2013 Oscar Summary

Digital Spy

On Sunday, the 85th Academy Awards aired, bringing millions of viewers surprise winners and borderline FCC violations from Seth MacFarlane. The big winner of the night was Argo, which won Best Picture. On the day of the nominations, entertainment news was up in arms about the fact that Ben Affleck, director of Argo, did not receive a nomination for Best Director. Despite this snub, he went on to win the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and Director’s Guild of America award for his directorial efforts. At the Oscars, the award went to Ang Lee for Life of Pi, who beat out a supposed sure-fire winner in Steven Spielberg for Lincoln.

ITV

Lincoln didn’t go home empty handed, though. It deservedly won Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, the first man to win three Best Actor Oscars. The film also won for Best Production Design (formerly Art Direction). For Best Actress, Jennifer Lawrence took home the prize for her role in Silver Linings Playbook after tripping on her way to the stage. Both of these actors beat out some very deserving competition for their Oscars, but were the predicted winners since before the nominations were even announced.

Huffington Post

In the supporting categories, Anne Hathaway had an unsurprising victory for her work in Les Misérables. Beating out four other previous Oscar-winners, Christoph Waltz won his second Oscar for his performance in Django Unchained, a film which got Quentin Tarantino his second Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In the Adapted Screenplay category, Argo’s screenwriter Chris Terrio won.

WTOP.com

Even though it didn’t win Best Picture, Life of Pi won the most awards – four. Aside from Best Director, it won for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. On top of Best Supporting Actress, Les Misérables brought home two other awards – Best Makeup & Hairstyling and Best Sound Mixing.

ScreenCrush

Mark Wahlberg and the adorably inappropriate teddy bear Ted presented the Best Sound Editing Oscar. This category was a shock, as it was the third time in Oscar history and the first time in 44 years that there was a tie. The honor was shared with the sound crew behind Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. Skyfall also saw Adele win for her Bond song, as everyone predicted she would have. In the Animated Feature category, Brave pulled out a surprising win over predicted winner, Wreck-It Ralph. Anna Karenina won the award for Best Costume Design.

Digital Spy

Some of the biggest surprises of the night were in the acting category. Jennifer Lawrence had won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award, as well as a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actress in a Comedy. However, Jessica Chastain won a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award as well, not to mention the same honor from the National Board of Review. Emmanuel Riva, of the Best Foreign Language Film Winner Amour, won the BAFTA for Best Actress. Quvenzhané Wallis and Naomi Watts also gave critically acclaimed performances. What all that means is that while Lawrence’s win was both expected and deserved, it wasn’t a guarantee. Personally, I would’ve been pleasantly surprised to see Naomi Watts on that stage, but if it couldn’t have been her, I’m happy it was J Law.

MTV

Christoph Waltz won the BAFTA and the Golden Globe, but wasn’t even nominated for the Critics’ Choice or the SAG. Robert De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones were, in the eyes of some, the frontrunners. I predicted that Waltz was going to win, and it turns out I was right. In a category of five previous Oscar winners, though, there was no guarantee whose name would be in that envelope, but I’m thrilled it was Christoph’s.

Screen Crush

It was well-believed that the Best Director Oscar was going to Steven Spielberg. However, since Ben Affleck, winner of every other Best Director award this year, was omitted from the category, there was nothing to support this belief. Both Ang Lee and Silver Linings Playbook’s David O. Russell were thought to have chances of winning, and as it turns out, one of them did win. Other surprises include Best Adapted Screenplay, which was won by Argo, even though both Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln were believed to have had decent chances of winning. Lincoln made up for its Best Director loss with a Production Design win, beating out the visually striking masterpieces Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Anna Karenina and The Hobbit.

