Sunday Top Ten: Pet Peeves of the 2011 Oscar Season

Here's an early installment of what I hope will be a successful feature on the site this year. Didn't make sense to wait 'til May before unleashing this one. Best get this therapeutic bout of bitching out of the way early, so I can move on to some more positive thinking!

#10: Late releases
Nominees released in 2010 were terribly back-ended this year. True, this is basically the case every year, but there were so many good ones I couldn't see until February, and it just made the awards-watching season all the more hectic.

#9: The King's Speech marketing
Oh, that Harvey Weinstein. This is the third season in a row his Best Picture pony has irked me by its mere inclusion in the lineup. Granted, The King's Speech is far better than Inglourious Basterds and The Reader, but the type of advertising campaign it got was way beneath it, from that lame, poorly photoshopped poster to this hammy trailer that "reminds us we're all human".

#8: Dull show
I was so miffed by the 2010 Oscarcast that both it and its producer Adam Shankman soared to the top of last year's list of seasonal pestilences. But that didn't give this year's show a free ticket, and indeed, producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer managed to disappoint. Some of the blame could be laid on the predictability of the winners, but lazy writing, poor hosting, and a severe lack of focus ensured that this year's Oscars were a snooze.

#7: Spousal snubs
In a year that saw some terrific tandem acting from performers playing husband and wife (or wife and wife), it was such a shame that only one half of each whole was represented by the nominations. Julianne Moore was sidelined all season long (save for the Golden Globes) in favour of her Kids Are All Right costar Annette Bening, Aaron Eckhart gained no traction whatsoever despite giving a gut-wrenching performance opposite Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, and Blue Valentine's Ryan Gosling was tragically left out of the Best Actor race while Michelle Williams eked into Best Actress. There's just not enough room for all the greatness.

#6: Lee Smith snub

There's one every year. Two years ago it was the rude exclusion of Bruce Springsteen's “The Wrestler” from Best Original Song, last year it was the unjustifiable omission of District 9 from Best Makeup, and this year it was the unfathomable snub by the editors branch of Lee Smith for arguably the finest film editing achievement of 2010, Inception. What can I say? It's nothing less than a complete and utter embarrassment.

#5: The Social Network vs The King's Speech, offline
I tell ya, it's kind of uncomfortable sitting down to Christmas dinner with your entire extended family and being the only person at the table who didn't LOVE The King's Speech. I liked it, sure, and yet nearly everyone I've talked about it with has accused me of damning it with faint praise, simply because I wasn't as over-the-moon as they were. Conversely, being the only person around the water cooler who thought The Social Network was the year's best movie made it an awfully lonely season out in the real world.

#4: The Social Network vs The King's Speech, online
Normally, I take comfort in the fact that if my regular human contacts don't share the same taste in cinema as me, at least there's an enormous community of film aficionados on the Internet with whom I can commiserate in The Social Network ultimately falling short to The King's Speech. And yet, what I found online was far uglier and more oppressive than the one-sided but polite discussions that vexed me offline. Depending on who you read, you may have avoided some of it, but the noise of Social Network fans cruelly and unfairly besmirching The King's Speech was still deafening.

#3: Melissa Leo

One of the season's biggest talking points by far. Some people found her crazy award show antics endearingly eccentric, and that's their right. Just like it's my right to find them vain and tacky. From her self-centred acceptance speeches to her gaudy personal ad campaign to her accidentally-on-purpose use of the dreaded F-word on Oscar's stage, to me, it all reeked of arrogance. And to be honest, I thought the performance was good – not Oscar-good. Costar Amy Adams would have made a much more deserving and welcome winner.

#2: Alice in Wonderland
Somebody shoot me in the head. I hated this movie as soon as it hit the 30-minute mark when I first saw it last March. I wrote a quick pan and prayed that I wouldn't have to write about it for the rest of the year. Apparently, that was too much to ask. Its overcooked, uncoordinated, domineering, in-your-face design elements had no problem coasting through the season by sheer “virtue” of their retina-battering conspicuousness, eventually scooping two Oscars (a number infinitely more than it deserved), reinforcing the theory that the Academy is almost always more impressed by quantity than they are by quality.

