2013 Academy Award Nominations

[cinemabon]

Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards

Best motion picture of the year
•“Amour” Nominees to be determined
•“Argo” Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
•“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
•“Django Unchained” Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
•“Les Misérables” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
•“Life of Pi”Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
•“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
•“Silver Linings Playbook”Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
•“Zero Dark Thirty”Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers


Performance by an actor in a leading role
•Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln”
•Hugh Jackman in “Les Misérables”
•Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master”
•Denzel Washington in “Flight”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
•Alan Arkin in “Argo”
•Robert De Niro in “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Philip Seymour Hoffman in “The Master”
•Tommy Lee Jones in “Lincoln”
•Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
•Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty”
•Jennifer Lawrence in “Silver Linings Playbook”
•Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour”
•Quvenzhané Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
•Naomi Watts in “The Impossible”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
•Amy Adams in “The Master”
•Sally Field in “Lincoln”
•Anne Hathaway in “Les Misérables”
•Helen Hunt in “The Sessions”
•Jacki Weaver in “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best animated feature film of the year
•“Brave” Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
•“Frankenweenie” Tim Burton
•“ParaNorman” Sam Fell and Chris Butler
•“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” Peter Lord
•“Wreck-It Ralph” Rich Moore

Adapted screenplay
•“Argo” Screenplay by Chris Terrio
•“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
•“Life of Pi” Screenplay by David Magee
•“Lincoln” Screenplay by Tony Kushner
•“Silver Linings Playbook” Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original screenplay
•“Amour” Written by Michael Haneke
•“Django Unchained” Written by Quentin Tarantino
•“Flight” Written by John Gatins
•“Moonrise Kingdom” Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
•“Zero Dark Thirty” Written by Mark Boal

Achievement in cinematography
•“Anna Karenina” Seamus McGarvey
•“Django Unchained” Robert Richardson
•“Life of Pi” Claudio Miranda
•“Lincoln” Janusz Kaminski
•“Skyfall” Roger Deakins

Achievement in directing
•“Amour” Michael Haneke
•“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Benh Zeitlin
•“Life of Pi” Ang Lee
•“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg
•“Silver Linings Playbook” David O. Russell

Best foreign language film of the year
•“Amour” Austria
•“Kon-Tiki” Norway
•“No” Chile
•“A Royal Affair” Denmark
•“War Witch” Canada

Best documentary feature
•“5 Broken Cameras”
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
•“The Gatekeepers”
Nominees to be determined
•“How to Survive a Plague”
Nominees to be determined
•“The Invisible War”
Nominees to be determined
•“Searching for Sugar Man”
Nominees to be determined


Best documentary short subject
•“Inocente”
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
•“Kings Point”
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
•“Mondays at Racine”
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
•“Open Heart”
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
•“Redemption”
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

Achievement in film editing
•“Argo” William Goldenberg
•“Life of Pi” Tim Squyres
•“Lincoln” Michael Kahn
•“Silver Linings Playbook” Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
•“Zero Dark Thirty” Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Achievement in costume design
•“Anna Karenina” Jacqueline Durran
•“Les Misérables” Paco Delgado
•“Lincoln” Joanna Johnston
•“Mirror Mirror” Eiko Ishioka
•“Snow White and the Huntsman” Colleen Atwood

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
•“Hitchcock”
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
•“Les Misérables”
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
•“Anna Karenina” Dario Marianelli
•“Argo” Alexandre Desplat
•“Life of Pi” Mychael Danna
•“Lincoln” John Williams
•“Skyfall” Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
•“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
•“Everybody Needs A Best Friend” from “Ted”
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
•“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
•“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
•“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil


Achievement in production design
•“Anna Karenina”
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
•“Les Misérables”
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
•“Life of Pi”
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
•“Lincoln”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best animated short film
•“Adam and Dog” Minkyu Lee
•“Fresh Guacamole” PES
•“Head over Heels” Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
•“Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare” David Silverman
•“Paperman” John Kahrs

Best live action short film
•“Asad” Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
•“Buzkashi Boys” Sam French and Ariel Nasr
•“Curfew” Shawn Christensen
•“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)” Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
•“Henry” Yan England

Achievement in sound editing
•“Argo” Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
•“Django Unchained” Wylie Stateman
•“Life of Pi” Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
•“Skyfall” Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
•“Zero Dark Thirty” Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing
•“Argo”
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
•“Les Misérables”
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
•“Life of Pi”
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
•“Lincoln”
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
•“Skyfall”
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects
•“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
•“Life of Pi”
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
•“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
•“Prometheus”
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
•“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

[cinemabon]

Great article on "foreign language" films being nominated for Best Picture...

http://www.emanuellevy.com/oscar/oscar-history-foreign-language-films-as-best-picture-nominees-1/

[Chris Knipp]

Reviews on Filmleaf and discussion of all the main nominated films.

The FSLC is pleased to have presented a lot of these: "Proudly, films that screened at the Film Society of Lincoln Center this year received more than 60 nominations, among them all five Best Foreign Language Film, four of the five Best Documentary Feature nominees and all five best director nominees." FLIGHT, which got a Best Actor nomination and Best Original Screenplay, had its world premiere at the NYFF; so did LIFE OF PI.

I'd have replaced the execrable LES MISERABLES with MOONRISE KINDOM, which only got a Screenplay nomination, but the other titles are worthy.

[tabuno]

Every year there is always controversy over who was snubbed at the Oscars and this year it is apparently Ben's turn for Argo and perhaps I would say bias on the part of the Academy who have a distaste for actors to be good directors, with some exceptions of course - Clint Eastwood, Rob Howard.

[Chris Knipp]

You can hardly call ARGO snubbed when it's very much in the running for Best Picture and Best Screenplay plus four other nominations including Alan Arkin. They have to make distinctions and spread around the honors. I personally am not a huge fan of ARGO but I recognize that it is a successful mainstream historical thriller movie in which the Americans do the brave things and get away from the bad guys.

[tabuno]

When Ben has been nominated and winning film directorial awards:

Golden Globes nomination
British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nomination
African American Film Critics Association winner
Broadcast Film Critics Association winner (earlier yesterday evening)
Central Ohio Film Critics Association nomination
Chicago Film Critics Association nomination
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association nomination
Denver Film Critics Society winner
Detroit Film Critics Society nomination
Directors Guild (DGA) nomination (this nomination and Ben's absence of an Oscar nomination is particularly telling)
Florida Film Critics Circle winner
Houston Film Critics Society winner
International Press Academy nomination
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle winner
Online Film Critics Society nomination
Online Film Critics Society nomination
San Diego Film Critics Society winner
Southeastern Film Critics Association winner
St. Louis Film Critics winner
Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association nomination

his absence from an Oscar Best Director nomination is quite apparently at odds with most of the film industry and arguably your own preference. I would challenge anyone to make a case that other than Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty that no other director this year could be expected to have been more likely nominated for an Oscar best director.

Michael Haneke, Amour, and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild, are clearly dark horses with almost no recognition for any directorial awards this season, even shutting out .
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master. In a way its a disservice for the former two to have been nominated because the Academy apparently ignored the consensus of film connoisseurs in the industry, almost suggesting they are using some either out of date, overly-traditional, or mysterious film criteria unknown to the rest of us, sort of like the National Rifle Association when it comes to gun control. One could even make the case that the Academy allowed politics to intrude into the Awards by choosing to avoid the more politically delicate topic of war in favor of feel good movies.

