KEY: BFCA (Broadcast Film Critics Association); DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics); DGA (Directors Guild of America); GG (Golden Globe); LAFC (Los Angeles Film Critics); NBR (National Board of Review); NSFC (National Society of Film Critics); NYFC (New York Film Critics); OFCS (Online Film Critics Society); PGA (Producers Guild of America); SAG (Screen Actors Guild); WGA (Writers Guild of America); USC (Friends of the University of Southern California Scripter Award)

BEST PICTURE: 

The Artist – BFCA, GG for Musical or Comedy PGA | SAG nom for Best Ensemble | The year’s second most nominated film is, for all practical purposes, a mostly comic, silent black and white French film set in Hollywood during the transition from silents to talkies. To clarify, the movie was indeed filmed in Hollywood, and its cast includes such veterans as James Cromwell, John Goodman, Beth Grant, Malcom McDowell, and Penelope Ann Miller. The Artist has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Actor (Jean Dujardin) and Best Supporting Actress (Bérénice Bejo).

The Descendants – DFW, GG for Drama| PGA nom, SAG nom for Best Ensemble| George Clooney stars in this sometimes painful slice of life about a wealthy Hawaiian (of both Anglo and royal native lineage) who finds out that his comatose wife had been cheating on him prior to the boating accident that effectively destroyed her life; a subplot involves Clooney’s attorney character in the midst of a land deal that will affect his whole family’s incredible fortune. The supporting cast includes Shailene Woodley, Robert Forster, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard and the incomparable Judy Greer. The Descendants has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Actor (Clooney) and Best Director (Alexander Payne).

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock play key roles in this adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel about a young boy—possibly afflicted by Asperger’s Syndrome—who goes on a quest to find the meaning of a key he finds in his father’s belongings—after the father dies during the 9/11 attacks. Produced with a great deal of fanfare by Scott Rudin, the movie was largely expected to be a big hit and a major Oscar contender, but it has been a tough sell. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been nominated for 2 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow).

The Help – BFCA  NBR & SAG awards for Best Ensemble | PGA and GG noms| The great big smash hit, based on the massive, phenomenally best selling novel by Kathryn Stockett, tells the story of African-American women living in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s and the realities of being maids and cooks as they raise white people’s children. Their stories form the basis of a book compiled by a fledgling (white) journalist, played by Emma Stone, who’s returned from college and doesn’t like much of what she sees in her own home and among her friends. The novelist, the director-screenwriter (Tate Taylor) and one of the pivotal actresses (Octavia Spencer) have all been friends for years and years. The Help has been nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Spencer). [Since I posted this originally, The Help has won the NAACP Image Award for Best Film.]

Hugo – NBR | GG and PGA noms | This is the year’s most nominated film, and though parts of it look strangely animated with images too sharply focused to be real,  in that Polar Express kind of way, it is more live action than not. It’s also in 3-D. Hugo begins as a whimsical children’s adventure but midway though it turns into something else, and that is Martin Scorsese’s infomercial for film conservation and the works of influential French silent film director Georges Méliès. Scorsese not only pays tribute to Méliès, he also works in allusions to Harold Lloyd’s silent classic Safety Last.  The cast includes Asa Butterfield, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Christopher Lee,  Chloe Grace Moretz, Emily Mortimer, and Ben Kingsley (as Méliès). Hugo has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson), and Best Art Direction (Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo).

Midnight in Paris – PGA nom, GG nom for Musical or Comedy, SAG nom for Best Ensemble| Woody Allen’s fortieth, or thereabouts, feature film (not including shorts or TV work) is a bit of magical realism in which a nostalgia-prone Hollywood screenwriter (Owen Wilson) on vacation in Paris escapes the conflicts of his daily life each night by retreating to the Paris of the 1920s via a phantom limousine. The cast includes Kathy Bates as Gertrude Stein, Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali, and Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway. This is Allen’s biggest ever box office hit. It’s still playing in some theaters even though it opened in June and came out on DVD in December. Midnight in Paris has been nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (both Allen) and Best Art Direction.

Moneyball – GG nom for Drama, PGA nom |  Like Bull Durham, this is a baseball movie that is about something other than winning a big game. Instead, this is the true story of  Oakland Athletics (Oakland A’s) manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) who attempts to move his team away from one business model based on huge salaries and instead learns to approach the game in an analytical and/or holistic manner that rewards “runs” over “hits.” I think I explained it correctly. Anyway, the idea is to put the love of the game back into the game, and it makes a difference for his comparatively under-financed team. I thought I would hate it, or that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with it, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Moneyball has been nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Actor (Pitt) and Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill).

The Tree of Life – OFC | Prestigious Golden Palm for Best Picture at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival | The eternal struggle between grace and nature is portrayed in Terrence Malick’s portrait of a seemingly typical Eisenhower era family in small town Texas. Dad loves his children and works hard to be a good provider, but he often fails to connect with his sons as well as their mom/his wife  does, and the oldest child’s affections are torn as he struggles to make sense of his own identity. The Tree of Life has been nominated for 3 Academy Awards, including Best Director (Terrence Malick) and Best Cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki).

War Horse – GG nom for Drama, PGA nom | Director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 children’s novel tells the saga of a rugged horse in Devon, England, that is put into service and changes owners a handful of times during the course of World War I. The cast includes Jeremy Irvine, David Thewlis, Emily Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch (also seen in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). Last year, the stage adaptation of War Horse by Nick Stafford won several Tony awards, including Best Play. I like War Horse, but there’s something strangely retrograde about it. It’s as if it is a WWII era movie about WWI rather than a 21st century movie about WWI.  War Horse has been nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Cinematography (Janusz Kaminski) and Best Original Score (John Williams).

I'm happy to see so many of my favorite movies in the running for Best Picture: I enjoyed The Help (above) because it is a welcome and wonderful showcase for such actress as (l to r) Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis, and Emma Stone. I love The Tree of Life because it is at once novelistic, richly visual, and extremely personal for Texas based director Terrence Malick. I am a fan of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris because Allen starts with a nifty premise and just runs with it. More importantly, he trusts that his audience is smart enough to go along for the ride without having to connect all the dots and belabor the point. Plus, as usual, he makes his job look easy by casting the best possible actors. I expected to hate Moneyball, but I liked it because it is an inspiring real-life story with more on its mind than "winning." I would celebrate a Best Picture victory by any of these films. Incredibly, even though The Help has only three nominations and does not have the all important corresponding Best Director nod (for Tate Taylor), it might very well be the film with the most momentum thanks to its recent SAG award for Best Ensemble. In a recent Entertainment Weekly readers poll, it tied for second place with Hugo, right behind the first place finish for The Artist.

… Typically, the movie with the most nominations wins Best Picture—not always, of course, but probably more often than not. In spite of all the awe over Martin Scorsese’s 3-D fantasy, Hugo doesn’t seem to be generating the heat of a winner. That’s probably because it’s a box office flop. Filmed for a rumored 170 million, Hugo has only grossed approximately 62 million domestically (as of this writing). It’s one thing for the Academy to honor a significant though little seen movie like The Hurt Locker, but not a whopping folly like this. Of the remaining 8, the four that also have nominated directors stand the best chance, and those are The Artist, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Tree of Life. As much as I worship The Tree of Life, the fact that it only has three nominations indicates that it has limited  appeal among Academy voters. Considering that it was glossed over for both the PGA and DGA prizes, its inclusion here is a miracle. Best to not try to make it more than that. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Midnight in Paris won, and why not? It’s just about perfect moviemaking, and audiences by and large love it. Plus, the Academy loves a comeback. On the other hand, Woody Allen has always been a bit too idiosyncratic for mainstream tastes, and even this movie’s popularity is relative. That noted, this is probably down to the wire between The Descendants and The Artist.  I honestly believe that The Descendants is the best representation of solidly middle-of-the road “domestic” moviemaking, which is more or less the way the Academy typically votes. I like The Descendants, but I don’t love it. I think it takes an interesting turn, or two, in its last act that is truly inspired–but I wish it didn’t so long to get there.  It’s based on a book, but I see it more as a short story, and I don’t see that people truly love it.  I do not know a single person who has seen it that has actually raved about it, and it has yet to crack 100 mill at the box office–even with all of Clooney’s star power.

On the other hand, the Weinstein brothers have so relentlessly hyped their candidate, The Artist, that it’s hard to know for sure whether audiences and Academy members really love it, or if we’ve all been bamboozled. I vote for the latter, but, then, remember, when the Weinsteins were running Miramax, they managed to convince Academy members that Shakespeare in Love was a better film than Saving Private Ryan. No small feat, that. (For the record, I had problems with both films.) Last year, the Weinsteins’ The King’s Speech was a legitimate crowd pleasing hit that even overzealous tub-thumping could not overwhelm.  That might not necessarily be the case this year; however, the fact that The Artist scored an impressive 10 nominations, including two performance nods, indicates widespread support.

The possible spoiler in of this is The Help. No, it does not boast a nominated director, but the movie is massively popular, the biggest hit in the bunch, and its SAG award for Best Ensemble is telling. I don’t think The Help is brilliant filmmaking, but I do think it is brilliant in the way that it touches people, and that might be enough. (I also think that its stellar performances elevate the material; I was a bit mystified by the book.) Most people who see The Help react from a sheerly emotional standpoint, and no one has to explain why. The viewers just react the way they react, and that might be all it takes. Plus, always remember this tidbit that I read years ago: Academy members have liberal politics and conservative tastes, per Driving Miss Daisy (1989). Yes, history tells us that movies with nominated directors are much better positioned to win Best Picture than those without nominated directors, but The Help has incredible momentum (besides the SAG award and the robust ticket sales, it’s poised to win two of four acting prizes), and it’s about something other than other movies, per The Artist and Hugo.

BEST ACTRESS:

Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) – GG and SAG noms | This is Close’s 6th nomination. She earned her first for her film debut, playing mother to Robin Williams’s titular character in The World According to Garp (1982). She has two more Best Supporting Actress nominations (The Big Chill, 1983; The Natural, 1984), and two Best Actress nominations (Fatal Attraction, 1987; Dangerous Liaisons, 1988). It seems odd, now, that Close lost the Oscar for Fatal Attraction to Cher in Moonstruck, but the controversy surrounding Close’s movie was so great back in the day that it obscured her heartfelt, courageous performance. I’m still not sure it works as seamlessly as it should, but its impact is undeniable. Until Albert Nobbs, Close has been seen more regularly in award winning TV work, such as Damages. Close’s current nominated perf, portraying a proper 19th century Irish hotel butler (or rather a woman pretending to be such), is a dream project. She played the role in a play back in the 80s, and she co-produced and co-wrote the adaptation. Even with all the period finery, the Irish accent, and the cross-dressing aspect, the role is not as colorful and showy as one might expect. Close’s Albert Nobbs knows that the success of his masquerade is linked to his ability to be unobtrusive in the course of his work, and Close plays the part in a style reminiscent of an earnest acting class demonstration.

Viola Davis (The Help) – BFCA, SAG| GG nom for Drama | This is Davis’s second Oscar nomination. Three years ago she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for Doubt, which starred her current fellow nominee Meryl Streep. Davis’s resume includes two Tonys for plays written by the late August Wilson: Best Featured Actress in a Play (King Hedley, 2001) and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Fences, 2010). Besides her principal role in The Help, she can be seen in a supporting role in a second Best Picture nominee, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. [Since my original post, Davis has also won the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress.]

Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) – GG nom for Drama | Last year, Mara was seen briefly in David Fincher’s The Social Network as the pretty college student who basically dumps Mark Zuckerberg early in the film, thereby setting into motion the creation of what we now know as Facebook. A year later, Mara is back in Fincher’s American translation of Stieg Larsson’s international best seller—already adapted for TV and movies in Sweden–about a severely damaged computer hacker who gets lured into solving a 40 year old mystery.

Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) – NYFC, GG for Drama | SAG Nom | Okay, here we go again: Streep is the most nominated performer in Academy history. She has two Oscars already, starting with Best Supporting Actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) followed by Sophie’s Choice (1982). Okay, that’s two down and fifteen to go. She boasts an additional pair of nominations for Best Supporting Actress (The Deer Hunter, 1978; Adaptation, 2002). How many does that leave? Twelve, all for Best Actress, not counting the current one, and they are – The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Silkwood (1983), Out of Africa (1985), Ironweed (1987), A Cry in the Dark (1988), Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Bridges of Madison County (1995), One True Thing (1998), Music of the Heart (1999), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Doubt (2008), and Julie and Julia (2009). Among her many other awards is an Emmy for Angels in America (2003). The Weinsteins have really been pushing Streep’s latest though it’s not a huge hit. The actress was recently on the cover of Vogue, and that has to be a coup. You know what else is a coup? Streep is a recent Kennedy Honors recipient, and that might make another Oscar seem like small potatoes.

Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) – DFW, GG for Musical or Comedy | SAG nom | Williams is a previous Best Supporting Actress nominee for 2005’s Brokeback Mountain. She was nominated in this category just last year for Blue Valentine. Marilyn Monroe herself was never nominated for an Oscar even though she did wonderful work in The Seven Year Itch (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Some Like It Hot (1959), and, yes, even The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), the movie Williams’s Marilyn is shown making in this current film. For The Prince and the Showgirl, Monroe was nominated for a British Academy Award and actually won the Italian equivalent. She was expected in many quarters to earn an Oscar nomination for Bus Stop but had to settle for a Golden Globe nomination instead; she actually won a Golden Globe for Some Like It Hot. If Monroe had Bob and Harvey Weinstein in her corner back in the day the way Michelle Williams has currently, she might have gotten an Oscar of her own.

Viola Davis (above) in The Help. Does she win by a whisper? I think so, and good for her. I'm not saying Meryl Streep isn't formidable competition, but I do think because Meryl is almost always at the top of her game, she has to make audiences fall in love with her all over again, like we did in the last 70s and early 1980s, in order to win a third Oscar, and I'm not sure playing Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher is the best way to do that. Audiences are responding to Davis's performance so enthusiastically because they like seeing the changes that her character undergoes throughout the film.

..It’s probably safe to say that Williams and Mara are mainly in this race to round out the ballot. I don’t think anyone expects either of them to win. Certainly, Mara deserves credit for taking a difficult—even unlikeable—character, one that has already been played to international acclaim by another actress (Noomi Rapace), and making it her own. Even so, her dark and twisted mystery isn’t going to be for everyone’s taste—no matter how powerful the actress’s performance. Plus, it hasn’t exactly turned out to be the blockbuster originally anticipated. Williams’s nod is not about anything except the wish fulfillment of Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Williams’s slot would be better filled by Charlize Theron (Young Adult), or, possibly, Emma Stone (The Help). No, the real race is between Close, Davis, and Streep, but prospects for Close fade with each and every day. Yes, this is her 6th nomination, and, yes, this is her dream project of many, many, years, but it seems that if sentiment, “body of work,” and a great back-story were all it took to snare a top trophy, the evidence of that would already be apparent via a Golden Globe or a SAG award, but none of that has happened. Close’s movie, despite her best intentions, is more odd than anything else, and it probably doesn’t help that her nominated co-star pretty much blows Close off the screen. This one is most likely a fight to the finish between Streep and Davis. Yes, Streep is absolutely brilliant as former British Primer Minister Margaret Thatcher, and, yes, Streep is on her 17th nomination, and, yes, it has been almost 30 years since she won her second Oscar  (for Sophie’s Choice), so many insiders believe she is due, but her movie is even more bewildering than Close’s, and by that I mean that the structure is haphazard, and even the filmmakers don’t seem to have too much affection for the so-called Iron Lady. It’s as though the filmmakers believe that Thatcher only ever existed so that Streep could play her and win another Oscar. Plus, Thatcher was and is as conservative as Hollywood tends to be liberal, so it’s unlikely anyone will jump at the chance to do anything that appears to lionize the onetime leader; therefore, I think Davis wins by a whisper. Her role is not as flashy as Streep’s, but it is every bit as skillfully and thoughtfully rendered. Plus, and this is important, Davis’s film is arguably the most liked film in the bunch: not only is it a huge, huge moneymaker/crowd-pleaser, it is also the only Best Picture nominee in the bunch. In contrast, three of last year’s Best Actress nominees, including winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan) appeared in Best Pic contenders. Hmmm…I won’t complain too loudly if Streep wins because, again, she’s brilliant in the film. Likewise, I also don’t know if Davis winning an Oscar for playing a maid is necessarily the most progressive thing in 2012, but I like what I like, and that’s what I think will be the key to a win by Davis, and I don’t mean that voters will like her the way they liked Sally Field back in the day. Instead, it’s about responding to a movie—not a person—in such a way that doesn’t need to be explained.

BEST ACTOR:

Demián Bichir (A Better Life) –  SAG nom | This Mexican superstar is a first time Oscar nominee though he has 6 Ariel nominations (the Oscar equivalent) to his credit back home. He actually won for 1994’s ‘Til Death; in 1997, he competed for both Best Actor (Cilantro y perejil) and Best Supporting Actor (Luces de la noche). Bichir’s film, directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy),  is a contemporary variation on Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 Italian neorealist classic The Bicycle Thief about an already desperate man whose livelihood is jeopardized when the vehicle he needs to do his job is, well, stolen. In Weitz and Bichir’s update—based on a story by Roger L. Simon—an illegal alien working as a gardener in L.A. thinks his prospects are on the upswing only to find that his truck has been, well, you know. In both films, the lead characters are fathers who enlist the help of their sons. The main difference is that Bichir’s character has the added obstacle of not being able to turn to the authorities. In spite of the obvious similarities, the movie works, and much of the credit belongs to its sense of veracity, of which Bichir is an essential element. There’s nothing actorish about this performance at all. Bichir is also currently in the race for an Independent Spirit Award.

George Clooney (The Descendants)  – BFCA, DFW, NBR, GG for Drama| SAG nom | Clooney already has an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Syriana, 2005). This is his third Best Actor nomination. The others are for Michael Clayton (2007) and Up in the Air (2009). He also boasts a pair of nominations for directing and co-writing Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). Clooney is also nominated this year for co-writing The Ides of March, a drama of political intrigue only partly inspired by William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (which he also directed and plays a secondary onscreen role to Ryan Gosling).

If I were voting, I'd go with either Bichir or Pitt. Bichir's performance has an authentic slice of life quality while Pitt's portrayal works in a thoroughly winning "movie star" kind of way. Originally, this trophy seemed destined for George Clooney, but my guess is that Academy voters will not feel any joy giving an Oscar to a guy who already seems to have everything--including an Oscar. Oldman's pic is too dark, and it's really an ensemble piece, which leaves only Dujardin's much ballyhooed feat of silent acting. Dujardin (above) has all the support of the Brothers Weinstein, but I fear the backlash from honoring Dujardin will equal the cries of outrage and disgust that began right after the Academy awarded Best Actor to Italy's Roberto Benigni for 1998's Life is Beautiful, a movie also hyped by the Weinsteins. Everyone loved Life is Beautiful, including me, until the Weinsteins' relentless push began to overshadow the film itself. Today, people sneer at the mention of it as an example of campaign zealotry gone stupid, so be careful what you wish for...

Jean Dujardin (The Artist) – GG for Musical or Comedy, SAG award | French native Dujardin won last year’s Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for The Artist; he also earned a César award (the French answer to the Academy award) for OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, directed by Michael Hazanavicius (the director of The Artist). Since I began writing this article, Dujardin has also claimed the British Academy Award.

Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) – DFW | In his quite prolific career, Oldman has played everyone from Sid Vicious to Lee Harvey Oswald and Count Dracula–and, oh yeah, Harry Potter‘s Sirius Black. Though Oldman has never been nominated for an Oscar, he landed a SAG nom for 2000’s The Contender. In England, where he was born and raised, he’s been honored for his work in Sid and Nancy (1986) and Nil by Mouth (1997); the latter was his directorial debut, based on his life growing up in working class London, and he won a pair of British Academy Awards for writing the screenplay and co-producing. Oldman’s current nominated role is that of John Le Carre’s aging, enigmatic, master spy who intends to sniff out a double agent in dank and dreary Cold War era England.

Brad Pitt (Moneyball) -  NYFC | GG and SAG noms | Pitt was up for Best Actor three years ago for playing the title character in the gimmicky, aging-in-reverse fantasy epic The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, from the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. His only other acting nomination is for his supporting role in 1995’s Twelve Monkeys. Pitt isn’t just the star of this Best Picture nominee, he’s also one of the film’s producers, which might give him a bit of an edge; moreover, the role of real-life Oakland As general manager Billy Beane does for Pitt what Bull Durham did for Kevin Costner and what Jerry Maguire did for Tom Cruise, allowing the actor to be both a regular guy and a movie star all at once. Plus, even though Pitt’s official nomination is for Moneyball, he scores big bonus points for also starring in another Best Picture nominee, The Tree of Life, and for serving as a producer of that film as well though he’s not one of the three producers whose names appear on the final ballot.

… Gary Oldman has done everything right this Oscar season, making the rounds of all the talk shows and ingratiating himself as he tries to rehabilitate his image as a rather difficult chap. Plus, he’s landed a role that helps him break free of the bad guys he perfected–before he began playing them in his sleep. That noted, I don’t think he has much of a chance here. Part of the reason is that, as good as Oldman is, his film is very much an ensemble piece, and it is just not a showcase the way that many Oscar nominated vehicles often are. If I were voting, it would be a toss-up between Bichir and Pitt, but I think the Academy’s gesture of international goodwill is more likely to extend to France’s Dujardin than to Mexico’s Bichir. Yes, Clooney’s character goes through some big emotional changes, and, yes, he is about as well connected as a Hollywood insider can be, but his performance here feels a little forced, and he already has an Oscar, albeit a supporting one, so I’m not sure that the Academy will experience as much joy rewarding him a second time when they can instead take great delight in a win for Dujardin, who works hard to create a character without the benefit of actual dialogue.

BEST DIRECTOR:

Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) – DGA and GG noms | This is Woody Allen’s 7th nod in this category. He actually won for his first nominated effort: Annie Hall (1977). The rest of the bunch includes Interiors (1978), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), and Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) – DGA BFCA NYFC | GG nom | While Malick’s The Tree of Life took the top prize at Cannes, Hazanavicius actually claimed the fest’s Best Director award. He’s an Oscar triple threat this year, having been nominated for writing, directing, and co-editing The Artist. He and leading actor Jean Dujardin frequently collaborate back home.

Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) – LAFC NSFC OFCS | Malick is undoubtedly the most enigmatic American director. He is rarely photographed, rarely gives interviews, and he has only directed five feature films since 1973. He has only been nominated in this category once before now, and that was for 1998’s The Thin Red Line; however, his movies have twice won big at Cannes: once for The Tree of Life and once for 1978’s incomparably beautiful Days of Heaven. He produced 2004’s Undertow for David Gordon Green.

Alexander Payne (The Descendants) – DFW | DGA nom | This is Payne’s first nomination since 2004′s Sideways. To clarify, this is his first full length film since then as well. He is one of 20 directors credited on 2006′s Paris je’taime; he also co-wrote 2007′s I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (which advanced the career of nobody involved) and produced 2011′s Cedar Rapids. His other credits include Election (1999)  and Citizen Ruth (1996). He received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for the former while the latter, which I have written about extensively on this blog, is in a class by itself. Payne is also one of the producers of The Descendants and is nominated for co-writing it as well.

Martin Scorsese (Hugo) – NBR GG | DGA Nom | Like Allen, this is Scorsese’s 7th nomination in this category. He won 5 years ago for The Departed. His other nominations include Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), The Gangs of New York (2002), and The Aviator (2004). Who can believe he wasn’t nominated for Taxi Driver (1976) even though the film itself was a Best Picture contender? When he won for The Departed, there was a feeling that he was way overdue for his own competitive Oscar, but that was then. This is now.

I'll positively swoon if a win by Terrence Malick comes to pass, but that seems like quite a long shot. To me, Allen’s film best represents what a director working at the peak of his/her power can do. There’s nothing flashy about Midnight in Paris, but Allen’s economy as a filmmaker, his unfailing work ethic, his smooth professionalism, his knack for knowing exactly where to place the camera, and his generosity with actors, approaches perfection without drawing attention to itself, but that might not be the surest route to the winner’s circle.

…It’s tempting to think that just because Hazanavicius has the DGA prize, he’s a shoo-in for the Oscar. I don’t think it’s as easy as that, but I think Hazanavicius still has an edge. Here’s why: remember that the Academy’s largest voting bloc is the actors branch; therefore, one way to think about how voters approach this category is to consider how many performers a director guides (or guided) to Oscar nominations. In this field, three of the movies (Hugo, Midnight in Paris, and The Tree of Life) have exactly 0 acting nominations, which gives the edge to Payne and Hazanavicius, but the latter’s film has two acting nominees in contrast to only one for Payne’s The Descendants. Another thing to consider is “degree of difficulty.” Sure, Scorsese’s 3-D fantasy is a marvelous technical achievement, but it’s also a little cold—and, as sad as this is to report, a box office flop, so what’s the achievement? Plus, I could never reconcile Scorsese’s choice to have his actors speak with English—not American–accents even though the characters are all French. What’s up with that? Why not finesse the illusion just a little by having them speak English with French accents? On the other hand, The Artist also presents an obvious technical challenge or two, and people are by and large responding to the movie though it is still playing in a relatively limited number of theaters. I also think the fact that Hazanavicius is nominated for his work in two other categories, including Best Editing, speaks well for him.  Malick’s ambitious film is the work of a true visionary and worthy of all awards that come its way.  I’m glad his peers saw fit to recognize him, but his film, like Scorsese’s,  also carries the whiff of a box office under-performer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) -  GG and SAG noms | Bejo’s role is similar to the roles played by Janet Gaynor/Judy Garland/Barbra Streisand in all those versions of A Star is Born, or even Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain: a sassy ingénue who is taken under the wing of a male film star whose career is in transition and/or decline.  This French actress once appeared in A Knight’s Tale starring the late Heath Ledger. In a stunning coincidence, Bejo was once nominated for the French César Award  in the category of “Most Promising Young Actress” for her role in a film entitled, yes, Most Promising Actress. Yep.

Jessica Chastain (The Help) – LAFC, NFCS, NYFC, OFCS | GG & SAG noms | A year ago, almost nobody outside the Hollywood circuit had any idea that Jessica Chastain was a force with which to be reckoned. What a difference a year makes. In 2011, this California native appeared in six feature films, including two Best Picture nominees (The Help and the Tree of Life) and an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. Most of the awards she has won this season have been for multiple performances rather than one exclusively, save for the Globe and SAG nominations, which have been specifically for her role as The Help’s sassy, big hearted, high society upstart from the wrong side of the tracks–and that would be “Sugarditch, Mississippi.”

Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) – SAG Nom | Before winning an Emmy last year for her leading role in the sitcom Mike and Molly, McCarthy had regular secondary roles in such series as The Gilmore Girls, Samantha Who?, and even voiceover work in Kim Possible. Her filmography includes gigs in such varied films as Charlie’s Angels, White Oleander, The Life of David Gale, and The Backup Plan. McCarthy’s go-for-broke performance as Bridesmaids‘s mouthy, hot-to-trot neofeminist was an instant Best Supporting Actress contender—and audience favorite–from the moment the movie was released last spring, and her movie is an even bigger box office hit than Chastain and Spencer’s.

Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) – Globe and SAG nominations | It’s been awhile since the strapping 6’1” English actress has graced a major American motion picture. She earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination—and a Golden Globe—for playing a hard-knocks single mom in 1999’s Tumbleweeds. A year later, she was beyond compare as an early 20th century musicologist exploring Appalachian culture in Songcatcher. Rent it. Watch it. Do it now. McTeer is currently working opposite Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black. She also boasts a Tony (for a revival of Ibsen’s The Doll House) as well as another nomination for playing Mary Stuart. Her character in Albert Nobbs is something of a kindered spirit to the lead character, only bigger and livelier. She looks like k.d. lang back in the day. Unlike Close, McTeer is also in the running for an Independent Spirit Award.

Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer (above) are so good in their scenes together in The Help that it is almost a shame that they cannot share the award. What I like the most is that these two women take care of each other. Even though they have an employer-employee relationship, it is not all one-sided. That aside, Spencer has the most audience pleasing role, and she plays it to the hilt, winningly so. Still, if I had my way, this whole category would be nothing but actresses from The Help. (Sorry, Janet McTeer.) Besides Chastain and Spencer, I'd include Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, and Sissy Spacek, which still doesn't leave room for Mary Steenburgen and Cicely Tyson.

Octavia Spencer (The Help) -  BFCA GG and SAG awards | Before The Help, Octavia Spencer’s career was all over the map. For example, in 2010, she played “Madame Nora – Pet Psychic” in Dinner for Schmucks (2010) with Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, and Zach Galifianakis. She also had a stint on TV’s Ugly Betty. Her first onscreen role was in A Time to Kill (1996). The scene stealing role of feisty, yet still vulnerable, Minny Jackson in The Help was reportedly written with Spencer in mind. [Since I first wrote this, Spencer has been named the year's Best Supporting Actress at the NAACP Image Awards as well as the British Academy Awards]

…First things first: all of these women deserve to be here; however, I think all eyes are on the two women from The Help. Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer are so good in their scenes together that it’s a shame they can’t share the Oscar. As it is, one will win, and the other will go home empty-handed. Chastain has certainly had an amazing year, and an Oscar would certainly be the crowning Cinderella moment, but Spencer is the one with the audience pleasing role, and she clearly knows it, so she plays it for all it’s worth. My guess is the Academy will honor Spencer for making the most of her moment to shine–another kind of Cinderella moment–while saving future accolades for Chastain since she’s clearly in demand and destined for a prolific career.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Kenneth Branagh (My Week with Marilyn) –  GG and SAG noms | This is Branagh’s fifth nomination. He was heralded as the second coming of Laurence Olivier when, at a mere 28 years old, he garnered Oscar nods for both directing and acting in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry V (1989). He later earned recognition for directing the live action short film Swan Song and for his work as a scriptwriter on the most scrupulous ever big screen adaptation of Hamlet (1996). Now, coincidentally, he’s back in the race for actually playing Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn. I guess his next role will actually be playing Shakespeare. Besides his success in front of the camera, Branagh also helmed last year’s blockbuster treatment of comic super hero Thor (#1 at the box office for two weeks in May).

Jonah Hill (Moneyball)  GG and SAG noms | This 28 year old actor has the distinction of being both the youngest thesp in the bunch as well as the lone Oscar rookie. All of the other nominees are 50 or older and have been nominated at least once prior to this current race.  Hill just might have novelty in his favor. Plus, he’s playing against type. He first made a name for himself by appearing in such frat boy type comedies as Knocked Up, Superbad, and Funny People.  His role in Moneyball is a composite of three people, and it shows him as a mild mannered numbers cruncher who holds what might be the key to success for Brad Pitt’s team, the Oakland A’s. Hill and Pitt are a great onscreen duo. To see how far this actor is willing to go with a role, I recommend the seriously dark comedy, Cyrus with Marisa Tomei and John C. Reilly. His The Sitter, from Richardson’s David Gordon Green, recently tanked. He’ll soon be seen in a big screen treatment of the old 21 Jump Street TV show.

Nick Nolte (Warrior) SAG nominee | Nolte was previously nominated for Best Actor for 1991’s The Prince of Tide (for which he won the Golden Globe) and 1998’s Affliction (for which James Coburn won Best Supporting Actor). The plot of Warrior, in which Nolte is a kickboxing coach and father caught in the middle of his grown sons’ sibling rivalry, rings superficially similar to 2010’s The Fighter, which helped Christian Bale snag the trophy for this category last year—and Bale’s movie was a huge hit; Nolte’s less so.

Since I began writing this dossier, Plummer (above) has added a British Academy Award to his trophy case. Actually, I'm all about Christopher Plummer (above) winning an Oscar for Beginners, and I have been ever since I saw it over the summer. If he wins, I'll probably stop bitching about how he was overlooked as even an Oscar nominee for his brilliant, and award winning, performance as 60 Minutes journalist Mike Wallace in 1999's The Insider. That's partly because I have something new to bitch about in this category, and that is that Corey Stoll's much heralded, robustly deadpan performance as Ernest Hemingway in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris failed to make the final five. Sad face.

Christopher Plummer (Beginners) – BFCA, DFW, LAFC, NBR, OFCS, GG, and SAG | Winning an Oscar for Beginners might very well be the one thing in Christopher Plummer’s career that forever upstages his work in the classic 1965 blockbuster The Sound of Music. Of course, there have been many highs—as well as a few lows—in the decades between the two films. Among the highlights are a Canadian Genie Award for playing Sherlock Holmes in Murder by Decree (1979), two Tonys (Cyrano, 1974; Barrymore, 1997), and a couple of Emmys (the lead in the mini-series based on Arthur Hailey’s The Moneychangers, and the voiceovers for the animated series based on Madeline). Of course, Plummer was just nominated in this same category two years ago for playing Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station. His current role almost defies description: a gay man who comes out of the closet rather late in life only to face a terminal illness. Believe me, it’s not as horrible as it sounds—and I didn’t just ruin it for you because all of this is made abundantly clear in the first few seconds of the trailer. The story is really about how Plummer’s grown son (Ewan McGregor), having survived a household anchored by a loveless marriage, learns how to love by watching his dad claim his own life against overwhelming odds. The semi-autobiographical script was inspired by writer-director Mike Mills’s own relationship with his dad. PS: Oh yeah,  Plummer also has a key role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so it’s been a good year for him.

