Truth In Advertising meets Oscar Best Picture Posters

As a proponent of truth in advertising, I thought it would be interesting if the posters for this year's nine Best Picture nominees reflected the movie you really got to see. Enjoy!

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Albert Nobbs

"You are the strangest man I have ever met." - Helen to Albert Nobbs

Glenn Close has the title role in the film version of Albert Nobbs and her upstairs and downstairs aren't quite what they seem. She's a 19th century woman passing as a man. After years of keeping up the charade as a male waiter, a new visitor and a new love turn Albert's world topsy turvy.

I rarely relax and enjoy stories like Boys Don't Cry or The Crying Game where one of the leads is blindsided in a doomed romance. That's a bit true here, but what surprised me is that I kept guessing how the story was going to unfold. This is a tightly edited production which served this simple story very well.

Yeah, the beers must have been very strong in Dublin for Close and Janet McTeer's characters to pass as men, but I enjoyed their perfomances anyway. I even laughed a few times.  I don't know many people who are going to absolutely love Albert Nobbs, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Simply put:  I thought this was going to be a drag, but it's a surprising little film 

Award potential: Oscar nominee Close has an amazing performance in a role she played on stage 30 years ago. Janet McTeer, in a louder role, is deserving of a nomination too. But neither really convince you that they could pull off life in Ireland as a man, so look for other actors to win on Oscar night. Sinead O' Connor's haunting "Lay Your Head Down" was robbed of a song nomination. 

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks. Barely.

And the Oscar nominees are...

 

The Academy Award nominations were announced this morning. Here's who made it - in all the top categories:

Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
Tree of Life
War Horse
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 

That last one was extremely surprising

Actor

Demina Bichir, A Better Life

George Clooney, The Descendants

Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Son of a Bichir, No Leo!

Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney, Girl with Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior

Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sidoh, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Supporting Actress

Benice Bejo,The Artist

Jessica Chastain,The Help

Melissa McCarthy,Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer,The Descendants

Director

Hazanavicius, The Artist

Scorsese, Hugo

Payne, The Descendants

Allen, Midnight In Paris

Malick, The Tree Of Life

No Speilberg
   

Screenplay (Original)

The Artist

Bridesmaids
Margin Call

Midnight In Paris

A Separation

Screenplay (Adapted)

The Descendants

Hugo
Ides of March

Moneyball

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Animated Picture

Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots

Rango

TinTin didn't get deemed animation. But Pixar was shut out.

Best Foreign Feature

Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

Art Direction

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

Cinematography

The Artist
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Costume Design

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Madonna's film W.E. is there.

Documentary Feature

Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short Subject

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing

The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

Makeup

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady

Music (Original Score)

John Williams, The Adventures of Tintin
Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Howard Shore, Hugo
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams, War Horse

Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

No Elton nor Madonna.  But my favorite nom of all is "Man or Muppet"

Sound Editing

Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Sound Mixing

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Monyeball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Short Film (Animated)

Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action)

Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Alan's Oscar Nominee Predictions - 2012

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Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence announces the Academy Award nominations Tuesday morning. Hopefully in this dress. Here's what's gonna happen:

Picture

1.    The Artist

2.    The Descendants

3.    The Help

4.    Hugo

5.    Midnight in Paris

6.    Moneyball

7.   Tree of Life

8. War Horse 

The images in my lil' collage above are your top 5 for-sures. 

Intrestingly, they are the alphabetical first five too.

New rules will result in anywhere from 5-10 Best Picture nominees. 

Actor

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Actress

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max Von Sidoh, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Darnit. No spot for Uggie, the pooch from The Artist

Supporting Actress

Benice Bejo,The Artist

Jessica Chastain,The Help

Melissa McCarthy,Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer,The Descendants

Vanessa Redgrave could snatch the Janet McTeer spot for Coriolanus.

Director

Hazanavicius, The Artist

Scorsese, Hugo

Payne, The Descendants

Allen, Midnight In Paris

Malick, The Tree Of Life

Speilberg and Fincher likely to sneak in. 

Screenplay (Original)

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Midnight In Paris

Win Win

50/50

Usually the most somber and serious category. This year I’m happily predicting all comedies.

Screenplay (Adapted)

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

Moneyball

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The Girl with Dragon Tattoo is neck and neck with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the last spot. Of course that sentence sounds like the title of a much better film.

Animated Picture

Adventures Of TinTin

Rango

Puss in Boots

Arthur Christmas

Chico and Rita

I’m thinking the Pixar streak is over. Cars 2 was a crash and miss.

That's it. Good luck!

The Iron Lady

Many of the most memorable film biopics find one small moment in the span of the character's grand life and use that crucial point to tell the viewers everything.  In the brilliant The Queen (2006), the film revolved around the sequence of events following Princess Diana's death, yet we learn tons about Queen Elizabeth II. In The King's Speech, the action centered around preparation for an important speech. In Frost/Nixon (2008), the story was simply about a television interview.

But like the films J. Edgar( 2011) and Nixon (1995), The Iron Lady tries to tell us about the character's personal and professional life from childhood through old age. Flashbacks! Prosthetics!  Speculation on her life today!  All these distracting details make for an unfocused film with no point of view. 

There is a brief moment involving the decisions around the Falklands War that showed a glimmer of what a good Margaret Thatcher movie would be. Despite an astounding performance from Meryl Streep, Thatcher deserved a better film.

