Oscar Shutout

damn

The 85th Academy Awards aired last night. I had to work and missed the entire broadcast. Looks like I didn't miss much however, since all my favorites lost in every category. That's right folks, I know how pick em'.

Here's the rundown:

Argo is a damn fine movie, I even said so HERE, but I don't think it was Best Picture worthy. Same deal with Jennifer Lawrence. She's great in Silver Linings Playbook...but Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts are friggin phenomenal in Zero Dark Thirty and The Impossible. Daniel Day Lewis will always be my homeboy, but Joaquin Phoenix's performance in The Master is, well it's just as uncanny and fearless as Daniel Day Lewis was in There Will Be Blood. Phoenix out DDL's DDL in this case.

Speaking of The Master, Philip Seymour Hoffman was ROBBED. Flat out robbed. Christoph Waltz is Tarantino's new go to guy, and he was great as Hans Landa 2.0 in Django Unchained but he doesn't come close to Hoffman's firebrand performance. Since we're on the subject of Tarantino, he needs to be stopped. I love the bastard and really enjoyed his latest film, but he's just getting out of hand. Winning Best Original Screenplay will only reinforce his bad habits, meaning we'll be stuck with more of his overtly long, bloated and campy films for the foreseeable future.

I wish Helen Hunt, or Amy Adams would have walked away with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but Anne Hathaway really stole the show with her five minute performance (or so I'm told).  Notice I didn't pick anyone for Best Director. Since Paul Thomas Anderson and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed in the category I really didn't have a favorite. I'm cool with Ang Lee (he gave me Jennifer Connelly in Hulk, I'm forever thankful), so I can't hate on him.

TLDR:None of my horses came in. Bummer.

*NOTE*
Here's a list of great films that either lost or were snubbed for Best Picture altogether:

King Kong
Modern Times
Citizen Kane
The Wizard of Oz
Rebel Without a Cause
Psycho
To Kill a Mockingbird
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Bonnie and Clyde
2001: A Space Odyssey
Easy Rider
Taxi Driver
Network
Star Wars
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
E.T.
Glory
Full Metal Jacket
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
LA Confidential
The Truman Show
American History X
The Thin Red Line
Saving Private Ryan
Requiem For a Dream
City of God
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Zodiac
There Will Be Blood
The Social Network

Fear not Zero Dark Thirty, you're in great company.

Top 5 Films of 2012.

So here it is...my top 5 favorite films of 2012.


The Master- Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
I was fortunate enough to see The Master in all it's epic, 70mm glory. PTA's follow up to There Will Be Blood doesn't offer the same instant gratification fix as it's predecessor, but it's still a marvelous film in it's own right. Every shot is breathtaking, the cast (Phoenix, Hoffman, Adams) delivers the best acting performances of the year, and the soundtrack is untouchable. The Master's plot might be foggy, but the overall experience of the film is anything but.



Silver Linings Playbook- Directed by David O. Russell
A lighthearted take on the serious and often somber topic of mental health issues in America, Silver Linings Playbook was my pleasant surprise of the year. I laughed and was generally more entertained during David O. Russel's quirky romantic dramedy then I had been in ages.  I'm also now sold on both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence's acting chops.



Zero Dark Thirty- Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
The hunt for Osama Bin Laden could have easily been depicted as a "glorious" pile of pro-Western propaganda. I'm glad Kathryn Bigelow took a different approach with Zero Dark Thirty. The film is cold and clinical, like it's Type A personality protagonist Maya (Jessica Chastain). The tedious and often  horrific nature of the espionage/political world take center stage. The film may be dark and exhausting, but it's almost cathartic as well.



Prometheus- Directed by Ridley Scott
I don't understand the anger over Prometheus. Aside from looking absolutely gorgeous on the big screen (and I usually loathe 3D), Ridley Scott's latest film is easily the most ambitious sci-fi film in years. Was the film perfect? No. Was it entertaining and leave you craving more? For me, the answer is a definite yes! Introducing "The Engineers" and expanding the Alien mythos into a separate but equally enthralling cinematic universe was right decision. The sub-par Alien VS Predator franchise sort of killed the whole chestburster thing anyways.   



End of Watch- Directed by David Ayer
David Ayer has officially come into his own as a filmmaker. He may have written the script for Training Day, but his subsequent directorial work (Harsh Times and Street Kings), although entertaining, were less than stellar. End of Watch crushes any remaining doubts I had about his directing. Ayer's latest cop drama is, gritty, fast paced, even hilarious at times, but most of all, it's one of the most heart wrenching films of the year. Jake Gyllenhaal and Micheal Pena's chemistry as gang busting LAPD officers is uncanny and is the heart of the entire film.


*HONORABLE MENTIONS*
Some pretty rad movies I dug from 2012 that were just shy of the final cut:

The Avengers
NERDGASM OF A LIFETIME. The most fun I've had at the movies. EVER.

The Sessions
John Hawkes performance as a sexually and spiritually frustrated polio victim/quadriplegic is awe inspiring.

Dredd.
Absolute carnage. I haven't enjoyed such awesomely relentless violence on the big screen since the lobby shoot out in The Matrix.

Movie Review: Silver Linings Playbook

The trailer for this film left me scratching my head. Crazy guy and crazy girl start dancing to get...less crazy? I saw De Niro playing Bradley Cooper's father but, after decades of phoned in performances in sub par movies, I'm sad to say that doesn't mean much anymore. There were only two things that caught my interest about this film. The return of Chris Tucker (Smokey from Friday, funniest movie ever!) and it's director, David O. Russel. Well, Russel delivers yet again. I loved this movie. I really did.

Bradley Cooper plays Pat, a man with bi-polar disorder whose life has been turned upside down following a traumatic episode that resulted in him being institutionalized. He get released but must now live with his oddball, elderly parents. As he struggles to get his life back in order, he meets a young woman with mental/emotional problems that seem to match his own (Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany). The film follows their strange relationship, two "crazy" individuals who help each other maintain their sanity...even though the rest of society and it's "normal" people seem to act worse than them.

I can't say enough positive things about this film. The acting is top notch. I've never been a big Bradley Cooper fan but he knocks this role out of the park. His take on Pat, a violent, rage filled man who desperately longs to atone for his sins and settle back down to his once normal suburban life, is tragic and hilarious at the same time. Jennifer Lawrence is simply stunning. She's beautiful and her dance sequences, maaaaaaaaan. Her chemistry with Cooper is amazing. Their back and forth, often volatile exchanges had me laughing and at the edge of my seat at the same time. Chris Tucker, it's just so good seeing him back on screen I really didn't care what he did, but he makes Pat's crazy friend from the mental hospital seem like someone I'd want to hang out with too. Finally, De Niro...he's back. No Meet The Parents/New Year's Eve cash grab acting here. This is one of De Niro best roles in a long, long time.

must.learn.to.dance.

David O. Russel knows how to craft family dramas and explore relationships. His films, are like "people persons," they're for everyone. His use of handheld cameras for flashback sequences, as well as music and pop culture references (Metallica and Megadeth REPRESENT!) up the fun factor in the film. What could have been a sad story of two people with mental health issues turned into one of the funniest, touching and entertaining films of the year. Go see Silver Linings Playbook. It's worth it.