Matt vs. the Academy

Oscar Winner Predictions 2025

2026-03-12T13:46:00.001+11:00

It was another barely above average year for me in terms of predicting the Oscar nominations. My only perfect categories were Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, but I managed to pick four out of five in plenty of the others, so not too shabby. Predicting the winners might be slightly easier. Many of the minor categories have clear front-runners, though not always so clear that an upset is out of the question. The acting categories, on the other hand, are the least clear-cut they've been in a while. The only one I'm confident about is Jessie Buckley winning Best Actress for Hamnet. The other three are mostly toss-ups between two, or sometimes three, candidates.

Of course, everyone's talking about the intense contest between Sinners and One Battle After Another. They are each poised to win their respective Screenplay categories, and it looks like One Battle and Paul Thomas Anderson have the momentum to take Picture and Director, but it would not surprise me if Sinners and Ryan Coogler end up besting them. In fact, I think the not-as-rare-as-it-used-to-be Picture/Director split is a very real possibility with PTA winning Director and Sinners taking home Picture. The reverse seems less likely but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.

Just like the nominations, it's very possible that Sinners will overperform. It only won 3 BAFTA awards - Original Screenplay and Original Score, both of which I'm predicting (along with Casting). Its other BAFTA win was for Wunmi Mosaku, but the BAFTAs naturally tend to favour British performers, so I don't expect she will win the Oscar. By the same token, I think Sinners resonates much more deeply with the American voting body than it does with the Brits, so there's a decent chance the Academy gives it more awards than BAFTA. Production Design and Costume Design are strong candidates, maybe even Song.

With all that said, here are my predictions for who is going to hear their name called out on Oscar night. What do you think?

Oscar Nominations Predictions 2025

2026-01-22T00:50:00.001+11:00

Another Oscar nominations announcement is imminent, so as has been my habit for the past 26 years, I've collated my predictions in each category (except for the short films). It's always a tough exercise, but this year, the timing of some of the precursor awards has made it all the more difficult. In particular, the BAFTA nominations won't be revealed until several days after the Academy's own announcement. Likewise, the writers' and editors' guilds will deliver their picks at a later date. All generally provide helpful insight into the mood of the industry and, thus, the thoughts of Academy voters, so without them, things can get a bit hairy. Nonetheless, I've done the best I can and we'll see shortly just how much of a fool I've managed to make of myself.

In recent years, the same handful of movies seem to get announced in category after category, a trend I expect will continue this year. As such, when tallying up the total nominations I'm predicting for each film, it seems I may have overdone it yet again. I've pegged 10 nods for Hamnet, 12 for Frankenstein, and 15 each for Sinners and One Battle After Another, which would give both films the all-time record. That seems unlikely, even with the help of an additional category this year (Best Casting), but I'm locked in now, so there's no turning back. That said, I'm still confident that One Battle will pick up the five acting nominations I'm forecasting, which would make it only the 10th film in Oscar history to do so.

Enough babbling. If you're interested in seeing my predictions for the 2025 Oscar nominations, you can find them here.

1974 - The Towering Inferno

2025-12-11T16:01:00.001+11:00

The first phase of this year's awards season is under way with many critics associations announcing their picks, including the journalists from the Golden Globe Foundation, who revealed their nominations earlier this week. As such, frontrunners are slowly emerging, and while I still have plenty of contenders to see, I'm excited to get stuck into the discussion in the coming weeks.

Time now to discuss our next Best Picture contender from 1974...

The Towering Inferno
Director:
John Guillermin
Screenplay:
Stirling Silliphant
(based on the novels The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson)
Starring:
Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O.J Simpson, Robert Vaughn, Robert Wagner
Academy Awards:
8 nominations
3 wins, including Best Song

San Francisco plays host to the opening of The Glass Tower, a 138-storey skyscraper that is now the world's tallest building. As crowds gather for the dedication, an electrical issue concerns workers in the main utility room. However, unbeknownst to the workers, the short caused a small fire to break out on the 81st floor. The building's architect, Doug Roberts (Newman), discovers his electrical specifications weren't adhered to, blaming subcontractor Roger Simmons (Chamberlain), who denies any wrongdoing. When an engineer is killed upon discovery of the fire, Roberts pleads with the developer, James Duncan (Holden), to evacuate the building, but Duncan refuses, putting the lives of the party-goers on the 135th floor in grave danger. Not until fire chief Michael O'Hallorhan (McQueen) arrives on the scene does Duncan acquiesce, but by that time, the flames have engulfed many floors, thus evacuation is no longer simple. Now, the party attendants, the building staff and even the fire crew all struggle to find a safe way out of this towering inferno.

The Towering Inferno takes full advantage of the expectations that audiences undoubtedly bring to disaster movies, particularly in 1974 when the genre was riding a popularity wave. The slow pace of the first act sets up a beautiful tension - the calm before the storm. We all know exactly what's coming, but there's a delicious anticipation in waiting for it to happen. Even after the story begins to unfold, the tension remains palpable. Rather than jumping immediately into constant fast-paced action, there's a perfectly appropriate slow burn (pun intended). As the fire gradually spreads from floor to floor, the action also heats up (there's another pun), steadily increasing the stakes before eventually coming to a boil (I can't help myself).

That said, the film does, at times, venture dangerously close to TV melodrama. While much of the script exhibits a sparkling wit, some sequences contain a fair amount of cheesy subtextless dialogue. And it pains me to say this, but the film's schmaltz is often exacerbated by a rather heavy-handed dramatic score from the otherwise brilliant and legendary John Williams.

The film embraces the disaster movie tradition of assembling an all-star cast, led by an effortlessly natural Paul Newman as the passionate architect, and a stoic Steve McQueen who, despite maintaining a small range, is very effective as the seen-it-all-before fire chief. Faye Dunaway shines in her second Best Picture nominee of 1974, matching Newman's breezy naturalism. Also noteworthy is Richard Chamberlain as the smarmy coward. Classic sitcom fans will enjoy seeing young Mike Lookinland, fresh off his The Brady Bunch success. And at the other end of the spectrum are two titans of old Hollywood, Oscar-winner Jennifer Jones and my distant relative Fred Astaire, who not only received his first and only Oscar nomination here, but also the film's only nod for acting. Altogether, The Towering Inferno garnered eight nominations, justifiably winning for its beautiful cinematography and splendid editing. Plus, it wouldn't be a disaster movie without an emotional song - We May Never Love Like This Again picked up the picture's third Oscar.

1974 - The Conversation

2025-10-22T22:05:00.003+11:00

I'm back in Sydney once again, though I'll have another brief getaway next week when I'll be shooting a commercial for a cruise line company. The ad is being shot on an actual cruise ship during a regular four-day sailing, so apart from the approximate half-day that I'll be required to work, I'll have the rest of the time free to enjoy the cruise. Nice work if you can get it ... and I got it.

Back to the task at hand. Just before I left Los Angeles, I squeezed in a viewing of another of 1974's Best Picture nominees...

The Conversation
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay:
Francis Ford Coppola
Starring:
Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Michael Higgins, Elizabeth MacRae, Teri Garr
Academy Awards:
3 nominations
0 wins

Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Hackman) leads a team in secretly recording an intimate outdoor conversation between a couple (Williams and Forrest) who appear to be concerned for their safety. Upon later analysis of the recordings, Harry begins to suspect that his mysterious client, known simply as the Director, may be up to no good, but the further he digs, the more danger he finds himself in.

1974 seems to be the year for slow-paced cinema. Just like Chinatown, the storyline in The Conversation takes its sweet time. In fact, there isn't much storyline at all, to be honest. The basic plot is set up in the first couple of scenes (which are some of the slowest of the whole film) and then barely moves forward until the final act. But before you misunderstand, none of that is intended as a criticism. While there may not be much advancement of plot, The Conversation is rife with fascinating characters and relationships, in addition to a thick layer of paranoid tension that keeps the audience hooked. Consequently, when the climactic action finally arrives, it's nothing short of mesmerising.

Of course, the leisurely pace of this film is almost certainly no accident. Francis Ford Coppola ingeniously endows his audience with the perspective of the central character. Just as Harry has to wait patiently as he records a conversation, so too does the audience. Likewise, the tedious work of playing back the recording again and again to analyse the subjects' speech is also experienced by us in all its repetitive monotony. And during that repetition, Coppola cleverly cuts in footage of the actual conversation, so we're not only listening to the surveilled couple, but we're watching them, as well, for the complete voyeuristic experience.

