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.

Favourite shots from the Cinematography nominees

Some people have let me know how disappointed they were that I didn't make time in my analysis of Best Cinematography this year to highlight my favourite shots from each of the nominees as I did last year. I didn't really think anyone cared about it, but I've had requests, so I'll gladly oblige.

But first, I have to refer you to Kris Tapley's annual top ten list for the best moving images of the year; an absolute treat I look forward to reading and linking to every Oscar season.

Like last year, I'm limiting my list of shots to the five nominees for Best Cinematography, simply because I haven't the time to go sifting through all the year's movies again to find my favourites overall. Anyway, see them after the cut.

One Category at a Time: Picture

A year ago, when the Best Picture ten and that damned preferential ballot were first upon us, I questioned whether or not the conventional rules of what "can" win Best Picture would still apply. I analyzed the key nominations that the ten nominees either possessed or lacked in order to narrow them down to three frontrunners, and those three (assumed) frontrunners went on to win six of the eight major categories between them, so I'd say those conventional rules are still a fairly accurate barometer of which films are in the best position.

Let's try it again, shall we? To win Best Picture, a film needs nominations for Directing, Writing, and especially Editing. Let's see which of this year's crop have all three necessary nominations:

127 Hours: Editing (Y), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
Black Swan: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (N)
The Fighter: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Inception: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
The Kids Are All Right: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
The King's Speech: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
The Social Network: Editing (Y), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Toy Story 3: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)
True Grit: Editing (N), Directing (Y), Writing (Y)
Winter's Bone: Editing (N), Directing (N), Writing (Y)

And lo, there you have your three frontrunners: The King's Speech, The Social Network, and The Fighter.

The King's Speech is obviously the one out ahead. With twelve nominations total (including three acting nods), it's poised to rule the night, likely winning between five and eight categories on its way to Best Picture. It's simply the movie that pleases across the board. Everyone will have it near, if not at the very top of their ballot.


The Fighter, with three acting bids of its own, might be considered the most formidable challenger, but The Social Network's critical respect is nothing to sneeze at, and big wins from ACE and BAFTA have given some people enough confidence to predict either a Picture/Director split or an outright upset. It might be a close race for 2nd place between those two. Sadly, we'll never know who wins.

True Grit might be in better position if it weren't for that lack of an Editing nod, but it's probably your fourth place finisher. Ten nominations is an impressive showing of support. It's troubling to imagine that it might be shut out completely. Our hopes are dangling on Roger Deakins' in Best Cinematography (gulp).

You can order the remaining six nominees however you like, but none of them stand much a shot:

-True, Black Swan and 127 Hours each have two of those three necessary nods, but they both deal with subject matter that many a conservative Academy member is simply not going to get behind. They can forget those valuable 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place votes.
-Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right have a Writing and two Acting nominations a piece, but nothing else. They're likely too small in scope to register with enough voters in order to pull off an upset.
-Toy Story 3 has that blasted animation bias to contend with, although sentimentality could go a long way in keeping it alive through the first few elimination rounds.
-Inception was probably never that well liked with this group, as the egregious snubs for Director and Editing seem to suggest. Genre bias is a bitch.

Will win (ranks):
#1 The King's Speech
#2 The Social Network
#3 The Fighter
#4 True Grit
#5 Toy Story 3
#6 Black Swan
#7 The Kids Are All Right
#8 Inception
#9 Winter's Bone
#10 127 Hours

Should win (ranks):
#1 The Social Network
#2 Black Swan
#3 Inception
#4 The Kids Are All Right
#5 Toy Story 3
#6 True Grit
#7 The King's Speech
#8 127 Hours
#9 The Fighter
#10 Winter's Bone

Should have been nominated (top five):
#1 Exit Through the Gift Shop
#2 The Illusionist
#3 Another Year
#4 Fish Tank
#5 Rabbit Hole

One Category at a Time: Director

Flip a coin folks. Much like Film Editing, here's another category that can go either the way of The Social Network of The King's Speech.

It's a funny thing, the mechanistics of the awards race. All through December it became apparent that David Fincher was the man to beat for Best Director, having snagged two dozen critics awards (including the Critics' Choice) and the Golden Globe. Even when The King's Speech stole the PGA and accrued twelve Oscar nominations, thus becoming the Best Picture frontrunner, Best Director was still David Fincher's to lose... until the DGA and its massive voting membership (most of whom work in television) handed their top honour to Tom Hooper. He became the new leader of the pack, but then his fellow countrymen in BAFTA tipped the hat in Fincher's direction again, making this once more, a tight two-horse race.

