The 84th Academy Awards

Ladies and Gentlemen the night of all nights is coming up, tonight the 84th Academy Awards will be handed out. Currently the women (and possibly some men) in attendance are getting their final Botox injections while the gents are practicing their pick up lines for the numerous after parties!

Just like any other awards show the Oscars are probably as meaningless as any other one out there (maybe apart from the Razzies) but who cares? No film year would be complete without some gossip about atrocious dresses, ridiculous speeches and surprising winners. Though in recent years the surprises became less and less and this year is no different in that we can be pretty sure of who is going to win. Even the host is no surprise – lets just hope he does a better job than the 2 hosts last year, though Billy Crystal has a pretty good record of delivering what is expected from him.

So who is going to win then – are we going to see an upset like when Adrian Brody won over Jack Nicholson the “The Pianist” or will Jean Dujardin go mental the way Roberto Benigni did when winning for “Life is Beautiful”. And will Jack Nicholson be there, wearing his trade mark sunglasses? We shall see!

With 10 nominations and winning pretty much everything running up to tonight, I expect “The Artist” will sweep the board winning not everything but some of the major ones. Not that I want this to happen, but I usually suck when it comes to predictions – 6 weeks ago I would have bet anything on a nomination for Michael Fassbender and his brilliant portrait of a sex addict in “Shame“. Thank God I am no betting person! So even though I still hope for a wonder of hearing Gary Oldmans name being called out for the Best Actor Award for his mesmerizing work in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”  I must assume even George Clooney has a better chance of winning for “The Descendants“. But it is not all bad – book keepers are pretty certain that Christopher Plummer will win for “Beginners” and I couldn’t be happier about it. Not only would this be the first Oscar for Plummer (unbelievable…I know!) but I also really loved this movie and his work was truly amazing. Unfortunately I was not able to watch “My week with Marilyn” yet (DAMN you German release dates!) so I can’t say anything about the much praised work of Kenneth Brannagh in it but it seems like he would be the one person who could become dangerous to Plummers win. Even though nominated 5 time already Kenneth Brannagh never won and I must say, I wouldn’t be upset if he won. The award for best supporting actress also seems like a lock in for Octavia Spencer and her brave work in “The Help” while her co-star Viola Davis is nominated in the probably most open (important) category. It is still unclear if Meryl Streep would finally win her 3rd Academy Award but indications are heading that way.For Best Picture (which is collected by the Producer of the movie) and Best Director there might be some upsets. Because there are actually 9 pictures nominated the votes being split which eventually could lead to an upset of “The Artist” NOT winning but maybe rather “Hugo” or even “War Horse” though I fear that hope is in vain. I expect “Hugo” to win for Best Director, simply because Martin Scorsese has quite a big lobby in Hollywood and after all – the Oscars are also about politics as they are about recognition. Which also means that Woody Allen might win for the delightful “Midnight in Paris“as Best Original Screenplay though I would love to see the work for “Margin Call” be recognized. And hopefully “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” will win for Best Adapted Screenplay simply because in my opinion this movie deserves all the hype the overrated “The Artist” is getting.

In about 12 hours we will know more. In the meantime I will brush up on some oscar knowledge in order to be prepared to blog & tweet throughout the event.

Review: The Descendants

After the rather surprising Oscar Nominations this Tuesday, I will need some time in order to get my head around these. In the meantime I will check out the nominees and see if the Academy was right in nominating them or not (quite possibly NOT in the case of Michael Fassbender but more on that later).

First up is Alexander Paynes latest movies “The Descendants”. As much as I loved his previous works “Sideways”, “About Schmidt” or “Election” I am simply not a big fan of George Clooney therefore I was a bit unsure when watching it. But as usual Alexander Payne doesn’t disappoint and delivers a well-made movie with great acting, a touching story and( just like in “Sideways”) he makes you want to travel.

This time it is Hawaii the story is set in. George Clooney plays Matt King, a real estate lawyer whose wife is in a coma due to a boating accident and not only does he now have to take care of his young daughters but also face the fact, that his wife was cheating on him and about to leave him. The film describes the imaginary road he takes his daughters (and their friend Sid) in order to get to grips with the imminent death of their mother and wife but also to finally get to know each other. The trip becomes real when Matt decides to find the lover of his wife in order to give him a chance to say good-bye to her, before they will have to turn off the machines.

The lover – Brian Speers – is the first big surprise of the  movie as he is played by Matthew Lillard who is most known through his roles in Scream, She’s all that and Scooby-Doo. Here he plays a torn man who comes across as both frightened of losing his family but also shattered by his affairs fate. It shows once again that Alexander Payne really knows how to bring out the best in his actors as the whole cast really shines. Yes even George Clooney does a decent job as the jaded husband though I don’t think I will ever become a fan of his work. I was especially impressed with the two young actresses who played his daughters: Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller who show a broad range of acting skills while going through this tough time.

