The National Board of Review Honors Zero Dark Thirty

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season continues! Just a few hours ago, the National Board of Review announced their picks for the best of 2012. Like the New York Film Critics Circle, the NBR named Zero Dark Thirty the best film of 2012 and Kathryn Bigelow best director.

I haven’t seen Zero Dark Thirty so I can’t judge whether it’s truly a great film or not. However, to be perfectly honest, I sincerely hope that it doesn’t win every single critics’ award out there because, seriously, that would be sooooooooooo boring! I mean, I know that all of you establishment film critics love to jump on the bandwagon but seriously, variety is the spice of life!

As much as I wish that the NBR had kept things interesting by choosing some out-of-nowhere pick for best picture, I am happy to see that they honored Bradley Cooper for his excellent work in Silver Linings Playbook.

Along with naming Zero Dark Thirty as best picture, the NBR also listed the 9 runner-ups. It’s interesting to note that The Dark Knight Rises does not appear anywhere on that list.

On a personal note, I’ll be posting my own picks for the best of 2012 during the first week of January and, trust me, my picks are going to be a lot more interesting than anything you’re going to get from the National Board of Review.

BEST PICTURE
“Zero Dark Thirty”

BEST DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow (“”Zero Dark Thirty””)

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper (“Silver Linings Playbook”)

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio (“Django Unchained”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ann Dowd (“Compliance”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Rian Johnson (“Looper”)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”)

BEST ENSEMBLE
“Les Miserables”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Wreck-It-Ralph”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Amour”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Searching for Sugar Man”

SPOTLIGHT AWARD
John Goodman

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
Tom Holland (“The Impossible”)
Quvenzhane Wallis (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”)

DEBUT DIRECTOR
Benh Zeitlin (“Beasts of the Southern Wild”)

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
Ben Affleck (“Argo”)

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
“Central Park Five”
“Promised Land”

BEST PICTURE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Argo”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Django Unchained”
“Les Miserables”
“Lincoln”
“Looper”
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
“Promised Land”
“Silver Linings Playbook”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Barbara”
“The Intouchables”
“The Kid with a Bike”
“No”
“War Witch”

BEST DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Al Weiwei”
“Detropia”
“The Gatekeepers”
“The Invisible War”
“Only the Young”

BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (alphabetical)
“Arbitrage”
“Bernie”
“Compliance”
“End of Watch”
“Hello, I Must Be Going”
“Little Birds”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“On the Road”
“Quartet”
“Sleepwalk with Me”

It’s Annie! Here are the latest Annie Nominations.

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In one final bit of film award news, the latest nominations for the Annie Awards were announced yesterday. The Annie Nominations honor the best in animation and, as a result, they really act as a precursor for only one Oscar category: Best Animated Feature Film. Films that win at the Annies often end up getting nominated for Best Animated Feature but, oddly enough, they rarely seem to win the actual award. (For instance, How To Train Your Dragon won the Annie for best feature over Toy Story 3.)

Below is the list of this year’s film-related nominations. Brave, Rise of the Guardians, and Wreck-It Ralph lead the nominations this year with ten each.

Best Animated Feature
“Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
“Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
“Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
“ParaNorman” – Focus Features
“Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
“The Rabbi’s Cat” – GKIDS
“Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Directing in a Feature Production
Genndy Tartakovsky, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Joann Sfar, Antoine Delesvaux, “The Rabbi’s Cat” – GKIDS
Remi Bezancon, Jean-Christophe Lie, “Zarafa” – GKIDS
Rich Moore, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Sam Fell, Chris Butler, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features

Writing in a Feature Production
Chris Butler, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Gideon Defoe, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa, Karey Kirkpatrick, “From Up on Poppy Hill” – GKIDS
John August, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, Irene Mecchi, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Storyboarding in a Feature Production
Emmanuela Cozzi, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Johanne Matte, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Leo Matsuda, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Lissa Treiman, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Rob Koo, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation

