12 Performances from 3 People Born on November 12th: Grace Kelly, Ryan Gosling and Anne Hathaway

TThis is my third birthday post in the past week, and that's not because I'm running out of things to talk about. It just seems that November was a good time to have talented babies, and it would also seem that the 12th was an especially good day to have talented babies. On this day in 1929, Grace Kelly, later known as Princess Grace of Monaco, was born. On this day in 1980, Ryan 'Hey Girl' Gosling was born. On this day in 1982, Anne Hathaway, a.k.a. the sweetest person on Earth, was born. And I didn't know who to focus on, considering they're all my favourite people, so I just decided I'd focus on them all. What follows is my four favourite performances from the three of them, which adds up to 12 performances because, y'know, it is the 12th. And because doing ten performances from each would have been extremely tiring.

Grace Kelly is a woman who I know a lot about - much like I did with Vivien Leigh, I got obsessed and read a whole lot of biographies because I used to have a lot of spare time. Grace did live an interesting, somewhat short life. She rose to fame as a movie star after her debut in 1951's Fourteen Hours. Her breakthrough, however, was the western High Noon, which she co-starred in with Gary Cooper. In terms of her film career, she is best known for being a Hitchcock blonde - Hitchcock himself said that she was her favourite - in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. In 1956 she left Hollywood to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco. She was going to return to acting in 1982, but unfortunately she died in a car accident that year. She was only 52 years old. My favourite performances of hers, in chronological order, are:

In High Noon, Grace plays Amy Fowler Kane, the young Quaker wife of Gary Cooper. The role isn't an extremely demanding one as the film mainly follows Gary Cooper, but when she shows up, she brings such intense vulnerability and youth to her role. And it's impossible to take your eyes off her. Interestingly enough, even though I wasn't so hot on westerns when I watched this one four and a half years ago, I was particularly taken by this tale of the rise and fall of a village. Now it is known as one of the best westerns ever made, but back in the day, the reception wasn't so great. I think it has survived pretty darn well.

My Movie Biography: Where It's At Now in 2012

(2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Well, we're heading into the home stretch now. Tomorrow is the big day. Just to let you know, you will probably have trouble visiting the site for a while. Don't worry, (fingers crossed) everything goes fine and I'll be back up and running this time tomorrow. Hope to see you there!  Anyway, 2012 in my movie biography...

• By some small coincidence, all of the movies I got at one time from Fatso were by Roman Polanski. So I started off the year with Chinatown, Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. That was...fun.
• I saw The Muppets and The Adventures of Tintin on the same day. I felt so awkward being this 16 year old all alone in cinemas filled with children. Funnily enough, I preferred Tintin a lot more, but now The Muppets is pretty much my go-to movie when I want to feel better about life.
• I finally got out of NZ! My father and I went to Melbourne, Australia for a week and that was exciting. I was pretty excited for the plane trip, because Drive was playing on the plane and I hadn't seen it because it was an R18. I did really like it when I saw it, but I completely forgot about the fact that it was censored, so I was left wondering what was so R18 about it. Then I looked it up on the internet and apparently there were 70 swearwords in it, but I hadn't heard any of them. When I got the film on DVD, I finally embraced it and it became my second favourite movie of 2011. While I was in Melbourne I bought a crapload of movies because they had everything that I'd been looking for. And there's like, five JB Hi-Fi's in the city, so I was in heaven. Also heavenly was the Pancake Parlour, but that's another story. I also went to the cinemas a fair bit because I wanted to escape the heat. I only really wanted to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, because I thought it was going to be an R18 in NZ and it was only an MA15+ in Australia. I was so excited to be all rebellious. Then I got back to NZ and I found out that it was only an R16. Which was somewhat disappointing. I also saw The Descendants and Hugo just because I could. I really miss Melbourne. It was such a nice place. One day I hope to go back.
• While I wasn't as excited for the Oscars as much as I was last year (I blame the fact that I hadn't watched many of the movies), I still thought it was a good idea to wake up at 3am and watch the Oscar nominations for fun. It wasn't all that fun until I saw that Rooney Mara got nominated, in which case I let out this weird squeal that woke up everyone in the house. I stayed up until at least 4.30am ranting with people on Facebook about them. Which probably wasn't the best idea, because once the morning hit we were going to Palmerston North to watch War Horse. It didn't affect the experience. I still spent the entire film crying my eyes out. And when I say the "entire film", I mean the entire bloody thing. As soon as I saw that horse I was in tears.

