The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady, nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Meryl Streep; Julie and Julia, Doubt) and Best Makeup.  The Iron Lady tells the story of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and how she broke through the barrier in a male-dominated world to become Britain's first female prime minister.  The movie starts out with a present day Thatcher, showing her struggle to get over her deceased husband.  The film uses flashbacks to tell the powerful story of Margaret Thatcher.

Streep has been nominated for 106 Oscars, but has only one two.  She won Best Actress for 82s Sophie's Choice and Best Supporting Actress in 79s Kramer vs. Kramer.  It's disappointing that Streep hasn't won an Oscar in about 30 decades even though she's been in some pretty good films.  She's an excellent actress which may be overlooked seeing as she is up against some other good actresses.  However, none of the other nominees have won an award, and they certainly haven't been nominated as many times.  Streep's portrayal of Margaret Thatcher was excellent.  It gave me a great insight in what she was and is like.  She's a powerful woman playing another powerful woman in a role that was fitting for her.

As for the Makeup, one of the first comments I made was how they did a great job making her look older.  I didn't even recognize her in the first scene.  I'm always fascinated with special effects makeup in movies, and even though this one was just a matter of making Meryl look like an 85 year old woman, I still think it was a great job done by the makeup artists.

This movie to me was sad because her holding on to her late husbands stuff reminds me of someone I know who has recently lost someone, so it really helped me feel bad for her and empathize with her.  Definitely a must see, especially if you're a history buff.

The Artist

I had the pleasure of seeing the Oscar nominated film, The Artist, this past weekend.  The Artist was something very different than the usual films we see today, but that's what made it enjoyable.  Set in Hollywood of the late 20s, the Artist is a silent, black and white film about two actors who's lives were drastically changed upon the introduction of "talkies" (films with sound) into Hollywood.  It takes place around the span of a few years.  I was a couple minutes late for the film for reasons beyond my control, so I'm not sure exactly what year the film began.  I walked in as a studio was holding auditions for dancers for their next film.  Newbie Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo; been in mostly Spanish movies) gets a minor role, but slowly starts rising to the top by starring in multiple talkies.  Meanwhile, silent film veteran actor George Valentin (Jean Dujardin; French films) can't find work and slowly hits rock bottom.

The Artist was nominated for ten Academy Awards;  Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role (Jean Dujardin), Actress in a Supporting Role (Berenice Bejo), Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Best Director, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), and Writing (Original Screenplay).

It's easy what makes this film stand out from its competitors.  It takes you back to a time where unemployment was at its highest, but Hollywood was still finding ways to bring people to the theater.  I've watched a lot of films that have taken place in the past, and this was probably the first time I actually felt transported to a different time.  Everything from the music and costumes to the exotic looking actors (with the exception of John Goodman and a few others I recognized) made me feel like I was actually watching a silent film from the 20s.   I can't wait to see the other nominations for Best Picture so I can start choosing my favorite.  I hope they're all as entertaining.

I think that acting in a silent film is harder than acting in a talking film.  Because you can't use your voice to express feeling and emotion, actors must rely on their body movements and facial expressions to send a message to the audience and tell their story.  Bejo and Dujardin did a great job of being very dramatic and animated that not only were they believable, but the audience could understand them without hearing them.  You have to be pretty talented to be able to pull it off.  As I stated earlier, being actors in foreign films, I didn't recognize them and that helped me believe that I was watching a film made in the 20s.  They both also had that natural beautiful look that is rare in actors today, more often found in actors from that era.  So either one has a chance of winning the Oscar, although I still have other movies to view before I can really compare.

Along those same lines, great acting is normally due to great directing.  The Artist was directed by Michel Hazanavicius who has done only foreign films previously.  With actors and a director who mostly do foreign films, it makes sense that this film is similar to foreign films.  Michel has done a great job of directing his actors to have extreme emotions in their face.  I don't think I'd ever be able to direct actors in a silent film, so for that I believe this is another nomination well deserved.

I think The Artist has a great chance of winning the music category.  I personally loved the score, and without it the film probably wouldn't have been as great.  Musical scores are very important in a movie because the right tempo helps you decide what you should be feeling at that moment during the film.  The music for The Artist did just that, it got me really excited, sad, scared, happy, etc for different scenes.

I loved the fashion of the 1920s.  It was a rebellious time for women, skirts and hair were getting shorter, and heels were getting higher.  I thought the costumes were great and gave me a great feel of what people wore during that era. 

Art Direction and Best Writing are two other awards I think it has a chance of winning.  Although I don't think it's Best Picture material, I think its still worth paying the money to see.

And the Nominees are...

It's that time of year again. ...The Oscars!  And I have 33 days to watch and review the movies I haven't seen. Like last year, I've only starred the ones I've seen.

Looks like I've got a lot to watch!

Best Picture:
Hugo*
Midnight in Paris*
Moneyball*
Tree of Life*
The Artist*
The Descendants*
War Horse
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help *

Actor in a Leading Role:  
Demián Bichir (A Better Life) 
George Clooney (The Descendants)*
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)*
Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) 
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)*

Actress in a Leading Role:
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs) 
Viola Davis (The Help)* 
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) I won't see this until I read the books 
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)*
Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)

Actor In a Supporting Role:  
Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn) 
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)*
Nick Nolte (Warrior) 
Christopher Plummer (Beginners) 
Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Actress In a Supporting Role:  
Bérénice Bejo (The Artist)*
Jessica Chastain (The Help)* 
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) I really didn't want to see this movie so now I'm torn 
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) 
Octavia Spencer (The Help)*

Animated Feature Film:  
 A Cat in Paris 
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots*
 Rango

Cinematography:  
The Artist *
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo*
The Tree of Life*
War Horse

Art Direction:
The Artist*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Again, I won't be watching this until I finish the books
Hugo*
Midnight in Paris*
War Horse

Costume Design:  
Anonymous
The Artist*
Hugo*
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Directing:  
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)*
The Descendants (Alexander Payne)*
Hugo (Martin Scorsese)*
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)*
The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)*

Documentary Feature:  
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Documentary Short:  
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement 
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing:  
The Artist (Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius)*
The Descendants (Kevin Tent)*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall) 
Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker) *
Moneyball (Christopher Tellefsen)*

Foreign Language Film: 
Belgium, "Bullhead"
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar" 
Iran, "A Separation"
Israel, "Footnote"
Poland, "In Darkness"

Makeup:  
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady*

Music (Original Score):  
The Adventures of Tintin (John Williams) 
The Artist (Ludovic Bource)*
Hugo (Howard Shore)*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alberto Iglesias)
War Horse (John Williams)

Music (Original Song):
"Man or Muppet" from THE MUPPETS (Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie) 
Real in Rio” from RIO (Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown
Lyric by Siedah Garrett)

Short Film (Animated): 
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action):
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Sound Editing:  
Drive (Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Ren Klyce) 
Hugo (Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty)*
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl) * 
War Horse (Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom)

Sound Mixing:  
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson) 
Hugo (Tom Fleischman and John Midgley)*
Moneyball (Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick)*
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin)* 
War Horse (Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson)

Visual Effects:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo*
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon*

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): 
The Descendants (Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash)*
Hugo (Screenplay by John Logan)*
The Ides of March (Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon) 
Moneyball (Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin.  Story by Stan Chervin)*
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan)

Writing (Original Screenplay):
The Artist (Written by Michel Hazanavicius)*
Bridesmaids (Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig) <---- REALLY???!!   Why? 
Margin Call (Written by J.C. Chandor) 
Midnight in Paris (Written by Woody Allen)*
A Separation (Written by Asghar Farhadi)