Max van Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) – The Swedish born octogenarian famously played chess with the Grim Reaper in Ingmar Bergman’s classic, The Seventh Seal (1957). He also worked with Bergman on Wild Strawberries and Through a Glass Darkly, among others. In 1965, he played Jesus in director George Stevens’s The Greatest Story Ever Told. His only previous Oscar nomination is for Denmark’s Pelle the Conqueror (1988), for which he won the European Film Award as well as the leading film awards for both Sweden and France. He co-starred opposite Liv Ullman in Swedish director Jan Troell’s The Emigrants, which earned a 1972/73 Academy nod for Best Picture in addition to a Best Actress nod for Ullman. Some of his most famous American films include Hawaii (1966), The Exorcist (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Voyage of the Damned (1976), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Snow Falling on Cedars (1999), and Minority Report (2002). He and Plummer co-starred in 1984’s Dreamscape.

…Okay, is there any award that Christopher Plummer has not already won? I would say he is the safest bet among any of the acting nominees. Not only is he going into the final stretch with the lion’s share of pre-Oscar prizes, his previous main competition, Albert Brooks in Drive, is out of the race. Try to forget the fact that Plummer is also a strong sentimental favorite and that his role is a little maudlin and/or politically correct. The performance really is as good as all these other awards seem to suggest. After all, Beginners came out more than a half a year ago (in early June), yet the critics are still praising Plummer these many months later. There has to be a reason, right? I think Nolte, who’s been close to winning an Oscar on two other occasions, would be a bigger threat if his film had not been such a bust at the box office. As it is, there’s not much of an achievement. I also support Jonah Hill’s nomination for Moneyball. I liked seeing him play a likable character rather than the gross snarky juvenile frat boy types he’s played in the past. Being the young guy in school of well-seasoned vets might be his trump card, but that seems a bit of a stretch at this point in the year of Plummer.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

The Descendants by Alexander Payne w/Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming) – WGA nom and USC nom [Update: The Descendants was announced as the USC Scripter award winner on Saturday, February 18th; it also won honors from the WGA on Sunday, February 19th.]

Hugo by John Logan (based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick) – WGA nom

The Ides of March by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (based on Willimon’s Farragut North)

Moneyball by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin w/Stan Chervin (based on the book by Michael Lewis) – WGA and USC noms

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan – USC nom | British Academy Award

…This is the one category in which The Descendants is likely to win.  It will be a nice consolation prize for Payne, who won in this same category for 2004′s Sideways.  Of course, the team of Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin is formidable: Sorkin won last year for The Social Network, and Zaillian boasts a win for 1993′s Schindler’s List (and nominations for  1990′s Awakenings and 2002′s Gangs of New York); meanwhile Heslov and Clooney previously collaborated on, and received nominations for, 2005′s Good Night and Good Luck. Logan is a previous nominee for The Aviator (2004) and Gladiator, which won the 2000 Oscar for Best Picture.

Since I loved Moneyball, I’d be thrilled if Zailian and Sorkin won, but I’d also cheer a victory for the writers of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy just because they took a dense and complex text and managed to make something relatively easy to follow by playing around with the chronology and scraping away some of Le Carre’s frequently tedious prose. On the downside: O’Connor, Straughan’s longtime love, passed away before the film was released.

Woody Allen's 15 nods for Best Original Screenplay make him Oscar's most nominated scribe (w = win): 1. Annie Hall (1977) w, 2. Interiors (1978) 3. Manhattan (1979) 4. Broadway Danny Rose (1984) 5. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) 6. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) w, 7. Radio Days (1987) 8. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) 9. Alice (1990) 10. Husbands and Wives (1992) 11. Bullets Over Broadway (1994) 12. Mighty Aphrodite (1995) 13. Deconstructing Harry (1997) 14. Match Point (2005), and 15. Midnight in Paris (2011). With 11 nominations and 3 wins (for The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, and The Apartment), Billy Wilder is the Academy's second most nominated screenwriter.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius (ineligible for WGA award)

Bridesmaids by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig – WGA nom

Margin Call by J.C. Chandor

Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen – WGA nom

A Separation by Asghar Farhadi

…I’m glad J.C. Chandor earned a nod for Margin Call, but it’s not a movie that I realistically imagine watching again though I might be tempted, thanks to some of the wonderful performances (Zack Qunito, Kevin Spacey, and Jeremy Irons).  Also, as much as I love Kristen Wiig (as well as Melissa McCarthy and Maya Rudolph), I think there is even less chance that I would be willing to sit through Bridesmaids again. I’m happy that Bridesmaids was such a huge success for all those involved, but I don’t think it’s a movie for the ages.  Some people might argue that it will be hard for Hazanavicius to snag an Oscar for the screenplay of a silent film, but what’s so big about that? First of all, all movies have to have a blueprint of some sort, and that’s  all a screenplay is: a blueprint. Plus, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. The 1956 Oscar in this category was awarded to, yes, a silent French film entitled The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse)–and it wasn’t even a full feature-length film, clocking in at a mere 34 minutes. My problem with The Artist is that it isn’t that original as it liberally cribs from a whole host of movies including A Star is Born, Singin’ in the Rain, and Citizen Kane, among others. Okay, sure, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris looks to the past for inspiration but only as a means to an end, and not as an end to itself. Speaking of Allen, not only is he Oscar’s most nominated screenwriter, he’s a two-time winner; moreover, he’s a two-time winner (Annie Hall, 1977; Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986)  whose victories have come in years in which his nominated efforts were also up for Best Picture. With that in mind, I think he’s the writer to beat. [Since I first posted this, Allen had won Best Original Screenplay honors from the Writers Guild of America.] Also, keep in mind that since Allen does absolutely no campaigning, and doesn’t even show up to accept awards, a win for him means people are generally moved by the work; no more, no less. I know some people are rooting for A Separation, but I think that film is full-well destined to win Best Foreign Language film, so I don’t think there’s a rush to honor it in this category as well.

ODDS and ENDS…

Will the 5th time be the charm for The Tree of Life's Emmanuel Lubezki? He's a two time ASC winner, whose four previous Oscar nominations are for Children of Men (2006), The New World (2005; also for director Terrence Malick), Sleepy Hollow (1999), and A Little Princess (1995). In the case of the latter, I would have scrapped that nomination in favor of the same year's A Walk in the Clouds. His filmography also includes the landmark Mexican film Like Water for Chocolate (1992). Someone please give this man an Oscar, already.

Best Cinematography won’t exactly be a cakewalk for The Tree of Life‘s Emmanuel Lubezki, but he’s well positioned, having recently won the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers award, but hold on because just five years ago, Lubezki won the ASC award for Children of Men. Everyone thought he had the edge for the Oscar, but he lost to Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Navarro). This is Lubezki’s 5th Oscar nomination, and I’ve been waiting for him to win ever since the Academy nominated him for  1995′s A Little Princess while ignoring his A Walk in the Clouds from the same year.  Even so, this is a category full of masters, including Janusz Kaminski (War Horse) and Robert Richardson (Hugo). The former already has Oscars for Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), and a few other nominations besides, while the latter is a previous two-time winner for  J.F.K. (1991) and The Aviator (2004). He boasts several additional nominations as well, including 1999′s breathtaking Snow Falling on Cedars. Richardson’s startlingly crisp 3-D imagery in Hugo might be a selling point–even though something about the images look oddly, coldly, inhuman. The other nominees are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Jeff Cronenweth) and The Artist (Guillaume Schiffman). The former is the son of legendary Jordan Cronenweth and was nominated last year for The Social Network; meanwhile, so, okay, where’s the nod for Darius Khondji’s gloriously burnished work in Midnight in Paris?

In the category of Best Art Direction, the Hugo team of Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo are poised to win their third collective Oscar for their massive Paris train station which is the film’s main setting. These two have won most of this year’s prizes so far, and, again, they are frequent nominees with two previous wins: 2007′s Sweeney Todd and Scorsese’s 2004 Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator.  This might very well be the Academy’s best shot at showing some love for Scorsese’s dream project, but if The Artist wins, hold on to your hats for a flat-out sweep. A lot of people expected the drab coldly functional sets of the, uhm Cold War spy thriller, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy to score a nod here. Didn’t happen, but Midnight in Paris is in the race, and it was actually filmed in Paris instead of a recreation (got that, Marty?), so that’s cool.

Best Visual Effects: It seems inconceivable that the incredibly popular Harry Potter movies have amassed a handful of nominations over the past decade without taking home a single trophy, so this is the Academy’s last chance (unless there’s an upset for Best Art Direction), but right now it seems like the fanboys are all in a frenzy over Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which looks to have the best chance of snagging the award in this category IF the fanboys are to be believed.

In Rango, Johnny Depp voices the title character, a chameleon who takes on the role of sheriff in a lawless town. If Rango wins the Oscar for Best Feature Length Animated Film, it will be a first for Paramount Pictures in this category, which has been dominated by Disney-Pixar and Dreamworks.

Best Animated Feature Film: I have a confession, and that is that I somehow managed to miss all the nominees in this category even though I had every intention of seeing both Puss in Boots and Rango. Where does the time go? Here’s what I know: the talent behind Rango includes superstar Johnny Depp and  director Gore Verbinski, the latter of whom helped the former transition from quirky indie actor to full fledged movie icon status (and Oscar nominee) with all those Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Rango was the big winner at the recent “Annie” awards (specifically for animated films–if the name doesn’t speak for itself), and Depp won a People’c Choice award for his voiceover work. Actually, Rango has pretty much dominated this category among the preOscar prizes (such as BFCA DFW, LAFC, NBR, etc.). The only film to have given it a run is Spielberg’s The Adevntures of Tintin, which isn’t even up for this award.  Two of the films (A Cat in Paris and Chico and Rita) are foreign entries (France and Spain respectively) that have been scarcely seen outside of Academy screening rooms and/or the East/West coasts, so its hard to gauge how audiences are responding. The fifth nominee is Kung Fu Panda 2, which seems a bit of a long-shot unless Academy members feel guilty for not choosing it over Wall-E three years ago. Not likely.

For a printable Oscar checklist, please click on the link, and then scroll down just a bit to the list of Best Picture nominees where there is a place to open a “Printable List” as a pdf:

http://oscar.go.com/nominees

Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara as herself (l) and as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's Lisbeth Salander (r).

When Rooney Mara isn’t forging her own potentially Oscar worthy career, she enjoys a familial connection to recent Super Bowl victors, the New York Giants. The team, which also won Super Bowls in 1987, 1991, and 2008, was founded by her paternal great-grandfather, Tim Mara. At one time, the team was owned her grandfather, Wellington Mara, before being passed to John Mara, Rooney’s uncle. Her father, Timothy, currently works as an executive for the franchise; meanwhile, her mother’s side of the family–the Rooneys–is linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers, which also won Super Bowls in 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 2006, and 2009. Claiming more Super Bowl wins than any other team, the Pittsburgh Steelers were founded by Rooney Mara’s great grandfather, Art Rooney, Sr.  Today the team is managed by her great uncle, Dan Rooney.  Apparently, Miss Rooney Mara has winning in her genes, but scoring an Oscar might very well prove more brutal than winning the Super Bowl. On the other hand, Mara’s onscreen alter-ego, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo‘s Lisbeth Salander, seems more than capable of taking care of herself. You go, Girl.

