Best Pictures #17: 2015 (88th) Academy Awards, My Pick for Best Picture

by A.J.

2015 (88^th) Academy Awards, My Pick for Best Picture

The 88^th Academy Awards for films released in 2015 was held on February 28^th, 2016 and the night went mostly as expected but still had a few surprises. The 2016 ceremony was mired in the controversy that became known as “#OscarsSoWhite.” From the moment the full list of nominees was announced the two became inextricably linked. No one could mention one without the other, and unfortunately the controversy was completely valid: for the second year in a row there was an incredible lack of diversity among the nominees, especially in the acting categories where all of the nominees were white. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced changes to the requirements for membership in hopes to increase member diversity. What, if any, effect the changes may have won’t be seen until the next batch of nominees are announced in January of next year.  

The eight Best Picture nominees for 2015 covered a wide range of subjects and genres but still encompassed many elements favored by the Academy. The nominees included: three movies based on true stories (Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, The Big Short) and one based on a novel which is partly based on a true story (The Revenant); a sweet, sentimental romance (Brooklyn); an independent, character heavy drama (Room); a thrilling adventure in a faraway land (The Martian); and, most surprisingly, an epic, big budget action movie (Mad Max: Fury Road). Room was the only nominee set in the present day. All of the other Best Picture nominees are set either in the past or the future. The Big Short was the most topical of the nominees with its events having taken place most recently (2005-2008) and the effects of its subject (the housing market collapse and resulting recession) still being felt by many, many people. It’s an entertaining and important film, and I’m interested to see how it will or will not hold up in the coming years. I think that despite winning no awards, the feel good, thrilling science fiction film The Martian will be a movie that audiences will re-watch and rediscover in the future.

Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for The Revenant and while I’m glad he has an Oscar (he’s one of my favorite actors after all), I’m disappointed it’s for a simple one note performance in a rather unenjoyable movie. Alejandro G. Iñarrìtu won Best Director for The Revenant making him the third director to have back to back Oscar wins. The other two directors are John Ford for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941) and Joseph Mankiewicz for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950). I don’t feel like I’m going out on a limb when I say that Iñarrìtu, when included with the likes of John Ford and Joseph Mankewicz, pales in comparison. The Revenant is a technically well-made film, but that is all it has to offer. The films that Ford and Mankiewicz won for are true classics. However, Iñarrìtu will now forever be part of a very small club.

The big surprise of the 88^th Academy Awards involved the big award itself, Best Picture. Spotlight won the Oscar upsetting The Revenant, which seemed as sure as a sure thing can be. The Revenant had won several awards leading up to the Oscars and the odds were heavily in its favor. However, it is a film that no one seemed to enjoy (I don’t recall reading any wholly positive reviews of the film). In the end, the Academy’s preferential ballot may have worked against The Revenant since the second choice of the voters can add up and outweigh the apparent first choice. Spotlight does have the hallmarks of a Best Picture winner (ensemble cast, true story, an important and serious subject) but this shouldn’t diminish its accomplishments or its win. It is undeniably an important film but it is also a solid, well-made, and riveting thriller. Spotlight won the first award of the night, Original Screenplay, and the last award of the night, Best Picture, and nothing in between making it the first film since The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) to win Best Picture with only one other award (the other win for that movie was also for writing).

Spotlight is a great film and I’m glad it won, but my vote for Best Picture would go to…

My Pick for Best Picture 2015: Mad Max: Fury Road

If I picked the winner for Best Picture of 2015 I would have to pick the full throttle feminist action film Mad Max: Fury Road. As much as I loved this movie when I saw it in theaters back in May of last year, I would have thought it crazy that this movie would have been my pick for Best Picture or that it would have even been nominated. Fury Road took home 6 Oscars for the "technical categories" (Editing, Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling, Production Design, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing), all of which were well deserved wins. I’ve seen this movie three times so far and each time there is something new to notice or appreciate. This is an era when anything visually spectacular in a movie is automatically assumed to be done by a computer, but this is not the case with Fury Road. The stunts performed in this movie are performed by real people doing exactly what it looks like they are doing. The flame throwing guitar is completely real and works as a guitar and a flamethrower. The War Boys swinging on poles like pendulums to attack our heroes are stunt men really swinging on poles. The stunt team worked on perfecting this stunt to the point that it was safe enough to perform on moving vehicles. Director George Miller (who had my vote for Best Director) was even able to convince Tom Hardy to shoot a few takes on top of the swinging pole, despite his fear of heights.

