One Category at a Time: Best Foreign Language Film

When the Academy changed its rules to allow the entire membership to vote on Best Foreign Language Film a few years ago, the process of predicting the winner has become somewhat streamlined. No more did pundits have to carefully assess each nominee for factors like subject matter and age appeal. All that needed to be rated was the film's critical hype and level of exposure, with reputation playing more than a trifling part. It's a bit of a shame, actually, because even though the winners from recent years have been a mostly respectable crop, nothing can top the now extinct satisfaction of pegging a surprise Best Foreign Language Film winner under the old system.

But this year we find ourselves in untested territory. How will the Academy respond to a roster from which the most critically revered imports of the year are missing? The Handmaiden wasn't even submitted by Korea and France's Elle failed to be saved by the branch's executive committee when deciding upon the nine semifinalists. These two subtitled phenoms were easily the most buzzed about in December, taking the bulk of regional critics prizes plus the Critics Choice and the Golden Globe respectively. Their absence creates a vacuum here.

So who wins?

One Category at a Time: Foreign Language Film

After years of tweaking and finessing, it would seem the Academy has finally redeemed Best Foreign Language Film, turning it from a yearly source of debate to a rather respectable category. Credit the executive committee which gets to save three films for the shortlist -- A necessary evil in the face of the general membership's historical aversion to critically celebrated titles. This year in particular, I'm sure many critics would argue that Best Foreign Language Film is just as good (if not superior) to the Best Picture field.

One Category at a Time: Foreign Language Film

Once considered a critical laughing stock for its arcane regulations and the dubious qualities of its nominees and winners, Best Foreign Language Film has slowly but surely gained some legitimacy over the last few years. Sure, the system ain't perfect (nor will it ever be), but the implementation of the executive nominating committee has yielded some solid rosters lately.

Of course, the general nominating membership is still prone to some of their milquetoast tendancies...

What to do about film editing and sound mixing?

I've already written my pieces about Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing, but it bears repeating:

These categories are really freakin' tough to predict. More so this year than usual.

Whiplash has the type of editing style that frequently wins Oscars, but have enough voters actually seen the scrappy Sundance alumnus that barely passed $10M at the box office? How many Academy members are buying the "12 years of footage" byline in Boyhood? American Sniper is certainly the wild card in the category and I may stick with it as my final prediction (hey, you need to allow yourself at least a few against-the-grain guesses), but it'll be a game time decision.

Best Sound Mixing is an equally frustrating three-way race. The driving musical rhythms of Whiplash certainly stand out, but it's a question of how many voters have seen it? Don't let J.K. Simmons' domination of Best Supporting Actor fool you; There are a ton of people who will vote for him without having seen his performance (dude's beloved). And will the sound really jump out at people on screener? Birdman has brilliant sound work that excels by not drawing attention to itself, but neither did the likes of Hugo or Slumdog Millionaire. And American Sniper looks strong in sound editing, so how does it makes sense not to predict it here, given how rare splits are?

All of this is simply to say: Don't be surprised if my prediction sidebar toggles back and forth on these categories over the next few days. I'm also having similar debates about Best Foreign Language Film, which I'll address tomorrow.

[UPDATE:] I'm also reneging on a couple of my initial thoughts in the shorts. All will be finalized by Sunday morning at the latest.

My Award Nominations: Best Foreign Film

Oscar voting closes today, and believe it or not, there are still some nominees that haven't even been made available for public consumption. One of them is Argentinian foreign language film hopeful Wild Tales, which you won't find on my own Best Foreign Film ballot for the obvious reason that I haven't seen it yet.

On that note, I'll remind you of the three-word caveat that always accompanies my own choices for this category every single year: "Subject to change". I am often forced to amend and improve my five nominees up to several months (sometimes years) after the fact because there's so much good world cinema out there and so little of it gets released in North America in a timely fashion. Among the buzziest international titles from 2014 that I still have to see are the aforementioned Wild Tales (which I may be able to catch just before the Oscars), Godard's Farewell to Language, and Hungarian festival sensation White God.

