David Denby of The New Yorker gives his Top 10. Read the rest of his summaries here.
“Hugo”—In Martin Scorsese’s wondrous 3-D masterpiece, you feel like you’re inside a giant box with the entire history of the cinema playing on the walls. The movie is intricate, touching, a reverent summing up of the past of movies, and a triumphant, heart-swelling surge into the future.
“The Tree of Life”—Yes, I know, Terrence Malick’s movie is unbearably high-minded and humorless. But still! There are sequences that rival the greatest things ever done in movies, especially the long family episodes with Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, and the little boys, in which the camera floats around the characters, and all of eternity is summoned in the minutest motions of love and rage. Brad Pitt gives an amazing performance; he’s a shoo-in for the Oscar.
“Margin Call”
“Certified Copy”
“A Separation”
“Contagion”
“The Descendants”
“J. Edgar”
“Source Code”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes“
Aside from Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, & Kevin Spacey, there was nothing absorbing or interesting about Margin Call. If it had come out two years ago, I might’ve reacted differently. Source Code was excellent,and should be on every top ten list. I was surprised that I enjoyed Planet of the Apes & Contagion, but they wouldn’t make my top ten list. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Hugo, would be on my list not The Descendants. I’ll go with War Horse, & Tree of Life, but J. Edgar is ,and I am of Clint Eastwood being touted as some great director just because he show up.I’d put Super 8 on my top ten list. Near the bottom.
Wha? No ‘Dragon’ on his list? The nerve. Shame on him. 😉
Of all the pre-publicity hoopla generated over The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, some of the strangest is watching normally nice folks piss their pants with premature hatred.
Of all the pre-publicity hoopla generated over The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, some of the strangest is watching normally nice folks piss their pants with premature hatred.
Their knives are out.
I agree with Wesley…I have to be in a certain frame of mind to want to tolerate reading subtitles. And Mattoc, I wouldn’t say there have been “many” non-English films nominated for Best Pic…just a few. From Wiki-
One point of contention is the lack of consideration of non-English language films for categories other than Best Foreign Language Film. Very few foreign language films have been nominated for any other categories, regardless of artistic merit. To date, only eight foreign language films (and three partly foreign language films) have been nominated for Best Picture: Grand Illusion (French, 1938); Z (French, 1969); The Emigrants (Swedish, 1972); Cries and Whispers (Swedish, 1973); Il Postino (Italian/Spanish, 1995); Life Is Beautiful (Italian, 1998); Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Mandarin Chinese, 2000); and Letters from Iwo Jima (Japanese, 2006), which was ineligible for the Best Foreign Language Oscar because it was an American production. The only partly foreign language films to win Best Picture are The Godfather Part II (English/Sicilian, 1974), The Last Emperor (English/Mandarin, 1987) and Slumdog Millionaire (English/Hindi, 2008).
Wesley, if a foreign film is give enough votes it will me nominated in the Best Picture Category, hence best picture.
There have been many films nominated for best picture that don’t speak English. Different category for animated films as well, but they have been nominated for BP as well.
For me at least, I don’t notice the subtitles after a couple of minutes as the brain gets used to it.
Give it a go, you’ll at least double the amount of films you anticipate on any given year. If you tell me your favourite films I can recommend some for you.
I know Margin Call is more of a dark horse pick for many, but I think it will sneak into nominations for Screenplay and Supporting Actor, at the very least. And for cast at the SAG awards.
Yes, Scott. They gotta make money to keep the website running.
I think comparing narrative features to a documentary is like listing your favorite types of apples & having blood oranges on the list. Likewise, as I don’t speak any foreign languages, the viewing experience of foreign films is bound to be different. That’s not to say there aren’t good foreign films, but they belong on a separate list. Hence the Academy’s decision to put them in a separate category.
Hugo baby!! Although I’ll replace Source Code and ROPOTA with Super 8 and X-Men: First Class! 😀
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was an awful, awful film.
