2011 Gotham Awards Recap

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In my previous post, I announced the start of “Oscar season” by offering up a recap of the films and performers honored by the New York Film Critics Circle earlier today. However, the Oscar season was actually kicked off on Monday night with the Gotham Awards. Much like the Independent Spirit awards, the Gothams are meant to honor the best in the year’s independent films. Below is a recap of which films were honored at this year’s ceremony.

Best Feature

Beginners(tie)
The Tree of Life(tie)

The big news here has been that Beginners and Tree of Life tied for best picture. (Actually, I’m not surprised as both films pretty much explored the same themes of memory, aging, and love.) It’ll be interesting to see if either one of these films manage to maintain the momentum of their victory through the rest of the Oscar season.

As for me, I have a new mission and that is to see Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same.

The New York Film Critics Circle Names “The Artist” Best Picture of 2011

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is my favorite time of year. It’s Oscar season, the time when films and actors manuever to win nominations and awards. This is the time of year when anything seems possible, when you think that maybe Exit Through The Gift Shop will get a best picture nomination or perhaps Christopher Nolan will be nominated for best director for Inception. In short, this is the month and a half before bitter disillusionment sets in.

During Oscar season, several mysterious groups hand out awards of their own. These groups are made up of critics desperately trying to convince themselves that they matter and the awards that they hand out are often seen as an indicator of what will eventually end up getting nominated. Last year, just about every single critical group named The Social Network as best picture and David Fincher as best director and we all remember how little that actually meant once it came time for the actual Academy Awards to be handed out.

Earlier today, the New York Film Critics Circle helped to start things off by announcing their picks for the best of 2011. Reportedly, they held off a day on selecting their picks so that they could attend a special screening of David Fincher’s remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. And how did that work out? Well, check out what won:

Best picture: “The Artist”

Best director: Michael Havanavicius, “The Artist”

Best actor: Brad Pitt (“Moneyball,” “Tree of Life”)

Best actress: Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady”)

Best supporting actor: Albert Brooks (“Drive”)

Best supporting actress: Jessica Chastain (“The Tree of Life,” “The Help” and “Take Shelter”)

Best screenplay: Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, “Moneyball”

Best cinematography: Emmanuel Lebezki, “Tree of Life”

Best non-fiction film (documentary): “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”

Best foreign language film: “A Separation”

Best first feature: “Margin Call”

Just a few comments on these awards: I have yet to see The Artist but I’m really looking forward to it. I have a feeling I’m either going to love it or else I’m going to hate it with a passion. It just appears to be one of those films. I also haven’t seen Margin Call because its subject matter — Wall Street — makes me go “Bleh!” But I may have to see it now because it appears to be becoming a bit of an awards dark horse.

I have a feeling that Brad Pitt’s going to win an Oscar for his performance in Moneyball but I really didn’t think it was anything that special. I thought Pitt was likable but not much else. Some of that could have had a bit to do with the fact that I couldn’t really follow the film as I’m about as interested in baseball as I am in Wall Street. Hopefully, I won’t have to sit through another Aaron Sorkin acceptance speech at next year’s Oscar ceremony. Seriously, there’s only so much time I can spend listening to a pompous millionaire talking about how he thinks the world works.

I haven’t seen The Iron Lady yet but its going to be boring and people are going to feel obligated to pretend like they got something out of it.

Finally, yay to the NYFCC for awarding both Albert Brooks and Werner Herzog’s The Cave of Forgotten Deams.

The Toadsuckers Have Spoken: 15 Semi-Finalists for Best Documentary And Still No Room for Werner Herzog

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the titles of the 15 semi-finalists for the Best Feature Length Documentary Oscar. This list will, of course, be narrowed down to the 5 final nominees.

