OSCAR RANT 2012

(Honoring the films of 2011)

Rant by Paul Preston

“I think I can safely say that despite the quality of some of the year’s best movies, it was not a great year”.

This is the sentence I used to start last year’s Oscar Rant, referencing the films of 2010. So…it suitably starts this year’s rant as well. Things haven’t gotten better. I remember specifically, in the middle of the summer, I was awaiting all the great summer movies that were going to come out. Sad thing is, they already had, and I was moving into a latter-half of the summer with the only bright spot being “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”.

Same thing happened at Christmas. Usually, by year’s end I get excited to see all the award-worthy films as they expand to more theaters in January. This year, I had already seen everything by December 31st, and I was not impressed. I had not felt like I was in the throws of holiday movie-time. I suppose we can only take solace in the fact that the third installment of the “Alvin & The Chipmunks” franchise only made half of what the other films did…

Did I mention bright spots? Let’s talk about ‘em. My list of the Top 10 Films of 2011:

10. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS – This is the kind of year it’s been. The “prestige projects” on the whole were so underwhelming, they’ve left room in the Top 10 for a summer action movie. But “X-Men: First Class” is a very deftly-handled period actioner beefed up with great actors. This film could easily have been Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens-ed, but, wisely, the producers used the talents of Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (“A Single Man”) as young mutants coming under the wing of Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. This is another film in a phenomenal year for Michael Fassbender, who really shines as Erik, the young Magneto. Kevin Bacon also steps up for one of his best performances in years, showing what can happen when you throw him a substantial role. Politics, teen angst, and ambitious action sequences all get thrown into a mix held together well by director Matthew Vaughn.

9. PUSS IN BOOTS – Why shouldn’t the film I’d pick for Best Animated Film also be one of the best overall films of the year? Pixar, up till 2011, was batting .1000. All the while, DreamWorks Animation had been improving their game slowly and steadily. They’ve delivered a real winner the year Pixar stumbled with “Cars 2”. “Puss in Boots” is anchored by the best script yet of the “Shrek” universe films, and it certainly ranks among the funniest films of the year, if not the funniest, as we follow a pre-“Shrek” Puss as he attempts to clear his name over crimes he didn’t commit. Antonio Banderas’ hilarious gravitas-laden voice-over carries a light and nimble plot, happily devoid of a slew of modern references. The action scenes are well-imagined and the animation is very impressive, even (gulp) the 3D.
Click here for a full-length review.

8. MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – There’s an interesting story here about an A.D. working on the production of “The Prince and the Showgirl” who had a flirtatious affair with Marilyn Monroe. But once things get going on the set, that’s where my interest was really peaked. Pill-popping head case Monroe annoys the SHIT out of Laurence Olivier, and it is entertaining as HELL! Kenneth Branagh’s slow burn as Sir Larry is priceless, and Michelle Williams’ portrayal of Monroe is in every way deserving of its Oscar nomination.

7. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Saw this one twice. Here’s a summer movie that proves that if you bring the brains, the audience will follow. I’m tired of origin films (we really need to see how Spider-Man was created AGAIN?), plus I get tired of overuse of CGI characters, so for this film to work on me was quite a surprise. WETA Digital proves they are some of the best in the business, creating ALL the apes in this movie, who grow weary of their mistreatment by humans and, thanks to drug experiments, gain the wherewithal to fight back. If you’re having Andy Serkis fatigue because he is used nearly EVERY time motion capture is required, keep watching him. They keep using him ‘cause he’s the best in the business. His portrayal of Caesar is so expressive, he’s the film’s best actor. And the end credits are a stroke of genius.
Click here for a full-length review.

6. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – There’s something on display here for every kind of Woody Allen fan. Do you love wacky Woody? It’s in there. Heady, literate Woody? It’s in there, along with his recent passion for Europe and the usual top-notch production team you’re used to seeing in a Woody Allen film. Owen Wilson is at his charming best as a Hollywood writer visiting Paris who magically is transported to the 1920s, where he meets his literary and artistic heroes. There are loads of laughs as Wilson is tempted with an affair and he can’t explain what’s happening to him when he’s dumped back in present day. No surprise this is Woody’s highest grossing movie in twenty-five years, it’s easily his most widely appealing in that amount of time, too.

5. MONEYBALL – As an L.A. Angels fan, I can get behind any movie about an MLB team owner who has to do everything he can to combat the N.Y. Yankee’s inflated budget. You can’t deny The Evil Empire their desire to win, the real problem is Major League Baseball’s desperate need of a salary cap. “Moneyball”’s brilliant writers Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian (two of the BEST out there) have expertly adapted Billy Beane’s book about putting a competitive team together in an unusual way. They, with director Bennett Miller, have made “Moneyball” very satisfying for the baseball enthusiast as well as understandable and exciting for someone who doesn’t follow the sport regularly. Anchored by a making-it-look-so-easy-he-can’t-possibly-be-acting lead performance by Brad Pitt, the film is adept at comedy and drama, but also gets very engrossing as a dramatic, suspenseful sports movie when Oakland starts playing well. And as an Angels fan, I loved the ending.

4. 50/50 – Yes, the cancer comedy is THAT GOOD. I think Seth Rogen’s been nothing but hilarious for six or seven years now, but he’s acquired this bad rap, probably due to overexposure. As a producer, he wisely never creates projects beyond his capabilities. Remember “The Green Hornet”? (Think hard) Rogen was a hero, but wasn’t a bad-ass bad-guy-whalloping machine. He left the heavy lifting to Kato and smartly did what he’s good at. Strange comparison to “50/50”, which is leagues better and nothing like “The Green Hornet”, but here’s another case where Rogen never tries to fool you into thinking that this film about a twenty-something journalist in Seattle faced with a harsh cancer is the drama to end all dramas. The script is still a stoner comedy, but there’s a convincing humanity at the heart here, delivered with style by director Jonathan Levine.

3. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Gotta admit I never read the book or saw the Swedish film adaptations before this, and I was blown away. Story carries the day here, and the timing couldn’t be better for Fincher to direct, because his keen eye and dazzling production value really build a tone, but he also seems to have moved past any show-off moves that littered a film like “Panic Room”, and he lets the story rise to the top. And what a story! A self-proclaimed insane goth-lesbian computer hacker teams with a journalist to investigate forty-year-old murder mystery in a story of rape, torture, fear and Nazis. Sign me up! The film wisely doesn’t update the Swedish story to All-American, and the cast is full of good actors. Rooney Mara’s daring portrait of Lisbeth Salander is one for the ages and I can’t wait to see what trouble she gets into in the next film. Christopher Plummer caps off a great year by delivering a captivating performance as the patriarch of the family that hires the journalist, and he ends up providing the film’s heart. Yes, this mad thriller can tear-jerk! There’s gripping suspense on display here coupled with things you’ve never seen before – a killer one-two punch for what I hope is a very successful franchise.

2. THE DESCENDANTS – In a year filled with bloated spectacle (‘Hugo”, “War Horse”), Alexander Payne’s strikingly truthful drama proves once again that less is more. George Clooney plays a land baron in Hawaii, and as if you can’t feel bad for that guy, his wife goes into a coma after a jet ski accident. This event leads to discoveries that complicate relationships, leaving things muddy, even at the end. The actors (and Payne) are obviously more interested in playing the TRUTH with this story, as opposed to doing anything “film-y”. As we’ve said before at The Movie Guys, anything George Clooney does is worth watching, and he’s FANTASTIC here. It may be time to put him on the list of the best actors in town, a list usually reserved for posh-er performers like Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks and Kevin Spacey. But Clooney’s certainly more consistent. After Pixar and Jason Reitman slipped up this year, Payne remains the only filmmaker whose every film I have enjoyed.
Click here for a full-length review.

1. THE ARTIST – This is a movie in love with movies. Here at The Movie Guys, WE LOVE MOVIES! So, liking “The Artist” was easy. Actually, I’d be hard-pressed to find anyone with a heart cold enough to dislike this film. If you don’t like it, you’re dead inside. At least dead to me. In a year wrought with pretentious offerings (“Melancholia”, “The Tree of Life”, anyone?), “The Artist” wins by being straight-up enjoyable. And wildly so. As the silent film star who has a tough transition into “talkies”, Jean Dujardin is mesmerizing with his seamless ability to channel Clark Gable swashbuckling to great heights one moment, and Gene Kelly whisking a girl across the dance floor the next. Paired with the radiant Berenice Bejo, they’re one of the best screen pairs in years. As technology advances, it’s amazing to see a film TAKE AWAY tech aspects and triumph.
Click here for a full-length review.

RUNNERS-UP:
Truth is there are only about six movies I’d really put on a year-end BEST list, so even expanding to ten was a chore. However, these films are good, too:
THE IDES OF MARCH – Is this better than “X-Men: First Class”? Probably. It’s pretty damn good, but it was fun to go super-hero movie for my top ten.
THE HELP – Solid drama with good actors top to bottom.
J. EDGAR – This movie got shit for being “Oscar-bait”, but the script is one of the best Eastwood’s worked with in years, and DiCaprio is as solid as ever.
THE MUPPETS – Back and hilarious.
BUCK – A documentary about a horse whisperer that truly uplifts and inspires.

