Academy Award Week (2013): Best Supporting Actor....Are you Sure you are in the Right Place?

Throughout the years of Academy Awards performances are placed in acting categories by studios, the options are clearly lead vs. supporting.  Over the years people have bemoaned category fraud, and this year there are two specific cases of that extreme category fraud, Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in The Master.

Before I look at this year I am going to talk about this category, and category fraud over the years:

2010-Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech has an equal amount of screen time as lead contender and winner Colin Firth.

2008-Robert Downey Jr. was in most of the scenes in Tropic Thunder, but you could argue the "ensemble rule."  Phillip Seymour Hoffman was a central part in Doubt, and was by no means a supporting player.

2007-Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was in more of the film than Brad Pitt how he was considered a lead is one of the biggest pieces of category fraud.

2005-Jake Gyllenhaal was a co-lead in Brokeback Mountain, the film was about both Ennis and Jack.

These are just a handful of the different elements of category fraud in the last few years, and while there are still several men who should be considered supporting, the true "supporting" players never seem to win.  One could argue that many of the past few winners Christian Bale in The Fighter, and Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men could be considered lead performances.

So why does this happen?  Studios want to pack on the number of nominations, would these men have beat out any of the leads to get a nomination? Probably not meaning films would potentially have less or no nominations meaning some films would have less consideration to be viewed.by less people, think The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. People often also have this notion that you need more acting nominations to be successful.  Think Brokeback Mountain, but for some reason the critics out there have not had the balls to correct this category placement.

Who are the men guilty of this category fraud crime, why the Weinstein Company's Christoph Waltz from Django Unchained, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman (once again) from The Master.  Both of these performances while not the center of their films are part of the central journey.

Django was obviously a story about Django (Jaime Foxx) and his bounty hunter companion Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz), the two were in the majority of the film. At the earliest part of award season Waltz was placed in the Supporting Actor category.  On November 8th the website goldderby.com reported Waltz would be campaigned in the lead category instead.  After the lead race became crowded the Weinstein Company switched Waltz back to supporting. 

Hoffman was guilty of category fraud for another Weinstein film four years ago, and he is back.  This is a simple case of them wanting to get as many nominations for this smaller film as possible.  Like with Doubt all three central characters are nominated, and ironically both have Amy Adams, and Hoffman.  This is not a case for just the Weinstein's, Warner Brothers, Focus Features, FOX are also guilty of this fraud.  Let's focus on this year's nominees and who may win the top prize.

And the nominees are...

Alan Arkin-Argo

Robert DeNiro-Silver Linings Playbook

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Master

Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln

Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained

This may be one of the tougher races to predict.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman took the early lead winning at the BFCA; he also won many critics groups awards.  Waltz gained momentum with a win at the Golden Globes, and BAFTA.  In the middle of Waltz's wins Tommy Lee Jones won SAG.  I think the power of Harvey Weinstein will guide the winner here, and my prediction all along has been Waltz the lead performance that steals the show.  Many are citing that DeNiro has the heart behind his performance and he has not won in years so he has more on his side, but he has not won a single award prior to this.  Maybe a James Coburn type deal?  Jones sour puss could also take the stage if they decide to throw more at Lincoln, but I think Lincoln seems a bit forgotten.  My gut is to go with the lead in supporting actor clothing.

Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Spoilers: Robert DeNiro, and Tommy Lee Jones

Argo Wins Best Ensemble at SAG, Downton Abbey and Modern Family win on Television Side

Tonight Argo stepped even closer to a Best Picture win at the Academy Awards.  Argo has now won Best Picture at the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Golden Globes, Producer's Guild Awards, and here.  At this very moment I can feel many film critics and Oscar pundits switching their Lincoln Best Picture win to Argo.  One of the most intriguing things to me is if Argo wins Best Picture who wins Best Director?  I will be theorizing that one for a while.

In the other film categories Lincoln picked up two trophies one for Best Lead Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), and one for Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones).  Day-Lewis has the Best Actor prize in the bag, and Tommy Lee Jones has a strong shot at the Best Supporting Actor award, but he was not there to accept, so look for missing Christoph Waltz to be a spoiler.

Jennifer Lawrence made the Best Actress category more interesting tonight beating Jessica Chastain, this puts Lawrence out front, but never count out any surprises although with Harvey Weinstein behind her campaign she has the best chance.  Anne Hathaway further proved that her dream she dreamt will come true winning Best Supporting Actress, and I like that she thanked her Dark Knight cast; she gave a much better speech.