A slew of famous faces, many before they hit the big time, show up in supporting roles - Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, and a spectacular Teri Garr who steals the show in a one-scene role. Allen Garfield, too, is worthy of note, brilliantly sleazy as Harry's arrogant competition. Keen-eyed viewers will also recognise a brief (and uncredited) cameo from Robert Duvall. But it's Gene Hackman's (pictured) show in the end, truly at the top of his game as the reserved perfectionist who gets himself in too deep. Aside from Best Picture, The Conversation only picked up two other nods, for Coppola's original screenplay and, appropriately for a movie about sound recording, Best Sound.

1974 - Chinatown

2025-10-18T17:16:00.000+11:00

As my current LA trip approaches its end, it seems appropriate that we begin our next year of review with a film that features Los Angeles almost as a character of its own. I even had the privilege of taking in this masterpiece on the big screen for the first time, which was definitely a treat. Later, I also watched its sequel, The Two Jakes, which I had never seen before, and was pleasantly surprised, despite years of assuming its mixed reviews meant it was awful.

In any case, let's take a look at the first nominee of the 1974 Best Picture contest...

Chinatown
Director:
Roman Polanski
Screenplay:
Robert Towne
Starring:
Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, Perry Lopez, Burt Young, John Huston, Diane Ladd
Academy Awards:
11 nominations
1 win, for Best Original Screenplay

Los Angeles private investigator J.J. Gittes (Nicholson) is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Ladd) to confirm that her husband, Hollis, is having an affair. Hollis happens to be the chief engineer of the city's Water Department and when photographs of his infidelity hit the newspapers, Gittes is surprised to learn that his client is not, in fact, the woman she said she was. The real Evelyn Mulwray (Dunaway) pays a visit to Gittes with intentions to sue, but when Hollis is discovered dead, Gittes' curiosity proves dangerous as he begins to uncover serious corruption in the Water Department.

Chinatown is one of those rare cases of a film that pays homage to the classics that came before it, but has now become a classic itself. The noir tone is immediately evident with the sound of a sultry trumpet gliding over the 1940s-style opening credits. There are detectives and femme fatales and dirty cops and plenty of cigarette smoke, all photographed beautifully as shafts of light hit just the right part of the characters' faces. Perhaps the one noir trope that is omitted is the protagonist's internal monologue. And maybe I'm alone on this, but I actually think Jack Nicholson's slow, cool voice delivering some sparkling Robert Towne soliloquies would have been a perfect fit. In fact, in Chinatown's sequel, The Two Jakes, that's exactly what we get, and even though the film itself isn't quite the same calibre as the original, those noir voice overs are an auditory treat.

Another feature of film noir is the languid pace of the story, punctuated by occasional shock revelations, and Chinatown ticks all the boxes in that regard. I did find myself a little restless during the the slow-moving middle of the film, but despite little action, the tension and mystery hold one's attention long enough to be surprised by the deluge of twists in the latter part of the narrative. (Of course, it didn't hurt that it had been at least 25 years since I last saw this picture, so I had all but forgotten most of the storyline.)

Robert Towne's Oscar-winning script is flawless, a perfect blend of poetic, snappy dialogue and shrewd foreshadowing. Possibly my favourite example of this (spoiler alert!) is Jake's and Evelyn's discussion in her car. During a moment of exhaustion, Evelyn leans forward, placing her head on the steering wheel, which sets off the car horn. In the film's final moments, we watch from a distance as Evelyn drives away, cops firing bullets after her. The car slows to a halt and we hear the horn's continuous blare, which can only mean her head is slumped on the steering wheel again.

It's a talented acting ensemble on display here, led by the incomparable Jack Nicholson (pictured), himself Oscar-nominated for this iconic role, spending half the film with a nose bandage on his face. Faye Dunaway as the ultimate femme fatale is likewise superb, also earning a nod from the Academy. Plenty of worthy supporting performances missed out on nominations (mostly due to The Godfather Part II hoarding them), notably the great Burt Young and Diane Ladd in small but pivotal roles. The film garnered an impressive 11 Oscar nominations, tying with the aforementioned second instalment of The Godfather, which took home the lion's share of awards, leaving Chinatown with a sole win for Towne's original screenplay.

Best Picture of 2010

2025-10-11T12:49:00.003+11:00

Another year of review comes to a close and this is the most recent year of movies I've tackled for this project thus far. As such, many of these movies were still relatively fresh in my memory, so unlike older films, of which my opinion can sometimes change significantly over the years, my assessments of these films mostly remained the same as they were on my first viewings.

The nominees for Best Picture of 2010 are:

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

As one might expect from a year with ten nominees, there's quite a wide range of scope in this group, yet if I were to try to find the common ground, I'd have to say that all of these stories have a gripping intensity (to varying degrees and styles).

Those that perhaps gripped me less than the others - and will therefore be the first to be set aside in the race to be named my favourite of the year - are Black Swan, Toy Story 3 and Winter's Bone. It gets tougher from here, but I'll remove indie darlings 127 Hours and The Fighter next, despite the great appreciation I feel for them. In a similar vein, I'll also say goodbye to True Grit and Inception.

I'm down to just three films now, all of which are examples of top-notch filmmaking and, perhaps not coincidentally, are also keen character studies. The Social Network is fantastic, The Kids Are All Right is genuinely delightful, but I'm going to side with the Academy and crown the utterly charming The King's Speech as my favourite Best Picture nominee of 2010.

Best Picture of 2010
*Academy's choice:* The King's Speech	Matt's choice: The King's Speech

Your choice:

Let me know your favourite of 2010 by voting in the poll above. Next up, we're heading back to the 1970s to take a look at some absolute all-time classics.

And the nominees for Best Picture of 1974 are:

Chinatown
The Conversation
The Godfather Part II
Lenny
The Towering Inferno

Stay tuned...

2010 - The Kids Are All Right

2025-10-08T12:02:00.002+11:00

I'm currently on my annual (sometimes semi-annual) trip to Los Angeles and, as has become habit when I visit the City of Angels, I've already spent a day at the Academy Museum where I thoroughly enjoyed their new Jaws exhibit. A treasure trove of memorabilia from the movie, alongside clips from the movie, as well as behind the scenes clips, including some home video (home 8mm film?) footage from Spielberg himself. Plus, the pièce de résistance: an opportunity to insert yourself into the famed dolly zoom shot.

Our final nominee vying for Best Picture of 2010 is...

The Kids Are All Right
Director:
Lisa Cholodenko
Screenplay:
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
Starring:
Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson
Academy Awards:
4 nominations
0 wins

When teenagers Joni (Wasikowska) and Laser (Hutcherson) decide they want to meet their biological father, Paul (Ruffalo), they initially keep it from their mothers, Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore), for fear of offending them. But after building a genuine connection, Paul starts to become a regular fixture of the family and all five must navigate the new dynamic. However, Nic is not keen on the intrusion, a feeling that is only exacerbated when Jules and Paul begin an affair.

The Kids Are All Right is the epitome of exceptional indie film-making. A well-crafted story with charming performances across the board, this beautiful character-driven drama shines without the need for action sequences or explosions. It's equal parts touching, comical and thought-provoking. I found myself gripped to the screen, sharing these characters' lives from fade in to fade out. What a genuine delight!

Annette Bening and Julianne Moore (both of whom I've happened to meet in person) carry the film beautifully, portraying a complex relationship that felt authentic to this moviegoer, perhaps in defiance of the meta joke within the film when Jules criticises the inauthenticity of lesbian porn performed by straight women. Mark Ruffalo is perfect in his role as the free-wheeling trouble-maker with an irresistible charm. And holding their own among these acting powerhouses are Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson as the kids in the middle of it all. All five of the main cast were deserving of Oscar nominations, in my opinion, but only Ruffalo and Bening got the nods. Alongside Best Picture, the film also received a well-earned nomination for Original Screenplay.

2010 - The King's Speech

2025-07-22T21:43:00.001+10:00

For my readers who will be in Sydney this weekend, come see me tread the boards in Love-All: A Roseville Story at the Chatswood Lounge. From playwright Alexandra Long, whose screenplay Thank God He Met Lizzie (released in the US as The Wedding Party) was one of Cate Blanchett's first films, the satirical play explores the sordid antics of four men at a fancy suburban tennis club. If you've ever had a hankering to see me play a middle-aged lothario, now's your chance!

Time now to take a look at the next contender in the 2010 Best Picture race...

The King's Speech
Director:
Tom Hooper
Screenplay:
David Seidler
Starring:
Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon
Academy Awards:
12 nominations
4 wins, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Firth)

As a representative of the British Royal Family, Prince Albert, Duke of York (Firth), known to those close to him as Bertie, is often called upon to give public speeches, a task with which he struggles due to his severe stutter. Upon the insistence of his wife, Elizabeth (Bonham Carter), Bertie begins to work with speech therapist Lionel Logue (Rush), though it takes some time for Logue to earn Bertie's trust.

