Oscars 2012 Predictions

The end of the awards season is almost here, which means the Oscars are upon us!

With no further delay, here are my predictions:

BEST PICTURE:
The Artist
This award is pretty well locked up. The Artist is a black and white silent film that tells the story of a Hollywood actor in 1927 who fears that his career will end with the rise of talking pictures. In the history of the Academy Awards, Best Picture has often gone to a film that had a wide release and is well-known to mainstream audiences like Gone With Wind (1939), The Sound of Music (1965), or The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). However, once in awhile, a little-known, yet critically-acclaimed independent film with a limited release takes home the top prize, like Chariots of Fire (1981), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), or The Hurt Locker (2009). This is definitely one of those years. The Artist is completely charming, romantic, and undeniably fun. It's full of new (and very talented) actors, but there's also a number of familiar faces like John Goodman and James Cromwell. It definitely deserves to win.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Again, this is a no-brainer to predict. Dujardin has taken home every Lead Actor award there is this season. He anchors the film with a hilarious and touching performance.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Viola Davis in The Help
I had a very hard time with this one. I saw The Iron Lady just a few days ago and afterwards I was certain that Meryl Streep was definitely going to win. Her performance as Margaret Thatcher is uncanny and she absolutely carries the film. (Though her performance is incredible, the film itself has narrative problems, which is a different conversation altogether...) So, two days ago I so was certain that Streep was going to win, that I had a hard time remembering who else was nominated. When I looked at the list again I remembered Davis' incredible performance in The Help as Aiblileen, the maid to a wealthy, ungrateful family in Mississippi in the 60's. The Help came out in August, which is not a typical release date for an Oscar contender, so when I originally saw it I didn't have any preconceived Awards Season influences on my mind. However, in hindsight, Davis is the clear winner. She also has two other factors that work in her favor: 1) She was nominated three years ago for her incredible performance in Doubt, which the Academy voters certainly have not forgotten and 2) She is the only actress whose film is also nominated for Best Picture, which is extremely uncommon, especially now that there are 10 pictures in the category. As a bonus, Davis has won a number of awards already this year and her speeches have been beautiful.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christopher Plummer in Beginnners
It's about time Mr. Plummer won an Oscar. The Academy loves actors who play roles that defy their established images. In Beginners he plays widower in his 70s who comes out as gay. He is the father of the lead character, played by the adorable and talented Ewan McGregor. Their on-screen chemistry is amazing. Beginners is one of the most charming films of the year.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Again, this is a no-brainer. Spencer plays Minny, the sassy, strong maid who works for a lonely aspiring socialite, played by Jessica Chastain. Chastian is nominated in this category as well. These two actresses light up the screen together. Spencer has a great sense of comedic timing, but she really shines in the dramatic scenes, where we see her talk about her abusive husband and the desparate situation her children are in. It's always nice to see a new face win an Oscar because it ensures that we will see a lot more from her in the future.

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius
The film that wins Best Picture almost always wins Best Director because the categories are so closely linked. The Artist is the one of the most unique and original films to be made in a long time. It was very brave to direct a silent black and white film in 2011 and Hazanavicius did it beautifully and will be appropriately rewarded for his visionary work.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
I don't know if I've ever seen a film that made me smile from start to finish the way Midnight in Paris did. Woody Allen is one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. He has a sense of humor that appeals to everyone and his characters are memorable and lovable in this movie. Allen also has a knack for taking undervalued, mainstream actors and turning them into real actors and he certainly worked his magic on Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants
I do not love The Descendants the way the critics do. It's one of the most critically-acclaimed films of the year. I don't hate it, but I don't think it's one of the best films of the year. It's amazing how far a film can go when its star is George Clooney. His performance is great, but I wasn't blown away by it, the way everyone else seems to be. I just get annoyed when a movie makes it to awards season because its head-liner is a mega-star. The film would not have gotten the attention it has if it has lesser-known actor. However, its writing is actually really great. Alexander Payne, who also directed the film, has an ear for witty, realistic dialogue. The characters are well-drawn, particularly Clooney's teenage daughter, played by Shailene Woodley whose performance elevates to film to new heights.

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Rango
You may notice the absence of a Pixar film in this category this year. Pixar's only offering this year was Cars 2, which failed to meet the high caliber of all their other films. Rango, however is a fun film about a chameleon who becomes sheriff of an town in the Wild West. Its A-List voice talent includes Johnny Depp, Abigail Breslin, and Isla Fisher.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Loduvic Burce for The Artist
Silent films sink or swim depending on their score. The music is a main character in silent films and The Artist's score top-notch.


