Best Picture:
Going to Win: The Artist
Would like to see win: The Tree of Life
(Wouldn't that be a surprise. The Tree of Life is not for everyone, but made my Top films of 2011. The Artist is great from a technical standpoint, yes, especially the lead actors, and of couse who doesn't love the cute little dog. But the simple story of The Artist I felt was too hollow, and something someone could have scribbled down on a napkin after having watched Scorsese's The Aviator.
I object to the title The Artist, because George Valentin (Jean Dujardin)following the latest trends of the studio system is not really a true artist for me. Isn't he an entertainer or a performer instead? An artist for me is someone who breaks, or attempts to break new ground, George Valentin is just following status quo for the era, he is not trying to be different than everyone else. As another reviewer wrote about the curious message of the film:
Should George Valentin always adapt in order to please the public? Should box office drive our decisions? Should fame be our goal, and popularity our standard of what is best?
I don’t know, maybe it’s only natural for George Valentine to want to remain in the limelight (and keep working), I don’t envy being a star, George V seems totally addicted to attention. Does conforming and fame equal happiness in the long run? So it's about how fleeting celebrity can be I guess.
I quite enjoyed The Artist, just didn't love it, and found it to be a little overhyped and overrated. There is something strangely calculated and gimmicky about The Artist, like when Clint Eastwood "reinvented" the western in 1992's Unforgiven, or Chicago (2002) brought back the musical for mainstream movie goers. So in that respect it's clever marketing, taking the old and making it new again.
As Luke Skywalker/Mark Hamill once said about being asked Star Wars questions all the time: "I like ice cream, but I don't like to eat it 3 times a day". I'm interested to read other bloggers opinion on why they love The Artist so much.
A charming, entertaining, and crowd-pleasing movie for sure, but The Artist is not the best picture of the year for me.)
Best Director:
Going to Win: Michel Hazanavicius
Would like to see win: Terrence Malick
(I'm hoping Tree of Life does some damage, I'd like to see the reception for T. Malick winning as director, presuming he even turns up, the recluse he is. Could be a 5 minute standing ovation)
Best Actor:
Going to Win: Jean Dujardin
Would like to see win: Jean Dujardin
(As a friend pointed out, acting is more important in silent film, or at least is something you notice, since a lot is said through body language. However, if this was 1927 or something, and five other silent films were up for the award, I might feel differently)
Best Actress:
Going to Win: Meryl Streep
Would like to see win: Meryl Streep
(We all know she keeps getting nominated year after year, but holy cow, 16 nominations! and only two wins! Come on. Her last oscar win was way back in 1982. She's due for another statue. Streep's oscar hopeful contenders are not particularly strong this year, either, which may help her cause)
Best Supporting Actress:
Going to Win: Octavia Spencer
Would like to see win: Octavia Spencer
(I didn't care much for The Help. The characters are laughably one-dimensional, either they were good, or they were bad. The acting was the best thing The Help had going for it)
Best Supporting Actor:
Going to Win: Christopher Plummer
Would like to see win: Max von Sydow
(Everyone is dissing Extremy Loud and Incredibly Close, I found it to be a decent enough film, but not oscar worthy. The kid was just unlikeable for his comments to his mum. Admittedly, I didn't think the film was as imaginative as the book, but Max von Sydow’s wordless performance was quite moving. One of the two old-timers ought to finally go home with an overdue Academy Award. )
These are my picks. Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you think
I totally agree with you on Tree of Life. Also it was interesting to see Bejo win best actress, but Dujardin failed to win best actor at the French Awards yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your predictions and I hope that Dujardin wins, that will be such a great Oscar moment. I still think Davis may take the win from Streep - SAG is a big indicator and she got ridiculous standing ovation when she won.
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to see Gary Oldman take home Best Actor, but I still think George Clooney has this one - not that I want him to have it! We agree on Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress though!
ReplyDelete(I have a funny feeling Scorsese may walk away with Best Director, but then again I'm terrible at picking winners!)
I think I agree with most of your picks on Going To Win. Although I kind of hope Jessica Chastain would win, just because I love her in all her roles yet. Great picks, Chris.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see most of your picks won the top prize, even if I think they didn't deserve it :p
ReplyDeleteAnd Tree of Life not winning cinematography... come on.
@Bonjour Tristesse: I saw your comment at lime, that you want to see Intouchables, starring Omar Sy, the conqueror of Jean Dujardin at Cesar awards. Me too, want to catch that French film asap.
ReplyDelete@Sati: Jean Dujardin got his oscar, so you must be happy! ( : Nice speech too, but why did they pull the camera away before he'd finished his speech/ dance ?
@Ruth: Clooney already had an oscar, maybe that played a part in the decision making. You can make a case for all the contenders for male actor, such varied performances, extremely tricky to even compare, I'd say.
@Alex Withrow: I hate to act smug, I guess my 5 picks were right! Though the big categories were fairly predictable to figure out, plus I was way off target for lots of the technical awards.
Hugo got so many, so they could at least have given one for cinematography to Tree of life. For me longevity is more valuable than any award. Look at Kubrick and Hitchcock, both never got oscar for directing, so Malick shouldn't feel down, give him time.
@Andina: Jessica Chastain's performance was pretty good I remember in The Help, Tree Of Life, too. She stars in so many films these days, she is bound to at least get nominated for something! ( :
ReplyDeleteNice job with your picks, you did much better than I did.
ReplyDelete@threeguys1movie.com: I was lucky with my picks! and also lucky that the results were pretty predictable in the main categories.
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