[tabuno]

If I recall, a number of posters have complained about the Academy of Arts and Sciences and their past selections of nominees and winners in regards to best film categories. With the striking omission of not just one but three leading contenders for best director:

Kathryn Bigelow
Ben Affleck
Tom Hooper

and the increasing media coverage and public attention converging on The Golden Globes and even the Broadcast Film Critics Association the relevancy and importance of the Oscars is diminished in my mind to the point that watching it is not really worth my time. Hopefully someone will be able to adequately explain the major oversight here. Even the emphasis on Lincoln, a movie that didn't even make my top ten list has been wondering about the whole Awards program.

[Chris Knipp]

See the NY Times article (http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/oscar-2013-nominations/?nl=movies&emc=edit_fm_20130111) on the Oscar noms today (11 Jan '13), "‘Lincoln’ Leads Oscar Field With 12 Nominations," for more on this. I can see reasons for each omission, though. Bigelow's film is deep in controversy. Affleck may be seen has having been so involved in his acting that it was more a team effort. Quentin Tarantino is controversial too. But I can't understand it, and it's not fair.


But the shocker was a triple snub in the best director category: Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Ben Affleck (“Argo”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”) were passed over despite widespread expectations that one or all of them would be nominated. Instead, the nominations went to Steven Spielberg (“Lincoln”), Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”), Michael Haneke (“Amour”), David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Benh Zeitlin (“Beasts of the Southern Wild,” his first film).

[tabuno]

Thank you Chris. I have some sense of reason to allow me to believe that the world hasn't turned upside down. I can at least recover with my asthma and bacterial inflection with less stress now. Thank you for keeping me alive.

I may even watch the Oscars because of your sensible view of film making awards.

[cinemabon]

Great roundtable discussion last night on Charlie Rose about the Oscar nominations, and helps to explain the "snub" certain directors and films received this year in trying to be an all-inclusive nominating process. Click on the 1/11/13 story called "Oscar discussion" if it doesn't come up automatically today (shows are shuffled by date)

http://www.charlierose.com/

[cinemabon]

Oscar predictions...

Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis should receive his third Oscar for Best Actor. If he did, this would be the first time in the history of the Academy that any male actor has received more than two in the Best Actor catagory. It will be interesting to see as this is catagory has the most heated race.

Best Actress - The catagory is the most up for grabs. Most of the critcs feel Emmanuelle Riva should get the nod. I understand Naomi Watts gave an impressive performance in "The Impossible." This is one is unpredictable.

Best Director - the controversy in the nominations of this catagory arises from the problem of having too many films nominated for Best Picture without the directors of those films covered as well. However, the nominations are the result of 371 directors making the votes (directors vote in directors, actors actors, set designers vote for set designers and so on). To narrow the field down to five is always difficult and this year in particular when you have directors like Tarantino, Affleck, and others left out and their films nominated.

Best Picture - A complete toss up but the odds on favorite will probably go to "Lincoln" as the logical choice of Academy voters.

[cinemabon]

Tab, you may find this thread of interest...

http://scottfeinberg.com/the-10-most-indefensible-snubs-in-this-years-oscar-nominations

[tabuno]

It was with great pleasure and satisfaction to watch the 70th Golden Globe Awards tonight as Argo, Les Miserable, and Silver Lining Playbook had a good night which the Academy of Arts and Sciences gave less than deserved recognition in my mind to the former two movies. Lincoln in my mind was over-rated due to its political correctness, mother and apple pie theme.

[tabuno]

Tab, you may find this thread of interest...

http://scottfeinberg.com/the-10-most-indefensible-snubs-in-this-years-oscar-nominations

As I've mentioned earlier, I feel the Golden Globes redeemed my past sense of bewilderment and frustration.

[cinemabon]

You were the first person I thought of when "Argo" won both Best Director and Best Pix. You were the only person who bang the drum about "Argo" and proclaimed it's deserved accolades and you should be basking in that prediction today. Kudos

[tabuno]

Best Picture - Silver Linings Playbook. As the other major contenders (Les Miserable and Zero Dark Thirty) were left weakened by the lack of an nomination for best director, Silver Linings Playbook still has a chance to replicate Shakespeare in Love win in 1998. I still contend that Lincoln is over-rated and is being considered based on its emotional merits of the historical blessings given to the real President Lincoln and our national guilt over what we did to Africa Americans, not on the true merits of the movie itself.

Best Actor - Daniel Day Lewis. Regardless of the movie itself, like Heath Ledger in Dark Knight (2008), Lewis offered up a riveting character portrayal.

Best Actress - Jessica Chastain in “Zero Dark Thirty.” Even though I haven't seen the movie, there's no great reason to suggest that this award winning actress this year for her role in this movie won't also win this one either. She appears to be the leading contender based on this season's film awards.

Best Director - Silver Linings Playbook. Same argument as Best Picture.

[Chris Knipp]

I agree that LINCOLN is overrated, but it's just the kind of high-toned, safe movie the Academy likes to pick. If you look at the list

•“Amour” Nominees to be determined
•“Argo” Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
•“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
•“Django Unchained” Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
•“Les Misérables” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
•“Life of Pi”Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
•“Lincoln” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
•“Silver Linings Playbook”Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
•“Zero Dark Thirty”Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

What else is that safe? Certainly not DJANGO or ZD30. BEASTS is too small and offbeat. AMOUR is too downbeat and too foreign. LIFE OF PI hasn't got enough stars in it. SILVER LININNGS PLAYBOOK is about crazy people. That leaves ARGO and LES MISERABLES. Or in case of a three-way tie, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, but that's a long shot, and not as big an audience favorite outisde the TIFF as the other two. So I'd say LINCOLN is going to win, and we can just be glad that several others that we might like did get mentioned.

[cinemabon]

I'm not qualified to address this as yet (five films in five days) and have only seen three of the films you mentioned. But from my current position and thinking about the Academy, most of the voters are actors and tend to support films that have strong performances in them. Django is an excellent film, technically, but the acting almost plays second fiddle to the story. That leaves Lincoln and Silver as the other two films I've seen so far. Silver has a strong cast but no single actor really stands out. Lincoln, while, and you are correct, a safe picture, has Daniel Lewis who gave it his all, perhaps the strongest performance I've seen on screen all year. It will be difficult to vote against that. If that is the case, then the members tend to go with the film as well.

I really can't say yet. I have four days to go and plan on seeing... well, you'll see.

[Chris Knipp]

Mistakes and oversights.

Just want to mention that when we're talking about notable Oscar "snubs" this year, I'd say the biggest are of the two Andersons' Paul Thomas and Wes, the failure to mention THE MASTER or MOONRISE KINGDOM for Best Picture (P.T. mentioned only for his screenplay). There would have been plenty of room if you took off the overrated BEASTS, the unsuccessful LES MIS, and the aptly named ZERO. Ben Affleck has taken his "snub" well -- as he should: he's gotten more than he deserved. But my aim is not to undermine Ben Affleck's very real accomplishments. It's just that THE MASTER and MOONRISE KINGDOM are two of the best pictures, and they got left off the list, and that's a big mistake.

Who votes?

Are the Academy voters mostly actors, really? The makeup is said to be a subject of much speculation, but unpublished, one LA Times article (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/academy/la-et-unmasking-oscar-academy-project-html,0,7473284.htmlstory) noting it's been found that it is overwhelmingly white and male, and not equivalent to the voting public.
A Los Angeles Times study found that academy voters are markedly less diverse than the moviegoing public, and even more monolithic than many in the film industry may suspect. Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%.

Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership.

Keen that in mind: a median age of 62.

It's a mishmash of people:
The academy is primarily a group of working professionals, and nearly 50% of the academy's actors have appeared on screen in the last two years. But membership is generally for life, and hundreds of academy voters haven't worked on a movie in decades.

Some are people who have left the movie business entirely but continue to vote on the Oscars — including a nun, a bookstore owner and a retired Peace Corps recruiter. Under academy rules, their votes count the same as ballots cast by the likes of Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio.

There may be and should be lots of actors or former actors, many of the latter, but surely the majority of people who work on making movies are not the actors?

And then there are all the publicity and PR and distribution people who never even make it on a movie set.

Oh yes, and the studio executives. Guess what: they get to vote too! Surprised?

Most were (isn't this obvious too?) never nominated for or won an Oscar award, and have no idea what it would be like.

I recommend reading this Feb. 19, 2012 LA Times article: (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/academy/la-et-unmasking-oscar-academy-project-html,0,7473284.htmlstory) it's quie through, and equipped with pie-diagrams of the makeup of the group by categories. The main thing is that the Academy totally lacks diversity and a change of policy in 2004 to right that wrong has had almost no effect at all. A comment suggested that -- and I like this -- people of color who are awarded Oscars should go up on stage and say they cannot accept it, due to the lack of sufficient diversity in both the voters and the persons granted awards.

94% white

77% male

That's outrageous!

It's an Old Boys Club. Very literally. And Old White Boys Club.

[tabuno]

While Moonrise Kingdom wasn't among the top of my list of best movies, it easily made my top ten. This movie was a wonderful, fresh, different, film experience that captured the visual delight of what film entertainment can offer. Easily deserved a Best Picture nomination for the Academy's consideration.

[Chris Knipp]

I agree 150%.

[cinemabon]

I'm running back and forth between the playoffs and my movies. Here is what I could scrape up on percentages of who votes

"Voters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,783 as of 2012.[21]

Academy membership is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 73 annual awards ceremonies.[22]

All AMPAS members must be invited to join by the Board of Governors, on behalf of Academy Branch Executive Committees. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures.

New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership, although as recently as 2007 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join. The 2007 release also stated that it has just under 6,000 voting members. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady since then.[23]

In May 2011, the Academy sent a letter advising its 6,000 or so voting members that an online system for Oscar voting will be implemented in 2013.[24]"

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for that, cinemabon. However we are discussing this post by you, above, or I was, anyway:
I'm not qualified to address this as yet (five films in five days) and have only seen three of the films you mentioned. But from my current position and thinking about the Academy, most of the voters are actors and tend to support films that have strong performances in them. Django is an excellent film, technically, but the acting almost plays second fiddle to the story. That leaves Lincoln and Silver as the other two films I've seen so far. Silver has a strong cast but no single actor really stands out. Lincoln, while, and you are correct, a safe picture, has Daniel Lewis who gave it his all, perhaps the strongest performance I've seen on screen all year. It will be difficult to vote against that. If that is the case, then the members tend to go with the film as well.
Obviously your statement, which bothered me -- it didn't sound right to me -- that "most of the Academy are actors" and tend to support whateve (how would you know? You have no information what they tend to support without an exhaustive analysis of 85 years of voting, or however many it is) -- this is untrue.

22% is not "most." It is, in fact, a small percentage. Most of the Academy voters are NOT actorrs. Moreover even if they were, a lot of them are retired. The figures are how many are white, how many are male, and what the median age is, 62.

And even more significant, those under 50 constitute only 14$ of membership!

If anybody who's not male, not white, not over 50, is totally dissatisfied with what goes on at the Oscars, she has every right to be!

Of course we focus on the Oscars, and nowadays on Sundance -- which has been going on this week -- because the movies that come out in January are so bad. But that is in itself a situation created by the Oscars, at least to some degree, isn't i? Because all the big Oscar pictures have come out in the past three months and nobody wants to bring out a movie with future awards potential this far from the next end of Oscars cycle. Why January is such a dump season, much more than February, is a bit of a mystery though (there is an article on this in today's NYTimes).

I don't see why we even watch this stuff. I like my choices better than theres, and do not want to pick my "best" or "favorite" films out of the list they set up. It's not a good list. (It's not terrible either. But then I'm white, male, and over 50.)

[Chris Knipp]

Moreover I do not support your analysis of the films you're considering, which seems to me arbitrary. The actors dont' matter in a Tarantino film? Wow! Where did you ever come up with that idea? That DDLewis gave the strongest performance you saw this year may be true.... He would not be my choice. He was better in earlier roles. I likked him in MY BEAUTIFIL LAUNDRETTE. He was great before the eyes of the Academy came down on him. Her becomes more and more generic. He's a talented actor, though, an amazing one. But in LINCOLN, to my mind, and this is just my opinion, he does not shine as he has in the past. It's a rubber-stamp role. He has no wiggle-room in it.

[cinemabon]

Don't put words in my mouth, Chris (but do put in a pastrami sandwich). I never said "actors don't matter." I said that the technical side of the film overshadowed the actors. That said, if we are speaking of acting in "Django," I would go along with the Academy's decision to nominate Waltz. He was an excellent supporting actor (whereas Sam Jackson's Uncle Tom was a bit over the top, I thought). Jamie Foxx, playing the Clint Eastwood role, is underplayed to the point where he shows little or no emotion throughout. One can say that constrained acting is a legitimate form of acting, and they'd be right to say so. But in the history of the Academy, few of that type of acting style have won.

Do I know how the Academy will vote with any certainty? No one does, and again, I never made such a claim. Also, 22% of 100% is a small percent. But if it constitutes the LARGEST voting block, then it amounts to something. No other part of the Academy is larger in members and they don't call each other up to form coalitions (DGA to PGA "Hey! You guys in the Producers Guild! Vote for Django, ok?"). When it comes to the Oscars, and knowing a few past Academy winners in SAG, I go with my gut... i.e. what's the scuttlebutt out there. Sometimes I am so wrong, I'm on the other side of the moon. But generally, I tend to pick better than 50%, though do poorly in the lesser catagories of animated short, etc. as it is difficult to screen these little gems.

[cinemabon]

FYI - the rules of the AMPAS have never been publically published, so you won't find them on any website. In fact, no member is allowed to discuss the rules in public or on record. No one is a member for life. You have to pay annual dues to stay in (even the guilds, you have to pay dues), which is why the membership goes up and down so much (that and people die). Also, you have to be nominated in some catagory and not all of those are the ones on the list at Oscars.com. Every year the Academy holds it "techical" awards show and all of those people are members, too. They can vote for and nominate anyone in their area of expertise. But they vote only in the technical catagory. Their numbers are included in the nearly 6,000 members out there. I never heard of a taxi driver being a member, but if he or she is an out of work member of the Academy and has paid their dues and was once nominated, then they can maintain being an active member whether working in the industry or not. They did for a certain period and that's what matters. Finally, a member cannot vote if they haven't seen the film. They are required to file a report that they saw the film on such and such a day and at this theater. The Academy takes this very seriously. When I ran a theater in LA, all Academy members had to show their card and sign a sheet that showed they had seen the film in question.

