Oscars 2012

Once More! The best thing about being a movie critic is that you are never wrong. Movies are art. Art is subjective. Movie criticism is merely the objective view of what the movie critic thought of the subjective subject matter. So when I say so and so is the best of the year it is always and forever correct because the title of the award is  not "Best Picture of the Year" but "The Picture Max thought was Best." If you want to know what the Academy thought, go watch the Oscars. And if you don't like that either, write your own article. 

2012 was an incredible year for movies. One is always excited when new talent is found. This year director Behn Zeitlen (Beasts of the Southern Wild) entered the national consciousness. It is also very gratifying when those newly discovered talents mature into the competent and productive artists you hoped they would become, example such as Ben Affleck (Argo) and Rian Johnson (Looper) come to mind. And it is always nice to not be let down by already established artists that continue to expand their portfolio with movies that are on par with their previous work: Steven Soderbergh (Haywire, Magic Mike), Richard Linklater (Bernie), Ridley Scott (Prometheus), Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Andy and Larry Wachowski (Cloud Atlas), Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty). But how many times have you seen a year in which directors who have already made their masterpieces, the movies by which they will be remembered for, come back and turn in what is arguably their best work yet, and it isn’t just one of them, it is several! This year we saw truly great works by Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), and finally Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained). And the mass-market blockbusters weren't that bad either (21 Jump Street, The Hunger Games, The Avengers, the Dark Knight Rises), case in point a James Bond installment that was arguably the best in the 50 year long franchise (Skyfall). Finally with special mention is the live action return of Robert Zemeckis (Flight) from a decade of lost wandering in the valley of the uncanny. I hope you saw most if not all or at least some of these movies this year. 

Awards Time! I always start with what I know least about so be informed that this gets better. Bold indicates a winner.

Foreign Language Film

I did not see a foreign language film this year. Isn't that ridiculous? I swear I generally don't shy away from those things.

Short Films

I only saw a couple of these. La Luna was by Pixar so I wouldn't be surprised if it actually was the best of the year.

La Luna
The Longest Daycare
The Paperman

Best Animated Feature

I never got around to seeing Wreck-It Ralph so I'm forced to give this to Brave, although it really isn't a great movie.




Best Sound Mixing/Best Sound Editing

I keep having to look up what this category actually judges. Apparently Sound Mixing is making up noises that aren't music and Sound Editing is all of the noises that aren't music being put together. I have a hard time ever noticing that sort of thing, except perhaps during Beasts of the Southern Wild, particularly in the beginning scenes when the kid is out in the woods putting animals up to her ear to hear their heartbeats.

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Flight
Life of Pi





Best Original Score

The movie Cloud Atlas contains six unique stories that with dissimilar genres, times, places, and characters. What unifies all of these stories is an incredible score, the Cloud Atlas. This is one of those very rare movies where the title refers actually refers to the music and not really the . And like Brazil the original score is worthy of it.  

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Cloud Atlas

The Master




Best Musical Number

The Best Song category is worst than useless. It not only nominates generally inferior songs but it completely ignores all the good ones. This is particularly obvious in a year that contains Les Miserables. That movie has great songs but none of them are nominated because they have been adapted from the original broadway play. So the Academy instead nominated a song named "Suddenly" which is one of the worst songs in the movie. Soooo I discard the originality rule when I pick Best Musical Number.

"I've Gotta Crow" from 21 Jump Street
"I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables
"One More Day" from Les Miserables
"Pony" from Magic Mike
"Ballroom Dance Medley" from Silver Linings Playbook





Best Production Design

Only in a Wes Anderson movie would the characters take the time to do an inventory of the things they are carrying. That is how much love and detail are put into all the sets and props. Very easy category to pick.

Dark Shadows
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Prometheus





Best Makeup/Hairstyling

Generally, if you're dolling up Helena Bonham Carter (usually in a Tim Burton flick) you will get my pick for Best Makeup. I also liked Suzie's eyeliner in Moonrise Kingdom and the way Daniel Day Lewis was made to look tall in Lincoln. (He totally isn't!) Full disclosure: I know nothing about makeup.

Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom



Best Costume Design

I thought whatever Matthew McConaughey was wearing in any scene in “Magic Mike” was hilarious. Besides the costumes in that movie meant more to the plot than any other movie, right? Maybe? Jamie Foxx’s sunglasses in Django Unchained were badass too.

Django Unchained
Magic Mike
Snow White and the Huntsman





Best Visual Effects

Life of Pi was the first movie since I saw since Avatar where I felt the extra 3D surcharge was actually worth it. 3D and not a scam? Give that movie an Oscar! Cool tiger too, bro. And finally this is a pretty good spot to admit I did not see The Hobbit. I seriously don't know what happened. I really wanted to see it. I will be the first one in line for the DVD Director's Cut Abridged Version.

The Avengers
Life of Pi
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman
Ted





Best Cinematography

If you were wondering why the last James Bond movie, Skyfall, looked so good, a glance at the cinematographer title should clear up the mystery quick. The man's name is Deakins, Roger Deakins, and ever since Scorsese finally won his Oscar in 2007 he has taken on the mantle of the Academy's most snubbed. Will this finally be the year? Skyfall sure loooked good, didn't it? Here is hoping that the 10th nomination will be the charm.

The Dark Knight Rises
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall





Best Film Editing

There were a lot of things I did not like about Argo, but it must be admitted that it was a very superior movie in terms of showing parallel action which is what great editing is all about. A fine example being the flawless interspersing of three speeches from Hollywood, Washington, and Iran.

Argo
Cloud Atlas
Flight
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty




Best Documentary

The amount of documentaries I have seen this year limited, but I am confident saying that The Queen of Versailles is well-qualified for best of the year. A rags-to-riches-to-rags tale centered around the half-finished biggest waste of money to come out of the real estate bubble.

The Invisible War
The Queen of Versailles





Best Supporting Actress

The Supporting Actress category is usually so weak and the Academy's imagination so limited that it is constantly filled with not-so-special performances from whatever is most likely to win Best Picture. I like to use the shallow number of good dramatic roles for women as an opportunity to pick some comedic highlights for a change. This year that spotlight belongs to Ellie Kemper and Michaela Watkins, two comedians that will hopefully no longer be supporting characters someday. Of course, I did see Les Miserables and it really is no contest. I could pretend to be macho and be like 'what a crybaby and all that' but there really is no use denying it. I was in a crowded theater and I sincerely wanted everyone else to leave during that song. It was so good it was embarrassing.

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Ellie Kemper, 21 Jump Street
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Charlize Theron, Snow White and the Huntsman
Michaela Watkins, Wanderlust





Best Supporting Actor

For the first time in perhaps ever, the Academy's race for Best Supporting Actor contain all Oscar winners. It is a shame. Because this year saw some genuinely great performances from some routinely type-casted and overlooked men. That would be Sam Rockwell and the trio of blockbuster stars Bruce Willis, Matthew McConaughey, and Samuel L. Jackson. I give Jackson the ultimate tip of the hat because whereas McConaughey and Willis are basically giving the same very good type performance just this time in a superior movie, Jackson is pulling off something completely original not only for himself (impressive given his work-a-holic career) but to movies in general.

Robert De Niro "Silver Linings Playbook"
Samuel L. Jackson "Django Unchained"
Matthew McConaughey "Magic Mike"
Sam Rockwell "Seven Psychopaths"
Bruce Willis "Moonrise Kingdom"





Best Actress

The premise of a little movie named "Safety Not Guaranteed" is absolutely preposterous and its source material is quite literally a big fat joke. This movie should be good for nothing other than a couple of laughs but somehow works as a genuine romance. The reason for that is some keen writing but mostly the performance of Aubrey Plaza, an actor with the ability to speak paragraphs of empathy in the smallest of glances. And she's funny and beautiful and smart too don't you know. Here, bee-tee-dubs, is a good place to mention that I saw "Zero Dark Thirty" but my experience of it was marred by a very present drunk heckler. So I really only half saw it. Sorry Chastain.

