Best Actress 2013: Helen Hunt / Samantha Morton, Decoding Annie Parker

Cinematographer Steven Bernstein directed and cowrote the screenplay Decoding Annie Parker with Adam Bernstein and Michael Moss about the real life Anne Parker (Samantha Morton) who is yet another member of her dwindling family to be struck with cancer.  She has an irrepressible spirit that pushes her through her illness allowing for her to finally benefit from the years of research conducted by geneticist Mary-Claire King (Helen Hunt) who established...

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Best Actress 2014: Judi Dench, Philomena

English export Steve Coogan first received wide exposure in Tropic Thunder and the Night at the Museum franchise, but initially built his reputation as a comic as well as writing, producing, and starring in TV series like I'm Alan Partridge (for which there is an upcoming film).  Lately, he has had an indie hit with The Trip, and just got solid reviews at Sundance for The Look of Love.  Along with Jeff Pope, they adapted Martin Sixsmith's...

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All That Lip Sync

Catherine Zeta-Jones attempts to grab the first born of her backup dancer ala Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,while lip-syncingOn Sunday night, I honestly thought that Catherine Zeta-Jones was singing "All That Jazz" from Chicago as part of the evenings homage to "movie musicals of the last decade."  I was pretty snockered, but I watched as her volume changed with her movement and thought she was actually doing it.  Apparently,...

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Best Actress 2013: Elizabeth Olsen, Thérèse

Two years ago, Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister of the infamous twin business tycoons who got their start on TV's Full House, made quite an impression at Sundance in her film debut (!) Martha Marcy May Marlene.  The film's vagueness and unassumingly creepy flavor was a favorite of some, while its cryptic nature and uneven structure was lost on others.  Most people were in agreement, though: Olsen was outstanding.  She was shortlisted...

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Best Actress 2013: Felicity Jones, The Invisible Woman

Ralph Fiennes follows up his freshman directing effort Coriolanus with The Invisible Woman.  Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame) adapted Claire Tomalin's book about the relationship between actress Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones) and Charles Dickens (Fiennes).  Their considerable age difference as well as the fact that Dickens was a married man managed to destroy her reputation.  Sounds similar to Effie.  Fiennes English Patient costar...

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Best Actress 2013: Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

I've posted on Margo Martindale and Meryl Streep being likely Oscar nominees (and frontrunners for the win) for August: Osage County come a year from now.  But, what about Julia Roberts?  And, for which category?  She will play Streep's daughter Barbara Weston, a wife and mother dealing with a cheating husband and an addictive coping mechanism.  The character is a lead in its own right.  Amy Morton played her on Broadway...

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Best Actress 2013: Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco

Now that Deadline reports TWC is finalizing details on a distribution deal with Grace of Monaco, it appears that Nicole Kidman will be throwing down for lead this year instead of next.  Harvey Weinstein may be funding the campaigns for what might be the two frontrunners for Best Actress.  My initial hunch was that it would be another year before Grace of Monaco hit.  Filming wrapped not too long ago.  And it was not unheard of...

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Best Actress 2013: Meryl Streep, August: Osage County (for the win)

Now that we have a Best Actress 2012, who will be Best Actress 2013?  I'm positive Jennifer Lawrence will make another trip up to the Oscar stage in the near future (before she's 30, easy), will 2013 be a repeat winner?  Blame Katharine Hepburn for winning two Oscars back-to-back in her 60s.  Blame Harvey Weinstein. Blame a great Tony Award-winning role.  Blame the fact that it's being played by the most respected working actress...

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Oscar 2012 Predictions: Lessons Learned

So, another Oscar telecast has passed.  People have weighed in on the quality of host and broadcast, as well as the winners/losers.  I was full of food and drink, so my impression of the ceremony was more positive than it had any right to be.  Accusations of homophobia and sexism were lobbed across the internet, but flew over my head.  Seth MacFarlane was pretty solid, though he was no Tina & Amy.  A step above Ricky...

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Is This the End for Jennifer Lawrence's Silver Lining?

Tonight, Jennifer Lawrence collected either her final award for Silver Linings Playbook, or her second-to-last.  The fact that it was an Independent Spirit Award, and Playbook is backed by TWC is another conversation, another post.  (I think we can all agree that in varying degrees of "independence," what it took to get ISA competitor Beasts of the Southern Wild to production and then on to Sundance and $12.4M was a much different...

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Best Actress 2013: Shirley MacLaine, Elsa & Fred

(from top left clockwise) Shirley MacLaine poses with a come hither look directed at Christopher Plummer; she cuddles with a kitten MacLaine will later lock in a bedroom with another cat and force into losing her feline virginity; MacLaine tries to carry on a conversation with one of her former lives, which has been reincarnated as an orangeShirley MacLaine has been nominated six times for an Academy Award...

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Best Actress 2013: Naomi Watts, Sunlight Jr.

Lauri Collyer (Sherrybaby) directed her own screenplay Sunlight Jr., a relational drama about a convenience store attendent (Naomi Watts) who lives in a motel with her handicapped boyfriend (Matt Dillon).  If their lives weren't tough enough, she gets pregnant, loses her job, and I imagine more bleakness follows.  Filmed in Clearwater, Florida, the cast includes Norman Reedus and Tess Harper.  Of course, with Diana on the horizon,...