All of these practical effects and stunts foster believability in this wild, post-apocalyptic world. Max and Furiousa are not superheroes; you believe everything you see these characters do. All of the characters in Fury Road are bound by the laws of physics. They hurt and bleed and have personalities that the movie showcases instead of glossing over. The setting may be a dystopian fantasy and the genre is action, but this is a movie about people. Charlize Theron was not nominated for any awards for her performance as Imperator Furiosa, but it is a great performance nonetheless that carries this movie and gives every action importance. As good as Tom Hardy is as Max, this film would not work without Charlize Theron in the lead.

Best Pictures #16: 2015 (88th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, Mad Max: Fury Road

by A.J.

2015 (88^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

Mad Max: Fury Road

Over the opening credits of Mad Max: Fury Road, our title character says in gravelly narration, “my world is fire and blood” and he could not be more right. Set in the same post-apocalyptic wasteland as The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where oil, gasoline, and water are scarce, but not as scarce as civilization, this adventure finds Max (Tom Hardy—brooding and often silent) as almost a side character to the main narrative. The action really kicks off when Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) smuggles a group of women away from their captor in her massive “war rig” and is pursued by countless bad guys in suped-up weaponized vehicles—and Max is forcibly brought along for the chase. That is about all the plot there is in the screenplay written by director George Miller with Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris, but with a film as well-executed in direction, cinematography, performances, visual effects, and costume and production design as this one, that is enough.

The villain of Fury Road, Immortan Joe, (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who was also a villain in 1979’s Mad Max) is a cross between Darth Vader and Skeletor in appearance. He rules The Citadel with equal parts cruelty and tyranny, giving the people of The Citadel little water to live on and keeping women in a vault as his wives (or, put more bluntly, breeders). When he discovers Furiosa’s betrayal, he sets out with a massive war party, including, most memorably, a barge stacked with amplifiers and speakers and a man whose sole purpose is to play heavy metal riffs on a flame-throwing guitar. Immortan Joe’s minions are shirtless, chalk-painted men called War Boys, desperate to impress their leader and die gloriously on the Fury Road. 

Max, being “a Road Warrior searching for a righteous cause” after all, eventually decides, albeit reluctantly, to help Furiosa, but not until after they have an intense fight in the desert with the war party quickly closing in and Max chained to both a car door and a War Boy called Nux (Nicholas Hoult). However, despite Fury Road being nominally Max’s adventure, it is Furiosa’s mission which drives the story. She is our main character and Theron—who can perhaps be best described as “super badass”—is the real star and standout in this movie. Her performance is quiet, but perfectly measured; and our emotions—yes, there are emotions in Fury Road—are invested with her.

It might seem odd to call the gritty, violent, high-octane Fury Road a feminist action movie, but that argument is not a difficult one to make. Max does his fair share of driving and killing, but he does not swing in to rescue these women—they are equally his saviors. The group of young women led by Furiosa are not damsels in distress and this movie makes each of them feel like a full person and treats them accordingly. Though they are not all experienced road warriors like Furiosa, the women display other strengths like bravery and compassion. When one of the escapees, Capable (Riley Keough), finds Nux in the back of their War Rig, curled up in shame and humiliation at having failed Immortan Joe, she convinces him through gentle conversation to become an ally in their escape. Fury Road is a movie about women rescuing other women from male cruelty.

Though Fury Road is essentially one big, unrelenting chase, Miller finds ways to give the audience moments of respite and a chance to breathe. One of my favorite scenes in the movie happens when our protagonists’ flight comes to a halt. The engines of the War Rig have overheated and must cool down before they can continue, but Immortan Joe’s forces are only getting closer. Max gathers his weapons and begins to walk toward the pursuing villains. Furiosa asks, “What if you’re not back by the time the engines are cool?” Max quietly replies, “Well, you keep moving” and sets out into the blue tinged night. A battle ensues—we hear gunshots, but rather than jumping into the middle of the fight we stay with Furiosa and watch from a distance.

When watching Fury Road, you get the impression that George Miller was mostly left alone with little to no studio interference or notes from the marketing department. There are many unpleasant, grotesque images in this movie, but there are also many fascinating and exciting ones, too. The costume design, production design, makeup and hairstyling, and visual effects are all deservedly nominated for Oscars. Watching Fury Road again I noticed more and more intricate and impressive details. The score by Junkie XL was not nominated for an Oscar, but it is a great nonetheless, and used to perfection. Fury Road feels like it was a true collaboration between all of the people involved with the production both on and off camera.

