The Oscars 2012: Pick Your Favorites!
January 25, 2012 8 Comments
The Academy has posted its “Best Films” of 2011 nominations……the list: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Close and Personal, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Tree of Life and War Horse……WHAT? No Melancholia(editorial comment)…this should be fun…what do you think was the BEST film of the year???????…..I haven’t listed the other categories, but check them out and speak up!!!! Jolyn Wagner (still standing firm on Melancholia)
Best film: Shame
Best Actor: Brat Pitt (Moneyball)
Best Actress: Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
Best Supporting Actress: Carey Mulligan (Shame)
Best Cinematography: Melancholia
I can’t argue with your choices, Bob…but if you HAVE to choose from the official nominated list…what would you pick??? Here are my picks (given the “rule”)
Best film: Moneyball (gritty, smart, well played–pun intended)
Best director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo (it hurt to snub Hugo for best picture, because I thought it was magic…I’m splitting the difference and acknowledging the power of Scorsese’s vision(3D of course) and the impact of his genius and true love of film)
Best actor: Brad Pitt(a two-fer…he was terrific in Moneyball AND Tree of Life)
Best actress: Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs is a quiet little Irish film and she was very moving in a role that could have been preachy or silly or dull)
Best supporting actress: Melissa McCarthy (this ample actress stole the show in a very funny film…oscar too often snubs comedy and besides the BEST supporting actress was Carey Mulligan in Shame! I know, I just broke my own rule)
Best supporting actor: Christopher Plummer(a gutsy octogenarian role in Beginners)
Biggest snub: Melancholia
so there are my picks…what do you think? Jolyn
Jolyn,
Great picks Jolyn. I like most of your choices too.
Not interested in changing any of mine for the Academy’s sake. Don’t mind if I break their rules.
On the ‘official’ list, I only saw Moneyball.
Their ‘list’ doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the Academy for me anyway…it never has! I never had much confidence in them, or the Hollywood politics on which their picks so often seemed to be based.
They should let our group pick! We’d do a far better job I think.
-Bob
Best film: “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” – Grief and Asbergers along with powerful multi-generational family dynamics. Best director: Woddy Allen for “Midnight in Paris.” Best actress, Glenn Close. Best supporting actor, Max Van Sydow. Best supporting actress: Melissa McCarthy. Best actor: George Clooney, although no actor really stood out in my mind.
Best Movie: The Artist
Best Actor: (The Artist)
Best Supporting Female: (The Artist)
All the films nominated for Best Picture track the journey of an character with the odds stacked against him/her, through his/her struggle through various obstacles on the way to triumph.
Is this a coincidence?
No coincidence…and of course the biggest Oscar snub is a story where the characters have so much going for them(riches, beauty etc)and then the world ends with them in it (or depression ends their internal world)..either way, lots of struggle but no overcoming….that’s Melancholia and, as you point out Loretta, NO NOMINATION!!!!!!!!!! Jolyn
OK, here’s what I predict will win the Oscars.
Best Picture: The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney (but it should be Brad Pitt for his two movies this year)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Foreign Film: A Separation
Best Animated Short: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Lessmore
Best Action Shorts: Raju (though some on this blog have praised Tuba Atlantic…er, but also The Way!)
Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris (grrr!)