The key to enjoying most romantic films, whether comedies or dramas, is to recognize them as fantasies. You shouldn’t judge the health of your actual relationships by their standards any more than you would judge the value of your car by how well it stacks up against the Transformers. The problem that I had with The Vow, though, was that it asked us to indulge too heavily in some fantasy situations, but not heavily enough in the fantasies that make the genre work.
Rachel McAdams’ character gets amnesia after being in a car accident. Her memory reverts back to a time before she met her husband (Channing Tatum), as well as a time before she had made a series of life changes involving a new career, new friends and a distancing from her family of birth. As someone who has moved a few times in my life, I can certainly understand how one’s routines and social circles can change drastically over time, and in the context of a romantic fantasy I was perfectly willing to play along with the conceit of having severed all connections to an earlier age.
What felt forced to me, however, was the antipathy that everyone from her past has toward her new life. Yes, the movies have made a trope of the rich father trying to get rid of the boy from the wrong side of the tracks in order to salvage his daughter’s reputation, but to have every friend and family member participate in the ruse felt inauthentic. Are we really to believe that there is not a single person who thinks she might be happier at least exploring her relationship with her husband, or that there was no one encouraging her to reconnect with her successful art career?
In contrast to this overemphasis on the fantasy of universal social stratification, Channing Tatum’s character underwhelms as the fantasy lover that we expect from this genre. One minute he is hunky and charming and fully invested in sweeping us off our her off her feet, but the next minute he is impatient and overbearing and downright insensitive to the struggle she is facing. In the midst of a story where everyone else engages in a single-minded pursuit of their goals, it felt odd that the romantic hero would so frequently and inexplicably stray from the archetype that we all showed up to see.
Oscar Chances:
Unless the film had an original song that I didn’t notice, there’s not much chance of it showing up on my Oscar lists this year. That doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It only means that it was designed for that other day in February, the one with the red hearts instead of the red carpets.
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!
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Original screenplay is a difficult category to predict in advance, precisely because we know less about these stories than we do for the adapted versions. Nevertheless, we can look at hints based upon the prestige of the writers, as well as the directors, actors and studios that presumably sign up for the project because of the script.
This is also one of the categories where animated films sometimes break through, as do film festival favorites. As a result I have given Brave, The Surrogate and Beasts Of The Southern Wild a nod in this set of predictions.
1. Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained (Predicted Winner) (previous rank 1) 2. Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master (New) 3. Brenda Chapman and Irene Mecchi for Brave (previous ran 2) 4. Ben Lewin for The Surrogate (New) 5. Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (New)
Alternates: 6. Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom (previous rank 27) 7. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis (New) 8. Richard Nelson for Hyde Park On Hudson (previous rank 4) 9. Woody Allen for Nero Fiddled (previous rank 5) 10. Martin McDonagh for Seven Psychopaths (New) 11. Paul Andrew Williams for Song For Marion (New) 12. Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron and Rodrigo Garcia for Gravity (previous rank 44) 13. James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke for Smashed (previous rank 21) 14. James Gray and Ric Menello for Lowlife (aka Untitled James Gray Project) (New) 15. Ava DuVernay for Middle Of Nowhere (previous rank 17) 16. Vanessa Taylor for Great Hope Springs (previous rank 7) 17. Nicolas Winding Refn for Only God Forgives (New) 18. Mark Boal for Kill Bin Laden (aka Untitled International Thriller) (New) 19. John Gatins for Flight (previous rank 37) 20. Gretchen Dyer for The Playroom (previous rank 12) 21. Jeff Stockwell for My Wild Life (New) 22. Sergio G. Sanchez for The Impossible (previous rank 19) 23. Derek Connolly for Safety Not Guaranteed (New) 24. Ken Carter and Annette Haywood-Carter for Savannah (previous rank 15) 25. Jason A. Micallef for Butter (New) 26. Randy Brown for Trouble With The Curve (New) 27. John Jopson for The Absinthe Drinkers (previous rank 16) 28. Terrence Malick for The Burial (aka Untitled Terrence Malick Project) (previous rank 33) 29. Ry Russo-Young and Lena Dunham for Nobody Walks (New) 30. Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer for The Dictator (previous rank 40) 31. Kar Wai Wong, Xu Haofeng and Jingzhi Zou for The Grandmasters (previous rank 6) 32. Jeremy Walters for Dali (previous rank 8) 33. Derek Cianfranc, Ben Coccio and Darius Marder for The Place Beyond The Pines (New) 34. Sarah Polley for Take This Waltz (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 15) 35. Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal for The Words (New) 36. Rafael J. Noble and Sharon Zimmer for When We Were Pirates (previous rank 14) 37. Rian Jordan for Looper (previous rank 20) 38. Rob Reiner, Guy Thomas and Andrew Scheinman for The Magic Of Belle Isle (previous rank 32) 39. Emma Thompson for Effie (previous rank 47) 40. Barry Levinson, Leo Rossi and James Toback for Gotti: In The Shadow Of My Father (New) 41. Michelle Morgan for Imogene (New) 42. John Huddles for The Philosophers (New) 43. Brin Hill and Daniel Barnz for Won’t Back Down (previous rank 39) 44. Jeff Nichols for Mud (New) 45. Noah Baumbach for While We’re Young (previously listed as adapted, rank 28) 46. Wentworth Miller and Erin Cressida Wilson for Stoker (previous rank 31) 47. Robbie Pickering for Natural Selection (New) 48. Whit Stillman for Damsels In Distress (New) 49. Nicholas Jarecki for Arbitrage (New) 50. So Yong Kim for For Ellen (previous rank 50)
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories! See Original Screenplay predictions for other yearsHERE. Or check out theAdapted Screenplay predictions. See predictions for other categories at the 85th OscarsHERE. Switch to another year:84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th .
