My second go at 2012 Oscar Nomination predictions, with my own personal choices thrown in

With less than a week to go before the 2012 Academy Award nominations are to be announced, I felt I owed myself another chance at rejiggering my original predictions, posted so early on December 13th, 2011, which I refused to go back and change as things changed around me. Sites like Kris Tapley's In Contention, John O'Neil's The Envelope and Sasha Stone's Awards Daily readjust their findings all year round, so I thought I would do so, too, especially seeing as my predix came before any guild or Globe announcements (and seeing as how I don't make my bread and butter out of these). I really don't think anybody knows anything until the movies have been seen, anyway (EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, anyone?). To make things even more surprising, I'm throwing into the stir my own VERY honest choices regarding what I think SHOULD be nominated this year. The pictures below point to which films I would like to see win. There are lots of surprises coming up (especially in my personal picks), so pay close attention, you awards mavens you:

BEST PICTURE
THE ARTIST, Thomas Langmann, producer
BRIDESMAIDS, Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel and Clayton Townsend, producers
THE DESCENDANTS, Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, producers
THE HELP, Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus and Brunson Green, 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
WAR HORSE, Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, producers

(If there were still only five nominees, it'd be THE ARTIST, THE DESCENDANTS, THE HELP, HUGO and MONEYBALL. But this year, because of the newly-funky Academy rules, I think there'll be eight nominees, so I added BRIDESMAIDS, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS and WAR HORSE. Originally, I had THE TREE OF LIFE in the roster, but I wisely began to think that's wishful thinking on my part. I think BRIDESMAIDS will take its place as this year's popular choice, given that it's been so gung-ho with the guilds. DRAGON TATTOO might slip in, but I'm thinking it's a little too raw. Anyway, the moment I saw the trailer for THE ARTIST, back in late August, I knew that it would be the Oscar winner. Just to let you in on something, when I atteneded the NY Film Festival, in the Green Room, I let everyone know that it would be Best Picture via a phone conversation. I remember giggles there...but, face to face, I told Hazanavicius that his film would be the winner and, though I'm an admirer of darker or thinkier fare, I thanked him for such a delightful bit of substantial candy, which I believe we all need at this time.)

MY CHOICES:
THE ARTIST, Thomas Langmann, producer
BRIDESMAIDS, Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel and Clayton Townsend, producers
MELANCHOLIA, Meta Louise Foldager and Louise Vesth, producers
MONEYBALL, Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, producers
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY, Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky & Jonathan Silberberg, producers
A SEPARATION, Asghar Farhedi and Negar Eskandarfar, producers
THE TREE OF LIFE, Dede Gardner, Sarah Green, Grant Hill, William Pohlad and Brad Pitt, producers

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Michael Fassbender, SHAME
Gary Oldman, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

(Here, I'm sticking with my original lineup. DiCaprio will have to wait for next year's GREAT GATSBY for his next nomination, I think. Still, I'm really sticking my neck out for Oldman and Fassbender here.)

MY CHOICES:
Dominic Cooper, THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Mel Gibson, THE BEAVER
Peyman Mouadi, A SEPARATION
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

BEST ACTRESS
Glenn Close, ALBERT NOBBS
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

(I originally went with Tilda Swinton instead of Close, but now that Close has landed both SAG and Globe noms, I guess she's going to get in, though she doesn't deserve to. By the way, I'm sticking with my no-guts-no-glory choice of Kirsten Dunst, not only because it's the best lead female perf of the year, but because this Palme D'or winner re-entered the conversation late after her victory with the National Society of Film Critics.)

MY CHOICES:
Juliette Binoche, CERTIFIED COPY
Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Kristen Wiig, BRIDESMAIDS
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Viggo Mortensen, A DANGEROUS METHOD
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS

(When I made my first selections, I hadn't seen MONEYBALL, so I found it hard to believe Jonah Hill would get in there. But now his is my favorite supporting actor perf of the year, and he's gotten SAG and Globe noms, so he's definitely in. My daring choice is Mortensen, who was nommed for the Globe, but not for SAG; he was the very best thing about A DANGEROUS METHOD, so I think this is a suitable surprise. I got rid of Pitt for THE TREE OF LIFE--more wishful thinking--and Max Von Sydow, for the sure-to-be-snubbed EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. But I'm choosing Von Sydow as my #1 pick for a special Oscar next year, which I think he should receive alongside fellow Special Oscar winner Liv Ullmann. Wouldn't that be wonderful?)

MY CHOICES:
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Jonah Hill, MONEYBALL
Viggo Mortensen, A DANGEROUS METHOD
Brad Pitt, THE TREE OF LIFE
Kiefer Sutherland, MELANCHOLIA

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, THE ARTIST
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS

(I first thought Bejo would be left out of THE ARTIST's mix, but after SAG and the Globes, where she scored, it's hard to leave her off the list. I originally had Carey Mulligan for SHAME, and still think she might get in there, besting Woodley or McCarthy. But I have a couple of other WAY OUTSIDE hopes I'm rooting for...)

MY CHOICES:
Sareh Bayat, A SEPARATION
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Jennifer Ehle, CONTAGION
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Martin Scorsese, HUGO

(I'm sticking with my picks here, even though Fincher will probably get in there for DRAGON TATTOO. I just can't believe the adventurous Directors branch would snub Malick.)

MY CHOICES:
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Bennett Miller, MONEYBALL
Lars Von Trier, MELANCHOLIA
Apiatchapong Weerasethakul, UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
FOOTNOTE (Israel)
IN DARKNESS (Poland)
MONSUIER LAHZAR (Canada)
PINA (Germany)
A SEPARATION (Iran)

(I originally had Turkey's ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA, pictured above, as an entry here, but it's been eliminated by the Academy (which is a crime), so I'm going with the movie from Canada, just because I love Canadian movies...)

