Oscar nominations are a few days away. As always, a lot of what gets in is going to be standard awards bait. But whenever the Academy gets the chance to truly break ground, they typically stay away from it. Even this year, while they have the opportunity to honor difficult-but-rewarding material like Shame or We Need To Talk About Kevin, we can't be sure they'll ultimately bite. Meanwhile, actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Glenn Close will likely glide by on name recognition and prestige despite the fact that their films are very near terrible.
So each year, I like to highlight what I would have paid attention to if I was ever given the chance to vote for these awards. Of course, some of our tastes inevitably overlap (you cannot deny the charms of Michelle Williams or The Artist and you shouldn't try) but many do not. The Academy keeps it to five for each category (except Best Picture, which now can be 5-10, I'll be going with the latter) yet I usually let myself go beyond to six and sometimes seven. After all, what's with the reluctance to honor too many great works?
There are a number of works I didn't have time for this year, and some smaller ones that simply never came around to me. (Most notably, everyone's favorite foreign language film A Separation still has not arrived, as well as a number of other foreign and documentary entries). But these choices are almost perfectly representative of what the year was for me and more than a few surprises are surprising even for me. Winners are bolded (and pictured) while runners-up are italicized for fun. And, of course, these are inevitably subject to change, but for now, enjoy.
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
Beginners
Drive
Hanna
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
Take Shelter
Weekend
BEST DIRECTOR
Tomas Alfredson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Terrence Malick, Tree of Life
Terrence Malick, Tree of Life
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
Lynne Ramsay, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Lars von Trier, Melancholia
BEST ACTOR
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ewan McGregor, Beginners
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
It speaks to the level of quality within this category that my final selections still don't include Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50 and Tom Cullen in Weekend, two performances I absolutely loved. But I could not bring myself to cope with the subtle brilliance of the works of Gosling, Oldman, McGregor and Pitt. When it boils down to it, this was a battle of the Michaels, and while Fassbender's stunning turn in Shame had appeared to be the clear choice for me, something inside me ultimately had to reward the towering achievement of Michael Shannon in Take Shelter.
BEST ACTRESS
Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
Viola Davis, The Help
Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Yet again, that I still could not find room for Rooney Mara's infectious take on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo or Tilda Swinton's excellent (and surprisingly award bound) turn in We Need To Talk About Kevin is unbelievable. There are two women here whose remarkable work overcame their less impressive films (Davis and Williams) and two others whose alternatingly icy (Theron) and warm (Binoche) work should be getting more attention. In the end, Dunst's career redefining work in Melancholia just edged out Olsen's breakout.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks, Drive
Benedict Cumberbatch, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Brad Pitt, Tree of Life
Yup - no matter how far I narrowed down these lists, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of either Pitt performance. If there were justice, he'd be on his way to two Oscar nominations this week. Also, that same justice would get Andy Serkis notice for his stunning motion capture work in the blockbuster of the summer, or some attention for Stoll and Cumberbatch, in two quiet but dominating roles. Ultimately, this category was the hardest to decide on, as it features my two favorite performances of the year. As much as I love Drive, I ultimately relinquished the award to Plummer's warm, dedicated work in Beginners.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids
Jessica Chastain, The Help & Take Shelter & Tree of Life
Jennifer Ehle, Contagion
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia
Charlotte Gainsbourg, Melancholia
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan, Shame
Sarah Paulson, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Another impossible category - there's still somehow no room for Amy Ryan's warm work in Win Win. I could have practically filled the category with the ladies of Bridesmaids, and what a fun category that would have been, but I also can't deny the throughly unheralded work of Ehle and Paulson. Carey Mulligan blew me away in Shame, yet we all have to admit this is the year of Chastain, whose three roles I have condensed but nonetheless would give her the win if you chose any single of the three. Is it possible that one woman gave the three best supporting female performances of the year? It might be.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Beginners
Bridesmaids
Certified Copy
Weekend
Win Win
Young Adult
Original screenplay is by far the more stacked of the writing categories this year - I still couldn't include Midnight in Paris, 50/50 or Martha Marcy May Marlene. But the lovable-yet-realistic work of Beginners continues to stand out for me in a year where the comedies seemed to reign strong.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The Skin I Live In
Submarine
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Aaron Sorkin winning writing awards isn't going to get old as long as he continues with such fantastic material. But I still have a warm spot for the the smartly navigated work of Dragon Tattoo and Rise of the Planet of the Apes which both reworked established material in smart, clean ways. The same as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which took a dense plot and made it cleverly navigated and compelling.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Drive
Hanna
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Melancholia
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tree of Life
Tree of Life has had a pretty much unanimous hold on this category and how could it not? Emmanuel Lubezki's astonishing work may not have topped his effort in Children of Men but it remains the single most beautifully captured film of the year, closely followed by Melancholia.
BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist
Hanna
Hugo
Melancholia
Tree of Life
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I could have practically watched Tinker Tailor on mute and still loved the exquisite attention to detail paid to its time appropriate settings. It stands as the best even alongside the blissfully fun works of Hanna and The Artist and the breathtaking work of Melancholia, which dared to emphasize the beauty of the world before blowing it to bits.
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Artist
Drive
Jane Eyre
Midnight in Paris
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Young Adult
There's never enough attention paid to contemporary costuming. Doesn't Charlize Theron just look perfectly dressed for the part in Young Adult? And Drive produced some of the most potentially iconic wardrobes of the year. But ultimately, The Artist effectively took its audience back in time and nailed the costuming along the way.
BEST EDITING
Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin
It won't get its deserved Oscar nomination, but there was no more impressive editing job this year than Martha Marcy May Marlene, which jumped between past, present and dream with an undeniably impressive ease. We Need To Talk About Kevin, which took a similar approach, also created a magnetically impermeable storyline, and the slick navigation of Dragon Tattoo and Drive deserve serious accolades.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hanna
Jane Eyre
The Skin I Live In
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Alberto Iglesias delivered two of the best scores of the year and somehow still didn't win this award. It was close, and the pulsing score of Drive was my favorite for a long time, yet I continuously return to the kinetic energy of Hanna, whose score added to the entrancing weirdness of its brilliant final product.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Arthur Christmas
Rango
This was a weak year for animated features as evidenced by the fact that nothing else felt worthy of an nomination from me. I loved the holiday energy of Arthur Christmas but the excellent weirdness of Rango is the true achievement in animation of the year by far.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
The Arbor
Bill Cunningham New York
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Senna
Tabloid
I openly acknowledge not having had the chance to see enough documentaries this year, but its hard to imagine this list changing even if I hadn't. The Arbor was a stunning achievement that played on the conventions of the form and blew me away, while the captivatingly entertaining works of Senna, Tabloid and Bill Cunningham New York all took me under their spells.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Certified Copy
City of Life and Death
The Double Hour
The Skin I Live In
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Another category I readily admit not having seen enough films for, but I feel no shame in any of my choices here. I'm cheating with the winner, but I needed an excuse to honor the genius of Certified Copy somewhere, and what better place (even if portions of it are in English)?
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Bridesmaids
Contagion
Drive
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Win Win
This category may have had the most potential nominees of any that I thought about. The big and uniformly great casts of Midnight in Paris and Melancholia impressed, while the tight but effective ensemble work of Win Win was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year. Ultimately, the boys of Tinker Tailor were just edged out by the Bridesmaids that deservedly won the hearts of America.
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Tom Cullen, Weekend
Hunter McCracken, Tree of Life
Ezra Miller, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Chris New, Weekend
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Alex Schaffer, Win Win
I excluded Ms. Chastain from this since, although she was clearly the new girl in town, she had technically worked before. Ultimately, while many of the nominees are younger, the subtle work of Tom Cullen made me wonder why we hadn't heard this name before. The same for my choice, Elizabeth Olsen, whose stunning debut remains one of the more underappreciated works of the year.
BEST FIRST FILM
The Arbor
Attack the Block
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Sleeping Beauty
Submarine
Weekend
Although a film like Margin Call could make it in here, these films all feel like the work of more impressive debuts and talents to watch, particularly the quietly realized works of Weekend and Submarine and the exciting Attack the Block. But ultimately, the intensely realized Martha Marcy May Marlene has to be the most impressive of the works, establishing its entire team as ones to watch in the process.
MOST OVERLOOKED FILM
Attack the Block
Contagion
Hanna
Jane Eyre
The Skin I Live In
Win Win
The most subjective of these categories - here are just some of the films who seem to have been weirdly under-appreciated by years end. Particularly Hanna, which wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but had to have been one of the more intriguingly weird and fun times at the cinema one could have this year.
MOST OVERLOOKED MALE PERFORMANCE
Tom Cullen, Weekend
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love & Drive
Ewan McGregor, Beginners
Ezra Miller, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
How is it possible that the best young actor of his generation has given four of his best performances in the past 12 months (including Ides of March and last year's Blue Valentine) and yet has received so little appreciation for it all. I gave him this exact award last year, and he met the It's doubtful he even cares, and his consolation Oscar will be waiting around the corner.
MOST OVERLOOKED FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids
Jennifer Ehle, Contagion
Carey Mulligan, Shame
Hayden Panettiere, Scream 4
Sarah Paulson, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Evan Rachel Wood, The Ides of March
Saoirse Ronan, Hanna
One of these things is certainly not like the other - but hey, Hayden Panettiere stole nearly every scene in Scream 4 and did it all with the greatest ease. The rest have all been overshadowed by co-stars (Byrne and Paulson in particular) or just never gained the traction they deserved (on the list of great Ides performers, Wood is #1, yet four of her male co-stars have found more attention). In the end, Carey Mulligan has her pick of the litter when it comes to roles, but chose two truly unique and affecting films to take her talents to. That alone is worthy of note, nevermind the fact that her performance in Shame was a true game changer for the actress we thought we had pegged out.
