I’m trying to pinpoint the moment I realized that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was going to be a wildly enjoyable experience. Perhaps it was when Nicolas Cage regains consciousness after getting hit in the stomach with a grenade launcher, only to immediately start hitting on the nurse caring for him. Perhaps it was the animated sequence in which a cartoon Nicolas Cage moons the audience, and an image of Jerry Springer’s face flashes on screen when we’re told the devil walks among us. Perhaps it was as early as Idris Elba, thrown off a cliff, shooting his gun back at his pursuors, in a camera shot that is obviously not done with CGI. Neveldine and Taylor, the creators of the Crank franchise, have a visceral, messy, hilarious, and insane style of filmmaking that suits this franchise far more than the glossy Hollywoodized garbage that was the first installment. They stack the action, they let Cage go bananas, and they create a legitimately fun Ghost Rider film.

An animated sequence reminds us of the origin of Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage), who sold his soul to the Devil (Ciaran Hinds) so his father could live. The father died, and Blaze was possessed by a demon who roams the Earth looking to consume the souls of sinners. He’s hiding out in Eastern Europe to stay as far from civilization as possible. Coincidentally (or is it fate?), a young boy (Fergus Riordan) in Eastern Europe with his mother (Violante Placido) gets hunted down by her ex (Johnny Whitworth). Turns out this is no ordinary boy: as a French religious man named Moreau (Idris Elba) informs Blaze, the Devil intends to use this boy as a vessel to rule over the Earth. Blaze must protect the boy from the Devil, as is customary in these types of films. What ensues is a series of demonic possessions, fiery deaths, and motorcycle chases filmed in the trademark chaotic Neveldine/Taylor visual style.

I’m trying to understand why critics aren’t more excited by what Neveldine/Taylor brings to the table. They hadn’t relied on an abundance of CGI until now– and even in Ghost Rider 2, with the exception of the Rider effects and some supernatural deaths, most of the camera shots aren’t CGI enhanced. Their cavalier camerawork, filmed hanging from buildings, flying off of cliffs, hanging onto speeding motorcycles by roller skates, or simply throwing the camera, provides a unique visual style and genuine excitement (as goofy as Crank is, the fight where Jason Statham is obviously hanging out of a real helicopter over Los Angeles is pretty breathtaking). Their editing is certainly speedy and slapdash, but unlike in Michael Bay or Tony Scott films, there’s still a visceral grit to the work. The first Ghost Rider was awful because it was the shiniest, prettiest, and cleanest film about demons from Hell ever made– it was boring. No one can accuse Ghost Rider 2 of being boring; if anything, people might be put off by how in-your-face the filmmaking is. If you don’t like the Crank films, you will likely have similar feelings here.

The story is standard, the characters aren’t new or original, and the dialogue is at times typical; it’s not like Marvel will trust a property to any renegade off the street and give them carte blanche. It checks most of the cliches of the genre off the list. Placido and Riordan in particular aren’t given much to do– Placido must look attractive and concerned and Riordan must toe the line between cute and evil while avoiding precociousness. Neveldine/Taylor does give the full green light to Elba, Whitworth, and especially Hinds to serve up the ham in heaping doses. Elba chugs wine and drunkenly mumbles a French dialect with great gusto, Whitworth gets to snicker evilly, toss his hair, and spout one-liners, and Hinds bugs his eyes out and does an absolutely uncanny impression of an inebriated Rip Torn. Superhero movies, especially ones going for escapism as the primary objective, don’t succeed without these scenery-chewing character actors, and Neveldine/Taylor, with a script that puts focus on action and humor over nuanceand development, cherish every hamfisted moment. As did I.

Yet the Ghost Rider can’t be the Ghost Rider without Nicolas Cage. I have heaped praise upon Cage and his operatic, balls-to-the-wall style of acting several times on this blog. The first Ghost Rider made several key mistakes, not allowing Cage to have scenes of epic struggle or allowing him to play the role of the Rider. This time around, the Rider has personality, quirk, and darkness. He’s like a hyperactive dog sniffing out souls. Cage, meanwhile, is attempting to keep the Rider inside and failing miserably. This, accompanied with some cool effects, creates one of the greatest Nicolas Cage freakouts in the history of cinema– the line “HE’S SCRAPIN’ AT THE DOOR! HE’S SCRAPIN’ AT THE DOOR!” is guaranteed to be a Youtube hit for years to come. Neveldine/Taylor have an abundance of fun demented moments for Cage to chew into, but it’s never forced or clashing with the tone. The film, much like Johnny Blaze, is a vessel for holding uncontrollable demonic madness, unlike any action film you’re likely to see all year. It’s gritty, it’s a bit slapdash, it’s bonkers, like a PG-13 Crank blown up with a Molotov cocktail– exactly what any Neveldine/Taylor/Cage fan wants.

Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire and Joe Carnahan’s The Grey are typical January studio releases– they are B-grade genre stories, full of low-budget thrills and action. Haywire goes for breezy, old-school, wronged-spy-pursues-revenge fun, yet his script never plays to the strength of his star, Gina Carano. He tosses her into the deep end in her first major role in a feature film, and while her talent is evident, Soderbergh adamantly refuses to exploit it. The Grey is absolutely tailored to Neeson, his old soulful eyes and crow’s feet suggesting worlds of depth, and Carnahan’s desire to break from convention pays off in spades. The Grey is perhaps the best survival film of its kind, while Haywire struggles to gain footing. Both films are quite cold– Haywire’s chilliness comes from being overly methodical, while The Grey’s comes from abandonment in a godless universe.

In Haywire, we follow Mallory Kane (Carano), a black ops agent working for a private firm employed by the government. She’s been tracked down by Aaron (Channing Tatum), a co-worker sent to bring her in. When a young man (Michael Angarano) helps her escape, she tells him her story– when she discovers on a mission posing as the wife of another agent (Michael Fassbender) that the other agent has been employed by her boss (Ewan MacGregor) to kill her, she seeks out her boss, the government agent (Michael Douglas), and his contact (Antonio Banderas) who set her up and betrayed her. Per usual, it’s unclear where the origin of the betrayal lies, but Mallory takes a “scorched earth” policy and has no problem fighting her way to the truth.

