awardseasons:

Best Picture

• “The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
• “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
• “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
• “War Horse“ Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Directing

• “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Alexander Payne
• “Hugo” Martin Scorsese
• “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
• “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
• George Clooney in “The Descendants”
• Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
• Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
• Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
• Viola Davis in “The Help”
• Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
• Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
• Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

 

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
• Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
• Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
• Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
• Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
• Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
• Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
• Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
• Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

• “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
• “Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

• “The Artist”
  Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2“
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Hugo” 
  Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
• “Midnight in Paris” 
  Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
• “War Horse” 
  Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

• “The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
• “Hugo” Robert Richardson
• “The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
• “War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

• “Anonymous” Lisy Christl
• “The Artist” Mark Bridges
• “Hugo” Sandy Powell
• “Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
• “W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Documentary (Feature)

• “Hell and Back Again”
  Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” 
  Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” 
  Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Pina” 
  Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• “Undefeated” 
  TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” 
  Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• “God Is the Bigger Elvis” 
  Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• “Incident in New Baghdad”
  James Spione
• “Saving Face” 
  Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” 
  Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

• “The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Kevin Tent
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

• “Bullhead” Belgium
• “Footnote” Israel
• “In Darkness” Poland
• “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
• “A Separation” Iran

Makeup

• “Albert Nobbs”
  Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
  Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Iron Lady”
  Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

• “The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
• “The Artist” Ludovic Bource
• “Hugo” Howard Shore
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
• “War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

• “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
• “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)

• “Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
• “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
• “La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
• “A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
• “Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

• “Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
• “Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• “The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
• “Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• “Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

• “Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
• “Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• “War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
  David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
• “Hugo” 
  Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• “Moneyball”
  Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” 
  Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
• “War Horse”
  Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ 
  Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
• “Hugo”
  Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
• “Real Steel” 
  Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
• “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
  Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
• “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
  Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
• “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin  Story by Stan Chervin
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
• “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
• “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Some definite shocks there, surprised to see Shame get snubbed but good to see Oldman get a nod.

It’s been a good year for film and it’s gonna be tough to decide, I have to say.

I’m looking forward to the big night!

A review by Tom

Making a silent film in 2011 and releasing it sounds like a crazy idea to most people, but who would have thought that it’d become one of the best films of the year? I only saw this this week as it was only released here this week…but yes, I can safely say it’s one of the best films of 2011.

Choosing to make this a silent film about the transitional period in cinema between the silent era and the emergence of the ‘talkies’ is a bold move but it works in so many ways. The director Michel Hazanavicius wanted to make a silent film as the filmmakers he admired were from the silent era and because he loved the image-driven nature of the format…and when watching the film, you can really tell how much he loves silent films and his knowledge of the era.

The film is so lovely and entertaining to watch, all the performances are fantastic. Especially the two central performances from Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller. They had great chemistry on screen and Jean is so charming as George Valentin and everything he did was amazing to watch.

Bérénice was also a joy to watch as she brought so much personality to the role and was able to keep up with Jean’s personality and charisma. They managed to tell the story they needed to so well.

I think the direction is really solid and it flows together so well. It has all the conventions of a silent film, although it doesn’t have many intertitles, instead only showing them for important dialogue and I actually like this because it keeps the focus on the image and visual storytelling.

The story itself is really wonderful and while it’s not a new story, it feels fresh and it keeps your interest really well. There’s also a very cool scene in the film which slowly builds up the sound around George in his dressing room, I won’t ruin it for you by saying exactly what happens, but I will say that it’s terrific and really interesting.

Also, great appearances from John Goodman and Malcolm McDowell which I loved too.

Overall, I loved the film so much. It was so wonderful and lovely and I really recommend going to see it.

Rating: 10/10

A Review by Web

Universally loved and racking up awards left and right, A Separation had quite a reputation to live up to. For the most part, it passes with flying colors.

The film follows an Iranian couple going through a rough patch in their marriage. The husband, Nader, has a father dealing with Alzheimer’s he must take care of, and the wife, Simin, wants to leave the country so her daughter can have a better life. Simin leaves and stays with her mother while Nader hires a poor, pregnant woman to help take care of his father. Things go from bad to worse when Nader has a quarrel with the help which results in the woman having a miscarriage. 

