Thoughts on Oscar Nominations and Predictions

With just a day to go until the 89th Academy Awards, here are my thoughts on the nominations (and the snubs) as well as my personal picks to win and also my predictions. All-in-one post for efficiency!

BEST PICTURE

• Arrival (8 nominations)
• Fences (4 nominations)
• Hacksaw Ridge (6 nominations)
• Hell or High Water (4 nominations)
• Hidden Figures (3 nominations)
• La La Land (14 nominations)
• Lion (6 nominations)
• Manchester by the Sea (6 nominations)
• Moonlight (8 nominations)

It's La La Land's world and we just live in it. And I couldn't be happier. It's not often that the Oscar front-runner (with a record tying 14 Oscar nominations) is also my favorite film so I've been quite enjoying its dominant awards-season run even with the predictable backlash. If that backlash sticks though Moonlight should benefit and thankfully I really like that film too! Meanwhile don't ask me why Hacksaw Ridge or Hell or High Water were nominated.

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: La La Land
COULD WIN: Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR

• Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
• Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
• Damien Chazelle, La La Land
• Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
• Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

I wished this had matched up the DGA nomination with Garth Davis (Lion) replacing Gibson, but alas we can't have everything. I think the other nominees were pretty expected and quite deserving. I'm especially thrilled that Villeneuve made it in for a sci-fi film and that Jenkins could become the first black director to win. But I think no one is beating Chazelle. I think even La La Land detractors would agree that he directed that movie wonderfully.

SHOULD WIN: Damien Chazelle
WILL WIN: Damien Chazelle
COULD WIN: Barry Jenkins

BEST ACTRESS

• Emma Stone, La La Land
• Natalie Portman, Jackie
• Ruth Negga, Loving
• Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
• Isabelle Huppert, Elle

This was a very competitive year for this category that such veterans like Annette Bening and Amy Adams were left out in the cold. The safe bet here is to pick Stone with her winnings the Globes, SAG, and BAFTA. But Portman and Huppert have their staunch fans and they've picked up their share of awards as well (i.e. Stone hasn't steamrolled). And let's give it up for Negga nabbing her first nomination... and of course Streep getting her 20th (!) Oscar nomination.

SHOULD WIN: Emma Stone
WILL WIN: Emma Stone
COULD WIN: Isabelle Huppert

BEST ACTOR

• Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
• Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
• Ryan Gosling, La La Land
• Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
• Denzel Washington, Fences

If there was an acting race, this would be the category to watch. Affleck is the slight frontrunner dominating the awards season, but there was always the hint of a scandal that never coalesced to anything concrete. And Washington is right there on Affleck's heels with his own powerhouse of a performance garnering him the SAG which feels like a shift in the race... or not. What I would give to have Gosling win in a shock (though as much as I love his film, he should've been nominated for The Nice Guys). Then again as happy as I am for Garfield's first nom (should've been for The Social Network), it really should be for Silence and not this film.

SHOULD WIN: Ryan Gosling
WILL WIN: Casey Affleck
COULD WIN: Denzel Washington

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Viola Davis, Fences
• Naomie Harris, Moonlight
• Nicole Kidman, Lion
• Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
• Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

First and foremost I love Davis and I'm so happy she's going to win her first Oscar! And yeah, no one is going to beat her. With that said, it's so clearly a lead role and I'm just a little bit disappointed at the category fraud. She would've been VERY competitive in lead. With that said, I also can't fault her. She's a lock here. If she wasn't here I think Williams could've won her first or perhaps Harris in a "shock" win. Anyways, if Davis wasn't here, who could've snuck in? Greta Gerwig? Janelle Monae?

SHOULD WIN: Viola Davis
WILL WIN: Viola Davis
COULD WIN: Michelle Williams (but she won't)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
• Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
• Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
• Dev Patel, Lion
• Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Ali is the frontrunner here after dominating the awards season early on, but since then the race has gotten more interesting. He lost to Aaron-Taylor Johnson at the Globes and Patel at BAFTA. Thankfully Johnson wasn't nominated (instead his co-star Shannon deservedly snuck in without much precursor support), but with Lion surging, Patel is still a threat. Bridges' nod is so damn uninspiring. Could've made room instead for Hugh Grant or Ralph Fiennes.

SHOULD WIN: Michael Shannon
WILL WIN: Mahershala Ali
COULD WIN: Dev Patel

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Arrival
• Fences
• Hidden Figures
• Lion
• Moonlight

At the WGA Awards, Arrival won, but it wasn't up against Moonlight which interestingly enough was in the Original Screenplay category and won that award. I think Moonlight will make history and double-dip by winning here. If anything its closest competition is probably the surging Lion or the beloved Fences (to posthumously honor August Wilson) and not Arrival.

SHOULD WIN: Lion
WILL WIN: Moonlight
COULD WIN: Fences

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Hell or High Water
• La La Land
• The Lobster
• Manchester by the Sea
• 20th Century Women

With Moonlight in Adapted, this should be a cakewalk for Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea UNLESS the Oscars want to give La La Land all the awards which it could very well do. I don't think they will, but you never know. I *am* thrilled to see The Lobster and 20th Century Women nominated here. By far the two best scripts in film this year.

SHOULD WIN: The Lobster
WILL WIN: Manchester by the Sea
COULD WIN: La La Land

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Land of Mine (Denmark)
• A Man Called Ove (Sweden)
• The Salesman (Iran)
• Tanna (Australia)
• Toni Erdmann (Germany)

I'm a bit sad I haven't seen any of these films yet, but I know I'll eventually see at least Toni Erdmann (the favorite to win) and The Salesman (the very strong possible spoiler). With early favorites Elle and Neruda not making it in, Toni Erdmann is the only other film to receive precursor love, but if the Academy wants to make a political statement look for Asghar Farhadi's The Salesman. Also if you haven't read the joint statement of these filmmakers, you must.