MY CHOICES:
FOOTNOTE (Israel)
MISS BALA (Mexico)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Turkey)
PINA (Germany)
A SEPARATION (Iran)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
KUNG FU PANDA 2
RANGO
RIO
WINNIE THE POOH

(I'm staying with these, even though PUSS IN BOOTS or CARS 2 might sneak in, probably with one of them replacing TINTIN, which smudges up the animated movie thing with its motion capture--that is, if the Academy doesn't decide to make a giant leap...but if WINNIE THE POOH doesn't make it in here, there are some hard hearts in the Academy.)

MY CHOICES:
PUSS IN BOOTS
RANGO
WINNIE THE POOH

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, BRIDESMAIDS
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Asghar Farhedi, A SEPARATION
Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni, WIN WIN

(I deleted THE TREE OF LIFE from this race as well, replacing it with what is certainly the best original screenplay of the year, from Farhedi's A SEPARATION (there's always a foreign entry in the screenplay race anyway). I now think WIN WIN is the weak link here, and might get replaced with 50/50 or YOUNG ADULT.)

MY CHOICES:
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, BRIDESMAIDS
Lars Von Trier, MELANCHOLIA
Asghar Farhedi, A SEPARATION
Alexandru Baciu, Radu Muntean, Razvan Radulescu, TUESDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, THE DESCENDANTS
Steven Zallian, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Tate Taylor, THE HELP
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin, MONEYBALL
Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

(I first went with WAR HORSE here, but that's not gonna happen, so I replaced it with Zallian's DRAGON TATTOO script, making him a rare double nominee in this category. I'm being adventurous in sticking with WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, since HUGO is likely to overtake it. But I hated that script so much, I couldn't bring myself to put it amongst my predictions. Hey, the writers are a daredevil bunch, too.)

MY CHOICES:
Christopher Hampton, A DANGEROUS METHOD
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, THE DESCENDANTS
Tate Taylor, THE HELP
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin, MONEYBALL
Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST 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

(I'm sticking with this bunch, as they look solid to me.)

MY CHOICES:
THE ARTIST, Guillaume Schiffman
GENERAL ORDERS NO. 9, Robert Persons
MELANCHOLIA, Manuel Alberto Claro
THE TREE OF LIFE, Emmanuel Lubezki
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom

BEST ART DIRECTION
ANONYMOUS, Sebastian T. Krawinkel
THE ARTIST, Lawrence Bennett
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Stuart Craig
HUGO, Dante Ferretti
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, Maria Djurkovic

(I see no reason to mess with this bunch, either.)

MY CHOICES:
ANONYMOUS, Sebastian T. Krawinkel
THE ARTIST, Lawrence Bennett
THE DESCENDANTS, Jane Ann Stewart
HUGO, Dante Ferretti
THE TREE OF LIFE, Jack Fisk

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ANONYMOUS, Lisy Christl
THE ARTIST, Mark Bridges
HUGO, Sandy Powell
IMMORTALS, Eiko Ishioka
JANE EYRE, Michael O'Connor

(I replaced my spiteful choice of MIDNIGHT IN PARIS with Sandy Powell's work in HUGO. Those George Melies sequences became to big to ignore. But PINA was the great costume event of the year.)

MY CHOICES:
ANONYMOUS, Lisy Christl
THE ARTIST, Mark Bridges
HABEMUS PAPUM, Lina Nerli Taviani
IMMORTALS, Eiko Ishioka
PINA, Rolf Börzik and Marion Cito

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE ARTIST, Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Alexandre Desplat
HUGO, Howard Shore
WAR HORSE, John Williams

(No reason to mess with these choices, but my personal picks are much different...)

MY CHOICES:
THE ARTIST, Ludovic Bource
CARNAGE, Alexandre Desplat
CONTAGION, Cliff Martinez
FOOTNOTE, Amit Poznansky
THE SKIN I LIVE IN, Alberto Iglasias

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Hello Hello" from GNOMEO AND JULIET, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
"The Living Proof" from THE HELP, music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason Jr.;
lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas
"Coeur Volant" from HUGO, music by Howard Shore, lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir and Isabelle Geffroy
"Life's A Happy Song" from THE MUPPETS, music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie
"So Long" from WINNIE THE POOH, music and lyrics by Zooey Deschanel

(Best Song is such a thorny category to predict that I had to really overhaul my first choices. I originally had only three in there, but it's been a richer year than that. I had to delete "Pictures in My Head" from THE MUPPETS and replaced it with the much more upbeat "Life's a Happy Song." Then I added Elton John and Bernie Taupin's "Hello Hello" from the forgotten GNOMEO AND JULIET, because it sounded good, I like that legendary duo (this will be Taupin's first nom), and it got a Globe nom. Then my surprise choice (other than HUGO's "Coeur Volant") is Zooey Dechanel's "So Long" from WINNIE THE POOH, which I think would be a wonderful choice. But that drek from ALBERT NOBBS could sneak in here...)

MY CHOICES:
"Coeur Volant" from HUGO, music by Howard Shore, lyrics by Elizabeth Cotnoir and Isabelle Geffroy
“Sparkling Day” from ONE DAY, music and lyrics by Elvis Costello
"Life's A Happy Song" from THE MUPPETS, music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie
"Masterpiece" from W.E., music & lyrics By: Madonna, Julie Frost and Jimmy Harry
"So Long" from WINNIE THE POOH, music and lyrics by Zooey Deschanel

BEST EDITING
THE ARTIST, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
HUGO, Thelma Schoonmaker
MONEYBALL, Christopher Tellefsen
WAR HORSE, Michael Kahn

(No need to fiddle with this lineup.)

