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Awards Season 2010: Oscars! Tonight! Kirk Douglas!
Atomika
Live fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered User regular
Live fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered User regular
As the last few weeks have seen the completion of both the Venice and Telluride film festival, and as Autumn is just around the corner, it's time to get our quibble on to bitch and moan about what films and actors and whatever else are deserving of your attention and $23.50 at the cinema this season.
So far, the first half of 2010 has shaped up to be an unholy mass of nigh-unwatchable wretchedness, with only but a smattering of decent entries, most of which will be sadly forgotten by the time the cold December air draws the competition to a close.
However, we seek here to establish a bastion of recognition, if not quite a eulogy, to those films already released and those to be soon released that go above and beyond in the service of artful entertainment. Let us speak of these now.
Drama:
This is both the least currently populated and the likeliest to be most populated by year's end. So far, the output this year has been thin and slight, but with notable exception. Early films that scored high critical marks were Scorsese's Shutter Island, Polanski's The Ghost Writer, Tim Blake Nelson's Leaves of Grass, Banksy's Exit Through the Giftshop, and, of course, Christopher Nolan's Inception. I don't really expect many on that list to make it to year's end, but I would be surprised if Giftshop and Inception were left off the ballot in February.
The rest of the year, however, looks to finish strong. Keep an eye out for:
- Romanek's Never Let Me Go
- Fincher's The Social Network
- John Wells' The Company Men
- Darren Aronofsky's The Black Swan
- Danny Boyle's 127 Hours
- David O. Russel's The Fighter
- The Coen Bros. True Grit
- Peter Weir's The Way Back
- Tom Hooper's The King's Speech
- Sofia Coppola's Somewhere
It's a strong crop from many of today's best and rising talents. Right now, early buzz has caught on to The Town, The Way Back, Somewhere, and The Black Swan, but many shoo-in contenders have yet to screen, like The Fighter and True Grit. However a few films, like Conviction and The Debt, seem meticulously crafted Oscar bait, which generally means Oscar won't bite when the pandering is that obvious. And early word from Fincher's The Social Network is that the film is stylistically and emotionally related to Fincher's other work, Zodiac, and is equally as frustrating and cold. On a personal note, I can't say I'm looking forward to it for a number of reasons. As well, early word on Clint Eastwood's supernatural thriller Hereafter is tepid as well, but industry goodwill always seems to get old man Clint to the dance on time.
Acting:
Most of the awards will come in this category will come from the films above, and right now there isn't a lot of heat being generated yet. While that's sure to change, early word has gone out that momentum is building for a few performances.
- Natalie Portman, The Black Swan
- Mila Kunis, The Black Swan
- Stephen Dorf, Somewhere
- Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost Writer
- Colin Firth, The King's Speech
- Robert Duval, Get Low
- Bill Murray, Get Low
- Jeff Bridges, True Grit
This category will surely gather steam, as we'll see performances in contending films from some of today's best talent. Keep an eye out for Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Sam Rockwell, Anne Hathaway, Kiera Knightly, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Helena Bonham Carter, Josh Brolin (a couple of times), and The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.
Animation:
One of the best things about this category is that most of the nominees are out in theaters by mid-summer, so check these out if you haven't already. Not unlike last year, this year has a strong crop of contending films, and Dreamworks seems to finally be approaching their animation division with some degree of respect. Their films are definitely apart from Pixar, but for every Mickey Mouse one must have their Bugs Bunny. So far, these have set the bar for 2010:
- Toy Story 3
- Despicable Me
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Rapunzel
The only negative concern with this year's selection is depth. While I sincerely doubt anything but Toy Story 3 will win this year (and deservedly so), last year really had a nice deep choosing to pick from. Maybe we'll see more as the year wraps up, but don't hold your breath.
Discuss.
UPDATE: I've strike through some of the names I don't think will make it to February. I'll keep editing until the big shows start putting out their noms.
UPDATE2: Some more omissions and additions. Hey, did you know that "I Love You, Phillip Morris" is quietly becoming one of the best reviewed films of the year?
So far, the first half of 2010 has shaped up to be an unholy mass of nigh-unwatchable wretchedness, with only but a smattering of decent entries, most of which will be sadly forgotten by the time the cold December air draws the competition to a close.
However, we seek here to establish a bastion of recognition, if not quite a eulogy, to those films already released and those to be soon released that go above and beyond in the service of artful entertainment. Let us speak of these now.
