Academy Awards 2012 Winners

Well, for being such a film buff, I am notoriously bad at picking the winners at the Oscars. Once again, Dane kicked my ass on our yearly ballots. However, I think I should get some kind of bonus because I did predict the top 6 awards perfectly! I even predicted the Meryl Streep surprise!! Yay. Here is the full list of winners from last night:

Best Picture - The Artist
Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor - Jean DuJardin, The Artist
Best Actress - Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Cinematography - Hugo
Best Art Direction - Hugo
Best Costume Design - The Artist
Best Make Up - The Iron Lady
Best Foreign Film - A Separation
Best Film Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Best Sound Editing - Hugo
Best Sound Mixing - Hugo
Best Documentary Feature - Undefeated
Best Animated Feature - Rango
Best Visual Effects - Hugo
Best Original Score - The Artist
Best Original Song - Man or Muppet, The Muppets
Best Adapted Screenplay - The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay - Midnight in Paris
Best Live Action Short - The Shore
Best Documentary Short - Saving Face
Best Animated Short - The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


Now, of course, what REALLY matters. BEST DRESSED!! Click on the name to follow the link...

3. Jessica Chastain

2. Emma Stone

1. Michelle Williams

Oscar Predictions

So, the Oscars are on Sunday. I am notoriously bad at picking the winners (I am always hoping for upsets and making my picks that way instead of just realizing that there is no originality left in Hollywood at all, even when it comes to voting for the Oscars). Anyway, here are my sure to be wrong predictions...

Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
What WILL Win? - This category, unfortunately, is all about THE ARTIST. I found it trite and disappointing, but I've been disappointed with the Best Picture winner more often than not in the past few years.
What MIGHT Win? - I don't even really think any of these other films have much of a chance.
What SHOULD Win? - Hugo! The movie The Artist wishes it could be.

Best Actor
Demian Bichir - A Better Life
George Clooney - The Descendants
Jean DuJardin - The Artist
Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
Who WILL Win? - Call my crazy (and this is why I lose to Dane every year) but I'm going JEAN DUJARDIN. While I wasn't crazy about The Artist, I did absolutely love his performance.
Who MIGHT Win? - Clooney definitely might take this and actually probably will. He's deserving as well.
Who SHOULD Win? - I loved all three of the performances I saw in this category but DuJardin was my favorite of the nominated performances. (Michael Shannon should win for Take Shelter, but that's a conversation for another day).

Best Actress
Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis - The Help
Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn
Who WILL Win? - Again, this is why I don't win but I'm going against the grain and saying MERYL STREEP is going to upset favorite Viola Davis.
Who MIGHT Win? - This is a neck and neck race between Streep and Davis, so Davis could take it.
Who SHOULD Win? - Michelle Williams who was too amazing for words as iconic Marilyn Monroe.

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Max Von Sydow - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Who WILL, MIGHT and SHOULD Win? - This category is as locked as they should. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER has finally won an Oscar!

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Who WILL and MIGHT Win? - Like Best Supporting Actor, this category is locked up. OCTAVIA SPENCER has got this one.
Who SHOULD Win? - I preferred Jessica Chastain who should win for her body of work in 2011 alone!

Best Director
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo
Who WILL and MIGHT Win? - I can't foresee anyone but MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS winning.
Who SHOULD Win? - Malick!!! I mean, COME ON, say what you will about The Tree of Life but Malick directed the hell out of that movie.

Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees

The Academy Awards are just days away so it's time to take a second look at the Best Picture nominees. I've seen eight out of nine (sorry, War Horse but I just couldn't make myself sit through some sappy sentimentalist crap AGAIN this year (I feel as though War Horse would make me feel like I felt after watching The King's Speech... and that wasn't a good feeling)). Anyway, here is a quick recap of the eight nominees I've seen, in order from best to worst...