MY CHOICES:
THE ARTIST, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS, William Kerr and Mike Sale
MONEYBALL, Christopher Tellefsen
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY, Alyse Ardell Spiegel
THE TREE OF LIFE, Hank Corwin, Jay Rabinowitz, Daniel Rezende, Billy Weber and Mark Yoshikawa

BEST SOUND MIXING
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
HUGO
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL
SUPER 8
WAR HORSE

(I had to add HARRY POTTER and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE in here, deleting THE TREE OF LIFE and TRANSFORMERS)

MY CHOICES:
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
SUPER 8
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST SOUND (EFFECTS) EDITING
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

(Here, I deleted HUGO in place of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE)

MY CHOICES:
THE ARTIST
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
HUGO
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
THE TREE OF LIFE

(This seems like the ultimate grouping to me. I really hope to see THE TREE OF LIFE's inventivive use of effects on here, as Douglas Trumbull has already been given the Gordon E. Sawyer lifetime achievement award this year.)

MY CHOICES:
HUGO
MELANCHOLIA
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST MAKEUP
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
THE IRON LADY
GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE

(Thankfully, J. EDGAR has been eliminated from the running, as has PIRATES, so I replaced them with the obvious winner THE IRON LADY (the old age makeup here is truly astonishing) and with the wow makeup for the little-seen GAINSBOURG.)

MY CHOICES:
ANONYMOUS
THE IRON LADY
GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK
BUCK
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
PROJECT NIM
WE WERE HERE

(Sticking with these, and hoping that Berlinger and Sinofsky win for their magnificent, earth-shaking achievement with the PARADISE LOST series.)

MY CHOICES:
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF NICOLAI CEAUCESCU
BUCK
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
PROJECT NIM

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
IN TAHIR SQUARE: 18 DAYS OF EGYPT'S UNFINISHED REVOLUTION
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
PIPE DREAMS
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

(And these as well, and no personal choices from me, though the pic is from TAHIR, which looks like the strongest choice to me...)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
JE POURRAIS ETRE VOTRE GRAND-MERE (I Could Be Your Grandmother)
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
RAJU
THE SHORE
TIME FREAK

(I've seen all the trailers from the final entries, and these look like the right ones. The first one seems the best. I made no predictions on this category first time around, but after seeing the trailers, JE POURRAIS ETRE VOTRE GRAND-MERE looks like the most vibrant choice; by the way, I think Jordan Vogt-Roberts' SUCCESSFUL ALCOHOLICS should have been included here.)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
I TAWT I TAW A PUDDY TAT
LA LUNA
PATHS OF HATE
SPECKY FOUR EYES

(I replaced WILD LIFE with PATHS OF HATE here, for no reason other than PATHS OF HATE seemed like a more fascinating title to me. No personal choices made here. But I think, finally, Pixar will come out on top this year with LA LUNA, just so we can forget about CARS 2.)

THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE...now tell me truly...if the movies I picked to win each individual award actually won, would you be mad?? Wouldn't these personal choices of mine electrically enliven the Oscars, which--let's be real here--needs some serious ass goosing??? Be real now...

So now I WILL be real. Though I think THE TREE OF LIFE is the Best Picture of the year, with MELANCHOLIA close behind, I'm totally happy with THE ARTIST capturing everything in its purview. So what does that say about me?

My predictions for the 2012 Academy Award Nominations

BEST PICTURE
THE ARTIST
THE DESCENDANTS
THE HELP
HUGO
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
MONEYBALL
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS
Jean Dujardin, THE ARTIST
Michael Fassbender, SHAME
Gary Oldman, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Brad Pitt, MONEYBALL

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis, THE HELP
Kirsten Dunst, MELANCHOLIA
Meryl Streep, THE IRON LADY
Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
Michelle Williams, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks, DRIVE
Nick Nolte, WARRIOR
Brad Pitt, THE TREE OF LIFE
Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS
Max Von Sydow, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, THE HELP
Melissa McCarthy, BRIDESMAIDS
Carey Mulligan, SHAME
Octavia Spencer, THE HELP
Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Alexander Payne, THE DESCENDANTS
Martin Scorsese, HUGO

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michel Hazanavicius, THE ARTIST
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, BRIDESMAIDS
Woody Allen, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Terrence Malick, THE TREE OF LIFE
Tom McCarthy and Joe Tiboni, WIN WIN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, THE DESCENDANTS
Tate Taylor, THE HELP
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin, MONEYBALL
Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, WAR HORSE
Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

BEST 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

BEST ART DIRECTION
ANONYMOUS, Sebastian T. Krawinkel
THE ARTIST, Lawrence Bennett
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Stuart Craig
HUGO, Dante Ferretti
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, Maria Djurkovic

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ANONYMOUS, Lisy Christl
THE ARTIST, Mark Bridges
IMMORTALS, Eiko Ishioka
JANE EYRE, Michael O'Connor
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Sonia Grande

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE ARTIST, Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Alexandre Desplat
HUGO, Howard Shore
WAR HORSE, John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"The Living Proof" from THE HELP
"Coeur Volant" from HUGO
"Pictures in My Head" from THE MUPPETS

BEST EDITING
THE ARTIST, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
HUGO, Thelma Schoonmaker
MONEYBALL, Christopher Tellefsen
WAR HORSE, Michael Kahn

BEST SOUND MIXING
HUGO
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
THE TREE OF LIFE
WAR HORSE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
HUGO
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
THE TREE OF LIFE

BEST SOUND EDITING (EFFECTS)
HUGO
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
SUPER 8
TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
WAR HORSE

BEST MAKEUP
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2
J. EDGAR
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN: ON STRANGER GROUNDS

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK
BUCK
PARADISE LOST 3: PURGATORY
PROJECT NIM
WE WERE HERE

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
GOD IS THE BIGGER ELVIS
IN TAHIR SQUARE: 18 DAYS OF EGYPT'S UNFINISHED REVOLUTION
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD
PIPE DREAMS
THE TSUNAMI AND THE CHERRY BLOSSOM

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE
I TAWT I TAW A PUDDY TAT
LA LUNA
SPECKY FOUR EYES
WILD LIFE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
FOOTNOTE (Israel)
IN DARKNESS (Poland)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Turkey)
PINA (Germany)
A SEPARATION (Iran)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
KUNG FU PANDA 2
RANGO
RIO
WINNIE THE POOH

Meme Challenge: What Should Have Won Best Picture...