I wouldn’t say Tree of Life is humorless. I found several moments light and touching, and even laughed at a few moments (like when the toddler Jack looks at his baby brother and seems freaked out; or the grandpa saying “I’ll see you in 5 years”–we all know that wasn’t going to happen).
I want someone to explain why Margin Call is so great. It’s the second most over-hyped film of the year after Shame.
Brad Pitt for best actor? Well he was the Sexiest Man alive …..twice.
I’ve seen eight of his 10, and I have to say I agree with most, a good mix of great popcorn flix and searing ‘art’ pictures. You bet ‘Planet’ deserves to be on there, and ‘Source Code’ will be the kind of film that people look back on, one of those mainstream yet culty films.
The only true dud in my opinion is J. Edgar, and I’ve yet to see Descendants or A Separation.
Denby is goofy.
Fassbender gave the best male performance of the year. In time, this will be acknowledged.
I thought Margin Call wasn’t eligible. It premiered day-and-date On Demand…
YIPPIE for Iranian directors Asghar Farhadi and Abbas Kiarostami…truly though A SEPARATION is the finest film of the year.
He didn’t pick Moneyball?! However, he did NOT pick The Artist. Yay!
None of the logical picks for Best Supporting Actor have made a serious dent in the race so far.
I’m not happy with the current BSA lineup with Brooks, Plummer, and Corey Stoll. They are making the category weak when it can be stronger. Logically, these actors should be getting more recognition and were on a lot of people’s lists but are just being swept under the rug to
cater to the zeitgest that these earlier nominations are staging instead. God, I hope they listen to the requests and protests by postponing the actual nominations for the CC, GG, and other Oscar pre-cursor award ceremonies to release their nomination list to either the end of Dec or early January. I know I keep ranting about this but I know these guys surf this site. If the Oscars mirrors the NBR, WFCA, and etc, it will be a disaster for a lot of people and in the industry in the long-run. Momentum and traction for major contenders are just being evaporated because their campaigns ran late with the early pushed back timing of these bodies announcing their noms in early December before they had the chance to properly evaluate all of the films and make comparisons, which is screwing it up.
1. Brad Pitt ( Tree of Life)
2. Viggo Mortensen ( The Dangerous Method)
I honestly thought these two guys would be the two frontrunners. It would be disgrace to me if it was between Plummer and Brooks instead.
3. Jonah Hill ( Moneyball) He seemed like a solid early contender but no mentions from the award boards
4. Armie Hammer ( J.Edgar) The movie got mixed reviews but both Armie and Leo got tons of praise for their performances.
5. Christoph Waltz shines in Carnage
I would like to see Ben Kingsley make the cut for Hugo. It would be great to see Rickman or Fiennes for HP.
BSA
1. Jessica Chastain ( Tree of Life)
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg ( Melancholia)
3. Janet McTeer ( Albert Nobbs)
4. Emily Watson ( War Horse)
5. Carey Mulligan ( Shame) She is the one with the most traction so far.
6. Marisa Tomei ( Ides of March)
7. Naomi Watts ( J.Edgar)
8. Keira Knightley ( I know she was initially going for lead but it would make more sense for her to go for BSA and she would have a better shot in this category.
9. Jodie Foster ( Carnage)
These are people that I rationally think should be receiving much more attention.
Best Actor: Pitt, Fassbender ( TDM or Shame but I prefer TDM), DiCaprio. They need more attention.
Best Actress: Mia Wasikowska ( Jane Eyre). Kate Winslet ( Carnage) though I think she is aiming for BSA instead. Kirsten Dunst. GLENN CLOSE!!! Emily Watson ( Oranges and Sunshine).
Mr Denby doesn’t assign the number that Metacritic uses. The editors at Metacritic assign it a number based on the review. Sometimes it’s easier for them because the critic gives out stars or a letter grade, sometimes they just read it and give it an arbitrary number (I think).
