2011 SoundSpec Awards

Ellie Goulding co-leads with 6 noms.

Ranking the Fast & Furious Series

Blind Spot: King of Devil's Island (2011)

Nilssen and Helstad are fantastic.

Directed by Marius Holst
Produced by Karin Julsrud

Written by Mette M. Bølstad, Lars Saabe Christensen, Eric Schmid and Dennis Magnusson

Starring Stellan Skarsgård, Benjamin Helstad, Trond Nilssen

Review: Heartbeats (2011)

Left to right: Francis (Dolan), Nicolas (Schneider) & Marie (Chokri)

Directed by Xavier Dolan
Produced by Xavier Dolan, Carole Mondello, and Daniel Morin
Written by Xavier Dolan
Starring Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, and Xavier Dolan

Oscar Campaign Bust #5: J. Edgar

In early 2011, Leonardo DiCaprio was finally going to receive his fourth Oscar nomination, and possibly win the whole thing for his riveting portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover. A full campaign was launched to nab this generally generic biopic a Best Picture nod, and director Clint Eastwood's film looked primed for at least some technical nominations and a nod for Best Actor. The film was pushed on voters, and sometimes that's all you need. As the award season played out, DiCaprio was nominated by the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. The film even took home top ten awards from the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Everything was lined up for Leo. Then the Oscar nominations were announced without his name being called. 

Did it deserve to be nominated? Certainly not for Best Picture (or even Best Makeup), but DiCaprio's performance - one of his best - deserved more consideration. Then again, so did Michael Fassbender's in Shame.

Review: A Separation (2011)

Leila Hatami and Peyman Moadi in this powerful drama.

Directed by Asghar Farhadi
Produced by Asghar Farhadi
Written by Asghar Farhadi
Starring Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini, Saren Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Babak Karimi, Ali-Asghar Shahbazi, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh, Kimia Hosseini, and Merila Zarei

Oscar Scenes That Weren't: 2011

A victim of the snub.

Let's face it: the Academy Awards always snub one if not dozens of performances every year. Here are five scenes that should've (or could've) been nomination-worthy. Essentially, these are the scenes that probably would've been played at the Oscar ceremony when the nominee's name was read. (Granted, I had to work with what I could find online.)

Note: Performances like those of Fassbender (Shame), Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Shannon (Take Shelter), Harrelson (Rampart), Theron (Young Adult), Pitt (The Tree of Life), Paquin (Margaret), and Binoche (Certified Copy) aren't mentioned because most, if not all, of those are popular snubs.

Review: Margaret (2011)

Anna Paquin as Lisa Cohen

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Produced by Gary Gilbert, Sydney Pollack, and Scott Rudin
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
Starring Anna Paquin, J. Smith-Cameron, Jean Reno, Jeannie Berlin, Allison Janney, Matthew Broderick, Mark Ruffalo, and Matt Damon

2011 CinSpec Awards

Hugo (dir. Martin Scorsese)

2011 Reviews Archive

The Adjustment Bureau - ***
The Adventures of Tintin - ***1/2 
Another Earth - *** 
Arthur Christmas - ***
The Artist - ****
Attack the Block - *** 
The Beaver - ***1/2
Beginners - ****
A Better Life - **1/2
The Big Year - **
Bridesmaids - *** 
Captain America: The First Avenger - ***
Carnage - ***1/2
Cars 2 - **
Certified Copy - ****
Cold Weather - ***1/2
Colombiana - **
The Conspirator - ***1/2
Contagion - ****
Coriolanus - ****
Cowboys & Aliens - **
Crazy, Stupid, Love. - ***
A Dangerous Method - ***
The Debt - ***
The Descendants - ***1/2 
Drive - ****
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - **1/2 
Fast Five - ***
50/50 - ***
The Flowers of War - **1/2
Friends with Benefits - **1/2 
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - ***1/2 
Gnomeo and Juliet - ***
Green Lantern - * 
The Guard - ***1/2 
The Hangover Part II - ***
Hanna - ***1/2
Happy Feet 2 - **
Happythankyoumoreplease - *** 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - ****
Heartbeats - ****
The Help - ***
Horrible Bosses - **
Hugo - ****
The Ides of March - ***1/2
Immortals - ***
In Time - ***
The Iron Lady - *1/2
J. Edgar - ***
Jane Eyre - ***1/2
Kung Fu Panda 2 - **1/2
Larry Crowne - **1/2 
Last Night - *** 
Like Crazy - **
London Boulevard - ***  
Margaret - ****
Margin Call - ***1/2 
Martha Marcy May Marlene - ***1/2
Meek's Cutoff - ***
Melancholia - **** 
Midnight in Paris - ****
Miss Bala - ***1/2 
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - *** 
Moneyball - ****
The Muppets - ***
My Week with Marilyn - *** 
Mysteries of Lisbon - ***
New Year's Eve - *1/2
Newlyweds - ***1/2
No Strings Attached - **
One Day - **1/2
The Other Woman - **1/2
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - ***
Poetry - ****
Puss in Boots - **1/2 
Rango - ***
Real Steel - **1/2 
Restless - **1/2
Rio - **1/2 
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - *** 
The Rum Diary - **** 
Scream 4 - ***
Senna - **** 
Shame - ***1/2
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - ***1/2 
The Skin I Live In - ***1/2 
Sleeping Beauty - **** 
Source Code - ***
Submarine - ** 
Super 8 - ***
The Swell Season - *** 
Thor - ***
The Three Musketeers (2011) - **1/2 
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - **** 
Tower Heist - ***
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - **1/2
The Tree of Life - ****
The Trip - *** 
Unknown (2011) - **
War Horse - ***1/2
Warrior - ***1/2 
Water for Elephants - ***
We Need to Talk About Kevin - ***1/2
Win Win - ***
Winnie the Pooh - **1/2
X-Men: First Class - ***
Young Adult - ***1/2

