Oscar 2013 - Leading Actress

Ok, the entry from yesterday was written because I wanted to mention "The Master". The one today is because I have a sufficient dose of nerve tension built up today that I have to consume somehow. And is also a subjective one :) So, indulge me ..

Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty" begins a list that's a bit opposed to the one from yesterday = this time we have the outsiders at the end of the alphabet. In different words the role of the CIA agent that seems to exist somewhere in reality (at least this is what they say) and who coordinated the search for Bin Laden, seems to be one of the potential winners on the Oscars this year. But considering that the movie was sufficiently criticized to get to legal actions it seems ...

Jennifer Lawrence in the role of the .. a bit "different" girl from "Silver Linings Playbook" seems to have the best chances for this year Oscar. To be a bit objective at least, I think that the part she has is the best thing in this movie. At least compared to the other nominations it got. Subjectively speaking ( call it a guilty pleasure ;) ) my all support for this category is definitely going here.

Emanuelle Riva in "Amour" is the first of the extremes we have here. The eldest actress nominated ever. To be fair, I think the nomination is supported by the role, which is one of an elderly woman on the death bed in diverse stages of the disease, and it offers a lot of space to the actor to manifest in equally diverse postures. Therefore, I think that the one to appreciate more is actually the part of the husband (Jean-Louis Trintignant), really well done and which I think is much harder to get right.

Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is the other extreme, in the same year, being the youngest actress ever nominated for leading role. As a career start is ok, nothing to comment. But I always thought to be unfair to mix children's parts with adults, because it's quite clear that this one doesn't have much chance. To establish a separate category would be a better idea.

Naomi Watts in "Lo Imposible" is pretty much the equivalent of De Niro from the previous entry. It just completes the list. The difference is that here we have a drama, and the role is of a dying mother, who somehow manages to survive, after the Thailand tsunami of 2004. In other words, I think it's the role having the least amount of lines. And the smallest chances.

Oscar 2013 - Supporting Actor

Actors are normally a category that I prefer to skip, because either I'm getting way to subjective, or I really don't feel having any pertinent comments. I'll do some exceptions this year, and one is supporting actor, the reason being that here as on makeup I have the chance to stop a bit more to a certain movie. More than this, the category is interesting this year, as opposed to the leading one where the score is pretty settled.

Alan Arkin has in "Argo" the role of a film producer, the only major character in the story who doesn't have a real corespondent. It's a pretty consistent role, and his performance is sufficiently memorable. But as Oscar chances is quite far from other three nominees present here.

Robert de Niro got his first nomination after more then 10 years for the role in "Silver Linings Playbook". I'll just say that is the one to fill the ranks this year for the category = if we compare with "Meet the Parents" (+ the sequels if needed) I guess it was more appropriate to get it there at the time if it was to be for a comedy on this type of character.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is the first serious contestant in the list, for "The Master" where he plays a cult leader from the 50's-60's. From what I've seen of him up to the moment I guess it's his best performance ever, and also the best in this category now. As a prediction is hard to say though since we have the ones below too, but I'll try to bet on a sort of surprise here to confirm what I've just said before. And since we're here I'll take the opportunity to say a couple of words about the movie, that being one of the reasons to get into this category. The movie, written & directed by Paul Thomas Anderson ("There Will Be Blood"), created sufficient controversy in U.S. being accused that connects to the Scientology Church. I think that more "problematic" (with big "") is that the movie can be applied as a successful allegory for any cult, movement, up to subgroup of "followers" inside a sect, formed around a particular leader with a certain personal ideology (and since there are enough such groups from bigger to small ones is normal to upset). The movie doesn't have a well defined narrative structure, following an adept (brilliant role made by Joaquin Phoenix) through several years while being close to such a group. It's a movie that might be hard to watch at times, but which doesn't try to give you in the end an explicit "pro" or even more an absolute "anti". It lets you decide, maybe based also along your life experience that you have. I'll refrain from more comments, but I'll have to say that when I left the cinema where I've seen it I had a major feeling of content that there was somebody who had the guts to make this movie.

Tommy Lee Jones has the part of a republican in "Lincoln", a historic figure apparently quite important in the slavery abolishing. Although the role is so to speak, more supporting than the others around here (maybe with the exception of De Niro) it seems that the chances to get an Oscar are relatively high. About the role itself, I could say is theatrical enough, which probably is the factor making it more impressive.

Christoph Waltz acts as a German bounty hunter in Tarantino's wild west from "Django Unchained". Really good performance, which rightfully said by some looks more like leading than supporting in the movie. A problem though is that Waltz had an Oscar before, also for a Tarantino movie, and with a role that was even better than the one here. More, the two roles are close in playing style, even though the character is completely different. So, maybe if I wouldn't have seen already what he offered here, I would've been blown away by the performance, but like that I start thinking if the guy is not by chance extremely good only on a specific type of role.

