1. The Master
2. Amour
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. Django Unchained
5. Lincoln
6. Compliance
7. Holy Motors
8. Moonrise Kingdom
9. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Why? I’ve already
gone over the why in my top 10 list (sadly, the Academy only nominated 9, so
Skyfall missed the cut). What I will says is I think this one of the most
ecceletic Best Picture lists I have ever had – from well establiashed masters
to newcomers, to three films from Europe, and the rest looking at many facets
of life in America from past to present. A fascinating list, to me (of course).
Director
1. Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master2. Michael Haneke, Amour
3. Katheryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
4. Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
5. Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Why? A nearly
impossibly strong lineup this year with five masters doing completely different
work – from Anderson going further down the Kubrick rabbit hole to Haneke’s icy
distance, to Tarantino’s exuberance, to Bigelow’s ambiguity to Spielberg’s
intimacy, this is a strong, strong lineup – and had a lot of competitors to
boot.
Best Actor
1.
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master2. Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
3. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
4. Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
5. Denzel Washington, Flight
Why? This is the
strongest this category has been in years. You could make a case for any of the
top 4 deserving to win, and there are four other performances that I would have
been satisfied with taking the fifth spot. Still, Phoenix towers over the rest
of them for me.
Best Actress
1.
Jessica
Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty2. Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
3. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
4. Michelle Williams, Take This Waltz
5. Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Why? Jessica
Chastain’s work in Zero Dark Thirty is tough as nails, humane, relatable and at
times even funny – but above all is a wonderful portrait of obsession.
Emmanuelle Riva is heartbreaking as the stroke victim in Amour. Jennifer
Lawrence really elevates the entirety of Silver Linings Playbook with her hilarious
performance. Michelle Williams once again shows why she is the most sympathetic
actress of her generation. And young Quvenzhane Wallis delivered one of the
strongest child performances I have ever seen.
Best Supporting Actor
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master2. Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
3. Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained
4. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
5. Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty
Why? Philip Seymour
Hoffman’s brilliant, controlled performance makes Lancaster Dodd into one of
the year’s most fascinating characters – and a necessary flip side to Freddie.
The Django pair (not to menion DiCaprio) were brilliant in different ways –
Waltz as the mentor with a way with words, and Jackson with his cold icy stare,
and his over-the-top laugh. Tommy Lee Jones added some much needed humor to
Lincoln – and also a heart. And Jason Clarke is the most terrifyingly real
portrait of an American agent torturing that you will likely see.
Supporting Actor
1.
Ann Dowd, Compliance2. Amy Adams, The Master
3. Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
4. Judi Dench, Skyfall
5. Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Why? Not a strong
category this year, but I still love all five of these performances. Ann Dowd
was the best – she did so much with little movement, and created one of the
most fascinating characters of the year.Anne Hathawat is here for her
showstopping I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables – one of the great moments
of the year. Amy Adams elevated her quiet role, Judi Dench adde depth to a
character that never had much before, and Kidman makes a ridiculous,
over-the-top Southern Gothic, exploitation flick into something to behold with
her brilliant, off-kilter performance.
Best Original Screenplay
1. The Master – Paul Thomas Anderson2. Django Unchained – Quentin Tarantino
3. Zero Dark Thirty – Mark Boal
4. Amour – Michael Haneke
5. Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Why? The Master was
the year’s most fascinating enigma, and it started here. Django was the most
quotable film of the year. Zero Dark Thirty the most intricately constructed.
Amour the most heartbreakingly simple. And Moonrise Kingdom the most absurd. An
insanely good year for this category that easily could have several other
nominees.
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Lincoln – Tony Kushner2. Bernie – Richard Linklater & Skip Hollingsworth
3. Killer Joe – Tracy Letts
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
5. Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
Why? Not a strong category year for adaptations this year, but these five deserve love. Tony Kushner’s screenplay towers over the rest of them – such a large, complex script with so many moving parts. Bernie took a small article and made it one of the most fascinating crime movies of the year. Letts adapted his own play for Killer Joe – and the transition is seamless. Chbosky adapted his own book, and did so wonderfully. And finally David O. Russell’s screenplay is much better, wittier, funnier and faster paced than the novel.
Best Documentary
1.