The fight scenes– in particular, her big fights with Tatum and Fassbender– are visceral and exciting. There is no question that Carano, a ranked MMA fighter, is incredibly exciting to watch in conflict; she’s a beautiful woman that still remains a believable physical adversary to her male counterparts, a rarity in film. When she kicks, punches, and runs, the audience is captivated. However, there is a *lot* of talking in this film for a movie that should have remained strictly in genre. Soderbergh has proven before that he likes taking non-actresses that fascinates him and throwing them headfirst into the deep end with the godawful The Girlfriend Experience with Sasha Grey, and it seems he’s fallen victim again to his own weakness. The lack of interesting dialogue doesn’t help matters, but the bottom line is Carano is too cold and stiff to believe in acting scenes with the likes of Douglas, Fassbender, MacGregor, etc. Why then insist on forcing your actor to engage in so much dialogue when she’s far more compelling as a silent figure?

Liam Neeson, however, could read the phone book and be interesting. The best moments of his recent action career (Taken, Batman Begins, the Zeus scenes in Clash of the Titans) were during his dialogue– he can pick up a line, chew it up with great Irish gusto, and spit it out full of soul. He’s a strong presence, but his depth is what makes him tough, not his physicality. In The Grey, he plays John Ottway, a man working for an oil company killing the wolves who attempt to attack the workers. He has plans to commit suicide, but he is interrupted by the howl of a wolf. His flight home crashes in the midst of a blizzard, and he and the survivors (among them, Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney) find themselves systematically hunted down by aggressive wolves, constantly assaulted by the forces of nature, and face-to-face with their own deaths, testing their will to live.

The trailers depict the film as “Liam Neeson fights wolves,” and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. That may suit a Jason Statham film or a Van Damme film, but Liam Neeson brings depth automatically to every role, and Joe Carnahan exploits that. From the moment they crash, and Neeson talks to a man who is dying in a cold tone with no consolation or hope of afterlife, you can tell the film is different than it was marketed. When Neeson screams at the heavens at one point, demanding that any god who exists earn faith, it’s a ballsy, ferocious moment, haunted by the memories of Neeson’s tragically-lost wife Natasha Richardson, and destined to be one of my favorite moments of 2012. Grillo provides a spark while Mulroney provides some warmth, giving Neeson’s performance perfect compliments. The film blends this masculine philosophizing with horror jump-scares and slow burn tension, adding up to a fantastic start to 2012. Carnahan gives his star the vehicle perfectly suited to his strengths, and Neeson delivers, carrying The Grey and giving one of his best performances in year. Soderbergh only gives us flashes of Carano’s strength, leaving Haywire only fun in small doses; the rest is as cold as Neeson’s wolf-infested tundra.

Haywire:

The Grey:

Here we are: my Top Tens in the major award categories, including Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. I included my Top 25 for Best Picture. Also, click the movie titles to read my original reviews of these film. Enjoy.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
10. Michael Giacchino, Super 8
9. Hans Zimmer, Rango
8. Roger Neill, Dave Palmer, & Brian Reitzell, Beginners
7. Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
6. Steven Price, Attack the Block
5. Jonny Greenwood, We Need To Talk About Kevin
4. Patrick Doyle, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
3. Howard Shore, Hugo
2. John Williams, War Horse
1. The Chemical Brothers, Hanna

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
10. Andrew Lesnie, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
9. Adam Stone, Take Shelter
8. Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
7. Alwin Kuchler, Hanna
6. Manuel Alberto Claro, Melancholia
5. Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4. Seamus McGarvey, We Need To Talk About Kevin
3. Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
2. Newton Thomas Sigel, Drive
1. Robert Richardson, Hugo

BEST SCREENPLAY:
10. John Logan, Rango
9. Joe Cornish, Attack the Block
8. John Logan, Hugo
7. Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
6. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
5. Lynne Ramsay and Rory Kinnear, We Need To Talk About Kevin
4. Hossein Amini, Drive
3. Jonathan Levine, 50/50
2. Mike Mills, Beginners
1. Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
10. Carey Mulligan, Drive
9. Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
8. Elle Fanning, Super 8
7. Berenice Bejo, The Artist
6. Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
5. Anjelica Huston, 50/50
4. Melanie Laurent, Beginners
3. Sareh Bayat, A Separation
2. Cate Blanchett, Hanna
1. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
10. Kevin Spacey, Margin Call
9. Albert Brooks, Drive
8. Nick Nolte, Warrior
7. Ben Kingsley, Hugo
6. Tom Hollander, Hanna
5. Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
4. Hunter McCracken, The Tree of Life
3. Rob Brydon, The Trip
2. Christopher Plummer, Beginners
1. Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST ACTRESS:
10. Felicity Jones, Like Crazy
9. Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
8. Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
7. Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
6. Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method
5. Saoirse Ronan, Hanna
4. Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
3. Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
2. Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
1. Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

BEST ACTOR:
10. Tom Hardy, Warrior
9. Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
8. George Clooney, The Descendants
7. Joel Edgerton, Warrior
6. Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
5. John Boyega, Attack the Block
4. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
3. Ryan Gosling, Drive
2. Will Ferrell, Everything Must Go
1. Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

BEST DIRECTOR:
10. Steven Spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
9. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
8. Mike Mills, Beginners
7. Gore Verbinski, Rango
6. Joe Wright, Hanna
5. Tomas Alfredson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
4. Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
3. Lynne Ramsay, We Need To Talk About Kevin
2. Martin Scorsese, Hugo
1. Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

BEST FEATURE FILM:
25. Captain America: The First Avenger
24. A Dangerous Method
23. Super 8
22. Tree of Life
21. A Separation
20. Everything Must Go
19. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
18. Melancholia
17. Muppets
16. Midnight in Paris
15. 50/50
14. Attack the Block
13. Warrior
12. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
11. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
10. Certified Copy
9. Rango
8. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
7. Hanna
6. We Need To Talk About Kevin
5. The Trip
4. Beginners
3. Hugo
2. Take Shelter
1. Drive

SPECIAL AWARD:
To Werner Herzog, for releasing two sensational documentaries, Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Into the Abyss, in the same year.