According to my (slightly nerdy) movie spreadsheet, I must have rather immensely enjoyed The King's Speech upon my first viewing of it during its original run because I declared it one of my favourites of 2010. For some reason, the intervening years seemingly played havoc on my memory and I went into this second viewing fully expecting to find the film to be just a bland and boring story about a bunch of stuffy British folk. Instead, however, mere moments after pressing play, I was reminded of how incredibly beautiful this film truly is. The striking cinematography; the resplendent sets and costumes; the exquisite score; even the sound design, while deceptively simple, is magnificently moody. Ultimately, these elements serve to create a work of art that is far from bland or boring.

At the heart of all this charm are David Seidler's superb Oscar-winning script and Tom Hooper's skilled Oscar-winning direction. Despite the slow pace and limited action, they capture our attention and never let go, aided also by appealing performances from the entire ensemble. Carrying the film is Colin Firth in his Oscar-winning role as the stuttering royal. Portraying a speech impediment can often test the limits of the audience's suspension of disbelief, since we all know the actor doesn't stammer in real life, but kudos to Firth, who genuinely pulls it off well. Supporting him are excellent scene-stealing turns by an Oscar-nominated Helena Bonham Carter, an Oscar-nominated Geoffrey Rush and a had-to-wait-another-14-years-to-be-Oscar-nominated Guy Pearce. Jennifer Ehle also impresses in a smaller role, but let's be honest, we were all just enjoying the albeit brief Pride and Prejudice reunion between Ehle and Firth (pictured together, with Rush).

2010 - Inception

2025-06-17T19:10:00.002+10:00

Being an actor is not exactly the most stable of careers. Unless you're an A-lister, work is often unpredictable and inconsistent, so one must celebrate the rare wins when they come. I'm happy to say I'll be in at least two feature films this year - one major Hollywood production that was filmed in Melbourne a couple of months ago (which I'd gladly gloat about if it weren't for the pesky NDA), and one Aussie indie film which I'm about to start shooting here in Sydney. Coincidentally, they're both set in the 1980s, though that is perhaps their only commonality - one is a sports drama, the other a crime dramedy. Likely, they'll both be released next year, so I'll keep you posted with screenings when the time comes.

Meanwhile, here are my thoughts on another 2010 Best Picture nominee...

Inception
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Screenplay:
Christopher Nolan
Starring:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
Academy Awards:
8 nominations
4 wins, including Best Cinematography

There is probably no better word to describe Inception than "mind-bending." To wit, when we meet our protagonists, Dom (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), they are inside the dream of businessman Saito (Watanabe), covertly collecting confidential information from his subconscious, an operation known as "extraction." Impressed with their accomplishment, Saito hires the dream invaders to attempt the opposite task, an "inception," which involves implanting a thought into the mind of the subject. Saito wants to convince his business rival's son, Robert Fischer (Murphy), to dismantle his father's company. In order to perform the inception, the team, which now includes forger Eames (Hardy) and dream architect Ariadne (Page), implement a risky triple-layer dream-within-a-dream and set forth on their mission.

Depending on your perspective, the opening scenes of the film are either beautifully mysterious or utterly confusing. Or maybe a little of both. Before long, though, there's a generous amount of blunt exposition to clear things up. Mind you, as we learn about the "rules" for navigating through dreams, many of the ideas seem suspiciously convenient and hard to swallow. Then again, perhaps that's a necessary result of such an innovative concept. After all, running around in other people's dreams is hardly a realistic notion, so I'll concede that the film is free to create its own verisimilitude.

In any case, if you can look past the convoluted plot and its contrived rules, there's a genuinely riveting offering underneath. Even if some of the details are a bit murky, the stakes are unambiguously clear as we cut back and forth between different dream levels. In fact, it's a testament to the script and the editing that, despite a story rife with potential confusion, we know exactly which dream level we're in at all times. Mind-bending, indeed.

With legendary composer Hans Zimmer providing the score, the tension is palpable, though, for my taste, it occasionally feels a tad overdone when layered over lengthy dialogue scenes. Conversely, the soundtrack remains scoreless during one tense action sequence, which, to me, made it all the more gripping. And there's certainly no shortage of gripping action sequences. Perhaps the most famous of these, the zero-gravity hallway fight - which, incidentally, has a thrilling musical theme underneath, possibly negating what I just wrote earlier - is one of the most intensely cool fight scenes you're ever likely to see. Which is a neat segue into the film's spectacular visual effects. Along with some ingenious practical effects (as displayed in the aforementioned hallway fight), the Oscar-winning VFX team create some incredibly - here's that word again - mind-bending visuals, from the streets of Paris folding in half to the crumbling ruins of seaside skyscrapers.

The eclectic cast combine well together, but there are a few standouts in my book. Cillian Murphy (pictured, with DiCaprio) delivers a fragile portrayal of a conflicted man trying to escape his father's shadow. Tom Hardy is also exceptional with an intense yet disarming wit. Also worthy of mention is Marion Cotillard, who is in the fascinating position of creating a character that is mostly a figment of another person's imagination. It's a delicate performance that straddles the line between troubled and villainous. And perhaps coincidentally, she had won an Oscar a few years earlier for playing French singer Edith Piaf, whose song "Non, je ne regrette rien" plays an important role in the movie.

2010 - The Social Network

2025-06-06T09:56:00.001+10:00

It seems I've been slacking off again and left this blog to gather more dust. But I'm back! Granted, it was over a week ago that I actually watched the below film, which just goes to show how difficult it's been to find time for this silly (but incredibly important) project. And, of course, since this is the first post since the Oscars, I have to at least briefly comment on my winner predictions. I managed to correctly predict 16 of the 23 categories. Not a great score, but considering three of my errors were the short film categories, which often feel like a crap shoot, I'll take it.

Let's rejoin our look at the 2010 Best Picture nominees with...

The Social Network
Director:
David Fincher
Screenplay:
Aaron Sorkin
(based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich)
Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Brenda Song, Rashida Jones, Rooney Mara
Academy Awards:
8 nominations
3 wins, including Best Adapted Screenplay

At two separate depositions, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) recounts his version of the events surrounding the creation and subsequent success of the renowned social media website. In what was ostensibly a reaction to being dumped by his girlfriend Erica (Mara), Zuckerberg employs his exceptional coding (and hacking) skills to create a misogynistic website that allows his fellow Harvard students to rate images of their female peers. The site becomes immensely popular, leading twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (both played by Armie Hammer) and Divya Narendra (Minghella) to ask Zuckerberg to join them in developing a Harvard social and dating site. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is working on his own social networking site with the help of friend Eduardo Saverin (Garfield), who throws in the initial financial support. Leaving the Winklevoss twins in the dark, Zuckerberg and Saverin steam ahead with Thefacebook, though the two don't see eye to eye on some major business decisions, including the involvement of Napster founder Sean Parker (Timberlake).

Aaron Sorkin's distinctive dialogue style is on full display here. From the very first scene, his signature rapid-fire wordplay tickles our ears and minds. Just like an episode of The West Wing, every character is an expert at clever and biting comebacks. I appreciate that some have criticised this style, finding it irksome that everyone talks as if they're the smartest person in the room, but contrivances aside, it's undeniably entertaining. Dramatic license and all that. And to be fair, most of the characters are Harvard-educated, so on many occasions, they very likely ARE the smartest people in the room.

Of course, with David Fincher at the helm, any similitude between the characters feels trivial thanks to the riveting thrill ride that is presented to us. And just like a thriller, it is both gripping and uncomfortable with a beautiful yet expertly unsettling score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who won an Oscar for their trouble.

Also assisting in making the characters distinctive from one another is a superb cast at the top of their game. Andrew Garfield shines in his breakout role as the tender soul who is pushed to his limit. Justin Timberlake deftly crafts a cavalier bully that isn't quite as tenacious as he seems. It is Jesse Eisenberg, however, who carries the film with an especially powerful portrayal as the genius with a seemingly impenetrable exterior. Eisenberg delivers such a deceptively nuanced performance, diminishing his character's outward display of confidence with a near-constant uncertainty behind his eyes. And don't miss Aaron Sorkin himself (pictured) in a cameo role as an unimpressed potential Facebook investor. Along with the aforementioned win for Best Original Score, The Social Network also picked up Oscars for its film editing and Sorkin's screenplay, all of which were thoroughly deserved.

Oscar Winner Predictions 2024

2025-02-28T20:16:00.001+11:00

My predictions for the Oscar nominations this year turned out to be roughly average to slightly above. I aced Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Production Design, but missed either one or two nominees in each of the other categories. Picking the winners seems decidedly more difficult, however. And with only a few days left before the Oscars ceremony, it's now time to make my predictions about who's going to take home the gold.