THE WORST
PRIEST – Paul Bettany crapping away promise, determined to switch genres from dramas and comedy to action. Stay where you’re needed. Ask Eddie Murphy.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES – This franchise has totally lost its way, and its sense of fun. Another interminably LONG movie that’s one of the worst 3D offenders yet.
THE HANGOVER, PART II – It might be OK to repeat the exact same plot if the characters were likeable, but they’re NOT. At all.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN 3D – This film is hugely OVERDONE. More is not better (see “The Descendants”)
BAD TEACHER – Number of jokes that work in this film – zero.
ALBERT NOBBS – The biggest disappointment. Why was this story told? The lead character is creepy, the lead female unworthy of any affection, and the ending left the whole story feeling irrelevant.

THE OSCARS:

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Glaring Omission: This was a year brimming with great lead performances, so any number of actors could have been included – Leonardo DiCaprio for his bombast in “J. Edgar” or Ryan Gosling for his understatement in “The Ides of March” (like Christian Bale, his Oscar’s coming). I’m a little surprised to see the raw emotion Michael Fassbender brought to “Shame” didn’t net him a nomination. Perhaps the film itself was a little off-putting.
Runners-up: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in “50/50”, but the BALLS would have come out if The Academy took a risk on nominating Andy Serkis for “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Sadly, it doesn’t look like he’ll win an Oscar if the film wins for Visual Effects, either. They’ll thank him like they did for “King Kong”. Maybe a special Oscar is due somewhere down the line?
Great Inclusion: Brad Pitt. I called his performance making-it-look-so-easy-he-can’t-possibly-be-acting. That beats the showy roles he was nominated for previously (“Benjamin Button”, “Twelve Monkeys”). Good to see him here.
Will Win: Dujardin. It used to be a bigger race with Clooney, but Dujardin has pulled ahead with wins at the BAFTA and SAG awards.
Should Win: Both deserve it, but Clooney broke my heart. I’d go with him.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Glaring Omission: Albert Brooks in “Drive”. Now, I’m the world’s biggest Brooks fan, but I don’t think he’s totally right for this role. I dug the expansion beyond the type he normally plays, and he did a solid job, but not quite award-worthy, if you’re gonna compare (and that’s what we’re doing here, right?). However, with the pre-Oscar film critics awards he picked up, I thought he’d be nominated.
Runners-up: I’d slide von Sydow to the side and make room for Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Moneyball”, who underplays to perfection. Also, John C. Reilly out-acted all the Oscar winners in “Carnage”, don’t know if that makes him better than these nominees, but it accounts for something. I’d also throw some love to Corey Stoll in “Midnight in Paris”, whose indelible Ernest Hemingway was SO much fun. And wasn’t Paul Giamatti in a movie? Yes, he was (“The Ides of March”). So he should be nominated. Bam.
Great Inclusion: Kenneth Branagh. Many dismissed Branagh’s witty performance as Laurence Olivier as another shallow piece of a trite movie. They’re wrong! He doesn’t get lost in an impersonation, and finds so much room to PLAY in this part as a legendary actor who must come face to face with an industry that values movie STARS instead.
Will win: Christopher Plummer. Hard to believe this is only his second Oscar nomination, but he’s been a lock in quality projects for years (“The Insider”). And his role in “Beginners” is one of two great roles he had this year (the other being “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). It’s his year, and thank god it’s for a good performance in “Beginners”, not the standard career award.
Should win: That being said, I’d go with Branagh

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Glaring Omission: Tilda Swinton. With Golden Globe and SAG awards, I thought she was on track. But The Globes have two categories, and the drama category is nearly identical to these nominees, but when someone had to make room at the Oscars for Michelle Williams, it was Swinton who got the boot. But I’m sure she’s crying all over her other Oscar. I thought Charlize Theron had a shot because she and Reitman are Oscar darlings.
Runners-up: Kristen Wiig? As ever, comedy is subjugated. Glenn Close is just creepy in “Albert Nobbs”. Maybe you slide her out of the way for Wiig.
Great Inclusion: Rooney Mara! This is the best nomination in any category this year. There’s a lot of subtlety going around, focusing on restraint and simplicity (see Oldman, for example). But Mara’s brash, risky performance in “Dragon Tattoo” is an all-out-there tour de force, and if you’re giving awards to the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”, then Mara’s got just as much of a shot.
Will Win: Davis. This race has become the most interesting as time’s gone on. It used to be between Williams and Streep, right on through their split of awards at The Golden Globes. But with SAG and BAFTA wins, Viola Davis is making a run, and you can’t discount the actor’s vote, ‘cause it’s actors who vote in The Academy, too. Streep and Williams’ performances are at the core impersonations (excellent ones), and they’ll probably award the more original performance on Oscar Night.
Should Win: Mara, beating out Wiliams, who’s a close second.

Actress in a Leading RoleActress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Glaring Omission: Shailene Woodley. The acting across the board is so good in “The Descendants”, I’m surprised Clooney is the only acting nominee in the mix. The next best shot, I thought was Woodley’s complex performance as a complicated (perhaps spoiled?) teenager.
Runners-up: Shout out to Bryce Dallas Howard, who is great in “The Help” AND “50/50”. What I like about her roles this year is that they were very unlikeable. I guy like me gets bitter and wants to reject nepotism, but she’s really good and Howard could float through romantic comedies easily, but she played more challenging roles. Good on her.
Great Inclusion: Berenice Bejo, but there’s certainly an argument to make that she could be in the Best Actress category.
Will Win: Octavia Spencer, who is on a roll. Her character in “The Help” says everything you want to say in stick-up-your-ass 1960s America.
Should Win: Bejo, the heart of “The Artist”. But I love that fact that I didn’t know Bejo, Spencer or Chastain before the year started.

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Glaring Omission: “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”. It won The Golden Globe and had huge names attached. Oscar-winning names. But let’s be honest, it’s not a story that hooked America. And it’s a creepy animation style that I have no desire to see awarded. Three words sunk this nomination: Mars Needs Moms.
Runners-up: “Arthur Christmas”. I also had no desire to see Aardman Animation work with computers, having loved their stop-action animation for years. But “Arthur Christmas” is a delightful and very entertaining animated film with loads of heart and impressive animation.
Great Inclusion: Those two movies nobody’s heard of. And don’t try and fool me, you haven’t heard of ‘em either. Just be glad they’re here instead of the underwhelming “Cars 2”
Will Win: “Rango”. It’s got the momentum, plus a ton of Annie Awards. The dark horse could be “Kung Fu Panda 2”, which also won a handful of Annies.
Should Win: “Puss in Boots”, the only animated film in my Top 10.

Art Direction
“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

Glaring Omission: Nothing “glaring” here, although there is sometimes more love given to action movies in this category, with their big set pieces. Outside of “Potter”, maybe “Transformers 3” or “Thor” might’ve snuck in here, but these are good nominees.
Runners-up: It’s not unlike Roland Emmerich to bring quality production design to a film, but in “Anonymous”, they went to good use, as opposed to destroying the world AGAIN. Seamless use of effects and sets brought Elizabethan England splendidly to life. “J. Edgar” proved again the Clint Eastwood films are always solid re-creation of place and time.
Great Inclusion: “Midnight in Paris”. With an opening that rivals “Manhattan”, Paris looks lovely, and when it’s re-created for the 1920s, it looks equally lush and inviting.
Will Win: “Hugo”. But I thought the locations reeked more of effects than locations.
Should Win: “The Artist”, which did just as much as “Hugo” to show time period without it looking so cheesy.

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

Glaring Omission: “Midnight in Paris”. It had been nominated for pre-Oscar awards and damn, how gorgeous did Paris look as shot by Darius Khondji? A wonderful compliment to the art direction, which did receive a nomination.
Runners-up: “The Adventures of Tintin” didn’t make much of an overall impression on me, but there was shot composition in it that was on par with the best that Spielberg has done. Unfortunately, I was busy mostly focusing on how creepy the characters looked. Has animation ever been nominated in this category? Oh, yes, I see “Hugo” has been nominated. Never mind. There’s also something to be said for the great IMAX photography of “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”, especially the cameras-and-actors-hanging-on-the-side-of-the-building, vertigo-inducing brilliance of the action scenes at Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Great Inclusion: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. I loved this movie, and it was mostly snubbed in major categories, so I’ll take nominations where I can get ‘em.
Will Win: “The Tree of Life”
Should Win: This is a really tough category, because when you look at the photography of “The Tree of Life”, it’s unreal. Even just the collection alone of shots is impressive, let alone the execution of capturing them so vividly. Now, what exactly do all these images bring to the story? That’s the problem. There ISN’T A STORY. So then we have a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing. But man, the sound and fury looked fantastic. You probably gotta give it to Lubezki, even though I’m partial to “The Artist”, who even went out of the way to shoot in an 1920s aspect ratio!

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Glaring Omission: What a surprise. All period pieces. I rant on this every year, but I suppose opulence will always win out in this category. Well, if you’re gonna go all period, where was “J. Edgar” and the awesome parade of G-Men outfits? Little back story here, too: All of DiCaprio’s outfits were built from scratch for him. Can’t get that watching the film, but to know there were no rentals for his eighty or so costumes is impressive. I’m sure something like “Water for Elephants” was great, costume-wise, but who wants to see that to find out.
Runners-up: There’s also no fantasy here. No “Harry Potter”? Perhaps they were wearing clothes designed for the previous movies. If I had my way, I’d nominate “Thor” for the outlandish costumes that didn’t give in to the pressure to tone down the “comic book-i-ness” of the characters. They still wear bright colors and capes where other comic book adaptations like to make everything black.
Great Inclusion: “Anonymous”, only because Roland Emmerich THOUGHT for two seconds and actually made a substantial movie, and he pulled it off, partially because of an authentic-looking 1590s London.
Will Win: “The Artist”
Should Win: “The Artist”. This movie looked like “Citizen Kane” at times.

