I remember a year when the nominees were announced I had seen all of the films except the one's which had yet to be released. This year, not so.From whittiling out the films I have seen, I can see a list of films that - for the most part - I don't want to see. Tree of Life I have just purchased on Amazon, so its only a matter of time with that bad boy. The Descendants hasn't been released in the UK - and I will watch it when it is released. And I guess its inevitable that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be viewed. But everything else, I could easily argue my reasons against.
But can you convince me? I have edited down all the nominee's to only the film's I haven't seen. So, according to my list, I only have four Best Picture nominations ...
If you scan down the list to the other categories - and it seems that for Original Score and Best Art Direction I am all over them - you will see the films and actor nominated which I know nothing about, as I have not seen the film.
Which of these should I be making a real effort to hunt down? Which of these are worth finding at a matinee, at a cinema on the other side of London, purely to 'tick-off' on the list of Films-to-see-in-2011? I have roughly one-month to make the effort!
Best Picture:
THE DESCENDANTS
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
THE HELP
MONEYBALL
Best Director:
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
THE DESCENDANTS
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
THE HELP
MONEYBALL
Best Director:
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Best Actress:
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Best Actor:
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Demian Bichir, A BETTER LIFE
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL
Demian Bichir, A BETTER LIFE
Best Supporting Actress:
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Janet McTeer, ALBERT NOBBS
Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Max Von Sydow, EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Max Von Sydow, EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
Best Original Screenplay:
MARGIN CALL
A SEPARATION
MARGIN CALL
A SEPARATION
Best Adapted Screenplay:
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL
THE HELP
THE IDES OF MARCH
THE DESCENDANTS
MONEYBALL
THE HELP
THE IDES OF MARCH
Best Animtaed Feature:
A CAT IN PARIS
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO
A CAT IN PARIS
KUNG FU PANDA 2
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO
Best Foreign Language Feature:
BULLHEAD
FOOTNOTE
IN DARKNESS
MONSIEUR LAZHAR
A SEPARATION
BULLHEAD
FOOTNOTE
IN DARKNESS
MONSIEUR LAZHAR
A SEPARATION
Best Cinematography:
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
THE TREE OF LIFE
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
THE TREE OF LIFE
Best Editing:
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MONEYBALL
THE DESCENDANTS
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MONEYBALL
Best Art Direction:
As an Art teacher, I am quite proud I watched all of these. Says something about what type of film I am attracted to!
Best Costume:
ANONYMOUS
JANE EYRE
ANONYMOUS
JANE EYRE
I told you W.E. would get something for this!
Best Make-Up:
ALBERT NOBBS
THE IRON LADY
ALBERT NOBBS
THE IRON LADY
Best Original Score:
I also love music and film scores - purchasing The Adventures of Tintin too! Again, I think this represents me a little.
Best Original Song:
“Man or a Muppet”, THE MUPPETS
“Real in Rio” RIO
“Man or a Muppet”, THE MUPPETS
“Real in Rio” RIO
Best Sound Mixing:
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MONEYBALL
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
MONEYBALL
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
Best Sound Editing:
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
Best Visual Effects
REAL STEEL
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
REAL STEEL
TRANSFORMERS: THE DARK OF THE MOON
Best Documentary Feature:
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
IF A TREE FALLS
PARADISE LOST 3
PINA
UNDEFEATED
HELL AND BACK AGAIN
IF A TREE FALLS
PARADISE LOST 3
PINA
UNDEFEATED
Best Documentary Short:
THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
SAVING FACETHE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
THE BARBER OF BIRMINGHAM
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
SAVING FACETHE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM
Best Animated Short:
DIMANCHE
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. LESSMORE
LA LUNA
A MORNING STROLL
WILD LIFE
DIMANCHE
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. LESSMORE
LA LUNA
A MORNING STROLL
WILD LIFE
Best Live Action Short:
PENTACOST
RAJU
THE SHORE
TIME FREAK
TUBA ATLANTIC
PENTACOST
RAJU
THE SHORE
TIME FREAK
TUBA ATLANTIC
Simon, I haven't seen all of these and there are a lot of choices, so I'm going to pick three of them that you should see:
ReplyDelete1. The Descendants - really good acting across the board
2. Moneyball - an excellent script and one of Brad Pitt's best performances
3. Beginners - it's more than just Plummer's performance. It's a heart-warming movie and quirky in a good way.
Thanks Dan. THE DESCENDANTS i will make sure I watch when it is released but MONEYBALL puts me off with the - is it baseball? - context. I'm not a sporty man! BEGINNERS I actually am interested in ... but alas, my friend Jo said it was completely pretentious. I might watch it anyway, because I disagree with the man all the time!
ReplyDeleteBased purely on numbers it's pretty clear you need to see The Help. That would tick a few off the list... Dragon Tattoo is a must, Rooney Mara deserves that nomination, jolly harsh that Fincher and the film has been ignored. Methinks A Seperation would be a good one to catch up with. Transformers 3, less so.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see Descendants and Moneyball so it feels like me & Dan would get along. And then you go and spoil it all with Beginners. Worst Film of the Year.
Well Jo! We shall go to the ball. Or the cinema as it were to see THE DESCENDANTS. MONEYBALL, I doubt Sarah wants to watch, but if you can find a screening sir, mark me down. THE HELP is a bit annoying - I didn't realise how big-a-deal it was.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned earlier, I put the heaviest emphasis on the top eight categories: acting, writing, direction and picture.
ReplyDeleteBased on those (amongst what I've seen) I suggest
THE DESCENDANTS
DRAGON TATTOO
THE IDES OF MARCH
THE HELP
A SEPARATION
PS, While I'm not a fan there are bigger themes in play with MONEYBALL than just the baseball. Might be worth a look for the Sorkin dialogue alone. But notice I don't call it an essential watch
ReplyDeleteSorry Simon, I didn't invite you to the ball...
ReplyDeleteWent to see Moneyball on Friday night and it was fine. Great dialogue and performances although I didn't really get on board with the baseball/statistics stuff. Jonah Hill is definitely changing my mind about him, certainly deserving of his supporting nom and Brad Pitt is super cool. Can't see it winning much, hopefully Sorkin will take home the screenplay Oscar for the next decade and then you will have to respect The West Wing!
Agree with Ryan that it's not essential. Disagree with him about Ides of March, avoid and see Drive again instead! Proper Gosling.
Descendants this Wednesday in Clapham?
I watched THE DESCENDANTS last night (Matthew Lillard! In an Oscar Nomainated film! Who'd have thunk it!) and I do want to see DRAGON TATTOO - but not for Oscar-neccessity. The others I can take-or-leave. MONEYBALL maybe ... but sports really ain't my bag.
ReplyDeleteI want to see Viola Davis take home the Oscar. Her performance in the help is powerful.
ReplyDelete