So it's getting close to Oscar season--it's that magic time when we know something's coming up, we just don't know what. (My October picks for the Best Picture nominees, based on absolutely nothing but marketing bullshit, cast and crew pedigrees, and gut feelings: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, Milk, Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler. However, we should remember that one or more of these could be a turd and I'll have to swoop in with something else.)

Anyway, I recently took a notion to compose a list of what should have won Best Picture from 1927 onwards. And I've decided to challenge some of my fine fellow LAMB (Large Association of Movie Blogs) members to come up with a better, more equitable list. All rules and popular notions of what traditionally constitutes an "Oscar winner" are out the window. Foreign films, TV movies, little-known films, trash movies, cartoons, documentaries and shorts are all okay in my book as Best Picture. Also, I counsel this to anyone who takes the challenge: don't worry about what is the "Best"--just worry about what film is your favorite of the year, out of the ones you've seen. And I'd like a final count as to how many of your picks actually won Best Picture at that year's awards ceremony.

Without further delay, my winners are:

1927: Napoleon (Abel Gance)
1928: La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (Carl Dreyer)
1929: Steamboat Bill Jr. (Buster Keaton)
1930: Pandora’s Box (G.W. Pabst)
1931: City Lights (Charlie Chaplin)
1932: Scarface (Howard Hawks)
1933: Duck Soup (Leo McCarey)
1934: Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks)
1935: Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale)
1936: Fury (Fritz Lang)
1937: Lost Horizon (Frank Capra)
1938: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz)
1939: Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming)
1940: The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford)
1941: Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
1942: The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles)
1943: Shadow of a Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock)
1944: Meet Me In St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli)
1945: They Were Expendable (John Ford)
1946: It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra)
1947: Great Expectations (David Lean)
1948: Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston)
1949: The Set-Up (Robert Wise)
1950: Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder)
1951: A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan)
1952: High Noon (Fred Zinnemann)
1953: Shane (George Stevens)
1954: Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock)
1955: Kiss Me, Deadly (Robert Aldrich)
1956: Giant (George Stevens)
1957: Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick)
1958: Touch of Evil (Orson Welles)
1959: The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut)
1960: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)
1961: West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins)
1962: Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
1963: Hud (Martin Ritt)
1964: Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick)
1965: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy)
1966: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols)
1967: Playtime (Jacques Tati)
1968: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick)
1969: The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah)
1970: M.A.S.H. (Robert Altman)
1971: The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich)
1972: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola)
1973: American Graffiti (George Lucas)
1974: Chinatown (Roman Polanski)
1975: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Milos Forman)
1976: Network (Sidney Lumet) (note: all five of the nominees deserved to win–Rocky, All The President’s Men, Taxi Driver and Bound for Glory–also add Seven Beauties to the mix and you got a tough year).
1977: Annie Hall (Woody Allen)
1978: The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino)
1979: A Little Romance (George Roy Hill) (note: here are the 80 best/most notable films of 1979: A Little Romance, Manhattan, Breaking Away, Best Boy, Alien, Oblomov, Chilly Scenes of Winter, Apocalypse Now, Kramer Vs. Kramer, The Tin Drum, All That Jazz, Being There, Over The Edge, Mad Max, The Silent Partner, Norma Rae, Going in Style, The Black Stallion, The Onion Field, The Warriors, The Tree of Wooden Clogs, Hair, Escape from Alcatraz, Saint Jack, The China Syndrome, My Brilliant Career, Vengence is Mine, Rich Kids, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Stalker, That Sinking Feeling, Starting Over, 1941, Rock and Roll High School, Yanks, North Dallas Forty, The Muppet Movie, Quadrophenia, The Marriage of Maria Braun, Phantasm, Hardcore, The In-Laws, Richard Pryor Live in Concert, Time After Time, Real Life, Rocky II, The Kids Are Alright, 10, The Rose, Nosferatu The Vampire, The Europeans, La Cage Aux Folles, Murder by Decree, Scum, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, And Justice for All, Last Embrace, Woyzeck, The Changeling, The Brood, The Jerk, Meatballs, Love on the Run, The Legacy, Rust Never Sleeps, The Great Train Robbery, Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, The Lady in Red, Star Trek The Motion Picture, David, Zombie, Caligula, The Cat and the Canary, The Champ, Driller Killer, Cannibal Holocaust, The Odd Angry Shot, To Forget Venice, Love at First Bite and The Black Hole. Unquestionably the best movie year of the last 50 years–something excellent for everyone.)
1980: Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese)
1981: Reds (Warren Beatty)
1982: Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen)
1983: Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman)
1984: The Killing Fields (Roland Joffe)
1985: Brazil (Terry Gilliam)
1986: Blue Velvet (David Lynch)
1987: Matewan (John Sayles)
1988: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman)
1989: Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee)
1990: GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese)
1991: Barton Fink (Joel and Ethan Coen)
1992: Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood)
1993: Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg)
1994: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)
1995: Toy Story (John Lasseter)
1996: Breaking the Waves (Lars Von Trier)
1997: The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan)
1998: Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg)
1999: Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson) (note: 1999 was another great movie year: Magnolia, Election, Toy Story 2, Eyes Wide Shut, The Insider, Three Kings, The Straight Story, Fight Club, Topsy-Turvy, The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, Titus, American Beauty, Sweet and Lowdown, The Iron Giant, Office Space, American Movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Sixth Sense, Buena Vista Social Club, Hands on a Hard Body, The Cider House Rules, Analyze This, The Blair Witch Project, eXistenZ, The End of the Affair, Grass, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Boys Don’t Cry, Go, Bringing Out The Dead, The Limey, Run Lola Run, Judy Berlin, Cookie’s Fortune, October Sky, Galaxy Quest, Girl on the Bridge, All About My Mother, Head On, An Ideal Husband, Felicia’s Journey, The Red Violin, One Day in September, A Map of the World, Twin Falls Idaho, Sugar Town, Notting Hill, Ratcatcher, SLC Punk, East-West, South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut, Sleepy Hollow, The Hurricane, Stir of Echoes, Cruel Intentions, Any Given Sunday, Julian Donkey-Boy, Two Hands, Dogma, and the first season of The Sopranos.)
2000: You Can Count On Me (Kenneth Lonergan)
2001: Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
2002: Russian Ark (Alexandr Sokurov)
2003: Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
2004: Million Dollar Baby (Clint Eastwood)
2005: The New World (Terrence Malick)
2006: The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky)
2007: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominick)
2008: The Fall (Tarsem Singh)
2009: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
2010: Greenberg (Noah Baumbach)
2011: The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

