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?

10 Things I Learned Thanks to 2011 Films

Now we're into 2012, it is time to make those new year's resolutions. To do that, we usually try to draw on the experiences and lessons we learned in the previous year in order to see what we can do better this year. So if you need a little help, here are some things that I learned thanks to watching films released in 2011. They're valuable lessons, indeed...(there might be some spoilers here, especially for #1)

10. It is possible to be a walking photoshopped figure.
Film: Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Teacher: Ryan Gosling
2011 was undoubtedly the year of Ryan Gosling. He had a couple of star turns in Drive and The Ides of March, but what we will all remember him for is his unreal physique in Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was so unreal that it caused Emma Stone to exclaim "seriously?! It's like you're photoshopped!" Only the Gos could be a walking photoshopped figure.

9. Apparently, Kate Hudson can do whatever the hell she likes and you can still be friends with her.
Film: Something Borrowed
Teacher: Kate Hudson
Something Borrowed taught me a lot of things: like people still make crappy rom-coms and films comprised of completely detestable characters. The most detestable of those characters was Darcy, played by Kate Hudson, who was just plain horrible. She stole her best friend's 'best friend', even though it was obvious that they didn't have a connection. She slept around. She didn't even care about her husband-to-be...just the wedding. And yet, everyone still liked her. Rachel (her best friend) still stuck around, even though I would have cut off the friendship once school finished. Dex (her fiancée) didn't connect with her spirited nature, and yet he was still determined to marry her. So if you wanna be able to do whatever the hell you like and have people still stick by you, you just have to be Kate Hudson.

8. Don't piss off an Olsen twin.
Film: Beastly
Teacher: Mary-Kate Olsen, Alex Pettyfer
She may look a bit questionable, but if you piss her off, she'll make you look even more questionable. I'm not kidding. Alex Pettyfer had to learn that the hard way. But the Olsen means well: what she is really trying to do is teach Pettyfer the valuable life lesson that looks aren't everything. Apparently.

7. Wear slutty clothing and BAM! Female empowerment.
Film: Sucker Punch
Teacher: Zack Snyder, several young actress hotties
According to Zack Snyder, Sucker Punch was supposed to be an epic fantasy film which promotes female empowerment. So if we were to take his message literally, this is what we'd have to do to feel empowered: kill a baby dragon, fight large ninjas, fighting robots, fighting soldiers...all while wearing revealing clothing. Yeah, that would make me feel empowered. Sorry, Zack, you really tried, but your little rape-fantasy movie did not make me feel great about being a girl at all. All you did was make a movie for teenage boys.

6. Can't afford to take part in an exercise boot camp? Hide behind a tree and join it for free...and if you get caught, pretend you're dancing in the park.
Film: Bridesmaids
Teacher: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph
There's something that I never thought of: it is really easy to join in on exercise boot camps that happen in the park. Though I'm not sure why they couldn't just go for a run or something. I also never thought that dancing in the park would be a good cover for it...in fact, I don't think pretending to dance in the park would be a good cover for anything. But that won't stop me from attempting it, someday.

5. You may think that you're watching a nice little drama starring Brad Pitt, but BAM! Dinosaurs!
Film: The Tree of Life
Teacher: Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick really proved that everything is possible with The Tree of Life. That's because he did everything in that movie. Including putting dinosaurs in there to show that nature and grace existed back in the dino-days. Well, that was my interpretation of it. I think most people will interpret it as "WTF ARE DINOSAURS DOING IN THIS MOVIE?!" Don't act so surprised, guys, Sean Penn was top-billed on the poster.

4. Never make your own medicines. They'll leave you feeling a little blue.
Film: X-Men: First Class
Teacher: Nicholas Hoult
Once, Hank McCoy was a lovely looking boy who had big feet, but he couldn't handle that mutation. So he decided he'd put an end to it all, as he was quite skilled with his science. His medicine made a change, that's for sure. As the NZ saying goes, just a normal-ish looking mutant who makes his own medicine, nek minnit, he turns into a big, blue, furry beast. Moral of the story: big feet aren't all that bad.