#1: Deakins still Oscarless
Months ago, when the trailer for True Grit came out, certain bloggers boldly predicted that this would finally be Roger Deakins' year. I wanted to believe them, and I was even convinced to the point of predicting it myself after nominations, but deep down I knew their premature predictions had jinxed it. So here's a prediction for you:

Roger Deakins will NEVER win an Academy Award.

If he can't get one for the most typical of movies to win Best Cinematography, what's it going to take? The worst part is, I really want to be happy for Wally Pfister, who himself was overdue, but not by nearly as many years as Deakins. I was unable to enjoy what should have been a reason to cheer. This year's Oscar ceremony was ultimately a night I wouldn't mind forgetting, and this early catastrophe certainly set the appropriate tone.

Oscar autopsy

Another year over. And appropriately enough to the nature of the season, it ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. There were few surprises to be had, as for the second straight year I managed to correctly predict 18 of 24 winners, including all eight major categories.

The closest thing to a surprise was Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross collecting trophies for what might be the most atypical Oscar-winning score ever. I was not expecting it to win, but apparently that's one category where I should have given the voting membership the benefit of the doubt. Well done.

Unfortunately, there was little satisfaction to be had in the rest. The night's biggest disappointment came early, in cinematography god Roger Deakins failing to win an Oscar for the ninth time. Yo, Academy, do you not think he's due or something? What has he done to you to make you treat him this way? Disgusting. But to be fair, Wally Pfister is a worthy alternative. He's been putting out consistently astonishing work with Christopher Nolan for the better part of the decade now, and this win for his fourth consecutive nomination is a fitting way to applaud one of the best director/DP collaborations working today.

Other disappointment, albeit a less surprising one, came in the form of Tim Burton's hideous Alice in Wonderland winning both design categories over infinitely more deserving work. I might have known. Let this be a lesson: always always always predict for "most" to trump "best" when the Academy chooses winners here.

True Grit joins the ranks of Gangs of New York, The Turning Point, and The Color Purple as one of the biggest Oscar losers of all time, going 0 for 10. Guess the Academy didn't love it that much after all.

The King's Speech seemed to underwhelm as well, winning only four of its twelve nominations (all of them major categories though). Other multiple winners include The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Inception, the aforementioned Alice, and The Fighter, nailing down acting awards for Christian Bale and that nutty Melissa Leo, who proceeded to use the F-word on live TV. Some people are endeared to her antics and crazy behaviour, but I have to confess that I've never liked her, and her speech reeked of the same arrogance as have all her speeches this season.

The show itself left something to be desired. It didn't stink on the level of last year's fiasco, but it was pretty boring. Many reviews are pointing a finger (a bit harshly I think) at James Franco, who was either feigning reluctance to be there in a failed attempt at accenting Anne Hathaway's vibrant presence, or was actually reluctant to be there and doing a bad job at hiding it. I don't blame him for the show's overall lack of personality, but he certainly wasn't helping matters.

And that's really all there is I feel merited my commentary. All in all, not much of a finale to the season. Upsetting. But at the end of the day, some very talented artists got richly deserved recognition for their invaluable contributions to the medium we love so much, and I can never complain about that. Congrats to all the winners. I'm gonna keep a low profile in the coming months. I'll chime in here or there as we continue to experience the fallout this week, but mostly, I'll be busy looking into what 2011 has to offer us in the way of movie-going.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy your Oscar off-season.

IFMA winners!

