I’ve delayed my Oscar Blog long enough. It’s been
weeks since I saw the final nominee for Best Picture (Les Miserables)
and tomorrow it’s wheels up to LAX to cover the ceremony from the red
carpet. So, with hours remaining until my cross-country trip, I briefly
turn the Jaunting Journalist into the Running Reviewer (Movie-Watching
Marathoner?).
First,
the nominees for best picture and how they stack up for me. Unlike last year, there weren’t any movies I hated (See: Tree of Life). There were movies I loved,
movies I liked and movies I could take or leave. Also, let me point
out that I am not a professional critic. I am not a Hollywood insider
and I never studied film. I’m just an average Joe who likes to watch and discuss movies.
Sadly, average Joe’s like me don’t pick the Oscar winners so my choices
for the big awards will probably be all wrong.
Movies I loved:
Django Unchained
- Critics of this movie will tell you that it is predictable
Tarantino. I disagree. Yes, of course there is a massacre scene that
is so bloody, you will laugh. Gratuitous cursing and violence abounds.
I’ll admit, I had to drag myself to go see this. The running time of
nearly three hours was enough to make me wary. I’m also not a Jamie
Foxx fan. But, I have never had so much fun watching a movie in a
theater. It takes the issues of racism and slavery and combines them
with intelligent comedy and revenge that neither offends or
disrespects the seriousness of the problems. Perhaps that is because
Christoph Watz gives the most side-splitting performance of the year as
Dr. King Schultz, but we’ll get to that in my picks and predictions.
Beasts of the Southern Wild – The
acting and the imagery prop up the story in this sleeper about a dying
father and his six-year-old daughter. The title comes from Bayou
folklore about a giant species of beast which once ruled the earth and it will
return to rule it again. The execution of this narrative is weak, but
the relationship between the single father and the tomboy child are
enough to make the movie one of the more beautiful pictures I have ever
seen. These people live in squalor, yet the way the movie is shot makes
their shanty and adjoining trailer look like a voluptuous landscape
full of color, vegetation and creatures. The narration by Quvenzhane
Wallis (who like the man who plays her father, had never acted before)
is both innocent and brilliant. It’s impossible not to fall in love
with the characters.
Argo – I’m
a sucker for movies about modern history. But, of the three nominees
that fit that bill, only Argo makes it on to the “Loved it List”. The
reason? I am also a sucker for movies that entertain me and keep me in
suspense. Argo did both of those things. By now, you know the plotline
and I am willing for forgive the Hollywood additions to the story (there
was no chase down the runaway as the plane with the hostages took off)
because of the script, direction and acting. I am stunned that Ben
Affleck did not get a nomination for best director and believe it is the
biggest snub issued by the Academy this year.
Movies I liked:
Lincoln – This
of course, is the second movie about modern history. Was it an
excellent film? Of course. It even kept me in suspense despite knowing
that the 13th amendment passed (even though Mississippi just
ratified it this week), but it was not especially entertaining and even
dragged at some points. Understandably, the writers of the screenplay
had to take some liberties with the dialogue, but it needed to walk a
fine line, not make up story lines. Mary Todd Lincoln’s role in this
movie was far too amplified. We have no reason to believe she was the
character Sally Field portrayed (in my opinion, unbelievably) and the story adds nothing to the movie’s main plot. That said, I
do think the movie was well done and you can’t argue that Daniel Day
Lewis hit it out of the park. When doesn’t he? Perhaps there was just
too much hype, but I just wasn’t blown away.
Zero Dark Thirty – And
here is the third movie about modern history. It’s a good movie, but
it has extreme highs and lows. The final 10 minutes of the movie are as
heart-stopping as anything from Kathryn Bigelow’s previous film, The
Hurt Locker, but there are sections where I caught myself dozing off. I
think the publicity surrounding the movie as of late has also knocked
it down a peg for me. While a Hollywood interpretation of the facts is
understandable when it comes to a historic event as far in the past as
Lincoln, or as relatively trivial as Argo, it seems wrong to play fast
and loose with the facts with an event so fresh.