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet" from The Muppets
 There are only two songs nominated this year and this is the clear winner. It's sung by Jason Segel and Jim Parsons in a hilarious scene where their contemplate their existences. Are they men or are they Muppets? I dare you to watch the video and try not to smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WWWTW1P8rQ

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
This award could go to either The Artist or Hugo. Both films are visually stunning. However, I think The Artist has the upper hand on this one. Its lighting is beautiful and it's shot beautifully. However, Hugo could upset this category.

BEST ART DIRECTION
Hugo
Again, this award could go to either The Artist or Hugo. However, in modern day film making I think that color plays a huge part in Art Direction and The Artist is black and white. Art Direction is the combination of all the visual elements in the film- the sets, the set dressings, the harmony of the colors on screen, etc.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Hugo
Once again, this one is a tight race between The Artist and Hugo. But, again, the use of color is important to costume designing in this day and age of filmmaking.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Separation, Iran

A Separation is a powerful drama about the tumultuous relation between a husband and wife and the events that endanger their marriage. Their domestic struggles are multiplied by the added pressure of the expectations of Iranian society.

 

BEST MAKE-UP

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II

As an avid Potter fan, I believe that the series deserves much more respect from the Academy than it has received over the last ten years. They've received a few noms here and there, but have never won anything. It's a piddly little award to win, but they deserve to get at least one, especially since they are the clear winners in this category. The Iron Lady does display some incredible age make-up to make Meryl Streep look like Thatcher at many stages of her life, but Deathly Hallows' make-up was so much more involved. They created about 30 Goblins for the Gringotts break-out scene; gave the entire cast battle wounds that got progressively worse as the battle raged on; made Ralph Fiennes near-impossible to recognize as Lord Voldemort; and, most impressively, the age make-up on Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, and Bonnie Wright in the epilogue when they are meant to be 19 years older.

BEST SOUND EDITING 

War Horse

When there's a epic war movie nominated in this category it's usually the clear winner, and such is the case with War Horse. If a sound editor has done their job right, the audience doesn't even know it's there. The battles in War Horse are the best parts of the film, with the explosions, cries of men and horses, and deadly silence in the after math.

BEST SOUND MIXING

War Horse

Sound mixing involves orchestrating all the elements of sound in the film (music, sound effects, and dialogue) and finding the right balance between all of them. Again, the battle in War Horse are very powerful, which is, in part, due to the sound.

BEST FILM EDITING

The Artist

Director John Favreau once said, "Shooting a film on set is like shopping for groceries and editing the film is like cooking the meal." A film begins to take shape in the editing room. A silent film is all about the visuals and The Artist is the clear winner this year.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I wish Harry Potter could win another award, but the incredible use of motion-capture in Rise of the Planet of the Apes surpasses Potter. In the film the genetically enhanced ape, Caesar, is played by actor Andy Serkis. Serkis is well-known for his work in motion capture, particularly his work as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I won't spend time explaining the science of motion capture here, but if you want to learn about it you can read my post that describes it in great detail. I actually wrote this post over the summer when Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released. Read it here.

And there you have it. My predictions for the 2012 Academy Awards.

Tell me your predictions in the comments!

Favorite Awards Show Acceptance Speeches

Awards Season is upon us!

I am an awards show junkie. I love the glamour and spectacle of it all-- the fashion, the stars, the hosts, and, of course, the winners. I watch every awards show that is televised: the Oscars (film), Golden Globes (film and television), Emmys (television), Grammys (music) and Tonys (Broadway).


Every awards show has a few memorable moments that people will be talking about for days and even years afterwards: Adrien Brody kissing Halle Berry as he accepted his Oscar...

...or Melissa Leo dropping an F-bomb during her Oscar speech for The Fighter...

...or Mickey Rourke thanking his dogs in his Golden Globes speech.

So, I thought I'd take some time to highlight some of my favorite acceptance speeches from past awards shows. I chose speeches that range from funny to emotional, heartfelt to serious, and beautifully written to wonderfully spontaneous.