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Glaring Omission: With the new stupid desire to increase excitement over The Oscars by having more than five nominees, that just means more directors who have apparently made a film worthy of year’s best, who can’t get an Oscar themselves. This leaves Stephen Daldry, Tate Taylor, Bennett Miller and Steven Spielberg in the lurch. Sorry guys, you’ve made a best-of-the-year-worthy film but you’re not one of the best-of-the-year directors. That’s just dumb, and The Academy’s decision to keep doing that is as lame as Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game meaning something.
Runners-up: David Fincher! From the tone to the direction of the actors to the look, feel, location and vibe, he nailed it. Terrence Malick did something great with “The Tree of Life”, but without him sitting next to me as I watch the film, explaining what exactly that is, I’m lost. So step aside, please and make room for a Fincher nomination here. Also, if Bennett miller keeps up the good work, he could be another no-miss director. He’s made two films (“Capote” and “Moneyball”) and they’re both good. I would’ve nominated him here. Also, I thought Martin Scorsese’s pacing was all over the place in “Hugo”, plus the whole piece was just way overdone. This might be mostly the script’s fault, but a movie like “50/50” connected more with me. Nominate Jonathan Levine here instead.
Great Inclusion: Alexander Payne, Mr. Doesn’t Make a Bad Film.
Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius. He won the DGA award. He’s the evening’s lock.
Should Win: Michel Hazanavicius. If you’re thinking, “Who?”, you’re not alone. What a breakthrough movie! To skillfully pull together an international cast, black & white, period piece, animal actors and SILENT FILM to such perfection was quite a task. Give him the Oscar.

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

Glaring Omission: “Buck”. This movie had a lot of press leading up to the nominations and I thought it had a chance.
Runners-up: “The Tree of Life”. Wait, that wasn’t a NOVA PBS special?
Great Inclusion: “Pina” and “Undefeated”. “Paradise Lost” is about a murder trial, “Hell and Back Again” is about the Afghan War and “If a Tree Falls” is about environmental terrorists. So, I’m happy to see some uplifting stories in the mix. The only thing that scared the shit out of me was that I thought “Undefeated” was that Sarah Palin documentary (which is hilariously called “THE Undefeated”). If that got nominated, I was going to kill somebody.
Will Win: “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”. The Academy loves to reward bodies of work (see “The Lord of the Rings”) and this film could win essentially for all three “Paradise Lost” docs.
Should Win: You’ll notice there were not documentaries in my Top 10. This is different than past years where I’ve had movies like “Sicko”, “Inside Job” and “Waiting for Superman” in the mix. This year, I didn’t see any of the nominees. I am a dick.

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

But you know what? I didn’t see any of these, either. Neither did you. Let’s move on.

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Glaring Omission: Nothing glaring, but The Academy does love Spielberg’s production team. Always has. So I thought Michael Kahn might’ve had a shot here for “War Horse”, even a long shot for “The Adventures of Tintin”.
Runners-up: Hey, there are no show-off nominees here! So let’s throw “Limitless” in there just for fun.
Great Inclusion: All the dramas. This category, practically re-birthed by “The French Connection”, loves action, but there’s none here this year. I appreciate the shout-outs from The Academy to modest piecing together of “The Descendants” and “Moneyball”.
Will Win: “The Artist”, part of a big night for the film. The pre-Oscar awards went to this and “The Descendants”, but I think The Academy will go for the showier piece.
Should Win: I’m gonna stick with “The Artist” here, too. But it brings up the question. Is it tougher to edit an original piece or a book adaptation? I imagine most of the editing of the adaptation was done in the script. But the challenge for an adapted movie is keeping the core intact, and not cutting too much? Don’t have an answer here, just riffin’.

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

….sigh. I’m horribly underversed in this category. When I’m done writing this rant, I’ll just go back and delete these categories so you don’t know I didn’t see enough of these films to make an informed decision.

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

Glaring Omission: “J. Edgar”. Tough call here ‘cause Armie Hammer and Naomi Watts’ makeup was OK, but DiCaprio’s was GREAT! So, I guess for overall work, it’s tough to nominate the film, but for the one individual character, the work was outstanding.
Runners-up: I would say “Contagion”, but I think instead of putting makeup on the Hollywood actors to make them look diseased, they were simply filmed with no makeup at all. Ba-doom!
Great Inclusion: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Will Win: “The Iron Lady”
Should Win: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”. So the question is, will the movie benefit from a Body-of-Work Award or suffer from they-did-this-in-an-earlier-film-already-itis? If it’s the latter, that opens the door for the better of the two old age makeup jobs to beat the fantasy film.

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Glaring Omission: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, two names that are SO much fun to say. More fantastic scoring of a David Fincher film (“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). Perhaps their win last year kept them out of the running this year, but their work, two films in, seems to be setting up what will be a gloriously edgy, non-traditional film scoring career.
Runners-up: “Hanna” – The Chemical Brothers deliver a fantastic score to this action movie that is on par with the brilliant Daft Punk score for last year’s “Tron: Legacy”. I hope these techno-based scores get love from The Academy soon. Also, Cliff Martinez delivered a first-rate, Tangerine Dream-esque soundtrack for “Drive” that propelled the opening scene and many subsequent segments of the movie. I wish the songs were as good as the score. Martinez is a frequent collaborator with Steven Soderbergh, and had a good year, also providing a quality score for “Contagion”. I also loved the dream-like, guitar-notes-and-chords-dropped-lovingly-in-a-puddle music from “Moneyball”, great also for the choice to use unconventional movie like that for a sports film. Perhaps that sets you up for the fact that this is not a traditional sports film at all.
Great inclusion: “The Adventures of Tintin”. Williams proving he’s still the master.
Will Win: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Should Win: Ludovic Bource. The score of this film is basically a character in it, equal parts playful storyteller and observer along for the ride as the plot unfolds. Bource had to nail it or the whole film could fail. He nailed it.

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Glaring Omission: Three other nominees. We are not exactly in The Golden Age of Movie Music. The Disney animated movie musicals don’t dominate as they used to, most stage musical adaptations either don’t include original songs, or force one into the credits that is inferior to the other songs in the film. Only every once in a while do we get a “My Heart Will Go On” or “Lose Yourself”. So, I’m not too surprised that this category isn’t packed with winners, but I’m a little surprised it isn’t packed at all! No love for that Madonna song that won the Golden Globe? “Gnomeo & Juliet”? No?
Runners-Up: “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets”, clearly the only movie that was excited to cram it’s movie with original songs this year.
Will Win: “Man or Muppet”
Should Win: “Man or Muppet”. “Real in Rio” is a rousing song that introduces the film’s characters to the lively city in the film’s title, but it’s just not as clever as Bret McKenzie’s ode to self-reflective movie montages.

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, 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
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Glaring Omission: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. Well, glaring to me, at least. Glaring to the rest of the world is probably “Bridesmaids”, which people thought might be the upset card. I gotta admit, “Bridesmaids” is at least better than “Extremley Loud & Incredibly Close”
Runners-up: Referring to my Top 10, you know I would’ve found room for “50/50”, and I would stopped it at FIVE nominees. Even this year, just nominate “The Artist”, “The Descendants”, “The Help”, “Moneyball” and “Midnight in Paris” and be done. This whole ten nominees thing was done in the wake of “The Dark Knight”’s Best Picture snub to make sure that movies like “District 9”, “Inglorious Basterds” and “Up”, which were popular movies, could get in on the Best Picture nods and bring hype and eyeballs to the Oscar telecast. Do you really think “War Horse” did that this year? “The Tree of Life”? There are way too many nominees here. Just ‘cause they’ve made the list available for ten nominees doesn’t mean there NEEDS to be more than five.
Great Inclusion: “Moneyball”, which probably benefited from the thing I’m railing against above. If there were only five nominees, The Academy would’ve showered “Hugo” as they did ‘cause they saw Martin Scorsese’s name on it, and “Moneyball” would’ve stayed home.
Will Win: “The Artist”. It’s pulled away from “The Descendants” since The Golden Globes.
Should Win: “The Artist”. It’s strange to compare “The Artist” to “Inception”, my pick for Best Picture of 2010, but they’re both the year’s most ambitious films, and to make something so ambitious so successful deserves the award.

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

Glaring Omission & Runner-up: Maybe Pixar’s “Toy Story Hawaiian Vacation”? Another laugh and heart-heavy short from the masters. But their entry “La Luna” here is more of what wins this category.
Great Inclusion: “A Morning Stroll”, a short with a demented sense of humor, and it’s good to see them rewarded for that.
Will Win: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”, which looks great and has a whimsical feel throughout.
Should Win: However, I thought “Lessmore” was a bit disjointed. I think a simpler story could’ve been told. So I’d go with “La Luna”, just beating out “A Morning Stroll”

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

Great Inclusion: “Time Freak”. Year in and year out I watch the shorts and there’s routinely “important” films being celebrated. “Time Freak” is a comedy, and a goofy one at that. Coupled with good production, it’s a great nominee.
Will Win: “Raju”. But sadly, The Academy may still reward the “important” tale of child adoption in India. I swear there’s an India-based short nominated every year.
Should Win: “Time Freak”. Last year a comedy beat the important films, I hope that continues.

