I've seen most of the films up for Best Picture this year (the exceptions are The Artist and War Horse) so I thought I'd have a go at tipping the race. If you don't like the Oscars but you're a man of a certain age, you'll still enjoy the clip of Carla Bruni right.
2/5 The Artist: The five thousand crinklies who make up the Motion Picture Academy will feel good about themselves if they vote for a silent movie that has a dog in it.
3:1 The Descendants: Goerge Clooney is popular in Hollywood and Alexander Payne is a serious director. This could be the perfect pairing.
4:1 Hugo: I thought the plot was a bit iffy and the film on the slow side but its got everything an aging Oscar vote will like: Martin Scorsese, Paris, an homage to old films, a curious boy, and another dog. (And there's a blink and you'll miss it cameo of James Joyce and Picasso).
8:1 Midnight In Paris: I thought this was ok. Its essentially a piece of fluff and wouldn't have got a nomination were the director not Woody Allen. Again the Paris setting will appeal and although there's no dog there is a rather fetching Carla Bruni. Picasso appears in this one too.
10:1 War Horse: This seems like sentimental rubbish, but Spielberg made it and they love Spielberg and its got a French and English setting which is somehow considered classy. Many horses and a few dogs.
20:1 The Help: A dull witted heavy handed flick about race and class for the Oprah loving demo. I wouldn't have given this a hope in hell if the Academy hadn't once given Best Picture to Driving Miss Daisy (over Field of Dreams, if I recall correctly). A couple of cameo dogs.
25:1 Moneyball: A solid baseball movie with an excellent Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. I'm only rating this low on the pecking order because I don't think Academy voters will understand it. Also no Paris or dogs or horses.
30:1 The Tree Of Life: I love Terry Malick and his mad mad ways but this one was too silly for me. I think Academy voters will sleep through the preview DVD. There are a couple of cute dinosaurs which are vaguely dog like.
50:1 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: a hipster wankfest that will appeal to no one living outside of Brooklyn Heights.
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28 comments:
Haven't seen most of the films but this is funny.
http://www.theshiznit.co.uk/feature/if-2012s-oscar-nominated-movie-posters-told-the-truth.php
And so is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhewZ5CW35g
I've only seen The Artist, and it's very,very good, but it would be sad if there wasn't a film somewhere out there that wasn't better than it. The best thing about Artist is Jean Dujardin, who was brilliant in a French spy spoof comedy called OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies. It's one of the best comedies I've seen in a few years. Here's my review:
http://www.jettisoncocoon.com/2011/12/film-review-oss-117-cairo-nest-of-spies.html
Funny, but when I read the headline I immediately had this mental imagery of two goons kneecapping Jack Valenti or something.
It seemed like a positive thought, which probably explains why I haven't watched the Oscars in years.
why didn´t they nominate "drive" with ryan gosling. in my opinion this was the best picture in 2011.
Have not seen any them, but cracked up the most on the description of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, so I'll put a dime on that. Still trying to make time to see Tinker Tailer, Soldier,Spy.
Paul
I couldnt get the first one to work but the Spielberg/Father Ted one was hilarious.
Ahh, Father Ted we will not see your like again.
Cary
I've heard about that spy spoof but is sounds terrifyingly like Johnny English or a vehicle for that awful Italian guy who won the Oscar for that awful sounding (I havent seen it) Holocaust film about the clown.
I shall take you word for it that it isnt like either of those.
And eventually I should watch The Artist.
LH
Ahh poor Jack Valenti. His like we shant see again either.
I havent watched the Oscars in a long time either. Whenever I see the clips I alternate between irritation and boredom.
Martin
I liked Drive. One of my favourite films of last year was Meeks Cutoff which didnt get a look in.