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite acceptance speeches:

Anna Paquin's speech when she won Best Supporting Actress for The Piano at the 1994 Academy Awards:

This is the definition of "speechless." Paquin was just 11 years old when she won. She was so young in fact, that she had not been allowed to see the film due to the R-rated material. Film critic Roger Ebert called her performance, "One of the most extraordinary examples of a child's acting in movie history." Her excited, astonished reaction to hearing her name called is so genuine. I absolutely love the look on her face as she turns towards the audience holding her Oscar. It takes a solid twenty seconds for her to catch her breath and start talking. She delivers a short, simple speech with the poise of someone much older. I also love the reactions of Emma Thompson and Holly Hunter. They are so excited for her. Hunter was nominated for two different films that year, The Firm and The Piano. Later that night she won Best Actress for her performance alongside Paquin.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's speech when they won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting at the 1998 Academy Awards:

Ben Affleck was 25 and Matt Damon was 27 when they won this award. Both had already established fairly successful acting careers at this point, but Good Will Hunting is the movie that put them on the map. When they were trying to sell the screenplay, they made the genius move of selling themselves with the script. They sold the script on the terms that any studio or director who bought the script also bought Affleck and Damon in the lead roles. I love this speech because it starts out with Ben Affleck trying to be calm, cool and collected, and eventually that just goes out the window and they both start shouting the names of they people they want to thank. You can tell that the audience loves the speech because they start cheering and applauding before the speech is over. It makes me laugh when Ben says, "I know we're forgetting someone!"

Julie Andrews winning Best Actress for Mary Poppins at the 1965 Academy Awards.

Julie Andrews is so poised and classy during this speech. She thanks Walt Disney, but then spends the rest of her speech thanking the American film industry for making her feel so welcome. Mary Poppins introduced Andrews to Hollywood and you can tell how genuinely happy she is to win. I also really love Dick Van Dyke clapping in the audience at 2:01.

Chris Colfer winning Best Supporting Actor for the television show Glee at the 2011 Golden Globes:

Believe it or not, this speech was not written or rehearsed. In a later interview Colfer said he was certain that Eric Stonestreet was going to win, so he didn't prepare anything. It's always awesome when you can see that the winner of an award is truly shocked to hear their name called. Colfer looks so dazed. His cast members have to pull him up and send him on his way. There's not a false step in this entire speech. He starts off with a funny quip, thanks his cast and crew, and then delivers a beautiful, heartfelt thank you to the fans of the show.

Dustin Lance Black winning Best Original Screenplay for Milk at the 2009 Oscars:

Milk is the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to public office. Dustin Lance Black was just 24 when he won this award and his speech is so moving. He talks about how personal Harvey's story is to him and he talks about his hopes that one day there will be nation-wide gay rights. Milk is fantastic movie and a movie that I think had to be made at this time in our country.

Kristin Chenoweth winning Best Supporting Actress at the 2009 Emmys:

I just find everything about this woman adorable. It's crazy how much talent can fit into a 4' 10" woman. Chenoweth is mostly known for her work on Broadway (Glinda in Wicked, Sally in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown). She won this award for the television show Pushing Daisies, which had been cancelled by the time the Emmys rolled around. I love how surprised she looks. She immediately bursts into tears when she hears her name called. Her already high-pitched voice is even higher because she's crying. The best part of this speech is when she says that she's unemployed and starts listing the shows she wants to be on. I also like it when she keeps saying "This is really heavy," referring to the statuette.

I love this picture of Tina Fey and Jon Hamm presenting her with the award because I think it looks like Lord of the Rings. Chenoweth is SO tiny, she looks like a hobbit next to Hamm and Fey.

 

 

David Seidler winning Best Original Screenplay for The King's Speech at the 2011 Oscars:

 

There's such a great story behind this award. Seidler had a severe stutter as a child that he accredited to the emotional trauma of World War II and seeing his grandparents murdered during the Holocaust. He found the story of King George VI very inspirational as a child. He had wanted to write this movie for years, but when he asked the Queen Mother for permission in the early 80's she said, "Yes, but not in my lifetime," citing that the memories were too painful. Little did Seidler know, the Queen Mother would live to the age of 101. So almost 30 years later, the film was made. Seidler, at the age of 73, is the oldest person to date to win this award, hence his line, "My father always said to me I would be a late bloomer."

Tom Hanks winning Best Actor for Philadelphia at the 1994 Oscars:

This speech is just downright beautiful. I love every second of it. He thanks the people who are important to the film and then he thanks two of his acting mentors which he calls, "Two of the finest gay Americans." If you haven't seen the film (which everyone should because it's amazing), Hanks plays a gay man with AIDS who is fired from his job due to his homosexuality. Hanks' performance in this film is extraordinary. It's possibly one of the single greatest film performances of all time.

