The National Board of Review winners
Best Film: ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, DJANGO UNCHAINED
Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, COMPLIANCE
Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson, LOOPER
Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Animated Feature: WRECK-IT RALPH
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck, ARGO
Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland, THE IMPOSSIBLE
Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR
Best Documentary: SEARCHING FOR SUGARMAN
William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 YEARS OF BOND FILMS
Best Ensemble: LES MISÉRABLES
Spotlight Award: John Goodman (ARGO, FLIGHT, PARANORMAN, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE)
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: CENTRAL PARK FIVE
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: PROMISED LAND
Top 10 Films and other lists after the cut.
Top Films
(in alphabetical order)
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LES MISÉRABLES
LINCOLN
LOOPER
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
PROMISED LAND
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(In Alphabetical Order)
BARBARA
THE INTOUCHABLES
THE KID WITH A BIKE
NO
WAR WITCH
Top 5 Documentaries
(In Alphabetical Order)
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
DETROPIA
THE GATEKEEPERS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
ONLY THE YOUNG
Top 10 Independent Films
(In Alphabetical Order)
ARBITRAGE
BERNIE
COMPLIANCE
END OF WATCH
HELLO I MUST BE GOING
LITTLE BIRDS
MOONRISE KINGDOM
ON THE ROAD
QUARTET
SLEEPWALK WITH ME
It should be combined with all of the above stretches.
Orthotics are devices that correct misalignments in the body, and they include many types designed
for feet. It can be debilitating, it can keep you from enjoying your daily activities.
“I personally suspect he doesn’t do Shakespeare cause he’s kind of a humble guy and probably feels Kevin Kline is doing as much as he ever could, so why bother?”
Or it could be that DDL doesn’t do Shakespeare anymore because of the bizarre experience he had doing Hamlet at the National Theatre back in the late 1980s. Apparently DDL had some sort of “breakdown” onstage (during the scene where Hamlet first sees the ghost of his father) and started sobbing uncontrollably and had to be replaced by another actor for the remainder of the run. A rumor started spreading that DDL claimed he saw the ghost of his own father during that scene, and I think DDL later confessed on a British talk show that the story was true. Talk about method acting!
Separate Tables is an understated drama, all sorts of English repression. Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, David Niven. You should seek it out.
Wit is utterly astounding. Emma Thompson’s best performance. Easily. She’s dying of cancer, and it pretty much all takes place in her hospital room. Made for HBO. Good, good shit.
Well, those are all very good.
Do not know Wit or Separate Tables, but Angels in America is not a movie, but it is one of the best TV productions ever. Miniseries-wise it could be the best ever.
staginess is the correct spelling, I think.
It’s extremely hard to adapt a play for screen. I can probably list about ten that actually work. but that’s a guess. Now I am curious, I will have to list some…
1) Vanya on 42nd Street. I think this is the best translation, not only because it is extremely faithful, but the way it is staged and filmed. You really feel like you are in the intimate setting of that theater with that lucky but small audience. I think it mostly has to do with the lighting, but I am no film studies expert so it’s hard for me to delineate why it works so well. I find it funny that the most artificial of all of the translations is the best one.
And now the ones by Mike Nichols, who is clearly the best person ever at this aspect of filmmaking.
2) Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
3) Wit
4) Angels in America
And another film that was made for HBO
5) The Laramie Project
And the obvious Oscar Winner
6) Amadeus
Tennesse Williams adaptions
7) Streetcar Named Desire
8) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (love the thought of a gay Paul Newman!)
And another great adaption from the 50’s
9) Separate Tables
And a play that I didn’t know was a play that was made into a severely underrated Meryl Streep movie
10) Plenty
Always be closing
11) Glengarry Glen Ross
And thanks to Stockard Channing’s performance
12) Six Degrees of Separation
And this is why I am not hoping too much for August Osage County.
Notice I left all of the Shakespeare adaptions off the list.
.
DDL is AMAZING in The Crucible. Yes!!!
And that is a very good example of something where other actors had to up their game to keep up with him. Not talking about Scofield who had that in him, but Ryder, Allen, Davison and the rest.
Problem with the film was the staginess (how do you spell it?), not acting. The film is practically a PLAY, unfortunately. Not a MOVIE.
DDL is a child molester? You heard it here first. AwardsDaily has the scoop.
No, sorry? What are we talking about?
@Film Fatale: your comments about DDL and his greatest performances comes up short as you fail to mention one of the very best. THE CRUCIBLE. or haven’t you seen it? even DDL has said that it is his favorite film role.
‘could be a child molester; I don’t know’
‘who may be a rapist for all I know’
Err, I think it would be best if you kept these to yourself and write about things that you do know.
and knowing him
Ah.. another close friend of DDL.
Excuse me Unlikely, but you are a moron. I have been following Day-Lewis closely since 1988 and seen every single last one of his performers — and even interviewed him once.
You really have no clue what you are talking about and I would be willing to bet you haven’t seen My Beautiful Laudrette, A Room with a View, The Ballad of Jack and Rose or even his truly GREAT, perhaps best performance, in Philip Kaufman’s The Umbearable Lightness of Being — in my view his career high.
His performers? Laudrette? Umbearable? And I’m the moron? Anyway onto the substance…
Note how you haven’t even mentioned the words “archetypal” or “iconic” in your idiotic reply – because you haven’t tried to defend your arguments one iota. You’ve just changed the argument – it’s like when a liberal says “You guys lied about WMD” and the response is “The world is a better place without Saddam Hussein” – sure, but what does one have to do with the other?
Blubbering “you have no idea what you’re talking about” is the last refuge of the argument-less. It would only make a difference if you were saying that those roles were archetypal/iconic. Sorry, but a man who’s only in 15 minutes of a faithful adaptation of the E.M. Forster book (hm, how would I know that if I hadn’t seen the film/read the book?) doesn’t get to be called iconic. My Beautiful Launderette is an amazing film especially considering the relatively white-hetero-landscape of British films of the 1980s. But is his role archetypal/iconic? I don’t even hear gays referring to it now – link me to a website, any website, that disproves that.
As for Milan Kundera you don’t want to go there – no one on this site is a bigger fan of his work than me. (As a side note, after my high school friends and I saw the film in our local art theater, we walked around for a week quoting “Take off your clothes” and laughing geekily to ourselves.) I will quiz you right now on parts of Unbearable Lightness that don’t show up in Wikipedia or SparkNotes. But is Tomas iconic? Really? The book wasn’t well known in the US before the film. Ok fine I’ll be nice and throw you Tomas and Hawkeye. Two iconic roles, the latest from 20 years ago. Does that really justify you sighing, “yet another…”?
Look, I don’t even have a beef with you about Cooper or anything else you’ve been saying here.
Here’s the bottom line: there are actors – Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Kline (onstage, anyway), and Ethan Hawke come to mind – who feel they have to “essay” the “great” roles, especially the Shakespearean roles – like we’re all dying for their “take” on them. You’ve lumped in Daniel Day-Lewis with these people, and I think that for you to do so is f-ing DUMB, and I feel sorry for him that he gets interviewed by people with so little understanding of his career. Daniel Day-Lewis – who may be a rapist for all I know, but that’s not what this is about – has devoted his career to giving voice to the voiceless, to supporting artists with visions that are unlike anything we’ve seen before. I personally suspect he doesn’t do Shakespeare cause he’s kind of a humble guy and probably feels Kevin Kline is doing as much as he ever could, so why bother?
Abraham Lincoln was not just DDL’s latest Odysseus or Willy Loman or whatever, as a 12-year-old kid reading this site might think if she was to take you seriously. Lincoln was a very unusual choice for him, and knowing him, he only took it because he thought he could bring something to it that no one else could. So back up Film, cause your logic is Fatale-ly flawed.
@ Film Fatale
While to me Cooper was only serviceable in SLP, not terrific. To play ticks and perceived neuroses is nothing extraordinary (something DDL already did, and is not my favorite work from him). And I don’t even fault Cooper completely, because the screenplay mid-point abandoned what could have been a more complete character study, if it wasn’t for the choice of making the movie so soft in the end. So a very sick man all of a sudden is cured because he found love? Not buying it.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Cooper. Actually, I’ve been following his career since Alias. His best work for me so far was in Limitless, a more interesting one than in SLP. That movie is not great, but he really had made me believe in two different people at once, and this has nothing to do with hair and makeup. Mission accomplished. Now for me to say his work in SLP was impressive, sorry, I don’t think so.
However, I won’t apologize for being a huge DDL fan. Like you, I think The Unbearable Lightness of Being is a high point in his career. But that was a very early moment, and I am grateful he continued, the best he could, coming back from time to time and trying to impress me, his audience, again. Not even Nine, which was a huge low, put me completely off. Nobody is perfect. To tell you the truth is more about his work ethic than anything else, to me. Call me silly then. I’ll live.
