2013 Academy Award Nominations

[cinemabon]

I believe that whatever "Argo" can win in two weeks, it will. The Academy old timers who failed to acknowledge Ben Affleck this time are being punished. The community has moved over to Affleck's side and the win for Best Picture will vindicate that. But is it really the best picture. I could argue that some on that recent were far from being Best out of the nominees. The Academy is in flux and the true nature of the beast is that when the dust settles in the next few years, the independent film will more than likely be nominated more often that the big Hollywood film because this new community of artists feels it is long overdue. They will probably tend to look back over the year, as those on this site do throughout the year, and chose from those films that deserve recognition, not the special end of the year stuff that usually gets nominated.

[tabuno]

My top movies of the year do not have the stellar popular nor critical acclaim even as I have felt that Argo likely to win the Oscar is among the best movie of the year (as cinemabon infers that there are other better movies out in 2012). Les Miz hit a home run for me this year which while recognized among the best, hasn't broken through much as the best movie of the year and my high praise for Hitchcock has literally no support among other people or critics.

My pick for Silver Lining Playbook is the only one seemingly on more solid ground, even though it seems Argo has the momentum, and the flawed over-rated Lincoln still can score an upset in this special year of the Civil War remembrances.

Cloud Atlas sadly was overlooked, but by strong bias towards science fiction clouds my objective senses.

Perhaps the one movie that those on this website might generally agree on is Moonrise Kingdom which met with my amazed praise.

[Chris Knipp]

Harvey admits mistakes (even though his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK may win):



See the following article, which I previously missed, on Salon.com: WEDNESDAY, JAN 30, 2013 09:05 AM PST
Harvey Weinstein: I screwed up on “The Master” and “Django”
In an interview, the longtime Oscar maven concedes that he doesn't always have the winning strategy
BY DANIEL D'ADDARIO

He was so adamant that DJANGO should be seen on the big screen, he failed out to send out lavish supplies of DVDs of the film to Academy votors (who as I've mentioned are often oldsters who don't get out to the movies that much). With THE MASTER, he wishes he'd had more of a hand in the cut, been "a Devil's advocate instead of a cheerleader," which he thinks would have made the result more of a commercial success, and he should have managed the film's promotion more closely tool.

The original interview on DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD appears here.

One need not believe Harvey's every word to recognize that Oscars are won or lost largely before the films get to the Academy voters.

[Johann]

Thanks for that article Chris. Great stuff.

The Master could be more commercial, and I understand where Harvey is coming from, but Ye Gods, that film should not have a FRAME touched. Its status will only deepen with time. It will age like the fine wine cinema of Kubrick. Trust me. I know a movie should do gangbusters business, but The Master is a certified classic and if the audience isn't quite there, it will be. Just give it time to Age. It is a Gorgeous piece of work.
I read Philip Seymour Hoffman's interview in Esquire about it, and he said he worked on it for three years, and that it is NOT about Scientology, and a smart viewer will know that when they leave the theatre. He is right.
Philip, you sang wonderfully too! That was my second favorite scene: the nudie party where he sings exuberantly. CLASS, MAN. Just CLASS.

That article made me want to see Magnolia again, as Philip mentioned Jason Robards' scene (the last thing that Legend ever did) and how on page it was LONG. And he nailed it. As a sick dying man.

Django Unchained has surprised everybody, I think. Tarantino may have made the Best film of his career to date. I'm certainly leaning that way. Consummate filmmaker indeed! Watch what he'll do, folks.
We Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet from QT...

[Johann]

Congrats to Ben Affleck too.
His ship has come in.

[Chris Knipp]

Affleck did a fine job. It just seriiosly disappointed me because it is such an obvious crowd pleaser and he left behind his Boston local roots.

I'd like to see Magnolia again too, on a wide screen. I well remember when I first saw it, at Regal Union Square NYC, in a packed auditorium.

Others are saying as well that Django may be the best thing Tarantino has ever done. I would not go that far because I love other films he has done, but it does seem in a way to be his most serious statement to date.

