Wednesday, February 22, 2012

2011 Oscar Nominations


It is that time of the year again. The Oscars are back and will be televised this coming Sunday. It is interesting to note that the nominees with the most nominations were not on the top 10 grossing movies for 2011. Hugo which got the most nominations with 11 ranked 53rd in gross for 2011. The Artist got 10 nominations and ranked 101st in gross for 2011. A couple of years ago, the Academy decided to augment the nominees in the Best Picture category in order to allow blockbusters the opportunity to garner the golden statuette. Yet, in 2011, none of those blockbuster movies except for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (ranked 1st in gross, 3 nominations in technical awards which might not win one category) got any nominations.

See the list of 2011 gross rankings via BoxOfficeMojo.


It is incredible to believe that a black and white silent movie (The Artist) got the second most nominations at the Oscars. Yet, most people forget that Mel Brooks' comedy Silent Movie (1976) did just that. Never got nominated for an Oscar but did get nominated for four Golden Globes in the Best Motion Picture -- Comedy/Musical categories (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress) for Mel Brooks, Marty Feldman, and Bernadette Peters respectively. Of course, slapstick comedies never get nominated by the Academy.
I will highlight in red my predictions and when the winners are announced, I will highlight them in green.

Once again, the small independent movies beat out the blockbusters in nominations. Expanding the Best Picture category to up to 10 films in an effort to let the blockbusters the opportunity to garner a statuette has not worked. They just opened up the opportunity for more independents to get into the category. Thank you Academy for doing that.

Once again, the only films to consider in the Best Picture category are those where the Best Director are also nominated. So, those films will be highlighted in purple.
I think the strongest contenders for Best Picture will be The Artist and Hugo. The former for its uniqueness and the latter because it was directed by Martin Scorsese. He never does films like these. His youngest daughter was the one who told him to make the book into a movie...and he did.


Carlos the Critic Says:

So, the winner is.....
Hugo

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" Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers
  • "War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

All good directors and good films. This is definitely a tough choice.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Directing

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

George Clooney and Brad Pitt have been both nominated in this category in previous years while the other three nominees have not. Of the remaining three, Gary Oldman is the most recognizable due to the Harry Potter movies. However, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy hasn't gotten that much attention in the U.S. The movie ranked 112th in gross for 2011, yet the movie garnered three nominations.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....
George Clooney

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"

Wow, this is going to be a tough category. Everyone except for Jonah Hill has been Oscar nominated before. Branagh has been nominated four times before for Leading Actor, Director, Short Film and Writing; Nick Nolte for Leading Actor for Prince of Tides and Affliction; Christopher Plummer was just nominated for the first time two years ago in this category for The Last Station; and Max Von Sydow for Pelle the Conqueror in the Leading Actor category. Jonah Hill is the only actor who has never been nominated before and he is likely to be a long shot yet, it is not unusual for a newcomer to get an award in a category with more experienced actors. Hill is better known for his comedies but it was a dramatic part that got him into this category. I will take the long shot route.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....
Jonah Hill


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"


Everyone except for Mara has been nominated before. This is Streep's 17th nomination in the category. The most of any actor and believe it or not, she has only won it twice for Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice. She won the latter in 1982. It has been 30 years since she won an Oscar. So, it might be long overdue. However, the Academy does like cross-dressers like Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria and Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, though neither of them won the statuette. Though Close has been nominated five times before this one and never won a statuette, this could be her turn. Cross-dressing is a politically correct topic these days. Hmmm, this is a tough one.

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Glenn 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"

All but McTeer have never been nominated. It is unlikely that McCarthy will get it because slapstick comedies never win acting categories. That leaves Chastain and Spencer for The Help and McTeer for Albert Nobbs. Both of these films are the kind of politically correct films Hollywood likes.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Janet McTeer


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"

I don't recognize the first two films but do recognize the last three. I am surprised that The Adventures of Tin Tin was not included in this category. Hard to tell which of these actually deserves the statuette. Not a good year for animation. So, I am just going to guess.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Rango


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

Wow, the art direction in all these movies are amazing. Though Harry Potter has been nominated in this category three times before, they have never gotten an Oscar in any category. So, they are not likely to get this time either though it ranked 1st in gross in 2011. I think the two films in strong contention for this Oscar are The Artist and Hugo.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


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

Again, a hard choice.

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....The Artist


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

Usually, historical dramas get this category but again I think the two top contenders will be The Artist and Hugo.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


Costume Design

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

I have no idea. Haven't seen any of these so I won't try to guess.

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"
    Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
  • "Pina"
    Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
  • "Undefeated"
    TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas

Again, I am unfamiliar with any of these. So, I won't try to guess.

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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....The Artist


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

I have no idea.

Foreign Language Film

  • "Bullhead" Belgium
  • "Footnote" Israel
  • "In Darkness" Poland
  • "Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
  • "A Separation" Iran

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Albert Nobbs


Makeup

  • "Albert Nobbs"
    Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
  • "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
    Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
  • "The Iron Lady"
    Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Wow, John Williams nominated twice in the same category. He has been an Oscar nominee for more than 44 times since 1967. You may remember his scores from Jaws, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire of the Sun, and many, many, many more. The last time he won an Oscar was in 1993 for Schindler's List. So, he might be long overdue.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....John Williams for War Horse


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

Wow, only two songs were worthy to be nominated from last year's movies. That's pretty bad. The Muppet Movie (1979) was nominated in this category for The Rainbow Connection which is still a fairly popular song.
Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Man on Muppet from The Muppets

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
I have no idea.

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

I have no idea.

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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


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, David 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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


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 Grossmann 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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Hugo


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

Carlos the Critic Says:
So, the winner is.....Midnight in Paris


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