[Chris Knipp]

I think they watch them on screeners a lot, especially the elderly members. You know more about it that I do, but even you have to speculate. "But if it constitutes the LARGEST voting block, then it amounts to something". Yes, something. But what. And it's not really a voting "block" if they vote quite independently. But do they? I don't know. Maybe there have been studies of this, or maybe one is under way. I still wonder, why does it matter, how can it matter to me, when my favorite films are not nominated for anything.

[Chris Knipp]

When I heard you say that people vote who have not been in the movie business for ages, that was all I needed to hear.
Shitpumps.
Metamucil Shitpumps.
More fuel for my rage. Great.
--Johann

I've known for years that the voters were old and disconnected to some extent because my friend whose father was a director and screenwriter, his widow voted, and she was in her eighties and had not been active (as an actress) in films since the Fifties.

[Johann]

How important is an Academy Award, anyway? Does it validate your status? Samuel L. Jackson said no- just yesterday.

If they truly awarded the Best, EVERY YEAR, then I would shut my yap. But this voting system seems very arbitrary with many people voting whose vote means Jack Shit. How many palms are greased too? None? It's all above board? Do they throw bones to those they perceive as "flavors of the month"?

I wonder, Boy.

Stanley Kubrick never won an Oscar for Best Director and he never got a lifetime achievement award, when many others who I couldn't care less about did. At least Akira Kurosawa was recognized in his lifetime...

Academy Awards are Vain. They should be recognition for a job well done, not crapshoots- and I'm talking about the nominations too. There should be no doubt of the Best- by clear consensus.
The Academy is not clear consensus. It's a hazy, murky consensus that makes people feel jaded and overlooked. A CRIME.
You win one year, and the next year or two you come back with a barn burner of a movie that is totally ignored.
WHAT IS THIS MICKEY MOUSE SHIT?!

[Chris Knipp]

It's not exactly Mickey Mouse shit. It's just not cinephile sophistication. This is not a bad list. It's half-bright.

Best Picture: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Bradley Cooper, Daniel Day-Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Emmanuelle Riva, Quvenzhané Wallis, Naomi Watts

Best Director: Amour (Michael Haneke), Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin), Life of Pi (Ang Lee), Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell), Lincoln (Steven Spielberg)

It's just missing some key tites, most notably we agree MOONRISE KINGDOM and THE MASTER. For sure a lot of money goes into promotion and that must influence voting, and some palms may get greased too, but how?

[Johann]

I don't consider myself sophisticated. Cinephile, sure.
These people are in the business. They are supposed to be able to pick this shit out of pepper.
There should be no doubt about the nominees. The Winners you can allow for wiggle room because of voting, but all films should be beyond critique for their nominations. No one should be pulling their hair out over movies they love being ignored over other "lesser" pictures.
No one should be saying they won't tune into their TV sets that night, like I did last year and will do again this year. The Oscars don't mean much to me anymore. They never really did. I just watched to see the tributes to those who passed, which they also have ignored people with!

[Johann]

I read the latest issue of Film Comment which has nice articles on Django Unchained and Lincoln and Gavin Smith wrote a nice letter from the editor. He brings up distribution and the plethora of films out there, with fewer and fewer people buying tickets. He confirmed a fear of mine, because about 6 months ago I was gonna drop everything and make my own film, put it on a DVD and take it to TIFF- do the whole thing myself.

But there are so many films and filmmakers out there! Who are all vying for recognition and distribution.
I'd have to make something that came from @#!*% MARS in order to become a new name.

Gavin mentioned Christopher Nolan, and how even he has to have nerves of steel to do what he does, even with all of his "Power" and "Clout".

Cinema is thriving, but there are way too many cooks in the kitchen....

[cinemabon]

I believe I saw that film once, "The thing that came from f**king Mars!"

[cinemabon]

Congratulations to Tab on his big win over the weekend. "Argo" took both PGA (Producers Guild) and SAG Awards for "Best Picture" signalling that barring what happens at the DGA awards this Saturday, "Argo" is a shoe in for Best Picture of the Year. My reservations are moot.

And, since Affleck cannot win Best Director (even if he wins DGA), then its up for grabs and will be the first time in years that Best Director and Picture are different (assuming the trend continues and there's no reason to believe it won't).

Who would you pick for director (out of the nominees)?

[Chris Knipp]

Is it really true that ARGO is a shoe-in for Best Picture? If so I am sure of being very annoyed at the Oscars, which I was beginning to suspect. My choices for Best Director? Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, or Leos Carax! But of course they can't win because they, like Ben Affleck, aren't nominated. I think Michael Haneke is a very great director, even if his work is cold and cruel a lot of the time. So is Stephen Spielberg, but not this time. His recent work has not quite deserved that title. It's assured, but without the spark of true originality.

[cinemabon]

What about Russell being given the conciliatory prize?

[Chris Knipp]

I thought of that. I like his work, and the public (Audience Prize at Toronto being an indication) likes Silver Linings Playbook.

A Vegas handicapping article (http://www.vegasinsider.com/by-the-book/story.cfm/story/1357576/) says Lincoln, Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Tonny Lee Jones, Anne Hathaway [:(].

[cinemabon]

I would agree with Vegas except for Best Pix, because those odds are not based on the latest criteria (Boy do they like Affleck! Where is Tab?). This weekend, if the directors go with the trend and pick Affleck for DGA, all bets are off. This would be one of those weird times when the guilds and the Academy do not mesh. That would make Affleck the only director who ever won all of the other awards and didn't win an Oscar. I can't think of another director that happened to.

[Chris Knipp]

That could be better publicity than if he won the Oscar. Like Ivo Pogorelich (classical pianist I l like) who became famous by being eliminated in the third round from the Warsaw Chopin competition in 1980 when Martha Argerich, former winner and the most famous judge, walked off the jury in protest saying he was a genius. The next year he had major debuts at Carnegie Hall and in London. Not winning the Warsaw Chopin competition was better than winning it. A Korean won it, who is forgotten.

[tabuno]

Tab was under all the dense smog and smuck and blankets and blankets of snow and shovels.

Russell and Silver Linings Playbook win as a compromise choice. Affleck has a chance for a Director's Guild win, though Chris Knipp's comment has stuck in my brain as to how the ensemble focus may detract from the singular effort of directing my Affleck. Let's go with something less dramatic and explosive for a change...America and the world has been through too much crap and drama, we'll all worn down and depressed, the movie audience needs something to rally around that speaks to the more lighter, exhilarating side of life and coincides with the hope of the American economy and the re-election of a President who holds the promise of a majority of voters.

[cinemabon]

I sincerely hope your air is retored to normal (it was in all of the press reportings recently) and having lived in LA years ago, there were days with smog alerts, long before the press reported such things, when you couldn't see across the street! Talk about life with brown air!

This might be one of those strange years when Best Pix and Best Director do not coincide. We might see Russell win and Lincoln, or Spielberg with Silver Linings, OR the big surprise that Django wins Best Pix. Now that would be a feather in all our caps! If it does, I would say that Stacey Sher should grab Quentin Tarantino and the two should strut up to the stage!

[tabuno]

Danjo is the only major power house movie I have yet to see and its omission makes my discussion of award winners a little like a stack of cards.

[Johann]

Peter Howell says this year is the weirdest for the Oscars.
He thinks by rights Lincoln should triumph, as it is perfect Oscar Manna.

Can't see any argument to that. Maybe I will tune in just to see what a wild night it could be.

