My Oscar Wish List 2013

I'm not sure if I'll even be able to sleep tonight in anticipation of the real Christmas: Oscar nomination morning! Thankfully they cater to the East Coast with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, announcing the nominees at 8:30 AM tomorrow. (Jeez, I'd hate to have to get up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 on the West Coast.) At least this year we'll be able to gaze upon the face of a Norse god (or Marvel Superhero–same diff) instead of having to endure Seth MacFarlane and (the usually lovely) Emma Stone exchange mildly funny quips (it's too early for comedy, people!). This year's theme for the Oscar was just announced the other day: A Celebration of Movie Heroes. Which would explain the presence of Mr. Hemsworth. (But, why exactly is there an Oscar Ceremony theme anyway? What is this a Junior High Homecoming dance?) Silly themes and muscley blonde men aside, I'm most excited to see what surprise nominees will be announced along sure-things Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Lawrence. With so many great performances vying for a nomination each year, there's always going be people left behind. In honor of those "forgotten" actors, I've selected someone in each category that I would most like to become surprise nominees. Their chances at a nomination aren't the best, but their work deserves to be celebrated.

Best Actor:

Joaquin Phoenix Her

Amid the awards chatter for Best Actor–Will Robert Redford make that fifth spot? Is Leo due for a nomination for his splashy turn in The Wolf of Wall Street? Did you see how much weight McConaughey lost?–people seem to be overlooking one of the best performances from an actor this year. And perhaps it's because his work is usually so intense and begs to be noticed that people seem to be ignoring the quietly moving and heart-achingly sweet turn by Joaquin Phoenix in Spike Jonze's Her. When we first meet Theodore Twombly (Phoenix), a man in near-future Los Angles who makes a living writing "Beautiful Handwritten Letters" for people, he is a man lost and alone (play a melancholy song, he instructs his mobile device) due to his separation from his wife (played by Rooney Mara). Walking home from the office, where everyone is too absorbed in their own personal electronic devices to notice much of anything, he seems to be silently screaming for affection. This man, who is capable of being so intimate with total strangers for his job (finding out lovers' favorite body parts to incorporate into letters), is incapable of intimacy in his real life. It isn't until he meets his new Operating System (Samantha, she quickly names herself) gifted with artificial intelligence, that something is unlocked in Theodore. Samantha delves into him. She senses when something isn't right with him. She asks questions that provoke his mind and heart. With Samantha, he begins to love again–not only her, but the person he is when he's with her. Phoenix, who seems to have cornered the market on oddballs and weirdos (on screen as well as off), brings just enough of his off kilter personality to fit perfectly into this world where a man can convincingly have a relationship with his computer. But the surprising thing about his work in the film is how intimate, likable, and believable he's able to make the relationship feel. (It helps greatly that Samantha is given the warm, breathy voice of Scarlett Johansson.) After last year's frenzied Oscar-nominated performance in The Master, in which Phoenix commanded the screen like a feral animal, the sight of him laughing on a beach and giddily spinning in circles at a fair seems downright revelatory. But beneath the light-heartedness is that tempest of emotions and intelligence we've come to expect from Phoenix. His work as Theodore is just as layered, complicated, and complex as his work in previous films, but, unlike those performances, aren't nearly as joyful to watch unfold.

Best Actress

Greta Gerwig Frances Ha

If everything goes according to everyone's predictions, tomorrow morning we could have a Best Actress category made up entirely of previous winners (if Meryl makes it in) or entirely of previous nominees (if Amy Adams' mesmerizing décolletage gets the fifth spot instead). It just doesn't seem like a new actress will be able to add "Best Actress Oscar nominee" to her résumé this year. And if anyone deserved to do it, it should be Greta Gerwig, an actress who not only created one of the most interesting and lived-in characters of the year in one of the year's best films, but was also responsible for her creation as co-writer of Frances Ha. Along with director and fellow writer (and real-life lovah), Noah Baumbach, Gerwig presents a portrait of girl during that awkward phase (called your twenties), when society tells you that you should be a responsible, functioning adult, but you haven't quite found your footing yet. Gerwig plays Frances, a modern dancer (okay, so, maybe not in a company or anything, but she is an apprentice) in New York City living with her best friend, Sophie (Sting and Trudie Styler's daughter, Mickey Sumner). But the film isn't so much concerned with plot, as much as it's a character study of Frances as she stumbles her way through the journey of life. Appearing in every scene, the film showcases Gerwig's quirky charm and naturalistic acting. Despite her ditziness and clumsiness (Gerwig somehow manages to even make a scene about finding an ATM hilarious), her Frances never veers off into manic pixie dream girl land. That character type, a male fantasy created as the ideal woman (she's sexy and kooky!), could hardly describe Frances as she's too real and far from anyone's ideal (she's actually "undateable" as one character teasingly calls her). For Frances, romantic love and finding a man don't even really factor in nor does it define who she is as a person. She's an accidental feminist–forging her way for herself. And despite the curveballs and bumps along the way to her self-fulfillment, she remains ever optimistic and hopeful (some might say delusional, but they're just cynics). Awards aren't usually given to performances so effortless, tending to reward technique and histrionics, but Gerwig's performance works so well because despite the heavy lifting of carrying an entire film on her shoulders, she never lets us see her sweat.

