Oscars

For such a critically and commercially successful film, Gravity has become weirdly polarizing. One camp of viewers seems to have found it technically stunning but narratively lacking, while the other camp was completely seduced by its marriage of jaw-dropping craftsmanship and intimate storytelling. Yet as much discussion as Gravity has generated, few people seem to actively dislike it; those denigrating it tend to frame their feedback as less absolute (“It was a bad movie”) than relative (“It was a good movie, but …”). That’s because, ignoring the physicists carping about the film’s alleged lack of aeronautical realism, audiences seem to have reached consensus that the technical aspects of Alfonso Cuarón’s space thriller are objectively astonishing. People may have quibbled with Gravity‘s story, but there’s no disputing its skill. Or, to cast the debate in the somewhat archaic language of cinematic snobbery: Not everyone necessarily thinks Gravity is a good film, but virtually everyone agrees that it’s a good movie.

And this makes its Oscar candidacy absolutely fascinating. The Academy Awards have never been shy about honoring technically superlative features that achieved box-office stardom; Star Wars won six Oscars, while Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Peter Jackson’s King Kong, The Matrix, and Inception all won four. Hell, even Avatar and The Bourne Ultimatum—which is about as unpretentious as mainstream movies get—took home three Oscars apiece. But rarely do such smash hits double as high art, and while those seven movies combined for 28 Oscars, exactly zero came in major categories (i.e., Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, or any of the acting fields). So, although the Academy is more than happy to invite fantastical blockbusters to its party, it generally keeps them at the kids’ table. Read More

NOMINEES
Before Midnight—Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater
Captain Phillips—Billy Ray
Philomena—Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
12 Years a Slave—John Ridley
The Wolf of Wall Street—Terence Winter

WILL WIN
Bellwether alert: The last four times the eventual Best Picture winner competed in this category (i.e., it wasn’t the product of an original screenplay), it scooped up this ancillary prize as well. Variance does happen—Million Dollar Baby, Chicago, and The English Patient all came up short here before winning the pageant—but the surest technique in predicting this category is to just ride the coattails of the frontrunner. Read More

Here’s a secret: As obsessive as I am about covering the Oscars, for the most part, I don’t really care who wins. Sure, I have my preferences in each category, but the Academy’s ultimate choices are usually at least defensible, even if they don’t align with my own (far more enlightened) opinions. As a case in point, I wouldn’t have voted for any of the past three Best Picture winners—The King’s Speech, The Artist, and Argo—but I think all three are fine movies, and I don’t begrudge them their trophies. (I’m sure they just heaved a collective sigh of relief.)

Occasionally, however, a category crops up where I’m so passionate about one of the nominees that I actually develop a vested interest in the outcome, and this year’s Best Original Screenplay race is such a category. This, unfortunately, makes me approach the Academy’s announcement with something close to dread. Rooting for your favorite movie to win an Oscar can feel a lot like rooting for your favorite sports team to win a championship. In this case, if my preferred nominee pulls off the victory, I’m going to feel as elated as I did when Allan Houston’s floater dropped in to beat the Heat in Game 5 of the first round of the ’99 playoffs. On the flip side, if my favored selection loses to a different contender, I’m going to feel as crushed as I did when Jason Williams failed to complete his four-point play against Indiana in the 2002 Sweet 16 (and when, ahem, Carlos Boozer got fouled on the follow). Such is the blessing and the curse of being devoted to a work of art. On to the analysis. Read More

Last year, I commented that the pool of legitimate candidates for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar was so deep, it bordered on absurd. This year, however, that’s more true of the Best Actor race, which is so stacked that it makes this category seem strangely light. That’s more praising 2013’s leading men than criticizing their supporting counterparts, but it nevertheless makes me wonder if the winner of this year’s award will ultimately prove to be forgettable.