I've tried to cram in viewings of as many nominated movies as I can, but I'm still quite behind. Though, to be honest, actually seeing a film is not all that important when it comes to figuring out whether it's going to win. I mean, it helps, of course, but there are other factors that are much more illuminating. Mind you, in this year's case, those other factors are not really giving as clear a picture as I would like. Most of the top categories barely have a frontrunner. Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director are two-horse races, while Best Picture has at least three films that could reasonably walk away with the award. I probably say this every year, but I genuinely believe this has been the most difficult season to predict in quite a long time. The only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that there will be upsets aplenty.

But predict I must. You can find my guesses here. As you'll see, I've spread the love around, resulting in no film receiving more than three awards, which is by no means unprecedented, but it does make me question my decisions. Well, we'll find out on Oscar night, I guess.

Oscar Nomination Predictions 2024

2025-01-21T22:20:00.001+11:00

After a short postponement due to the LA fires, the Oscar nominations are scheduled to be announced in a couple of days, which means it's time for me to embarrass myself with my predictions. As always, it's an interesting exercise. There are the usual frontrunners in each category that seem like locks, but working out which other films are going to fill in the gaps is not always easy.

The past few years have seen a curious pattern whereby a small handful of films appear in a large portion of the categories, meaning there are fewer films getting nominated but each is getting more nominations. This year seems poised to continue that trend. Indeed, I've pegged Conclave, The Brutalist and Wicked for eight to ten nominations each, all of which feels reasonable. Less reasonable are the 14 nods I've assigned to Emilia Pérez, which includes two for Supporting Actress and two for Song. That would put it in a very elite group of only three other films - All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land - so even though I'm almost certain it won't succeed in every category I've predicted it in, I can't decide which ones it'll miss, so I've rather spinelessly left it as is.

If you'd like to see all my guesses for the 2024 Oscar nominations, here they be.

2010 - True Grit

2024-12-17T14:30:00.000+11:00

Awards season is well and truly under way now with most of the critics groups releasing their top picks, including nominations from the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. There are a few films that seem to be appearing again and again on these lists - Wicked, Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Nickel Boys, Dune: Part Two - suggesting these are the frontrunners for Oscar's top prize. Personally, I tend to be wary of the "critics mirage" since the critics' preferences don't always align with those who work in the industry. It's not uncommon for a film or actor to sweep the critics' awards yet find themselves left off the shortlist on Oscar nomination day. That said, I expect those films above will remain in the conversation (particularly since there are 10 Best Picture nominee slots to fill) but it would be wise to wait for the nomination announcements from the guilds and other industry organisations, including BAFTA, to see exactly which ones have the staying power.

Back to the 2010 Best Picture race, I recently viewed another of its nominees...

True Grit
Director:
Joel & Ethan Coen
Screenplay:
Joel & Ethan Coen
(based on the novel by Charles Portis)
Starring:
Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, Domhnall Gleeson
Academy Awards:
10 nominations
0 wins

Based on the same source novel as the 1969 John Wayne movie of the same name, this version is an attempt at a more faithful adaptation. Well, as faithful as a Coen brothers movie can be. Our heroine is Mattie Ross (Steinfeld), who narrates the story of how she hired past-his-prime U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to help her track down and bring to justice Tom Chaney (Brolin), the outlaw who murdered her father.

From the first shot, this picture looks positively gorgeous, thanks to Roger Deakins' beautiful cinematography. With its sweeping landscapes, it's the sort of visual style you'd expect from a grand epic, yet this is far more intimate and personal. The dramatis personae are relatively few and the runtime falls short of two hours, creating a tight story that remains engrossing throughout. And then there's the language. The Coen brothers clearly enjoy playing with language and True Grit is no exception. While the formal-sounding dialogue (not a single contraction is spoken!) may be a little distracting at times, it certainly sets a uniquely fascinating tone.

Rooster Cogburn is one of those rare characters for which two actors have received Oscar nominations. John Wayne won for his turn in the earlier version, but while Jeff Bridges was also shortlisted for this remake, he had already won an Oscar a year earlier with Crazy Heart and didn't pull off back-to-back wins. Nonetheless, he steals the show with his fantastic portrayal of the multi-faceted lawman. In her breakout role, Hailee Steinfeld holds her own as the precocious and insistent teenager with a mile-a-minute cadence. She does well with the aforementioned distinctive dialogue, but it's the silent moments of reflection where she truly shines. In those instances, her less-is-more technique is spot on. Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper also bring their A-games in effective supporting roles. Another bright spot is a young Domhnall Gleeson (pictured) in an early film role. And if you listen carefully, you can briefly hear the voice of J.K. Simmons as Mattie's lawyer.

On nominations morning, True Grit found itself second only to The King's Speech in total Oscar nominations. Its 10 nods, including Best Picture, are a testament to its exceptional achievement across many filmmaking disciplines, yet on Oscar night, it failed to pick up a single award.

2010 - Black Swan

2024-11-30T19:39:00.002+11:00

Oscar season is heating up as more and more genuine contenders are released. I'm once again finding myself behind the eight ball with a lot of catching up to do in terms of viewing said contenders, so I won't offer any thoughts about frontrunners just yet, except to say at the top of my watchlist right now are current box office hits Wicked and Gladiator II, as well as the smaller talks-of-the-town Anora and Conclave. Varying degrees of buzz around each of those films.

Next up on our tour of the Best Picture nominees of 2010 is...

Black Swan
Director:
Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay:
Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John McLaughlin
Starring:
Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassell, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Sebastian Stan
Academy Awards:
5 nominations
1 win, for Best Actress (Portman)

As a member of the New York City Ballet, Nina (Portman) has high expectations of herself, almost as high as her overbearing mother (Hershey) who treats her like a child. When Thomas (Cassel), the harsh and unyielding artistic director, announces that Swan Lake will be the company's next production, Nina nervously auditions for the lead role. The audition does not seem to go well, but after an awkward interaction with Thomas, Nina unexpectedly wins the part. As opening night approaches, she becomes increasingly paranoid about being replaced by her free-spirited understudy Lily (Kunis), while also being forced to address her own oddly avian transformation.

As one expects from director Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan exudes a creepy vibe from the outset. Much of that psychologically disturbing atmosphere is created by a fascinating amalgamation of naturalism and surrealism (another of Aronofsky's trademarks). However, while the surrealist elements work like a dream (pun intended), the more naturalistic segments don't quite hit the mark for me. The dialogue is sparse of subtext as characters often say very obvious and blunt things that are not at all the way normal humans speak, which is ironic considering a major plot point is how Nina isn't real enough in her dancing. Of course, I'm probably just missing the point of surrealist art, but it seems to me that if you're going to attempt a veristic mood with shaky camerawork and authentic performances, then a less superficial script might help.

All that said, as we enter the second half of the movie, the surrealism is ratcheted up and things really start getting weird, at which point ... well, who cares about natural dialogue? The tension moving forward is executed perfectly (I mean, she's turning into an actual swan, for heaven's sake), layered with a healthy dose of horror tropes. There are jump-scares aplenty, shadowy figures you can't quite identify, and a mirror image that has a mind of its own. I'm usually not a fan of those sorts of bait-and-switch tricks because they often seem meaningless (like, do the hallucinations imply it's all in her head?), but in this case, they cleverly reveal the depths to which Nina has lost her mind. The result is a final act that is a genuinely thrilling ride. And considering surrealism and horror are two of my least favourite genres, that's high praise indeed.

As mentioned above, the performances are mostly naturalistic despite the unconvincing dialogue in the early parts of the film. Natalie Portman (pictured) won an Oscar for her portrayal of a passionate pleaser completely unravelling. She was the only member of the cast to even receive a nomination, despite some impressive performances by the supporting players. Mila Kunis, in particular, is breezy and mysterious, and was unlucky to miss out, in my opinion. So, too, was Vincent Cassel who injects Thomas with a cavalier intensity. And don't miss a pre-MCU Sebastian Stan, impressing in a small role.

2010 - The Fighter

2024-10-15T10:31:00.000+11:00

This past Saturday night was a nostalgic one for me as I attended the concert of a musical hero of mine. It had been more than 20 years since I last saw him live, but even at the age of 75, Billy Joel still knows how to put on a spectacular show. From start to finish, I couldn't stop smiling as I listened to all the hits and album tracks that have been ingrained in me since I was a teenager. Perhaps the most nostalgic part of the night, however, came when he introduced Axl Rose to the stage to sing Live and Let Die. You might not think those two have a lot of common fans, but in 1992, all I ever listened to was Billy Joel and Guns N' Roses, so my brain near exploded during that number. All in all, a fantastic night out.

From music back to movies, our next Best Picture nominee from 2010 is...