Hollywood Reporter

The entire ceremony was hosted by the hilarious Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and Ted. A lot of his jokes pushed the boundaries of what the ceremony usually includes in its comedy. His antics included, but were not limited to, a crack at Chris Brown/Rihanna, Mel Gibson’s graphic voicemails, and a jaunty tune about which actresses showed their boobs and when (he took the chance to call Kate Winslet out on her 5+ cases of indecent exposure). While he probably offended a lot of people, I think most know it was all in good fun. Besides, what else would you expect from Seth MacFarlane?

To sum up: Life of Pi – 4, Argo – 3, Les Misérables – 3, Lincoln – 2, Django Unchained – 2, Skyfall – 2, Silver Linings Playbook – 1, Amour – 1, Zero Dark Thirty – 1, Brave – 1, Anna Karenina – 1.

In my book, it was a pretty good night. Les Mis took home a few more awards that I would’ve hoped, and Brave won over the overlooked ParaNorman, but Django won two and Jennifer Lawrence got an Oscar. So, yeah. I’m happy.

AJBeltis.Blogspot.com

2013 Oscar Predictions

2013 Oscar Predictions

Who's taking home the gold next Sunday?

Courtesy of Indie Wire

Best Picture

Predicted Winner: Argo

Having won the PGA, DGA, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Critics' Choice, Argo seems to be the unchallenged winner. Lincoln has the most nominations, and seeing Affleck didn't get the director nod, it could pull out a win, but it's doubtful.

AJ's rankings:

1. Django Unchained

2. Lincoln

3. Argo

4. Beasts of the Southern Wild

5. Silver Linings Playbook

6. Amour

7. Zero Dark Thirty

8. Life of Pi

9. Les Misérables

Should have been nominated: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Hunger Games, The Impossible, Looper

Best Director

Predicted Winner: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

I'm as surprised as everyone else that Affleck wasn't nominated. There's no guarantee who will win this one, although I'm pretty sure the Academy will take this chance to give Spielberg his first Oscar in 14 years. David O. Russell has a decent shot as well, as this was a personal project that the Academy apparently loved, giving it 8 nominations.

AJ's rankings:

1. Spielberg, Lincoln

2. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

3. Lee, Life of Pi

4. Haneke, Amour

5. Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Should have been nominated: Affleck, Argo. Tarantino, Django Unchained. Ross, The Hunger Games.

There were a lot of sad faces when Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) and Hooper (Les Misérables) weren't nominated, but let me say publicly that I agree with the Academy's decision here. 

Best Actor

Predicted Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Day-Lewis should be ready to give a pretty good speech on Sunday, as his win is almost guaranteed. I would love to see Bradley Cooper win for Silver Linings Playbook, but the actor who should and will win is Daniel Day-Lewis.

AJ's rankings: 

1. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

2. Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

3. Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables

I have yet to see The Master and Flight, so I can't rank Phoenix's or Washington's performances.

Best Actress

Predicted Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

A five-way tie, if there ever was one. There could be anyone's name in that envelope on Sunday. Jennifer Lawrence is the safe bet, and I'd be thrilled for her to win. I do argue that Naomi Watts gave a better performance in The Impossible, but her win is unlikely. Jessica Chastain is also in the running, but she should've won for The Help last year, and I hope the Academy doesn't try to make up for their mistake by giving her an undeserved win this year. 

AJ's rankings:

1. Naomi Watts, The Impossible

2. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

3. Quevanzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

4. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

5. Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Should have been nominated: Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games. Noomi Rapace, Prometheus. (Women in sci-fi are so often over-looked).

Best Supporting Actor

Predicted Winner: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Having won the BAFTA and Golden Globe, I'm banking on Christoph to take this home. Tommy Lee Jones won the SAG, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman got the Critics' Choice, so they each have a shot, too. Academy members may want to give De Niro a career-achievement award now that they have a chance in this category.

AJ's rankings:

1. Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

2. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

3. Alan Arkin, Argo

4. Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Again, I didn't see The Master, sorry Phillip.

