Movie Awards Season 2012

[loladonna]

I'm wondering if all the negative publicity hurt ZD30. There were a rash of articles criticizing the film and claiming it promoted torture. The film seems to have lost momentum.

I think the best picture category should be only 5 films like in the past. I also think the Directors of the 5 films named for best picture should automatically be nominated for Best Director. I don't see how these two categories can be separated.

 

[saann]

The Oscars are going to be a snoozer at this rate.

I'm disappointed that Bradley Cooper continues to go unrewarded at the majors for SLP. JLaw is getting all the acclaim but he really was the anchor of that film.

Bradley was so good in SLP, easily best in show. I'm happy he's finally being recognized as a talent, I've had a soft spot for him ever since Kitchen Confidential

 

[loladonna]

Bradley was so good in SLP, easily best in show. I'm happy he's finally being recognized as a talent, I've had a soft spot for him ever since Kitchen Confidential

OMG! I thought I was the only person who loved Kitchen Confidential! I discovered it on Hulu one day and ended up watching every episode. The show was brillant and Bradley--and the whole cast- had great comedic timing. I cannot believe that show was canceled so soon and not given a chance to flourish.

 

[saann]

^yaay! other Kitchen Confidential lovers I was so bummed when it was cancelled and I still watch the episodes every now and then. I agree, the whole cast was hilarious and perfectly cast. Just the scenes where they have to kill the bunnies had me rolling.

 

[jmrmartinho]

I agree Bradley is the most underrated in the whole awards campaign.
Jennifer deserves all the recognzation she is getting but I feel they are puting Bradley too behind.
I still find ridiculous that he lost the Golden Globe for Hugh Jackman that had a pretty underwhelming performance. I may say he is my favourite to the Oscar but that just wont heapen.
Its obvious that Jennifer is now in the lead but so was Julie Christie the winner of SAG and pretty much the front runner on her year and Marion (deservedly) got the Oscar, so we never know...

 

[YoninahAliza]

Count me as another person who thinks that Bradley has been very underrated this awards season. The scene in Silver Linings Playbook where he throws the book out the window just kills me, it was so perfect and I can totally relate to that feeling after finishing some books! His performance seems more subtle then a lot of the other actors nominated in the same category which is probably why he hasn't gotten the love he deserves. Though it seems like it's a particularly strong year for the guys, so that too hinders a bit.

 

[chickadee]

I'm just so relieved that I'm not the only person who feels this way about DDL. Bradley definitely deserves more than a nomination. His performance is nothing short of flawless. I mean not one false note in the entire film. And as much as I love me some DDL, the idol-worship for him is getting a bit old. Yes, he's a phenomenal actor, but seriously? Lincoln was great, but ultimately a pretty conventional biopic, complete with dramatic, swelling music from John Williams and scenery-chewing speeches from the leads. And I'm not the kind of person who usually is like give an Oscar to someone for the sake of diversity. If DDL really was mindblowing, he deserves it. But he's up against some really fresh, amazing, truly incredible lead performances---Bradley Cooper, John Hawkes, Suraj Sharma (pitifully overlooked), Joaquin Phoenix. C'mon, AMPAS.

 

[loladonna]

^yaay! other Kitchen Confidential lovers I was so bummed when it was cancelled and I still watch the episodes every now and then. I agree, the whole cast was hilarious and perfectly cast. Just the scenes where they have to kill the bunnies had me rolling.

I loved when Michael Vartan guest-starred as the rival chef on the block and his resturaunt and Bradley's restaurant kept pranking each other. Whenever Bradley's manager (the Boss's daughter) would go to confront Michael she'd end up sleeping with him instead. They also stole Michael's creepy breadmaker who made delicious bread.

 

[Niusity]

I'd love Jen to take the Oscar but I think either Emanuelle or Jessica are going to take it.

And I agree Bradley doesn't get enough credit.

