The Artist and The Help: ready for Oscar

The Artist and The Help gained seemingly unstoppable Oscar momentum at the weekend: The Artist triumphed at the Directors’ Guild of America Awards, while sharing the spotlight with The Help at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Artist director Michael Hasanavicius beat Woody Allen, David Fincher, Martin Scorsese and Alexander Payne to win the DGA trophy, cementing his position as favourite to win the Best Director Oscar.

His lead actor, Jean Dujardin won Best Actor at the SAG Awards, beating George Clooney. Only four SAG Best Actors have not secured the Best Actor Oscar, the last being Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote in 2005.

With The Artist already having secured the PGA’s vote, it is now the absolute favourite for the Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor Oscars.

Christopher Plummer continued his unbeaten run, taking the Best Supporting Actor SAG for his role in Beginners. If he fails to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, I’ll eat someone’s hat.

The Help’s Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer locked out the female SAG honours, as well as being part of the ensemble that secured the SAG best cast award. As pointed out by The Hollywood Reporter, The Help has tied with Chicago and American Beauty for most wins at the SAGs, but while the latter pair swept to Oscar glory, The Help will need to be happy with being favourite for the two female Oscars.

Why? As the Reporter points out, no film that has not been nominated for Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing has gone on to win Best Film. But the thing in The Help’s favour is that it is by some distance the most commercially successful of all this year’s ‘proper’ Oscar nominees – ie it’s more likely Academy voters have seen The Help than any other film in contention. Nevertheless, I still don’t think that’s enough.

The next major awards ceremony is the BAFTAs on 12 February with the Oscars another fortnight later.

Review: War Horse

Let's get this straight from the start: the Tintin/War Horse double does not repeat Steven Spielberg's 1993/1994 double whammy of Jurassic Park and Schindler's List (the former enormo box office and the latter Oscar kudos).

Tintin is occasionally inspired yet sometimes leaden; embraced wholeheartedly by the French and the Belgians, the boy detective has met with critical support but the commercial cold shoulder from many territories, proving that even Spielberg's and Peter Jackson's names can't convince audiences to take a punt on a character they've never heard of.

War Horse has not crossed over in the US - undoubtedly the lack of awards nominations and wins has hampered it, especially as it positively screams 'Im an Oscar contender!'

The film has of course performed much better in the UK: straight in at number one two weekends ago with £4m, and then it held on to the top spot last weekend with only a small drop. This performance is clearly aided by the play's success in the UK, although without awards success, it will be intriguing to see if the film can maintain its box office momentum over the next fortnight.

As with elsewhere in the world, UK critical response has been varied: laudatory to mediocre paints the picture well enough. The combination of Spielberg and a well-loved text/play generates high expectations for many, me included.

And I can report that there are moments of rare cinematic brilliance on show, but also some misjudgements the logic behind which are hard to fathom.

Spielberg decides to go for the emotional jugular from the very beginning: this is absolutely intended to be an old-fashioned four-hankie weepie as the titular equine hero bears witness not only to mankind's compassion but also its continued brutality. Fortunately the compassion just about outweighs the brutality - but only just.

Did I need the four hankies? God, yes! Our hero's first triumph brings a huge lump to the throat; the scene in no man's land leaves you grieving for the generation that fell in the fields across Europe (while throwing in one moment of mordant wit that nearly broke me); and the finale competes with The Return Of The King for the most endings pregnant with emotion (even as I write this, there's a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye from just recalling those scenes).

The WWI battle scenes are not in the Private Ryan territory as this is a family film (this is the first time that Spielberg has tackled the Great War), and I’m bound to compare his trench scenes with Kubrick’s Paths Of Glory (and Stanley’s are better).

From a massive European cast, Tom Hiddleston takes my man of the match trophy for his performance as Captain Nicholls. Peter Mullan and Emily Watson also deserve mentions in dispatches.

Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski delivers some incredible images, but is also guilty of over-egging, and at one or two points the lighting is just appalling.

John Williams almost inevitably lays the score on a bit thick in places.

At its best, War Horse soars and is a 10, but elsewhere it’s disappointing, almost as if Spielberg and his team were rushed (and they weren’t), and thus my score must reflect this.
Score: 8/10

Oscar nominations 2012

Oscar has gone crazy! It’s official! The headlines may reveal that Hugo leads The Artist by 11 nominations to 10, but the real story is the omissions and surprise nods.

