What If Lisa Marie Determined The Oscar Nominees…

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the Oscar nominations due to be announced this week, now seems like a good time to indulge in something I like to call “If Lisa Marie Had All The Power.” Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are listed in bold.

For those who are interested, you can check out my picks for 2010 by clicking on this sentence.

Meanwhile, my picks for last year can be seen by clicking on this sentence.

Best Picture

Anna Karenina

The Avengers

Bernie

The Cabin In The Woods

Django Unchained

Les Miserables

Life of Pi

The Master

Silver Linings Playbook

Skyfall

Best Director

Drew Goddard for The Cabin In The Woods

Ang Lee for Life of Pi

Richard Linklater for Bernie

Quinton Tarantino for Django Unchained

Joe Wright for Anna Karenina

Best Actor

Jack Black in Bernie

Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe.

Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone

Greta Gerwig in Damsels in Distress

Kiera Knightley in Anna Karenina

Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

Michelle Williams in Take This Waltz

Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook

Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master

Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained

Sam Rockwell in Seven Psychopaths

Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

Best Supporting Actress

Rebecca De Mornay in Mother’s Day

Dame Judi Dench in Skyfall

Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables

Zoe Kazan in Ruby Sparks

Sarah Silverman in Take This Waltz

Best Original Screenplay

The Cabin In The Woods

Django Unchained

The Master

Ruby Sparks

Take This Waltz

Best Adapted Screenplay

Anna Karenina

Argo

Bernie

Life of Pi

Silver Linings Playbook

Best Feature-Length Animated Film

Brave

Frankenweenie

Paranorman

Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film

Barbara

Headhunters

The Raid: Redemption

A Royal Affair

Rust and Bone

Best Documentary Feature

Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry

The Central Park Five

First Position

The Queen of Versailles

2016: Obama’s America

Best Original Score

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Brave

The Dark Knight Rises

For Greater Glory

The Master

Best Original Song

“For You” from Act of Valor

“Yo No Se” from Casa De Mi Padre

“The Sambola! International Dance Craze” from Damsels in Distress

“Ancora Qui” from Django Unchained

“Abraham’s Daughter” from The Hunger Games

“The Baddest Man Alive” from The Man With The Iron Fists

“Razor’s Out” from The Raid: Redemption

“Big Machine” from Safety Not Guaranteed

“Skyfall” from Skyfall

“Anything Made Out of Paper” from West of Memphis

Best Sound Editing

Chronicle

The Dark Knight Rises

End of Watch

Les Miserables

Skyfall

Best Sound Mixing

Chronicle

End of Watch

Killing Them Softly

Les Miserables

Skyfall

Best Art Direction

Anna Karenina

The Avengers

The Cabin In The Woods

Cosmopolis

Les Miserables

Best Cinematography

The Hobbit

Lawless

Life of Pi

Moonrise Kingdom

Skyfall

Best Makeup

The Hobbit

The Hunger Games

Les Miserables

Lincoln

Looper

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

The Hunger Games

Lincoln

Moonrise Kingdom

Best Film Editing

Anna Karenina

The Cabin In The Woods

Django Unchained

The Master

Silent House

Best Visual Effects

The Avengers

The Dark Knight Rises

Life of Pi

Looper

Men In Black 3

List of Films By Number of Nominations

8 Nominations — Django Unchained

7 Nominations — Anna Karenina

6 Nominations — Les Miserables, Life of Pi, The Master, Skyfall

5 Nominations — The Cabin In The Woods, Silver Linings Playbook

4 Nominations — Bernie

3 Nominations — The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Lincoln, Take This Waltz

2 Nominations — Brave, Chronicle, Damsels in Distress, End of Watch, Moonrise Kingdom, The Raid: Redemption, Ruby Sparks, Rust and Bone

1 Nomination —Act of Valor, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry, Argo, Barbara, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Casa De Mi Padre, The Central Park Five, Cosmopolis, First Position, For Greater Glory, Frankenweenie, Headhunters, Killer Joe, Killing Them Softly, Lawless, Looper, The Man With The Iron Fists, Men In Black 3, Mother’s Day, The Pirates! Band of Misfits , The Queen of Versailles, A Royal Affair, Safety Not Guaranteed, Seven Psychopaths, Silent House, 2016: Obama’s America, West of Memphis, Wreck-It Ralph

List of Films By Oscars Won

2 Oscars — Anna Karenina, Brave, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi

1 Oscar — Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry, Bernie, The Cabin In the Woods, Looper, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, The Raid: Redemption, Ruby Sparks, Rust and Bone, Skyfall, Take This Waltz

Here Are the 75 (yes, 75!) songs that are eligible for Best Original Song

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Academy today announced the 75 songs that will be eligible to be nominated for best original song of 2012. That’s right — 75 songs! And here they are:

