IMHO. The 2013 Oscar Picks.

It's about time, it's about space, it's about Sandra Bullock in the strangest place. (Yes. I just stole the theme song from the 1966 TV Series It's About Time.)

If one word could describe the films of 2013 it's quite simply, Gravity. Regardless of what you thought of the film (that's you Peggy at the Movies) when Cinephiles look back at the year 2013, Gravity will reign supreme. No doubt about it. The single best movie going experience of the year.

Now for my should win/will win rant.

Best Picture
Should win - Gravity. What it has going for it; Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, technical prowess, emotional music, Producers Guild winner, stunning visual effects, human transcendence, stunning visual effects, Sandra Bullock's short shorts, a visionary director and it made a little bit of money - Worldwide: $703,989,531 according to Box Office Mojo.

Will win - I have no idea. It's really a three way race. Gravity deserves it.

12 Years a Slave checks a lot of boxes for the older Academy voters (period piece, true story, repression, white man guilt) but I can not honestly say it is an enjoyable moving going experience. I wouldn't want anybody I know to sit thru that film. Slave torture porn. You want to know about the extraordinary person and excoriating circumstances that is Solomon Northrop? Read the book, in his own words and be truly moved. This is a very manipulating film.

American Hustle might prevail because it seems a fresher choice than Gravity or Slave (which both may have been out front for too long). But honestly? Who fucking knows.

Best Director
Should win/Will win- Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity. One of the sure bets of the evening. Having already won the Director's Guild and the Golden Globe. His to lose

Best Actor 
Should win - Chiwetel Ejiofor. That being said above about 12 Years a Slave, no one can deny this incredible actor's performance. You can't take your eyes off him. There is scene where he sings at the funeral of a fallen wronged man. The camera lingers on him and I think that scene is one of the best in the film, or any film this year, and it's all him.

Will win - Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club. It's America and he will win. He has swept every other award except the BAFTA, England's Oscars, where neither he or Jared Leto were nominated. And Oscars are as American as Baseball. Texan wins in a good performance enhanced by body manipulation. All I have to say to Oscar voters on this; suckers.

Best Actress
Should win/Will win - The exquisite Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. She won this the day she signed the contract. She knew it. Her agents knew it. Fucking Woody Allen knew it. And they all were right. If there is an upset, I would suspect it would come in the form of Amy Adams. But that would suck.

Best Supporting Actor
Should win - Bradley Cooper - American Hustle. For a guy who got fucked by Michael Ian Black in Wet Hot American Summer, he sure has come a long way. Back to back Oscar nominations for this handsome little devil. Honestly, his abs should have won an Oscar in The A-Team. Yowzers! Seriously though, here is a guy that didn't rely on body manipulation to escalate his performance. And I'm not counting those wigs.

Will win - Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club. Fantastic performance in a great movie. However, Oscars are not a reality weight loss TV show. Ask Jennifer Hudson.

Best Supporting Actress 
Should win - Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle. Ok. Yeah. Perhaps I have a hard on for J. Law. Can you blame me? Have you seen her? She's just so goddamn likable, like me. She can make history (read this post) and she was great in this (read this post) and this is the category I'm most excited for.

Will win - Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave. I won't be mad at her if she wins. I'll leave it at that.

All other categories? 
Gravity and Frozen. All you really need to know.

Peace.

Back to Back Oscars? I'm Talking To You Ms. Jennifer Lawrence.

(thanks to Peggy at the Movies Supporting Actress picks for inspiring this post)

There have been only 5 Actors to win back to back Oscars in the 85 years since the Academy Awards has been around. I'd like to know why people aren't talking about the fact Jennifer Lawrence can make history by becoming the YOUNGEST performer to win back to back Oscars and the first to win in 2 different acting categories. And she has a real shot of doing it.

Here's who has done it already in one form or another....

Luise Rainer in 1936 for The Great Ziegfeld and in 1937 for The Good Earth. Many Oscar enthusiasts consider her 2nd win for The Good Earth to be one of the Academy's great blunders. Many believe, to this day, Greta Garbo deserved it for her iconic performance in Camille. But Oscar doesn't always get it right and Luise Rainer became the 1st performer and actress to win consecutive Oscars






Spencer Tracy in 1938 for Captains Courageous and in 1939 for Boys Town. He is the first actor and 2nd performer to win back to back Oscars and most people are ok with this. No scandalous Luise Rainer shit here. Tracy went on to have 9 career nominations, all for leading actor, his last being Guess Who's Coming To Dinner with our next consecutive Oscar
winner....