Thanks for your consideration…

Rooney Mara at the Internet Movie Database:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1913734/

Complete list of Super Bowl winners:

http://www.super-bowl-history.us/superbowl-winners-list.html

Ben Gazzara (August 28, 1930 - February 3, 2012): in his long and distinguished career onstage, in the movies, and on television, the New York native helped break new ground with the likes of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Strange One, Anatomy of a Murder, QB VII, and An Early Frost.

I was saddened to open up my computer late Friday night only to find out that Ben Gazzara had passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.   I’ve long held the opinion that Ben Gazzara was/is the best–relatively high profile–American actor to have never been nominated for an Oscar. Of course, many of us boomers remember Gazzara for his role in the TV show Run For Your Life, in which he starred as a lawyer who finds that he has a terminal disease and chucks his workaday life in favor of one lived on the edge. Each episode saw Paul Bryan in a new setting, interacting with a whole new cast of characters. The show aired from 1965 through 1968 and was created by Roy Huggins, who’d already scored big with David Jansen’s instant classic, The Fugitive (though the premise of  moving the lead character from one locale to the next was hardly unique, having been explored with Route 66, among others). At any rate, Gazzara was nominated for the Emmy award two times for the series (not bad considering it only ran three years); additionally, he was nominated for the Golden Globe all three years of the series’ run. He earned an additional Emmy nod for his work in An Early Frost, a landmark 1985 made for TV movie about AIDS. In the film, Gazzara stars with Gena Rowlands as parents dealing with the facts of their son’s deadly illness as he (Aidan Quinn) finally opens up about his homosexuality. An Early Frost was a big huge, HUGE deal back in the day, igniting discussions about AIDS before the likes of such feature films as Parting Glances (1986), Longtime Companion (1990), and Philadelphia (1993).  Gazzara finally won an Emmy for the 2002 telefilm Hysterical Blindness, which also starred Juliette Lewis, Gena Rowlands (again), and Uma Thurman. Also of special note: Gazzara co-starred with Anthony Hopkins in the TV adaptation of Leon Uris’s novel QBVII, which was one of the first–if not THE first–mini-series to air on American television back in 1974, predating both Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) and Roots (1977). QB VII earned a total of 13 Emmy nominations, winning a total of 6. The title, by the way, stands for Queen’s Bench VII, which is the name/number of a English courtroom in which a lawsuit is being waged between a respected doctor, a “suspected” former Nazi surgeon (Hopkins), and a writer (Gazzara) accused of defaming said doctor’s character. Beats the hell out of the current onslaught of shit like The Bachelor, right?

Gazzara was also an acclaimed stage actor who saw some of his best known roles go to others when Hollywood came a-knockin’. He originated the role of  sexually ambivalent “Brick” in Tennessee Williams’s classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof  but lost the role to Paul Newman in the screen version–a move which netted Newman the first of his 10 Oscar nominations (9 for acting; 1 for directing). Gazzara actually left Cat on a Hot a Tin Roof in the first year of its run, and then earned his first Tony nomination for 1955′s A Hatful of Rain. His character, “Johnny Pope,” was  subsequently played on the big-screen by Don Murray, who’d just scored an Oscar nomination for his work in Bus Stop opposite the one and only Marilyn Monroe. Gazzara’s other Tony nominations are for Hugie/Duet and a revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf  co-starring Colleen Dewhurst.

Some of Gazzara’s best known films include, The Strange One (1957), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), Capone (1975), Voyage of the Damned (1976), Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981), Road House (1989), The Spanish Prisoner (1997), and The Big Lebowski (1998). He had a brief role in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo. Gazzara also made three films for director John Cassavetes, Husbands (1970), The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976), and Opening Night (1977), the latter of which co-starred, yet again, Gena Rowlands (aka Mrs. John Cassavetes). The actor also made two films for Peter Bogdanovich: Saint Jack (1979), and They All Laughed (1981). For the former, writer Danny Peary singled out Gazzara’s performance as the best of the year per the book Alternate Oscars (1993). The latter re-paired Gazzara with no less than Audrey Hepburn, with whom he shared the screen in 1979′s (unfortunate, I think) adaptation of Sidney Sheldon’s Bloodline. Of course, They All Laughed was, is, and forever will be linked to the brutal murder of Bogdanovich’s beautiful girlfriend–and Playboy Playmate–Dorothy Stratten. I was fortunate enough to have been working at the old UA Prestonwood Creek 5 back in the early 1980′s when the production plagued film was given a brief theatrical run. It co-stars John Ritter and Patti Hansen, and is well worth viewing if you ever stumble upon it. Ben and Audrey are wonderful together. I think this is the movie in which I began seriously falling in love with Mr. Gazzara. I had taken him for granted prior to that.

Well, that’s about it for this entry. I’d just like to add that although I have not seen all of Gazzara’s films, and I know he made a few stinkers (Inchon, for instance), I can quite truthfully say that I have never seen him give a bad performance. I can’t say as much regarding the Academy’s most nominated male actor, Jack Nicholson (12 noms; 3 wins). Right? On the other hand, time and time again I find myself fixated on Gazzara, watching him and waiting to see what happens next. I do not know for sure why he never garnered one single Oscar nomination even with a fairly distinguished career that netted him plenty of recognition on stage and in television. Oh sure, there’s always a lot of political fol-de-rol, but maybe he was simply one of those great charismatic actors who was so good, and so selfless, at what he did that he made it all seem effortless, good and effortless…

Thanks Ben…

Ben Gazzara at the Internet Movie Database:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001262/

Ben Gazzara at the Internet Broadway Database:

http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=41902

^ Spencer

• Best Supporting Female Actor in a Film – Octavia Spencer (The Help)

^ Plummer

• Best Supporting Male Actor in a Film – Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

^ Davis

• Best Female Actor in a Film – Viola Davis (The Help)

^ Dujardin

• Best Male Actor in a Film – Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

The cast of The Help (left to right): Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Mike Vogel, Sissy Spacek, Ahna O'Reilly, Octavia Spencer, Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Cicely Tyson, Jessica Chastain, and Mary Steenburgen

• Best Cast in a Film – The Help

It’s tempting to think that the SAG awards are an infallible indicator of how the Oscars will go because the voting bodies of both awards have overlapping members, but winning a SAG award doesn’t always translate into Oscar gold.  That noted, I think Plummer, Spencer, and Davis are clearly well-positioned.  A lot of Oscar prognosticators like to think that winning the award for Best Cast portends the Academy’s choice for Best Picture, and that is frequently–though not always–true. For example, two years ago, the cast of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds won the top SAG award, but the Oscar for Best Picture went to Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. During the 2006/07 race, the top prizes were split between Little Miss Sunshine (SAG) and The Departed (Oscar). On the other hand, last year the Screen Actors Guild award for the cast of The King’s Speech ran counter to a seemingly all-out consensus favoring The Social Network–and on Oscar night, The King’s Speech prevailed. Of course, The King’s Speech ‘s director Tom Hooper also won the prestigious DGA award en route to the Academy. Here’s what’s up this year. The DGA has honored Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) while the SAG award for Best Cast goes to The Help, which is clearly the most popular entry among moviegoers. The trouble is, its director, Tate Taylor, has been overlooked by his peers in the Academy, and that is not usually a good sign; meanwhile, Martin Scorsese, the director of Hugo, the most nominated film of the current Oscar race, clearly did not win the DGA award though the most nominated film is generally well-positioned to sweep the Oscars. Yep, it’s still a race. Stay tuned.

Also…

^ Jessica Lange accepts her SAG award for the TV drama American Horror Story. I'm thrilled for this chapter in Lange's career even though I found the series hard to sit through at times.

• Best Female Actor in a TV Drama – Jessica Lange (American Horror Story)

^ Lifetime Achievement winner Mary Tyler Moore (above) was presented with her award by none other than Dick Van Dyke. The montage highlighting Moore's career inciuded all the familiar highlights: The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show--and its many spinoffs--as well as her Oscar nominated turn in Ordinary People, but failed to single out her Emmy nominated performance as NBC News correspondent and breast cancer survivor Betty Rollin in First, You Cry (1978), the landmark telefilm that helped bring the issue of breast cancer to the forefront of mainstream culture.

• Lifetime Achievement Award – Mary Tyler Moore

For more on the Screen Actors Guild Awards:

http://www.sagawards.org/

I’m not saying that either film is a shabby device by any stretch, but to me they both just kind of sit there on the screen in their own admiration of themselves. The horror, the horror. Luckily, there are also some wonderful movies that are actually about human beings and great big  philosophical questions about the nature of life, etc. The remaining Best Picture nominees—for a total of 9–are The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and War Horse. Of these remaining seven, prospects of winning top honors are slim for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Moneyball, and War Horse. The reason is because the directors of those films have not likewise been nominated by their peers in their specific branch of the Academy, and it is next to impossible for a movie to win Best Picture without the director also being nominated. It’s been 22 years, in fact, since Driving Miss Daisy managed such a feat—and Driving Miss Daisy at least had the advantage of being the year’s most nominated film, which helped because it meant that as it was nominated in so many categories it would likely be seen by more voters.  In this bunch, I would say that The Help, by virtue of being the biggest money earner, might still have a shot. The downside is that The Help boasts only 4 nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress (Viola Davis), and two bids for Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer).  Before I move on to the films that are the seemingly stronger contenders,  I will say congratulations to Scott Rudin for pushing his Extremely  Loud and Incredibly Close to the winners circle.  All the early buzz deteriorated into mixed reviews and lukewarm box office even with the likes of marquee names such as Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock.  Yes, it’s up for Best Picture—but that’s just about it. A whopping two nods: Best Picture (still something about which to brag I guess) and Best Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow).  Rudin’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo also made only a minor splash despite loads of publicity, but, indeed, snared one nomination in a major category.

Okay, so the five films most likely to win Best Picture are  (alphabetically): The Artist (10 noms), The Descendants (6 noms), Hugo (11 noms), Midnight in Paris (4 noms), and The Tree of Life (3 noms).  The nominated directors are  Hazanavicius, Alexander Payne, Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Texas’s Terrence Malick.  Of course, Scorsese and Allen already have Oscars in this category (for The Departed and Annie Hall, respectively); Payne was previously nominated  for  2004’s Sideways, and  Malick’s previous bid was for 1998’s The Thin Red Line.  I have to say that even though I’m not a big fan of either The Artist or Hugo, there is much delight to be found in this line-up. My three favorite movies of 2011 were The Help, Midnight in Paris, and The Tree of Life, so I’m good.  It’s especially gratifying to see The Tree of Life up for Best Picture and Best Director since it was overlooked by both the producers and directors guilds. Also, I’m happy for Allen’s success. His last nomination was for the Match Point screenplay; I don’t think he’s been nominated for directing since 1994’s Bullets Over Broadway, and he hasn’t had a film in the Best Picture lineup since Hannah and Her Sisters; that was way back in 1986. Midnight in Paris isn’t only Allen’s biggest hit in years and years, it’s,  I don’t know, a return to form, or maybe it’s just magical. There are a few high profile omissions; Spielberg, of course, for War Horse; Stephen Daldry for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Daldry has been nominated for his every film effort up to this point: Billy Elliot, The Hours, and The Reader. Hmmm: 4^th time isn’t the charm, huh Stevie? David Fincher was a DGA nominee for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but that apparently was a fluke.

