AAN: Oscar Predictions - Acting

Welcome to part four of my official Oscar predictions, which 2012's Annual Awards Nerdism has been coming down to. Tonight I'll take a look at the four acting categories, in poetic form again, of course.
PAST PREDICTIONS: Writing and Directing, the 'Bests' and Visuals, Sound and Design.

Just in case:
Happy Fassy - Who I really want to win.
Lowkey Loki - Who will really win.
Overwhelmed Owen - Who really won't win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir - A Better Life / George Clooney - The Descendants / Jean Dujardin - The Artist / Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy / Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Having no Fassy caused a bit of strife,
there was a surprise nomination for A Better Life,
Gary Oldman finally got his first big nom,
and Brad Pitt was indeed the bomb,
the race comes down to two that are slick,
George Clooney or Jean Dujardin are everyone's pick,
but the Cloon has been awarded before,
and I can't say his work deserves an award,
so give it to the Frenchman, whose words are few,
even though I feel like Brad Pitt is probably due.

Only seeing two performances out of this category - Brad Pitt's and George Clooney's - it is a bit hard to properly pick a winner, but my money is definitely on Jean Dujardin. And to think I left him out of my initial predictions. I'm gunning for Brad Pitt, though, because he was fantastic in Moneyball...and you all know how I feel about The Descendants. It would be nice, and totally unsurprising, if Gary Oldman took this award, though.

AAN: Where the Guild Awards Leave the Rest of the Season

With the Screen Actors Guild awards today, all of the guild awards have been given out and now we have a pretty good idea of who is going to win big at the Oscars. Let's start with the Producers Guild Awards, which were held over a week ago...

The Artist took the top award here, over Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Help, Hugo, The Ides of March, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and War Horse. The Producers Guild Awards are essentially what Best Picture is, just with better taste (no Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close here). So I guess you could say that The Artist has Best Picture all locked down. Which is fine. I remember how last year it was this set of awards that took The Social Network's Best Picture chances and shoved them down the toilet. I kinda resent them because of that, but the only Oscar chances that this award is shoving down the toilet is Hugo's, as that is also a front-runner to get the prize. But I doubt it can beat The Artist, because the force has grown too strong behind that one.

The Directors Guild Awards

Held yesterday, Michel Hazanavicius got this award for The Artist. Basically unknown to US audiences, Hazanavicius won over big-hitters Alexander Payne (The Descendants), David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Martin Scorsese (Hugo) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris). Isn't it a little bit like Tom Hooper winning last year for The King's Speech, over the likes of Christopher Nolan, Fincher, Darren Aronofsky and David O. Russell? Oh well, it is nice that they are rewarding foreign talent. However, I don't think that Hazanavicius has the Oscar under his beret just yet (I assume all French people wear berets, haha). After Scorsese's Golden Globe win, I wouldn't be too surprised if he took the award for his 'kids film'. His direction is pretty darn good (but what could we expect?) and he actually makes sense of the whole 3D thing. I think it will be a race between Hazanavicius and Scorsese down to the wire, and whoever gets the BAFTA will have the award locked down. But right now, I couldn't possibly pick a winner between them.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards

The first awards show (and probably the only show) I've watched this season in it's entirety provided a couple of fist-pumping moments for me. The first was when Jean Dujardin won Best Actor. No, I haven't yet seen The Artist, but anyone winning over George Clooney is good enough for me. I feel a bit mean for saying that, but in all honesty his performance in The Descendants wasn't what I would consider worthy of winning the awards. Getting nominated, sure, but winning? No. The second was when The Help won Best Ensemble. Unlike everyone else, I actually loved The Help, and thought that the performances in that film were wonderful. Outside of Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain, there were more performances that could have been nominated, like Bryce Dallas Howard's or Sissy Spacek's especially. Apparently it is naive or uneducated to say this, but that film definitely did have the best ensemble of the year, without a doubt.