SHOULD WIN: The Salesman
WILL WIN: Toni Erdmann
COULD WIN: The Salesman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Kubo and the Two Strings
• Moana
• My Life as a Zucchini
• The Red Turtle
• Zootopia

I think you know it's a great year in animation when a Finding Nemo sequel is just my fourth favorite animated film of the year and I'm not even sad it's not nominated. Zootopia is the favorite to win and it's also MY favorite animated film of the year, but I did love Moana and Kubo as well and the latter, with its recent BAFTA win, is nipping at the Zootopia's heels. I've also only heard good things about the other two which I haven't seen.

SHOULD WIN: Zootopia
WILL WIN: Zootopia
COULD WIN: Kubo and the Two Strings

BEST FILM EDITING

• Arrival
• Hacksaw Ridge
• Hell or High Water
• La La Land
• Moonlight

All of these are Best Picture nominees and convention says La La Land will take this (and it will deserve it!). But if they want MOST editing, they could possibly go with Hacksaw Ridge or even Hell or High Water. Arrival or Moonlight would be inspired.

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: La La Land
COULD WIN: Hacksaw Ridge

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Arrival
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Hail, Caesar!
• La La Land
• Passengers

Here's the thing, if it was up to me I'd give La La Land most of the categories it's nominated for. And the Academy could very well think the same thing and give it a win here. With that said, I think Fantastic Beasts and Arrival and maybe even Passengers had some precursor support. The big miss here was The Handmaiden.

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: Arrival
COULD WIN: Fantastic Beast

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Arrival
• La La Land
• Silence
• Lion
• Moonlight

Probably one of my favorite list of nominees this year. I just think every single nomination here is truly well-deserved as I thought these were five of the most beautiful films I saw this past year. Again convention says La La Land if they want to sweep, but I wouldn't be surprised AT ALL if Moonlight or even Lion took the trophy.

SHOULD WIN: Lion
WILL WIN: Moonlight
COULD WIN: La La Land

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)," La La Land
• "Can’t Stop the Feeling," Trolls
• "City of Stars," La La Land
• "The Empty Chair," Jim: The James Foley Story
• "How Far I’ll Go," Moana

Last year's winner was deplorable so the Academy can only do better this year! And it's a good list with the exception of the totally random "The Empty Chair." It probably took the spot of "Do Anything" from Zootopia or the totally awesome "Drive It Like You Stole It" from Sing Street. That said, this is La La Land versus Lin-Manuel Miranda's quest to EGOT for his Moana song. He has more than a good possibility I think especially if the two La La Land songs split votes.

SHOULD WIN: "How Far I'll Go"
WILL WIN: "City of Stars"
COULD WIN: "How Far I'll Go"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Jackie
• La La Land
• Lion
• Moonlight
• Passengers

As if the Academy voters aren't going to give the score award to the musical film. I think that's a pretty safe bet. If they are feeling adventurous though this would be the best chance to honor Mica Levy's work in Jackie. Or even poor Thomas Newman (Passengers) with his 14 nominations and 0 wins.

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: La La Land
COULD WIN: Jackie

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Allied
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• Florence Foster Jenkins
• Jackie
• La La Land 

People are saying La La Land is a safe bet here, but I know more than a few people who wasn't too impressed (they're crazy). But if that's a more widespread feeling then I would think it'd be between Jackie or Florence Foster Jenkins. Unless they feel they must award Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts) with her 4th win. Light a candle for The Dressmaker.

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: Jackie
COULD WIN: La La Land

BEST SOUND EDITING

• Arrival
• Deepwater Horizon
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Sully

Hacksaw Ridge and Deepwater Horizon were really loud. But La La Land could sweep so...

SHOULD WIN: La La Land
WILL WIN: La La Land
COULD WIN: Hacksaw Ridge

BEST SOUND MIXING

• Arrival
• Hacksaw Ridge
• La La Land
• Rogue One
• 13 Hours

Someday I'll know the difference. Then again many Oscar voters don't. I'd probably just say La La Land again, but I think this will swing to another film. Arrival or Rogue One perhaps?

SHOULD WIN: Arrival
WILL WIN: Rogue One
COULD WIN: La La Land

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Rogue One
• The Jungle Book
• Doctor Strange
• Deepwater Horizon
• Kubo and the Two Strings

I think if I was making the ballot, these would've been my exact same five films. And yes, I'm thrilled that Kubo made it in since that film used VFX so well. Anyways, this is The Jungle Book's award to lose, but weirder things have happened.

SHOULD WIN: Kubo and the Two Strings
WILL WIN: The Jungle Book
COULD WIN: Doctor Strange

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

• A Man Called Ove
• Star Trek Beyond
• Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad? Really? I would've gladly switched that out with The Dressmaker, Deadpool, or Florence Foster Jenkins. The sad thing is it's probably the frontrunner here too.

SHOULD WIN: Star Trek Beyond
WILL WIN: A Man Called Ove
COULD WIN: Suicide Squad

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Fire at Sea
• I Am Not Your Negro
• Life, Animated
• 13th
• O.J.: Made in America

I've only seen the Ava DuVernay's 13th, which I implore everyone to watch. With that said I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about any of these films. Made in America is probably the slight favorite with all of its precursor support, but I still call foul on submitting a 6+ hour miniseries for Oscar consideration.

SHOULD WIN: 13th
WILL WIN: OJ: Made in America
COULD WIN: 13th

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

• Extremis
• 4.1 Miles
• Joe’s Violin
• Watani: My Homeland
• The White Helmets 

I've seen The White Helmets and Extremis since they're both available on Netflix and I meant to see 4.1 Miles and Joe's Violin since they're also available elsewhere online. Without knowing too much about the race, I think The White Helmets might have an edge especially with our current political climate. Or maybe Joe's Violin.

SHOULD WIN: The White Helmet
WILL WIN: The White Helmet
COULD WIN: Joe's Violin

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• Blind Vaysha
• Borrowed Time
• Pear Cider and Cigarettes
• Pearl
• Piper

Having seen only Pearl and Piper which I thought were both good (though not amazing), I have no earthly idea which of these films is the favorite or even who should win. Your guess is as good as mine.

