Best of 2012 - Supporting Actor

Jason Clarke in Zero Dark Thirty

For being as matter of fact about his character as the movie is.

For  fastidiously driving the plot forward while giving us his character's struggle, ambition and determination,

For the most un-showy performance of the year.

Samuel L Jackson in Django Unchained

For boldly taking on the most un-PC movie character in recent movie history.

For a lively full throttle performance that kept viewers guessing.

For being best in show.

Jude Law in Anna Karenina

For giving us a haunting portrait of weary resignation and dogged duty that cannot abide.

For embracing Karenin's passionless ordinariness while making him sympathetic.

Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike

For being the warmest mot lived in performance in a movie full of them.

For finally melding his public persona into a memorable "star" performance.

Ezra Miller in Perks of Being a Wallflower

For taking on  the stock eccentric sidekick role and making it so much more
For an open honest portrait of first love with all its hope, confusion and despair.

In addition to these performances, I thought Tommy Lee Jones was terrific in Lincoln and Phillip Seymour Hoffman subtle and affecting in The Master.

What are your favorite supporting actors of the year? Did you enjoy any of these performances?

Best of 2012 - Supporting Actress

Conventional wisdom and major award bodies see this as Anne Hathaway's year. However while I think she's the best thing about that movie I still found another 5 performances that I liked more. Here are my top 5 in alphabetical order:

Emily Blunt in Looper

For grounding a most fanciful premise in a simple story about a mother's love for her child.

For showing that love to be scary, tender and fierce all at the same time.

Lizzy Caplan in Bachelorette

For being both new and familiar as the not-ready-to-grow up party girl.
For showing us the hurt and hidden vulnerability behind the smug and awful.
For portraying the hurt of first love so eloquently.


Jennifer Ehle in Zero Dark Thirty

For having lots of spark and personality behind the dogged devotion to her job.

For showing the excitement of the hunt when the prey is near.

Helen Hunt in The Sessions

For shedding all pretense along with her clothes. 

For showing us honesty that love can be conflicting and emotionally dangerous. 

For that moment in her car.

Lorraine Toussaint in Middle of Nowhere

For the most realistic portrait of a mother's simultaneous disappointment and hope in her children.

 For showing years of weariness and knowing-it-all in a simple look.

Thoughts? What were some of your favorites? Did any of these ladies blow you away as they did me?

Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations

Oldest and Youngest Best Actress Nominees in Oscar History

Hurray for the shorter voting period. It produced many surprises, worthy nominees and less reliance on precursors. I am happier than I usually am on nomination morning. While I was sad to see some of my favorites (Hawkes, Cotillard, Perks of Being a Wallflower) miss out, so many favorites made it.

I was very happy that AMPAS embraced Amour, Beasts of theSouthern Wild and particularly both Emmanuelle Riva and Quvenzhane Wallis. Look at them, this season still can become a real treat. Helen Hunt was nominated for a fantastic performance, so was Naomi Watts. And can I admit that I was very happy to see both Helen Mirren and Tom Hooper miss out? Mediocre work did not just coast through.

Not all was roses. Just look at the mostly aggravating Supporting Actor category. Waltz over Jackson from Django? Arkin for a fun but unremarkable performance? De Niro for shedding a measly tear after decades of coasting? Color me not impressed.

Let’s dig into the top 8 categories and see how I did with my predictions:

Best Picture

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django unchained

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Very happy that Amour made it here as the first foreign language film in this category since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon a decade ago. This is a pretty good list, not a dud in here. Now if Amour can continue surprising and actually manage to win. I know, I know but one can dream.

My Predictions : I predicted 8 but got all 8 correct plus Amour which I had as an alternate so I think 9/9.

Best Director

Michael Haneke -  Amour

Ang Lee -  Life of Pi

Ben Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

The most surprising category with Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow missing out. I think there was an abdundance of deserving directors this year and not an intentional snub. Even the controversial Zero Dark Thirty got 5 nominations overall so I'm thinking Bigelow just missed out.

My Predictions : As with most everyone only got 3/5. But I'm happy to have predicted Russell despite DGA snub and to be surprised by Haneke and Zeitlin, directors of two movies that I loved.

