Oscars 2013

[Jedbu]

I thought LINCOLN looked fine-exactly how do you define milky? Too much light? Too many dust particles?

[Monterey Jack]

It's just become "hip" to complain about Kaminski-style backlighting and lens flares. I'll admit Kaminski has been "miscast" on certain films (Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull being a particularly notable example), but he has done some great work in the past.

[AndyDursin]

Well, you can't say I joined the crowd with Kaminski -- I haven't liked his work dating back to THE LOST WORLD. lol

[AndyDursin]

Pretty much agree David with your picks all the way down the line with a couple of exceptions.

Best Picture -- As I said from the beginning it's basically Argo or Silver Linings. Wouldn't shock me if SLP won but anything other than those two would be a shocker.

Director -- if it's not Russell, it might be Spielberg. Not sure where this is going without Affleck around, but Russell would make the most sense unless he's someone they don't like personally (doesn't he have a rep for being a jerk? I remember those I Heart Huckebees outtakes lol).

Actress - Jennifer Lawrence

Actor - Day Lewis to nobody's surprise

Supporting Actor - DeNiro, locked up. Everyone loved his performance and he's in the hot movie. Can't see anyone else having a real shot here. If DeNiro loses, SLP has no chance whatsoever of winning the major prize.

Supporting Actress - Hathaway...not really a big fan of hers or the material, but she's got it from all indications.

Music - Life of Pi. Have always liked Danna's work for Ang Lee, and I'm sure most of the Oscar voters who pick out Original Score nominees are as ignorant as the director interviewed in that HR article given past winners of the last 10-15 years in particular. At least this score would be deserving for a change. Skyfall getting a nomination is an embarrassment (I can't think of many less deserving Best Original Score nominees in my lifetime, to be honest) but also telling of how far the art form has fallen, regrettably. On second thought, come to think of it, I think Adele's song carried Newman's score. Kind of like how Menken's original scores always won for the Disney musicals -- the songs carried the score. Same deal here (though Menken's underscoring was also more deserving than Newman's Skyfall score).

Cinematography - Life of Pi. Or anyone other than Kaminski, please. Thanks.

[AndyDursin]

Nikki Finke wrote this morning that there are apparently more musical numbers than any other telecast, ever.

Also the supposed "007 reunion" couldn't happen because of various "off stage" issues stemming from years of "feuds" and such.

Rumored list of start times for the awards (from a blogger who gets it right every year) -- this is assuming of course there are no delays, which there always are.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
5:45:09 PT
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
5:54:06 PT
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
5:56:18 PT
CINEMATOGRAPHY
6:05:13 PT
VISUAL EFFECTS
6:07:43 PT
COSTUME DESIGN
6:14:53 PT
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
6:17:14 PT
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
6:30:40 PT
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
6:32:59 PT
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
6:41:32 PT
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
6:48:07 PT
SOUND MIXING
7:08:52 PT
SOUND EDITING
7:14:17 PT
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
7:19:12 PT
FILM EDITING
7:31:00 PT
PRODUCTION DESIGN
7:47:02 PT
INTRO IN MEMORIAM
7:56:45 PT
IN MEMORIAM PACKAGE & PERFORMANCE
8:00:15 PT
ORIGINAL SCORE
8:08:13 PT
ORIGINAL SONG
8:17:16 PT
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
8:22:42 PT
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
8:25:16 PT
DIRECTING
8:32:33 PT
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
8:39:57 PT
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
8:46:29 PT
BEST PICTURE
8:53:29 PT

[DavidBanner]

Andy, as you point out, we mostly agree.