Best Supporting Actor

Ryan Gosling The Place Beyond the Pines

Best Supporting Actor always seems to be the hardest category to predict (and also the most all-over-the-place). It seems the only locks are Jared Leto (still can't believe Jordan Catalano is gonna be an Oscar nominee) and Michael Fassbender (it's about time, Academy). So, it surprises me that more outside-of-the-box choices haven't been able to make their way into the running for the three other spots. I know a lot of people take issue with the films over-ambitious three-part story (I agree that each act is less engaging than the previous, but I really appreciated what was created with the story taken as a whole) and it was never really going to factor in at awards time with it's March release date, but the film is still one of my favorites of the year and Ryan Gosling's performance has still stayed with me almost a year later. Having previously worked together on his first film, Blue Valentine, director Derek Cianfrance and star Ryan Gosling create another emotional drama with a showcase of Gosling's charisma and depth. Covered in tattoos (including one on his face. Gosling apparently regretting having done it and asked if they could reshoot without it, but production was too far to go back. Cianfrance told Gosling the film was about living with the choices you've made - good or bad - and Gosling was just going to have to live with this one as well), his hair a bleach blonde, and playing a motorcycle stuntman named Handsome Luke, Gosling is the epitome of cool–recalling James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. And like Dean before him, Gosling is able to mix that hard edge with a tender understanding. Gosling, able to convey much with just a stoic gaze and silence, plays a similar character to his role in Drive, but the reason this performance works better is because there's a humanity behind the stillness. After finding out that he has fathered a son with a girl he left a year ago (Eva Mendes), Luke decides to straighten-up and do right by his son. But the straight and narrow path doesn't suit Luke who starts robbing banks to support his estranged family. After one robbery too many, Luke meets his end and the story is handed off to the cop that got him (Bradley Cooper) and then ultimately to the son Luke left behind, 18 years later. The audience never really gets over the shock of losing the main character so early on and it's a testament to Gosling's performance that the lose weighs so heavily over the rest of the film.

Best Supporting Actress

Scarlett Johansson Don Jon

After already missing out on Oscar nominations in her breakthrough year in 2003 (for Lost in Translation and Girl With a Pearl Earring), it's disappointing to think that 10 years later, with another pair of strong performances (for her voice work in Her and her work in this film), that ScarJo will miss out again on a nomination. (It's also a little hard to believe that a non-actor like Oprah could be on her way to a second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.) And while much is being said about her vocal work as Samantha in Her, including a history-in-the-making campaign to be the first to score an acting nomination for a voice-over performance, her real achievement of the year was as Barbara Sugarman–which excellently combined both her voice and body–in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut. As Gordon-Levitt's object of desire, not much is really asked of Johansson in the film except to look pretty–which she never has been more so, in a trashy/chic, Real Housewives of New Jersey sort of way. Embracing her curves in a series of tight-fitting costumes, she uses her body to tantalize the film's titular character and then ultimately uses it to wield power over him by denying him sex until he enrolls in night classes. Johansson elevates the material by throwing herself completely into the character. With her long nails, hair-extensions, and perfect Jersey accent (all used to fine effect on her first date with Jon, "You're cute. I like you") she fully embodies a character we've come to know through reality shows, but the performance never feels like a parody and comes across as a fully developed character. She's even makes the scene where she goes off on Jon for talking about housecleaning because it's not "sexy" seem credible. For Barbara, there are very specific gender assigned roles and to deviate from them is unacceptable. She also seems to be looking for an unrealistic relationship that could never meet her expectations. A view formed by her love of romantic comedies. Her inflexibility, especially in regards to Jon's porn addiction, ultimately leads to their break-up. The script asks us to look at Barbara as the villain of the film, but with the scene-stealing way Johansson plays her–it's impossible not to be enamored.  