I was surprised to see that, given that I like the institution that the Academy Awards has always been, I only picked nine movies that actually won Best Picture for their respective years: Gone With The Wind, West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, The Godfather, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Unforgiven, Schindler's List, and Million Dollar Baby. This makes the 1970s the most accurate decade, in my book, for the Academy's collective tastes.

I suppose I should pick a few people to challenge: Okay, how about Tony at Cinema Viewfinder, T.S. at Screen Savour, James Hansen at Out 1, Jose at The World's Best Films, Sarah at Sarahnomics, and MovieMan at The Dancing Image. I'll convert these site names into links once they complete their challenge, should they decide to take it. (It's a harder task than it looks, but it's also very rewarding, as what you end up with is a unique, one-stop-shopping list that reflects your personal view of movie history and its value.) Good luck, all!

The 80th Academy Awards--overview

The 80th Oscars, of course, were given out on Sunday the 24th of February, 2008. I have been a lifelong fan of the Oscars and their ability to teach us about some of the best the picture biz has to offer in any given year. This is not to say that I agree with their picks as a whole; 60% of the time, I disagree to whatever they picked as a winner, for any given year or category. Yet I still value them...why? Why? Because of the nominations.

While the winners aren't always up to par, the nominations are usually spot on. If they're not, they're at least 3/5s right, which has always been okay for me. I learned much of what I learned about movies not by going to school, but by studying the Oscars with an open, critical mind, and searching out the films in the past that had been nominated. Even if they're terrible, like Ghost (Best Picture nominee, 1990), Scent of a Woman (Best Picture nominee, 1991), or The Greatest Show On Earth (Best Picture winner, 1952), they at least tell you something about the history of movies--their cultural, economic, and artistic impact--and what was considered innovative, at the time, in all technical and artistic aspects of the craft.

Hey, I'm a movie nerd. I get off on seeing who's going to win Best Art Direction, Documentary Short Subject---things like that. I'm a statastician when it comes to this stuff. This is my stand-in for sports. I dunno who hit how many home runs at Fenway Park in 1965, but I can tell you all the nominees for Best Sound in 1972, the first winner for Best Supporting Actress, and all the performances that earned Meryl Streep a nomination. Right off the top of my head. It'll do no good to demonstrate now--how would you know I was telling you the truth? But I can.

Seeing as how I look at the Oscars in a different way, it so follows that, to me, the inevitable wrap-up articles about how boring the show always is--well, they're more boring than the show. My message to the writers of these pieces: look, if you don't have anything positive to contribute, then don't tune in, don't write the article, tell your editor to get someone else for the job. This is not to say that the Oscars are faultless as a TV show. But it's an AWARDS show, and if you're not interested in the winners, then maybe you should just look elsewhere for your entertainment. Because what these critics are missing is the fact that this is a coronation of the at-the-moment tops of an industry that's still provides America's #1 export.

Often I also hear the Oscars criticized for nominating movies no one's ever heard of. But that's not a fault, that's a sign of taste. I'd rather them nominate tiny movies than the big boring behemoth blockbusters. As a moviegoer, you hopefully want to watch the best of the best, right? And we know that box office take has nothing to do with that, right? Riiiiight...

If you're a student of movies, you by no means have to pay strict attention to the Oscars. But a mild attention doesn't hurt and is even in fact helpful. If you make a list of every film nominated for even one Oscar in any given year, trust me, you're going to end up with a list of at least 30 valuable films that could change your life and your tastes. And what's wrong with keeping a list like that? To me, this is what makes the Oscars great---they are a learning tool for directionless moviegoers.

And even the debate about what is shafted, what is left out, forgotten unjustly or justly--this is valuable, too. It shapes our popular vernacular, flooding memes into our gossipy, filmic world. And it shapes movie history. I find the whole march of the Oscars to be joyous in its scraping, bowing, unctious, pompous, precient, ostentacious, regretful glory. It's a celebration of movies--not just of the actors, but the film editors and sound people and effects people and so forth...these are very normal people, just like you and me, winning Oscars--the same Oscars that the "stars" recieve. In a way, they're the great equalizer for those of us interested in film; anybody can get one, if they keep doing what they love.

I tried to blog about the show as I watched, but I got too wrapped up in just simply watching. But I did produce a few paragraphs. Here they are: I'm sitting here in my room, because as much as I like the idea of Oscar parties, I can't stand to hear all the noise from people who don't care about the details. I treat the Oscars like a film, one that I give myself over to intermittantly, I must admit, but still most more than most movies I see. So I'm watching the Oscars, intently.

Jack Nicholson is on now, I gotta watch; he's introducing a clip package paying tribute to the other 79 Best Picture winners. Tried to guess all of them before they came up, but to an only 50% score, most of my points near the end.