Okay, the nominees for Best Actress are Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help),  Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn). I must say, I think there’s something almost perverse about Williams being nominated for playing cinema’s most legendary blonde bombshell who never earned an Oscar nod in her own right. Still, Williams’s nod is hardly a surprise. If there is a surprise in this bunch, it is that Rooney Mara is “in,” and Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk about Kevin) is not.  That noted, I still think the heavyweights are Close, Davis, and Streep—even so, Close will needs lots of sentiment to help her outshine Streep and Davis. I haven’t yet seen We Need to Talk about Kevin, mainly because as far as I know it has not yet opened in Dallas, so I can’t say whether Swinton was robbed. Well, she already has an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress: Michael Clayton, 2007), so she’s not hurting, exactly. Since this race seemed all but solidified two months ago, any disappointment seems moot. That noted, I have to say that I would have loved for Charlize Theron to have been recognized for her work in Young Adult.  Her performance as a deluded, self-centered writer who tries to get past the train wreck her life has become by breaking up the marriage of her high school sweetheart—if they were ever really sweethearts in the first place—packed a wallop, and it was the one performance by anyone of either sex that most surprised me in 2011. Theron had to make do with a Golden Globe nod as did Swinton, and like Swinton, Theron already has an Oscar (for the no holds barred Monster), so, again, it’s hard to feel too badly for her except that I do because I think her role in Young Adult as a different kind of monster (from the serial killer in the earlier film) could have gone so badly without just the right mix of talent, brains, and good looks that Theron personifies. I’d also like to give a huge shout-out to The Help’s Emma Stone. With all the hoopla for Davis, Chastain, and Spencer, Stone has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle as the character who makes a lot of things happen in The Help. This is the second year in a row in which Stone has done knockout work (such as Easy A) without scoring with the Academy. Well, with a career such as the one she’s building now—and she’s only 23—Stone is due to make something award worthy sooner or later.

George Clooney (^) received his third Best Actor nomination for The Descendants. Interestingly, Clooney has only ever been nominated for movies released during odd-numbered years. He won Best Supporting Actor for 2005's Syrianna; he was nominated as Best Actor for 2007's Michael Clayton, followed by 2009's Up in the Air, and now 2011's The Descendants. Frankly, I would have nominated him for 2000's O Brother Where Art Thou and 2010's The American, but I guess the timing wasn't right.

The Best Actor race is between  Demián Bichir  (A Better Life), George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and Brad Pitt (Moneyball). Okay, so there are two major upsets in this race. The first is Leonardo DiCaprio (J.Edgar). I frankly thought DiCaprio was brilliant—brilliant, I say—as the legendary and legendarily shady, apparently demon plagued—chief of the FBI. On the other hand, the film was, in a word, laughable. In two words it was laughably horrendous.  Plus, it was a bit of a box office disappointment (mainly I would say because the reviews just didn’t match the hype, save for Leo’s performance specifically).  I’m also thrilled that I can now safely decline to watch Michael Fassbender impersonate a sex addict in Shame. My position was that I would watch the film if Fassbender were nominated. My reluctance has nothing to do with sexual addiction, per se, but with the idea of spending two hours with an addict of any kind. I’ve done it so much in my own lifetime  that I no longer find it fascinating. Plus, the two performers that slipped by DiCaprio and Fassbender are pretty worthy: Bichir in  the perfectly realized  A Better Life  and Oldman in an unflinchingly cold look at the intricacies of Cold War paranoia. Since Oldman has been shut out of much of the year end hoopla, his nomination is a welcome surprise, and I’ll go so far as to add that it is a triumph of substance over hype. That noted, the other three actors are the heavyweights–Clooney, Dujardin, and Pitt—and look closely: Clooney is also nominated for co-writing The Ides of March (Best Adapted Screenplay), and Pitt is listed as not only one of the producers of Moneyball, he is also one of the producers of The Tree of Life (though a final determination about which of that film’s many producers’ names will appear on the next ballot is pending ; I believe Academy rules only allow three per picture). The last casualty worth mentioning is Ryan Gosling who starred in Drive and The Ides of March. I think Gosling did strong work in two well-liked and/or lauded films, but I don’t  think either was enough of a breakout hit to  generate the momentum to make a nomination a certainty; therefore, he likely suffered from split voting.

If there is a surprise in the Best Supporting Actress race, it’s the appearance of Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids, and even she isn’t that big of a surprise since she’s already earned a SAG nomination—and why not, she’s a regular scene stealer and an absolute delight in the role of an  assertive  female with a healthy appetite  for romance. I guess what makes it somewhat surprising is that after weeks, if not months, of speculation that Bridesmaids would sneak into the Best Picture race,  it was cast aside, leaving only nominations for McCarthy and the screenplay by SNL ‘s Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumola. McCarthy is vying for the Oscar against the likes of the aforementioned Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer (the latter seemingly poised to win) in addition to Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs). McTeer is a previous Best Actress nominee for 1999’s Tumbleweeds. You should also check out her Songcatcher (from 2000) if you have not yet done so. Some Oscar insiders would likely argue that Shailene Woodley (playing George Clooney’s teenage daughter in The Descendants) was unjustly overlooked. I would not be one of those people. I thought she was good; I did not think she was great. As I noted on my blog, I would have been happy if this category were full of nothing but women from The Help: Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, Bryce Dallas Howard, and even Cicely Tyson (a strong performance in a role that is barely more than a cameo).

^ Nick Nolte has earned his third Oscar nomination for playing the father/coach of two brothers who compete in the thrilling world of martial arts. When the movie first came out, skeptics zeroed in on the superficial similarities between it and 2010's The Fighter, which was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (David O. Russell); it won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo) and Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale). Though Nolte is up against legend and sentimental favorite Christopher Plummer, his nomination is still a nice touch and might generate interest in a film that never found its audience while playing in theaters.

The Best Supporting Actor race is a mixed-bag. Oh sure, there’s frontrunner Christopher Plummer (Beginners), but where is presumed candidate number 2  Albert Brooks as one of the baddies in Drive, a Ryan Gosling vehicle—so to speak—that was shut out in almost every category (it snagged a nod for Sound Editing)?  How that happened is beyond me, but I guess the problem wasn’t necessarily with Brooks; it appears the Academy just didn’t like the movie on almost any level. Instead, Plummer will duke it out with Kenneth Branagh (as Laurence Olivier in My Week with Marilyn), Jonah Hill (Moneyball),  Nick Nolte (Warrior), and the aforementioned Max von Sydow.  Well, isn’t this one grizzled looking batch of veteran nominees?  82 year old Plummer received his first nomination two years ago for The Last Station; Max von Sydow, also 82, was previously nominated for 1988’s Pelle the Conqueror; Nolte, 60, has two Best Actor nominations to his credit (The Prince of Tides, 1991; Affliction, 1998). I would say that the third time might be the charm for him, but Plummer looks unstoppable at this point. Next to those guys, Kenneth Branagh, a mere 51, is practically a toddler. He has a batch of nominations for directing and starring in Henry V (1989) and for scrupulously adapting Hamlet for the big screen in 1996. The newcomer here is 28 year old Jonah Hill, who’s only been working professionally in movies since 2004. Not bad. I don’t know that any of these nominees is a surprise because they’ve all been getting buzz in one form or another, but the omission of Brooks still comes as a bit of a shock. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t say that I was disappointed that Corey Stoll’s brilliant reckoning of Ernest Hemingway in Allen’s Midnight in Paris was overlooked. Although Stoll received plenty of early buzz—including an Independent Spirit nomination—it was hard to sustain against a lineup of esteemed vets.  Too bad. Stoll really delivers the goods as he serves up a slice of what moviegoers expect Hemingway to be like. It’s both seemingly dead on while also being a bit of a put-on. How is that possible? Also SOL:  Andy Serkis, who generated a huge goodwill campaign for his motion capture performance as the central ape figure in the Planet of the Apes reboot. Also forgotten: Patton Oswalt as the not so hapless schmoe who becomes Theron’s backup buddy in Young  Adult.

Okay, that’s what’s up in the major categories. Hugo and The Artist dominate the technical categories though Emmanuel LubezkI (The Tree of Life) will be hard to beat for Best Cinematography. The Conspirator, another 2011 film that I truly loved, was also ignored, but I’m not surprised at this point. I just don’t think it was flashy enough either for most filmgoers or the Academy. Here are a few more items of note: there are only two Best Song nominees (“Man or Muppet from The Muppets and “Real in Rio” from Rio), so why bother? The latter is by none other than Sergio Mendes, yes, that Sergio Mendes from back in the day (with the Brazil 66 outfit).  There are five nominees for Best Feature Length Animated Film, a rarity—but one of the five isn’t Cars 2, which famously lost to Happy Feet back in 2006. Of course, the sequel to Happy Feet is also not on the list, but Rango, Puss in Boots, and Kung Fu Panda 2 are—along with Chico and Rita and A Cat in Paris. Sounds fun.  I’m saving my last shout-out for writer-director J.C. Chandor. His Margin Call, starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and  Zachary Quinto, among others,a taut piece of filmmaking about the 2008 banking crisis, was a hit with critics, but a hard sell with moviegoers. Luckily, Chandor was not forgotten among screenwriters, but who wants to compete against a legend like Woody Allen or a powerhouse like Wiig whose film was a blockbuster, but, hey, that’s what makes the Oscars so much fun.

Thanks for your consideration…

Printable List of Oscar nominees:

http://a.oscar.go.com/media/2012/pdf/nominees.pdf

Variety.com Oscar scorecard of films with multiple nominations:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118049089/

• BEST MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY – The Artist

^ Streep

• BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA – Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

^ Williams

• BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY – Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

^ Clooney

• BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA – George Clooney (The Descendants)

^ Dujardin

• BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY – Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

^ Spencer

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Octavia Spencer (The Help)

^ Plummer

• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

• BEST DIRECTOR – Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

• BEST SCREENPLAY – Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

• BEST ANIMATED FILM – The Adventures of Tintin

• BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM – A Separation

Madonna (above) won the Globe for the song she co-composed--and sang-- for the movie about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, which she also co-wrote and directed; to clarify, she does not act in the movie. At any rate, her song will not be in contention for the Oscar as it was deemed ineligible per Academy guidelines that stress a song should be utilized throughout the body of the film rather than randomly placed in the closing credits. I've included a link to the full story at the end of this article.

• BEST SONG – “Masterpiece” – Madonna and James Harry (W./E.)

• BEST SCORE – Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

^ Morgan Freeman: Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Winner. Good job, Morgan!

No, I didn't watch the telecast, but I caught some of the red carpet coverage, and the consensus seems to be that Angelina Jolie (above) was the hottest of the hot. Charlize Theron and Reese Witherspoon also earned raves.

Did the Globes bring any clarity to this year’s Oscar race? Not necessarily. Look closer: Neither top dramatic film (The Descendants) nor top comedic film (The Artist) took honors for directing. Instead, that award went to Martin Scorsese for Hugo. Furthermore, the screenplay award went to yet another film (Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris).  That’s a lot of sharing the wealth, so no consensus just yet. I actually enjoy the Oscars most when there is a real race rather than a real no-brainer.

