Awards Season 2011

[domino harvey]

Perhaps I'm just disgusted because now I'm going to have to fucking see it

[swo17]

Stephen Daldry films that some people actually think are good are difficult enough to bear. I can't imagine how you'll survive the experience.

[knives]

Sucks to be you. I'll be watching Carnage instead.

[domino harvey]

Reaction shots from Oscar losers

[Murdoch]

Only Alan Alda would make that face.

[Brian C]

I saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close this afternoon and it wasn't as bad as I feared. I sort of hated The Reader and was indifferent to Daldry's first two films, so I expected the worst, but it's OK. I thought the kid, Thomas Horn, was actually fairly remarkable, and I don't have any problem with von Sydow's nomination either. The movie has major problems in the last third, concerning Bullock's character, and I still have no idea what the whole "6th borough" metaphor was supposed to mean - it's a concept that has the feel of something that was explained better in the novel than it is here.

So I wouldn't say it's deserving of its Best Picture spot but it's at least more deserving than The Reader was, and honestly, if I'm going to get exercised over one of the nominees it's going to be extremely mediocre War Horse. Hell, I'd rank it over The Descendants and probably The Artist, also.

[stroszeck]

Finally caught Moneyball and I have to say I'm very baffled by everyone's unanimous, universal praise of this movie. Maybe its because I haven't been a huge fan of baseball but I found it more boring than anything and none of the characters or acting really stood out for me. Just felt like Brad Pitt being himself walking around, working out, making serious faces, nothing remarkable enough to warrant becoming one of the frontrunners for an academy award for best actor of 2011. I really felt 2011 was a great year for films and it just felt the academy (unlike the last couple years) really decided to go with a lot of shitty nominations. How do you NOT nominate Albert Brooks or Michael Fassbender or Tilda Swinton???

[duck duck]

Anyone know why there are only two "Song" nominations? I read somewhere that the Madonna song played too far into the credits to count? That seems odd that with all the technical awards even if they aren't shown on TV, the Academy would snub songs that played over those people's names. But even so, what about the rest of the ones from the Golden Globes like Chris Cornell's "The Keeper"?

[zedz]

Perhaps I'm just disgusted because now I'm going to have to fucking see it

I knew that project was going to turn around and bite you (but surely this isn't the first time!)

[mfunk9786]

Finally caught Moneyball and I have to say I'm very baffled by everyone's unanimous, universal praise of this movie. Maybe its because I haven't been a huge fan of baseball but I found it more boring than anything and none of the characters or acting really stood out for me. Just felt like Brad Pitt being himself walking around, working out, making serious faces, nothing remarkable enough to warrant becoming one of the frontrunners for an academy award for best actor of 2011. I really felt 2011 was a great year for films and it just felt the academy (unlike the last couple years) really decided to go with a lot of shitty nominations. How do you NOT nominate Albert Brooks or Michael Fassbender or Tilda Swinton???

I can answer the Tilda Swinton one - the movie was rubbish.

[stroszeck]

How do you NOT nominate Albert Brooks or Michael Fassbender or Tilda Swinton?

I can answer the Tilda Swinton one - the movie was rubbish.

From what I've heard and read, so was the Iron Lady....but that hasn't stopped Meryl Streep's awards domination.

[mfunk9786]

She's Meryl Streep, though. Playing a well-known public figure in a mid-budget prestige pic. Tilda Swinton is still Tilda Swinton - in a little seen, not widely released until a few weeks from now, laughable indie. It's easy to see why this happened.

[hearthesilence]

Crap that's safe, middlebrow and makes tens of millions of dollars will always have a fighting chance. Haven't seen Kevin, so I can't say if it's crap, but it hasn't made tens of millions of dollars and it's definitely not safe or middlebrow.

[mfunk9786]

Oh, it's safe and middlebrow alright

[colinr0380]

Can I pretend that Von Sydow's nomination was for his voice acting as the slightly daffy, shut in Nord keeping all of the prophecies in that Elder Scrolls: Skyrim video game?