This fourth installment in the Mad Max series comes 30 years after the third, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and for fans of the earlier films Fury Road does not disappoint. However, you don’t need to have seen any of the other Mad Max films to enjoy this one, since each film has its own standalone story which is explained and changed slightly at the opening of each movie. I was immensely entertained when I saw this film in theaters and again when I saw it on DVD. Everything I had enjoyed about the film the first time still had the same effect on me and my excitement for the film has not waned. This is an epic film of tremendous quality, which is usually not the case with big budget summer action movies or sequels. Fury Road is a full bore, action movie executed with noticeable care and meticulous thought at every turn.

Nominees: Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers

Director: George Miller

Screenplay: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

Production Companies: Kennedy Miller Mitchell, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Village Roadshow Pictures

Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures

Release Date: May 15^th, 2015

Total Nominations: 10, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Director-George Miller, Cinematography-John Seale, Editing-Margaret Sixel, Production Design-Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson, Costume Design-Jenny Beavan, Makeup and Hairstyling-Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, Damian Martin, Sound Mixing-Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, Ben Osmo, Sound Editing-Mark A. Mangini, David White, Visual Effects- Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams 

Best Pictures #10: 2015 (88th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee, The Revenant

by A.J.

2015 (88^th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee

The Revenant

The Revenant contains, paradoxically, some of the most beautiful and most unpleasant images in any film of 2015. The film was shot by renowned cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki whose nomination for The Revenant is his eighth nomination for Best Cinematography. He won the award last year for director Alejandro G. Iñàrritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and the year before that for Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. It is entirely possible, and likely, that he will win his third consecutive Oscar for shooting The Revenant. As much as Leonardo DiCaprio, Lubezki’s imagery is the star of The Revenant.

The Revenant is based on a novel by Michael Punke, which is a fictionalized version of the true story of 19^th century frontiersman Hugh Glass. Glass, portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his Pawnee son, Hawk, are serving as the guides for a fur trapping expedition collecting pelts out in the harsh wilderness. Glass is mauled by a bear and survives, but his wounds are so severe the company cannot transport him back to camp. Two trappers, Fitzgerald and Bridger, are offered extra money to stay with Glass and watch over him until the company can send a rescue party or he dies of his wounds, whichever comes first. But instead of waiting, Fitzgerald tosses Glass in a shallow grave, covers him while he’s still breathing, and leaves him for dead. Glass crawls out of his grave, giving the movie its title, and sets out on a grueling odyssey to take his revenge.

Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated for the Best Actor Oscar and has already collected a few awards thus far for his performance of Glass. At this point his Oscar win for The Revenant seems to be a foregone conclusion. DiCaprio gives a good performance, as he tends to do, but there is not much for him to do with the character of Glass aside from seethe, suffer, mourn, and brood. It is a mostly silent performance, aside from the grunts and groans. He simply perseveres, struggles against the elements, tries to survive the wilderness, the cold, animal attacks, and attacks by angry parties of Arikara. Glass technically has a character arc and though I saw it, I didn’t feel his arc. DiCaprio did good, hard work undoubtedly, for The Revenant, but has had better, more dynamic performances in other movies. I’m a big fan of DiCaprio and wouldn’t mind seeing him win an Oscar, but I can think of at least three other performances he should have already won for and am sure he will give us more.

There are good performances from the other players in this film, too. Tom Hardy, who delights in challenging himself and the audience with his roles, plays John Fitzgerald, though his character may as well have been named, The Bad Guy. One of the first things we hear his character say is a racial epithet against the Native Americans and then he confronts Glass’s son for being Pawnee. As soon as Fitzgerald volunteers to stay with Glass after the mauling, we know he has only bad things in mind. Hardy, another great actor of which I am a fan, does more than a lot of other actors could with an almost cartoonish and diabolically evil one dimensional character. Domhnall Gleeson also gives a good performance as the decent, noble Captain Henry, who represents civilization in the untamed wilderness; tellingly, when the company arrives back at the fort he is only man who shaves his beard. 