Also, please keep in mind that just 6 years ago, the Hollywood Foreign Press gave top honors to Brokeback Mountain, including Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Director (Ang Lee) and Best Screenplay while all but ignoring Crash–which was only nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Matt Dillon) and Best Screenplay (Paul Haggis and Ralph Moresco); however, on Oscar night, Crash was named Best Picture, so the Academy’s taste is not always in line with that of the Hollywood Foreign Press. The studios know that, by the way, so they skew their awards campaigns accordingly.

What else? Well, I think Glenn Close’s chances for finally snagging an Oscar (for Albert Nobbs) are just about kaput. A win here would have elevated her profile considerably. Of course, sentiment can work wonders, but this one now looks like a contest between Streep and Viola Davis (The Help). By the way, Close’s 5 Oscar nominations include three for Best Supporting Actress (The World According to Garp, 1982; The Big Chill, 1983; The Natural, 1984), and two for Best Actress (Fatal Attraction, 1987; Dangerous Liaisons, 1988). Close actually boasts 12 Golden Globe nominations, but her two wins are for work in television (the series Damage, and the adaptation of The Lion in Winter); meanwhile, I think promoting Michelle Williams as Best Actress in a Comedy for My Week with Marilyn is a bit of a stretch, but it’s a strategy that worked for Williams, courtesy of the Weinsteins. Williams will almost certainly snag an Oscar nomination, which I think does not bode well for Charlize Theron in Young Adult.  Wah. My thought is the Oscar roster will look something like this: Close, Davis, Streep, Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk about Kevin), and Williams. Still, I’m pulling for Theron. Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) could sneak in as well, but it’s hard to figure whom she would bump from the race at this point.

On the other hand, what a great week for Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help), with their Globe wins reaffirming their positions as front runners among the supporting candidates just a few days after winning Critics’ Choice awards. Let’s see if they can hold their leads through the SAG awards in barely less than two weeks.

George Clooney won Best Actor in a Drama right on schedule. I still think Brad Pitt has a real shot at claiming the Best Actor Oscar due to the strong work he did in two outstanding 2011 releases (Moneyball and The Tree of Life); however, I think Clooney has something in his favor that Pitt might lack, which is that Clooney has a certain “likeability” factor–and when all is said and done, Oscar voters are film professionals, yes, but they are also just people, and people vote for what they like. Simple as that. Clooney and Pitt will no doubt be joined by Jean Dujardin, and probably Leonardo DiCaprio (J.Edgar). I think the fifth slot is still very much in play, with Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Michael Fassbender (Shame), and Ryan Gosling (either Drive or The Ides of March) near the head of the pack.

Okay, I must also extend congratulations to Jessica Lange for winning Best Supporting Actress in a TV Drama series, per American Horror Story; likewise, kudos to Claire Danes for winning her second Globe in the category for Best Actress in a TV Drama series (for Homeland). If you’ll recall, Danes  was a mere 15 years old when she won her first GG for 1994′s short-lived My So-Called Life; she won last year, as well, for the telefilm Temple Grandin.

Okay, Oscar nominations are a week from tomorrow (Tuesday, January 24th); the SAG awards are Sunday, January 29th.

Thanks for your consideration…

Madonna Best Song eligibility controversy:

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/awards-campaign/posts/why-was-madonnas-masterpiece-deemed-ineligible-for-the-best-original-song-oscar

Official Golden Globes site:

http://www.goldenglobes.org/

If you haven't yet caught up with Todd McCarthy's Win Win, you owe it to yourself to add it to your list of "Must See" flicks sooner rather than later. Though released to generally laudatory reviews early last year, the film has mostly been on the back burner for much of the current awards season. This comedy-drama about a lawyer turned part-time high school wrestling coach, who schemes to mentor a teenage runaway, features typically strong performances by the likes of Paul Giamatti (r), Amy Ryan, and Bobby Cannavale as well as the stunning debut of 17 year-old Alex Shaffer (l). Btw: McCarthy's previous films include The Station Agent and The Visitor, which helped propel veteran actor Richard Jenkins to an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. McCarthy is a previous Academy nominee for co-writing the screenplay to 2009's animated hit Up.

This blog entry is all about competition among screenplays, especially as that concerns two races for adaptations. First, here are the nominees for the Writers Guild of America’s Best Original Screenplay award:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY  (alphabetized by title)

1.  50/50 by Will Reiser
2. Bridesmaids by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
3. Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen
4. Win Win by Tom McCarthy w/Joe Tiboni
5. Young Adult by Diablo Cody

Here’s a little something to keep in mind. Professional screenwriters nominate the works of their peers in both the WGA as well as the first round voting for the Oscars. Of course, the Academy’s membership is smaller, more exclusive, so securing a WGA nod does not necessarily guarantee a slot on Oscar’s final ballot. Here is something else to consider: in order for a film to be considered for the WGA prize, it must be filmed in accordance with the guild/union’s regulations. I guess what that really means is union vs. non-union projects. Every year there are a number of high profile films that do not make the cut with the WGA but find favor with the Academy anyway, so the same films are not necessarily in competition for both awards, which means there’s plenty of margin for a surprise. For example, last year, the WGA honored Christopher Nolan’s highly imaginative screenplay for Inception while the Academy favored David Seidler’s fact based The King’s Speech, which was the presumed Best Picture frontrunner. To clarify, Seidler’s script was not WGA eligible, thus the split. Even so, the WGA winner is more often than not a safe bet come Oscar time. Just ask Young Adult’s Diablo Cody. She won both awards 4 years ago for Juno. On the other hand, Woody Allen has been nominated for the WGA prize more times than he has been nominated for an Oscar; likewise, he’s won four WGA awards, plus a Lifetime Achievement thing, vs two screenwriting Oscars. Besides Annie Hall (1977) and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), he won guild prizes for Broadway Danny Rose (1984) and Crimes & Misdemeanors; the Oscars for those years went to Robert Benton for Places in the Heart and Thomas Schulman for Dead Poets Society, respectively.  This year, some of the ineligible films include The Artist, Beginners, and The Iron Lady.

Speaking of Allen, this could be another big win for him [1], but I’m not willing to count out either Bridesmaids or Win Win just yet.

WGA ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (alphabetized by title)

1. The Descendants by Alexander Payne w/Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming)
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steven Zaillian (based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts)
3. The Help by Tate Taylor (based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett)
4. Hugo by John Logan (based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick)
5. Moneyball by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin w/Stan Chervin (based on the book by Michael Lewis)

Now, here is where things get interesting for me. The USC Scripter Award, given by the Friends of the University of Southern California Library almost every awards season since the late 1980s, specifically honors screenplays adapted from books and short stories–and not, to clarify, adaptations of plays, such as 1989′s Driving Miss Daisy, which won both the Oscar and the WGA. I like the idea of the Scripter, but it’s not slam dunk as far as forecasting the Oscar. Granted, last year Aaron Sorkin won just about every prize imaginable for The Social Network; however, two years ago, both the Scripter and the WGA prize went to Up in the Air by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (from the novel by Walter Kim) while the Oscar went to Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious (from the novel, Push, by Sapphire). During the 2002/03 awards season, almost nothing seemed more certain than a win for David Hare’s adaptation of The Hours, which, again, won both the WGA and the Scripter, yet on Oscar night it was Ronald Harwood’s screen transfer of Wladyslaw Szpilman’s autobiography, The Pianist, that won the Academy’s golden statuette. Other Best Adapted Screenplay winners, such as Traffic (2000) and The Departed (2006), are based on hit movies and TV shows from other countries and are, therefore, ineligible for the Scripter.

THE 2012 USC SCRIPTER FINALISTS (alphabetized by title):

1. A Dangerous Method by Christopher Hampton (adapted from the nonfiction book A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein by John Kerr and the 2002 stage play The Talking Cure by Hampton)
2. The Descendants by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash (adapted from Kaui Hart Hemmings’ novel [itself an expansion of her first published short story, “The Minor Wars”])
3. Jane Eyre by Moira Buffin (adapted from the 1847 book by Charlotte Brontë)
4. Moneyball by Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin (based on Michael Lewis’ book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game)
5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan and author John le Carré

Okay, look closely: the only overlap between the WGA and the Scripter are The Descendants and Moneyball.  The Descendants‘s Alexander Payne already has an Oscar (for 2004′s Sideways), and he’s well positioned for yet another win as he is also a likely Best Director nominee; meanwhile, Moneyball‘s Steve Zaillian is competing against himself (for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) in the race for the WGA. Academy rules prohibit performers competing against themselves, but that rule does not apply in other races, so Zaillian might end up with a pair of Oscar nominations though he could likely cancel out himself during the final stretch.  I am definitely disappointed that The Help is not also on both lists: it’s a huge book with lots of characters and multiple points of view, yet writer-director Tate Taylor does an admirable job of streamlining and getting to the essence of it. On the other hand, I’m quite pleased that Tinker Tailor Solider Spy–ineligible for WGA honors–is in the mix. John Le Carre’s original spy novel is dense, complex, and a real challenge for readers with its various code names, flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks. Michael and I both read the book in anticipation of the movie, and we were quite pleased with the relatively smooth translation–especially since the film version begins with a sequence that the reader isn’t fully privvy to until about the midpoint in the original.  Well, we were both so pleased with ourselves, but the minutes the credits began rolling, the woman behind us intoned, “Well, I’m confused.” Read the book.

The USC Scripter winner be announced on Saturday, February 18th; the Writers Guild Awards will be presented Sunday, February 19th.

Thanks for your consideration…

[1] Since I wrote this, Allen has added a Golden Globe for Midnight in Paris to his stash of awards though he’s reportedly not enthralled by the whole brouhaha.

Variety article about WGA eligible/ineligible films:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118048150/

Writers Guild Awards:

http://www.wga.org/awards/awards.aspx

USC Scripter Awards:

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/scripter/

The Artist won more awards, but it was still a big night for audience favorite, The Help. Viola Davis (far left) won Best Actress while Octavia Spencer (far right) won Best Supporting Actress. Furthermore, the whole cast shared the award for Best Ensemble. From left to right: Davis, Jessica Chastain, Emma Stone, Allison Janney, Cicely Tyson, Ahna O'Reilly, Chris Lowell, and Spencer. Is The Help now the movie to beat for the SAG Award for Best Ensemble?

The Broadcast Film Critics Association’s “Critics’ Choice Awards” have been around since the mid 1990s; however, they’ve only been televised nationally for the last decade. Even with the TV coverage, the event doesn’t make as much of a splash with viewers as, say, the Golden Globes, which are often held on or around the same week in January. Of course, like the Globes, and the SAG awards, the Critics’ Choice Awards are often promoted as some kind of crystal ball for all things Oscars, and that is often–though not always–the case, so let’s take a look to see what we can see:

1. Best Picture – The Artist
2. Best Actress – Viola Davis (The Help)
3. Best Actor – George Clooney (The Descendants)
4. Best Director – Michael Hazanavicius  (The Artist)
5. Best Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer (The Help)
6. Best Supporting Actor – Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
7. Best Acting Ensemble – The Help
8. Best Original Screenplay – Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
9. Best Adapted Screenplay – Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin w/Stan Chervin (Moneyball)
10. Best Cinematography – TIE: Janusz Kaminski (War Horse); Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)
11. Best Art Direction – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo (Hugo)
12. Best Editing – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
13. Best Costume Design – Mark Bridges (The Artist)
14. Best Makeup – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
15. Best Visual Effects – Rise of the Planet of the Apes
16. Best Animated Feature – Rango
17. Best Foreign Language Film – A Separation (Iran)
18. Best Documentary – George Harrison: Living in the Material World
19. Best Song – “Life’s a Happy Song” (The Muppets)
20. Best Score -Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

Okay, so The Artist's Ludovic Boucer won the Critics' Choice award for Best Score, but director Michael Hazanavicius has come under fire for borrowing a significant chunk of music from Bernard Herrmann's classic score for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, starring Kim Novak (l) and James Stewart (r). Novak has even gone so far to blast The Artist in full page Variety ads, comparing the appropriation to rape. Well, I don't know about the whole "rape" part, but I do know that I recognized the use of Herrmann's music immediately (and this was before Novak spoke out publicly). Anyway, I found it distracting: it took me out of the movie I was watching. That noted, Herrmann is listed in the closing credits, so there is no ethical issue involved. Furthermore, because 80% of the film's score is original, it is still eligible for Academy consideration.

