Oscars 2011 Predictions

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:
127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone

Who Will Win: The Social Network
Who Should Win: Inception
Winner: The King's Speech (0/1)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Javier Bardem for Biutiful, Jeff Bridges for True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King's Speech, and James Franco for 127 Hours

Who Will Win: Colin Firth

Who Should Win: James Franco
Winner: Colin Firth (1/2)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Annette Being for The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine

Who Will Win: Natalie Portman

Who Should Win: Natalie Portman
Winner: Natalie Portman (2/3)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Christian Bale for The Fighter, John Hawkes for Winter's Bone, Jeremy Renner for The Town, Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right, and Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech

Who Will Win: Christian Bale

Who Should Win: Christian Bale
Winner: Christian Bale (3/4)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech, Melissa Leo for The Fighter, Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, and Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom

Who Will Win: Helena Bonham Carter

Who Should Win: Hailee Steinfeld
Winner: Melissa Leo (3/5)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, Ethan & Joel Coen for True Grit, David Fincher for The Social Network, Tom Hooper for The King's Speech, and David O. Russell for The Fighter

Who Will Win: David Fincher

Who Should Win: Darren Aronofsky
Winner: Tom Hooper (3/6)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written for the Screen

Nominees:

Mike Leigh for Another Year, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, & Keith Dorrington for The Fighter, Christopher Nolan for Inception, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg for The Kids Are All Right, and David Seidler for The King's Speech

Who Will Win: David Seidler

Who Should Win: Christopher Nolan
Winner: David Seidler (4/7)

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy for 127 Hours, Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network, Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, & Lee Unkrich for Toy Story 3, Joel & Ethan Coen for True Grit, and Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for Winter's Bone

Who Will Win: Aaron Sorkin

Who Should Win: Aaron Sorkin
Winner: Aaron Sorkin (5/8)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist and Toy Story 3

Who Will Win: Toy Story 3

Who Should Win: Toy Story 3
Winner: Toy Story 3 (6/9)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Matthew Libatique for Black Swan, Wally Pfister for Inception, Danny Cohen for The King's Speech, Jeff Cronenweth for The Social Network, and Roger Deakins for True Grit

Who Will Win: Wally Pfister

Who Should Win: Matthew Libatique
Winner: Wally Pfister (7/10)

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

Jon Harris for 127 Hours, Andrew Weisblum for Black Swan, Pamela Martin for The Fighter, Tariq Anwar for The King's Speech, and Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall for The Social Network

Who Will Win: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall

Who Should Win: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
Winner: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (8/11)

Best Achievement in Art Direction

Nominees:

Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara for Alice in Wonderland, Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillan for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat for Inception, Eve Stewart & Judy Farr for The King's Speech, and Jess Gonchor & Nancy Haigh for True Grit

Who Will Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat

Who Should Win: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias & Douglas A Mowat
Winner: Robert Stromberg & Karen O'Hara (8/12)

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

A.R. Rahman for 127 Hours, John Powell for How to Train Your Dragon, Hans Zimmer for Inception, Alexandre Desplat for The King's Speech, and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for The Social Network

Who Will Win: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Who Should Win: Hans Zimmer
Winner: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (9/13)

The Fighter (2010) – Review

The Fighter is a feel-good story, full of fantastic performances, directing and scenes. At its heart, director David O. Russell has created a narrative about the triumph of spirit, structured around the complications of family dynamics – specifically focusing on the relationship of Mickey Ward with his brother Dicky Eklund and his mother. Mickey grew up in the shadow of his brother both within his family and in his neighborhood – yet Mickey still regards his brother as his hero and an essential part of his life and career as a boxer. The issue (and the driving force of the drama) is that Dicky is an unreliable crack head and their mother is in denial seemingly always taking Dicky’s side. This leaves Mickey with seemingly a lack of personality and the narrative with undefined roles (aka, who is the main character). Dicky, apparently like real life, steals the film and is the center of every scene he is in – Mickey relegated to an observer, yet this is his story, but also a little Dicky’s too. The camera does not exclusively stay with Mickey, nor does it only show his journey. Dicky’s progression is also shown and given significant narrative time. This hurts the film a little as Mickey is the character the audience is supposed to connect with and root for, and while that certainly happens by the end, for a large part of the film he is not charismatic especially with Dicky on-screen. This changes the film from a gripping narrative drama to an informative biography, in which the viewer watches to see the outcome to the “true” story and not because they care about Mickey (this is often the problem with true stories). Though at the same time, the film certainly does benefit from being based on a true story, as viewers are more sympathetic and feel that situations are more relatable when it is “true”. Thus, this both suffers and benefits from being about real people and real situations. David O. Russell is acutely aware of the power of the “true” story element, going so far as to shoot the boxing scenes as if the audience is watching them on TV at the time of their original airing and having the real Mickey and Dicky show up during the ending credits. The visual style of much of the film feels like a documentary as well. He is milking the story for all the emotional and inspirational potential it has. And he succeeds. The film is completely likable, relatable and engaging. By the end, the viewer is committed to these characters and is cheering just as much as the real people were when the events actually happened.  It is an interesting transition – from informative biography with a bland and a colorful character(s) to a film that conclusively has audience buy-in. The film is totally cliché, the supporting characters, outside the main four, are caricatures serving a purely narrative purpose and the audience is manipulated to emotionally flow with the film – yet the film does these things without feeling phony, a credit to David O. Russell and the performances. The main three supporting performances are all very good (one of them is amazing) and Mickey coming out of his shell only makes the ending more impactful. The Fighter by all accounts should be a Hollywood throwaway, but instead it is a great story that the audience is invested in culminating in a good film.

