2012 Oscar Crosstalk

by Lani and A.J.

With the Academy Awards just two weeks away, Cinema Then and Now co-bloggers Lani and A.J. sat down to discuss our impressions of the nominees: who deserves to win, who was overlooked, and who shouldn't even be on the short list. And to help out anyone with an Oscar pool, we've listed our picks for who will win next Sunday. (You can see a full list of the nominees at Oscars.go.com.)

Lani: I think we both agree that compared to last year's Oscar contenders, this year's slate of nominees is a bit underwhelming. And some of our favorite films were ignored for Best Picture or overlooked completely.
AJ: There are some nominees this year which I think are very deserving, but most are "just okay."

Lani: Well, let's get down to specifics: Best Picture. There's not one nominee here which I feel particularly strongly about. My favorite film of the year and your number one, Drive, is not nominated. However, of the nominated films I have the most affection for The Artist.
AJ: I am rooting for The Artist or Midnight in Paris. I would be alright with Hugo winning. The film I don't want to win is The Descendents because it is just an okay Alexander Payne movie. It was okay, but there is better stuff out there and I would be disappointed if it won any awards, especially Best Picture.
Lani: It is not even Alexander Payne's best movie! For what is basically a character study about a family in crisis, I didn't think the main character was fleshed out enough. Overall the film is fine, but not outstanding. Any big surprises or "huh?" moments?
AJ: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for Best Picture. I thought it might get nominated since it was directed by Stephen Daldry, and all of his previous films have been nominated for Best Picture. However, it wasn't incredibly well-received by critics and I did not enjoy it either. It's frustrating because every time one of Daldry's films is nominated I feel like another, more deserving film is pushed out of the running. My other reaction was "Moneyball, really?"
Lani: I am surprised that anyone felt that strongly about Moneyball, even though we both enjoyed it.

Lani: So, from your previous comment I take it Payne is not your favorite for Best Director, either.
AJ: No, he's not. If I had my way, Tomas Alfredsson would win Best Director for his work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He used every nuance of cinema to tell a rather complicated story. In less capable hands it could have been clunky and confusing. But Alfredsson was not nominated.
Lani: With the exception of Michel Hazanavicius, who really tried something "new" with The Artist, the nominees are four good, solid directors who are just doing what they do and not really stretching. Some people felt that Hugo was a departure for Martin Scorcese, but he has always been a versatile director.
AJ: Yes, people forget that Scorcese made Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Kundun, The Age of Innocence. He doesn't just make gangster films. I agree that the only one of the nominated directors who went beyond expectations is Hazanavicius.
Lani: Doing something new is not, of itself, a reason for an Academy Award. However, I think he rose to a challenge with The Artist and he has a good chance to win.
Lani: For me the big "huh?" was Jonah Hill's Best Supporting Actor nomination for Moneyball. I did not think it was a bad performance, but it was not remarkable in any way; he wasn't even the best supporting actor in Moneyball! Chris Pratt as Scott Hatteberg made a bigger impression than Hill. I was actually imagining other actors playing Hill's part while I was watching the movie!
AJ: When you look at the list of Supporting Actor nominees - Kenneth Branagh, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer, Max Von Sydow, and Jonah Hill - there is definitely a sense of "one of these is not like the others."
Lani: Christopher Plummer is certainly the favorite here and deservedly so. He was wonderful in Beginners.
AJ: This year I feel like Plummer could also have been nominated for his role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Even though it was a small role, his character is what really go me invested in the film's central mystery.
Lani: Someone who I would've liked to have seen nominated was Viggo Mortensen for A Dangerous Method.
AJ: Viggo the Shark! As you said in your "Favorite Performances" post, he is "stealth acting." Even when he's playing a famous figure like Sigmund Freud, you lose awareness that Mortensen is playing a role; everything he's doing is subtle.

Lani: In the Best Actor category, I'm glad to see Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor and Jean Dujardin for The Artist.
AJ: Oldman is too good for his own good. He becomes unrecognizable from role to role, and I think people forget how great he is!
Lani: However, I don't think he's going to win.
AJ: It is another very subtle performance - it's not a performance you can "see." Jean Dujardin has a much flashier role since he is playing a bigger-than-life movie star.
Lani: That's true, but Dujardin also has many small moments which give his character depth. George Clooney may win, but, to echo your sentiments about The Descendents, this is just another good performance by Clooney. He is a dependably solid actor, but this performance did not distinguish itself above any other of his performances.
AJ: That is how I feel about Brad Pitt in Moneyball. He is good here, but he is always good. There is nothing surprising in this performance.
Lani: A big omission in this category, in my opinion, is Brendan Gleeson who gave a really strong performance in The Guard. I also thought that film had a great screenplay; it really did something different with the buddy-cop genre and it was very witty, even the villains had great lines complaining about the stupid low-lifes they have to work with as drug dealers.
AJ: I agree, Gleeson was definitely deserving of a nomination. He managed to remain incredibly likable playing a character who says, among other things, "racism is part of my culture."