[tabuno]

While voting against Lincoln for best picture might be like voting against gun control, abortion, apple pie, there are legitimate reasons to seek another movie for best picture. It's hard hard to find direct best picture Oscar comparisons as


The Artist (2011) - romantic historical drama. A sympathetic historical depiction usiing the unique contemporary "silent" picture technique.

Black Swan (2010) - drama (individual struggle). This was a singular in-depth look at one individual's intense suffering for art.

The Hurt Locker (2009) - war action drama. The apparent real life "technical" weaknesses of this movie were overlooked. A safe look a the patriotic sacrifice of macho American male.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - drama (foreign cultural romance mystery). Unlike Lincoln, this movie captured a life time of character development infused with an exotic depiction of another place. Lincoln while being a period movie of Americana, didn't really infuse the movie with the same depth of richness of the Civil War era.

No Country for Old Men (2007) - action crime thriller drama. Another movie where the "technical" weaknesses were overlooked and the performance of a supposedly unusual odd character like the use of "silent" movie in The Artist allowed the movie to stand out.

The Departed (2006) - period crime thriller. Interestingly enough it is this movie that offers an example of the possibility that Lincoln might be voted as best picture, as The Departed had great acting, great interplay between characters but a delivery that was less than perfect.

Crash (2005) - drama that focuses on racial discrimination with a number of inter-related subplots that follow specific characters and story lines. A politically correct movie for Hollywood, but controversial topic nation-wide. This might be more suggestive of Silver Linings Playbook winning the best picture.

Million Dollar Baby (2004) - sports drama. Another intimate personal struggle drama.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) - epic fantasy adventure.


Chicago (2003) - winning Broadway musical adaptation.

Earlier best picture winners don't really equate with Lincoln. One needs to go back to Dances with Wolves (1990), an epic American period western drama had more intimate social-political and character development than Lincoln which might suggest why Lincoln would be upset by another movie and not be on par with Dances with Wolves as a standard. Interestingly even though Sally Fields has been nominated and won a few awards for best supporting actress in Lincoln, as a weak second place runner-up for this year's Oscar, it is especially her role as Lincoln's wife that seems most out of place and distracting with Field's own persona seemingly intruding into the role, perhaps its the lack of creative make-up unlike Daniel Day-Lewis as President in Lincoln.

Really past precedence would suggest that the strongest persuasive force that Lincoln has going for it isn't so much past Oscar winners rather it is subjective timing and meaning of the Civil War and its being remembered for its 100 year memory and President Obama's re-election that recalls the political and military struggles on behalf of African Americans.

[tabuno]

With the February 2nd announcement by the Director's Guild of America that award Ben Affleck for Argo as best director may be sufficient to anble Argo to win Best Picture Oscar even though the Oscar's omitted Afflect from its award lineup for best director. With a steady stream of best picture awards piling up for Argo, besides Zero Dark Thirty whose director also didn't get nominated for best Oscar director, the more safe, less controversial and all American success story has a definite chance of beating out Lincoln and Silver Lining's Playbook which may have to settle for the best actress award and possibly the best director awards.

[cinemabon]

I believe that whatever "Argo" can win in two weeks, it will. The Academy old timers who failed to acknowledge Ben Affleck this time are being punished. The community has moved over to Affleck's side and the win for Best Picture will vindicate that. But is it really the best picture. I could argue that some on that recent were far from being Best out of the nominees. The Academy is in flux and the true nature of the beast is that when the dust settles in the next few years, the independent film will more than likely be nominated more often that the big Hollywood film because this new community of artists feels it is long overdue. They will probably tend to look back over the year, as those on this site do throughout the year, and chose from those films that deserve recognition, not the special end of the year stuff that usually gets nominated.

[tabuno]

My top movies of the year do not have the stellar popular nor critical acclaim even as I have felt that Argo likely to win the Oscar is among the best movie of the year (as cinemabon infers that there are other better movies out in 2012). Les Miz hit a home run for me this year which while recognized among the best, hasn't broken through much as the best movie of the year and my high praise for Hitchcock has literally no support among other people or critics.

My pick for Silver Lining Playbook is the only one seemingly on more solid ground, even though it seems Argo has the momentum, and the flawed over-rated Lincoln still can score an upset in this special year of the Civil War remembrances.

Cloud Atlas sadly was overlooked, but by strong bias towards science fiction clouds my objective senses.

Perhaps the one movie that those on this website might generally agree on is Moonrise Kingdom which met with my amazed praise.

[Chris Knipp]

Harvey admits mistakes (even though his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK may win):



See the following article, which I previously missed, on Salon.com: WEDNESDAY, JAN 30, 2013 09:05 AM PST
Harvey Weinstein: I screwed up on “The Master” and “Django”
In an interview, the longtime Oscar maven concedes that he doesn't always have the winning strategy
BY DANIEL D'ADDARIO (http://www.salon.com/2013/01/30/harvey_weinstein_says_he_screwed_up_on_the_master_ and_django/)

He was so adamant that DJANGO should be seen on the big screen, he failed out to send out lavish supplies of DVDs of the film to Academy votors (who as I've mentioned are often oldsters who don't get out to the movies that much). With THE MASTER, he wishes he'd had more of a hand in the cut, been "a Devil's advocate instead of a cheerleader," which he thinks would have made the result more of a commercial success, and he should have managed the film's promotion more closely tool.

The original interview on DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD appears here. (http://www.deadline.com/interstitial/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.deadline.com%2F2013%2F01%2Fm ike-fleming-qas-harvey-weinstein-on-oscars-sundance-obama-and-getting-the-web-to-pay-up-for-borrowed-content%2F)

One need not believe Harvey's every word to recognize that Oscars are won or lost largely before the films get to the Academy voters.

[Johann]

Thanks for that article Chris. Great stuff.

The Master could be more commercial, and I understand where Harvey is coming from, but Ye Gods, that film should not have a FRAME touched. Its status will only deepen with time. It will age like the fine wine cinema of Kubrick. Trust me. I know a movie should do gangbusters business, but The Master is a certified classic and if the audience isn't quite there, it will be. Just give it time to Age. It is a Gorgeous piece of work.
I read Philip Seymour Hoffman's interview in Esquire about it, and he said he worked on it for three years, and that it is NOT about Scientology, and a smart viewer will know that when they leave the theatre. He is right.
Philip, you sang wonderfully too! That was my second favorite scene: the nudie party where he sings exuberantly. CLASS, MAN. Just CLASS.

That article made me want to see Magnolia again, as Philip mentioned Jason Robards' scene (the last thing that Legend ever did) and how on page it was LONG. And he nailed it. As a sick dying man.

Django Unchained has surprised everybody, I think. Tarantino may have made the Best film of his career to date. I'm certainly leaning that way. Consummate filmmaker indeed! Watch what he'll do, folks.
We Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet from QT...

[Johann]

Congrats to Ben Affleck too.
His ship has come in.

[Chris Knipp]

Affleck did a fine job. It just seriiosly disappointed me because it is such an obvious crowd pleaser and he left behind his Boston local roots.

I'd like to see Magnolia again too, on a wide screen. I well remember when I first saw it, at Regal Union Square NYC, in a packed auditorium.

Others are saying as well that Django may be the best thing Tarantino has ever done. I would not go that far because I love other films he has done, but it does seem in a way to be his most serious statement to date.