3. Everyone who presumably can't speak English is from Sri Lanka, just like M.I.A.
Film: Hanna
Teacher: Jessica Barden
One of my favourite parts of Hanna was the family that she came across, who were as funny as anything. Especially the daughter, played by Jessica Barden, who greets Hanna with a story about rapper M.I.A who was from Sri Lanka and couldn't speak English but now she's mega-famous. This was meant to make Hanna feel better because she presumed she couldn't speak English. When her brother asked where this lost Hanna was from, Sophie replies, "Sri Lanka". Because that is where everyone who can't speak English is from, obviously.

2. When the world is about to end, build a teepee with sticks.
Film: Melancholia
Teacher: Kirsten Dunst
This one feels particularly relevant since, you know, the world is supposed to end this year (LOL). While it is really supposed to be a 'magic cave', it just looks like a teepee made with sticks. Which, I imagine, is the best that one could do with an apocalypse just around the corner. What Kirsten Dunst's Justine is really trying to tell us, though, is that her sister Claire's idea of getting some wine and music to celebrate the end of the world is pretty dumb. It's the end of the world, you have to get creative. And if you also hate the world, you may as well steal some of it's resources to do so.

1. Don't eat pork. 
Film: Contagion
Teacher: Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow ate some pork. After doing that, she touched a few people. Then she went home, and she got sick. She touched some more people. She died. Those people got sick. Then people who got touched by those people got sick. Next thing you know, the whole world got sick. A whole lot of people died. All because of Gwyneth Paltrow's pork dinner. Moral of the story: don't eat pork. Or meat. Stick to the veges, that you grow yourself. Eat healthy, stay healthy!

There are the lessons I learned from 2011 movies. What did you learn from them?

"I just missed your heart."

Film: Hanna
Year: 2011
Director: Joe Wright
Written by: Seth Lochead and David Farr
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams, Jason Flemyng, Jessica Barden, Vicky Krieps.
Running time: 111 min.

Imagine living out in the forest with your father, away from everything. Wouldn't it be so hard? Being so far away from civilisation, living in something similar to a cave, and having to fetch your own deer as some food to last for maybe a week or two. Now imagine being a teenager stuck in a forest. No Facebook, cellphones or iPods...THAT WOULD BE SO HARD! Well, for most of the teenagers who grace the Earth these days. Take a look at Hanna (Saoirse Ronan). She was brought up living in a forest with her father (Eric Bana), without ever hearing the sound of music, being taught stuff by her father. She didn't turn out so bad. Oh, and she could probably beat your ass in five seconds. Now, she's off to get out of the forest and into the big world...all at the flick of a switch. Her mission in the big wide world is to kill Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), but this seemingly easy task turns out a little harder than expected. Oh well, once Hanna thinks she has killed Marissa (she only really killed someone trying to be Marissa), Hanna finds herself in Morocco and tries to deal with the real world. The real world that she never knew existed.

10 2011 Movies I Want to See

This is a totally unoriginal idea for a post, but since I've been so slack with my movie-watching lately (it's only going to get more slack this week since I have intense rehearsals as stage challenge nears), I'm running out of options. Anyway, this is a handy idea because there are so many movies I want to see, but I'm not sure about the ones that I want to make any special effort to see. And my first list I made at the start of the year was pretty much useless, as Sucker Punch topped that one. No, I didn't go and see that movie in the cinemas. Yes, I have lost all interest in it.

30 Minutes or Less - Jesse Eisenberg. From awkward geek to Oscar nominee within one year of being a household name. But what happens after the 27 year old that no-one expected big things from gets an Oscar nomination for his brilliant performance as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network? Well, he's gotten more cats. But Jesse ain't looking to put himself out there as the best actor in the world just yet. Instead, he's reteamed with Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer for a comedy about a pizza delivery guy who's forced to rob a bank otherwise he'll be blown up. Sound stupid? It's a true story. And you know how Hollywood is with the true stories. I imagine Jesse will be up for a second Oscar nomination with this one.

