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Enjoy!
Tag Archives: The Muppets
No Guts, No Glory, Part II: Lisa Marie Goes Down Into The Oscar Pool And Gets Wet
Since every other film blogger and wannabe Awards diva is doing so, I figured I might as well post my predictions as to who and what will actually win when the Oscars are handed out on Sunday. Please remember, these are not the films and performers that I personally would choose to honor. (Indeed, I’ve never disagreed with the Oscar nominations more than I have this year.) These are just my predictions and random guesses at what will be honored on Sunday.
Best Picture: The Descendants
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants
Best Actress: Viola Davis in The Help
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer in The Help
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
Best Animated Feature Film: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film: In Darkness (Poland)
Best Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Original Score: War Horse
Best Original Song: “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
Best Sound Editing: Hugo
Best Sound Mixing: Hugo
Best Art Direction: The Artist
Best Cinematography: The Tree Of Life
Best Makeup: Albert Nobbs
Best Costume Design: The Artist
Best Film Editing: The Descendants
Best Visual Effects: Hugo
Agree? Disagree? Confused as to what just the Hell I was thinking when I made some of these predictions? Please let me know in the comments section below.
If Lisa Marie Determined The Oscar Nominees….
The Oscar nominations are due to be announced on Tuesday morning so I figured now would be a good time to play a little game that I like to call: “What if Lisa had all the power?” Below, you will find my personal Oscar nominations. These are the films and the performers that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for selecting the nominees and the winners.
For those who are interested, you can check out my picks for last year by clicking on this sentence.
Please understand, as you look over this lengthy list of deserving films and performers, that these are not necessarily the films I expect to see nominated on Tuesday morning. In fact, I would be hard pressed to think of a year in which I have disagreed more with the critical establishment than I have this year. For whatever reason, the films that truly touched and moved me in 2011 appear to be the films that are totally and completely off the Academy’s radar. These are not my predictions. Instead, they are my personal choices and they should not be interpreted as representing the opinion on anyone else affiliated with this site. So, if you’re angry that David Fincher’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo didn’t receive a single imaginary nomination, direct your anger at me and me alone.
Best Picture
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Guard
Hanna
Higher Ground
Hugo
Shame
Sucker Punch
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Young Adult
Best Actor
Michael Fassbender for Shame
Brendan Gleeson for The Guard
Gary Oldman for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Michael Shannon for Take Shelter
Rainn Wilson for Super
Best Actress
Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia
Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground
Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene
Saoirse Ronan for Hanna
Charlize Theron for Young Adult
Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks for Drive
Bobby Cannivale for Win Win
Jonah Hill for Moneyball
Patton Oswalt for Young Adult
Andy Serkis for Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Best Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick for 50/50
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan for Shame
Ellen Page for Super
Amy Ryan for Win Win
Best Director
Vera Farminga for Higher Ground
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Steve McQueen for Shame
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Joe Wright for Hanna
Best Original Sreenplay
Bridesmaids
The Guard
Hanna
Shame
Young Adult
Best Adapted Screenplay
Higher Ground
Hugo
Incendies
One Day
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Animated Feature
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio
Winnie the Pooh
Best Foreign Language Film
(Please note that I do this category a bit differently than the Academy. Whereas the Academy asks nations across the world to submit a nominee, I’m simply nominating the best foreign language films that I saw in a theater last year. Those who follow the Oscars will note that I’ve both nominated and awarded the brilliant Canadian films Incendies, which actually was nominated for a real Oscar in this same category last year.)
