The 85th Academy Awards

Why This Year's Academy Awards Are The Most Exciting Yet...

Best Film nominations and Seth MacFarlane (far right), this year's host. 

The film industry's most prestigious annual accolades, The Academy Awards, are being bestowed in the salubrious land of Hollywood next week and my contemporary and rather novel perspective of this vintage, 85 year old tradition is that it could be one of the best and most exciting years yet. 

How to make an Oscar contender

The general principle of the Oscars is to award the peerless performances and work done on a film in the last 12 months by heralding the greatest actor, director, editor, costume designer, etc... with that famous gold statuette. However, the perennial criticism the Oscars has always faced is that isn't always the case, and that some of the greatest works ever made have been brutally overlooked as a result. In addition to the quality of work, there are a number of factors that influence a film's success or failure at the awards. Historically; period pieces, moving dramas, historical biopics, stories with profound, meaningful narratives and inspirational, nostalgic themes have always performed highly as they are quite often favoured by actors, who make up the largest segment of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (whose members are eligible to vote for who wins what). Conversely, films that explore and depict controversial themes and ideas or that are overtly explicit in sex, violence or more sensitive social taboos, won't be as favourable among the AMPAS voters, particularly when, with an average age close to 60, there will be a more likely preference to safe and traditional styles of film-making. 

That's not all. The praise and acclaim from critics and, to a lesser extent, commercial success will have a positive impact on the mindset of voters - but, undoubtedly, a movie's most formidable weapon is that of momentum. If a film, actor, or director can garnish a positive buzz and popularity within the movie industry itself, and then sustain and develop that into early awards success at the Writer's, Director's, Producer's Guild Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA's; then it is a juggernaut that is unlikely to stop until that golden envelope is opened, their names read out, and a golden Oscar clutched in their grasp.    

That sounds familiar...

Last year's 'The Artist', a wonderfully nostalgic homage to Hollywood's formative years of silent film, stole the hearts and imaginations of everyone who saw it, with its effervescent charm and captivating supporting cast (I am of course referring to the adorable Uggie), it fuelled the increasingly profuse hype surrounding a remarkable awards season for the film. By the time the Oscars arrived, the prizes for Best Film, Director and Actor all went to 'The Artist'. Worthy winners? Absolutely... but exciting and unexpected? No. By this time, the disbelief of a black and white, silent film having such unprecedented success had long since faded and it's Academy Award's were a mere formality. 

This Year's Awards;

The run up to the 85th Academy Awards, and this years awards season in general, have proven to be  an incredibly captivating and unpredictable one. The nominations alone are particularly intriguing and, in two distinct categories, both remarkable Academy history has been made, and a dark cloud of controversy has been cast - but more on that later! 

So many of this year's awards are still very open and up for grabs; mercilessly wringing the nerves of the majority of the nominees until the very end, whilst keeping it nice and interesting for the rest of us. However, the minority of nominees who are vying for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards have long since known their fate - so there are no excuses for bad speeches by Daniel Day Lewis or Anne Hathaway. Three things are certain in life; death, taxes and this pair picking up their Oscars on Sunday evening.

From here on in I'm taking on each category at a time (leaving the big one, Best Film, till last) and (hopefully) showing you why I consider this year's Academy Awards one of the finest in history.


Best Actor 

Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Denzel Washington - Flight 
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook 
Prediction: Daniel Day-Lewis                          My choice: Daniel Day-Lewis


Each of the nominated actors in this category are bona fide Hollywood heavyweights, with Cooper and Jackman unquestionably delivering the finest performances of their careers. However, they suffer the cruel misfortune of existing alongside one of the greatest actors in history, Daniel Day-Lewis, who, being almost certain to win this coming Sunday, will be the first ever three time winner of the Best Actor Academy Award. 


Best Actress

Naomi Watts - The Impossible
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Prediction: Jessica Chastain                           My choice: Jessica Chastain  


This is the most special of categories at this year's ceremony as it features two remarkable and historic nominations. Emmanuelle Riva and Quvenzhane Wallis who have, rather poetically, become the oldest (aged 85) and youngest (aged 9) actresses ever to be in line for a Best Actress award. Extraordinarily, Wallis was only five years old when she auditioned for the role of 'Hushpuppy', and that started a fairytale journey that has taken her to the precipice of Hollywood immortality. As it stands, this is a fairly tough one to call. Lawrence has a good chance after she picked up a lot of initial Oscar buzz from her slightly overrated performance in 'Silver Linings Playbook' and Riva could snatch what would be an unprecedented win after her surprise success at the BAFTAs. However, I believe Jessica Chastain's flawless performance as the determined, assiduous and obsessive CIA operative leading the ten year hunt for Osama Bin Laden in 'Zero Dark Thirty' will earn her a first Oscar statuette.  
   

