Next Years Oscar Nominees

So with Eddie Murphy announced as host and Brett Ratner is the producer of the event what of the films that will be competing for the big prize come next year? Although it is only September I've decided to give my initial thoughts on what the Best Picture Nominees will be although I may revise it come December. I'm going on the presumption that there will be ten nominees however there are rumblings that there will be between five and ten which will just confuse the bejsus out of everyone. Without further ado here we go...

The Artist

Michel Hazanvicus' almost silent movie has been gaining awards buzz ever since lead actor Jean Dujardin won the Best Actor award in Cannes. It is certainly different and will appeal to the older members of the Academy who like a film that hark back to the silent movie days in Hollywood. I can see the main reason preventing the film's rise will be its lack of star power and its lack of a relevant theme. However the plus points count out the negative ones and I reckon this will definitely get a spot in the final nomination list.


The Descendants 

Alexander Payne has recently specialised in comedy drama films about sad looking men going on life defining journeys and both About Schmidt and Sidways have been nominated and won Oscars. Couple this with the fact that Academy favourite George Clooney is once again a favourite to feature in the Best Actor category. The only problem I have with the film featuring here is that there are several indie life affirming films coming out around the same time and this spot could easily be taken by We Bought a Zoo or Young Adult however the odds seem to be in the favour of Payne's film, at least for now.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 

Stephen Daldry, Tom Hanks, 9/11 and an acclaimed source material should definitely add up to Oscar gold. Daldry's last two features - The Hours and The Reader have both been nominated for Best Picture and Hanks has had five Oscar nominations and two wins. Then there's the story of a young boy searching for the lock that fits the key that his father, who died in 9/11, left to him. In fact this may be a little too saccahrine for the Academy's taste but it definitely seems to me that this one appeals to the patriotic academy voters.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 

Blockbusters don't tend to fare well at the Oscars especially if they're part of a franchise. However occasionally an Inception or a Lord of the Rings slips through the net and goes on to get a nomination. It is no secret that the Warner Bros. team are mounting a campaign to get the final film in the Potter series to be recognised at the Oscars presumably as a way of honouring the Potter films as one. The obvious disadvantages are that this isn't a 'serious' film and more than that it is seen as a film aimed predominantdly at children. For me it just depends how strong the campaign is and more importantly how many films will be in the running for Best Picture this year.

The Ides of March 

George Clooney's fourth film as director is picking up as much buzz as his second, Good Night and Good Luck, a film for which he recieved a Best Director and Best Picture nomination. With a cast featuring the red-hot Ryan Gosling and dependable supporting men Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti this looks set to be one of the major favourites for the Best Picture category. Clooney is an expert at politicking and if one of his films gets in this year I think it will be The Ides of The Descendants however the main problem here could be the split of votes between this and another predominantly male drama on the list. 

The Iron Lady 

Harvey Weinstein strikes again. The man behind some of the bigges Oscar campaigns of the last fifteen years has bought the US distrbution rights to this Margaret Thatcher biopic. This sees the second teaming up star Meryl Streep and director Phyllida Law after their frivolity in Mamma Mia this is much more of a serious subject. What worries me here is that the yanks love a monarch but do they love a prime minister and one that wasn't particularly likeable. I'm sure Weinstein will weave his magic once more and Meryl will definitely be in that Best Actress pool but then there's no surprise there. 

J. Edgar 

Of the two biopics jostling for Oscar contention, Eastwood's film about former law enforcement chief J. Edgar Hoover may just have the edge over Meryl and Thatcher. The main reason for this is the film is said to have a stunning lead performance by Leonardo DiCaprio which could finally bag him the Best Actor Oscar. Although it is true that one biopic may cancel out the other and neither will feature in this year's list it is much more likely that Clint might pick up a third Oscar for a film that he has directed.

Midnight in Paris 

Like with Harry Potter, the people behind Woody Allen's latest film are really pushing for this to be his first film nominated for Best Picture since Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986. To its credit Midnight in Paris is a perfectly made and is full of while questioning the love of nostalgia. While other Allen films have netted awards and nominations for its stars such as Dianne West, Mira Sorvino and Penelope Cruz, Midnight in Paris is much more of an ensemble piece. However at the same time will the Academy see Allen as past it now? I'm not sure how big the push will be for the award but with no real life issues to tackle or major names attached to it I fear that Midnight in Paris may just miss out on a nod.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of the classic cold war thriller has gained critical accolades and also might be the dark horse entry this year with the academy favouring old school stories like this. Gary Oldman's performance has been earmarked for an Oscar nod also and the fine supporting cast and Alfredson's superb direction also may be up for a few statuettes. However the film's main obstacle might be the split in votes between it and The Ides of March which both feature a majorly male cast talking a lot in rooms.