My 20 Favourite Movies of 2011.

Okay, here we are. 20 may seem like a big number, but it was the only way I could fit in everything that I wanted to fit in. So let's not spend any time waffling - it is time for me to close out 2011 once and for all...

Honourable mentions: Hesher, Moneyball, Like Crazy, The Ides of March, Incendies, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Captain America: The First Avenger, Sarah's Key, The Adventures of Tintin, Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Limitless, Thor, Young Adult, Hugo, Melancholia, Contagion, The Help, Crazy, Stupid, Love., Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Super 8, X-Men: First Class, Source Code, Jane Eyre, Rango, Another Earth, Perfect Sense.

20. The Skin I Live In - Dir. Pedro Almodovar

A little strange? Definitely. The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodovar's latest film, explores themes of loneliness, sexual identity, death, and possibly the most unique tale of revenge that I've ever seen. In other hands, this would have been the stuff that fits right into The Human Centipede's generation of horror. Almodóvar creates his macabre, ominous tale with elegance, kitsch and malevolence. The Skin I Live In is almost in a breed of it's own, playing out as a horror that dares you to get under your skin and make you question your own identity. Which is somewhat funny to see these days when horrors are all about scaring you with more blood and guts than are probably possible to be inside one person.

AAN: Oscar Predictions - Soundies and Design

Welcome to part one of my official Oscar predictions, which is what this series of Annual Awards Nerdism has boiled down to. In the five nights leading up to the Oscars I'll share my predictions with y'all...with some poetry to come in some categories. Tonight, I'll be dealing with the 'soundies' (Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures - Original Song, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures - Original Score) and the 'design' awards (Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Makeup, Best Achievement in Costume Design). 

As per usual, I shall be using Fassy, Loki and Owen for my predictions. Just in case you don't know what they mean in prediction terms:
Happy Fassy - Who I want to win. Doesn't necessarily mean that they will win, though.
Lowkey Loki - Who I think will win. This is my official prediction.
Overwhelmed Owen - The longshot. If this wins, there'll be a bit of an outrage.

Soundies awards.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Drive / The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Hugo / Transformers: Dark of the Moon / War Horse

Okay, so out of all the categories sound editing is the one I know the least about (apart from the shorts). But surprisingly, I've seen all of these films, so I should have a good idea of how great their sound was edited. A huge part of me wants Drive to win, since this is it's only nomination and it deserves so much more than this. However, I had MAJOR problems with the sound when I was watching this on the plane...which is probably just a by-product of how crap their sound system is. However, out of all of the nominees, I think that Hugo has the best chance of winning, since I think it will sweep most of the technical awards. And that's all I have, since I didn't go into any of these movies with the sole purpose of watching, or, er, listening to their sound editing.

BAFTA Predictions w/ Fassy, Loki and Owen

Well...here we go. We're on the home stretch. The BAFTAs are generally my favourite awards of the season because the Brits usually know what they're talking about, even though there are a few oddball nominations here. Now, I know you might be a little sick of awards talk (even though I think it has been curiously absent and it is more about the backlash this year), but bear with me. My pageviews/comments have been down for a little bit, and I don't think this post will help with that...but it needs to be done.

Now, a refresher on the way Fassy, Loki and Owen are used for predictions:
Happy Fassy: Who I want to win, but doesn't necessarily mean that they will win.
Lowkey Loki: Who will win. My final prediction.
Overwhelmed Owen: The complete longshot.

Best Film:
The Artist / The Descendants / Drive / The Help / Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

I'm going for Drive all the way, as I'm still fuming over how ignored it was at the Oscars. Actually, I think that Drive and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, two films which failed to get a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars have a better chance of winning this award than actual nominee The Help. I'm surprised that the BAFTAs loved The Help as much as they did, but I can't see it taking many awards apart from the acting ones. As for the actual winner, it'd be stupid not to pick The Artist, as that seems impossible. But I wouldn't be surprised if the most overrated movie of the year The Descendants takes the award...every seems to love that one for some strange reason.

Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year:
My Week with Marilyn / Senna / Shame / Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / We Need to Talk About Kevin

This is possibly one of the hardest categories to pick, considering how much quality there is in it. I think that My Week with Marilyn is the longshot considering it was the lowest rated out of all of them, but the fact that it has a lot of nominations in the acting categories could mean that it isn't such a longshot. Alas, my heart is with Senna, my favourite film of 2011, and I could definitely see it taking out the award. However, with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy having a Best Film nomination and all, it has the advantage over everyone. I wouldn't go past Shame and We Need to Talk About Kevin to take away the award, though...can they all just win?!

THE REST AFTER THE JUMP!

10 Oscar Fails in 2012

Every year, we get a set of Oscar nominations and there's always something to complain about. This year might just be a prime example of that. I did this post at the same time last year, so I figured I could do it again. So here are the snubs in top 10 order, the way I see them...

10. Best Original Score: The Chemical Brothers - Hanna

I may not have been the biggest fan of Hanna, but that score has been on replay on my iPod ever since I bought it in October. It is filled with so many strange sounds that take you to this fantastical place worlds away from here. It really is an out of this world score. Perhaps it is the absence of violins or other orchestral instruments that don't make it an obvious choice, but it was truly the best thing I'd heard since The Social Network's score. And how about 'Container Park'? That song makes me wish I was chasing down some evil people and beating the crap out of them. But then I've got to remember that I'm walking down the main street of Dannevirke.

9. Best Original Screenplay: Mike Mills - Beginners

I must admit, while I liked Beginners, I wasn't the hugest fan of it when I first saw it. Then I bought the DVD and I was completely taken away with it. While the performances at the front are all brilliant (it is so sad that Ewan McGregor is going unnoticed for his work), it is the somewhat personal script by writer/director Mike Mills shines through. It is raw and realistic - in many ways, what The Descendants ultimately failed to do for me. I particularly loved the "this is what .... looks like", and the fractured timeline. Not to mention the dialogue that Arthur got!

8. Best Animated Feature: The Adventures of Tintin

Don't quote me, but I thought that The Adventures of Tintin was all cleared to be eligible for this award. And hey, motion capture is the way of the future, so why wouldn't this be eligible? It may not have been perfect, but it was a bloody fun ride and I'd definitely pick this over Puss in Boots any day. The snub hurts...and it particularly hurts NZ, too. While everyone was crying foul over the more obvious snubs like Fassy, every news program in NZ kept going on about the Tintin snub. It's okay, we in NZ are used to being pushed aside and forgotten...

7. Best Picture: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

There were many deserving films that missed out on a Best Picture nomination - Drive, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo etc etc etc, but no snub hurts as bad as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. Say what you will about the series, but there have been some great films that have come out of it and they sure have a huge fanbase. This film was particularly good, becoming the highest grossing film of the year and one of the most critically acclaimed, too. But the reason that this film should have been nominated is the fact that it is literally the end of an era. The Harry Potter films have had their fair share of technical nominations, but this was the last chance it ever had to be nominated for something more. It seems like such a waste and a little offensive that they wouldn't give this last film an award that the series genuinely deserved. Oh well, the Academy are going to regret it in a few years.

6. Best Original Score: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Sure, they may have won last year and sure, this score isn't as good as The Social Network's, but their just about three hour long score is a beast. Literally. Starting with a cover of 'Immigrant Song' and ending with a brilliant vocal song called 'Is Your Love Strong Enough?', with plenty of dark ambient tones in between, this has the power to be at times either relaxing or terrifying. In some of the songs, I feel like I should be wearing a leather jacket and chasing after an Enya enthusiast, and in others, I feel like walking around like a badass. But just like The Social Network, the soundtrack makes me feel like a total badass when I'm typing. I definitely would have shafted both of the John Williams scores for this one and Hanna. Because with the War Horse one, if I played that whilst walking across a lush green field I wouldn't feel like a badass.

5. Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst - Melancholia

It is a little weird to think that Melancholia didn't get any Oscar recognition (but I think Lars von Trier kinda ruined that for himself), because it did deserve it. Especially deserving was Kirsten Dunst, who delivered my second favourite female performance of the year (the first being Rooney Mara, say what you will, she was amazing) as the depressive Justine who is out to destroy herself and everyone around her. Considering that Dunst went through a similar type of depression not so long ago, you have to praise her for revisiting what was probably a horrible time in her life in crippling fashion. Her performance was absolutely heart-breaking while making me hate her because of her nihilistic views of the world and how she ruins everything. I thought that her Cannes win would have given her some momentum, but alas, a truly great performance is forgotten in favour of mimicry from Meryl Streep.