On the television side the Comedy Winners remained as stale as day old bread.  Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey whom I love won for Best Actor and Actress, and obviously it was as a parting gift for their great work on 30 Rock.  Modern Family also won for a third year in a row, and while I love their ensemble there are so many other great ensembles out there.  I guess I am just glad Betty White did not win this year or else they would have been the exact same winners as last year.  Baldwin and Modern Family have won together for the last three years, sloppy!

In the mini-series or movie category rubber stamped winner Kevin Costner and Julianne Moore won.  Costner was not present, but neither were any of his competition.  I think this is the first time in all my years of watching award shows where not a single nominee in a category has shown up.

The drama categories finally shook things up for the television world.  Best Actor went to Bryan Cranston he beat out front runner Damien Lewis.  Claire Danes was not nominated last year, but won Best Actress last year.  Downton Abbey won Best Ensemble, and I loved watching the actress who plays Mrs. Hughes accept for the cast; she was too precious.

One of the highlights of the evening was watching Dick Van Dyke get his lifetime achievement award. In watching his film reel, and hearing beautiful but brief acceptance of the award it was a great moment in one of the more boring award shows.

Hope Springs Makes you want to Embrace Streep and Jones for Being able to Bring these Characters to Life

Hope Springs (3 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by David Frankel (Devil wears Prada, Marley & Me)

Written by Venssa Taylor (Alias, Everwood, Game of Thrones)

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carrel

Over time love morphs and becomes something different.  As people have children or delve into their later years the love with partner becomes something different, because love evolves throughout a couples' experiences together.  Now I do not know this from first hand experience, but this is an occurrence I have seen daily with numerous people who surround me.  Sometimes two adults do not evolve together at the same pace, and their lack of communication about their feelings, and own journey get lost in the everyday moments of life.

In Hope Springs, Kay (Streep) and Arnold (Jones) have reached this point in their lives.  The film starts with a sequence highlighting the mundane everyday activities that have forced this couple to be "the dinning dead."  The sit in almost silence after Kay has prepared Arnold's meals.  At their anniversary dinner with their children Kay reaches a breaking point when she shares with her children that their anniversary gift was cable television package.  Kay heads to a bookstore where she finds a book by Dr. Feld (Carrel).  After looking at the book Kay cashes in money that she has in savings in attempt to salvage her marriage.

First and foremost the film itself is saved by the talented performances from the two leads Streep and Jones. I love watching Meryl Streep when she let's things go all natural, I almost tend to agree with Katherine Hepburn, when Meryl relies on her accents you almost lose her natural acting beauty.  In Spring Meryl is  vulnerable, and shines as a women who has lost the confidence in her own beauty because she is afraid her husband no longer finds her beautiful.  Kay resigns herself to sleeping in different beds, but in the end wants to feel as though there is more to their love than the physical, and that Arnold can love her again.

Jones tends to play this cranky archetype often, but there is something about his acting within this film that allows him to take Arnold to a different level.  Arnold soon realizes that he does not want to be like his co-worker living in a condo by himself, and attempts, with much reservation, to salvage his marriage.  Throughout the sessions during the week Arnold continues to make movement towards finally opening up and finally expressing himself.  As Jones explores this role, and opens up you get to see this character's vulnerability, which is buried deep because he does not want to let this side out.

For Taylor's first film screenplay she succeeds in making this film into something better than it could have been.  Springs could have been too slapstick, or too melodramatic, but  Taylor found a good balance within this work.  There are moments when the pessimist comes out of me thinking maybe these two people do not belong together, and this is where the film has flaws.  These two characters seem to have truly grown apart too much at times making it seem like a reconciliation could be a cop out.

One of the main problems with this film is soundtrack in the background.  Films often tend to use music to convey the journey of the characters, and while some films have used music to enhance the film, the music is a distraction, and made me roll my eyes several times.  Towards the end of the film there is montage with the Annie Lenox song "Why" and while I love the song it seemed out of place and forced into the background like within a bad episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Beyond the music the film accomplishes something rare by showing that as people grow older their love story is not over.  Springs uses their talented leads to help make the characters relate able, while not a great film was an entertaining journey, watching two people find their way back into each other's arms.  

Boston Online Film Critics Name Zero Dark Thirty Best Picture (with some other fun Surprises)

This year already has a runaway favorite with critics groups, NY, NBR, and now the Boston Online 

film critics have named Zero Dark Thirty Best Picture.  Kathryn Bigelow has won Best Director every time as well.

