Film Feature: HollywoodChicago.com Picks the 2012 Oscar Winners

Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly versionE-mail page to friendE-mail page to friendPDF versionPDF version
No votes yet

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Octavia Spencer in The Help
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Photo credit: Disney

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

WILL WIN: Octavia Spencer
SHOULD WIN: Melissa McCarthy
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: Carey Mulligan

Broken record. Four for four again. If we’re right, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis will join an elite crew of Lead and Supporting Actress winners from the same film and, in many ways, that should be the biggest story the next morning. Not only that two women from the same film but that the long-racist Academy awarded two African-American women. Of the four of us, only Tim thinks Spencer should win but we can all recognize the history about to be made here.

Who should win? Matt makes the case for all of us but Tim, arguing for another Chicagoan, “The deserving winner here is clearly Melissa McCarthy, who delivered a performance that is the very definition of stellar supporting work. McCarthy’s hilarious onset improvisations resulted in the extension of her screen time and garnered spontaneous applause on three separate occasions at a screening I attended in the Chicago suburbs. McCarthy also displayed poignance in the scene where her character forces Kristen Wiig’s heroine to embrace life rather than wallow in self-pity.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Tim doesn’t even think McCarthy should have been nominated, saying, “The biggest disappointment here is Shailene Woodley not being nominated for “The Descendants.” Brian Tallerico called this the day before the nominations came out, but I didn’t want to believe it. Another year, another great performance by a young actor goes without any recognition from the Academy. Don’t get me wrong, I love Melissa McCarthy, but Woodley deserved this nomination over her.”

Tim may have love for Shailene, but Pat, Brian, and Matt find unity again, wishing that more people had dug out their screeners of “Shame” and nominated the great Carey Mulligan. Since her breakthrough in “An Education,” Mulligan has quickly risen to the ranks of the best of her generation, delivering stellar performances in “Never Let Me Go,” “Drive,” and “Shame.” She’ll be back in this group again someday. And probably win an Oscar in the near future.

BEST DIRECTOR

Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist
Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Michel Hazanvicius, “The Artist”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

WILL WIN: Michel Hazanavicius
SHOULD WIN: Terrence Malick
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: David Fincher

Look at the legends in this category. On the short list of the most influential directors of all time would be Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese. Terrence Malick and Alexander Payne deliver gems every time. And NONE of them will win. The newcomer, the Frenchman who dared to make a silent film, will take the prize.

As for who should win, we go back to the CFCA winner (surprise, surprise), picking Terrence Malick for his daring, complex, personal work on “The Tree of Life.” As Tim hopes, ““The Artist” will already get its love from the Academy with all sorts of award wins that Sunday night, the voters should give “The Tree of Life” some respect by giving its creator the top directorial award.” Matt takes it a step further, “…the real artist in this category is Terrence Malick, one of the greatest of all living filmmakers who appears in danger of being relegated to the “Lifetime Achievement Award” category occupied by underachievers such as Hitchcock. The mood that he creates onset provides a perfect space for his cinematographer to capture the sort of indelible and unexpected moments that couldn’t possibly be scripted. His film will stand the test of time long after the vast majority of this year’s Oscar bait has faded from memory.”

Who’s missing? The Academy clearly has issues with David Fincher, snubbing him for the deserved win last year for “The Social Network” and not even nominating him this year for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Matt looks a little further afield, citing the great Abbas Kiarostami for “Certified Copy.” It would take a pretty distant alternative universe for a film as small as Kiarostami’s to garner Academy attention, but a boy can dream.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants
The Descendants
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight

“The Descendants” by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, & Jim Rash
“Hugo” by John Logan
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball” by Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin
“Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

WILL WIN: “The Descendants”
SHOULD WIN: “Moneyball”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

We finally have a BIT of dissension in terms of what will win as Tim goes with a shocker, picking Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for their great work on “Moneyball,” which ALL FOUR of us think should win the Oscar (with Pat correctly calling it “the most nuanced of the nominees”). Matt, Brian, and Pat think Sorkin will not make it two years in a row, going with Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.”

As Matt says, “With “The Descendants” shut out of every other major category, I predict that its consolation prize will emerge in the Adapted Screenplay category. Payne, Faxon and Rash’s humane and perceptive approach to tackling difficult subject matter is certainly worthy of accolades, though their script falls just short of perfect.”

While Zaillian deserves to win for “Moneyball,” he also wins the shut-out award as he also should have been cited for streamlining Stieg Larsson’s book “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Patrick wishes “The Debt” has found some love, Matt looks to the underrated adaptation of the often-adapted “Jane Eyre” — “My write-in vote goes to Moira Buffini’s elegant and exquisite adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic melodrama. Instead of getting mired in the rhythms of a mannered period piece, Buffini injected a sense of freshness into the material by delving into the young heroine’s raw angst and budding passion with a youthful zest that is positively beguiling.”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classic

“The Artist” by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen
“A Separation” by Asghar Farhadi

WILL WIN: “Midnight in Paris”
SHOULD WIN: “A Separation”
SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED: “50/50”

There’s often a surprise here but does anyone think that the Academy will miss the opportunity to award one of their favorite filmmakers for the highest-grossing film of his career and one of his very few Best Picture nominees? It seems doubtful to Tim, Patrick, and Brian, but Matt goes with the sweep for “The Artist,” a definite possibility.

Brian wishes he could go out on a limb and say that “A Separation,” the most-deserving nominee here, could pull a “Talk to Her” and take home this prize. If it happens, tell your friends that HollywoodChicago.com said it was a possibility. And Brian and Matt think it SHOULD happen. Matt says, “Asghar Farhadi’s universally acclaimed drama, “A Separation,” is practically guaranteed the Foreign Film Oscar, yet it’s chiefly Farhadi’s script that makes the film such a smashing success. While so many Hollywood scripts feign objectivity while depicting a struggle between enemies, this film delves into the dizzying complexity of an escalating conflict between a husband and wife, a man and his housekeeper and two sets of parents—in which no one is entirely right or wrong. Their feelings are justified but their actions are often flawed. It’s the sort of picture that leaves the audience buzzing with provocative discussion for days and days.”

What missed out? Tim and Brian loved Will Reiser’s work on “50/50” while Matt went back to early in the year again, praising “Win Win,” and Patrick continued his love for Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia.” Wouldn’t those have been surprising, great choices? Then again, even more than most years, the Academy Awards are about anything BUT surprises.

What did we get right? What did we get wrong? Tell us what you think will win, should win, and should have been nominated in the space below Brian’s bets for the tech categories and enjoy the show!

BEST PICTURE: The Artist
BEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
BEST ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help
BEST DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanvicius, The Artist
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Descendants
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Midnight in Paris
BEST ART DIRECTION: Hugo
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Tree of Life
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Hugo
BEST EDITING: The Artist
BEST MAKEUP: The Iron Lady
BEST SCORE: The Artist
BEST SONG: The Muppets
BEST SOUND EDITING: Hugo
BEST SOUND MIXING: Hugo
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
BEST ANIMATED FILM: Rango
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Undefeated
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: A Separation

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

User Login

Free Giveaway Mailing

TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

Advertisement



HollywoodChicago.com on Twitter

archive

HollywoodChicago.com Top Ten Discussions
tracker