Hugo - A fantastic film from the brilliant director Martin Scorsese. It might technically be a kid movie but it's so much more than that. It's a celebration of film, it's an adventure tale and it's a beautiful and artistic masterpiece, easily the best film of the year. Also, I've never been a fan of 3D but leave it to Scorsese to make it feel fresh and new and exciting. Grade: A

Moneyball - It's not just a baseball movie, thanks to a brilliant script from Aaron Sorkin, exciting direction from Bennett Miller and an Oscar worthy performance from Brad Pitt. Moneyball is a think piece, a wonderful celebration of the under dog. And, of course, I love baseball so there's that too. Grade: A

The Tree of Life - I didn't know quite how to grade the flawed epic. Was The Tree of Life the best movie I saw last year? No, it wasn't. Did I enjoy other movies more? Absolutely. But, was there a finer, more exquisite piece of art disguised as a movie? Absolutely not. The Tree of Life is BEAUTIFUL. And it is so much more than a movie. It's a celebration of life, a contemplation of death, and the damn prettiest movie I've ever seen. I'm prepared for The Artist to win everything on Sunday night... but I'm hoping director Terrence Malick can upset for Best Director. Grade: A

Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen's finest movie since... well, I don't know if he's had something this good since his heyday. Now that it's out on DVD and the commercials are kind of ruining the surprise, people aren't really as surprised by the plot twist as I was. But I went to see this movie knowing absolutely nothing about it and was extremely surprised and pleased and entertained. Woody's script is perfection (and should most certainly win the uber competitive Best Original Screenplay category) and, also, Corey Stoll = <3. It's a shame he was overlooked this year. Grade: B+

The Help - I feel as though I liked The Help a lot more directly after seeing it than I do now. However, I don't like changing grades so I'm sticking with my original grade. The Help is a good movie, with great performances, but I'm actually kind of shocked that critics and the Academy like it quite THIS MUCH. It is, however, a good movie so I guess it deserves its place here. Grade: B+

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - I know I'm in the minority here but I enjoyed Extremely Loud more than I thought I would. I thought it was going to be a cheesy, overly sentimental film - and it is those things - but for some reason it worked for me. Thomas Horn didn't annoy me nearly as much as I thought he would and Max Von Sydow made the whole thing somehow worth it. Grade: B

The Descendants - Not my favorite of the year, that's for sure. I've never been as big of a fan of Alexander Payne as everybody else. The Descendants is GOOD, but I wasn't that impressed, really. I could have done without the narration, but the performances from George Clooney and Shailene Woodley definitely make up for any problems. Grade: B

The Artist - Another in the long list of future Best Picture winners that I find disappointing. Following Slumdog Millionaire and The King's Speech. I liked it better when it was called A Star is Born. Grade: B

[I apologize if his is sloppy and not well written but I can't even get any peace and quiet on my breaks at work anymore..]

This Means War

Let's start on a positive note - The only person hotter than Tom Hardy is Chris Pine. I'll admit, I didn't really think this movie looked all that good. In fact, with a different cast, I would have skipped it all together. But Chris Pine's deliciously blue eyes? Tom "I have the best lips in Hollywood" Hardy? Are you kidding me? I was so there. Yes, I will fully admit, although I am serious about films and I love movies, sometimes I just wanna go watch a couple of hot guys fight over a cute girl. And on that aspect, I wasn't disappointed in This Means War at all. Pine was dreamy as a charming womanizer and Hardy was sexy as a divorced dad, both trying to woo Reese Witherspoon's adorably neurotic Lauren. I'll admit, I would have liked the movie better had Pine and Hardy somehow made out at the end, but on sex appeal alone, This Means War succeeds. On that note, the only thing that could have made it better is if Michael Fassbender showed up at some point.