Top 10 Movies of 2011

Last year was good year for movies. Nostalgic efforts like Best Picture-winner The Artist and nominees Hugo and Midnight in Paris were popular with critics, and the art-house crowd was given films like The Tree of Life, Melancholia, Certified Copy, Take Shelter, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. There were cult-driven movies like Drive, Hanna, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and edgier fare, such as Shame and Sleeping Beauty. While three Marvel films opened, Harry Potter ended, and breakout hits like Bridesmaids and Moneyball were released. Sadly, some brilliant films, such as Beginners, Contagion, Senna, and Margin Call, were largely ignored by audiences. Last but not least were guilty pleasures like The Rum Diary and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which added a bit of levity to the 2011 slate. On the whole, it was a solid year for the movies. My list of favorites is located after the cut.

84th Oscar Winners

The 2011 film awards season has ended, and it was fairly predictable. (Though, I am thrilled that Hugo - my favorite film of last year - won 5 Oscars, even if it did not deserve some of those wins.) While I went 16/24 in my predictions, I managed 22/24 with alternates. On to next year's campaign then.

Here are this year's winners:

Best Picture: The Artist

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist (Yay!)

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady (Oops.)

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris (Woo-hoo!)

Best Art Direction: Hugo (No contest.)

Best Cinematography: Hugo (Sorry, Lubezki.)

Best Costume Design: The Artist

Best Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (?)

Best Original Score: The Artist

Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets

Best Makeup: The Iron Lady

Best Sound Mixing: Hugo

Best Sound Editing: Hugo

Best Visual Effects: Hugo

Best Animated Feature: Rango

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Best Documentary Short: Saving Face

Best Live Action Short: The Shore

Best Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Final 84th Oscar Wins Predictions

It's that time:

Best Picture: The Artist (alt – Hugo)

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist (alt – Martin Scorsese, Hugo)

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist (alt – George Clooney, The Descendants)

Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help (alt – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady)

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners (alt – Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help (alt – Jessica Chastain, The Help)

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants (alt – Moneyball)

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris (alt – The Artist)

Best Art Direction: Hugo (alt – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)

Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life (alt – Hugo)

Best Costume Design: Jane Eyre (alt – The Artist)

Best Film Editing: Moneyball (alt – The Artist)

Best Original Score: The Artist (alt – Hugo)

Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets (alt – “Real in Rio” from Rio)

Best Makeup: The Iron Lady (alt – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2)

Best Sound Mixing: War Horse (alt – Hugo)

Best Sound Editing: War Horse (alt – Hugo)

Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (alt – Rise of the Planet of the Apes)

Best Animated Feature: Rango (alt – Chico and Rita)

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation (alt – In Darkness)

Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated (alt – Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory)

Best Documentary Short: The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (alt – Saving Face)

Best Live Action Short: The Shore (alt – Tuba Atlantic)

Best Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (alt – La Luna)

84th Oscar Nominations are here!

Best Picture:
--The Artist
--The Descendants
--Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
--The Help
--Hugo
--Midnight in Paris
--Moneyball
--The Tree of Life
--War Horse

Best Director:
--Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
--Michel Haznavicius, The Artist
--Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
--Alexander Payne, The Descendants
--Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor:
--Demian Bichir, A Better Life
--George Clooney, The Descendants
--Jean Dujardin, The Artist
--Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
--Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Supporting Actor:
--Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
--Jonah Hill, Moneyball
--Nick Nolte, Warrior
--Christopher Plummer, Beginners
--Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Actress:
--Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
--Viola Davis, The Help
--Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
--Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
--Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actress:
--Berenice Bejo, The Artist
--Jessica Chastain, The Help
--Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
--Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
--Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Adapted Screenplay:
--The Descendants
--Hugo
--The Ides of March
--Moneyball
--Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Original Screenplay:
--The Artist
--Bridesmaids
--Margin Call
--Midnight in Paris
--A Separation

Best Art Direction:
--The Artist
--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
--Hugo
--Midnight in Paris
--War Horse

Best Cinematography:
--The Artist
--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
--Hugo
--The Tree of Life
--War Horse

Best Costume Design:
--Anonymous
--The Artist
--Hugo
--Jane Eyre
--W.E.

Best Film Editing:
--The Artist
--The Descendants
--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
--Hugo
--Moneyball

Best Original Score:
--The Adventures of Tintin
--The Artist
--Hugo
--Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
--War Horse

Best Original Song:
--"Man or Muppet", The Muppets
--"Real in Rio", Rio

Best Makeup:
--Albert Nobbs
--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
--The Iron Lady

Best Sound Mixing:
--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
--Hugo
--Moneyball
--Transformers: Dark of the Moon
--War Horse

Best Sound Editing:
--Drive
--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
--Hugo
--Transformers: Dark of the Moon
--War Horse

Best Visual Effects:
--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
--Hugo
--Real Steel
--Rise of the Planet of the Apes
--Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Best Animated Feature Film:
--A Cat in Paris
--Chico & Rita
--Kung Fu Panda 2
--Puss in Boots
--Rango

Best Documentary Feature Film:
--Hell and Back Again
--If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
--Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
--Pina
--Undefeated

Best Foreign Language Film:
--Bullhead
--Footnote
--In Darkness
--Monsieur Lazhar
--A Separation

Final 84th Oscar Predictions

My final predictions for next week's Oscar nominations announcement are on the Oscar Predictions page above. More posts coming very soon.

UPDATE: 1/23 - Added the Documentary Feature category and tweaked my Animated Feature picks.