Lani: On to the actresses...I wasn't surprised by any of the nominations except Jessica Chastain for The Help. I thought she was a bright spot, but Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis have been getting most of the attention for that film. Chastain was so ubiquitous in 2011, it seems like the Academy just wanted to throw her a bone for a year of consistently good work.
AJ: I think her performance in The Tree of Life was just as deserving, maybe more so.
Lani: However, the race in this category seems to be between Spencer and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids. Both actresses are playing broad characters, but McCarthy is getting that label more than Spencer, probably because Bridesmaids is more of a straight comedy than The Help. Just take a moment to consider that either way the Oscar will likely go to a performance in which poop played a prominent role.
AJ: I feel like Michelle Williams should be in the Supporting Actress category rather than Lead. My Week with Marilyn is about Colin Clark, the young man who meets Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn doesn't have a storyline of her own, all of her scenes are with Clark.
Lani: It is sort of the opposite situation with Berenice Bejo, who is really the co-lead in The Artist. Her character, Peppy Miller, has her own substantial story arc; however, she's nominated in the supporting category.
Lani: In the Best Actress category, the frontrunners are definitely Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and Viola Davis for The Help.
AJ: This could be an interesting category because there is not a heavy favorite, it could go either way. Davis has already won several awards, but Streep did win the Golden Globe. Plus Streep is doing an accent and it's a biopic, two factors which the Academy likes to reward.
Lani: I felt like this wasn't a strong year for female roles. If I had to come up with a list of nominees, I don't think I could have named five. However, I do think Charlize Theron's performance in Young Adult was overlooked.

AJ: The Best Adapted Screenplay award should go hands-down to Tinker Tailor. The previous TV miniseries of this story was 7 hours, so the fact that the screenwriters condensed it down to less than 2 hours, while still keeping it interesting and thrilling, is quite an achievement - especially for a story which revolves around people looking at paperwork.
Lani: I have read the novel, and the story has been changed in many ways for the film. But it still works - and that is what an adapted screenplay should do. I wouldn't be scandalized if Moneyball won in this category either.
AJ: With writers like Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin working on the script, you expect quality.
Lani: They took a potentially dry subject and made an engaging story out of it.
AJ: Unlike The Ides of March, which took a potentially relevant topic - a presidential race - and made it seem pointless.
Lani: I think it is a bit ridiculous that The Artist has been nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Even the actors admit that they didn't have real dialogue and sometimes were just saying gibberish! Bridesmaids may have a chance in this category since there is a lot of goodwill toward that movie. However, I have a feeling there is going to be an Artist sweep.
AJ: My pick for Original Screenplay would be Midnight in Paris. Woody Allen's take on the Jazz Age and nostalgia was very clever.
Lani: In the technical categories, I am shocked that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was overlooked. These are the categories where quality action movies, like The Bourne Ultimatum, usually get some recognition. I think it was deserving of recognition for editing and even Best Director for Brad Bird. It is a very well-put together film, combining innovative action scenes with humor and traditional spy-craft. The action scenes are not only coherent, but interesting to watch. Compare that to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which is nominated for sound editing, sound mixing, and special effects. The Transformers franchise is consistently criticized as noisy, incoherent messes, yet those films get Academy recognition.
AJ: In Ghost Protocol special effects are definitely being used, but it is done in a seamless way and that deserves to be recognized. Tree of Life didn't get an editing nomination, but I think the editing is what makes that movie.
Lani: I think that Tree's cinematography is what stands out. Even people who didn't like the movie have to admit that the imagery is beautiful and the camera is offering really interesting points of view.
AJ: My pick for that category is Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - for the bleakness, the grays and whites of the landscape. It creates the perfect mood for that story.

What will win:
Best Picture - The Artist
Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius
Best Actor - Jean Dujardin
Best Actress - Viola Davis
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer

Possible upsets:
Best Picture - Hugo
Best Director - Martin Scorcese
Best Actor - George Clooney
Best Actress - Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor - No one, Christopher Plummer is a sure thing.
Best Supporting Actress - Melissa McCarthy

Top 10 of 2011 (A.J.'s Picks)

by A.J.

