This is one of the toughest year’s to make predictions with almost every category having at least two strong contenders. There is no Titanic like film this year to bulldoze its way through every category it has been nominated for. But yet, I’ll have to throw my hat into the ring with just one choice for who might win and another for whom I would give the Oscar to.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
All films in this category are nominated for Best Picture. So from just these five nominees, the one that has the best chance of winning Best Picture should also win in this category. That I think will be Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network. And that’s pretty much my choice too.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Caveat: I haven’t seen Mike Leigh’s Another Year. So if he were to win, I stand acquitted. From the other four, it could either be Christopher Nolan for Inception or David Seidler for The King’s Speech. I would give it to The King. The Academy might concur.
Animated Feature Film
Last year, Up was nominated in this category as well as for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It won for Best Animated Film. This year the story repeats itself with Toy Story 3. Why does the Academy bother to nominate two more films in this category when it’s making its choice so obvious in advance? If it doesn’t win, it’s inexplicable. I haven’t seen the other two films nominated but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to award Toy Story 3.
(Can I use a similar analogy and say that Biutiful will win for Best Foreign Language Film? After all, it has also been nominated for Best Actor. I think I’d rather not. Last year, I over-confidently, ended up proclaiming White Ribbon in this category without having seen a single film nominated. This year, I’d rather not have egg on my face.)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Every since I have seen The King’s Speech and The Fighter on back-to-back days, I have been tearing my hair out trying to figure whether it will be Geoffrey Rush or Christian Bale. Rush has already been feted once. But that logic seldom applies nowadays. My personal choice is Bale, without any doubt. But that is not to belittle Rush’s performance. The Academy is likely to go with him. This is one category, where I shall be happy if I am proven wrong.
Actress in a Supporting Role
I found this to be the toughest category to predict. Each time I go over the list of nominees, each looks stronger than the rest. So we’ll start with elimination. First, I’ll discount Amy Adams, simply because Melissa Leo in the same film was better than her. Then I’ll take out Helena Bonham Carter. After the hue and cry over the Oscar for Judi Dench for Shakespeare in Love, I hope that Academy has learnt its lesson and will not award it to someone who has very little footage in a film. Hailee Steifeld is young and can wait for her turn. So it’s a showdown between the two tough mamas – Jacki Weaver and Melissa Leo. Leo has a slight upper edge because her role is lengthier than Weaver’s. She would be my choice too.
Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth. Period.
Actress in a Leading Role
The buzz surrounding Natalie Portman is so strong, I have a feeling this is going to be her year. Annette Bening’s shine gets diluted in the crowd of other good actors in The Kids Are All Right. My Oscar goes to Jennifer Lawrence for single handedly, carrying off Winter’s Bone.
Directing
Hmmm. Whatever I say here is also true for Best Picture. It’s a difficult call between David Fincher for The Social Network and Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech. Judging by past Academy trends, here’s the equation – Social Handicap + Biopic vs. Handicap + Biopic + Costume Drama. Its three is to two in the King’s favour. I’d crown him too.
Best Picture
This is a farce of a category with 10 nominees begging for the hosts to spoof them. Just once, I’d like to see a film win that hasn’t been nominated for Directing. It’s going to be The King’s Speech alright. If I could award a silver Oscar, it would go to Winter’s Bone.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE ROAD TO THE OSCARS: 2011
A quick round up (I’ll refrain from using the term “dummy’s guide”) of the films nominated for the Oscars in the major categories this year. Some notables such as The Ghost Writer are missing. But otherwise, it has been a good mix this year.
The Social Network
When I heard about a film being made on the creation of Facebook, I was like, how interesting can that be. But I was wrong. This is a film that’s as fast as its lead character’s diction. David Fincher keeps things smart and to the point. Jesse Eisenberg is nice as Mark Zuckerberg. Overall, it’s a film that you’ll definitely ‘like’.
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 follows a formula that is increasingly becoming common to 3D animation flicks – thrills followed by comedy followed by pathos followed by comedy followed by some more thrills and ultimately, a happy ending. This makes it difficult for it to stand out from so many other 3D animation films we have being seeing over the years. It’s entertaining, but nothing spectacular.