[Roger Ryan]

...Beginners couldn't even pull a Best Screenplay, a nom most predictors were considering a sure thing...

I rewatched this film on Saturday and, again, was amazed at how beautifully structured it is. A screenplay nomination seemed like a no-brainer. I also hoped it would snag a Best Picture nomination too since it was the most emotionally affective film I saw last year and it achieved that position honestly.

[flyonthewall2983]

Well, at least Patton Oswalt has a sense of humor about being snubbed. (from his Twitter):
Join me for a drink at The Drawing Room, @AlbertBrooks? Me and Serkis have been here since 6am.
@AlbertBrooks See you later tonight. Might be out of booze -- Serkis has Pogues on the jukebox & Fassbender just showed up in a pirate hat.
@AlbertBrooks Oh shit -- we're DEFINITELY going to run out of booze. Charlize & Tilda just pulled up in a stolen police car.
@AlbertBrooks Dude, GET DOWN HERE. Gosling is doing keg stands and Olsen & Dunst LITERALLY just emerged from a shower of rose petals.
@AlbertBrooks Nolte & Plummer just drove past, mooning us. Serkis & Tilda are signing "Is There Life on Mars?"
@AlbertBrooks Oops -- Von Trier just pulled up in a pass van dressed as Goering. "Let's go to Legoland!" With a boozy hurrah, we're out!
@AlbertBrooks Oh. My. God. Just pulled up to Legoland. DiCaprio's rented the park for the day. Dibs on the Duplo Gardens! #andscene

This is just about as cool as that is funny

[flyonthewall2983]

Another big snub I just noticed is that Senna didn't get a nod for Best Documentary. Would this have anything to do with the deal Universal has with ESPN for broadcast rights, and has it had any kind of theatrical release here?

[dustybooks]

'Senna' played here theatrically as part of the weekly film program from the public radio station in town. And we're the backwoods as far as arthouse films are concerned, so I reckon that means there was some sort of a far-flung rollout.

[hearthesilence]

I wasn't a fan of Project Nim, but Marsh makes some excellent points.

I was shocked that film of THE INTERRUPTERS’ ambition, quality, and heart didn’t get in...That is a disgrace. That is a disgrace to our branch, and I don’t mind saying that publicly. And it’s not about taste. I think we can all agree that that is a great piece of documentary filmmaking. Likewise, SENNA was a gripping character portrayal of a very interesting man, but also an exciting cinematic experience. Both those films found audiences as well. I was also surprised that BILL CUNNINGHAM didn’t make the last, which is a charming and lovely film. Something is not working here and it’s an annual controversy. I think the system that’s being mooted now is a slight improvement, but [the Best Documentary] category does have a responsibility to getting these films exposure, and we’re also eliminating a lot of foreign documentaries that really should be part of this discussion as well.

One issue that was brought up was the number of television productions that have dominated Oscar nominations in the past. (Remember Moore addressed this? "They already have an award. It's called the Emmys.") Unlike, say, Carlos or Fanny and Alexander, they've been eligible by exploiting what's essentially a loophole in the rules and getting in with a token exhibition that barely qualifies as a "theatrical run."

Sorry, but a million-dollar HBO or PBS production don't deserve to be eligible, especially the latter. Nothing against public broadcasting, but an American Experience production that's tailored for their paint-by-numbers series format is strictly television, and from a commercial point-of-view, the free broadcasting for which it was made already guarantees them far more viewers than any real documentary film.

[colinr0380]

For fun I'm taking a quick look through the Best Foreign Language nominated films and making some guesses of winners purely based on their trailers!

Everyone here has heard of A Separation, which therefore is my official 'since it is a great film it doesn't have a chance of winning' pick!