In an attempt to give readers my feelings on films as I plug away on a number of writing assignments, I’ll provide mini-reviews to give my succinct opinion on films and to give me time to finish my other projects.

Warrior:

Sometimes, when it comes to storytelling, reinvention of the wheel is utterly unnecessary. In terms of plot points, Warrior is as predictable and old school as it gets. In terms of execution, I was caught incredibly off guard by how emotionally invested I became in these characters. Gavin O’Connor has created a Rocky for MMA, a crowd-pleaser so effective that it’s mind-boggling that this film wasn’t a bigger hit. Its characters are simple yet memorable, its action hard-hitting, its music inspirational. There’s nothing original about Warrior, except that it dares to be a movie that doesn’t cheaply manipulate your emotions but instead earns the right to tug at your heartstrings through quality execution.

Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) comes home from church to find his youngest son Tommy (Tom Hardy) on his doorstep. Tommy left home with his mom in high school, because Paddy was once a vicious drunk with an affinity for beating his wife. Tommy finds his father sober and born again, which frustrates him. When Tommy begins training to fight MMA (he was an all-star fighter in high school), he asks his dad to train him. Tommy’s older brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton) stayed behind when Tommy left, because he was in love with a local girl, Tess (Jennifer Morrison), whom he married and later had kids with. Now, Brendan has fallen behind on his mortgage, and he finds himself in a situation needing to partake in MMA-style amateur fights to make ends meet. When an international competition is announced with a million-dollar purse, Tommy and Brendan both enter, with Tommy’s haunted past and Brendan’s uncertain future both at stake.

While I won’t spoil it, you probably have a good idea what is going to happen. There will be family strife. There will be training montages. There will be fights miraculously won. There will be overcoming the odds. There will be brotherly conflict. Warrior goes through the motions, but God, I loved those motions. The mortgage crisis mixed with the working-class Pittsburgh setting cloaks the film in economic concerns, giving Warrior an honest timeliness lacking in films that try hard to be timely (I’m looking at you, Tower Heist). The characters are all given moral complexity– they were all faced with tough decisions in life and faced them in different ways, making each character likable and dislikable at various moments in the narrative.

Of course, just like Rocky and all other underdog films, it’s not memorable without charismatic leads, and Warrior serves up a few of the best performances of 2011. Tom Hardy has a Brandoesque vibe as the big inarticulate lug running from himself, Joel Edgerton has just the right amount of charm to be the husband/father/science teacher that everyone is counting out, and Nick Nolte has reached national treasure status with his gravelly bass and sad eyes. Even the smaller performances stand out: Jennifer Morrison and Frank Grillo both elevate the usual doubtful wife and loyal trainer archetypes, respectively. O’Connor takes his time and lets the characters build slowly (the film is two hours and twenty minutes long), so that inevitable confrontations have a surprising amount of extra weight. The marketing deceived me on this film– I thought it looked cliched and dumb. It is somewhat cliched, but it’s far from dumb. It’s one of my favorite movies of the year.

A Dangerous Method:

David Cronenberg has made a movie consisting primarily of people sitting in chambers and talking, yet it’s perhaps the sexiest movie of the year. Led by a sharp script with eroticism bubbling under the surface at all times, and a cast led equally by Fassbender’s restrained turn and Keira Knightley’s notably unrestrained turn, A Dangerous Method presents psychoanalysis and humanity’s sexual urges without melodrama, flashiness, or gimmickry. By ditching the usual toolbox that directors use when making films about sex, Cronenberg succeeds in making his sex film sophisticated.

At the dawn of an age in which Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) has begun using psychoanalysis on patients, a young and ambitious doctor named Carl Jung (Fassbender) hunts for a potential patient to try to treat using this method. He finds an ideal specimen in Sabine (Keira Knightley), a young woman locked in a mental asylum for her manic fits and retching movements. During their sessions, Jung discovers Sabine derives sexual pleasure from pain and embarrassment, and before long, he finds himself more attracted to her than to his wife (Sarah Gadon). He also begins to form his own opinions about psychoanalysis, leading to a series of discussions, first in letter form and then face to face, with Freud about their differences– Freud sees Jung as the heir apparent for psychoanalysis, but Jung sees flaws in Freud’s philosophy.

I can’t speak for the accuracy in the film’s depictions, knowing very little about these figures or their work, but I will say the debates are engaging despite being wordy and philosophical. On occasion, the film jumps forward in time the same way a play does (the film was adapted by Christopher Hampton from his own play, The Talking Cure), which causes for some momentary confusion, but the characters’ evolving stances are kept clear. Unlike in Shame, where he is forced to grimace and spaz out melodramatically, Fassbender gets to give here a subtle and gripping performance about his sexual compulsions, and Mortensen is surprisingly funny as Freud. The real revelation, however, is Knightley, who grabs at her crotch and juts out her jaw in bold fashion for the first half of the film. She appears on the verge of orgasm constantly, and in one terrific scene when Fassbender uses his cane to beat dirt off of her jacket, she’s thrown into sexual convulsions. It sounds hammy, and it may put some off since it’s so big in comparison to Fassbender’s subtlety, but I was captivated– this girl from the Pirates of the Caribbean films can really act. She is raw, sexy, and fearless. The film will be talky to some and perhaps confusing to others, but A Dangerous Method is simple storytelling done right. At bare minimum, you’ll never look at beating dirt off of a jacket the same way again.

The Help:

I was avoiding seeing The Help. The trailer made me uneasy due to the old cliche of the mystical black woman helping the white woman discover something magical about herself. The fact that the original story is written by a white person made me even more uneasy. I avoiding seeing it up until it became an absolute inevitability that it will be nominated for several Oscars and maybe even win a major award or two. After finally seeing The Help, I found it to be utterly harmless albeit a film with nothing real to say. Only the ending of the film manages to be patronizing and of legitimate concern– the rest is a well-acted piece of “racism-is-bad” fluff designed to feature talented actresses in a story that is admittedly refreshingly femalecentric for a studio film.

