(Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

For the films of 2011
Damien
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Damien »

Who knew the NY Post would have a liberal as their first string movie reviewer? (I assume V.A. Musetto is also left-of-center but he only handles foreign and art films -- and I wonder what percentage of NY Post readers are interested in reading about A Generation or a Godard film festival. Can't be more than 2 percent.)

I had completely forgotten that a movie called Elizabethtown existed. But then again, Cameron Crowe is on my get-the-fuck-out-of-here-and-don't-come-back list along with Barry Levinson, Paul Thomas Anderson, Baz Luhrmann, Spike Jonez, Patrice Chéreau, Marc Forster and Mike Leigh.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Big Magilla »

If a Middle-of-the-Road mainstay of the New York Film Critics like Lou Loumenick doesn't like War Horse or Streep, then my predicitons are probably way off this year. Here's his two cents from yesterday:

I'm heading off shortly to see David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.'' Hope it was really worth the New York Film Critics Circle postponing the vote on its annual awards for a day, until tomorrow. I don't know when I'll be allowed to share my thoughts about this one with you, but comments began circulating about three other contenders over the long holiday weekend. So I'll chime in briefly.


WAR HORSE: It's been a while since I've seen a movie as nakedly manipulative as Steven Spielberg's latest, a shamelessly Oscar-mongering adaptation of a children's book (it also inspired a Tony-winning play) opening on Christmas Day. I'd like to believe the academy's tastes have moved beyond schmaltz laid on with a trowel -- especially John Williams' string-pulling score -- but all bets are off if this story of a heroic horse in World War I connects in a major way with audiences. It may well score a Best Picture nomination, but the lack of an Oscar-caliber performance will make it tough to win for this former front-runner. Thank God animals aren't eligible for Oscar nods.


THE IRON LADY: Over at his personal blog, my conservative colleague Kyle Smith applauds what he considers a fair and balance portrait of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. As a liberal, I'd fault this for trying to pander to both her admirers and her detractors. Phylidia Lloyd's direction is competent (a big improvement over "Mamma Mia!'') but I wonder how many people will go see a movie where the most powerful woman of the 20th century is seen in scene after scene as a dotty old lady debating her controversial legacy with the ghost of her late husband (Jim Broadbent). Meryl Streep will likely be nominated for a performance that's a technical, accent-oriented marvel (like the ones she gave in the '80s) but lacks the approachability of her more recent work. Opens limited on Dec.30.


WE MET A ZOO: Cameron Crowe makes a delightful comeback after "Elizabethtown'' with this endearing, family-friendly tale with lots of other animals that will get a two-day jump on "The War Horse.'' Matt Damon has a shot at a Best Actor nomination for his career-best performance as a recently widowed father of two who buys a dilapidated zoo. This is the first time I've ever liked Scarlett Johanssen, who's wonderful as a tough zookeeper who becomes Matt's love interest. Her first nomination, in support, is not out of the question.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/os ... z1f4sCWS6i
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by anonymous1980 »

BEST PICTURE: The Descendants (RU: Hugo)
BEST DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese, Hugo (RU: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life)
BEST ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist (RU: Michael Fassbender, Shame)
BEST ACTRESS: Viola Davis, The Help (RU: Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Albert Brooks, Drive (RU: Christopher Plummer, Beginners)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, The Help, Take Shelter and The Tree of Life (RU: Vanessa Redgrave, Corialanus)
BEST SCREENPLAY: Alexander Payne, Nate Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants (RU: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris)
BEST FOREIGN FILM: Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (RU: A Seperation)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Tabloid (RU: The Interrupters)
BEST FIRST FEATURE: Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango (RU: Chico & Rita)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life (RU: Robert Richardson, Hugo)
Last edited by anonymous1980 on Tue Nov 29, 2011 8:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by nightwingnova »

First showing of Tattoo was this afternoon, with critical comment embargoed until the studio says so. I'm going by the trailer and David Fincher's talent.

Waltz comes out of left field, I agree. But after seeing the trailer (what else can we do?), I found a really interesting character - one that is memorable and well-crafted, and which I seem to feel is more special than the others. We can't even work with reviews here much less see all the films; so, I went with my gut.

Reza wrote:
nightwingnova wrote:Last call, I suppose, so I'm redoing my guesses after weekend reviews and buzz:

Film: The Artist (if not, Shame)
Director: Lars von Trier - Melancholia (if not, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or The Artist)
Screenplay: Gods and Men (if not, Shame)
Actor: Christoph Waltz - Carnage (if not, Jean Dujardin or Michael Fassbender)
Actress: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (runners-up: Rooney Mara and Kirsten Dunst)
Supporting Actor: Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method (runners-up: Christopher Plummer and Robert Forster)
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus) (runner-up: Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs)
Cinematography: Melancholia
Has Dragon Tattoo received good reviews or it's something you really want to see on a Crtics' award list? And why is Waltz figuring so high on your prediction list?
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Reza »

nightwingnova wrote:Last call, I suppose, so I'm redoing my guesses after weekend reviews and buzz:

Film: The Artist (if not, Shame)
Director: Lars von Trier - Melancholia (if not, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or The Artist)
Screenplay: Gods and Men (if not, Shame)
Actor: Christoph Waltz - Carnage (if not, Jean Dujardin or Michael Fassbender)
Actress: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (runners-up: Rooney Mara and Kirsten Dunst)
Supporting Actor: Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method (runners-up: Christopher Plummer and Robert Forster)
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus) (runner-up: Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs)
Cinematography: Melancholia
Has Dragon Tattoo received good reviews or it's something you really want to see on a Crtics' award list? And why is Waltz figuring so high on your prediction list?
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by nightwingnova »

Last call, I suppose, so I'm redoing my guesses after weekend reviews and buzz:

Film: The Artist (if not, Shame)
Director: Lars von Trier - Melancholia (if not, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or The Artist)
Screenplay: Gods and Men (if not, Shame)
Actor: Christoph Waltz - Carnage (if not, Jean Dujardin or Michael Fassbender)
Actress: Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady (runners-up: Rooney Mara and Kirsten Dunst)
Supporting Actor: Viggo Mortensen - A Dangerous Method (runners-up: Christopher Plummer and Robert Forster)
Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus) (runner-up: Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs)
Cinematography: Melancholia
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Damien »

I thought of Pariah today, too. But that might seem to be too much of a Precious redux to impress them.

