Re: Awards Season 2013
Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 7:29 pm
Don't forget the deserved nomination for The Grandmaster's cinematography.
DarkImbecile wrote:The comparison of Robbie and Lawrence in their respective roles in Wolf and Hustle seems a bit off to me; only superficially similar characters from whom their films were asking very different contributions. Lawrence's instability and borderline lunacy at times is both vital to the plot and pretty consistently funny; Robbie's basically the younger, hotter version of Edie Falco's character in The Sopranos, who tries to simultaneously wallow in her husbands wealth and resent him for the behavior that brings in the money without ever seriously confronting the criminality of it. Both do very well with their parts, but Lawrence's struck me as more substantial, challenging, and memorable (perhaps because, having lived in Philadelphia for several years, I was closely acquainted with several Southern Jersey housewives with borderline personalities...).
I'm in agreement with these two posts for the most part. I think it's kind of being overlooked just how consistently humorous Lawrence was in a role meant to be slightly ridiculous, while it seemed everyone else in the film (maybe with the exception of Cooper) took their roles almost a bit too seriously. I felt that Lawrence crafted a character that not only seemed plausible within the world that Russell intended to create, but also fit together perfectly with the overall purpose of the movie, which routinely (and purposely) teetered over into the ludicrous. While I do agree that the casting of Lawrence sometimes does seem odd considering how young she looks in comparison to the leading-men she performs with, I do think her immaturity makes sense within the context of this film. The performance verges on becoming a caricature, but that suits the film's overall tone and subject-matter.Matt wrote:I'm not sure I'm prepared to mount a point-by-point case on why Jennifer Lawrence might deserve to win an Oscar for American Hustle, but let's remember the baseline standard here. Though this is a very good selection of performances this year (from what I gather, I haven't seen all the films), this is the award that Beatrice Straight won for a single scene, that Jennifer Hudson is widely acknowledged to have won for singing one song, that Judi Dench won for a single monologue, that Hermione Baddeley was nominated for for a two-and-a-half-minute performance, and that has been awarded to some otherwise pretty indefensibly awful performances (I won't name names). Is Jennifer Lawrence's performance at least as good as these? Yes. Are there deserving performances that didn't get nominated and nominees whose performances were not deserving? Yes, as always.
I've seen a lot of criticism (not here, but elsewhere) of Lawrence in this role (focusing not on specifics of her performance but on minutiae like how old her character was supposed to be in the film), and I absolutely don't get it. I never questioned her appropriateness for the role because she is a very compelling actress and I believe her as that character, even if maybe she doesn't have the appropriate number of wrinkles or accurate dipthongs. I love watching her on screen, especially in a film like this where she is given leave to cut loose. I guess maybe a criticism that people seem to have with her performance and with the film in general is that she and the other actors don't disappear into their roles completely enough (see concerns about accents, age, makeup and hairstyles, etc.) I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who watch a movie and expect to forget that they're watching a movie. For a movie that is almost entirely about people playing roles that are maybe a little bit beyond their grasp and that was made in a very fast-and-loose, improvisatory fashion, I expect to notice "performance."
I think it would be great if she won. I think it would also be great if Sally Hawkins won (mainly as a catch-up award for Happy Go Lucky). I am not as enamored of June Squibb's performance as others, and I haven't seen the other two films.
That pretty much confirms what I already assumed. That cast never made me think the movie would be subtle on any level, especially with Wells as the director.wattsup32 wrote:Paul F. Tompkins described August as an overacting competition in which there is a 14 way tie.
Surprise Song Nom 'Alone Yet Not Alone' Riles Up ContendersFeego wrote:Has anyone heard of Alone, Yet Not Alone, which was nominated for Best Original Song?...there is this one interesting tidbit:The film's musical score was composed by William Ross who was the Musical Director for the 85th Academy Awards ceremony.
snubbed best original song contender wrote:I can't figure any of this shit out...