In updating my adapted screenplay predictions for next year our current year, I found myself faced with an interesting problem. On the one hand, there are some true literary classics being made into films, and several of them are scheduled for the end of the year awards season. On the other hand, as I looked over the lists of recent nominees, I found that relatively few of them came from films where the original work was particularly famous.
This might mean that literary classics have a higher hurdle to overcome, or are burdened with early buzz and expectations while lesser known works impress audiences with their “originality.” Or perhaps it is merely a cyclical dynamic as the Academy moves in and out of its nostalgic phases. Either way, I present my updated predictions for the 85th Oscar Adapted Screenplay race (2012-2013 awards season).
1. David Magee for Life Of Pi (Predicted Winner) (previous rank 4) 2. Tony Kushner, John Logan and Paul Webb for Lincoln (previous rank 5) 3. William Nicholson for Les Miserables (New) 4. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Gambit (previous rank 2) 5 Jose Rivera for On The Road (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 18)
Alternates: 6. Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski for Cloud Atlas (previous rank 9) 7. Fran Walsh, Phillippa Boyens, Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (previous rank 15) 8. Baz Lurhmann and Craig Pearce for The Great Gatsby (previous rank 17) 9. Tom Stoppard for Anna Karenina (previous rank 18) 10. David Cronenberg for Cosmopolis (previous rank 27) 11. Nick Cave for Wettest County (previous rank 25) 12. Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises (previous rank 21) 13. Tom Bradby for Shadow Dancer (New) 14. Chris Terrio for Argo (New) 15. Simon Beaufoy for Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 27) 16. Paul Weitz for Being Flynn (previous rank 12) 17. Matthew Michael Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski for World War Z (previous rank 39) 18. David O. Russell for The Silver Linings Playbook (new) 19. Andrew Dominik for Cogan’s Trade (previous rank 36) 20. Lee Daniels and Peter Dexter for The Paperboy (New) 21. Will Beall for The Gangster Squad (New) 22. Ol Parker for Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 31) 23. Deepa Mehta for Midnight’s Children (New) 24. D.V. DeVincentis for Lay The Favorite (New) 25. Andrea Arnold and Oliviea Hetreed for Wuthering Heights (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 25) 26. Hossein Amini and Christopher Morgan for 47 Ronin (previously ranked 12) 27. Aleta Chappelle for Macbett: The Caribbean Macbeth (previous rank 3) 28. Rowan Joffe for Great Expectations (previous rank 11) 29. Carroll Cartwright and Nancy Doyne for What Maisie Knew (previous rank 20) 30. John Ridley and Steve McQueen for Twelve Years A Slave (previously listed in 87th Oscar race, rank 7) 31. Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain and Craig Davidson for Rust And Bone (previously listed as original, rank 45) 32. Shane Salerno, Oliver Stone and Don Winslow for Savages (previous rank 44) 33. Menno Mejes, Jean-Jacques Annaud and Alain Godard for Black Gold (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 32) 34. Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul for The Lorax (previous rank 19) 35. Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof for Prometheus (previously listed as original, rank 18) 36. Cynthia Mort for Nina (previous rank 16) 37. Sandra Nettelbeck for Mr. Morgan’s Last Love (New) 38. Lem Dobbs for The Company You Keep (New) 39. Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray for The Hunger Games (New) 40. Judy Morris for The Eye Of The Storm (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 28) 41. Dan Curtis and Seth Grahame-Smith for Dark Shadows (previous rank 45) 42. Ronald Harwood for Quartet (previous rank 42) 43. Tim Burton, Leonard Ripps and John August for Frankenweenie (previous rank 41) 44. Stephen Chbosky for The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (previous rank 34) 45. Terence Davies for The Deep Blue Sea (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 45) 46. Julie Delpy, Alexia Landeau and Alexandre Nahon for 2 Days In New York (New) 47. Istvan Szabo and Andrea Vesztis for The Door (New) 48. Iain Softley for Trap For Cinderella (New) 49. Josh Goldfaden and Marc Turtletaub for Gods Behaving Badly (New) 50. William Joyce and David Lindsay-Abaire for Rise Of The Guardians (previous rank 22)
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories! See Adapted Screenplay predictions for other yearsHERE. Or check out theOriginal Screenplay predictions. See predictions for other categories at the 85th OscarsHERE. Switch to another year:84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th .
Every year we hear complaints about how the Oscars focus mostly on dramas and biopics. While I can certainly sympathize with fans of other genres who would prefer that their films got more recognition, I have also found myself wondering why the anger rises to the level that it sometimes does.
I could understand if it was 84 years ago and there weren’t any other film awards, but in 2012 we have so many different award shows that it seems silly to complain when one of them doesn’t meet your tastes. Some people prefer the BAFTA’s for their British sensibilities. Others follow the Golden Globes precisely because they offer up more comedy options. Lovers of independent cinema can track the film festivals and the FIPRESCI prizes, while those who can’t get enough of their teen heartthrobs have the MTV Movie Awards.
For fellow geeks like me, one of the most interesting awards is the Saturn Awards, sponsored by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. They’ve recently released their Saturn Award Nominations, and while I haven’t seen all of them, I have to agree that this is a pretty good list. Those who are angry about how this year’s Oscars turned out will be pleased to see that The Artist, The Help and The Iron Lady didn’t even make the cut.
Which leads me to wonder: If we know that each of these awards has their own tastes and follows their own trends, why do we get so upset that the Oscars do the same? Is it simply the prestige of it? If they changed their name to the Academy of Dramas and Biopics, would we still be as upset? Or, to be honest, if there was a new organization that was being formed today that called itself by the same name, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, wouldn’t we expect that they might pick exactly the type of films that they do now?