Harvey Weinstein knows what is commercial, but he also knows quality, and luckily to my kowledge he has mostly played midwife and not Svengali on great films he has distributed, promoting them and not tinkering with them too much. But I don't know all the inside info on that.

[cinemabon]

What I'd like and what will be are probably polar opposites when it comes to the 24th. I'd like Russell and company to win. I doubt they will, but they certainly deserve it. The last time it happened was "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." It would be a big feather in Oscar's cap if they did and would certainly be newsworthy.

[cinemabon]

When "Argo" wins the Academy Award on Sunday for Best Picture of the year, and I believe we are all in agreement that it will for a variety of reasons, know that there are those who still object based on the grounds of being unfair in its representation. Brian Williams addressed this on Thursday during the Nightly News broadcast and James Lipton also mentioned it today when he gushed over his prized pupil, Brad Cooper. Here is what Canada has to say, which most certainly will not be the last word...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2745720.html

[tabuno]

Personally when I review feature films that are not documentaries, my comments primarily revolve around the cinematic execution of a movie and at most to the logical, rational consistency of a scene rather than on any factual-based omissions or distortions. Reading about the film adaptation of the latest PBS Pride and Prejudice movie or the adaptation of Bladerunner from its source material enlightened me as to the necessity of changing the facts of history or books or any source material for the purpose of creating a film quality experience. Thus for those who harp on the content flaws of a movie based on historical accuracy only seems to me to insist on such idealistic purity that it ignores the reality of film making.

[Chris Knipp]

The New York Times's usual roundup on the Academy Awards by "The Carpetbagger" (MELENA RYZIK) makes this year's Oscars sound unusually interesting for the variety of the movies in the Best Picture list and the uncertainty of how the prizes will be distributed, and I think this may be true. She also had some other Oscar notes in another article. She points out that this has been a profitable year for the current crop of nominated movies and big box office for a majority of them ought to mean more watchers of the ceremonies:

It’s been a strong year at the box office for nearly all the nominees — six have already crossed the $100 million mark, in contrast to just one, “The Help,” last year — and that may well translate into higher ratings for the telecast.

[Chris Knipp]

Remember Mike Gravel? According to another ARGO-related NY Times article he was in Iran participating in a conference on "Hollywoodism" and saying that there is a need to combat the stereotypical presentation of Iran and Iranians in American movies as part of preventing "an insane war."

Mike Gravel, a former Democratic senator from Alaska, said Hollywood had brainwashed its audiences into thinking negatively about Iran. He said it was “fundamental” to discuss the American movie industry’s ways of portraying Iran in order to prevent “an insane war.”

Fiction cinema certainly is different from documentary or from novels, plays, or poems and there is no way you can fully and accurately transfer PRIDE AND PREJUDICE to the screen, but believe me, the misrepresentation of historical events is not "okay" or "necessary" as a part of making films about them. ARGO's blatant distortions of events and overlooking of elements in them (the trumped-up, obvious "suspenseful" stuff toward the end, the under-representing of the role of the Canadians) undermine the quality of Affleck's crowd-pleasing propaganda movie (as Iranians would see it).

[tabuno]

Fiction films are fictional and artistic license is broad. To each victor goes the glory of making reality out of their perception of the facts.

Each empire, the Greeks and Romans on down through history have offered up their own Gods and own version of reality.

As a social worker, truth and subjective reality, as many people know - witnesses to a crime scene will actually and honesty believe in their own truths.

It appears that the political and emotional arguments underlying ARGO aren't based as much on the artistic quality or criticism as the subjective political values and beliefs of the viewer and critic.

Since 1984, where 2 + 2 = 5...the slippery slope of truth in movies would be to destroy any reasonable sense of critical analysis of films and instead descend into some impossible debate over the authenticity, reliability of the truth of movies...a standard that I don't believe would have value in theatrical film making.