The highlights among the former are:
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy not nominated for Best Film.
• Neither Tilda Swinton (We Need To Talk About Kevin) nor Charlize Theron (Young Adult) for Best Actress.
• Ryan Gosling (The Ides Of March and Drive), Michael Fassbender (the actor of the year, but especially for Shame) and Leonardo diCaprio (for Clint’s J Edgar) not making the Best Actor list.
• None of the cast of Carnage being recognised.
• Neither Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus), Carey Mulligan (Shame and Drive), nor Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) making the Supporting Actress shortlist.
• Albert Brooks, widely rewarded for his performance in Drive, not making the Supporting Actor list.
• Neither Cars 2 nor Tintin making the cut for Animated Film.
• Neither Senna nor Scorsese’s George Harrison study making the cut of for the Documentary category.

Among the surprises are:
• The poorly reviewed Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close making the Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (for Max von Sydow) lists.
• The Tree Of Life being recognised for Film, Director and Cinematography.
• Rooney Mara (rightly) getting a nom for Dragon Tattoo.
• Demian Bichir getting on the Best Actor list.
• Nick Nolte making the cut on Supporting Actor for Warrior (this is probably the most leftfield nom this year).
• Both Margin Call and A Separation being nominated for Original Screenplay.
• A Cat In Paris and Chico & Rita getting on the Animated shortlist.

And what of 2011’s most commercially successful films? The Harry Potter finale picked up three craft/tech noms; ditto Transformers 3.

If we assume that the only Oscars that persuade people to see a (English-speaking) film are the major ones (Film, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, and Adapted Screenplay), then the field looks like this:
• Albert Nobbs: 2
• The Artist: 5
• Beginners: 1
• A Better Life: 1
• Bridesmaids: 2
• The Descendants: 4
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: 2
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: 2
• The Help: 4
• Hugo: 3
• Margin Call: 1
• Midnight In Paris: 3
• Moneyball: 3
• My Week With Marilyn: 2
• A Separation: 1
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: 2
• The Tree Of Life: 2
• War Horse: 1
• Warrior: 1
Now that’s more representative the state of play! It’s The Artists versus The Descendants.

OK, money on the table time: of the top 10 categories, who will win each?
Animated Film: Rango

Foreign Film: A Separation

Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants

Original Screenplay: Midnight In Paris

Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Actress: this is a three-way fight between Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams; each has factors in their favour – Davis’s character suffered in the most commercially successful ‘serious’ Oscar nominee, Streep’s performance is freshest in the mind, and Williams delivered probably the best performance as a Hollywood star; I’m going with Williams.

Actor: this is a showdown between Clooney and Dujardin; the former is an old school star while the latter is someone pretending to be an old school star; the latter leaps off the screen, the former slowburns; the former has a Supporting Actor Oscar at home for Syriana and two Best Actor noms to his name, the latter is a new face; I think Hollywood will reward its own, so step up George.

Director: if it’s The Artist’s night, Hazanavicius will take this, but in bringing ‘art’ to 3D, Scorsese must be considered his most serious rival; the outcome could depend on momentum – something Hugo hasn’t got, so it’s Michael Hazanavicius.

Film: the big one is a battle royale between The Descendants and The Artist; as with the previous category, The Artist is the one with the momentum; I’m so confident of my prediction here that I will buy a drink for all my work colleagues if the following film doesn’t win: The Artist.

The Artist continued its march to seeming Oscar glory this weekend as it walked off with the Producers’ Guild of America’s big award: its producer Thomas Langmann won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures.

The Artist beat the following:
Bridemaids
The Descendants
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
The Ides Of March
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
War Horse

As well as scooping the PGA’s top prize, The Artist’s weekend box office nearly doubled over the previous weekend to $2.4m, giving it a running total of $12.1m. With the Oscar noms due on Tuesday, the film’s momentum is surely set to increase.

While his War Horse failed to convince, Steven Spielberg, with Kathleen Kennedy and Peter Jackson secured the Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures for their other adaptation, Tintin. It has struggled at the US box office (just $72.3m to date and running out of steam; $278.8m banked in the rest of the world) due to Tintin being an unknown property, however awards success may help to keep it on the boil for a few more weeks.

For the record, Tintin beat: Cars 2; Kung Fu Panda 2; Puss In Boots; and Rango.

Review: Shame

Shame: where to start with this one? Let’s start with the obvious: Michael Fassbender in the title role of a sexaholic is simply astonishing. He delivers one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen: he is completely taken over by the character. Whatever awards he does win – and given the strong nature of the film’s content, he may struggle for wins – he will absolutely deserve. The film hinges entirely upon Fassbender’s intensity – I can’t think of another actor who could carry this role.

The film is unsettling and bleak in its observation of Brandon, a well-off New Yorker who works, eats, sleeps and sates his considerable sexual appetite with shocking regularity. That appetite is never sated with the same woman twice, and as Brandon descends into his own sexual hell, it becomes clear anything goes.