It is obvious that a lot of hard work went into The Revenant, both on and off screen. Principal filming was done in Canada to capture the Great White North’s snowy wilderness, but the production went on so long that the snow melted as summer neared, and the whole production had to be moved to the southern hemisphere, Argentina specifically, to find more winter scenery. Director Alejandro G. Iñàrritu and Lubezki shot the whole film, with the exception of one scene, using only natural light, so there were only a few hours per day when filming could occur. And of course, you can’t talk about The Revenant without mentioning Leonardo DiCaprio eating a real bison liver, doing his own stunts, and, most of all, convincingly being mauled by bear. The visual effects of that scene are incredibly convincing and impressive; it really does look like DiCaprio is being mauled by a huge bear. The bear attack is intense and bloody, but it is one of many gruesome and violent scenes in this 2 ½ hour long movie.

With The Revenant, Iñàrritu seems to be only interested in grim suffering; survival is incidental. There is immense cruelty in The Revenant, but almost no humanity, aside from Domnhall Gleeson’s character and Glass’s relationship with his son. Any insights on man’s cruelty to man will come solely from the viewer and not from the film. The Revenant is not complex in story or emotion. The film’s only statement seems to be that a man suffered and then suffered some more and it is a true story…but not really; in real life, Glass had no son and only sought to get back his possessions that the men who left him had taken with them.

My main problem with the film is that it goes on far too long for having such a simple story and, therefore, has pacing problems. There are some thrilling and intense set pieces (among them the fur company being attacked by Native Americans and Glass being attacked by a bear, and being chased off a mountain, and going down a waterfall…); but there are also scenes of nothing really happening. Our only respite from the dour, brutal nature of the plot is the beautiful cinematography of Lubezki coupled with a wonderful score by Alva Noto and Ryûichi Sakamoto. All of the scenes of dreamlike flashbacks and surreal visions that appear to Glass don’t work and though they deliver information on his past, they don’t build his character. There is an interesting B-story involving a Native American chief searching for his kidnapped daughter that eventually converges with Glass’s story. Those scenes are some of the most interesting in the film; however, if all but the two scenes which intersect with Glass were cut, the movie would still be the same.

I had a mostly good experience watching The Revenant since it was made by many people who are good at what they do; however, Iñàrritu’s work as a director is very uneven. Of his five previous films, I really enjoyed Amores Perros and think it is a very good film and I enjoyed Birdman, despite the problems I had with its themes and plot. I would place The Revenant third behind those two films.

While watching The Revenant, I was reminded of the films of Terrence Malick, and I think it is no coincidence that Lubezki shot Malick’s films The New World, Tree of Life, and To the Wonder. As in those films and Malick’s other work, there are big sweeping camera shots capturing the simple beauty of the natural world. However, Malick’s stories use those images to add to the transcendental contemplation already happening in his films. The Revenant only seems to want to be contemplative in passing. It is primarily concerned with the physical action of the characters. I was also reminded during certain scenes of Aguirre, the Wrath of God directed by the great Werner Herzog and wondered if he wouldn’t have been a better fit as director for this material.

Nominees: Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Keith Redmon, Producers

Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Screenplay: Mark L. Smith and Alejandro G. Iñárritu, based in part on the novel by Michael Punke

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson

Production Companies: Anonymous Content, Appian Way, M Productions, New Regency Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Regency Enterprises

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: December 25, 2015

Total Nominations: 12, including Best Picture

Other Nominations: Actor-Leonardo DiCaprio, Director-Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Supporting Actor-Tom Hardy, Cinematography-Emmanuel Lubezki, Editing-Stephen Mirrione, Production Design-Jack Fisk and Hamish Purdy, Makeup & Hairstyling-Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman, and Robert Pandini, Costume Design-Jacqueline West, Sound Editing-Martin Hernández and Lon Bender, Sound Mixing-Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom, and Chris Duesterdiek, Visual Effects-Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Jason Smith, and Cameron Waldbauer

My Favorite Performances of 2014

by Lani

The Oscars will be handed out tonight. So, before the 2014 awards season comes to a close, I'd like to give a nod to some of the performers who I enjoyed this year (but who won't be taking home a statuette tonight).