Anyway, this set of awards have put a couple of things in perspective, but the rest still has a bit of a 'two-horse race' about it. We all know that Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer are going to get the Oscar. About the latter I'm feeling like there might be an upset - if The Artist hits big at the Oscars (which is will), then Berenice Bejo might be in with a chance. I would love to see Jessica Chastain getting something this season, though (just to see her perfect self up on that stage), but she has many years and awards ahead of her so I don't think she'll get much. However, I'm fairly sure that Spencer has it locked down. The leading categories, though, don't have a clear winner yet. Viola Davis may have won the award (as expected), but Meryl Streep could indeed still win - she's overdue for that third Oscar. Jean Dujardin has won a Golden Globe and this award, but let's not forget that George Clooney has got his Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. So they're basically neck and neck. I can definitely see Dujardin pulling the win over Clooney, given how much the Academy love The Artist and all. Which would be nice, for me. And let me just reiterate that The Help will not be winning Best Picture after the Ensemble win. Remember, they're rewarding the actors, not the film as a whole. So stop getting so touchy. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close still has the award locked down.

As for the awards show itself, it was just okay, pretty boring. I don't really know how you 'critique' awards show. But here are my favourite moments:

-The clip they showed of Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey (my life at the moment) was perfect. Best example of the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

-Any time in which Jessica Chastain was shown, particularly when Octavia won and when she was 'holding' Cicely Tyson onstage. She is a goddess.
-Owen Wilson's face when The Help won. I think I might have to change my 'Overwhelmed Owen' picture to that one, haha (someone GET ME A PHOTO OF THIS!!!)

-Armie Hammer's photobombing when Meryl Streep was on screen. He is such a loveable goofball, even if he did get arrested.

-The best of the best was when Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy came onstage to present Bridesmaids and their Scorsese drinking game. And then when Tina Fey took part with Steve Buscemi's wine. It is times like those when I wish I was an actor.

Otherwise, only one thing has changed for me today: I've become even further convinced that my life is inadequate because I am not Jessica Chastain.

What say you? Where do the guild awards leave the Oscar race?

"We can't control what happens to us or our loved ones."

Film: Trust
Year: 2011
Director: David Schwimmer
Written by: Andy Bellin, Robert Festinger
Starring: Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, Liana Liberato, Jason Clarke, Viola Davis, Chris Henry Coffey, Spencer Curnutt, Aislinn DeButch, Noah Emmerich. 
Running time: 106 min.

Trust is a film which takes a look at something that is a very real and happening thing, but very few have dared to make a movie about it. Now, we are all on the internet (if you're reading this right now, I'd be highly worried if you weren't on the internet). Most of us don't physically know each other, but we still have nice conversations and stuff like that. Trust focuses on 15 year old Annie (Liana Liberato), who often chats to a guy named 'Charlie' online, who she thinks is similarly aged to her, and they are connected through their love for volleyball. They talk at every opportunity possible, and she often calls her beautiful and really boosts her self esteem. But then she finds out that he isn't really 16, he actually is 20. Turns out that was a lie too, because he then confesses that he is 25. Charlie and Annie decide that they should meet, and it's then that Annie discovers that this Charlie is really a man in his mid-30s (he is played by Chris Henry Coffey). While Annie is at first very disappointed and a little scared by this fact, she still hangs out with him, before he takes her back to his house and gets her to wear some lingerie that he bought her, before raping her.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

Film: The Help
Year: 2011
Writer/Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Ahna O'Reilly, Anna Camp, Sissy Spacek, Allison Janney, Mike Vogel, Chris Lowell, Mary Steenburgen.
Running time: 146 min.


I am a terrible person. The first thing you should know about me is that I am a terrible reader. I just never have enough time to dedicate to a book. On the odd occasion that I do end up reading a book, it's for either of these two reasons: a) I have to read it for school or b) I've seen the movie, and I'm interested in the book. Basically, I will really only choose to read the book if I've seen the movie. However, about a month ago I discovered that our school library had just put out 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett, and I knew I had to read it. Mainly because I was going to see the movie whenever it came out. I finished the book about three weeks ago, and I loved every single page of it. When it came time for me to finally see the movie, I had a very different experience. I knew what was going to happen, I was constantly on the look out for the stuff I liked in the book, and I was just hoping that everyone did a good job playing the marvellous characters in the movie. While there were some things missing, I loved the movie version of The Help just about as much as I loved the novel.