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

Hugh Jackman - Les Misérables

Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Denzel Washington - Flight

Very sad to see Hawkes miss out when he gave such a beautiful and funny performance. Phoenix's thespian Olympics, look at me acting won voters' hearts. I admire but do not love any of these performances. Where are the French guys; Jean Louis Trintingnant, Matthias Schoenaerts and Denis Levant? And is AMPAS really going to give DDL a 3rd Oscar so soon after making Meryl wait almost 30 years. I guess so but I don't like it.

My Predictions : 4/5 Phoenix replaced Hawkes.

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"

I just love these 5 nominees. Yep Cotillard would’ve been great but she has one and her snub got us the delight that is Riva and Wallis together. And while the 8 noms that Silver Linings got implies that Lawrence is way ahead, I think we got ourselves a real competition here.

My Predictions : 4/5 So happy to be wrong about Riva.

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin - Argo

Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

I already dissed this category. But happy to see Jones, he had the most personal and emotional arc in Lincoln. And Hoffman was unusually subtle and as good as ever. All 5 are previous winners so all bets are off.

My Predictions : 4/5 I had Di Caprio instead of Waltz.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - The Master

Sally Field - Lincoln

Anne Hathaway- Les Misérables

Helen Hunt - The Sessions

Jacki Weaver- Silver Linings Playbook

When I saw Silver Linings Playbook, I left loving Weaver and wishing she had more to do. Apparently it didn’t matter and she is in. Hathaway is way ahead but 6 weeks is a long time and people might tire of her specially if her acceptance speeches are as grating and high faluting as her interviews so far.

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Argo - Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild - Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

Life of Pi - David Magee

Lincoln - Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

Very respectable list. I am in the minority that didn’t mind the framing subplot of Life of Pi that many blamed on Magee. Still I had hoped Perks of Being a Wallflower would’ve made it here.

My Predictions : 4/5, went with my heart for Perks.

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Amour - Michael Haneke

Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

Flight - John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

Another good list. Wll Haneke surprise or will Tarantino or Boal win their 2^nd Oscar in this category?

My Predictions : 4/5. It’s a pattern. Had The Master instead of Flight.

Finally I really liked the nominations presentation. I was not very happy that they chose Emma Stone and not a recent winner/nominee as per tradition but she was funny and complemented Seth McFarlane well. I also liked doing away with the alphabetical order, that kept it flowing and surprising. While the Hitler joke was a dud Seth was charmingly off kilter and awkward which could work to his advantage at the big show.Hopefully he tested the material he wanted to and now knows what worked and what didn’t.
 

Are you happy with the nominations? What was your favorite nomination? Let me know in the comments or on twitter @ME_Says.

Final Oscar Predictions

It's strange picture of our dear Oscar, no?

Here are my final predictions in the top seven categories. If it were up to me Amour would win at least 4 of them. However I'm predicting it to just miss nominations in several categories.

Best Picture
1. Argo
2. Zero Dark Thirty
3. Lincoln
4. Life of PI
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Les Miserables
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild
8. Django Unchained

I am predicting 8 but if there were 10.
9. Amour.
10.Moonrise Kingdom.

Best Director
Tom Hooper has been blamed for all that is wrong with Les Mis. So despite the DGA nomination I'm thinking he will be snubbed. It's between Tarantino and Russell and despite Bafta nod to Tarantino I'm going with Russell. Just a hunch.

1. Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
2. Ben Affleck, Argo
3. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
4. Ang Lee, Life of Pi
5. David O Russell, Silver Linings Playbook.

Alternate Michael Haneke, Amour.

Best Actress (previous predictions)
As much as it will hurt me if Riva is snubbed I think the lack of precursor love, Amour's late December opening and her being in France (while Wallis, Cotillard and Watts are campaigning hard) will hurt her, it will be the best surprise if I'm proven wrong.

1. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
2. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
3. Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
4. Naomi Watts, The Impossible
5. Quevanzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Alt. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Best Actor (previous predictions)
I'm going with the SAG five. There is always at least one category that perfectly matches SAG and I'm betting it is Best Actor this year.

1. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
2. Denzel Washington, Flight
3. John Hawkes, The Sessions
4. Bradley Cooper Silver Linings Playbook
5. Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Alternate Joaquin Pheonix, The Master

Best Supporting Actor (previous predictions)
The most aggravating category. I don't love any of the front runner performances except for Jones. It looks like he is a lock in addition to Hoffman, De Niro and Arkin. The fifth spot could go to a number of actors. Leo is getting the most buzz of the Django men so he's in.
1. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
3. Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
4. Alan Arkin, Argo
5. Leonardo Di Caprio, Django Unchained.

Alternate Javier Bardem, Skyfall


Best Supporting Actress
Hathaway , Field and Hunt are locks. I'm betting award bodies love affair with Maggie Smith and AMPAS love of Adams continue this year.
1.Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
2. Sally Field, Lincoln
3. Helen Hunt, The Sessions
4. Maggie Smith, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
5. Amy Adams, The Master.

Alternate Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Alternate Life of Pi

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Amour
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Django Unchained

Alternate Looper
 

TOP TEN MOVIES of 2012

AMOUR

The most beguiling devastating film of the year. In presenting an unsentimental but moving portrait of the inevitability of life's end, Michael Haneke gave us a most necessary experience. There are so many humanly recognizable moments that had jolts go through my heart and body. This is art in the best sense moving, recognizable and a reflection of life. A masterpiece.

MAGIC MIKE

This was the most fun time at the movies in 2012. Not just for the man eye candy, but for the charming Tatum Channing, the on point choreography, Matthew McConaughey revealing his body and soul and surprising acting chops of Olivia Munn. On the other hand the movie didn't shy away from presenting the ugly underbelly of a stripper's life. In a summer full of stock super heroes Magic Mike gave us fully realized characters, and what a gift that was.

Rust And Bone 

A brutal and uncompromising story that rises above the conventional trappings of "two lost souls finding each other'' up until the melodramatic happy ending. Nonetheless Cotillard and Schoenaerts set the screen ablaze with intensity and passion. Cotillard proving that La Vie En Rose was no fluke and Schoenaerts becoming a major star and an actor to watch and idolize.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE 

Previously reviewed.

ANNA KARENINA

Absolutely the most gorgeous movie of the year. It's a feast for the eyes with sets and gowns that are vivid and sumptuous. The much talked about theatrical setup works giving the story artifice that resonates and makes it wholly original. Keira Knightley, in the title role, is always best when unlikeable but here shines also when awash with desire and longing. Karenin is surprisingly sympathetic in this version and  Jude Law imbues him  with calm dignity and weary duty alleviating the performance to best in show. 

ZERO DARK THIRTY

Controversy aside Kathryn Bigelow has given us a taut thriller that is firmly of our time. In the story of Ussama Bin Laden's hunt we get the most brilliant behind the scenes expose since All the President's Men. The movie presents the story as is, with no judgement, no rah rah triumphs and no emotional manipulation. Just thrilling filmmaking.

THE SESSIONS

A deeply moving simple story. While on the surface it's about a man's quest to lose his virginity, it is really about the need we all have to connect with other people. The movie becomes alive because of two marvellous performances. John Hawkes with wry wit and humor and Helen Hunt, smart, naked, honest give us the ultimate mating dance.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Was there a more original work than Beasts in 2012? I think not. Creating an other worldly world that is firmly rooted in both fact and fable simultaneously and characters like you've never seen before, Benh Zeitlin announced himself a major cinematic promise. He also discovered two promising acting talents in Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry.

PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Ah teenage years. The 90s. A pixie dream girl. A rebel. A awkward introvert who you know will turn into an accomplished artist. Sounds like a collection of movie cliches. However with Stephen Chbosky adapting his own novel and Logan Lerman and Ezra Miller's beautiful performances this was a lovely rumination of growing up and making life long friends.

END OF WATCH

What could have been another routine cop movie is instead a visceral portrait of male bonding. Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are the couple of the year.



Other movies I enjoyed but didn't quite crack my top ten include The Impossible, Lincoln, Bachelorette, A Royal Affair, Pitch Perfect , On the Road, Life of Pi and Looper. It was a good year for movies. What movies did you like in 2012? Tell all in the comments.

Most Memorable Movie Scenes of 2012

What makes a movie scene memorable? A recognized reflection; an image that moves you; a witty and smart line of dialogue. Sometimes you get all in one scene. Sometimes a scene encapsulates the movie or it can stand out separately and still be memorable.Sometimes it can be a performance or a piece of music that sticks in the mind. Here are few of my most memorable scenes from 2012 movies in no particular order.

MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

Setup: A mother, two daughters and a grandson sit down to have dinner. The mother tries to start a conversation. The daughters would rather not reveal anything honest. Years of resentment, avoidance, unhappiness, disappointment come crashing down.

Why: In one very economic scene the dynamics and history of this family are revealed. You understand tons about these characters. The scene reflects eloquently any family that sometimes is unable to connect.

HOLY MOTORS

Setup : It doesn't matter. There's a man, there's an accordion. Several other men with accordions appear. It becomes a parade.

Why : It's a jolting haunting beautiful scene in a movie full of very eccentric scenes. Even if you don't care much for the movie, this one sticks with you. Fanfuckingtastic!

RUST AND BONE

Setup : A woman recovering from losing her legs in a horrific accident tries to remember and heal. Katy Perry starts blaring.

Why : Because of the emotional punch Marion Cotillard throws at you. You feel it in your gut.

MAGIC MIKE

Setup : A few male strippers gather in a gym to workout. A seasoned stripper teaches the new kid a few moves.

Why : Because Matthew McConaughey looks fantastic and acts the hell out of the scene. Years of his sometimes charming, sometimes puzzling public persona has lead to this moment. He emerges a great character actor and a star for the ages.

ANNA KARENINA

Setup : A few members of the Russian aristocracy gather at the races. A horse falls down. A woman screams with concern for her lover. Her husband watches.

Why : It is unlike anything else we've seen at the movies this year. Joe Wright's choice to film the whole movie inside a theater comes to bright vivid life in this scene. He builds the tension; is Vronsky OK? What will Anna do? How will Karenin react? The visuals are sumptuous and the emotions heightened.

ZERO DARK THIRTY

Setup: Mission accomplished, time to leave the mission site. A lonely hunter boards a plane. Tears stream down her face.

Why : We don't know why Maya is crying. Is it relief? Is it sadness? Does she feel lost? Not knowing what to do next with her life? We don't know and the questions are what makes the scene moving and memorable.

THE SESSIONS

Setup : The sex therapist and her patient finish a session. As they are saying goodbye they both discover the emotional bond that grew between them. They decide to end the sessions. The therapist has a breakdown in her car.

Why : The emotional honesty of the scene. The way Helen Hunt plays it is moving and cathartic. You see all these feelings on her face as she starts crying alone in her car. She is at once happy, sad and grateful. Happy for her patient's breakthrough, sad because she will miss him in her life, grateful to have had the experience.



What were some of your most memorable scenes? Do you agree with these choices? I would love to hear from you.

Crazy Early Oscar Predictions

A week before Christmas here is who I think will win Oscar in the acting categories. It's crazy and early but it looks this way to me now. Although I should not predict winners before nominations.

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)

Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Reactions to New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Zero Dark Thirty

The first Awards body of the season announced today. The New York Film Critics Circle.   Here is what they chose and my reactions :

FILM Zero Dark Thirty 

DIRECTOR Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty

Haven't seen it yet but happy for Bigelow. The Hurt Locker is the best war movie and can't wait for the follow up. Winning Best Pic 3 years ago was the only time my favorite movie of the year won.

ACTRESS Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
Surprise, surprise. I like that this opens up the already very open Best Actress field. Weisz was excellent in The Deep Blue Sea, and judging from my twitter feed has many fans. But come on Emmanuelle Riva is the best thing at the movies this year bar none.

ACTOR Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Lets hope this is not the start of a sweep. It would be very boring if Day Lewis just keeps wining. Although it looks inevitable. He was great in Lincoln, and understated and funny and totally uncanny so I'm not complaining.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS Sally Field, Lincoln
Wowza. Another surprise although smaller. I was totally in the contingent that Anne Hathaway was going to sweep for Les Miserables. I like that they threw a wrench in that narrative. Sally was over the top I think in Lincoln. I get that she was playing crazy but I can't figure out if I like the performance or not. Her crazy to DDL's understatement I don't think entirely jelled. Obviously NYFCC doesn't agree with me.

SUPPORTING ACTOR Matthew McConaughey for Bernie and Magic Mike
My fave award. McConaughey deserves it for his landmark year and great turn in Magic Mike. Haven't seen Bernie. I hope this fires up his Oscar campaign and he gets noticed. I'm predicting him.