Surprised that Film Editing went to The Bourne Ultimatum, not that it's not deserved--it is. But most of the time, whatever wins Best Editing wins Best Picture. It's rare to see a movie win that isn't even nominated for the top award. The last time I remember this happening was with The Matrix back in 1999.

Robert Boyle, art director for North by Northwest, The Birds, Fiddler on the Roof, The Russians are Coming, Gaily Gaily, Shadow of a Doubt, and many others, wins the Honorary Oscar, which explains why I haven't heard about this. Not even the Oscar site mentioned his win. It's a crime for this guy, who is a great figure in movies; they should have trumpeted his win more. I love it when they give wins to specific artisans like Ennio Morricone, Alex North, Michael Kidd, and now Robert Boyle. My vote for the next Special Oscar: (1) Gordon Willis, cinematographer, (2) James Ivory (writer, director, producer), (3) Lauren Bacall, (4) David Lynch, (5) Werner Herzog.

Poland's Andrej Wajda and Russia's Nikita Mikelhov are both nominated for the Foreign Film award this year, but I was thinking that they've both got Oscars, so I picked (without seeing any of the nominees, Israel's Beaufort, because of it's timely subject matter. But Austria gets it for The Counterfeiters. It seems like a Holocaust movie; if I had known that, I would've picked it.


Final nominated song, from Enchanted--come on out, Amy Adams (her performance of "Happy Working Song" was a highlight; I just adore her--she's gonna win an Oscar someday, too). Oh, ugh, John whatever...sloppy song, no way it'll win. I'm now thinkng that August Rush song is gonna win--pretty catchy. But I'm sticking by my prediction for the team from Once to win. And they do. Terrific. Whoda thunk one of The Committments would one day win an Academy Award? It's a wonderful world. Also very classy of Jon Stewart to let the woman who co-wrote the song come out and say her peace to the world. I would think that if you won an Oscar and didn't get to say your thanks, that it would eat away at you for a long time. All the winners deserve some mic time. So let's do a rundown of my predictions:



Best Picture: No Country for Old Men (got it--no surprise there; well-deserved, though I thought the Best Picture of the year was the mesmerizing Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford).



Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (everybody was predicting this; a fine performance, though a little too John Huston-y for my tastes. I would have still given the award to Casey Affleck for Jesse James; he was nominated in the support category, but he was really the lead. He carries the movie).

Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose. (Missed this one. was predicting Julie Christie, but even I was having second thoughts about it, and was predicting a Cotillard upset. Haven't seen the movie, but she does look amazing in it. I still wanted Christie to win, though; loved her in that movie.)

Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton. (I went for Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone; I think vote-splitting is responsible for this surprise win. The race seemed to be between Blanchett, Dee, and Ryan, so it's a viable explanation. Swinton plays a great, insecure villain in the film, but I would have gone with Kelly MacDonald in No Country for Old Men. She was so sweet in that film, and I really felt for her hapless character).

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men (predicted it, and am in total agreement with it, considering that fellow nominee Affleck was placed in the wrong category) By the way, this was one of the only years where not one of the winning actors was American--we have an Irishman, a French woman, a Brit, and a Spaniard. Wild!



Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men (predicted it, and they deserve it, for their 20 years of great movies; first directing team to win the award since Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story back in '61).

Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men (got it, and a fantastic adaptation. I still would have gone with Andrew Dominick's beautiful language in Jesse James).

Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno (predicted it, unfortunately. Overly clever screenplay has more in common with snappy TV writing; in fact, I predict a spinoff TV series. It would do really well, I bet; by the way, I would have gone with Ratatouille).

Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille (an easy pick, and a good one, too).

Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfitters, Austria (I went for Beaufort from Israel; I think 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days from Romania was the best of the year).

Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood (Another unimaginative brown-hued period piece--Elswit's work for Michael Clayton was better; I go for the colorful depiction of the west provided by nominee Roger Deakins for Jesse James. I mean, seriously, when is Deakins (left) going to win?--he's the very best cinematographer working today! He was even nominated twice this year--also for No Country for Old Men!

Best Art Direction: Sweeney Todd (I predicted There Will Be Blood, but I should have known a Tim Burton movie would take this award again; Sleepy Hollow and Batman also won Art Direction awards).

Best Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (I got it easy--always the most opulent costumes win; I would've gone for Jesse James).

Best Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum (Suprised this didn't go to the Coens for No Country For Old Men, which would have been my choice, too).

Best Sound: The Bourne Ultimatum (Great job there, but I can't beilieve this didn't go to No Country For Old Men; the sound was the STAR of this movie).

Best Sound Effects Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum (missed it; see above) '

Best Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from Once (got it, and it was my personal pick as well).

Best Original Score: Dario Marianelli, Atonement (got it, though I would've liked to have seen Nick Cave win for his tense Jesse James score).

Best Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side (I was going for No End In Sight instead, probably because it was my fave doc of the year).



Best Documentary Short: Freeheld (got it--it was a guess) Best Animated Short: Peter and The Wolf (I went with I Met The Walrus, but just because I'm a John Lennon fan).

Best Live-Action Short: The Mozart of Pickpockets (I guessed Tanghi Argenti)

Best Visual Effects: The Golden Compass (I picked Transformers, but would've personally liked the award to go to Sunshine, the brilliant Danny Boyle sci-fi movie that I feel was one of the year's most overlooked treasures).

Best Makeup: La Vie En Rose (I was going for Norbit, but once I saw the amazing makeup transformation done in this movie, I knew I was wrong; well-deserved).

So I got 12 out of 24--50% right. Not a good year for me--usually I get about 16-18 right. Oh, well...next year maybe.

Good show; speedy, not embarassing, not particularly funny--just all business. That's the way I like it.

