So a quick note on Director....
It looks like it might go to Alfonso Cuaron, and he is a terrific director and Gravity is an amazing cinematic experience but the directorial choices that Steve McQueen makes for 12 Years a Slave are utterly brilliant. That scene ****SPOILERS**** where Northup is left hanging while ordinary life continues around you is just one of the scenes where McQueen refuses to let you look away or gives you an easy edit or cut to make the audience more comfortable. Slavery-era Louisiana is evoked as brilliantly as space is in Gravity. But in some ways before of the films being lost in space is more comprehensible than existence of the cruel reality of slavery (even if it is historical fact). There is something in the way that McQueen directs the film that makes this unimaginable evil system be comprehensible and believable but also never less than shocking.
Now, let's go film by film, in reverse alphabetical order.
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET: One of those films where I spent most of the time with my jaw dropped. I know some people feel like it was lionising these time of people but I felt like it got the balance just about right. For it to work, the film couldn't just sit there in judgement, it had to show you the world through Jordan Belfort's eyes, to really show just how appalling they are. And given ***SPOILERS*** the way he hurts (at one point nearly very seriously) his family, and betrays many of his friends, surely means that no-one could see him as a sympathetic character. It is impressive how much the film goes for it and it is spectactularly put together. But it is not the most memorable or impactful film on the list.
PHILOMENA: Philomena's biggest strength for me is the way it perfectly flits between humour and sadness, getting a hard balance right. Judi Dench and Steve Coogan are fantastic and the script is terrific. However, although very moving without being depressing, it feels more solid than a really special, imaginatively made film - it doesn't need any style because the story is strong, but it means it didn't stand out for me like some of the other films this year. This is probably why I remember it as a film I was touched by and involved in while I was watching it, but don't remember it knocking my socks off.
NEBRASKA: Definitely one of my favourites on the list, and if some weird shock where 12 Years a Slave or Gravity doesn't win, then I wouldn't be upset if Nebraska won. It is a deceptively simple film but also engrossing and affecting and original. The black and white adds to the atmosphere through the terrific cinematography, the performances are universally excellent, the score complements the film perfectly and the script is hilarious. The only thing it doesn't have that the two frontrunners have is it doesn't feel quite as much as an important 'Moment' in cinema as they do.
HER: Another wonderful, original film that creates it's own truly engrossing world and makes you feel like you are there in this unfamiliar but utterly real world. Joaquin Phoenix gives a slightly more dialled down performance than he often does, and is all the better for it. My first favourite thing is that the film doesn't take the 'sci-fi' elements further than it needs to just to be clever but keeps it as related to the current time as possible whilst being distinctly futuristic. My other favourite is that the relationship between Theodore and Samantha continually develops in an unexpected and unpredictable but wholly credible way, one of the ways in which the film feels so fresh. It doesn't stand a chance of winning but I'm just glad such a distinctive film got nominated.
GRAVITY: It is pretty rare to experience a cinematic experience like Gravity (especially when seeing it in IMAX 3D). I actually felt motion sickness the first time I watched it in the early moments in space. It is still hard to believe that they didn't actually, secretly just film it in space. And it is so breathlessly gripping, I think I tense up every time I see a clip. But it's not just a visual experience, some people have been sniffy about the story, and obviously you can't start trying to think too hard about the possible plot holes, but what also worked really well for me was that the journey Ryan went on it didn't really matter whether she lived or died, either would be have been satisfying. It's truly stunning, and although I think 12 Years a Slave is the better film overall, it is as incredible achievement in film as I have seen in the last few years or am likely to see in the next few to come.
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB: This is definitely a film about the performances and Matthew McConaughey is magnificent. The story is interesting throughout and told at just the right pace. If I had one particular criticism (and it is one that is frequently true of real life stories, so is not a major flaw) is that afterwards it felt like any detail of the wider world was only allowed in if it fitted the narrative that they were trying to tell and so it sometimes felt a bit forced or blinkered. But this was only a minor thing, and not something that necessarily came to me while I was watching it, just on reflection. Another excellent film, that maybe didn't quite blow me away, but was a fascinating tale nonetheless.