I loved The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I’m no completist when it comes to DDL, but it’s the film of his that’s resonated most with me over the years.
(spoilers for Perks follow, so read at your own risk)
SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike – I hadn’t read the book before I saw the film, but I didn’t think the ending was manipulative or unfair. It’s clear by that point he has experienced something traumatic. Yes, your friend committing suicide would be traumatic in its own way, but I always knew there was something else.
But the way the movie went along, it never occurred to me we were hurdling toward a big reveal at then. On second viewing the signposts are definitely there, but they are subtle and not obvious.
Personally, I don’t see how anyone can rationally say this film is manipulative. In a lesser, manipulative film, the scene with Charlie and his doctor (Joan Cusack) at the end would have contained more histrionics, a more detailed description of the abuse or something. But it was handled with much restraint. Similarly when Cusack told Charlie’s parents and then when the parents went to Charlie – all of it was done with such restraint, never did Chbosky go for the easy tears. But what he did that people don’t notice was that in each of these scenes he was continuing to develop the characters. Notice the look on Charlie’s dad’s (Dylan McDermott) face as he enters the hospital room.
There are other ways he avoided manipulation – he never got Brad and Patrick in the same room after the fight. He never got Charlie and his sister to discuss the abusive boyfriend again. Sam never went into detail on what happened with her dad’s boss. I could name more scenes a manipulative director would have included.
I think this film is a perfect example of an emotional film that makes you feel that’s not remotely “manipulative.” Instead, like you said, it’s honest and sincere, two adjectives one rarely uses to describe films.
and even interviewed him once
Picures/video/transcript or it didn’t happen.
It was you who chose to ignore other actors. People didn’t single out DDL. Most of them agreed Cooper wasn’t better than several actors including DDL, who seems to be the stand-out here.
And LMAO at his best performance being in TULOB. You have a unique taste.
@Chris
Excellent post — Hawkes, Levant, Sharma (criminally underrated as is the picture) and Affleck were all superb. Ditto Phoenix but unfortunately he peaks early and plays a character so tortured and out there that it seems doubtful he will make into the win — his Freddie is gradations of instability throughout but he never quite makes it around the corner in my view — others may feel differently.
Excellent performances all — and I was not suggesting Cooper was deserving over them; rather that this knee-jerk Day-Lewis fanaticism was silly as Cooper is more that terrific in SLP.
Excuse me Unlikely, but you are a moron. I have been following Day-Lewis closely since 1988 and seen every single last one of his performers — and even interviewed him once.
You really have no clue what you are talking about and I would be willing to bet you haven’t seen My Beautiful Laudrette, A Room with a View, The Ballad of Jack and Rose or even his truly GREAT, perhaps best performance, in Philip Kaufman’s The Umbearable Lightness of Being — in my view his career high.
You have no idea, obviously.
Unlikely hood – sorry if I muddied the waters. I should have copied the comments I was addressing directly:
“can’t see the Academy awarding Kathryn Bigelow again in less than 2 years for another action military film”
It was easiest to use MR Ford and MR Mankiewicz (tip to you, Dalton) because they were consecutive wins and their basic themes could also be misconstrued as being as close to each other as Bigelow’s.
I wasn’t going for the double play BP/BD agrument that you and Sasha were putting forward, but I wasn’t clear. It was only a snap reaction to the weak “too soon”/”too much alike” argument. That is obviously going to the the primary argument against Bigelow that doesn’t hold water.
Thanks for calling me out on it – you’re correct.
‘The Impossible’ Sweeps Past ‘Titanic’ at Spain Box Office
Dec 6, 2012 The Hollywood Reporter
Starring Naomi Watts, Ewan Mcgregor and Tom Holland, director Juan Antonio Bayona’s drama has sold more
than 5.6 million tickets and made 40 million euros in less than two months in theaters.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/impossible-passes-titanic-at-spain-398435
i can’t wait to see ZERO, but i’m not sure it is an Oscar slam dunk. does anyone remember UNITED 93? another war-on-terror-September11 related film that won the lion’s share of awards in its year…on more 10 best lists than any other film…best pic from NYFCC and many other groups. yet at the end, it failed to get any GG noms, guild awards and only 2 Oscar nominations. just sayin’
I’m starting to lose my cool with these pre-cursors, so I have come to a realization (which I know all along, but keep forgetting because of the hype)…. The realization is that the Oscar is the only award that matters, so I’m just gonna sit tight and wait for Academy night to see my favorite wins!!!!
rufussondheim,
To be honest, in a weird way, I found Perks more emotional the second time around. I agree some will say the film is manipulative, but I found it to be so honest and sincere that it didn’t come off that way at all. The reveal towards the end was very nicely done and didn’t feel forced. Of course maybe it’s different if you haven’t read the book and don’t know to expect this. I could see some finding it overkill. But the movie actually leaves out some of the issues brought up in the book, wisely so. I liked how restrained the film was and actually prefer the film to the book, though I enjoy it as well.
One of my favorite scenes from the film, not to mention one of my favorite scenes from a movie this year, is the scene at the dance. It was beautiful. There was so much going on beneath the surface in this scene, IMO. Anyone who has ever been an outcast or someone watching from the sidelines will really be able to relate to this scene. I had a smile on my face the entire time, every time.
Great point, Jerry.
I am so tired of GOPers’ constant blaming on Obama on everything, even after the election. Their attempts failed big time, I am happy to say. Now, I am looking forward to seeing this film, but I think it is amazing that some people here would go out of their way to blame Obama in defense of who? Katheryn Bigelow and Mark Boal? All because I point out something that has been talked about by NPR and Hollywood Reporter about the filmmakers’ intention to ignore Obama’s involvement in the screenplay.
Nic V, you wrote “Getting Bin Laden was a joint effort and not just the effort of Barack Obama. Barack Obama didn’t initiate the tracking down of Bin Laden.”
Exactly my point, it is a joint effort, right? So it is not just the effort of Jessica Chastin’s character!!
@Welcome to my trophy room, Dalton:
If you want to blame President Obama for the tragedy in Benghazi and the death of every U.S. citizen in Afghanistan, go ahead, knock yourself out. He is the Commander in Chief. A million things could have gone wrong with the Osama Bin Laden mission including the deaths of the Seals and Obama would have been blamed for it. The GOP would have tried to get him impeached and he wouldn’t have been re-elected. That’s the prize of leadership.
Dalton, you are coming from the point of view of “discrediting” Obama. Since when Obama said he wasn’t responsible for all the what you called “not so good things”?? I am talking about the filmmakers’ approach to this film when it comes to properly giving credit to all the people involved in the killing of Laden, and those people included all the foreight policy advisors, including President Obama, and that is not to say the screenplay should have focused on them, it is just giving proper credit to the ones involved. You assume and apparently blame Obama for everything about Benghazi, no one is saying Obama was not responsible for it, if Bigelow were to make a film about it, Obama also should be mentioned as well. For ZDT, the main focus seems to be on the CIA agent and nothing else, that is just a bit corny. It is as if she was responsible solely for the capturing and killing of Laden and no one else, not he president, not the secretary of states of defense secretary. You comment obviously comes from the anti Obama sentiment. Benghazi this and Benghazi that, the attempt to try to create a false equivalency between Obama and Bush’s true failure was clear, and at the same time, you are hailing a Hollywood flick about the killing of Osama Bin Laden without wanting to give Obama any credit, is just hypocritical, ignorant, and highly partisan or biased. In other words, you would go out of your way to defend a Hollywood rendition/Bigelow/Boal of an actual event without willing to admitting Obama’s involvement, that is hypocritical. If you are so willing want to discredit Obama and his administration’s involvement, then why can’t I discredit a filmmaker who wasn’t involved at all in killing of Laden, I don’t care if Bigelow is an Academy Award winning director, if she is not telling the entire truth because she doesn’t want to appear too “PRO Obama or democratic”, then that is not good piece of filmmaking, given the political nature of the film. It would have been just as biased as 2016, Obama’s America.
I hope DDL’s next role is a villain of some sort. Lincoln is great and all but he’s more fun to watch as a bad man (gangs of New York, There Will Be Blood).
ZDT will be my most hated film now i can predict it
Castle & Rufus thanks don’t know I missed that but I did. I’m so used to seeing just the list of the ten best and the five best in the order they were chosen with the top film at each list being the best. There are so many more awards than what is usually or was usually given in the past. Although I remember a time when there were a slew of Acting awards given with no single performance being cited. But that was back in the early years of the NBR I think back in the thirties.
I think some of these categories are absurd. You want to honor John Goodman for a great year in film then honor him and give an acting award don’t create one to just throw him a bone. Same thing for breakthrough performances if you really believe in the performance then don’t ignore the performance and turn around and ease your conscience by creating a special award to supposedly honor someone. Sorry but that seems stupid to me.
I was really glad to see Looper in the list that was on of my choices for top ten.