Either way, it doesn’t matter what the initial review said. As time passes and you give movies a second viewing your opinions of them change. Expecting a critic’s opinion about a film – or anyone’s for that matter – to remain static is pure folly.
Wow it’s David Denby’s week. Don’t like the list with exception of Tree of Life, A Separation and Margin Call.
So the owners of the site get paid money to support films by displaying their ads?
Scott they just choose the ads by who will pay them Im sure
@scott – I can only speculate, but I doubt this site pick and choose. They’re the same ads on a number of movie sites. Maybe someone else can help answer your question.
Yeah, but that’s not exactly what I was inquiring about Mattoc…I’m curious who chooses the ads that get displayed. Or does this site just get given ads by all the studios and they have no choice in the matter?
one of the stupidest top ten lists ever, he gathered all the trash except a separation, descendants and tree of life. the rest were just not top ten material.
Every site has them, they’re rolling so if you don’t like the particular ad – refresh.
I see, and I’m guessing Sasha or Ryan have seen it? How do the ads for this site get chosen?
Anonymous is a fictional tale, inspired by a novel, that implies The Bard is an impostor. Haven’t seen it but from what people say, it’s good but not great. Word of warning though – he doesn’t blow the world to bejesus in this film. I hear he does a good job at NOT doing that.
@Scott – Crazy Stupid Love will probably end up with 5 GGs. BP, BA, BAc, BSA & BSAc, with KB and the youngsters missing out. I think Gosling and Stone are strong enough in the mixed field.
What exactly is this Anonymous that I see ads for “for your consideration” in? I looked it up and it sounds interesting, but Roland Emmerich is the director, rotfl
Oh shoot, I need to add the 2 I just saw…Crazy Stupid Love and Water for Elephants, which I thought were both great. I hope Crazy, Stupid, Love receives some Golden Globe love at least.
Mattoc, that’s because I have a list to look back on, lol
http://www.cosforums.com/showpost.php?p=5916979&postcount=23
@ Scott. You haven’t forgotten them.
Craig Z says:
December 5, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Scott, nice to see you talk about another film for once…..
Well my other favorites for the year are Moneyball, Super 8, and Planet of the Apes. The latter 2 seemed to have gone the way of the summer blockbuster and been forgotten (until recent mention) so I admit I’m pleased to see them appear on a few lists…but still, they should not be making it over Potter. Moneyball looks to be the only one with a real shot but it’s been neglected now in quite a few places. As a huge baseball fan that’s sad to see. Aside from just being baseball related I thought the film had some interesting things to say about the difficulty of change and roadblocks that new perspectives encounter…things that could be applied to the AMPAS, our country, etc
Sorry, it deleted the first part for some reason. It said unsubbed.
@ryan. It said I haven’t as yet done anything apart from navigate a post. Doesn’t matter everything is working.
maybe nothing to worry about, Mattoc, but don’t click any buttons on anything like that until we can determine if it’s legit, ok?
If he does get nominated, he’ll be the first actor nominated in a Malick film.
Hey Ryan, on a related note. I pretty much no longer get Newsletter stuff anymore.
Craig Z, the newsletters haven’t been frequent for a few months.
I think the most recent one was for NYFCC on the 29th. Did you get that one? If not, maybe there’s been unintended unsubbing
Scott, the kid – played by Hunter McCracken. He’s the only one that could be considered a lead.
Yeah you are right Beth but it aint happening with him. The landscape had more screentime than anybody in the cast…. Including the defacto lead
Lead actor in Tree of Life would be Hunter McCracken.
Scott, in all seriousness. TOL doesn’t really have a lead.
@ryan – not a pop up, regular page when I refreshed the homepage. Just said you have been unsubbed followed by ” you won’t hear from us again”
I felt melancholy.
did it say “unsubbed” or “unsubscribed”?
either way, it’s nothing I know about.
had you subscribed to the AD newsletter at some point? Do you get email alerts of major breaking news like NBR nominations from AD?
@Scott – definitely the butterfly is lead in TOL.