The Place Beyond the Pines

Big movies need big ideas to support them. In the 1956 film Giant (the most apt title ever for such a behemoth film), against the wide-open skies of Texas, big movie stars Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, and Rock Hudson deal with discrimination whether it be about class status or race. Another sprawling James Dean film, East of Eden, deals with the love of fathers and sons in such a grand manner that it becomes almost biblical. (The book the film was based on is, in fact, adapted from the Cain and Abel story.) Derek Cianfrance's new film opening on Friday, The Place Beyond the Pines, another film that deals with the complex relationships of fathers and sons, the consequences of our actions, and the legacy of future generations, calls to mind those films that came before it and deserves to take it's place among those epics. 

The film unfolds in three connecting story lines. The first stars Ryan Gosling as a rebellious motorcycle driver who works in a traveling carnival. After arriving in Schenectady, he find's that the girl he left a year ago (a deglamed, Eva Mendes) has given birth to his son. He quits his job on the road and takes up with a whacked-out auto mechanic (played creepily by Austrailian actor, Ben Mendelsohn) who convinces him that the only way to support his new-found family is to rob banks. 

Gosling, after his stony turn in Drive, is becoming the go-to actor when it comes to mysterious anti-heroes. With his body covered in tattoos, his hair dyed bleach blonde, he becomes the picture of cool. Most of his lines are delivered with a cigarette dangling from his lips as if he can't even be bothered to take it out. Watching the film, I was reminded of Paul Newman or Steve McQueen in the way he embodies such ease and charisma. And like those icons of the screen, he's got the skill to be more than just a movie star. The scene in which he enters a church witnessing his son's baptism is especially moving. 

The action then is passed off to Bradley Cooper playing a young cop. He has to deal with corruption within his unit (including a menacing Ray Liotta) and struggles at home with an inability to look at his newborn son. Cooper, who's better here than he was in his manic, one-note performance in Silver Linings Playbook, convincing plays a man at odds with himself. After years playing Frat boys and mindless comedies, he's quickly establishing himself as an actor to watch. 

We then jump 15 years into the future (or present day, as the previous stories are told in the 90's) when we meet the teenage son of Ryan Gosling's character (Dane DeHaan) and Bradley Cooper's son (Emory Cohen) who form a friendship despite the odds against them. But, the tension between them threatens to unleash secrets from the past.

At 2 and a half hours, the film certainly has a lot to say. And the first time the narration gets passed off, I wondered if the story was in danger of spiraling out of control–Crushing under the weight of too many ideas. After all, why were we suddenly having to invest our time in a completely new character? Wouldn't it have made more sense to go back and forth between the two from the beginning? But, the addition of the third story line gave it cohesion for me. There were also times when the score seemed to overpower the actions on screen. It seemed too grand for what was occurring. After the film is viewed in its entirety, the scope of it made sense. 

You start off believing that it's a small drama about a man trying to gain the love and trust of  his family, but then the camera pulls back to show that's just a small part in the puzzle. Cianfrance is telling a much grander story, that you don't realize the impact of until viewed as a whole. I have a feeling this film is going to polarize audiences who are either going to be onboard with the narrative or those who believe it just doesn't come together. Sure, it may be big and messy. But, isn't that how families are to begin with? And I'd rather have it that way than a film that plays it safe. Those that risk the most have more too gain. Just ask those filmmaker's from Hollywood's Golden Age–the one's with the big ideas.

                                                                    *         *       *

I attended an advanced screening of The Place Beyond the Pines at BAM that was attended by director and writer Derek Cianfrance, co-writer Daries Marder, and the young actors that play the sons in the third act, Dane DeHaan and Emory Cohen. Cianfrance had a lot of stories to tell which I'll share after the jump. Be warned, there be spoilers ahead... 

Marder, DeHaan, Cohen, and Cianfrance hogging the mic

Of a Mouse and a Man

This mock poster from a French artist named Pascal Witaszek has been everywhere the past couple of days. It even lead some people to believe it was an actual movie coming out. Sadly, it is just the dream of  a Frenchman who should go into casting (It's a little hard to read, but the other actors who are apparently in the movie are Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Marion Cotillard, and...Matthew Fox. I'm not really sure who all those people would be playing in the biopic, but that's quite the cast he's assembled). And even though it may not be true, the general consensus is that someone should make it happen.

