Oscar Race: The 30 Acting Performances of 2012

Alright, we are coming right down to it, only 1 week until Oscar night! This means here at Nerd 5 we are bringing all the coverage that we can (life is crazy and busy for both of us, but we are never too busy to talk film, or nerd culture in general). With that in mind we are kicking our coverage into high gear, and talking about the 30 acting performances of the year! Oh, you probably read the title… Anyway let’s get this show on the road. Diving right in, what you are going to get here is a combination of all of the acting categories: Best Actor & Actress and Best Supporting Actor & Actress. Already done the math? Realize that I’m 10 performances over? Well the other 10 are going to what I call wild card performances, these are performances from actors who have not been nominated for an academy award but I believe that they should be.  But that’s the joy of the Oscars, lots of disagreement coming. One last point before we jump in, these lists are not going to be separate; there is absolutely no reason in my mind to separate them into Actor and Actress. I get why they do at the Oscars (to award more people and to force some diversity in voting) but here they are all on the same playing field and will be ranked off the following qualifications and by my personal favorites.

         

As some of you readers may know, I am a theater teacher and director (I love my students, they are honestly the best part of my day), so looking at actors’ performances and helping them to succeed is my job. Of course film and theatre are very different. So let’s look at what makes a good performance, and give some guidelines for what I look for in a performance.

 Character Development – is the character fully developed; with a clear history that effects how the character moves, acts, thinks, feels and reacts? Is the character progressing through the story, is their performance layered, showing depth and continuing in a logical path?

Relationships – are the relationships clear and consistent in all their interactions?

Believably – do we believe the actor in the part? Am I looking at the character in the story or at the actor on the screen? It should be the former, not the latter. Does the actor use all available tools (voice, body, and mind) to create a brand new and unique character?

Interpretation – what did the actor bring to the character? Did he make proper choices for the character? Does the character feel organic or forced? Did the actor take appropriate risks? Could you see anyone else playing the character?

Objective – dose the actor understand the goals and objectives of the character in every moment and every scene? (Impossible to know, but sometimes easy to see.)

Progression – does the actor understand and portray the arch, story and development of their character? Are they on point in every moment on screen? An actor is a storyteller, are they telling me the story?

The Top 30 Acting Performances of 2012

The One Who Doesn’t Belong

            30. Sally Field – Lincoln – Best Supporting Actress – Why am I talking about Sally Field in Lincoln? Because she was nominated for an Oscar, that’s the only reason. I would say she belongs in the Razzies over the Oscars. But Bambi did teach me “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” So I’ll try saying something nice. Sally Field… You booked a job in a Spielberg film opposite Daniel Day-Lewis, Good for you!.

The Group Who I’ve Not Seen

            29. Emmanuelle Riva – Amour – Best Actress – Again, no desire to see Amour. I’m sure Riva is “great”, if you’re into being really sad and dealing with your own impending death. Then go for it. Enjoy.

            28. Helen Hunt – The Sessions – Best Supporting Actress – She won an Academy Award before, I’ve heard mixed reviews on this film. But hey how can I judge?

            27. Joaquin Phoenix – The Master – Best Actor – When dealing with The Master I’ve heard that it’s victory was just getting to be at the party. As a film that is a metaphor about scientology it is kind of a shock that this film gets any nominations, yet here it stands with three acting nods and no technical nods. Not a surprise, the actors in The Academy are saying “we support our fellow actors doing good work but we don’t support the films message.” Just to be clear, I’m not say that all of Hollywood is scientologist, but it’s enough of a chunk that I believe this is an issue when discussing The Master

            26. Amy Adams – The Master – Best Supporting Actress – Can anyone else believe that Amy Adams is 38? That shocked me, also that she was born in Italy. This woman is talented and it shows with her 4^th nomination in 8 years. She not winning this year, but her day will come.

            25. Phillip Seymour Hoffman – The Master -- Best Supporting Actor – Has an Oscar already, looking for a second and could be a real dark horse to take it home. There has been some really good late buzz for Hoffman here, but I think Supporting Actor is too wide open for him to take it home. He’ll be back, no worries.

