To begin my critique of the 84th annual Academy Awards, I have to say that I was very disappointed not only in the selections by the Academy this year, but also in the show itself. Now if you check my last blog, you'll see I was correct in predicting who would win on a lot of the major awards. Obviously The Artist I predicted would win best picture. I said it would either be Viola Davis or Meryl Streep for best actress. I was wrong in the best actor category with the star from The Artist winning – Jean Dujardin. I was correct in predicting Octavia Spencer for best supporting actress and I was correct in predicting that Christopher Plummer would win best supporting actor. I was also correct in predicting that The Descendants would win adapted screenplay. But I was surprised that Woody Allen won for Midnight in Paris and upset The Artist in original screenplay. Allen never shows up for the Oscars, but he's won several Oscars going back to his days for Annie Hall; he's been nominated in the writing category several times. The Academy does love his writing, but that was a surprise to me that he upset The Artist. I predicted that Hugo would win 4 of the technical awards. As it turns out, Hugo won 5 technical awards, out of 11 nominations – most for all films. The Artist winning best picture, best director, and best actor plus 2 technical awards – won 5 to tie Hugo. So the trend that I refer to in the original blog held true in that even though Hugo was nominated for the most Oscars with 11, none of its actors were nominated in the acting category and very very rarely as I pointed out does a movie win best picture without one of its actors being nominated in an acting category. So that left the Artist with the next most nominations, which usually does win. But as I pointed out there are exceptions. Obviously as recently as Million Dollar Baby in 2004 - did not get the most nominations yet it won best picture... I was cheering for The Descendants all night long and I had hope for The Descendants when The Artist didnt win the film editing category. Film editing sometimes can be a precursor for best picture. It's sort of like best director, whoever wins best director usually wins best picture. That doesn't happen as often in film editing, but most of the time if you look historically the winner of film editing ends up winning best picture. Now both The Artist and the Descendants were nominated in that category. Now a shocker there is that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo won film editing. So with The Artist not winning that category, combined with Woody Allen upsetting The Artist in its writing category, it gave me hope that the Descendants would win best picture. However, when we got to the best director category I knew that it was a night for The Artist with Michel Hazanavicius winning best director Oscar for The Artist. Then when Dujardin won best actor it was no surprise that The Artist then won best picture. Isn't it ironic that The Artist – directed and produced by Frenchmen – yet it's a movie about American Hollywood in the silent film era. Go figure. So I was very disappointed that The Artist beat out the Descendants and extremely disappointed that George Clooney did not win best actor. I'm not saying that I didn't appreciate Dujardin's performance in The Artist, but I just thought Clooney was so special and so moving and showed such a great range that he really deserved it this year. Another point I want to make about the best picture category is that - what kind of statement is the Academy trying to make naming this silent film as best picture? To me it's regression – all that movie does in my opinion is remind us why almost instantaneously – as soon as talkies emerged in movies – silent films disappeared. I guess they wanted to make a statement about the history of motion pictures. I found The Artist to be not only boring but very very predictable.

 I mentioned in the previous blog that I really appreciated Meryl Streep's performance, even though I didn't like the movie Iron Lady, but I did appreciate her performance in it. The reason I didn't like the movie is because it didn't do justice to the history of Margaret Thatcher – they didn't mention how instrumental she was along with President Reagan in the bringing down of the Berlin wall. They passed over other historical achievements by Thatcher in her illustrious career. But you cannot deny how fabulous Streep was. And ironically the makeup artist for Streep – who has been with her for many years – won the Oscar for makeup. I personally would have given best actress to Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs and also the makeup artist for that movie. That makeup artist did a great job not only for Glenn Close but Janet McTeer as her co-star, who I also thought deserved best supporting actress – which of course went to Octavia Spencer. Again as far as the awards are concerned I was quite disappointed with the way they were distributed this year. I think that War Horse was ignored because next year Spielberg is coming out with Daniel Day Lewis portraying Abraham Lincoln. But again the other movies – such as Moneyball totally struck out not winning any Oscars; Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close struck out; The Tree of Life struck out too.

As far as the acceptance speeches – to me by far the best was Christopher Plummer for best supporting actor. Even though I thought Kenneth Branagh should have won, Plummer was eloquent, classy, funny and very gracious. I thought he just glittered in his acceptance speech - the 82 year old who I've marveled and really enjoyed his entire career just glittered. My second favorite was Meryl Streep. She was very funny and moving and touching and she's the old pro now having wound up winning her third Oscar, second for best actress to go along with Sophie's Choice; and a supporting actress Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer. It's been a long time for her.

