Best Picture Academy Awards 2014

There are nine films nominated for Best Picture. Nine. That’s a lot.

This collection of nominees is genre-spanning.  There are films based on true stories, hilarious comedies, penetrating dramas and one sci fi epic.

Let’s be honest here: some of these movies have no shot at Oscar. None.

Nebraska and Philomena are too small. They simply didn’t make enough of an impact in scope or at the box office. Best Picture winners don’t have to be box office phenomena but they must become part of none cultural dialogue. The same can be said for Her. These are terrific movies, to be sure, but Best Picture winners? No.

The Wolf of Wall Street was too divisive. For all who loved it, there are an equal number of haters.

Dallas Buyers Club touched me deeply but, as I reflect on it, I think that the performances make the movie more than the movie makes the performances. Should that disqualify it as a serious contender? No. But I think the voters who cast ballots for Jared Leto or Matthew McConaughey will believe they’ve done enough and put their Best Picture support elsewhere.

Captain Phillips was powerfully good but it generated some negativity in that the narrative was not entirely faithful to the real events that inspired it. I have never been one to be too concerned about issues like this. I know the Captain Phillips is not a documentary.  It’s a movie. But a lack of fidelity to the facts bothers some.  This reason might be why Tom Hanks didn’t garner a nomination for Best Actor (which, to me, seems a crime and, perhaps, the biggest oversight this season). Captain Phillips doesn’t have a chance.

I want American Hustle to win. Of the nominees, this is the movie I enjoyed the most. Affecting and tautly constructed, American Hustle is a marvel of movie-making. The film perfectly evokes a bygone time. The soundtrack, the costumes, the settings, the entire vibe of the movie are perfectly pitched. Every actor received a nomination. The director, David O. Russell is nominated. The movie is terrific. But I don’t think it will win. For some reason, it doesn’t feel like Hustle’s year.

So, then there were two. It’s either going to be Gravity or 12 Years a Slave.

Gravity was something else. It was truly unlike any other movie on the list this year. It was a revelation and is suddenly the standard by which all adult science fiction will now be judged. Visually arresting and thrilling, the movie feels like it conveys great truths about life through its increasingly diabolical gambits. How Will Sandra Bullock survive this next death trap? Will she live? Why am I sweating in an air conditioned theater? These reactions and those like them will cost Gravity best picture. They just seem a bit… frivolous in the fact of the more serious themes exhibited in 12 Years a Slave.

12 Years a Slave is the winner. It has all kinds of Academy pedigree. It’s a true story. It has Oscar nominated performances.  It quickly became a movie that people should see. The director has credibility. The star is rising. The film is beautifully constructed.  It is nuanced for such a challenging subject. It will rise above the reactions that people have to difficult subjects. It will rise above Gravity. It will rise to the top.

12 YEARS A SLAVE IS THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Best Director Academy Award 2014

 

Best Director is gonna be close. This one also is going to break tradition.

I think. 

Of the “major” awards, this seems to me to be the closest to call at the top end of the nominees.

Regrettably, let’s dispense with the three directors for whom being nominated is going to have to be honor enough.

Alexander Payne and, believe it or not, Martin Scorsese will not get a sniff at this award this year. Payne’s Nebraska was too small both in scope and at the box office. Scorsese’s Wolf of Wall Street was too polarizing. There simply are members of the Academy who will not vote for it.

I would love to see David O. Russell win. Two years in a row, Russell directed films have scored nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor. I don’t think that’s ever been done before… but I didn’t look it up. I loved American Hustle. It was, by far, my favorite of the movies nominated this year. I loved the comedy of the film. I cared about the characters. I thought it perfectly evoked the late 70s and early 80s and I had a great time watching it. But I don’t think Russell will win.

It comes down to Alfonso Cuarón and Steve McQueen. 

Cuarón’s Gravity was a remarkable technical achievement. It was unlike any other movie on-screen this year. With the slimest of scripts and the loosest of characterizations, it can be argued that Gravity succeeds primarily because of the direction of the movie. Cuarón had a vision and it’s hard not to argue that, without that vision, Gravity wouldn’t have been the incredible success it was. The challenge for Cuarón is that the Academy doesn’t usually recognize science fiction movies. Could this be the year that it does? James Camron couldn’t score a win with Avatar. Will Cuarón with Gravity?

Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is the most “important” of the movies nominated. It’s Oscar bait. It’s a movie that had the “everyone should see it” tag from early on in its release. By all accounts, it is a beautiful look at a difficult subject. Affecting and disturbing, 12 Years a Slave is the kind of movie that the Academy loves to reward. But McQueen is black (this would be a first in the director category) and he’s British (this has to count against him, too).