And I didn’t think that Emma Watson was a liability for Wallflower. I haven’t seen it but I did think to myself when I saw the previews that she was a actually a draw and the film did indeed look interesting.
And I wished people like Chung would stop generalizing or criticizing people because they don’t hold the same beliefs as they do. We all know Barack won the election. I’m a registered democrat and sorry but the Navy 6 seals did indeed kill Osama Bin Laden. They did it with the blessing of Barack Obama so he definitely had a hand in it but he didn’t track Osama down and he didn’t pull the trigger sooooooooo ease up on rhetoric. Getting Bin Laden was a joint effort and not just the effort of Barack Obama. Barack Obama didn’t initiate the tracking down of Bin Laden.
Oh, Steve50, Steve50, and here I called you a voice of reason. What Sasha said – well, she cribbed it from me, but that’s fine – is that only David Lean hit a BD/BP double play for consecutive films. Only Lean won BD while his film won BP and then repeated the same feat on his very next project. That’s still true, and your latest stats confuse that issue.
This is important to get right, because if ZDT keeps on winning like this, it’s gonna keep coming up. Bring up Ford and Mankiewicz if you must, but make it clear that Lean is in a club of one, and Bigelow winning BD and BP would make it a club of two.
Thanks Robert
If ZDT generates this much political discussion, I can’t wait until Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk gets made into a movie. People will shit their pants.
@Steve50 “Joe Mankiewicz”? Were you two friends or something? Did you also know Mike Curtiz and Davey Selznick? Seemed a bit informal in your usage there.
@Chung? Since Obama got Bin Laden and he’s the commander in chief is it then also fair to say he got 36 Navy Seals killed in August 2011 in the worst incident of the war? Is it fair to say he got Ambassador Stevens and 3 others killed in Libya a few months back? Will Bigelow’s next movie be about what happened in Benghazi? Maybe it will be about the 50+ Americans who have murdered this year alone by the Afghan security forces Obama is funding and training at a cost to the taxpayers of 100+ billion dollars. I’m just wondering.
If Obama wants to take the credit for the good things that happened seems to me he should also take responsibility for the not so good things that have happened. And then evaluate him on thet totality of everything.
That said I am looking forward to ZDT and hopefully it lives up to the hype. It appears Chastain is doing a play on her role in “The Debt” and she was pretty good in that.
How terrible of the misspelling, I thought I was reviewing Flowers for Algernon, I guess.
It’s a shame one can’t spill the beans on Perks without giving too much away. How I would love to write about the explosive and perfect line “If you touch my friends again, I will blind you.” How I would love to discuss the unexpected kiss in the park. How I would love to discuss the beauty of Joan Cusack’s character’s discussion with Charlie. How I would love to discuss Paul Rudd’s final expression in the film. How I would love to discuss Charlie’s sister’s reaction when she gets the phone call. There is so much greatness in this movie.
Upon watching it the second time, I felt no diminishment in emotion as one often does when watching a lesser movie. This movie is probably being unfairly dismissed for beind manipulative because that’s how movies that make you “feel” often are treated (as if there’s no intelligence going on) but the emotion here comes from a deep and sincere place. It’s grade A filmmaking and it will surely find a place amongst many people’s treasured films in the years to come.
Well-done rufussondheim! I enjoyed reading your “Consider This” for Wallflower. Though Charlie’s name is spelled wrong, but that doesn’t really matter. Would be cool if it could get posted to the site. The film deserves to have a case written for it and shared with everyone.
I agree with you 150% about leaving the theater feeling “infinite.” It gave me a real high. All three times I saw it.
I also can’t help but feel this film has untapped potential at the Box Office. The reaction to the film by people who see it has been overwhelmingly positive. I think it even received an “A” CinemaScore. I strongly feel that Lionsgate/Summit needs to re-expand this to coincide with Christmas break. If by some miracle it could score a Golden Globe nomination or two there will be even more of a case for this (fingers crossed). This December is less crowded than most. With time off from work and school pretty much everyone is out seeing something, a lot of people take in more than one movie during this time. I feel there’s plenty of room for this too. I think this December is weaker than most. And if it does well enough during the holiday maybe it could stick around a bit in January. There will be a serious lack of PG/PG-13 movies in January. Almost everything is R-Rated, and there isn’t even that many wide releases this year.
“Sasha… Do you or anybody know when was the last time a film was completely shut out from NYFCC and NBR and went on to win BP? I asked this on twitter, I Don’t know if you saw it but I am very curious. Hope someone knows the answer.”
As far as I know, the last time this happened was in movie year 2001, when A Beautiful Mind won nothing from the NYFCC or NBR. A Beautiful Mind was not even in the Top 10 Film list for NBR, and Russell Crowe did not win actor from either of those groups (Tom Wilkinson won actor from NYFCC for In the Bedroom, and Billy Bob Thornton won the NBR Best Actor for Monster’s Ball, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and Bandits. Denzel won LAFC lead actor and eventually, of course, the Oscar).
Anyone read Roger Friedman’s pieces on NBR? It puts the whole thing in perspective: these ‘members’ evidently pay a yearly fee to be able to participate and to attend the big shindig in January or whatever…not to mention its connections with certain peoples. Its made up of star-f***s and ass-kissers. Like a bunch of Harvey Weinstiens without Miramax.
The race is already over. We can forget about The Master, Life of Pi, and other great films. Bigelow is not David Fincher, Zero Dark Thirty is no The Social Network. Be prepared for the main stream media to go full throttle for the sensationalism of the award season, “Bigelow makes history again”. Let’s face it, this film is going to sweep everything and it will sweep all the way to Oscars. It is directed by a talented, and beautiful female director, it is an unusual screenplay, dealing the Osama. It is just going to sweep everything except best actress. It will be like The Hurt Locker, for all the fans of other movies. It is time to stop fantasizing, the race is over.
Correction: “Osama was killed by Obama and Navy Seal”.
It is important for filmmakers to tell the whole truth.
Dzero30, you obviously live in a bubble and fantasy. Here comes this laughable right wing GOP Obama hating rhetoric of discrediting Obama “Obama didn’t kill Bin Laden, Navy 6 did”. Obama is the commander in chief, every decision about Al Qaeda and Laden had to be approved by the president of the United States. The reason the Bigelow and Boal didn’t include Obama was not because Obama didn’t kill Laden, it was because they wanted to avoid the film being perceived as “political” by the mainstream media, you right wing hypocrite. Obama won the re-election, fair and square, he killed Bin Laden, Al Qaeda leaders. It is disregardful and outrageously laughable for people like you(mostly GOPers) to pretend Obama has nothing to do with Bin Laden’s killing. Wake up or snap out of it. Obama won the re-election, and your love for this film is certainly ironic because Obama was killed by Obama and Navy seal, and you just pretend Obama doesn’t exist in the killing of Bin Laden. Take your hate, anger against Obama somewhere else already. I suppose you are still licking your wound of Obama’s victory as a GOP or libertarian. Get real.
I don’t think that Lawrence is dead and buried because she lost two consecutive critics awards.
It’s because she had the early buzz:
Bening had it in 2010 and then Natalie took over and trashed and smashed everything in site.
Meryl had it with Julie and Julia in 2009 and Bullock was the late arrival and eventual winner.
Viola had it last year and we know what happened.
And it’s not only that. Isn’t Oscar also very much about timing?
I’d say Zero Dark 30 has had the perfect timing! It came like a storm and people haven’t stopped talking about it.
Additionally Jessica has REAL momentum, not that Jennifer Lawrence doesn’t, but Jessica’s momentum was just further solidified with a Best Actress Win, and so was the buzz around her movie, with Best Picture and Best Director wins.
Look more carefully, Nic. Amour won Best Foreign Flick.
The other day someon mentioned that someone should write a “Case for” piece on Perks of Being a Wallflower. Well, I couldn’t restrain myself and went to see it a second time tonight (I’ll see Killing them softly next week, I guess) and I paid attention enough to whip up something. I’m no writer on film so it’s kind of amateurish, but, hey, what the hell. So here it goes, maybe Sasha or Ryan will deem it worthy…
Making a case for Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower is not an easy task. It’s a deserving film, no doubt, but there is no sparkle, no pizzazz, no excitement. It’s the rare film that does nothing more than try to tell a story in a clean, unsophisticated way. It has a firm sense of time, place and character, you know, the fundamentals. It’s not quirky, nor experimental, nor innovative. You will not leave the theater thinking that what you’ve seen is revolutionary, groundbreaking or inventive.
Nor does the film have a pedigree that grabs your attention. The film is written and directed by Chbosky who adapted it from a young adult novel he wrote 13 years prior. Its cast is largely unknown or unheralded. The only cast member with major film experience is Emma Watson from the Harry Potter series, which many will more likely see as a detriment than a positive. And to make it an even harder sell to voters it hasn’t done particularly well at the box office. At only 16 million dollars, to many this film is a mostly forgettable coming-of-age teen movie that got a handful of good critical notices. “Next!” you can hear the crotchety old Hollywood legend yell as he sifts through his stack of screeners.