Animal Kingdom
This is a film about a family of criminals in Australia, told through the eyes of their slightly slow nephew who comes to stay with them after his mother’s death. Key decisions in the family are often influenced by the mother, Jackie Weaver. She’s constantly smiling a mirthless smile that reveals her true ruthless character. Genuinely scary. A strong contender for best supporting actress.
The Fighter
Here’s another film where the mother plays a strong, important role. Melissa Leo is the manager-by-default for her son, Mark Wahlberg, who is a small time boxer looking to wriggle out of poverty by fighting the right fights. His brother, Christian Bale, in his best performance to date, is a has-been boxer who has taken to drugs and shaping his brother’s career, whatever shape that maybe. Wahlberg’s bartender-girlfriend, Amy Adams realizes the mess he is in and tries to show him the right path. It’s a superb film with splendid turns by each actor. Never over-the-top, it’s all that you may never expect from a film about boxing.
Winter’s Bone
From one poor family to another. 17 year Jennifer Lawrence’s father has flown the coop, after paying off his bail with whatever little property they had. She is left with a kid brother and sister and an invalid mother to tend to. Her only hope is to track down her father. Its Lawrence’s film all the way as she essays the role of the determined, yet vulnerable girl with total conviction.
Blue Valentine
An extreme close up of a marriage which has nothing left in it to go on. It alternates between today where the husband and wife are constantly having arguments and the good old days when they met for the first time. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are the pair in question. Needless to say, the acting is brilliant.
Rabbit Hole
Another film about a marriage in trouble, another film with superb performaces by the lead pair. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the couple who have never quite come to terms with a tragedy in the family. Their failure to talk about it is leading to all sorts of problems in their personal lives.
127 Hours
For a change, an upbeat film to lift your spirits. James Franco is a daredevil hiker who gets his right arm caught ‘between a rock and a hard place’. Based on a real life incident, he spends a harrowing 5 days in the same position before he… well, you have to see the film to find out. Danny Boyle’s inventive, stylized direction is always fun to watch.
Black Swan
Films on similar lines have been made in a better fashion. Not that Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a bad film, but it just isn’t in the league of some of the other nominees this year. A ballerina playing the swan princess loses the distinction between her real life and the role. I wasn’t impressed with Natalie Portman; Mila Kunis in a brief role stole the scenes.
Inception
Surely you have already seen this mind bender by Christopher Nolan. Which will spare me the extrmelty difficult part of summarizing it in just one sentence. It’s one of those films where you can get away by saying ‘like it or hate it, you can’t ignore it’. I liked it.
The Town
There isn’t a single scene in The Town which won’t remind you of some movie you’ve seen before. A film about a bunch of bank robbers where one of them falles for a witness with the FBI hot in pursuit. Yet, it’s a testament to Ben Affleck’s directing skills that he makes it into a watchable film.
True Grit
I was left wondering why this remake had to be made in the first place. Was it a safe bet for the Coen brothers for whom this was the first outing in the Wild West? Jeff Bridges is as good as John Wayne was as Rooster Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld is better than Kim Darby as Mattie Ross. But everything else is nothing you haven’t seen in the original. Matt Damon as LaBoeuf could have been played by any actor with a moustache in a hat. At best, it’s a good substitute for those who haven’t seen the first version.
The Kids Are All Right
A film with a lesbian couple in the lead but it’s never about homosexuality. Annette Bening starts feeling insecure when the biological father of their children, Mark Ruffalo comes into their lives and inadvertently, starts pushing her out. A good ensemble cast with Julianne Moore as the other half of the couple.
The King’s Speech
This will be the film to beat at this year’s Oscars. It’s not intolerable in length, something that a costume drama rarely is. It’s funny, something that a film about a handicap rarely is. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are irresistible as the incumbent King with a stammer and his unconventional speech therapist, respectively. It’s already leading the tally in terms of nominations. It could also be the front runner for actual awards won.
The Social Network
When I heard about a film being made on the creation of Facebook, I was like, how interesting can that be. But I was wrong. This is a film that’s as fast as its lead character’s diction. David Fincher keeps things smart and to the point. Jesse Eisenberg is nice as Mark Zuckerberg. Overall, it’s a film that you’ll definitely ‘like’.