Ryan Gosling as a young Walt Disney is kinda genius casting. After all, Gosling got his start on the Mickey Mouse Club. And a biopic about Walt's career would be interesting. I happened to catch a documentary about Disney a couple months ago while I was flipping through the stations and ended up watching the entire thing. But, the thing about biopics that don't seem to work is when they try to cram a person's entire life into 2 hours. I like the one's that focus on an important moment in time. This also saves us from the annoying young-actor-in-bad-age-make-up-recapping-their-life narrative that seems to be so popular as well. (Leo in J. Edgar should serve as a lesson to all filmmakers who think that's a good idea). I think this film would work best if it focused on Walt's early career (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and ultimately, Mickey) and ended with the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. After that, Walt was going off in too many directions with different projects and the story would get jumbled. There should be some way to incorporate animated segments as well so it's not just a straight forward biopic. Which means Ron Howard as a director is out. His filmmaking is too humorless and dry. Someone on a website suggested Wes Anderson and I'd like to second that. Hopefully, someone at Disney is taking notice of all the good buzz this fake movie is having and make it a reality.

But, before that happens, it's looking like Oscar-winner Tom Hanks could be taking on the role of Walt Disney. It was reported last month that the company is trying to bring Saving Mr. Banks to the big screen with Hanks as Disney and Meryl Streep as P.L. Travers, the woman who wrote the Mary Poppins books. The script was on last year's Black List (an annual list of the best unproduced scripts) and focuses on Disney's pursuit of acquiring the rights to make the film and Travers' subsequent dislike of the final product. I, for one, hope this movie–with the proposed cast–actually comes to fruition. Mary Poppins is just one of those movies that reminds me of my childhood and a backstage look into the making of it sounds intriguing. Maybe if they move fast enough we can get a double dose of Disney biopics. Two of our finest actors playing an American Icon. When you wish upon a (movie) star, your (biopic) dreams come true...

The Most Stylish Stars

Today is the start of Fashion Week here in New York. And while most of us will never get the chance to sit front row at a runway show, it's just one of the many perks of being a celebrity. (They even get paid to attend!) Mainly because fashion, film, and celebrity are so closely connected. The designers know what the stars wear influence our everyday fashion. When Clark Gable appeared without an undershirt in It Happened One Night, sales of the item plummeted. And when Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire starred in the film wearing just the undershirt by itself, the item found new popularity with a new generation. And the red carpet at the Oscars is a televised runway in which a star can be made. Uma Thurman's lilac Prada at the 1995 ceremony brought a new life to the design house. In 1996, Sharon Stone was the talk of the Oscars. The reason: the Gap turtleneck she wore. Who knew wearing something you could get at the sale rack in the mall could be so chic? Elie Tahari is now a red carpet staple, but it all started because of the designer's burgundy dress that Halle Berry wore when she won Best Actress in 2002.

In honor of Fashion Week, I have compiled a list of who I think are the most stylish actors at the moment. All four have a style that's all their own. It may not make them better actors, (luckily, all four are already pretty good at their day job) but it certainly adds to their persona.

Ryan Gosling

It's hard to make menswear interesting. Try to go classic and it can get boring (oh, another black tux). On the other hand, if you get too creative it can start to look like a costume (Alan Cummings, I'm looking your way). Which, is why it's so amazing that Ryan Gosling is able to pull off what he does. A maroon tuxedo shouldn't work and yet it does on Gosling. Even his casual clothes are interesting. Whether it's a short-sleeved cardigan on the Today show (I've been looking everywhere for one and there's Gosling wearing it like it's no big deal) or a striped tank worn to break up street fights, he always brings a twist to make it unique. 

Rooney Mara

We can thank David Fincher and the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo for the emergence of Rooney's new-found style. This time last year, she was sporting long, brown, wavy hair and dressed in a way that no one would call memorable. What a difference a black bob and some goth inspired couture makes. It all may be a little manufactured, but they are doing a damn good job. At every premiere and event that she's attended in the last few months, she's brought a style that is becoming her own. Her clothes are edgy and modern, but in a way that isn't over the top. And unlike her character in the movie, who's punk look can be off-putting, her red carpet looks may be hard, but they still have a femininity to them. 

Emma Stone

You can actually pinpoint the exact moment that Emma Stone became fashion's new one-to-watch. At the 2011 Golden Globes in a simple peach colored Calvin Klein dress and blonde hair pulled back, she made her presence known. It was so simple, yet elegant. And with two hit movies to promote this past year, she continued to show-off the fashionable star she has become. I love that her hair is back to it's signature red color because it just makes her stand out more. She's not afraid of bright colors or trends, but doesn't get upstaged by them. And she always wears items that are flirty and fun, like her 50's influenced Alexander McQueen dress at this year's SAG awards.