Les Miserables – This
movie loses points in my book because I don’t think it’s a challenging
film to make. It’s Les Miserables. The Farrelly Brothers couldn’t mess
it up. Russell Crowe could, however and does. He’s not a singer and that’s not
his fault. It’s a casting error. It’s not that he can’t match pitch.
It’s that he just sounds uncomfortable and out of place. And that’s really the only
criticism I have. It’s a fantastic story with familiar songs. Anne Hathaway is as good as advertised.
Hugh Jackman does not disappoint and I was pleasantly surprised by
Amanda Seyfried (who I once exchanged pleasantries with while walking a
friend’s dog), but the fact remains that Les Miserables is low-hanging
fruit.
Silver Linings Playbook -- Bradley
Cooper was the biggest surprise of this Oscar season for me. Who knew he had
it in him? It’s a serious story about mental illness with characters as
frustrating as they are loveable. Cooper’s character, Jennifer
Lawrence’s character and Robert DiNero’s character all have serious
issues and the collision of these three mentally unstable people makes
for a compelling story that is executed with phenomenal acting. The
only fault I find in the movie is the acceleration of the love story.
Cooper’s character, Pat originally wants nothing to do with Lawrence’s
character, Tiffany. His change of heart seems to happen rather
suddenly. Still, this movie rises above the noise of the romantic
comedies of late and I’m glad to see it was nominated.
Take it or leave it:
Amour – This
is where my Average Joe attitude shines through. The art house crowd
raved about this movie. I spent the hours after watching it desperately
trying to dig myself out of the depression it put me in. The movie is
about unconditional love in the face of imminent death. The wife,
played by Emmanuelle Riva, suffers a stroke early in the film. The rest
of the movie is about her painful decline from functioning adult to
incontinent, babbling vegetable. It’s painful to watch and that was the
intent. I know this is real life, but I go to the movies to escape.
Life of Pi
– Did you see “Castaway”? This is like Castaway, but with characters
less loveable than Tom Hanks and the Volleyball. Much like the first several hundred pages of the book, I was
bored for the first two hours of the movie. The end grabbed my
attention because the twist, but for the most part this movie was a lot
of pretty pictures with very little substance.
Picks and Predictions
Best Film
What I want it to be: Django Unchained
What I think it will be: Argo
It's all politics and Argo's recent success at lesser award shows seem to point to Oscar victory. Plus, the Academy needs to make up for not nominating Affleck.
Best Actor:
Who I want it to be: Bradley Cooper
Who I think it will be: Daniel Day Lewis
You expect a mesmerizing performance out of Lewis. You don't expect it from Cooper which is why I think he deserves the statue.
Best Actress:*
Who I want it to be: Quvenzhane Wallis
Who I think it will be: Jessica Chastain
I can't think of another movie in which a child carried the entire film. But, Jessica Chastain is a critics darling. I think she's wonderful, but I don't think her performance in Zero Dark Thirty was what made the movie special.
*The only film with a nomination for a major award that I didn't see was The Impossible for which Naomi Watts was nominated.
*The only film with a nomination for a major award that I didn't see was The Impossible for which Naomi Watts was nominated.
Best Supporting Actor:
Who I want it to be: Christoph Waltz
Who I think it will be: Robert DiNero
This is tough because I loved DiNero in Silver Linings Playbook but the best character out of all the nominated movies is played by Waltz in Django Unchained. The argument could be made to put that role in the Best Actor category.
Best Supporting Actress:
Who I want it to be: Anne Hathaway
Who I think it will be: Anne Hathaway
Watch the "I Dreamed a Dream" scene, don't cry and then tell me there is a reason anyone else is even nominated.
Best Director:
Who I want it to be: Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Who I think it will be: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
With two no-name actors and a potentially far-fetched tale, Zeitlin turned Beasts of the Southern Wild into a masterpiece. But Lincoln is Spielberg's latest masterpiece and the Academy won't overlook it.