Favorite Tom Hardy Performance: Locke
In 2010, Tom Hardy made a big impression in Inception and since then, every time that I make a round-up of favorite performances, I've found a reason to recognize him. He just continues to be on of the most watchable actors working today, and that's only reinforced by his performance in Locke. This film is basically a one man show as the audiences rides  along on a late night journey with Hardy's Ivan Locke as he attempts to sort out personal business while also negotiating a complex concrete pour -- all via his car phone. As Locke remains behind the wheel, moving ever closer to his final destination, the tension builds as we wait for the next call. Hardy doesn't overplay his part in an attempt to keep things exciting; he maintains a level of control, despite the escalating stakes. (He is simultaneously driving a car the entire time, so he has to keep a level of physical control or he'll crash.) The premise may seem a bit mundane, but the filmmakers are able to create something highly dramatic, due in large part to the magnetic actor at the center. 




Most Overlooked by the People Who Hand Out Awards: David Oyelowo, Selma
Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most charismatic people to ever step out on the public stage, but he was also a complex and flawed human being. Any actor taking on this role needs to be able to show both sides - the larger than life icon, as well as the man. In Selma, Oyelowo was able to meet this challenge and I found it riveting. Apparently, I was in the minority since Oyelowo has been overlooked by every major award-giving body this season and that's a shame. The portrayal is so rich and multi-faceted, you see how King was able to deftly navigate the streets of Selma, as well as Washington, and juggle multiple agendas and factions. And when he delivers a speech, the film just sings. 




Favorite Quarterlifer in Crisis: Keira Knightley, Laggies
In the little-seen romantic comedy Laggies, Keira Knightley plays a young woman with an advanced degree, a long-time boyfriend, and a close-knit circle of friends (not to mention a face like Keira Knightley's)-- yet she feels like a loser, unable or unwilling to take the next steps into adulthood. I find Knightley so likable that even when she makes very questionable decisions, I'm still rooting for her. Exhibit A: she agrees to buy beer for a some teenagers she's never met, then later attempts to hide out from her friends and family at the home of one of these teenagers, Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz). Annika's dad (Sam Rockwell) is at first dubious of this grown woman hanging out with his daughter, but eventually everyone warms up to each other. Now, if you've seen her Chanel commercials, you know that Knightley can look absolutely beautiful. However, she is seemingly without vanity when playing a role; she moves and dresses in a completely natural way, not like an actress made up to look like the best version of herself or posing in the optimally flattering way. She's believably real, and that makes me just like her. When she starts to hit it off with Rockwell, I said (out loud), "I just like them both so much, I want everything to work out." And isn't that what we should be thinking when watching a romantic comedy?



Oh, hi, Jake Gyllenhaal: Nightcrawler
I'll admit that Jake Gyllenhaal is an actor that I've probably underestimated. Until Nightcrawler, I'd say that Zodiac was probably my favorite of his films, but even though he was the lead, he didn't really stand out above the rest of the cast. The problem is that Gyllenhaal is a character actor with a leading man's face; so, while he's most interesting when playing characters who are just a bit off-kilter, he's more often cast in a traditional leading man role. So, it's exciting to see him taking on quirkier roles like the inscrutable Detective Loki in last year's Prisoners and the truly weird lead character in Nightcrawler, an ambitious autodidact determined to break into the cutthroat world of local TV news. His character is not a likable guy and he does some very bad things, but he's never uninteresting. Anchored by Gyllenhaal's performance, Nightcrawler was one of my favorite films of the year.



Most Valuable Player: Tilda Swinton
This year, in supporting roles as an elderly client of the Grand Budapest Hotel and a cruel official aboard the Snowpiercer, and particularly in the leading role of Eve, one half of the vampire couple at the heart of Only Lovers Left Alive, Swinton shone. As the warm, practical, and patient Eve, she is the anchor around which the rest of the cast floats. Just think about this, she turns a scene about making airline reservations over the phone into something completely captivating. It's easy to see why acclaimed and innovative directors like Wes Anderson, Bong Joon Ho, and Jim Jarmusch are eager to work with Swinton; she's a chameleon, incredibly talented, and seems to be game for anything.

My Favorite Performances of 2012

by Lani

From where I sit, it hasn't been a great year for movies. There have been plenty that I liked, just read our Best of 2012, So Far post from July for proof. Unfortunately, I had a much harder time adding to the list in the second half of the year. None of the big fall releases brought me as much enjoyment as Bernie or 21 Jump Street (with great performances by Jack Black and Channing Tatum, respectively). However, I did admire individual performances by Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Denzel Washington, Joaquin Phoenix, Hugh Jackman, and Anne Hathaway, among others. I've compiled a list of some of my favorite performances of the year, but I won't be talking about the actors already mentioned. They have Oscar nominations and Golden Globes; they're doing fine. This time I've focused on the actors and performances who will not be getting much recognition this awards season.