That being said, even if those or any other subtitled latecomers never make it to my screen, I'd still feel adequately satisfied with these five terrific films.

Foreign shortlist arrives; 'Shocking' omissions as always (but is it really shocking at this point?)

Nine films have been chosen to move on in the race for Best Foreign Language Film, and will be screened for nominating committee members over the coming weeks.

Every year, there are critically praised titles that miss this cut and have their awards hopes dashed early. For many, it even dictates whether or not they'll get a North American release. Suffering the cruel sting of omission this year is the Belgium's Two Days, One Night, centred around an acclaimed performance from Marion Cotillard (although many believe she still has an angle on a Best Actress nomination).

Review - Force Majeure

If you and your family were faced with a life-threatening situation, how would you react? Would you put yourself in harm's way to protect your loved ones, or would your self-preservation reflexes compel you to flee?

Obviously, the more valorous answer is the one you would give to anyone who asks, but the truth is we never really know which instinct will rule our actions until we're actually faced with a real force majeure. That legalese term for an extraordinary or dangerous circumstance is also the title of Swedish provocateur Ruben Östlund's new dramedy, which probes this hypothetical for some revelations as slippery as a double black diamond ski run.

Östlund sets the scene at a luxury resort in the French Alps, where we meet a seemingly idyllic family: Tomas, Ebba, and their kids Harry & Vera. And yet Östlund suggests that they're not nearly as solid as they let on.

Review - The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Guess what: Today is Isao Takahata's birthday! What better day to review his latest film.

Apart from his 1988 masterpiece Grave of the Fireflies, the works of animator Isao Takahata have never had much exposure in North America. They may have less crossover appeal than other outputs from Studio Ghibli – the revered and beloved Tokyo-based anime company that brought us My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, among others – because his are less dazzling in a fantastical sense.

Nevertheless, Takahata has built a superb resume over the last thirty years at Ghibli. So what a rare and special treat it is then, to be able to see his latest (and possibly last) feature in theatres: The somewhat slow but visually splendid The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The narrative itself is a simple one (perhaps too much so to justify this film's leisurely 140-minute runtime), but Takahata gleans from it several adult themes about the pursuit of happiness, truth and artifice, and the cyclic yet finite nature of life.

Sunday Top Ten: Pet peeves and highlights of the 2013-14 Oscar season

The big show is coming up on being only a week old, but it feels like ages ago, so I think it's high time for me to finally put the season to bed. 2014 is now here, with its own slate of hotly anticipated Oscar hopefuls in the pipeline, and it's time to get to work on scoping out those, but not before capping off the awards derby that was with my annual list of highs and lows.

Oscar Postmortem Pt. 1: The results

I ended the year with the same numbers I did last year: 19 out of 24 categories correct. That may be just slightly below the average being scored by most pundits this year (who are mostly 20 or higher), but I'm satisfied with it. Let's take a look at just a few of the winners (and losers, but we'll try not to be too mean about it!) after the cut:

My Award nominations: Foreign Film

Just getting this category in under the wire because some titles waited until the last possible moment to open up. Anyway, I should always start with the disclaimer that my Best Foreign Film shortlist is often subject to change or revision if I eventually catch up with titles that I couldn't see in time (note that I haven't seen Blue Is the Warmest Color yet, but I may consider it next year when it'll be eligible for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar).

Check out the world cinema I most responded to this year.

One Category at a Time: Foreign Language Film

Last year was the first year that this category was open to all voting members of the Academy, courtesy of screener DVDs sent to all of AMPAS. Of course, with Amour also nominated for Best Picture that year, predicting this category was a no-brainer. Unfortunately for us this year, we have no clear frontrunner to point to a predictable result. Last year's obvious outcome made it impossible for us to truly gauge what sort of film will appeal to the entire Academy as opposed to the tiny older contingent that used to vote on this category. Let's take a look at the nominees:

Quick take on The Wind Rises and other late season catch-ups

It's getting down to the wire for me to see all of this year's nominated feature films. Not my fault! I swear! It's these damn late/limited releases making it nearly impossible for me to see everything in time. Thankfully, new technologies such as iTunes and Netflix and the like have granted me access to all the years nominated documentaries and some of the foreign films too. However, for some titles I've had to get real creative (and rely on my high school French), while for others I've simply had to wait for them to finally see the light of day. I finally had the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about The Wind Rises, and if I'm lucky, I'll be able to catch Omar the day before the Oscars.