Jessica Chastain "Zero Dark Thirty"
Eva Green "Dark Shadows"
Aubrey Plaza "Safety Not Guaranteed"
Noomi Rapace "Prometheus"
Quvenshane Wallis "Beasts of the Southern Wild"





Best Actor

First, I want to say how funny it was that  Joaquin Phoenix was nominated after he publicly declared that the Oscars were complete bullshit and he didn't want anything to do with them. That's good sportsmanship on the Academy's part. Also I will say this, I do not buy Hoffman as a supporting actor in "The Master." After all, he is the title "Master." Still, the Oscar goes to Daniel Day Lewis. Killer work on the voice (and the height)!

Bradley Cooper "Silver Linings Playbook"
Daniel Day Lewis "Lincoln"
Philip Seymour Hoffman "The Master"
Hugh Jackman "Les Miserables"
Joaquin Phoenix "The Master"






Best Original Screenplay


"Django Unchained" is a three hour movie that feels short and contains a perfectly balanced amount of action and dialogue, a killer cast in classic roles, and a supremely cathartic long awaited much deserved cinematic comeuppance. It is funny, intelligent, historically accurate in all the right ways, historically inaccurate in all the fun ways, delightfully wicked, and so original it may be the start of a whole new genre of film: the "Southern" movie. In as such splendid company as it possibly can be in (this year was no slouch year for original writing) it stands supreme.

Paul Thomas Anderson "The Master"
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola "Moonrise Kingdom"
Mark Boal "Zero Dark Thirty"
Rian Johnson "Looper"
Quentin Tarantino "Django Unchained"






Best Adapted Screenplay

The job set for the writer of "Lincoln" is to represent faithfully the many types of constituents that Abe has to appease in order to pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. And boy are there a lot of them. Kushner gets everything explained in a way that is clear, concise, and creates suspense. There is even room left over for some domestic strife and a couple of jokes. Have you heard the one about Ethan Allan and the portrait of George Washington in an English outhouse.

Tony Kushner "Lincoln"
David Magee "Life of Pi"
David O. Russell "Silver Linings Playbook"
Andy and Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer "Cloud Atlas"
Behn Zeitlen and Lucy Alibar "Beasts of the Southern Wild"




Best Director

This is a tough one, but I'm going to go ahead and give it to David O. Russell because his unique style of direction complements his story better than any other directing style complements any other story this year. By that I mean the rather chaotic method by which Russell puts together his movies is exactly the best way to frame the off-kilter yet endearing people that make up the heart of "Silver Linings Playbook."

Wes Anderson "Moonrise Kingdom"
Rian Johnson "Looper"
David O. Russell "Silver Linings Playbook"
Steven Spielberg "Lincoln"
Quentin Tarantino "Django Unchained"

Best Picture of The Year

21 Jump Street

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Cloud Atlas

Django Unchained

Flight

Lincoln

Looper

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

And the winner is...........DJANGO!!!

Dare I say that "Django Unchained," besides being a helluva good time at the movies, is a culturally important movie. At the very least it should stand as a cinematic antidote to all the virulently racist movies that Hollywood churned out in its early days: a prime example of that being the first blockbuster ever: 1915's Birth of a Nation. There is a scene in that movie where the idea for the Ku Klux Klan is started by a couple of white children accidentally scaring a couple black children by covering themselves with white bedsheets and yelling 'boo.' How innocent and quaint the whole thing was. Contrast that to the above scene in "Django Unchained" which shows the KKK being started by a bunch of dumb-asses on a ridge whose mission to murder an innocent black man is sidetracked because they can't see out of the incompetently made bags on their heads. "Django Unchained" isn't blaxploitation. It's racist slaveowner-exploitation in the same way that "The Producers," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "Inglourious Basterds" exploits Nazis, not Jews. It's about time the movies started exploiting slaveowners and Tarantino deserves many accolades for taking an enthusiastic plunge into such uncharted territory. Here is to seeing many more movies in which slaveowners are ridiculed, stigmatized, and endure heaps of violence. They were huge fucking assholes and totally deserve it.