Wrapping up my perspective on the year today, a personal list of superlatives, Oscar categories and other silly nonsense.
Swing back around on Monday for the ultimate wrap-up, my list of the best films of the decade.
Best Picture
“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
Best Director
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “A Serious Man”
Best Actor
Sharlto Copley, “District 9”
Best Actress
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Speaking of “Crazy Heart,” I’ve been told that Maggie Gyllenhaal’s campaign for the film has been (smartly) shifted from lead actress to supporting actress. One can only expect that the original (in my opinion, false) perspective that the lead actress field was “weak” had something to do with the original placement. But I’ve always been of the mind that the film is about Bad Blake and that a co-lead argument doesn’t gel here.
The performance was submitted to the Screen Actors Guild as a lead, while the HFPA designated it a lead for their purposes as well. The Academy, of course, can vote how they choose, but I think this part naturally pops out as a supporting one and that any votes will likely go there anyway.
It’s also a bit encouraging that Gyllenhaal had some modest support in the early stages of the NYFCC’s voting last week. But the question is, can she make the cut? And I actually think there is a shot here, to be honest.
Today we’re wrapping up the “listen to” series of featured tracks in this year’s Best Original Song race. We spotlighted 17 contenders in total, not all of which made the eventual eligibility cut, of course. But it’s been a nice way of giving the field it’s proper due.
Surprisingly enough, only one other song from “Crazy Heart” joined “The Weary Kind” on this year’s list of eligible contenders. That song was “Somebody Else,” which is in fact the first tune we hear Jeff Bridges’s Bad Blake character sing in the film. The opening lyric was a particular favorite of songwriter T Bone Burnett’s: “I used to be somebody. Now I am somebody else.”
It’s a great moment because it introduces you to the killer soundtrack that will unfold for the next two hours and because it sheds a compelling light on the film’s central character, a man clinging to his past when he has long outgrown it.
Have a listen below and tell us what you think.
[display_podcast]
It’s heeeeerrreee. Arguably the most anticipated film of the year hit theaters at midnight and by now, it’s probably worth tossing up one of these posts to gauge reaction. I’ve offered my thoughts, but I must say, I’m dying to know what everyone else thinks. Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below once you’ve had a chance to see the flick this weekend.
We’ve added the Screen Actors Guild, Las Vegas and Utah film critics, as well as Detroit’s winners, to our precursor collective, FYI. Have a look here.
• Anne Thompson reports that there is no “official” costume designer on “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” so anyone holding out longshot hope for its Oscar chances in that field can go ahead and focus elsewhere. [Thompson on Hollywood]
• Melena Ryzik gets Ivan Reitman to admit “The Hangover” would be on his top 10 list. [The Carpetbagger]
• Dave Karger chats with “Nine” star Penelope Cruz, who could be on her way to back-to-back supporting actress nominations. [Oscar Watch]
A few things puzzled me about this Variety piece in which Iain Blair takes on a familiar chestnut of a topic: the box-office divide between public favorites and Oscar contenders.
The first is that he considers the “disparity between art and commerce” to be “accelerating” — a curious argument to make at a time when “Avatar,” “Up” and “Inglourious Basterds” (none of which Blair mentions) look likely to feature on the Best Picture list. Blair’s argument is well-tailored to last year’s Oscar race, but reads somewhat stale now.
The second is, well, this entire paragraph:
Sure, “Titanic” grabbed a ton of Oscars and racked up the biggest box office in history. But more recent critically acclaimed best picture winners such as “Shakespeare in Love,” “A Beautiful Mind” and “Chicago” did middling to poor business. And “Crash” and “The English Patient” simply crashed and, well, burned at the box office.
Now a UK cinema-going institution, this series of Orange cellphone ads consistently pokes fun at the career doldrums of Hollywood has-beens — so it’s ironic that their newest features a star of the season’s biggest film. Anyway, Sigourney Weaver is the latest name to the long line of good sports, from Anjelica Huston to Rob Lowe.
The pres release, in part:
Golden Globe winners Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio will present the Cecil B. DeMille Award to Martin Scorsese at “The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” on Sunday, January 17. The show, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will be broadcast live coast to coast on NBC (5 to 8 pm PT, 8 to 11 pm ET) from The Beverly Hilton.
“The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” will be seen in more than 160 countries worldwide and is one of the few awards ceremonies that span both television and motion picture achievements.
The press release, in part:
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is pleased to announce Kathryn Bigelow as the Outstanding Director of the Year for the 2010 Silver Anniversary edition. In what has become an annual tradition in featuring a Guest Director, SBIFF will program a retrospective of Bigelow’s films.
On Monday, February 8, SBIFF will present “A Celebration of Kathryn Bigelow.” A director not afraid to push the envelope in the cinematic world, Kathryn Bigelow has the eye for the picture she wants to present and then does so, with an expertise that is both gracious and bold. Having studied art, she takes her vision and presents it to her audience all the while telling a tale that evokes various and intense emotions. Bigelow graduated from Columbia’s Film School and started a career, gaining experience in numerous genres – such as music videos, television and film, showing us once again the depth of her creativity and talent.