Getting back to the best picture category – historically speaking, I usually agree with who the Academy chooses for best picture. Obviously this year I did not. Last year - The King's Speech – I couldn't agree more deserved best picture. The Social Network was my second favorite film in 2010....Now let's go back and look at who's won best picture since 1950. Since 1950 through 2011, now that's 61 years, I have only disagreed with the Academy's selection of best picture 16 times. The first was 1951 – when American in Paris won. I thought that either A Place in the Sun with Montgomery Cliff and Elizabeth Taylor – or Street Car Named Desire with Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Vivien Leigh should have won best picture. Then in 1956, Around the World in 80 Days won best picture but I thought either Friendly Persuasion with Gary Cooper or The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr should have won. In 1958, the musical Gigi won – I thought The Big Country – William Wyler's epic western should have won. Big Country wasn't even nominated for best picture, even though Buryl Ives won best supporting actor. I believe they snubbed Big Country maybe because it was a western and because of the anticipation in 1959 that Wyler was coming out with Ben Hur which of course swept the Oscars and won 11 Academy Awards. And in those days, the Academy seemed enamored and in love with musicals because West Side Story won in 1961, My Fair Lady won in 1964, Sound of Music won in 1965, and Oliver won in 1968. Next in 1960, The Apartment with Jack Lemon and Shirley McClain won best picture. I thought that Elmer Gantry deserved best picture with Burt Lancaster and Gene Simmons. And my second choice that year would have been Spartacus with Kurt Douglas. But there were two strikes against Spartacus because it came out the year after Ben Hur - another Roman epic. In 1963, Tom Jones won best picture but I thought Lilies of the Field with Sydney Poitier deserved it. In 1976, Rocky won best picture with Sylvester Stallone and in my opinion Network should have won hands down. I think it's one of the biggest misses in Academy Award history. Network with Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch and William Holden and Robert Duvall I think is one of the greatest movies of all time. Then in 1981 Chariots of Fire won best picture and Warren Beatty's Reds should have won in my mind. But that was still right in the middle of the cold war and tension between the US and Soviet Union was at its peak so the Academy I don't think wanted to honor the communist system in the Soviet Union, even though I thought what Beatty accomplished in starring, writing, and directing Reds was incredible. And he won best director for that movie. In 1988 Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise won best picture but in my opinion Mississippi Earning with Gene Hackman should have won. In 1989, Driving Miss Daisy won with Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman but I thought Born on the 4th of July with Tom Cruise, directed by Oliver Stone should have won. And Stone won best director that year. In 1994, Forrest Gump with Tom Hanks won best picture, another one of the biggest misses in Academy Award history in my opinion. The Shawshank Redemption should have won with Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins. In 1996 the English Patient won best picture with Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Scott Thomas but in my mind the Coen Brothers Fargo should have won. In 1998, Shakespeare in Love won best picture but Saving Private Ryan definitely deserved it – another one of the biggest misses in Academy Award history. Spielberg won his second best director Oscar for Saving Private Ryan, even though his movie didn't win best picture. In 2005, Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain for best picture; however the two movies that I thought were the best films of that year weren't even nominated for best picture. The Cinderella Man with Russell Crowe and King Kong with Naomi Watts, Adrienne Brody and Jack Black were the best films of the year I thought. In 2006, The Departed won best picture – Martin Scorsese rewarded for all of the great work of his career, starting with The Good Fellas, the Gangs of New York, the Aviator, and to me the best picture should have been Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio who was also in The Departed with Matt Damon. In 2007, No Country for Old Men won best picture by the Coen Brothers who were rewarded here but not for Fargo. In my opinion There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day Lewis should have won. And finally in 2009 Hurt Locker – Katherine Bigelow's film – in my opinion either Avatar or Inglorious Bastards deserved the Oscar more. Notice that from 1951 – 1963, 12 years – I disagreed five times. Then it's kind of spaced out until 1994 through 1998 I disagreed three times. From 1998 – 2009, I disagreed with the Academy five times. So I guess overall sixteen times I've disagreed in the course of 60 years, means 45 times I've agreed with the Academy. But this last year I did not. I thought that The Descendants was the best picture, not The Artist.

Now in regards to the show, I was disappointed as well. And it wasn't because of Billy Crystal, who I love. I thought he was great in his opening, the montage he put together and the songs about all the best picture nominees – 9 this year. It was all great except for the fact that the audio was screwed up and you couldn't hear him. The music was louder than he was when he was singing, so that was a miss on their part. The rest of the writing for the presenters I thought was very poor. For instance, Will Farrell and the other guy giving away best song. I thought it was very disgraceful for Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz to show their backsides when they were presenting, that just wasn't funny. And Cirque du Soleil – what did that have to do with the movies? Nothing. Please explain what that had to do with the movies. And the whole thing that was supposed to be so funny about the focus group, I didn't find that funny at all. I also thought that the Jean Hersholt humanitarian award – giving away 3 to Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, and Dick Smith (makeup artist) – they used to give away one of those per year and show a lot of video from the movies that that person was in. Now because they are petrified of the show going too long, they speed that up and I didn't like the fact that they were letting presenters present two awards at a time rather than one. You want to see the stars. The bottom line is that it is ridiculous that they are so freaked out and reacting to critics about the show being too long. So what if it goes long, it's the Academy Award night! The Super bowl coverage starts at 11am and the game doesn't end until 10pm and then you have post game going until midnight. So what if the Academy Awards goes four hours – what is the big rush? And I felt that the whole show was rushed and I didn't like it. They used to do clever musical numbers with musical score, they showed a lot more of the scenes from the movies in years past and we hardly got any of that in this year's show. So I was really disappointed in this show overall.