But what this film has is restrained direction, a smart screenplay, and a slew of sensitive performances. It clearly has many influences from coming-of-age dramas of the past, from the alienation in The Graduate, a premise from Sixteen Candles, and a central tragedy from Mysterious Skin. But it never steals from these films, it merely uses them as a jumping off point. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is unique unto itself.
The film opens to pre-emo The Samples’ “Could it Be Another Change” a forgotten song from a forgotten group from somewhere in Colorado. It’s the first of many songs you’ve probably not heard recently, if ever. It’s the first clue that perhaps this film will take a different path. And that’s quickly confirmed as the camera introduces us to Charley, expertly played by Logan Lerman. Charley is writing a letter to an unspecified recipient who is only identified as “someone who doesn’t sleep with someone even though they could have.” We have no idea who this is but we quickly surmise this is some sort of confessional as he admits to being hospitalized when he was young. For what, we don’t know.
We quickly see that Charley is an outsider who has no friends. He’s also wickedly smart and has a penchant for literature. He’s also part of a family of seemingly well-adjusted people whom Charley loves but can’t entirely relate. But Charley’s world is not what it first seems, as we see his sister’s boyfriend strike her. This won’t be your typical coming-of-age story. Indeed as Charley finds friends, we also learn that Charley has experienced two heart wrenching tragedies in his young life, one of which we learn is far more complex than what we are originally led to believe.
But it’s Charley’s new friends that allow him to place some distance between the present and the past. Charley is drawn to these people because they too are outcasts, and they too have pasts they are trying to escape. He meets Patrick (Ezra Miller) who is having a clandestine relationship with the extremely closeted high school quarterback. And Charley develops a crush on Patrick’s stepsister Sam (Emma Watson), who’s been taken advantage of sexually from an early age.
And this is where Chbosky shows a tremendous ability to tell a story that isn’t prurient or exploitative, he shows restraint as we see these damaged people live mostly happy lives with the help of the people around them. The film wisely avoids stereotypical plot development, one subplot even stalls abruptly and never resumes. These people’s lives meander somewhat purposely as they try to get through the school year so they can begin whatever happens after.
And as the film develops Chbosky gives us so many memorable lines and situations and small exchanges even with minor characters. Chbosky has a gift at getting to the core of a character in a manner of seconds and it’s never done in a simple or predictable way. And by the end, we have moved on from the idea that this is just a coming-of-age tale, it’s really a tale of tragedy and redemption, one that will, if you give it the opportunity break your heart and then promptly heal it after.
There’s a scene early on where Charley, Sam and Patrick are driving on a crowded highway and an unidentified song comes on and all three are drawn to it. Sam quickly instructs her stepbrother to head to the tunnel and we see her stand in the back arms akimbo giving in to the wind. The cars around them vanish and all we see are the three of them living in the moment and then Charley turns and says to Patrick, “I feel infinite.” And that’s how the movie makes you feel. When you leave the theater, you too will feel infinite. And alive. And it will do it in a way you’ve never felt before.
Sasha… Do you or anybody know when was the last time a film was completely shut out from NYFCC and NBR and went on to win BP? I asked this on twitter, I Don’t know if you saw it but I am very curious. Hope someone knows the answer.
Hi Nic,
The way that NBR lists their top films separate from their “best film” might be a bit confusing/misleading, but Amour actually was awarded the “best foreign film” title. They name their best foreign film, documentary, and overall film, and then compile the lists of the next 5 to 10 top films in that category (I think).
There is one thing that underscores the NBR this year and makes you scratch your head and wonder what’s up. The glaring omission of Amour. Forgetting the rave reviews for the performances and all the other awards one has too wonder why it wasn’t even included in the NBR’s top foreign films. But even more ridiculous than that is Bradley Cooper. Bradley Cooper winning over Daniel Day Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington, John Hawkes is actually a travesty.
Just to address the 2-oscar issue against Bigelow, and there are several multiple winners and two consecutive year winners:
John Ford – 1940 Grapes of Wrath & 1941 How Green Was My Valley
Joe Mankiewicz – 1949 Letter to Three Wives & 1950 All About Eve
Add to that the generalization that both her films are “action/war”, you have to apply the same to Ford and Mankiewicz, and Ford (40/41) was “poor folk” and Mankiewicz (49/50) was “bitches on the move” .
The reasoning is bogus.
Jennifer Lawrence not too young, by any stretch, Marlee Matlin was 21 and Janet Gaynor 22 when they won. At least 10 best actress nominees were 22 years old or younger.
Again, the argument is flushed.
Who they like is who’s gonna win. Numbers, genres, eye-colour, and sun-sign have nothing to do with. It’s “I like her/him… *tick*”.
I think for SAG ensemble it helps to have multiple stand-outs in the film like Moonrise Kingdom or Argo. ZD30 seems like it’s all on Jessica Chastain except for bit speaking parts for others. If SAG really likes the film though I bet they will nominate it for every category possible.
To those few who are throwing Jennifer Lawrence to the curb just because she didn’t win a Best Actress citation from the NYFCC or NBR, I present you a list of women who won the lead actress Oscar without either of those:
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)
Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
Charlize Theron (Monster)
Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
For the sake of brevity, I limited this list to winners from the last ten years. But i think it still makes the point that Jennifer Lawrence’s Best Actress chances remain practically unchanged from what they were on sunday, with Jessica Chastain and (sort of) Rachel Weisz now only just nipping at her heels.
And lets not forget the gajillon critic’s groups and industry groups that haven’t even had their say in this yet. And because predicting what has been predicted to death is really boring, here’s how I would fill out an Oscar ballot at the moment (without having seen Zero Dark Thirty of Les Miserables).
Best Film: The Deep Blue Sea
Director: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Actress: Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Actor: John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Supporting Actress: Isabelle Huppert (Amour) and Greta Gerwig (Damsels in Distress)
Supporting Actor: Jude Law (Anna Karenina)
Screenplay: Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
Cinematography: Florian Hoffmeister (The Deep Blue Sea)
I love Bradley Cooper and all and he was outstanding in Silver Linings but he did not give a better performance than John Hawkes, Daniel Day Lewis, or Joaquin Phoenix. I’m saying this as someone whose seen all four films. I don’t understand what these critics were smoking when they voted…
I can’t see the Academy awarding Kathryn Bigelow again in less than 2 years for another action military film. I may be wrong but the Oscars don’t really roll that way. Same for Jennifer Lawrence. She is too young to win and the Academy won’t award her even if she deserved it.
Wow. Cooper over DDL. I’m still all a-gape over that doozy.
I mean, I liked SLP – I know someone who is bi-polar and could appreciate it. I ate my Raisinets and enjoyed it as a different sort of angle for a romantic comedy. And Cooper was fine. But DDL in Lincoln was just…..something else altogether…
Hell, Cooper wasn’t better than Hawkes or Phoenix.
When you read the makeup of the NBR it does make sense: ‘film enthusiasts, STUDENTS…’
They probably thought Lincoln was ‘boooorrring’.
I hope Cooper enjoys this win for what it is – ‘we like you’ – because there ain’t no way in Hades that the acting branch of the Academy is going to go for Cooper over DDL. No way.
If I remember this right (haven’t seen the movie myself), there are somewhere in the range of 100 speaking parts in ZDT. If those folks have SAG cards, they could definitely drum up enough support among their peers. You HAVE to have a viable lead actor/actress candidate for consideration and Chastain gives them that. She is also incredibly well-liked. Kyle Chandler and Joel Edgerton are name actors too. Chris Pratt is working his way up. Just doesn’t seem like the type that could actually WIN that award (it will be Lincoln or Les Mis almost certainly). Losing ensemble says nothing about its BP chances though as The Help recently reminded us.
“Does anyone think Zero Dark Thirty will get the SAG ensemble?”
I’ve been wondering this as well. It feels like four SAG Ensemble slots are probably already locked in place: Argo, Les Mis, Lincoln, and SLP. One slot left. It could go to ZD30…or to something like Moonrise Kingdom, Django Unchained (if enough SAG voters have seen it, which is questionable), or even something like Flight, I suppose, although that feels like a bit more of a long shot.
Yes I do think Zero Dark Thirty can get a SAG ensemble nom, Daveylow. But that is just me trolling the fake Les Mis hype.
Thank God I went to bed 😛
great choices! Happy for Bradley.
Two of the most important Critics Awards are now behind us and none of them gave Best Actress attention to either Riva, Marion or Wallis.
“hmmm..” for their chances for Oscar nominations.
by the way, Jennifer Lawrence was dead and buried the moment the first Zero Dark 30 reactions surfaced. Could’ve been wishful thinking, but she was.