Harvey Weinstein knows what is commercial, but he also knows quality, and luckily to my kowledge he has mostly played midwife and not Svengali on great films he has distributed, promoting them and not tinkering with them too much. But I don't know all the inside info on that.

[cinemabon]

What I'd like and what will be are probably polar opposites when it comes to the 24th. I'd like Russell and company to win. I doubt they will, but they certainly deserve it. The last time it happened was "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." It would be a big feather in Oscar's cap if they did and would certainly be newsworthy.

[cinemabon]

When "Argo" wins the Academy Award on Sunday for Best Picture of the year, and I believe we are all in agreement that it will for a variety of reasons, know that there are those who still object based on the grounds of being unfair in its representation. Brian Williams addressed this on Thursday during the Nightly News broadcast and James Lipton also mentioned it today when he gushed over his prized pupil, Brad Cooper. Here is what Canada has to say, which most certainly will not be the last word...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/22/canada-ambassador-slighted-argo_n_2745720.html

[tabuno]

Personally when I review feature films that are not documentaries, my comments primarily revolve around the cinematic execution of a movie and at most to the logical, rational consistency of a scene rather than on any factual-based omissions or distortions. Reading about the film adaptation of the latest PBS Pride and Prejudice movie or the adaptation of Bladerunner from its source material enlightened me as to the necessity of changing the facts of history or books or any source material for the purpose of creating a film quality experience. Thus for those who harp on the content flaws of a movie based on historical accuracy only seems to me to insist on such idealistic purity that it ignores the reality of film making.

[Chris Knipp]

The New York Times's usual roundup on the Academy Awards (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/22/movies/awardsseason/closing-days-of-the-oscar-race.html?nl=movies&emc=edit_fm_20130222&_r=0) by "The Carpetbagger" (MELENA RYZIK) makes this year's Oscars sound unusually interesting for the variety of the movies in the Best Picture list and the uncertainty of how the prizes will be distributed, and I think this may be true. She also had some other Oscar notes (MELENA RYZIK) in another article. She points out that this has been a profitable year for the current crop of nominated movies and big box office for a majority of them ought to mean more watchers of the ceremonies:
It’s been a strong year at the box office for nearly all the nominees — six have already crossed the $100 million mark, in contrast to just one, “The Help,” last year — and that may well translate into higher ratings for the telecast.

[Chris Knipp]

Remember Mike Gravel? According to another ARGO-related NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/world/middleeast/stung-by-argo-iran-backs-conference-decrying-hollywoodism.html)he was in Iran participating in a conference on "Hollywoodism" and saying that there is a need to combat the stereotypical presentation of Iran and Iranians in American movies as part of preventing "an insane war."
Mike Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said Hollywood had brainwashed its audiences into thinking negatively about Iran. He said it was “fundamental” to discuss the American movie industry’s ways of portraying Iran in order to prevent “an insane war.” Fiction cinema certainly is different from documentary or from novels, plays, or poems and there is no way you can fully and accurately transfer PRIDE AND PREJUDICE to the screen, but believe me, the misrepresentation of historical events is not "okay" or "necessary" as a part of making films about them. ARGO's blatant distortions of events and overlooking of elements in them (the trumped-up, obvious "suspenseful" stuff toward the end, the under-representing of the role of the Canadians) undermine the quality of Affleck's crowd-pleasing propaganda movie (as Iranians would see it).

[tabuno]

Fiction films are fictional and artistic license is broad. To each victor goes the glory of making reality out of their perception of the facts.

Each empire, the Greeks and Romans on down through history have offered up their own Gods and own version of reality.

As a social worker, truth and subjective reality, as many people know - witnesses to a crime scene will actually and honesty believe in their own truths.

It appears that the political and emotional arguments underlying ARGO aren't based as much on the artistic quality or criticism as the subjective political values and beliefs of the viewer and critic.

Since 1984, where 2 + 2 = 5...the slippery slope of truth in movies would be to destroy any reasonable sense of critical analysis of films and instead descend into some impossible debate over the authenticity, reliability of the truth of movies...a standard that I don't believe would have value in theatrical film making.

[Chris Knipp]

It''s not quite so simple as you make it sound. Manohla Dargis goes into this issue in more detail in an article in Today's New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/movies/awardsseason/the-history-in-lincoln-argo-and-zero-dark-thirty.html?_r=0

Concerns about accuracy involve DJANGO UNCHAINED, LINCOLN, ARGO, and ZERO DARK THIRTY. Those around ARGO may be relatively trivial. There may be deeper distortions in LINCOLN. The most serious ones of all, however, as Dargis presents them, surround ZERO DARK THIRTY. But she concludes, as you do, in general:
But invention remains one of the prerogatives of art and it is, after all, the job of writers, directors and actors to invent counterfeit realities. It is unfair to blame filmmakers if we sometimes confuse the real world with its representations. The truth is that we love movies partly because of their lies, beautiful and not. It’s journalists and politicians who owe us the truth.

My objection to ARGO's fakery to generate suspense was never that it's unhistorical, though the Iranians have a right to protest that and the undercutting of the Canadians' role seems mean spirited; it's that it's unbelievable and obvious.

[cinemabon]

2013 Academy Awards

Family oriented ABC put out front man Seth McFarlane and got the edgy material for which he is famous. The opening number with Bill Shatner was both entertaining and humorous, somewhat. Some of the jokes were funny but some of them were completely tasteless (“Booth the only man who got inside Lincoln’s head” which garnered groans) Fresh in the start was 76 year old Shirley Bassie who belted out “Goldfinger” one more time to the delight of everyone after the 50 years of James Bond. The crowd jumped to its feet, but music was to carry the night. Not long after the talking heads handed out a few statuettes, the show returned with a tribute to the modern musical – Chicago, Dreamgirls, and Les Miserables. In my rush to place judgment on the later, I had forgotten Dreamgirls and the incredible talent that put that film together, a very memorable modern musical, as is Chicago. Leave it to the evening’s producers to put the best number from Les Miz on stage (as I mentioned in my review). If the rest of the film had been like that, it should have won Best Pix.

Waltz and Hathaway were no surprise and expected (they took the bulk of the “pre” awards as well). The sound editing tie was handled poorly with the potty-mouthed Ted (Seth McFarlane) more concerned with the after-ceremony sex party (again, tasteless and unnecessary and not very funny). The technical awards were scattered from picture to picture without any particular film dominating, adding to the suspense of who might win Best Picture... or not. I knew and I think we all knew that Argo would win. Judging from the expressions on Clooney’s face and Ben Affleck, they were fairly confident, too.

When Adelle delivered Skyfall, although masterfully done (I love the song), it almost came as an anti-climax to Jennifer Hudson’s “You will love me” which also brought the crowd to it’s feet. Hudson poured her heart out into the rendition and the audience at the new Dolby Theater showed their appreciation. I also felt that if Skyfall didn’t win (it did), it would be a crime. Adelle was too emotional to speak. However, the most emotional moment of the evening occurred when Barbra Streisand took the stage to honor Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away last year. The two had worked together for years. In a strained over-worked voice, choked with emotion, Streisand tried to sing “Memories” her first singing appearance at the Oscars in 36 years. While she was no Jennifer Hudson, her voice still had the impact of the great singer she is. The crowd rose to its feet and roared approval. Unfortunately, ABC cut to a commercial and that was that.

