For the lion share of this year, it seemed that films were going to be predominantly mediocre. I've not taken the time -- and I doubt you will -- to go back and look over my reaction to the films from 2010, but this year kept giving the sneaking suspicion that it was going to be a bit "lackluster." I highlight that word simply because I known I've thrown it around regularly as I went to the cinema this year. But, as luck would have it, the yuletide award contender dumping ground evened it all out.
This was certainly not a Silence of the Lambs, Gladiator, The Kids Are All Right, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump kinda year. Lambs was out before the Oscar telecast for the previous year's films -- still holding the crown as the first best picture to be on video when it one. Gladiator was a May-ish tentpole film that withstood two Soderbergh's to sally on to victory. Ryan was out in July as was Gump which happened -- if memory serves -- on July 6, 1994. Then there's The Kids Are All Right which gave m'lady Annette the front-run slot on actress all the way up until Natalie's nail-clipper of a swan turn. This year -- not so much.
There were no front-runners popping their heads out in spring leaving the field entirely devoid of buzz until my favorite film of the year was released this summer. Thus, let the list begin. My favorite film and the eleven that follow -- in no particular order -- addressed in brief before their more lengthy coverage once we jump Sunday's HFPA hurdle.
McCue's Best Picture of the Year
Midnight in Paris
There have been those who have knocked Paris as Woody Allen-lite, claiming that it is the best of his latest films. I'm not one who reads reviews -- certainly not before I see them -- but buzz is unavoidable. Truth be told, these very same critics were calling Melinda and Melinda the best Woody Allen of the latest films. If that is going to be the case, it seems folks should be giving credit where credit is due.
Not only was this simply one of Woody's best movies -- it just is -- it demonstrated a true heir apparent to the neurotic leads formerly played by Allen himself. Owen Wilson could not have been more pitch perfect as Gill Pender, the hack screenwriter hoping to make the transition to "Great American" novelist. The hopeful eyes as the clock strikes twelve, the classic auto pulls up, and Wilson's Pender is thrust back into 1920's Paris among the moveable feast of artists Woody Allen has hailed his entire career.
It's a delightfully charming, lush romance that does for Paris what Woody Allen has done time and again for Manhattan. I've written it up before -- I shall again -- but let it simply be said that this was hands down my favorite film -- not simply out of sentimentality, but because it is masterfully written, directed, acted, and photographed.
The Eleven of Eleven in no particular order...
50/50
My love for Joseph Gordon Levitt not only knows no bounds -- but it is repeatedly confirmed by each new venture the lad undertakes. Whether it's Hesher (which was great) or a cover of "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" with Zooey Deschanel, JGL continues to win hearts. I am so happy to see Will Reiser's screenplay popping up as a nominee throughout the award season. The balance of comedy, reality, romance, and bromance made 50/50 an absolute treat.
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Stephen Daldry's four films have each proven him to be one of the best directors working in film. Though he may remain most famous for Billy Elliot - duh - his continued expertise at adapting modern literature places him in a perch all his own. The Hours and then The Reader were each heart-wrenching masterworks each of which earned best picture nominations and delivered their female leads best actress Oscars. And now Daldry tackles Jonathan Safran Foer's 9/11 novel. This film has received all sorts of off-base criticism -- particularly the remarks directed at young Thomas Horn, who is carrying a film with the likes of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, and Max Von Sydow. To label his character precocious or unlikable is to demonstrate one's absolute inexperience with complicated children with special needs. How on earth is a child who can barely process an average day supposed to process that horrid Tuesday? Say what you will, I call Daldry at 4 for 4.
Moneyball
Yes, this may well be Brad Pitt's Oscar. He's been waiting since his Globe victory in '95 for Twelve Monkeys -- the Oscar then going to Spacey for The Usual Suspects. Whether or not Brad wins it will go down as one his best performances. Furthermore, his pairing with Jonah Hill could not have been more perfectly calibrated. Hill should earn an Oscar nomination for his supporting role, making the "Freaks and Geeks" attendees at Kodak far more triumphant than Mr. Franco's co-hosting turn last year. The only criticism people seem to have for Mr. Pitt is that there is nothing particularly thrilling about his work. I will get into this as I discuss the acting category further. However, I think this is a ludicrous statement whose argument only becomes more foggy and shaky as people attempt to elucidate. We can't simply award those performances where characters are suffering some absolute horror or enduring a decade long struggle. The subtle moments of Bennett Miller's Moneyball is what makes it expert. Zallian and Sorkin hammering out dynamite dialogue and some of the best "process film" sequences in a sports film ain't too shabby either -- one wonders if they can be bested for adapted except for the fact that both men have already won, Sorkin only last year. To keep a back office movie about changing the style of recruiting as grounded in America's pastime as any other baseball flick with the exception of The Natural is a true achievement. Whether it will sneak it's way into the big dance rests on how many writers and actors vote Moneyball staight down the ballot.
The Whistleblower
Though I do have a connection to the writers, director, producer, and script supervisor of this thriller, you must understand my absolute pleasure at having seen what an incredible movie The Whistleblower turned out to be. Centered on the true story of an American woman who risked her life to draw attention to human sex trafficking and the many prestigious international agencies complicit in the kidnap, rape, and murder of countless women, The Whistleblower's strength is in its pace, momentum, and relentless performances led by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, and David Strathairn. The brilliance of The Whistleblower is that it tackles an enormous ongoing international human rights tragedy but does so in a way that is neither dour nor melodramatic. Watching The Whistleblower is far more akin to sitting down to a classic Alan J. Pakula or Sydney Pollack thriller. Larysa Kondracki and Eilis Kirwan have created a picture that brings All the President's Men, The Parallax View, The Firm to mind when a ringing phone, a shadow, and duplicitous characters prove as shocking as the inhuman crimes. The Whistleblower is not to be missed.
