he left the stage (the other outburst was completely censored). The Iranian delegation made a very safe speech, probably approved by ABC prior to its reading, that we should all just ignore politicians and get along. The rush to get the technical awards out of the way and dropping of any film tributes in a year when Hollywood lost one of its biggest icons of all time – Elizabeth Taylor – galled me. The great film star received a brief five second shot at the end of the annual memorial tribute and the Jean Herscholt humanitarian award was relegated to a nod. Also the Academy or ABC did not provide a Dick Smith retrospective in regards to his incredible contribution to the art of makeup.

In the end, the Academy Awards played it too safe and tried to stay within America’s comfort zone, thereby making it one of the most bland and forgettable experiences of any awards ceremony and leaving one to wonder why we bother to have all the build up at all. If Hollywood cannot “wow” us any longer with something special when it comes to their annual tribute to film, then we might as well join the word “Kodak” and go quietly into that good night.

[tabuno]

The best Oscars I've experienced, as the lights, and the showmanship, and the acts really brought the Awards out with humor and sadness and even some political commentary...on a Sunday night, Hollywood brought out the best even with a fall in one of the first physical production numbers making the entire event memorable for its freshness and spontaneity. With Kodak Company in bankruptcy and the withdraw of sponsorhip, the diminishing past meets a recognition of the past in order to forge ahead in the present. The timing, and energy, and miscues, all of it made from the most captivating Oscar awards ceremony that I can remember.

[Johann]

Seems safe to me.
I didn't watch, but it appears I didn't miss anything.
A friend told me that Peter Breck wasn't even mentioned in the tributes to the ones who passed.

I'm glad Hugo won 5 awards (Robert Richardson! Hell Yeah!).
Haven't seen The Artist but I have no problem with it winning whatsoever.

[Johann]

I just watched the intro to last night's Oscars and it's lame. He did the "It's time for Oscar! Oscar Oscar!" bit again.
The Justin Bieber bit made me want to punch both Billy Crystal and Bieber. Blackface as Sammy Davis jr?!?
Did he do that just to get tongues wagging?

*Groan*

[cinemabon]

I love Billy Crystal but I thought the whole thing was a groan. Crystal summed it up best, "Given the current state of the economy, should we be glorifying millionaires, dressed in designer gowns, giving each other golden statues?" (paraphrasing)

When Maurice Jarre brought his Oscar for "Lawrence of Arabia" back through customs, French officials took it away, accusing the composer of illegally importing gold into the country. "But it's not solid gold!" Jarre claimed, "It's only painted gold!" The French customs official took out a knife and scraped an area away to reveal the steel metal underneath. "Go ahead... bring it in," the official relented. Thirty years later, the Academy heard his story and replaced Jarre's Oscar with a new one... without the scratch.

The Academy Award is in fact made mostly of tin that is plated with gold, a thin veneer covered with varnish and polished to look pretty.

[Chris Knipp]

Cinemabon, Thanks for an excellent summary pice, much better than anything I could do no matter how hard I might try. I note your comment on the lack of film tributes and the only passing mention of Liz Taylor. That is surely a travesty. I like that there were strong women. I am confused about UNDEFEATED, though. I thought it was a documentary about an American football team.

Undefeated has won the Oscar for best documentary feature at the Academy Award ceremony currently taking place at the in Hollywood. The film, directed by Daniel Lindsay and TJ Martin about a high school American football team in Memphis on a hot streak was an unexpected winner, defeating Wim Wenders' dance film Pina and the war documentary Hell and Back Again.--THE GUARDIAN (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/feb/27/undefeated-best-documentary-oscar). I'm interested in what you say about Jean Jujardin getting by with "fuck" -- I'd like to see that. I noticed he fucked -- er, I mean yelled, -- in French. A good idea. (Either way.)

The Iranians (Farhadi) are a more complicated question. He made a film that would get by the censors. We know he did get by them and we know, he has said, that it was his choice to do this. We know what has happened to the persistently obstreperous Panahi. But it seemed to me that he managed to get in a lot of criticism of the Iranian regime, all things considered. I was impressed with that.
The Iranian delegation made a very safe speech, probably approved by ABC prior to its reading, that we should all just ignore politicians and get along. I think we'd have to study very carefully what was said to be sure about this. My impression was that the statement was critical of Iran as it is today, and that under the circumstances is brave. It made me wonder if he'll go back or what will happen to him when he does go back. Maybe I'm wrong. But again, look at Panahi.

I remain astonished that THE ARTIST won big prizes like that. Isn't that pretty unusual -- however safe it may be to offer a tribute to early movies? Black and white and silent, and made mostly by French people?

But to me and I think to you the emotional resonance is in THE DESCENDANTS. For you also in HUGO, which I however think is like Walter Chaw said (http://filmfreakcentral.net/screenreviews/hugo.htm),
It's heartbreaking to see someone as vital as Scorsese used to be end up in a place as sentimental and treacly as this, resorting to retelling the Pinocchio story . . . It's a handsome tribute to early cinema, sure, but isn't it basically also just a posh children's movie? This leaves MONEYBALL a more radical effort. But I do not think these were bad choices. And TREE OF LIFE is even an artistically bold one.

It might have been a safe Oscar night but it was not a crap one, awards-wise. Except for the omissions of the tributes that you mention.

Chris

[cinemabon]

My bad... I guess it was the film short that won... the one about the Pakistani women... I thought it was best documentary and got my sources mixed up.

[Johann]

Thanks for the info about Jarre cinemabon.

The Oscar statuette was designed by MGM's Cedric Gibbons. (The man who built "the best art department in the business")

[cinemabon]

Chris - perhaps Dujardin did not yell "fuck" but something in French. Jimmy Kimmel even mentioned it on the show that followed. ("He kept silence during the film but that didn't prevent him from cursing at the Oscars" paraphrased) It certainly sounded like the euphemism.

[Chris Knipp]

I'll see if there's a video of it if I get a chance and try to find out what he said. He did yell some celebratory remarks briefly in French at the end I remember.