The 2012 Oscar nominees were announced this morning, with people equal parts elated and blistering angry as usual. No doubt, some category surprisingly nominated one of your favorite movies of last year, while another ignored assuredly the Best _______ of them all. What’s always amusing about these conversations are people’s insistence that multiple individuals/movies were snubbed in a given category, yet remain silent about who should get the boot.
That’s why every year on this monumental day (I love the Oscars with an unhealthy passion), it’s fun to play the Oscar Replacement Game. The rules are simple…
1. You can only replace one slot per category. No dumping the entire Best Supporting Actor gang because you like five others better.
2. Only one replacement per movie. As much as I’d be happy to overload the 2012 Oscars with Take Shelter love, it’s too easy to get upset about one picture missing out on accolades when dozens deserve attention as well.
That’s it. As usual, I limit myself to ten selections or, honestly, I’d never shut up. Anyways, let’s get this started.
Motion Picture - Take Shelter over The Help
I can’t turn the Academy Awards into the Take Shelter commemoration show, but I can wish for the unforgettable Jeff Nichols movie to sneak into this field. Yes, The Help was the bigger hit and a crowd-pleaser, but it’s flaws bog the whole down, leaving behind a strong ensemble piece and little more.
Lead Actress – Juliette Binoche (Certified Copy) over Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Binoche gave my favorite performance of 2011 in the delicately beautiful Certified Copy. Binoche didn’t play a famous figure, overcome personal tragedy or defy social norms. Instead, she's a character that was painfully normal, looking to find whether romantic love still exists for a person at her age and with her baggage. Mara proved a capable performer in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, just not on the Binoche level yet.
Lead Actor – Michael Fassbender (Shame) over Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Brad Pitt had agruably the best year of his career in 2011. Michael Fassbender had a better one. Shame was the crown jewel on Fassbender’s breakout year, a subtle, thoughtful piece of acting that worked on multiple notes from beginning to end.
Supporting Actor – Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method) over Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
I swear, I don’t hate Moneyball. No really, it’s a solidly crafted, entertaining picture that maybe skips over a lot of facts on the way, but I’d happily play it again. Hill fit into the picture snugly, just in a manner that one can imagine countless others stepping into as well. Mortensen’s Freud was a master thespian showing why he’s one of the world’s best, turning the historical figure into someone with deep, fascinating layers, coupled with a gentle sense of humor.
Original Screenplay – Weekend (Andrew Heigh) over Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo)
Bridesmaids is really funny. Weekend is really perfect. Splitting hairs in a strong category; probably. Nevertheless, Haigh’s intimate romance is the finest look at modern love to come along in years. Bridesmaids is really funny.
Adapted Screenplay – We Need to Talk About Kevin (Rory Kinnear & Lynne Ramsay) over The Ides of March (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon)
Where The Ides of March is a competent, kind of cookie-cutter political drama, We Need to Talk About Kevin reconfigures a book’s structure into its own beast; snarling and uncompromising.
Cinematography – Melancholia (Manuel Alberto Claro) over Hugo (Robert Richardson)
Though this category is pretty dynamite, Claro conjures such bold, if shockingly personal, images (those lanterns threateningly floating above) that it’s only rightful place is sitting next to Emmanuel Lubezki’s work on The Tree of Life.
Editing – Drive (Mat Newman) over Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker)
The internet’s favorite movie Drive received very little love this morning. While I’m not as high on it as most, there’s no denying the movie’s crisp editing. Newman constructed Drive into a piece of meat lacking an ounce of fat. With all due to respect to Schoonmaker, one of the great editors in history, Hugo could lose quite a few pounds in its opening hour.
Score – The Skin I Live In (Alberto Iglesias) over The Adventures of Tintin (John Williams)
Williams garnered two nominations this year, not a surprise by any means. Sadly, it came at the expense of Iglesias’ striking work for Pedro Almdovar’s latest. It’s the rare score that both enhances its film and works entirely on its own, even if those listens tend to conjure frightening and unnerving images.
Original Song – “Marcy’s Song” from Martha Marcy May Marlene over….not having more than two nominees
The Oscars care about Original Song about the same amount they do Documentary Short. If it didn’t allow the chance for someone famous to sing on occasion, the winner would likely be announced scrolling along the bottom of the screen before commercials. “Marcy’s Song,” the haunting tune sung by John Hawkes in Sean Durkin’s masterful debut isn’t merely one of those tracks that merely plays during the credits. It’s a key part to a major scene; affecting and pitch-perfect.
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