The Double Hour
Incendies
Of Gods and Men
The Skin I Live In
13 Assassins
Best Documentary Feature
Bill Cunningham New York
Buck
The Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Jig
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
Best Original Score
The Artist
A Better Life
The Guard
Hanna
The Tree Of Life
Best Original Song
“The Star-Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger
“Mujhe Chod Ke” from DAM999
“The Keeper” from Machine Gun Preacher
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
“Pop” from White Irish Drinkers
Best Sound Editing
Drive
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Sucker Punch
The Tree of Life
Best Sound Mixing
Drive
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Sucker Punch
The Tree of Life
Best Art Direction
Bunraku
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Sucker Punch
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Cinematography
The Artist
Hugo
Melancholia
Shame
The Tree of Life
Best Makeup
Beastly
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Insidious
Sucker Punch
X-Men: First Class
Best Costume Design
Bunraku
The Help
Hugo
Sucker Punch
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Editing
The Artist
The Guard
Hanna
Hugo
Shame
Best Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Sucker Punch
The Tree of Life
List of Films By Number of Nominations:
10 Nominations – Hugo
7 Nominations – Shame, Sucker Punch
6 Nominations – Hanna
5 Nominations – The Artist; The Guard; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2; Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy; The Tree of Life
4 Nominations – Higher Ground, Young Adult
3 Nominations – Bridesmaids, Drive
2 Nominations – Bunraku, Incendies, Melancholia, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super, Win Win
1 Nomination – Beastly, A Better Life, Bill Cunningham New York, Buck, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, DAM999, The Double Hour, 50/50, The Help, Insidious, Jig, Kung Fu Panda 2, Machine Gun Preacher, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Moneyball, The Muppets, Of Gods and Men, One Day, Puss in Boots, Rango, Ressurect Dead, Rio, The Skin I Live In, Take Shelter, 13 Assassins, X-Men: First Class, White Irish Drinkers, Winnie the Pooh
List of Films By Number of Oscars Won:
3 Oscars – Hanna
2 Oscars – Bunraku, Shame, Sucker Punch
1 Oscar – Beastly, Bridesmaids, The Cave of Forgotten Deams, Dam999, Higher Ground, Hugo Incendies, Melancholia, Puss in Boots, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Super, Young Adult
So, will the Academy agree with my picks? Well, probably not. Indeed, it’s probable that they won’t agree at all. And to that, I say, “Oh well.”
The Academy Award nominations will be announced Tuesday morning.
Lisa Marie’s 10 Favorite Songs of 2011
Continuing my series on the best of 2011, here are ten of my favorite songs from 2011. Now, I’m not necessarily saying that these were the best songs of 2011. Some of them aren’t. But these are ten songs that, in the future, will define 2011 for me personally. Again, these are my picks and my picks only. So, if you think my taste in music sucks (and, admittedly, quite a few people do), direct your scorn at me and not at anyone else who writes for the Shattered Lens.
By the way, I was recently asked what my criteria for a good song was. Honestly, the main thing I look for in a song is 1) can I dance to it and 2) can I get all into singing it while I’m stuck in traffic or in the shower?
Anyway, at the risk of revealing just how much of a dork I truly am, here are ten of my favorite songs of 2011.
1) What The Water Gave Me (performed by Florence + The Machine)
Musically, 2011 was a good year for me because it’s the year that I first discovered Florence + The Machine.
2) Only In My Double Mind (performed by Centro-Matic)
This is a great song from one of the best bands to come out of North Texas.
3) Man or Muppet (performed by Jason Segal and Walter)
Featuring lyrics from the brilliant Bret McKenzie. This song makes me cry every time.
4) Immigrant Song (performed by Karen O, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross)
Say what you will about David Fincher’s rehash of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it had a good soundtrack. This cover of Immigrant Song made the film’s first trailer bearable. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really featured in subsequent trailers, being replaced by Daniel Craig going, “I want YOU to HELP ME catch a KILLER of WOMEN.”
5) Friday (performed by Rebecca Black)
Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s a terrible song and you know what? That’s why I can’t help but love it. Listen, there are thousands of terrible song released every year but there are none quite as a terrible as Friday. The genius of Friday is that it took everything that we associate with terrible music — nonsensical lyrics, insane autotune, a socially irresponsible message, creepy rappers who show up out of nowhere and for no good reason — and then just smashed it all together into the YouTube video that refused to die. Add to that, a few months ago, me and my BFF Evelyn got like totally drunk and then wandered around the streets of Dallas singing this song at the top of our lungs and I swear, every guy who passed by yelled words of encouragement at us.
(And, by the way, if you’re going to hate someone, hate on Fred Phelps. Leave Rebecca Black alone. Life’s too short.)
6) Hold it Against Me (performed by Britney Spears)
Yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone loves to hate on Britney blah blah blah. This song is fun to sing in the shower and you can dance to it. And, quite frankly, that’s all I need.
7) Beard (performed by Burning Hotels)
This is from another North Texas band.
8) Fucking Perfect (performed by Pink)
An anthem. (Yes, I know this song came out in 2010 but it was important to me in 2011 so I’m listing it here now. So there.)
9) Love Is The Drug (performed by Oscar Isaac and Carla Gugino)
From the Sucker Punch soundtrack comes this sneakily subversive cover.
10) No Light, No Light (performed by Florence + The Machine)
Finally, what better way to end this list than with some more of Florence + The Machine.
Finally, I want to close this list with a song that came out long before 2011 but it’s an important song to me and it was sung by someone who we lost far too early this year.
Coming tomorrow: ten of the best things I saw on television in 2011.
Here are the 39 songs eligible for a Best Original Song nomination
Yesterday, the Academy announced that the following 39 films are eligible to nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Song of 2011. Considering how the awards season has gone so far, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that few of the songs that I truly enjoyed hearing this year are eligible. Still, it is nice to see that Capt. America will have a chance to score a nomination for “Star-Spangled Man.”