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS: Nearly as tense and gripping as Gravity, which is what you expect from Paul Greengrass, and he absolutely delivers. The other thing that makes it a Greengrass film is the attempt to bring balance and set the story in the wider context without hammering the message over your head. The pure breathless rush of how the film is put together is it's strength along with the two central performances. Tom Hanks is utterly superb, probably the best I remember ever seeing him and it is awful that Christian Bale was nominated over him, and Barkhad Abdi is mesmerising in support. If there is one false note, it is that last few seconds which seemed a bit WOOOH AMERICA in a way that didn't fit with the rest of the film and left a slightly odd taste in the mouth, as if George Bush had been allowed to direct the last 10 seconds.
AMERICAN HUSTLE: And now to the film I don't get the level of love for. Am I the only person who loves Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees but doesn't think that David O Russell's last three films have been on the same level. Whereas his earlier films were original and unique, the most recent three have been solid, generally good but comparatively pedestrian, and a little meh. American Hustle is weirdly paced (basically there probably was an awesome film waiting to get out with a different edit) and the tone was all over the place - was it a caper, a ballsy comedy, a drama? It ended up as a slightly weird, and overlong mesh of all of them. Jennifer Lawrence's part seemed to have been extended to fit the fact that she'd just one an Oscar and slightly unbalanced the pacing. The last quarter or so had some truly hilarious moments and was the most enjoyable, but it was a shame that the whole film couldn't have delivered this all the way through. It just felt a bit of a disappointment and although I enjoyed it (and maybe it will improve on another watch at some point in the future), I can't understand all the love and nominations.
12 YEARS A SLAVE: I'm not sure I can put into words how utterly brilliant I thought this film was. Part of it was down to the subject matter, but I have rarely reacted so viscerally to a film, I was shaking and crying in that ***SPOILERS*** scene where Patsy is whipped over the soap and then the wounds are being cleaned after. The way that the film manages both to focus right in on a personal story in the most moving and shocking way, but also to demonstrate how the wider slavery system worked and survived is astonishing - pulling off either one to the degree it does would have been an achievement in itself. It builds a picture of slavery by convincingly portraying the way the system corrodes every person that comes into contact with it, whether free or enslaved. It is packed with startling and memorable performances from start to finish - how else to explain that the brilliant, heartstopping performances from the likes of Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard and Adepero Oduye have barely been mentioned? The direction and cinematography is perfect, making the audience face head on the horror being experienced with the use of extended takes and limited edits. It's an amazing, stunning, horrifying and moving experience that surely has to win Best Picture.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Sunday, 2 March 2014
The 'ha! I totally know more than the Academy...." 2014 Oscars preview post - part one
In my defence, I have seen all the Best Picture nominees which I get the impression is something I don't have in common with most Oscar voters, so I possibly do know more. Ok I really don't but that isn't going to stop me going on a long ramble. Oh, that will probably be a very spoilerific ramble too (but will try flag it up).
Let's start with some of the major categories, and then have a spin through the Best Picture nominees.
Best Supporting Actress:
Absolutely a category full of great performances, but I am going to get very, very angry if Lupita Nyong'o doesn't win. 12 Years a Slave is the kind of film filled with so many amazing performances I can't get out of my head (in less strong years, you could probably nominate Alfre Woodard on the basis of her one scene), and yet along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o is the standout that you really can't forget. It's not just that she nails the most horrific and upsetting scenes in such a powerful way that at one point I almost couldn't breathe, it is that she couples this with being just as affecting representing her character Patsy's everyday reality, the little escapes into dreaming, the continual crushing oppression of her situation. She is brilliant throughout and in my view the most unforgettable of all the nominated performances.
I do feel a little bad for saying I will be angry if Nyong'o doesn't win. Because it's not like the others aren't really good. Sally Hawkins is such an amazing actress in everything I have seen and she more than holds her own against Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and if it hadn't been for 12 Years a Slave, I would probably be rooting for her the most. Julia Roberts is the best thing in August: Osage County (and, for me, the only person along with Julianne Nicholson who actually got the tone right for their performance), playing along with the melodrama without going into full on scenery chewing (Meryl Streep, you are awesome in all ways, but I am really looking at you with that comment!). Jennifer Lawrence is very, very funny and a lot of fun in American Hustle (and someone how being convincing with a character that is probably supposed to be about 10 years older than she is) but good as she is, I'm assuming she only won a BAFTA because she didn't last year or something. And obviously I'm not going to get massively annoyed if June Squibb wins because she is so unashamedly and bluntly hilarious in Nebraska, and so utterly convincing with it, I'm not sure she was acting. It didn't hurt that she had some fantastic lines to deliver, and whether anyone else could have done them so well, I don't know, but compared with Nyong'o and Hawkins, I don't feel like she (or Lawrence) had enough of a varied and rounded character given to her to make her performance quite as impressive. Overall, it is the incredible range of emotions that Nyong'o brought to her performance that made it the stand out one for me.
