All features great and small
When blockbusters and underdogs rub shoulders, Oscar’s story could have some plot twists
Bypass the big names and bank on Christoph Waltz claiming his second supporting-actor Oscar for a Tarantino
film, after Inglourious Basterds.
Hollywood loves a sure thing; it also likes its underdogs. Both will be on hand at the 85th Academy Awards Sunday night. But which will be rewarded?
Whether it’s the year of the award-ravaging behemoth or the Cinderella story remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: When the script is too predictable, the movie is a bore. The fate of Oscar night rests with the pencils (or keypads) of Academy voters.
One need look no farther than the bloated best-picture category to see the dynamics at work. In one corner, you’ve got such heavyweights as Steven Spielberg’s historical drama Lincoln and Tom Hooper’s singsong extravaganza Les Misérables, basking in their oversized budgets and well-connected swagger.
In the other are left-field long shots including Benh Zeitlin’s stunningly audacious debut Beasts of the Southern Wild and Austrian director Michael Haneke’s sombre, stirring Amour.
In between are subdued variations on the same. Despite winning best picture and best director in 2009 for The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow is far from a shoo-in for best pic with Zero Dark Thirty, her riveting account of the 10-year hunt for Osama bin Laden. The film stirred controversy in the U.S. and among the Academy for its depiction of torture methods used by the CIA during questioning.
As a result, though Zero Dark Thirty received nominations for best picture, best actress (Jessica Chastain) and best original screenplay, Bigelow was ignored for best director — which seriously limits her chances for best picture, as the two categories often converge.
Ditto Quentin Tarantino, whose riotous slavery revenge romp Django Unchained made it onto the nine-strong nominee list for best picture, while he was also passed over for best director. That’s a shame, since the film is a master class in directing, with Tarantino swooping viewers through an array of outrageous, sometimes shocking and always entertaining scenarios.
On the softer side of unconventional come Ben Affleck’s Argo and David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook. The former is a formulaic thriller about the Iran hostage crisis, which succumbs to racial stereotypes while offering your standard Hollywood narrative arc; the latter is a fairly generic romantic dramatic comedy, with the twist that the two main characters (played by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence) suffer from mental and emotional problems.
The gambit paid off for Affleck at the Golden Globes, where he was named best director, and Argo best picture. That can’t happen on Sunday, however, since Affleck didn’t make it into the running for best director.
Which means we should look out for Russell, who could snatch Oscar f rom under everyone’s nose. A sly mix of heartstring-tugging, humorous and innocuous, his movie could as easily be called Sneaky Hollywood Playbook.
It’s the first film since Reds in 1982 to be nominated in all four acting categories. Along with its nominations for best picture, director, adapted screenplay and editing, that puts it in better stead than Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, which (aside from best picture, director and adapted screen play) racked up its 11 nominations in lesser categories, including best cinematography, editing, original score, original song, production design, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects — and no acting categories.
That leaves Lee’s visually stunning but substance-challenged film all but out of the running for best picture, and brings us back to our original question: What kind of year will it be?
The safe money says Spielberg takes it for his sober, righteous period piece. But how unexciting would that be? Extremely? Exactly.
So seriously, if the Oscars really want to keep people awake, there are only two options: Amour or Beasts of the Southern Wild. Haneke’s Amour has the biggest hurdle to overcome in the form of the language barrier. It will likely have to settle for best foreign-language film (at the unfortunate expense of Montrealer Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle/War Witch).
Which leaves Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. A sweeping triumph of a little film carried by a pint-sized imp named Hushpuppy? What’s not to love? Cutie Quvenzhané Wallis is the youngest nominee ever for best actress (and Amour’s Emmanuelle Riva the eldest), and Zeitlin and co-writer Lucy Alibar are in the running for best adapted screenplay, so we have the makings for a mini-sweep.
And that would make a great story. But is it enough? In the prizes it hands out, like the blockbusters it churns out, Hollywood sticks to what it knows.
And who it knows. Big-shot producer Harvey Weinstein pulls a lot of weight with Academy voters, as he has demonstrated in recent successful Oscar campaigns for The Artist and The King’s Speech. The former Miramax honcho oversaw successful campaigns for Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient and Chicago, among others. He can swing the vote like nobody’s business.
Weinstein has two steeds in this year’s race: Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook. Django will be a tougher sell for the reasons mentioned above (and the fact that, despite Tarantino’s prodigious output, he has never won an Oscar for best picture or best director); but the Playbook seems custommade for a Weinstein blitz.
The only person to stop him may be the Spielberger. Lincoln’s race-leading 12 nominations make it the clear favourite.
Daniel Day-Lewis puts its chances over the top. The best-actor nominee will be challenged by Hugh Jack- man (Les Mis) and Joaquin Phoenix (mesmerizing i n Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master), but with two bestactor trophies already, DayLewis is the clear favourite. Winning a third would make him the first actor to accomplish that feat, and could be enough to seal the deal for Lincoln in the best-picture department.
The competition is tight for best actress, with Wallis and Riva staking out opposite ends of the generation gap. That should leave room for Chastain to slip in for the win, as she did at the Golden Globes, giving Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty something to cheer about. Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Naomi Watts (The Impossible) fall under fine alsorans.
Best supporting actor is overloaded, with Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) all duking it out. Bypass the big names and bank on Waltz claiming his second supporting-actor Oscar for a Tarantino film, after Inglourious Basterds.
The competition is less fierce for best supporting actress. While Amy Adams was excellent in The Master, expect Anne Hathaway to take it away for dreaming a dream in Les Misérables.
Best original screenplay is anybody’s guess.
Django Unchained boasts classic Tarantino dialogue, while Zero Dark Thirty is intricately woven. Amour is an intelligent and moving chamber piece about the end of life, but my heart is with Wes Anderson’s otherwise overlooked whimsical childhood adventure Moonrise Kingdom.
Best adapted screenplay has Lincoln written all over it, but one more time, with feeling: Never underestimate the Playbook.
Though locked out of major categories, Sam Mendes’s excellent James Bond flick Skyfall could walk away with some hardware. Aside from nominations for best original score, sound editing and sound mixing, the film has a lock on best original song, courtesy of Adele; and longtime Coen Brothers collaborator Roger Deakins is a thoroughly deserving contender for best cinematography (though he could be beat by Robert Richardson for Django Unchained).
All this talk is nice, of course, but ici au Québec, there are only two categories that matter.
Best short film (live action) has two local contenders: Yan England’s touching portrait of his grandfather, Henry; and Sam French’s Buzkashi Boys, shot in Afghanistan but co-produced by Montrealer Ariel Nasr.
Best foreign-language film is a long shot for Nguyen’s Rebelle, as noted earlier, but Amour is so highly favoured that it could leave room for the Montreal director to slide through in the clutch.
It all depends what kind of script the Academy wants to write.