It's that time of year again. All of the movies of 2011 are out and awards season has begun, top 10 lists have been published and, as is tradition, my list is about a month behind. 2011 was a pretty good year for comedies and a lot of movies were a genuine delight to watch. Here's some I especially enjoyed:

10. Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids does not feature women acting like the men from The Hangover. It features women being funny in the way that women are funny; we've just never seen that on film before. It's interesting to note that the one over-the-top gross-out scene in the movie was invented by Judd Apatow and Paul Feig, but even that scene still manages to be funny. Bridesmaids has a lot of funny low-key scenes as well as big set pieces. Kristen Wiig, whose SNL characters I rarely enjoy, does a good job of playing just a regular, down on her luck woman. The friendship her character Annie has with Lillian (Maya Rudolph) as well as the one the she develops with fellow bridesmaid Megan (Melissa McCarthy) feel genuine, which, sadly, is rare for movies about women. It doesn't matter if you're a man or woman, good comedy is good comedy and this is a very funny movie.

9. Super 8

In 2011, when every cell phone has a video camera and every computer comes with editing software, any kid can make a movie and post it on a website. To make your own movie in 1980, when Super 8 is set, one kid needed a Super 8 camera (which are simple to use, but not idiot-proof), your friends needed to help out, and you had to wait 3 days (even with a special rush order) for the film to develop. Super 8 follows 12 year-old Joe and his friends, who are making their own zombie movie when they witness a train crash and something mysterious escapes from one of the box cars. Shortly thereafter, strange things start happening in their town. Elle Fanning stands out among the cast of kids, but all of the young actors are very good and turn this summer sci-fi movie into a coming of age movie as well. That aspect doesn't unbalance the movie, it enhances the movie. When Joe's friend Charles creates a wife character for the detective in their movie, he notes that her concern for him makes you care about the detective character too. Good filmmakers, like J.J. Abrams, know this and that is what sets Super 8 apart from other summer movies, that, and it being one of the very, very few original ideas of summer 2011.

8. Cedar Rapids

In its own way, Cedar Rapids is also a coming of age story in that Tim Lippe, played by Ed Helms, has been in a state of arrested development for quite some time. Tim Lippe is an insurance agent sent by his boss to an insurance convention to win an award in the big city of Cedar Rapids. He's warned to stay away from Dean Ziegler (John C. Reily), a rude, crude, and hilarious insurance agent that knows his way around the convention. A common problem with comedies is that they are so concerned with being funny, they forget to be a good movie too. Cedar Rapids is hilarious and crude, but not too raunchy, and most importantly has interesting characters and it has a heart. Cedar Rapids is already out on DVD and I recommend watching it as it's one the funniest movies I've seen in a long time.

7. The Tree of Life

Terrence Malick's latest movie is his most difficult to place in a tangible context. His previous films were about soldiers at Guadalcanal, Pocahontas and John Smith, migrant workers at the turn of the 20th century, and criminals on the run. The Tree of Life is about a family in 1950s Waco, Texas, the oldest son of that family in the present day, and also there are scenes of the creation of the solar system and evolution of earth. The most common assumption is that the 1950s scenes are the memories of Jack (Sean Penn), pondering what life and nature and grace mean when you put all of it together in some grander scheme. But maybe the movie itself is pondering what existence and life and choices are all about. Where does it all come from, where does it all go? Or maybe we're watching the story of the universe, the story of everything, in which the seemingly insignificant occurrences of your childhood, and the lives and deaths of the people you know are as much a part of the story of the universe as the stars that created it and the life that came before. There is no right answer. Even if there is, it doesn't matter. This film is a visual poem. I watched it twice and enjoyed The Tree of Life much more the second time through; that first time was a tough one.

6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This is an excellent, dark, and sometimes disturbing murder mystery based on the novel by Stieg Larson and directed by master filmmaker David Fincher. It stars Daniel Craig as disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist who is hired by Henrik Vanger, the weary, aging industrialist haunted by the murder of his niece in 1965 by a member of his own family. Henrik is played wonderfully by Christopher Plummer, who is great at making us feel the same concern and urgency he feels for this cold case that is over 40 years old. But this movie is also about Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) the pierced and tattooed young woman, who is an investigator of sorts, that comes to help Blomkvist in his investigation. As the two dig deeper into the past of the Vanger family, darker mysteries surface and the two find that the cold case is much more than anyone originally thought. Many fans of the Swedish film version felt that this American version was being rushed into theaters to cash in on the (mild) success the Swedish film had with American audiences. That may be true, but instead of a dumbed-down American remake we received a modern-day Alfred Hitchcock film.