Aibileen (Viola Davis) is a black maid in the Jim Crow south who specializes in taking care of the children that wealthy young white mothers find themselves too busy to raise. She notes via some thick voiceover that the only white girl different from the rest is Skeeter (Emma Stone, who the costume designers do their damndest to try to make look “plain”). Skeeter is an aspiring journalist, desperate to make it as a serious writer. She finds the idea of writing about black maids desirable, especially when her own maid (Cicely Tyson) was fired by her vicious mom (Allison Janney, who has cornered the market on vicious mom roles). Aibileen is the first to step up and tell her story to Skeeter; soon, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), wronged one too many times by her employer Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard), spills the beans as well. It is destined to become a phenomenon… but how will the local Mississippians take it?

Not much to write about, since the film is militantly middle-of-the-road in every category. Viola Davis is a terrific lead; one just wishes she was given more depth instead of a single Oscar monologue that allowed her to show off her trademark snot. With the exception of Cicely Tyson, who steals the whole film in two scenes, Jessica Chastain is the standout, showing a sense of comic timing we haven’t seen in her other roles. The script plods along from lesson to lesson– I actually was worried after the first twenty minutes, filled with nothing but “all white women are sneering bitches!” and “all black women are sassy schemers!” scenes, that the film would be tedious to watch, but it finds a relatively inoffensive groove. Until the end, that is. Spoiler warning for the two readers who haven’t seen it yet, but Skeeter escapes to New York after her book is a hit, while Aibilene and Minny are left in Jim Crow Mississippi having just exposed all of the white people in town and pissed them off, and Aibilene walks into the sunset as a happy song plays. This begs the question, “Whaaaaaa?” Desperate for a happy ending, The Help takes a quick turn towards patronizing and shallow in its ending moments. Overall, it’s merely a notable acting showcase for its talented cast– no more, no less.

Despite the fact that many of the results of this year’s Academy Awards seem pre-destined, the discrepancy between many Oscar pundits (myself included) and the actual nominations gives me hope for some excitement in the next month. Some of these nominations overjoy me. Others… leave me notably displeased. Here are the nominations, along with the surprises that please me, the surprises that don’t, and the performances and films with realistic nomination chances that ended up snubbed.

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse“ Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Most pundits predicted eight at most, so the number of nominees itself is pretty stunning. Most stunning of all is the inclusion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which many had all but counted out of the race. I have yet to see it, but an interesting bit of trivia: no Best Picture nominee in the history of the Oscars has so low a rating on Rotten Tomatoes (interesting follow-up: the second lowest film was also directed by Stephen Daldry). The inclusion of Tree of Life is somewhat exciting– I think it’s imperfect but it’s certainly bold and creative cinema in a category with many “safe” picks. I’d hoped Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or even Drive would have snuck in here, and Tinker Tailor did have a good amount of support judging by the other categories– just not enough under these new voting rules to make the cut.

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

The inclusion of Malick is nice. Pretty much everything as expected here. Again, an inclusion of either Tomas Alfredson or Nicolas Winding Refn would have been a pleasant surprise, but everything in this category is fairly par for the course.

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Two very pleasant surprises in Gary Oldman and Demian Bichir– I haven’t seen A Better Life, but I’ve been wanting to, and a lesser known actor winning out over bigger names like Leonardo DiCaprio is always nice. Michael Fassbender not collecting a nomination here is a pretty big shock, since he had a hell of a year in three well-received films. I’m happy to see that Leonardo DiCaprio didn’t make it for J. Edgar, and that J. Edgar was snubbed in general, after a long history of the Academy overrating Eastwood’s films.

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Pretty much as expected here, with the only quasi-surprise that Tilda Swinton was snubbed in favor of Glenn Close and Rooney Mara. Tilda Swinton gave in my humble opinion the most daring and engaging female performance of the year, so it upsets me to see We Need To Talk About Kevin snubbed entirely. I’m not surprised or upset by any of the nominated choices, however.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

No Albert Brooks for Drive is both a massive disappointment and a massive surprise. He was considered a front-runner at one point, and now he fails to make the ballot. It reminds me of the Jim Carrey in The Truman Show snub, and the losses of Eddie Murphy and Bill Murray in their respective years– ain’t no love for comics turned serious, I’m afraid. Max Von Sydow is a pretty big surprise, because the film had been counted out, but he was praised as the best part of the film in reviews. (I can’t believe I have to see this movie now… sigh.) Jonah Hill isn’t a total surprise, I was just really hoping to see someone like Patton Oswalt, Ben Kingsley, or Andy Serkis slip in in front of him. On second thought, Jonah Hill is a surprise, considering Albert Brooks isn’t on this ballot.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

I think a lot of pundits had predicted that Shailene Woodley would get the snub here, but I thought since love for The Descendants was high that she would still slip in– not so. Doesn’t really bode well for The Descendants having any chance in the Best Picture race, but there’s a long month ahead. Nothing else here is a surprise. I’m glad to see Melissa McCarthy got in for her comedic performance.

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

I guess Tintin wasn’t considered animated by enough Academy members– kind of a shame. I love the fact that there are five nominees here, and I’m now really excited to try to hunt down the other two films. Rango should win this award. I’m praying and hoping.

Art Direction
“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2“
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

No Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy here is pretty surprising– it would easily make my Top 3 of the year. I didn’t imagine Midnight in Paris would make this list… perhaps it shows how strong support for Woody’s flick is?

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

The lack of nomination here for Tinker Tailor is also pretty baffling. Everything else in this category is as expected.

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

I don’t think anyone expected W.E. to get a single Oscar nomination anywhere, but Academy voters do love a good period piece. Pretty glad to see The Help not on here, since I thought its costumes were fairly hideous.