 

[jmrmartinho]

^What? Jennifer is so going to win. Have you seen the statistics? Shes far ahead from Jessica

 

[saann]

These pity awards for Ben Affleck are getting on my nerves. He's such a nonentity as a director.. Absolutely uninspiring and his attempts at adding some flair to his usual crime drama style were too amateurish and obvious. The clumsy match cuts and matching dialogue got on my nerves and the constant juxtaposition of the Iran+America were too try hard.

Bigelow did a hundred times better job of creating suspense from a story everyone knew the ending to.

 

[KoV]

I've barely seen any of the acclaimed films from this year, which is strange, since in past years I see everything as soon as it comes out. But this year I just can't find the motivation.... I just haven't been excited about almost any releases this year.

But anyway, I agree with your assessment that Affleck's direction was nothing amazing, since Argo is one of the few I've seen. I liked the film overall, but I didn't think as a director he made any amazing choices. It was just a solid script, good story, good cast, decent direction. Nothing extraordinary.

 

[sobriquet87]

I don't think Ben Affleck is winning any awards due to "pity." I saw Argo and it was one of the absolute BEST films I've seen in a long time. Yeah he was snubbed for the Oscar (which is complete bullsh*t), but I think he still would be winning all of these awards even if he hadn't been snubbed.

I can't think of any other director who deserves to winning instead of Ben. There were a lot of fantastic films this year (and I still need to see some of them), but the fact of the matter is...Argo was brilliantly directed. And I for one think Ben Affleck is seriously underrated as a director and it's nice to see him actually getting much deserved recognition for once. I also loved his films, "The Town" and "Gone Baby Gone." Directing is his strong point. I hope Argo gets the Best Picture Oscar.

Since Ben isn't nominated for the Oscar, I honestly can't see whose going to win it. None of the nominated films were strong in the directing arena in my opinion, with the exception of Amour...maybe.

 

[wild roses]

I'm very slowly working my way through the nominees.

I don't get the all the praise for SLP. It screamed of over-acting and cliches to me. Jennifer was good, but it wasn't a brilliant performance. Nor do I understand the nominations for Robert and Jackie. Jackie basically was....there... and Robert did the same sing-song he's been doing the past decade. Bradley was good, but I hated how they conflated the bipolar and stalking/obsessing over the ex into one big happy category.

Argo. Wow! I don't know if it's the BP of the year, but it was good. My biggest qualms with the picture were primarily the Islamophobia (yes, I know it was a brutal regime but I think a little complexity could have been shown) and the whitewashing of Mendez. (Although it is one of Ben's best performances.) I consider those minor qualms though cuz it was so good. Everything just really gelled.

 

[jmrmartinho]

I don't think Ben Affleck is winning any awards due to "pity." I saw Argo and it was one of the absolute BEST films I've seen in a long time. Yeah he was snubbed for the Oscar (which is complete bullsh*t), but I think he still would be winning all of these awards even if he hadn't been snubbed.

I can't think of any other director who deserves to winning instead of Ben. There were a lot of fantastic films this year (and I still need to see some of them), but the fact of the matter is...Argo was brilliantly directed. And I for one think Ben Affleck is seriously underrated as a director and it's nice to see him actually getting much deserved recognition for once. I also loved his films, "The Town" and "Gone Baby Gone." Directing is his strong point. I hope Argo gets the Best Picture Oscar.

Since Ben isn't nominated for the Oscar, I honestly can't see whose going to win it. None of the nominated films were strong in the directing arena in my opinion, with the exception of Amour...maybe.

I think Zero Dark Thirty was better directed than Argo, but since is not nomineed either :rolleyes, its obvious that Spielberg will win (I think they didnt nominee Ben and Katherine on porpose). From the nominees Im rooting for O. Russell

 

[saann]

I don't think Ben Affleck is winning any awards due to "pity." I saw Argo and it was one of the absolute BEST films I've seen in a long time. Yeah he was snubbed for the Oscar (which is complete bullsh*t), but I think he still would be winning all of these awards even if he hadn't been snubbed.