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 follows a formula that is increasingly becoming common to 3D animation flicks – thrills followed by comedy followed by pathos followed by comedy followed by some more thrills and ultimately, a happy ending. This makes it difficult for it to stand out from so many other 3D animation films we have being seeing over the years. It’s entertaining, but nothing spectacular.
Animal Kingdom
This is a film about a family of criminals in Australia, told through the eyes of their slightly slow nephew who comes to stay with them after his mother’s death. Key decisions in the family are often influenced by the mother, Jackie Weaver. She’s constantly smiling a mirthless smile that reveals her true ruthless character. Genuinely scary. A strong contender for best supporting actress.
The Fighter
Here’s another film where the mother plays a strong, important role. Melissa Leo is the manager-by-default for her son, Mark Wahlberg, who is a small time boxer looking to wriggle out of poverty by fighting the right fights. His brother, Christian Bale, in his best performance to date, is a has-been boxer who has taken to drugs and shaping his brother’s career, whatever shape that maybe. Wahlberg’s bartender-girlfriend, Amy Adams realizes the mess he is in and tries to show him the right path. It’s a superb film with splendid turns by each actor. Never over-the-top, it’s all that you may never expect from a film about boxing.
Winter’s Bone
From one poor family to another. 17 year Jennifer Lawrence’s father has flown the coop, after paying off his bail with whatever little property they had. She is left with a kid brother and sister and an invalid mother to tend to. Her only hope is to track down her father. Its Lawrence’s film all the way as she essays the role of the determined, yet vulnerable girl with total conviction.
Blue Valentine
An extreme close up of a marriage which has nothing left in it to go on. It alternates between today where the husband and wife are constantly having arguments and the good old days when they met for the first time. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are the pair in question. Needless to say, the acting is brilliant.
Rabbit Hole
Another film about a marriage in trouble, another film with superb performaces by the lead pair. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the couple who have never quite come to terms with a tragedy in the family. Their failure to talk about it is leading to all sorts of problems in their personal lives.
127 Hours
For a change, an upbeat film to lift your spirits. James Franco is a daredevil hiker who gets his right arm caught ‘between a rock and a hard place’. Based on a real life incident, he spends a harrowing 5 days in the same position before he… well, you have to see the film to find out. Danny Boyle’s inventive, stylized direction is always fun to watch.
Black Swan
Films on similar lines have been made in a better fashion. Not that Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is a bad film, but it just isn’t in the league of some of the other nominees this year. A ballerina playing the swan princess loses the distinction between her real life and the role. I wasn’t impressed with Natalie Portman; Mila Kunis in a brief role stole the scenes.
Inception
Surely you have already seen this mind bender by Christopher Nolan. Which will spare me the extrmelty difficult part of summarizing it in just one sentence. It’s one of those films where you can get away by saying ‘like it or hate it, you can’t ignore it’. I liked it.
The Town
There isn’t a single scene in The Town which won’t remind you of some movie you’ve seen before. A film about a bunch of bank robbers where one of them falles for a witness with the FBI hot in pursuit. Yet, it’s a testament to Ben Affleck’s directing skills that he makes it into a watchable film.
True Grit
I was left wondering why this remake had to be made in the first place. Was it a safe bet for the Coen brothers for whom this was the first outing in the Wild West? Jeff Bridges is as good as John Wayne was as Rooster Cogburn and Hailee Steinfeld is better than Kim Darby as Mattie Ross. But everything else is nothing you haven’t seen in the original. Matt Damon as LaBoeuf could have been played by any actor with a moustache in a hat. At best, it’s a good substitute for those who haven’t seen the first version.
The Kids Are All Right
A film with a lesbian couple in the lead but it’s never about homosexuality. Annette Bening starts feeling insecure when the biological father of their children, Mark Ruffalo comes into their lives and inadvertently, starts pushing her out. A good ensemble cast with Julianne Moore as the other half of the couple.
The King’s Speech
This will be the film to beat at this year’s Oscars. It’s not intolerable in length, something that a costume drama rarely is. It’s funny, something that a film about a handicap rarely is. Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush are irresistible as the incumbent King with a stammer and his unconventional speech therapist, respectively. It’s already leading the tally in terms of nominations. It could also be the front runner for actual awards won.
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