The Group That I Don’t Agree With

            24. Jacki Weaver – Silver Linings Playbook – Best Supporting Actress – Look, Jacki Weaver is great, all-around awesome, but if you want to see an Oscar-worthy character from Weaver, go watch Animal Kingdom. The problem is the part, not the actress. There’s not much for her to do here.

            23. Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty – Best Actress – I’m not a fan of Zero Dark Thirty, or this character, or Chastian in general. I also can’t say she is awful, that’s why she falls here. Well below some far more deserving performances. For more on this go back and read my article Top 5 Reasons Zero Dark ThirtySucks…Kinda.

            22. Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild – Best Actress – Alright, I’m going to get guff for this and it might be well deserved, but I’m simply not as in love with Beasts and Wallis as everyone else. I will say, THE MOVIE IS GOOD. But speaking to the performance of Wallis, she was a kid being a kid in that situation. It takes skill to do that. I work with child actors, and to just look natural while performing is a skill. I GET IT, she was 6 years old (9 years now). But when you put her in the same categories with adult actors, I’m going to hold her to that standard. I was amazed when the performance is put in terms of a CHILD actor doing great work, but not amazed in terms of an ACTOR doing great work.

  

The Group Who Have Been Overlooked

   

            21. Tom Holland – The Impossible – Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting Actor – Speaking of child actors who deserve credit. Tom Holland gives a truly wonderful performance in this film of family survival. You know what… I just realized (as I’m typing) how amazingly similar The Impossible and Beasts of the Southern Wild are. They are both films about family, struggling to survive and the lessons we learn from life disasters and how they make us grow stronger. I was hit super emotionally hard by the family of The Impossible and yet found myself sitting through Beasts going, “well this is good and I’m supposed to be sad here.” I was just analyzing it rather getting lost in the film like I did with The Impossible. This article is not about the films themselves; we’ve got other articles for that… I’ll try to stay on topic. TOM HOLLAND IS GREAT! And very overlooked.

            20. Saraj Sharma – Life of Pi – Josh’s Wild Card Best Actor – It may be his first film acting role, but this dude carries one of this year’s greatest films, Life of Pi. Sharma is a joy to watch and should be getting far more respect than it is getting. Bravo sir, I’ll look to see what else you do.

            19. Eddie Redmayne –Les Miserables –Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting Actor – Getting brief here. He was awesome. An underlooked aspect of Les Mis. We connect to him instantly and Empty Chairs at Empty Tables was heartbreaking. Good job sir.

The Duo Who Are Very Good, but Not Quite in the Elite

            18. Denzel Washington – Flight – Best Actor – It’s Denzel, he’s great. He makes bad projects better. And Flight is a severely average film that was brought up to a high standard because of two performances, and one of them is by Denzel. His character is spot-on but a tough watch due his character’s nature. It’s a good performance but nothing that we have not seen from Denzel before.'

            17. Alan Arkin – Argo – Best Supporting Actor – Let me start with I LOVE ALAN ARKIN, and he is very good in Argo. With that said, this is just Arkin being Arkin. It’s layered and fun to watch, and one of the top five supporting acting performances of the year, but it is a solid number 5.

The Group Who is Very Solid

            16. Emily Blunt – Looper – Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting Actress – Well Academy, shame on you for completely overlooking Looper. It’s not a perfect film, and it should not be up for best picture, but man does it do some things really right (It should have been up for best Screenplay, one of the bigger snubs). Blunt’s performance is simply great. She plays the mother of a very troubled son, who comes in contact with #JGL (the amazing Joseph Gorden-Levitt, yes I refer to him as #JGL and if you get the reference then you are also a genius like me)

            15. Sarah Silverman – Wreck-It Ralph -- Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting                              Actress – Alright, you may be reading this and are like “what the crap, yo?” (Jeff’s Note: REALLY JOSH? No one talks like that, yo.) If you are, my first question is: why are you using the word “yo?” Shame on you. (Jeff’s Note: Oh, I see what you did there.) Second, YES! Sarah Silverman as Vanellipe von Schweetz is one of the best acting performances of the year. She is the heart and soul of this wonderful film, you completely forget that you are listening to a famous person and get lost in her character’s wonderful arc. VOICE ACTING IS ACTING TOO Y’ALL! Wow… I just used Y’all and yo in the same paragraph. It must be getting late. (Jeff’s Note: Go to bed, Josh.)