Film #2: Bye Bye Birdie, Film #2 1/2: No Country for Old Men, 2008 Oscar Predictions, and "The Latest Show on Earth"

Well, I made my debut on You Tube--more specifically, on The Latest Show on Earth, hosted by Joe Hendel. As I wrote in my first post, I have live TV experience, so it was a vivid trip back to those times for me. I'm a little rusty, but I think I have proven myself adept, making my picks for the Oscars on the show. Joe, a customer I met at Kim's Video, called me and wanted me to be a guest (along with party rocker/motivational speaker Andrew WK, pictured above). I like Joe
very much and was honored to be asked, so I jumped at it. It was a great experience that I hope to repeat, especially since Joe is so wryly funny and quite talented musically as well (he played me some Shastakovich music written for silent movies on his upright piano--delightful). So check out his show's online archives (EDIT: I think, by 2018, many of the episodes have been deleted, but I asked Joe to keep my appearances up for posterity, and he kindly has). Andrew WK (who was extremely friendly and soft-spoken, and he really didn't have to be) and Joe do a superb keyboard jam/duet on the episode that features a killer foray into Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor." I was also floored to meet the show's producer, Steve Paul, the storied New York club owner who, in 1960s New York City, opened a pioneering discotheque, The Scene, which touted acts like The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and The Velvet Underground, and assuredly many, many others. I look forward to talking more with him in the future, since he's fascinating and funny. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Steve died on October 21, 2011, according to his Wikipedia page, which is worth checking out for some valuable rock n' roll club history. He was very kind to me, but I know things didn't end so well with he and the show.)

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Days later, after writing my first paragraphs, and it's snowing pretty heavily here in Brooklyn. It's been seeming like it snows on significant days for me recently. I don't know what that's about. Probably all in my mind... or...maybe...NOT!?!


For those who may know me, I've taken a short break from my gig at NYC's Kim's Video so I can concentrate on getting a better-paying day job. Hope it happens soon, 'cause the cupboard's bare. There's like, one piece of lettuce and some butter in my fridge (to quote my old NYU filmmaking friend Steve Wicks, "Want some buttahed lettuce??"). Working at Kim's is really fun--it's an honor to be part of its storied history--but at age 41 it's a drain on me physically and mentally--struggling to get by on 8 bucks an hour (a pittance in NYC), on my feet the entire time, putting a thousand videos a day back on the labyrinthine shelves, jockeying for position at the counter or between the stacks. Typically, I'll be asked, or will volunteer (when a fellow employee is having trouble) to answer, oh, 200 or more movie questions in 8 hours; it's fantastic that I can flex my film knowledge like that, but it's exhausting, too. Still, I love all the customers--so many smart, tasteful people coming in there! And my fellow employees--Ricky (the gentleman rock frontman who hired me, impressed with my instantaneous movie smarts--not many can handle this job), Abe (my favorite fellow employee and the nicest person ever), Nicholas (hilarious, smat and acerbic), Katherine (sharp, appealing, and a constant presence on improv comedy stages, chiefly the Upright Citizens Brigade), Jeff, John, Joel, Alex (whom I think I annoy, but whose hard-won approval I strive for), Vadim (maybe the most on-point worker at the place)--are all people I consider valuable friends. Plus, the place has every movie known to man--I swear, I've found only a few tiny gaps in their collection. And everything is meticulously categorized by country, genre, and director, as it should be (in what other video store are you gonna find an Aram Avakian section, I ask ya?) For me and all cinephiles who rent from the place, it's the insane candy store of video and music outlets. It deserves its legendary status, and it feels like the last-standing business of its kind.

Anyway, onto the movie stuff. I saw No Country for Old Men for the second time tonight, an experience that was richer than the first. I was amazed at how the film's depiction of a crime gone wrong (a favorite subject for the Coens, of course, and of the original book's author Cormac McCarthy, from what I hear) got me wincing and my circulation racing once again at every turn. This time round, I was more impressed by Josh Brolin, in particular; his character's steely action drive the movie, but because his performance is so quiet, I don't think he's gotten the recognition he deserves. I also paid special attention to the film's outstanding aural design. Skip Lievsay's sound effects work for this largely music-free movie acts as a de facto score, mesmerizing and totally transportive. And, also, I should mention that the movie is actually funnier than I remembered it being. Despite the preponderance of bloodied corpses, I still get demure chuckles from Tommy Lee Jones' laconic home truths, Woody Harrelson's ultimately ineffective swagger and, of course, Javier Bardem's brazen psychosis. I tried to keep a body count going, by the way, but I lost track at around twenty-five piles of dead meat. Exhausted from all the tension, my mind still drifted away at the film's plaintive, even Bergman-esque climax, for which I could kick myself, since I really wanted to decipher the language of its final scenes (EDIT: I've since sussed out the ending's meaning, and now find it among my favorite of the film's many assets, even if it remains largely unpopular with most viewers disappointed in its cryptic quietude). But I suppose this will make it prime for another viewing when it hits DVD in March 2008. A magnificent film, very much in keeping with Fargo and the Coens' debut Blood Simple. And poised to be the finest Best Picture winner since Unforgiven in 1992 (though I love 1993's Schindler's List as well).