Should have been nominated: Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Tom Holland, The Impossible. Woody Harrelson, The Hunger Games. Javier Bardem, Skyfall. Pierce Gagnon, Looper. Bruce Willis, Looper. Bryan Cranston, Argo. Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild. Russell Crowe, Les Misérables. Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained. Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained. Michael Fassbender, Prometheus. 

In case you couldn't tell, it was an amazing year for supporting male performances. And we have a category with 5 previous winners, which is a shame. We could've had five deserving newcomers to the category.

Best Supporting Actress

Predicted Winner: Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

The very talented Anne Hathaway is a week away from holding a gold statuette. 

AJ's rankings:

1. Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

2. Sally Field, Lincoln

3. Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

I really should see The Master...sorry Amy Adams. I didn't see The Sessions either. Forgive me, Helen Hunt. 

Should have been nominated: Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises. Judi Dench, Skyfall. Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Kerry Washington, Django Unchained. Amanda Seyfried, Les Misérables.

Best Original Screenplay

Predicted Winner: Tarantino, Django Unchained

The Academy gave Mark Boal some love in 2009 for The Hurt Locker, beating Tarantino out for Inglourious Basterds. This year, it seems it will be the other way around, as Tarantino grabbed the screenplay award at the Globes, the BAFTAs and the Critics' Choice.

AJ's rankings:

1. Tarantino, Django Unchained

2. Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

3. Haneke, Amour

4. Boal, Zero Dark Thirty

Also nominated: John Gatins, Flight

Should have been nominated: Rian Johnson, Looper. 

Best Adapted Screenplay

Predicted Winner: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

This could very well go to Argo or Lincoln, but I think your best bet would be on Silver Linings Playbook. 

AJ's rankings: 

1. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

2. Kushner, Lincoln

3. Alibar & Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

4. Terrio, Argo

5. Magee, Life of Pi

Should have been nominated: Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Here are the rest of my predictions, without lengthy commentary.

A Good Day to Die Hard

A Bad Day to Be A Fan of Die Hard

You know, it really wouldn't surprise me if he were aiming at the screenwriter (Courtesy of techfleece).

A few days ago, I looked up this movie on Rotten Tomatoes. No reviews had been posted yet, but I saw the runtime was 97 minutes, which is relatively short for a typical 2+ hour entry in the Die Hard series. This should've been the indicator that this wouldn't be the strongest entry in the series. However, I never would have guessed that this would be the hands-down worst entry in the critically acclaimed buddy-action franchise, or that it actually brought the high standings of the franchise down several notches. My blind faith in the Die Hard series has always paid off, until now. 

Maybe the reason I thought the 97 minute runtime didn't automatically warrant a terrible Die Hard movie was because it could've had a compressed, effective screenplay that caters to the audience that prefers their awesomeness in smaller doses. Sadly, this turned out to be a false belief. This was one of the worst screenplays I recall from recent memory, mainly because about a fifth of it allotted for a ridiculous car chase, backed up by the most hollow sense of urgency I might've ever seen on the big screen. You can only make a moving object fly off a bridge and hit another object so many times before the audience says "Okay, that's enough." Did screenwriter Skip Woods come up with a screenplay that only covered 70 minutes? And then, upon being told he needed to add 20 more minutes, did he make the spur-of-the-moment decision to include an elongated and unnecessary car chase? If you told me that's not exactly how that went down, I wouldn't believe you. 

And now, the plot. I think it's appropriate I delayed going into it in the first paragraph or two because the movie waited such a long time to get into its own "plot" (if you'd be generous enough to grant it that term). John McClane, our favorite rogue NYC cop, is informed his son is being held in a Moscow prison. John Jr. (Jack, as his father calls him) has only been seen prior to Good Day as a dialogue-derived addition to the first movie. Now grown up, Jack is working as a spy for the CIA, assigned to stopping a nuclear weapons heist. Before John can get to Jack, Jack manages to escape from his trial, after an explosion miraculously kills everyone in the entire courthouse except for him and two others. Jack tries to get back to his mission, but John holds him up with his arrival. With John having blown his operation, Jack is clearly frustrated, but as we learned from Live Free or Die Hard, feuding McClanes make for a kick-ass team in the falling action. 