The Fighter
Director:
David O. Russell
Screenplay:
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington
Starring:
Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Mickey O'Keefe, Jack McGee
Academy Awards:
6 nominations
2 wins, for Best Supporting Actor (Bale) and Best Supporting Actress (Leo)

Welterweight boxer Micky Ward (Wahlberg) is struggling to find success, in large part due to poor choices made by his manager and trainer, who happen to be his mother (Leo) and his half-brother Dicky (Bale), himself an ex-fighter now addicted to crack. When Dicky's exploits lead to a prison sentence, Micky turns his back on his family in an attempt to bolster his career, finding a new manager and trainer.

The opening scene of The Fighter introduces us to the two main characters via an interview with a documentary film crew. While the film itself isn't presented as a faux documentary, it still makes clever use of this plot device on several occasions. Not only are the characters occasionally interviewed but the bouts are presented in the exact video-camera aesthetic of 1990s HBO. Even when these direct documentary techniques are not appropriate (i.e. scenes in which you would not expect a camera to be present), director David O. Russell still creates a realistic documentary-like tone by way of the camera work and the improvisational licence that appears to have been given to the performers.

Now, full disclosure, I'm not at all into boxing as a sport, but like any good sports movie, the story here is not just about our hero winning a few matches. We find ourselves completely invested in these characters and relationships, which, in turn, creates the high stakes required for a final fight that is full of edge-of-your-seat tension, even for non-boxing fans.

The Fighter features a fantastic cast who all deliver brilliantly raw performances. Christian Bale (pictured), in particular, exudes a natural grittiness that is simultaneously heart-warming and heart-breaking. Both he and Melissa Leo earned Oscars for their portrayals, deservedly so. Amy Adams (also nominated) and Jack McGee are also engaging and strong. And holding the story together in possibly a career-best performance is Mark Wahlberg, who is surprisingly gentle in the midst of so much violence and anger.

2010 - Winter's Bone

2024-10-07T11:50:00.000+11:00

A highlight of any Oscar fan's trip to Los Angeles will undoubtedly be the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. I enjoyed such an outing last week when I attended the museum's third anniversary celebrations. After watching a special screening of Chaplin's The Gold Rush, I ventured into the exhibitions to absorb all I could. It was my second time visiting the museum, but as ever, I remained as intoxicated by the movie magic on display. Of particular interest were the spotlights on Casablanca and The Godfather, which housed Sam's piano and Don Corleone's desk, among other treasures.

Perhaps the most thrilling section for me, though, was the room dedicated to the Oscars ceremony itself. Various acceptance speeches are played on big screens surrounding a central display cabinet that provides a chronological history of the Academy Awards. Several past winners' Oscars are on display, as well as other artefacts, including presenters' envelopes and Oscar night programs. In the end, I ran out of time to see everything, so another visit seems imminent.

Moving on now to another contender from 2010's Best Picture showdown...

Winter's Bone
Director:
Debra Granik
Screenplay:
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
(based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell)
Starring:
Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, Dale Dickey, Garret Dillahunt, Sheryl Lee, Lauren Sweetser, Tate Taylor
Academy Awards:
4 nominations
0 wins

In rural Missouri, Ree (Lawrence) is warned that her father is out on bail, but if he doesn't show up for his trial, the state will seize his house, meaning Ree and her ill mother and two younger siblings will have nowhere to live. Ree sets out to find out what happened to her father only to encounter a series of unsavoury characters in the meth business, all of whom want her to stop sticking her nose into their affairs.

Seemingly representative of the small town in which it's set, Winter's Bone maintains a slow-paced attitude, allowing the viewer to sink into an intensely uneasy atmosphere. Scene after scene is full of superbly executed tension, thanks to some deft direction by Debra Granik.

But if it's an uplifting story you're after, you'd best look elsewhere. Despite an essentially positive ending for the lead character, the film is brimming with truly awful characters, some of whom seem downright irredeemable. With the exception of our protagonist (though, she has her own flaws) and one or two others, almost everyone seems caught in a constant power struggle, obsessed with asserting their authority over others with displays of assholery, both verbal and physical. Ultimately, this is a study of the nasty side of the human condition.

The cast all live up to the challenge of playing the most atrocious characters they can muster and, while this constant humourless intensity sometimes feels a bit two-dimensional, some of the actors manage to bring added dimension to their portrayals, particularly John Hawkes (pictured) who earned himself a Best Supporting Actor nomination as the violent but conflicted uncle. Joining him on Oscar night was Jennifer Lawrence in her breakout role, becoming the second-youngest Best Actress nominee at the time (though she's since been bumped down to third). The film also garnered nods for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

2010 - Toy Story 3

2024-09-21T12:41:00.001+10:00

After a 14-hour flight yesterday, I'm writing this from the sunny climes of Los Angeles. Long-haul air travel is excruciating, of course, but the silver lining is always the chance to watch as many movies as I can cram in between take-off and landing. This time, I managed four, and it was an eclectic bunch. I caught up with a couple of recent films I missed at the cinema (Kinds of Kindness and Civil War) and threw in a couple of classic comedies to boot (Beetlejuice and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life). A half-day well spent.

Before I left Sydney, I watched the next nominee in 2010's Best Picture race...

Toy Story 3
Director:
Lee Unkrich
Screenplay:
Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Starring:
Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jodi Benson, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf
Academy Awards:
5 nominations
2 wins, for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song

With Andy (Morris) heading off to college, all his old toys, except for Woody (Hanks), assume they are to be thrown away. Despite Woody's attempts to convince them otherwise, the other toys sneak into a donation box bound for Sunnyside Daycare, where they dream of being played with by many different children. Reality soon sets in, though, as the toys experience the chaos that is toddler playtime while also having to deal with Sunnyside's de facto leader, a villainous teddy bear named Lotso (Beatty), who kidnaps Buzz Lightyear (Allen) and resets him to factory settings.

In preparation for watching Toy Story 3, I rewatched the first two films in the series, and similar themes popped up each time. In all three stories, the predominant driver of the plot is that Woody is afraid that Andy doesn't want to play with him anymore. In the first one, he thinks Buzz is going to replace him. In the second one, he worries that Andy is getting too old to play with any of his toys. And in this one, there's a genuine fear that all the toys are going to be thrown out altogether. Toy Story 2 and 3 also share a similar antagonist: an older authority figure who appears sweet at first, but turns out to be evil. Despite the similarities, this third instalment is more intricate than the first two, which were relatively straightforward. The series seemingly matures along with Andy.

Speaking of maturity, not only does Toy Story 3 contain the usual jokes aimed exclusively at the grownups, a signature of Pixar's output, but there are also certain elements that feel almost unsuitable for children. While the horror scenes can clearly be identified as parody to an adult audience, they could easily scare the little ones. Additionally, there's a genuinely traumatic sequence of existential peril (pictured), a scene that draws the viewer in with its immense realism, which is no mean feat considering it's a movie about talking toys. Then, of course, there's the good old Pixar heartstring-pulling at the end, which is sure to go over the kids' heads.

Ultimately, though, despite the more mature tone, Toy Story 3 remains at its heart a family film, full of wholesome entertainment and barrels of laughs for the kids. And they pulled out all the stops when it comes to the cast. Along with the regular funny voices of Hanks, Allen, Ratzenberger, Rickles, Shawn, Cusack and Harris, we are now introduced to Jodi Benson (the voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid) as Barbie and Michael Keaton as Ken. Ned Beatty is brilliant as the evil Lotso. Plus, in smaller roles, we are treated to the comedy stylings of Jeff Garlin, Kristen Schaal, Richard Kind and Whoopi Goldberg. It's quite the stacked ensemble.

2010 - 127 Hours

2024-09-03T16:17:00.003+10:00

Awards season is fast approaching, but as yet, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of buzz around any of the films that have already been released. By this time last year, we had already experienced the phenomenon that was Barbenheimer. This year, however, there's Dune Part 2, which will likely pick up several Oscar nominations and maybe one for Best Picture, like its predecessor, but it seems much less likely that it will actually win. Another sequel, Inside Out 2, might enjoy the rare achievement of an animated film finding itself in the Best Picture race, but again, it's certainly no front runner for the top prize. Other potential contenders are Civil War and Challengers, which also seem poised to get some acting nominations perhaps. In any case, still to come are plenty of Oscar bait movies attempting to garner buzz, including some more sequels of previous Best Picture nominees (Joker: Folie à Deux and Gladiator 2). There's also an upcoming film from Oscar royalty, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis, which surprisingly seems to have very muted anticipation from awards prognosticators, despite its pedigree. But we shall just have to wait and see which films emerge as serious contenders over the next few months.

Meanwhile, let's begin our trek through 2010's Best Picture contest with...

