photo credit: collider.com
The Holidays always bring me back here… to this happy place.
Because when the weather changes and the snow falls, there’s nowhere I’d rather be than a movie theater. Seriously, keep your island getaways – I embrace the cold weather and what it means for movie watching. And what it means for awards season.
We’re full swing into the most wonderful time of the year – and it starts with the Gotham Awards, and goes all the way to the Oscars, with a few telling stops along the way. Independent Spirit, BAFTA and SAG, of course the Globes… but also the smaller ceremonies that turn our attention to the screen gems that are directors, producers, and actors.
photo credit: onlinemovieshut.com
Like now – the buzz surrounding films like ‘The Artist’ (Best Picture?) and performances like Michelle Williams’ in ‘My Week with Marilyn’… it’s contagious. I really think that this year, the industry is paying close attention to directors. Take David Fincher (Oscars repeat this year? Or perhaps Jason Reitman will be back for ‘Young Adult’) and Alexander Payne (‘Descendants’ earns him a third LA Film Critics win) for their careful decisions with popular entities. For Fincher, he’s guiding the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo franchise to American audiences. For Payne, he’s reminded us that George Clooney is still a decent actor when put in the right movie. They’ll probably be competing against Awards veterans like Steven Spielberg (‘War Horse’), Martin Scorsese (‘Hugo’) and Stephen Daldry (‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’).
photo credit: collider.com
The season is also known for rolling out the red carpet to the Hollywood I love… the earnest, humble Hollywood. Like young Hollywood – Shailene Woodley, Eddie Redmayne, Rooney Mara, Elizabeth Olsen and other relatively unknown actors have already come out swinging in top films. Then there are the underdogs: they’ve been with us for a while, and have always had more talent than Hollywood acknowledges. I’m referring to (pretty much the entire cast of) The Help – specifically Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Emma Stone. Gary Oldman could get his first nomination for ‘Tinker, Taylor’, and Charlize Theron has been relatively quiet on the awards circuit since her ‘Monster’ win, but now she’s front and center with ‘Young Adult.’ It could happen.
photo credit: movieline.com
There are the old hats – Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock in ‘Extremely Loud’, Meryl Streep in ‘Iron Lady,’ Matt Damon in ‘We Bought a Zoo’ (I know, but don’t be surprised when it happens). The usuals George Clooney, Leo DiCaprio (‘J. Edgar’), and Brad Pitt (‘Money Ball’) might all be up for Best Actor here and there. But then there are the newcomers. Michael Fassbender, has been choosing all the right roles lately, and ‘Shame’ might be the one to get him a nod. Michael Shannon in ‘Take Shelter,’ Joseph Gordon-Levitt in ’50/50′ and Jean Dujardin in ‘The Artist’ could be those new names this year. Dare I say, Ryan Gosling could wind up being nominated for ‘Ides’? Tom Hardy or Joel Eggerton for ‘Warrior’? A girl can dream.
photo credit: guim.co.uk
I’m especially proud of the focus on female directors this season. We all know about Angelina Jolie directing ‘Blood and Honey’ and Madonna directing ‘W.E.’ opening next year, but there’s also Vera Farmiga (‘Higher Ground’), Phyllida Lloyd (‘Iron Lady’), Lynne Ramsay (‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’) and Dee Rees (‘Pariah’) whose movies could wind up with a few nominations. Thanks to Kathryn Bigelow, the Best Picture category shouldn’t be foreign to us.
And it goes on and on.
So, here’s a toast to the season bright. Awards Season. The celebration of good work, great contributions to society, and inspiration through creative art… that’s what makes this my favorite time of year. The experience of film comes alive in a way that you can’t ignore.
But then again, why would you want to?