Drama:
This is both the least currently populated and the likeliest to be most populated by year's end. So far, the output this year has been thin and slight, but with notable exception. Early films that scored high critical marks were Scorsese's Shutter Island, Polanski's The Ghost Writer, Tim Blake Nelson's Leaves of Grass, Banksy's Exit Through the Giftshop, and, of course, Christopher Nolan's Inception. I don't really expect many on that list to make it to year's end, but I would be surprised if Giftshop and Inception were left off the ballot in February.
The rest of the year, however, looks to finish strong. Keep an eye out for:
- Romanek's Never Let Me Go
- Fincher's The Social Network
- John Wells' The Company Men
- Darren Aronofsky's The Black Swan
- Danny Boyle's 127 Hours
- David O. Russel's The Fighter
- The Coen Bros. True Grit
- Peter Weir's The Way Back
- Tom Hooper's The King's Speech
- Sofia Coppola's Somewhere
It's a strong crop from many of today's best and rising talents. Right now, early buzz has caught on to The Town, The Way Back, Somewhere, and The Black Swan, but many shoo-in contenders have yet to screen, like The Fighter and True Grit. However a few films, like Conviction and The Debt, seem meticulously crafted Oscar bait, which generally means Oscar won't bite when the pandering is that obvious. And early word from Fincher's The Social Network is that the film is stylistically and emotionally related to Fincher's other work, Zodiac, and is equally as frustrating and cold. On a personal note, I can't say I'm looking forward to it for a number of reasons. As well, early word on Clint Eastwood's supernatural thriller Hereafter is tepid as well, but industry goodwill always seems to get old man Clint to the dance on time.
Acting:
Most of the awards will come in this category will come from the films above, and right now there isn't a lot of heat being generated yet. While that's sure to change, early word has gone out that momentum is building for a few performances.
- Natalie Portman, The Black Swan
- Mila Kunis, The Black Swan
- Stephen Dorf, Somewhere
- Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost Writer
- Colin Firth, The King's Speech
- Robert Duval, Get Low
- Bill Murray, Get Low
- Jeff Bridges, True Grit
This category will surely gather steam, as we'll see performances in contending films from some of today's best talent. Keep an eye out for Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Sam Rockwell, Anne Hathaway, Kiera Knightly, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, James Franco, Javier Bardem, Helena Bonham Carter, Josh Brolin (a couple of times), and The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges.
Animation:
One of the best things about this category is that most of the nominees are out in theaters by mid-summer, so check these out if you haven't already. Not unlike last year, this year has a strong crop of contending films, and Dreamworks seems to finally be approaching their animation division with some degree of respect. Their films are definitely apart from Pixar, but for every Mickey Mouse one must have their Bugs Bunny. So far, these have set the bar for 2010:
- Toy Story 3
- Despicable Me
- How to Train Your Dragon
- Rapunzel
The only negative concern with this year's selection is depth. While I sincerely doubt anything but Toy Story 3 will win this year (and deservedly so), last year really had a nice deep choosing to pick from. Maybe we'll see more as the year wraps up, but don't hold your breath.
Discuss.
UPDATE: I've strike through some of the names I don't think will make it to February. I'll keep editing until the big shows start putting out their noms.
UPDATE2: Some more omissions and additions. Hey, did you know that "I Love You, Phillip Morris" is quietly becoming one of the best reviewed films of the year?
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"127 Hours" could be some serious Oscar-bait, but I personally really don't want to see it (much as I love James Franco). Just... yikes.
Early word has it that the whole movie is a Franco-fest, where not unlike Cast Away or The Old Man and the Sea, it's basically a one-man show.
I'll reserve most of my feelings until after I see the film, but right now I'm torn. Danny Boyle has made some good films, but Slumdog Millionaire wasn't one of them. On one hand I'm glad he's gotten the attention of the critics, but on the other I don't want to see him work in a more Slumdog-directed vein to keep the accolades coming. 127 Hours seems much more likely to be in Slumdog's schmaltzy milieu than the grittier work of his past. We'll see.
I dunno, I think the story has some serious potential for grittiness, and if it's a one-man show there's less opportunity for the fairy-tale Slumdog-type treatment. It's not the plucky young optimistic kid beating the evil boulder and getting the girl.
looking forward to The Black Swan as well, and of course True Grit.
also as I enjoyed Gone Baby Gone I'm pretty excited for the Town.
