Early Best Picture Predictions

I've been slower than usual this year at pulling myself out of March's Oscar withdrawal and gearing up for next year's awards, so my apologies to all two of you who have been impatiently itching to see my early predictions. Rest assured they'll be posted on the sidebar by the first of May (my normal deadline for early guesses), but I'll only bother doing a write-up for one category; Best Picture. And here it is:

One Category at a Time: Animated Feature

Never can I remember the race for Best Animated Feature being as competitive as its been this year. Not that I think it's been a particularly stellar year for the medium. To me, the closeness of the race is due to all the nominees achieving roughly the same level of enjoyable mediocrity, with one standout clearly above the rest, but that doesn't mean it has the Oscar locked up.

My Award nominations: Animated Feature

Didn't think it was the strongest year for animation all around, but there was lots of variety of technique upon which to feast the eyes. My five Best Animated Features nominees are:

Review - Frankenweenie

Not since Edward Scissorhands has Tim Burton made a film as personal as his latest stop-mo animated feature Frankenweenie, and after a string of less than stellar efforts in recent years, one can understand how fans of the singular filmmaker would wish it to be an unqualified success. Unfortunately, the success here is hardly unqualified, although it at least marks an improvement over duds like Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows.

Based on Burton's own short from 1984, the first half briskly lays out the world of young Victor Frankenstein, whose canine friend Sparky stars in his homemade monster movies. There's not much else that interests him in his quiet town of New Holland, which was no doubt chosen as the setting so that they could stick a windmill on the hill. He shies away from his neighbors and classmates, most of whom represent broad caricatures of legendary horror actors and characters. When sparky is felled by an untimely car, the grieving Victor decides to try out a little science experiment, figuring that enough electricity can revitalize his dead dog's nervous system and bring him back to life. This portion is when the movie is at its best, serving up an even blend of horror pastiche, macabre humour, but ultimately pathos (as Danny Elfman's mournful violins make perfectly clear). It also avoids needless dialogue, often allowing Burton's black-and-white compositions to tell the story, especially effective in the critical reanimation scene.

Sunday Top Ten: Batman characters; the movies + The Animated Series tag team

With the recent release of a teaser poster and trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, I can't be the only one who's had Batman on the mind lately.

Everyone has a favourite Batman character (well, except for people who don't care about Batman, but they're just an urban legend), but with so many different incarnations of all the heroes and villains having been contributed over the decades, it's hard to give a consistent assessment of each one. Do you have a favourite continuity? The 1960s Adam West TV series, maybe? Any of the films by directors Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, or Christopher Nolan? I can tell you right now my definitive Batman canon is the fantastic Warner Brothers cartoon from the 1990s, whose dark and mature treatment of the material made for an atypically grown-up childrens program. For kicks, I'm appraising ten character combos that team up the performances from the major motion pictures with their animated doppelgangers.

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