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

No Project Nim, the new doc by James Marsh, is very surprising to me– it was one of the best received films of the year. I’m seeing Pina tomorrow and hoping to see Paradise Lost 3 and Undefeated in the coming weeks. The major surprises in this category came when the shortlist arrived and there was no Werner Herzog or Errol Morris or Steve James to be found, so this nominee list is what it is.

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione
“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Don’t know anything about either of these. I do love the title God Is The Bigger Elvis though. That’s as deep as my commentary goes here.

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

No surprises here. Sad that deserving films like Drive and Tinker Tailor, and maybe even artfully crafted indies like We Need To Talk About Kevin or Martha Marcy May Marlene don’t get love in this category, but whatever.

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

A Separation will win this. I don’t know enough about the other nominees, but I know a lot of people are passionate about Bullhead and happy to see it nominated today.

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

No Hugo or The Artist here are somewhat surprising. I was kind of hoping one or the other would get nominated to point us towards which was the front-runner going into February. At least there was no J. Edgar here.

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

No Trent Reznor for Dragon Tattoo I know is going to leave a lot of people gobsmacked today, especially considering how hard he was campaigning for the nomination. It’s likely due to the fact that the music is moody and not particularly melodic– not many tunes you can hum from that soundtrack, whereas I’ve been humming War Horse since I saw the film. I’m happy Tinker Tailor and Tintin were both able to sneak in here.

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Only two nominations here is a huge surprise, and while it’s great to see Man Or Muppet on here, I would’ve campaigned for Pictures In My Head, the more emotional and less outwardly goofy song. No song from The Help or Albert Nobbs, both of which feature very typical Oscar ballads, is a huge stunner.

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Don’t know any of these, but I always love finding them online and watching them. I strongly suggest you do the same.

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

No clue about these either. Titles like Time Freak and Tuba Atlantic are enticing.

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

While it’s not surprising to see Transformers here, I was hoping something sophisticated and artfully crafted like Hanna would make it, or even something like Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol or Super 8, over the noisy clutter in Transformers 3. Nice to see Drive get a single nomination somewhere. Sigh.

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Kind of surprising that something animated like Tintin or with a ton of CGI like Super 8 or Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be snubbed here in favor of something like Moneyball, but I’m historically bad at predicting what will be in the sound category.

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

To me, a snub of Captain America, whose effect of shrinking Chris Evans’ body is second only to Caesar The Ape, is inexcusable here. I really liked Real Steel, but let’s get serious here, there is nothing new or exciting about the effects in that film. Pretty baffling. Even if something like Pirates 4 had gotten it over Captain America, at least it’s a typically flashy effects film… I liked Real Steel more than Pirates 4, so I guess I mustn’t grumble.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Nominating Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy over The Help is great news, as it’s both deserved and it indicates that The Help has very little chance of winning Best Picture. The rest of these nominations are as predicted.

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Glad to see Margin Call snuck a nomination into the field– would’ve hoped Kevin Spacey had gotten more shine in the Supporting Actor race (especially over Jonah Hill!). A bit disappointing that very deserving films like Win Win and especially 50/50 got no writing nomination, but it’s not the biggest surprise in the world.

There you have it. The nominations, the surprises, the snubs. Thoughts? Leave comments below!

BEST PICTURE:
The Artist
The Descendants
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Tree of Life
War Horse
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Possible upset: Moneyball, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

BEST DIRECTOR:
Martin Scorsese
Michel Hazanavicius
Alexander Payne
Woody Allen
Terrence Malick
Possible upset: Steven Spielberg

BEST ACTOR:
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Possible upset: Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST ACTRESS:
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Viola Davis, The Help
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin
Possible upset; Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Albert Brooks, Drive
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Ben Kingsley, Hugo
Possible upset: Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Possible upset: Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Midnight in Paris
The Artist
Bridesmaids
50/50
Win Win
Possible upset: A Separation

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Moneyball
The Descendants
Hugo
The Help
The Ides of March
Possible upset: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Tree of Life
Hugo
Tinker Tailor
The Artist
War Horse
Possible upset: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

BEST ART DIRECTION:
Hugo
Tinker Tailor
Anonymous
The Artist
Harry Potter 8
Possible upset: War Horse

BEST SCORE:
The Artist
War Horse
Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Possible upset: Tintin

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Rango
Tintin
Kung Fu Panda 2
Possible upset: Puss in Boots

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Rise of the Apes
Captain America
Hugo
Tree of Life
Harry Potter 8
Possible upset: Transformers 3

BEST EDITING:
Hugo
The Artist
Dragon Tattoo
Descendants
Moneyball
Possible upset: War Horse

BEST SOUND MIXING (note- I’m terrible at predicting sound every year):
Hugo
Mission: Impossible 4
Super 8
War Horse
Hanna
Possible upset: Harry Potter 8

BEST SOUND EDITING:
Hugo
War Horse
Harry Potter 8
Mission: Impossible 4
Tintin
Possible upset: Super 8

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
Tinker Tailor
Possible upset: The Help

BEST MAKEUP:
The Iron Lady
Hugo
The Artist
Possible upset: Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

BEST SONG:
two from The Muppets
The Help song
Albert Nobbs song
“Star Spangled Man” from Captain America
Possible upset: Gnomeo and Juliet song

The Artist is destined to be a victim of high expectations. I’m not referring to audiences who will see it inevitably clean up at the Golden Globes this weekend (and quite possibly the Oscars), but to those enticed by the allure of a return to the silent film era. I’m a big fan of silent film stars like Keaton, Chaplin, and Fairbanks, along with being a big fan of Astaire, Kelly, and Busby Berkeley– this film’s trailer was like cat nip for me. Ultimately, the constant allusions to great films like Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Singin’ In The Rain (among others) serve mostly to inform the audience that this film isn’t great. It’s a charming, fun, but slight pastiche of cinematic history, with great performance, great production design, and a patchwork script.