“For You” from “Act of Valor”
“Metaphorical Blanket” from “Any Day Now”
“Let It Rain” from “Being Flynn”
“Learn Me Right” from “Brave”
“Touch the Sky” from “Brave”
“Airport” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”
“Come on Girl” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”
“Someday” from “Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best”
“Protect the King” from “Brooklyn Castle”
“California Solo” from “California Solo”
“Casa De Mi Padre” from “Casa De Mi Padre”
“Del Cielo” from “Casa De Mi Padre”
“Yo No Se” from “Casa De Mi Padre”
“No Other Plans” from “Celeste and Jesse Forever”
“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice”
“By the Light of the Moon” from “Crossroad”
“The Sambola! International Dance Craze” from “Damsels in Distress”
“When You Comin’ Home” from “Darling Companion”
“Death by China” from “Death by China”
“Delhi Safari” from “Delhi Safari”
“Ancora Qui” from “Django Unchained”
“Freedom” from “Django Unchained”
“100 Black Coffins” from “Django Unchained”
“Who Did That to You?” from “Django Unchained”
“How Bad Can I Be?” from “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”
“Let It Grow” from “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”
“Thneedville” from “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax”
“Ain’t No Train” from “Downtown Express”
“You Don’t Have to Be a Star” from “Fame High”
“Jose’s Martyrdom” from “For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada”
“Strange Love” from “Frankenweenie”
“Voodoo” from “Halloween Party”
“Luna Nascosta” from “Hidden Moon”
“Song of the Lonely Mountain” from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Abraham’s Daughter” from “The Hunger Games”
“Master of the Seas” from “Ice Age Continental Drift”
“We Are” from “Ice Age Continental Drift”
“Looking for a Sign” from “Jeff, Who Lives at Home”
“From Here to the Moon and Back” from “Joyful Noise”
“He’s Everything” from “Joyful Noise”
“I’m Yours” from “Joyful Noise”
“Wide Awake” from “Katy Perry: Part of Me”
“Cosmonaut” from “Lawless”
“Beaten Up and Broken Down” from “Least among Saints”
“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”
“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi”
“When I Grow Up” from “Losing Control”
“Love Always Comes as a Surprise” from “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted”
“Ladies of Tampa” from “Magic Mike”
“The Baddest Man Alive” from “The Man with the Iron Fists”
“This Gift” from “The Odd Life of Timothy Green”
“Still Alive” from “Paul Williams Still Alive”
“Dotted Line” from “People Like Us”
“Snake Eyes” from “Promised Land”
“Razors.Out” from “The Raid: Redemption”
“I’m Not Leaving” from “Re:Generation”
“Still Dream” from “Rise of the Guardians”
“Undercover Love” from “Rock of Ages”
“Big Machine” from “Safety Not Guaranteed”
“I Be Here” from “Saint Dracula”
“I Have Secrets” from “Saint Dracula”
“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”
“Breath of Life” from “Snow White and the Huntsman”
“Gone” from “Snow White and the Huntsman”
“One Wing” from “Sparkle”
“Not Running Anymore” from “Stand Up Guys”
“Feel Love” from “Struck by Lightning”
“Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted”
“Never Had” from “10 Years”
“Dull Tool” from “This Is 40”
“She Won’t Let Go” from “Until They Are Home”
“Kiss Me Goodbye” from “Virginia”
“Anything Made of Paper” from “West of Memphis”
“Hashishet Albi” from “Where Do We Go Now?”
“When Can I See You Again?” from “Wreck-It Ralph”

Lisa Marie Bowman Does It At Casa de mi Padre (dir. by Matt Piedmont)

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Having seen the new Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre on Friday, I now know what I want for Christmas. I want a big white tiger that can talk and sit in trees and laugh, just like the big white cat that shows up and serves as spirit guide to Will Ferrell.

Seriously, let’s make it happen!

As for Case de mi Padre, the film is a deliberately absurd homage to both telenovelas and the B-movies of the 70s. Armando Alvarez (played by Will Ferrell) is a stupid but good-hearted Mexican rancher whose drug dealer brother (Diego Luna) is on the verge of marrying the niece (played by Genesis Rodriguez) of another drug dealer (Gael Garcia Bernal). Ferrell, of course, falls in love with Rodriguez and this leads to a deliriously over-the-top wedding party massacre and … well, listen the plot isn’t important. The plot makes no sense. It’s not supposed to make sense. It’s not only a Will Ferrell movie, it’s a Will Ferrell movie based on telenovelas. In short, the film is deliberately designed not to make any sense and, on that count, it succeeds admirably.

Despite a lot of funny moments and Ferrell’s admirable commitment to the film, Casa de mi Padre ultimately works better as a concept than an actual film. In the past, Ferrell’s comedies have worked because they’ve satirized pompous institutions and people who generally take themselves far too seriously, with the obvious example being Anchorman‘s cast of self-important television reporters. However, the majority of telenovelas are already essentially satiric in their intent. Casa de mi Padre finds itself in the odd position of satirizing satire and, as a result, it never feels as outrageous as an actual telenovela. The end result is hardly perfect but it’s silly enough to be consistently amusing.

Casa de mi Padre is a pretty uneven film that’s never as funny as you want it to be but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy watching it. Will Ferrell’s strength as both a comedic and a dramatic actor is his willingness to totally commit to his performance. No matter how ludicrous or silly things get, Ferrell gives 100% and that’s never been more obvious than in his performance here. Not only does he deliver all of his dialogue in Spanish (apparently he learned his lines phonetically) but he also totally throws himself into the melodrama of it all.

A similar commitment can be seen in just about every frame of the film. For me, the film’s best moments come from the small details that the filmmakers take the time to get right. It’s there in every scene from the film’s deliberately tacky sets to the way that the characters randomly break out into overdone laughter to the fact that every female character in the film down to even the maids who work for Ferrell’s father wander around showing off miles of cleavage. Perhaps my favorite scene in the film is when Ferrell and Rodriguez go for a horse ride and it’s obvious from the way the scene is framed that neither one of them is actually sitting on a horse. These are the type of details that will leave boring mainstream audiences scratching their heads but for those of us who speak B-movie, these are the details that make this film worth seeing.