For now, here are some capsule reviews from late-breaking docs and miscellaneous films that I simply haven't had the time to write about:

The Wind Rises

The life and times of Japanese aeronautical engineer Jiro Horishoki – who designed the deadly Zeros that Japan would use in WWII – is brought to life by the gifted hands of master animator Hayao Miyazaki, which may (or may not) be his final feature film. Beyond its linear biopic format, Miyazaki's [non]swansong is an artful ode to the winds of artistic inspiration and a poignant reminder that even products of impassioned creative genius can be warped for sinister purposes. Though conspicuously lacking in the fanciful whimsy and fantastical world-building on which Miyazaki has built his auteur status (although he still plies his visual imagination to Jiro's vivid dream sequences), this is perhaps his most mature work to date, eschewing the childlike worldview of his previous films and adopting a more adult writing style. However, that doesn't change the fact that what we're watching is still a straightforward biopic about a man who may be interesting as a research curiosity, but is pretty flat as a screen character. Unlike other Miyazaki films I've treasured over the years, this one actually had me checking my watch at various points throughout. The picture is a thing of beauty yes (and a feast for the ears as Joe Hisaishi's score is one of the year's best), but it hasn't the story to match.

*** out of ****

Wadjda and The Past smarting after surprising omission from Foreign shortlist

It happens every year (even with the dubious executive committee) that a number of celebrated films from world cinema fail to make the Academy's shortlist of nine for Best Foreign Language film. It's a cruel but necessary process to cull the mammoth list of submissions (76 entries this year) down to a manageable number.

The Past, Asghar Farhadi's followup to his Oscar-winning A Separation, is one of the high-profile casualties this year I haven't yet seen it, but have actually heard mixed things about it. The snub that stings the most for me personally was Haifaa Al-Mansour's Wadjda from Saudi Arabia, which is just a wonderful movie. Plain and simple. I think if it had been nominated, it would have been in good position to win the whole thing, but now we'll never know.

Among the surviving nine, the ones I've so far seen include Belgium's The Broken Circle Breakdown, Hong Kong's The Grandmaster, and Denmark's The Hunt. All three certainly have their champions, but I wasn't all that taken with the former two. The Hunt, however, is quite good, and may well be the one to watch for the win (... if it gets nominated, of course -- you never can tell with this branch).

The Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium)
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The Missing Picture (Cambodia)
The Hunt (Denmark)
Two Lives (Germany)
The Grandmaster (Hong Kong)
The Notebook (Hungary)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
Omar (Palestine)

One Category at a Time: Foreign Language Film

Last year marked the first tine in many years when the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film actually went to the best foreign language film! And with this year's best import also boasting four major nominations, it seems almost assured that the same will happen this year.

My Award nominations: Foreign Film

Like with the documentaries, I always play catch-up with foreign films as they become available, but for now, my five for Foreign Film are:

Review - Amour

Finally got to see this recently, and despite having to endure months of hype from critics and privileged festival-goers, the film more than met expectations. Michael Haneke has never made a more moving and emotionally honest picture than this celebrated Palme d'Or winner; a heartrending study of what love really means.

Set almost entirely in the apartment of George and Anne, an elderly couple whose life together requires significant readjustment when Anne suffers a mild stroke, Amour effectively imposes a sensation of being trapped by a hopeless situation; a revelant thematic undercurrent to the piece. Haneke's often static camera rarely cuts to different angles within a single scene, allowing us to fully absorb his actors' unbroken performances, and yet it never feels like a play put on film. Using efficient vignettes to evoke the gradual decline of Anne's condition keeps the film's stillness from boring the viewer, and with a pair of such soulful performances on display, it's hard to look away.