That's all that really needs to be said about the plot. Actually, scratch that - that's all that deserves to be said about the plot. The movie is primarily dominated by things blowing up, things crashing into other things, and Bruce Willis delivering witty and timely commentary. While it's true this makes up a bulk of the previous four installments, there was always a brilliant balance of action and plot. That's what made the original Die Hard an instant classic. In a Die Hard movie, it's not so much to ask for original, smart and clever action. Here in the fifth entry, the action isn't original, the action isn't smart, and the action isn't clever. In short, this isn't Die Hard. It's an absolute shame that this bears the name of an otherwise phenomenal film franchise.

The only positive attributes I can give to this film are Willis's usual spot-on delivery as McClane (make no mistake - Bruce is still Bruce here, it's the filmmakers that failed him) and about a 10 minute sequence of enjoyable action. While the second half wasn't as god-awful as the first, there's nothing here to recommend. Do yourself a favor - stay home, save your money, and watch one of the four other Die Hard movies so that your faith in one of the most admired action franchises won't diminish. Or go rent The Perks of Being A Wallflower on Amazon or iTunes - it came out on Tuesday and surely won't disappoint, unlike A Good Day to Die Hard.

Rating: 1.5/5

Gangster Squad

To the Gangster Squad!

The creepy dad from Ted, Mikey's big brother from The Goonies, Noah from The Notebook, the crying soldier from The Hurt Locker, the locksmith from Crash, and the T-1000 from T2 - not your expected crime stoppers (Courtesy of Guardian).

When mobsters opened up a trunk and stabbed and shot the man inside, Goodfellas showed the best way to start off a solid gangster film was with an execution. Gangster Squad took it up a step when two cars drove off in different directions, tearing a man chained up in-between in half. Real-life 20th century mob boss Mickey Cohen (portrayed by Sean Penn, Mystic River) is ruthless and territorial on his L.A. turf, prompting Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men) to plan the downfall of Cohen and his legacy. 

Recruiting a rather unconventional group of officers for the task, O'Mara rounds up his "gangster squad," and says the film's most overused line - "we're goin after Mickey Cohen." The squad breaks up his drug distributions, gambling locations and other operations in an attempt to bring Cohen down gradually. Along the way, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone fall in love (Again. See Crazy, Stupid, Love.) and Sean Penn gives a totally overdone performance. 

Gangster Squad is a slick, entertaining and well-edited crime film, and for this it gets my recommendation. It fills its seemingly lengthy 2-hour running time quite effectively and even has a little heart in some scenes. It's not loaded with scenes of thrill and suspense, but it's still tense at several points in the film. 

I do feel the need to call Gangster Squad out on a few of its flaws. For example, we fell in love with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love. as they fell in love with each other on screen. Here, their relationship seems to be a forced plot device that isn't even developed. In one scene, the cop played by Gosling hits on the girlfriend of Cohen, played by Stone. They wind up sleeping together, and after that, any mention of their relationship is temporarily abandoned. Later, when bugging Cohen's house, the two see each other and share a kiss. Even later, the two are shown having breakfast together in his house. So, what, are they living together? When did this happen? How did this happen? 

Sean Penn takes his usual acting style and blows it way out of proportion, giving a totally over-the-top performance. Yes, I understand this is the character of Mickey Cohen, but it was quite obvious Sean Penn was acting, and when you can tell someone is acting, they're not doing a very good job. There were also some ridiculous action scenes that were only included to add suspense, but only made me shake my head and say "oh, come on!" in a condescending fashion. 

I still wonder what the film would be like had the theater-shooting scene been left intact (read my full opinion piece on it here). Now having seen the movie, I don't think it would've made much of a difference, but I still feel like the original cut should have been left intact. Gangster Squad has its flaws, but is still enjoyable, sleek and mostly gripping.

Rating: 3.5/5