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 Reaper16

I saw Les Mis last night, finally. I thought it was ****ing terrible in almost every capacity. I'm a huge fan of the musical, so take that for what its worth.

This film was my first exposure to the musical. I'd never heard the music. Never seen it staged. Never read the book it's based on. Nothing. I knew absolutely zero about the thing.

Probably helped me enjoy it more. And while I think the thing has some major strengths, I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly disappointed. My expectations were high. I was expecting a home run. I got a crucial stand-up double that allowed a runner to score.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

One of the problems I've always had with the Oscars is that there doesn't seem to be enough appreciation for a good comedy script. Thought Safety Not Guaranteed was one of the cleverest scripts this year. I'm shocked it didn't get nominated at all.

Yea, comedy has always been criminally overlooked. As has pretty much all genre stuff like horror, sci-if, or action movies in general. I think there's a perception those types of movies are not important enough or are not actors showcases. Every now and then something can transcend its genre like Silence of the Lambs, Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dark Knight, etc...

But comedy is hard to break though......ironically, wasn't last years best pic winner the Artist considered a silent comedy?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

I agree about some of the casting choices. Most obviously, Crowe, but also Jackman. HBC and SBC also leave a lot to be desired. But I think the rest of the cast nails it. And I'm pulling for Anne to win her category.

I don't really agree about the adaptation element. If you don't think the movie is worthy, that's fine. But that particular aspect of your argument strikes me as a bit strange. Who care if it's adapted, and who cares if it ran on Broadway? This thing is it's own animal, and should be judged on it's own merits (or lack thereof). Which, I admit, may be easier said than done for those who are familiar with the stage version.

I happen to think it deserves to be recognized, but I don't think it deserves a win. I've only seen four of the nominated films, but I think the other three I've seen are much better films.

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.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Yea, comedy has always been criminally overlooked. As has pretty much all genre stuff like horror, sci-if, or action movies in general. I think there's a perception those types of movies are not important enough or are not actors showcases. Every now and then something can transcend its genre like Silence of the Lambs, Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dark Knight, etc...

But comedy is hard to break though......ironically, wasn't last years best pic winner the Artist considered a silent comedy?

Yup. Really good point. The Academy has a weird love for highly dramatic movies and history movies. Even when we're talking about Best Screenplay, you don't see scripts like 50/50 or Knocked Up in the conversation. Shame, because good, natural dialogue and character development is hard to do.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

I agree about some of the casting choices. Most obviously, Crowe, but also Jackman. HBC and SBC also leave a lot to be desired. But I think the rest of the cast nails it. And I'm pulling for Anne to win her category.

Nails it? I thought Amanda Seyfried turned in the worst performance of the film.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Nails it? I thought Amanda Seyfried turned in the worst performance of the film.

I wouldn't say "nails it," but Seyfried was fine for the role. Cosette, even in the stage play, is a pretty forgettable role. I thought she was fine.

I genuinely don't know what to say if you think Seyfried was worse than Russel Crowe.

The only people I thought "nailed it" were Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Samantha Barks, and especially Eddie Redmayne.

[Demonpenz]

Why is maximus and wolverine and catwoman singing!!!

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I wouldn't say "nails it," but Seyfried was fine for the role. Cosette, even in the stage play, is a pretty forgettable role. I thought she was fine.

I genuinely don't know what to say if you think Seyfried was worse than Russel Crowe.

The only people I thought "nailed it" were Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Samantha Barks, and especially Eddie Redmayne.

Her singing was atrocious. Her singing was worse than Crowe's, yes.

[Micjones]

Denzel turned in maybe the most nuanced performance of his film career.
Happened in the wrong year though. Daniel Day-Lewis has to be the favorite to win Best Actor.

[frazod]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Her singing was atrocious. Her singing was worse than Crowe's, yes.

What movie were you watching? She did fine. Crowe's performance was an abomination.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Her singing was atrocious. Her singing was worse than Crowe's, yes.

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

[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.

[frazod]

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.

Frankly, I can't remember ever seeing a performance of Cosette that I did like. Agree with FMB that it's a forgettable part, and even when done on stage, the performances tend to come off as shrill and unpleasant, and that's with top level stage people doing it. I thought Seyfried finally brought some humanity to the role.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Nails it? I thought Amanda Seyfried turned in the worst performance of the film.

That's just not even a little bit true.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

I wouldn't say "nails it," but Seyfried was fine for the role. Cosette, even in the stage play, is a pretty forgettable role. I thought she was fine.

I genuinely don't know what to say if you think Seyfried was worse than Russel Crowe.

The only people I thought "nailed it" were Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Samantha Barks, and especially Eddie Redmayne.

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.