The 86th Annual Academy Awards: The Cinemiudex Lowdown

Academy award winners are determined by vote of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members, all of whom are movie industry people: actors, writers, directors, cinematographers, and so on. Not being in that crowd, I have no idea how the more than six thousand members will vote for the nominated films. Apparently they are predominately white (93%) male (76%) members of the boomer generation (average age 63), thus not particularly representative of the general movie going public.   On the other hand, I am a white 64 year old male, so perhaps I have more insight than you might think.

It’s annually asserted that pictures get nominated and get Oscars based on money, and specifically, based on popularity, as measured by box office receipts. While that may be a factor, it would not appear to be determinative.  This year the nine nominees for Best Picture have a pretty wide disparity in box office, ranging from $269 million down to just $17 million.  

Gravity - $269.5 million

American Hustle - $144.7 million

The Wolf of Wall Street - $113 million

Captain Phillips - $106.9 million

12 Years A Slave - $49.3 million

Philomena - $33.4 million

Dallas Buyers Club - $24.8 million

Her - $24.1 million

Nebraska - $16.7 million)

Gravity, the top grossing contender, is only number 6 on the list of 2013’s biggest money making movies, behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($424 million), Iron Man 3 ($409 million), Frozen, Despicable Me 2, and Man of Steel; and just ahead of Monsters University, The Desolation of Smaug, Fast and Furious 6 and Oz The Great and Powerful. American Hustle is number 18, The Wolf of Wall Street is at number 29, and Nebraska brings up the rear, financially speaking, in 121^st place.  While some of these pictures are still selling tickets, and licensing deals from DVDs, streaming rights, etc are still to come, it’s hard to make the case that it’s all about the money.

Odds makers tell us that the favorites as Gravity, 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle, with Wolf of Wall Street and Dallas Buyers Club as dark horses. Again, all over the map.

My personal opinion about who should win has nothing to do with money, nor with Hollywood insider stuff like who’s nice, who’s generous, who’s powerful, who’s hot, etc.  Rather, I try to take the measure of the whole package:  the conception (what were they trying to do, and how well did they do it?), the acting, the screenplay and story, the cinematography, the production values, and, just as important as the rest, the most subjective piece, the emotional effect and/or intellectual impact the film had on me.

So here are my picks (not predictions):

Best Picture of 2013:  There was no one stand-out movie last year, but a bonanza of very good ones. 

In my view, the best of the best was American Hustle. This motion picture had it all: a great story, amazing acting by a fabulous ensemble, effective photography, humor, tension, and pretty much perfect directing.  It’s a movie lover’s movie. [ See my full review.]

The other top contenders, in my book, are Dallas Buyers Club, Her and 12 Years A Slave.  

DBC is distinguished by the transcendent performances of Mathew McConaughey and Jared Leto. The story was interesting and provocative, but marred by a cartoonish portrayal of Establishment villainy, and the unconvincing character of Eve, the good nurse (Jennifer Garner). [ See my full review.]

Her, an audacious movie about a love affair between a person and an operating system, slyly takes us from far-fetched concept to plausible romantic drama without skipping a beat, thanks to writer/director Spike Jonze, art director, David Stein, and the cast. Joaquin Phoenix was wonderful playing against type. Too bad “voice” actors can’t qualify as supporting actors, because Scarlett Johansson deserves an Oscar for her Samantha character. [ See my full review.]

12 Years A Slave, based on the mid 19^th century slave narrative by the same name, was a lovely movie, about the horrors of black slavery in the American South. It was honest and affecting, if hard to watch at times, with terrific acting across the board. The cinematography was creative and evocative, and Steve McQueen’s direction was, umm, direct. In my handicapping system, however, this picture lost a few points for being somewhat predictable (maybe because I read the book several years ago?) and a little too ham-handed in the tear-jerking department.  

I enjoyed Gravity as a thrill ride, for it’s amazing, awe inspiring vision of Space and for it’s great special effects. Money well spent there. The story made little sense, and the acting of Sandra Bullock was less than remarkable. This was one of those pictures where the apparent ambition of the filmmakers was not fulfilled, and it showed.   [ See my full review.]

The Wolf of Wall Street was a disappointment to me, notwithstanding a bravura performance by star Leonardo diCaprio. He and director Martin Scorsese were aiming high with this movie, their ambition to explore, through the excesses of sleazeball protagonist Jordan Belfort, something about the American character, and they missed. Instead, we got a crude, churlish exploitation film, albeit with the highest production values.  [See my full review.]