So my prediction is Martha Marcy May Marlene, with Margin Call the runner-up.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by bizarre »

Mister Tee wrote:For the information of all, other films that appear to qualify as debuts:

Margin Call
Higher Ground
Tyrannosaur
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Pariah might be eligible. Dee Rees has directed a couple shorts and a documentary but I'm not sure of the documentary's length.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Mister Tee »

For the information of all, other films that appear to qualify as debuts:

Margin Call
Higher Ground
Tyrannosaur
In the Land of Blood and Honey
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by nightwingnova »

Unlike the Oscars, the NYFCC don't have a history of "spreading the love." Their choices tend to be more heavily based on merit. Jack Nicholson has won four best actor and two best supporting actor citations - back to back in 1974 and 1975, and one year apart in 1983, 1985 and 1987.

Liv Ullman's three best actress awards all came in the 1970s - 1972, 1974 and 1976.

I haven't seen Streep's performance yet, but she's certainly still in contention.

bizarre wrote:My predictions for the main categories:

Best Actor
Brad Pitt (George Clooney)

I would say Clooney but he won two years ago. Pitt fits the recent trend of stars-going-serious that have been rewarded here. Harrelson could also upset.

Best Actress
Glenn Close (Elizabeth Olsen)

I feel funny predicting her here as I don't expect her to get an Oscar nomination, but Close fits the recent veteran trend extremely well, she has stage experience in NY that could help her, and the amount of work she's putting into this film's development and publicity is admirable. Other than that, I don't know - Streep won recently and this kind of apolitical film treatment of Thatcher doesn't seem like it'd strike their fancy. They haven't rewarded ingenues here since the 90s but Olsen has the reviews from many of this group's members, so she's my alternate.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by bizarre »

My predictions for the main categories:

Best Picture
The Descendants (The Tree of Life)

The Descendants is incredibly well-reviewed although they don't usually go this "small" with their Best Picture winners. The Tree of Life is my alternate.

Best Director
Terrence Malick (Michel Hazanavicius)

They have given Malick an award here before and this seems like the sort of "important American film" the NYFCC like to celebrate. But it has been a divisive picture critically.

Best Actor
Brad Pitt (George Clooney)

I would say Clooney but he won two years ago. Pitt fits the recent trend of stars-going-serious that have been rewarded here. Harrelson could also upset.

Best Actress
Glenn Close (Elizabeth Olsen)

I feel funny predicting her here as I don't expect her to get an Oscar nomination, but Close fits the recent veteran trend extremely well, she has stage experience in NY that could help her, and the amount of work she's putting into this film's development and publicity is admirable. Other than that, I don't know - Streep won recently and this kind of apolitical film treatment of Thatcher doesn't seem like it'd strike their fancy. They haven't rewarded ingenues here since the 90s but Olsen has the reviews from many of this group's members, so she's my alternate.

Best Supporting Actor
Corey Stoll (Nick Nolte)

They like Allen and none of the other major candidates really seem like NYFCC things except Nick Nolte, although his film never really went anywhere.

Best Supporting Actress
Vanessa Redgrave (Janet McTeer)

I just don't see anyone else making it here. If Chastain does it'd be for all of her films, and multiple citations are much more of a LAFCA thing. The Help is probably too populist unless they downgrade Davis to Supporting for this award. EL&IC isn't showing, and I don't buy Bejo's chances here as they rarely reward unknowns. Woodley has the same issue and I don't remember the last time they awarded a young actress here. I'd say Carey Mulligan in Shame but if that happened I'd expect the film to be rewarded elsewhere, which I don't necessarily see happening. McTeer I could see as a winner but a win without Close would be strange.

Best Screenplay
The Descendants (Midnight in Paris)

No-brainer? Maybe not. Allen's first hugely successful film of the 21st century could pique their interest.

NYFCC winners in all categories usually get Oscar attention so it would be strange if multiple winners here didn't (I'm not predicting Close or Stoll for Academy recognition). We'll see in a couple days though.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Okri »

Oh, me too.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Damien »

Okri wrote:The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard
Leap Year, directed by Michael Rowe
Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish
The Myth of the American Sleepover, directed by David Robert Mitchell
I liked The Myth of the American Sleepover a great deal, but I think Tee is on the money in picking Martha and Marcy the other two girls.
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Okri »

The Arbor, directed by Clio Barnard
Leap Year, directed by Michael Rowe
Attack the Block, directed by Joe Cornish
The Myth of the American Sleepover, directed by David Robert Mitchell
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Re: (Ridiculous) NY Critics Voting Date

Post by Damien »

Mister Tee wrote:
First Film: Martha Marcy May Marlene

I notice no one else has picked in this last category. Does anyone know what other prominent films this were debuts?

I didn't select in this category because the only eligible film I could think of was Coriolanus.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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