War Horse

War? What is it good for? Well for Steven Spielberg it usually means a Best Director Oscar having previously picked up them for Schindler's List and Saving Privae Ryan. It might also be good for seeing one of his films get in the nominated shortlisted for the first time since Munich in 2005. War Horse combines a popular story, with a  World War I Setting, a cute kid and an even cuter animal and some fine supporting players. Like with Harry Potter this could fine academy snobbery laundered upon it but I feel that Spielberg's film might just clinch it at the ceremony.

However I could be wrong and may well post an updated list at the beginning of next year along with some of the possible acting contenders.


I'm taking a bit of a break from the film blog at the moment but will be back at the end of the year with my Top 25 of 2011.

Review: Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part One (Mild Spoilers)

The biggest story about the first half of the final film of the Harry Potter franchise thusfar is the fact that it was originally going to be retro-fitted into 3D but Warner Bros. felt they didn't have the time to do the 3D job justice so we have to watch the film in glorious 2D. While watching the film I couldn't help but think if 3D would've enhanced it at all and apart from a scene involving the magic world's Axis of Evil early on, everything else was fairly subdued. Without giving anything away the primary plot of Harry Potter sees the titular bespectacled hero teaming up with bessie mates Ron and Hermoine to try and destory all the remaining Horcruxes that are giving the mega-evil Lord Voldemort all his power. This means that the trio are bunking off and not re-entering Hogwarts to complete their final year instead going on what is basically a magic-enhanced road movie through Shafestbury Avenue, The Forest of Dean and various other external venues. While on the road the main relationship between the three is explored as is the mysteries revolving around the Horcruxes and some more of Harry finding out just how essential he is to restoring the wizzarding world.

After reading a couple of reviews I was going in expecting to be utterly bored by parts of the film. However once Harry and pals had left to go on the round I was fully emerged in the world and the pitfalls along the way. My favourite scenes had to be the afformentioned ones that take place outside as the external locations add to Harry's woes thanks to the natural elements inflicting themselves on him and his friends. Although they are going through a lot of plot for me I thought story-wise the film was at its best when exploring the relationship between the three central characters as we've seen them grow up and now they are fully-fledged adults. The sixth film dealt too much with all the teeny relationship stuff however the sensitive portrayal of the Ron and Hermoine love-story is great as the friendship between Harry and Hermoine the former through a scene in which Hermoine tries to teach Ron how to play piano and the latter in which Hermoine and Harry dance together in order to cheer themselves up. There is also a nice scene in a graveyard during Christmas Eve when Harry sees his parents' gravestones for the first time. In terms of the three actors - Daniel Radcliffe seems to have matured as an actor although he does still seem to be delivering some of his lines like he was in a Shakespeare adaptation while Emma Watson has toned Hermoine down and delivers, by Harry Potter standards, a fairly subtle performance. But it is Rupert Grint, as Ron, who has grown the most, once known for pulling a face and going 'bloody 'ell Harry' he is now portraying a young man unlucky and love and jealous of his friend but learning to control these insticts.

For the fans of the big magical sequences there aren't many save one in the Ministry of Magic and the other in the Malfoy house. However the special effects have been used in other ways, there is a particularly nice sequence in which Hermoine narrates the Story of the Three Brothers which is accompanied by stark animations of the tale. The film does retain most of the humour that we've come to love from the franchise, but the laughs don't seem as forced this time and are mostly natural. One thing that I really noticed this time as well was JoAlexandre Desplat's score which, due to the tone, was a lot more haunting than it has been in previous Potter films. The obviuos flaw is that the story has been split into two parts which means that a lot of much-loved characters don't really get a chance to do anything. There's hardly any Alan Rickman, no Maggie Smith and only a little bit of Robbie Coltraine. There's also a lot of bits of 'popping up' from characters from previous films most notably Imelda Staunton's Dolores Umbridge, this is by no fault of the film as it is intergral for the story but I just felt it interrupted the pace of the film. However there are two small performances from actors new to the franchise Rhys Ifans gives a typically barmy turn as Luna's father Xenophilipous Lovegood while Peter Mullan is truly terrifying as the villainous Yaxley. The story does stop halfway but I think it is done in a way that Part One can stand on its feet as a sepearte film.

Overall this is a film that is starkly different than all the other Harry Potter films thusfar. There is no Hogwarts and not as much action as there has been previously. For me I thought that made a completely different and compelling tale but I know some will find that boring. I guess you'll just have to go and see it for yourself.