SHOULD WIN: Piper
WILL WIN: Pearl
COULD WIN: Piper

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• Ennemis Intérieurs
• La Femme et le TGV
• Silent Nights
• Sing
• Timecode

Saw these last weekend and I think any of them could win for various reasons. My absolute favorite is Timecode which is probably the slightest of them all story-wise, but it's also the most delightful. Sing has a very satisfying arc and some great character work. La Femme et le TGV might attract older voters and it's the only film with a recognizable star (always a plus). The latter two were my least favorites, but they were also the most topical. Ennemis Intérieurs was the better of the two but also the most inert film of the five while Silent Nights is just not good in so many sense.

SHOULD WIN: Timecode
WILL WIN: La Femme et le TGV
COULD WIN: Sing

So where does that all leave me in terms of predictions? I predicted La La Land to walk away with a leading 7 wins including Picture/Director/Actress. With the rest of the wealth shared among a few films namely Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, Fences, Arrival, etc. And I think Lion, Hell or Hell Water, and Hidden Figures will walk away with no wins. Let's all check back on Sunday and see how wrong I am!

Golden Globes: Predictions and Hopes

My last post was almost four months ago talking about another awards show so I guess it's fine if I just dive right back in the midst of awards season especially with the Golden Globes happening tonight. No extended thoughts on the nominees, but my predictions and hopes are below.

Best Director
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By the Sea

Will Win: Damien Chazelle
Alternate: Barry Jenkins
Should Win: Either one of those would be fine by me!

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Lion
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight

Will Win: Moonlight
Alternate: Manchester by the Sea
Should Win: Happy for either of those, but I'm low-key hoping for a LION shocker.

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
20th Century Women
Deadpool
La La Land
Florence Foster Jenkins
Sing Street

Will Win: La La Land
Alternate: N/A
Should Win: La La Land! La La Land! La La Land! LA LA LAND!!!

Best Actress, Drama
Amy Adams, Arrival
Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Ruth Negga, Loving

Will Win: Natalie Portman (Globes likes the big name!)
Alternate: Isabelle Huppert (Globes like the foreign ladies!)
Should Win: Amy Adams (Globes do whatever they want!)

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Lily Collins, Rules Don’t Apply
Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Will Win: Emma Stone
Alternate: Meryl Streep
Should Win: Stone should really get this, but most of her fellow nominees are great.

Best Actor, Drama
Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences

Will Win: Casey Affleck
Alternate: Denzel Washington
Should Win: Viggo Mortensen. Or Andrew Garfield... but for his non-nominated role in SILENCE.

Best Actor, Musical, or Comedy
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Jonah Hill, War Dogs
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool

Will Win: Ryan... Gosling
Alternate: Ryan... Reynolds
Should Win: GOSLING! I like Reynolds but I swear if DEADPOOL crashes the LA LA LAND party, I might have a stroke.

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins
Dev Patel, Lion
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals

Will Win: Mahershala Ali
Alternate: Jeff Bridges
Should Win: ALI! Maybe Dev Patel, but only if he shares his award with Sunny Pawar. But really ANYONE BUT Taylor-Johnson please and thanks.

Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester By the Sea

Will Win: Viola Davis
Alternate: Michelle Williams
Should Win: What I really wish is Davis winning in Lead and Williams winning here.

Best Screenplay
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals

Will Win: Manchester by the Sea
Alternate: Moonlight
Should Win: Again, both films are worthy and will likely get their respective Oscars so let's blow it up a bit here and say LA LA LAND.

Best Foreign Language Film
Divines, France
Elle, France
Neruda, Chile
The Salesman, Iran/France
Toni Erdmann, Germany

Will Win: Toni Erdmann
Alternate: Elle
Should Win: Unfortnately I haven't seen any of these to make a judgment call.

Best Animated Feature Film
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My life as a Zucchini
Sing
Zootopia

Will Win: Zootopia
Alternate: Moana
Should Win: A strong year for the medium that started out with a bang with ZOOTOPIA and it should be rewarded thusly.

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls
“City of Stars,” La La Land
“Faith,” Sing
“Gold,” Gold
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

Will Win: The guys who wrote Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen (City of Stars)
Alternate: The guy who wrote Broadway's Hamilton (How Far I'll Go)
Should Win: I would be VERY sad if one of those songs don't win.

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Arrival
Hidden Figures
Lion
La La Land
Moonlight

Will Win: La La Land
Alternate: Not sure...
Should Win: Hoping for a big night for this movie!

Best TV Series, Drama
The Crown
Game of Thrones
Stranger Things
This Is Us
Westworld

Will Win: Game of Thrones
Alternate: The Crown
Should Win: Ask me at different time and I can see myself (and the HFPA) say any of these, but I'll say GAME OF THRONES.

Best Actress, Drama
Catriona Balfe, Outlander
Claire Foy, The Crown
Keri Russell, The Americans
Winona Ryder, Stranger Things
Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld

Will Win: I have no idea actually... Claire Foy?
Alternate: Same, um... Evan Rachel Wood?
Should Win: Russell, because see Russian comment below. But Ryder for the nostalgia.

Best Actor, Drama
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Billy Bob Thornton, Goliath

Will Win: Rami Malek
Alternate: Matthew Rhys
Should Win: We're letting the Russians win elsewhere, so let's give it up for RHYS!

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Atlanta
Black-ish
Mozart in the Jungle
Transparent
Veep

Will Win: Veep
Alternate: Mozart in the Jungle
Should Win: I think this election year is giving me PTSD with VEEP so I would've voted for BLACK-ISH probably.

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Sarah Jessica Parker, Divorce
Issa Rae, Insecure
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Will Win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but can we first just look at how awesome this list of nominees is?
Alternate: Sarah Jessica Parker?
Should Win: Rooting for a first-time winner... Issa Rae!