127 Hours
Director:
Danny Boyle
Screenplay:
Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
(based on the book "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" by Aron Ralston)
Starring:
James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Lizzy Caplan, Kate Burton, Treat Williams
Academy Awards:
6 nominations
0 wins

In real life, we all read about canyoneer Aron Ralston's harrowing ordeal. He was trapped by a boulder, alone for five days, eventually amputating his own right arm in order to escape. Since it was headline news, spoilers were aplenty before this film was even released, so I'll assume, dear reader, that there's no need for me to be coy about the film's final moments.

The film begins as Aron (Franco) hastily prepares for a hike in the canyons of Utah, failing to notify anyone of where he's going. On his travels, he encounters two women (Mara & Tamblyn) and explores the area with them for several hours before they go their separate ways. Alone again, Aron ventures into a more isolated area, and as he continues climbing, a large rock gives way underneath him, causing him to fall. As he recovers, it becomes clear that the falling rock has trapped his arm against the canyon wall. Unable to dislodge the boulder, Aron uses his ingenuity and the minimal supplies in his backpack to explore different ways of escape. Rationing his limited food and water, he records several video diary entries on his camcorder before eventually succumbing to the inevitable conclusion that if he can't remove the rock, he'll have to remove his arm.

As is evident in that synopsis, 127 Hours spends a large proportion of its running time tracking a solitary character in a very confined space. That may sound dull and tedious, yet in practice, it's absolutely captivating on account of the solid direction by Danny Boyle, as well as an inventive script that includes some flashbacks and hallucinations. Similarly, since we know this is a story about a man who eventually cuts his own arm off, one might expect that prior knowledge to undermine any potential tension, but in fact, I became so emotionally invested in Aron's plight that, every time he attempts to shift that boulder, I found myself genuinely hoping he would succeed, despite knowing that he obviously wouldn't. And all those screenwriting gurus that tell you that you absolutely have to personify your antagonist - well, in this movie, the antagonist is literally a rock. It's a great example of how flouting conventions can sometimes reap dividends.

Carrying the movie (on his own for most of it) is James Franco (pictured), who is perfectly cast. He instils Aron with a cavalier sense of adventure but the wherewithal to survive adversity, a perfect balance of humour and sobriety. Franco also portrays Aron's anguish with heart-wrenching aptitude - both the emotional anguish on display when he records what he thinks is his final video message to his family, and also the physical anguish during the amputation sequence, which, I might add, is most definitely not for the squeamish.

Franco scored his only Oscar nomination to date for this role. The film also garnered five other nominations, including for its remarkable screenplay, but went home empty-handed on Oscar night.

Best Picture of 1958

2024-08-16T10:37:00.003+10:00

We've reached the end of another year of Oscar nominees, so once again, it's time for my verdict. I must say this wasn't a clear-cut decision. There's something to love about all these films so it wasn't immediately obvious to me which one I'd select as my favourite. So let's break it down, shall we?

The nominees for Best Picture of 1958 are:

Auntie Mame
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones
Gigi
Separate Tables

Of the five nominees, only one is an original screenplay, while the rest are based on a play or a novel or both. Two films are stylishly extravagant spectacles full of brightly-coloured fashion and lavish sets. Two others are dramatic stage adaptations, intimate and emotional.

Let's deal with the spectacles first. Both Auntie Mame and Gigi are entertaining and a feast for the eyes (and, in Gigi's case, the ears). Gigi's toe-tapping music helps to make it my pick of that pair, and while I don't fault the Academy for selecting it as their Best Picture, it's not my favourite of this bunch. The stage adaptations are harder to separate. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Separate Tables are both powerful explorations of the human psyche with captivating performances. But again, as intensely moving as they are, there's another picture that edges them out in my estimation.

With its socially conscious themes mixed with adventure and drama, as well as a top-notch cast and script, The Defiant Ones is a brilliant piece of engaging cinema. As such, it can now officially be named my favourite Best Picture nominee of 1958.

Best Picture of 1958
*Academy's choice:* Gigi	Matt's choice: The Defiant Ones

Your choice:

Don't agree with me? Make your voice heard by voting in the poll above. Meanwhile, we're moving on to the most recent year this blog has yet tackled. In fact, it'll be the first time I've reviewed films that were released after I began this project.

And the nominees for Best Picture of 2010 are:

127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Stay tuned...

1958 - Separate Tables

2024-08-10T16:16:00.003+10:00

In the intro to my last review, I wrote about my binge of the Mad Max movies. I followed that up with another 80s franchise that has a current sequel. Recently, I rewatched the first three Beverly Hills Cop movies, before tackling the new instalment, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

I enjoyed them all but, as I think seems to be the general consensus, there was somewhat of a decline between each film in the original trilogy. The latest addition to the franchise is, I feel, a perfect example of a nostalgia sequel. It captures the tone of the original while still finding a way to make it contemporary. Eddie Murphy slips back into wisecracking Foley wonderfully, and I loved seeing all the old faces (Reinhold, Ashton, Reiser, Pinchot) as well as the new ones (Gordon-Levitt, Bacon, Paige). Even the soundtrack mixes 80s hits with modern tunes. Sure, it probably won't end up on anyone's top 10 list, but for me it hit all the right nostalgic buttons.

You might also be surprised to learn that this franchise has garnered two Oscar nominations. The original was cited for Best Original Screenplay, and the second film snagged a Song nod.

Now, back to the task at hand. The final stop on our trip through 1958's Best Picture nominees is...

Separate Tables
Director:
Delbert Mann
Screenplay:
Terence Rattigan, John Gay
(based on the play by Rattigan)
Starring:
Deborah Kerr, Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Wendy Hiller, Burt Lancaster, Gladys Cooper, Cathleen Nesbitt, Felix Aylmer, Rod Taylor, Audrey Dalton
Academy Awards:
7 nominations
2 wins, for Best Actor (Niven) and Best Supporting Actress (Hiller)

At the Hotel Beauregard in coastal England, long-term resident Major Pollock (Niven) is well liked, particularly by shy Sibyl (Kerr), until a newspaper article outs him as a fraud and, worse, guilty of sexual harassment. Led by Sibyl's mother, the no-nonsense Mrs. Railton-Bell (Cooper), the other residents discuss what to do with this information, eventually putting pressure on the hotel manager, Miss Cooper (Hiller), to evict the Major.

Meanwhile, Miss Cooper's fiancé John (Lancaster), is visited by his ex-wife Anne (Hayworth). The two argue about their failed rocky marriage, though Anne's lascivious intentions are clear. Well, clear to everyone except John.

At the outset, Separate Tables introduces us to an array of characters and storylines, which had me thinking this was going to be a sort of Altman precursor. However, as the plot moves forward, the story focuses in on the two main threads. As it happens, the film is based on a pair of one-act plays, so this screen adaptation has simply merged those two stories into one. As is often the case with stage adaptations, there is plenty of talking, but it's always captivating, despite sliding into melodrama at times.

Perhaps the most fascinating part, though, is how the picture managed to get some of the content past the censors. I talked about how the same year's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was forced to obscure some themes to its detriment, but here, the sexual allusions are hard to misunderstand. For example, when the young Charles is studying for his medical school exams, his sweetheart Jean attempts to persuade him to go for a romantic walk in the garden. He rebuffs her by saying, "How can I possibly mix anatomy with romance?" Jean gets a cheeky look in her eye and responds, "Well, that shouldn't be too difficult."

As witty and engrossing as it is, the script also remains relevant to this day. Its exploration of sexual harassment, for instance, feels particularly apposite given the reckoning we've been through as a society in the wake of the Me Too movement. (Though, I'm not sure what it says about our progress knowing that these same discussions were happening 70 years ago.) When the hotel residents come together to consider Major Pollock's fate, there are about as many opinions as there are people in the room, and twice as many questions. By the end, you'll find at least one character's opinion that you agree with but it might not be the character you thought you'd be agreeing with. The characters we assumed were decent seem to have dismissive viewpoints and vice versa. This cognitive dissonance is another master stroke of the screenplay, presenting the uncomfortable truth that nobody is purely good or purely evil. There's a lot of grey area. Indeed, the more uncomfortable truth is that even the accused must be seen in that light, too. That said, the film's ending remains a product of its time and the ambiguity the screenplay had been fomenting is set aside for essentially a clear-cut redemption story, despite the fact that Major Pollock does nothing substantial to warrant such redemption.

The cast handles these weighty themes with aplomb. Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth are both fantastic, working well opposite each other. There is some overacting from Deborah Kerr, though admittedly her final breakdown is incredibly moving, and the Academy gave her a Best Actress nomination for it. Two other cast members converted their Oscar nominations into wins. Wendy Hiller deservedly picked up Best Supporting Actress for her turn as the stalwart hotel manager. And David Niven (pictured) is superb, straddling the line between creep and charmer, earning himself Best Actor. Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to mention fellow Aussie Rod Taylor in an early role. He and Audrey Dalton are charming together, providing much of the film's light relief.