Favorite Tom Hardy Performance: Tom Hardy, The Dark Knight Rises
I promise it only seems like I am the president of the Tom Hardy fan club. He's not even my favorite actor, but he manages to impress me year after year. In 2012, Hardy appeared in a few duds -- the unappealing romantic-comedy This Means War and dull moonshiner drama Lawless -- but his high-profile role as the villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises was a winner. Hardy and director Christopher Nolan received criticism from audiences because Bane's face was covered by a mask and his voice slightly muffled. I had no trouble hearing his dialogue, delivered in a voice suggesting Sean Connery crossed with Yoda, and thought his voice work expressed enough personality to overcome the barrier of the mask. And because he wears that mask, Hardy also uses body language to convey the character; his menacing swagger isn't just because he has a bulked-up body. Compare the physicality of Bane to Hardy's character in last year's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- spy Ricki Tarr was softer, more fluid. Or, in Lawless, as a man "who can't be killed" Hardy becomes increasingly stiff and immobile as his character sustains more and more near-fatal injuries. Which reminds me that Hardy's biggest triumph this year may actually be how in Lawless he manages to look extremely tough despite a wardrobe filled with cardigans.

Favorite Suicidal Adultress: Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
This year brought two eerily similar stories of unhappy wives to the screen. Set among the opulent aristocracy of tsarist Russia, Anna Karenina was lovely to look at, but too chaotic to allow the stories to resonate -- which is a shame since Keira Knightley can wear the heck out of a fur hat. In the surely Karenina-inspired The Deep Blue Sea, the atmosphere is bleak, tweedy post-WWII England, but human nature hasn't changed. Rachel Weisz's performance garnered praise from critics when the film was released, but she's been overlooked for the major awards. Like Karenina, Weisz's Hester Collyer is driven mad by her passion for a young lover; however, Hester is still capable of some measure of British restraint. She is all plaintive neediness, quiet desperation, and blind love.

Favorite Ringer: Colm Wilkinson, Les Misérables
Les Misérables had many good performers (Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway, Samantha Barks, and Aaron Tveidt among then), but they were let down by poor directing choices and a screenplay which left little room for context. Hugh Jackman was particularly well-cast as Jean Valjean, 19th century French superhero (he has the strength of 4 men, but no adamantium skeleton), finally breaking his streak of movies-I-don't-want-to-see. His Oscar-nominated performance is a worthy addition to the Valjean pantheon and was usually the best part of any given scene. However, in an early scene between Valjean and a kind bishop I found myself thinking, "This guy is killing it as the bishop! What a voice -- who is this guy?" Of course, it was Colm Wilkinson, the original Valjean on Broadway and the West End. Of course, he killed it. That's kind of his thing.




Supporting Performance Which Needs Its Own Movie: James Spader, Lincoln 
As Lincoln continues to receive praise (it's looking like the front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars), I've yet to hear any acknowledgement for the film's most interesting, most alive performance: James Spader as Mr. Bilbo, a "gentleman from Albany" called down to D.C. to broker some back-room deals. Would the film have been 10 times better if Bilbo had been the main character? No. It would have been 100 times better.
Drunkenly luxuriating behind a greasy mustache and rumpled clothes, Bilbo stands out among the stiff collars of Washington, yet effortlessly speaks the local language of bribery and extortion. Spader is the only actor here who seems to feel at ease in his own skin; the difference between Bilbo and his two fellow wheeler-dealers, played by the usually fine John Hawkes and Tim Blake Nelson, is striking. Hawkes and Nelson are achingly dull and often look unsure of why they are even in the movie. If I were to learn that Hawkes and Nelson were forced to perform at gunpoint (likely by Spader), I would not be at all surprised. I don't give a hoot about the new Hobbit trilogy, Spader is the only Bilbo I want to see more of.

More Please?
Kerry Washington proved to be a woman worth fighting for as Broomhilda in Django Unchained, too bad it was such a small part. Perhaps the next chapter of the Django series could show Django and Broomhilda on adventures together. I know Tarantino is capable of writing a strong female character, a la Jackie Brown or The Bride. Unfortunately, he says he's retiring from making movies...
Alicia Vikander was also shortchanged by Anna Karenina. The sweet, evolving love story between Kitty (played by Vikander) and Levin (Domhnall Gleeson) serves as a counterpoint to the intensely passionate affair of Anna and Vronsky -- at least it's meant to, if one bothers to put it in the screenplay. With a bit more screen time this could have been a star-making role for Vikander.

