The Oscar
nominations have been announced! And boy do I have some issues, although I am
quite happy that all of you Dark Knight
Rises fans can sit at home crying about your ZERO nominations. Let’s start
the weekly Oscar article off with one of the big categories, and one that I
disagree with quite a bit. Let’s look at the Oscar nominations for Best
Director.
The FIRST
name and film listed will be MY pick for a best director of the year and the
name and film AFTER the slash mark will be The ACADEMY’s nominee.
Also
three little symbols will appear next some films, here’s what they mean:
- MP – my pick of the 5 Oscar nominated films
- OP – who I think The Academy will pick
- 2012 – my pick out of all the 2012 films.
Alright, so what makes a good film director?
Here’s a quick outline of what I look for in a film and the standards by which I
track them, in no particular order. Again these are guidelines, each should be
done well in order for a film and director to succeed, but these aren’t
necessarily things that only a director does:
- All parts of the film are creatively produced
- All parts of the film are working towards a singular vision
- There is a clear and distinct interpretation of the script
- Solid performances by the cast
- All parts of the production also work to tell an artful story
- The film is cohesive visually, through shot selection, shot variation and specific use of what is in each frame.
5.
Quentin Tarantino – Django
Unchained / Michael Haneke – Amour
I have to say,
I didn’t quite think Tarantino would sneak into my top 5, but when I was going
through all of the possibilities, he just kept moving his way up. So this is
where good ol’ QT falls in this year. Django
Unchained succeeds in all of the listed criteria above, and Tarantino is
always good at getting his actors to go above and beyond. However, while Tarantino
is great at what he does, he does need to break his mold a little if he ever
wants to get over the hump and move up this list. Good job Quentin, you know how
make a film-and make it well-now take that skill and get out of your comfort
zone. I’d love to see what you can do.
As for
Michael Haneke… I’ve not seen Amour and
I really have no desire to. I know that it received several Oscar nominations
including Best Picture and Best Actress (Emmanuelle Riva), but I really I can’t
see myself enjoying this film. A brief synopsis of Amour reads like this: A retired couple deals with aftermath of the
wife suffering a debilitating stroke… and it’s all in French. Have fun reading
this barn burner folks, I doubt I’m seeing it.
4. Stephen Spielberg – Lincoln(OP)
I saw Lincoln,
and it’s real good. It’s exactly what you think it is, and it’s held up by the
strong shoulders of Daniel Day-Lewis as President Lincoln. Minus one really
awful opening sequence, Spielberg did a very good job as well. But much like
Tarantino, Lincoln is right in
Spielberg’s wheel house and he does nothing new with it. Both are cases of
directors doing what they’re good at, what we already know what they’re good at,
but since they do it really well that’s ok. The Oscars and I both agree that
Spielberg should be up for best director. I don’t think he should win, I’ve got
three people who are better, but I do think this is the way the academy is
going to go.
3. Tom Hooper – Les Miserables / David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Starting this
time with The Academy’s pick, David O. Russell, who is a good director (Jeff
disagrees) and Silver Linings Playbook is
nominated several times over, including all four acting categories, so there
must be something right about this movie. I live in a town where it still hasn’t
opened. Maybe the Oscars will finally give us a week worth of showings. Here’s
to hoping.
On to someone
who I consider to be quite a big snub. Tom Hooper for Les Miserables. This is where we talk about the directors who not
only succeeded at all of the above criteria, but went above and beyond. Hooper
tired something that isn’t done in film anymore (or ever, really), he sang his
musical live on-set and it paid off. His actors give great performances… well
most of them (please read the rest of this sentence in the most condescending
way possible) Russell Crowe tried really hard.
The visual
story that was told is great, and each scene helps push the film forward. The
scene that really hooked me-and the most iconic from the film-was Anne Hathaway
singing I Dreamed A Dream. It is
simply breathtaking. From the choice to do it all in one shot, to doing it in extreme
close up and lighting only her face and nothing else, this scene is just one of
many bold choices in Les Miserables. I
say this Oscar snub is the third best director of the year.
2. Ang Lee – Life of Pi / Ben Zeitlin – Beasts
of the Southern Wild
Let’s take a
look at Ben Zeitlin’s Beasts of the
Southern Wild, this year’s “little indy film that could” Beasts did quite well for itself at this
year’s Oscars, and it’s a great film to boot. Where Zeitlin and his team
(credited in the film as The Court 13) succeeded was in setting a mood, tone
and style for the film. When watching Beasts
you are quickly transported to the fictional island known as “The Bathtub”
outside of New Orleans at the time of hurricane Katrina. If you noticed on my
personal list Zeitlin did not appear, however if we were Nerd 6 he totally
would have. But what held him back for me is that the film is actually credited
to The Court 13. A group of people made this film, and even Zeitlin himself has
said that he’s not the sole director. He is is one of many talented filmmakers.
Zeitlin was chosen by the group after the film was finished to be the
“director” in name. I felt this was reason enough to leave him out, though it’s
no comment on the quality of the film.
As for Ang
Lee… Well let’s go to #1 to discuss him.
1. Ben Affleck – Argo(2012)
/ Ang Lee – Life of Pi(MP)
Out of the 5
people nominated for the Best Director Oscar, I’m rooting Ang Lee. Life of Pi is a beautiful film, a well
told story, and uses new technology in ways that we’ve never seen before to put
it all together and tell an amazing story. The book of Life of Pi was considered unadaptable for many years and it took
the vision and passion of Ang Lee to get it on the screen and to get it done
right. What Lee did is an amazing achievement, and in my point of view is easily
one of the top two examples of directing this year.
Which takes
us to Mr. Affleck and his film Argo. I
think Affleck is the biggest Oscar snub of the year. For him to be left off the
list completely is ridiculous. I know it’s hard to think of Affleck as a director,
but he is-and pretty dang good one too. Argo
is one of the best films of the year and a lot of that is because of the
Affleck. The reason I personally pick Affleck over Lee is because Affleck is
working with real actors, on real sets and locations, and actually working with
real objects to make a film. Computer graphics are great, but when you can make
a practical film and make it well, that is where I will always lean.
Why Argo and Affleck over other films? Let’s
look at the most direct comparison: Zero
Dark Thirty. Argo succeeds in every place that Zero Dark fails. It tells a true story in an honest and suspenseful
way. It adds suspense to a slow-paced war (cold war as compared to the war on
terror) and makes you care about its hyper-driven lead. These are just several
ways that I feel Argo is superior to Zero Dark Thirty. But if you want more
on that read my other article Top 5
Reasons That Zero Dark Thirty Sucks… Kind Of.
Affleck’s Argo is exactly what a well-directed
film should be and it has lots of rewatchablity. Good job Ben. Matt will be
proud.
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