5. The Artist

If you love movies as much as The Artist loves movies, this will be one of the best times you have at the theater. The Artist is about the last days of silent movies and beginning of talking pictures. George Valentin, the bigger-than-life silent film star, is played with pitch perfection by Jean Dujardin. His fame fades as sound becomes the norm and Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) who had a small part in one of Valentin's movies, becomes a movie star. This is a black and white, silent movie and a great introduction to classic silent cinema if you're not already familiar with that time period. The Artist deserves all of the praise it has received so far. It really is a delight about a time when Hollywood was still a dream factory.

4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

"Show, don't tell," is what you'll hear many times if you take film class or read a book about screenwriting. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a movie that does just that, and George Smiley is a master spy whose most valuable skill is his ability to listen and observe. Smiley is brought out of retirement to find a mole in the highest echelon of "The Circus." Smiley is played by one of the best actors working today, Gary Oldman. Oldman gives a very subtle low-key performance. He can convey so much in the slightest facial expression and only raises his voice once. This is not what you think of when you think of a spy movie. George Smiley is the anti-James Bond but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is in no way lacking in tension and intrigue. When Smiley finally holds a gun, I felt like anything could happen. This film has such a talented ensemble it borders on being ridiculous, it's like a who's who of great British actors: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, and John Hurt. All in the same movie!

3. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

On the other end of the spy movie spectrum is the 4th Mission Impossible movie. I like that each of the Mission Impossible movies has had a different director and had a different approach to the spy movie. Part one was an espionage thriller with some action, part 2 was an over the top Hong Kong-style action movie, part 3 was somewhere in between, and part 4 is an action movie done right. It doesn't scrimp on interesting characters and the story is simple, but solid enough sustain an entire movie. I recommended seeing this movie in IMAX for an extra exciting movie going experience; however, even if you see this movie at home on your TV you will still be thrilled and entranced. That's how you know it's a good movie.

2. Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen has said (I'm paraphrasing) that the New York in his movies is a New York that comes from films of the 1930s and 1940s. In this film, Gil's Paris of the 1920s comes from a young creative's idea of Paris, which is real enough for him and for audiences. This has been Woody Allen's most successful film and for good reasons. It doesn't matter if you're not a Woody Allen fan, Midnight in Paris is a delight to watch. Owen Wilson's natural cadence is perfect for Woody Allen's dialogue and Paris is beautifully captured. Midnight in Paris is ultimately a love story about romantic love, love for a city, love for literature and art, love for the past and love for life right here in the present.

1. Drive

"You have proved to be a real human being and a real hero" - "A Real Hero" by College featuring Electric Youth

Life can change on a dime. One week you're having a pleasant drive on a sunny day with your neighbor and her son, and the next week you have to protect them from mobsters. Sometimes you need a real human being, someone to connect with and remind you of the nicer side of life. Sometimes you need a real hero, sometimes you need to be that hero, and sometimes that means kicking in someone's skull in an elevator. And that's never going to be pretty.

"Style" is the first thing I think of when I think of Drive. Right from the opening titles, a sequence with the sleek, dazzling veneer of the 1980s, you know you're watching a different kind of movie. Director Nicolas Winding Refn gives us something quite different when he applies an art house sensibility to this story of a stunt driver that moonlights as a getaway driver. Though the movie is called Drive there are only two car chases and neither is an elaborate action sequence. There is not a moment in this movie that panders to the audience. This movie also could have been titled after one of the songs used called "A Real Hero." It's obvious and the lyric quoted above is the theme of the movie but it's true and the song is used effectively.

As Lani pointed out in her most recent post, Ryan Gosling rightly deserves recognition for his near silent performance as The Driver, whose calm reserve, coolness, and clever mind evoke Alain Delon in the French film Le Samourai and Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name. Carey Mulligan plays Irene, the neighbor of The Driver, whose husband will soon be released from prison. The Driver has no past, no family. His blankness allows Irene to project onto him what she needs him to be and it allows the audience to do the same. The characters in Drive are archetypes, but they are very well played. Every piece of this film is deliberate and done with a skill and confidence rarely found in movies today.