Technical and acting achievements: David O. Russell is already known as a good director, but this film elevates his career as his approach to what could have been an HBO special or TV-movie-of-the-week is remarkable. These were difficult characters and his direction elicits wonderful performances. The score by Michael Book is not overly memorable, but it did not need to be as the point of this film is the characters and the story. However, his score does work with the narrative making the emotional impact all the more moving. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography and Judy Becker’s production design work very well with the visual style of the film, giving it an authentic and in-your-face feel. The minor supporting cast is good, while mostly serving a narrative purpose, but Jack McGee stands out. Melissa Leo is very good in a difficult role of being both a caring and loving mother but also playing the film’s villain in a sense. Amy Adams plays a strong personality (much like all the principal supporting characters) and is powerful (though is not given too much to do). Christian Bale is absolutely amazing in the film. He commands attention in every scene. He is not even an actor; he is Dicky Eklund. Mark Wahlberg has the impossible task of playing against not only three phenomenal performances but also three forceful personalities. It is a tall order, and he gets swallowed up a bit, but that is the character and it only makes his transformation all the more poignant. It is one of his better performances.

The Fighter is a good boxing film and drama with great direction and performances. 8/10

At the Movies – December 2010 – Part 3: Best of the Month

Part 1: Art-House Films

Part 2: Hollywood Films

Must See of the Month:

True Grit (Joel & Ethan Coen) – Western – Dec 22^nd

The film is about a stubborn young woman who hires a rough cold-blooded U.S. Marshall to track down her father’s murderer, based on the novel by Charles Portis (there is also a 1969 adaptation of the book with John Wayne). Fans of the Coen Brothers know to expect great dialog and wonderful visuals (and I am quite excited to see a Coen Brothers’ full on western, especially after No Country for Old Men). As usual, the Coen’s will have music from Carter Burwell, production design from Jess Gonchor and cinematography from Roger Deakins. Very good producer Scott Rudin is working on the film, as well as (and sort of surprisingly) Steven Spielberg, both in producing roles. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges star and both are receiving acclaim for their performances; Steinfeld is on many Oscar short-lists. The supporting cast is also really good with Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Domhnall Gleeson, and Barry Pepper. This looks to be amazing, considering the talent behind and in front of the camera. Fans of westerns, the Coen Brothers and good cinema need to see this. Check out the trailer.

Worth Checking Out (if not in theaters then at home):

Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky) – Thriller – Dec 3^rd [limited]

The film is about a ballet dancer who, in intense competition for premier ballerina, begins to go through a change.  Darren Aronofsky is one of the great auteur directors of today’s cinema, thus any new project of his is one to take notice of and seek out (though, why he is making the X-Men film The Wolverine is beyond me, but it will probably be amazing). Interestingly, Aronofsky has action cinematographer Matthew Libatique shooting the film (but really it is no surprise as he shot Aronofsky’s first three films). He is also using composer Clint Mansell for the fifth time to score the film, however for production design he is working with indy designer Therese DePrez for the first time. The cast seems to be perfect for the project and its tone, as it stars Natalie Portman (whose performance is being hailed) and co-stars Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel. Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey and Sebastian Stan highlight the supporting cast. The film looks to be an aesthetic marvel and intense (it is right there with True Grit as must see for the month). Check out the trailer.

The Fighter (David O. Russell) – Drama – Dec 10^th [limited]

The film is about the early years of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward and his dysfunctional brother, who helped train him before he went pro in the mid 1980s. David O. Russell has a reputation as a bit of a madman (see the youtube video of his spat with Lily Tomlin), but regardless he makes great and interesting films. This is being executively produced by Darren Aronofsky (so there a lot of creative talent behind the production) and produced by star Mark Wahlberg. Russell is working with a completely new crew with production designer Judy Becker (who generally does very good work), amazing Swiss D.P. Hoyte Van Hoytema (see Let the Right One In for reference) and composer Michael Book. The film has a great supporting cast with Melissa Leo, (and two of my favorites) Amy Adams and Christian Bale, whose performance is being favored for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Star Wahlberg seems initially to be the weak link, yet his work with Russell in the past has been among his best, not to mention that Wahlberg worked extraordinarily hard to both star in and get this film made. Critics seem to universally agree that this is going to be a great film (and I will see anything with Bale in it). Check out the trailer.

Somewhere (Sofia Coppola) – Drama – Dec 24^th [limited]

The film is about a washed up, hard-living actor who takes a look at his life and how to break out of the rut he is in, after his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit. Writer-director Sophia Coppola has been a bit hit or miss with her first three projects – Lost in Translation is brilliant, but The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette are aesthetically interesting but have a flawed narrative. The film is being producer by Coppola and her brother Roman Coppola (see CQ), and thus should have interesting creative aesthetics, only helped by frequent collaborator production designer Anne Ross. Wonderful cinematographer Harris Savides is shooting the film and French pop/rock band Phoenix is scoring it. Stephen Dorff stars (perfectly fitting the role) and rising-star Elle Fanning co-stars. (Underrated) Michelle Monaghan, Chris Pontius, Laura Ramsey, and Angela Lindvall (co-star of CQ) feature in the supporting cast. While Coppola may only have one great film to her name, her other work is quite interesting and engaging from a filmmaking and aesthetic point of view and this seems to be in the same narrative vein and have the same vibe as Lost in Translation. It also won the Venice Film Festival’s Best Film award. Check out the trailer.