Katherine Hepburn. Wow. Not only did she garner 12 Best Actress nominations, all in the leading category, she won back to back Oscars for in 1968 for Guess Who's Coming To Dinner and in 1969 for The Lion in the Winter (where she tied with Ms. Streisand for Funny Girl but who really
cares about that dated performance? Have you seen it lately? Borders annoying. Sorry Babs.) Meryl Streep may have more nominations than Hepburn but she has yet to win back to back Oscars. Also, Hepburn has won a total of 4 Oscars, all in the leading actress category. Streep only has 3 and one of them is for supporting. Hepburn reigns supreme.

Jason Robards in 1976 for All the President's Men and in 1977 for Julia. He thus became the first performer to win back to back Supporting Acting Oscars. He was also nominated for an Oscar for playing Howard Hughes in the 1980 film Melvin and Howard. He had a very successful film career in the 1980's and 1990's. His last role was in the 1999 film Magnolia.

and... Tom Hanks in 1993 for Philadelphia and in 1994 for Forrest Gump. Personally, I cannot believe he won an Oscar for Forrest Gump. Morgan Freeman was nominated for The Shawshank Redemption that year, there is no contest. Also, that brings me to my point; when Tom Hanks had the opportunity to win back to back Oscars, the media flocked to the story, perhaps giving him an unfair advantage by focusing in his narrative, "First actor in 60 years to win back to back leading actor Oscars." I haven't seen anything about poor J. Law's opportunity to make history. After winning Best Actress just last year for Silver Lining's Playbook, she may very well win Best Supporting Actress this year for American Hustle (please see review here.) Let's talk about it people! You know we love her.

They're Here: 86th Annual Oscar Nominations

 

AMERICAN HUSTLE & GRAVITY LEAD WITH 10 NOMINATIONS EACH

 

12 YEARS A SLAVE - 9 NOMINATIONS

 

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB & NEBRASKA - 6 NOMINATIONS

 

HER & THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - 5 NOMINATIONS

 

PHILOMENA- 4 NOMINATIONS

 

BLUE JASMINE & THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG - 3 NOMINATIONS

 

Biggest Snubs Actors - Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Daniel Bruhl, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Joaquin Phoenix

 

Biggest Snub Films - Inside Llewyn Davis, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Saving Mr. Banks, Enough Said

 

Biggest Surprises: All the love for The Wolf of Wall Street. A nomination in the song category for a movie no one has heard of Alone Yet Not Alone. The Chinese film The Grandmaster gets 2 nominations. Dallas Buyers Club for Best Picture. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa gets nominated for Makeup and Hairstyling

 

Fun Facts: The women in the Best Actress category have a combined total of 38 Nominations between them. Roger Deakins receives his 11th Oscar nomination in the cinematography category for Prisoners, he's never won.

Best Picture

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

 

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity

Alexander Payne - Nebraska

David O. Russell - American Hustle

Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

 

Best Actor

Christian Bale - American Hustle

Bruce Dern - Nebraska

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

 

Best Actress

Amy Adams - American Hustle

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock - Gravity

Judi Dench - Philomena

Meryl Streep - August: Osage County

 

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips

Bradley Cooper - American Hustle

Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave

Jonah Hill - The Wolf of Wall Street

Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

 

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle

Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts - August: Osage County

June Squibb - Nebraska

 

Best Original Screenplay

American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell

Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen

Dallas Buyers Club - Craig Borten, Melissa Wallace

Her - Spike Jonze

Nebraska - Bob Nelson

Best Adapted Screenplay

Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

Captain Phillips - Billy Ray

Philomena - Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope

12 Years a Slave - John Ridley

The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter

 

Best Animated Film

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Ernest & Celestine

Frozen

The Wind Rises

Best Foreign Film

Broken Circle - Belgium

The Great Beauty - Italy

The Hunt - Denmark

The Missing Picture - Cambodia

Omar - Palestine

 

Best Song

"Alone Yet Not Alone" - Alone Yet Not Alone - Bruce Broughton, Dennis Spiegel

"Happy" - Despicable Me 2 - Pharrell Williams

"Let It Go" - Frozen - Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez

"The Moon Song" - Her - Karen O, Spike Jonze

"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - U2

For a list of complete nominees see OSCAR.COM

 

She's a Hustler Baby and Wants You to Know - Jennifer Lawrence and the American Hustle Review

What a treat!