Simply put:  Too much of the film focuses on an old woman who can't quite remember who she used to be.  And this movie is not so sure either

Award potential: Oscar nomination and possible win for Streep. Jim Broadbent has done this type of role well too many times to get noticed here. The picture and screenplay should be shut out as well.

The ten buck review:  Not worth ten bucks. 

Carnage

Roman Polanski’s Carnage is a clever play centered on the polite and not-so-polite parental differences of two couples. Oops, did I say play? I meant to say it’s a movie.

Viewers are trapped in a room with the perfectly cast couples (Jodie Foster & John C. Reilly and Kate Winslet & Christoph Waltz) as they sort things out. All the engaging, biting dialogue is suited for the stage but just not authentic enough for cinema. In a movie, the reality is heightened so one can’t believe that these parents would actually hang out long enough for all the drama that unfolds.

Simply put:  A well-casted, claustrophobic play. I mean, movie.

Award potential: The cast was nominated for Golden Globes and other awards. But I don’t think the Oscars will come knocking at the door.

The ten buck review:  Not worth ten bucks. Put these guys on Broadway and I’ll change my tune.

Alan's Golden Globe Predictions - 2012

Predicting what 90 random Hollywood Foreign Press members picked is a daunting task. Yes, I have an 84.5% accuracy with the Oscar nominations, and 82% on the Oscar winners, but the Golden Globes are just kooky.  

Here's what's gonna happen: 

Best Actor (Drama)

George Clooney (The Descendants)

Clooney's best work and this group loves him. Don't count out Pitt for Oscar though.

Best Actress (Drama)

Viola Davis (The Help) 

A close one. Meryl as Thatcher is Globe-bait, but this is Viola's year.

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo (The Artist)

I predict an upset here since The Help won't translate as well with this group. 

Octavia Spencer is your Oscar winner.

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)

Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

She's brilliant as Marilyn but less funny that anyone in the drama The Help. But Michelle does sing two songs and Marion Cotillard won in this category for the more serious La Vie En Rose.

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)

Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Don't be surprised if Ryan Gosling pulls an upset.

Best Animated Feature Film

Rango

Best Foreign Language Film

A Separation

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Song

Madonna, Masterpiece

So begins the 2012 onslaught of Madonna.

Best Director

Martin Scorsese, Hugo 

This looks to be the year of celebrating classic-Hollywood from The Artist to Scorsese's Hugo. 

Best Motion Picture (Drama)

Hugo

The Descendants is the safe pick to take to Vegas, but Globes are known for choosing splashy films like Avatar and Aviator, so this is my wild pick.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)

The Artist

The Artist

 

“We didn't need dialogue. We had faces!” –Norma Desmond, Sunset Blvd.

 

In a year that Hugo and My Week with Marilyn already explored film's love of film, we get one more story about Hollywood. But The Artist is a magnificent throwback, a black-and-white silent movie made with loving detail to the technical style of 1920’s films.  While this is a delightfully old fashioned homage to Hollywoodland, it’s also a timeless romance with a wink of modern self-awareness.

 

The end of silent film and the dawn of the talkies has been told onscreen before with “Singing in the Rain”, but there is an ironic freshness that comes from giving this story the silent-film treatment.

 

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin channeling Gene Kelly no less), is a silent film superstar who’s at the top of his game as times are changing. Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), is the new star that is born. Their onscreen courtship is pure movie magic.

 

By skipping dialog to reveal the story in other ways, the film stirs our senses. For me, this resulted in a unique enchantment that you don’t often get from modern film. I expect that even the most cautious ticket-buyer will agree.

Simply put:  Believe the hype. This picture is worth a thousand words:  dazzling, charming, gorgeous, funny, romatic, clever, best picture…

 

Award potential: Best Picture nomination and a likely win. Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo dazzle; and both will be rewarded with nominations (actor, supporting actress).  Cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman will be remembered and likely rewarded.  As will the score by Ludovic Bource.

The ten buck review:  Worth ten bucks.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy/ Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal

I enjoyed the look and feel and the perfectly modulated performances of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. A Cold War thriller that's a captivating cerebral puzzle doesn't come along very often. I watched the film assuming that all the confusing allusions and connections that I couldn’t follow would reveal themselves in the final act. Turns out, I would make a terrible spy. 

When the answer to “Who is the mole?” was revealed, I realized the tricky plot was just too incomprehensible for either me or a viewer unfamiliar with the original BBC miniseries or novel.

Surprisingly, the better Cold War spy movie this season is a blockbuster sequel complete with thrilling foot chases and heightened action scenes — starring one of my least favorite actors. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocal takes Tom Cruise and the music from the past MI show and films and ignites the franchise.  

Ghost Protocal is fast and explosive but it’s also a clever, slight-of-hand thriller. And by the time Cruise makes his way across the surface of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the world’s tallest skyscraper, you realize you hopped on to one of the best movie rides of the year.

Simply put:  Spy vs Spy?  Like a surprising plot twist, Mission Impossible beats Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Award potential: TTSS is considered a frontrunner for Best Picture. In a year where a film must take multiple voter’s #1 pick to get a nomination, I don’t think so. Gary Oldman has a good shot at supporting actor. Tom Hardy increases his star potential but is an unlikely nominee. No major awards for Mission Impossible.

The ten buck review:  Mission Impossible Ghost Protocal: worth ten bucks.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: not worth ten bucks.