Best Actor, Musical, or Comedy
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Nick Nolte, Graves
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Will Win: Gael Garcia Bernal
Alternate: Donald Glover
Should Win: Since Bernal won last year, I'd say Glover this time around.

Best Limited Series or TV Movie
American Crime
The Dresser
The Night Manager
The Night Of
The People v. O.J. Simpson

Will Win: The People v. OJ Simpson
Alternate: N/A
Should Win: PEOPLE V. OJ certainly, but I do wish NIGHT MANAGER got its due.

Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Riley Keough, The Girlfriend Experience
Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson
Charlotte Rampling, London Spy
Kerry Washington, Confirmation

Will Win: Sarah Paulson
Alternate: N/A
Should Win: PAULSON HAS GOT THIS.

Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie
Riz Ahmed, The Night Of
Bryan Cranston, All The Way
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
John Turturro, The Night Of
Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson

Will Win: Courtney B. Vance
Alternate: Tom Hiddleston
Should win: Either one of those would be good with me, but I'm low-key itching for Turturro.

Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J. Simpson
Hugh Laurie, The Night Manager
John Lithgow, The Crown
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
John Travolta, The People v. O.J. Simpson

Will Win: Sterling K. Brown
Alternate: John Lithgow
Should Win: BROWN has got this easily.

Best Supporting Actress
Olivia Colman, The Night Manager
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Thandie Newton, Westworld

Will Win: Thandie Newton
Alternate: Lena Headey
Should Win: Both were VERY good (very deadly) this past season. But I would love for Colman to grab this in a shocker.

Let's see how wrong I am tonight!

Looking Forward To...

 

Thor: The Dark World
Release: November 8, 2013
Distributor: Buena Vista
Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Idris Elba, Kat Dennis, Christopher Eccleston, Ray Steveson, Stellan Skarsgård, Jaimie Alexander, Chris O'Dowd, Zachary Levi, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins

End-Of-Year: 2011 Film Winners

Already getting impatient about the Oscars to see who'll win? Unfortunately we all still have to wait a month to see who wins that and hell, the final ballots haven't even been mailed out yet! So take some time and enjoy the next best thing, the result of my own year-end awards! Cue the applause and the cheering, etc. etc. etc. Of course, if you want, check out my nominations first, then see which I've picked as my favorite...

Best Actor: Ryan Gosling, Drive/Ides of March/Crazy, Stupid, Love
Runner-Up: Dominic Cooper, The Devil's Double

You can't be shocked by the winner here. How many posts have I done on Ryan Gosling this past year? Definitely more than a couple, that's for sure. But how could I not award him this after the year he has had with three different fantastic performances? You could argue that by that logic I probably should've given the award to Michael Fassbender, who I nominated alongside Gosling, but I was just slightly more impressed by Gosling. Of course, why did I pick Cooper over Fassbender for runner-up? That decision was more me wanting to highlight a performance that people probably haven't seen. His film was a bit on the messy side, but he really got into playing the dual roles of Uday Hussein and his double and made me believe it.

Best Actress: Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn/Meek's Cutoff
Runner-Up: Viola Davis, The Help

Ugh, okay so I'm exposing my love for Blue Valentine here, but I didn't award Williams (and Gosling) just because of that beautiful film. I actually didn't know much about Marilyn Monroe, but I was pretty bowled over by Williams' portrayal of her. While she may not have the infectious charisma that Monroe oozed, Williams was still able to make me believe this was the real Marilyn Monroe, the Marilyn who wasn't in front of a camera. I didn't even mention her very strong work in Meek's Cutoff which was a film I didn't expect to like, much less love. Then of course there's Viola Davis, who lordy, made me cry and made me give her a standing ovation. She really was the dominant force in her film even with the immensely talented ensemble around her.

Best Supporting Actor: Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Runner-Up: Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

It's really weird that I'm giving it to Corey Stoll for probably the smallest screen time of any of the actors I nominated, but he just left such an indelible impression that I do still think about his Ernest Hemingway from time to time. In fact as much as I love the film, I'm not sure I'd be so in love with it if I don't constantly think about Stoll's Hemingway. Then of course there's Andy Serkis who adds yet another phenomenal mo-cap performance on his resume with his nuanced work as Caesar. The movie worked as well as it did, because we had to relate to this CGI ape and Serkis was extraordinary in making Caesar the heart of the film.

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, The Help/Tree of Life/Take Shelter
Runner-Up: Carey Mulligan, Shame/Drive

I know what you're saying, I'm biased towards actors who do a lot of films a year and it may seem like that with my third multi-film actor winner, but similar to Gosling above, I just couldn't not award Jessica Chastain. She had an incredible year and that's something to celebrate. I didn't see all of her performances, but she was fabulous in the three films that I did see. If I had to pick, her Celia Foote was probably my favorite performance of the summer and so even if I could vote on just one film, she'd probably still win with that performance. Of course, Carey Mulligan also had a great year continuing in her quest not to be typecast as the Audrey Hepburn heir apparent by appearing in not one, but two dark and brave films. Her work in Shame is probably the better of the two since it was so unlike anything she's ever done, so raw, so electric.

Best Young Actor or Actress: Elle Fanning, Super 8
Runner-Up: John Boyega, Attack the Block

This was a bit difficult to pick since any of them really could've won, but then I remember that train depot scene, you know the one, with Ellen Fanning and just like the boys watching her, I was just transfixed. She also cast her spell with me last year in Somewhere, so maybe that also had something to do with my pick. But I also wanted to highlight John Boyega's strong leading performances in Attack the Block as Moses. He really was the glue of that quite inventive and fun film. Quick shout out to Saoirse Ronan who always seem to be doing fantastic work and Thomas Horn who made me cry a few times.

Best Ensemble: Midnight in Paris
Runner-Up: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

First I want to talk about the runner-up which is definitely a career award. Hasn't every British actor appeared in this film at one point or another? It's either this or Doctor Who I guess. I was most impressed by how the three lead actors held their own amongst these British acting juggernauts like Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. Woody Allen outdid himself with the cast of Midnight in Paris, not only picking just the right actors to play these historical figures (great blend of known and not so known actors), but to also choose an unlikely, but solid lead in Owen Wilson (who I probably should've nominated).

