Oscar Nominations 2012
So here we go again, I didn’t even realise that today was the big day so I’m playing catch up here. Firstly, a shocking announcement – I’m not staying up for the show this year. Look, it’s just too much hassle and it quite simply isn’t fun anymore, when it was announced that Eddie Murphy (whom I dislike) was hosting and Brett goddamn Ratner was producing it immediately soured my unusual tradition, and quite frankly when it gets to four, half-four in the morning I’m just so god-damn tired that I want the whole ridiculous extravaganza to finish so I can crawl to my bed. Ratner and Murphy have since got embroiled in a bit of controversy of course and Billy Crystal has been thawed out of retirement for another turn, whilst I’m not his biggest fan he can offer the odd one-liner but he’s not enough of a draw to continue my long-standing tradition. Ever since they abandoned crucial cinephile items like the lifetime achievement – I really wanted to see Roger Corman’s speech last year for example – in favour of dumb songs and the mere fact of blogging of the event so quickly you’re not actually enjoying the ridiculous show and cringeworthy speeches, so this year I’m just not bothering. The final nail in the coffin is the nominations themselves as there is virtually nothing in the way of excitement here, there are no real battles to observe and the total oversight of genuinely challenging fare such as Drive or Shame – not that I expected them to get much of a look- in anyway – mark this as a particularly dull year. Nevertheless like any slightly bored cinephile I do like my lists and pitting my wits against my esteemed colleagues, so as always here are my picks – as per tradition I’ve bolded those that I’ve seen, italicsed those that I think will win and underlined those which I would like to win.
Best Picture
Well let’s get started with the big ones. Only nine out of a possible ten trims the field, with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close the only surprise entry. I started listening to some commentary on that movie just a couple of weeks ago and boy does it sound terrible, a mawkish piece of Tinsel Town cotton candy with some charming post 9/11 sentimentality thrown in to really turn the stomach. In the same category is The Help with the charming idea that it only took a plucky young white debutante to ignite the southern civil rights movement, another one of those distortions of reality that LA producers and scribes like to foist upon the gullible. Finally, just to remain negative I’m utterly mystified at the appreciation that Midnight In Paris has garnered, it’s the same ill-conceived Woody Allen upper middle class mediocrity that he’s now been foisting on us for years, and I like Woody Allen. For the most part. So, whilst I think The Artist and The Descendants are both in with a shot I’m going to pluck for (insert the inevitable underdog reference here) Moneyball, another slightly above average film which was hugely, hugely admired in the States. It should be Tree Of Life but I really can’t see the academy going for something so unusual. EDIT – OK, so I tracked down the others and man, Extremely Embarrassing and Horribly Made is real turkey, it must one of the worst Best Picture nominees ever, The Artist will get this but I;m sticking to Moneyball as an underdog outsider….
“The Artist,”
“The Descendants,”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,”
“The Help,”
“Hugo,”
“Midnight in Paris,”
“Moneyball,”
“The Tree of Life,”
“War Horse”
Best Actor
Oh I’m sorry, I think there has been some something of an absurd mistake here – where the fuck is Fassbender? Heh, as other have noted everyone seems to be scrambling to get a copy of A Better Life following this announcement (myself included), I can’t say that it fills me with much inspiration. This is an open field with Clooney, Dujardin and Pitt all in with a shot, I’m gonna go all patriotic and fly the flag for Oldman but I reckon that it’s Brad’s year – and I bet all the Andy Serkis fans are all going ape…and no Michael Shannon for Take Shelter has got some muttered curses as well. EDIT – I’m flipping to Clooney, but this should be Gary…
Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Best Actress
Oh I’m sorry, I think there has been some something of an absurd mistake here – where the fuck is Tilda? What a joke, and I have to say that this list is looking particularly average although, granted, I haven’t seen the majority of the films yet and I’m just going on rumour and innuendo. This may change as I acquire the other three pictures over the next fortnight, although neither of the remaining trio fill me with any great thoughts of a world-changing experience. In the interim I’m going with Mara, she managed to equal a well-loved, attention gathering performance that must have really put the pressure on her, and her take on the character was different enough to be uniquely distinctive. I’m really, really not looking forward enduring The Iron Lady but one has to make sacrifices, just like that witch did every fucking full moon….EDIT – No changes, Streep is 90% a certainty, with Viola Davis as a potential upset….
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”
Supporting Actor
Well, looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me again, so very difficult to make an early choice. I’m going to have to go with the favourite of Chris Plummer which does sound like quite a unusal role, I think I’m accurate in claiming that there haven’t been many gay pensioner movies out there recently….EDIT – Again, no change, Plummer gets his lifetime achivement surrogate…
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”;
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”;
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”;
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”;
Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Supporting Actress
Two nods for The Help eh? Hmm. Well, Melissa McCarthy is in with a chance as many people noted her unglamorous turn in a genuinely amusing picture, but those Hollywood types like to be all liberal and that so I reckon Octavia Spencer will get this one. Who would I prefer? I honestly don’t care. They were all perfectly serviceable performances but none of them jump out as anything remarkable but I’ll go with Melissa as at least something funny which is quite a rare type of nomination – a female comedic turn. EDIT – Again, no change, Octavia Spencer is certain to get this but again Melissa as a much more fun choice…
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Directing
Another tricky one. Allen and Malick are out as they ain’t exactly the Hollywood schmoozers, which leaves a Frenchman, a previous winner and a Payne. The most remarkable achievement is of course Malick’s as he’s the only one here you genuinely broke the mould, whilst one can admire Hazanavicius’s temerity and chutzpah in getting a ‘silent’ movie made – and it’s not a ‘silent’ movie but that’s a debate for another post – the film itself wasn’t that amazingly directed as reeling off some scenes culled from the art forms history is really not that difficult. Then again I’ll probably come back and change this prior to the ceremony in a last minute panic, but for now lets go with Alexander as The Descendants is the pedigree of light, pathos riven comedies that the Academy admires; EDIT – OK, I’m changing to the Frenchman, if Malick wins I shall be checking the bible for the next sign of the end of days…
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Foreign Language Film
Jesus, this category never gets any easier – where do these films come from? I’ve not even heard of Bullhead or In Darkness, apart from A Separation the other two haven’t got European releases to the best of my (admittedly slim) knowledge. I clearly need to do some research here, but A Separation should definitely be the winner as it has soaked up all the other awards and is highly placed on every critics of note ‘Best Of’ lists, thus I’m guessing its the certain winner as most of the voters won’t even have heard of the others. Then again, that Japanese film Departures (which is excellent by the way) did cause that upset back in 2009….EDIT – A rather pathetic attempt in tracking down some other movies to see in this category, their just not out there unless I turn to filesharing sites and I’m not fond of those. With all the scary sabre rattiling going on with Iran it will be amusing to see A Seperation take this….