To predict a split, or not predict a split?

When in doubt, go with the Best Picture winner. And go with it I shall.

Naturally, the nominee who deserves it the most - Darren Aronofsky for his dazzling execution of Black Swan - has the least shot of winning. Figures.

As for the Coens and David O. Russell, I'm happy for them. Honest. But I can't pretend like they belong here over the likes of Christopher Nolan. True Grit was a helluva good popcorn movie, but had so little personality outside of the performances. And The Fighter is simply overrated. Not that I blame Russell so much for its garbled structure and arrhythmia, but I still don't really consider it a great achievement in directing.

Will win: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Runner-up: David Fincher, The Social Network

Should win: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Should have been nominated: Christopher Nolan, Inception

MPSE winners!

This is a pretty good slate. Inception took home two deserved trophies for Richard King's terrific sound design and for the outstanding integration of Hans Zimmer's music. It's the one with the Oscar heat in this category, but there's still a chance True Grit could upset.

The Social Network, meanwhile, impressed the organization with its tricky tidying-up of Aaron Sorkin's dizzying dialogue. Fine choice, but I may have liked to see TRON Legacy take that category.

Finally, I'm thrilled to see Randy Thom get his due for How to Train Your Dragon, the best sound editing of the year sadly overlooked by Oscar.

Best Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film: Inception
Best Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film: The Social Network
Best Sound Effects, Foley, Music, Dialogue and ADR in a Animated Feature Film: How to Train Your Dragon Sweet!
Best Music Editing in a Feature Film: Inception
Best Music Editing in a Musical Feature: Country Strong
Best Sound Editing in a Documentary: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Best Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Foreign Feature: Micmacs

True Grit takes CAS

The Coens' trusty sound team, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, and Peter Kurland repeated their 2008 victory for No Country for Old Men by winning the Cinema Audio Society Award last night, this time for True Grit. Good for them. It is a fine mix, even if not the best of the nominees.

Inception feels awfully vulnerable, in both Sound categories actually, but I think I'll stick with it. Remember, No Country for Old Men's subtle mix ended up losing the Oscar to a loud, respected action flick. And the CAS only correctly anticipates Oscar a little more than half the time, and having done so the last two years in a row, this just feels like a year when the two groups will go separate ways.

Still, I've got a uneasy feeling about this. Maybe we'll see a split?

One Category at a Time: Cinematography

This is gonna be the most nerve-wracking category of the night for me. Usually, I try not to emotionally invest myself in anything related to Oscar... but I wanna see Roger Deakins win for once, dammit! The man has shot some of my all-time favourite movies, and some of the most memorable images I've ever seen committed to film. If I have to watch him lose for the eighth time I'm gonna stick my head in an oven... and pump that oven full of chlorine gas... and then launch it into the sun.

What's worse is I'm actually predicting him to win, so if he doesn't there's the added sting of having guessed the category wrong. It's quite possible I will be wrong as well. You could make a strong case for any of the nominees winning.

Well, okay, maybe not so much The Social Network. Not that I don't admire Jeff Cronenweth's fine work, but it just doesn't say ''Oscar winner'' to me. But the other four nominees are all plausible victors.

Black Swan has the NY and LA film critics prizes under its tutu, but what it really has going for it is the sheer maddening brilliance of Lebatique and Aronofsky's vision.

Inception has the Critics' Choice and ASC going for it, plus that exhilarated feeling it leaves audiences with as they walk out of the theatre. Wally Pfister had better win an Oscar someday.

The King's Speech has the Best Picture frontrunner factor in it favour, and a potential sweep that threatens to rob dozens of deserving craftspeople of their rightful Oscars. Not that Danny Cohen's framing isn't effective. It's just not the best of the year.

Finally, True Grit has the BAFTA in hand and is the most traditionally beautiful of the five; postcard-perfect vistas and gorgeous lighting (Deakins' specialty, don'tchya know), which may be all it needs to eke out a win. The fact that it's clearly a well liked movie helps.

Damn well better win: True Grit
Runner-up: The King's Speech

Should win: Black Swan
Should have been nominated: Shutter Island

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: Sound Mixing

In the years I've been doing this I don't believe I've ever guessed both Sound categories correctly (though I've come awfully close). This year has me similarly unsure of myself, as both categories could come down to either of two movies.