Asghar Farhadi wrote and directed this film and the love and care he’s put into each shot shows in every scene. His characters are complex, morally jaded, and sympathetic. The film is about their reactions to the events as much as the narrative. Farhadi keeps the film moving at a fast pace; there’s never a dull moment. And there really can’t be because Farhadi is tackling so many issue - marriage, childhood, law, responsibility, truth, religion, gender roles, etc. He has made a very layered film. The actors do the material justice; they are flawless. They inhabit their characters and show what Iranian middle class is like. The leads bring a real honesty which makes the films all the more enduring and the storytelling that much better.

However, I did have a couple problems with the film which I cannot explore heavily without explaining the ending…so I won’t. Much of the problems caused in the film are because of the Iranian culture and overly religious views of the society portrayed. Plus, the narrative focuses on the miscarriage and who was ultimately responsible. The clouded mystery keeps the suspense up the entire movie but a couple choices by Farhadi sours things a bit for me, cheapening the a bit of the experience. Still, the bread and butter of this film is the effect of the situation on the characters, their reactions, and the setting. 

A Separation is a must watch; the praise it’s receiving is very deserving. It’s been some time since a film has captured the struggles and impossible choices people must endure in order to keep their little world from crumbling.

Final Grade: B+

A Review by Web

Ever since it premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive has captivated audiences and earned almost universal praise from action aficionados and indie film junkies alike. Setting the hype this high, I was sure to be disappointed. I’m happy to say this wasn’t the case. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t thrilled about it (as Tom and Manny were), but I can definitely take away some very memorable scenes.

Ryan Gosling, in a subdued performance, is an unnamed stuntman/mechanic. He fixes cars during the day but by night, he is a getaway driver for the seedy underbelly of society. This is showcased by a very thrilling and precisely directed opening sequence. While building a relationship with his neighbor, played by Carrey Mulligan, our hero finds himself caught between the east and west coast mafias after a job gone horribly wrong.

Drive borrows heavily from Le Samouraï, a 1967 film by Jean-Pierre Melville. In fact it borrows the entire plot. Alain Delon plays a perfectionist hitman with a code of ethics and finds himself in a no-win scenario after a job gone horribly wrong. However, in Drive, the unnamed hero is rather stoic. He hardly ever does anything to show his motivations or reasoning behind his actions. Though this has been somewhat done before with style and badass-ery (Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo and Sanjuro), Gosling doesn’t bring any of that to the role. We see the minutia of his everyday life - but why? None of it helps us understand the character much, and he is kept at an arm’s length the entire film. 

The supporting cast does a solid job. Bryan Cranston is the best friend and is in top form. Mulligan brings quite a bit to her small role as well as the love interest. The villains on the other hand, not so much. It’s nice to see Albert Brooks on screen but the muddled crime story he’s involved in made it difficult for me to take his character seriously. He has a couple scenes to show how menacing his is but the character is fairly one note. Speaking of one note, Ron Perlman also joins the cast and phones in another classic Ron Perlman performance. He might as well be the vampire from Blade 2. It would matter, not one bit.

The 1980’s pop music, soundtrack, and pink font add a little bit of charm to the film but it can’t help cover up the slow pace and lack of humanity in the central character. About an hour into the film, the violence takes over and little else matters. The film becomes one interesting set piece after another until the film finishes. Much like my opinion of Lars Von Trier, Refn is probably a good director. He shows it during many points throughout the film but is too busy trying to wink at the audience about his style and violence, to care about his characters and plot. 

I say go see Drive because it’s an interesting film with some very well directed sequences. I’m sure it’ll get it’s fair share of Oscar nods despite the problems I have with it. Borrowing a little from film noir, a little from art house, and a little from John McClane, the film is a smörgåsbord of flavor. But not all of it goes well together. 

Final Grade: C