The Film Reporter: February 2012

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Complete 2012 Academy Awards Winners List

Here is a complete list of my predictions (underlined) compared to the actual winners (in yellow) of the 84th annual Academy Awards, held on Sunday, Feb.26.

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Directing
"The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Alexander Payne
"Hugo" Martin Scorsese
"Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
"The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick

Best Picture
"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
"The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined
"War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Animated Feature Film
"A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
"Rango" Gore Verbinski

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

Art Direction
"The Artist"
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

"Hugo"
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

"Midnight in Paris"
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

"War Horse"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips

Documentary (Feature)
"Hell and Back Again"
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

"Pina"
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

"Undefeated"
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement"
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

"Incident in New Baghdad"
James Spione

"Saving Face"
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
"A Separation" Iran

Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

"The Iron Lady"
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

Music (Original Song)
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)
"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

"Hugo"
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

"Moneyball"
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

"War Horse"
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

"Hugo"
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

"Real Steel"
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Sunday, February 26, 2012

2012 Academy Awards Commentary

The 84th annual Academy Awards was, as this event always is, full of laughs, tears, and surprises. I'll begin this commentary with Billy Crystal.

Back for the 9th time as Oscar host, the was subdued, and even dull at times, especially in that opening song. However, when he nailed it he really nailed it. The clip at the beginning was very funny, and his jokes in between presenters were hilarious. Overall, a huge improvement over the James-Anne fiasco of last year (not hard to be), and very decent, if not unforgettable.

Next comes Best Picture. It was the winner we had all pretty much predicted, and The Artist's win was well-deserved. It was so original and so touching. One of the highlights of the night had to be seeing Uggie the dog on the stage with the cast and crew. A lovely way to close the evening.

Screenplay: The winners in the two categories were no surprises, with the writers of The Descendants winning for Adapted Screenplay and Woody Allen winning an Original Screenplay Oscar for writing Midnight in Paris. Personally, I would've picked another film to win Adapted (possibly Hugo or Moneyball), but I loved Midnight in Paris. The dialogue was crucial in the film, and it was flawless.

Director: Michel Hazanavicius won, for The Artist. It was a well-deserved win, for being so bold with an original idea. He brought the characters and the story to life, and put together a touching tribute to the past era of cinema. And, on top of that, the film did not feel dated or out of place in this technological world at all; that is an incredible feat for Hazanavicius to have reached. Although I have a soft spot for Martin Scorcese and Hugo, it was great to see Hazanavicius win.

Best Supporting Actor: This category was the biggest "lock" of the night -- Christopher Plummer did walk away with the Golden Statue in the end, not only a tribute to his performance in Beginners but also to an incredible (and incredibly long) career. His speech was short and sweet as always, and the closing thank-you to his wife tear-inducing as ever.

Best Supporting Actress: This was another "lock," and Octavia Spencer took home the Oscar for her riveting performance in The Help. Her incredibly heartfelt reaction was an indication of how much this award meant to her, and it truly was a joy to see. The Help was one of my favorite films this year, and Spencer's win was one of my favorite moments of the night.

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin won the Oscar for playing George Valentin in the silent The Artist -- an incredibly unique performance to honor. He epitomized the essence of acting in this role, relying solely on gesture and expression to tell a story. Deep in my heart, I was hoping that Demian Bichir would pull off the biggest upset of the season -- since his performance moved me like no other has in, perhaps, my life -- or even the long-overdue-for-even-a-nomination Gary Oldman, but otherwise I was very happy that Dujardin took home the award.

Best Actress: No doubt, the most shocking surprise of the night came in this category -- Meryl Streep's win over Viola Davis. The latter was assumed to be the frontrunner, since she picked up both the SAG and Critics' Choice Awards (which are usually better indicators of the Oscar outcome than the Golden Globe and BAFTA, both of which Streep won), but the veteran prevailed. Finally winning for the third time after a 19-year drought, Streep seemed to be in disbelief of her victory, and her acceptance speech sounded very humble and appreciative. I cannot help but be disappointed, however, in Davis's loss. Her performance in The Help was extraordinary, to put it mildly. But I take comfort in knowing that, with a talent like hers, she will definitely be back to win her award. And I was also very happy to see Streep win (since she had never won in my lifetime). Watching the best actress of her generation, and my personal favorite, accept an Oscar is something you definitely can't be disappointed about.

Photo of Viola Davis at Q&A

In honor of Viola Davis's non-win tonight, I am uploading this photo of her at a Q&A in Santa Monica on Jan. 31, which I attended. I sat in the second row and snapped this picture of the lovely actress.

2012 Oscar Predictions

Here are my Oscar predictions, underlined, for the 84th annual Academy Awards.