Les Miserables

Oscar: The 9 films that could win “Best Picture”

This list won’t just be the top 9 films on the Best Picture prediction page. It also won’t be the 9 I think will make it with nominations (though very possible). Many other films not on the list could be nominated, but won’t compete for the win, the same way “The Blind Side” or “District 9” didn’t compete in 2010 and how “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” didn’t compete in 2011.

At this point in the race we have seen all but four of the major contenders. We, as a film-going audience, haven’t seen them, but critics have, and we have been given a general consensus on the film.

So here are the top 9, possible Oscar Winners. I can guarantee one of these nine films will be our Oscar Best Picture winner.
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Analysis: A great film critic passes away

Great is an under statement here. Roger Ebert was the face of film criticism. He died April, 04 2013 in Chicago. He was 70. I have followed Roger’s reviews and posts for a long time now, probably the majority of my life. I got into film criticism when I was eleven and I started watching reruns of Siskel & Ebert. At the time Roger was reviewing films with Richard Roeper.

I kept watching these review shows, till the point I stopped seeing Roger Ebert. He suffered from various health problems, among them was cancer from 2002. It got to the point where he had to speak through an electronic voice modulator. This didn’t stop him from writing reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times. (more…)

Awards: Argo named Best Picture of 2012

Argo has just been named the best film of 2012 by the Academy, where the film received 3 Oscars, the other two for Editing and Adapted Screenplay. The most Oscars was given to Life of Pi which received four including Best Director for Ang Lee, Visual Effects, Cinematography, and Original Score.  Tying with Argo with three also was Les Miserables.

So what does everyone think? Any snubs? Did Argo deserve the title? I have never seen so much flip-flopping by Oscar predictors over the last few months, when Argo became the clear front-runner it was clear what happened. The momentum had been shifting since October from Argo to Silver Linings Playbook to Zero Dark Thirty to Lincoln to Les Miserables the back to Lincoln and then landed on Argo again. The thing about those other four films, and this would include Life of Pi as well is that they were all loved, just not by everyone and those people who didn’t “love” them kind of hated them.  (more…)

Top 20: Films of the Decade so Far 2010-2013

Judging by the amount of inevitable criticism I have been receiving since putting some unconventional films on my end of the year lists, I figured I’d make the image above one of my favorites, which is sure to be a cult hit, but not necessarily remembered in time.

The first list I’m going to have is all the films from the past three years (including 2013 so far, even though no film is actually included yet) factoring in the critical scores via MetaCritic and Rotten Tomatoes along with the cultural impact of the film.

I have included my top 20 as well which is vastly different: (more…)

Awards: The Media 10’s 2013 Film Awards

Best Film: Les Miserables
Runner Up: Moonrise Kingdom

Best Director: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Runner Up: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Runner Up: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Best Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Runner Up: Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Supporting Actor: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Runner Up: Ewan McGregor, The Impossible

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Runner Up: Doona Bae, Cloud Atlas

Ensemble Acting: Les Miserables
Runner Up: Lincoln

Adapted Screenplay: Lincoln
Runner Up: Cloud Atlas

Original Screenplay: Moonrise Kingdom
Runner Up: Zero Dark Thirty

Cinematography: Moonrise Kingdom
Runner Up: Lincoln

Production Design: Moonrise Kingdom
Runner Up: Lincoln

Editing: Cloud Atlas
Runner Up: Zero Dark Thirty

Score: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Runner Up: The Grey

Costume Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Runner Up: Cloud Atlas

Makeup: Cloud Atlas
Runner Up: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Visual Effects: Cloud Atlas
Runner Up: Life of Pi

Sound Mixing: Les Miserables
Runner Up: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Sound Editing: Frankenweenie
Runner Up: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Top 10 Films of 2012

1. Les Miserables
Tom Hooper tops “The King’s Speech” with style and grandeur. Les Miserables is an enchanting experience, adapting itself with discipline from the epic Broadway musical and to Victor Hugo’s classic novel. The film reaches its heights with the assistance of a vocally talented ensemble.

2. Moonrise Kingdom
With whimsy and nostalgia, Moonrise Kingdom is a welcoming period piece from a not-so-unfamiliar time, about a not-so-unfamiliar subject matter. Wes Anderson tells his story with fantastical renderings and a keen-eye for detail and design.