One award I’m very happy about is Tom Holland. I hope Watts, Holland, and McGregor all get nominated.
Does anyone think Zero Dark Thirty will get the SAG ensemble?
I don’t think of the National Board of Review as a critics’ group. I still don’t know the criteria for membership. I used to know someone who voted in this group and she was a movie buff and that’s it.
I can easily see the Globes going for Lincoln and Les Miz.
And BAFTAs going for Les Miz, too.
I have no idea yet what the Academy will go for.
I do hope Life of Pi gets some love somewhere soon because I’m starting to worry for Ang Lee who I think deserves an Oscar nod over Russell.
Stephen Holt: that is awesome.
Sasha was early in championing Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone. Maybe Ann Dowd, in a couple of years, will have her own “Hunger Games”.
“Same thing happened with Viola Davis. She won every friggin critic award out there until Meryl Streep came out of nowhere and won her third Oscar.”
Uhhh…Davis won a few critics awards but honestly Michelle Williams was the critical favorite last year, with Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton having their fair share of awards, too (Streep won NYFCC and Tilda won NBR, respectively). You’re distorting the facts.
Zero Dark Thirty and Bigelow winning again just increases my urge to see this film. I don’t know if I can wait til January 13th, when it expands nationwide! I agree that the back to back wins make it the current frontrunner, but by no means would I say it is a done deal yet. Let’s at least wait til LAFCA Friday…if it wins there, then we know we have a Social Network critical sweep on our hands (alas, even Social Network reminds us that unanimous critical favorites are never sure things for Oscar hardware).
Really happy for Ann Dowd. Haven’t seen the film, but I am always supportive when awards bodies go out of their way to reward hardworking character actors in little-seen films. Her win reminds me of Jacki Weaver’s two years ago (and both ladies are Aussies, aren’t they not?)
Not really surprised by Jessica Chastain and I would say she may have a slight edge now in the best actress due to the critical success of the film, but I still wouldn’t count out Lawrence or Riva yet. Even Naomi Watts, who could have a late-minute surge.
The only win I’m a little peeved about is Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook. It’s not that he was bad in the film; I just found his ticky performance way too affected and forced at times. Lawrence was able to find the realism within the madness, but Cooper frankly struggled a bit, in my opinion. There’s no way in hell his performance is superior to Day-Lewis, Hawkes, Phoenix, Washington, Trintignant, etc. Regardless, there’s always at least one NBR winner who misses with Oscar every year and I would bet ten bucks it’s Cooper this year (although Dowd isn’t a sure-thing by any means, either). DiCaprio and Chastain looks like they are locked-up.
danemychal: I agree with you. He transcended even “normal” award-winning standards of actors. If you want to read a highfalutin PhD (unlike most of the writers linked here) that agrees with us, here you go: http://filmint.nu/?p=6307
I just didn’t like film fatale’s suggestion that DDL waits for big “important” roles that bookshelves are already devoted to. Look, DDL could be a child molester; I don’t know. But what I do know is that he does NOT have the taste in parts that film fatale says he has, and I’d hate to think any Oscar voter votes against him for that reason – “Oh, there he goes again.” No, he hadn’t gone there. So there.
I’m just gonna put this here, and we can look at it again in mid-March:
Picture: Les Miserables
Director: Spielberg
Actor: DDL
Actress: Chastain
Supporting Actor: McConaughey
Supporting Actress: Hathaway
Cinematography: 0D30
Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln
Original Screenplay: 0D30
Shitload of technical stuff: Les Miserables
@helios: When people say “Denzel”, everyone automatically knows who you’re talking about. It’s a very unique name.
Google image search “Tom”, you got a few Tom Cruise, Tom from Facebook, a bunch of other generic Toms.
Google image search “Robert”, and you get just about everybody.
Google image search “Denzel”, and well…there ya go
To say that Anne Dowd is over the moon with this wonderful news is an understatement, but on her behalf let me thank all Sasha and all the posters who supported her here. I don’t know of any other Oscar site that did this to this extent. Except me and my humble blog and my You Tube channel. She was the guest on my show this past Friday. I can’t beleive this is all happening!
She’s run this campaign ENTIRELY WITHOUT MONEY and with only me to help her!
Guess Magnolia who released “Compliance” will wake up and smell the Anne Dowd coffee now.
Of COURSE, it’s not on iTunes. They haven’t even released the DVD yet.
She and I went to see “Les Miz” last night together, and we both thought it was one of the most wonderful films we’d ever seen. We both cried our way through it.
This AWARD puts her in the Jackie Weaver zone. Weaver was SUCH a long shot, until the NBR gave it to her two years ago, then she ended up ALSO getting a nomination for Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
But Jackie W. had some help. Anne, so far, just has had ME. I think that’s about to change, though.
People have to SEE that movie. The Academy hasn’t even chosen it as a screening for its’ members. And I THINK Anne sent out DVDs herself to all the SAG nominating committee. But there’s still the HFPA and ALLLLL the Actor’s Branch….That’s A LOT OF PEOPLE to send DVDs to. But this sure helps.
And she’s sooooo grateful to Sasha and Awardsdaily for its wonderful support.
Unlikely hood – And I wouldn’t even classify Hawkeye as iconic because much of America has no idea who he was. Hawkeye from MASH is more iconic. Daniel Plainview — drinker of milkshakes is iconic because my boy DDL made him that way!
Lewis made me feel like I knew what Lincoln was like, despite the fact that he died about 150 years ago. He made a real man out of someone we’ve often seen depicted as a caricature and whose image we have stared at countless times on sculptures, coins and mountain faces. He rendered all past (and likely future) interpretations of Lincoln irrelevant in my mind. He devised and perfected a unique voice accurate to the historical accounts of the way he spoke. He disappeared. I didn’t think I was watching DDL; it was the President and this is what he was like. I was mesmerized by every word he spoke both times I saw the film. He absolutely owned what could have easily been one of the most criticized roles ever doled out to an actor.
I haven’t seen SLP yet because dipshit Weinstein won’t bring it to the Midwest, but I doubt Cooper will have that big of an impact. He probably did one tenth of the prep for his role that Lewis did. Lewis’ work ethic should again pay off in spades on Oscar night.
@OTKC89, that seems more likely than ZDT winning the main Golden Globe. I haven’t visited AD regularly this year (I can only stand Oscarwatching once the season has officially begun), but since when did all of you become so literal and hang on every award? Were you around when The Social Network plowed through everything and still lost Best Picture? The old white male Academy members don’t have to listen to the old white male critics. There are no fast and hard rules.
Sorry, for the misspelling. Buffet is with one T. I was thinking of Jimmy when I wrote it.
While you guys piddle yourselves over whether ZDT or Lincoln will win, take solace in the fact that both camps are wrong. Les Miz is going to plow through the Oscars like Val Kilmer at the Caesar’s Palace buffett.
Here’s Film Fatale:
Day-Lewis is great, yes, yet again. No one can complain that he played yet another huge, archetypal character and icon impressively to say the least.
Hate to pile on, but I have to say why this is the sort of lazy unthinking drivel that sometimes passes for commentary – and not just from anonymous commenters.
What other huge, archetypal character and icon has Daniel Day-Lewis EVER played? FF, I dare you to name ONE without looking it up.
You must be thinking of Anthony Hopkins – it’s ok, very few people can tell these two actors apart. (Have they ever been seen in the same room at the same time?) Sure, Hopkins has phoned in John Quincy Adams, Richard Nixon, Pablo Picasso, and Alfred Hitchcock – and let’s say Hannibal Lecter, at least by the time of the movie “Hannibal,” counts as archetypal.
Absolutely no one in America had ever heard of the real person DDL played in My Left Foot prior to that film – he was hardly Stephen Hawking. (Quick, what’s that person’s name without cheating?) Who had ever heard of ANY of Day-Lewis’ roles (besides Lincoln) – except for the one he played in Last of the Mohicans? Again, name that role without checking. I’ll be as generous as I can to you: let’s count that one. I’ll give you Hawkeye. That’s ONE archetypal, iconic role in a 30-year career before Lincoln. Hardly cause to say “yet another…” is it?
This post says nothing about how I feel about DDL or Cooper or anyone else winning Best Actor. All I’m saying is, please try to sound like you know what you’re talking about.
Terometer: “Compared to Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln is too old-fashioned. Best picture for golden globe drama is now Zero’s to lose. And it’s zero negative reviewd right now.”
Yeah, you be the first reviewer to pan a movie about the killing of the world’s most wanted criminal. To the unemployment line, he or she goes.
Why is Denzel Washington referred to as ‘Denzel’ and others with their last names? lol
I don’t find these bothersome because all of the winners this year can basically determine: “Well…. this is nice! I definitely won’t WIN the Oscar, but I probably have a shot at a nomination!”