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Glaring Omission: Animation. Usually there is some animated movie represented here because the creation of original sounds to be attributed to completely fabricated characters that do not exist in any plane of reality is TOUGH TO DO! I thought I might see “Rango” here or “The Adventures of Tintin”.
Runners-up: More animation like “Arthur Christmas” and “Puss in Boots”
Great Inclusion: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”. I know, there really isn’t much good about this film (except for the 3D), but sound effect creation has to be 80% of this damn movie with all the twisting gears, explosions, falling metal and that “Buuuaaaooooonnng” noise that’s all over the trailers. Seems like a lot of work.
Great Inclusion: “Drive”. The sound in that film was hypnotic.
Will Win: “Hugo”
Should Win: Probably…sigh…”Transformers”…I feel gross SUGGESTING that this should be an Oscar-winning film…

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

Glaring Omission: Here’s another place where I expected more action and fantasy movies, because the challenge is so great to mix the real and unreal effects with the dialogue and music. Perhaps “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” or “Captain America: The First Avenger”
Runners-up: “X-Men: First Class”
Great Inclusion: “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”, for reasons mentioned above.
Will Win: “Hugo”, ‘cause it’s an effects movie The Academy can get behind.
Should Win: “Transformers”…I’m gonna be sick…

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Glaring Omission: Here’s a word you won’t otherwise hear at The Oscars: “Sucker Punch”
Runners-up: “X-Men: First Class”, and I liked the fast-paced, effects-filled chase scenes of “The Adjustment Bureau”
Great inclusion: “Real Steel”. It’s still hard to make organic objects like people and animals look real. But we can ACE making anything metallic look realistic, and the best thing about “Real Steel” is that you take for granted after a while just how seamless they are blended into the real world.
Will Win: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Should Win: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”, for the best organic character creation yet. As opposed to fill-in-the-blank-with-whatever-Star-Wars-character-you-like, these CGI characters ACT.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” – John Logan
“The Ides of March” – George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” – Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Glaring Omission: “The Help”. This seemed like a no-brainer in August, but somehow this nomination got snubbed. There are two films here not nominated for Best Picture that weaseled their way in.
Runners-up: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. As you can tell by now, I love this movie, and the script is the movie’s greatest asset.
Great Inclusion: “The Ides of March”. Wonderful liberal claptrap that’s right up my alley!
Will Win: “The Descendants”, winning the “Goodfellas”/”Pulp Fiction”/”Fargo” Award for great movie that won’t win Best Picture
Should Win: “The Descendants”

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Glaring Omission: “50/50”. If I haven’t made my case for how much I love this movie yet, just watch The Independent Spirit Awards Saturday on IFC. They got the nominations for this movie right.
Runners-up: I got nothing, except maybe “The Adjustment Bureau”.
Great Inclusion: “The Artist”. Yes, silent films need a screenplay, too!
Will Win: “Midnight in Paris”
Should Win: “Midnight in Paris”, a very creative and enjoyable effort from Woody Allen.

That’s it! Tune in Sunday, Feb. 26th for the awards. And hopefully the Coen Brothers make another movie next year.

-PP

Self-congratulation is still the rage in TinselTown. Who are we to not report on it? Agree? Disagree? It doesn’t matter, the awards will go out week after week until the Oscars, February 26th, 2012.

(In Nominee lists, the winners are in BOLD)

1/24/12
THE ACADEMY AWARDS

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction
“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

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

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione
“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, 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
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

1/20/12
MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITOR’S GOLDEN REEL AWARDS

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE, AND ADR IN AN ANIMATION FEATURE FILM
The Adventures of Tintin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio
The Smurfs

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE, ADR AND MUSIC IN A FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey
Cave of the Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Lemmy
Pearl Jam Twenty

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS, FOLEY, DIALOGUE AND ADR IN A FEATURE FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
1920. The World’s Most Important Battle
Circumstance
Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within)
The Flowers of War
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Sarah’s Key
The Skin I Live In

BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A FEATURE FILM
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hop
Hugo
Priest
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
STORY: Oscar Contenders Sound Off on Sound Mixing, Sound Editing

BEST SOUND EDITING: MUSIC IN A MUSICAL FEATURE FILM
Footloose
The Muppets
Perfect Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll
Pina

BEST SOUND EDITING: DIALOGUE AND ADR IN A FEATURE FILM
Abduction
The Help
Moneyball
Quarantine II: Terminal
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
War Horse
The Way

BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS AND FOLEY IN A FEATURE FILM
Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

1/16/12
BAFTA AWARDS

BEST FILM
THE ARTIST – Thomas Langmann
THE DESCENDANTS – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
DRIVE – Marc Platt, Adam Siegel
THE HELP – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Simon Curtis, David Parfitt, Harvey Weinstein, Adrian Hodges
SENNA – Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Manish Pandey
SHAME – Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Abi Morgan
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Robyn Slovo, Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay, Luc Roeg, Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno, Rory Stewart Kinnear

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
ATTACK THE BLOCK – Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)
BLACK POND – Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)
CORIOLANUS – Ralph Fiennes (Director)
SUBMARINE – Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)
TYRANNOSAUR – Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
INCENDIES – Denis Villeneuve, Luc Déry, Kim McGraw
PINA – Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
POTICHE – François Ozon, Eric Altmayer, Nicolas Altmayer
A SEPARATION – Asghar Farhadi
THE SKIN I LIVE IN – Pedro Almodóvar, Agustin Almodóvar

DOCUMENTARY
GEORGE HARRISON: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD – Martin Scorsese
PROJECT NIM – James Marsh, Simon Chinn
SENNA – Asif Kapadia

ANIMATED FILM
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Steven Spielberg
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS – Sarah Smith
RANGO – Gore Verbinski

DIRECTOR
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE – Nicolas Winding Refn
HUGO – Martin Scorsese
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Tomas Alfredson
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – Lynne Ramsay

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE ARTIST – Michel Hazanavicius
BRIDESMAIDS – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
THE GUARD – John Michael McDonagh
THE IRON LADY – Abi Morgan
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE DESCENDANTS – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
THE HELP – Tate Taylor
THE IDES OF MARCH – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
MONEYBALL – Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

LEADING ACTOR
BRAD PITT – Moneyball
GARY OLDMAN – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
GEORGE CLOONEY – The Descendants
JEAN DUJARDIN – The Artist
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – Shame

LEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO – The Artist
MERYL STREEP – The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON – We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS – The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – Beginners
JIM BROADBENT – The Iron Lady
JONAH HILL – Moneyball
KENNETH BRANAGH – My Week with Marilyn
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN – Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN – The Help
JUDI DENCH – My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY – Bridesmaids
OCTAVIA SPENCER – The Help

ORIGINAL MUSIC
THE ARTIST – Ludovic Bource
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
HUGO – Howard Shore
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Alberto Iglesias
WAR HORSE – John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE ARTIST – Guillaume Schiffman
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO – Jeff Cronenweth
HUGO – Robert Richardson
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Hoyte van Hoytema
WAR HORSE – Janusz Kaminski

EDITING
THE ARTIST – Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
DRIVE – Mat Newman
HUGO – Thelma Schoonmaker
SENNA – Gregers Sall, Chris King
TINKER TAILOR SOLIDER SPY – Dino Jonsater

PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO – Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
WAR HORSE – Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN
THE ARTIST – Mark Bridges
HUGO – Sandy Powell
JANE EYRE – Michael O’Connor
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – Jacqueline Durran

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE ARTIST – Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO – Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY – Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – Jenny Shircore

SOUND
THE ARTIST – Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener
HUGO – Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY – John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley
WAR HORSE – Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN – Joe Letteri
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery
HUGO – Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White
WAR HORSE – Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

1/16/12
AMERICAN CINEMA EDITOR’S EDDIE AWARDS

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
The Descendants – Kevin Tent, A.C.E.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus Wall, A.C.E. & Kirk Baxter, A.C.E.
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker, A.C.E.
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen, A.C.E.
War Horse – Michael Kahn, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – William Kerr & Michael L. Sale
Midnight in Paris – Alisa Lepselter
My Week with Marilyn – Adam Recht
Young Adult – Dana E. Glauberman, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
The Adventures of Tintin – Michael Kahn, A.C.E.
Puss in Boots – Eric Dapkewicz
Rango – Craig Wood, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams
 – Joe Bini & Maya Hawke
Freedom Riders – Lewis Erskine & Aljernon Tunsil
George Harrison: Living in the Material World – David Tedeschi

1/12/12
DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF AMERICA

FEATURE FILM:
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
David Fincher, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

DOCUMENTARY FILM:
Joe Berlinger and Joe Sinofsky, “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Steve James, “The Interrupters”
James Marsh, “Project Nim”
Richard Press, “Bill Cunningham New York”
Martin Scorsese, “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”

1/12/12
CRITIC’S CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

Best Picture: “The Artist”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius — “The Artist”
Best Actor: George Clooney — “The Descendants”
Best Actress: Viola Davis — “The Help”
Best Suppporting Actor: Christopher Plummer — “Beginners”
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer — “The Help”
Best Young Actor/Actress: Thomas Horn — “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”
Best Acting Ensemble: The cast of “The Help”
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen — “Midnight in Paris”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin — “Moneyball”
Best Cinematography: (tie) “War Horse” and “The Tree of Life”
Best Animated Feature: “Rango”
Best Action Movie: “Drive”
Best Comedy: “Bridesmaids”
Best Foreign-Language Film: “A Separation”
Best Documentary Feature: “George Harrison: Living in the Material World”
Best Song: “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets”
Best Art Direction: “Hugo”
Best Editing: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Best Costume Design: “The Artist”
Best Makeup: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Best Visual Effects: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Best Sound: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Best Score: “The Artist”
Joel Siegel Award: Sean Penn
Critics’ Choice Music + Film Award: Martin Scorsese