So, assuming that the Academy feels that both of these films should have recognition, how will the votes go?

My guess, Cuarón will win for director. As mentioned above, Gravity really is a stunning visual achievement and that kind of work should be and likely will be recognized with an Oscar.

ALFONSO CUARON WINS BEST DIRECTOR

Best Actress Academy Awards 2014

 

The Academy should simply change the name of Best Actress in a Leading Role to the Meryl Streep Award for Best Actress, shouldn’t they? What higher praise could there be for Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchette, Judi Dench or Amy Adams?

Will Streep win again this year for her work in August: Osage County? I don’t believe she will. Though I’ve no doubt she was spectacular – I didn’t see the film – there doesn’t seem to be a lot of support for her this year. Perhaps this is because the movie was not even a modest hit, even with that spectacular cast. No award for Meryl. She will, however, be most gracious, I am sure.

I think the Academy is also unlikely to recognize Judi Dench for Philomena for similar reasons. Though this movie was more highly regarded and Dench’s performance very well received, the praise here seems split between Dench and writer/co-star Steve Coogan.  It’s more likely to win its prize in the writing category than here.

I though Sandra Bullock was much more impressive in Gravity (review HERE) than she was in her Oscar winning performance in The Blind Side a few years back. It is possible to argue that her performance in Gravity lifts the movie from being “Finding Nemo-in space with people instead of fish” to something far more affecting and deep. Caring about her is what takes the spectacle of Gravity and makes it personal, but I don’t think it’s enough to win.

Amy Adams joins David O. Russell’s cast of regulars in truly impressive fashion in the highly nominated American Hustle (review HERE). One of the many revelations of her in this role was just how sultry and sensual she was – an attribute not seen in many of her other roles. While she more than holds her own with Christian Bale and the rest of the all-stars, I cannot escape the feeling that American Hustle is going to be Academy’s bridesmaid this year… I think Adams will be left out of the winner’s circle.

That leaves the ever talented Cate Blanchette as our winner then, and it make sense. The Academy tends to protect its own. Woody Allen has had a rough year but supplied one of his best films in it and coaxed what is by-all-accounts a nuanced performance out of his leading lady. This award may be as much about her work as it is recognizing that Allen himself won’t have many more rides like this. In a very close race, Cate Blanchette will win.

CATE BLANCHETTE IS BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Best Actor Academy Awards 2014

Shall we cut to the chase with the winner?

Nah… let’s milk it a bit.

Full disclosure: I didn’t see Bruce Dern in Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wall Street or Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. Does that mean I won’t pick one of these gentlemen as the winner of Best Actor in a Leading Role? No, not necessarily. However, the two nominated actors I did see underwent such amazing transformations – and not just physically, mind you – that I find it hard to believe any other actor could come close to their work.

Christian Bale must be considered one of the leading actors of the age. He seems to be able to play any role, a fact evidenced most recently by his dual turns in Out of the Furnace and American Hustle. These movies opened on successive weekends. In Furnace, he was fit and violent, grim and driven. In American Hustle, he was bulky and expansive, intelligent and witty. In short, Bale was so buried in the roles that he inhabited them.

I loved him as Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle (review HERE). In a movie filled with nominated performances, Bale stood out. He’s really the center of the film, far more than fellow nominee Amy Adams, and his work brings everyone to a new level. There was simply not a trace of Bruce Wayne in his work. It is possible that director David O. Russell is his muse as Russell has brought three consecutive Oscar nominated performances out of him. This is the best of the three, but it’s not going to bring him his second Oscar.

The Oscar this year will go to Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (review HERE). It is fair to say that McConaughey does more to re-invent himself as a serious actor in this role – and realizing some of the promise that he showed in A Time to Kill and Contact – than does Christian Bale in his work in American Hustle. McConaughey takes an incredibly unlikable character in Rod Woodroof and makes him likeable through an alchemy that is almost impossible to explain. Shedding every artifice and much of his dignity in the role, McConaughey’s gives the kind of performance that awards are made for if awards are really meant to recognize excellence.

He is simply breathtaking.

In an earlier post (HERE) on Best Actor in a Supporting Role, I suggested that he and Jared Leto form the best one-two punch of the year.

So, with no disrespect to Dern, DiCaprio, Ejiofor and Bale, look for Matthew McConaughey to take home Oscar.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY

Best Supporting Academy Awards 2014

A first time winner and a repeat winner. I think this is the likely scenario for this year’s Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role awards.