Oscar 2011 - Supporting Actors

Generally I don't like writing about actors because unlike other categories here I don't have much else than subjective appreciations. And that's a very good reason to be shorter today, especially given the hour when I'm writing and the lack of time :) This year I preferred talking about supporting actors because for the leading ones the things are pretty settled (and besides that, here I managed to see all the movies, in the other categories not). And because we have a series of common titles, I said myself that it will be less time consuming to group the nominees on movies. So, what we have here ...

"Animal Kingdom" has Jacki Weaver as nominee for supporting actress, in a role which is sort of like a modern Godfather version placed in the context of suburban Australian organized crime. More precisely she plays the mother of an entire gang who "adopts" also one orphan nephew. The movie itself is pretty harsh/grim as general feeling. I can't say also that is pretty good. It has plenty loose ends and some scenes which seem far from credible. And these among others confirms me once again a not very good opinion about the australian cinema (well .. there are exceptions, but not this one). I think that the casting is the best part of the movie, and the nominated role is excellent played. That good that this should be a pretty solid reason to watch the movie. I can't say much more without giving spoilers but there is a point where there is a total character transition from warm to a very scary cold attitude. For more details, see the movie :)

In "The Fighter" we have three nominees for supporting roles. Two for supporting actress - Amy Adams, the main character's girlfriend and Melissa Leo, the mother. One for supporting actor - Christian Bale, the brother, a former drug addicted boxer. The cast is excellent and I think it's the best in a last year's movie. I'm pretty sure that the both Oscars will land here. Although I like Amy Adams, for supporting actress I'm pretty sure that the award will be taken by Melissa Leo. She does a role that has some similarities with the one nominated in "Animal Kingdom", it's also about a mom who tries to offer some false affection and behind lies a pretty big dose of cynicism. And if for supporting actress there might be another nominee to be considered as favorite, for supporting actor I don't expect any surprise. I've already written in the blog entry about "The Fighter" that this is the best career role for Christian Bale. Probably this is not very visible in the next clip, but I didn't find another one to include all the three nominees ...

"The Kids Are All Right" it's a type of drama that wants to be a bit of a comedy (but it doesn't really work). The subject is placed around two kids of a lesbian pair meeting their father, former sperm donor. I'll write more about the movie when I'll reach the final Oscar entry for Best Picture ( .. yes, it has a nomination also there ). Here the nomination is for supporting actor - Mark Rufallo - the father. What can I say is that the movie, as the previous cases above and also like "The King's Speech" has as it's best point the cast... and that's pretty much all. However, I think that not even this part can reach the first half of potential Oscar winners from all the nominees.

"The King's Speech" has two nominations here - Helena Bonham Carter as king's George the VIth wife and Geoffrey Rush as Lionel Logue, the former actor employed for speaking lessons. If for supporting actress I think that's the weakest nomination, for the role of Geoffrey Rush is probably the most close to the one that will get the Oscar. Even so, the chances for a surprise here are very small. The winners for acting this year, excepting supporting actress are pretty clear already from my point of view.

"The Town" is the third movie this year (along with "Animal Kingdom" and "Winter's Bone") to have an action context placed around an outlaw "family" with scary and more scary than scary members. In "The Town" the part of the scariest bad guy is played by Jeremy Renner - the best friend of the main character (Ben Affleck) and also the most violent member of a Boston gang specialized in bank heists. The movie is pretty much at the same level with "Animal Kingdom" but it's ... american = here the bad guy seems to be a good guy after all - in the other one it's not, here the love story seems to last forever .. in the other one it abruptly ends (and I won't say more because I'm already close to give some spoilers), etc. Getting back to the nominee:

In "True Grit" the nominee for supporting actress is Hailee Steinfeld for the role of the girl who tries to avenge her father. It was a very pleasant surprise I might say, and she actually has some chances to the Oscar. Like I said I think it's the only category where the dices aren't yet rolled. However, I'm sticking to the opinion that both awards for supporting actors will go to "The Fighter". Well, for the moment a short clip from "True Grit" :) :

And I reached the last from the list - "Winter's Bone". I was saying above about a pleasant surprise. I got one here too. I had no idea who is John Hawkes prior to this movie. He plays the role of Teardrop here, the uncle of the girl who's searching her missing father. Again we have a role of a guy with a police record and apparently quite a grim & scary character, but unlike the nominees for supporting actress here the role has a transition from absolutely cold to a more fatherly attitude. And the actor manages this in a very well done manner.

That's all bout this category. I'll be back to areas where I'm a bit less "unauthorized" next time :) = cinematography