One of the evening’s biggest surprises came with the cinematography, special effects and best score Oscars going to Life of Pi, and the night’s biggest surprise awarding Ang Lee Best Director, well deserved. Another Oscar in that well-deserved category would have to be Mr. Taratino (as Dustin Hoffman said). He dedicated his screenplay to this cast.

The night’s biggest losers, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables (had the majority of nominations) winning a grand total of four Oscars! Zero Dark Thirty was shut out.

Best moment of the night? Jennifer Lawrence doing a self-effacing splat on the stairs in that beautiful but large Dior and then keeping it straight in her thanks.

Best line of the night? Daniel Day Lewis saying he had to a swap with Meryl Streep for the role of Margaret Thatcher (which got a huge laugh) and persuading Speilberg not to make Lincoln a musical.

After hearing that two of the major awards – editing and adapted screenplay – were going to Argo, the Best Picture nod was a foregone conclusion and anti-climactic, even with the lovely Michelle Obama making the announcement. Affleck’s grab for his Oscar was rather premature seeing as he was not nominated in any category and technically did not win an Academy Award.

Finally, ABC cannot complain about the show going “late” as they ran the Red Carpet past 8:30 eastern and that is stupidity as far as I’m concerned. The show is not about gowns but about awarding artists.

[cinemabon]

2013 Oscars: Complete list of winners

Best Picture
WINNER: "Argo"
"Amour"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Life of Pi"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Django Unchained"

Best Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis -- "Lincoln"
Bradley Cooper -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix -- "The Master"
Denzel Washington -- "Flight"
Hugh Jackman -- "Les Miserables"

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva -- "Amour"
Quvenzhane Wallis -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts -- "The Impossible"


Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Philip Seymour Hoffman -- "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones -- "Lincoln"
Robert De Niro -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin -- "Argo"
WINNER: Christoph Waltz -- "Django Unchained"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams -- "The Master"
WINNER: Anne Hathaway -- "Les Miserables"
Sally Field -- "Lincoln"
Helen Hunt -- "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver -- "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Director
Michael Haneke -- "Amour"
Steven Spielberg -- "Lincoln"
David O. Russell -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
WINNER: Ang Lee -- "Life of Pi"
Benh Zeitlin -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature
WINNER: "Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
"ParaNorman"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

Best Animated Short Film
"Adam and Dog"
"Combustible"
"The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare"
WINNER: "Paperman"
"Tram"

Best Live Action Short Film
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
WINNER: "Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"

Best Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey -- "Anna Karenina"
WINNER: Claudio Miranda -- "Life of Pi"
Roger Deakins -- "Skyfall"
Robert Richardson -- "Django Unchained"
Janusz Kaminski -- "Lincoln"

Best Costume Design
WINNER: Jacqueline Durran -- "Anna Karenina"
Paco Delgado -- "Les Miserables"
Joanna Johnston -- "Lincoln"
Eiko Ishioka -- "Mirror Mirror"
Colleen Atwood -- "Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Documentary Feature
"The Gatekeepers"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
WINNER: "Searching for Sugar Man"
"5 Broken Cameras"

Best Documentary Short
"Mondays at Racine"
WINNER: "Inocente"
"Kings Point"
"Open Heart"
"Redemption"

Best Film Editing
WINNER: William Goldenberg -- "Argo"
Michael Kahn -- "Lincoln"
Tim Squyres -- "Life of Pi"
Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers -- "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: "Amour"
"Kon-Tiki"
"No"
"A Royal Affair"
"War Witch"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
WINNER: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell -- "Les Miserables"
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel -- "Hitchcock"

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat -- "Argo"
Dario Marianelli -- "Anna Karenina"
WINNER: Mychael Danna -- "Life of Pi"
John Williams-- "Lincoln"
Thomas Newman -- "Skyfall"

Best Original Song
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice" -- Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Suddenly" from "Les Miserables" -- Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
WINNER: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall" -- Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi" -- Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted" -- Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane

Best Production Design
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer -- "Anna Karenina"
David Gropman and Anna Pinnock -- "Life of Pi"
WINNER: Rick Carter and Jim Erickson -- "Lincoln"
Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson -- "Les Miserables"
Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent and Simon Bright -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Best Sound Editing
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Django Unchained"
WINNER-TIE: "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall"

Best Sound Mixing
"Argo"
WINNER: "Les Miserables"
"Skyfall"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Visual Effects
"Marvel's The Avengers"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
WINNER: "Life of Pi"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tony Kushner -- "Lincoln"
WINNER: Chris Terrio -- "Argo"
David O. Russell -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
David Magee -- "Life of Pi"
Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola -- "Moonrise Kingdom"
Michael Haneke -- "Amour"
WINNER: Quentin Tarantino -- "Django Unchained"
John Gatins -- "Flight"

[Chris Knipp]

You get the journalism award for your complete and up to the minute coverage.

I was surprised at who had died, some not so old, Nora Ephron and Harris Savides.

I was glad for some reason that Ang Lee won Best Director. A neutral choice. I also was stirred by the LES MIZ performance, in which everybody sang better than they did in the movie. Sorry I missed some of Tarantino's speech, but it seemed gracious about the talent in his category.

For the entertainment promoters and the product placers, the Red Carpet IS the most important part of the evening, hence its length. There is endless discussion afterward of the gowns and jewels and hairdos. That's the way it is. The minor award recipients are at fault too for the length of the evening, with their pointless speeches thanking everyone. The French have more style and restraint and I always liked Gaspard Ulliel's thank-you speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzCUezavxp8) upon receiving the Most Promising Male Newcomer César in 2005. He mentions only one person by name and at the end says he tanks everyone who helped him along the way in her career and "I think they know who they are." What more do you need? Sorry it's a bad video; there used to be a better one but You/tube is always deleting things as you know.

What about MOONRISE KINGDOM, was it mentioned once? But we all expected ARGO to win and at least you-know-what didn't win. I was pleased with many of the nominations, and glad there was no sweep, which causes so many films to be swept away in the wake of one or two.

[cinemabon]

ABC and I both made a mistake Ben Affleck was nominated as producer.my bad

that is a huge hunk of metal they hand out in France

[Chris Knipp]

It is amazing that Emanuelle Riva, 86, was in Paris Friday to accept her César (which she could not carry off stage) and then in Hollywood Sunday for the Oscars. Afleck didn't bother to come to France and Michael Haneke, the big winner, was already in L.A.

You might argue that Affleck's speech was unjustified anyway because it wasn't just about being producer. The César statuette is big but the Cannes awards come in little boxes.

From Deadline.com (http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/cesar-awards-amour-sweeps-major-categories/):

César Awards: ‘Amour’ Sweeps Major Categories, ‘Argo’ Named Best Foreign Film

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday, 22 February 2013 22:59 UK
Tags: Amour, César Awards

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4314/rivacesar130222233537.jpg
EMMANUELLE RIVA AT THE CÉSARS

Oscar-nominated Amour filmmaker Michael Haneke has won two Cannes Palmes d’Or and yet never taken home a César Award. Tonight, that was rectified in spades when Amour took the Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Original Screenplay Césars at Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet. Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone was also a big winner at France’s equivalent to the Oscars with four prizes including Adapted Screenplay. Shut out was Noémie Lvovsky’s Camille Redouble which was the most-nominated film by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma coming into the party. Ben Affleck’s Argo was named Best Foreign Film.

Amour producer Margaret Menegoz first accepted the Original Screenplay prize for Haneke, who is expected in L.A. tomorrow, saying “Michael is enchanted, flattered and full of happiness that this academy that represents the most emotive of cinemas, has finally recognized him as one of their own.”