And finally, Tina Fey's acceptance speeches. Ever since her television show 30 Rock premiered in 2006, it seems like not an awards show has gone by without Tina Fey winning for some aspect of the show, whether it be acting, writing, or producing. Her speeches are always full of comedy zings, but she is also genuinely thankful.

First, her acceptance speech at the 2008 Emmys for Lead Actress in a Television Series:

The best line is "I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate with my looks and abilities. Well done, that is what all parents should do."

30 Rock winning for Best Comedy Series at the 2009 Emmys:

Who doesn't love Bob Newhart? His little monologue at the beginning is a little self-serving, but he's Bob Newhart. A comedy genius like that can be a little narcissistic at the Emmys. If you don't want to hear him, skip to 2:08. Again, the speech is funny and heartfelt. It's a fairly recent thing that when a show or movie wins the top prize, everyone involved gets onstage. I really that because it gives the audience a chance to see how many people it takes to make a show work.

Tina Fey winning Best Actress at the 2009 Golden Globes:

Tina Fey has won SO many times that she has given a lot of speeches, so it's awesome how she makes each one unique. And this is by far the most unique. She thanks the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which is the group that votes for the Golden Globes, and then she addresses the people on the internet who hate on her. It's daring and hilarious and just quintessential Tina Fey humor.

So, there you have it: Some of my favorite awards show acceptance speeches. There are tons more, but I thought I'd spare my readers from a post that would take an hour to read.

If you do want to watch some more great speeches, look up:
Sean Penn's speech for Milk at the 2009 Oscars
Kate Winslet's speech for The Reader at the 2009 Oscars
Sutton Foster's speech for Anything Goes at the 2011 Tonys
Michael Caine's speech for The Cider House Rules at the 2000 Oscars
Tim Hanks's speech for Forrest Gump at the 1995 Oscars

If you're an awards show junkie like me, here is when they will be on TV:

Golden Globes: Sunday, January 15, 8pm on NBC
Screen Actors Guild Awards: Sunday, January 29, 8pm on TNT and TBS
Academy Awards: Sunday, February 26, 7pm on ABC

Fun Film Fact 10/17/11

IN AND OUT (1997)
The film was inspired by Tom Hanks' acceptance speech at the 1994 Academy Awards when he won for Philadelphia. In his speech Hanks thanked his gay drama teacher, which lead to this film in which a former student outs his gay teacher in his Oscar speech.

Tom Hanks' Oscar speeches are two of my all-time favorite acceptance speeches. They're just down right beautiful. Click here to watch his speech for Philadelphia

 

Fun Film Fact 08/25/11

THE DEPARTED (2006)
There are 237 f-bombs in this movie, which makes it the movie with the most uses of the F word to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

Fun Film Fact 08/05/11

MOULIN ROUGE (2001)
The song "Come What May" is the only original song in the film, so it was the only song that could have been nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. It was disqualified, however, because it had been written for director Baz Luhrmann's previous film William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (the one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes). It was not used in Romeo and Juliet, but since it had been written for a film other than Moulin Rouge the song couldn't be nominated for the Oscar.

Oscar or not, "Come What May" will always be my favorite song from the movie. It's SO beautiful!! (And come on, who doesn't love Ewan McGregor in this scene? He always does dark, serious movies so I love how happy he is in this movie. Well, happyish...)

Fun Film Fact 07/1/11

THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)
When David Seidler won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay he became the oldest person ever to win that award. He was 73.

Favorite Movie Monarchs

"If the British monarchy is good for nothing else, it's superb at producing the subjects of films."
                  ROGER EBERT

Some of my favorite movies are about monarchs. I think this is because the format for a movie about royalty is often grand and dramatic. (I also have a thing for British movies, but that's an entirely different discussion...) I've found that my favorite movies about kings and queens are not ones that show how lavish and fabulous their lives are. My favorites are usually films about the downside of being royal, monarchs struggling with public perception or the sheltered nature of their lives.

In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite movie monarchs:

Queen Elizabeth I
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (1998)
Played by Dame Judi Dench

The main reason that the arts flourished in the Elizabethan Age is because Queen Elizabeth loved the theater. She would have theater troupes perform for her at the palace. Judi Dench doesn't do anything half-way. She completely gave herself over to this role. Despite the fact that she is on screen for less than 15 minutes, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and rightly so. In Shakespeare in Love, Queen Elizabeth has a sharp tongue and fierce way about her that I love. Men and women alike find her incredibly intimidating.

