Dream Oscar Ballot 2011

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.

The Best Films of 2011.

If you looked at the list of presumed Oscar nominees, you might have no idea what a fairly great year of film it happened to be. With their need to embrace the mediocre (The Help, War Horse) and sometimes plain bad (Albert Nobbs, J. Edgar) this year's best films will likely go unnoticed by the Academy and other awards bodies. Yet 2011 carried a number of gems, some you have surely heard of, others perhaps not, but all worthy of your attention.

This year was so good, in fact, that I don't even feel compelled to write about the worst the year had to offer. Mostly because I avoid that which seems obviously bad (no Jack & Jill reviews for me) but also because it's hardly worth talking about a piece of dreck like Green Lantern when focusing on the films that made this year so memorable seems far more important. I will have more to say when I write up my personal Oscar ballot as this year, more than any other, featured a number of great performers and technical achievements in less satisfying works. But for now, let's celebrate that which makes going to the movies my continued favorite past time, and the people who make that possible.

Over the year that was, I managed to see about 90 films and wrote about a great deal of them (not most, of course). Looking back on it, I had neglected to realize how difficult it would be to narrow that list down to my very favorite. 10 features made my final list, with a few honorable mentions, and a number of others that merit a note among this year's best. Before you is a mix of mainstream and independent, homemade and foreign, silent and talkie (okay, perhaps only one silent), but all films that stuck with me over the year that was 2011. Let me know if you agree, or just as intriguingly, if you don't.

2011 Emmy Award Picks.

Since my most anticipated movies of the summer seem determined to avoid playing around me at all costs, it's been a slow summer movie-wise for me. I've needed a good distraction during the calm before the storm that is Harry Potter and while I wait to finally see Tree of Life. With there being so much quality TV on right now, I've managed to watch enough to last a lifetime. And with the Emmy nominations coming out this week, I'm putting out my picks for who my favorites in the TV world are.

My Dream 2010 Oscar Ballot.

In addition to laying out my favorite films of the year, I also enjoy filling out my own imaginary Oscar ballot to help deal with the inevitable disappointment that comes Oscar morning when great films and performances are snubbed in favor of industry favorites.  This year, however, a great number of my own picks will most likely hear their names called on nomination morning.  However, the Academy never gets it completely right, especially not by my own standards.

Below are my picks in many of the major Academy Award categories.  I keep away from very specific categories where i'm not qualified to make picks (sound, makeup, etc.) although I still make attempts at some other technical categories where I like to think my picks are appropriate, even though i'm no professional.  Each of my categories typically uses 6 nominees, as i've always felt that the Academy would benefit from an extra nomination as the Emmys recently introduced, but some categories still stick at 5.  I also add in my own personal categories that I think the academy should have, and some of my own superlatives for the films of the year.

My winner in each category is bolded, and for my own amusement, the runner-up is italicized. Enjoy.

The Best Films of 2010.

 

Although the year is now almost a month behind us, the film world's staggered schedule has prevented me from seeing all of 2010's major releases until now.  And I still haven't.  Only one film from my "most anticipated" list has still alluded me (the animated feature The Illusionist) and there are still some films garnering awards that haven't been released yet (the foreign language Biutiful).  Not to mention some major foreign language and documentary releases that never came my way and still aren't available to view in any medium.  But still, with all of that given, it's safe to say I got through a great deal of films over the past year.

As for my picks of the year, I tried my best to include a little bit of everything: both mainstream and indie, box office successes and failures, from all kinds of genres, etc.  But ultimately, it comes down to two criteria: what films were (in my opinion) the best executed of the year and, of course, which were my personal favorites.  Those that managed to fit under both categories came out on top and although tastes always change, this list looks pretty fitting for now.  Below, I have 10 runners-up listed alphabetically (all of which just missed out, but still rank high in my mind) and then my ranked list from 10 to 1.  Enjoy.

2010 Primetime Emmy Award Picks.

Since there's nothing much on the movie front to write about, i've decided to delve into one of my own personal guilty pleasures: award shows.  The Primetime Emmy Awards are this Sunday at 8pm and this is the first year that I can say i've seen a good majority of the nominees, so i've decided to write about my picks in the top categories for the upcoming ceremony.  These picks are my own opinions, not who I think will win, and will probably not coincide with the inevitable winners.  But I can dream, can't I?

And so it begins.

Considering I currently use my Facebook to profess my opinion about every movie I see, I figured I should pursue some kind of outlet that makes that easier. I also figure I better start jotting down all of my thoughts on movies so I can come back later on and reflect. I hope this goes as successfully as I want it to and maybe gets a few hits out of it.

Let's see.