George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is the biggest film star in Hollywood. He’s a Douglas Fairbanks-esque action hero and ladies’ man extraordinaire. One day on a red carpet he bumps into Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), and her picture ends up on the cover of Variety. Due to coincidence (fate?), she ends up on Valentin’s next movie set and they forge a bond. He insists she get a small role in the film and gives her some career advice. When the studio head (John Goodman) informs Valentin at the end of shooting that silent films are out and sound pictures are in, Valentin finds his star beginning to fall and Miller’s star begins to rise. Valentin is flabbergasted at this new medium and how quickly the world has lost interest– he puts all of his money into a silent film written, directed, produced, and funded by himself. Meanwhile, Miller still holds a candle to Valentin and hopes he succeeds.

The director, Michel Hazanavicius, has composed a really beautiful film. The cinematography, in adjusted silent film ratio, is memorable, as are the costumes, the production design, and the ever-present music– this is a movie that is going to be nominated for nearly every technical category at the Oscars. The Artist is at its best when it’s on set creating its films within the film. The most memorable scene is one in which we see Valentin fall for Miller, doing take after take, always spoiled by Valentin amd Miller smittenly giggling during their brief scene interaction. Other memorable moments– when Valentin dances with an anonymous set of legs, a finale musical number– all use familiar silent film archetypes to highlight the characters’ chemistry and connection. A terrific scene even incorporates sound in a manner so affecting that it audibly startled the audience I saw it with.

While my favorite scenes are unique to this film, Hazanavicius borrows heavily from other movies to make his film a loving patchwork to a bygone era. The plot points are directly from both A Star Is Born and Singin’ In The Rain, and there are blatant homages to Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and more. The problem with these references are that they’re purely diegenic, without direct reference to their origins. The Vertigo music (the source of a recent controversy with actress Kim Novak) is used in a similar circumstance– a person in love trying to rescue their suicidal love interest– but there’s no mention of the existence of Hitchcock or Vertigo in this world. It’s only a reference to those who know Vertigo; to everyone else, it’s original music for this film. The film’s goal seems to be to remind people of the value of this era in cinematic history, yet the actual history doesn’t exist– if The Artist doesn’t persuasively encourage casual filmgoers to seek out silent film, and its references to the era only play to film buffs, then it seems to me that it’s the film equivalent of preaching to the choir. It’s like any kiddie flick that uses the line “Say hello to my little friend!”: the audience laughs without really knowing why.

Even stranger is the fact that this film isn’t *really* in the style of a silent film. It’s a contemporary film in silent film clothing. The ratio is correct, true, and a few editing tricks here and there are accurate homages, but the acting style and comic sensibilities seem more akin to a Gene Kelly film. You won’t see Chaplin, Keaton, or Fairbanks here. You might see them in the amusing films-within-a-film– the movie shows us something closer to silent movie style in the silent movies George Valentin makes, but the rest of the film is unmistakably contemporary. There’s nothing wrong with this– it’s part of the movie’s charm, really– but it makes the movie all the more slight. It’s not committed to being a silent movie, it’s committed to being merely an amusing contemporary homage.

Dujardin and Bejo’s chemistry makes the movie seem more meaningful than it is. Their chemistry sparkles– they both have old-school Hollywood good looks and a vaudevillian sense of comedic timing. Dujardin is destined to cross over and be big in America, as his earnest sensibility and winning smile make him a credible leading man (or, more likely, a villain… or perhaps the leading man’s charismatic European confidant). Even as the movie starts to drag near the end, he keeps the proceedings very watchable. Bejo isn’t given much to do except to be charming and look longingly at Dujardin, but she makes the character of Peppy stretch a long way. The performances and technical achievement in The Artist are definitely praise-worthy, but the movie is ultimately cinematic cotton candy– it tastes great but doesn’t fill you up. Don’t go in expecting a Best Picture, because it’s nowhere to be found; just expect a pleasant charming diversion.

Note: I’m not really pleased with the tone of this review, as it focuses on the negative largely due to outside forces beyond the film’s control. If I’d never heard of this movie nor seen a trailer, I would have been delighted by the diversion and the clever gimmick. It’s sad but inevitable that a deluge of Best Picture buzz makes one compelled to accentuate the film’s shortcomings despite the joys it brings. I can’t talk about how I felt leaving the theater without emphasizing how the lack of euphoria disappointed me, despite still having enjoyed the experience. It’s one of those. See the film for yourself, and if you’re totally out of any and all loops, you may (rightly) find the tone of my 3-kernel review oddly negative.

The Golden Globes are awarded every January by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and it’s considered an important stepping stone in achieving Oscar buzz– win the Golden Globe, increase your chances at taking home an Academy Award. Tonight’s ceremony, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will likely serve as a precursor to some degree for what we will see come February 26th. I have provided within a helpful guide for who will likely win at tonight’s show, and perhaps more importantly, who deserves to win. (I’ll even throw in TV predictions at the end.)

BEST PICTURE (DRAMA):
What should win: Hugo, Scorsese’s most passionate and personal film to date, full of tremendous moments and the best use of 3D a live-action film has seen or is likely to see for some time.
What will win: The Descendants, Alexander Payne’s well-received family drama, which boasts a terrific script, a star at the top of his game, and some laughs sprinkled nicely throughout the heavy subject matter.

BEST PICTURE (COMEDY):
What should win: Either 50/50 or Midnight in Paris, both of which made me laugh the hardest and had plenty of heart.
What will win: The Artist, the front-runner for the Oscar, and outside of Midnight in Paris, the only film likely to score an Oscar nomination in this category. Folks are really taken by this silent film, which is slight in my opinion but charming.

BEST DIRECTOR:
Who should win: Martin Scorsese, by a landslide.
Who will win: While conventional wisdom says Michel Hazanavicius takes home the Globe, I’d be surprised if the Hollywood Foreign Press doesn’t reward Hugo at all, and Best Director is the most logical runner-up prize if it doesn’t surprise people and steal Best Picture. I think Scorsese takes it.

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA):
Who should win: Since Michael Shannon wasn’t nominated, a close race between George Clooney and Brad Pitt for who is most deserving.
Who will win: A close race between George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt might win based on the principle of wanting to reward Moneyball, but since Clooney’s films have been doubly nominated, and the HFPA is in love with him, he edges Pitt out and wins the Globe.