Now on to the rest... This Means War is this terribly hodge podge movie that caters to the idea, "Let's throw everything against the wall and see what sticks." The main problem with the movie is that it has no idea what the hell it wants to be. Is it a romantic comedy? Is it a bromance? Is it a thrilling spy caper? Is it a buddy movie? Who the hell knows! The script, the movie, the soundtrack - everything - is so random and thrown together that it is both ridiculous and kind of fun. Sometimes this crazy pace and inclusion of EVERYTHING actually works and makes the movie fun in a frantic kind of way. Other times, it is just puzzling and makes you want to ask what the hell the screenwriters and McG were thinking.

The story basically follows Lauren (Witherspoon) a sweet girl who is single in Los Angeles after following her old boyfriend to the city. A few months after they arrived, he cheated and she spends more time with Boggle these days then she does with men. On the advice of her horny but married friend (Chelsea Handler), she decides to sign up for on line dating. This is how she meets Tuck (Hardy), a CIA spy who claims he's a travel agent. They have a nice and sweet lunch date and then Lauren decides to go rent a movie (SERIOUSLY??? Was this script written in 1997?? Nobody rents movies anymore. Are there even places TO rent movies anymore? Besides Red Box, obviously.). Anyway, there she meets the confusingly named FDR (Pine) and he immediately comes off as too slick and too charming but somehow she starts to like him anyway. So, Lauren is faced with the problem of dating two gorgeous men at once. I mean, I guess it's a problem. A girl like me would never actually know whether it is a problem or not. Personally, it sounds like a pretty great problem to have. Anyway, further confusing the matter, FDR and Tuck are best friends and partners in the CIA. At first they decide to both date her and let her decide who to be with. Of course, they both fall for her and then all bets are off. Throw in some international spy organizations and you've got yourself This Means War.

Like I said, the movie is mediocre at best. Sometimes it's fun but sometimes it's such a convoluted mess. However, I will totally recommend it for Pine and Hardy, who are both way too hot for words.

Grade: C

Chronicle

I figured Chronicle was going to be one of two kinds of movies. Option A = the movie that I have little to no interest in until a bunch of pretty reliable publications / friends start telling me how awesome it is and I get curious and give in and go see it and guess what? I think it sucks a whole lot more than Entertainment Weekly's A- review. (See also: last year's Insidious). Option B = the low budget sci fi film that is way more creative or inspired than it has to be for a movie released in the wasteland that is February movies and automatically becomes the best movie of the year so far. (See also: 2008's (??) Cloverfield). I'm happy to report that Chronicle falls into the latter category.

So, Chronicle, or X-Men: Magneto Goes to a Suburban Seattle High School, stars Dane DeHaan (who looks remarkably like a young Leonardo DiCaprio) as Andrew, a high schooler with a troubled home life (his mom is dying, his dad is an unemployed drunk who beats up one or both of them) who decides to start documenting his seemingly meaningless existence with an old school video camera. His dad yells at him all the time. The kids at school either call him a nerd or a creep. His only real friend is his considerably cooler cousin Matt (Alex Russell), and we're not even sure if he likes Andrew all that much. Then one night, Andrew and Matt go to a rave and along with the coolest guy in school, Steve (Friday Night Lights alum Michael B. Jordan), they discover this strange hole in the ground. Against Andrew's better judgment, they crawl down inside and strange things start to happen. Then the camera goes black and we cut to a day or so later when they suddenly have telekinetic powers.

That's when the real star of the film, the ridiculously good and realistic special effects, take over. The boys begin to do all kinds of awesome stuff with their new found powers - they move cars in parking lots, they play football in the clouds. It's all a lot of harmless fun, really. But the special effects are AMAZING. And it's so great because this movie was made for only $15 million or so. Think of a movie like Transformers, whose budget is probably ten or fifteen times that, and then think about fake some of the stuff in those movies looks. Well, nothing here looks fake. It all looks like magic and it's all a joy to watch. The audience is having fun. The characters are having fun. The director, Josh Trank, is probably having fun.