4. Best Actor: Michael Fassbender - Shame

No, I haven't seen Shame. But I know enough. Michael Fassbender should have been nominated, goddamit. What pisses me off the most about this snub though, is the reason that an Academy voter gave to the LA Times: "He's a guy who's unfamiliar to a lot of people and did a movie that's really intimate. That was a super-brave performance but…perhaps it inspired people to fantasize, and not actually vote." All I have to say is fuck you. That is a bullshit excuse for not voting someone in. You're just too scared to nominate something so explicit and you're jealous because Michael Fassbender's penis is bigger than yours. Assholes.

3. Best Supporting Actor: Alan Rickman - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

I would have loved to have seen either Ralph Fiennes or Alan Rickman nominated for their brilliant work in the Harry Potter movies, but if we were going for just this one film, Alan Rickman deserved some recognition. He was one of the only actors who found consistency in his character right throughout the series. But it is in this particular film where he is given his time to shine (somewhat briefly, though), and he is absolutely heart-breaking. He is beyond amazing as Severus Snape that it makes me wonder why, in such a weak field, he didn't come forth as a proper competitor. Rickman's voice gives me the chills, too.

2. Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive 

Give Refn a few years and a few more films like Drive, and I think he'll emerge as one of the best modern directors. Before Drive I saw Bronson, which I really disliked, but I LOVED his directorial style. With Drive, this is more of a Hollywood film with half of the budget, and he delivers with style. Calm, fresh style. The car chases aren't edited to incomprehensibility, and the really violent scenes are directed in slow-mo so they get under your skin. Add in the hand-picked 80s style soundtrack and you have so much badassery it is criminal. I look forward to what Refn has in store for us...he is awesome.

1. Best Editing: Senna

Okay, so it was never going to happen. And I'm still fuming that it didn't make to the Best Documentary shortlist. But let's look at it this way: the films nominated had a few hours of footage to edit into the story from the screenplay and add a bit of style. And for all we know, they did that well. Senna, however? That had footage from a man's entire LIFE to edit down. What it got edited down to was something pretty close to a normal looking narrative, and it doesn't even use interviews from the present day, just archival footage. It features some of the most phenomenal editing I've ever seen, and it would run rings around any of the other films and their editing released in 2011.

What are your Oscar fails of 2012?

Some Heroes Are Real.

Film: Drive
Year: 2011
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by: Hossein Amini
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Kaden Leos, Russ Tamblyn.
Running time: 100 min.


With a title like Drive, you'd instantly expect it to be filled with car chases which coincidentally have guns involved and then the cars explode and this is what we call entertainment. Some lady thought that and went as far as to sue the makers because it wasn't like Fast & Furious. She is silly. Drive is the kind of movie that happens slowly, yet realistically. You don't expect one person to possibly go through lots of car chases and explosions just because they're mildly talented at driving a car, right? No. Drive follows the unnamed Driver (Ryan Gosling), who is a Hollywood stunt driver by day, and moonlighting as a getaway driver for robberies by night. He falls for his neighbour, Irene (Carey Mulligan), who has a son and a husband in jail. Her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) gets out of jail, and it turns out that trouble has followed him so he asks the Driver to help him out with a routine robbery. As it goes wrong, the Driver discovers that there's a bag of money at stake and there are some gangsters after Irene and her son, who the Driver is keen to protect.

AAN: The BAFTA nominations w/ Fassy, Loki and Owen

I was going to do a Golden Globes recap, but it didn't make much sense since I never saw the show and every man and his dog has blogged about it. All I have to say is this: if The Descendants wins Best Picture or Best Actor, I'll be fuming. I'm one of the few who wasn't terribly impressed by it or by the Cloon's performance. There, I'm unpopular.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on the BAFTAs and how they'll affect the Oscar race, along with Fassy, Loki and Owen in some of the categories (not all, because there are a lot).