Earlier examples including the continued popularity of Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Beyoncé, and Jay Z.I think it's just the latest example of how true art sometimes is overlooked by those in a position to make decisions about what is paid attention to and what is not...
This paragraph would read a lot differently if the article were congratulating the underdog for making it among such elite company, as opposed to questioning its right to be there.Despite its incredibly low profile (bad), the song was awarded a spot in the best original song category alongside "Ordinary Love" (the song from Mandela (who you have heard of): Long Walk to Freedom for which U2 (who you have heard of) won the best original song Golden Globe), "Happy" (the music and lyrics of which were written by the popular (good) Pharrell Williams, who also performed it in Despicable Me 2 (which you watched with your kids)), "The Moon Song" (which was written by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O and Spike Jonze and features prominently (good) in the best picture Oscar nominee (good) Her) and "Let It Go" (the Idina Menzel ballad that was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and has propelled the Frozen soundtrack to the top of the charts (good)).
I have to agree with Swo that it's kind of ridiculous act as though this is some kind of anomaly because, well, this kind of stuff happens all the time in the entertainment industry, especially with the Oscars. It's no secret how big a role campaigns and favors play in determining Oscar noms/wins. This just may be the most extreme example in recent memory as this film and song have quite literally come out of nowhere.So, as a former Governor and head of the music branch he is obviously well-connected and well-liked within the organization and I am told he started making phone calls to colleagues urging them to consider the song. Call it the most grass roots of campaigns.
I totally agree with your analysis. In a film that was completely about superficiality and the shallowness of performance, both in the context of the film and metacinematically, I feel American Hustle's performers well deserve their nomination (I'd even probably champion Bradley Cooper's massive excessiveness more than the others). While I understand it's received a lot of criticism for being weird or ridiculous, or whatever the criticisms were, I actually really appreciated the scene with Lawrence singing Wings straight to the camera. Its incredible over-the-top-ness exemplified both the character's mild insanity as well as Lawrence's commitment to the showiness of the film as a whole. I also felt that her performance at the dinner scene with Bale, Renner, and Renner's wife (apologies to the actress for not remembering her name) was one of the strongest of the film based of Lawrence's ability in it.Matt wrote:I've seen a lot of criticism (not here, but elsewhere) of Lawrence in this role (focusing not on specifics of her performance but on minutiae like how old her character was supposed to be in the film), and I absolutely don't get it. I never questioned her appropriateness for the role because she is a very compelling actress and I believe her as that character, even if maybe she doesn't have the appropriate number of wrinkles or accurate dipthongs. I love watching her on screen, especially in a film like this where she is given leave to cut loose. I guess maybe a criticism that people seem to have with her performance and with the film in general is that she and the other actors don't disappear into their roles completely enough (see concerns about accents, age, makeup and hairstyles, etc.) I don't have a lot of sympathy for people who watch a movie and expect to forget that they're watching a movie. For a movie that is almost entirely about people playing roles that are maybe a little bit beyond their grasp and that was made in a very fast-and-loose, improvisatory fashion, I expect to notice "performance."
The Missing Picture is incredible and also far more affecting than The Act of Killing, which makes it's absence from the Best Documentary list even more absurd. Maybe they felt the five documentaries chosen were superior to every foreign language film submitted that didn't get nominated.Buttercream wrote:I've yet to see The Missing Picture, but what I've seen of Rithy Pahn's work is quite amazing (he's an underrated master in my opinion). I actually kept thinking of how much more affecting his doc S21: The Kmer Rouge Killing Machine was compared to The Act of Killing, which I didn't much care for.
Hey guys, maybe we shouldn't judge this thing without hearing it firstlacritfan wrote:Oh geez-us AYNA is sung by an evangelical Christian quadriplegic. Good luck criticizing this nom once the Christian media and Fox news find out. Better to just let this controversy die now before it becomes a bigger story.