In terms of Supporting Actor, I will admit my that I didn’t see 12 Years a Slave or The Wolf of Wall Street, so I my comments on Michael Fassbender and Jonah Hill are informed by seeing them and enjoying them greatly in other roles. They are clearly talented actors and likely to be nominated for many more roles (though I don’t expect Hill to nab another nod for 22 Jump Street, his next movie nor should Fassbender anticipate one for his turn in X-Men: Days of Future Past). Both roles are well reviewed, but neither seems to have the energy behind to say “winner.”

The Cinnamon Girl and I saw Captain Phillips (reviewed HERE) and loved it. There were many things to enjoy about the taut thriller – and more on those when I blog about Best Picture on Sunday before the awards – but surely one of them was Barkhad Abdi in his supporting role. Steely yet sympathetic, Abdi’s Muse was the perfect foil to a similarly steely and sympathetic Tom Hanks. This may well be Abdi’s role-of-a-lifetime and he delivers on it incredibly well… but not well enough to win.

The Cinnamon Girl and I thought American Hustle (reviewed HERE) was absolutely tremendous, a romp made all the more fun by Bradley Cooper’s performance as Richie DiMaso. I still cannot get over his monologue delivered with pink rollers in his hair – rollers suggested by Cooper himself. Brilliant stuff. Brilliant enough to win? No, I don’t think so. He couldn’t do it last year and I don’t think he will this year, either. Sorry Bradley.

No, the winner is Jared Leto. His turn in Dallas Buyers Club (reviewed HERE) could not have been more perfect. It’s a signature role by an actor whose very performance drips with talent. Leto goes toe-to-toe with Matthew McConaughey and proves himself every bit equal to the task. Leto’s Rayon becomes the soul of the film and his work elevates the move from great to outstanding.

JARED LETO WILL WIN BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE.

Having not seen (and feeling a little guilty about it suddenly) Julia Roberts in August Osage County, Jane Squibb in Nebraska, Shelly Hawkins in Blue Jasmine or Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave would be a problem for choosing a winner in the Supporting Actress category in any year but this one. Come on, if you’ve seen American Hustle, you know the Academy Award is going to the terrific Jennifer Lawrence. Is there any role she cannot play?

Jennifer Lawrence is one part hilarious, one part heartbreaking in American Hustle and seems a pretty sure bet to walk away with her second Oscar in as many years. The Academy loves her, the public loves her and I love her. She seems to discover new layers to play with each role she takes and her Rosalyn Rosenfeld is a gas. Evoking an era that ended over a decade before her birth, Lawrence seems to be having more fun in the movie than anyone around her. She is a lock.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE WILL WIN BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

 

 

Top 25 Best Picture Winners

More Oscar talk…

Entertainment Weekly has posted a list of their choices for the Top Twenty-Five Best Picture winners of all time.

You can read that list HERE.

I’ve seen 12 of their choices and surely they all deserve recognition.

How does this list stack up against the movies nominated this year? No matter the winner in 2014, would it crack this Top Twenty-Five?

Photo from digitalspy.com

Academy Awards Around the Corner…

Photo from abc.com.

We’re a few weeks out from the 86th annual Academy Awards and those of us who love movies are scrambling to catch up with the performances and films that will be honored on the first Sunday in March. I’ve posted a few reviews (linked below) to a handful of these nominated movies and will work through a few more prior to the big night!

The Cinnamon Girl and I have seen FOUR of the NINE movies nominated for Best Picture (Gravity, American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club and Captain Phillips. We’ve seen TWO of the FIVE Best Actor nominees (Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey),TWO of the FIVE Best Actress nominees (Amy Adams and Sandra Bullock), THREE of the FIVE Best Supporting Actor nominees (Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto and Barkhad Abdi) and ONE of the FIVE Best Support Actress nominees (Jennifer Lawrence).

I must admit that there are few films I will see just because they are nominated or have nominated performances in them. I’ve learned my lesson (call it the “I Drank Your Milkshake Then Left You Wondering Why You Saw This Movie in the First Place” Lesson) in the past. If I didn’t have a desire to see the movie before it was nominated, I probably don’t want to see it now.

However, there are a few movies here that we may make an effort to catch prior to Oscar night because we did, independent of the awards themselves, have a desire to see them. Philomena is primary on this list. The Wolf of Wall Street is next.

I cannot see making myself sit though Nebraska, which is, I am sure, a fine film. It simply has a tone and flavor that I find personally off-putting. Her falls into that category, too, although I remain fascinated by how much Joaquim  Phoenix reminds me of The Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki.  Anyone else feel that, too?