Film Score of the Year: John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Composer of the Year: Alexandre Desplat
Best Score for an Animated Film: John Powell, How to Train Your Dragon
Best Score for a Drama Film: Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Best Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film: Alexandre Desplat, The Ghost Writer
Best Score for a Comedy Film: Pinar Toprak, The Lightkeepers.
Best Score to a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film: Daft Punk, TRON: Legacy
Best Score for a Documentary Film: Bruno Coulais, Oceans
Best Individual Composition: Danny Elfman, “Alice Theme” from Alice in Wonderland
Breakout Composer of the Year: Nuno Malo, Amalia

I have to say I like these winners. For the most part that is. I am a wee bit baffled as to how Danny Elfman's derivative "Alice" can be seen (or heard) as a more accomplished composition than John Powell's beautiful "Forbidden Friendship", but at least Powell took home the big prize for Best Film Score of the Year, a fitting consolation given that he stands little chance of winning the Oscar.

I'm thrilled to see Daft Punk get some due recognition for what is some of the year's most awesome music in TRON Legacy, and to see Alexandre Desplat actually win for his atmospheric Ghost Writer score, to go along with his expected win for King's Speech. It's looking like his year.

CDG winners

Contemporary: Black Swan
Fantasy: The King's Speech
Period: Alice in Wonderland

As expected. The King's Speech and Alice are neck-in-neck for the Oscar. Same with Art Direction. I don't know what to do!

At least the Oscar-snubbed Amy Westcott got some recognition for her outstanding costumes in Black Swan.

ACE Eddie winners!

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic): The Social Network
Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical): Alice in Wonderland
Best Edited Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Edited Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop

We can all pretend that Alice in Wonderland winning over The Kids Are All Right and Scott Pilgrim in the Comedy category never really happened right? Right?... Good. Glad we agree.

So other than that bit of unpleasantness, this is a pretty terrific group of winners. I'm doing cartwheels right now for Tom Fulford and Chris King, who were rightfully recognized for what is the best editing job of the year on Exit Through the Gift Shop. Gotta hand it to Lee Unkrich and Ken Schretzmann as well on their hard-earned win for editing Toy Story 3.

But the most encouraging sign of the night was Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall's win for The Social Network. ACE has awarded the eventual Oscar winner for Film Editing for the last nine years in a row! This gives me hope. I love Tariq Anwar's cutting of The King's Speech and all, but I couldn't help but think what a shame it would be if it beat the most impeccably paced film of the year to that Editing Oscar. Now I feel I can safely call The Social Network in that category. Fingers crossed!

The King's Sweep

There seems to be two philosophies dominating the predictions I see floating around in the Oscarweb; those of foresee a sweep for The King's Speech, and those who foresee the Academy spreading the love.

A King's Speech sweep could win as many as eleven awards, including:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Original Score
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design

(I don't think it can win Sound Mixing)

whereas if AMPAS decides to share the wealth, it could look something like this:
Best Picture - The King's Speech
Best Director - David Fincher
Best Actor - Colin Firth
Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale
Best Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo or Hailee Steinfeld
Best Original Screenplay - The King's Speech
Best Cinematography - True Grit
Best Film Editing - The Social Network
Best Original Score - The King's Speech
Best Art Direction - Alice in Wonderland
Best Costume Design - Alice in Wonderland

The real problem is those craft categories. A common theory is the general Academy, uneducated about the specifics of tech awards, merely vote for the "most" instead of the "best". The King's Speech indeed has fine editing, production design, costume design, photography, and music, but it doesn't boast the "most" of any of those things. This is especially true in Costume Design where I suspect BFCA and BAFTA winner Alice in Wonderland is a real threat.

Which case will we see on Oscar night? The love-in or the love-spreading? Maybe a little bit of both. I continue to hold out hope for Roger Deakins to collect his long overdue Oscar, and I just don't see either Carter or Rush pulling out wins (although Leo's foolish personal campaign and Carter's BAFTA win put her in prime upset position).

And what about Best Director? It's practically a toss up between Hooper and Fincher. So many uncertainties.

Here's a prediction for you: I'm going to guess more categories wrong this year than I have in years!

King's Speech woos BAFTA

Surprise, surprise. Seven BAFTAs seems just about what I would have thought for The King's Speech, although I wasn't quite expecting it to take three of the four acting prizes. Helena Bonham Carter winning Best Supporting Actress is only semi-surprising, given frontrunner Melissa Leo's lack of a nomination, but Geoffrey Rush upsetting Christian Bale... let's just hope this doesn't materialize with the Academy.