[Chris Knipp]

It''s not quite so simple as you make it sound. Manohla Dargis goes into this issue in more detail in an article in Today's New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/mo...irty.html?_r=0

Concerns about accuracy involve DJANGO UNCHAINED, LINCOLN, ARGO, and ZERO DARK THIRTY. Those around ARGO may be relatively trivial. There may be deeper distortions in LINCOLN. The most serious ones of all, however, as Dargis presents them, surround ZERO DARK THIRTY. But she concludes, as you do, in general:

But invention remains one of the prerogatives of art and it is, after all, the job of writers, directors and actors to invent counterfeit realities. It is unfair to blame filmmakers if we sometimes confuse the real world with its representations. The truth is that we love movies partly because of their lies, beautiful and not. It’s journalists and politicians who owe us the truth.

My objection to ARGO's fakery to generate suspense was never that it's unhistorical, though the Iranians have a right to protest that and the undercutting of the Canadians' role seems mean spirited; it's that it's unbelievable and obvious.

[cinemabon]

2013 Academy Awards

Family oriented ABC put out front man Seth McFarlane and got the edgy material for which he is famous. The opening number with Bill Shatner was both entertaining and humorous, somewhat. Some of the jokes were funny but some of them were completely tasteless (“Booth the only man who got inside Lincoln’s head” which garnered groans) Fresh in the start was 76 year old Shirley Bassie who belted out “Goldfinger” one more time to the delight of everyone after the 50 years of James Bond. The crowd jumped to its feet, but music was to carry the night. Not long after the talking heads handed out a few statuettes, the show returned with a tribute to the modern musical – Chicago, Dreamgirls, and Les Miserables. In my rush to place judgment on the later, I had forgotten Dreamgirls and the incredible talent that put that film together, a very memorable modern musical, as is Chicago. Leave it to the evening’s producers to put the best number from Les Miz on stage (as I mentioned in my review). If the rest of the film had been like that, it should have won Best Pix.

Waltz and Hathaway were no surprise and expected (they took the bulk of the “pre” awards as well). The sound editing tie was handled poorly with the potty-mouthed Ted (Seth McFarlane) more concerned with the after-ceremony sex party (again, tasteless and unnecessary and not very funny). The technical awards were scattered from picture to picture without any particular film dominating, adding to the suspense of who might win Best Picture... or not. I knew and I think we all knew that Argo would win. Judging from the expressions on Clooney’s face and Ben Affleck, they were fairly confident, too.

When Adelle delivered Skyfall, although masterfully done (I love the song), it almost came as an anti-climax to Jennifer Hudson’s “You will love me” which also brought the crowd to it’s feet. Hudson poured her heart out into the rendition and the audience at the new Dolby Theater showed their appreciation. I also felt that if Skyfall didn’t win (it did), it would be a crime. Adelle was too emotional to speak. However, the most emotional moment of the evening occurred when Barbra Streisand took the stage to honor Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away last year. The two had worked together for years. In a strained over-worked voice, choked with emotion, Streisand tried to sing “Memories” her first singing appearance at the Oscars in 36 years. While she was no Jennifer Hudson, her voice still had the impact of the great singer she is. The crowd rose to its feet and roared approval. Unfortunately, ABC cut to a commercial and that was that.

One of the evening’s biggest surprises came with the cinematography, special effects and best score Oscars going to Life of Pi, and the night’s biggest surprise awarding Ang Lee Best Director, well deserved. Another Oscar in that well-deserved category would have to be Mr. Taratino (as Dustin Hoffman said). He dedicated his screenplay to this cast.

The night’s biggest losers, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables (had the majority of nominations) winning a grand total of four Oscars! Zero Dark Thirty was shut out.

Best moment of the night? Jennifer Lawrence doing a self-effacing splat on the stairs in that beautiful but large Dior and then keeping it straight in her thanks.

Best line of the night? Daniel Day Lewis saying he had to a swap with Meryl Streep for the role of Margaret Thatcher (which got a huge laugh) and persuading Speilberg not to make Lincoln a musical.

After hearing that two of the major awards – editing and adapted screenplay – were going to Argo, the Best Picture nod was a foregone conclusion and anti-climactic, even with the lovely Michelle Obama making the announcement. Affleck’s grab for his Oscar was rather premature seeing as he was not nominated in any category and technically did not win an Academy Award.