The trailers don't interest me but Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher individually is a draw. Together? Gotta see it.
I considered it, but there's something about it that isn't quite striking me as being a year-end contender. It may well prove me wrong, but I don't think people are going to be fighting for this one come ballot time. Now, if the rest of the year ends up flopping, you might see this one hold tight. Any time Annette Bening works you're probably looking at a 50/50 chance of her getting a nod anyway, so there's hope for that.
It probably should be on the list, but I'm going to hold off for now.
I generally like Sorkin, but he generally seems to falter outside of his politically-tinged wheelhouse, so I don't automatically give him the putt on this one. With Fincher, I'm not sold. I think he's done some extremely interesting work, but some arguably faulted features. He's not great with story, he's great with characters, and much of the early word on this film suggests the same. As one friend told me after an early screening, "It's good, but there's no ending. The film literally builds to a climax, and then shuts off."
It's one I'll probably check out, but given the above, combined with the fact that the subject matter could not interest me less, makes this not one I'm too optimistic about.
To date I have seen one episode of "The West Wing" and in that episode the president's chief of staff was explaining to his press secretary what the fucking census was in a way that would have been rejected by Schoolhouse Rocks as "too dumbed down".
Additionally I saw a youtube clip where Penn and Teller may or may not have burned a flag which was similarly simple.
Granted, I may have seen the most patronizing scenes in that shows long run, but I wasn't drawn in.
Sorkin can get extremely precious about political topics, but at least he seems to generally be able to keep it grounded in some semblance of reality.
If you want to see some bad (i.e., unwatchably smug and smarmy) stuff from him, go watch his work on Studio 60 or Sports Night.
The guy can write some great dialogue, but he's as condescending as they come.
It probably helps that I expect a hell of a lot less from the anchors at Sportscenter than I do the executive branch of the US government.
I was a big Sports Night cheerleader, I even own the series on DVD. But it's aged horribly, and if you'll re-watch it, I think you'll find it chock-full of preachiness and condescension.
Which kind of works with politics, because a lot of politics is just making appeals to morality or decency for some reason or another, but outside of that context it comes off as invasive and impertinent. Even when I agree with the sentiment, which I often do, I feel a bit gross sided with someone so obviously judgmental.
For some good Sorkin, check out Charlie Wilson's War. Topical, pointed, but not condescending. And some great acting from Tom Hanks, which is always appreciated.
Looks good.
No Country For Young Women
EDIT: I only ask cause it should be in its own category of AWESOME
Considering UP was on both the Best Film and Best Animated Film lists last year, I don't see why not.
It doesn't happen often that a film makes two lists in the same competition, but it does happen. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon also made two "Best" lists at the Oscars.
However, if Toy Story 3 *won* both lists, I think that would be a first. Someone tell me if I'm wrong. Right now I'd be surprised if that happened, but honestly, the Best Film category at this moment isn't exactly overflowing with contenders, so who knows?
As for the 10 nominees thing, the Academy hasn't made any announcements yet, but since the whole purpose of expanding the field to 10 nominees was to get more "mainstream" films on the list and (thus) draw more people at home into watching the ceremonies (and it totally totally worked, thanks to The Blind Side), I would be surprised if we didn't see it again.
Sadly, he's getting more attention for what appears to be a bad attempt at award-pandering in this year's Conviction than he has in the mainstream press for any of his other wonderful performances.
It's kind of like watching your favorite band finally go platinum by selling out.
That's tangentially related to the 2010 awards season and kind of nifty.
Why is it odd, you ask? Well, several reasons.
- The show is a perennial favorite with the older demographics. While selecting Franco and Hathaway might bring in younger viewers, it's going to confuse and scare the old folks worse than Obama using their Medicare money to buy Chinese Qurans.
- Franco and Hathaway have never hosted anything in their lives.
- Franco and Hathaway, unlike last year's duo of Baldwin and Martin, have never worked together and aren't particularly known for their chemistry or comedic timing.
- Perhaps the most odd thing of all, both Franco and Hathaway are largely expected to pick up respective Best Actor/Actress nominations; Franco for 127 Hours, Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs.
Speaking of animated films, I was slightly disappointed with Disney's [strike]Rapunzel[/strike] Tangled.