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Field - Lincoln
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Amy Adams - The Master
Prediction: Anne Hathaway                              My choice: Anne Hathaway


It would take a very brave, stupid and desperate individual to bet against Anne Hathaway walking away with the Oscar for her memorable, emotionally powerful and haunting performance of that song in one, long take. I didn't enjoy the film particularly much, but Hathaway is firmly amongst its most potent strengths and, even with the incredibly high expectations from all the critical hype it had accumulated, I was still very impressed by her performance. A note, briefly, on Dame Judy Dench and the slight wisp of controversy her absence has conjured from across the pond. In an unusually extended performance for the role of 'M', Dench is at her imperious best but, because of the Oscar's stigma against Bond, she has been sadly overlooked.      


Best Supporting Actor

Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Alan Arkin - Argo
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Prediction: Christoph Waltz (just)                    My choice: Christoph Waltz

Just take a minute to consider each name above and appreciate the incredible amount of pure acting talent that lies within this category alone.  All five of these men have tasted Academy success in the past and each actor puts in a performance of exceptionally high quality; so it is completely unsurprising that the battle for Best Supporting Actor will be one of the most closely fought in Oscar history. Unfortunately, as 'The Master' has proven to be a rather divisive film, Hoffman will almost certainly miss out; but there is genuine hope for either of the remaining four, which is virtually unheard of so near to the big day. 

The Academy do love one of their own and, as De Niro was a prominent actor in Hollywood's 'second golden age' of the 1970s, he is no exception. Although his portrayal of 'Pat Snr.' doesn't come close to his Bickle or LaMotta days, he does put in somewhat of a renaissance performance after a long stretch of movie mediocrity, and the Academy may just reward him for it. Alan Arkin is the comedic valve to the intense, nerve racking pressure cooker of Argo, and his role playing an experienced, and somewhat cranky movie producer may resonate idiosyncratically with the actual producers and actors that are doing the voting. For me, Tommy Lee Jones is the most underrated actor of his generation and Lincoln is another example of the longevity of his prodigious acting ability. And then there is Christoph. He channels Tarantino's exquisite dialogue perfectly and, in Django Unchained, he demonstrates his acting versatility as the titular character's friend and mentor; whilst existing as the moral centre from which the film's brutal backdrop of slavery polarises itself against.  


Best Director

Ang Lee - Life Of Pi
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
David O'Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke - Amour

Prediction: Steven Spielberg  
My choice: Kathryn Bigelow or Ben Affleck


When the nominations were announced six weeks ago this category dominated the headlines through its surprising admissions, and it's shock omissions. The directors of the two small, independent films of the list, 'Amour' and 'Beasts Of The Southern Wild' both received unexpected nods along with the more established Oscar patrons; Spielberg, Lee and O'Russell. Whilst the race is firmly between the latter three, Spielberg must surely be in the ascendency to land what would be his third Oscar for Best Direction. Lincoln is the perfect Oscar bait as a biopic/ period drama of America's greatest leader and, with numerous acting nominations and an Oscar-less Spielberg for fifteen years (since Saving Private Ryan in 1998), the stars may just be aligning once again for the legendary director.

Why wont you like me?!

However, it is this category's omissions that make it such an interesting (and frustrating)  topic to debate over. The Oscars have always had a history for occasionally ignoring what is universally seen as the best performance in favour of a more 'appropriate' winner. Here, history has both repeated and outdone itself, in the most controversial, and ill-judged Oscar snubs in its 85 year history. In my opinion, Zero Dark Thirty is the best film of the past two or three years and is a master class in direction by Kathryn Bigelow; however, the storm of accusations by some politicians that it supposedly endorsed torture, no matter how misguided they were, had done irreputable damage to her nomination chances. The other significant contender to miss out is born again actor/ director, Ben Affleck. His mature, knowledgeable direction of Argo is simply stunning as he balances the real life history, nerve shredding drama and playful comic relief effortlessly, whilst inspiring brilliant performances from all of his star studded supporting cast. Affleck and Argo have completely dominated this years awards season, winning Best Film and Director at the respective Guild awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Affleck deserves his nomination and, had he have gotten one, he would easily be this season's current frontrunner. Finally, honourable mentions to Quentin Tarantino and Sam Mendes, the latter of which directed the best Bond film in decades, whilst simultaneously shaping the entire franchise into a modern era with style and accomplishment.  