Without further ado, here’s the 15 semi-finalists:

Battle for Brooklyn(RUMER Inc.)
Bill Cunningham New York(First Thought Films)
Buck(Cedar Creek Productions)
Hell and Back Again(Roast Beef Productions Limited)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front(Marshall Curry Productions, LLC)
Jane’s Journey(NEOS Film GmbH & Co. KG)
The Loving Story(Augusta Films)
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory(@radical.media)
Pina(Neue Road Movies GmbH)
Project Nim(Red Box Films)
Semper Fi: Always Faithful(Tied to the Tracks Films, Inc.)
Sing Your Song(S2BN Belafonte Productions, LLC)
Undefeated(Spitfire Pictures)
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat(JUF Pictures, Inc.)
We Were Here (Weissman Projects, LLC)

My response as I look at this list is: “Huh?” Which is to be expected because I live in Flyover country and, as a result, our local theaters don’t get sent all that many documentaries. Still, I have to say that, as someone who tries her darndest to keep up with these things, I’m not familiar with a lot of these films. I saw Buck in the theaters and I watched Bill Cunningham New York via OnDemand after my sister recommended it to me. I meant to see Project Nin when it briefly played at the Dallas Angelika but, for whatever reason, I missed it. (I may have been burned out on movies about chimpanzees after seeing Rise of the Planet of the Apes.) I’ll definitely see Paradise Lost 3 if it ever manages to get down to my part of the world.

If anything surprises and disappoints me, it’s that Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams isn’t on the semi-finalist list. Neither are two other documentaries that I loved — Jig and Resurrect Dead. (I have to admit that I’m not sure if those two films were submitted for consideration or if they would have even been eligible to be considered. I just know that I enjoyed them when I saw them OnDemand.) I’m also surprised that The Paper isn’t on the list of semi-finalists. I haven’t actually seen The Paper but just judging from the trailer and the subject matter (The New York Times struggling to remain relevent), it seemed like the type of documentary that traditionally seems to get nominated.

Finally, despite the fact that I haven’t seen it, I would kinda like to see Paradise Lost 3 win the award if just to honor the entire Paradise Lost series. After all, if not for those films, the West Memphis 3 would still be sitting in prison. Every year, during the Academy Awards ceremony, we have to sit through some pompous speech about how documentaries can change the course of history. Well, the Paradise Lost films actually did and, again taking into consideration that I haven’t seen the actual film yet, it seems like that deserves to be honored, no?

(And before any of you excitable types start bitching and whining — and you know who you are — Undefeated is a documentary about a high school football team and should not be mistaken for The Undefeated, the documentary about Sarah Palin that also came out this year.)

Billy Crystal and the Holy Grail?

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, here I was all excited and everything because I had an excuse to start another one of my never-ending polls and what happens? Less than 24 hours after I set up my poll asking you who you think should replace Eddie Murphy as the host of next year’s Oscar ceremony, Billy Crystal tweets that he’s got the job.

Seriously?

They couldn’t just leave us in suspense for an extra day or two?

Anyway, Billy Crystal isn’t really a surprising choice as people were mentioning his name from the minute Murphy stepped down. However, he is a rather boring choice and I guess that the show’s producer, Brian Grazer, has decided not to do the whole “edgy” thing. Which is probably a good thing since the Academy Awards version of edgy tends to be … well, it’s hard to say what it is but it’s distinguished by smoothed corners and a definite lack of sharp edges.

I guess what I’m saying is that the Oscars are a big round table and apparently, Billy Crystal is going to be King Arthur next year. Though, according to our poll, you would have much rather seen either myself or the Muppets holding court.

Poll: Who Would Be The Perfect Oscar Host?

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

While I was off celebrating my birthday yesterday and my fellow editors were putting together Lisa Day here on the Shattered Lens (and I have to say — thank you and I love you all!), some really silly and stupid things were going on as far as next year’s Oscar ceremony is concerned. Basically, to recap, notoriously bad director Brett Ratner was hired to produce the upcoming Oscar telecast because — well, I’m not sure why. I mean, doesn’t Brett Ratner kinda represent everything about the film industry that the Academy usually tried to pretend doesn’t exist? Anyway, Ratner convinced Eddie Murphy to host the show. Ratner then apparently commented that “rehearsing is for fags.” Naturally, this led to a lot of people getting upset, even though none of them were apparently upset by all the sexist and homophobic comments Ratner made before he was hired to produce the ceremony. Ratner then stepped down as producer, which was expected. What wasn’t expected was that Eddie Murphy would follow by stepping down as host.