Emmanuelle Riva is getting the most notice from awards bodies for her incredibly nuanced embodiment of a woman becoming increasingly trapped by her own body, exhibiting remarkable control over her physicality throughout. Jean-Louis Trintignant is equally refined in his ability to tap into deep emotions through quiet gestures and minimalist expression. As the couple's frustrated daughter, Isabelle Huppert conveys in just a handful of scenes all the pain and anguish of being truly powerless over the inevitable.

**** out of ****

9 Foreign films advance

The nine movies that will be competing for a Best Foreign Language Film nomination are:

Amour (Austria)
Beyond the Hills (Romania)
The Deep (Iceland)
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
No (Chile)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Sister (Switzerland)
War Witch (Canada)

Critics prizes so far have been split between Golden Globe nominees Amour and The Intouchables, both of which should be safe bets for a nomination (but you never can tell with this branch). The question remains, which one wins? By all accounts, The Intouchables is a more accessible, crowd-pleasing effort, making it a likely winner. But did last year's inspiring victory for A Separation mark an evolution in this branch's taste? Or was it just a flash in the pan?

Putting the season to bed on a few positives

Not everything that transpired this season was cause for moaning and groaning. If there were never a handful of redeeming moments that make me sincerely happy every year, I wouldn't keep following this Oscar circus so closely. Some of this season's highlights include:

-Christopher Plummer

There's nothing new about the Best Supporting Actor category being used to bestow a better-late-than-never career honour upon a respected veteran actor, but rarely is the coinciding performance of such high quality that it could have won the award on merit alone. Such was the case this year as Christopher Plummer, at 82 years young, became the oldest Oscar winner ever for his graceful, emotionally pure performance in Beginners. Given that it was such an under-seen, understated little gem of movie with no other nominations, for Plummer to do so well by it is a small, but very satisfying, miracle.

-Foreign Language curse broken

I wasn't very smart in my prediction for Best Foreign Language Film, where I skeptically laid back on the category's history of shafting the critical favourite in favour of typical Academy bait. But if ever there was a film to buck the trend, it was A Separation, legitimately the best foreign film of 2011, and of the many predictions I missed this year, its Oscar win was the one I was happiest to get wrong.

-Muppets have an Oscar!

Hard to believe in retrospect that "The Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie lost Best Original Song back in 1971, making it evident that the Academy might consider themselves to be just a little bit above those TV-based puppets. But even if it has to come with the asterisk of this year's dubious Best Original Song crop, it's still gratifying to see a Muppet film finally win an Oscar, and I personally was pleased to, for the first time, hear Jim Henson thanked in an Oscar speech.

-Smooth recovery from the Ratner fiasco

Brett Ratner's media fuax-pas back in November seriously threatened to become the major talking of the season, but the Academy's swift resolution (bringing on Brian Grazer as replacement producer and Billy Crystal as host) ensured that the whole messy affair soon became nothing more than a distant memory. The show they subsequently put on may not be the most special in Oscar history, but it was exactly what I'd have expected and wanted from that creative team, and not once did the proceedings feel like they were lingering in the shadow of the previous scandal. Sometimes a dose of familiar shtick really is the best remedy.

That's just about all there is left to say about this past Oscar season as far as I'm concerned. At some point in the coming months I'll start compiling some early predictions for next year. Speaking of early predictions, how well did I do predicting this year's nominees from a year back? I correctly anticipated 3/5 Best Adapted Screenplay nominees, 3/5 Best Art Direction nominees, 3/5 Best Sound Mixing nominees, 5/9 Best Picture nominees, 4/5 Best Cinematography nominees, and (if you count predicting Viola Davis in Supporting) all five Best Actress nominees! Looking forward to trying to improve that for next year!

Ta, for now.

One Category at a Time: Foreign Language Film

It's usually best to approach Best Foreign Language Film with a fair bit of distance. In most categories it pays to go with your gut, but in this one it almost always pays to try and second-guess the Academy's softened tastes. The widely believed reasoning behind this paradox is that only a small cross-section of the membership – those with the luxury and inclination to attend the official screening of the nominees – may vote on the winner. This group typically skews older, and never bodes well for edgier critical favourites.