Looking at the awards predictions objectively (is this even possible?) Argo was never this clear of a frontrunner until the snub. Lincoln, SLP, Life of Pi and even ZDT seemed much more likely to take it home. A lot of the praise seems to be a counter reaction to him being left out in Best Director.

Whether or not it is the best picture in the race is subjective, you and many others loved it while others, including me, didn't. But I personally don't believe this sweep, especially in a year with a ton of strong contenders, would have happened if the reactions to his snub weren't so vocal.

 

[wild roses]

So I watched ZDT last night. What a snoozefest. The controversy surrounding the film is more interesting the film itself. It had a haphazard and sloppy feeling thoughout. It also felt rushed into production. The only thing that stuck with me is all the transitional food/eating/drinking scenes. (Which I don't think was the point of the movie.)

I wasn't that impressed with JC's performance either. It's not her fault the film was a mess, but even she couldn't save it. The real life woman sounds like quite the BAMF! though.

Since I disliked both SLP and ZDT I'm not sure who I'm rooting for to win in the Best Actress category. SLP was over the top, and even cheesy, where the acting was concerned. Every lovely, quiet subtle moment was shortly followed by screaming! dramatic gestures! wide-eyed faces!. I liked the acting better in ZDT but I felt the film propped Maya's character too much to compensate the allegedly understated unfeminine portrayal. (I say allegedly cuz I don't think the performance was that clinical or that groundbreaking.) Also, the acting didn't compensate for the sloppiness of the film itself.

 

[MyNameIs]

I think Argo is a fine film and I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I can't really be that mad that it's winning 'everything'. I'm more on board with its success than say The Artist last year. With that said, I don't understand how anyone could look at that lineup and think Argo is the best film. I've seen all the Pic nominees but Life of Pi, and here's how I think I would rank them:
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2/3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
2/3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Amour
5. Argo
6. Lincoln
7. Django Unchained
8. Les Miserables
na. Life of Pi
My 7 and 8 films wouldn't come anywhere close to Picture nominations. The other six are very good movies.

 

[KoV]

I would rank them:


Django Unchained
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild


loved the performances in BotSW but wasn't especially taken with the film as a whole.

 

[chickadee]

I'm literally watching Beasts of the Southern Wild as I write this. OMG, this is one epic film. The performances are just incredible, especially considering Wallis was 5/6 when she filmed this and Dwight Henry was a baker with absolutely no acting experience beforehand. I also love all the amazing imagery and the magical, fairy tale element to it all. Ultimately--in my opinion anyway--we're seeing a child coping with the impending loss of a parent . I like how Zeitlin has described it in some interviews, saying something to the effect of what would you do if you broke the universe or the world was coming to an end? Emotionally, Hushpuppy's world is coming to an end because her father is dying and he's all she's ever known, and on some level, in her innocence she blames herself for it.But even though the end is not a happily ever after or typical Hollywood, it's uplifting in that you get the sense that she's going to be alright. She still has her community and the strength her father has cultivated in her. Also, the score is just distilled perfection in a bottle. I cannot believe it wasn't nominated.

Anyway, it's my second favorite of the year behind Cloud Atlas, and I do wish that it actually had a chance to win something on Oscar night--like score!--but I suppose the nominations for Benh and Quvenzhane will have to suffice.

That said, I tend to agree with the consensus. Argo is pretty incredible; Zero Dark Thirty: not so much. It's definitely true that Argo is amazingly suspenseful despite most audience members, myself included, going into the theater already knowing the ending. And as much as I would rather have Zeitlin be in Affleck's place, scooping up all the awards, I don't think the latter is totally undeserving. He's consistently proven himself a rather adept director, going from strength to strength. But I agree: Argo is far from the best in its lineup. Crossing my fingers for an upset, but given the reaction to Affleck's snub, it looks like this is going to be his consolation prize.