Stories We Tell2. This is Not a Film
3. Searching for Sugar Man
4. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
5. Side by Side
Why? The two top
films were extremely personal docs – made by the filmmakers about their own
lives did an amazing job of it. Searching For Sugar Man was the most inspiring
documentary of the year. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry was a great movie about an
artist. And Siide by Side was the most fascinating look at the film to digital
transformation you could ask for.
Best Animated Film
1.
Frankenweenie2. Brave
3. Wreck it Ralph
4. ParaNorman
5. It’s Such a Beautiful Day
Why? While none of
these films came close to my top 10 list this year, all five are excellent – in
fact, you could easily make a case for any of them being the best. Perhaps it
was the use of black and white that put Frankenweenie over the top for me.
Brave may not be Pixar’s best film, but it is a superb technical achievement.
Wreck-It Ralph was the most fun I had at an animated film this year. ParaNorman
took archetypes and made them something more – and had a wonderful look. And
It’s Such a Beautiful Day is a hand made film with passion.
Best Foreign
Language Film
1. Amour - Austria2. Holy Motors - France
3. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - Turkey
4. The Kid with the Bike - Belgium
5. Barbara - Germany
Why? A very strong
year for films outside of North America. Amour towers over them all, but Holy
Motors and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia were masterpieces as well. The Dardenne
brothers The Kid with a Bike may not reach the heights of The Son or L’Enfant,
but is still deserving of this award. And Barbara took elements of the thriller
and the melodrama and made it seem real.
Best Cinematography
1. The Master - Mihai Malaimare Jr.2. Skyfall – Roger Deakins
3. Django Unchained – Robert Richardson
4. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - Gökhan Tiryaki
5. Cloud Atlas – Frank Griebe & John Toll
Why? This was a
nearly impossible category for me to get down to five this year. Still, Mihail
Malamare’s brilliant work in 70 MM for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master was my
clear favorite. On the complete opposite end, Roger Deakins makes as good as
case as possible for why the switch to digital doesn’t mean cinematography will
necessarily suffer. Robert Richardson always does great work, as does so again
for Tarantino with Django. Gokhan Tiryaki’s work on Once Upon a Time in
Anatolia is quietly stunning. And finally the duo behind Cloud Atlas does
remarkable work. But there were lots of other choices here – Janusz Kaminski
using natural light brilliantly in Lincoln, Claudio Miranda’s beautiful work on
Life of Pi (the only reason he’s not in the top five is so much of his work is
aided by visual effects, it becomes impossible to tell what he’s responsible
for), Greg Frazier’s gritty work on Zero Dark Thirty, Wally Pfister working in
the light this time on The Dark Knight Rises, Robert Yeoman’s precise work on
Moonrise Kingdom and Masanobu Takayanagi’s wonderful work on The Grey are just
some of the others I considered for my top five. This was not only a great
years for movies – but a great year for great looking movies.
Editing
1. Zero Dark Thirty – William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor2. Cloud Atlas – Alexander Berner & Claus Wehlish
3. The Master – Leslie Jones & Peter McNutty
4. Skyfall – Stuart Baird
5. Holy Motors – Nelly Quettier
Why? The editing in Zero Dark Thirty is impeccable, and builds suspense brilliantly throughout a two and half hour movie. The work by the Cloud Atlas pair is pretty much miraculous. The pair who did The Master helped with the dreamlike feel of the movie. Skyfall had expert action movie cutting. The work on Holy Motors, combining the different “appointments” into a coherent narrative was excellent.
Score
1.
The Master – Jonny Greenwood2. Beasts of the Southern Wild – Dan Rohmer & Benh Zeitlin
3. Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat
4. Cloud Atlas – Reinhold Heil & Tom Tykwer & Johnny Klimek
5. Skyfall – Thomas Newman
Why? Jonny Greenwood’s score for The Master is a brilliant assault on the ears – the best score of the year by far, and further proof as to why he should work in this medium more often. The most memorable score of the year was Dan Rohmer & Benh Zeitlin’s work on Beasts of the Southern Wild, which helped the strange tone of the film. Alexandre Desplat’s brilliant work in Moonrise Kingdom is not eligible for the Oscars because it used exisiting music, but what Desplat does with that music, and his own, was brilliant. The trio who composed the score for Cloud Atlas elevated the movie, underlined the emotions without becoming overbearing. And finally, Thomas Newman brilliantly twists the classic Bond score for Skyfall.