1/7/12
THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

BEST ACTOR: Brad Pitt (Moneyball, The Tree of Life)
BEST ACTRESS: Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks (Drive)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, Take Shelter, The Help)
BEST PICTURE: Melancholia (Lars von Trier)
BEST DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)
BEST NONFICTION: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog)
BEST SCREENPLAY: A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life (Emanuel Lubezki)

1/3/12
ART DIRECTOR’S GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS

Period Film
THE ARTIST, Production Designer: Laurence Bennett
HUGO, Production Designer: Dante Ferretti
THE HELP, Production Designer: Mark Ricker
ANONYMOUS, Production Designer: Sebastian Krawinkel
TINKER TAYLOR SOLDIER SPY, Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic

Fantasy Film
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, Production Designer: Stuart Craig
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, Production Designer: Rick Heinrichs
THE ADVENTURES OF TIN TIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN, Production Designer: TBD
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, Production Designer: John Myhre
COWBOYS & ALIENS, Production Designer: Scott Chambliss

Contemporary Film
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt
THE DESCENDANTS, Production Designer: Jane Anne Stewart
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE, Production Designer: K.K. Barrett
DRIVE, Production Designer: Beth Mickle
BRIDESMAIDS, Production Designer: Jefferson Sage

1/3/12
PRODUCER’S GUILD OF AMERICA AWARDS

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

‘THE ARTIST’
Producer: Thomas Langmann
‘BRIDESMAIDS’
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend
‘THE DESCENDANTS’
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
‘THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO’
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin
‘THE HELP’
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green
‘HUGO’
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
‘THE IDES OF MARCH’
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver
‘MIDNIGHT IN PARIS’
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
‘MONEYBALL’
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
‘WAR HORSE’
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
‘THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN’
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
‘CARS 2′
Producer: Denise Ream
‘KUNG FU PANDA 2′
Producer: Melissa Cobb
‘PUSS IN BOOTS’
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou
‘RANGO’
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
‘BEATS, RHYMES & LIFE: THE TRAVELS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST’
Producers: Michael Rapaport, Edward Parks (*additional producers eligibility pending arbitration completion)
‘BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK’
Producer: Philip Gefter
‘PROJECT NIM’
Producer: Simon Chinn
‘SENNA’
Producer: James Gay-Rees
‘THE UNION’
Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michelle Panek

1/2/12
ONLINE FILM CRITICS AWARDS

Best Picture:
 “The Tree of Life”


Best Director:
 Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Best Lead Actor:
 Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Best Lead Actress:
 Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Best Supporting Actor:
 Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Best Supporting Actress:
 Jessica Chastain, “The Tree of Life”
Best Original Screenplay:
 “Midnight in Paris”
Best Adapted Screenplay:
 “Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy”
Best Editing:
 “The Tree of Life”
Best Cinematography:
 “The Tree of Life”
Best Animated Feature:
 “Rango”
Best Film Not in the English Language: 
”A Separation”
Best Documentary:
 “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”

12/18/11
SATELLITE AWARDS

Motion Picture: “The Descendants”
Actress in a Motion Picture: Viola Davis, “The Help”
Actor in a Motion Picture: Ryan Gosling, “Drive”
Actress in a Supporting Role: Jessica Chastain, “The Tree of Life”
Actor in a Supporting Role: Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn, “Drive”
Screenplay, Original: “The Tree of Life,” Terrence Malick
Screenplay, Adapted: “The Descendants,” Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, Nax Faxon
Foreign Film: “Mysteries of Lisbon”
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media: “The Adventures of Tintin”
Motion Picture, Documentary: “Senna”
Original Score: “Soul Surfer,” Marco Beltrani
Original Song: “Lay Down Your Head” from “Albert Nobbs,” Brian Byrne and Glenn Close
Cinematography: “War Horse,” Janusz Kaminski
Visual Effects: “Hugo,” Robert Legato
Film Editing: “The Guard,” Chris Gill
Sound (Editing and Mixing): “Drive,” Dave Patterson, Lon Bender, Robert Fernandez, Victor Ray Ennis
Art Direction & Production Design: “The Artist,” Gregory S. Hooper, Laurence Bennett
Costume Design: “Water for Elephants,” Jacqueline West

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Best First Feature: Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur”
Best Ensemble: “The Help”
Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment Industry: Mitzi Gaynor
Nikola Tesla Award in Recognition of Visionary Achivement in Filmmaking Technology: Douglas Trumbull
Auteur Award: Peter Bogdanovich
Humanitarian Award: Tim Hetherington (1970-2011)

12/14/11
SAG AWARDS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo – “A BETTER LIFE”
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King – “THE DESCENDANTS”
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover – “J. EDGAR”
JEAN DUJARDIN / George – “THE ARTIST”
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane – “MONEYBALL”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
GLENN CLOSE / Albert Nobbs – “ALBERT NOBBS”
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark – “THE HELP”
MERYL STREEP / Margaret Thatcher – “THE IRON LADY”
TILDA SWINTON / Eva – “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN”
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Marilyn Monroe – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
KENNETH BRANAGH / Sir Laurence Olivier – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”
ARMIE HAMMER / Clyde Tolson – “J. EDGAR”
JONAH HILL / Peter Brand – “MONEYBALL”
NICK NOLTE / Paddy Conlon – “WARRIOR”
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal – “BEGINNERS”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy – “THE ARTIST”
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote – “THE HELP”
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan – “BRIDESMAIDS”
JANET McTEER / Hubert Page – “ALBERT NOBBS”
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson – “THE HELP”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE ARTIST
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris

BRIDESMAIDS
ROSE BYRNE / Helen
JILL CLAYBURGH / Annie’s Mom
ELLIE KEMPER / Becca
MATT LUCAS / Gil
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan
WENDI McLENDON-COVEY / Rita
CHRIS O’DOWD / Rhodes
MAYA RUDOLPH / Lillian
KRISTEN WIIG / Annie

THE DESCENDANTS
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY / Alexandra King

THE HELP
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deahtly Hallows: Part II
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class

Screen Actors Guild Awards 46th Annual Life Achievement Award
Mary Tyler Moore

12/15/11
THE GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE: DRAMA
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

BEST PICTURE: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR: DRAMA
George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J.Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS: DRAMA
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTRESS: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristin Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

BEST ACTOR: COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“A Separation” (Iran)
“The Flowers Of War” (China)
“The Kid With The Bike” (Belgium)
“In The Land Of Blood and Honey” (USA)
“The Skin I Live In” (Spain)

BEST SCREENPLAY
The Artist
The Descendants
The Ides of March
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
Abel Korzeniowski – “W.E.”
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”
Howard Shore – “Hugo”
John Williams – “War Horse”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Hello Hello” – “Gnomeo & Juliet – Elton John
“Lay Your Head Down” – “Albert Nobbs” – Sinead O’Connor
“The Living Proof” – “The Help” – Mary J. Blige
“The Keeper” – “Machine Gun Preacher” – Gerard Butler
“Masterpiece” – “W.E.” – Madonna

12/11/11
NEW YORK FILM CRITICS (WINNERS)

FILM – The Artist
DIRECTOR – Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
ACTOR – Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
ACTRESS – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
SUPPORTING ACTOR – Albert Brooks, Drive
SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
CINEMATOGRAPHY – Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
SCREENPLAY – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE – A Separation
DOCUMENTARY – Cave of Forgotten Dreams
ANIMATED FEATURE – The Adventures of Tintin
USE OF MUSIC – Ludovic Bource, The Artist
BREAKOUT PERFORMER – Jessica Chastain, The Tree of Life, The Help,The Debt, Take Shelter
DEBUT AS DIRECTOR – Joe Cornish, Attack the Block
ENSEMBLE CAST – Bridesmaids

TOP PICTURES OF 2011 (alphabetical)
The Artist (The Weinstein Co.)
The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Drive (Film District)
The Help (DreamWorksPictures)
Hugo (Paramount Pictures)
Melancholia (Magnolia Pictures)
Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
Take Shelter (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
War Horse (Dreamworks Pictures)

12/11/11
BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS (WINNERS)

BEST PICTURE: “The Artist”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE: “Incendies”
BEST ANIMATED FILM: “Rango”
BEST DOCUMENTARY: “Project Nim”
BEST DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
BEST NEW FILMMAKER:Sean Durkin for “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
BEST SCREENPLAY: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stann Chervin, and Michael Lewis for “Moneyball”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki for “Tree of Life”
BEST EDITING: Christian Marclay for “The Clock”
BEST USE OF MUSIC IN A FILM: “Drive” and “The Artist” (tie)
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: “Carnage”
BEST ACTOR: Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”
BEST ACTRESS: Michelle Williams in “My Week With Marilyn”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks in “Drive”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

12/11/11
LA FILM CRITICS AWARDS (WINNERS)

BEST PICTURE
Winner: The Descendants
Runner-Up: The Tree of Life

BEST ANIMATION
Winner: Rango
Runner-Up: The Adventures of Tintin

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

BEST ACTOR
Winner: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class
Runner-Up: Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Yun Jung-Hee, Poetry
Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

BEST INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL
Winner: Spark of Being

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION
Winner: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Runner- Up: The Arbor

BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Runner-Up: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Runner-Up: Patton Oswalt, Young Adult

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Cao Yu, City of Life and Death

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: Dante Ferretti, Hugo
Runner-Up: Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST MUSIC/SCORE
Winner: The Chemical Brothers, Hanna
Runner-Up: Cliff Martinez, Drive