Footnote is the 'father and son Talmudic scholars competing for accolades' film. I think this is in with a shot - the nearest an Israeli film can get to being 'apolitical' and the director Joseph Cedar was Oscar nominated back in 2008 for Beaufort, which means he is probably a shoe-in this year unless a Holocaust or general World War II film trumps it.

...Speaking of which, In Darkness is Agnieska Holland returning to a World War II setting for the first time since Europa, Europa (which was nominated for an Oscar for Adapted Screenplay back in 1992), in a story about Poles smuggling Jews to saftey through the sewers of their Nazi-occupied city. This definitely seems to tick all the boxes as well as looking, from the trailer at least, like a more mainstream version of Wajda's Kanal.

Monsieur Lazhar, the Canadian entry, seems a little like Incendies-meets-The Class (even before the 'from the producers of Incendies' credit appears in the trailer!), and while the Mid-East dimension seems as if it will be more toned down than in Incendies, I'm not sure how much of a chance this one has.

Bullhead, the Belgian entry, looks like it fits nicely into the 'contemporary crime' slot previously filled by Revanche, Secret In Their Eyes and A Prophet. Although it looks a bit more derivative than those films (all spiralling consequences and characters trapped by fate while adoring children look on), though that might just be the effect of the trailer compressing the film into its most marketable elements!

I think In Darkness looks the likeliest winner based on its subject matter (plus Holland, as with Bier last year, has built up a Hollywood reputation that has not yet been honoured with an award). Footnote could possibly edge it but its subject matter could end up being too esoteric/intellectual for the Academy.

[Hail_Cesar]

Monsieur Lazhar, the Canadian entry, seems a little like Incendies-meets-The Class (even before the 'from the producers of Incendies' credit appears in the trailer!), and while the Mid-East dimension seems as if it will be more toned down than in Incendies, I'm not sure how much of a chance this one has.

Seen that one... Its a very nice little movie, I love that director but I'm extremely surprised it managed to become finalist... The script has a lot of little problems that doesn't prevents one to enjoy the film, but causes plausibility problems... Also, taking a lot at the subbed trailer, I see that a lot of lines can't be translated to English, like when the woman tells Bashir "Veux tu un lift". (lift being an anglicism that french from outside QC wouldn't understand... "Do you want a lift" ain't no joke!). The actors performances are stunning though, especially the children ones...

Like I said before its a very nice film and totally worth the ticket price, but his previous film is still my favorite of him though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeOrOaLFxxw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I think it has been way to much under the radars of world cinéphiles... (The R1 dvd is subbed.)

[John Cope]

I've actually heard some speculation that Monsieur Lazhar is the one that will win as it is, evidently, quite a crowd pleaser.

[hearthesilence]

I'd hate to agree, but I think you may right about In Darkness. Based on subject matter alone, it would seem to be a favorite, but I hope that's not the case. For a few years (around '06 or '07), it seemed like the Academy was trying to honor good films instead of good causes (or Oscar bait I guess), but they seem to be sliding back into old habits.

Speaking of which, guess which ensemble won the big prize at the SAG Awards?

[GaryC]

Inaugural AACTA Awards (which up until last year were the Australian Film Institute Awards), presented earlier today at the Sydney Opera House.

Best Film - Red Dog
Best Direction - Justin Kurzel, Snowtown
Best Lead Actor - Daniel Henshall, Snowtown
Best Lead Actress - Judy Davis, The Eye of the Storm
Best Supporting Actor - Hugo Weaving, Oranges and Sunshine
Best Supporting Actress - Louise Harris, Snowtown
Best Original Screenplay - Leon Ford, Griff the Invisble
Best Adapted Screenplay - Shaun Grant, Snowtown

Just for a change, the Best Film winner wasn't a directorial debut. I haven't seen Red Dog, which is out in UK cinemas at the end of the month. Of the others I have seen Snowtown but wasn't overwhelmed, and found Oranges and Sunshine squarely in the worthy but dull category.