Sean
I still havent seen Tinker Tailor either but I think I'm rectifying that this Friday.
yeah. i agree. my voluminous viewing appetite only managed to devour one of these, being moneyball. which i thought was great. well one and a half. i managed to somehow get a freebie to see incredibly loud last week and got incredibly bored incredibly quickly and left incredibly fast to have an incredibly funny convo with three others who had left.
call me a grump but oscars to me seem to single out the 'safest' most accessible films, not those that push the envelope....such as the incredibly harrowing meeks cutoff
Dan
There was no love for Meeks Cutoff anywhere was there? It just sort of vanished. Quentin Tarantino picked it as his worst film of 2011, but his best was Midnight In Paris so that tells you something.
Look I'm not saying I'm a genius or anything or even a Sam 'Ace' Rothstein but I just checked the Paddy Power odds for Best Picture here:
http://www.paddypower.com/bet/hollywood/oscars?ev_oc_grp_ids=10446
And have a look at what these professional oddsmakers said:
The Artist
2/9
The Descendants
9/2
Hugo
12/1
War Horse
14/1
Midnight In Paris
33/1
The Help
33/1
Moneyball
40/1
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close
40/1
The Tree Of Life
50/1
Thankfully, OSS:117 isn't a Johnny English clone. It's spoofing pre-James Bond spy films which were more two-fisted than gadget-happy. It's also taking a run at France's patronizing and arrogant attitudes towards the Arab world.
Cary
I'll check it out then, but I really must see The Artist first.
I only saw Tree of Life this year. I thought the small story of the family was very good, but the larger cosmic setting completely forgettable.
I'm not going to see Tinker Tailor, and I'm thinking about never seeing any movies made from books any more, although I'd guess that's probably impossible.
My latest experience was reading The Pumpkin Eater's Wife by Penelope Mortimer and then seeing the movie. I liked both, but realized that Harold Pinter, who wrote the screenplay, basically extracted a Harold Pinter play from the text.
Seana
He lost the plot with Tree of Life. I mean it was a bold experiment and everything but really he needed to maintain his focus.
It's funny, because the friends I went with all liked it more than I did and two of them watched it again on blue ray or whatever and were not dissuaded of their opinion.
I was forbidden by certain artistically inclined relatives to say anything negative about the Artist when we saw it at Xmas time, but it wasn't all that. The story line was utterly predictable and then I had to sit through the other half. Wow. It's black and white. It's a silent film. I loved the dog.
also, I forwarded your post "Noir as the new punk" to a friend of mine now living in montreal. He's from coventry and was in a punk bank of some repute in the 70s. maybe you and he can have bollocksy conversations or something.
This marks the first year where I have seen absolutely none of the Best Picture nominees.
But I've been sharing your handicaps and comentaries around work and "hipster wankfest" is quickly becoming an overused phrase around here.
Sheiler
Jesus he wasnt in The Specials was he?
Aiken
Hey if anyone loses any money dont blame me.
If I could rec one film off the list I'd go for Moneyball. Even if youre not interested in baseball I think you'll find it engaging.
no - neil o'connor was in the flys. maybe he's lurking here now......
They've all got one thing in common. No phones; no computers. Writers just dont seem able to get to grips with the fact that these things are part of the fabric of life now.
Sincerely
Damn it! Just found out Carla Bruni is married to Nicolas Sarcosi. Do you think I still have a chance? It makes me laugh how cool foreign diplomats are compared to the jibbering bafoons we have for MPs. Can you imagine Boris Johnson trying to pull Carla Bruni? lol. I can hear her now, "oo es zis silly little tit?"
Apropos of the movie critiques here, I saw In Bruges after reading your recommended movie list.
It was definitely noir and awfully bloody, but who knew I'd like Colin Farrell so much and the relationship between him and the other hitman.
I only saw Midnight in Paris on the Oscar nominees' list, and that was okay, nothing to write home about. I knew Corey Stoll, who played Hemingway, when he was a kid and I'm thrilled to see him doing so well. But Annie Hall it wasn't nor Broadway Danny Rose or even Hannah and Her Sisters -- the Woody Allen segments.
The girl looks like Taylor Swift.
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