Awards Season 2011

[hearthesilence]

It's definitely a disappointing year compared to last year. It's a relatively weak year for American films. But there have been much worse years.

You can't dismiss the variety of great films that have opened in the U.S. even though they date back to last year's festival circuit and beyond: Certified Copy, Film Socialisme, Meek's Cutoff, Mysteries of Lisbon, A Brighter Summer Day (!), Poetry, Tuesday, After Christmas and even Uncle Boonmee.

The Kid with a Bike and Turin Horse are both considered masterpieces - it's just too bad that neither is getting released in the U.S. this year.

[zedz]

It is definitely the worst year in the history of cinema.

Anybody who says this is always wrong. Keep looking.

[matrixschmatrix]

Anybody who says this is always wrong. Keep looking.

Haha, looking at J Adams' list on the top 10 thread, it might well be true from his (her?) point of view- it's hard to put myself in the headspace wherein Tarsem makes the film of the year while Malick is beautiful but empty images. Which is one of the reasons all these awards seem a little fatuous, really, since either it's a popularity contest (which seems pointless) or you get something where the incredibly idiosyncratic voices may dominate, and movies like Sucker Punch and Human Centipede 2 could win. There's no meaningful measure of universal quality, there.

[J Adams]

OK 1944 was worse.

And Tarsem got my vote because he took a tired, boring concept, crappy script and blank "actors" and made a piece of moving art that was utterly enthralling.

[matrixschmatrix]

I wasn't trying to attack you, just pointing out that your scale for movie quality might be differently calibrated than most.

[J Adams]

It's fine to question others' choices. I like a nice mix of trash and art and Tarsem nailed both in one film. The rest of my list is either one or the other.

[hearthesilence]

The worst year must be 1896. After the novelty wears off from the first projected films ever (courtesy of the Lumière brothers in 1895), we're left staring at dead boring, static shots of ordinary life. FWIW, Melies started cranking them out the year after.

[Matt]

And the SPIRIT awards? How is The Artist even eligible for that?

I'm not sure how you think it would not be eligible. The Artist is an independently-produced film that was picked up for distribution at Cannes by The Weinstein Company, an independent distributor.

[Jeff]

And the SPIRIT awards? How is The Artist even eligible for that?

I'm not sure how you think it would not be eligible. The Artist is an independently-produced film that was picked up for distribution at Cannes by The Weinstein Company, an independent distributor.

The only qualifications for the Independent Spirit Awards are that it must be an American production with a production budget of less than $20 million. I think that a percentage of that budget must come from independent sources as opposed to one of the seven majors.

I suppose that it could be argued that The Artist is mostly a French production, but it was shot in L.A. with a largely American crew.

[lacritfan]

Best Picture: “The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball”
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for “Moneyball,” and “Tree of Life”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for “Drive”
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for “Tree of Life”
Best First Feature: Margin Call
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Another typical National Board of Review awards. Wait, this is the NYFCC?

[Jeff]

Another typical National Board of Review awards. Wait, this is the NYFCC?

You're right. That looks a lot more like a typical NBR list than NYFCC. I thought New York would go with Tree of Life. I suspect the NBR list will look very similar. It comes out tomorrow.

[arsonfilms]

And the SPIRIT awards? How is The Artist even eligible for that?

I'm not sure how you think it would not be eligible. The Artist is an independently-produced film that was picked up for distribution at Cannes by The Weinstein Company, an independent distributor.

The only qualifications for the Independent Spirit Awards are that it must be an American production with a production budget of less than $20 million. I think that a percentage of that budget must come from independent sources as opposed to one of the seven majors.

I suppose that it could be argued that The Artist is mostly a French production, but it was shot in L.A. with a largely American crew.

Couldn't the same be said for Shame, in New York? I'm not sure what makes the Artist and American film and Shame an international film, if both have European funding but were shot in the US. They should both still be European, right?

