oscar nominations

[the Talking Can]

http://www.mercurynews.com/entertain...rd-nominations

Complete list of 85th Annual Academy Award nominations announced Thursday:

1. Best Picture: "Amour," "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."

2. Actor: Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"; Denzel Washington, "Flight."

3. Actress: Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"; Quvenzhane Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Naomi Watts, "The Impossible."

4. Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Argo"; Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"; Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"; Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."

5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Master"; Sally Field, "Lincoln"; Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"; Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook."

6. Directing: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"; Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Amour," Austria; "Kon-Tiki," Norway; "No," Chile; "A Royal Affair," Denmark; "War Witch," Canada.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo"; Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; David Magee,
"Life of Pi"; Tony Kushner, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."

9. Original Screenplay: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained"; John Gatins, "Flight"; Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"; Mark Boal, "Zero Dark Thirty."

10. Animated Feature Film: "Brave"; "Frankenweenie"; "ParaNorman"; "The Pirates! Band of Misfits"; "Wreck-It Ralph."

12. Cinematography: "Anna Karenina," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Skyfall."

15. Original Score: "Anna Karenina," Dario Marianelli; "Argo," Alexandre Desplat; "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna; "Lincoln," John Williams; "Skyfall," Thomas Newman.

16. Original Song: "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice," J. Ralph; "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted," Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane; "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; "Skyfall" from "Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; "Suddenly" from "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.

18. Documentary Feature: "5 Broken Cameras," "The Gatekeepers," "How to Survive a Plague," "The Invisible War," "Searching for Sugar Man."

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Wow. Everyone's entitled to his opinion, but you're just wrong with that assessment.

Yeah, she's pitchy at times - usually on the high notes. But other than those very minor moments, she's great. She absolutely does her job.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Because to me, it says a lot about your film when many believe your gazillion dollar production doesn't measure up to Broadway. And if you're filming a musical, you should not be rewarded for purposefully picking a cast based on how much money they'd bring in versus which ones can perform the best.

If you want an adaptation, Skyfall was a very creative twist to traditional Bond movies.

I've speculated that the film was specifically intended NOT to measure up to the stage version, simply because if it did, there would be a lot of people who wouldn't continue to drop serious coin to see something that they could pop in their blu-ray player for a one-time payment of $25.

Yes, I'm that cynical.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

And I think Cohen (especially) and Bonham Carter are mediocre at best and cringe worthy at worst.

But I also don't care for those characters and their story in general.

I'm no fan of Cohen - this is actually the first time I've seen anything he's been in - but I liked the way they were portrayed. On stage they're basically comic relief - in the film, they're much more sinister.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

Because to me, it says a lot about your film when many believe your gazillion dollar production doesn't measure up to Broadway. And if you're filming a musical, you should not be rewarded for purposefully picking a cast based on how much money they'd bring in versus which ones can perform the best.

If you want an adaptation, Skyfall was a very creative twist to traditional Bond movies.

It's hard for any film experience to live up to a live stage performance. Especially when that stage performance is iconic. This is an incompetent effort.

Other than Jackman and Crowe, who do you think can't sing? And which of those do you imagine the studio cast because they saw dollar signs?

I believe in casting the right person. Crowe is a mistake. Jackman is great in the acting of the role. He just isn't hitting the notes all the time. I would have either arranged the songs in a new key, or cast someone else. But I can't call Jackman an out and out mistake.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Crowe's performance was an abomination. I agree with that. But I'm pretty sure you guys don't have ears. Seyfried was horrendously pitchy. I kept shaking my head 'no' whenever she was singing.

"Horrendously pitchy" is an overstatement; it's also not a real term. It's an American Idol-ism that has no place in musical discussion, and it tells me you may not know as much as you want us to believe. You and I have had no problems on CP, and I hope it doesn't start here. Of course, I could be wrong, and I'm truly not trying to offend by saying that. I say that hoping you'll be more explicit in what you mean when you say she was "horrendously pitchy." Are you saying she was off-key? She wasn't. Are you saying her performance was flat (as opposed to her pitch being flat)? Yeah, it kinda was, but so is the character. Are you saying she was breathy? She was.

Crowe's tone was swallowed; it's the reason he had no projection and no power, except every now and then when he'd get on top of some of the higher notes.

And the "don't have ears" comment: I realize this is all "internet" talk, so take it for whatever you think or don't think it's worth, but I spent two years in college as vocal performance major, finished with a minor when I switched to the film degree, and was a choir director for three years following college while putting my wife through school.

[Frazod]

Gerard Butler would have been an infinitely better choice for Javert than Crowe. At least we know he can sing.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by frazod

I'm no fan of Cohen - this is actually the first time I've seen anything he's been in - but I liked the way they were portrayed. On stage they're basically comic relief - in the film, they're much more sinister.

That's interesting. I would have thought less sinister. Good to know.

I think I just don't like the characters. And the performances don't change my mind. I'd rather just cut all their stuff, or limit it to one much shorter scene.

But I can understand - especially on stage - why the audience would want a reprieve from the misery. Comic relief isn't a bad thing.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by frazod

Gerard Butler would have been an infinitely better choice for Javert than Crowe. At least we know he can sing.

No he can't! He was equally bad as Phantom as Crowe was as Javert. Butler's idea of singing was belching through the performance.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by frazod

Gerard Butler would have been an infinitely better choice for Javert than Crowe. At least we know he can sing.

Does he sing? I've never heard him. I would have been interested in seeing what he'd do with part. I think he would have been much more interesting.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

That's interesting. I would have thought less sinister. Good to know.

I think I just don't like the characters. And the performances don't change my mind. I'd rather just cut all their stuff, or limit it to one much shorter scene.

But I can understand - especially on stage - why the audience would want a reprieve from the misery. Comic relief isn't a bad thing.

On stage they mainly come off as buffoons.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

No he can't! He was equally bad as Phantom as Crowe was as Javert. Butler's idea of singing was belching through the performance.

Well, there you go. From an acting standpoint, I still think he would have been a more interesting choice than Crowe.

But if he can't sing, he can't sing.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

Does he sing? I've never heard him. I would have been interested in seeing what he'd do with part. I think he would have been much more interesting.

He played the Phantom in the film version of Phantom of the Opera.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

No he can't! He was equally bad as Phantom as Crowe was as Javert. Butler's idea of singing was belching through the performance.

Well, maybe not "equally bad" as Crowe... but he was terrible.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

No he can't! He was equally bad as Phantom as Crowe was as Javert. Butler's idea of singing was belching through the performance.

Oh come on - he wasn't that bad.

[Reaper16]

Gerard Butler would have been as bad, probably. Javert needs someone whose voice has precision and discipline, because that's what Javert is all about. See: Phillip Quast.