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY):
Who should win: Brendan Gleeson carries The Guard– he is the film, and his performance is terrific.
Who will win: Jean Dujardin has zero chance of losing this award. He is charming with great comedic timing in The Artist.

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA):
Who should win: Tilda Swinton, whose work isn’t acknowledged enough frankly, and who gives one of the bravest performances of the year in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Rooney Mara would be a close second for her equally brave work in Dragon Tattoo.
Who will win: Meryl Streep. People love Meryl Streep, and since she’s so gracious, people love giving her awards every year. There’s an off-chance Viola Davis could play spoiler… but if I was betting, I’d put all my chips on Streep.

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY):
Who should win: Michelle Williams, who captures Marilyn Monroe beautifully and is the most likely Oscar candidate of this group of nominees as a result.
Who will win: Michelle Williams, for reasons stated above.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Who should win: Christopher Plummer, for giving the performance of a lifetime in Beginners.
Who will win: Christopher Plummer. He’s got a long and illustrious career, giving a performance equally funny and sad, and perhaps most importantly, as we saw Thursday night at the Critics Choice awards, he gives one hell of an acceptance speech.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Who should win: Shailene Woodley holds her own against Clooney in The Descendants, giving an outstanding performance for her age. Chastain and Bejo also steal their respective films.
Who will win: Octavia Spencer, who wasn’t personally the stand-out of The Help to me, but who gives a good performance and has a great “character actor getting the role of a lifetime” storyline that makes voters feel good about choosing her.

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Who should win: Woody Allen, for his playful, nostalgic, and romantic script for Midnight in Paris.
Who will win: Woody Allen. The HFPA loves him, and he deserves the victory.

BEST FOREIGN FILM:
Who should win: I’m seeing A Separation this MLK weekend, but sadly haven’t seen the rest of these.
Who will win: A Separation has cleaned up every award known to man, but I wouldn’t put it past the HFPA, who loves sucking up to big stars, to give it to Angelina Jolie for In The Land of Blood and Honey. I wouldn’t bet against A Separation, but don’t be surprised if Angie plays spoiler.

BEST SONG:
Who should win: None of these– it should go to a song from The Muppets, which disgustingly wasn’t nominated because Bret MacKenzie isn’t as big a star as the nominees here.
Who will win: give it to the biggest star in the pool– either Elton John for Gnomeo and Juliet or Madonna for her W.E. I’d say Madonna, though Elton John is probably the safer bet.

BEST SCORE:
Who should win: War Horse, for its soaring score by John Williams.
Who will win: The Artist, which has non-stop music from beginning to end and is the front-runner for many awards. If anyone plays spoiler here, it’s Trent Reznor for Dragon Tattoo.

And now, for some TV awards… I don’t get to watch much TV, so I’ll say upfront I’m rooting for Game of Thrones, Peter Dinklage, Bryan Cranston, and Amy Poehler. Below are who I believe will win tonight:

BEST DRAMA:
Homeland (possible spoiler: Boardwalk Empire, with its Martin Scorsese star power)

BEST COMEDY:
Modern Family

BEST ACTOR (DRAMA):
Kelsey Grammer

BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA):
Claire Danes

BEST ACTOR (COMEDY):
Matt LeBlanc

BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY):
Zooey Deschanel

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Peter Dinklage

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Jessica Lange (possible spoiler: Dame Maggie Smith)

BEST MINISERIES/MOVIE:
Downton Abbey

BEST ACTOR (MINISERIES/MOVIE):
Idris Elba

BEST ACTRESS (MINISERIES/MOVIE):
Kate Winslet

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy serves as a terrific reminder to American audiences just how inferior their government thrillers are. Usually our heroes make lame quips as increasingly frenetic action gives way to uncontainable explosions. The Brits, meanwhile, have Gary Oldman: silent, sophisticated, sly. The violence takes place in the shadows, off-camera. The explosions are nowhere to be found. Here, dossier files and telegraphs are the weapons in life-or-death pursuits. Think it sounds boring? Far from it– films like Transformers attempt to overwhelm audiences into feeling tension. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy quietly and intelligently earns it.

It’s the early 1970s. Great Britain, like much of the world, is teetering on the brink of Cold War, and its intelligence agency—referred to as “the Circus”—is focused on the Soviets. The head of the Circus, Control (John Hurt) sends Jim (Mark Strong) on a mission to Hungary, which goes awry, resulting in Jim getting shot, an international incident, and forced retirement for Control and his second-in-command, George Smiley (Gary Oldman). Years later, the new head of the Circus, Percy (Toby Jones), his second-in-command Bill (Colin Firth), and two other powerful members of intelligence, Roy (Ciaran Hinds) and Toby (David Dencik), desire to exchange intel with the Americans in order to move up in the scheme of things. Meanwhile, the government calls in Smiley– agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) has alleged that he discovered the existence of a mole high up in the Circus who reports to Karla, the head of Russian spy activities, and they want Smiley to find out who it is. With the help of agent Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), he investigates the Circus from the inside.

Tomas Alfredson, the Swedish director of Let The Right One In, knows a thing or two about pacing. Periods of dreadful silence, stillness, and apparent inactivity were always Hitchcock’s weapons of choice. Smiley doesn’t shoot people or engage in physical combat; he sits, he listens, he asks the right question when necessary. The awareness of the presence of the mole is all the film needs: show what’s at stake, make clear the existence of the unknown obstacle. It’s storytelling 101. The common complaint I’ve heard regarding this film is that it’s “confusing”– in reality, I found it far easier to understand than most thrillers. Perhaps audiences are too trained to have directors hold their hand and dumb down their films with exposition or unnecessary violence.