@Zach: “Please do a piece on Compliance/Ann Dowd because I’ve never heard of them before today.”
Pretty sure the first and only piece making the case for Ann Dowd was on THIS very site several weeks ago.
Compliance: $319,285 in its domestic run.
http://www.boxoffice.com/statistics/movies/compliance-2012?q=compliance
Bigelow could have more Oscars than Spielberg OR Cameron. *pukes*
Interesting best picture winner (again). At least I know now which film I will definitely (well, 99,9% sure maybe ;-)) not skip. And since the NBR chose Leo for the supporting win I would rank him way up in the prediction lists for a BSA Oscar.
I’m just seeing these now. This is very cool. Many different things. Lots of attention spread around. Good work, people. 🙂
I guess I’m gonna have to see that PROMISED LAND movie. The color looked icky on the clip Damon brought to Letterman. That’s right, I said Letterman. lol Anyhoo, yeah it looks important-ish. I’ll go if it plays here.
Dzero30, what on earth are you talking about? Where is the evidence that shows Obama playing gulf while Navy 6 was trying to capture Laden? I want to see everyone who was involved got proper credit, including Obama. Either you are a hardcore Bigelow fan or you are a mean Obama hater. The story is not about Obama, but it took place undee his watch as a commander in chief. I will reserve my judgement after I see the Film Fatale is right, but if Bigelow/Boal tried to avoid being political by totally ignoring Obama,Clinton, and the decision makers, that is not telling the truth, that will be just another Hollywood flick that is just as biased as 2016-Obama’s America.
Jerm and steve50: voices of reason
I hope this means Denzel is “snubbed.” Sorry, I don’t get all the praise for Flight. It’s boring and not that well done. Denzel has done much better, albeit 20 years ago. DDL is a lock, Hugh Jackman is happening, and I don’t see them knocking out either John Hawkes or Joaquin “Weinstein” Phoenix for those films. If they love SLP, Bradley is probably in. This isn’t just Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter. His character must carry a lot of weight in the film to win NBR.
Please do a piece on Compliance/Ann Dowd because I’ve never heard of them before today.
not sure if i can advertise other sites but i usually catch movies at zmovie.tv.
i cant always make it to the movies so thats my backup site haha.
just do a search..my bad though if i cant post this link!!
“NBR obviously loved SLP”
Yes, we have a pattern forming. In NY it was Lincoln vs ZDT; with NBR it was SLP vs ZDT. In LA this weekend, who knows – Argo, maybe?
It’s early, but we might be seeing regional favorites being overtaken by a truly awesome movie (that most of us haven’t seen). If you remove ZDT from the results, chances are you’d see what would have been the winner if it wasn’t in play. This is the perspective most of us have at the moment.
Latecomers!
Zero Dark Thirty will be this year’s The Social Network. I wonder what would be this year’s The King’s Speech… hmmmm…
Where is Compliance online? I don’t see it on iTunes.
DZero30:
President Obama is the commander in chief of the military. The buck stops with him. He ordered the operation to kill Osama Bin Laden full stop, he ordered the SEALS to go into a foreign country and assascinate someone without that country’s leader’s permission. He said he would do it when he was running for President in 2008 and he did it in 2011. You can be stubborn and refuse to give him credit but I bet people like you would have been the first in line to blame him if ANYTHING had gone wrong with that operation. Just like Carter is still blamed for the unsuccessful rescue of the hostages in Iran. Now go over to Faux news.
@superkk
nope it’s become pretty clear by now that critics are for the most part awarding consolation prizes to future oscar losers.
ooo compliance is actually playing online. think ill watch that tonight..
and lmao are people STILL complaining about hathaway? *rolls eyes*
If anything, I’m surprised to not see anything for Hawkes, Phoenix, or Denzel yet.
LOL @ steve50…poor doggie. Nah, you didn’t do that. 😉
I thought Cooper was pretty darn good – for him – but not exceptional.
I thought DDL was superb.
That said, people, calm down. NBR obviously loved SLP (top 10 mention and also adapted screenplay, for goodness sakes), so the chance for them awarding Cooper for Best Actor seemed fairly high anyway.
Radich – outrage is good! I just didn’t confess that I kicked the dog on my way to my nap.
No, it isn’t new, steve50. But it is still damn disappointing. I have fun too with the outrage that follows. And I had promised that I wouldn’t lose my cool about it, but what the hell, I’m just human. I was expecting a sweep by, at least, DDL and Kushner for Lincoln. I’m not even expecting BP or BD anymore. But those two were a done deal in my book. Now, I worry.
Oh well, the story of the awards’ race in my life. In the end, I’m never happy with the outcome. 😐
“So does this mean Kathryn Bigelow may have two Oscars before Martin Scorsese? Suddenly I’m not liking this.”
@daveylow – if you apply this logic, nobody should have a BD Oscar because Kubrick and Hitchcock never won. It’s all in the timing, the voting and the flavor of the moment.
If Bigelow has already taken NY and NBR, she must have done a helluva job with her film.
the BET as well.
anyway, I know it’s a bit insulting to many groups, but when I see who won what, I put the emphasis on history.
So I always look at:
BAFTA
Globes
SAG
NYFCC
LAFCA
NSFC
NBR
London Film Critics
Southeastern Film Critics Association
Kansas City
Boston Society
BFCA
So we have Meryl taking GG, BAFTA, NYFCC, London, Southeastern.
Viola had SAG and BFCA.
Michelle had GG, Boston.
Tilda had NBR.
Kirsten had Kansas City.
These are the groups that matter because do you really think any Oscar voter would watch a movie only because it won a critics’ award from a group consisting of 2-3 critics? And I still don’t see why so many awards have to be presented?
I really love the idea of having no SAG Award!
Imagine how much more fun it would have been to predict without SAG.
I always wonder: how many people predicted Geena Rowlands and Kevin Kline in 1988? Now many would (with the SAG), but back then? This excitement is what the race needs. This and that voters stop listening to precursors.
Skyfall has 0% chance of a BP nomination – Rufus and Chris.
On the other hand, I’d say skyfall has about a 60% chance of winning an Oscar. Obviously not in any tech categories, but for Best Song. That Adele tune is right in the AMPAS wheelhouse.
Oh by the way, fun winners today
Wow. This site is going downhill fast. I really wish we could stick to movies rather than discussing economic policy…
The only bone I really would pick with them is on Best Actor– not that Cooper wasn’t great, but this year has been phenomenal for actors… he could MAYBE squeak into a top 5, at #5– but how can you really think he was better than DDL, Denzel, John Hawkes, and Phoenix?? this must be an oddity of their voting system.
The budget deficit has grown primarily for three reasons.
1) The Bush Tax Cuts
2) Medicare expansion to include pharmaceuticals. One could argue this was necessary for many, but the way it’s structured it really benifitted the drug companies as much, if not more, than the individuals it was intended to help.
3) The increase in defense spending, which of course includes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Obama stimulus plan of 2009 was dwarfed by all of these.
Love it only slightly more than the awards themselves – the freakin’ frenzy of a firestorm that follows.
Was I disappointed that my two favorite horses didn’t place – sure – then I put the stuff for Moroccan chicken in the slow cooker and had a nap. This isn’t new from where I’m sitting.
I’m glad for some unusual choices. It doesn’t change my opinion of the films I love one bit and I’ll stand by them until the bitter end (or until I see Zero Dark Thirty, whichever comes first).
We knew in a year with this much quality and diversity that it would be a bloodbath at awards time. Can’t wait for the next wave because 1) I have hope and 2) I also love hearing people who are passionate about movies.
@Ummm – I’m pretty sure Meryl won over Viola at BAFTAs.
Just to clarify (if needed?), I was not being serious. Those changes cannot be made.
Rufus was serious.
Rufus, but… but… that’s… SOCIALISM! I mean COMMUNISM!
Defense budget, yes, but I think you’d save a dollar and a cent if you stopped fighting all them wars abroad. That is where most of your money is going, no? That is why you are in such a debt? If you just have to have a war, let the war crazies pay their own trips to foreign countries to fight and don’t pay them any salaries. Usually you pay for hobbies, right? Solved.
Double the current gas prices and they would still be cheaper than what we pay. There’s room, I think. I know it’s not gonna happen because you already complain about four dollars per gallon.
So does this mean Kathryn Bigelow may have two Oscars before Martin Scorsese? Suddenly I’m not liking this.
Well how about that DiCaprio winning for best supporting actor,my,my.From the look and feel of the Django trailer with DiCaprio it was 1995 all over again, the year of The Quick and the Dead, the Rami film with Hackman, Stone and Crowe as well. DiCaprio is the very young gunslinger son of Hackman and he is pretty amusing, but by gumbo the gunslinger character and the Django character have a lot in common. Best Supporting actor for 2012, neat trick.
Quartet is playing in Los Angeles starting today for one week qualifying run at The Landmark. Kris is wrong.