Finally, ABC cannot complain about the show going “late” as they ran the Red Carpet past 8:30 eastern and that is stupidity as far as I’m concerned. The show is not about gowns but about awarding artists.

[cinemabon]

2013 Oscars: Complete list of winners

Best Picture
WINNER: "Argo"
"Amour"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Life of Pi"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Django Unchained"

Best Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis -- "Lincoln"
Bradley Cooper -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix -- "The Master"
Denzel Washington -- "Flight"
Hugh Jackman -- "Les Miserables"

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva -- "Amour"
Quvenzhane Wallis -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Naomi Watts -- "The Impossible"


Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Philip Seymour Hoffman -- "The Master"
Tommy Lee Jones -- "Lincoln"
Robert De Niro -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin -- "Argo"
WINNER: Christoph Waltz -- "Django Unchained"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams -- "The Master"
WINNER: Anne Hathaway -- "Les Miserables"
Sally Field -- "Lincoln"
Helen Hunt -- "The Sessions"
Jacki Weaver -- "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Director
Michael Haneke -- "Amour"
Steven Spielberg -- "Lincoln"
David O. Russell -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
WINNER: Ang Lee -- "Life of Pi"
Benh Zeitlin -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature
WINNER: "Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
"ParaNorman"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

Best Animated Short Film
"Adam and Dog"
"Combustible"
"The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare"
WINNER: "Paperman"
"Tram"

Best Live Action Short Film
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
WINNER: "Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"

Best Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey -- "Anna Karenina"
WINNER: Claudio Miranda -- "Life of Pi"
Roger Deakins -- "Skyfall"
Robert Richardson -- "Django Unchained"
Janusz Kaminski -- "Lincoln"

Best Costume Design
WINNER: Jacqueline Durran -- "Anna Karenina"
Paco Delgado -- "Les Miserables"
Joanna Johnston -- "Lincoln"
Eiko Ishioka -- "Mirror Mirror"
Colleen Atwood -- "Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Documentary Feature
"The Gatekeepers"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
WINNER: "Searching for Sugar Man"
"5 Broken Cameras"

Best Documentary Short
"Mondays at Racine"
WINNER: "Inocente"
"Kings Point"
"Open Heart"
"Redemption"

Best Film Editing
WINNER: William Goldenberg -- "Argo"
Michael Kahn -- "Lincoln"
Tim Squyres -- "Life of Pi"
Dylan Tichenor, William Goldenberg -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers -- "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: "Amour"
"Kon-Tiki"
"No"
"A Royal Affair"
"War Witch"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
WINNER: Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell -- "Les Miserables"
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel -- "Hitchcock"

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat -- "Argo"
Dario Marianelli -- "Anna Karenina"
WINNER: Mychael Danna -- "Life of Pi"
John Williams-- "Lincoln"
Thomas Newman -- "Skyfall"

Best Original Song
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice" -- Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Suddenly" from "Les Miserables" -- Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
WINNER: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall" -- Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi" -- Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted" -- Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane

Best Production Design
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer -- "Anna Karenina"
David Gropman and Anna Pinnock -- "Life of Pi"
WINNER: Rick Carter and Jim Erickson -- "Lincoln"
Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson -- "Les Miserables"
Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent and Simon Bright -- "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Best Sound Editing
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Django Unchained"
WINNER-TIE: "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall"

Best Sound Mixing
"Argo"
WINNER: "Les Miserables"
"Skyfall"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Visual Effects
"Marvel's The Avengers"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
WINNER: "Life of Pi"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tony Kushner -- "Lincoln"
WINNER: Chris Terrio -- "Argo"
David O. Russell -- "Silver Linings Playbook"
David Magee -- "Life of Pi"
Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal -- "Zero Dark Thirty"
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola -- "Moonrise Kingdom"
Michael Haneke -- "Amour"
WINNER: Quentin Tarantino -- "Django Unchained"
John Gatins -- "Flight"