Okay, just for the record, my predictions for the 2008 Oscars:

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men (check)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (check)

Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Her (Marion Cotillard could upset with her performance as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose) (Cotillard won in what was seen as an upset--not by me)

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone (though Ruby Dee might get in there; I waver back and forth on this one). (Tilda Swinton won for Michael Clayton--a surprise to me; I was rooting for Cate Banchett for her dead-on 60s-era Bob Dylan in I'm Not There)

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men (check)

Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men (check)

Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno (check, and a crock)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men (check)

Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille (check)

Best Foreign Language Film: Beaufort (Israel) (The Counterfeiters from Austria won--and I still haven't seen it in 2018)

Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood (check)

Best Art Direction: There Will Be Blood (the dazzling production design team Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Sciavo eventually won the second of their three Oscars, for Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd--their others were for Scorsese's The Aviator and Hugo)

Best Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (check)

Best Film Editing: No Country For Old Men (The Bourne Ultimatum won--a rarity that a non-Best Picture nominee would catch this; I suppose Paul Greengrass' film had the MOST editing but The Coens' film was tighter)

Best Sound Mixing: No Country For Old Men (The Bourne Ultimatum won)

Best Sound Effects Editing: No Country For Old Men (The Bourne Ultimatum again--wow, 3 Oscars for that movie? I enjoyed it, but... )

Best Original Song: Glen Hansard, "Falling Slowly" from Once (check--one of my favorite wins of the night)

Best Original Score: Dario Marianelli, Atonement (check)

Best Documentary Feature: No End In Sight (going out on a limb here, over Michael Moore's Sicko) (check)

Best Documentary Short: Freeheld (check)

Best Animated Short: I Met The Walrus (Suzie Templeton's dynamic stop-motion adaptation of Peter and the Wolf rightfully won this one) 

Best Live-Action Short: Tanghi Argenti (The Mozart of Pickpockets won--yucko) 

Best Visual Effects: Transformers (No, thank heavens--The Golden Compass won--still haven't seen it in 2018)

Best Makeup: Norbit (No, and double thanks: can't live in a world where Norbit is an Oscar winner, and apparently the Academy couldn't either, as La Vie En Rose won for Bidier Lavergne and Jan Archibald's astonishing transformations of its gorgeous star into the distinctive and aging chanteuse) 

Okay, let's see how I do! (EDIT: 13 out of 24 correct, with one hunch proven correct in Best Actress--not spectacular, but not bad)



                                                    ****************************


Well, the second film I've picked to review on FILMICABILITY is George Sidney's Bye Bye Birdie, an adaptation of the 1961-62 Broadway hit about an "Elvis-like" rock n' roll heartthrob being drafted into the Army, causing an international furor that engulfs one American family--the teen daughter (Ann-Margret) is chosen to be the representative fan  to bestow a going-away kiss to her idol on the then-No. 1-rated The Ed Sullivan Show. I put "Elvis-like" in quotes because the meatball Jessie Pearson, who mugs through the show as Birdie, never could be anything CLOSE to the real Elvis (on Broadway, the role was assayed by comedian Dick Gautier, equally a showboater who later in 1963 became an irritating part of the massive It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World cast, and an abrasive regular on '70s game shows like Match Game and The Liars Club; however, Gautier was Tony-nominated for his performance). In fact, Birdie's awful numbers bespeak the palpable contempt composer-and-lyricist team Charles Strouse and Lee Adams clearly held against rock music. Ditto the casting of Pearson himself, whose cornball loudness could never engender the bodice-ripping chaos greeting his every undulation.

Now, this movie has lots of faults, particularly in its drab second half. I couldn't care less about the romance between songwriter Dick Van Dyke and his sexually-frustrated girlfriend Janet Leigh, a concern which is constantly gumming up the works ("C'mon, man," y'wanna scream, "it's Janet Leigh here--Psycho, Touch of Evil? Get with it"). But I recommend it largely for one element alone: Ann-Margret. Now I must confess a bias here: like many so-called "red-blooded males," I'm in love with Ann-Margret--she's the ultimate movie goddess. Here, as the breathlessly enthusiastic Kim, she's at her most fresh-faced and well-scrubbed. Her three solo numbers are superb--the heart-racing opening title song, with her performing on a treadmill against a deep blue background, teasing and entrancing the movie audience with her silky approaches and pull-aways; "How Lovely to Be A Woman," which catches what every male wants to witness, albeit perhaps in more lurid detail: a saucy Ann demurely changing clothes in her frilly bedroom; and "One Boy," sung wide-eyed and lovingly to the goony Bobby Rydell (a blight on early rock n' roll Top 40, who doesn't deserve a lady of such verve). I treasure every moment I get to spend with Ann in this film--her ocean-blue/green eyes, strawberry blonde mane and apple cheeks...well, I just better stop, 'cause I'm gettin' myself worked up. See her for yourself in this Golden Globe-nominated performance, then also check out Tommy, Viva Las Vegas, and Carnal Knowledge and you'll know why I and everyone else adore her., even in much worse movies.



I admire some other features of Bye Bye Birdie. "The Telephone Song" is inventively directed with some terrific multi-screen action (better caught on the largest format possible); Paul Lynde, reprising his stage role as Ann-Margaret's befuddled dad, gets lotsa laughs and has two memorable songs (the classic Broadway standard "Kids" and "Ed Sullivan"--"My favorite human" he exclaims); Maureen Stapleton injecting pep into the deadly dull Dick Van Dyke sequences, portraying his dominating mother (she was too young for the role, but she makes it work, getting some hardy cornball chuckles); and, for sure, it's immensely cool to see Ed Sullivan playing himself, directing the chaotic  show (probably in the same way he would direct The Beatles' American TV debut only two years later). Stage legend Gower Champion's Broadway work was surely superior, with Van Dyke, Lynde, Chita Rivera in the Leigh role, Funny Girl Oscar-nominee Kay Medford in the Stapleton role; and, in an example of more suitable stage casting, future Bonnie and Clyde star Michael J. Pollard as Kim's boyfriend. However, the piece remains, as filmed, vehemently anti-rock-n'-roll and never make attempts to understand or accept a music phenomenon that would eventually overtake the world (clearly, the makers thought it was just a fad, like the hula-hoop). Plus, it contributed the catchy but sickeningly cheerful "Put On A Happy Face" to the popular culture (that song makes you wanna give a stinging slap to anyone even whistling it). However, I'd watch the first half of Bye Bye Birdie again any day, just to see Ann. It's really her movie. She's the most rock-'n-role thing about it. Just ask Elvis (he's still around, I think...)