Favorite Royal Moment: After the performance of Romeo and Juliet, Viola is in danger of being revealed as woman and the queen comes to her defense and speaks my favorite line from the movie: "I know something of a woman in a man's profession. Yes, by God, I do know about that."

Prince Edward
ENCHANTED (2007)
Played by James Marsden

The reason I love Enchanted so much is because it's a send-up of the great Disney princess films and Prince Edward is a perfect example of that. In the film, Edward ventures from his perfect, animated kingdom of Andalasia to New York City to find his lost love, Giselle. He is well-intentioned, but also incredibly narcissistic and dumb. If you think about it, most Disney princes are very one-dimensional. They exist only to brandish a sword, sing a song or two, and then save the damsel in distress. James Marsden plays Edward so over-the-top and he's even more hilarious when compared to Patrick Dempsey's uptight lawyer. Edward is definitely the funniest character in the film.

Favorite Royal Moment: The chipmunk, Pip, is trying to mime to Edward that Nathaniel is not trying to save Giselle, he's trying to kill her, and Edward keeps guessing wildly wrong things. The scene is funny for a number of reasons: First, whenever you play charades, there's always that one person who is terrible at guessing and the writers are making fun of that. Also, Edward's guesses are wonderfully vain. When Pip keeps miming "dying" and "death" and Edward guesses, "I'm even handsome when I sleep!" and "You'd die without me here!"

King George III
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE (1994)
Played by Nigel Hawthorn

The Madness of King George is about King George III's descent into insanity and the political and royal corruption that takes place as a result of his inability to properly rule. The film starts a few years after the colonies have won their independence, which was very trying for the king. For years his insanity ebbs and flows. The film is also about the sorry state of medical practices in the 1700s. There are many scenes where the king is forced to endure many terrible treatments that were thought to cure mental illness. Nigel Hawthorn was not very well known to film audiences because he was mainly a stage actor in Britain, but he was an incredible actor. He played King George III in a way that was both darkly comedic and very sad. He completely carried the film. I would say that the insanity spread to the Academy voters who gave the Oscar to Tom Hanks instead. (I love you, Tom Hanks, but come on, Forrest Gump was not deserving of an Oscar.)

Favorite Royal Moment: There are many comedic moments in the film and my favorite is a scene where the king discusses the new country of America with one of his advisors.
KING GEORGE: What of the colonies, Mr. Pitt?
PITT: America is now a nation, sir.
KING GEORGE: It is? Well we must try and get used to it. I have known stranger things. I once saw a sheep with five legs...

Princess Ann 
ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953)
Played by Audrey Hepburn

Roman Holiday is my favorite Audrey Hepburn film. She plays Princess Ann, a young woman who is bored with her over-scheduled, sheltered life. The writing never actually tells us what country she is from, but that doesn't matter. When her good-will tour of Europe takes a stop in Rome, she sneaks out and spends a day in the city with a young American writer. The very first scene of the film is one where Ann is at a ball and she has to greet hundreds of foreign dignitaries. As she meets them, the camera cuts to a shot of her feet under her dress. She takes her sore foot out of her shoe and her shoe falls over and during the rest of the introductions she tries to get her foot back in her shoe. It's such a charming way to introduce Ann. Sometimes people underestimate how funny Audrey Hepburn could be. This is the role that introduced Audrey Hepburn to the world (her credit reads "Introducing Audrey Hepburn") and it was quite an introduction, an Oscar-winning introduction in fact. Hepburn is incandescently beautiful in all her movies, but I think she never looked lovelier than in Roman Holiday.

Favorite Royal Moment: In the evening, Ann and Joe (Gregory Peck) go out dancing and two of Ann's secret servicemen spot them and there is a skirmish as Ann and Joe escape. However, before they escape, Joe throws a few punches and Ann gleefully smashes a guitar over a secret serviceman's head. I love it because it's the polar opposite of how Ann is introduced, all prim and proper. The scene is a lot of fun to watch.