Furthermore, this movie is gorgeous. Lock this in for nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, and if it goes unnoticed in those categories, then the Academy’s screeners must have gotten lost in the mail. The internal and external imagery of the Circus is vivid– geography is yet another element this movie has in spades over the majority of American thrillers. The color palette, the placement of the camera, the layouts of the various offices, libraries, and hotel rooms in which the action takes place: all are fully realized in ways we don’t often see in this genre. The pattern on the wall in the Circus’s main meeting room is one of the more memorable images of 2011.

It really should go without saying that the cast, from top to bottom, is terrific. There’s a great sense of history between the characters developed, with even the smallest one-scene contributors making their monologues count. Standouts among the cast are Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy as two younger spies who find themselves deeper involved in the proceedings than they wanted– a scene in the Circus following Cumberbatch is heart-pounding. Gary Oldman does his usual great work, here most restrained, intense, and sympathetic than ever. Most surprising is Mark Strong, usually the villain, playing a charismatic and heartfelt role, giving maybe the best performance of his career.

Then there’s the ending. Is it me, or are the endings of movies increasingly underwhelming nowadays? I can’t think of more than a handful with endings that left me excited or emotional. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s ending manages to leave me excited *and* emotional, both capturing the sense of completion yet fanning the flame of desire for a sequel (if ONLY these were the types of films that spun off sequels; instead, trailers for countless Madagascar films flood my vision). The film can be cold and meticulous, much like its characters are required to be, but I found there to be a strong pulse of life and tension running through the admittedly quiet proceedings. Most movies rely on the big-budget crashes, explosions, and effects to produce thrills—- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy gave me the thrill of watching an intelligent and thoughtful film.

As an enormous Spielberg fan, and a fan of the Tony-winning Broadway adaptation of War Horse, it pains me to say that Spielberg’s film version War Horse neither moved me to tears nor impressed me as much as it has others. Perhaps my familiarity and admiration of the play’s plot points led to disappointment when the script changed a number of the most interesting and complex elements of the play into facile and overtly manipulative ingredients for consumption by the lowest common denominator audience members. The visuals are astonishing, the music soars, and the horses’ performances are first-rate among all-time animal performances. However, though the film successfully gallops in its visual moments, it slows to a trot when the script’s dialogue is spoken.

The film opens with young Albert (Jeremy Irvine) seeing Joey, a young horse owned by a neighboring farmer. Years later, Albert’s father (Peter Mullan) needs to buy a horse to plow their increasingly worthless land, but when engaged in a bidding war by their landlord (David Thewlis), he blows most of his money on Joey instead. Joey, despite not being a plow horse, must learn to plow, or he shall be sold and the farm will be lost. Albert is more than happy to train him, and he develops a deep bond with Joey. When Great Britain joins World War One, a young captain (Tom Hiddleston) buys Joey to use him in combat, but promises to return him upon the war’s swift completion. Of course, the war does not go as planned, and Joey finds himself encountering many people on both sides of the war, as Albert joins the Armed Forces in hopes of making a difference in the war that took his horse away from him.

For better or worse, this is a stagy melodrama, full of “type” characters that don’t really have dimension, with some being more affecting than others due to the strength of individual performances. Right from the beginning, the family’s landlord is a one-dimensioned, pointy-mustached rich jerk who seems to take pleasure in watching this family twist in the wind. In the play, it was a feud between brothers that led to the purchase of the horse, and the conflict was fueled by familial pride. Albert’s father was not likable—the actor had to earn the audience’s feeling not through manipulation but through the journey of the character’s realizations. Here, there is no such complexity. The father’s alcoholism is shamelessly excused with a thankless monologue by Emily Watson about the father’s war experience and the medals of heroism he won, and his pride regarding the money spent on the horse is forgiven when we see what a treacherous villain the rich 1%er in the village is, and how he mocks this old war hero’s plight.

Further complexities were exorcised from the play in order to aid Spielberg in dumbing down the material for the audience. At one point, Joey is saved by a German medical worker who goes AWOL with Joey. Here, instead of being an adult who leaves solely because war is hell, an act some may dismiss as cowardice, the German medical worker is replaced by two very young German boys, one of whom is desperately underage but dying to fight, the other of whom goes AWOL dragging his brother along to keep him out of war—by changing the character from an adult to two boys, and giving him a facile and familiar reason for running, the complexity and the real emotion are replaced by a controlling and forceful hand. Characters are constantly explaining exactly how they feel aloud, and while I didn’t love the dialogue in the play, even the play’s lines felt less stagy than the film’s.

While it may seem like the play has somehow infected me and ruined by moviegoing experience (although I submit the same patronizing exposition would likely bother even those discerning audience members who haven’t seen the Lincoln Center production), there are certain elements even the most cynical and heartless viewer cannot deny. The visuals are some of the best of the year, and despite feeling manipulated and grouchy by the dialogue, the cinematography by Janusz Kaminski sucked me back in every time. The final forty-five minutes boasts perhaps some of the most beautiful shots ever contained in a Spielberg film, which is really saying something. The John Williams score toes the line more gracefully between melodramatic and emotional than the script does; it is easily one of the most memorable of the year and perhaps his career. Spielberg’s intention of making a John Ford-esque old-school epic never is better than when it’s shots of the horses on rolling plains or running through trenches as Williams’ score blares.

I found myself unmoved at the film’s end. Pretty pictures and pretty music can be incredibly moving in real life, but only if the story works. Spielberg spends so much time dumbing down complexities to make everything as simple and palatable as possible in this film that I didn’t find myself engaged on an intellectual or emotional level. Kaminski, Williams, and the performers do their best, and there were moments where I felt myself being drawn in emotionally, but then the script would spoonfeed us another long explanation about how the characters got there and how war is hell, and I was immediately disenchanted once again. I spent these stretches of the film—you know, the stretches where people were talking—wondering if the film would’ve worked better with all of the actors speaking the language of their characters. One of the key elements of the play was that characters from other countries struggled to communicate with one another due to the language barrier, and the humanity the horse brought out of them helped bind them together, if just for brief moments. Here, everyone speaks perfect English; the communication is endless and needless. I’m a sucker for most emotional films. War Horse’s emotion just isn’t consistently earned.