12/1/11
NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW (WINNERS)

Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Best Ensemble: The Help
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise – A Distinguished Translation from Book to Film

12/5/11
THE ANNIE AWARDS

Best Animated Feature
A Cat in Paris – Folimage
Arrugas (Wrinkles) – Perro Verde Films, S.L.
Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Cars 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Chico & Rita – Chico & Rita Distribution Limited
Kung Fu Panda 2 – DreamWorks Animation
Puss In Boots – DreamWorks Animation
Rango – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Rio – Blue Sky Studios
Tintin – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Can Yuksel “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Chase Cooper “Rango” – Industrial Light & Magic
Dan Lund “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Dave Tidgwell “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Eric Froemling “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Jason Mayer “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Joel Aron “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd.
Jon Reisch “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Kevin Romond “Tintin” – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Willi Geiger “Rango” – Industrial Light & Magic

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Branko Grujcic “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”– Industrial Light & Magic
Florent Andorra “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” – Industrial Light & Magic
Gary Wu “Cowboys & Aliens”– Industrial Light & Magic
Lee Uren “Cowboys & Aliens” – Industrial Light & Magic

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Andreas Deja “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Dan Wagner “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Jeff Gabor “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Mark Henn “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Olivier Staphylas “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Patrik Puhala “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Pierre Perifel “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Andy Arnett “HOP” – Rhythm & Hues, Illumination Entertainment
David Lowry “Paul” – Double Negative Visual Effects for Universal Productions/ Relativity Media/Working Title Films/Big Talk Productions
Eric Reynolds “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” – 20th Century Fox
Mike Hull “Paul” – Double Negative Visual Effects for Universal Productions/Relativity Media/Working Title Films/Big Talk Productions

Character Design in a Feature Production
Jay Shuster “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Mark “Crash” McCreery “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Patrick Mate “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Peter de Seve “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Sergio Pablos “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios

Directing in a Feature Production
Carlos Saldahna “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Chris Miller “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Don Hall & Stephen Anderson “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Gore Verbinski “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present a Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Jennifer Yuh Nelson “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Kelly Asbury “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures

Music in a Feature Production
Henry Jackman “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
John Williams “Tintin” – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Mikael Mutti, Siedah Garrett, Carlinhos Brown, Sergio Mendes, John Powell, “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Henry Jackman, Robert Lopez “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Production Design in a Feature Production
Harley Jessup “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios
Paul Felix “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Raymond Zilbach “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Tom Cardone, Kyle MacNaughton & Peter Chan “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Bob Logan “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Delia Gosman “Rango” – Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Gary Graham “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Jeremy Spears “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Josh Hayes “Rango” – Paramount Pictures & Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Production
Kris Pearn “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Nelson Yokota “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Philip Craven “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Scott Morse “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Ashley Jensen as Bryony “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Bill Nighy as Grandsanta “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Gary Oldman as Shen “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
James Hong as Mr. Ping “Kung Fu Panda 2” DreamWorks Animation
Jemaine Clement as Nigel “Rio” – Blue Sky Studios
Jim Cummings as Featherstone “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Alexander Dumpty “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation

Writing in a Feature Production
Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Mark Burton, Kathy Greenburg, Emily Cook, Rob Sprackling, John R. Smith, Kelly Asbury, Steve Hamilton Shaw “Gnomeo & Juliet” – Touchstone Pictures
Brian Kesinger, Kendelle Hoyer, Don Dougherty, Clio Chiang, Don Hall, Stephen Anderson, Nicole Mitchell, Jeremy Spears “Winnie The Pooh” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
John Logan, Gore Verbinski and James Byrkit “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Sarah Smith, Peter Baynham “Arthur Christmas” – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations
Steve Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cronish “Tintin”– Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall

Editing in a Feature Production
Clare Knight, A.C.E. “Kung Fu Panda 2” – DreamWorks Animation
Craig Wood, A.C.E. “Rango” – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/GK Films Productions
Eric Dapkewicz “Puss In Boots” – DreamWorks Animation
Michael Kahn “Tintin”– Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall
Stephen Schaffer, A.C.E. “Cars 2” – Pixar Animation Studios

11/29/11
THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer)
50/50 – Ben Karlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Beginners – Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Jan Van Hoy, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech
Drive – Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Take Shelter – Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
The Artist – Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat
The Descendants – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Mike Mills, Beginners
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)
Another Earth – Director: Mike Cahill; Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
In The Family – Director: Patrick Wang; Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
Margin Call – Director: J.C. Chandor; Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
Martha Marcy May Marlene – Director: Sean Durkin; Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
Natural Selection – Director: Robbie Pickering; Producers: Brion, Hambel, Paul Jensen

John Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Bellflower – Writer/Director: Evan Glodell; Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
Circumstance – Writer/Director: Maryam Kesahavarz; Producers: Karin Chien, Maryan Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
Hello Lonesome – Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
Pariah – Writer/Director: Dee Rees; Producer: Nekisa Cooper
The Dynamiter – Writers: Matthew Gordon, Brad Ingelsby; Director: Matthew Gordon; Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson

Best Screenplay
Mike Mills, Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Joseph Cedar, Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Tom McCarthy, Win Win

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill & Brit Marling, Another Earth
Patrick deWitt, Terri
Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser, 50/50
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

Best Female Lead
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Rachael Harris, Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye, Pariah
Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me

Best Male Lead
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Woody Harrelson, Rampart
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Demian Bichir, A Better Life

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston, 50/50
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road
Shailenne Woodley, The Descendants

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, Drive
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids

Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge, Bellflower
Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
Benjamin Kasulke, The Off-Hours
Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter

Best Documentary (Award given to the director)
Jarreth Merz, An African Election
Richard Press, Bill Cunningham New York
Steve James, The Interrupters
David Weissman, We Were Here
Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion, The Redemption of General Butt Naked

Best Foreign Film (Award given to the director)
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation
Lars Von Trier, Melancholia
Steve McQueen, Shame
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, The Kid With a Bike
Paddy Considine, Tyrannosaur

Robert Altman Award
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Margin Call – Director: J.C. Chandor; Casting Directors: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey; Cast: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi, Ashley Williams

Piaget Producers Award
Chad Burris (Mosquito y Mari)
Sophia Lynn (Take Shelter)
Josh Bond (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

Someone to Watch Award
Simon Arthur (Silver Tongues)
Mark Jackson (Without)
Nicholas Ozeki (Mamitas)

Truer Than Fiction Award
Where Soldiers Come From
Hell and Back Again
Bombay Beach

11/28/11
GOTHAM AWARDS (WINNERS)

Best Feature (tie)
Beginners (Focus Features) – Mike Mills, director; Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, producers
The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight Pictures) – Terrence Malick, director; Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, producers

Second Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award – Girlfriend; Justin Lerner, director-producer;Jerad Anderson, Kristina Lauren Anderson, Shaun O’Banion, producers

THE TWITIC

If we’re anything in this world, The Movie Guys are Twitics! We’ll give you the lowdown on what’s in theaters…..in 140 characters or less.

Easy to read, easy to pass on. Follow The Movie Guys on Twitter at

@TheMovieGuys

and get the latest sent right to wherever you are….’cause we’re watching you. What are you watching?

REVIEWS BY THE MOVIE GUYS

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION
The first big-screen adventure for the military force, unless you count 2009′s THE RISE OF COBRA, but who would?

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN
Starts as a drama, ends up DIE HARD. Wait, DIE HARD breaking out is ALWAYS the best thing that can happen to a movie!

TYLER PERRY’S TEMPTATION
Sounds like a line of celebrity cologne. The scent that’ll make you smell like money & crap out two movies a year.

THE CROODS
It’s animated, which means Nicolas Cage has finally been banned from our eyes.

THE CALL
We’d tell you what it’s about, but who wants a whole lot of plot getting in the way of staring at Halle Berry for two hours?

THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE
A movie about magic? My god, Doug Henning is rolling over in Harry Blackstone’s grave and then escaping from Houdini’s.

THE LAST EXORCISM, PART 2
Apparently, not “Last” as in “final”, but “Last” as in “proximity to right now” as in “my last Pap smear”.

21 AND OVER
It’s License to Drink And Drive as kids who will be able to drink forever somehow have to cram it all into one night.

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER
Fee Fi Fo Fuck this CGI.

SAFE HAVEN
In the past, Nicholas Sparks films have cast Channing Tatum. Here you get Josh Duhamel. We’re pretty sure you won’t notice.

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH
Now playing in 2D, 3D & RealD 3D, so if there’s not enough room at your multiplex for documentaries, you know why.

A HAUNTED HOUSE
Warning sign. Marlon Wayans couldn’t even get Shawn Wayans to be in this.

ZERO DARK THIRTY
Are we the only ones put off by this film’s Oscar campaign?: “Vote for us or the terrorists win”

LES MISERABLES
One of the first projects they’ve actually taken the 3D OUT of.

THE HOBBIT
Another 3-hour walking adventure. These movies would be over so much quicker if the cast was tall enough to take a full stride.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Will Jessica Biel & Gerard Butler get together? See this romantic comedy, or any romantic comedy, to find out.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
The story of poor people who live a delta area known as The Bathtub…then they invent jazz or something.

LIFE OF PI
Otherwise known as WE SANK A ZOO.

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PT 2
Haven’t seen any of these films. Yet I hate them. Makes me thank god I don’t have a teenage daughter

ALEX CROSS
See it quickly, it needs to clear theaters to make room for another Tyler Perry movie in two weeks.