Most Disappointing Film: The Conspirator
Runner-Up: Like Crazy

James McAvoy in a period piece revolving around the events after Lincoln's assassination co-starring Robin Wright and Rachel Evans Woods. How could that movie suck? And yet, it did. Despite fine acting from those three (though Wright gets almost nothing to work with), the film was pretty flat and dull throughout. I literally could not stop looking at my watch every few minutes or so. Then there's Like Crazy which is the type of movie I usually enjoy. Hell, critics were calling it a younger version of Blue Valentine and we all know my feelings towards that film, but as much as I like the two main actors, their relationship never hooked me and thus when their relationship went through its ups and downs, I could hardly care. I found myself rolling my eyes a couple of dozen times throughout the film.

Worst Film: Your Highness
Runner-Up: Beastly

The less said about these two films (and the other films I nominated) the better. I'm thinking Your Highness would be much better with a little herbal therapy, but I was unfortunately clear of mind when I saw this film and nothing was good. I literally wasted my time watching it. Beastly was actually less aggressively bad, but it was still pretty heinous. In the middle of the film I asked myself out loud why ANYONE would think this was a good idea to green-light.

Worst Acting Performance: Channing Tatum, The Eagle
Runner-Up: Natalie Portman, No Strings Attached/The Other Woman/Your Highness

My friends for some reason make fun of my seemingly baseless hatred for Channing Tatum and I wish I could articulate why I find him so... unappealing. I suppose I just find him dull and blanked-face plus his charms just don't work on me. Natalie Portman should thank her lucky stars that these films came out after she was already on her way to winning her Academy Award, because as much as I love her in Black Swan (she won my Best Actress award last year), she was just as dreadful in not one, not two, but three films this year. You may say I could be reacting negatively because of the films, and yes while the films are also bad, she was quite awful in them as well.

Best Netflix Movie: Almost Famous
Runner-Up: Undertow

his is one of my weirder categories since how can you really compare films from different eras? You really can't which is why I implore you to check out all of the films I've nominated for this. With that said, I can't believe it took me this long to see Almost Famous. It was love at first sight... or is it love at first hearing? I'm a sucker for coming-of-age stories, especially as well-done as it was with this film. It also helps that by now most of the young sort of unknown actors who appeared in that film are now household names and that was fun. Quick shout out to my runner-up Undertow, a Peruvian gay film that is beautifully structured and emotionally heartfelt.

Of course, I'm saving my pick for Best Film until sometime next week when I'm ready to post my list of top 30 or so films from this past year. Though, spoiler alert, I've already told you my top 10: The Artist, Drive, The Help, The Ides of March, Meek's Cutoff, Midnight in Paris, My Week with Marilyn, Thor, Weekend, Warrior. Which film will come out on top?

2011 SCREAM Awards

Over 30 awards were given out this weekend at the SCREAM Awards to honor all things fantasy, sci-fi, comic book, and horror. Even though I don't really pay attention to these kinds of awards, genre fare gets so little love from the bigger award bodies like the Oscars and the Emmys that it's only fair to give them some kudos when appropriate. Paul Reubens, Nicolas Cage, and Robert Downey, Jr. were all on hand to accept honorary awards while George Lucas was there to accept the Ultimate Villain honor for his Darth Vader. Other top winners include:

The Ultimate SCREAM: Harry Potter 8
Best Sci-Fi Movie: X-Men: First Class
Best Horror Movie: Let Me In
Best Comic Book Movie: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Best Thriller: Limitless
Best Independent Movie: Monsters
Best TV Show: Game of Thrones

The films and TV shows that Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 beat out for the top prize were Black Swan, Captain America, Game of Thrones, Scott Pilgrim, Super 8, Thor, True Blood, The Walking Dead, and X-Men: First Class as well as took home a few more awards including Best Actor and Best Villain. Meanwhile, Game of Thrones beat Doctor Who, Fringe, True Blood, and Walking Dead for Best TV Show. That's a pretty strong list of nominations if I do say so myself which wouldn't look too out of place at the Emmy Awards (if they were actually that cool).

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Fantasy Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Fantasy Actor: Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter 8
Best Sci-Fi Actress: Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil: Afterlife
Best Sci-Fi Actor: Matt Smith, Doctor Who
Best Horror Actress: Chloë Grace Moretz, Let Me In
Best Horror Actor: Alexander Skarsgård, True Blood
Best Supporting Actress: Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Seems like Natalie Portman and her film didn't only play well with the Oscar crowd taking three awards here. Daniel Radcliffe is a fine actor, but it's pretty funny he won over the likes of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Similarly Anna Torv should've won Best Sci-Fi Actress easily. With that said, Matt Smith winning is pretty rad showing the increasing popularity of the show this side of the pond while Peter Dinklage repeated his Emmy win here besting a couple of Harry Potter lads (Rupert Grint and Alan Rickman).

Best Villain: Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Harry Potter 8
Best Superhero: Chris Evans, Captain America: The First Avenger
Breakout Female Performance: Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Breakout Male Performance: Joe Manganiello, True Blood
Best Ensemble: True Blood

The love for True Blood is evident, but these two wins are just a bit ridiculous. Game of Thrones and Harry Potter had a better ensemble (both were nominated) while Joe Manganiello inexplicably beat out Fassbender and Tom Hiddleston for Breakout Performance. Speaking of Hiddleston, his fantastic portrayal of Loki in Thor wasn't even nominated for Best Villain! Nice to see some recognition for Emilia Clarke though for a role that really should've garnered her an Emmy nomination.

Overall, a mixed bag certainly which is par for the course with these kinds of awards, but there are some good winners (and nominations) that probably wouldn't have gotten the recognition elsewhere. For the complete list of winners, click here.