There's never enough attention paid to contemporary costuming. Doesn't Charlize Theron just look perfectly dressed for the part in Young Adult? And Drive produced some of the most potentially iconic wardrobes of the year. But ultimately, The Artist effectively took its audience back in time and nailed the costuming along the way.
BEST EDITING
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin
It won't get its deserved Oscar nomination, but there was no more impressive editing job this year than Martha Marcy May Marlene, which jumped between past, present and dream with an undeniably impressive ease. We Need To Talk About Kevin, which took a similar approach, also created a magnetically impermeable storyline, and the slick navigation of Dragon Tattoo and Drive deserve serious accolades.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hanna
Jane Eyre
The Skin I Live In
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Alberto Iglesias delivered two of the best scores of the year and somehow still didn't win this award. It was close, and the pulsing score of Drive was my favorite for a long time, yet I continuously return to the kinetic energy of Hanna, whose score added to the entrancing weirdness of its brilliant final product.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Rango
This was a weak year for animated features as evidenced by the fact that nothing else felt worthy of an nomination from me. I loved the holiday energy of Arthur Christmas but the excellent weirdness of Rango is the true achievement in animation of the year by far.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
Bill Cunningham New York
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Senna
Tabloid
I openly acknowledge not having had the chance to see enough documentaries this year, but its hard to imagine this list changing even if I hadn't. The Arbor was a stunning achievement that played on the conventions of the form and blew me away, while the captivatingly entertaining works of Senna, Tabloid and Bill Cunningham New York all took me under their spells.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
City of Life and Death
The Double Hour
The Skin I Live In
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Another category I readily admit not having seen enough films for, but I feel no shame in any of my choices here. I'm cheating with the winner, but I needed an excuse to honor the genius of Certified Copy somewhere, and what better place (even if portions of it are in English)?
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
Contagion
Drive
Melancholia
Midnight in Paris
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Win Win
This category may have had the most potential nominees of any that I thought about. The big and uniformly great casts of Midnight in Paris and Melancholia impressed, while the tight but effective ensemble work of Win Win was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year. Ultimately, the boys of Tinker Tailor were just edged out by the Bridesmaids that deservedly won the hearts of America.
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Hunter McCracken, Tree of Life
Ezra Miller, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Chris New, Weekend
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Alex Schaffer, Win Win
I excluded Ms. Chastain from this since, although she was clearly the new girl in town, she had technically worked before. Ultimately, while many of the nominees are younger, the subtle work of Tom Cullen made me wonder why we hadn't heard this name before. The same for my choice, Elizabeth Olsen, whose stunning debut remains one of the more underappreciated works of the year.
BEST FIRST FILM
Attack the Block
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Sleeping Beauty
Submarine
Weekend
Although a film like Margin Call could make it in here, these films all feel like the work of more impressive debuts and talents to watch, particularly the quietly realized works of Weekend and Submarine and the exciting Attack the Block. But ultimately, the intensely realized Martha Marcy May Marlene has to be the most impressive of the works, establishing its entire team as ones to watch in the process.
MOST OVERLOOKED FILM
Contagion
Hanna
Jane Eyre
The Skin I Live In
Win Win
The most subjective of these categories - here are just some of the films who seem to have been weirdly under-appreciated by years end. Particularly Hanna, which wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but had to have been one of the more intriguingly weird and fun times at the cinema one could have this year.
MOST OVERLOOKED MALE PERFORMANCE
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love & Drive
Ewan McGregor, Beginners
Ezra Miller, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
How is it possible that the best young actor of his generation has given four of his best performances in the past 12 months (including Ides of March and last year's Blue Valentine) and yet has received so little appreciation for it all. I gave him this exact award last year, and he met the It's doubtful he even cares, and his consolation Oscar will be waiting around the corner.
MOST OVERLOOKED FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Jennifer Ehle, Contagion
Carey Mulligan, Shame
Hayden Panettiere, Scream 4
Sarah Paulson, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Evan Rachel Wood, The Ides of March
Saoirse Ronan, Hanna
One of these things is certainly not like the other - but hey, Hayden Panettiere stole nearly every scene in Scream 4 and did it all with the greatest ease. The rest have all been overshadowed by co-stars (Byrne and Paulson in particular) or just never gained the traction they deserved (on the list of great Ides performers, Wood is #1, yet four of her male co-stars have found more attention). In the end, Carey Mulligan has her pick of the litter when it comes to roles, but chose two truly unique and affecting films to take her talents to. That alone is worthy of note, nevermind the fact that her performance in Shame was a true game changer for the actress we thought we had pegged out.
And that's it. As I wait on Tuesday morning, it's inevitable that I'll be disappointed many of my choices didn't make it in, but I also don't pretend many of these are even in voter's minds. In the end, I may not agree, but I'll probably be happy with the winners (unless something truly disastrous happens). And who cares, this is what I loved and so be it.
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