Queen Elizabeth II
THE QUEEN (2006)
Played by Dame Helen Mirren

For the most part, I find the British monarchy ridiculous and unnecessary, but I have to say, I like the current queen very much. She's always struck me as very smart and strong-willed, as if her pampered lifestyle didn't affect her the way you would expect. Did you know that at the age of 18 she was a mechanic in World War II? She basically watched the job kill her father and then became queen at the age of 27. The Queen is about a small section of her reign. The film is about the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. Many felt that the queen handled it very poorly. She refused to fly the flag at half-mast above Buckingham Palace and it took her days before she spoke publicly on the matter. Though the royals could be thought of as the "bad guys" in this film, Helen Mirren, in an Oscar-winning role (are you sensing a trend in this list?), plays the queen with real strength. You get the feeling that she's not malicious (as the media made her out to be), she's conflicted.

Favorite Royal Moment: I love the scene where Prime Minister Blair (Michael Sheen) meets HRH for the first time since getting elected. He is sort of overwhelmed and she is very straight-forward with him. She holds the power the entire scene. The meeting is short and formal, but there are some great lines. It's an impressive scene for Mirren.

King George VI
THE KING'S SPEECH (2010)
Played by Colin Firth

Let me first start off by saying that I saw The King's Speech four times in theaters and it never gets old. Colin Firth was pegged for the Oscar win MONTHS in advance. Sorry James Franco and Jesse Eisenberg, but no one else had a chance to win. He plays Prince Albert (soon-to-be King George VI), who had a terrible stutter. He was never meant to be king, but his older brother Edward abdicated the throne in order to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson. The theme I love most in the film is the fact that Albert was really the first monarch who had to be king on television and on the radio. There's a line in the film where he says, "In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and ingratiate ourselves with them." As prince and then as king, Albert was expected to give grand speeches and make public appearances. Firth plays him with so many layers. He's incredibly self-conscious, but also very stubborn. In his early scenes with his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) he is proud and haughty, but then there are some beautiful and emotional scenes with Helena Bonham Carter, who plays his wife, where he cries and pours out his soul to her. There is not a false step in the entire performance.

Favorite Royal Moment: Albert has a terrible argument with his brother who makes fun of his stutter by calling him B-B-B-Bertie. As Albert vents to Lionel, his speech therapist, he drops a few swears and Lionel points out that he doesn't stutter when he swears and encourages him to shout as many swears as he can think of. Then follows the most hilarious part of the movie. Colin Firth starts shouting swear after swear, louder and louder and faster and faster as Lionel eggs him on. "Yes! Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!" The first time I saw it in the theater, I was afraid the 80-year-old woman in front of me was going to die from laughing so hard.
A close second is the scene where he makes up a bedtime story for his daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.

Queen Victoria
THE YOUNG VICTORIA (2009)
Played by Emily Blunt

Other than The King's Speech, The Young Victoria is the best movie about royals released in a long time. Emily Blunt portrays Queen Victoria during the turbulent first years of her reign. She became queen when she was just 18 and there were many people who wanted her to sign over her duties until she was older, but she refused. The film largely focuses on her relationship with Albert and how they fell in love and ruled as a team. Albert was an incredibly devoted spouse, even taking an assassin's bullet for her. In terms of historical power couples, Victoria and Albert are right up there with John and Abigail Adams. It takes a very good actress to play a role like this and Emily Blunt plays it beautifully. Blunt is one of those actresses whose career I'm very excited to watch. She is incredibly talented. If you want a good picture of her abilities, watch The Young Victoria and Sunshine Cleaning.

Favorite Royal Moment: One of the first times Victoria meets Albert, they play a game of chess. They are very closely watched by her mother and a number of other women who are in the same room, so they carry on a very quiet conversation so they can't be overheard. Victoria talks about how sometimes she feels like a chess piece, as though she's simply being moved around by powerful politicians.
ALBERT: Then you had better master the rules of the game until you can play it better than they can.
VICTORIA: You don't recommend I find a husband to play it for me?
ALBERT: I should find one to play it with you, not for you.

And there you have it. A few of my favorite movie monarchs.

Who are some of your favorites?

Fun Film Fact 06/17/11

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Anthony Hopkins won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, though he is only on screen for 16 minutes. This is the record for shortest amount of screen time to win the lead actor Oscar.

New Oscar Category For Stunts?

On Tuesday, Movieline.com had an interesting piece about how Hollywood stunt people are lobbying for their own category at the Academy Awards. They feel that their contributions to films deserve to be recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Until I read the article, this idea had never even crossed my mind, but I have to say I am totally in support of it.