What most surprises me is that it only took home one craft award (for Original Score). Most people are preparing themselves for an Oscar sweep of sorts, but BAFTA has done a nice job spreading the wealth around. Some choices are dubious, like two awards for Alice in Wonderland (including Costume Design, its biggest Oscar opportunity), but others are inspired, like the Film Editing win for The Social Network. And despite all odds, Inception keeps picking up those richly deserved but hardly expected citations for its year-best Production Design. Might there be hope for Oscar after all?

Black Swan's impressive nomination tally of 12 yielded only a single win for Natalie Portman, but that should hopefully be enough to help her fend off a late surge from Annette Bening.

And what of David Fincher's win? Is he strong enough to overcome Tom Hooper?

Obviously The King's Speech is still going to win Best Picture, but The King's Sweep is looking a bit vulnerable.

Best Film – The King’s Speech
Best Director – The Social Network – David Fincher
Best Leading Actress – Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Best Leading Actor – Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actress – Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Best Supporting Actor – Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay – The Social Network – Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Screenplay – The King’s Speech – David Seidler
Outstanding British Film – The King’s Speech
Outstanding British Debut – Four Lions – Chris Morris
Best Cinematography – True Grit – Roger Deakins
Best Editing – The Social Network – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
Best Original Music – The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat
Best Production Design – Inception – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat
Best Costume Design: Alice in Wonderland – Colleen Atwood
Best Sound – Inception – Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick
Best Special Visual Effects – Inception – Corbould, Franklin, Lockley, Bebb
Best Make Up & Hair – Alice in Wonderland – Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch
Best Short Film – Until the River Runs Red – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis
Best Short Animation – The Eagleman Stag – Michael Please
Best Film Not in the English Language – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Best Animated Film – Toy Story 3
Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award – Tom Hardy

One Category at a Time: Costume Design

It's said that the Academy in general votes for the craft categories in one of two ways: either it votes for the "Most" instead of the "Best", or it votes for the movie it likes the best.

If they're voting for the "Most", then I say Alice in Wonderland will win for Colleen Atwood's colourful (see: glaring, clashy) fantasy threads, since there's no decadent 18th Century royalty porn for them to vote for.

If they're voting for whatever they like the most, then it's obviously going to The King's Speech. Add to that the fact that, while not exactly like the royalty porn of the last four years, the film is technically about European monarchy, and thus can keep this category's streak alive. I'm venturing that Jenny Beavan will celebrate her first win in 23 years.

You could apply the same logic of a win for "Most" Costume Design to The Tempest and Sandy Powell's interesting costumes, but that movie is despised to an extent that makes even Alice in Wonderland look good.

I Am Love is contemporary, so it's out, and no Western has ever won, so that should nix True Grit as well. That's not to undersell Antonella Cannarozzi and Mary Zophres' terrific work. Both of them, especially Zophres, did awesome jobs at using clothes to accentuate character, and it'd be swell to see one of them win, but keep dreaming.

Will win: The King's Speech
Runner-up: Alice in Wonderland

Should win: True Grit
Should have been nominated: Get Low

One Category at a Time: Art Direction

As far as I see it, the category (and by association, Costume Design) come down to two films: The King's Speech and Alice in Wonderland.

One the one hand, Oscar voters often go for the most noticeable production design, as was certainly the case last with Avatar, in which case you might give an edge to Alice in Wonderland. On the other, the Academy really likes The King's Speech, and a prestige period drama is hard for voters to turn down. Still, Alice just seems like a real threat in this category where voters sometimes mistake ''most'' for ''best''. I think I'll stick with the Best Picture winner on this one, for the production design really is quite lovely and thematically appropriate, but I'll hang myself it ends up being Tim Burton's movie. Not because I'll have guessed wrong, but because that movie is seriously hideous.

Sad to say, Guy Dyas' healthy run with various critics groups including the BFCA will not avail him with AMPAS. I think his work on Inception is the most deserving, but contemporary films never win this category, and the design really is more of a contemporary entry than a fantasy outing.