Voice Acting in a Feature Production
Adam Sandler as Dracula, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Alan Tudyk as King Candy, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Atticus Shaffer as “E” Gore, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Catherine O’Hara as Weird Girl, “Frankenweenie” – The Walt Disney Studios
Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations
Jim Cummings as Budzo, “Adventures in Zambezia” – Saltzman Communications
Jude Law as Pitch, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Kelly MacDonald as Merida, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios

Editing in a Feature Production
Catherine Apple, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Joyce Arrastia, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Mark Rosenbaum, “Secret of the Wings” – DisneyToon Studios
Nicholas A. Smith, ACE, Robert Graham Jones, ACE, David Suther, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Tim Mertens, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Music in a Feature Production
Alexandre Desplat, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Bruce Retief, “Adventures in Zambezia” – Saltzman Communications
Henry Jackman, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Joel McNeely, Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda, “Secret of the Wings” – DisneyToon Studios
John Powell, Adam Schlesinger, Ester Dean, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” – Blue Sky Studios
John Powell, Cinco Paul, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” – Illumination Entertainment
Mark Mothersbaugh, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Patrick Doyle, Mark Andrews, Alex Mandel, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios

Character Animation in a Feature Production
Dan Nguyen, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
David Pate, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Jaime Landes, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Phillppe LeBrun, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Pierre Perifel, “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Travis Hathaway, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Travis Knight, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Will Becher, “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” – Aardman Animations

Character Animation in a Live Action Production
Erik de Boer, Amanda Dague, Matt Brown, Mary Lynn Machado, Aaron Grey, “Life of Pi – Orangutan” – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Erik de Boer, Matt Shumway, Brian Wells, Vinayak Pawar, Michael Holzl, “Life of Pi – Tiger” – Rhythm & Hues Studio
Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser, Scott Benzu, Steve King, Kiran Bhat, “The Avengers” – Industrial Light & Magic
Mike Beaulieu, Roger Vizard, Atushi Sato, Jackie Kochler, Derek Esparza, Richard Smith, Mac Tyrie – Columbia Pictures – “THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN” – Sony Pictures Animation

Character Design in a Feature Production
Bill Schwab, Lorelay Bove, Cory Loftis, Minkyu Lee, “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Carlos Grangel, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Carter Goodrich, “Hotel Transylvania” – Sony Pictures Animation
Craig Kellman, “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation
Heidi Smith, “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon, Colin Stimpson, “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” – Illumination Entertainment

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Andrew Nawrot, Joe Gorski, Grant Laker – “ParaNorman” – Focus Features
Andrew Schneider, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” – Blue Sky Studios
Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton – “Rise of the Guardians” – DreamWorks Animation
Bill Watral, Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Keith Klohn, Michael K. O’Brien, “Brave” – Pixar Animation Studios
Brett Albert – “Wreck-It Ralph” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
Jihyun Yoon – “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” – DreamWorks Animation
Joel Aron – “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” – Lucasfilm Animation Ltd.

Animated Effects in a Live Action Production
Jerome Platteaux, John Sigurdson, Ryan Hopkins, Raul Essig, Mark Chataway, “The Avengers” – Industrial Light & Magic
Stephen Marshall, Joseph Pepper, Dustin Wicke, “The Amazing Spider-Man” – Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation
Sue Rowe, Simon Stanley-Clamp, Artemis Oikonomopoulou, Holger Voss, Nikki Makar, Catherine Elvidge, “John Carter” – Cinesite
Willi Geiger, Rick Hankins, Florent Andorra, Florian Witzel, Aron Bonar, “Battleship” – Industrial Light & Magic

Best Animated Short Subject
“Brad and Gary” – Illumination Entertainment
“Bydlo” – National Film Board of Canada
“Eyes on the Stars” – StoryCorps
“Goodnight Mr. Foot” – Sony Pictures Animation
“Kali the Little Vampire” – National Film Board of Canada
“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’” – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV
“Paperman” – Walt Disney Animation Studios
“The Simpsons — ‘Bill Plympton Couch Gag’” – Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox TV

The State of the Race: The 15 Documentary Semi-Finalists

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There was a lot of Oscar-related news yesterday. Along with the NYFCC giving their best picture award to Zero Dark Thirty, the Academy’s Documentary branch announced this year’s 15 sem-finalists for the Best Feature Length Documentary Oscar. From this list, the final five nominees will be selected.