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Best Supporting Actress 2013: Nicole Kidman, The Railway Man

The screenplay comes from Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson (the team behind Hilary and Jackie) who adapted Eric Lomax's autobiographical novel about a World War II POW (played partly by Colin Firth), who must make peace with his past.  Nicole Kidman plays the wife of the older version of his character.  The part could be lead or supporting, though I'd wager the latter (I haven't read the book).  Rachel Weisz was originally...

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Oscar Predictions 2012 (Final)

Well, the Oscars are this weekend.  Do you have your predictions ready?  I can't say that I have many horses in the race.  The films that I really loved this year either weren't nominated or their chances have been sidelined by controversy (*cough* Zero Dark Thirty *cough*).  So, right now, I'm mostly about how good I can be at reading the tea leaves in an ever uncertain year.  I was hoping to do better than my usual 18/24,...

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Best Actress 2013: Hilary Swank, You're Not You

Well, she's back!  After weathering the professional shit-storm that resulted from appearing at the birthday celebration of Chechnyan president Kadyrov, which resulted in getting dropped from her PR firm and then firing some of her team, Hilary Swank is after another Oscar. I guess.  I'm not sure how much luck she will have with the director of Nights in Rodanthe.  I'm really hoping that the fact she has two Oscars and [insert many...

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Best Actress 2013: Kristen Wiig, Girl Most Likely

Formerly known as Imogene, Kristen Wiig's film is one of the few holdovers from TIFF that may be considered for Best Actress 2013. The title change and the July 19th release delay via Lionsgate doesn't inspire much confidence.  Wiig plays a playwright who stages a suicide in order to win back her boyfriend only to be place in the custody of her gambling addict mother, played by Annette Bening.  It filmed in New York two years ago from a...

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Best Actress 2013: Kate Beckinsale, The Trials of Cate McCall

What happened with Kate Beckinsale?  Too many Kates in the Hollywood kitchen?  Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Katherine Heigl?  (She probably wouldn't have fared much better than a Kristen, Jessica, or Jennifer)  She's talented.  She had a privileged film debut as Hero in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing.  She worked with James Ivory and Whit Stillman.  She had a rom-com hit with Serendipity.  She...

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Best Actress 2013: Annette Bening, Look of Love

This year 2013 carries with it great potential as it will feature Annette Bening in another lead role.  Isn't she just smashing?  I don't really care that she hasn't won an Oscar, and considering the lengths one has to go to nab one, I'm kind of glad she doesn't.  It's not really her style.  She's kind of above it all.  She seems to choose parts that appeal to her as an actress, whether on film or the stage, while keeping...

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Best Actress 2013: Michelle Pfeiffer, Malavita

Michelle Pfeiffer is working more consistently these days, and while she hasn't done anything as grand as her earlier work, it's just nice to see the legend out there and acting.  But, when you put the actress and the thriller genre together, there's generally a reason to get excited, no?  Okay, What Lies Beneath is the only movie that comes to mind to make my argument, but Malavita is directed by Luc Besson (who directe La Femme Nikita...

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Best Actress 2013: Jessica Chastain, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

It will be interesting to see how The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby films will be marketed.  (Will one be held off until next year, will they be released simultaneously? etc)  One is subtitled His and told from the perspective of the husband (played by James McAvoy) and the other, Hers, the wife (Jessica Chastain).  Not much is known about the script, other than the story concerns a marriage between a man working in the restaurant...

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Best Director Oscar 2012 Prediction: Ang Lee, Life of Pi

This year is so crazy with predicting the Oscar race.  But, that's what we ask for, isn't it?  We want a real race.  And, of course, we'll never live in a time, where all five nominees in every category are of equal top critical and commercial success.  We have to take what we can get.  Cinesnatch egregiously reported that the Best Director race months ago was between Steven Spielberg and Ben Affleck.  As it...

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Best Sound Mixing Oscar 2012 Prediction: Les Misérables

Now, if I'm understanding correctly, the sound mixing teams take all the recorded audio, sounds, etc, and are responsible for putting everything together and smoothing out all the bumps, adjusting levels, etc.  The award is for Best Sound Mixing, but used to be called Best Sound.  The winner of this award isn't always nominated for the companion sound editing award (though it does work mostly in the reverse direction).  Oftentimes,...

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Best Sound Editing Oscar 2012 Prediction: Life of Pi

Strict action and fantasy films tend to do well in the sound editing category.  This is the sound award, that if I'm understanding the process in general correctly, that is designed to recognize the artistic teams which capture and create the artificial sounds utilized during the course of a movie beyond the dialogue while filming.  For the last decade, it helped to be a BP nominee (or Field of Tenner).  It was also a very positive...

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Best Documentary Oscar 2012 Prediction: Searching for Sugar Man

Last year, I correctly predicted Undefeated for Best Documentary.  I can't really tell you what my logic was, because my knee-jerk reaction right now is, "Why didn't I go with commercial favorite Pina?"  Perhaps it was because TWC was the distributor and Pina was too abstract?  Who knows.  I should really document these things.  The year before, Inside Job did do the best at the box-office and took home the top...

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