Best Supporting Actor:
I don't think it's just because of how much I hate 30 Seconds to Mars, but I'm really not getting why Jared Leto is so far the frontrunner for this award. Not that he wasn't very good, he really was, but his should have been the truly sympathetic character and yet,(****SPOILER****) I didn't feel as badly as I expected to when Rayon died, because I hadn't really connected to the character as much as I expected. There was just something a tiny wee bit in the back of my mind that felt like I was seeing someone performing a part (which I suppose in fairness, does fit with Rayon's character) that put a thin sheet of glass between me and the character. Jonah Hill was very good in Wolf of Wall Street but not enough of a stand out for me to win. I'm not even going to say much about Bradley Cooper. Hey, he didn't spoil the film, which is an improvement on usual. And maybe he got nominated for wearing hair curlers. Oh god, I just realised Bradley Cooper and Jonah Hill are both two time Oscar acting nominees. Do you know who wasn't a two-time Oscar acting nominee? Orson Welles. Bradley Cooper has two more Oscar nominations than Joseph Cotten. I'm cracking open the vodka....
Also not nominated for two Oscars (yet) is Michael Fassbender, which brings me to the two people I would like to win, Fassbender or Barkhad Abdi. I'm going marginally towards Fassbender, just because I am still shocked he wasn't nominated for Shame. Fassbender plays just about the most vile person imaginable and yet he is never two-dimensional and somehow brings through and makes it credible that Epps truly believes the twisted logic that he bases his treatment of slaves on. One of the greatest strengths of 12 Years a Slave is the way in which it shows how this system became something that endured - how it was virtually impossible for a slave to rebel or escape. One of the most horrifying aspects (and also convincing ways in which slavery is reinforced) is how life or death, getting through the day or suffering horrific punishment, often rested on the whim of the slaveowner. But instead of giving us a one-dimensional villain, Fassbender brought through why Epps whims turn one way or the other, why he is so utterly brutal, making him a chillingly all to believable human being.
Abdi also plays brings something extra to what is a critical, but could be unsympathetic character. Not only his he absolutely magnetic, but he ensures you recognise how the character has found himself in that situation but with enough of an edge that you don't forget that what he is doing is illegal and violent. It is by delivering both these sides to the character that allows Tom Hanks (who really should have been nominated) show a more ambiguous attitude towards his captors. It is really hard to get your head round that his was Abdi's first role.
Best Actress
Clearly this is going to Cate Blanchett and she was absolutely compelling and brilliant so it is no surprise. It wasn't the easiest character to play and to nail so completely, and there are probably few other people than Blanchett who could have done this. Although Jasmine would be horrific to know in real life (both before and after her breakdown), you never stop being interested in her throughout, which is entirely down to Blanchett.
As for the others, I still can't believe Emma Thompson wasn't nominated for Saving Mr Banks. Sandra Bullock is absolutely fine in Gravity but is not as memorable as the visuals and tension of the movie. Judi Dench is lovely and perfectly pitched in Philomena but it's not as striking a performance as Blanchett. Amy Adams is the best of the cast of American Hustle, is interesting and unpredictable throughout and massively elevates the film but again she's not quite as outstanding as Blanchett. And although Meryl Streep is massively entertaining in August: Osage County, I found her performance way too over the top in a way that made it so clear this was an adaptation of a play.
Best Actor
I hope this goes to Chiwetel Ejiofor or Bruce Dern but it looks like it's going to Matthew McConaughey (which I'm probably going to repeatedly misspell!) So am I the only person who thought McConaughey was way better in Mud this year? He was so good in Mud. Not that he isn't terrific in Dallas Buyers Club, he really is, the film hinges on him and he brings everything to it and brings more dimensions to the performance and character than might have happened with other actors or other 'real life films'.
I have no idea why Christian Bale was nominated. He's absolutely fine in the film, but better than Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (definitely not) or Robert Redford in All is Lost (nope, not better than him either). I think David O Russell has dirt on half of Hollywood or something.
Wolf of Wall Street showcases one of Leonardo di Caprio's best ever performances, and he absolutely makes the film, without holding anything back. He has to make it believable that all these people would follow him into misdeed but never stop us realising how awful Jordan Belfort is, and he nails it.