Then again, it would also be nice to see something from The Muppets win because I’m sure Bret McKenzie would give a perfectly charming acceptance speech.
One final reaction to this list: there’s a movie called White Irish Drinkers?
Yay!
- “The World I Knew” from “African Cats”
- “Lay Your Head Down” from “Albert Nobbs”
- “Star Spangled Man” from “Captain America: The First Avenger”
- “Collision of Worlds” from “Cars 2”
- “Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu” from “DAM999”
- “DAM999 Theme Song” from “DAM999”
- “Mujhe Chod Ke” from “DAM999”
- “Rainbird” from “Dirty Girl”
- “Keep On Walking” from “The First Grader”
- “Where the River Goes” from “Footloose”
- “Hello Hello” from “Gnomeo & Juliet”
- “Love Builds a Garden” from “Gnomeo & Juliet”
- “Bridge of Light” from “Happy Feet Two”
- “The Mighty Sven” from “Happy Feet Two”
- “Never Be Daunted” from “happythankyoumoreplease”
- “Hell and Back” from “Hell and Back Again”
- “The Living Proof” from “The Help”
- “Coeur Volant” from “Hugo”
- “It’s How We Play” from “I Don’t Know How She Does It”
- “When the Heart Dies” from “In the Land of Blood and Honey”
- “Ja Nao Estar” from “José and Pilar”
- “The Keeper” from “Machine Gun Preacher”
- “Life’s a Happy Song” from “The Muppets”
- “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets”
- “Pictures in My Head” from “The Muppets”
- “Summer Song” from “The Music Never Stopped”
- “Imaginary Friends” from “Olive”
- “Sparkling Day” from “One Day”
- “Taking You With Me” from “Our Idiot Brother”
- “The Greatest Song I Ever Heard” from “POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”
- “Hot Wings” from “Rio”
- “Let Me Take You to Rio” from “Rio”
- “Real in Rio” from “Rio”
- “Shelter” from “Take Shelter”
- “Gathering Stories” from “We Bought a Zoo”
- “Pop” from “White Irish Drinkers”
- “Think You Can Wait” from “Win Win”
- “The Backson Song” from “Winnie the Pooh”
- “So Long” from “Winnie the Pooh”
Here Are The 2012 Critics’ Choice Movie Award Nominees
Earlier today, the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced their nominations for the 17th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards. The BFCA is the largest of the so-called “major” critics’ groups (and, interestingly enough, it’s also the newest and the least prestigious) and it has a fairly good track record of predicting the actual Oscar nominations. The awards themselves will be handed out on January 12th, 2012 in a self-important, kinda seedy ceremony that will be broadcast on VH-1.
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney – The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Ryan Gosling – Drive
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – The Help
Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron – Young Adult
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks – Drive
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Patton Oswalt – Young Adult
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Sir Andrew Serkis – Rise of the Planet of the Apes
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan – Shame
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – Hugo
Elle Fanning – Super 8
Thomas Horn – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Ezra Miller – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Saoirse Ronan – Hanna
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
BEST DIRECTOR
Stephen Daldry – Extreme Loud & Incredibly Close
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Steven Spielberg – War Horse
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
50/50 – Will Reiser
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
Win Win – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
Young Adult – Diablo Cody
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Eric Roth
The Help – Tate Taylor
Hugo – John Logan
Moneyball – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
Drive – Newton Thomas Sigel
Hugo – Robert Richardson
Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski
BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
Hugo – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Tree of Life – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
War Horse – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales
BEST EDITING
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
Drive – Matthew Newman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
War Horse – Michael Kahn
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Artist – Mark Bridges
The Help – Sharen Davis
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
My Week With Marilyn – Jill Taylor
BEST MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
My Week With Marilyn
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Tree of Life
BEST SOUND
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Super 8
The Tree of Life
War Horse
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
BEST ACTION MOVIE
Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
BEST COMEDY
Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In Darkness
Le Havre
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Where Do We Go Now
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated
BEST SONG
“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets
BEST SCORE
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Drive – Cliff Martinez
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Hugo – Howard Shore
War Horse – John Williams
The BFCA has obviously made a lot of nominations and some of them are interesting but I have to be honest: the BFCA as an organization annoys me with how they’re always bragging about how big they are and how they’re so good at celebrating the conventional establishment wisdom. So, I’ll just say that its nice to see Hanna getting at least some sort of recognition (even if that recognition is kinda minor.)
Billy Crystal and the Holy Grail?
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?
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.