            14. Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln – Best Supporting Actor – You know, I always forget how good of an actor Tommy Lee Jones is, and then he shows up and I’m like oh, man, he’s awesome. Jones’s performance as a senator struggling to pass the 13^th amendment is real conflict of Lincoln. You never quite lose the fact that it’s Jones on screen, which is why I can’t put him higher, but he’s one of the best parts of this severely overrated film.

            13. Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook – Best Actor – Bradley Cooper can act! Who knew? Luckily David O. Russell did. He does a great job as a man struggling with bi-polar disorder; he puts heart, depth and consistency to a character that could very easily get way from even the best of actor. Cooper is one of the great things in this great ensemble cast.

The Group Who Should Have Gotten a TON More Respect

            12. Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone – Josh’s Wild Card Best Actress – Well, Marion Cotillard is really good. That’s not news, she has an Oscar and is the only person ever to win an Oscar for a performance given entirely in a foreign language (2007’s La Vie En Rose). So why in the world is she not nominated for Rust and Bone? I have no idea. She is the complete heart and soul of this film. I’m going to pretty light on the plot of this because the less you know the better; just know that Cotillard saves this film, a performance not to be missed in a film that otherwise should be. 

            11. Kelly Reilly – Flight – Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting Actress – Everyone is talking about Denzel in Flight (as they should be) but what makes Flight is the performance of Kelly Reilly. Reilly plays a woman who at the start of the film almost dies of drug overdose, watching this character’s arc, growth and change thoughout the film is far more captivating than anything that Denzel does. In film with so many name actors giving great performances, it’s Reilly who steals the show.

            10. Jack Black – Bernie – Josh’s Wild Card Best Actor – We all know Jack Black and the “Jack Black” character. But what we forget is that Jack Black can actually act. In Bernie Black plays a character that is so different, so subtle, so tragic that it’s hard to think that this is the same guy who dressed in tights for the atrocious Nacho Libre (but we all make mistakes). Black is suffering from a very strong year for lead acting performances; in most years I think we’d be seeing him with a nomination for this role. However I can’t help but feel that the dark comedic nature of the film is what caused voters to overlook him. If you have not seen Bernie, do yourself a favor and do so. 

            9. Aubrey Plaza – Safety Not Guaranteed – Josh’s Wild Card Best Actress – If you don’t know who Aubrey Plaza is then you are living a sad life! She is a very talented actress who is best known as April on NBC’s Parks and Recreation but she also appears in Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Funny People, and Mystery Team. Plaza plays Darius, who is a reporter at a Seattle based magazine looking to make a name for herself. Looking for a great story Darius and two co-workers reply to this newspaper ad “WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You’ll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED” What follows is a beautiful story and Plaza carries us through the entire thing.

The Group of Runner-Ups

            8. Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln – Best Actor – Day-Lewis is an amazing actor, and probably the best actor that will be alive in my lifetime. He is also a crazy method actor, to the point that in My Left Foot he actually would only use his left foot the entire time he was on set. Daniel has a crazy good success rate for getting nominated for awards; he has made 19 films (movies released to theatres) 17 of them have a rotten tomatoes score of over 75%. He’s got 7 Golden Globe nominations (3wins), 6 BAFTA nominations (3wins), and as of this year, 5 Academy Award nominations (2 wins). On top of that, he was amazing playing our 16^th president, Abraham Lincoln. He completely lost himself in the character. It looked like Lincoln was walking, talking, and breathing again. With all that said: sorry Daniel, you’re not getting that third statute. Your Lincoln was great on many levels, but you didn’t make me CARE about the man I should have cared about in this film. Lincoln himself. You were great, but not great enough.