There is definitely precedent for adding another category. Every so often AMPAS adds a new category or modifies an existing category. The most recent addition was Best Animated Feature, which was added in 2001. I think it's fitting that the categories evolve as the film industry evolves. There are two categories for sound (Sound Editing and Sound Mixing) and three categories for short films (Animated, Live-Action, and Documentary) so why not add a new category for stunts?

The people who are against this proposition say that stunts are included in the Visual Effects category, but that's just not true. There is a difference between VISUAL effects and SPECIAL effects. Special effects used to be the industry term for everything that cannot be achieved by normal means (space travel, monsters, etc.) but since the dawn of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), the term special effects has been modified to mean the effects that are created on set and visual effects are the CGI elements added in post-production.

For example, take the burning building sequence in Spiderman where Peter saves the baby. Director Sam Raimi chose to use real fire on set as opposed to adding it digitally in post-production (which saves A LOT of money), so the special effects team had to come up with a way to make it appear as if the building were on fire without actually burning it to the ground. It also had to be completely safe so Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe didn't get burned. So here's what they did: They built a building with an interior shell made of concrete so the building wouldn't catch on fire and then hid serrated pipes in the walls. Gas was pumped through the pipes which were then set on fire, thus creating the illusion that the building was on fire. That's special effects. And since stunt people do all their work on set, the category of Best Visual Effects does not include them.

Just like CGI and special effects, stunt people are an integral part of making action movies. No matter how awesome Hugh Jackman's six-pack is (he might be at, like, a ten-pack by now, but anyway...) there is no way the producers of a $100 million dollar movie are going to let him do all his own stunts. No one wants to be responsible for killing Wolverine, so they have stunt performers do the dangerous stuff. Stunt men and women are trained in everything from karate to gymnastics to scuba-diving to stunt driving, so they know how to perform dangerous stunts without getting hurt.

Another argument against adding a stunt category is that stunt people, much like magicians, don't want their secrets revealed. If they do their job right, an audience shouldn't be able to tell when it's the actor and when it's a stunt person. I think this is a ridiculous argument because the same can be said for CGI. If CGI is done well, the audience shouldn't even know it's there. Bad visual effects can distract movie-goers, so the best visual effects are the invisible ones. (Christopher Nolan is a master at this.)

If AMPAS adds a stunt category, there still remains one question: Should the category be Best Stunt Coordinator, which would be an award that encompasses all the movie's stunts, or should the category be Best Stunt, which would highlight just one spectacular stunt? I think the award should be given to the Stunt Coordinator because that would be awarding the stunt team as a whole. It would be really difficult to choose just one stunt. Think about it: most action sequences are a combination of dozens of stunts anyway. It's rare that a stunt stands alone. Awarding an Oscar to one stunt would be like giving an Oscar to one costume.

If you want a really good look at how the stunt coordinator and stunt performers work, I would recommend watching the documentary about the stunts in The Lord of Rings: The Two Towers. If you own the extended editions it's on the fourth disc. It's a really great in-depth look at how hard they work. It's also kind of mind-blowing to watch human beings throw themselves off 30-foot-tall walls and jump up smiling.

Click here for the Movieline article.

Fun Film Fact 06/12/11

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) and THE HURT LOCKER (2008)
Both films shot in many of the same locations in Jordan and you can see some of the same landmarks in both movies. Both films also went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture 46 years apart.

Favorite Oscar-Winning Original Songs

The category of Best Original Song was first introduced at the 7th Academy Awards in 1934. Each year the song writers and composers who are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences (AMPAS) nominate 3-5 songs that were written especially for a film and then the Academy as a whole votes for the best one.

The genre with the most songs on my iPod is Soundtrack. I love movie scores and original movie songs. The right song can make a world of difference to particular scene. In the late 80's to late 90's Disney ruled this category, winning it seven times in 11 years. People often refer to this period as the Second Golden Age of Disney.

However, within the last 10 years or so a new trend has sprung up: Instead of the song fitting into a scene in the movie, the song is more of a companion piece to the film and often plays during the end credits. Usually the song will be lyrics set the movie's score or the other way around, with the movie's score being based on the song.

Here are a few of my favorite Oscar-winning original songs:

"Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
By Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer 

"Moon River" is one of the most famous songs ever written for a film. It's a song about having a dream, wanting something greater that what you have now. When we first meet Holly Golightly, she seems like a bit of a floozy with good intentions, but then she sings this song. Holly is sitting on her fire escape in very simple clothes (very unlike the high-fashion she wears the rest of the movie) playing the guitar and singing. I love that this is actually Audrey Hepburn's voice. (She was dubbed in My Fair Lady.) She sings the song with such longing and the audience gets to see a new side to Holly.