So, now, Brian Grazer (who is probably about as Hollywood establishment as you can get) is producing the show and looking for a new host. Now, there’s been some speculation that the job might go to Billy Crystal or maybe even Robin Williams (and all I can say to that is “Please God — no!”). Myself, I’m hoping that they surprise us by going with someone totally unexpected — like maybe Joel McHale or the nosy kittens waiting to be fed. Or maybe even me!

So, with all that in mind, who do you think would make the perfect Oscar host? Vote once, vote often.

Here Are The 18 Films Eligible For Best Animated Feature Film

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone! Well, I am in a much better mood than I was when I wrote my last post and that’s because I just remembered that November is the start of Oscar season! Yay!

Now, I know that a lot of people make a big deal about how little they care about the Oscars and they always sit around and bitch about how such-and-such movie didn’t win and how the Academy always honors mediocrity and the Academy is biased towards the mainstream and blah blah blah blah blah. As I explained many times last year, I am aware of all of this and I don’t care. On an annual basis, the Oscars prove themselves to be a big, tacky, spectacular train wreck and I love them!

Anyway, as Oscar season slowly creeps to life (it won’t really be here until the various critic groups start handing out their equally silly awards in December), the Academy has released the list of the 18 films that have qualified to compete for the title of Best Animated Film. Since there are 18 contenders, that means that we’ll actually have five nominees this year as opposed to just three and I for one say, “Yay!” to that. Whenever I see only three films listed in a category, I have flashbacks to trying to understand the concept of the Holy Trinity.

Anyway, here are the contenders:

The Adventures of TinTin

“Alois Nebel”

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2”
“A Cat in Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Gnomeo & Juliet”
“Happy Feet Two”
“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”
“Kung Fu Panda 2”
“Mars Needs Moms”
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”
“Rio”
“The Smurfs”
“Winnie the Pooh”
“Wrinkles”

I have to admit that this has been kind of a strange year for animated films, largely because, as my fellow contributor Leonard Wilson once pointed out on twitter, this is the first year in which it appears that Pixar might not have a contender. I recently saw Cars 2 and did not shed a tear and quite frankly, going to a Pixar film and not crying is a bit like going to New Orleans, flashing your boobs, and not getting any beads. It just makes you question everything. Winnie the Pooh made me cry. So did Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 for that matter. I haven’t seen Puss In Boots yet but I expect I’ll love it because it’s about a cat and I love cats. However, I have a feeling that the award will be given to Adventures of TinTin just to keep Steven Spielberg from throwing a hissy fit after War Horse fails to live up to expectations.

Let’s Second Guess The Academy: 2006 Best Picture

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there and welcome to the latest, long-delayed edition of Let’s Second Guess The Academy. Previously, we second-guessed the Academy’s choice for best picture of 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002. It seems only fitting that we now jump ahead another 4 years and reconsider the race for best picture of 2006.

The Academy nominated five films for best picture 0f 2006. Those films were Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen. They ultimately named The Departed the best film of 2006. Were they right?

And now, here’s my favorite part of second guessing the Academy. What if none of the five nominated films had been released in 2006? Which other films would you have nominated? Below is a list of some of 2006′s most acclaimed and memorable films. You can vote for up to 10 replacement nominees and write-in votes are allowed.

As always, vote once, vote often, and have fun!

Eddie Murphy?