            7. Naomi Watts – The Impossible – Best Actress – This little film shocked the crap out of me, and Watts gave an amazingly heartbreaking performance as a mother who must try to survive a horrible tragedy and pull her family through it as well. I don’t want to say too much about this film because I was so pleasantly surprised by not knowing anything about it. Just go watch it.

            6. Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook – Best Supporting Actor – As someone who was born well after De Niro started his career, I can go back and look at all of his performances, but at times it’s hard to remember how great an actor he really is. I mean, it’s hard to see his greatness when all we get recently are things like Little Fockers, The Big Wedding, and Analyze That (I’m not against him doing comedy, Meet the Parents is a great film and Silver Linings Playbook has some good comedic moments as well). Amazing films like Goodfellas, Casino, The Deer Hunter, and The Godfather Part II seem so far away, but it’s nice to be reminded how amazing an actor De Niro is. He plays an overtly superstitious father to Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings and steals almost every scene he is in. Please give us more films like this and let us see how amazing you can be.  

            5. Leonardo DeCaprio—Django Unchained – Josh’s Wild Card Best Supporting Actor – Whoever Leonardo DeCaprio pissed off at The Academy is seriously screwing over one of the best actors of all time. How he still has not won an Academy Award is a mystery to me. AND HOW HE IS NOT NOMINATED THIS YEAR? IT’S A CRIME! I mean not a real crime, but definitely a fake Hollywood crime. In Django Unchained he gives the best performance of his career. This is nothing like you’ve seen him do before, and probably won’t again for a long time. The only reason he’s not any higher on this list for me is because I wanted the top 4 to be my 4 Oscar picks. If I could give out two winners for best supporting actor, I would. Keeping reading and you’ll see why.

The Group Known as the Best of the Best

            With this group there is specifically one from each category, and the person who I would give the Academy Award to, if I had a vote, based on who was nominated.

            4. Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables – Best Actor – The question you must be asking at this point is why Jackman over Day-Lewis? Simple, Jackman’s Jean Veljean was just as complete as Day-Lewis’s Lincoln. On every level they are equal performances, except for one thing. Jackman made me care about him, his story and his character. That’s what good acting is, allowing the audience member to be completely lost in the story. ACTORS are STORYTELLERS. Jackman told me a story, Day-Lewis showed me a character.

            3. Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook – Best Actress – I’m a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence. She anchored The Hunger Games and gave that film tons of credibility it didn’t deserve. But where she really shone was is in 2011’s Winter’s Bone (where she was flawless and earned her first nomination for Best Actress). Her second nomination should be her first win. In a film full of great acting performances, it’s Lawrence who stands out. She hits all the right notes, and really gets to the heart of the story. Playing a character that is mentally unstable is one of the toughest challenges in acting and to do it convincingly is an amazingly tough challenge, which she rises to.

            2. Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained – Best “Supporting” Actor – In a best supporting actor race that is wide open (2012’s Academy Awards are shaping up to one of the most unpredictable Oscars in a long time), Christoph Waltz is the cream of the crop. Why? Because he’s not actually a supporting actor in Django. Waltz should be in the lead actor category but as I said before that’s very crowed this year; so he sneaks into the supporting actor category by a technicality. Waltz’s has won this very award before and did it for another Tarantino film (he played Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds). The beauty of Waltz’s Dr. King Schultz is that he’s a character that couldn’t be further from Col. Hans Landa and Waltz is still flawless. Django Unchained would be a severely average film if not Waltz and DiCaprio, but I believe that it’s Waltz that’s walking home with is second Oscar and giving us a performance that will stand the test of time.

            1. Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables – Best Supporting Actress – In what is less than 15 min of screen time, Anne Hathaway gives the most memorable performance of the film, of her career, and of the year. If you watch her performance of I Dreamed a Dream and are not crying at the end, then I’m breaking out my holy water because you’re a demon. Hathaway’s Fantine sets the perfect tone for the film and sticks with you long after you leave the theater. Hathaway has long been one of my person favorite actresses, I only hope she get to walk home with an Oscar on Feb 24^th. 