But for me, the two actors who are the most powerful and the most subtle are Ejiofor and Dern. Dern is so one of those performances whose true brilliance sinks in long after the film. Woody could be a caricature but it is such a wonderfully believable and true performance. There is a slight aspect to the tone of the film that could make the audience feel like they are supposed to be mocking Woody, but there is no way that Dern will let you do that through his performance. He keeps it so restrained but also very compelling, melancholic and the right amount of charming.
But my overall vote goes to Ejiofor. Solomon Northup isn't a traditionally heroic protagonist - if he was, the film would be 12 Days a Slave. Northup has to make the decisions that allow him to survive rather than what might be considered the most noble but Ejiofor shows you every emotion of those decisions and makes him seem a greater person for it. Steve McQueen has spoken how Ejiofor is the audience's way into the film, and the way to make sure we experience the alien experience of slavery with Northup and Ejiofor absolutely nails it. He is so incredibly convincing, it's almost hard to describe his acting as you don't really notice it, you just feel the character and what is happening to him. But whether the character is trying to make his presence felt, or trying to fade as much into the background as possible, this incredible personal strength emanates from Ejiofor. He is superb and memorable and wonderful and really deserves to win.
Part 2 coming up - Director and Film.
Let's start with some of the major categories, and then have a spin through the Best Picture nominees.
Best Supporting Actress:
Absolutely a category full of great performances, but I am going to get very, very angry if Lupita Nyong'o doesn't win. 12 Years a Slave is the kind of film filled with so many amazing performances I can't get out of my head (in less strong years, you could probably nominate Alfre Woodard on the basis of her one scene), and yet along with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o is the standout that you really can't forget. It's not just that she nails the most horrific and upsetting scenes in such a powerful way that at one point I almost couldn't breathe, it is that she couples this with being just as affecting representing her character Patsy's everyday reality, the little escapes into dreaming, the continual crushing oppression of her situation. She is brilliant throughout and in my view the most unforgettable of all the nominated performances.
I do feel a little bad for saying I will be angry if Nyong'o doesn't win. Because it's not like the others aren't really good. Sally Hawkins is such an amazing actress in everything I have seen and she more than holds her own against Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and if it hadn't been for 12 Years a Slave, I would probably be rooting for her the most. Julia Roberts is the best thing in August: Osage County (and, for me, the only person along with Julianne Nicholson who actually got the tone right for their performance), playing along with the melodrama without going into full on scenery chewing (Meryl Streep, you are awesome in all ways, but I am really looking at you with that comment!). Jennifer Lawrence is very, very funny and a lot of fun in American Hustle (and someone how being convincing with a character that is probably supposed to be about 10 years older than she is) but good as she is, I'm assuming she only won a BAFTA because she didn't last year or something. And obviously I'm not going to get massively annoyed if June Squibb wins because she is so unashamedly and bluntly hilarious in Nebraska, and so utterly convincing with it, I'm not sure she was acting. It didn't hurt that she had some fantastic lines to deliver, and whether anyone else could have done them so well, I don't know, but compared with Nyong'o and Hawkins, I don't feel like she (or Lawrence) had enough of a varied and rounded character given to her to make her performance quite as impressive. Overall, it is the incredible range of emotions that Nyong'o brought to her performance that made it the stand out one for me.
Best Supporting Actor:
I don't think it's just because of how much I hate 30 Seconds to Mars, but I'm really not getting why Jared Leto is so far the frontrunner for this award. Not that he wasn't very good, he really was, but his should have been the truly sympathetic character and yet,(****SPOILER****) I didn't feel as badly as I expected to when Rayon died, because I hadn't really connected to the character as much as I expected. There was just something a tiny wee bit in the back of my mind that felt like I was seeing someone performing a part (which I suppose in fairness, does fit with Rayon's character) that put a thin sheet of glass between me and the character. Jonah Hill was very good in Wolf of Wall Street but not enough of a stand out for me to win. I'm not even going to say much about Bradley Cooper. Hey, he didn't spoil the film, which is an improvement on usual. And maybe he got nominated for wearing hair curlers. Oh god, I just realised Bradley Cooper and Jonah Hill are both two time Oscar acting nominees. Do you know who wasn't a two-time Oscar acting nominee? Orson Welles. Bradley Cooper has two more Oscar nominations than Joseph Cotten. I'm cracking open the vodka....