Rookie of the Year: Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
It's not a spoiler to say that the majority of this film follows the teenaged Pi, played by Sharma, shipwrecked in the Pacific, alone, but for a Bengal tiger. Since the tiger was created through special effects, Sharma was truly alone on that boat acting opposite air - a difficult job for any actor. At least Tom Hanks had a real volleyball to talk to in Cast Away. So I was shocked to learn that this was Sharma's first movie role. Was he perfect? No, but it was a fine debut.

My Favorite Performances of 2010

by Lani

The Golden Globes will be given out this Sunday. As every year, some of the nominations are a bit mystifying (was The Tourist supposed to be a comedy?), but I was happy to see that a few of my favorite films of 2010, like Inception and The Social Network, are in the running. The arrival of award season always inspires "best of" lists, and I am not immune. Since I have not seen every notable film of the year, rather than make a list of the best films of 2010 I have been thinking about which individual performances made the biggest impressions on me. Here's my list of favorites (not necessarily the best), in no particular order:

Tom Hardy, Inception
One thing I'm sure of after watching Inception? You don't want to be in a scene with Tom Hardy - that is, unless you're okay with him stealing it right out from under you. Hardy plays Eames, a "forger" recruited for Leonardo DiCaprio's dream-team. But he isn't there to make fake passports; within a dream, people can be forgeries, too. Among a cast with charisma to spare, Hardy was the standout for me.

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg is not an actor whom I would usually describe as having an expressive face, but this trait is to his advantage in the role of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a character who keeps his emotions and motivations largely to himself. But then, with slightest curl of his upper lip, Eisenberg conveyed operatic levels of bitterness, contempt, and betrayal. If there were an award for best lip-acting of 2010, Eisenberg would be a lock.

Armie Hammer, The Social Network
In The Social Network, director David Fincher used cutting-edge technology to create the characters of identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss by filming actor Armie Hammer opposite a body double, Josh Pence, then digitally grafting Hammer's face onto Pence's body. The effect is seamless, but it works so well because Hammer makes each of the brothers a distinct, separate character - allowing the audience to just believe him when he says "I'm six-five, 220 pounds, and there are two of me!"

Kim Hye-Ja, Mother
Though she has been acting in South Korean film and TV for 30 years, Kim Hye-Ja was basically unknown to American audiences until her starring role in director Bong Joon-Ho's noirish suspense film, Mother. As a single mother determined to clear her adult son of a murder charge, she is engaging and exasperating from minute to minute. She faces the world with an expression of innocence and naivete, but by the end of the film you wonder just how much she has chosen to forget.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
I praised Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams a couple of months ago, and despite all the great films I've seen since then, their performances as the troubled couple at the center of Blue Valentine are still at the top of my list. As Roger Ebert noted in his review of the film, it is one thing for an actor to age onscreen from 24 to 60 - old-age makeup and physical tricks can do a lot of the work. It is much more difficult to show someone at 24 and then at 30. The physical differences are subtle, the real changes occur within. Critics have been singling-out Williams's performance, and I would love to see her win an Oscar for it; however, I can't help thinking of Gosling and Williams as a unit - one performance couldn't exist without the other.

James Franco, 127 Hours
As with Williams and Gosling, I have praised James Franco in a previous posting, but this list would not be complete without mention of his intense portrayal of a hiker stuck between a rock and a hard place in 127 Hours. After his hilarious role in The Pineapple Express (2008), an impressive supporting performance in Milk (2009), and this one-man showcase - I am convinced that Franco can play anything and I can't wait to see his next film.

Honorable Mention: Rosamund Pike, An Education and Made in Dagenham
An Education is technically a 2009 film, but I didn't see it until February 2010, which makes Rosamund Pike's performance as dumb blonde, Helen my first "favorite" of the year. The character is meant to be a contrast to the precocious, plain Jenny (played by Carey Mulligan); but Pike took what could have been a stock "bimbo" role and made her more surprising, warm, and real than I ever expected. Later in the year, I took notice of Pike again in a small, but memorable role as an upper class housewife who befriends a striking auto worker (Sally Hawkins) in Made in Dagenham.

Others of note: Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone; John Hawkes, Winter's Bone; Hilary Swank, Conviction; Sam Rockwell, Conviction; Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech; Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1