Rufussonddhein…..if it doesn’t bother you that America borrows 39 cents for every dollar spent by our government from CHINA and a 16trillion dollar debt staring you in the face then you need to get economic lessons because it should bother you in a big way.
First off, check your spelling. If you want to criticize someone then at least get their spelling right. It gives you some credibility.
Second, what made you think I don’t care about the economic future of this country. I care so much about the debt and the policies surrounding the debt, I have a whole slate of solutions that I will now outline since I have about an hour to kill.
1) Move everyone except the bottom rate back to Clinton Era tax levels. Now, to do this quickly is probably a bit rash considering that the economy is a bit fragile. So I would propose doing this slowly over 10 years. So, for example moving the 250K tax rate from 35 to 39.6 (I’d round to forty percent myself) could be done over ten years. So year one it would be 35.5% and it would go up 0.5% every year.
2) I would create two new tax brackets. One for over 500K a year and another for over 1 Million a year. They would be taxed at 45% and 50%. Again, this would be phased in over 10 years.
3) I would increase the capital gains tax from 15% to 30% but only income over 500K a year. This way it wouldn’t effect middle class people who sell their houses at a profit, it would primarily effect people who live off of their investments. Again, this can be phased in over ten years.
4) Put the estate tax back to where it was under the Clinton Era. No reason Paris Hilton should get a windfall when Daddy dies.
5) I would means test Medicare and Social Security. For those making above 50K a year, I would increase the cost of their Medicare Benefits. So if one made 50K a year outside of Social Security, I would take one tenth of the SS payouts and apply it to Medicare. And with every 50K increment I would take out another 10% up until incomes over 500K where they would give all of the SS payout if they chose to be on Medicare.
Study after study shows that older people have the most disposable income. With no more kids to care for and most mortgages paid off, many don’t really need their SS. And for those whose SS is “walking around money” well, they don’t need it at all.
6) I don’t know shit about business taxes, so I’d leave them for another day.
7) I’d decrease defense spending 1% a year for ten years. I would put this money into creating better public transportation options and other infrastructure needs.
And now for the fun stuff
8) I’d put a 2 dollar a gallon tax on gasoline immediately. But I would also give vouchers for every American who has a valid license to purchase ten gallons a week without this new tax. Over ten years, I would decrease the number of gallons to five.
All of the profits from this I would subsidize electric car purchases upgrades and research.
9) I would institute a heavy tax (not sure of the percent) on all carbon. Some of the funds I would use for rebates for poor people’s electricity bills. But the vast majority I would use it to fund solar, wind and other alternative energies, from researching to purchasing it for for poorer school districts and other local government entities that didn’t have a strong tax base. (Imagine if all of those sprawling large elementary schools you see were topped with solar panels helping these schools defray their costs.)
10) And last but not least, I would systematically go through every piece of government spending and eliminate it if it favors businesses over individuals.
There, I solved the country’s problems in only twenty minutes.
PEOPLE THIS MEANS NOTHING. The NBR hasnt predicted Best Picture right since No Country for Old Men. They have been wrong on Best Actor and Actress and Director since 2006. They have managed to get one supporting actor/actress right on and off over the past few years. They are terrible at matching Oscar, the only thing it does is get a name out there into conversation. Outside of that, this is a waste and I dont expect to see any of these people winning except MAYBE Leo (fingers crossed) and Chastain(ehhh).
Zooey, only two of the awards Viola Davis won before the Oscars were for African American actors exclusively: The NAACP Image Award and the Black Reel Award. The African American Film Critics Association regularly gives their awards out to non-black actors. In 2008 the winners were Angelina Jolie and Frank Langella, with Danny Boyle picking up Best Director. Hell, the same year Viola Davis won for The Help, Woody Harrelson won Best Actor for Rampart. So, no, I wouldn’t say that “Half the awards Davis won were for women of color”.
I think we are witnessing one sweep this season: Amour for BFF. Beautiful.
The inclusion of The Perks of Being a Wallflower has me ecstatic! Thank god these weren’t completely predictable.
And I haven’t seen Compliance yet because it didn’t open here but it looks and sounds great and I’ve heard nothing but great things about Ann Dowd in it. I’m happy to see her win. Would be cool if she could score an Academy Award nomination and get this little film some more attention.
ANN DOWD!!!!!! Yaaaaaay
It also happened the year before when Portman was clearly ahead and winning all the awards. For some reason Sasha was clinging to the idea of a possible Bening upset and kept her at the top of her ‘contnder tracker’.
Viola Davis was definitely a bigger threat, but again except for the hype here (and probably many other blogs; I have no idea), there was nothing to suggest she was ahead at any time in the race. Initially, it was Michelle Williams who won more critics awards.
Indeed Chris Price!!
Denis Levant WAS revelatory in HOLY MOTORS!! I’d have him right behind Day-Lewis by a hair in this category. John Hawkes was also near the top.
Half the awards Davis won were for women of color, so Meryl or Michelle or Tilda or Glenn or Rooney or Kirsten couldn’t contend there.
Meryl Streep had:
* the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama (highly publicized, on TV etc.)
* the BAFTA (finally her second win there!)
* the New York Film Critics Circle win (her fifth!)
* the London Film Critics Circle win
* Southeastern
* Denver
* New York Online
And above all she had Harvey campaigning for her, she played a real life figure and it was her year for the press.
* the Kennedy Center Honor
* the Berlin Film Festival Lifetime Achievement when voting happened
The press was with Meryl and everybody who didn’t follow closely assumed she was a foregone conclusion and I believe this helped her.
Great. Since TKS vs. TSN wasn’t enough, now we also have Davis vs. Streep. Move ooooon…
So what are you saying is that DDL’s performance is just based on makeup, hair and voice? To me Cooper just jumped up and down and nothing else (no to mention ran around a lot). If anything, I prefer him in The Hangover, which it was nothing much different than what he did in SLP.
Seriously, DDL’s showed all the faces of Lincoln on the screen. We can feel the burden of his choices and morality, just by looking at the man on the screen. There is really a human being up there, not a caricature of a mentally ill person. Unbelievable…
So now we are being asked to defend Daniel-Day Lewis’ performance?
You know what Fil Fatale?
Rather than stating the obvious (ya know he BECAME Lincoln) let’s wait for the other groups to check in. You will see that Day-Lewis will win from practically every one that is left and will cap it off with an Oscar and a Globe.
Copper’s win here is a one-ff.
When everyone says that Lewis gave the year’s best performance, perhaps then you’ll get a more comprehensive response here. NYFCC gave it to Lewis two days ago? That doesn’t count, eh? Since when did NBR ever collar taste and good-sense?
A little QUILS anyone?
Film Fatale, for the record, I feel that its Joaquin Phoenix that is getting robbed all over the place. Denzel Washington deserves some attention as well for his near career-best work in Flight. Also, John Hawkes was fantastic in The Sessions despite it being a mediocre movie. He elevated it. Denis Lavant is revelatory in Holy Motors, so much so that I can’t believe nobody has really mentioned him thus far. Suraj Sharma turned in a feat of physical and emotional acting that you hardly even get to see from a first timer, and yet hardly anyone chooses to acknowledge him either. Finally, Ben Affleck is getting attention as a director, but his subtle turn as Tony Mendez is one of the unsung pleasures of the year.
So even if you think DDL isn’t that impressive (which I happen to and I’m never mad when I hear his name called), there’s 6 other names I’d say would’ve been more deserving than Bradley Cooper’s admittedly fine work. Would you really try to make a case for him against all that acting greatness?
What BAFTA for Davis? Many of us predicted that Davis takes SAG, but Streep Oscar.
But maybe we should go back to topic. This subject still seems to sting some people.
Bradley Cooper’s win, is in all probability, meaningless. If the performance is so great, why have critics singled out Jennifer Lawrence as the highlight of the film? As others have noted, this group has never awarded Best Actor to Day-Lewis. They are obviously trying to make a point, “an idiotic point, but a point nonetheless.” as George Sanders said to Marilyn in ALL ABOUT EVE.
I respect the thoughtful dissenting opinions about DDL posted on this site. However, it’s not for nothing that Javier Bardem called him “a sculptor of the human spirit.”
Did everyone forget that Viola Davis won a BAFTA, National Board of Review, Satellite, and the Screen Actors Guild?
Film Fatale is asking that we all give it a rest and offers up an impassioned argument for Bradley “Laurence Olivier” Cooper.
Next up he may tell us about the career highs from Ben Stiller, Colin Ferrell, Taylor Lawtnor, Robert Pattinson and Eddie Murphy.
And maybe Will Ferrell for good measure?
And to defend SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, the most overrated film of the year, well, I can only shake my head.
Copper dosen’t even make the Top 10 of 2012, let alone #1!!!! And I still need to see Jackman, Trintignant and a few others.