Well, perhaps, The Artist really is the pic to beat after all. Of course, just because the critics love it  doesn’t mean the Academy will love it equally; after all, last year all the critics’ groups–including the BFCA–could not get enough of The Social Network, but The King’s Speech proved to be the favorite among the guilds, that is, the people who make movies–and those accolades were in some ways better indicators of Academy outcome. My take is that The Artist, a French film that pays homage to classic American films–black and white silent films in particular–is a lot of fun, and well done for what it is, yet it suffers from a lack of gravitas or even originality for that matter. Scene after scene plays like something almost too familiar: Singin’ in the Rain, Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, The Nutty Professor, and even Forrest Gump, among others. In the end, the movie just seems to be about other movies. I don’t get that that’s such a huge achievement, and I’m surprised that so many film critics have fallen all over themselves to honor something so derivative. To clarify: I don’t think the actual filmmakers ever intended for their whimsical pastiche to be a major awards contender, but the minute star Jean Dujardin won Best Actor at Cannes, and the Weinstein brothers secured U.S. distribution, the movie was set-up to be prime Oscar bait, thereby inviting as much skepticism as praise.

Otherwise, I’m glad to see Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer front and center in their respective categories. The Oscar for Best Actress still seems very much up for grabs, mainly between Davis, Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), but maybe the tide is turning in Davis’s favor. I’d like that, but it’s too early to start making bets.  Also, I’m glad to see Spencer getting attention after being overshadowed by her co-star Jessica Chastain in much of the year-end voting. My hunch is that the Best Supporting Actress Oscar will go to either Chastain or Spencer. Of course, Chastain has had a remarkable year, but Spencer’s performance is wonderful in a “bigger than life” kind of way. Actually, Spencer and Chastain make a great pair in their many scenes as Spencer’s no-nonsense Minny has her patience tested by Chastain’s ditz with a heart of gold. Furthermore, and this is not a prediction but an observation, The Help is so chock-full of glorious performances that it could be the start and finish of the Best Supporting Actress slate, what with the likes of Chastain and Spencer, as well as Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, and Bryce Dallas Howard.  I’d love to see that happen, honestly.

In spite of George Clooney’s Best Actor win for The Descendants, I still think Brad Pitt is the “upset” about to happen. Let’s see how it goes with the Globes.  It also looks as though Christopher Plummer is unbeatable, and that’s not a bad thing because Beginners is a wonderful movie. Have you seen it? Have you seen the trailer at least?  Also, what about that tie for Best Cinematography? Oh sure, Lubezki is clearly the favorite at this point in the game; meanwhile, Kaminski, with whom Lubezki tied, isn’t even nominated for the guild award. I also think Robert Richardson (Hugo) is looms as a possible spoiler come Oscar night.

Btw: Plummer is being referred to as an Oscar nominee in this clip for his performance in 2009′s The Last Station.

Okay, the Globes are next. I also plan follow up entries on the ASC awards as well as a comparison-contrast between the Writers Guild and the USC Scripter awards.

Thanks for your consideration…

The official site of the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s “Critics’ Choice Awards”:

http://www.criticschoice.com/

Entertainment Weekly article about Kim Novak, Bernard Herrmann’s music from Vertigo, and The Artist:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/09/kim-novak-slams-the-artist-for-using-vertigo-theme-artist-director-michel-hazanavicius-responds/

1. Jeff Cronenweth (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
2. Hoyte van Hoytema (Tinker Tailor Solider Spy)
3. Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life)
4. Robert Richardson (Hugo)
5. Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)

Okay, if–and that’s a big “if”–there is a glaring omission, it is that of Janusz Kaminski for Spielberg’s War Horse.  We finally saw War Horse yesterday, and it’s a pretty good movie, but not a great one. One thing I’ll give credit to Spielberg and Kaminski for is that the movie was reportedly shot on film, bucking the trend to shoot digitally, and it looks amazing. In interviews, Spielberg even boasts that there are very few CGI shots in the whole film. In other words, much of the movie’s spectacle was created live and in camera rather than produced later in the lab.  That’s way cool, but I do think there is something a bit “off” in that this film, which is about WWI, feels less like a movie shot on location today and more like a movie about WWI as it would have been made in Hollywood during the 1930s, ’40s, or ’50s, and I do not know if that is a good thing or not. It seems strangely retrograde. That noted, I must, of course, add that if War Horse had come out in the early-to-mid 1930′s it would have been in black and white.

This is all the commentary I have time for tonight, but I definitely have more to add. There is a lot going in awards land over the next several days, and I hope to cover most of it.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the only film among the current crop of DGA nominees that features a woman as one of its protagonists, but look closely at this image, which is currently featured on the Internet Movie Database: the male character played by Daniel Craig is featured more prominently than is the female played by Rooney Mara. Why?

Okay, boys, girls, and everything in between, the Directors Guild of America has spoken.  Here are the current DGA nominees for feature films:

1. Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
2. David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
3. Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
4. Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
5. Martin Scorsese (Hugo)

Let’s unpack this: if there is a surprise inclusion, it has to be David Fincher.  This is actually Fincher’s third time in the race (for feature films). Just last year, he was in the running for The Social Network; three years ago, he received his first nod–for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. (He also has a pair of nominations for his work in commercials.)  I frankly believe Fincher was robbed when he was glossed over for awards recognition for Zodiac, but I digress. Nonetheless,  his propensity for dark material (Zodiac, Seven,  and Fight Club)  made him an ideal choice to make an American film based on Stieg Larsson’s international best seller about a disgraced journalist who teams with the titular character to solve a 40 year old mystery at the behest of a old moneyed Swedish industrialist.  To clarify, the late author’s trilogy had already been made into a series of Swedish films and/or mini-series that had even been nominated by the Academy. To further clarify; Fincher’s film, though designed for American audiences, is still set in Sweden with a mix of American, English, and Swedish actors.  Though highly anticipated for the better part of a year, Fincher’s film has not proven to be a box office blockbuster, and the critics–despite some high profile raves–have been all over the map: some praise the movie for actually being closer to the book than the Swedish films while others complain about changes in the last act and, perhaps, a softening of some of the material, especially the presentation of the female protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker with a brutal background who doesn’t have much use for people. My own take is that the material is dark, but I’ve seen darker, and as a whodunit, it’s a bit clunky though packed with surprises.

On the other hand, since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was just nominated for a Producers Guild Award last week, maybe Fincher’s nod here isn’t such a surprise.

There are two other relative surprises: Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese. Both men have several DGA nominations, and have won at least once each; both also have DGA lifetime achievement awards. This is Allen’s fifth DGA nomination The others are for Annie Hall (1977-w), Manhattan (1979), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). This is Martin Scorsese’s 8th nomination. He won for  2006′s The Departed. He was also nominated for Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), and The Aviator (2004). He boasts another win, as well, for his work on the pilot episode of  HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Allen’s nomination is a bit of a surprise because even though his film has always seemed like it could very well figure into the Best Picture race, depending on how many nominee ultimately figure in the race,  many prognosticators believed that Allen would have to be satisfied with a nomination for his screenwriting rather than his directing. This nomination, on top of recent nods from the PGA and the WGA,  seems to show that both Allen and his film are definite contenders. Scorsese is a bit of a surprise in that Hugo is arguably the closest thing to an animated film to ever compete for the DGA prize; on the other hand, by all accounts, the movie was shot like a traditional feature film–in 3D–with “live” actors on sets designed by Oscar winner Dante Ferretti (The Aviator, and Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street), so maybe it’s not an animated film. I guess I need to go and see it for myself, and I will–right after I see War Horse.

Speaking of War Horse, Steven Spielberg didn’t make the DGA final cut, nor did Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) or Tate Taylor (The Help). I’m not willing to count Spielberg or Malick out of the race–for the Oscar–just yet. Even so, Spielberg already has three competitive DGA awards (The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan), plua a Lifetime Achievement thing, so he can’t be smarting too badly over this little snub.  My guess is that Taylor, already a Writers Guild nominee for adapting Kathryn Stockett’s novel for the screen, might have to “settle” for “only” a screenplay nomination come Oscar time.

Here’s why the guilds (including the SAG, the DGA, the WGA, and the ASC) are important. Unlike, say, all the critics’  groups, guild members are basically working members of a given profession: actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, etc. Likewise, the Academy is made up of film professionals (okay, the organization includes many retirees, but I digress). Here’s what you have to keep in mind. The first round of Academy voting goes something like this: actors nominate actors, directors nominate directors, etc. Everyone gets to vote for Best Picture; I believe there is some kind of committee that handles Best Foreign Film; therefore,  some of the same people who vote for the guild awards will also be on board to nominate films in specific categories. Of course, Academy membership is much more exclusive than guild membership. For example, the DGA consists of members who work in feature films, television, and apparently commercials. Membership in the directors branch of the Academy is pretty much limited to directors who work primarily in film; nonetheless, there is every reason to expect some overlapping of nominees, but there is almost always some variation between any given guild and the Academy’s picks. For example, last year Christopher Nolan was nominated by the DGA for Inception, but he was overlooked by the Academy (though his film was not). In his place, the Academy opted for Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit redo; otherwise, the two groups were in-sync: Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech-w), Daren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David O. Russell (The Fighter), and the aforementioned David Fincher.

The DGA is a great big deal within the industry because there have only been six times, since the late 1940s, in which the winner of this particular guild prize did not also go on to win the Oscar; likewise, the Academy typically awards Best Picture and Best Director to the same film. The last DGA winner to not win with the Academy was Chicago‘s Rob Marshall (during the 2002/03 awards season); he lost the Oscar to Roman Polanski (The Pianist) though Chicago still won the Oscar for Best Picture. Of course, during the 1985/86 race, no less than Mr. Spielberg won the DGA for The Color Purple even though he was overlooked by the Academy, which instead lavished its prizes on Sydney Pollack and his film Out of Africa.  More recently, Ang Lee won the Academy Award and the DGA for Brokeback Mountain (2005), but Lee’s movie lost the top Oscar to Crash. Thank god.

Of the current bunch, I’d say Fincher is the dark horse.  Other than that, it’s a hard one to call. I think it would be fun if the Academy nominated Allen, Scorsese, and Spielberg just because the three of them are arguably the three most celebrated American directors of the last 30-40 years, and it would make a great showdown if they were all nominated at the same time.  I can see the cinephiles drooling now. Stay tuned.

Thanks for your consideration…

The Directors Guild of America:

http://www.dga.org/