To the Wonder (2012)- What is the love that lives among us? (3½ Stars)

The second film in Terrence Malick's self-named Texas Trilogy, with the first being the moving Tree of Life, and the third presumably set in the Austin music scene. That all is besides the point. Right now is To the Wonder, a film shot with an expert's eye, told with expert abstractness, and requiring an expert amount of attention, if that makes any sense.

The story begins with Marina (Olga Kurylenko), a seemingly naive Parisian in a relationship with the near-silent Neil (Ben Affleck). We see them in the middle of a relationship, and Malick oddly never chooses to show the beginnings of their first or second relationships. Marina has a child, and that child is her daughter that wants to move to the US with Neil.

Tatiana, the child, is what we the audience view as the childish one in the relationship between Neil and Marina, since she is the child. Marina is our subject, and like The Tree of Life, is one subject that comes of age. Marina begins naive, free as a bird. The film depicts Marina feeling rejection, lust, anguish. All three of those, not in any order nor variety.

Oscar Opinions: Argo (2012)

QUICK OPINION:

Argo was once my favorite film of 2012. Now its not even on my top 10. I was overcome by hype. 96% on RottenTomatoes. I loved The Town, which I saw for the first time a day before Argo. I think about it more and more, and the more I realize how... dull it is. The script is fine, the performances aren't bad or anything, but it's just nothing special. Chris Terrio took too many liberties with the facts, and there was honestly no scene that blew me away. It's good, but it really is nothing special.

BEST MOMENT:

The opening when the US Embassy gets raided is a pretty cool scene.

BEST PERFORMANCE:

I really can't explain any performance that was extraordinary, so I'll cheat a little: Ben Affleck... as the film's director. His work with the basic subtleties of each scene was deft, and his style for the three different locations sounds like the work of a true talent.

Check back soon for re-evaluated thoughts on Beasts of the Southern Wild. 

BAFTA Winners!

*BAM* JUSTICE *BAM*       BAFTA emitting too much intelligent voting. 

Django might now be the Original Screenplay frontrunner... unless one considers impulsive ballot filling for Zero Dark Thirty, since it is the only frontrunner contending for WGA. So happy for Christoph Waltz, I honestly hope he wins again.

BEST FILM: Argo

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: Skyfall

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: The Imposter

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Amour

DOCUMENTARY: Searching For Sugar Man

ANIMATED FILM: Brave

DIRECTOR: Argo - Ben Affleck

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell

LEADING ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln

LEADING ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

ORIGINAL MUSIC: Skyfall - Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life Of Pi - Claudio Miranda

EDITING: Argo - William Goldenberg

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Les Miserables - Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson

COSTUME DESIGN: Anna Karenina - Jacqueline Durran

MAKE UP & HAIR: Les Miserables - Lisa Westcott

SOUND: Les Miserables - Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Jonathan Allen, Lee Walpole, John Warhurst

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Life of Pi - Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer

SHORT ANIMATION: The Making of Longbird - Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson

SHORT FILM: Swimmer - Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public): Juno Temple

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA: Tessa Ross

THE BAFTA FELLOWSHIP: Alan Parker

BAFTA predictions.

BAFTA's are one thing I unfortunately have been undermining in my prognostication career. The BAFTA's this year could quite possibly be the turning point for three of the big categories this year- Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor. As lazy as I am, I have decided not to predict in every category. Like most teens, I am simply too lazy.

The winners will be...

BEST FILM- Argo
BEST BRITISH FILM- Les Miserables (boo boo! Skyfall 4 LYFE!)
BEST DIRECTION- Ben Affleck, Argo
BEST ACTOR- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
BEST ACTRESS- Emmanuelle Riva, Amour (If Chastain wins, I will be happy because she did have the best performance of the year. If Riva wins, I'll be happy for a correct prediction. How cynical of me.)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR- Since BAFTA really liked Django, then it is Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY- Michael Haneke, Amour (In reality, I think Zero Dark Thirty will take either of Amour's two big prizes. This is about predicting, and I'm playing it safe with Amour winning both)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY- Chris Terrio, Argo (boo boo! Lincoln!)
BEST FOREIGN FILM- Amour (duh!)

Director's Guild Winners.

Now who will win the Oscar?!

BEST DIRECTOR:
Ben Affleck, Argo

BEST DOCUMENTARY DIRECTION
Searching for Sugar Man

Thoughts on the Golden Globes.

@Michael_Haneke  heres me havin a secret nap when @benaffleck was
doin his speech! Wot did I miss? Did he announce daredevil 2 yet lol

I DON'T CARE IF I'M TOO LATE FOR THIS. BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

The Golden Globes were almost two Sundays ago, but I'm hoping I'm not two late for this.

Should I have been shocked by the Les Miserables victory? No. But I was. I did more reading after the show to learn that the Globes go more for good musicals than great comedies. Here is a recent track record.