Also not nominated for two Oscars (yet) is Michael Fassbender, which brings me to the two people I would like to win, Fassbender or Barkhad Abdi. I'm going marginally towards Fassbender, just because I am still shocked he wasn't nominated for Shame. Fassbender plays just about the most vile person imaginable and yet he is never two-dimensional and somehow brings through and makes it credible that Epps truly believes the twisted logic that he bases his treatment of slaves on. One of the greatest strengths of 12 Years a Slave is the way in which it shows how this system became something that endured - how it was virtually impossible for a slave to rebel or escape. One of the most horrifying aspects (and also convincing ways in which slavery is reinforced) is how life or death, getting through the day or suffering horrific punishment, often rested on the whim of the slaveowner. But instead of giving us a one-dimensional villain, Fassbender brought through why Epps whims turn one way or the other, why he is so utterly brutal, making him a chillingly all to believable human being.
Abdi also plays brings something extra to what is a critical, but could be unsympathetic character. Not only his he absolutely magnetic, but he ensures you recognise how the character has found himself in that situation but with enough of an edge that you don't forget that what he is doing is illegal and violent. It is by delivering both these sides to the character that allows Tom Hanks (who really should have been nominated) show a more ambiguous attitude towards his captors. It is really hard to get your head round that his was Abdi's first role.
Best Actress
Clearly this is going to Cate Blanchett and she was absolutely compelling and brilliant so it is no surprise. It wasn't the easiest character to play and to nail so completely, and there are probably few other people than Blanchett who could have done this. Although Jasmine would be horrific to know in real life (both before and after her breakdown), you never stop being interested in her throughout, which is entirely down to Blanchett.
As for the others, I still can't believe Emma Thompson wasn't nominated for Saving Mr Banks. Sandra Bullock is absolutely fine in Gravity but is not as memorable as the visuals and tension of the movie. Judi Dench is lovely and perfectly pitched in Philomena but it's not as striking a performance as Blanchett. Amy Adams is the best of the cast of American Hustle, is interesting and unpredictable throughout and massively elevates the film but again she's not quite as outstanding as Blanchett. And although Meryl Streep is massively entertaining in August: Osage County, I found her performance way too over the top in a way that made it so clear this was an adaptation of a play.
Best Actor
I hope this goes to Chiwetel Ejiofor or Bruce Dern but it looks like it's going to Matthew McConaughey (which I'm probably going to repeatedly misspell!) So am I the only person who thought McConaughey was way better in Mud this year? He was so good in Mud. Not that he isn't terrific in Dallas Buyers Club, he really is, the film hinges on him and he brings everything to it and brings more dimensions to the performance and character than might have happened with other actors or other 'real life films'.
I have no idea why Christian Bale was nominated. He's absolutely fine in the film, but better than Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips (definitely not) or Robert Redford in All is Lost (nope, not better than him either). I think David O Russell has dirt on half of Hollywood or something.
Wolf of Wall Street showcases one of Leonardo di Caprio's best ever performances, and he absolutely makes the film, without holding anything back. He has to make it believable that all these people would follow him into misdeed but never stop us realising how awful Jordan Belfort is, and he nails it.
But for me, the two actors who are the most powerful and the most subtle are Ejiofor and Dern. Dern is so one of those performances whose true brilliance sinks in long after the film. Woody could be a caricature but it is such a wonderfully believable and true performance. There is a slight aspect to the tone of the film that could make the audience feel like they are supposed to be mocking Woody, but there is no way that Dern will let you do that through his performance. He keeps it so restrained but also very compelling, melancholic and the right amount of charming.
But my overall vote goes to Ejiofor. Solomon Northup isn't a traditionally heroic protagonist - if he was, the film would be 12 Days a Slave. Northup has to make the decisions that allow him to survive rather than what might be considered the most noble but Ejiofor shows you every emotion of those decisions and makes him seem a greater person for it. Steve McQueen has spoken how Ejiofor is the audience's way into the film, and the way to make sure we experience the alien experience of slavery with Northup and Ejiofor absolutely nails it. He is so incredibly convincing, it's almost hard to describe his acting as you don't really notice it, you just feel the character and what is happening to him. But whether the character is trying to make his presence felt, or trying to fade as much into the background as possible, this incredible personal strength emanates from Ejiofor. He is superb and memorable and wonderful and really deserves to win.
Part 2 coming up - Director and Film.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)