Nerd 5 Top…10! Josh’s Best 10 Films of 2012

It’s no secret that I can be a bit of a contrarian, there’s no faster way to get me to not like something than for everyone else to sing its praises. Part of that is because expectations are too high and part is because my brain says, “Ha! I’ll be the smart who disagrees, and here are all the reasons why!” I know this about myself. Now, I’m not a complete contrarian; there are plenty of mainstream things that I love (most of them I jumped on the bandwagon for way early and have just never bothered to jump off… but still). I would describe myself as an open-minded contrarian, (Jeff may disagree *wink wink nudge nudge say no more say no more*) and I am willing to have my point of view shifted with good arguments. Most important is that the movies I love are good (Nay! Great!) films.

What does this have to do with my favorite films of 2012? Simple, everyone under the sun kept telling me how amazing 2012 was for film! Just gushing about this film, and that film, and how we were in such a great year, and how this will go down in history with ’39, ’75, ’99! My first thought was, “Woah! Hold up everyone.” If I would have stopped seeing 2012 films on December 31^st then I would have been whole-heartedly against calling 2012 a great year for film. Luckily, January rolled around. The studios released their award contenders, and oh my goodness. I’ve been convinced this was a really good year for film, and I have at least 20 films that I consider great along with several more that just fell short. I’m not quite to the point of saying that it’s one of the greats of all time, however, only time will tell on that point.

My final 2012 film count is 49 out of 92 films that received a nationwide released into theatres. IF for some reason you are interested, I’ve included a full list of the 2012 films I’ve seen this year at the end of this article. What follows are a few lists to add context to why I’ve chosen the 10 films that I have, as well as my 20-11 films of the year.

Overrated Film That Films I Hated (Don’t try to defend them, it will NOT go well): Zero Dark Thirty, Anna Karenina, The Dark Knight Rises

“Important” Films I’ve Missed This Year: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Robot & Frank, The Master, The Sessions, Hitchcock, Holy Motors, Salmon Fishing in Yemen

Studio/Big Budget “Hits” I’ve Missed This Year: Prometheus, 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Ted, Lawless, Men In Black 3, Seven Psychopaths, The Bourne Legacy, The Campaign, The Dictator, End of Watch, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, Jack Reacher

Honorable Mentions: 20. Flight 19. Beasts of the Southern Wild 18. Cloud Atlas 17. Brave 16. Moonrise Kingdom 15. Lincoln 14. Looper 13. Bernie 12. The Perks of Being a Wallflower 11. Liberal Arts (a full blog post about this little film is coming, but find a way to see it if you can.)

10. Django Unchained –A very fun script, that I think will win Best Original Screenplay this year, Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio shine and have a chemistry that few actors on screen have ever had. You can tell they are having fun, as are we in the audience. This is Tarantino doing what he does well. There’s nothing new here, but it’s a very enjoyable watch. Ask me again in a week or two and this might not be here, but today it stands at 10.

9. Silver Linings Playbook – I was determined not to like this film. I was wrong, it’s a very well made and very well acted film; with standout performances from every member of its ensemble. This is a small character study wrapped up in a love story and football, so it makes sense why America has fallen in love with it (it passed 100 million @ the box office). I won’t spoil the end, but the last 20min of the film are head over heels fun to watch and put this film over the top as one of the best of 2012. 

8. The Impossible – This fascinating film is based on a true story of a family trying to survive the devastating Tsunami that hit Thailand. The Impossible bears a striking thematic resemblance to Beasts of the Southern Wild, but where Beasts is getting showered with praise, The Impossible is only being heralded for Naomi Watts’ (fantastically, amazing and moving) performance. The Impossible boasts an amazing ensemble cast, striking images, and a story that could move anyone who has ever loved someone to tears. This film hits all the rights notes, while still remaining uplifting and hopeful, it’s not an easy watch at times (some visuals are quite graphic) but if you’ve not seen it, don’t miss the opportunity to.