But, of course, the fun can't last forever. Andrew, the eternal loner / loser / tormented high schooler (I feel your pain, man. The kids I went to high school with should be lucky I didn't have telekinetic powers), can't live in his new found popularity forever. He was always the quickest learner and most talented of the three boys, and soon he starts heading to the dark side. The ending is at times intense and a little over the top. But, a crazy ending can't even ruin a movie as promising as Chronicle. The direction is great. The acting (especially from DeHaan) is great. And, of course, it's worth mentioning again how great those special effects are. All in all, Chronicle actually is the first really good movie of the year, so go see it.

Grade: B

The Grey

The Grey is not a good movie. It is, however, a decent movie. At least up until the ending in which the film gets completely and utterly destroyed. Any bit of goodwill the movie earned from me was completely wasted in those final moments. But more about that in a minute (and, yes, I will be spoiling the ending for you so SPOILER WARNING).

The Grey stars Liam Neeson in what has no become his go-to role: a better than it has to be late January/early February movie in which he proves himself to be a badass and saves people from dangerous people/things (see also: Taken, Unknown). In The Grey, he's a marksman stationed way up North, as North as you can probably go. His job is to kill wolves so they don't get into the drilling center and attack the other workers. It's dark and cold and all the while he has flashbacks to a sun drenched bed and his former lover. He is miserable now, contemplating suicide, so when it's time to go home, he is as excited as Liam Neeson in this kind of movie can be. But then, there is a terrible plane crash into a vast arctic nothingness complete with just lots and lots of snow (at least when the plane crashed on Lost, they got stranded on a hot, tropical, albeit creepy, island). The few survivors of the plane crash (including Dermot Mulroney!) team up to try to survive in the wilderness. Their goal is to build a fire and find food, make it through the first night and then head South hoping someone will save them sooner or later. But then the wolves strike. And apparently wolves are revenge driven animals because when the men fight back, it only makes them more and more angry and they begin to hunt them wherever they run. And so the movie is these men (their numbers dwindling - there were 7, then 6, then 5, then...) trying to outsmart and outrun a pack of wolves, struggling against the bitter cold and blizzards of mother nature.

And it's not so bad. I mean, sure it's way too quiet to be a thriller and has far too much blood and guts to be a thoughtful character piece. The Grey doesn't know what the hell kind of movie it wants to be. And to a certain extent, that's fine. The action, the philosophical discussions, the tender moving moments, Liam Neeson's fantastic performance - these all add up to a pretty decent movie. Not good, not by a long shot, but at least good enough so that it's worth watching. It keeps your interest and entertains you. And then... the end.

SPOILER ALERT!!! So, I was with this movie until the end. I really was. I was giving it the benefit of the doubt. I really was trying to like it. But then this happened... Remember that moment in the trailer? Of course you do, they only showed the trailer approximately 3 million times in the last month. The part where Liam Neeson is ready to face off with a giant scary wolf. He grabs some of those miniature bottles of liquor from planes and tapes them between his knuckles, smashing the ends into jagged pieces of glass. That's the part that made me want to see the movie. Liam Neeson in some sort of epic showdown with wolves in the wilderness? Hell yeah. Well, guess what? That's how it ends. With that single moment. There is no impending fight. There is no epic showdown. It ends and we are supposed to guess what happens. Well, there's a pack of wolves staring him down so there's really no guessing necessary. Now, for the record, I love ambiguous endings to movies. I love movies that leave you hanging. And I didn't feel it necessary to see Liam Neeson ripped to shreds. However, this was the single moment from the preview that probably made people excited for this movie. You've got to show us SOMETHING. Show us at least a minute of this epic showdown. At least a taste of the fight. Then cut to black. At least give the audience some satisfaction after we've successfully sat through a boring movie that was 20 minutes too long. But no, this rotten, terrible ending completely and totally destroys this movie. It's quite possibly the worst ending I've seen in recent memory. What a waste of time.

Grade: D