ANIMATED FILM Frankenweenie
Haven't seen it. Haven't seen any animated movies. I know.

DOCUMENTARY The Central Park Five
No comment, again haven't seen it. 

FOREIGN FILM Amour
I'm OK with Amour sweeping a la A Separation last year. It's fantastic. First Haneke movie that I love. I can't shake it 2 months after seeing it. Masterpiece.

FIRST FILM David France for How to Survive a Plague 

SCREENPLAY Tony Kushner, Lincoln
They liked Lincoln. They really liked Lincoln.

CINEMATOGRAPHY Greig Fraser for Zero Dark Thirty 
And they liked Zero Dark Thirty. 3 awards each.

Oscar Season Bits & Pieces - Best Actress

Emmanuelle Riva

The Hollywood Reporter has released its annual Actress Round table which means that Oscar season is now in full swing. I always look forward to those because Best Actress is always my favourite category. This year looks to be a strong one; there are so many good movies already released and a couple of big mega movies just around the corner.

Let's dig by each category, the major ones of course. I'll provide my take and predictions. Let's start with  :

Best Actress - coming up Best Actor and  Best Supporting Actor
My vote goes to Emmanuelle Riva in Amour. What a performance : heartbreaking and full of moving melancholy and surprising strength. I hope she gets nominated. Going against her is that it's a foreign language film and even people who love it acknowledge that it is a difficult movie to sit through. It deals with inevitable decay, old age and death after all. Going for her is that everyone who sees the movie comes out marvelling at the performance.

Jennifer Lawrence

The pundits world would have you believe that Jennifer Lawrence is the front runner. I don't believe it. Don't get me wrong; I think Lawrence is the best thing about Silver Linings Playbook. I wanted to see more of her character; and therein lies the problem. It's a supporting role really. The story is Bradley Cooper's and she's there as his love interest. She's much better than him but because of how little she gets to do I don't think it's an Oscar winning performance. She has the big speech in her money scene and for that she'll be nominated. However even that speech's payoff is not emotional enough in my opinion. It kick starts the plot for the last third of the movie but does not affect the characters lives in a major way. I understand that Hollywood wants to reward her for The Hunger Games, she's young, hot and a box office draw. Still can't see this performance wining Best Actress.

Jessica Chastain

 I think this will be a match between Naomi Watts in The Impossible and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty.Details of how big and central to the plot Chastain's role have just emerged. That got a lot of excitement. She has momentum from last year, not only for the nomination from The Help but for all the other movies she appeared in. Everyone acknowledges her as The Next Big Actress, set to join Meryl, Kate and Cate as a perennial Oscar nominee. Watts has lots of goodwill from her previous nomination plus she apparently gives a big emotional performance, suffers and cries a lot. Which she is fantastic at and why she was nominated for 21 Grams. A lot of people still talk about Mulholland Drive a decade after it was released, so lots of goodwill there. The problem with The Impossible is that the trailer is too manipulative, it dares you not to tear up. Is there a good movie behind that? Will people show up for suffering porn? If yes she will be unstoppable.

Marion Cotillard

Marion Cotillard is getting raves for Rust and Bone. I'll see it Friday, then I can make an informed decision. Although so far what I read seems to mixed with more praise going to her co-star  Matthias Schoenaerts. There is also young Quevenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild. She carries that unique lyrical movie on her little shoulders and for that she wil be rewarded. Keira Knightely is very good as Anna Karenina as she has been in her last few movies. But the response to that movie has been sharply divided. I loved it, it worked for me. 

Emayatzy Corinealdi

There are a few performances that are not getting much attention but are still amazing. Emayatzy Corinealdi gives a subtle piercing performance in Middle of Nowhere and announces herself as a major talent. Kirsten Dunst is all brittle edges and angry frustration in Bachelorette taking a highly unlikeable character , making her human while being very funny. And the most likeable celebrity presence on twitter, Melanie Lynskey,  gives a touching performance in Hello I Must Be Going. She made me palpably feel her disappointment and then her quiet resolve and tentative hope.

Predicted 5 : Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Emmanuelle Riva, Quevenzhane Wallis, Naomi Watts.

Who do you think will be nominated? Tell all in the comments.