7. Les Miserables ­– Eddie Redmayne, good; Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, good; Hugh Jackman, great; Anne Hathaway, fantastic; Russell Crowe… well he tired really hard. Tom Hooper’s brings this classic musical to the screen in all its glory. Telling the tale of Jean Veljean against the backdrop of the French Revolution (The Student Rebellion to be specific) with all the emotion, honesty, and depth that these characters deserve. Les Miserable is a great adaptation of the stage play.

6. The Cabin In the Woods – Easily the most misunderstood and overlooked film of 2012. Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon have written my favorite script of the year (Perks of Being a Wallfower is a very close second). Every member of the cast understands the duality of their parts and plays it to a tee. Don’t be fooled this is NOT your typical horror film, that’s why I like it. I’ll stop there, the less you know about it the better. The Cabin in the Woods is Joss Whedon magic.

5. Wreck-It Ralph – I was thoroughly and completely won over by this film. While watching it I kept asking myself “How is this not a Pixar film?” Wreck-It Ralph is from Disney animation studios, who have slowly been digging themselves out of their 2000’s slump. With new direction from the heads of… wait for it… Pixar, they have finally become legit again. The students are now as good as the masters. I’m hoping this means another animation renaissance like we got in the 1990’s. Wreck-It Ralph is as good as any film this year, it’s got outstanding characters, a compelling story and far more heart than I ever thought it would. Good job, Disney, good job.

4. Safety Not Guaranteed – Safety Not Guaranteed is the best indy film of 2012 and sadly got buried in July. Beautifully filmed, a story that is perfect at almost every moment and an entire cast and crew working toward the same goal and vision; Safety is such a wonderfully small sci-fi story that never feels fake, never pokes fun at itself, and treats every moment with never-ending honesty. A shout out to Aburey Plaza and Mark Duplass who are the leads of this wonderful film, and have an insane amount of chemistry on screen. I couldn’t see anyone playing their parts, the mark of an amazing performance.

3. The Avengers – Did any not expect this film to be on my list? This year’s highest grossing film is also its most fun. A clever superhero film directed by the amazing Joss Whedon, this raised the bar for all future summer blockbusters. The sad thing is that now studios will think the more stars they get in a film the better it will do, when in reality the film’s success is having a person behind the wheel who understands the franchise and how to put it together. Marvel gave The Avengers time to develop (5 lead up films) and puts the final puzzle piece together in spectacular fashion, with Whedon doing his thing.

2. Life of Pi – On first watch I was like “wow this is really pretty”, but overall only mildly impressed with Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Then after several conversations with my fellow Nerd 5 blogger, and seeing the film a second time, I am completely floored. Pi is not only beautiful visually, but also tells a beautiful story of hope, faith, and the unknown. Life of Pi completely won me over and out of the 5 directors nominated for best director this year, I’m hardcore rooting for Lee. 

1. Argo – Welcome back Mr. Affleck. Argo is the best film of the year (and Affleck’s lack of a directing nomination is the biggest snub that I can remember in Oscar history. He’s a good filmmaker! Everyone needs to stop holding the early ’00 against him). I’d be shocked if this doesn’t take home the Oscar for Best Picture. When I walked out the theatre the first time I saw it I stated “That that is the best film I’ve seen all year” and it still is. The ensemble does an amazing job capturing a time and place. Arkin and Goodman represent Hollywood in 1980’s to a tee, and Argo is a thrilling ride from start to finish. To address some of the complaints against the film’s ending being too “Hollywood” guess what everyone, IT’S A HOLLYWOOD FILM, and you’d be bored to tears if they did the ending in real time. That’s why it says BASED on a true story; we are not watching an unedited home video of events taking place. Go to YouTube for that. Go to Argo for an amazing film experience.