I think there is indeed some animosity at David O. Russell based on his conduct on sets over the years. His fistfight with George Clooney on the set of Three Kings is legendary. (And that was caused by Russell physically attacking one of the extras and his AD staff.) The "I Hate Huckabees" clips that continue to spiral around the internet didn't do him any favors either. While it's obvious that he and Lily Tomlin were not getting along, he didn't handle the situation in anything close to an acceptable manner. Throwing things and screaming does not endear anyone, as he discovered when this went public. That said, he made a comeback with The Fighter, a movie that was well-liked by everyone. And this movie is a more personal gesture, given his own son. But I don't know that any of this will be enough for him to overcome the animus. If he gets this award, it will be a strong sign that Silver Linings is taking the main award as well. Personally, I think it's more likely that we'll see it play out like this:

Best Picture - Argo
Best Director - Ang Lee
Best Adapted Screenplay - David O. Russell

In that situation, the Academy can reward him without giving him a top honor. And I believe many of those voters do think in those terms.

You may well be right that Spielberg could get a nod for Lincoln. I just haven't heard anyone enthused about his work on the movie. The constant refrain has been about Daniel Day Lewis' remarkable performance, and about how long the movie is. When Spielberg won for Schindler's List, everyone knew he was going to get that Oscar. 1993 was his year all the way, what with the biggest box office hit in history for the summer, and then a respected "serious" film in the fall. (And this is despite the observation by many that he went over the top at the end of Schindler, as he tends to do...) In 1998, Saving Private Ryan got a lot of attention for the unflinching brutality of the opening D-Day sequence and the closing tank battle. And even with that movie going over the top at the very end, there was a strong momentum for him to get the Best Director Oscar even while Shakespeare in Love took the top honor. This year doesn't feel the same to me at all. I haven't heard anyone talk about how well-directed Lincoln is. When people have mentioned the idea of him getting Best Director, it's been with a resigned tone, under the thought that they would have voted for Ben Affleck if they could.

It is for this reason that I keep going back to Life of Pi getting the Director nod. I of course feel the movie should get more, but that's not going to be the reality this evening. Looking at the nominees, we know that Amour will pick up Best Foreign Film and most likely Original Screenplay, which will honor that film and Michael Haneke. (Haneke will get the screenplay award instead of a directing nod.) We know that Zeitlin is just happy his movie is up for several big awards. As stated above, Lincoln has never had any momentum toward anything more than a nod to Daniel Day Lewis, but it could surprise everyone if there's a tie somewhere. David O. Russell could well get a directing nod, if Silver Linings sweeps major categories, meaning that the voters just checked the boxes for that movie down the line. To do this, he must get past his own reputation (and I personally would love to see him actually win, if the Oscar were to be handed to him by Lily Tomlin...) and he must get past the fact that Silver Linings Playbook is not so much a director's movie as it is a performance movie. Are these well-directed performances? Of course they are. But it's one thing to take a very talented cast and stay out of their way (and that's nothing to discount - we've seen many films where the director got in the way of a good cast...) and another to pull all the elements of a movie together to tell a well-coordinated story. Spielberg undeniably has that going for him with Lincoln, but I don't know that he amazed anyone this time. Ang Lee on the other hand did impress a lot of people with his command of the elements.

Either way, we'll know in a short time. I'll be checking in with friends on the East Coast, as they should know the winners three hours before we will in Los Angeles.

[Jedbu]

I have been a Spielberg fan ever since SUGARLAND EXPRESS. He has that amazing ability to be a "great director with a flourish," as we saw in films like the Indiana Jones series or SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, where he demonstrated his ability to do incredible things with the camera-the handheld shots in the opening sequence, his eye for compositon-there are very few directors in history that have that knack like he has, that dollying into a close-up of Hanks as he sees what has happened on the beach, etc. This has gotten in his way from time to time (HOOK, ALWAYS, CRYSTAL SKULL, AMISTAD) where he almost seems to be shouting "Hey-I'm Steven Spielberg! Aren't I great?"

And then there are the films where I believe he does not try to call attention to the technique but instead lets the performances and the writing take center stage, like E. T., SCHINDLER'S LIST, MUNICH and now with LINCOLN. When I look back on watching the film (just a week ago), I honestly do not remember any bravura camera moves or "that one shot where everyone oohed and aahed afterwards." All I remember is how astounding Day-Lewis was, how brilliant Fields and Jones were, and how Spielberg and Kushner managed to make a film about the passing of a piece of legislation so fascinating and suspenseful. How many dramatic films about the legislative process can you name that will be talked about down the road? The only other one I can think of is Capra's MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and the background of that film was basically about the corruption of Washington and how a naive man tries to deal with it.