Spacey hasn’t been nominated since he dominated the latter half of the 90’s. Maybe they want to get him in again…..but then again Irons. I don’t know Supporting Actor is so crazy. We got two spots filled Brooks and Plumber
Waiting on word of Van Sydow then who?
Pitt?
Kingsley?
Oswalt?
Hill?
Nolte?
Someone from Margin Call?
I have no clue……
Haven’t seen Margon Call, but Al Pacino was nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross. I thought Jack Lemmon and albeit briefly Alec Baldwin was electrifying. So, shout-iest role probably. Haven’t seen though, anybody a screamer in the film?
I haven’t seen Tree of Life but I just noticed Pitt is listed on the contender tracker under supporting…is it really a supporting role? Who’s the lead actor if not him?
Yeah, I agree Beth – it’s possible and maybe even probable he’ll be double nominated. More chance with TOL than Moneyball. I still think Christopher Plummer will win the BSA and Woody BA.
Interesting list. I really enjoyed Rise of the…I think they got that film just about right.
And yes Wes, people that speaka no English make films too. Good ones too.
Hey, I got a message page from this site that said I’ve been unsubbed – is that bad?
I got a message page from this site that said I’ve been unsubbed – is that bad?
a pop-up window message?
don’t know what could cause that.
Im guessing Spacey has the best chance for that followed by Irons. Being the two biggest names helps. Don’t see the other two really happening, as great as they are.
I could see Margin Call sneaking in for screenplay and supporting actor – but which one do they pick from that terrific ensemble? My choice would be Jeremy Irons, I guess, yet I loved Spacey, Tucci and Bettany as well.
Call sneaking in for screenplay and supporting actor – but which one do they pick from that terrific ensemble?
I don’t have any examples to back this up, but seems to me when there’s a strong and well-balanced ensemble cast the nominee is the character with the audience wants to identify. For me that would be Spacey. But I can see a nomination going to Quinto too, since he’s the guy who brought the entire movie together.
I think Margin Call may get in for Screenplay and maybe one of the supporting actors…..
Original Screenplay is week this year Midnight and The Artists are the only real things so far…. Though 50/50 is picking up steem
As far as I know, Brad Pitt is being campaigned Lead for Moneyball and Supporting for Tree of Life. If anything, he’ll be double nominated (the Moneyball nod seems to be the most reliable prediction at this point).
Interesting to see Margin Call slowly start to gain ground with a lot of critics and year-end awards. Could it be this year’s quiet dark horse?
Its possible Beth, Best Supporting Actor is a total crapshoot at the moment though besides Brooks and Plummer.
I’m predicting that Brad Pitt will be double-nominated. But I’m kinda out on a limb with that one.
Scott, nice to see you talk about another film for once…..
I think Pitt and Clooney are gonna have a dogfight for Best Actor with Dujardin being a potential spoiler
Um, his J. Edgar review is counted as a 70 on Metacritic…which means he snubbed Moneyball, Meek’s Cutoff, My Week With Mariyln, and yes of course Harry Potter…all had an 80. Strange.
So is Brad Pitt gonna get in for Tree of Life or Moneyball or neither (because he splits his vote)? I thought most were saying Moneyball was his best performance of his career but lately it seems the critics feel that way about Tree of Life instead…
His list is a real mixed bag, isn’t it? Very happy to see the love for Hugo, Tree of Life, Certified Copy, A Separation… beyond those, not so much.
I’m so happy to see J. Edgar get some love. An unfairly maligned film – one of the year’s best, with DiCaprio giving his best performance to date.
Wesley, Why shouldn’t a list include a foreign film???
I swear to god some of the people who comment on here…. I just cant *sigh
Was he drunk while making this list?
The Tree of Life, Margin Call and A Separation thumbs up
This list includes a pic from 2010, a foreign film, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In other words, it’s a joke.
Well the 4 I’ve seen are 4 I liked. Happy about Source Code getting in there. I really enjoyed it. So far Hugo is my favorite too.