The Great Dane, ahem. The SAG award is THE precursor award when determining an acting win. The overlap between that group and the Academy actor’s branch is HUGE. Viola Davis also won the following awards leading into the Oscars:
African American Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Actress
Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
BET Award for Best Actress
Black Reel Award for Best Actress
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Indiana Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
North Texas Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Not to mention the many, many awards “The Help” received for Best Ensemble. You really think all Davis had was a SAG win heading into the Oscars?
Why are we still talking about Meryl vs Viola?
And that is director’s fault. So, I hope Russell doesn’t make it this time. He did better with The Fighter.
I get a sense that he tries to play a nicer guy now and not say anything negative to actors anymore.
@Paddy
Glad you have come to your senses. Now if anyone can offer support as to why Daniel Day-Lewis has been so robbed for Lincoln other than the mantra that he is the “greatest living actor” and therefore should be annointed every single time he opens his mouth/an award is given, it would be appreciated. I offered support (as did Brendon) for why Bradley Cooper’s performance is superb. Let’s her the case for Day-Lewis and let’s refrain from accent, voice, wig, make-up.
Thanks.
I don’t like to agree with Rex Reed much, but SLP did feel a little “acted”, if you know what I mean. Not overacted, but I didn’t buy the characters much. Or maybe they were just too weird for me. I don’t want to say bad things about Bradley Cooper because he was very good in it (as was Jacki Weaver) – from start to finish.
Now THAT was unexpected, Cooper over DDL?!…and yes, I won’t give it a rest. If it is just their opinion, MINE is that they are out of their friking mind.
@Angela: You are so wrong, I am sorry to say.
Violia Davis won the SAG and what, one or two critics awards. THAT’S IT!
Meryl won more critics awards than her, she won the Globe AND the BAFTA.
That Viola Davis ever was the frontrunner was created on the blogs. Nothing, except pundits and a SAG win, pointed to a Davis victory. Everything else clearly pointed to a Streep win.
I don’t understand why people still call it an upset? If you look at the numbers, statistics and facts (and ignore the buzz pondering on the internet), Viola Davis was never ahead of Meryl in the race. The excitement as Oscar fans of having Davis win the Oscar made us think she could do it, but did any of the actual awards besides a SAG award point to a possible victory? No no no.
“Bottom line — Cooper hit his career best. Lincoln is not Day-Lewis’ career best.”
One small problem with this analogy. Lewis’ worst performance (whatever that is) is far better than Cooper’s best. I bet not a single group outside NBR gives him their prize, and he misses on an Oscar nod.
Not only is Day-Lewis better, but many others are. I won’t even go there.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK?
Please.
Brooke….whatever you would like to believe is fine with me. But ask yourself just why was he successful and just how much did he actually play a part in the operation other than to say OK. BTW, the operation was successful because of the military SEALS not because of Obama. Probably the reason why he doesn’t play much of a part in “ZeroDarkThirty”.
Bradley Cooper and Silver Linings would be perfect for the People’s Choice or the MTV Movie Awards, but they have nothing to do in the Oscar race!
DZero30 – give that crap a rest. Obama was successful in capturing Bin Laden, whatever your politics are.
“Silver Lining Playbook”. Our newspaper critic gave it 2.5 stars out of four. Well, I suppose everyone has their likes and dislikes but as I read some reviews of the film like Rex Reed’s review which states…”Its a slow, repetitive, meandering, mostly overacted little picture…” ah, well, I suppose I have to wait till I see it to make up my own mind.
Omg! I can’t believe it…Leo for supporting, Bradley cooper for actor!!! And looper in the top 10! So glad about Bernie and arbitrage for making the best indie list!
The NBR and I agree on 5 of the top 10 films of the year. The only one of those movies I haven’t seen is DJANGO which I am seeing tonight. Bradley Cooper winning actor is a joke, but whatever. I’m very, very happy for LOOPER and THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.
My Top 20 so far:
1. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
2. Holy Motors
3. Looper
4. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. Argo
7. Seven Psychopaths
8. Skyfall
9. The Master
10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
11. The Cabin In The Woods
12. Flight
13. The Raid: Redemption
14. Moonrise Kingdom
15. The Dark Knight Rises
16. Lincoln
17. Life Of Pi
18. Searching For Sugar Man
19. Goon
20. ParaNorman
All of you complaining about Bradley Cooper over Daniel Day-Lewis should give it a rest.
Thanks, Film Fatale, I was unsure whether or not I should express my opinions in public. You go ahead, though. I’d love to read several more paragraphs of your opinion, and not one more paragraph from anyone who disagrees.
“Same thing happened with Viola Davis. She won every friggin critic award out there until Meryl Streep came out of nowhere and won her third Oscar.”
How quickly does one forget. Meryl won plenty (=did not come out of nowhere), as did Viola. It was a 2-way race all along, but Meryl had the edge for Oscar.
Hope Quvenzhané Wallis’ oscar chances have increased now! I know she won’t win, but I would love for her to have a nomination!
@Brenda
In only a few words you have nailed the issue with Day-Lewis and Lincoln. The film is not about the process of a man, but rather about a political process that he drove. He is not a man we feel close to or root for; rather, we watch intently looking at Day-Lewis the actor, and how he has disappeared into the role. There is no life to it, in my view. I still think it’s a strong performance and “event” as you note, but it did not reach inside me and make me feel one bit of anything.
Cooper’s damaged everyman in SLP was exhilarating.
Glad to see the NBR knows what acting looks like. Cooper’s lived-in, humane embodiment of mental illness trumps DDL’s ossified showboating any day. DDL’s Lincoln is an ‘event’ — but a sainted one without much depth and really without an arc.
Also, it’s exciting to see Django and Promised Land getting some love. I wonder how they’ll find their way into the race.
Looks like The Master is probably an also-ran — nods for performances, some technical/craft nods, but I don’t see the support for a BP nod at this point.
Chung…I suppose you wanted the film to show Obama on the golf course while Def. Sec. Panetta was making the decision and preparation to go after Bin Laden. Then it took Obama two days to think on it before he gave the ok and then of course this was only after he used the security measures implemented by George W. Bush.
Rufussonddhein…..if it doesn’t bother you that America borrows 39 cents for every dollar spent by our government from CHINA and a 16trillion dollar debt staring you in the face then you need to get economic lessons because it should bother you in a big way.
All of you complaining about Bradley Cooper over Daniel Day-Lewis should give it a rest. Bradley Cooper delivered a career high performance in SLP, and in a distict, original character we haven’t really seen before. His emotional mood swings, mania, frustrations at “hating his illness” and how he stabilizes and then gradually heals himself is inspiring and beautiful acting to say the least. His big scene about the “wedding video” is just tragic in terms of the family dynamics at play. This is fine, shaded, risky acting in a character who is unbalanced and a prisoner of his problems, until he isn’t.
Day-Lewis is great, yes, yet again. No one can complain that he played yet another huge, archetypal character and icon impressively to say the least.
But frankly, between the two it is Cooper — yes Cooper — who strikes the heart and experiences the most growth, change and human experience. Just like Denzel Washington in Flight — another risky and original character battling demons and unable to find his way.
Lincoln is just fine — loved it. But it’s not challenging or all that deep, as well-made and acted as it is.
Bottom line — Cooper hit his career best. Lincoln is not Day-Lewis’ career best.
I have no problem with unexpected wins but Bradley Cooper over Daniel Day Lewis? If they were going to snub DDL, why not go with a better performance like John Hawke’s in The Sessions? Bradley was great in SLP but not award worthy.
@Chung
If I were you, I’d avoid making judgments on the content/politics of Zero Dark Thirty until you have seen it. I have seen it twice.
It is a very political film with a very powerful message about how to best extract information that leads to a greater good and how the CIA must get its hands dirty, to some degree at least, in a “means justify the end” scenario. The film is well researched, documented and reported, based entirely on first-hand accounts of what went down.
As far as Obama ordering the bin Laden assignment, the film very clearly details that it was the efforts of one woman, leading a team over years, that led directly to him. Neither her CIA bosses nor the White House feels confident; even Panetta is skeptical. Obama authorized the decision after a long wait — and that is very clearly inferred when they get the green light to go ahead.
I’m starting to believe that critics award those who they know are not going to win an Oscar at the end just to give them a chance and feel good about themselves. Same thing happened with Viola Davis. She won every friggin critic award out there until Meryl Streep came out of nowhere and won her third Oscar.
Bradley Cooper over Daniel-Day Lewis is a disgrace of massive proportions.
Cooper isn’t even in the Top 10 actors of this year, let alone #1.
No, it’s a different opinion. This is not the 100m race where DDL beat Cooper Bolt style. They are actors; there is no sure ‘winner’. Nobody will care who won NBR on Oscar night.
I absolutely LOVE the Ann Dowd selection. Compliance is a very good little film that no one saw and she was excellent in it.