Needless to say, I was happy to see that my favorite documentary of 2012, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, made the shortlist.

At the same time, I’m also disappointed that the great ballet documentary First Position was snubbed.

And, finally even though I knew it wouldn’t have been nominated and I’m not saying that it should have been, wouldn’t it have been fun to watch the online critical establishment descend into mass hysteria if 2016: Obama’s America had somehow appeared on the list of semi-finalists?

“Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry”

“Bully”

“Chasing Ice”

“Detropia”  

“Ethel”  

“5 Broken Cameras”

“The Gatekeepers”

“The House I Live In”

“How to Survive a Plague”

“The Imposter”

“The Invisible War”

“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”  

“Searching for Sugar Man”  

“This Is Not a Film”  

“The Waiting Room”

The New York Film Critics Circle Has Spoken

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the New York Film Critics Circle weighed in on the Oscar race. The NYFCC is one of the oldest and most respected of the professional critic organizations. As far as the state of the Oscar race is concerned, the NYFCC actually wields some influence. In other words, the NYFCC help to build the bandwagon that all the other little toadsuckers will eventually jump on.

Here are the winners:

Best Picture: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner for Lincoln

Best Cinematography: Greg Fraiser, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie

Best Documentary: The Central Park Five

On a personal note, I apologize for the delay in getting these results posted to the site. However, last night, I was pretty busy teaching my very first dance class. Yay me!

And here are The Independent Spirit Nominations

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Gotham Awards aren’t the only awards regularly given to films that the majority of filmgoers will never get to see. The Independent Spirit Nominations are also dedicated to recognizing the best of independent film and they tend to get a bit more attention than the Gothams. With the early Oscar talk being dominated by mainstream studio films like Argo, Lincoln and Les Miserables, indie films like Bernie and Moonrise Kingdom are going to need all of the help that they can get.

BEST PICTURE

Bernie

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Keep The Lights On

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom

Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SCREENPLAY

Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom

Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks

Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Fill the Void

Gimme the Loot

Safety Not Guaranteed

Sound of My Voice

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void

Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed

Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank

Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever

Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – (for features under $500,000)

Breakfast with Curtis

Middle of Nowhere

Mosquita y Mari

Starlet

The Color Wheel

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Linda Cardellini, Return

Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

BEST MALE LEAD

Jack Black, Bernie

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

John Hawkes, The Sessions

Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On

Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe

Wendell Pierce, Four

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister

Ann Dowd, Compliance

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike

David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere

Michael Péna, End of Watch

Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints

Lol Crawley, Here

Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch

Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST DOCUMENTARY

How to Survive a Plague

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present

The Central Park Five

The Invisible War

The Waiting Room

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Amour (France)

Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Turkey)

Rust And Bone (France/Belgium)

Sister (Switzerland)

War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo)

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Nobody Walks, Alicia Van Couvering

Prince Avalanche, Derrick Tseng

Stones in the Sun, Mynette Louie

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Pincus, director David Fenster

Gimme the Loot, director Adam Leon

Electrick Children, director Rebecca Thomas

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD (given to emerging documentary filmmaker)

Leviathan, directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel

The Waiting Room, director Peter Nicks

Only the Young, directors Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (for ensemble cast)

Starlet Director: Sean Baker Casting Director: Julia Kim Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

Moonrise Kingdom Wins At The Gotham Awards

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s Oscar season and that means that, over the upcoming month, a bunch of otherwise obscure organizations are going to be handing out a lot of awards to a small group of films. Last night, the Gotham Awards were awarded to the “best” in independent films. The Gothams aren’t exactly known for being a reliable Oscar precursor but they do signal start the awards season and I, of course, am an awards junkie.

