The 2012 Oscar candidates for Best Picture are:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Glose
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
Tree of Life
War Horse
I've seen all but The Help. Of those listed - and don't worry, I won't launch into a verbose analysis of them all now - I think that The Artist is my favorite and the one I'll be rooting for. I liked Tree of Life a lot, and Hugo a healthy amount, but I don't see Tree taking it (I'd be happy if it did, though, because as a holistic work of cinema, I think it's incredibly strong).
I'll be absolutely pissed if War Horse takes top prize. I dragged myself to that and Extremely Loud yesterday (didn't want to see either, but I felt compelled to because of the nominations). Extremely Loud didn't get great critical reception, but I loathed it less than I did War Horse, which was already cresting Top 10 lists before it even premiered.
War Horse is utter crap. To sound like a critic - and I would bet good money that someone's said this before - it has zero horse power. It's a dull, drag of a movie where the director's hand is as visible as the fifteen hand horses. The music swells into a crescendo at the most obvious moments, and the instruments playing in the background might as well be swapped out for Spielberg's voice, urging the audience to, "cry now, please, and enjoy this touching moment." Only, the moments aren't touching. They're saccharine, phony, and strive to be manipulative. "We need to feel good here, so here's Albert's dim-witted friend cracking a joke and sharing in the Joey love." And before you get on my case, I'm not knocking the story or its sentiments. I was fortunate enough to see the play and was absolutely blown away by it - a kid watching theatre for the first time, marveling at what was unfolding before my eyes. But the movie's not the play. It's weak drivel, an example of a filmmaker relying on technical crutches (music, lighting, and a properly focused teary eye) to engender a response from the audience. Spielberg produced a sleeper here, and I'd hate to see it take the cake.
Let's take a look at the writing nominations, since we're obviously a collective of writers here (and as one of our readers, I imagine you're into that, too).
Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I have been less proactive about seeing the nominees in the above categories as I should have been, so I can only comment from experience on six of them. For our purposes now, I want to focus on the original works primarily. I was lukewarm on Midnight in Paris - bits of it I thought were fairly predictable or easy, not that I'd ever try to tell the master how to write. Woody Allen has an incredible career and one I won't question; this film of his, though, while enjoyable, doesn't top my list.
I actually love that Bridesmaids is on there, and while The Artist is my favorite among the Best Picture nominees, I wouldn't mind seeing it lose out to Bridesmaids. For one, Bridesmaids is a welcome nod to the ever under-represented comedy genre. More so, it's also great recognition for women. Working in theater, I hear all too often about the lack of opportunities for women writers. Neither Wiig nor Annie Mumolo are exclusively writers, but their nomination pleases me in a way few others do. I hope they take it home, since Bridesmaids was both a commercial and critical success - and a last minute addition to many pre-nomination prediction lists. I think they've earned it.
What are your thoughts to the nominations?