Song
1.
Skyfall
- Skyfall2. Holy Motors – Who We Were
3. Django Unchained – Who Did That To You
4. Django Unchained - Ancora Qui
5. This is 40 – Dull Tool
Why? I cannot think
of a stronger year this for this category – I didn’t even have room for
Suddenly, a song that fits in wonderfully in Les Miserables - or the work of Mumford and Sons from Brave or Karen O from Frankenweenie - normally have a trouble coming up with five, this year I had trouble limiting it to five.. Adele’s Skyfall
theme may just be the best Bond song ever. Holy Motors Who We Were provided one
of the best scenes of the year. John Legend’s Who Did That to You was an
utterly perfect song for Django Unchained and the wonderful Ennio Morricone
composed a brilliant song for Tarantino’s spaghetti Western as well (and for
the record, I could have easily chosen Freedom or 100 Black Coffins from Django
as well). Fiona Apple’s Dull Tool is a terrific song, but could have been used
better in the movie.
Art Direction
1. Moonrise Kingdom2. The Master
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Cloud Atlas
5. Prometheus
Why? No one
obsesses over Art Direction like Wes Anderson – and that is why his films are
often the best and most memorable of the year in this category, and Moonrise
Kingdom is no exception. The art direction in The Master is precise and
perfect. The strange, low budget work on Beasts of the Southern Wild elevates
the entire movie. The work on Cloud Atlas had to cover a lot of time periods –
and does it all brilliantly. The enviroments created for Prometehus may just be
the best thing about the film.
Costume Design
1. Cloud Atlas 2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. The Master
4. Django Unchained
5. Holy Motors
Why? The crew
behind the costumes doe Cloud Altas had to hit a lot of different notes and
time period, and is clearly the best of the year. Moonrise Kingdom had such
precise, memorable work – from bird costumes, to scout uniforms to whatever the
hell Tilda Swinton was wearing, and makes it all seem real. The Master
perfectly captures the costumes of the period. Django Unchained uses costume
design as a kind of character development. And finally Holy Motors costumes
were pivotal to the overall success of the film.
Make-Up
1.
Cloud
Atlas2. Holy Motors
3. Lincoln
Why? Was there a
harder working makeup team than that of Cloud Atlas, who had to makeup actors
to look completely different from period to period – I think not. Holy Motors
does brilliant work transforming Denis Levant a dozen times. The work on
Lincoln helped to capture the time period brilliantly.
Sound Mixing
1. The Master2. Les Miserables
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. Django Unchained
5. Skyfall
Why?
The
Master had one of the most complex, intricate sound designs of the year for
those who didn’t notice (seemingly everyone). Whether you loved or hated
Hooper’s choice to capture the singing live, it took immense skill from the
sound people to get it to work at all. Zero Dark Thirty uses sound in
surprising ways. Django Unchained mixed music and bullets to great effect. And
finally Skyfall had tons of great work – like we expect from an action film.
Sound Effects Editing
1. Django Unchained2. Prometheus
3. Zero Dark Thirty
4. Skyfall
5. The Dark Knight Rises
Why? Tarantino’s
films always sound great, and he always adds in those odd touches that make a
film like Django the easy choice here. Say what you want about it, but
Prometheus’s sound work was impeccable. Zero Dark Thirty uses sound –
especially in that final sequence – brilliantly. Skyfall was the best pure
action movie of the year – and the sound effects helped. And finally, The Dark
Knight Rises has a lot of great work here.
Visual Effects
1. Life of Pi2. Prometheus
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
4. Cloud Atlas
5. The Avengers
Why? The work on
Life of Pi is seamless and brilliant – and helps to overcome the films
narrative problems by always giving you something to marvel at. The work on
Prometehus was typically excellent work from Ridley Scott’s team. The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey didn’t simply rest on their Lord of the Rings laurels,
but pushed forward. The work on Cloud Atlas – particularly in future Korea –
was the type of brilliant work we expect from the Wachowskis. And finally, The
Avengers did excellent work throughout.
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