Tilda Swinton

There is no one else quite like Tilda. To put it simply, she is a fashion icon. Who else would wear what looked like a garbage bag to accept their Best Supporting Actress Oscar and make it look high fashion? She has a taste for the avant-garde, favoring unconventional designs that challenge our view of how an actress should dress. Her look has even inspired an entire runway collection by Viktor & Rolf in which all the models were made up to look like the actress. Recently she's been doing a David Bowie-inspired androgyny thing that is executed effortlessly in a way only she could pull off. 

Alternate Oscar Ballot

As much as I love the Oscars, wouldn't it be exciting to see them give out awards to the categories that really matter. Like, Best Kiss or Best Action Scene. What's that you say? Those are categories at the MTV Movie Awards? Well, maybe they're on to something...Behold the Alternate Nominees of 2011:

Worst Performance By a Previous Oscar Winner 

Nicolas Cage Trespass, Drive Angry, Season of the Witch

Jodie Foster The Beaver

Tom Hanks Larry Crowne

Nicole Kidman Just Go With It, Trespass

Natalie Portman No Strings Attached, Your Highness

Best Jessica Chastain Performance

Jessica Chastain Coriolanus

Jessica Chastain The Debt

Jessica Chastain The Help

Jessica Chastain Take Shelter

Jessica Chastain The Tree of Life

Hottest Actor: Male

Michael Fassbender Jane Eyre, X-Men:First Class, Shame

Chris Hemsworth Thor

Ryan Gosling Crazy, Stupid, Love; Drive

Chris Evans Captain America: The First Avenger

Glenn Close Albert Nobbs

Hottest Actor: Female

Mila Kunis Friends With Benefits

Rachel McAdams Midnight in Paris

Michelle Williams My Week With Marilyn

January Jones X Men:First Class

Meryl Streep The Iron Lady

Most Stylish

The Gods in Immortals

The Driver's satin bomber jackets in Drive

Lisbeth Salander's punk looks in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (It even inspired an H&M line)

Emma Frost's all white 60's ensembles in X-Men:First Class

J.Edgar Hoover in his mother's dress and pearls in J.Edgar

Best Performance by a Non-Human, Best Scene Stealers, and more after the jump

Video Links: Hobbits, Actresses, and Drunk Santa

~Damn internets. We just got the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises yesterday and today brought the trailer for Peter Jackson's next chapter in The Lord of the Rings franchise- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Which is the first of two planned movies. Cause that seems necessary. I do enjoy the Trilogy. In fact, every year at Christmas time, my family watches the extended version of all three films in one day. 10 plus hours of Orcs, Enya/Annie Lennox easy listening, and Liv Tyler's British accent. I don't think anyone has made it through all three without a nap here or there. But watching the trailer, released 10 years almost to the day that Fellowship of the Ring was released in the theatre, I wasn't getting excited. Instead I had this feeling of déjà vu. It has the exact same look and feel as the other films. It seems a little pointless. Maybe something fresh could have been created if Guillermo Del Toro had directed it as intended. Oh, well. It'll make tons of money and I guess that's the real reason it was made...

~Oscar hopeful, Carey Mulligan, is on the cover of 'W' Magazine. Their website also has a great video thats part of Lynn Hirschberg's Screen Test series in which Carey talks about Shame and how she got the part. She's so cute. I love seeing her all dolled up. I saw her this summer when she was getting out of a show she was doing Off-Broadway and let's just say she dresses like a serious actor-complete with clogs and page boy hat.

~Speaking of serious actors, Meryl Streep was on 60 Minutes this past Sunday. It seems like she's everywhere lately. She likes to pretend that winning a third Oscar isn't that important to her, but you just know it is. But is The Iron Lady gonna hold up next to her wins for Sophie's Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer? Although Margaret Thatcher holds a little more heft that Julia Childs. So, maybe this could be the year...

~Did you see any movies this past year? If you did, chances are Jessica Chastain was in it. The Juilliard grad appeared in five films this year (The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Take Shelter, and Coriolanus.) She just received SAG and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress for The Help and an Oscar nom for that film seems inevitable. But, Fox Searchlights, the studio behind The Tree of Life, thinks she should be nominated for her work in their film. And no For Your Consideration print ad in the trade papers will do-how Miramax 90's. They have put together a video campaign that is much classier than it sounds.

~And finally, in honor of the holidays, Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carrey as Santa in Funny or Die's Drunk History: Twas the Night Before Christmas.