[Jeff]

I suppose that it could be argued that The Artist is mostly a French production, but it was shot in L.A. with a largely American crew.

Couldn't the same be said for Shame, in New York? I'm not sure what makes the Artist and American film and Shame an international film, if both have European funding but were shot in the US. They should both still be European, right?

Sure seems like it to me. Either they're both American or both European. I can't imagine what the distinction is.

[Matt]

Do we know that Shame was excluded? Was it just snubbed instead? The criteria listed on the website are: "Original, provocative subject matter; uniqueness of vision; economy of means; and percentage of independent financing" (with a $20 million budget cap that was added later). I can't see how Shame doesn't meet all of them.

[knives]

There's also the possibility it wasn't screened. I don't think it will make it's US debut for an other week.

[arsonfilms]

To clarify, Shame WAS nominated, but as Best International Film. The same is true of Melencholia, Tyrannosaur, A Separation, and Kid With A Bike.

[Matt]

So the question is, what allows The Artist to qualify for the main categories?

[zedz]

It's a feelgood movie. I bet there's something about that in the fine print.

[knives]

Are you suggesting Shame isn't a feel good movie?

[eerik]

I can't complain about 2011 being a bad year after seeing Sokurov's "Faust" and Ceylan's "Once Upon a Time in Anatolia", but I guess most of the US critics have not seen those films yet.

[John Cope]

FWIW, Lou Lumenick's breakdown of the vote. Also, fwiw, I'm suddenly grateful to The Artist, if only for its ability to prevent Trier's film from acquiring any additional official accolades.

[GaryC]

The Samsung AACTA Awards (formerly the Australian Film Institute Awards) nominations.

The full list can be read here, but the Best Film nominees are:

The Eye of the Storm
The Hunter
Mad Bastards
Oranges and Sunshine
Red Dog
Snowtown

I guessed three or four of those beforehand. I didn't guess the one I've seen so far (Oranges and Sunshine) because I thought it was a 2010 film - I didn't catch it on its UK cinema release but caught up with it on DVD. It's well-acted, worthy-but-dull stodge IMO. The one that completely passed me by was Mad Bastards.

Given that the AACTA/AFI tend to favour directorial debuts - fourteen out of the last twenty Best Film winners - that would seem to give an advantage to Mad Bastards, Oranges and Sunshine or Snowtown.

Snowtown is in UK cinemas now - I'm hoping to see it this weekend - and Red Dog is due out here in February. The Eye of the Storm, The Hunter and Mad Bastards have no UK release dates announced.

[hearthesilence]

From IndieWire:

The one thing no one seemed to see coming was that Michel Hazanavicius's "The Artist" would lead the nominations. Largely because no one seemed to realize it was even eligible for anything beyond best foreign film. The Spirits' guidelines firmly state:

Except for the category of Best International* Film, all nominations go to American productions. The Spirit Awards defines an “American production” as:

a. A film in which U.S. citizens or permanent residents are credited in at least two of the following categories of responsibilities: director, writer, or producer. This can be fulfilled by one person with multiple duties or by separate individuals; or

b. The film is set primarily in the United States and at least partially financed by a company whose principal office is in the U.S. Documentary films are only eligible for Best Documentary; foreign films are only eligible for Best International Film.

It turns out "The Artist" was eligible because it had partial US financing and the director has status as a US permanent resident. Who knew?

[Jeff]

National Board of Review (which was apparently involved in some wacky Freaky Friday style body-switching hijinks with NYFCC):

Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Best Ensemble: The Help
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise – A Distinguished Translation from Book
to Film

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
Tree of Life
War Horse


Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(In Alphabetical Order)

13 Assassins
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Footnote
Le Havre
Point Blank

Top 5 Documentaries
(In Alphabetical Order)

Born to be Wild
Buck
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Top 10 Independent Films
(In Alphabetical Order)

50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win

[Brian C]

I can live with Hugo.