12 Days of Oscar: Best Picture

All 9 Nominees are deserving of accolade and praise.  There is little to say that has not been said about these films.  So I will simply say that I believe the Best Film and the Oscar will go to Argo.

Enjoy the Awards!

12 Days of Oscar: The Big Two

The director is the storyteller.  He may not have to write, act or narrate the story... but he is the story teller and if he is dedicated to his craft, his story will be timeless.

BEST DIRECTOR NOMINEES

Amour - Michael Haneke
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Ben Zeitlin
Life of Pi - Ang Lee
Lincoln - Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

Okay, lets set the record straight.  These were five moving films masterfully directed.  With that being said they are not, in my opinion the five best directed of the year.  In fact I am still completely at a loss for how Ben Affleck and Tom Hooper were left out of this mix.  Others would also argue for Kathryn Bigelow and although I was truly a believer after The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty was not my favorite of those listed.
So in my opinion, this one has an asterisk.  I am pulling a bit for Lee, because of the loss of his deserved statue for Brokeback Mountain and David Russell for a wonderful, poignant and personal direction of an all star cast in an everyday struggle.  I believe Lincoln was an absolute showcase for Tony Kushner's screenplay and Daniel Day-lewis' Lincoln... but as far as a whole... it was not Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan or even Indiana Jones.  I could gracefully concede a Spielberg win if he faced, in my opinion, the best direction of the year in Ben Affleck's Argo.

Perhaps this is the one category where we need to open up a few more spots for nominee's.

My Favorite:  Wasn't Nominated.  Ben Affleck.  Argo.

My Oscar Prediction: Ang Lee for Life of Pi.

12 Days of Oscar: Day 2 - Acting in Leading Roles

Acting in a leading role is one of the “major” categories because the lead must be the focal point of the story without getting in the way of it.  The lead actor or actress is but a part of the big picture, but without a strong lead… all of the efforts to convincingly move the audience become improbable.

This year’s leading categories, like most, are filled with masterful performances.  Now to separate mastery from legendary.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour

Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Naomi Watts – The Impossible

This year’s leading actress category is replete with strong female characters, which is always my benchmark.

Jessica Chastain does a remarkable job as the CIA operative who put the pieces together to find Bin Laden.  The screenwriter also helped her in removing her from “obligatory” love entanglements and made her a tough as nails professional.

Jennifer Lawrence is equally tough as the blunt, recent widow who is trying to move on with her life in Silver Linings Playbook.  Her dialogue and demeanor were perfectly delivered and Jennifer Lawrence is quickly establishing herself as “money” in the acting realm.

Emmanuelle Riva was haunting as both lucid and brilliant pianist and deteriorating stroke patient.  If one can get past the depressing nature of the subject matter, this was as good a performance as was given this year.

Quvenzhane Wallis was a firecracker of physical and emotional turbulence and resolve.  Her performance was amazing.

Naomi Watts made audiences wince and cheer as a mother, injured in the Indonesian tsunami that is determined to get her son to safety. 

My Favorite:  Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

My Oscar Prediction:  Emmanuelle Riva for Amour

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-lewis – Lincoln

Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables

Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

Denzel Washington – Flight

Bradley Cooper gives his best performance to date as a bipolar man working hard to win back his wife in the dramady Silver Linings Playbook. 

Hugh Jackman’s voice, vulnerability and dedication to Jean Valjean was nothing short of epic.  A true performance to go into the annals of cinema history.

Joaquin Phoenix would be the frontrunner here if not for a film that was “love it/hate it” and Phoenix’s disdain for awards in general.  Phoenix gave an absolutely stunning portrait of a man led by his basest desires trying through the help of Hoffman’s character to become a “more noble” man.  There wasn’t a moment that Phoenix was not spot on and in character.

Denzel Washington gave a fine performance as an alcoholic pilot.  Though convincing and well performed, if anything, the highlights of the film occur from special effects and John Goodman.  The story, though good, was not as powerful as the other films, making Washington’s performance seem average though it was much more.

Daniel Day-lewis was, and from now on may ever be thought of as Abraham Lincoln.  End of story.

My favorite:  Daniel Day-lewis for Lincoln

My Oscar Prediction:  Daniel Day-lewis for Lincoln

12 Days of Oscar: Day 3 - Acting in Supporting Roles

The Oscar acting categories are the best of the best every year and are, in some respects, unfair. This is because comedies are lumped in with weightier dramas, thrillers and tragedies.  When a musical enters the mix it often confuses the matter further. 

However, this year the musical performances and the comedic performances were just as relevant and powerful as the heavier social commentaries. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS NOMINEES

Amy Adams – The Master

Sally Field – Lincoln

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook

Amy Adams gave the best performance of her career as the outspoken yet doting wife of a charismatic cult leader in The Master.  In most other years I would say that Ms. Adams should wait on the edge of her seat when the envelope tears.  This year, besides having a clear frontrunner, I would say that the timing of the film release and its mixed reception overall will keep her at the back of this pack.

Sally Field gives a wonderful performance as the controlling and sharp witted Ms. Lincoln.  The difficulty here is that the amazing brilliance of Daniel Day Lewis eclipsed the scenery, sets, props and unfortunately for the rest of the cast… the other actors.

Helen Hunt transcended the nakedness of her character, both literally and ultimately figuratively in The Sessions.   I was amazed at how believable a “sexual surrogate” who is married could be, as it falls outside the norms of our society.  Her performance was nothing short of brilliant.

