OSCAR 2011 PREDICTIONS: Supporting Actress

The supporting performance races are prime examples of what's so dull about this Oscar year. It's not as much about who wins as it is about who was eligible for consideration. There are precious few here who even scratch the surface of consideration in my book. I'm not at all sure how Janet McTeer made it into this bracket, but there's absolutely no enthusiasm heading her way. Melissa McCarthy is different, because the only reason she's here is because the enthusiasm of the public willed her into a nomination. No real chance of winning, but it's a consideration that many are thankful for. Myself, I would have been pleased if Rose Byrne were the proper nomination, but I guess it's too much to expect people go for the better performance over the louder one.

Berenice Bejo is here because of "The Artist", and she doesn't really belong here. There's nothing extraordinary about her performance. All the same, I have absolutely nothing against her, and she does ordinary and typical pretty well, all things considered. But really, it's the ladies from "The Help" that we're talking about here. Don't worry about them cancelling each other out. They know who they're voting for, and it's the underwhelming Octavia Spencer. Don't get me wrong. She's nice and funny, but not to the level necessary for a win. I thought Jessica Chastain was much more deserving for her performance, but I thought even more that she should have been nominated for "Take Shelter" instead, a film which got no love from the Academy. But we dried out tears a long time ago. Now we're just rolling our eyes.

Quick Takes: "Tomboy", "Rango", "Bridesmaids"

"Tomboy"

Directed by Celine Sciamma

This wasn't too high up on my list of films to catch up on before the year was out, but it landed in my general vicinity, so I figured it couldn't hurt. I didn't expect how much "Tomboy" actually did hurt, in ways both predictable and still shattering. The story is your typical new-kid-in-a-new-place sort of story, with the major exception being that Mikael is not a boy, but a girl named Laure. And the thing is that there's nothing truly dishonest about the way she represents herself. She has no ulterior motive other than to settle in with this group without the prejudices asserted by gender basis, and the honest nature of her deceit is what makes this such a wonderful little tale.

The film elicits this tragic gut-feeling, not just through these sweet moments between Laure and the girl she starts a relationship with, Lisa, but through the inevitability of its collapse. This isn't a brilliant ruse that Laure. It's so easy for it to fall apart, and it doesn't do this in a contained moment with the group of friends. The film draws out Laure's humiliation so as to never speak ill of her or her friends. Director Celine Sciamma passes no judgment, and in fact shows only deep affection for her characters, and it's infectious, like the sporadic pop tune that plays during one of the film's sweeter moments. But it's the innocent performances from the cast, especially the pitch-perfect Zoe Heran working years ahead of her age, that cement this film so strongly in my heart. Show this one to your kids. It's that sweet.

AWARDS 2011: NY critics land on "Artist" & "Bridesmaids"

The New York Film Critics Online, the last film awards of the day to start was the shortest to conclude. A lot of the same going on, with another win for Albert Brooks in "Drive", further wins for "The Artist", a push for Michael Shannon in "Take Shelter", another "Tree of Life" cinematography win, and a surprising second award of the day for Melissa McCarthy for "Bridesmaids". Color us surprised, but I'm still guessing she won't make it into the Oscar shortlist. Just simple bias.

BEST PICTURE: "The Artist"

BEST DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")

BEST SCREENPLAY: "The Descendants"

BEST ACTOR: Michael Shannon ("Take Shelter")

BEST ACTRESS: Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks ("Drive")

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")

BEST ENSEMBLE: "Bridesmaids"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Jessica Chastain ("The Tree of Life", "The Help", "Take Shelter")

BEST ANIMATED FILM: "The Adventures of Tintin"

BEST DOCUMENTARY: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "A Separation"

BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR: Joe Cornish ("Attack the Block")

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "The Tree of Life"

BEST USE OF MUSIC: "The Artist"

AWARDS 2011: DC Critics go for the odd nods

With the awards season in full swing, it's expected for things to start to form in unexpected manners. The DC critics have continued that trend which started at NBR, and we're really starting to consider which films are genuinely the main players of the season. Until "War Horse" garners a genuine win, I think it's becoming more and more plain that maybe it's not the frontrunner we all thought it would be. Perhaps it's just a lower tier player, as it wasn't able to even scratch past "Win Win" or "Drive" in the DC circuit. It's odd enough that Nicolas Refn's film was in there, and that alone sparks another fire in this awards season that's in much need of some personality.

"Win Win", on the other hand, I wouldn't give too much attention based on this nomination alone. If AWARDSit's a trend that continues on to other awards, we'll definitely take it into consideration. After all, if "The Help" is getting buzz, then we can more than expect to see more light indie flicks like this to rise up. You could categorize "Win Win" right along with "50/50" in that respect. A few more pleasant notes are that Fassbender made it into his first Best Actor field for his performance in "Shame", Elizabeth Olsen and Tilda Swinton continue to be of strong presence in Best Actress, and Andy Serkis and Melissa McCarthy are genuinely getting buzz for the supporting categories. In review, we need more critics awards to tell if DC is not completely off their rocker.

BEST FILM

- "The Artist"

- "The Descendants"

- "Drive"

- "Hugo"

- "Win Win"

Film Review: "Bridesmaids" (***1/2)

Overexposure can sometimes be a toxic thing, with such works as Paul being barely one-hit-wonders and others like Battle: Los Angeles and Red Riding Hood making everything so painfully obvious that it hurts. However, on occasion I just want to sit back and let a film assault me in a favorable manner. Bridesmaids happens to be on the higher end of that spectrum, and I feel like I've set this film up for a negative critique. While there is plenty to gripe with this film, as there is with nearly every Hollywood comedic venture, I enjoyed it a great deal more than any other wedding comedy I've had the misfortune of running into.

Being the third wedding related film releasing this month, after Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed, I was a tad worried that nobody would care. Fortunately that wasn't the case, and I was surprised by how diverse a crowd was in the theater. While obviously skewing towards the female demographic, Bridesmaids was able to take a subject that men normally roll their eyes at and make it surprisingly entertaining. This isn't the "Omigod, he's so hot, and I'm marrying him," tale of true love and all that BS. The groom in the film doesn't even speak a line of dialogue beyond "I do." Writers Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig made sure that this wasn't a boring retread of something you'd already seen before.

Annie Walker, the protagonist of the film played by Kristen Wiig, isn't that kind of girl who is searching desperately for a guy to take care of her for the rest of her life. That's made clear by the opening scene of her and Jon Hamm humping each other in pretty much every position. Hamm's character, Ted, is not in any way her soul mate. He's a douchebag who honestly couldn't care less about Annie outside of use as a sex tool. She's the sort of girl who's been run into the ground, and is routinely used by others as an exercise tool, designed to make them better, or make them seem better. The closest person she really has is her best friends Lillian, who is now suddenly getting married.