ARGO
In “Argo”, there’s violence in the Middle East! It’s a story ripped from today’s headlines. Or any day’s headlines.

TAKEN 2
Or, “Taken 2: More Takener”, “Look Who’s Taken Now”, “Taken, Too”, “Taken 2: The Streets” and “Taken 2: The Limit (One More Time)”

DREDD
I liked this movie better when it was called ROBOCOP. As a matter of fact, I like most movies better when they’re called ROBOCOP.

RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION
It’s the video game…that was turned into a movie…that was turned into a video game.

THE EXPENDABLES 2
This isn’t your father’s action movie. This is your grandfather’s action movie…

THE BOURNE LEGACY
No Matt Damon in this one. Now they have Jeremy Renner. Looks like the franchise wanted to go in a new same direction.

STEP UP: REVOLUTION
The most least-anticipated film franchise of the summer is back!

ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Hey! Did you see “Happy Feet”? No! Well, here’s your chance! Seriously…we’re pretty sure they’re the same.

KATY PERRY: PART OF ME
The movie covers how she’s not like all the other vapid pop stars, unless you count how long her marriages last.

SAVAGES
Just when you were thinking of starting a conspiracy theory over what happened to Oliver Stone’s career, he’s back! And to the left

MAGIC MIKE
Know what’s great about Channing Tatum movies? If you don’t like the one you’re watching, you can go next door and try that one out.

BRAVE
I lost some of the dialogue during this picture. It’d be so much easier if those crazy Scottish would just speak English.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER
This is what happens when somebody says “Bet you can’t make a movie called ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER”

ROCK OF AGES
The subplot of #rockofages is gentrifying Sunset Blvd, spoiler alert, it happened #saddleranch -aw

ROCK OF AGES
“Rock of Ages” was like karaoke rock night sponsored by Purell -aw

PROMETHEUS
My review of #Prometheus is that it exists. Doesn’t sound like a compliment, but, how great is it that it exits!?

JOHN CARTER
Just watched JOHN CARTER again today, on a plane. Let the record state that it is not a bad movie, just bad at making money. -PP

PROMETHEUS
PROMETHEUS: Apparently LOST writer Damon Lindelof is unaware that with a movie, you don’t get seven seasons to have things make sense. -PP

THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS: Apparently leprosy groups are protesting this movie. I could’ve sworn we had that leprosy thing licked.

BULLY
Help us out here. Better title for a documentary about the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination contenders: BULLY or THE THREE STOOGES?

GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE
I might be the only person at Ghost Rider tonight, but I’m def. the only person psyching myself up by watching the first one -aw

ONE FOR THE MONEY
ONE FOR THE MONEY: With luck, this will become a successful franchise and we’ll eventually get to see GO, CAT, GO! Sequels, am I right? -JF

THE TREE OF LIFE
Going to bed after watching “The Tree of Life”, hoping for pretentious dreams -aw

HUGO
Okay I’ll see “Hugo” again, but only because it’s a masterpiece -aw

ALBERT NOBBS
ALBERT’S NOBB: It’s like these porn parody titles write themselves. -JF

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY: We especially liked the “Tailor” section. Never before has a 30-minute suit-fitting been so riveting. -JF

SHAME
SHAME: This movie is rated NC-17; which means either we are going to see some dick, or someone smoked a cigarette.

YOUNG ADULT
YOUNG ADULT: Charlize Theron’s performance eviscerates the American ideal of female self-worth and beauty. Also, she’s friggin’ HOT, yo! -JF

NEW YEAR’S EVE
NEW YEAR’S EVE: Sorry, Garry Marshall, “Halloween” is already a franchise.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: Looks like it’s not a hit domestically. So, is Robert Zemeckis A) Pissed or B) Laughing his ass off?

WE BOUGHT A ZOO
WE BOUGHT A ZOO: Shrouded in a veil of secrecy, the top-secret plot to this film has us baffled. If only the title provided a clue. – JF

SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS: Guy Ritchie – Madonna = People see his movies again.

THE ARTIST
THE ARTIST:

THE MUPPETS
THE MUPPETS: Proving the overwhelming power of the Muppets, Starship’s “We Built This City” is in the film, & somehow it doesn’t suck. -JF

MELANCHOLIA
MELANCHOLIA: Finally, Lars Von Trier makes a movie that addresses the feeling that audiences have when they pay to see his films. -JF

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
X-MEN: 1ST CLASS: Something we noticed – Darwin, who blends in so he won’t be noticed, walks around in life as a young black man in the ’60s

FRIGHT NIGHT
FRIGHT NIGHT: Our Seismic Center reports that east coast movie-goers may have felt aftershocks from FN’s box-office bomb this weekend. -JF

THE CHANGE-UP
THE CHANGE-UP: Arose from long spitball session. Fastball did the soundtrack. Plot has many curveballs. Actors fed exclusively sliders. -JF

CONAN THE BARBARIAN 3D
CONAN THE BARBARIAN: Fun fact! All of the 642 extras in this new version of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic are his children. – JF

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
CAPTAIN AMERICA: Early Box Office reports are so good that CORPORAL ANTARCTICA has already gotten the greenlight! – JF

LARRY CROWNE
LARRY CROWNE: This just in: LARRY CROWNE’s title changed to LARRY CROWNE: SCOOTER RIDER. Seems focus groups recommended less ambiguity. -JF

JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER
Judy Moody is a Coming of Age movie for kids who are coming of whatever age annoys guys like me.

KINGS OF PASTRY
“Kings Of Pastry” was like a chocolate croissant from Dunkin Donuts. Good concept, poor product. – PWM

RIO
Saw RIO at the drive-in theatre. My 16 year old fell asleep. My 3 year old was bored. And my wife played Angry Birds. The End. -DH

SUCKER PUNCH
Saw SUCKER PUNCH today. Not sure who masturbated more, me or Zack Snyder. -PP

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
BATTLE: LOS ANGELES: Something for everyone. Because everyone will have seen at least one of the movies it’s ripping off… -PP

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
Imagine if “Black Hawk Down” was completely unrealistic. And with Aliens. – JB

WINTER’S BONE
The best lesson to take away from “Winter’s Bone” – never go to Missouri – PP

THE TILLMAN STORY
“The Tillman Story” joins “No End in Sight” as must-see docs detailing the lost years of 2001-2008. – PWM

THE EDGE OF LOVE
“The Edge of Love”: If Cillian Murphy and Keira Knightley had a baby, would it be just one big cheekbone? – *1/2 – PWM

SALT
“Salt” made the last three seasons of “24″ seem believable. – PWM

THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
“The Girlfriend Experience” – relationships, like sex, are messy and require transparency. Also true for most Soderbergh films. – PWM

NEVER LET ME GO
“Never Let Me Go” asks the question ‘do cloned organ donors have souls?’ 1 thing fo sho, Keira Knightley has cheekbones. -PWM

REVIEWS BY COOTER McFLY, MOVIE GUYS TWITIC

STEP UP 3D
…On the positive side, Step Up 3D is…in 3D?

THE LAST AIRBENDER
THE LAST AIRBENDER is an enjoyable and entertaining story…that, of course, is before M. Night Shyamalan got a hold of it…

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE is better than the previous two films in the series…much like “caning” is to “hanging” or “firing squad”

GET HIM TO THE GREEK
“Get Him To The Greek” stars 2 actors from “Sarah Marshall…” yet oddly only 1 of their characters? and… …it’s kinda’ good…

THE KARATE KID
It is called “Karate Kid” because “Kung-Fu Kid” sounds like a rip off of another movie…

SPLICE
“Splice” is 10% good spliced with 90% tard. Possible Awards? The “Stupidest Title Sequence Ever”

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
A Nightmare On Elm Street” (remake) is < or = the original NOES w/better lighting & sound fx Ehhhh.....

CLASH OF THE TITANS
Clash of the Titans = TRASH of the Titans – LAAAAMMMMMMEEEEEE!!!!!!!! (at least the original had boobs)

THE CRAZIES
“The Crazies” – a surprisingly decent film that unfortunately follows about 40 other films with the same story…

SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE
She’s Out of My League reminds me of John Hughes movies… If John Hughes movies actually sucked…

AVATAR
Avatar proves CGI acting CAN (finally) be emotionally interesting…the human acting & dialogue? Ehhh not as much…

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON
“Twilight: New Moon” – Geez, can’t this girl meet a “regular” dysfunctional teenage boy like the rest of the teenage girls?

2012
“2012″: Oddly, adding the numbers of the film’s title barely gets you its rating out of a possible 10. Those Mayans…

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
Paranormal Activity – $11,000 budget is what most will focus on – more so than the “craft” that actually makes it both good and scary. Boooo

ZOMBIELAND
ZombieLAND, AdventureLAND… what will complete Jesse Eisenberg’s cinematic hat-trick? Zombieland = Semi-mindless fun!

SORORITY ROW
Sorority Row is scary and funny… but unfortunately not at the times they meant either of them to be…

THE FINAL DESTINATION:
Final Destination 4 in 3D – Exactly like the other Final Destinations but with much less depth…

HALLOWEEN 2:
H2: Rob Zombie dares to reimagine a horror icon’s sequel while I simply imagine that he didn’t.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS:
Inglorious Basterds: Not about marketing, action figures or kid’s meals. Good movie made by a good director – not a f*cking committee

DISTRICT 9:
D9 – Worthy refresh of “alien invasion” movies – poor & homeless aliens…Think “DEpendence Day” or “E.T. need change to phone home”

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA:
G.I. JOE – The Good: What you would expect from a Steven Sommers flick. The Bad: What you would expect from a Steven Sommers flick.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince = Harry Potter and the Half Full/Empty Glass – a hit and/or miss in the series…

FUNNY PEOPLE:
Funny People – A theatrical Director’s Cut of a Judd Apatow movie.