Hugo
I knew nothing of The Invention of Hugo Cabret except that my brilliant and remarkably well-read niece considered it one of the best books she'd ever read. Upon my insistence, she didn't share a shred of the story -- much as she begged to let me in on details right up until the lights dimmed and we donned our 3D glasses. As a man who was once not the greatest Martin Scorsese fan considering his inclination for excessive violence and unlikable characters -- or what my friends from film school would call "real situations" -- I was stunned to see him create a film with such heart. The child performers and the magnificent Ben Kingsley turn Hugo into the picture that may well bring Marty his second best director Oscar.
Win Win
The little wrestling film that could may be the only Oscar front-runner to escape my earlier criticism of a year that got off to a late start. (Though Win Win seems to have only briefly held front-runner status as an original screenplay contender. Keep in mind, original screenplay is perhaps the best award of the night.) Released in springtime, Win Win has the feel of a true "Indie of the '90s" -- a tiny New Jersey story that captures a moment in American history and the surrogate family that flourishes around a high school wrestling star. Each performance was excellent and yet again Tom McCarthy has created a fantastic small film with great resonance, comedy, and heart. Where would this year's supporting performances be without Bobby Cannavale?
War Horse
Few things were more shocking to me this year than when Steven Spielberg was omitted from the Directors Guild nominations. Clearly, people have not seen War Horse or have brought their undue Spielberg distaste to yet another great piece of film making. The notion that there is a corny quality to Spielberg's films is more popular than it is grounded in fact. War Horse -- were it not for my personal favorite Midnight in Paris -- is the best film of the year. Once again Steven Spielberg has tackled war with heart. The cry for peace in Spielberg's films from Munich onward is approached from a more youthful angle but pits characters and actors from England, Germany, and France in a World War I film where they bond over a horse rather than allowing their human differences to drive them apart. Ultimately, Spielberg shows that soldiers have more in common with one another than the super powers that thrust them into war. From the world's most successful film maker, that's quite a statement.
The Help
I saw The Help in a theater where I was the only other male and my counterpart groaned the entire time. I'm certain he and his wife have a lovely, even-keeled marriage. I, on the other hand, found it to be the film you wish you could dismiss but is simply too good to write off. In the end -- particularly if you give it a second view -- The Help proves one of the year's best. Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek, and Allison Janney are one of the best female casts assembled in years -- don't worry, I haven't gotten to Bridesmaids yet. But what struck me about this particular collection of females was that they weren't this femme team slogging it through a world of man-trouble as is so often the case. Here were two sets of women filling out a spectrum of opinions about segregation. There's a gloss that certainly prevents this film from being an accurate depiction of life in the Deep South for any of the characters -- which is why I feel it should be in the Globes' comedy category. However, there's still something remarkable about the heart in this little film. Crazy as I may sound -- said it before, will again -- I wonder if it's the won to beat come Oscar time.
The Artist
Given the Weinstein muscle that's going to slide behind this sucker and push it to King's Speech/Shakespeare in Love levels, I wonder how much needs to be said about The Artist. Perhaps the most important thing to say -- before I address each contender in depth during the lovely weeks between the Globes and the Oscars is that the hype is true. There's a lyrical romance and a brilliance of performance in The Artist that prove cinema's power is vision and story. Dialogue has always been a secondary component and remains so -- as Hugo, War Horse, Martha Marcy, and so many other of this year's great pictures continue to prove. All that remains for this excellent little film is the question of whether it could and whether it should take it all. Frankly, it seems like it's coming in hot for Sunday's Globes (Come on, Woody!) -- but this may well be the year where there's a Weinstein reversal. Have they pushed too soon with each of their contenders?
Bridesmaids
I've yet to meet a person who didn't love Bridesmaids. There are men who think they wouldn't like it. They are, of course, wrong. Though just a little too long -- and seemingly because director Paul Feig decided to let each comedy bit run to its very last breath -- Bridesmaids sidesteps the pitfall of so many Apatow productions. And I say this an a devout worshipper of all things Judd Apatow. He is operating on a level that is outrageous, not only bringing the entire cast of his cult television series to significant Hollywood fame where nearly each has had a crack at championing his or her own pet project -- but also redefining the parameters of the American comedy. It's within that redefining things often go awry. There's a quest for too much heart that can occasionally drag his pictures down -- or at least grind them to a 15 to 20 minute halt. Such is not he case with Bridesmaids. All comedies -- particularly buddy comedies and romantic comedies -- Bridesmaids is both -- hit a dire moment where characters are required to redeem themselves -- generally through an apology. Wiig and Mumolo penned a script that got through that hurdle as quickly as possible. Though there is a deep trough for Annie, it doesn't mean the comedy stops. In the end, the moments where we're not laughing seem brief. Bridesmaids is a triumph.
Martha Marcy May Marlene
I had no clue what I was getting myself into when I watched Martha Marcy May Marlene and I am going to give each of you that same gift. I will ruin nothing -- until I do more complete write-ups between the award presentations. This micro-budget psycho-thriller was one of the most tense films I've endured in years. It's silent and still moments are far more terrifying than any scream, violence, or chase sequence. The way the film makers imbued the world of MMMM with the psychology of it's main character -- a tour de force from Elizabeth Olsen (yes, that Olsen) -- trapped the viewer in her consciousness and made us equally paranoid, lost, and fearful. Great work that will be an influence on a generation of film makers.
Well that's my twelve, folks. Sorry it's a day late. I'll chime in with some more direct Globe related info tomorrow.
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