A Look Ahead: Fall/WInter Preview

by AJ

I had originally planned on writing about how little I went out to the movies this summer in post titled "The Summer of My Discontent." But instead of looking back at how few in number the highlights of the summer were I thought I'd take a look ahead at the movies coming out in the next few months. Here are some that I am looking forward to:

September 16th: Drive

IMDB Synopsis: A Hollywood stuntman (Ryan Gosling) who moonlights as a get-away driver for the criminal underground finds himself on the run from after a botched job.

Yes, it sounds like Transporter, but with Ryan Gosling in the lead it seems worth checking out. Also, Nicolas Winding Refn won best director at Cannes and the movie was up for the Palm d'Or so that makes me think twice about this being just another action movie.

September 23rd: Moneyball

IMDB Synopsis: Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) works to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

So there's the Bad News Bears angle, but this isn't really about a group of misfits that work hard to prove themselves (though I'm sure that'll happen). It's mostly about looking at the game of baseball in a different way and that is what has me interested.

September 30th: 50/50

IMDB Synopsis: A comedic account of a 27-year-old guy's cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogan are good enough at what they do to walk the tightrope of a dark but good hearted comedy about about someone with cancer. I liked Funny People from 2009 which more or less had the same premise, but, despite being about funny people, was much more of a drama. There were also too many subplots in Funny People that don't seem likely to occur here since the trailer focuses on Gordon-Levitt and Rogan trying to look on bright side of things.

October 14th: The Thing

IMDB Synopsis: Do you really need one?

I think this is still a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing which I imagine will end up being a lot like John Carpenter's The Thing. I mean there's only so many directions this story can take. I hope it isn't bogged down with low rent CGI effects that are so common in horror and action movies theses days (how expensive can corn syrup and red dye be?). I really like John Carpenter's The Thing which is the reason I want to see this version/prequel at all. Also, I'll be looking out for a wolf and a helicopter at the end of this movie (stay tuned for angry rant when that ending doesn't happen).

The Skin I Live In

IMDB Synopsis: A thriller centered on plastic surgeon Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), who has been conducting experiments on a human subject (Elena Anaya) while trying to perfect an artificial skin to use to treat his severely burned wife.

Four words will get me to see a movie quicker than just about anything else: A Film by Almodovar. The plot sounds weird and twisted, the trailer is infinitely enticing, and Almodovar clearly knows how to make a movie and make it good even if, or especially if, it's about something, shall we say, uncommon.

October 21st: Red State

IMDB Synopsis: A group of teens receive an online invitation for group sex, though they soon encounter Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), his followers, and their sinister agenda.

I'm a Kevin Smith fan and I'm very interested in Red State. There's not too much in the trailer that says "this is a Kevin Smith film" and neither does the premise. He's talked about making Red State for so long that I almost have to see it just because, finally, it's here. I've heard less than stellar things about it from critics that have seen it so far, but I still think there's a good chance for this to be a satisfying movie.

November 18th: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

IMDB Synopsis: During the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons.

This is another film I've been hearing about for a while. I'm a bit tired of Bourne-style action movies which even the new James Bond movies are trying to imitate, so I'm kind of excited about a spy story where the spies are men in suits after documents or microfilm or in this case a double agent. And a cast including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Tom Hardy is reason enough to be excited.

November 25th: The Muppets

IMDB Synopsis: When an oilman hatches a plan to raze the Muppet Theater, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of their friends reunite and, with the help of some of their biggest fans, they decide to stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever in order to save their old stomping grounds.

This plot reminds me a bit of The Blues Brothers and I really hope this new Muppet movie is like that. I recently watched a few episodes of The Muppet Show and I still thought they were great. With the songs and irreverent comedy the Muppets reminded me of The Marx Brothers and I hope this movie, written by Jason Segal, sticks with that spirit.

December 23rd: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

IMDB Synopsis: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a young computer hacker.

I can't tell you how extremely excited I am to see this movie. I've never read the books. I've never seen the movies. I don't really know what it's about or why it's a big deal. And that's a good thing especially with a movie like this that has so much baggage. I want to go in blind and experience this movie fresh, my expectations and preconceived notions at a minimum. So far, to me, this is only the new David Fincher film which is plenty of reason to be excited. Also I love that a studio is willing to put it's name along with the phrase "presents the feel bad movie of Christmas."

We Bought a Zoo

IMDB Synopsis: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.

It's been 6 years since Cameron Crowe's last film, Elizabethtown, which was not nearly as bad as people talk about it as. In fact, it's not bad at all, it's quite good. In any case, I will certainly see Cameron Crowe's latest. There's no trailer as of yet, but Matt Damon as the lead is a good place to start.