A good year for cinema by all
accounts and a high standard of competitors for the various awards, I am
pleased that The Artist won Best Picture because it really was this year’s
Best Picture, it also picked up the Best Actor Award (Jean Dujardin) and Best
Director (Michel Hazanavicius) as well as Original Score which was inevitable and strangely enough Best Costumes, a bit of a surprise as I didn’t think there was anything stand out
in that department. Nonetheless I am delighted that it has got the academy’s recognition picking up five awards at the end
of the night. The real surprise of the
evening came in the Original Screenplay category, where Woody Allen’s Midnight
in Paris beat competition from Bridesmaids and the Artist (both of which I feel
are better films) to claim the golden statue, I’m a little disappointed with
that. Hugo swept the opposition away in
the technical areas (i.e. Sound, Visual effects etc.) and beat War Horse, which I felt should have
won, to the cinematography Oscar, having said that Hugo was visually very
impressive, so not too many problems with that.
I would just like to add that I was really unimpressed with the
animation category this year, whilst previous winners include Up (2009)
and Toy story 3 (2010) both of which are brilliant, to have the likes of the
sequel to Kung Fu Panda and Puss in Boots (an attempt at a revival of the Shrek
series, a franchise that was dead many movies ago) is quite
disheartening. Rango, starring Johnny
Depp, won in the end and is a film I confess to not having seen, it will
have a hard job winning me over and ultimately standing tall with the past winners.
Anyway here is my one sentence
summary of the movies that were up for Best Picture this year, I confess to
only having seen 6 out of the 9…
The Artist – Nothing short of a work of art, beautiful film making.
The Descendants – Some very tight performances and a good story, but
nothing special.
Hugo – A
lovely look to the film but ultimately not that engaging.
Midnight in Paris – Oscar contender, really?
The Tree of Life – I just didn’t get it.
War Horse – Vintage Spielberg sentiment, but ET is better.
As for Moneyball, The Help
and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, I simply can’t comment but I’ll be
sure to add to this when I get the chance to see them. Just a
quick footnote to this post, I would like to say I’m disappointed Drive wasn't considered
for any of the major awards because it is a very stylish, well-made thriller,
and it deserved some recognition. Watch this movie!
Please let me know what you
think of the Oscar winners and who you would have chosen as the stand out movies of the yeard, as
well as your thoughts on the nominated films and films that didn’t make it onto
the shortlist that you feel should have.
Hi Box Office Boy, it was interesting to read your comments on this year's Oscars. I have to say that it was a surprise, albeit a pleasant surprise, that Midnight in Paris won. I really love that movie. This year I predicted 9 out of 12 nominations - which I now wish I had entered into a competition somewhere! LOL!
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised that War Horse didn't win - but it was a late runner!
I think it was a done-deal that Octavia Spencer won best supporting actress for 'The Help'. However, I am reading that a few people think that this movie is reinforcing untrue stereo-types which is probably the case. I confess, I have not seen the movie yet.
Keep up the good work, I am enjoying reading your posts!
Marie
Yes some good points there, in reference to Midnight in Paris I suppose my real problem with it is that it simply didn't appeal to me, I just found it very monotonous and I kept waiting for it to pick up and it never did. But then again I am notoriously impatient with films and if a movie fails to capture me within the first 30 minutes I can be very unforgiving, so maybe I didn't give it a chance, I'll have to watch it again sometime soon. Anyway thank you for your feedback, its always nice to know there's someone out there actually reading this and enjoying it even! So thanks again
DeleteThe Box Office Boy
Just finished watching Rango, some definite positives in there, but I was right in thinking it wasn't good enough for the award, anyone else seen it? What did you think?
ReplyDeleteI really think that Rango is a good film with an array of great morals behind its rather imaginative storyline. However, I would agree with your opinion that it wasn't good enough for the award. It was rather juvenile but then I suppose, I'm 17 like yourself and is prone to watch films for a more mature audience. =D But I did quite enjoy Rango, mainly because of Johnny Depp though
ReplyDeleteI have now seen Rango during its brief stint on Sky movies, I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It paid homage to the western genre and, I agree, It had a well-thought out storyline. I think we can all agree its not Pixar standard, but not as flat as It thought it would be. Yes Johnny Depp is certainly one of the better things about that movie.
ReplyDelete