In the acting world Daniel Day Lewis and Jessica Chastain both have two wins.  Day Lewis won with NYFC, and now Boston.  Chastain won with the NBR, and Boston as well.  Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Hathaway have surprising picked up their first wins with this critics group.  Looking at all of the major categories I would not be shocked  if these were the wins (at least in the acting world).

Zero Dark Thirty could also be the best Picture winner, but Lincoln (at this point) could be an incredibly fierce competitor, or maybe even Argo, the Academy love the actor turned director.

I love watching the critics group anoint people in the technical categories because they usually do an incredible job.  Skyfall winning Cinematography is much deserved, and I hope this film gives Roger Deakins his first win.  Watching the Best Animated Feature race has been fun as well, the critics have been split, picking a variety of options, and this could be one of the few years this face is actually exciting 

BEST PICTURE:

ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST DIRECTOR:
Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST ACTOR:
Daniel Day-Lewis, LINCOLN

BEST ACTRESS:
Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Tommy Lee Jones, LINCOLN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Anne Hathaway, LES MISERABLES

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Tony Kushner, LINCOLN

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
OSLO, AUGUST 31ST

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

BEST ANIMATED FILM:
PARANORMAN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Roger Deakins, SKYFALL

BEST EDITING:
William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor, ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Jonny Greenwood, THE MASTER

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST:
MOONRISE KINGDOM

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. ZERO DARK THIRTY
2. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
3. LINCOLN
4. MOONRISE KINGDOM
5. DJANGO UNCHAINED
6. OSLO, AUGUST 31ST
7. HOLY MOTORS
8. THE MASTER
9. ARGO
10. CLOUD ATLAS

Lincoln Gives a Historical Lesson on how to Make a Great Bio-Pic

Lincoln (4 out of 5 Stars)
Directed by Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan)
Written by Tony Kushner (Munich)
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Sally Field, David Straitharn, and Tommy Lee Jones



When I got back to my job from a ten day vacation, to my delight I found three invitations to screenings of films.  Two of them were for Wednesday, Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook, and one for Thursday, Flight.  I picked Lincoln for two reasons.  The first reason one there was the live satellite interview with Spielberg and Day Lewis, and I was immensely interested to hear them speak about this film.  The second reason was because as a history major in my undergraduate days I worship the material, used to adapt this film.   Lincoln gives an historical lesson on how to make a great bio-pic.

The film starts four months before the end of the Civil War, as the battles are raging on, President Abraham Lincoln is looking to bring the nation back together meanwhile trying to fight for the rights of those enslaved by the Confederacy.  There are no real spoilers in this film, as everyone hopefully knows the 13th Amendment was ratified, and President Lincoln was assassinated.  The film focuses on the journey to ratification, and the eventual death of the President and what he meant to this nation at the time, and in a sense what he still means to Americans.

The film was adapted from the book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" from Dorris Kearns Goodwin.  In the interview with Spielberg he stated that back in 1999 when the book was released he read it, and asked Goodwin if he could buy the rights and make the book into a film about Lincoln.  This film has been in the works since 1999.  Spielberg asked playwright, and screenwriter Tony Kushner, with whom he would work on Munich with first, to write the screenplay for this film.  Spielberg openly discussed that Kushner's first version of this script was over 500 pages "and would be longer than most HBO mini-series."  Fair warning if you do not have a love of history this may still feel like a long HBO mini-series.

You will be happy to know that the film was condensed and made into a much sharper history lesson about the man, the myth, and the legend that is Abraham Lincoln.  You should also know that Goodwin is a historian, and as a historian her job is to convey fact, and to provide authentic context and and experiential journey for the readers.  Kushner's screenplay does exactly the same thing; he creates scenarios like in his play Angels in America, where characters, mainly Lincoln talk and provide history. lessons to those around them.  This is something that Lincoln did on a regular basis to everyone who would listen.  Some will describe this script as "talky" but I say the script is the perfect blue print for a film that is meant to provide a snap shot of the historical context on the importance of this man, and his impact on the society then, and now.

Kushner and Spielberg worked together on another film about a real life event, Munich.  Munich was Speilberg's last well made film, it has his signature style, but also goes off book.  Lincoln has the same quality as this film; he allows the material, like the writing from the book, and screenplay, and the acting do most of the work.  You often know when you are watching a Steven Spielberg film, there are certain qualities or aspects, which signify his style.  This is something every director has, but they are often most successful when they stray from their comfort zone, and imbibe a little fear, something Spielberg talked about in his interview.  There was careful planning that went into making this film, and the end results are proof that he worked hard to get the most from this film, and his leading man.