Here are the winners:

Best Feature: Moonrise Kingdom
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award: Artifact
Best Ensemble Performance: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt and Mark Duplass, Your Sister’s Sister
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Breakthrough Actor: Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
Breakthrough Director: Behn Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague

Of course, the “best” is in the eye of the beholder. I, for one, greatly enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom. However, I also thought (and continue to think) that Beasts of the Southern Wild is one of the most overrated films of all time. Seriously, didn’t Voltaire end the myth of the noble savage with Candide? It’s also interesting to note that, despite racking up a lot of nominations and being two of the best films of 2012, neither The Master nor Bernie won any awards.

And like that, Oscar season begins: The Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As I’ve said many times in the past, I am an Oscar fanatic and Oscar season is my favorite time of the year. Well, I’m happy to say that the 2012 Oscar season has now officially began. The Gotham Independent Film Spirit Awards have been announced.

“The what?” you my be asking.

Well, okay, it’s true that the Gothams aren’t as influential as the Golden Globes or the National Board of Review. But, still, for independent filmmakers who are hoping not to be forgotten in the rush to embrace mainstream films like Lincoln, ~~The Great Gatsby~~, and Zero Dark Thirty, every little bit of publicity helps.

The nominations appear to be dominated by Bernie, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Master. That’s not a bad thing because I consider each one of those films to be one of the best of the year.

Here’s the nominations. I’m going to hold off on offering up any commentary, beyond saying that I’m glad to see that Bernie is being remembered.

Best Feature:

Bernie

The Loneliest Planet

The Master

Middle of Nowhere

Moonrise Kingdom

Best Documentary:

Detropia

How To Survie a Plague

Marina Abramowtiz: The Artist Is Present

Room 327

The Waiting Room

Best Ensemble Performance:

Bernie

Moonrise Kingdom

Safety Not Guaranteed

Silver Linings Playbook

Your Sister’s Sister

Breakthrough Director

Zal Batmanglij for “Sound of My Voice”
Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for “Francine”

Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for “Now, Forager”
Antonio Mendez Esparza for “Aqui y Alli¡ (Here and There)”
Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

Breakthrough Actor
Mike Birbiglia in “Sleepwalk with Me”
Emayatzy Corinealdi in “Middle of Nowhere”
Thure Lindhardt in “Keep the Lights On”
Melanie Lynskey in “Hello, I Must Be Going”
Quvenzhane Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
“Kid-Thing”
“An Oversimplification of Her Beauty”
“Red Flag”
“Sun Don’t Shine”
“Tiger Tail in Blue”

What Lisa Watched Last Night: The 84th Annual Academy Awards

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, me and my BFF Evelyn watched the 84th Annual Academy Awards.

Lisa and Evelyn at the Oscars

Why Was I Watching It?

As if you had to ask.

What Was It About?

It was about honoring some good films and making a lot of catty comments about rich people who don’t know how to dress themselves.

What Worked?

You know who is adorable? Bret McKenzie, who all good people as a member of The Flight of the Conchords. He won an Oscar last night for best original song for Man or Muppet and he gave exactly the type of wonderfully sincere acceptance speech that you would expect from Bret McKenzie.

You know who else is adorable? Jim Rash. The script he co-wrote for The Descendants is overrated but it was still good to see Community’s Dean up there accepting an Oscar.

And you know who is really, really adorable? The little Emma Stone. Loved her dress and loved her whole little skit with Ben Stiller.

Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, and Octavia Spencer all gave wonderful acceptance speeches and Uggie got to go on stage when The Artist won best picture! That was so cute!

What Didn’t Work?

Much like the Golden Globes last month, the Academy Awards were a rather somber affair, It was as if everyone couldn’t get over the fact that they had actually nominated Incredibly Loud and Extremely Close and everyone was muttering under their breath, “Let’s get this over with before anyone remembers that we nominated a film that not even those people at the Golden Globes were impressed by!”