50/50 - The trailer for this just hit the webbie and people seem to like what they see. So do I. I mean, first of all, it has the great Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it. And when you have Joey around in your flick these days, he can do no wrong. The rest of the cast is pretty top-notch too. I like the idea that Seth Rogen is the buddy in this movie, which means he is kinda back to the guy he was before he got all famous and such...the funny buddy. Anna Kendrick is also impressive and so is Bryce Dallas Howard. Plus, it's directed by Jonathan Levine, who did some brilliant work with The Wackness. I'm expecting big things, and I hope it can deliver.

Crazy, Stupid, Love - The trailer for this was very promising. Really, the cast itself it very promising. Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon...that's like, acting heaven. You can't tell me that all of these great people came together for a bad movie, can you? Well I certainly hope not. Anyway, if it fails, Ryan Gosling is still pretty hot and there are two redheads in this movie.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Okay, so last year I had major spazzes over Inception and I was just so excited to see it every time I heard that name uttered I'd go into cardiac arrest. I think I've found this year's Inception in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I must have watched that trailer like 50 gazillion times now. But the sad thing is that this doesn't come out in NZ until 26th January 2012. So technically, this is my most anticipated for 2012. Anyway, it's a 2011 release, so I'll keep having heart attacks over it all throughout the year.

Hanna - Yeah, all of you people are probably like "you should have seen that already!" Truth is, it should have been released here in less than a couple of weeks time. But no, some idiots decided it would be a good idea to release it here on September 1st. Smooth, guys, real smooth. Just under three months until I get to see Saoirse Ronan kicking ass, Cate Blanchett being a red-head, Eric Bana being all violent and my queen Olivia Williams? Yeah, I love you too.

The Help - Okay, I admit, I feel as if this movie was made decades ago. But have you seen the red-heads that are in this? Emma Stone. Bryce Dallas Howard. Jessica Chastain. Red-heads! Plus, there's Sissy Spacek, Viola Davis, Anna Camp and Allison Janney. This has a strong female cast, and damn, I've been waiting a long time for a strong female cast. I also think that Emma Stone will impress with this movie. She'll prove that she can be a strong dramatic actress, hopefully, and continue to wow us with her charm.

Melancholia - Yeah, yeah, yeah. This will be branded as 'that movie directed by that Jew who thinks he's a Nazi'. While Cannes banned Lars von Trier's ass from their show, I'm glad they didn't cut his film from contention. Because it looks freaking awesome. Strange, but awesome. Kristen Dunst is making her big comeback, and this film has made sure that she's welcome again. Oh, and I think it's worth mentioning that there are two Skarsgård's in this film: Stellan and Alexander. I have a strange infatuation with these two. Stellan just seems like an all-round great guy and Alexander might just be the sexiest man alive (that's what happenswhen you watch True Blood all week, folks).

Midnight in Paris - I ain't the hugest fan of Woody Allen. All of his recent works have been kinda 'meh'. However, his latest, Midnight in Paris, got some fantastic reviews. Which I thought was unlikely, since he teamed up with Owen Wilson. But no, apparently this one is splendid. The cast looks splendid, too. Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, Carla Bruni, Adrien Brody, Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard...it all looks divine. I'm sure I'll like this one, even if I ain't the hugest fan of Woody.

In Time - First it was called I'm.Mortal. Then it was called Now. And now it is called In Time. I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the title again. Anyway, even though there hasn't been a trailer or much publicity for this movie yet, I'm excited. Sure, 95% of that comes down to the fact that Cillian Murphy is in it and in that picture he looks like the most excellent brand of bad-assery. The other 5% of my excitement over this movie comes down to Olivia Wilde, Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. The story sounds cool too...it's set in a world where no-one can go over the age of 25. Yeah, most people would want that world to be real.

The Tree of Life - I'm sure I have no right to be excited over this, since I haven't seen any of Terrence Malick's other work, but it looks fantastic. I just love watching movies which just observe life. From what I've read, this movie has everything from dinosaurs to wordly shots to mean fathers. It sounds as interesting as anything. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that it won the Palme D'Or at Cannes even though many people gave it the 'boo' treatment. Now that is interesting.

Well, there's my list. What are you looking forward to for the rest of this year?

Top 10 movies I really want to see this year.

You may be expecting a list filled with the best 2011 as a year has to offer. Alas, that is not the case. Most of these movies are ones you probably saw last year, but I'll only be getting to see this year (when they come out on DVD, no less, because I'm so youthful), since New Zealand sucks.