A List of ALL the Films Josh Saw in 2012:

The Woman in Black

The Secret World of Arrietty

John Carter

Jeff, Who Lives at Home

The Hunger Games

American Reunion

The Cabin in the Woods

The Raven

The Avengers

Dark Shadows

Moonrise Kingdom

Snow White and the Huntsman

Safety Not Guaranteed

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Brave

Wanderlust

The Amazing Spider-Man

Ice Age 4

The Dark Knight Rises

Step Up: Revolution

Argo

Cloud Atlas

Flight

Wreck-It Ralph

Lincoln

Life of Pi

Killing Them Softly

The Hobbit: An Unexpecte Journey

Bernie

Django Unchained

Skyfall

Les Miserables

Parental Guidance

Promised Land

This Is 40

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Looper

ParaNorman

Not Fade Away

The Impossible

Zero Dark Thirty

Silver Linings Playbook

Rust and Bone

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Anna Karenina

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Lorax Liberal Arts Trouble With The Curve

Top 5 Best Directed Films of 2012

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.

Top 5 Reasons Zero Dark Thirty Sucks… Kind Of

It’s not often that we dedicate a whole top 5 to one film, but I feel like Zero Dark Thirty needs a top 5 all to itself. Zero Dark Thirty releases nationwide this weekend after being limited for several weeks. This film has a ton of critical hype and just garnered quite a few Oscar nominations, including best picture. With that being said, I’m not sure what all the hype is about. I’m not trying to say that it was a total crap film, because it wasn’t. There are some redeeming qualities: the script is good, the film has a strong point of view, the cast gives good performances, and the subject matter is interesting enough to carry the film. That’s about where my positivity ends, so let’s jump right into this the top 5 reasons that Zero Dark Thirty sucks… kind of.

5. Jessica Chastain is overrated

I’m fully admitting that this might be personal bias; I’m not a fan of Chastain. But I have been won over by actors I hate when they give good performances (Christian Bale –who I can’t stand – in American Psycho is amazing). Chastain is being heralded as one of the best performances of the year, and is almost a shoe in for the best actress Oscar, but why? Yes her character is driven, but that’s in the script. Yes her character solves a big mystery, but that’s in the script and yes she gives up along the way and descends into… darkness? But that’s in the script! Maybe we are just awarding an actress for playing a well written part. Now, it is a skill to not completely mess up a part, especially a layered one like this one. But I am not willing to award as the best for simply doing the bare minimum of what an actor should do, which is not mess up the part. It just felt like the red headed bimbo from The Help went to college and was hired by the CIA. In a part that is given such high praise I accept much more from an actor, I want to look at the screen and see the character, not the actor.

4. Spoiler Alert: The USA Catches and Kills Bin Laden

Part of the issue with Zero Dark Thirty is it plays like a mystery, and not a very well told mystery at that. We all know the end of this story, it happened just over two year ago. SEAL team 6 goes into a small Pakistani town, captures and kills Osama bin Laden. This is not news, so why is played as if we don’t know? The main premise of the film is will-she-or-won’t-she catch him. A question that we all know the answer to, so two hours into the film I found myself screaming “just catch him already!” I know that it took ten years to find and catch him, and the story itself is interesting, but the way this film drudges along it felt like we watched every moment of search. Aside from the fact that we know how it ends, there are two other problems with the way the story is told. First, there is not a single surprise in this film. Whether it’s predicable filming, an overbearing score, or just taking too long to get to the point, every single moment of Zero Dark feels highly predicable. The final issue with the story is about halfway through the director of the CIA (our main character’s boss) admits that there is no point in chasing Bin Laden anymore… SO WHY ARE YOU STILL SHOWING IT TO US!!!

A quick side note on the actual capture of Bin Laden scene: what should be the climactic moment of the film, and what we as an American audience should feel as a great scene of celebration, ends up looking like a cut scene from a Call of Duty game. Sadly disappointing.

3. Kathryn Bigelow Was NOT Snubbed From the Oscar Race

If you’ve read this far you’ve picked out some of my issues with the way the film was directed. But overall there are several issues with the way that Bigelow presented the material. The film was poorly paced, nothing new given on the subject matter. Bigelow made a very similar film once before (The Hurt Locker, for which she won an Oscar for and deserved it) and if the message of film is what she really meant to portray then, this may be the last film of hers I see (see point #1). This is the second film Bigelow has made about contemporary wars and it’s not a surprise to American audiences that new wars are fought politically and slowly over years and years rather than the old school style of direct combat. But we’ve seen this, we know this, give us a new take on what we are seeing! There is something to be said about doing something similar to what we have seen before and doing very very well, but sadly this is not the case here.