Which brings us to 12 Years a Slave. I have absolutely no doubt this is a wonderful film. I am sure it’s an important film. I suspect it might change my way of thinking… though perhaps not so much as Amy Poehler’s (watch the opening monologue to the Golden Globe Awards for her take on the movie – it’s worth it!):

I just don’t know that I want to feel that… bad. I don’t want to feel as bad as I know I would feel watching the film. I guess that’s not why I go to the movies. This may make me shallow. I am okay with the label. This may illustrate that I am not an auteur. I am very okay with that.

I love movies and I love to love them. I just don’t think I’d love 12 Years a Slave.

Oh, and August: Osage County, despite your fine cast, I am riding that same fence about you.

 

American Hustle – A Movie Review

Photo from IMDB.com

American Hustle, the new film by David O. Russell, director of last year’s awards darling Silver Linings Playbook, sounds incredible! Literally, it sounds so very good. The music is at once cheesy and cool and plays the nostalgia card early and often, evoking in anyone who lived through the late 70s and early 80s a kind of emotional resonance with the movie’s characters.

This is precisely what Russell wants.

American Hustle is a complex movie. The twists of its plot are intentionally delivered in an unclear fashion as they unfold and the movie is turny enough to require voice-overs from multiple characters – a device which can weigh a movie down and break up its pacing. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen here and the voice-overs result in the audience gaining a deeper understanding of the film’s characters. Only during these voice-overs can the audience believe what the characters are saying. At all other times, they are not to be trusted.

That’s part of the fun of American Hustle. The audience can never be sure who is hustling whom.

People expecting a more grounded version of the Oceans movies are going to be disappointed, however. Those movies were built almost entirely around their labyrinthine plots. David O. Russell’s movies are built entirely upon characters and the actors who embody them. Russell has assembled a stunning cast for this one.

If you have seen a frame from previews for American Hustle you know that Christian Bale has undertaken another ridiculous transformation to play Irving Rosenfeld, a con artist who is the hub around which the other spokes of the movie spin. Bale is such a good actor, one wonders if it was necessary for him to put on a reported 45 pounds to inhabit the Rosenfeld, but who can argue with the process when it yields such amazing results? There isn’t a trace of Bruce Wayne in Bale’s performance. He is commanding as a man suddenly in over his head who is used to holding all the cards. I believed every moment Bale was onscreen. He made each of the other cast members better and when Irving is forced face-to-face with the human cost of his latest scheme, Bale makes us feel the character’s devastation. He should be nominated for his work here.

Amy Adams should, too. It may well work against her that she is ubiquitous these days, but Adams’ role as Rosenfeld’s partner and lover Sydney Prosser is every bit as arresting as Bale’s and, while Adams didn’t have to physically alter her appearance in the film, my bet is many men (and women for that matter) will never look at her the same way again. Adams’ Prosser can manipulate. She can cry. She can smolder in a manner we’ve not come to expect from Amy Adams. It’s a great part.

In fact, Adams and Bale are so great that Bradley Cooper’s performance as unbalance FBI agent Richie DiMaso never quite emerges from their shadows. Cooper is good, but, perhaps owning to the fact that the character he’s playing is fairly reprehensible, he doesn’t stand out here the way he did in last year’s Silver Linings Playbook. He’s engaging, but Bale and Adams seem to be in another class in this one. (So does Cooper’s Silver Linings co-star Jennifer Lawrence, by-the-way. I begin to wonder if there is any role she cannot play. As a supporting actress to Bale’s leading man, she is more than up to the task)

Jeremy Renner is strong. It’s his best performance since The Hurt Locker. Louis CK shows up and is nothing like one would expect, playing against type and drawing big laughs. There is also a powerful cameo which I won’t spoil, but I will say fits right into the tenor of the movie.

The character work – the masterful performances by the entire cast – is amazing. It’s so good that, at points in the film, one can fool oneself into thinking that these people are not actors, but real individuals that the camera has caught in some of the most terrible circumstances they could imagine. It’s pretty clear that’s what Russell wants the audience to feel.

That’s why the movie feels more character than plot driven. That’s why the resolution feels less than completely satisfying. This movie is a reflection of real life – a stylized, beautifully realized, not-at-all sentimentalized, 1970’s-sized reflection of real life. If that’s a disco to which you can dance, American Hustle is a terrific partner.

American Hustle receives 4 and a half pink foam hair rollers out of a possible five.