The obvious choice in this category, Inception, may actually be less safe than assumed. There's no denying the sophistication of the mix, and the sheer volume of it is all it'll need to convince some voters, but I get the nagging feeling that it's vulnerable to an upset (in both categories) by True Grit. The mixing team (who, in my opinion, should have won this category for No Country for Old Men three years ago) has done a terrific job that's nuanced but noticeable enough to draw votes away from Inception. Love for the film may push it across the finish line here. I'm not ballsy enough to predict it, but I smell a mini-upset in the works.

If it ends up being either The Social Network or The King's Speech, then there's your Best Picture sweeper right there. But those mixes are probably too subtle to register with the Academy at large.

Congrats to Greg P. Russell on his 14th career nomination for Salt. Shame that he's destined to lose yet again. Step up, Academy! Give the man his Oscar. And while you're at it, give one to Kevin O'Connell as well.

Will win: Inception
Runner-up: True Grit

Should win: Inception
Should have been nominated: Black Swan

One Category at a Time: Supporting Actress

This category is the only interesting one in the major categories, with a shaky frontrunner primed for an upset by a couple of potential spoilers.

Said frontrunner is Melissa Leo in The Fighter. Not to take anything away from her hard-earned success this season, but I really don't see what makes her performance so special. She does a good job, but I can't say I'm as taken as everyone else appears to be. Having swept the Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG Award, the smart money's on her, but she feels very vulnerable. Her acceptance speeches always seem to come across as being a bit full of herself, and word that she's recently embarked upon her own personal FYC campaign may be the grain of sand that tips the scales in someone else's favour.

Someone like Hailee Steinfeld, whose terrific realization of Mattie Ross in True Grit is the best performance of the five. There's a lot of support for the film and the performance, and this may be the place the Academy recognizes it, if Deakins' cinematography doesn't come to fruition.

Or it could go to Amy Adams, who gives a superior performance to Melissa Leo's if you ask me, and who's at just the right point in her career to win an Oscar, but this strikes me as a less likely possibility, given how much support Melissa Leo is still pulling.

Helena Bonham Carter might (just barely might) shock us all if The King's Speech is really going to sweep, but probably not. As for Jackie Weaver, good for her! It's great to see unknowns get recognized for obscure films, even though you know they don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning.

Will win: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Runner-up: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Should win: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Should have been nominated: Lesley Manville, Another Year

One Category at a Time: Sound Editing

What to do, what to do? It's been many a year since I guessed both Sound categories correctly. The unprecedented split between Slumdog Millionaire and The Dark Knight in 2009 lead me to believe that it might happen again last year, only to end up being another two-for-one year with The Hurt Locker taking both Sound prizes away from Avatar. Methinks the split was just a flash in the pan. To have one film win both categories is the norm.

To that end, it didn't take much to convince me that Inception is the most typical winner in both, but especially Sound Editing. And it's a worthy winner. Richard King's distortion of sound for deepening dream levels is a nifty aural cue for the benefit of the audience. He also achieves bombastic full-bodied sounds by mixing together multiple recordings of the same sound from varying distances. It's terrific work that'll likely bring him his third Oscar.

Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of Gwen Whittle, who should have won last year for Avatar, and should also be winning this year for TRON Legacy. But there's nothing the poor woman can do. The sad fact of the matter is that the movie she's representing is bad, even though her work in it is exemplary. She'll win some day (I hope).

The possible spoiler is True Grit. The movie is quite loved and sound plays a big part, but if it were to steal one of Inception's Sound trophies it would probably be in Mixing.

The other two are just happy to be there, despite the fact that they both boast quality work. Toy Story 3 isn't sound-driven enough, and Unstoppable flew too low under the radar.

Will win: Inception
Runner-up: True Grit

Should win: TRON Legacy
Should have been nominated: How to Train Your Dragon

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: Adapted Screenplay

This past weekend saw the awards race continue to take a turn for the worse as The King's Speech strolled through the DGA and SAG awards that aught rightfully have gone to more deserving films. It's likely heading for a sweep of sorts, much to the detriment of the superior Social Network, but there's at least one category where Fincher's film won't be in direct competition with the kingly juggernaut.
Needless to say, anybody other than Aaron Sorkin nabbing the Adapted Screenplay prize would be an utter shock and embarrassment. What he accomplished with The Social Network is one of the finest pieces of intelligent and artful screenwriting in years.