THE COLLECTOR:
The Collector: Surprisingly interesting low budget horror film that eventually goes overboard…

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER:
I Love You Beth Cooper = I Hate How Bad This F*cking Movie Actually Is…(could potentially be the worst movie of the year)

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER:
500 Days of Summer = 95 minutes of Zooey Deschannel….

THE HURT LOCKER:
The Hurt Locker: The film’s characters struggle to stop a bomb from happening but director Katherine Bigelow beats them to it.

TRANSFORMERS 2: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN:
Transformers 2 – Dear Michael Bay: Saw your latest movie…and… F*CK YOU TOO…

THE HANGOVER:
The Hangover = gut pains from laughing so much…

LAND OF THE LOST:
LAND OF THE LOST: Coincidentally where anything positive about this movie must live…

UP:
UP – where every other studio picture will need to look to be great…

DRAG ME TO HELL:
Drag Me To Hell > the trailer or the marketing makes it appear to be…

TERMINATOR: SALVATION:
T4: A genuine & honest attempt at a Terminator film…Still, I’d rather listen to the audio of Bale yelling at the D.P. instead.

X-MEN ORIGINS – WOLVERINE:
Wolverine: Another movie where someone falls to their knees and screams into the overhead camera…

STAR TREK
Star Trek: JJ Abrams’ biggest directorial flaw was having important dialogue happen while Uhura was undressing…uhhh, what did she say?

ADVENTURELAND:
Adventureland – The “SuperBad” director makes a coming of age drama better than most – it’s almost Super Good.

THE MESSENGER
“The Messenger” …delivers!!!! (I apologize for that one – but Woody and Ben are great in this though)

WHEN IN ROME
“When In Rome” is a movie not worth watching on a flight to or from Rome… …or anywhere actually…

PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
“Percy Jackson…” is to “Harry Potter…” as Reese’s Pieces are to M&M’s…

YOUTH IN REVOLT
“Youth in Revolt” is a movie that came out on DVD this week… …that is my review…

THE INFORMANT!
The Informant! = Matt Damon’s missing Best Actor nomination…

BROTHERS
“Brothers” is about… …110 minutes long…

THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience is more of an “experimental film” – one that I WANT to appreciate… …just not there yet…

GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
It turns out the plot of Ghost of Girlfriends Past isn’t about a serial killer haunted by his victims

GIGANTIC
Gigantic: Strange movie where strange people do strange things…OR $14,000 beds, Chinese babies, depressed mice and Zooey topless!

FAST AND FURIOUS
Fast and Furious picks right up from where the majority of plot points stolen from the movie Point Break left off…

TYSON
Tyson: Mike gives us a less painful bite into his boxing career and a generous earful about becoming a human being during it…

OBSERVE AND REPORT
Observe and Report’s (dir) Jody Hill claims “nothing in common” with Paul Blart: Mall Cop. Neither is good, that’s “in common”

THE MAD MOVIE GUYS HORROR TWITTER MARATHON

In Fall 2009, all The Movie Guys got in the act and we’re reviewing all the horror movies in the world. This is the result.

HALLOWEEN
Halloween: Michael Myers tries to kill the daughter of the real estate agent who’s selling the house he killed his sister in.
(side note – this is actually the plot of “Halloween”)

FRIDAY THE 13TH
Friday The 13th: a mother kills negligent lifeguards while ironically seeking vengeance for the death of her immortal son

THE BIRDS
Looked it up: Irwin Allen produced “Fire!”, “Flood!”, “Cave-in!” & “The Swarm”, but not “The Birds”. A life unfulfilled.

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 3-D
Friday the 13th part 3D – one of the most fun of 3D films out there AND the 3D works well on DVD too.

THE INVISIBLE MAN
“The Invisible Man”: Didn’t see it.

DAWN OF THE DEAD
“Dawn of the Dead”: Socialist zombie victims of no Public Option fight back against capitalist consumerism at local mall.

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
There are 2 versions of me. Me before “Cannibal Holocaust”, and me after “Cannibal Holocaust”. They’re different people.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2
What was scarier: “Nightmare on Elm Street 2, A” or the “rap” song inspired by the movie done by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince?

THE SHINING
“The Shining”: Scatman Crothers sees into the future…except to see who might be hanging around the corner with an axe.

THE RING
“The Ring”: Various people are killed for still watching VHS in 2002.

BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA
“Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, from the director of “Captain EO”, not so much “The Godfather”…

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT
“Silent Night, Deadly Night”: Santa + sees his parents have sex = 14 dead. Me + see my parents have sex = still single.

HANNIBAL
“Hannibal”: Lecter goes to Europe, and therefore everything gets boring. He then eats brains to pick up the pace again.

PSYCHO (1998)
“Psycho” (1998): A shot-by-shot remake. My shot-by-shot remake of Roger Ebert’s review: “Pointless”

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN
“Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein”: Why “Mary Shelley’s”? Because she demanded the inclusion of Dr. Frankenstein’s ripped abs.

POLTERGEIST
“Poltergeist”: The TV in a Cuesta Verde, CA home becomes unwatchable, leaving nothing cool for kids to do in the suburbs.

EVIL DEAD 2: DEAD BY DAWN
“Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn”: Bruce Campbell is chased by a steadicam operator until he is sucked into a special effect.

THE MIST
“The Mist”: If a bunch of shallow people holed up in a grocery store in Maine, things wouldn’t go well, monsters or not…

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
“The Blair Witch Project”: After further review, NOT a “Facts of Life” sequel…

FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER
Fri.13 Pt IV: Corey Feldman shaves his head to trick Evil Sloth. To our dismay, Feldman’s career, like Jason Vorhees, doesn’t die!

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
“The Phantom of the Opera”: I’ve seen worse looking voice coaches…

THE HAPPENING
“The Happening”: It’s what’s not.

THE BLOB
“The Blob”: Giant, gelatinous, unwavering blob consumes the midwest (insert your own Oprah Winfrey joke here)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
“Night of the Living Dead”: The dead eat the living in order to survive, which they don’t, ’cause they’re already dead…

CARRIE
“Carrie”: Don’t f*ck with a girl who’s menstruating…

EVIL BONG
“Evil Bong”: Just wanted you to know there’s a movie called “Evil Bong”, and more people have seen that than your film.

SAW
“Saw”: Danny Glover’s getting too old for this shit.

CHRISTINE
“Christine”: Plymouth turns owner into a raging maniac. Being remade as a hybrid that turns owner into an elitist douche.

THE SIXTH SENSE
“The Sixth Sense”: Actually ESP is the sixth sense, and if M. Night had it, he’d have stopped making movies after this one.

PSYCHO
“Psycho”: Killer with mommy issues runs a motel. Jamie Lee Curtis’ mom dies and I haven’t committed to opaque shower curtains

JAWS: THE REVENGE
“Jaws: The Revenge”: Shark’s true revenge on man was keeping Michael Caine on set when he could’ve been at the Oscar podium

SE7EN
“Se7en”: The exact number of times I shat myself during that movie…

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
“Return of the Living Dead”: The first time I rooted for the zombies.

SCREAM
“Scream”: If it’s really not gonna matter to the rest of the film, why not kill Drew Barrymore at the top of every movie?

CAT PEOPLE
“Cat People”: Woman turns into a panther when she gets aroused. Blah blah blah, pussy, blah blah blah, cougar, etc.

THE MERRY MOVIE GUYS HOLIDAY MOVIE TWITTER-A-THON

In December 2009, all The Movie Guys set out to cover all the Christmas and holiday movies ever assembled. Here’s how it went down.

DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol”: Poster shows Scrooge flying through the London sky. Good to see reverence for the source material.

SANTA CLAUS: THE MOVIE
“Santa Claus: The Movie”: All I’m saying is, before this film, Dudley Moore made good movies (like “10″). After this film, he DIED.

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
“It’s a Wonderful Life”: Every time a bell rings, “It’s a Wonderful Life” airs on TV in December…

LOOK WHO’S TALKING NOW
“Look Who’s Talking Now”: Technically an X-mas movie. The tagline is “The World’s favorite family is back!” Key word: the “WORLD’S”.

SCROOGED
“Scrooged”: After “Caddyshack”, “Stripes” & “Ghostbusters”, who said, “let’s make Bill Murray play an asshole for half a movie?”

TRAPPED IN PARADISE
“Trapped in Paradise”: So bad it’s hard to believe that’s actually pre-Oscar Nicolas Cage.

ERNEST SAVES CHRISTMAS
“Ernest Saves Christmas”: All I’m saying is, before this film, Jim Varney was on good TV shows (like “Alice″). After this film, he DIED.

LOVE ACTUALLY
“Love Actually”: Just enough nudity and swearing to balance out the sentimentality.

EVERYBODY’S FINE
“Everybody’s Fine”: Robert DeNiro sets off across the country at Christmas to reunite with his children and an Academy Award.

THE POLAR EXPRESS
“The Polar Express”: Creepy-looking kids go to the North Pole, creepy-looking Tom Hanks sings creepy songs about hot chocolate. Creepy.

DR. SEUSS’ HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS
“Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” won an Oscar. Let’s recap: “The Grinch” – 1, Alfred Hitchcock – 0.