Also, I wonder if next year the Academy might give this award to Deathly Hallows Part 2. This is one category where the Harry Potter series has been more than adequately recognized, and if the franchise is going to win something, it might be here. Stay tuned 'til 2012.

Congrats also to Jess Gonchar for his first nomination with True Grit. He hasn't a hope in hell of winning, due to all those exteriors. But that won't cheapen the nomination, which is richly deserved.

Will win: The King's Speech
Runner-up: Alice in Wonderland

Should win: Inception
Should have been nominated: The Illusionist

One Category at a Time: Visual Effects

I must profess, I'm not sure why the Academy chose this year of all years to finally expand the number of nominees in this category to five. It hasn't been a particularly outstanding year for effects work, and it shows with a slate of mostly mediocre nominees.

I've long since been on the record for thinking the effects of Alice in Wonderland are glaring and poorly animated, but I can't begrudge Ken Ralston & co. for the sheer amount of work they did. Practically every shot is an effects shot. Everything is computerized. Computerized to death if you ask me. And yet it's still a dark horse candidate in this field. Remember that "most" visual effects can sometimes beat "best" visual effects.

Adding to the population of nominees that make me say "m'eh" are Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and Hereafter, the latter of which seems to have made it in for that tsunami sequence alone. Decent work, but nothing particularly special. It's a crime that these got in over the much more stunning and unique effects of TRON Legacy and Scott Pilgrim vs the World.

Incpetion, on the other hand, is the only movie this year whose effects made me go "whoa". Those brilliant hotel corridor scenes are justly lauded, but let's not forget the detailed work done by the digital effects artists, or the meticulous pyrotechnic work. It has four VES nominations under its belt (winners announced tomorrow) and is also the only Best Picture nominee in the field. The Oscar is clearly it's to lose.

Will win: Inception
Runner-up: Alice in Wonderland

Should win: Inception
Should have been nominated: Scott Pilgrim vs the World

ADG nominees!

The ADG's selections for the production design in feature films this year are:

Period Film
Get Low
The King’s Speech
Robin Hood
Shutter Island
True Grit

Fantasy Film
Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Inception
TRON Legacy

Contemporary Film
Black Swan
The Fighter
127 Hours
The Social Network
The Town

Not a bad lineup. I imagine Period will go to The King's Speech, Fantasy to either Alice or Inception, and Contemporary to... Black Swan? I'm kinda disappointed The Ghost Writer didn't pop up there. Same with The Wolfman in Period.

VFX Shortlist

The fifteen finalists for this year's five slots for Best Visual Effects are:

Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Clash of the Titans
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
The Last Airbender
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Shutter Island
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
TRON Legacy
Unstoppable

Happy to see Scott Pilgrim vs the World survive here. With any luck it'll squeak in over Alice in Wonderland, which most people are assuming will be one of the five nominees. I'm less pleased that no animated films made it through, especially when titles like Tangled and especially Legend of the Guardians featured such strong effects animation.

Predictions - November 2010

Here are some changes:

-John Malkovich may get some love in Supporting Actor for his charismatic (or so I've heard) performance in Secretariat. The film could find a soft spot in the Academy, but its disappointing box office has me doubting. I've added it to Sound Mixing as well.
-It's conceivable to me that Amy Adams and Melissa Leo could split the Fighter vote, allowing someone like Jackie Weaver to get in for Animal Kingdom. Screeners have already been sent, so that gives her a leg up.
-I don't know what to make of The Way Back in this year's race. Most people won't even get to see it until late January. I am going to put it back in at least one category, however, and that's Cinematography.
-Alexandre Desplat is going to win Best Original Score one of these years, and by riding the coattails of The King's Speech, perhaps this could be the year? I'm definitely putting him down for the nomination at least.
-Disney is launching an all-out campaign for Alice in Wonderland (someone shoot me in the head), so I've reluctantly added it to Visual Effects and Makeup. I'll hold out on Art Direction for as long as I can.