That being said, the rest of the field is still a respectable bunch. True Grit is wonderfully written by the Coens, as always, featuring period-appropriate dialogue and an excellent sense of timing. Toy Story 3 is also one of the year's best scripts (although it should be competing in the Original category), lingering on the verge of greatness for the first 90 minutes, and then finally not only meeting it, but exceeding it with that potent, beautiful ending. Danny Boyle's innovation as a filmmaker continued exploring tricky and challenging territory with his and Simon Beaufoy's unique work in 127 Hours, and Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini did a fine job at building intrigue in the grainy Winter's Bone.

It's a shame David Lindsey-Abaire's Rabbit Hole or Polanski & Harris' The Ghost Writer couldn't find room here, but at the end of the day, it's a moot point.

The Academy 'Likes' Aaron Sorkin.

Will win: The Social Network
Runner-up: True Grit

Should win: The Social Network
Should have been nominated: Rabbit Hole

One Category at a Time: Actor

What more can really be said? Everyone who follows movie awards (and even those who don't!) knows that Colin Firth is winning an Academy Award on February 27th. And not without good reason. His turn as the Duke of York is a heartfelt portrayal of damaged self-esteem, and he handles his character's transformation into a humble but unafraid leader with grace and emotion.

Even though it's a foregone conclusion that Firth has it in the bag, it's still worth tipping the hat to his fellow nominees, who comprise a stellar lineup. It's pleasing to see Javier Bardem's understated but devastating work in Biutiful didn't go unrewarded (even if it came at the expense of Ryan Gosling). Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco are on hand to represent the younger Hollywood generation with a pair of outstanding performances -- in The Social Network and 127 Hours respectively -- that paint vivid portraits of human nature and the consequences of our failure to connect with others (or the pleasures of our succeeding to do so). And of course, coming off his long-time-coming victory last year, Jeff Bridges is back in vogue for an unforgettable and highly enjoyable scenery-chewing outing in True Grit.

It's a scene-stealer to be sure, but not an Oscar-stealer. Having won nearly every critics award, the Golden Globe, the Critics' Choice, and soon the SAG, I'll be shocked if anyone other than Colin Firth wins it.

Will win: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Runner-up: Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Should win: Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Should have been nominated: Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

What to do about Sound...

Interesting factoid: The Academy has only been nominating five films for Sound Editing for the last five years (up until 2006 it was only three nominees), and every year those nominees have matched up 4/5 with the Sound Mixing nominees.

Assuming a continuation of that pattern, I might touch up my Sound predictions a bit, but that means that only six films can earn nominations for Sound, and as we know, there are many more contenders than six.

What are the locks? I'd say Inception is safe in both categories, and, despite its absence from the CAS nominees, so is TRON Legacy. What else is there?

Well, if there is a 4/5 matchup, then there can be only one film per category that is not nominated the other. For Sound Mixing, the hopeful that best fills that description might be The Social Network, which has a fine mix recognized by the CAS, but is highly unlikely to grab a Sound Editing nomination.

CAS nominees!

The Cinema Studio Society's choices for the best sound mixes of the year are:

Black Swan
Inception
Shutter Island
The Social Network
True Grit

Black Swan and Inception lead the way here, if you ask me. They're far and away the best mixes I've heard this year.

The Social Network had a strong mix as well but I wasn't expecting it to catch on as a contender here. Obviously goodwill extends beyond just the major guilds. Same with True Grit, which has a decent soundscape but not one I'd necessarily have thought awards-worthy.

The most pleasant inclusion is Shutter Island, which just missed out with my own sound mixing nominations.

My Award nominations: Adapted Screenplay

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, Robert Harris):
The script, cowritten by Polanski and novelist Robert Harris, is smart and ironic. Their style is simple and unfettered by needless genre tropes. The characters are written consistently with economical and effective dialogue. All around, a chilling and intelligent exercise in constructing tension.

Never Let Me Go (Alex Garland):
The film as a whole may have gone down as an admirable miss, but Garland's adaptation of Kuzuo Ishiguro's book is an elegant study of character and theme; themes about mortality, the intangibility of love, and how in the grand scheme of things, the amount of time we spend on this earth cannot quantify the lives we lead.

Rabbit Hole (David Lindsay-Abaire):
Lindsay-Abaire opens up his Pulitzer-winning play for the screen so effectively that you never would have guessed that it was based on a play. Understated grief and tactful humour mix to form an interesting emotional flavour. A fine study of not only coping with loss, but coping with other people's coping.

