It’s hard to put forth the time or effort on the blog when we have the holidays at hand but here’s something I always enjoy talking about and hey it’s relevant. So the Golden Globe nominations came out recently which means we are just one step closer to getting a good idea of who will be the main contenders this Oscar season. It definitely seems a little harder to pin down then last year but that’s what makes it exciting, who knows what could happen! We definitely have a few frontrunners but there’s still a great deal of ifs and maybes in most of the categories.
Already it sounds like Michel Hazanavicius’ silent romance film The Artist is the film to beat in the Best Picture category. Though I haven’t seen it yet I eagerly await it’s release here in Seattle (December 23rd at the Harvard Exit) the general consensus seems to be that it’s nothing short of a fantastic heartfelt tribute to cinema. Other bets that are starting to shape up as future Oscar contenders are Golden Globe nominees The Help, Hugo, The Descendants, and Moneyball. I’ve seen all four of these films now and I believe they’re all justified nominations by whoever runs the Golden Globes, I’ll assume the Mole People. War Horse was also selected for the best picture drama category so I’m just going to have to continue to assume it’s good until I can actually see it when it opens around Christmas. The Ides of March is a bit of surprise seeing that it was in and out of theaters without much talk. I remember hearing it was good but not if it was Oscar good, maybe the Golden Globes threw this is in to rattle some cages? In the Best Picture Comedy/Musical category I’m going to go ahead and assume only The Artist and Midnight in Paris will advance to the Oscar’s Best Picture category but it’s hard to say, I didn’t see My Week with Marilyn so I’m not sure if it’s a movie that’s all around good or mostly just good because of it’s strong performances.
With any awards ceremony we have the snubs with perhaps the most notable being The Tree of Life which could still resurface around Oscar time. I was also surprised to see no presence by Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I mean that’s supposed to be a good one right? I thought this was supposed to be Gary Oldman’s year but we’ll just have to wait and see which Politcal-esque thriller the Oscars ends up selecting, Ides of March or Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy if either. There’s been a lot of buzz around Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close but I believe it missed the Golden Globes cutoff so it’s definitely a film that could resurface during the Oscars. I would of liked to see Drive get some recognition beyond it’s one supporting actor nom for Albert Brooks, it is a bit of a dark horse but it would certainly make any awards show that much cooler by having it included.
The acting categories seem to a bit of tossup right now with the one exception of Christopher Plummer in the supporting actor category for his role in Beginners. I hear he’s great and it’s always nice to see a Hollywood veteran finally get the gold, not to mention it’s a weak field this year. Probably the next best bet in an acting category is Viola Davis for The Help. Earlier this year I thought Glenn Close would be a shoe in for Best Actress for dressing as a man in Albert Nobbs but the reviews haven’t been to kind to that film so that takes a big hit to her chances. In the supporting actress category I’d again go with The Help for Octavia Spencer but she actually has some competition from Shailene Woodley in The Descendants and maybe Berenice Bejo for The Artist. I found it amusing that Jessica Chastain was nominated for The Help because not only has her name popped up in almost every award ceremony in this category but it hasn’t always been for the same movie. She’s got a chance to be nominated for supporting actress for The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, or The Help, she wont win any of them but she is slowly but surely becoming a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
Strangely enough one of the hardest categories this year is Best Actor, I have no idea. A lot of people seemed to enjoy Leonard DiCaprio’s portrayal of J. Edgar but not so much the film itself so it’s hard to say. I’m sure Jean Dujardin is good in The Artist but could a modern actor really win in a role without dialogue? Michael Fassbender may have a good chance but I haven’t seen Shame yet so it’s only a guess based on what I’ve heard here and there. I’m still wondering about Gary Oldman but it sounds like his performance may be too subtle for any award fare and not being nominated at the Globes does not help his Oscar campaign. Really there isn’t a clear frontrunner but that excites me, this is really shaping up to be an unpredictable awards season and I can’t wait to see more of these movies.
I do have comments to make about some of these films that you haven’t seen, but I’ll save them for tomorrow. Assuming that we’ll hang out at some point tomorrow.