But it got me thinking, why does it matter to me, and other film goers, if our favorite performances or films get jilted? Why is it so important that our favorite on that February Sunday ends up with that little golden man in their arms? Why are we surprised when strange, challenging films are left off the list? After all, the group who decides the nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a largely unseen committee of Hollywood industry people who have almost always strayed more toward the conventional, safe, uplifting material than daring, provocative and weird. I think, more than anything, we like to be agreed with. A validation of opinion from a peer or really anyone confirms to us that a. we're not crazy, and b. it cements the idea that we are knowledgeable moviegoers, that we can process what we're watching and discuss it afterward in an intelligent fashion. People like feeling smart, right? This can be as simple and obvious as "Dude, Cuba Gooding Jr. was legendary in Jerry Maguire" or as complex as a 2 hour discussion about how mind-blowing the last sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey is. This obviously applies to a level of cinematic taste, because judging by the box office, there are millions of people who think the Transformers movies are ground-breaking (I am not one of them), and would feel validated after conversing with a fellow Michael Bay fan about how Shia LaBeouf is a believable crier. (Oscars don't mean much to these people).
Naturally, we would like the Academy, in charge of bestowing the most prestigious Hollywood award, to throw us a bone. However, it is unreasonable to believe that the Academy, whose tastes are that of white conservative senior citizens, is going to honor all of those who we, personally, think are most deserving. But every year, we let ourselves think, hope, pray that these guys and gals will grow some balls and nominate a Master or a David Lynch film or another bizarre but critically-lauded flick (maybe these are just me) for Best Picture. Like comparing athletes or looking back on our New Years personal goals, we like to quantify things, assigning a number to something or someone so we can measure its accomplishments. Daniel Day-Lewis is most likely going to win his third Best Actor Oscar this year, the most ever, for Lincoln. Would anyone think he's a mediocre actor if he never won an Oscar? Would his performance in There Will Be Blood be any less astounding? Probably not. Does anyone really believe Dances With Wolves is a better movie than Goodfellas because the former beat the latter in the Best Picture race? I can't imagine there are many. In the end, a film or actor's legacy isn't measured by how many gold statues it wins. Best by Oscar standards is something you can hold in your hand but doesn't guarantee a lifelong approval, the actual best are hermetically sealed because films have a lasting impact on our lives, and the greatest of films compel us to pass it on to new generations. Do the best films ever get recognized as Oscar Best? Yep (The Godfather, On The Waterfront, The Silence of the Lambs all won Best Picture). One can only hope, each year, that Best means the BEST. But no matter, because every year nominations are announced, and I let myself get angered, surprised, disappointed all over again.
Here's who I think were the BEST of 2012. Had I been in charge of the Academy, here are the actual nominees accompanied by who I would have chosen as the nominees in the 8 major categories, as well as honorable mentions, and my picks for who will win. I haven't seen Amour, it may be well-deserving of its nominations, but I'm going to leave it out for this discussion:
*should win
BEST PICTURE (anywhere from 5 to 10 nominees; 9 this year)
Nominees:
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
Who I'd replace:
The Master*, Moonrise Kingdom, Magic Mike, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper
for Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Les Miserables, Life of Pi
I'm releasing a more in-depth and ranked Top 10 List tomorrow, so I won't get into the replacements here but talk about the films I took out. I really didn't like Life of Pi, there are some spectacular visual sequences, but there are some gaping plot holes, plus some almost unwatchable acting in the flash-forward sequences. Beasts of the Southern Wild almost made the cut. For a first-time director, it's damn impressive. I guess some of the more fantastical elements involving the wooly mammoth creatures didn't jive with me right, but the two leads are great in it. Les Miserables obviously has great music, but the time lapses that one can get away with on the stage didn't translate to the big screen. A lot of the songs are in extreme close-ups, which seemed like lazy filmmaking (Anne Hathaway's song excluded), and a missed opportunity for some choreography or at least a glimpse of the production design.
Honorable Mention:
21 Jump Street, The Hunger Games, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Prometheus, Ted, Celeste and Jesse Forever, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, Seven Psychopaths, Skyfall, Flight, Cabin in the Woods, Bernie, The Hobbit, The Impossible
Will Win: Lincoln
You can argue that all of Spielberg's non sci-fi movies are made essentially to win Oscars. But this is the best chance he has because it happens to be his best movie since Schindler's List, it revolves around a beloved historical leader, it has a remarkable group of actors, and it's got a happy ending. Sounds like a sure thing to me. Silver Linings Playbook may sneak in if it sweeps acting and directing, but I don't see it happening. This is the kind of movie the Academy loves, and it is the BEST (of those nominated).
BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees:
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Who I'd Replace:
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master*; Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty; Ben Affleck, Argo
for Haneke, Lee, Zeitlin
Honorable Mention:
Ridley Scott, Prometheus; Zeitlin; Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike; Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises; Rian Johnson, Looper; Sam Mendes, Skyfall; Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Will Win: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
There are plenty of worthy candidates this year. From camera composition to movement to performances, there wasn't a better-directed movie than Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. Plus two of the top five scenes of the year: the first processing and the jailhouse confrontation, are directed by PTA. This is a no-brainer for me. The raid on bin Laden's pad is gripping filmmaking, the scene alone should have gotten Bigelow a nod. This is Spielberg's category to lose: the Academy loves him. Russell has a slight chance at an upset, again if Silver Linings sweeps, not likely though.
BEST ACTOR
Nominees:
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln*
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Who I'd Replace:
Nobody
Honorable Mention:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper, John Hawkes, The Sessions; Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained; Jack Black, Bernie
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
This is the only category I think the Academy got completely right. These are the best performances in this category that I can remember. All deserving, and I think Phoenix is mesmerizing and is a miracle in physical transformation, but Day-Lewis is a lock. It's an incredible invention of a character we all know, but have never seen walking and talking. That's a lot of responsibility for an actor, but Lewis kills it, and if it wasn't already clear that he's the best living actor, he put all those doubts to bed.
BEST ACTRESS
Nominees:
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook*
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Who I'd Replace:
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom
for Riva, Amour
Honorable Mention:
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games; Leslie Mann, This is 40
Will Win: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
It's a two-woman race between Chastain and Lawrence. Chastain is marvelous, particularly in the last shot of ZD30. But Lawrence, maybe more than any performance this year, blew me away. She is ferocious, and completely carried her movie on her own, even though there were some fine performances. Her talent and maturity shown with this character is well beyond her years.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Nominees:
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Who I'd Replace:
Since this is hypothetical, and this category is stacked with worthy actors, I'm going to throw in six nominees.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained*; Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained; Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
for Arkin & DeNiro
Honorable Mention:
DeNiro; Michael Fassbender, Prometheus; Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Dark Knight Rises; Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being A Wallflower; Jeff Daniels, Looper; Javier Bardem, Skyfall; James Badge Dale, Flight; Andy Serkis, The Hobbit; Tom Holland, The Impossible; Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty
\
Will Win: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
This was a fantastic year for supporting performances from the fellas. Arkin's inclusion in nearly every awards show is baffling to me. He has a few memorable one-liners, and any other year might be worthy of a nod, but I feel he's taking up a spot for someone more deserving. DiCaprio plays so well off of Tarantino's dialogue, and his charisma shines with this sadistic slave-owner who still has Southern hospitality. I'd give Jackson a co-Oscar for giving a thankless, brave role as an Uncle Tom house servant. Hoffman and McConaughey might have given their best performances also, but I think Jones is going to get swept up in the Lincoln vacuum that's about to occur at the Oscars. Don't get me wrong, Jones is great, but in this ridiculously impressive year, I would have gone with my main man Leo.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Nominees:
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln*
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Who I'd Replace:
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises; Jennifer Ehle, Zero Dark Thirty
for Hunt & Weaver
Honorable Mention:
Hunt; Cody Horn, Magic Mike; Emma Watson, The Perks of Being A Wallflower; Mae Whitman, The Perks of Being A Wallflower; Gloria Reuben, Lincoln; Emily Blunt, Looper; Kerry Washington, Django Unchained
Will Win: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
This is pretty close to a lock. Hathaway's not even in Les Mis that long, but her "I Dreamed A Dream" is pretty miraculous, and clearly the highlight of the movie. I personally prefer her as the cunning vixen Catwoman in Batman, but it will be a well-deserved Oscar for an emotionally-packed two minutes of singing. I thought Adams was haunting and is the most consistently great actress; I didn't think she had it in her after Contagion but Ehle was surprisingly a fireball of a CIA agent, but Field's Mary Todd Lincoln really stuck with me. The pain she conveys as she mourns her son and the voraciousness with which she goes after her husband's contemporaries is a thrill to watch.
These will be brief, because I know non-film majors don't care about screenplay awards.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
Amour
Django Unchained*
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Zero Dark Thirty
Who I'd Replace:
The Master; Looper
for Amour, Flight
Who Will Win: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
ZD30 could be an upset, as its writer upset Tarantino in '09 with The Hurt Locker over Inglourious Basterds. My argument for QT: Tarantino dialogue. Leo's post-dinner speech about the slave called Ben. Enough said.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Nominees:
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
Lincoln*
Silver Linings Playbook
Who I'd Replace:
The Dark Knight Rises
for Life of Pi
Who Will Win: Tony Kushner, Lincoln
Kushner is a Tony and Pulitzer-winning playwright, and as Sorkin showed with The Social Network, playwrights that come to the silver screen, the dialogue is rhythmic and poetic and its appropriate pauses in action enhance the editing, acting, and directing. It's an exquisitely written movie, and will be a well-deserved golden man for Kushner.
For those of you read this far, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll have my top 10 of 2012 tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
-Rex
Follow me on Twitter @arm2001
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