As Daniel Day Lewis steps on stage, there is chill that passed down my spine, something he often invokes with his acting, or presence.  Day Lewis is a brilliant as Lincoln; he brings to life the man, his speeches, and shows you just how comfortable he was connecting with the masses.  Lincoln was one of the few Presidents we have had who came from nothing, Day Lewis connects with this aspect of Lincoln, and proves that within him there is a way for you to connect with him in this role on every level in believe in the greatness of this man.

Day Lewis shared with online audiences the way Lincoln made his decisions; he talked out loud with the people around him from his wife, to his Cabinet, and even to every day people.  This part of the film was wonderfully crafted with the screenplay, but also shows up with the great ensemble.  There were few shining stars in the rest of the ensemble but together these character actors worked together to create a seamless environment where you fell into the landscape of the film.  The one standout supporting performance for me was Tommy Lee Jones who played Representative Thadeus Stevens, a Republican who believed in full equality for all Americans.  Jones had great speeches, was funny, touching, and shined in a truly great supporting role.

Together these actors, along with a subdued, yet beautiful score by John Williams create an environment rich in context, and historical lessons. Together with the direction from Spielberg, and the writing from the original author, and the adapted work form this great history lesson.  One of the great things about film, is the way it informs everyday life, giving a basic understanding to different life experiences For example in this film shows our democratic process, and the way it still remains the same throughout all these years.

Audiences will make the comparison of the current political spectrum and the way way we remain a country divided by deep issues.  There is no Civil War brewing, but it feels as though are differences divide us stronger than ever, or are a resemblance of the debates the House has in this film.  From abortion to gay marriage, the country does not see eye to eye, and we seem to be in a constant battle with one another.  People are going to compare President Obama, a man who has broken barriers to Lincoln based on the material of this film, its only natural.  Yet some would disagree because of their political leanings. Lincoln, is not only a well made movie, but an important historical document.

Biographical films rarely focus on getting things right on multiple levels.  Most focus on the entertainment value.  Can we sell this person's story?  Lincoln tells a history lesson, and is a well made film, I am proud to say I enjoyed this film.  Nice rebound from War Horse!

Men in Black 3 Entertains While Getting Back to the Roots

Men in Black III (3 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, RV, Wild Wild West)

Written by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder)

Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Emma Thompson

The first Men in Black film was a terrific film about a secret agency that monitors extra terrestrial life on Earth.  The film brought together two opposites Agent Jay played by Will Smith and Agent Kay played by Tommy Lee Jones.  Jones nailed the crotchety older male role, while Smith did a great job as the hot shot agent.  The film received great reviews and became a beloved comedy.  The film also made a lot of money, so the studios made a sequel.  The sequel was poorly constructed and Men in Black II was a massive failure.  With the quality of the second film plummeting, who would have thought the third film could rebound, but it rebounded enough to save this series.

The film starts with a monster referred to as Boris the Animal escaping from a moon base jail.  With his arm missing he threatens to right the wrong of his missing arm and the agent who did this in 1969, Agent Kay.   The film then shows Jay and Kay preparing for the agencies leader Zed's funeral.  As Kay gives the eulogy for Zed its cold nature makes Jay assess the fourteen year partnership he has had with Kay.  With Zed dying O  played by the hilariously brilliant Emma Thompson tells Jay there are things that made Kay who he is today.  Boris the Animal launches the duo into a troubling situation where Jay has to travel back in time and work with a young Kay played by a very talented Josh Brolin.

The film is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld; he directed both the original and the second film, and a wide variety of other projects.  Sonnenfeld's best work includes the first film, and the terrific television series Pushing Daisies; he has also directed some real clunkers like Men in Black II, Wild Wild West, and RV.  Looking at his resume has a real yo-yo effect on my mind.  Combined with quality scripts this man appears to be able to construct entertaining fare.  This sounds simple, but in Hollywood nothing is simple. Etan Cohen who wrote Tropic Thunder should take most of the credit.  the script brought the film back the basics, and focused on the great relationship between Jones and Smith.

The dynamic duo of Jones and Smith are the best selling point to this film, they really know how to play well off one another.  This is one of the best on film pairings in film history for me.  They are the stereotypical odd couple, but they make it work so well.  Throw Josh Brolin in the mix as a young Kay, and he adds even more entertainment.  Together all of these things man an entertaining film that brings this franchise back to its roots.