The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin):
If the movie has to belong to anyone, it's Aaron Sorkin. His loose adaptation of
Ben Mezrick's book slices through the perceived glory of the Internet with a cynical but perspicacious edge, extrapolating from a small group of characters to make comment on broader societal virtues and faults. The dialogue is deliciously verbose.

True Grit (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen):
Despite the conspicuous absence of their usually idiosyncratic personality, the Coens' faithful retelling of Charles Portis' novel provides a rip-roaring adventure tale with smooth character arcs, well-appointed comic relief, and delighfuly antiquated dialogue. Impeccably paced to boot.

Just missed: The American, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Town, The Way Back

My Award nominations: Costume Design

It's that time of year again. Time to think back on the dozens of films seen in 2010 and decide upon the best of the best in all the usual categories. As it was last year, I'll be announcing my nominees for my awards one day at a time, leading up to the 24th (the eve of the Oscar nominations) when my winners will be announced.

Today's category is Costume Design, and there was plenty to choose from in 2010:

Black Swan (Amy Westcott,
Kate Mulleavy, Laura Mulleavy):
Nina Sayres' girlish soft pinks and whites give way to greys and blacks as the Black Swan within her starts taking control. I especially loved how fabrics and accessories were stylized to resemble feathers and wings! That's to say nothing of the gorgeous ballet costumes.

Get Low (Julie Weiss):
The period attire is precise. Materials and patterns are used smartly to help distinguish character; scratchy wools for Robert Duvall, pinstripes and argyle for Bill Murray, leather and tweed for Lucas Black. Everyone even has their own hat style!

Inception (Jeffrey Kurland):
Slick corporate threads wonderfully define character quirks; prim three-piece suits for Arthur, smart casual clothes for Eames, Asian-inspired formal wear for Seito, and so on. It's not terribly flashy, but still represents intelligent contemporary costume design.

True Grit (Mary Zophres):
Features appropriately gritty period and character details: burnt-out Rooster Cogburn's battered duster, boastful LaBoeuf's ornate rodeo jacket, and Mattie Ross' ill-fitting coat and hat that visually accentuate how ill-fitting she is for the adventure on which she is about to embark.

The Wolfman (Milena Canonero):
Character specificity rules the costumes of this Gothic horror; the lavish fur-trimmed jackets of Anthony Hopkins' hunter, the no-nonsense trench coats of Hugo Weaving's Van Helsing, and the constrictive corsets of Emily Blount's love-lorn damsel are all a perfect fit.

Just missed: Harry Potter, The King's Speech, Made in Dagenham

Review - True Grit

If it weren't for the end credits, one would never have guessed that True Grit had been made by the Coen brothers, for it has less of their cinematic idiosyncrasies than any film they've ever done. And maybe that was the best way to go about it.

Young Mattie Ross (wonderfully played by Hailee Steinfeld) has a blood vendetta against one Tom Chaney for gunning down her father. As determined as she is foolhardy, Mattie hires an acerbic U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to help her track down the felon and bring him to justice, with the aid of a Texas ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who also wants to see Chaney hanged, but with more fiscal motivations in mind.

While I do bemoan the film's overall lack of personality (surprising for the famously quirky Coens), I'd be lying if I denied that I had a great time watching it. This is an old-fashioned Western from top to bottom, and depending on how much you enjoy the genre, that may suit you just fine. The tradition of a group of lovable characters (if somewhat rough around the edges) on a rollicking adventure always brought a smile to my face in the films of Budd Boedecker and John Ford, and the Coens' adaptation of the Charles Portis novel is similarly delightful, even if artistically unremarkable.

It is a lovingly made picture, with detailed period sets and costumes from Jess Gonchar and Mary Zophres, a fine score from Carter Burwell, and elegant photography from the one-and-only Roger Deakins.

Nominations are probably coming for some of the craftspeople mentioned above, and also one for Haille Steinfeld, but I don't buy that Supporting Actress bullshit the studio is plugging. The role is a leading role, plain and simple. If she does indeed earn a Supporting Actress nomination (as some of us have been predicting since spring), it'll be a simultaneous triumph and embarrassment. I'm also hesitant on the Best Picture nomination so many see coming. Maybe I'm wrong, but somehow I don't quite see the Academy going for this.

*** out of ****