Oscar Wishlist And Predictions

I know, I know. I already said what my favourite movies of the year were and gave out my own mini Oscars. But of course, my posts basically mean jack shit to the average person. But, the Oscars mean quite a bit to the average person, and they're coming up. In anticipation I'm going to write two lists: the movies I want to win in each category, and the movie I think I will win. And no, I'm not going to predict the winner for Best Foreign Film. I'm writing on the stuff people actually care about. And away we go.

Will Win

Best Picture 
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln 
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Lincoln is everything the Academy voters love, but it's at least also a really good movie. It's not my pick, but I would be fine with it winning.

Best Actor In A Leading Role
Bradley Cooper- Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis- Lincoln
Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix- The Master
Denzel Washington- Flight

Yup, another win for Lincoln. Day-Lewis is pretty much guaranteed at least a nomination in everything he does (well, everything in which he doesn't have to sing) I liked Hugh Jackman's performance and Denzel is good in everything, but I smell Day-Lewis winning this one.

Best Actress In A Leading Role
Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts- The Impossible

Not even close.

Best Actor In A Supporting Role 
Alan Arkin- Argo
Robert De Niro- Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman- The Master
Tommy Lee Jones- Lincoln
Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained

Noticing a trend?

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Amy Adams- The Master 
Sally Field- Lincoln
Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
Helen Hunt- The Sessions
Jacki Weaver- Silver Linings Playbook

Duh.

Best Directing
Michael Haneke- Amour
Benh Zeitlin- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee- Life of Pi
Steven Speilberg- Lincoln
David O.Russell- Silver Linings Playbook

I swear I'm not a huge Lincoln fanboy. Seriously if you're getting bored of this, scroll down to the want list.

Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall 

The cinematography in this movie is so loved I think there would be backlash if it didn't win.

Best Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

This one is down to ZDT and Django. The academy hates controversy, so this is the movie with tons of blood and violence vs the movie with torture. Still, I think Oscar is going to swing in favour of ZDT, but this one could go either way.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Beats of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Silver Linings Playbook

Sigh....

Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White And The Huntsman 

Tough one! Still, Pi was a brilliant sight to behold and used CGI to create beauty rather than explosions. Nice.

Want To Win


Best Picture 
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln 
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Surprised? Quentin Tarantino has only ever won one Oscar. He deserves it here. This movie had it all: great story, great acting, great action, great pacing, great humour and a great commentary. Some may argue it's too jokey to win. Really? This took a good, raw look at slavery and was plenty serious. It's just a testament to Tarantino's brillance that he also made it hilarious and a ton of fun to watch. Would I be unhappy if Lincoln won? Not at all. It's a great movie, and certainly ranks as one of my favourite of the year. But this is the best of the year and deserves to be recognized as such.

Best Actor In A Leading Role
Bradley Cooper- Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis- Lincoln
Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix- The Master
Denzel Washington- Flight

No, we're not doing this again, but credit where credit is due. Day-Lewis was Abraham Lincoln. When watching the movie you totally forget you're even watching an actor and instead just believe Lincoln has come back from the dead. He's that good.

Best Actress In A Leading Role
Jessica Chastain- Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts- The Impossible

No complaints here.

Best Actor In A Supporting Role 
Alan Arkin- Argo
Robert De Niro- Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman- The Master
Tommy Lee Jones- Lincoln
Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained

Ooo, tough one. Tommy Lee Jones was awesome, possibly the best actor in that movie. But Waltz was of course unbelievably awesome. He was easily my favourite character in Django Unchained and thus gets my vote.

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Amy Adams- The Master 
Sally Field- Lincoln
Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
Helen Hunt- The Sessions
Jacki Weaver- Silver Linings Playbook

If she loses, I will seriously cry. Or break something. Or both. Probably both.
Best Directing
Michael Haneke- Amour
Benh Zeitlin- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Ang Lee- Life of Pi
Steven Speilberg- Lincoln
David O.Russell- Silver Linings Playbook

Give it to Speilberg, sure. But the fact Tarantino isn't nominated is a travesty.
Best Cinematography
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall 

That fight in the skyscraper alone is enough to win this one.

Best Original Screenplay
Amour
Django Unchained
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty

Surprised?

Best Adapted Screenplay
Beats of the Southern Wild
 Life of Pi
Lincoln
 David O.Russell 

Yes, I thought it was a well written script.