NOMINEES
Barkhad Abdi—Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper—American Hustle
Michael Fassbender—12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill—The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto—Dallas Buyers Club

WILL WIN
I’m searching for a reason to pick against Jared Leto here, and I’m not having much success. He’s already racked up a whopping 17 wins on the precursor circuit, including all-important victories at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors’ Guild (more on those in a moment). By comparison, Fassbender has four pre-Oscar wins, while none of the remaining three challengers has earned a single one. The only red flag on Leto is that he lacks a BAFTA nomination, as the last Oscar winner in this category who whiffed with the Brits was Morgan Freeman in 2004. But the BAFTAs shut out Million Dollar Baby entirely that year (mainly because most voters hadn’t seen it), and they did the same to Dallas Buyers Club this year; given that Leto’s film tallied an additional five Oscar nominations, it’s safe to say that Academy voters viewed it more favorably than did those across the pond.

Besides, consider this: In the 20 years since SAG started bestowing awards, only twice in either of the supporting categories has a performer won at both SAG and the Globes but failed to complete the trifecta with the Oscar. (Those two cases, for the record: Lauren Bacall in 1996 for The Mirror Has Two Faces, and Eddie Murphy 10 years later for Dreamgirls.) The only way Leto gets dethroned here is if either American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave pulls a sweep, and while that’s a slight possibility for the latter, I can’t see it happening in such a hotly contested, three-way Best Picture race. Jared Leto takes his first ever Oscar, thereby finally compensating for the victory he should have earned 13 years ago for his searing performance in Requiem for a Dream. (Not that I’m still bitter or anything.)

SHOULD WIN
Remember what I said about this field feeling slight compared to the Best Actor race? That’s not exactly a coincidence: Four of the five films featured here also nabbed nominations for their leading men, so the supporting players feel a bit overshadowed (rightly so, for the most part). The only performer who isn’t the victim of nomination overlap is Barkhad Abdi (though Tom Hanks’ miss for lead actor was a major surprise), who does a remarkable job holding his own against one of America’s screen legends. There’s a shiftiness to Abdi’s work in Captain Phillips, as well as the sense of a brain operating frantically despite his ostensible control of the circumstances. As those circumstances spiral and that control becomes increasingly tenuous, Abdi silently illustrates his character’s inner panic and desperation without relinquishing his outward command of the situation. He isn’t a savage, but neither is he above a bit of savagery, and the unpredictability of his actions makes him both dangerous and fascinating. (His sudden exclamation, “I love America!” injects a blast of gallows humor into proceedings that are otherwise relentlessly grim.) He also generates a surprising amount of sympathy, as it becomes increasingly clear that his marauder is little more than a cog in a not-that-well-oiled machine. Hanks’ emotionally naked performance will serve as Captain Phillips‘ legacy, but Abdi’s savvy mixture of intelligence and ferocity provides for an intriguing counterpoint.

Three of the remaining four contenders are less successful in evading the long shadows cast by their costars, though given the extraordinary work of those costars, this should hardly denigrate the persuasive nature of the supporting performances. As he did in Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper proves himself a sound fit for David O. Russell’s manic sensibilities once again in American Hustle. He initially fashions his enterprising FBI agent as a hard-boiled go-getter, but that sense of steadfastness quickly begins to fray, and shards of doubt and anxiety start to pierce his façade of fortitude. Read More

Typically, I hate this category. Not only are the eligibility rules arcane, but most of the nominated songs add minimal value to their actual films, as they frequently just play over the closing credits, when most moviegoers are shuffling out to the parking garage before their validation expires. It’s why I usually dump my analysis into a larger post that addresses all of the music and sound categories at once. This year, however, one of the candidates is so extraordinary that it practically demands its own essay, while two others (one nominated, the other not) further illustrate how smartly written songs can actively complement movies, rather than simply serve as tacked-on denouements.

NOMINEES
Alone Yet Not Alone—”Alone Yet Not Alone” (Bruce Broughton, Dennis Spiegel)
Despicable Me 2—”Happy” (Pharrell Williams)
Frozen—”Let It Go” (Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez)
Her—”The Moon Song” (Karen O, Spike Jonze)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom—”Ordinary Love” (Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen) Read More