Thursday, January 10, 2013

So the 2012 Oscar Nominations Are In...

Political Film = No Chance of Winning, Unfortunately.
Well, the Oscars have announced their nominations for the 2012 film season. My first reaction is to note that I have knack for having my favorite films of the immediate time (True Grit, Drive, Cloud Atlas) never having a good chance of winning an Oscar. Cloud Atlas has not been nominated for a single thing this year and that's somewhat saddening, as it is at least worthy of Make-Up, Production Design and Score (let's be honest, it's not at all Picture material).

Sharing a boat with a tiger has never seemed like a bad idea...
As a matter of fact, the nominations this year have just reminded me of how I was not that excited for many movies coming out this past year. I remember I could name only three films in the beginning of 2012 that I had anticipated: Prometheus, John Dies at the End and Django Unchained. Ironically, the former two actually disappointed me significantly (though, they weren't necessarily bad films), Django being the sole film that delivered and, happily, I discovered a vast amount of pictures that at least made me entertained: Cloud Atlas, The Master, The Avengers, Holy Motors, Argo, Moonrise Kingdom, Looper, Killer Joe, Seven Psychopaths and the list goes on...

Spielberg, I love you, man, but total Oscar-bait.
As my friend Drey likes to claim, the main attraction of the movie is 'slutty Anne Hathaway'.
I've been incredibly astonished, however, to find a lack of representation of the talent showcased in these films. The Master is an easy Best Picture nominee, way more deserving than Silver Linings Playbook, though I liked the latter film as well. The Avengers's production design was given the Sin City treatment? They brought a comic book to life, they had a large amount of ambition. Well, it gets a visual effects nomination, but that's as usual as a Michael Bay's Transformers installment receiving such a nomination. Matthew McConaughey gets snubbed for Killer Joe, Holy Motors gets no Foreign Language Film. Where is Ben Affleck's Best Director nod for Argo? He's made three great films, he deserves that nod by now, especially with Argo.

AKA 'Apology for Daredevil'
Crazy - The Movie!
I think the biggest irk to me is the nominations for Django Unchained - Despite a Best Picture nomination, which I mixed with and will probably just abide cause I don't care about it that much, Quentin Tarantino got a frighteningly bad snub for Best Director. And in the Best Support Actor Category - again, I suppose I'll abide because I love Waltz and thought he did fantastic in the movie - you get several great Oscar-worthy performances. When I think of a role I'd nominate from that film, though, I think Leonardo DiCaprio or Don Johnson. Christoph Waltz flies into mind for a brief moment - but then I recall the redundancy of Hans Landa and go back to my original two choices.
Ah well, c'est la vie.

Worst drinking game in the world.
Take a shot everytime
A gun is fire
Somebody is whipped
Somebody says 'nigger'
Only three items and you're sure to be floored.
I am somewhat surprised by the Best Picture nomination for Amour. I spent years under the impression that you must be either an American or British production in order to be nominated for such an award, but I suppose I was mistaken. It certainly establishes that Amour will be the Foreign Language Film winner without a doubt (making my Oscar gambling winnings significantly less than they already will be... hehehe), but it also implies that, should Amour win Best Picture, it will be the first time a film has won both the Palme D'Or and the Best Picture Academy Award since 1955's Marty. And it's a possibility, at least in my mind, as opposed to 1979 or 2011, because I cannot really figure out from these Best Picture nominees, which one has the best chance of winning.

My best vote goes to Amour, but you never know...
It may help that I have not seen two of those nominees at this point: Zero Dark Thirty or Beasts of the Southern Wild, so I do not outright know the potential of those two films. I noted a vocal outcry that Kathryn Bigelow herself got snubbed for Best Director on Zero Dark Thirty. I got nothing to be angry about with that movie, cause I haven't seen it yet... Will do as soon as it's released wide, though. The others seem either Oscar-staples or just one-shots with little chance of winning. It actually seems like a free-for-all for that spot.

Until I see it... I'm assuming it's about fireworks...
in the wild...
But by the end of it, my opinion towards the Oscars is only as an observer. I long have dismissed the value of the Academy Award (setting it more aside for the awards in Cannes Film Festival and the BAFTAs - I am a lot more happier with the nominations the BAFTAs have announced - Tarantino has his justice). I just watch it 'cause... I dunno, the same reason people watch Jersey Shore, I suppose.
Oh wow, Seth MacFarlane's hosting? Yep, definitely watching for the same reason people watch Jersey Shore.

... To see somebody get punched in the face.

Copied and pasted off of IMDb.

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Nominees:

Amour (2012): To Be Determined

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012/I)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees:

Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Alan Arkin for Argo (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees:

Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)

Best Achievement in Directing

Nominees:

Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012)
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Nominees:

Flight (2012/I): John Gatins

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Nominees:

Argo (2012): Chris Terrio

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Nominees:

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Nominees:

Amour (2012)(Austria)
War Witch (2012)(Canada)
No (2012/I)(Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012)(Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (2012)(Norway)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Editing

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Production Design

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Nominees:

Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph("Before My Time")
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree("Pi's Lullaby")
Skyfall (2012): Adele, Paul Epworth("Skyfall")
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane("Everybody Needs a Best Friend")

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Nominees:

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

Nominees:

Best Documentary, Features

Nominees:

The Gatekeepers (2012): To Be Determined
How to Survive a Plague (2012): To Be Determined
The Invisible War (2012): To Be Determined
Searching for Sugar Man (2012): To Be Determined

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Nominees:

Best Short Film, Animated

Nominees:

Fresh Guacamole (2012): PES
Paperman (2012): John Kahrs

Best Short Film, Live Action

Nominees:

Henry (2011/III): Yan England
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