One Category at a Time: Best Production Design

This feels like one of those tight categories in which literally any of the five nominees could win. The usual period dressings are conspicuously absent, precursors have been split every which way, and said precursors have not been all that informative in recent years anyway; Three Best Production Design winners of that last ten didn't have any of the ADG, BAFTA or Critics Choice Awards in hand before taking the Oscar.

One Category at a Time: Art Direction

There are a number of categories this year where I have reasonable doubts about my predicted winner - too many categories. This is not one of them. There is a single obvious choice on which any sane Oscar-watcher should bet the bank, but it's only fair to give the other nominees their congrats:

Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

And that, as they say, is that. Ten years and some 7 billion galleons after The Philosopher's Stone first charmed Potterphiles the world over in 2001, J.K. Rowling's magical saga finally fades to black with Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which makes a fitting end to a beloved franchise. While I never felt as consistently invested in the films as I did the books, I can only tip my hat to the series as it takes its final bow, and to The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in particular for leaving on a strong note. It strikes me as an appropriately representative cross-section of the whole; perhaps not as artistically intent as Alfonso Cuaron's Prisoner of Azkaban, not nearly as lethargic as Mike Newell's Goblet of Fire, but a balanced mixture of thrill and sentiment that makes it easy to understand why moviegoers were so keen to keep returning to this world.

A token summary of the plot seems unnecessary for a review of this film, as surely anyone who's interested in seeing it will have read the books years ago... at least you had better have, or you'll find yourself inescapably lost. Writer Steve Cloves has ceased making concessions for the casual viewer, omitting anything but essential information and necessitating that we fill in the blanks. Though his resulting screenplay is inevitably less detailed than Rowling's involved tome, it proves a necessary evil; one not exercised enough in The Deathly Hallows' first half, but effectively employed for this closing chapter. The payoff is clear: a refreshing 2-hour run time, making this the most efficiently told entry in the octalogy. In retrospect, the move to split The Deathly Hallows in twain worked out for the better, although I still cringe sceptically at the original motivations behind the decision.

One Category at a Time: Best Art Direction

There are lots of past Oscar winners and nominees in the mix this year. Among them are Martin Scorsese's frequent production designer Dante Ferreti and set dresser Franscesca Lo Shiavo (winners for The Aviator and Sweeney Todd). With Scorsese's Hugo Cabret, they'll recreate 1930's Paris. With Rob Richardson behind the camera, you know the sets are gonna get the best possible presentation.

Will this finally be the year the Academy awards Stuart Craig for the Harry Potter series? Having been nominated for three of the seven films thus far, including last year's installment, many are suggesting that AMPAS may want to tip their hat to the franchise with a win, and this upcoming year is their last chance to do it, and no category would be more appropriate than Art Direction.

Jack Fisk and Jim Erickson (nominated for There Will Be Blood) are heading the production design and set decoration of Water for Elephants, based on the bestseller set on a Depression era traveling circus. The period detail of 1930s America and the sparkly glitz of the Greatest Show on Earth might prove a winning combination with the art directors branch.

Finally, Mark Ricker and Rena DeAngelo will produce the look and feel of 1960s small-town Mississippi in The Help. DeAngelo's Emmy-winning work on Mad Men proves she has the detail of the period down pat, and if it ends up a popular film, design nominations could fall into place.

War films don't intuitively come to mind when one thinks about art direction, but it requires just as much work and creativity. Rick Carter (who won two years ago for Avatar) is designing the sets for Steven Spielberg's War Horse. If the movie turns out to be a big hit with the Academy, a nomination here would not surprise me.

Predicted five:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Help
Hugo Cabret
War Horse
Water for Elephants

Also consider: Albert Nobbs, Captain America, The Conspirator, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Pirates 4, Sherlock Holmes 2, The Tree of Life.

Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Last night, attracted by the reliable guarantee of a handsomely made production, I stabbed my conscience in the back and reneged on my protest to not shell out $10 (with the promise of $10 more to come) to see the first half of the final Harry Potter film, The Deathly Hallows.

Perhaps it is folly of me to try and review half a movie, so I'll try not to be too judgmental about the film's flaws, but of the most glaring ones I will make note: Steve Cloves and David Yates spend a great deal of time building a wonderfully grim and joyless tone (as is befitting the seventh book's dour atmosphere), but then they proceed to sabotage it with attempts at comic relief that, 99% of the time, miss the mark. This might be due to the fact that of all the Potter films, this one adheres to the letter of its mother text more staunchly than any of the others, thus including J.K. Rowling's usual sprinkles of wit and humour; a welcome presence as one trudges through the long dry passages of the novel, but a mood-killing distraction in this movie, which (even at 2.5 hours) feels much breezier by comparison. The film makers might have done better to eschew the book's jokes and play it completely straight-faced.

Another issue for me is the awkward dissection of the novel into two, but I'll hold off on that until I get to see the other half. Who knows? Maybe it'll turn out to be for... the best? Or should I say, “be$t”?

I mean not to be harsh. You know what you're getting with a Potter film. As always, certain standards of quality are upkept. Effects and makeup are first rate, Alexandre Desplat adds a few more beautiful melodies to the already rich library of Potter film music, and Stuart Craig's production design continues to satisfy with its ever-darkening colour palette. Though perhaps more impressive this time out are Jany Temime's costumes, from the cage-like pinstripes on Ministry of Magic employees to the tattered wools and flannels of our three worn-out central characters. Speaking of which, the three principal actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson continue to improve. I give the edge to Watson who has more heavy lifting to do than the boys.

There are a few truly excellent scenes and extended sequences. A daring infiltration of the Orwellian Ministry of Magic, an extremely creepy encounter at Groderick's Hallow that may have been guest directed by John Carpenter, and a brilliantly animated recounting of “The Tale of the Three Brothers” all breath life into an otherwise unambitious adaptation that just feels like it's going through the motions.

An Oscar nod for VFX seems unavoidable with five open slots, and Art Direction is always a reasonable call, but I can't see much more outside of that. Costume Design and Makeup deserve consideration that I doubt they'll get.

**1/2 out of ****

Video after the jump.