Normally, this being the night before the Oscar nominations are announced, I would be counting
the hours - the minutes - until they are announced in Beverly Hills at 5am EST. I have been known to actually set my alarm and turn on the tv so I can hear who got nominated and who got fucked. But not this time.
Oh, I may set the tv timer for 5am and tape the announcements but I'll be in no rush to watch them because (1) this year's nominees are fairly easy to predict and (2) there will be very few surprises (I promise you).
More to the point, none of the films - as many as 10 can be nominated for best movie -
stand out and not one of them - I repeat - NOT ONE OF THEM - is truly worthy of winning
the Oscar. Not a truly outstanding film among the bunch.
The odds on favorite to win the Oscar this year will be the film that was just honored by the
Producers Guild this past weekend: THE ARTIST from France no less and silent to boot.
Silent, that is, meaning there is no dialogue in the film, only title cards, just like in all the
films that were produced before talkies took over in the late 1920s.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed THE ARTIST. It made my top 10 list of films in 2011,
ranking No. 10. As mentioned before, the novelty of no dialogue wore rather thin about half
way thru but the ending is fabulous and all in all it's delightful. But worthy of the best film
Oscar? I don't think so.
THE ARTIST beat out the following films for the Producer's Guild award: BRIDESMAIDS,
THE DESCENDANTS, THE HELP, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, HUGO,
THE IDES OF MARCH, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, MONEYBALL and WAR HORSE.
The Academy of Arts and Sciences, which sponsors the Oscars, made a big mistake 2 years ago
when it announced it would increase the number of movies that could be nominated for best
film of the year from 5 to as many as 10. Timing, they say, is everything, and the Academy's
was piss poor because this change took place in a year when Academy members would be hard
pressed to find 5 decent films to nominate, let alone 10.
And I'm afraid that's the situation again this year. There were some brilliant, memorable
films distributed last year and they were all foreign made. Unfortunately, the clear majority
of these films are relegated to the best foreign film category and are ineligible for a best picture
nomination. (I know...I know. THE ARTIST is from France but it's silent, remember. And
the title cards are in English. So I presume that makes it eligible to win the Oscar for best film.
Confusing? Oui. Should all films, regardless of their country of origin, be eligible? Of course.
In my opinion, not one of the 10 films nominated by the Producers Guild stand out from the
rest. Most are good, none are great.
One of these was THE HELP, a wildly uneven adaptation of the best selling novel. It features
2 Oscar worthy (and probable winning) performances by Viola Davis and Octavia Spenser (best
actress and best supporting actress). However, I don't believe it will get a best pic nomination,
nor does it deserve one.
Neither does MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, Woody Allen's most successful film ever, which will be
nominated for best film. And so will Allen for best director. The best thing about it was the
the Paris location. I wanted to fly out the next day to Paris after seeing the film but that's all
I remember about it. The scenery. Talk about fluff!
The only real competition that THE ARTIST will face for the best pic Oscar will come from
THE DESCENDANTS and HUGO. George Clooney, who will probably take home the Oscar for best actor for his performance is the best thing in the former and the cinematography is the best thing in the latter film which I wanted very much to love...but didn't. I'm a big fan of Martin
Scorsese, but HUGO is not one of his memorable films. He will get a best director nomination but will lose out to Michael Hazanivicius (THE ARTIST) or to Woody Allen.
And what about WAR HORSE? Nominated for best film by the Producers Guild, its
director, Steven Spielberg, was overlooked by the Directors Guild. Still, WAR HORSE will
probably get a best pic nomination because the Academy's membership still consists of more industry retirees than not and they love big, over-the-top tearjerkers. I saw it twice. Yup.
I'm a sucker for movies about WWI and horses. I shed tears early on and was sobbing at film's end, a happy one, kana hora.
Oddly enough, the one English language film of 2011 that I saw and has stayed with me is one that will be overlooked by the Academy - BEGINNERS. Christopher Plummer will be nominated and most likely will win the Oscar for best supporting actor (deservedly so). And
maybe it will get a best screenplay nomination. But that's all.
The ratings for this year's telecast will be among the lowest in recent years unless one
film in particular is nominated for best movie.
And what is that film?
BRIDESMAIDS. Universally praised by critics, a major box office success, its fans will tune in to see if it wins (should it be nominated).
We'll know in less than 24 hours. I can hardly wait. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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