The Halfway Point

Since today marks the halfway point of 2011, many people are doing "best of" lists, which I think is great since a lot of people tend to forget anything that happened during the first half of the year when it comes to making their end-of-year lists in December.

I was close to doing the same, but I usually wait until the end of summer to talk about my favorite film performances especially since at this point, I just haven't seen that many movies (relatively). By the end of summer, however, I would've had my fill of summer films as well as having seen some earlier films from this year now available on DVD.

With that said, I do want to list the films I've seen so far so you know where I'm at. I'm listing these in alphabetical order, so there's no ranking implied.

• Bridesmaids
• The Conspirator
• Hanna
• HappyThankYouMorePlease
• Jane Eyre

• The Mechanic
• Midnight in Paris
• No Strings Attached
• The Other Woman
• Paul

• Super 8
• Thor
• The Way Back
• X-Men: First Class

I will tell you that my favorite film of the lot is Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. It really is a jewel of a film that everyone should get a chance to see. And these are the actors that have appeared in two or more o those films: Kristen Wiig, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Kevin Kline, and Tom Hiddleston. And oddly enough from that list, the Oscar winners probably had the least interesting roles of the bunch.

How many 2011 releases have you seen?

Birthday Hotties: Johnny Depp, Natalie Portman, & Michael J. Fox

Three big stars celebrated their birthdays today. One is on top of the box office. Another is expecting a bundle of joy. Finally the last one is still working like a pro.

Johnny Depp turned 48, but these days the only numbers that matter are those at the box office. While his fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film has only done so-so in the United States compared to the earlier films, it's doing gangbusters overseas. With more than $800 million worldwide tally, it's the most made of any film this year and is already top 30 all time. Earlier this year, he also voiced the titular animated character Rango helping the flick reach more than $120 million. Next up for him is The Rum Diary based on the novel of the same name written by the late Hunter S. Thompson.

Celebrating her 30th birthday, Natalie Portman is surely enjoying the afterglow of her recent Best Actress Academy Award win for her tour de force performance in last year's Black Swan. She is also expecting her first child which is due any time now so she's taking it easy. You wouldn't know it though since she's already appeared in five films this year. Granted all of these were filmed before her pregnancy, but I guess the distributors of these films wanted to strike while the Academy Award buzz is hot. Results have been mixed.

Last, but not least the ever-youthful Michael J. Fox turned 50 today making those of us who fondly remember Back to the Future feel really old. For Fox, however, he hasn't stopped working. Even when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease during the early 90s, he never left the business guest starring on Boston Legal, Rescue Me, and more recently The Good Wife. It'll hardly be a surprise if he makes another appearance, or two, next season.

Happy Birthday to all!

Looking Forward To...

Thor
Release: May 6, 2011
Distributor: Paramount
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Chris Hemsworth, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Colm Feore, Adriana Barraza, and Natalie Portman

Spirit Awards Winners

The Spirit Awards is one of the last awards ceremony before the big kahuna that is the Academy Awards which takes place tomorrow. To see the entire list of nominees, click here.

As for the winners, they are as follows:

Best Feature: Black Swan
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Actor: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Actress: Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone
Best Screenplay: The Kids Are All Right
Best First Feature: Get Low
Best First Screenplay: Tiny Furniture
Best Foreign Film: The King’s Speech
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Cinematography: Black Swan
John Cassavetes Award: Daddy Longlegs
Robert Altman Award: Please Give
Piaget Producers Award: Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff
Someone to Watch Award: Mike Ott, Littlerock
Truer Than Fiction Award: Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol

Sweeping all four of the awards it was nominated for, Oscar Best Picture nominee Black Swan was the night's biggest winner. It was a well-deserved note of recognition for a film which had been mostly overshadowed by Oscar front-runners The King's Speech and The Social Network as well as by more populist films such as Inception, Toy Story 3, and True Grit throughout awards season. Natalie Portman continued her dominant run even with the added pressure of having every single fellow Best Actress Oscar nominees on the ballot with her.

Despite leading with 7 nominations, Winter's Bone only managed two wins, both for its worthy supporting players Dale Dickey and Oscar nominee John Hawkes. The night was actually full of Oscar nominees winning such as James Franco for Actor, The Kids Are All Right for Screenplay, Exit Through the Gift Shop for Documentary, and even The King's Speech for Foreign Film. The first two winners benefited from the absence of awards season juggernauts Colin Firth and Aaron Sorkin.

In terms of the Academy Awards, expect only Portman to repeat her award victory here though don't be surprised to see increasingly popular pick Exit Through the Gift Shop to "surprise" in the seemingly 5-way race for Documentary.

End-Of-Year: Top 10 Favorite Films of 2010

Took a little longer than I had planned, but without further a due, here are my ten favorite films of 2010. In a year (or even a few weeks), maybe I'll feel a bit differently, but for now this is how it all shook out. If you want to see the rest of the top 25 films of 2010, click here.


10. Agora - Always a fan of films where the central character is an historical woman way ahead of her times going against the tide by being her own person and Hypathia as played beautifully by Rachel Weisz is one such woman. Her steadfast will to learn and understand the universe amidst political and religious turmoil was inspiring. Playing opposite here is her slave as played by Max Minghella who struggles between his devotion to her and his freedom. Their journeys were fascinating to watch unfold amidst all of the upheavals of the times all leading up to that magnificent and heart-wrenching ending.


9. 127 Hours - As a huge fan of Slumdog Millionaire and Danny Boyle in general, I was counting down the days for his next feature film and with 127 Hours he delivered another great one. The film is pretty much a one-man show with James Franco playing real-life person Aron Ralston and his amazing ordeal of being stuck down a canyon for a grueling 127 hours. Boyle's frenetic style, which I'm a fan of, helps the movie never get stagnant, but it was Franco who really shouldered the whole film with his wonderful performance. The pièce de résistance was definitely the "cutting off the arm" scene which was as exhilarating and riveting as I had expected it to be, but I was also damn impressed by the gorgeous and breathtaking locale shots of Utah.