Philomena was a lovely little movie. Steve Coogan was great as the journalst who took an old woman on a journey into the past, uncovering an interesting personal mystery. Judi Dench is always good, and she was good as Philomena Lee here, but this was not her best work . Worth seeing, but not best picture of the year. [See my full review.]

Nebraska was another one that I really did not care for. I felt that it was far less than it was cracked up to be. A very bleak, ill-fitting view of America and Americans. A lot of my friends disagree with me about the quality of Nebraska. Few, I imagine, would claim it was the best picture of the year.  [See my full review.]

Best Actor In a Leading Role.    Here are our choices:

Christian Bale (American Hustle
)

Bruce Dern (Nebraska
)

Leonardo diCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street
)

Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave
)

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club
)

I didn’t care for Bruce Dern’s performance as a shuffling, ill tempered, unhappy old guy. The other performances were all very good. The two standouts in this group were diCaprio’s larger than life performance as Jordan Belfort, and McConaughey’s as Ron Woodroof. Both of these portraits were of real life people, and both of the characters were not particularly likeable guys.  

McConaughey deserves to win, as his was far and away the most nuanced, believable and, ultimately, touching performance in this group (and probably of any lead actor last year).

Best Actress In a Leading Role.    Here are our choices:

Amy Adams (American Hustle
)

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine
)

Sandra Bullock (Gravity
)

Judi Dench (Philomena
)

Meryl Streep (August: Osage County
)

I did not get to August: Osage County, and can’t judge Ms. Streep, but from what I hear, I’m going to assume her performance is not the best.  That honor should go to Cate Blanchett. Her Jasmine was an amazing and riveting portrait of a disintegrating personality, a hard to take, and yet ultimately sympathetic wreck, a modern day Blanche duBlois. I had some quibbles with Blue Jasmine, but not with Cate.

I was not impressed with Bullock, and would be disappointed if she gets the Oscar in this category. I liked Dame Judi and loved Adams in American Hustle. But it’s really no contest, in my book.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role.  The nominees are

Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips
)

Bradley Cooper (American Hustle
)

Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave
)

Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street
)

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club
)

And the winner is Jared Leto, without a doubt. He gave a WOW performance, not by doing an over-the-top thing, but by becoming the transvestite Rayon. Leto was so absolutely convincing, and Rayon’s personality so engaging and essential, he absolutely made Dallas Buyer’s Club work. That’s what a great supporting performance is supposed to do, right?

2^nd place, in my book would probably be a tie between Cooper, really earnest and quite funny as the ambitious federal agent in AH, and Fassbender, who gave us one of the most nuanced evil slave owners I have ever seen. Abdi was quite convincing as a Somali pirate, but of course he is Somali, and we haven’t seen him in any other role, so he should be happy just getting nominated. Jonah Hill is growing out of his cute, chubby neophyte roles, and that’s a good thing, but really? He does not belong in this class for this movie. I do wish Jeremy Renner had been nominated in this category for his magnificent Mayor Carmine Polito, in AH.

But Leto would still win.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine
)

Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle
)

Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave
)

Jullia Roberts (August: Osage County
)

June Squibb (Nebraska
)

I’m sorry folks, no contest: it’s actress of the year Jennifer Lawrence playing Christian Bale’s wife, Rosalyn Rosenfeld, in American Hustle. She dominated every scene she was in, not by upstaging the other actors, but with her verve, style, timing and looks. Really, just unbelievable. I loved that movie and ALL the actors, but of the moments that come to mind most frequently, almost all of them are of Lawrence. Like when she suddenly kisses Amy Adams in the ladies room, or when she blames her husband for the fact that she almost burned the house down, or when she casually waltzes up to a scary group of mafia guys, while the rest of her party hangs back in fear,  or …, well you get the idea. That she also starred in the biggest grossing film of the year won’t hurt her chances, either.

I didn’t see Roberts in Osage County, but I hear she was good. Hawkins was fine in Blue Jasmine, and Nyong’o made a great debut in 12 Years A Slave. Again, mine is a minority opinion regarding June Squibb’s acting in Nebraska, but I wasn’t impressed.

Best Director:  David O Russell for American Hustle (He’s also the writer.) I’ve already gushed enough about his movie.

The other nominees are:

Martin Scorsese for Wolf of Wall Street – Sorry Martin, not your best work.

Alexander Payne for Nebraska – You know what I think of that one

Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave – I wouldn’t be surprised or offended if he gets the statue.

Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity – Masterful job with the special effects and all, and quite a thrill ride, but I like to award directors for work with actors, not just computer artist and engineers.

Ok folks, that’s a wrap!  See you at the Oscars.