The overall theme of the movie seems more uplifting even though it is a movie about loss and death but Alexander Payne has a way of telling a seemingly ordinary story with all its  low points and high points, leaving the viewer with some kind of satisfaction having witnessed it or even participated in it. The only problem I have with the movie that apart from its positiveness in a movie-perspective it leaves a kind of “meh” taste behind. It is a well made, lovely movie. The director did an amazing job and the actors are all great but still, I cannot feel the same enthusiasm about it, as I felt after watching “Shame” or “Winters Bone” so why the former did not receive one nomination is beyond me but I guess that’s just how the game goes.

My pre-nomination Oscar Predictions

While watching the Golden Globes I kept wondering what impact the results might have on the imminent Academy Award nominations. By now it is a rather open secret that the Golden Globes sole reason is for the Hollywood Foreign Press to celebrate itself and have a great party with the biggest stars. How else can you justify a nomination for The Tourist or Burlesque last year or this year’s nomination of Owen Wilson? Thankfully the nomination of The Tourist also gave way for one of Ricky Gervais’s best jokes – this year and last!
Barely any respectable film critic is giving the Golden Globes any credit but still there are rumors Eddie Murphy “lost” his Oscar win thanks to his lack of gratefulness in his Golden Globe speech. So what indications can we take from this year’s Golden Globes? Will it mean we will see a clean sweep for the Artist? On the one hand I would wish for it as it clearly shows the industry that you don’t have to spend billions of dollars on ridiculous 3D movies when people still want to spend money on watching a silent black and white movie (maybe not these). Though I would like to see Michael Fassbender win for his uncompromising portrayal of an addict in “Shame” or even Gary Oldman a long overdue Oscar for his role in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” I assume Jean Dujardin will win.

If there is one thing for certain – the 84th Academy Awards won’t be as funny as the Golden Globes simply because Ricky Gervais isn’t hosting the show. Of course Billy Crystal will do a great job, but nothing can be as hilarious as this!

Looking back at the year I am only glad that the over-pretentious “Tree of life” didn’t live up to its hype and by now won’t have little chance of winning or even being nominated. At the same time Lars von Trier pretty much killed his chances of an Academy Award for the glorious “Melancholia” thanks to his “joke”. Unfortunately for Kirsten Dunst it seems to include her chances as well though I was very happy for her to win a best actress award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Let’s just hope next time she works with a more diplomatic director – or with Clint Eastwood because he seems to get all his actors nominated no matter what the critics say of his movie. It seems likely Leonardo DiCaprio will see a nomination even though “J Edgar” didn’t live up to its expectations but he might get thrown off from buddies George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants” looks like a sure lock for not only best picture but also best actor for George Clooney while “Moneyball” has been a huge success for Brad Pitt in the awards circus these past months.
For the women it seems like a more open race so far. Of course it is more than unlikely that Meryl Steep won’t get nominated even though not everybody is happy with her movie “The Iron Lady”. While I will be rooting for Viola Davis (The Help) it is also quite possible for Michelle Williams to win for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in “My week with Marilyn”. There is also Jessica Chastain who some want to be nominated for all of her big roles last year – “Take Shelter”, “Tree of life” and “The Help” – but it seems because of her various roles she might divide the votes too much to be left with nothing. This might be a good chance for Charlize Theron in “Young adults” for at least getting nominated though I am not sure how here chances are against Meryl Streep or Michelle Williams.
The one category that for me seems the most open race is the one for best director. With heavy weights such as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Alexander Payne (yes I call him a heavy weight) whom the Academy all love – it could be any of those.
So let’s summarize the possible nominations of the main categories
Best Actor: George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Michael Fassbender (Shame), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and wishful thinking Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy)
Best Actress: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Viola Davis (The Help), Chessica Chastain (The Tree of Life) and wishful thinking Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
Best Director: Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Martin Scorcese (Hugo), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and wishful thinking Lars von Trier (Melancholia)
Best Picture: The Descendants, Hugo, The Artist, Warhorse, wishful thinking The Help.

Let’s look back on this list next Tuesday once the nominations are out!

Trailerwatch: The Descendants

George Clooney is one busy man. Apart from filling the yellow press around the world with his love life, he is also releasing 2 movies in this years awards season. One (Ides of March) where he is the producer, director, star (gripper, lighter, puller and maybe even caterer?) and the other one where he simply stars in Alexander Paynes (Sideways) new movie “The Descendants”.

The Descendants won’t be released this side of the pond before next year (26th January) but be sure to read a lot more about it once Award Season is going into full gear.