1958 - Gigi

2024-07-03T13:47:00.003+10:00

In an attempt to fill some embarrassing gaps in my watch history and to avoid being an unpatriotic Australian, I finally got around to viewing a classic Aussie franchise. Yes, shamefully, until last week, I had not seen a single Mad Max movie. (Well, it's possible I saw Beyond Thunderdome as a teenager but I have no recollection of it.) I've yet to see the current instalment, Furiosa, and I fear I may have just missed my chance to see it on the big screen, but I viewed the previous four films in rapid succession and what struck me most is the clear evolution present in the series. Obviously, that's expected between the third and fourth movies since there was a gap of 30 years between them, but even the first three films, which were all released within a six-year period show a distinct progression from one to the next. The budgets evidently matured each time, but so did the filmmaking. Even the stories themselves are quite disparate.

Fury Road is the only one (so far) to receive love from the Academy, taking home six Oscars from ten nominations. One of those nominations was for Best Picture, so it will appear on this blog at some point. I know, I could just write about it now, since I've just watched it, but I'm in the middle of another review year and my organised brain refuses to do things out of order, so it'll just have to wait.

Speaking of our current review year, next on our trip through 1958's Best Picture contenders is...

Gigi
Director:
Vincente Minnelli
Screenplay:
Alan Jay Lerner
(based on the novel by Colette)
Starring:
Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Jourdan, Hermione Gingold, Eva Gabor, Jacques Bergerac, Isabel Jeans, John Abbott
Academy Awards:
9 nominations
9 wins, including Best Picture and Best Director

Life in Paris at the turn of the 20th century appears to be full of parties and romance, especially for wealthy young men like Gaston (Jourdan). While his uncle Honoré (Chevalier) encourages Gaston to enjoy his womanising lifestyle, Gaston considers everything to be a bore. With the pressure off, he is happy to keep the company of family friend Gigi (Caron), an irrepressible young woman who, while being taught how to behave like a courtesan, scoffs at the thought of actually becoming one. After a lost bet, Gaston takes Gigi on a weekend holiday, and finds himself questioning whether there might be something romantic between them.

As a modern viewer with modern sensibilities, the first thing that slaps you in the face about Gigi is how casually chauvinistic it is. I mean, I understand it was made seven decades ago and set another five decades before that, but when a film's opening musical number is a 70-year-old man singing about little girls, it certainly raises an eyebrow or two. I also understand that the high society of early 20th century France was spectacularly patriarchal, so the film is merely depicting the norms of the time, but it's somewhat jarring nonetheless.

That said, there were moments towards the end of the picture where I began to suspect the whole point of the story was to critique those misogynistic norms. Gigi is portrayed as an independently-minded woman, intent on bucking traditional courting practices. Rather than accepting her subjugated fate, she spurns her courtesan education and quite literally laughs in the face of the albeit kind man who is pursuing her. And even when she relents and agrees to play her submissive part, Gaston has second thoughts after experiencing a social night out with her. I had hoped that was leading to a moment in which he expresses how he fell in love with the free-spirited Gigi, not this obsequious doormat she was forcing herself to be, so she should return to being her inimitable self, but he stops short of that emotional confession. He does however drop the idea of keeping Gigi as his courtesan, which suggests he at least understands how demeaning such a submissive role can be. Ultimately, though, the Hollywood ending prevails, and rather than applying his newfound understanding to all women, he simply realises that Gigi alone is too good for that courtesan life and should be his wife instead. So, alas, a condemnation of patriarchy it is not. Indeed, Gigi seems to be delighted at Gaston's proposal mere moments after he rather rudely, and without explanation, walked out on her.

Now, if you can look past all that - and frankly, I wouldn't blame you if you can't - you'll actually find a charmingly entertaining movie. The orchestral music is bubbly and toe-tapping. Like fellow nominee Auntie Mame, the sets and costumes are extravagantly gorgeous. It feels like a resplendent Broadway production (and, as it turns out, it was adapted for the stage, somewhat unsuccessfully, several years later). In short, it's simply old-fashioned escapism, designed to put a smile on your face.

With legendary duo Lerner and Loewe in charge of the songs, it's not all that surprising that Gigi is heavily reminiscent of one of their other works, My Fair Lady, which had only opened on Broadway a couple of years earlier (though the film adaptation, also a Best Picture winner, was still to come). In both musicals, Loewe creates memorable tunes, while Lerner masters the art of clever rhyming lyrics. There's a decent amount of talk-singing in Gigi, paving the way for Rex Harrison. The number "She's a Girl" provides a very similar plot device in Gigi as "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" does in My Fair Lady. And to top it all off, "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" was actually originally written for My Fair Lady but removed before it got to Broadway, so the pair reworked it for Gigi instead.

There's no denying the pure charm of Maurice Chevalier (pictured), which is no mean feat considering my earlier observation about "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". His welcoming grin helps to create a character with an air of gentleness and an unabashed love for life. And Chevalier is just one part of a fabulous ensemble, featuring Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan and Hermione Gingold, all delivering naturally engaging performances. Disappointingly, despite four acting nominations at the Golden Globes (including a win for Gingold), none of the actors received an Academy Award nomination (though, Chevalier did receive a special Honorary Award that year for a lifetime of entertainment). However, in a way, the lack of acting nods helped Gigi to set a unique record on Oscar night. With nine Oscars, not only did it become the most honoured film up to that point, but it secured those wins from nine nominations, a 100% strike rate. It didn't hold the "Most Oscar Wins" record for long as Ben-Hur took home 11 Oscars the following year But its "Highest Clean Sweep" record took 45 years to break. After The Last Emperor merely matched the record in 1987, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King finally stole the crown in 2003 when it won all 11 of its nominations.

1958 - Auntie Mame

2024-06-21T10:54:00.000+10:00

I've been sitting here for quite a while trying to think of something to write about for this intro. I've had a couple of ideas but, after writing a sentence or two, decided they weren't all that interesting. Of course, writing about how I couldn't find anything interesting to write about is undoubtedly even less interesting than if I'd just written about the uninteresting thing, but I'm finished now and I couldn't be bothered rewriting it again. I guess I need to do more interesting things so that I can write about them.

Anyhoo, our review of the nominees from the 1958 Best Picture race continues with...

Auntie Mame
Director:
Morton DaCosta
Screenplay:
Betty Comden & Adolph Green
(based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and the stage adaptation by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee)
Starring:
Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Fred Clark, Roger Smith, Patric Knowles, Peggy Cass, Jan Handzlik, Joanna Barnes, Pippa Scott
Academy Awards:
6 nominations
0 wins

Mame Dennis (Russell) is a vivacious socialite in 1920s New York, famed for her bustling parties. When her brother dies, Mame becomes the guardian of his only son Patrick (Handzlik & later Smith). But as a safeguard against Mame's penchant for excess, her brother assigns trustee Dwight Babcock (Clark) to ensure Patrick is raised conservatively. Mame and Patrick quickly become enamoured with each other but after the stock market crash of 1929, Mame loses almost everything. Forced to find work, she applies every effort to secure a decent life for Patrick, while attempting to foster in him a love of adventure.

Classic Hollywood extravagance is on display in Auntie Mame. The characters are bright and bubbly, the clothes are fancy and the sets are lavish (albeit unnaturalistically stylised). Even the lighting gets in on the action. At the end of almost every scene, the stage lights are completely dimmed except for a single spotlight illuminating Mame's face, which I can only assume is intended to symbolise her constant need to be the centre of attention.

As if to match the title character's own flightiness, the story itself moves around a lot, almost as if it were a series of anecdotes told to us by an outside observer. Despite some farcical elements, it has the feel of a real-life biography, which at first glance, seems to be confirmed by the fact that the author of the source novel is one Patrick Dennis, which is the same name as Mame's nephew in the film. It turns out, however, that's merely a pseudonym for Edward Everett Tanner, and while Tanner had an eccentric aunt, he repeatedly denied that Auntie Mame was based on her.

Rosalind Russell (pictured) delivers an accomplished performance in the titular role, showcasing her comedic ebullience while also finding moments to pull at our heartstrings. In fact, the entire cast all prove to be well versed in broad comic timing, providing plenty of double takes and light slapstick. Peggy Cass, in particular, stands out with her delightfully hilarious portrayal of the mousy Miss Gooch. Both Russell and Cass originated these roles on Broadway and both received Oscar nominations (for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively) to pair with their Tony nominations two years prior. (Cass won the Tony, but not the Oscar. Russell lost both.) Along with those two acting nods, the film was also cited for Best Picture, as well as three deserving craft nominations: Color Art Direction, Color Cinematography and Film Editing. But just like fellow nominee Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, it failed to win a single Oscar from its six nominations.