As far as the quality of the work goes, it was second only to Pixar, but I was taken aback by how strongly the film had been hammered into the early-90s Disney mold of "princess movies featuring broadway-esque showtunes." While not entirely uncommon ground for the Mouse House, it really seemed that recently (more so with the appointment of Lasseter as head of animation) they were moving into a more modern approach to their animated films.
But with the exception of some really good CG animation, there's nothing that keeps this movie from being the emotional kin of more boilerplate Disney offerings like The Little Mermaid or Aladin. Personally, given the film's trailer campaign that featured sly pop-culture references like the Double Rainbow, I was disappointed to see the film crawl back into the well-traveled ground of Disney musical formulas. I really thought those days were behind us.
Oh, and you're wrong about Toy Story 3. Dragon is very good, but Toy Story 3 may be the best film Pixar has made.
I'd put it right behind WALL-E, Incredibles and Nemo.
Yeah, they didn't light it up like they could have. But at least the ceremony is trending more in tune with mainstream and younger viewers. I'm not sure who they were trying to win over with Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal, but it obviously wasn't working.
You know, it's actually not my favorite of the Pixar films, but I'd be hard pressed to argue that Toy Story 3 isn't their best film from a technical and craft standpoint. It's kind of like saying Annie Hall is a better film than Star Wars; objectively it is, but that hasn't stopped me from watching Star Wars about 100 more times than I have Annie Hall.
My favorite Pixar film is Ratatouille, but I would also accepts arguments that it's the best Pixar film. My list starts with it, and then goes: The Incredibles, Toy Story 3, Monsters Inc.. The rest kind of just fade out after that.
very very odd choices though
edit -
wall-e
nemo
whatever
I do wonder if that as the more popular Anne Hathaway becomes, does Julia Roberts fade away like the McFly children in Marty's picture? Or is like a 'Time Cop' thing, where if they touch hands or something they'll just explode?
Also, go see Black Swan. It's fantastic. It probably won't be my choice for Best Picture, but Natalie Portman I think has the statue all but wrapped up, and Aronofsky may well too.
Written and directed by the amazing duo that wrote Bad Santa, it's quickly becoming a dark horse for the award season for both Best Picture and Best Actor for Jim Carrey. Given this film's long and meandering road to distribution (it was finished over 2 years ago), plus the film community's general apathy toward Carrey as a dramatic actor, it's an interesting story to follow.
Also, early reviews for True Grit are roundly applauding it as possibly the Coens' best work to date. That's a statement that cannot be oversold, as they are easily the best working consistently-working directors of their generation.
The audio on that scene, oh god.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
51% Alice in Wonderland (2010)
37% Burlesque (2010/I)
94% The Kids Are All Right (2010)
70% Red (2010/I)
20% The Tourist (2010)
Surely there were better comedies and/or musicals that were released this year. And how is The Tourist even a comedy? Is it that bad that the people doing the nominations mis-interpreted it?
I would say that at least the winner would be easy to predict, but with those nominees who knows...
(Not to say The Tourist isn't an absolutely awful choice; just that it's an understandable one. But personally the biggest thing that jumped out at me in the comedy categories is how they nominated Red without nominating a single one of its stars. WTF?)
Anyway, bad news for True Grit (zero nominations), though it can easily be revived with strong Guild support. I don't think anybody got a particularly big boost, except perhaps Michelle Williams, who is now a strong contender for the fifth slot in Best Actress (behind locks Bening, Portman, and Lawrence, and near-lock Kidman).
Let's get some things straight first. The HFP is basically the shitty foreign version of USA Today, and the only reason that the Globes have any traction is that the ceremony is held in LA, gives away tons of free booze, and every studio is begging for last-minute bumps for the Academy Awards, so everyone shows up despite knowing it's a huge sham.
Now, the proof of the whatthefuckery:
- True Grit has been completely snubbed. Early reviews are calling this the Coens and Jeff Bridges best work to date, yet 'The Fighter' garners FIVE noms.
- Also, 'Get Low' and its great cast snubbed in favor of films like 'Burlesque,' 'The Tourist,' 'Easy A,' 'Red,' and 'Alice in Wonderland.' So, I guess we're done here. This is officially worse than the Peoples' Choice Awards.
- Hey, look, Johnny Depp got nominated for playing the Mad Hatter. God is dead.