2006: Dreamgirls > Little Miss Sunshine
2007: Sweeny Todd > Juno

This year was no different. I am happy I did reasonably well with my predictions, despite losing in both big categories. In all seriousness, Argo was a bit of a surprise. The Globes loves themselves some George Clooney (a producer of Argo). It does make sense for Lincoln to have won, since it did nab the most nominations in Globes history. Films dream of getting 7 nominations at the Oscars!

There were no big surprises in the acting categories, which is probably a bad sign to Naomi Watts' Oscar campaign. It is weird to see that Affleck won the Globe for Best Director, despite not getting an Oscar nomination.

Spielberg has been left in the cold. He has hardly won any directing prizes, yet his two prime competitors Bigelow (NYFCC, National Board of Review) and Affleck (Critics Choice, Golden Globes) did not get nominations.

THIS IS ONE MESSED UP YEAR.

Oscar Nomination thoughts.

YOU'LL WIN AGAIN
SOMEDAY

YOU'LL WIN AGAIN
SOMEDAY, TOO

Most Americans go to school, especially in the teenage years. I am currently a teenage school lad, so I have to work from 7:00-3:00. The nominations were announced at 7:30, so I chose to listen to the YouTube livestream in the library. When you only listen to audio, your mind can play tricks on you. You can mistake words. Like Benh and Ben.

A simple explanation: I was listening to the nominations, and the last nominee announced was Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild. I, of course, first heard the word Ben, so I assumed "Oh, Ben Affleck, Argo." But Zeitlin was added on to the name, and all became clear: THE BENH ZEITLIN, THE KID WITH A CAMERA THAT MADE A FILM FOR $180K. Wow. I was more shocked by the inclusions than the exclusions. I then realized Bigelow and Affleck were snubbed for their political thrillers, and instead two independent films with little known actresses made it in.

BEST PICTURE:

LIKE A BOSS #YOLO

I really, really wanted The Master to get in. Alas, it didn't, but the nominees this year were very good. Amour and Beasts of the Southern Wild both were on my top 10, albeit, the bottom. I pined for Les Miserables not getting not nominated, and I wish Moonrise was nominated. Moonrise was picking up steam toward the end of the race, and so was Skyfall.

BEST ACTOR:
Joaquin made it in. It was a good lineup.

BEST ACTRESS:
No real shocks, unless you count Marion Cotillard not making it in as a 'shock'.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
It's a bummer Leo DiCaprio didn't get in, but the Academy did nominated the better Django performance: Christoph Waltz. There were no real surprises, but I wish Bardem got one for Skyfall.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
There were only really 4 contenders for this one, so Jacki Weaver making it in didn't come with too much surprise. Again, no real surprises.

BEST DIRECTOR: 
Where as the acting categories were not that surprising, the directing category was the bulk of all surprises. I really wish Bigelow got nominated for her masterpiece Zero Dark Thirty over Benh Zeitlin's Beasts.

THE SCREENPLAYS:
In the beginning of the season, I thought The Master would win Best Original Screenplay. Instead, it failed to get nominated, being cut out by Flight. Bummer, but that was probably the only surprise in the whole category. Adapted was predictable, unless you consider The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a lock.

Golden Globe predictions!

The Golden Globes announce today, and I feel today is going to be a very good show (Poehler + Fey). I hope the winners are also surprising too, especially Breaking Bad for TV drama. That show better win tonight.

Anyways....

BEST MOTION PICTURE- DRAMA
All 5 nominees in this category have gone on to be Best Picture nominees. I'm going to have to say Lincoln will win this one because it is the current frontrunner. I won't be surprised by an Argo upset, and I would be delighted by a Zero Dark Thirty win.

BEST MOTION PICTURE- COMEDY/MUSICAL
The Golden Globes bring  welcome surprises. I feel that the force with Silver Linings Playbook is strong, but any musical in this category is usually a strong contender. In 2007, Sweeny Todd beat out Juno. Still, I'm going with Silver Linings.


BEST DIRECTOR
It's weird what Oscar did. They left out Ben Affleck for Argo, and yet, I think he is going to win Best Director. (Golden Globes hardly predict the Oscar winner. Scorsese won last year, then Fincher, Cameron, Boyle won the Oscar, but then before was Schnabel, Inarritu...)

DGA Nominee predictions!

DGA announces tomorrow, and despite it being so close to announcement day, they still remain crucial.

1. Spielberg, Lincoln
2. Affleck, Argo
3. Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
4. Lee, Life of Pi

5 is a tough cookie. The DGA will probably nominate O. Russell for Silver Linings because they usually aren't as sentimental as the Academy. They nominated Dark Knight, Academy chose The Reader. Just because O. Russell will be nominated here at the DGA's doesn't mean he will at the Oscars. Gods (or any other god believed by Piscene Molitor Patel,) will he does.

Washington Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) nominees!

Skyfall nominations!

Best Film:

Argo

Les Misérables

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director:

Ben Affleck (Argo)

Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Tom Hooper (Les Misérables)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

Best Actor:

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

Best Actress:

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Argo (2012): The years' crowdpleaser. (3½ Stars Out of Four)