10. Source Code

Expected NZ release date: Undated.

While I didn't entirely get the premise from the trailer (probably a good thing), I am really looking forward to seeing the next movie from Moon director Duncan Jones. The fact that it also stars the lovely Vera Farmiga (notably missing last year compared to her busy year before) has got my ticket already booked. And it should be nice to see Jake Gyllenhaal not being a beefcake prince or a viagra salesman...just back to what he does best, being a hero.

9. The Fighter

Expected NZ release date: January 20

If only this film had been released sometime after August this year, then I would have been able to go and see it no sweat. But nooooooo, gotta wait for it to be on DVD, which, at earliest, is May. I have to wait that long to see the best performed film of the year? Don't even tell me how great Christian Bale is. I might just cry.

8. Friends with Benefits



Expected NZ release date: October 13
"What?!" I hear you cry. Hey, this list is filled with awards bait and thrillers, so why can't I have a romantic comedy in there? Friends with Benefits looks like the best of the lot (not to be confused with Natalie Portman's No Strings Attached). Mila Kunis and Justin 'I'm an actor now' Timberlake take the lead role in Easy A helmer Will Gluck's latest, which also stars Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson and Woody Harrelson. See? Can't be too bad.

7. The Adjustment Bureau

Expected NZ release date: March 3

Hey wait, wasn't this movie supposed to come out last year? Hopefully this movie is good, because God knows Emily Blunt needs it, after last years releases (The Wolfman, Wild Target, Gulliver's Travels). If it's based on a Phillip K. Dick story and has Matt Damon in the lead role, it's sure to work, right? I don't know, but I want THE EMILY BLUNT back!

6. The Tree of Life 

Expected NZ release date: Undated.

Is there another film coming out this year that's more exciting? No. Everyone with a filmic bone in their body wants to see this.

5. 127 Hours

Expected NZ release date: February 10

Bloody Danny Boyle choosing that funky music to go with his trailer filled with awesome visuals getting me excited for this one. And then, of course, since a man chops his arm off, the censors get afraid that I might follow suit after watching this movie because I'm so young, and they slap an R16 on it. So that's a June watch for me, then? I love you until then, James Franco...

4. Hanna

Expected NZ release date: June 14

Those comparisons between this and Kick-Ass' Hit-girl are incredibly lazy. Yes, there is a young girl killing machine (played by the always amazing Saoirse Ronan) who is smarter than the average bear, but that's about as far as it goes. Eric Bana comes back to our screens as a non time traveller, and Cate Blanchett also comes along for the ride. If she's there, I'm there. Plus it's directed by Joe Wright, who has most notably dabbled in period romance (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement), so this should be an interesting move.

3. Never Let Me Go

Expected NZ release date: March 17

Never Let Me Go might send me on a journey to the most expensive arthouse-esque cinema nearby for the first time in my life, mainly because I've waited so bloody long to see this movie come out. Yeah, Carey Mulligan and the noticably absent Keira Knightley are in it, but you know the real reason I want to see this. ANDREW GARFIELD. ANDREW GARFIELD. ANDREW GARFIELD. Okay, the story sounds scary enough, plus it's written by Alex Garland, so I'm in. But ANDREW GARFIELD is in it!

2. Black Swan

Expected NZ release date: January 27

Again, won't be seeing this in it's theatrical release, you know why. Damn, I've wanted to see this ever since the first trailer came out way back in August. Now Natalie Portman's getting all this Oscar buzz, I wanna see it more. Me and psychological thrillers usually go hand in hand, so this is really a no brainer.

1. Sucker Punch

Expected NZ release date: March 24

Yeah, I'm pretty sure guys are the only ones who are supposed to be uber-excited about this as it has all those hot chicks with machine guns. But I'm geeking out already for this one, mainly because I love Zack Snyder's work and he explained this as having 'multi levels of reality'. Inception, anyone? I'm hoping to God that this isn't a flop, because the trailers (with all their slow-mo and uber-awesomeness) make it look so cool! Come on Zack Snyder, you can do it!

What are you most looking forward to seeing in the coming year? Comment below!