Jacki Weaver was the epitome of the worried mother of a bipolar son.  She was the definition of the accepting wife of an OCD husband.  She was the glue that held together a volatile mix of family and friends dealing with some form of mental illness.  Unfortunately for her Oscar chances, she played perfectly the mother/wife who takes a backseat for her larger than life family. 

Anne Hathaway.  The guttural mourning and angst of a promising life lost, even for as short as the performance was, will be a long lived cinema memory.  A performance that wrings the emotion from you is too powerful to ignore.

My Favorite: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

My Oscar Prediction: Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR NOMINEES

Alan Arkin - Argo

 Robert DeNiro – Silver Linings Playbook

Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

Cristoph Waltz – Django Unchained

Alan Arkin provides a compelling character study of a producer who is involved in a top secret extraction process to free American Hostages from Iran.  The balance he provides between the external bullying producer and the internal worrying patriot is wonderful.

Robert Deniro gives, in my opinion, one of his best performances ever as the OCD father of a bipolar son.  He is so vulnerable and real in this role that during the film you forget every other DeNiro role.  That is no small feat with films such as Taxi Driver and the Deer Hunter.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant as a cult founder and leader.  That, however, is just the point.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman is always brilliant.  He gives nothing but Oscar worthy performances.  It is sometimes hard to recognize just how good he is because it all looks so easy for him.  To some extent he is becoming the Meryl Streep of male actors whose nominations are obligatory, but is often overlooked for the actual honor because of his skill.

Tommy Lee Jones gives a memorable performance in Lincoln as the lawmaker whose wish to outlaw slavery is personal.  It seems that most have a soft spot for Jones, even though he seems to always play a quick-witted but verbally abusive southerner.  Tommy Lee may come away from the Oscar as a sentimental favorite.  However, Alan Arkin could stand in that role as well.

Finally, Cristoph Waltz is perhaps the character with the most “panache”.  His character is so fun to watch with his counter culture views and verbal flourishes that you look forward to the next dimwit that provides cannon fodder for his dialogue.  Cristoph gets Tarrantino and plays his characters brilliantly.

My Favorite: Cristoph Waltz for Django Unchained

My Oscar Prediction: Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln

12 Days of Oscar: Day 4 - Live Action Short Film

This year's group of live shorts were fantastic.  Each film seemed to be the "one for Oscar" until you saw the next.

SHORT FILM LIVE ACTION NOMINEES

1) Asad - Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura

2) Buzkashi Boys - Sam French and Ariel Nasr

3) Curfew - Shawn Christensen

4) Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) - Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele

5) Henry - Yan England

Each of these movies is brilliant in its own way.  Asad is the story of a boy who is steered clear of the local trouble in Somolia through fishing,  Buzkashi boys is the unlikely friendship between the son of the local blacksmith and a young street beggar in Pakistan.  Curfew reveals a twenty something man who gains a new lease on life through an impromptu babysitting gig with his niece.  Death of a Shadow  (which stars Matthew Schoenarts of Rust and Bone and Bullhead fame) tells the tale of a photographer who must photograph the shadows of the dead to regain his own life.  Henry is a look from the inside at  dementia.
Each of these films has brilliant and unique twists that are entertaining, lovely or gut wrenching.  My favorite is the lightest, I believe the Academy will chose the tragedy.

My Favorite: Curfew

My Oscar Prediction: Buzkashi Boys

12 Days of Oscar: Day 5 - Foreign Film

I love foreign film.  Foreign film often relies little to nothing on effects or big budget items.  They are about relationships, internal dialogue and pushing the art.  Needless to say if you don't have a good screenplay, good character development and good internal/external dialogue/monologue, your film will not fly.  These films have mastered the art.

FOREIGN FILM NOMINEES

1) Amour (Austria)

2) Kon-Tiki (Norway)

3) No (Chile)

4) A Royal Affair (Denmark)

5) War Witch (Canada)

This is my one incomplete category.  As of this posting I have not yet seen War Witch and so I will list my favorite to date.  I was honestly very surprised that the Intouchables, Barbara or Rust and Bone did not make this list.  At this point I would have replaced Kon-Tiki, A very good film about Thor Heyerdahl's voyage across the pacific on a raft and No, a good subject but slow film about the campaign to oust Pinnochet in Chile.  I would have nominated the Intouchables and Rust and Bone.  The Intouchables, a film about an unlikely friendship built between a quadriplegic man and his caregiver was my favorite foreign film of the year.  However, since it was not nominated, I will go with the historical period romance out of Denmark.  The Academy has all but etched "Amour", a film about a man coping with his wife's stroke, on the Oscar.

My Favorite:  A Royal Affair

My Oscar Prediction:  Amour

12 Days of Oscar: Day 6 - Cinematography

The painters.  Film is, first and foremost, a visual medium.

CINEMATOGRAPHY NOMINEES

1) Anna Karenina - Seamus McGarvey

2) Django Unchained - Robert Richardson

3) Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda

4) Lincoln - Janusz Kaminski

5) Skyfall - Roger Deakins

Each picture contains beautiful cinematography unique to its genre.  Two of these films were unique and breathtaking.  Anna Karenina was a marvel of artistic transition and stylized movement between stage and location.  Life of Pi is a sea epic which differs from its predecessors by by being colorful and contemplative even among the tempest.

My Favorite - Anna Karenina

My Oscar prediction - Life of Pi