Best Visual Effects
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White And The Huntsman 

I think this one is a no brainer. Let me take this time to point out how bad it is for Warner Bros that The Dark Knight Rises got no nominations, making it the only movie in the Nolan trilogy to get no love from the academy. Considering that expanding the Best Picture pool to ten movies was known as "The Dark Knight Rule," and the huge push Warner Bros gave it for the Oscars, I'm honestly kind of surprised. 

2012 In Review

I think 2012 stands as a great year at the movies. I didn't see as many movies as I would have liked, but I'm pretty happy with what I saw. So I'm going to do my own little retrospective here and give my own personal Oscars and Razzies. Here we go.

Favourite Movie: Django Unchained
I don't have to think about this one. Django is pretty much a close to perfect movie that I had a blast watching.

Best Male Performance: Daniel Craig, Skyfall
I'm honestly kind of shocked that I put this here considering the powerhouse trio in Django. But Craig pretty much perfected the character of James Bond in this movie, and that's worthy of getting an award in its own right. He finally managed to find that sweet spot that combined the personal torment and anger that he used in Casino Royale with the class and humor that some of the other Bonds had used. Sorry Connery, but Daniel Craig's got you beat.

Best Female Performance: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Anne Hathaway is to Les Miserables what Anthony Hopkins is to Silence of the Lambs. She's not the main character and really isn't in it a ton, but is the character you remember the best. She's just outstanding in this movie and hopefully convinces people she's moved on from her Disney days.

Best Music: Les Miserables
Duh.

Best Original Song: Adele "Skyfall," Skyfall
Also duh.

Best Visual Effects: The Dark Knight Rises
This was kind of a tough one, but I'm going to give it to TDKR mainly for it's impressive use of practical effects. They actually had people walking on the wings of airplanes. Use less CGI next time, Mr. Whedon.

Best Action: Tie between The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall
Yeah, I couldn't decide. All of these movies had great action.

Now for the worst:

Worst Movie: Battleship
The first "award" I will bestow on this hunk of crap. Not to be the last.

Worst Male Performance: Ryan Reynolds, Safe House
I officially hate this guy.

Worst Female Performance: Rihanna, Battleship
Wait, she was in this movie? For real? I thought they just filmed her staring blankly at the camera without speaking for shits and giggles and decided to add it in.

Most Disappointing Movie: Prometheus
I liked this movie, but even I recognize that it should have been a hell of a lot better. It fell far short of expectations.

Worst Disgrace To Cinema: Battleship
Yes, I'm creating another topic just for Battleship. Why? I hadn't started this blog yet when I saw this movie and I only gave it a short write up before. But now I have something to say. Thank God this movie bombed because it's a symbol of all that's wrong with Hollywood. There was nothing here worth telling, and yet the idiot filmmakers tried to excuse themselves by saying it's just a popcorn movie. Well I'm sorry, but The Avengers proved you wrong on that. It was a popcorn movie for sure, but still had effort and actually told a story. You may ask what I was expecting, seeing as its a movie based on a board game. Well here's a suggestion: DON'T MAKE A MOVIE BASED OFF A GODDAMN BOARD GAME! It's not hard! If Hollywood is that out of ideas that it should just throw in the towel, or, heaven forbid, develop original properties.

Well there we go. 2013 is shaping up to be a good year for movies and I'm excited. Good night and good luck.

Movies I'm hyped for in 2013:
Pacific Rim
Man Of Steel
Gangster Squad
Broken City
Saving Mr. Banks
The Last Stand 
The Wolverine
Oz: The Great And The Powerful
Iron Man 3
The Great Gatsby
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Hangover Part III
After Earth (Maybe: I'm actually giving M. Night a chance here)
Kick Ass 2
The Wolverine
Red 2
I, Frankenstein
Thor: The Dark Worlds
The Hunger Games: CatchingFire
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Django Unchained