Best Film

The Artist / The Descendants / Drive / The Help / Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

YAY for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy! I haven't seen the film, but I am glad that it is finally getting some love. I thought it would be a huge player in the awards race, but it has been virtually non-existent. Such a shame, as it looks so great. And yay for Drive. I will be reviewing that film later tonight, and it was really good. I'm a bit surprised by The Help's nomination, since there are some far better films than that out there, but I'm happy for the inclusion. The Artist and The Descendants are pretty much locks for Best Picture, and The Artist will definitely win. As for The Descendants, meh. This is a brilliant line-up, so I'll give it the Happy Fassy.

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist / Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive / Martin Scorsese - Hugo / Tomas Alfredson - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Lynne Ramsay - We Need to Talk About Kevin

What I love about this category is the fact that these directors are nominated because they created wonderful, visual, atmospheric films, unlike the directors who are just nominated because their films are in the best picture category (you know, like Alexander Payne for The Descendants or Steven Spielberg for War Horse). I've only seen Drive and Hugo, but those two are some of the most well-directed films I've seen from 2011, Drive for the style and Hugo for the pretty visuals. Hazanavicius is nominated because he dared to make a silent film, and Alfredson and Ramsay are probably nominated for the atmosphere they create in their films. These nominations are what the directors category should aspire to be, not the ones where directors become a default nomination just because their film is nominated for Best Picture.

Leading Actor

Brad Pitt - Moneyball / Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / George Clooney - The Descendants / Jean Dujardin - The Artist / Michael Fassbender - Shame

Even though it doesn't have Leonardo DiCaprio, this is one bloody good line-up. Sure, I'm pretty meh about George Clooney (I mean, he was quite good, but I don't think he quite deserves to be winning all of these awards), but he is lock whether I like it or not. What I'm most glad to see, though, is Gary Oldman getting some love, finally, as I thought that this would be his year. How does he keep missing out?! I have a feeling that Michael Fassbender has a huge chance here, considering the Brits will be more likely to shower love upon Shame than anyone else. But this should be Pitt's year, though that is looking more and more unlikely. Dujardin could be the upset, though. I love this category!

Leading Actress

Berenice Bejo - The Artist / Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady / Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn / Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin / Viola Davis - The Help

Interesting to see that Bejo, a Supporting Actress regular, is in this category. The BAFTAs like to do this a lot, though. This is pretty much our average category, with Streep likely to take the award home. I'm a bit sad that Rooney Mara is getting forgotten a lot for her excellent performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but there seems to be a slight aversion to young, up-and-coming actresses like her, Felicity Jones or Elizabeth Olsen. I'm pretty 'meh' about this category overall, probably because I have only seen The Help. I could go and see The Iron Lady, but I'm not going to pay to see Meryl Streep be great but everything else not living up to her.

Rest of the nominees after the jump...

AAN: Gotham, NYFCC and Spirit Awards

Well, I think we can officially kick Annual Awards Nerdism off. For those of you not in the know: Annual Awards Nerdism is my version of awards coverage, but I do it in a fun-ish way. When we get down to predicting the winners for the Oscars, I put them into poems. Now, you don't see that every day. Check out last years coverage here. Today I'll look at the winners of the Gotham Independent Film Awards, the New York Film Critics Circle winners and the Independent Spirit Awards nominees...

Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners

Best Film: Tie between The Tree of Life and Beginners
Best Documentary: Better This World
Breakthrough Award: Felicity Jones for Like Crazy
Breakthrough Director: Dee Rees for Pariah
Best Ensemble Performance: Beginners
Best Film Not Playing in a Theatre Near You: Scenes of a Crime

What does this mean for Oscar? The tie between The Tree of Life and Beginners is interesting, seeing as a tie has never happened for this award and these films are completely different. But I think between this and the Palme D'Or at Cannes, we could see The Tree of Life becoming a lock in the Best Picture race. Beginners I'm not so sure about...it's a brilliant film, but I can't see it sustaining the momentum until Oscar time as a film. Christopher Plummer will probably be it's only chance at Oscar glory. Also, I was kinda surprised about Felicity Jones winning the Breakthrough Award. I don't doubt her talent, as I'm secretly hoping that maybe she'll get a few more awards, but everyone has been going for Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene and Shailene Woodley in The Descendants to be nominated this year. I wouldn't read too much into it; I think Jones' film is perhaps a little too small and it has seemed to pass by without many people noticing it. But I think people campaigning for Like Crazy should definitely push Jones even more.

NYFCC and Independent Spirit after the jump...