1958 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2024-06-18T14:03:00.003+10:00

Recently, I've had the opportunity to twice visit a cinema here in Sydney that I've written about before - the Ritz. On the weekend, I took the whole family to see a special screening of Inside Out 2 (I guess we contributed to the film's immense global box office numbers). And while I'm sure the Ritz's main revenue must come from new releases like that, it's one of the very few movie theatres in town that has a robust classic film program, including many 35mm and 70mm screenings. There's a complete Kubrick retrospective imminent, but it's the year-long Classic Matinees series that will likely see me returning often, as I did yesterday for the following film.

So let's take a look at another picture from 1958's Best Picture shortlist...

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Director:
Richard Brooks
Screenplay:
Richard Brooks & James Poe
(based on the play by Tennessee Williams)
Starring:
Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood, Larry Gates, Vaughn Taylor
Academy Awards:
6 nominations
0 wins

The wealthy Pollitt family gathers together at their estate in Mississippi to celebrate the birthday of patriarch Big Daddy (Ives). Brick (Newman), a morose and alcoholic ex-athlete, pines for his glory days while neglecting his wife Maggie (Taylor). Consequently, the couple have no children, while Brick's brother Gooper (Carson) and his wife Mae (Sherwood) have five with another on the way. With Big Daddy's ailing health on everyone's minds, the family's long-held secrets begin to emerge.

While my usual gripe about stage adaptations is indeed applicable here, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof finds a way to be captivating despite those issues. There are plenty of long scenes heavy with dialogue, and while some of them test the audience's patience, others contain such high levels of tension that we almost don't want them to end. On the other hand, the theatricality is very apparent in the direction. Brick, in particular, is often seen staring past the camera with his brooding blue eyes as another character pontificates directly behind him. Staging like this might be a necessity in the theatre, where there is no fourth wall, but on screen, perhaps because it is so closely associated with soap operas, it can seem superficial and melodramatic.

Tennessee Williams, esteemed author of the source material, was apparently displeased with what he considered to be a watered down version of his play. Despite my experience with and love of the theatre, I was shamefully not all that familiar with the play, so while watching this film, it wasn't immediately obvious to me why Brick was experiencing such inner turmoil. Reading between the lines, I suspected that there was more to the relationship between Brick and his late buddy Skipper, but that topic of discussion was treated so vaguely, I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it. I'm not entirely sure the blame for that should be with the filmmakers, though. While 1950s Hollywood had begun exploring civil rights (as evidenced by fellow nominee The Defiant Ones), homosexuality on film was still very much in the closet, so to speak, thanks to the draconian Hays Code. And considering how greatly the characters expound on the topic of mendacity, there's an amusingly appropriate irony in the fact that a film about secrets was forced to keep one of its own.

The performances by each and every one of this accomplished ensemble are phenomenal. Everyone has their moment to shine. Paul Newman (pictured) is spectacular, expressing volumes with beautiful subtlety. Judith Anderson is also a standout as the matriarch trying to keep her family life in tact. Others of note are Jack Carson as the oft-dismissed brother fighting for his share, and Burl Ives, reprising the role of Big Daddy from the original Broadway production. Both Newman and Elizabeth Taylor garnered Oscar nominations for their lead performances. The film also snagged nods for Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Color Cinematography, but walked away empty-handed.

1958 - The Defiant Ones

2024-06-03T20:29:00.001+10:00

As I begin this review of a film directed by the late, great Stanley Kramer, I am reminded of the time that Kat and I briefly lived next door to his widow, Karen Sharpe. For one year in Los Angeles, we exchanged pleasantries as we ran into each other outside our front doors, but I regret never inviting her over to hear all the stories she must have. I knew she was a former actress, having worked on a vast array of classic films and TV shows, though it wasn't until recently that I discovered she has also won a Golden Globe! Plus, I'm sure she has insight into the making of some of her husband's timeless movies (though maybe not the one reviewed below since it was made before they met). But alas, while she was always very pleasant and kind, I never heard any of those stories. There just never seemed to be enough time. Kat and I were occupied with a one-year-old child at home, and Karen seemed to remain very busy with industry events, so no dinner plans were ever made. Before long, we had another child and moved to a different neighbourhood, and then later again, we moved to a different country, so I suppose the chances of hearing those stories are even more remote now. A missed opportunity, perhaps.

On that note, let's embark on our journey through the Best Picture nominees of 1958 by taking a look at...

The Defiant Ones
Director:
Stanley Kramer
Screenplay:
Nedrick Young and Harold Jacob Smith
Starring:
Tony Curtis, Sidney Poitier, Cara Williams, Theodore Bikel, Charles McGraw, Lon Chaney, Jr., King Donovan, Claude Akins, Lawrence Dobkin, Kevin Coughlin
Academy Awards:
9 nominations
2 wins, for Best Original Screenplay and Best Black-and-White Cinematography

When a truck transporting prisoners crashes, two of the convicts seize the opportunity to escape. African American Noah Cullen (Poitier) and Caucasian John Jackson (Curtis), chained together at the wrist, already have a sharp disdain for each other, but with a posse led by Sheriff Muller (Bikel) on their tail, they must work together to avoid capture.

Produced at the height of the US civil rights movement, The Defiant Ones makes no bones about its profound social commentary. Many of the sensitive themes remain relevant today, but I'm sure this film must have seemed downright shocking to some when it was released 66 years ago. Surprisingly, however, the story is also peppered with a great deal of humour, dry enough to never undermine the film's sincerity.

Today, of course, the ending (spoilers ahead!) would perhaps be considered overly sentimental and idealistic. Not just because it's unlikely that the two protagonists would both sacrifice their chance of escape for the other, but that it may be somewhat objectionable to wrap up a film exploring race relations with a nice neat bow, as if to suggest they've solved racism. That said, maybe the whole "hey, look, we used to hate each other but now we all get along" trope hadn't really cemented itself yet. Besides, the closing moments are genuinely heart-warming, largely attributable to the superb performances from the leads.

Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis (pictured together) bounce off each other brilliantly, both displaying great range. The Academy must have agreed since they each garnered a Best Actor nomination. As the compassionate and professional sheriff, Theodore Bikel shines, earning himself a Best Supporting Actor nod. Also worth mentioning is Lawrence Dobkin as the sharp-tongued newspaperman. The film's fourth acting citation went to Cara Williams in her supporting role as the lonely woman with no scruples. Lastly, keep an eye out for horror icon Lon Chaney, Jr. as Big Sam.

Best Picture of 1983

2024-05-30T11:41:00.000+10:00

Without question, this has been the quickest year of review in this blog's recent history. It took six weeks from first review to verdict, which may not sound that impressive until you consider that the last time I completed a review year in less time was just over nine years ago!

The nominees for Best Picture of 1983 are:

The Big Chill
The Dresser
The Right Stuff
Tender Mercies
Terms of Endearment

As I watched the five films in contention for 1983's big prize, there were two common themes that became apparent. First, from a genre perspective, each picture could easily be classified as a character (or characters) study. They all drill down deep into what makes people tick, and with the possible exception of The Right Stuff, relationships are at the forefront of that exploration. Second, none of these films shy away from taking their time to tell their stories. Each movie embraces a leisurely pace at some point - or in some cases, at many points - during their runtimes.

One might expect with such similarities that choosing a favourite among them would prove difficult. However, despite their connections, they remain sufficiently distinguishable, so let's get to the task at hand. First to be set aside is The Dresser, which is somewhat surprising, I suppose. As an actor myself, I certainly have an affinity for films about the theatre, but this one was ironically a tad too theatrical for my liking. Next to go is Tender Mercies, despite its wonderful Oscar-winning lead performance. I'll also lose The Right Stuff while noting how captivated I was by its epic yet personal story.

The Academy selected Terms of Endearment as its pick of the year, a worthy choice that is difficult to argue against. With the trifecta of superb acting, writing and directing, it's a classic tearjerker, deserving of its iconic status. But in my opinion - and that's what this whole blog is about, after all - The Big Chill pulls at just a few more heartstrings to tip it over the edge. A brilliant ensemble working off a charming and touching script. Consequently, The Big Chill will officially be named my favourite Best Picture nominee from 1983.

Best Picture of 1983
*Academy's choice:* Terms of Endearment	Matt's choice: The Big Chill

Your choice:

Let me know your pick of this bunch in the poll above. Next up, we move to a year in which I've previously seen only one of the contenders, and since these films are all arguably cinema classics, I'll be glad to fill in those gaps in my classic film watch history.

And the nominees for Best Picture of 1958 are:

Auntie Mame
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Defiant Ones
Gigi
Separate Tables

Stay tuned...