HELL. YEAH. I think that's all I could say for this movie. Quentin Tarantino is one my favourite directors and he gave us a great ride here. It's a testament to him that he can horrify us with imagery of slavery and then make us laugh a minute later. That's the great scene about Tarantino. He gives us action, he gives us drama and gives us great humour. His movies are just a ton of fun to watch, and I think is one of his best efforts to date. The story is tons of fun and yet unforgiving in that it doesn't make excuses for American history. Slavery was a horrendous thing and Tarantino doesn't try to hide this fact at all. There were scenes in this that were near impossible to watch, scenes that rank as some of the scariest stuff I've seen in a while. And yet, the movie is fun. The humour is great and the story works so, so well. God I love Christoph Waltz. I loved his character, I loved he was a bounty hunter and I loved the way he dealt with "Young Django." That's not to say that he stole the show though, because he would have to compete for that. Most good movies have one great performance that helps carry the movie. This one has three incredible performances, each of which are Oscar worthy: Waltz as Dr. King Schultz, Jamie Foxx as Django and Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie. I'll talk about each seperately because each deserves mention. Foxx is the heart of the film. Django is usually a man of few words, so Foxx has to use his facial expression to carry himself. He does a great job. This guy has gone through hell in his life and he's ready for a little revenge. I've already talked about Waltz, but I will say that he was a ton of fun in the way he carries himself. Most of the funny stuff came from him, and I don't think anyone other than Waltz could have shown the humour and drama behind the role. Candie was a great bad guy. In the hands of another actor he could have turned into a moustache twirling villain, but DiCaprio steps up to the plate and gives us a terrific villain who's evil while being fun to watch. The scene with the skull may be some of DiCaprio's best work to date. I'm out of things to say. This is a blast while being important and heavy. I have honestly never seen a movie quite like this, and I urge people to see it. 

Les Miserables

I know, click to buy advanced tickets. Er, free ad space for Les Mis?

Let me get this out of the way right now: I don't watch musicals. At all. What did I think of West Side Story? I dunno. Singin' In The Rain? You tell me, because I don't have a damn clue. Hairspray? It sucked hard. (Yeah, that one I did see) This represented the first time I ever went to see a musical in the theatre that wasn't animated. (Except Hairspray, but I was dragged to that against my will) But there I was, again sitting in a theatre in which I was the youngest. None of my friends go to musicals either but I wanted to see this, so this one was a solo mission. I sat down and I gotta say: this movie rocks.

I've never seen any production of the play, seen the Liam Neeson movie or read the Victor Hugo book. I knew nothing of the story or where would go, and I'm glad of that. I got really sucked into the story for this one. I will say I think Les Miserables takes too long to get going. I think the beginning really drags in the first little bit and the scene where Hugh Jackman steals from the church was so obvious and forced to me that I was eyeing the exit sign for the theatre. Thankfully, the movie recovers really quickly. Once Jackman (Okay, Jean Valjean) begins his new life, I got hooked. You feel for this guy and you want him to get through this. He's a good man, he really is. Too bad he doesn't seem to believe that. I gotta say, I gained a lot of respect for Hugh Jackman as a performer. He was Jean Valjean, he totally embodied this guy. And the man can sing. Good God, can he ever. A number of his lines are sung, and I totally bought them. I liked how the story takes place over many time periods. You grow with Valjean and see his development all the way through. But there is something else that made this movie a win, and I think it's biggest win at that, the single biggest strength of the movie. I can sum it up in two words: Anne Hathaway. Dear Lord, she was incredible in this movie, and is the thing I remember most. Which is interesting because she's not in it much. She has maybe half an hour of screen time, but she's unforgettable when she is there. As I said before, I know nothing of Les Mis, but I do "I Dreamed a Dream" is a iconic song from the play, and I think that Hathaway turned it into what was easily the best part of the film. There are no dance numbers in it, no weird camera moves (Dutch angles aside) and no cutaways. Director Tom Hooper parks the camera in front of Hathaway for four minutes and lets her sell it. And it's those four minutes alone that are Oscar worthy, and that's not even looking at the rest of her performance. There's been a misconception that Anne Hathaway is not a serious actress, that's just another Disney protege who can't really act. I knew from Rachel Getting Married that she can act, and I hoped The Dark Knight Rises would change that misconception. It did for the most part, but I think this movie will be the final proof of how good she is. I also loved Amanda Seyfried in this, but I'm going to keep her role a secret. Let me say this: the final resolution with her and Valjean did get me a bit teary eyed. There, I said it. The scenery in this is just gorgeous. The cinematography and set pieces make this seem like an epic, and that suited me just fine. I also loved the emotional roller coasters. It knew just how to play to our emotions without ever getting sappy. It's a crowd pleaser for sure: there was a huge applause at the end.  Are there any flaws? Well.... Russell Crowe. Dude, you're a great actor, but please for the love of God: never sing again. It doesn't help that all of his lines are sung: I think he spoke maybe one or two lines. Watch this clip if you don't believe me:

And yes, there is some bad exposition there. Like I said the beginning is weak. Someone other should have been Javert for this movie. That and the movie is maybe a little long, but that's mostly because of the weak beginning. The music is really good too, and the actors all sing well, except for Crowe. Did it sway me on musicals? Well I wouldn't go that far, but it did provide amazing entertainment that easily stands as one of the best movie of the year.