The film’s numerous sex scenes are in no way erotic – and rightly so as we are effectively watching a man drink himself to death through sex. The look on his face at his climax in the tragic threesome trumps Cronenberg’s entire portfolio and is the very definition of sex as self-loathing.

Unfortunately, to discuss Brandon any further is to reveal key plot points. Needless to say, my friend Rod and I discussed the film for a full hour after the lights came back on.

The film is marked out not only by Fassbender’s astonishing performance, but also excellent camera work from Sean Bobbit (who worked with director/co-writer Steve McQueen on Hunger), notably that long single takes are favoured throughout. One of the most uncomfortable scenes of the entire film is the slow performance of New York, New York by Brandon’s lounge bar singer sister Sissy (played perfectly by Carey Mulligan): virtually nothing happens, and yet everything happens.

Brandon’s and Sissy’s behaviour and character traits carry heavy hints of childhood abuse (among other horrors), but almost frustratingly the film never reveals the source of their broken lives.

The film is bookended by scenes on the subway as Brandon stares intently at a young woman, focusing on his prey. At the start, his confidence and unrelenting lasciviousness are startling, but at the close, his confusion hints of either a journey to redemption or a swift descent back into hell – neither he nor we know how he will react.

I’m not sure McQueen succeeds in creating his stated desire: a film that makes us talk about sex addiction because it’s the elephant in the room. I don’t see Brandon as an Everyman – his traits are not mankind’s writ large. Nor does the film debate the sexualisation of civilisation as it is openly focussed on sex addiction only – although clearly there is a causal link between the former and the latter.

Whatever, Shame is a raw, vital work that demands to be seen.
Score: 8/10

Baftas 2012: neither fish nor fowl

The 2012 BAFTA nominations are all over the shop: slaving to convention and going off the beaten track at the same time.

The big news is that BAFTA has backed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to the tune of 11 noms, just behind The Artist with 12. And these are the two that will be slugging it out for the big victory on the night.

The ultra-violent Drive has secured an unfathomable four noms.

Other unpleasant shocks: Coriolanus gets just one nom; Midnight In Paris gains one nom only; War Horse has only secured technical recognition; and Arthur Christmas will surely use home advantage over Spielberg's other film, Tintin, in the Animated Film category; Ryan Gosling is not recognised for Ides Of March (nor for Drive), but supporting co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman is.

From his four mentions on the longlist, George Clooney gets ‘only’ two on the shortlist: Best Actor for The Descendants and Best Adapted Screenplay for The Ides Of March.

Others with multiple longlist appearances also fared less well come the shortlist: DoP Phedon Papamichael not recognised for The Descendants nor The Ides Of March; and Alexandre Desplat’s scores for Ides and Harry Potter are ignored.

Back to those that made the cut: of the five nominees for Best Film, only two are on release; and of the five Best British Film nominees, two are already on DVD.

Conversion from longlist to shortlist
My Week With Marilyn: 16 to six
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: 16 to 11
The Iron Lady: 14 to four
The Artist: 13 to 12
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: 13 to two
Midnight In Paris: 13 to one
War Horse: 13 to five
The Help: 12 to five
Hugo: 12 to nine
Drive: 11 to four
The Ides Of March: 11 to two
Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2: 11 to four

Golden Globes 2012: bang on trend

Surprise, surprise: there were no surprises at the Golden Globes 2012! Well, OK, may be there was one: Meryl Streep securing the Best Actress (Drama) for The Iron Lady. I really thought Viola Davis in The Help was a slam dunk for that award, but there you go.

The Artist emerged the biggest winner with three awards including Best Film and Best Actor in the Comedy or Musical category, plus the Globe for Original Score. It ended Sunday in the US with a running total of $8.8m at the US box office and £1.9m in the UK , and with BAFTA noms on Tuesday and the Oscar noms in a week’s time, the silent, black and white French wonder now has huge earning potential before it.

Next up was The Descendants: Best Film (Drama) and Best Actor (Drama) for George Clooney (his third Globe). This ended Sunday with $47.1m; it should see a small surge for the next few weekends. These wins also arrive just ahead of its UK launch.

No other film secured more than one win.

Along with Streep, several other old-timers did well: Christopher Plummer, Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese to name all three.

The winners
The Artist: Best Film (Comedy or Musical); Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) – Jean Dujardin; and Original Score
The Descendants: Best Film (Drama); and Best Actor (Drama) – George Clooney
The Iron Lady: Best Actress (Drama) – Meryl Streep
Hugo: Best Director – Martin Scorsese
My Week With Marilyn: Best Actress (Comedy or Musical) – Michelle Williams
Beginners: Best Supporting Actor – Christopher Plummer
The Help: Best Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer
Midnight In Paris: Best Screenplay
A Separation: Best Foreign Film
The Adventures of Tintin: Best Animated Film
W.E: Best Original Song