Best Film

Amour
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life Of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Prediction: Argo
My choice: Zero Dark Thirty



As 2012 was such a phenomenal year for film, it has unsurprisingly lead to an impressively strong Best Film category; the flagship award at every Oscars. The current momentum behind Argo is unnervingly strong and, having swept the board at earlier award ceremonies, Affleck's amicable and charismatic personality will only accentuate his film's chances. Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Life Of Pi will certainly be major contenders but Zero Dark Thirty's chances have all but been extinguished. Finally, despite its enormous commercial and critical success, Les Miserables was always going to struggle in this particular category - only Chicago (in 2002) has won the Best Film Oscar since Oliver! in 1968.  



I encourage any comments, questions and, in particular, your very own Oscar predictions in the comment boxes below.

Career Profile: Gary Oldman

Paying Homage to Hollywood's Most Versatile Actor

It is quite remarkable to think that Gary Oldman is a mere 54 considering the colossal number of films he has starred in. Throughout his career, he has steadily accumulated an extensive cult fan base, primarily due to his remarkably varied choice of roles and numerous enigmatic performances. He is famous for his villainy, his chameleon like ability to don almost any accent and, more recently, as Harry Potter's Godfather and as one of Gotham city's finest in the Batman trilogy. 

Particularly in the first half of his career, Oldman has always been the master craftsman of fantastically sinister and treacherous bad guys. He has portrayed one of the most infamous men of the 20th Century (in JFK), one of the most feared villains in all of fiction (in Dracula), a violent and brutal Rastafarian pimp (in True Romance) and has even battled against a presidential Harrison Ford as a vengeful Russian terrorist (in Air Force One). 

His most memorable antagonist to date, however, is undoubtedly his unnervingly histrionic performance as the corrupt detective in Leon. His performance, which is as wonderfully entertaining as it is deeply disturbing, is widely regarded as one of the greatest villains of modern cinema. 

Here is a clip of Oldman at his very best in Leon; 

Oldman is also well known as the actor biographer of an incredibly diverse range of characters, including; the troubled and ill fated Sex Pistol, Sid Vicious, history's most illustrious composer, Beethoven and as Kennedy's infamous assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.      

Since taking up roles in two of the most successful movie franchises ever, Oldman has taken his success to new and unsuspecting audiences. He had won the hearts of millions as Harry Potter's loyal and determined, long lost Godfather, Sirius and then broke them all in the cruellest of the franchise's casualties. Parallel to this, Oldman also starred as the virtuous Lt. Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, who's character provides a constant moral conscience to the dark and sinister themes that have underpinned the previous two films. With this, he has once again proven his versatility; playing humble and trustworthy characters to the same high standard as some of his earlier career's most devilish villains.  

Such a remarkable set of performances, spanning 30 years, was finally rewarded with a long over due Oscar nomination for his portrayal of George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. His reticent, nuanced performance as the intelligence officer working assiduously in pursuit of a mole at the heart of MI6 must surely be his best role to date.
   
Oldman is widely well respected by his fellow acting community, with an endless number of high profile actors citing Oldman as their inspiration to act. Brad Pitt describes him as his "acting God" and to Tom Hardy he is a "hero", with similar sentiments coming from Joseph Gordon Levitt, Johnny Depp and Ryan Gosling (to name but a few). 

However, I'll finish with Tinker Tailor co-star, Colin Firth who, on presenting Oldman with the Empire magazine's Icon award last year, described him as such; 

"He is a very strong candidate for the world's best living actor [and] I've marvelled at the intensity, courage and intelligence he brings to every film."

I couldn't have put it much better myself. 

The Perfect Filmography

The greatest 'Film CV' of them all?

My house mates and I were debating, earlier in the year, on a very tricky question on whether or not there's an actor with a clean record, a repertoire without fault, a filmography with no howlers or flops... an actor without a single bad film to his or her name. Off the top of your head, it may seem quite difficult; well, it is. Now, I appreciate that everyone's opinion is different, and that one man's masterpiece is another man's worst nightmare, but I'll try my best to be fair - and i'll even choose my favourite at the end.