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I don’t follow football, baseball, or any other sport created by putting something random before the word “ball.” Why would I ever need sports when I’ve got the Oscars? A few nights ago, I found myself asking Arleigh just what exactly was meant by all this talk of “fantasy football.” Seriously, I assumed that it was some sort of football team made up of hobbits, elves, and talking Narnia animals. Turns out I was wrong but it also turns out that whereas some of you have got your fantasy football drafts, I’ve got my fantasy Oscar season. And you know what? My fantasy Oscars always turn out to be a lot more interesting than the real Oscars.

But, ultimately, it’s the real Oscars that matter and, as we enter the Fall, the real Oscar season is heating up. Not only are the self-styled Oscar contenders lining up to be released but the pieces of the eventual ceremony are starting to come together as well.

Each year, one of the most important pieces of the ceremony is the announcement of just who exactly will be hosting the big event. Last year, James Franco and Anne Hathaway were announced as hosts and we all know how that eventually went. Perhaps that’s why the producer of the upcoming show, hack director Brett Ratner, has decided to go the opposite direction. Rather than picking someone who represents the future of Hollywood, he has instead picked someone who very much represents the past.

The host of the 84th Academy Awards will be Eddie Murphy.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Eddie Murphy is also appearing in Ratner’s upcoming film, Tower Heist. (By the way, I’ve already predicted that Tower Heist is going to suck just on the basis of the trailer. Hopefully, I’ll be wrong because, quite frankly, it makes me happy when Ben Stiller gets to appear in a good film. But seriously — even the title is lazy.)

I can’t really say for sure how I feel about Eddie Murphy as host of the Oscars because, to be honest, I really haven’t seen that many of his films. I thought he was kinda good in Dreamgirls but otherwise, Eddie Murphy has always come across as being … well, the term that comes to mind is “washed up.”

Personally, I’m a part of the minority who feels that Anne Hathaway and James Franco weren’t half as bad as everyone seems to think. Hathaway, I felt was likable and goofy and Franco — well, I kinda sorta like James Franco. The fact that the two of them were so ill-suited for their hosting duties brought a very nice sort of unpredictable vibe to the show. You never knew if James Franco was going to suddenly chop his arm off on-camera.

Say what you will about Eddie Murphy, I know he’s not going to chop off his arm on live TV.

Let’s Second Guess The Academy: 2002 Best Picture

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi there and welcome to the latest edition of Let’s Second Guess The Academy. Previously, we second-guessed the Academy’s choice for best picture of 1990, 1994, and 1998. It seems only fitting that we now jump ahead another 4 years and reconsider the race for best picture of 2002.

In 2002, the Academy nominated five films for best picture. Those films were Chicago, Gangs of New York, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist, and The Hours. They ultimately named Chicago the best film of 2002. Were they right?

And now, here’s my favorite part of second guessing the Academy. What if none of the five nominated films had been released in 2002? Which other films would you have nominated? Below is a list of some of 2002’s most acclaimed and memorable films. You can vote for up to 10 replacement nominees and write-in votes are allowed.

As always, have fun!

Let’s Second Guess The Academy: 1998 Best Picture Nominees

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi and welcome to this week’s edition of Let’s Second Guess The Academy. Previously, we reconsidered the best picture nominees for both 1990 and 1994. This week, we jump forward 4 more years to consider the race for best picture of 1998.

1998 saw one of the greatest upsets in Academy history when Shakespeare in Love was named best picture over Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Even after more than a decade, this decision remains a controversial one. Some people — including this site’s founder — will tell you that Saving Private Ryan was robbed. Others, like my sister Megan, loved Shakespeare in Love so much that they still have the sepia-toned movie poster hanging in their house. And then there are people like me who will tell you that Shakespeare was better than Ryan but Thin Red Line was better than Shakespeare and that, finally, Elizabeth is the best of them all.

So, looking back with the benefit of hindsight (I love that word!), which of 1998’s best picture nominees would you have voted for?

And here’s the part of Let’s Second Guess The Academy that I really love — if none of the five actual nominees had been released in 1998, which other films would you have nominated in their place? You can vote for up to 5 films.

(If the 2nd poll isn’t showing up on your browser, please click here and you will be redirected to it.)