Emmanuelle Riva, who is up for a Best Actress Oscar on Sunday and the oldest woman ever to have that distinction, was in Paris to accept her César for Amour. Following a standing ovation, she said, “I worked on this film with great passion and I am very lucky at this hour or my life” to come across such a “wonder” of a subject that is “so close to all of us. This is the first time I have received a César and I thank everyone.” When she tried to pick up her César and walk offstage, she had to hand the trophy off, “It’s heavier than I am!” Riva’s partner in Amour, Jean-Louis Trintignant was not present for his win as Best Actor. But his son mounted the stage to accept the prize and promptly called his dad in Brussels where the actor was performing a play. From the speaker phone on his son’s cell, Trintignant said, “Thank you everyone who voted for me and those who didn’t vote for me because the others are good too. I’m a bit emotional, kisses to everyone.”

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9528/imgresyqg.jpg
Golden Palm at Cannes for AMOUR, May 2012,
Haneke with Riva and Trintignant

[Chris Knipp]

My favorite animated short won. I happen to have seen them, at a program of the IFC Center. It was a curious mix of apples and oranges, a 27-minute-long film and a one-minute-long one, and not as inventive a list as you get at the major international animation festival at Annecy. But this black-and-white Disney film was charming and beautifully structured. "Paperman" is old fashioned, set in the early Sixties (I think) and about love in the big city. You should be able to watch "Paperman" here (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/paperman-416885).

[Johann]

Another Oscar telecast over.
Anybody here surprised by the winners?

[Johann]

I love that Tarantino and Waltz won Oscars. Totally deserved. Totally Justifed.
Samuel L. Jackson & Leonardo DiCaprio wuz robbed!
I would've been very happy if Philip Seymour-Hoffman won.
He was incredible in The Master. Tough category this year, Best Supporting Actor..

Anne Hathaway won- Meow Baby.
Daniel Day-Lewis set a record: 3 Best Actor trophies are his now.
Joaquin Phoenix deserved it to me, but hey, Daniel is the Master Blaster....

Moonrise Kingdom- did it not get mentioned even ONCE?
Wow. Something really wrong there..

[Chris Knipp]

DiCaprio's performance is a feather in his cap and Jackson's is remarkable and provocative more than anything else in the movie. So yes, they wuz robbed. I'll go with that.

[Johann]

I noticed vintage t-shirts of THE GREAT GATSBY are appearing in storefronts in Toronto, in anticipation of the new film.

I didn't see the telecast . I refuse to get cable anymore- all those channels and nothing to watch. Plus I can't stand commercials.
I'll stick to my DVD's. I bought a Steelbook copy of Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django and I'll post my thoughts on it when I've got my home theatre gear out of storage in a couple weeks. Takashi Miike accepted my Facebook friend request last week --AWESOMENESS-- have a look at his page, Chris. It's quite awesome. His films may not be your cuppa, but he is definitely a tongue-wagging AUTEUR.

I also bought the special edition of Grindhouse, the RR/QT double feature from 2007, a Howitzer of a double-feature.
It comes with all the fake trailers and other cool special features.

[cinemabon]

A New York Times reporter I am not. I literally phoned in my review last night (my daughter just had my first grandchild - poor excuse - and I used my phone to call it in). Zero Dark Thirty was not shut out. It tied with Skyfall for Sound Editing.

Seth McFarlane has already stated he will NOT do another Academy Awards show (now called The Oscars).

On the short, "Paperman;" it's been available for viewing for the past couple of months and was featured as the top viewed video on Youtube last month. I was very pleased it won. Some "behind the scenes" shorts are also available on Youtube with the director discussing why he chose New York City in the early 1950's as a setting and other background goodies.

Major omission "In memorium" was Andy Griffith who got his start in film (among others).

[Chris Knipp]

I just watched the Oscar nominated documentary shorts. I am trying not to feel suicidal. But INNOCENTE, which won, was the most positive and unique. Glad you liked PAPERMAN too. Several of the others seemed a bit off.

Seth McFarlane seems a very talented guy. I'd really never heard of him. Didn't see TED or his TV show.

I am sorry they omitted Andy Griffith from In Memorium. How could they do that?!

ZERO DARK THIRTY was not shut out? But considering that a very high percentage of the 45 Metacritic-cited reviews were raves for a Metacritic rating of 95, the Academy cut ZD30 down many pegs and it's a statement that the critics don't mean a damn thing to them.

. Another channel with the program Sixty Minutes at the outset of the Oscars broadcast put on a recounting of the siege of Ben Laden's house in Abbetobad. An eye-opener to me was that the Seals man's story included a CIA lady who was very influential and present at the time of the siege, and who cried at the end of it as Jessica Chastain did. Maybe there's more truth in the conception of Chastain's character than I realized.

[tabuno]

I sympathize with Johann's comment about Moonrise Kingdom and although its name was mentioned (but once) during the mention of those nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay, it's singular mention had me briefly and fondly recall how great this movie was and sad that it didn't get more recognition at the Oscars.

[Johann]

I sympathize with Johann's comment about Moonrise Kingdom and although its name was mentioned (but once) during the mention of those nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay, it's singular mention had me briefly and fondly recall how great this movie was and sad that it didn't get more recognition at the Oscars.

Just tell everyone you know about it tabuno. AND BUY IT ON DVD!
Support that Amazing American auteur Wes Anderson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tabuno]

While not my top film of the year, Moonrise Kingdom, definitely fell into my top ten movies of 2012 and richly deserved at least a nomination for Best Picture and Cinematography. Moonrise Kingdom richly captured what film is all about, the colors, the stylistic characterization that even live stage productions can't display as effectively. This ensemble of slick, effusive comedy along with a relational story of two children, along with the casting and performances of A-listers combined to create a dazzling, unique, and sparklingly fresh use of feature films. In short, Moonrise Kingdom rose to the occasion and delivered an experience that brought the special art form of film to the surface and beyond. This is what movie-making is about.

[Johann]

Well said.

[Chris Knipp]

I second those motions.

[cinemabon]

I agree, Tab. I enjoyed the film and was surprised it wasn't nominated in more catagories. I believe that as old farts move on and younger blood infiltrates the ranks, more independent films like Moonrise Kingdom will be acknowledged for their worth by the Motion Picture Academy.

[Chris Knipp]

That is to be hoped but it's not like Wes Anderson just came on the scene. But we all pretty much agree on this, that MOONRISE KINGSOM is a great movie, one of Anderson's best ever, and deserved more recognition -- as did THE MASTER.

[Johann]

THE MASTER was the Best Film of the Year to me.
Nothing really matches it. I can't think of any movie that has that level of cinema, that intensity of acting, for such an interesting story.
(Next to HOLY MOTORS)
That quote about how Freddie would be the only person in the history of the world who never served a Master- that line alone is worth it's weight in gold.
It makes you wonder "who is my Master?" or "who WOULD BE my Master?"

Who's YOURS?
Hmmmm?

[Johann]

Another thing I liked about The Master screening I went to was that when they took my ticket they handed me the Scientology newspaper with all of the reviews for the film in it. "The filmmakers wanted me to give this to you", I was told.

I will be framing the gatefold poster of Joaquin on the beach, lying next to the sand lady, as well as the poster they gave away at the Bell Lightbox- those went like wildfire-I should've grabbed two.