10. False hope of Muppet Oscars
It's actually quite a stretch to call this a peeve (which I suppose is a good thing) as there was never any real hope of it happening. Still, the more I thought about the possibility of the Muppets hosting the Oscars in the wake of Ratner-gate, the more I convinced myself that it would be the greatest thing ever! It was a beautifully giddy daydream while it lasted – for a mere two days after Eddie Murphy stepped down – but I can't shake that bothersome feeling of knowing that the Academy will probably never do something quite so cool as letting those loveable felt funnymen host their show. At least we got 30 seconds of banter between Kermit and Piggy.
9. Extremely Loud panned... for all the wrong reasons?
I'm not one to defend Stephen Daldry's dubious awards bait, but I couldn't read all those vicious reviews without sensing that a lot of critics were targeting it for the wrong reasons. Many of the complaints seemed to fixate almost exclusively on the unlikability of the central character, autistic nine-year-old Oskar Schell, whose challenging mental condition ended up being a point of not only major annoyance, but major offence, for many reviewers. Even the film's abrasive aesthetic choices stemmed from the ambitious attempt to tell things from this character's point of view, and I, for one, find it a shame that these artistic risks became the film's more maligned aspects. If you're gonna criticize anything, criticize the unnecessary narration and contrived emotional ploys.
8. Best Original Song
While many were understandably irked by the sad state of this year's Best Original Song category, I confess that it acted more as a source of amusement for me. How could you take one look at that lineup and not laugh out loud? Still, however fun it is to mock the music branch's perennially embarrassing decisions, the fact remains that their system is severely broken. They should either ditch the category all together (as they've not-so-subtly indicated they'd like to), or ditch that ridiculous numerical grading system and simply nominate the five songs with the most votes. The producers of the telecast, and those who love watching it, will thank them.
7. Lubezki's inevitable loss
You may recall my #1 pet peeve from last season also revolved around the Oscar loss of a long overdue cinematographer, but this similar peeve shows up lower on this year's list because unlike the harsh sting of Deakins' loss, Lubezki's had the dull stench of inevitability about it all year long. From the day I first saw The Tree of Life, I knew this movie was doomed to lose the Oscar for Best Cinematography. The work was simply too brilliant for the Academy's general membership to grasp. Last year, I was audacious enough (not really) to predict that Roger Deakins will die without winning an Oscar, so I may as well keep the ball rolling by saying the same of Lubezki. At this point, I'd be content to say these lensers don't deserve to have their reputation sullied by winning an Oscar for Cinematography.
6. Editing of Dragon Tattoo
I realize I'm squarely in the minority on this, but the Oscar win for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Best Film Editing was one of the Academy's more irksome decisions this year. Part of my displeasure, I confess, is that I didn't predict it, even though my gut instinct kept telling me from day one that its flashy (and hence, more obvious) cutting would persuade the voting membership to tick its box. But my main beef is that I just didn't think the editing did a lot of favours for that film. I was happy for Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall when they won last year (for a slick editing job that truly deserved to win), but this second consecutive win is simply irritating.
5. Hugo the beneficiary of lazy voting
Let's not kid ourselves. As artfully made as Hugo was in many respects, the only category it legitimately deserved to win last Sunday was Art Direction. But that didn't sway philistine voters from slothfully ticking it off in every other category where they clearly aren't educated enough on the craft. Its undeserved victories in Best Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Cinematography, and (most bafflingly) Visual Effects all come at the expense of revolutionary or groundbreaking work in less popular films. I swear, the Academy's uninspired choices in the craft categories make the guild awards look more prestigious with every passing year.
4. Uggie
Harvey Weinstein has long annoyed me by so easily securing Oscar nominations and wins for movies that plainly don't deserve them. It hasn't been quite as big a nagging point these last two years given that The King's Speech and The Artist are at least quality films (if far from the best of their respective years), but his sly campaign gimmicks never fail to make kvetch. The big Harvey-related pestilence this year was his saddening exploitation of Uggie, the wretchedly adorable Jack Russell terrier who became The Artist's unofficial mascot. After being made to walk every red carpet and do all manner of cute tricks at every awards show this season, I can't be the only one who got sick of this mutt.
3. The biopic streak continues
Not since 1998 have the four acting Oscars gone to actors playing fictitious characters, and we were excruciatingly close to having another such year, but Meryl Streep's win for imitating Maggie Thatcher kiboshed us yet again. The Academy's obsession with biopic acting borders on the obsessive; nine of the last sixteen lead acting trophies (a disproportionate 56%) have gone to stars playing prominent public figures of the past – and that's not including Sandra Bullock's turn as Leigh Anne Touhy, technically a real life person too. Wake up, Academy! Good acting and good mimicry may not be completely mutually exclusive, but they're certainly not one and the same.
2. Any and all writing prizes for The Descendants
I'll never understand what it was that convinced so many critics groups that The Descendants is a particularly great screen adaptation – other than that they knew it would be the likely Oscar winner. Especially when held up against adaptations such as Moneyball, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Ides of March, all of which brilliantly translated dense or decidedly uncinematic subject matter into swift and striking screenplays, the Oscar win for this script, with its literary voice-overs which sound like they were ripped right from the pages of the book, seems like a particular misfire. This is probably my least favourite Adapted Screenplay winner in at least a decade, probably longer.
1. Viola's tragic loss
After being primed for an Oscar triumph following deserved wins (and knockout acceptance speeches) at the Critics Choice and SAG Awards, “Viola Davis' year” turned out to be anything but, as Meryl Streep finally collected her third Oscar statue in what might be the nastiest Oscar surprise in years. I don't hold any of this against the lovely Ms. Streep or her naturally great performance, but to come at the expense of a hard-working character actress of colour who gave a better performance, had every reason to believe she'd win, and may never have a chance like this again... it just makes my skin crawl. Even Meryl looked shocked to hear her name called. She'd probably be the first to acknowledge the absurdity of Davis' loss. The Academy wasn't short on lamebrain decisions this year, but this one stings the most.
That almost concludes my Oscar coverage for the 2011-12 season. I think I'll do one more small post highlighting some of the more positive takeaways, before calling it a year.