8. A Prophet - This film is nearly three hours long and yet I remembered thinking when I finished it that it was probably the fastest 3-hrs I've spent watching a film. Not sure why this movie was so watchable to me since it's a pretty hardcore prison drama. I'll attribute some of it to its great lead actor Tahar Rahim who was brilliant in showing us the journey of a man who went from a small-time crook to a full-fledged master criminal all the while maintaining sympathetic to the audience. It's an incredibly difficult role, but when done right, like it was here, you couldn't look away.


7. Easy A - I wanted to watch this movie because it had a few of my favorite veteran actors such as Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson and while those two latter actors DO steal the show as the easy-going cool parents, it was relative newcomer Emma Stone who was the breakout star of the film, and really the year. The success of the film as a John Hughes-inspired teen-style high school comedy was squarely put on Stone's shoulders and she carried the film spectacularly with her unassuming yet charismatic presence. The film itself had plenty of laughs and heart to fill its 92 minutes of running time.


6. Toy Story 3 - I knew it was going to be "one of those movies" when I started tearing up as soon as Randy Newman's score started playing and I supposed a lot of people probably had a similar reaction. For this film, it really was about saying goodbye to these characters who we first met more than 15 years ago, which also makes me feel incredibly old. It was the big theme of the film as Andy had to say also bid adieu to his toys because he was off to college. Of course before that happened some bits of hilarity (daycare!) and horror (incinerator!) had to happen, but every emotion the film elicited was sincerely earned.


5. Inception - I still remember this past summer when I couldn't get the film out of my head. And why not? This was certainly an ambitious and smart film and I applaud Christopher Nolan for always going there with all of his movies. The story itself is actually not that complicated to follow, but it is still such an intricately layered film, literally and metaphorically, that every viewing brings forth something new. The cast, which was my pick for Best Ensemble, is beyond words and they needed to be in order to keep up with Nolan's story. I'm still debating the ending with friends of mine to this day, so I just can't seem to get this film out of my head.


4. Black Swan - Even though I fully expected the unexpected with this film, especially with Darren Aronofsky at the helm, I wasn't fully prepared for his thrilling and sometimes disturbing vision of a ballerina going absolutely out of her mind in quest of perfection. You could tell that Natalie Portman underwent immense emotional and physical transformations to magnificently pull off this role, so kudos to her. And though I singled out the visionary direction and the inspired lead, the whole surreal film came together wonderfully in a sort of mindfuck kind of way and I just loved it all.


3. The Social Network - Even though it's not my #1 film and it's probably going to lose the Oscar to The King's Speech, in a lot of ways this is probably the film of 2010. A lot of it has to do with its subject matter i.e. the founding of Facebook, but also because it's plainly an amazing movie. From its writing, directing, and acting, almost every element of the film was top-notch. Why *I* like the film though was because in the heart of it all, it was about two friends, wonderfully played by Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, whose friendship was challenged while they were building something together that would literally change the world. It's that relationship that makes this movie so worthwhile even in years to come.


2. Blue Valentine - This was probably my most anticipated film last year and so of course it was released on the very last week of the year. The wait was worth it though as the film delivered on every level in no small part due to its two incredible leads fantastically played by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. Both displayed a wide range of emotions as the film went back and forth from their initial courtship to their relationship's eventual collapse. Saying both had chemistry would be terribly simplifying it since I believe they inhabited their characters so fully and so realistically that it almost hurt watching their relationship crumble.


1. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - As a huge Edgar Wright fanboy (loved Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz unequivocally), me loving this film was a no-brainer, but what was easily my favorite summer film somehow coalesced itself into my favorite film of the year. It's definitely the most unique film I saw this year. Most of that was Wright's full commitment to the video game aesthetics ever-present in the film that perfectly complemented its graphic novel origins. The relatively young cast is immensely talented especially Kieran Culkin who played my favorite character, Scott's gay roommate Wallace Wells. It's not a perfect film, but it is my favorite and I'm just totally in lesbian with it.

And that's it! At least for now. For the rest of my top 25 list, click here.

End-Of-Year: 2010 Film Winners

Last night's Critics Choice Awards reminded me that I haven't completed my own set of film awards. Have spent most of my days either busy at work or catching up on a few more films, so I apologize for the delay. Now, did I see films/performances since then that would've changed some of these nominations? Yes, but that'll be another blog entry down-the-line.

I have to say that narrowing down the list for nominations was very difficult as I thought so many films/performances deserved kudos, which is why I went with six nominees for the acting categories. So you can just imagine me trying to pick my favorite out of that list and, well, as I discovered, it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE. With that said, I made due...

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception/Shutter Island
Jesse Eisenberg, Social Network
James Franco, 127 Hours
Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Tahar Rahim, A Prophet

It's weird thinking that Leonardo DiCaprio is once again being largely forgotten for his superb work on not one, but two great films of the past year. Someday he'll get his due. Similarly, Eisenberg and Rahim were magnificent in their respective films offering a strong center to their epic films. But this came down to three actors who I thought really went above and beyond what they've usually done to deliver three of my favorite performances of the year. To say the whole film fell on Franco's shoulder is an understatement since it is pretty much a one-man show, but he was truly effective in channeling Ralston's joy of life then his subsequent fall. Firth, too, wonderfully delivered the struggles of King George VI, which I related to personally. But I finally settled on Gosling's performance for the win, because I do prefer original characters and the performance itself was so natural and emotional, that I can't begin to express how amazing it was.