Commented SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling, “Kathryn’s custom of the first person perspective throughout her films, as seen in Point Break and Strange Days, had always made her films visceral and favorites of mine, but the culmination of this is The Hurt Locker – her crowning achievement. The fact that I’m able to honor a fellow alumnus of the Columbia Grad School is icing on the cake.”
There wasn’t much in the way of a surprise with this year’s Screen Actors Guild announcement. The nods that are least likely to translate to Oscar, if I were a betting man, are Diane Kruger’s supporting actress bid for “Inglourious Basterds” and (I guess I just have a feeling) Matt Damon, supporting for “Invictus.” The rest seem like safe bets on down the line.
I wouldn’t read too much into the ensemble snub of “Up in the Air,” though it’s curious to nominate three actors from the film and then ignore it in that field. The ensemble category is also where “Nine” got its expected attention, though Penelope Cruz also showed up in supporting for the film. The BFCA, you’ll recall, went for Marion Cotillard instead.
“Precious,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Up in the Air” had the most nominations, with three apiece. I would have expected “An Education” to have that designation, too, but somehow Alfred Molina was ignored. Maybe that won’t be the case with Oscar, maybe it will.
On to the next thing. Check the full list of nominees after the jump.
• Anthony Breznican writes up the year in varied animated features. [USA Today]
• David Thomson on the death of method acting. [Wall Street Journal]
• Tom O’Neil chats up “The Messenger” star Ben Foster. [Gold Derby]
Kris is too smart to go there but, undeterred by my less-than-stellar Globes showing, I will.
Principally, I admit, because I feel like going on record with my odd conviction that “The Messenger” will claim four nods. This is the film’s moment to pounce, I think.
My biggest wish for the morning? For an unexpected (and deserving) name to crop up in that still-wild final Best Actress spot. (Sidebar: does the Best Stunt Ensemble award still exist? Why is no one predicting it?)
What are the crazy voices in your head telling you? My guesses after the cut.
I was going to give these a whirl but, eh, whatever. If you’d like to take a stab, have at it.
It’s been fun bringing a great many of this year’s Best Original Song contenders to you every few days with the “listen to” posts, but today, the Academy offered up the full list of contenders, so things are beginning to settle in. There are a few surprises, however.
Firstly, only two tracks from “Crazy Heart” are on the list. I’m not sure if that’s because only two were submitted, but there are six solid original tunes on the soundtrack. And four songs from “The Princess and the Frog” weren’t on the list (one of them, “Friends on the Other Side,” being one of my favorites from the film). Again, I don’t know if that’s because only the four on the list were submitted.
Mary J. Blige’s “I Can See in Color” from “Precious” is the most notable exclusion. I guess it didn’t play for long enough to be of any impact, but to my mind, it was one of the best songs in the hunt.
Earlier today we featured “You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger,” Beth Rowley’s original song contender from “An Education.” Now we’d like to bring a second track from the film to your attention: “Smoke Without Fire” from Welsh sensation Duffy.
This is a potent little ditty but it is the first cue on the opening credits, which, as we’ve mentioned many times, isn’t an immediate deal breaker, but it makes the climb a bit more difficult. Not to mention Rowley’s track features so prominently within the context of the film that, if either is going to get in, that would be it.
Still, we shouldn’t take too much away from Duffy’s song. It’s a great button on the end of the film, seemingly belted from the weary soul of a youngster who got in too deep. You know my feelings on this category. I think a song’s placement at the end of a film can have as much impact on your interpretation of the film as a song placed within, so if I had a vote, I imagine I’d be taking this one a bit more seriously than most.
Have a listen below and tell us what you think.
[display_podcast]
Every year I like to keep track of personal favorites throughout the Academy’s designated categories (plus one of my own addition, Best Ensemble). At the end of the year, my “if I had a ballot” post is the result.
Of course, for the most part, I follow Academy designations here. If something is ruled ineligible, I play along. It’s not that often that something like that is egregious anyway, though the music branch consistently tests my resolve on the matter. In years past I’ve tried to make it an AMPAS/critics’ awards hybrid kind of thing, but this makes it easier.
I know, I know. “Why don’t you just list what you think should be nominated, the rules be damned?” Because then I couldn’t call it “If I had a ballot?” But I guess I’m contradicting myself by adding a category. I don’t know. I’m just trying not to be too lamely definitive or authoritative with something like this, I suppose.
Anyway, I’m also abstaining from offering up a list of foreign language nods. Firstly, I feel it’s been a rather weak year in general there, but I also haven’t made my way fully through the list of submissions either. So I’ll address that another time. The same goes with he doc features, as I’d rather push through more of the eligible titles first.
This year the top 10 is the Best Picture field, obviously, and from there, I toss my two cents into a variety of discussions. Here’s what I came up with…