As much as I enjoyed two of the nominees for best picture (The Artist and Hugo), respected one of them (The Tree of Life), and enjoyed another almost despite myself (The Help), the majority of the nominations this year went to movies that we will probably never watch again and to performers who will probably never have a year as good as this one. Perhaps that is why the various Academy montages all seemed to feature scenes taken from films that received not a single Oscar nomination. (More time was devoted to the latest Mission Impossible than to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.) It just gave the whole ceremony a rather odd feel. It reminded me of when I was in high school and the drama club would give out little trophies and certificates at the end of the year. I received a little trophy for being the Best Actress in Advanced Theatre during my junior year. I also got a certificate for “Biggest Flirt.” (My acceptance speech, by the way, was: “Couldn’t it have been for best lay?” Ahhh, High School.)

As host, Bill Crystal was pretty bleh and he kinda looked like Robert Blake from Lost Highway.

Whenever Rooney Mara popped up on screen, me and Evelyn would yell, “You need boobs to wear that dress, honey!”

Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech was long-winded and she came across as being a bit full of herself, I think. Now I know that you’re saying, “Well, gee, Lisa, she’s the greatest actress ever so she’s earned the right to be full of herself!” Actually, if you really pay attention to Streep’s performances, you’ll see that the main reason she has a reputation for being a great actress is because she never allows you to forget that she’s acting.

I missed James Franco.

“OMG! Just like me!” Moments

As I mentioned on twitter, Evelyn and I have decided that we were the Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz of my living room. We’re still debating on just who exactly was Cameron and who was J.Lo.

Lessons Learned

Everything is better with James Franco!

84th Annual Academy Awards: The Winners

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s what won earlier at the 84th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Picture: The Artist

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer in The Help

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris

Best Original Score: The Artist

Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets

Best Art Direction: Hugo

Best Cinematography: Hugo

Best Costume Design: Hugo

Best Editing: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Best Makeup: The Iron Lady

Best Sound Editing: Hugo

Best Sound Mixing: Hugo

Best Visual Effects: Hugo

Best Animated Short Subject: La Luna

Best Live Action Short: The Shore

Best Documentary Short Subject: Saving Face

Best Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Animated Film: Rango

As far as how my predictions stacked up against the actual Oscars, I came out of tonight with a score of — ahem — 11 for 24.

The Academy Was Wrong: 20 Times That The Wrong Film Won Best Picture

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi everyone! It’s Oscar Sunday which, as we all know, is a national holiday.

And, like many holidays, things occasionally don’t go the way they should. Often times, the day starts with such promise and ends with such bitterness as the Academy announces that the best film of the year is a film that we all know didn’t deserve the title.

Below, you’ll find a list of 10 instances when the Academy got it wrong. Please note that these are just my own personal picks. You may disagree and you are welcome to do so (as long as you understand that, ultimately, I’m always right.)

Also, please note that I have limited myself to only considering films that were actually nominated for best picture. You could make a great argument for films like Psycho, 2001, The Dark Knight, and others. However, none of those films were even nominated for best picture and therefore, I have not considered them for this list.

(Also, if this list seems to be dominated by more recent Oscar picks, that’s because it’s more likely that I’ve been able to see a film that was released in 2007 as opposed to film from 1927.)

Anyway, here’s my chronological list of 20+ nominees that should have won:

1941 — Citizen Kane (lost to How Green Way My Valley)

1952 — A Place In The Sun (lost to An American In Paris)

1967 — The Graduate (lost to In The Heart of The Night)

1973 — The Exorcist or American Graffiti (lost to The Sting)

1976 — All The President’s Men (lost to Rocky)

1986 — Hannah and Her Sisters or A Room With A View (lost to Platoon)

1990 — Goodfellas (lost to Dances With Wolves)

1994 — Pulp Fiction (lost to Forrest Gump)

1995 — Sense and Sensibility or Babe (lost to Braveheart)

1996 — Fargo (lost to The English Patient)

1999 — The Sixth Sense (lost to American Beauty)