3. Lincoln
A film told by words and character, Lincoln successfully humanizes a heroic figure from human history by guiding us through his most difficult struggles with stunning finesse. Spielberg directs an impressive cast into a film that is as entertaining as it is education

4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
Quvenzhane Wallis transforms the character of Hushpuppy to an unsung hero. Beasts of the Southern Wild directs us into the struggling mind and heart of this girl and adventures us through a lifestyle of self-reliance that is touching and often miraculous.

5. Cloud Atlas
Ambitiously adapted from the successful novel, Cloud Atlas is interwoven with several entertaining plots, and entrusts the audience to discover the connectedness of each story. With well-paced editing and execution any easily-possible contrivances are avoided.

6. The Grey
Carnahan’s character-driven thriller is as intense as it is emotionally sound. Liam Neeson humanizes the appointed leader of a pack of humans struggling to survive in the Alaskan wilderness. Deep, thematic themes are explored along with a beautifully developed narrative that ties up all loose-ends.

7. Zero Dark Thirty
Combining elements of journalism and a strong narrative, Kathyrn Bigelow’s retelling of America’s greatest manhunt through the eyes of a CIA agent named Maya is thrilling and told with subjectivity. Zero Dark Thirty surpasses expectations and fantasies of the untold story with realism and humanism.

8. Safety Not Guaranteed
A film about regret and second chances subtly wraps itself in inde-comedy paper. But with intriguing characters, and a strong lead performance by Aubrey Plaza, the film maintains a consistent amount of humor and heart-warmth. All that leads us to a spiraling, and satisfying third-act.

9. Argo
The pacing in Affleck’s thriller will make your heart-race. Argo becomes a true American story that adapts itself from real-life events and characters involved in dramatic and dire situations. Meticulously crafted and edited with breath-taking attention to execution, Argo is an ideal Hollywood thriller.

10. Indie Game: The Movie
Independently funded and shot on DSLR cameras, Indie Game: The Movie interweaves the struggles and ideals of video game developers. Edited seamlessly to support a strong, moral narrative; directors Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky encompass us in the midst of the artistic process; behind the scenes of an art form so few understand.

Honorable Mentions: Amour, Silver Linings Playbook, The Dark Knight Rises, The Cabin in the Woods, Life of Pi

Awards: 2013 Final Golden Globe Predictions

Here are my predictions for the winners of the 2013 Golden Globes which airs tonight.

Best Motion Picture Drama: Lincoln
Potential Upset: Argo

Performance by an Actress in a Drama: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Potential Upset: Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Performance by an Actor in a Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Potential Upset: Lewis is a Lock (more…)

Oscars: 2013 Nominations – Winners and Losers

Whoa! What happened? So, myself and a lot of the more “professional” Oscar predictors did a pretty mediocre job on their predictions, especially in the Best Director category. But I thought the nominations were more thought provoking than previous years. It shows that the Academy is a group of wildcards really.

So here is the list of winners and losers after the nominations were announced per category: (more…)

 
Film Review: Les Miserables

I was anticipating this movie for a long time, I loved the musical and saw it multiple times. I bought the album and learned the lyrics to nearly all the songs. I was a pretty big fan of the show, and I still am. So naturally, I will be dismissed as a fan whose opinion isn’t going to matter because I’m going to be too forgiving. So many reviews have stated that the initiated will love it, but those who aren’t won’t. So I guess that explains why five uninitiated members of my family loved it once we left.

Admittedly they probably didn’t love it as much as me, but they still loved it. My mother saying it is the best she has seen from 2012. It is at this point where I kind of want to argue that critics sometimes are to absorbed by their own craft to enjoy a film. I won’t go down that road though, but I thoroughly believe this is one of the many films that will go down in history with A Sound of Music, Forrest Gump, Gladiator ect. that critics got wrong.. (more…)

Oscars: 2013 Oscar Predictions – December

This will be the second to final Oscar Predictions before they are announced in January. But then we will be predicting winners. The Media 10 has also moved Oscar Predictions to their own page found at the top of the lefthand column.

At this moment in time, nothing is set in stone. Zero Dark Thirty has taken home many critic awards for Best Feature and there are stacks of positive reviews. Les Miserables, despite ovations and Academy-screening applause, is struggling with critics.

CRITICS DON’T VOTE FOR THE OSCARS. The Academy consists of film professionals, actors and other enthusiasts. SAG is one of the biggest indicators for the Academy since it consists of a good majority of actors. SAG can go to either Lincoln or Les Miserables.  (more…)