Spielberg decided to tone down and trust his actors and his script, and while that might not set everyone's ears aquiver, it should be a textbook lesson to filmmakers how to make a good, quality piece of movie magic-not with crane shots all the time or edits that seem like that credit should go to Cuisinart, but believing in the building block that got the film off the ground in the first place-the word, and the other building block that could bring that word to life-a human being. For trusting in those two things alone, he deserves the Oscar. Lee and Russell did brilliant work, as well, and I would love to see Russell get it if only for getting DeNiro to show what made everyone gasp about his incredible talents years ago yet has mostly just phoned in since. Lee's use of 3-D ranks him with Scorsese and Cameron in being one of the few filmmakers who actually know and trust that process well enough to let it be in service of the story instead of vice versa. But I am rooting for Spielberg for this-he and Day-Lewis brought me a Lincoln that is not a statue or a legend, but a man, and it ain't easy reversing that process.

[AndyDursin]

Waltz winning...again....does not bode well at all for SLP. (BTW Anyone else tired of people talking about how "brave" and "fearless" Tarantino is?)

Liked Macfarlanes opening...good stuff...the Flight sock puppet reenactment was hilarious. WE SAW YOUR BOOBS was terrific. I like his energy and speaking voice which is bringing more to the table than most of the tired recycled types they've tried out in recent years. He gets in a quick line and keeps things moving, which is more than I can say for old Billy Crystal, Whoopi and company.

LIFE OF PI cleaning up technical awards as we thought. Could it do more in the major awards?

Loved the Jaws music playing off the award winners for sfx taking too long in their speech.

Brave for Best Animated was LAME. That may have been the worst film of the entire nominated field.

[jkholm]

The FLIGHT parody was hilarious. Better than the actual movie.

[AndyDursin]

The FLIGHT parody was hilarious. Better than the actual movie.

Exactly!

[AndyDursin]

Nikki Finke on why Shirley Bassey ended up being the Bond 50 celebration and not the much hoped-for 007 reunion -- makes sense to me.

The Academy and the show’s producers hoped to gather together all the living 007 actors. But Sean Connery refused to come because he hates the Broccoli family. Something about how he thinks they cheated him out of money he was owed. Then Pierce Brosnan refused to come because he hates the Broccoli family as well. Something about how he thinks they pulled him from the role too early. Roger Moore was dying to come because, well, he’s a sweetheart. And Daniel Craig would have come because he does what he’s told by the Broccoli family’s Eon Productions whose Bond #23 Skyfall just went through the box office global roof. So there you have it.

[AndyDursin]

Great "In Memoriam" tribute (good to see Richard Rodney Bennett recognized) culminating with Streisand coming out to sing "Memories" for the late, great Marvin Hamlisch.

Amazing vocal by Babs. Right after Shirley Bassey, the two of them can sing better in their 70s than Jennifer Hudson can scream in her 30s.

[Edmund Kattak]

I thought LINCOLN looked fine-exactly how do you define milky? Too much light? Too many dust particles?

I want to know who this director is who "went off" during this "interview." I agree, how does one define "milky" in the case of LINCOLN? Even though I am no fan of Janusz, "milkY" is not one of the characterizations I would have used about his cinematography.

[AndyDursin]

I thought LINCOLN looked fine-exactly how do you define milky? Too much light? Too many dust particles?

I want to know who this director is. I agree, how does one define "milky" in the case of LINCOLN?

To be fair there were a few reviews that complained about the desaturated, light-pouring-in-from-any-window cinematography of LINCOLN (a Kaminski staple). Someone wrote that they didn't know color wasn't in existence during the civil war.

Didn't win anyway. Thankfully.

ARGO clearly now on its way to a Best Picture win after winning Editing and Adapted Screenplay.

[AndyDursin]

Ang Lee's Oscar next?? Let's see if David has it right.