"When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt (1998)
By Stephen Schwartz

Stephen Schwartz has written some of the most famous musicals of the last 40 years: Wicked, Pocahontas, Godspell, Children of Eden, Enchanted and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, to name a few, but this song is his crowning glory, in my opinion. After years of religious education I didn't think there was yet another way to tell the story of Moses, but when I first saw The Prince of Egypt when I was about 11, I was blown away. This movie is so incredibly well done. It appeals to all age-groups and almost everyone I've talked to finds it incredibly moving. "When You Believe" is sung by Miriam, Moses' sister, and Moses' wife, Tzipporah. The Hebrews' prayers to God have gone unanswered and they are beginning to lose faith. This song lifts their spirits (and the audience's) during their exodus from Egypt. The lyrics, which include some Hebrew, are beautiful. The story of Moses is epic to begin with and this song makes it more so. I get chills when I watch this scene.

"Fame" from Fame (1980)
by Michael Gare and Dean Pitchford

"Fame" is another song about having big dreams, but unlike "Moon River" it is upbeat and more confident-sounding. The singer wants, above all, fame and is willing to do whatever is takes to get there. My mom has the original Fame record album and I first heard this song play on my dad's record player in the kitchen of my house. It got me tapping my toes immediately and the next day I went out and rented the movie. The song plays during an awesome scene where all the kids from the performing arts school dance in the streets and on top of cars in New York City. Recently, there was a remake of Fame and, as with most remakes, it was not nearly as good as the first. The original is the only way to go.

"You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan (1999)

By Phil Collins

The music in Tarzan is different from other animated Disney movies. The songs comment on the scenes instead of the characters actually singing them. A bunch of Disney movies have one or two songs like this ("Circle of Life," "Can You Feel the Love Tonight") but in Tarzan every song is like this EXCEPT for "You'll Be In My Heart." Kala sings a simple version of it to baby Tarzan near the beginning of the movie. Since this is the only song sung by a character, it makes it stand out. The song has the universal messages of acceptance and unconditional love. The full version, sung by Phil Collins, is so uplifting and heart-felt.

"Into The West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

By Howard Shore and Annie Lennox

 

*SPOILER ALERT*

The thing I love about this song is that a lot of the lyrics are straight from Tolkien's original text:

And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

Those are the final lines of Frodo's journey in the book. There are different interpretations of what happens to Frodo in the West. I believe the Undying Lands are a metaphor for Heaven, thus Frodo is dying. "Into The West" is about death, but it is not sad, it's hopeful. It's about the beauty of death and how dying means a new beginning. Though the song plays during the end credits, the melody is heard throughout the movie. Interestingly, it plays during scenes about death. For example, there is a huge sweeping version of the melody during one of the most memorable moments from the film, Sam and Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom. Frodo is ready to give in to the power of the Ring and perish, and Sam saves him. "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" Check it out. 

*END SPOILER ALERT*
 

"Streets of Philadelphia" from Philadelphia (1993)

By Bruce Springsteen

This song plays during the opening credits of Philadelphia. It is set to images of real people from many walks of life in Philadelphia. The song is a rock ballad about love, loss and change. You listen to it and picture a destitute person with hard life and has very little hope left. I love that this is a Bruce Springsteen song because it shows the incredible range he has.

"My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic (1997)

By James Horner and Celine Dion

Many people regard this song as a pop cheese-fest, but I think it's a beautiful song. Jack and Rose's story is one of the most epic love stories of modern times and it deserves a powerful, dramatic song. This is a classic case of lyrics being set to the movie's score, which also won the Academy Award. I'm not a fan of Dion's other music, but there is no denying she an incredible voice. This song is so hard to sing (watch almost any season of American Idol for evidence) and she sings it with real emotion and heart.

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" from Butch Cassidy the Sundance Kid (1969)

By Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

A lot of people don't know that this classic song was originally written for a movie. This scene from Butch Cassidy is one of my all-time favorite Paul Newman scenes. Katharine Ross sits on the handlebars of his bike as they ride through the countryside. The thing I love most about it is that the main characters of the movie are gangsters and criminals, but they are also just people who enjoy the simple things in life like goofing around on a bike. The song is so care-free and fun.