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are Alright
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Lead Role
Anette Bening, The Kids Are Alright
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hilary Swank, Conviction
Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Kids Are Alright
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:
Green Zone
Inception
Robin Hood
So, a much better selection than the tragedy that was the Globes nomination, and only a few miffs here and there. Notes:
- Sorry to see Jeremy Renner nominated for The Town and Bill Murray not nominated for Get Low. I like Renner, but his performance was merely adequate in a film that was merely adequate. Much like other great actors who work sporadically and choose their roles sparingly, such as Daniel Day-Lewis or Christian Bale, I often feel that not nominating someone like Murray while giving away nominations to really bland performances just encourages them to work less and less. And that's never a good thing. We need Murray working as long as we can have him.
- Also, sorry to see another awards body legitimize Hillary Swank's status as a serious dramatic actor, especially in this case. Conviction was such an awful piece of Oscar-baiting, and Swank was as bad as ever.
- Kudos for True Grit garnering the noms that everyone said they should, and extra tip of the hat to young Hailee Steinfeld. However, while I haven't caught it yet, I'm very surprised to see that the Jesse Eisenberg/Justin Timberlake/Armie Hammer trifecta got the "Best Ensemble" nod over the Jeff Bridges/Hailee Steinfeld/Matt Damon/Josh Brolin team-up, especially given that two of those in the latter group received nominations for the film and as a group there are about 12 Academy Award nominations between them all to Social Network's goose egg.
But hey, at least no nominations for Halle Berry or Alice in Wonderland, so they're ahead of the game already.
Okay, so back to The Fighter. The whores at the HFP loved this film; while I freely admit it was a great movie, it wasn't anything ground breaking. Boxing is a favorite topic for Oscar-bait, and basically that's because the sport is the living incarnate of a Campbellian hero's journey. You've got your exposition (training), your struggle (early fights/personal conflicts), your wise sage (trainer), and your final battle (title bout). The reason boxing is picked more than any other sport, despite that no one watches boxing anymore, is because it's a singular sport and a physical sport. Sports like football or baseball are physical, but too many individuals cloud the script, and sports like golf or bowling lack any physical risk. Boxing has it all: physical and emotional abuse. In that, boxing is kind of like a screenwriter's crutch because everything is already laid down in a mold, so the key to getting a boxing movie right is making the parts that fit in those molds work better than any others. For the most part, The Fighter fits those molds pretty damn well. Let's go to the PowerPoint:
- Christian Bale is a shoo-in for the Best Supporting nod. It's a strange mix for him, being a warm, relatable, faulted character in a fairly mainstream film. While his character is overcome with demons, it's great to finally see Bale do something other than dour and grim. At last, we're rooting for Bale because we like him, not because the script tells us to. Work like this deserves to be rewarded.
- Amy Adams probably doesn't earn any nominations she has or may yet get for this. She's not bad by any stretch, but the part is pretty thin. She plays the romantic interest that tries to take Wahlberg's character away from the negative influences in his life, but there's no stretching done here. It's a statement upon the state of roles available for leading actresses these days that a performance so merely good will garner so much accolade this year.
- Much the same for Mark Wahlberg, though he doesn't seem to be snapping up the noms like Ms. Adams does for this one. I don't know if Wahlberg has the self-awareness it takes to elevate himself into the category of being a great actor; his Micky Ward character is simply the best version of the same old white-trash Southie he's played at least a dozen times. The fact that Wahlberg has been pushing this movie for almost half a decade to get it made tells me that this is as probably as good as we'll get from him.
- Plot wise, the last act has a strange little point of regression where Ward undoes the progress his arc builds by sliding back to a point before its apex, and then the movie settles there. The message seems muddled here, as the reasons given for the reversion don't make much sense given the context. He justifies this as needing both his personal life and professional life to reconcile, but his personal life is such a wreck that it just rings false like a platitude foisted upon the audience for reasons of moral imperative.
- My feelings on David O. Russel were ambiguous before this film, and they haven't changed after seeing it. The editing and stylistic choices were commendable, as he thankfully leaves much of the ambient sound clear and doesn't beat the audience over the head with a drippy feel-good score or constant soft-focus warmth from the camera. Likewise, he doesn't drown the film in grit or grimness, or in any other way make the events in the film seem more important than they are. These are just people, capable of good and bad and misguidedness, like anyone else. That all said, the neutrality Russel gives to the story makes it feel much like his other works, sucking anything out of the film that might make it line up in the annals as a hallmark for future filmmakers to build upon. The film is simply very good, and little else.
I saw it a little over a week ago, but I agree with everything I'm reading here.