2.  We don’t have to love this film…

…because it’s about the heroes who captured Bin Laden. Yes, the people who went in and put their lives on the line to capture Bin Laden are HEROES, and anyone who helped them get the information needed are also heroes. But that doesn’t mean that we have to love a film about them. Yes, this subject is something that we WANT to love, but this film is simply not great. The story is great, let’s all just calm down a little and look at this for what it is. A movie, entertainment, and a piece of historical fiction based on facts. 

To go along with this point, I just don’t feel like we needed Zero Dark right now. There is not enough time between us and this major event. We all can still remember what it was like, we don’t need or want to revisit it. If we put some more time between ourselves and the film we may actually be able to see it as a film and not as a painful reminder of what we’ve all just lived through and then celebrated the death of a tyrant. Don’t love or hate Zero Dark Thirty because of the subject matter and how personally we are still attached to it, but love it or hate it because of the film that it is.

1. Zero Dark Thirty Tells Us That Torture is Okay

This may not be the message you wanted to send Kathryn Bigelow, but it is the message that you put into your film. It’s not a surprise that the USA had to use tactics that are less than legal to get the information needed to capture and kill Bin Laden, but I don’t need to see anyone get water-boarded, strapped to a dog collar, or put into a box (don’t worry kids that all happens in the first scene of the film). We are torturing people for information. Again I’m not naive enough to believe that we don’t, but it is ILLEGAL. Most of the film takes place in the Bush administration, and in Zero Dark we are lead to believe that the administration is fully endorsing torture (no wonder republican leaders are trying as hard as they can to discredit the film). My problem comes in when we move into the Obama administration and Obama is made out to be a bad guy for stopping the torture techniques that we were using. Really… REALLY??? So sad that you can’t illegally torture people anymore. This is my real issue with the film, this is the reason I have no desire to see it again, and why I am actively rooting against it this Oscar season. Just because something happens, doesn’t mean that it should. Just because it works doesn’t mean that it’s right.

Zero Dark Thirty is not bad; it’s just not amazing either. If I was giving it a grade, it gets a C+ and most of that is just for effort. 

I

Bonus Article: Jeff, Who Cries at Home

I just wanted to give a shout-out to a little seen movie of 2012 (it officially released in 2011, but didn’t hit most theaters until 2012), and that is Jeff, Who Lives at Home.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home is a day in the life of brothers Jeff (Jason Segel) and Pat (Ed Helms). Jeff is a 30-year-old living in his mother’s basement, and Pat is trying to make a go of it with his business and his wife, despite the fact that he’s a prick. Jeff’s quest to find purpose and meaning in the universe soon envelopes Pat and by extension their mother (Susan Sarandon) and Pat’s wife (Judy Greer), until all of them a taken on a wholly unexpected and re-awakening journey.

As the title of this article implies, this movie was more than the little indie comedy I expected it to be. It’s advertised as a comedy, and there certainly were some very funny moments, but by the end of the 83 minute movie I was crying my eyes out – in a good way. Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass (makers of Cyrus, The Puffy Chair, and Baghead) wrote and directed this film, and I’m looking forward to whatever they have in store next. A lot of this story is about being in the right place at the right time, and allowing yourself to get there in ways that you didn’t plan or expect. Similarly, this movie was in my Netflix recommendations at just the right time. I’ve spent a good part of the last year feeling lost, like these people, which made the message of searching and connecting even more powerful.

Special mention should go to the score, by Michael Andrews. There is never a specified time period for this movie, but it really reminds me of the late 90’s in a lot of ways. The score also seems to reflect this period and brings to mind some of my childhood favorites while bringing a lightness and soulfulness to this odd little movie.

Apparently the Duplass Brothers lost money with this film, which was made for about 10 Million and only grossed 4. However, a great benefit for viewers is that Jeff, Who Lives at Home is now on Netflix. Let their loss be your gain, check out this wonderful, under-the-radar film.