“Bullhead,” Belgium
“Footnote,” Israel
“In Darkness,” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar,” Canada
“A Separation,” Iran
Adapted Screenplay
Another tough call. Again I’d like to root for Tinker Tailor for diluting down a massive book to a comprehensible couple of hours, but Moneyball was particularly praised for its wordsmith’s so it could be Sorkin’s year again…EDIT – this is more wide open upon reflection, I wouldn’t be suprised if either The Descendants, Tinker Tailor or Moneyball took this, but I’m changing to Le Carre’s classic…
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon “The Ides of March”
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Original Screenplay
Surprised to see Margin Call in there, and A Separation for that matter. I think Woody might get this as some sort of consolation prize, it The Artist gets in then it’s bound to be in the running for the other major nominations, I’d like to see Bridesmaids get this as a bit of an upset; EDIT – Changing to The Artist on this one, if Woody does get this then I’ll be pissed….
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”
Animated Feature Film
I think Rango might be just a little, well, odd for the Academy’s taste, although Panda was just a re-tread of the first one I think it made a fuckload of money so could take this one. EDIT – Fuck it, I reckon Rango could take this, and well deserved too. I rewatched it on Blu recently and it was still pretty great….
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
Art Direction
Hugo or The Artist are the front-runners here. EDIT – OK, I’m changing to Hugo from The Artist, a choice I may very well regret. We shall see….
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”
Cinematography
This is toss-up between Robert Richardson for Hugo and the stunning work of Emmanuelle Lubezki for The Tree Of Life, both of whom achieved career best work. I’d like to see the latter take this but I’d be happy with a win for Richardson, so this is a win-win. EDIT – Given that this is a category that is voted by peers, I think The Tree Of Life will take this now….
“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
Sound Mixing
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”
Sound Editing
Let’s hope Drive at least gets something, if not then Dragon Tattoo should spirit this one away. EDIT – No, I’m going for Dragon on this one now, but it would be nice to see Drive get something…
“Drive”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”
Original Score
If Williams wins then there is no god, War Horse had to be one of the most tepid and by the numbers scores he’s ever produced and Tintin was little more than average. No Dragon Tattoo is another crime, as the nomination of The Artist which pulled most of its score from other god-damn movies!! Weird. I liked Tinker Tailor so I’m opting for that, but I think Hugo will get the prize. EDIT – Well, if I’m reading the runes right then yes, there is no god as The Artist will get this…
“The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams
“The Artist,” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo,” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse,” John Williams.
Original Song
50/50, it’s gotta be the beloved Muppets, right?
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio,” Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.
Costume
Oh jesus, this means I have to watch W.E. as well. Why do I do this to myself? EDIT – Again, I’m changing to The Artist, sue me…
“Anonymous,”
“The Artist,”
“Hugo,”
“Jane Eyre,”
“W.E.”
Documentary Feature
Again, the Academy seem to have really fallen asleep on the job here with both Senna and The Interrupters, both regarded as amongst the best documentaries of recent years, completely overlooked. Complete guess here until I do some research, Pina was very good though which could pirouette away with a gong…EDIT – Hell and Back Again is pretty amazing and moving, highly recommended as a troubling reportage of exactly what is happening in Afghanistan, but it seems a little too hot for the Academy, so Pina stays and very good it is too…
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front,”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”
Documentary (short subject)
No idea until I track some of these down, so let’s go with the Tsumani one;
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Film Editing
Hugo and Dragon Tattoo were probably the most accomplished if memory serves, particularly the former with the added difficulty of cutting 3D which is that much more difficult. Nevertheless I think that The Artist will get this;
“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
Makeup
I’m going with Harry Potter due to the scale and complexity of the work; EDIT – Redacted, apparently Streep’s make-up guy has worked with her for decades and is loved in the industry, so this seems more of a certainty;
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“The Iron Lady”
Animated Short Film
No idea. I’ll check back but lets guess with Flying Books; EDIT – Just watched the Flying Books short and it was excellent – link below. It’s the kind of anti-kindle metaphor I can get behind.
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore“
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
Live Action Short Film
As above; EDIT – haven’t been able to trace a single one of these down, much to my disappointment. So I’ll stick with a guess;
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”
Visual Effects
It’s gotta be the Apes movie. As impressive as Hugo was ROTPOTA was an envelope pusher, and Potter was text-book stuff that was nothing new. EDIT – I just finished watching Real Steel, some fairly impressive CGI but my god. what a fucking terrible movie, the world certainly doesn’t need anymore ‘Obsessed Dad forges relationship with estranged son through beating the fuck out of ten foot robots’ anytime soon….ROTPOTA all the way….
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Minty's Menagerie 
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