Nora Lewis, one of my dearest friends, came and visited Old Man Baine here yesterday. Why, she even took me out to lunch and then to the picture show.

Yes, the sweet, gorgeous and nothing short of extraordinary, Nora Lewis. For those of you that know her, you realize that that description is an understatement. She is also habitually late, has no track of time and thinks her Garmin is the end-all be-all of street navigation.

But that's what makes her so sweet. Not only that, she has a blog on the eats of Las Vegas. You can check out Nora's blog here. (Nora's Blog)

We lunched at my favorite lunch spot in Orange County. Rutabegorz. There are 3 very quaint locations throughout OC and we visited the Fullerton location. Food is great, staff is great. We both highly recommend it. But be forewarned. If you order a salad, it's big enough to feed the Pygmy population of Papua New Guinea.


Pygmys eating Nora's leftover Rutabegorz salad.

After lunch, Nora dutifully punched in the address of the theatre into her little buddy Garmin and we were on our way. Never mind that it was down the street and I knew the quickest way to get there. We went the way that little fucker told us to. Nora is nothing if not consistent. So sweet she is.

We made it to the theatre. Bought our tickets. We were about to get our American Hustle on.

AMERICAN HUSTLE - 2013 - ***

dir. David O. Russell.

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Louis C.K., Jack Huston, Michael Pena, Shea Whigham, Alessandro Nivola, Robert DeNiro.

Let's just talk about Jennifer Lawrence for a moment. I have loved this actress since I saw her in 2010's Winter's Bone, my favorite film that year. Last year she was in Silver Lining's Playbook, again, my favorite movie of the year and she won an Oscar for it. And I would put The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in my top 10 this year. So it is no surprise that Ms. Lawrence was my favorite thing in American Hustle.

Now let's talk about director David O. Russell. I admire his films. They are some of my favorite. Flirting with Disaster. Three Kings. The Fighter. Silver Linings Playbook. I was really looking forward to American Hustle.

I was a little disappointed.

Here's the question. Can actors raise a sub par movie to greatness? The answer here, is yes. American Hustle would not be the movie it is without the outstanding performances of the five leads.

Here, David O. Russell is reuniting with stars from his previous films to bring you a glossed over, at best, retelling of late 70's, early 80's, ABSCAM fiasco. The FBI's public corruption investigation that led to the downfall of nearly a dozen elected officials.

Christian Bale plays Irving Rosenfeld. A small time con artist who teams up with Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams, who looks a lot like a young Nicole Kidman here) to scam thousands of dollars from the people who need it the most. Very desperate people looking for the easy way out by taking a loan they shouldn't. Irving is the pole. Sydney the bait. A match made in heaven. They're probably in love with each other. Never mind that Irving has son and young wife named Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence.) 

It can't last forever. They are soon busted by a bumbling agent (Bradley Cooper in a performance that has to be seen to be believed) and forced to help entrap government officials.

For me, the film stayed in the same gear from start to finish. A sense of urgency was never built. I never felt the plight of what these characters were going through. The screenplay and the directing did not hustle me the way the acting did.

The attention to detail in American Hustle is reminiscent to that of the 2009 Soderbergh film The Informant! Another flashy period film that focused a lot of attention on costume, set and makeup when really they should have been focusing on rewrites. Russell's film doesn't suffer the same demise that that film did because of the bravura performances of his cast.

Adams. Cooper. Renner. Bale. Lawrence

Christian Bale is unrecognizable, brilliant, pathetic, hilarious with every word he utters and every

move he makes. He gives one of the best performances of the year as the balding, overweight Irving. Amy Adams is solid as usual and I think her breasts might get a nomination this year for Best Supporting Actresses. Bradley Cooper. Oh, Bradley Cooper. You're just so god damn cute. Even when you are sitting on the toliet, eating fried chicken, with curlers in your hair. He's a maniac in this role. He tears it apart and it's awesome to watch. Jeremy Renner might give the best performance of his career as Mayor Carmine Polito.

But it's my Jennifer Lawrence as Rosalyn who does it for me. She's fucking hilarious. Some people say she was over the top. Not me. Spot on. What else do you expect from a depressed, alcoholic, stay at home Mom? In the 70's? Some of the funniest lines in the film belong to Lawrence. And don't even get me started on the Science Oven.

I wouldn't be surprised if all 5 actors walked away with Oscar nominations for this film. It's their movie. They make it work. It's not the best picture of the year but it sure is fun.

(3 stars *** out of 4 ****)