To really bugger things up, Ocean's Twelve (and possibly Thirteen) has managed to wipe out some of the modern era's greatest and well known actors (although if you hunted around enough, you could probably find other howlers to accompany it). George Clooney, for example, had his trio of terrible films; Batman & Robin, Spy Kids and the aforementioned, Ocean's Twelve. However, since making Ocean's terrible, he's been arguably the greatest actor of the last seven years, regularly appearing in Oscar nomination lists and even picking up the little gold statue in 2005 for Syriana. It appears Mr. Clooney has a conscience after all...

Then my mind wandered to Leo DiCaprio. He certainly fits the bill, especially considering the last few years of top class performances, but if you cast your mind to the younger, blonder Leo and you'll recall the disappointing second half of to The Beach and the entirety of Titanic (no, that's not a typo). Oh well, another one bites the dust.

However, I managed to scramble a top five together. See what you think...


5. Ryan Gosling



He may have the advantage of being in the relative infancy of his career, but Ryan Gosling is on fire. Last year alone he starred in three superb films of completely different genre with engaging and well acted individual performances. He compliments Steve Carrell brilliantly in the refreshingly funny, Crazy, Stupid, Love. He really takes control of The Ides of March, carrying the film's slick and clever dialogue effortlessly and really showing that he is more than just a pretty face. His potentially career defining role, however, was as the mysterious and dangerous getaway driver in Drive. You get a real sense of his charismatic style through the chemistry between himself and Carey Mulligan, that develops so intensely and tantalisingly throughout the film. 
  

4. Heath Ledger

The tragic loss of such a young and prodigious talent back in 2008 shocked the world of film. Not only because of his enourmous popularity and natural charisma, but because we lost his future works and performances too. His all too short film career really started as when playing the rebellious, mischievous bad boy  in 10 Things I Hate About You. Strong performances in The Patriot, A Knight's Tale and Ned Kelly soon followed, but it wasn't until Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain where Ledger could finally flex his acting muscle... and picking up an Academy Award nomination along the way. However, his chilling portrayal of The Joker was his masterpiece he left to the world and is also the image I leave you with now...


3. Sean Penn

I can only admit to seeing a handful of his films, but from what I have seen, there is few better actors alive today than Sean Penn. His two Academy Awards are testament to such quality; in particular, playing the bereft father engulfed in pain, despair and dark secrets in Mystic River. A gripping and engaging film drama from start to finish, the two central performances by Penn and Robbins are second to none and directed by the brilliant Clint Eastwood (who would've won the Oscar, had it not been for LOTR: ROTK).


2. Denzel Washington

The two time Academy Award winning actor has to be one of the finest actors of our generation. He has consistently made good, solid films, with very few bordering on the 'average' mark (that I have seen at least). There are a few favourites of mine, but nothing can beat his truly remarkable role as the troubled anti-hero John Creasy. His on screen chemistry with a young Dakota Fanning is sensational and his rampant revenge spree is as gripping as it is disturbing. This is a true modern classic.
  

1. Kevin Spacey

Another two time Oscar winner, Kevin Spacey is one of those actors who, simply put, cannot put in a bad performance. He inhabits every role with great enthusiasm and vigour and has given some incredibly memorable performances. His turn as the timid small time con man in The Usual Suspects and as the inept suburban husband having a mid life crisis in American Beauty are brilliantly detailed and carefully acted - the latter being one of my favourite films of all time. Not only is Spacey fantastic, but the ensemble cast really keep up with such a high standard, as well as; a virtually flawless script, a remarkable début direction by Sam Mendes and accompanied by Thomas Newman's moving simplistic score. If you haven't already, you must watch this film.  

Hello Film Fans!

Welcome To The Film Scrapbook

I'm hoping this new blog, The Film Scrapbook, will be a place where I can share my thoughts and views on anything and everything about film. Everyone has their own unique opinion on film, and I want to hear about it! I'm not necessarily about reviewing the latest films released, but more intent on discussing general topics and theories I may have about genres, actors, directors. And then there is that which always divides opinion... The best bond? The greatest movie series? Greatest book adaptation? Will Matthew McConaughey ever star in a good film? (Okay, the last one is easy). So sit tight and wait for my first 'proper' blog post...
Coming up soon!