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Emma Stone, Easy A
Tilda Swinton, I Am Love
Rachel Weisz, Agora
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Mulligan's movie was a quiet film that a lot of people seemed to have missed, but in the film she shows that she's not just some one-movie wonder starlet that's going anywhere anytime soon. Swinton and Weisz both made my Best Actress list LAST YEAR as well (for Julia and Brothers Bloom) which speaks to how truly excellent and consistent they both are and this year they were on top of their games once more delivering confident performances in not-so-easy roles. Stone is probably my pick for breakthrough actress of the year as she was just absolutely delightful in her film. But it comes down to Williams and Portman who probably went through insanely emotional and physical roller coaster to deliver such powerful performances. I, however, will give the slight edge to Portman who just totally captivated me from the first scene to last. She was perfect.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Kieran Culkin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network/Never Let Go
Tom Hardy, Inception
Oscar Isaac, Agora/Robin Hood
Alexander Siddig, Cairo Time

Such a shame that more people didn't get to see Isaac (Agora) or Siddig's films, because if they did, they would see why I was impressed. Hardy and Culkin were in two of my favorite films of the year and both were essentially the scene-stealers and breakout actors in their immensely talented ensemble. But it comes down to Bale and Garfield for me in the end. It's odd since one can argue that both are co-leads with Wahlberg and Eisenberg respectively, but as Mickey Ward and Mark Zuckenberg keep saying, it's all about them. That's fine, but I was personally more invested and interesting in what Bale and Garfield had to offer. Bale delivers a career performance, one that is every bit worthy of an Academy Award, but honestly, I'm giving this to Garfield just because in the movie that everyone is still talking about, he's the one part of the film I remember most fondly. He is also damn good in Never Let Me Go.

Best Supporting Actress
Marion Cotillard, Inception
Elle Fanning, Somewhere
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Emily Mortimer, City Island/Shutter Island
Olivia Williams, The Ghost Writer

Mortimer doesn't have a lot of screentime in her two supporting roles this year, but she was nonetheless memorably effective in both. With another brief, but excellent performance, Cotillard was arguably the heart of her film while the same can be said of young Fanning with a bit more screentime. Melissa Leo provides an unforgettable performance as the dynamic and mother of the Ward brothers while Kunis was absolutely electric playing opposite-twin-whatever to Portman's tour-de-force role. The winner for me, however, was my pick way back in August as my favorite performance of the year so far and suffice to say, it has held up remarkably well. Olivia Williams, to me, encapsulated all the qualities I admired from all of the other actresses. She made the best of the little screentime and focus she was given, she gave the film the heart it needed, and she was simply put astonishing.

Best Ensemble
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Social Network

The winner was actually not too difficult for me to figure out. With that said, all of these films were chosen because I absolutely adored all of actors belonging to this ensemble from the sisters in The Fighter to the evil exes in Scott Pilgrim to the kids in The Kids Are All Right to the, um, kids in The Social Network. The prize though, I have to say, goes to Inception since the cast itself comprising of DiCaprio, Cotillard, Hardy, Page, Watanabe, Gordon-Levitt, Murphy, Caine, and Rao were just so uniformly excellent and worked together so well, that it was a no-brainer. Unless someone put this thought in my head without me knowing about it, then I don't know.

Most Disappointing Film
Alice in Wonderland
Eat, Pray, Love
Kick-Ass
Leap Year
The Wolfman

I had expectations for all of these films. Not terribly high, but expectations nonetheless of them not totally sucking for one reason or another. The trailer for Alice and Eat, Pray, Love showed potential, but instead one delivered a CGI mess of epic proportions while the other self-indulgently lasted an hour or so longer than appropriate. Kick-Ass looked fun and in some spots, it was, but I was largely unimpressed by the lead actor which dragged the whole film for me. Plus who keeps hiring Nicolas Cage? Seriously. A love story starring Matthew Goode and Amy Adams taking place in Scotland? Sounds AMAZING right? Unfortunately it was a little boring and the two actors looked it. I still love them though. The "winner" though is The Wolfman. I literally fell asleep while watching and I wasn't even that tired. Emily Blunt, you need a better agent!

Worst Film
Clash of the Titans
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
MacGruber
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
When in Rome

I found out after I made this list that I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell was actually not a 2010 release, so it has since been disqualified, which is a bit sad since it so would've "won" this award easily. MacGruber was pretty terrible, but I did laugh at parts that I was supposed to laugh at, so points for that. In the meantime, both Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia were epic... epic disasters. But the title of worst movie of 2010 goes to When in Rome. I always finish movies I start, but I seriously had to force myself to finish this one. Kristen Bell is insanely slumming it and everyone involve should just be ashamed at being part of this movie. Except for Dax Shepard. It's pretty par for the course for him.

Worst Acting Performance
Christina Aguilera, Burlesque
Kirsten Bell, Burlesque/When in Rome
Will Forte, MacGruber
Taylor Lautner, Twilight Saga: Eclipse/Valentine's Day
Taylor Swift, Valentine's Day
Sam Worthington, Clash of the Titans

Aguilera and Swift I'll forgive because it's their first forays into the acting biz. They should just stick to what they are good at. For Aguilera, that's singing. For Swift, that's... um... getting dumped. I was this close to giving this honor to Kristen Bell, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt because she was Veronica Mars, but if anyone ever needed a new agent, it's her. Forte also probably deserves this especially since he created the stupid character. But the choice is really between two actors who were remarkably unimpressive in their films. Worthington was swallowed up by his film, which was also supremely awful while Lautner was like seeing a door act. With that said, Lautner gets this honor because he wasted my time in two films.

Best Netflix Movie
Boy A
Broken Embraces
Close to Leo
The Damned United
Departures
Mammoth
The Messenger
Pirate Radio
Ponyo
The Stoning of Soraya M.

I don't even know why I have this category, because like last year, it's kind of silly to pick a favorite out of all of these films from different years, different genres, etc. I do highly recommend all of them and implore you to catch up with them if you have yet to see them. At the moment, I'll give it to the Japanese film and Oscar-winner Departures. Funny, heartfelt, and all around wonderful. No, but seriously all of these films are winners. Go rent and/or download them now!

Complete film rankings will be forthcoming, though most likely closer to the end of the month. To refresh your memories, my personal top ten (which actually might change between now and my official rankings) are... 127 Hours, Agora, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Easy A, Inception, A Prophet, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Social Network, & Toy Story 3.