There were a couple good things about the show – the bit that Crystal did when they showed the faces of the stars in the audience and Crystal said this is what they're thinking – I thought that was very funny. Especially with Nick Nolte, that was good. But I thought Crystal was fine, it was just the rest of it I didn't like. And finally the other good thing about the show was the dog from The Artist, which I thought was the best thing about that movie anyway. I also thought that when the writers of The Descendants were accepting their award it was very funny when they imitated Angelina Jolie and her pose with her leg. And that about does it!

I'll see you next year at the movies!!

Love ya,

Bruce  

Well the Academy Awards ceremonies are upon us and as we lead up to this year's Ceremonies - hosted by Billy Crystal – which of course is a real plus and bonus. He hasn't hosted the Oscars for many years. It's because Eddie Murphy turned down the role because of a producer that was a friend of his who was taken off the production. Murphy originally accepted the role but then turned it down. There's an argument on who is the greatest host of the Oscars over the decades and in my opinion it's between Bob Hope and Billy Crystal.

Best Picture - 9 nominations. A few years ago they expanded from 5 to as many as 10. The reason there are 9 is that they have the stipulation that you must get x amount of first place votes in order to qualify for the best picture category.

Now by process of elimination let me begin by who will NOT win best picture and why.

First - since 1932 - very few movies have won best picture without at least one of the actors in the movie getting nominated in an acting category (best actor, actress, supporting actor, and actress). Now ironically in the 50s it happened 4 times. 1951 American in Paris won best picture without any of its performers being nominated in an acting category. Same thing in 1952, the Greatest Show on Earth won without any actors nominated. Then again in 1956, Around the World in 80 Days with no actor nominated. Again in 1958 - Gigi won best picture without any actors nominated. From 1958 - 1995 EVERY best picture winner had at least 1 performer nominated for an acting award. In 1995, Braveheart - Mel Gibson's piece about the Scottish William Wallace won best picture but no one in the movie got nominated for an acting category - which is a joke because Gibson should not have only been nominated but should have won. And Patrick McGoohan not only should have been nominated for best supporting actor, but in my opinion, should have won. And then again it happened in 2003 with Lord of the Rings Return of the King winning best picture without having an actor nominated in any acting category. Now that's interesting because only 3 movies in the history of the Academy Awards have won 11 Oscars. The first was Ben Hur in 1959 starring Charlton Heston. The next movie to do it was Titanic in 1997, and then Lord of the Rings Return of the King in 2003. But what makes Lord of the Rings Return of the King interesting and unique is that it didn't have any of its cast nominated in any of the acting categories. And then finally, recently in 2008 Slum Dog Milllionaire won best picture without any of its cast being nominated in acting categories. Therefore, as you can see it is an extreme rarity for a movie to win best picture without any of its cast to be nominated in an acting category. With that being said, Hugo - Martin Scorsese's look at the history of film in Paris - no actor got nominated. Then Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris- no actor got nominated. The Tree of Life - starring Brad Pitt, even though Pitt is nominated for best actor Oscar in Moneyball - no actor in the Tree of Life got nominated. And finally Steven Spielberg's War Horse - no actor from that cast nominated. So using this trend, I eliminate all of those films from winning best picture this year.

Next, since 1932, only ONCE has a movie won best picture without its director being nominated for best director. The only time that's happened was 1989 when Driving Miss Daisy won best picture but its director did not get nominated for best director. Therefore, using that incredibly evident trend, I eliminate The Help. Even though it's much acclaimed and did receive 4 Oscar nominations – 2 of them in acting, I eliminate The Help from the best picture category. I also eliminate Moneyball. It did have 6 nominations, but I eliminate it as well. So that leaves us 2 movies standing - 1 is The Artist - which got 10 nominations; (1 less than Hugo which led all movies with 11) and The Descendants, which got 5 nominations.

Now the Artist is the favorite to win best picture. And I personally did not like this movie. It is different and unique because it's a look back at silent movies and is a silent movie, but I'm sorry I found it boring, predictable, obviously the silent movie screen star thought that talkies were a trend and didn't believe in it and he falls from stardom. And his young upstart female costar portrayed by Berenice Bejo - she becomes a big star in the talkies. Then at the end of the movie it's a feel good story because she gives him a chance at talkies and he's revitalized. I'm sorry,  it is beautifully shot in black and white, shadows, art direction, with an excellent musical score - even though Kim Novak has a problem that the musical score was taken from a movie that she did with James Stewart many years ago called Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock classic). But I'm sorry, The Artist may indeed win best picture but I pray and hope that that is not the choice. My choice is The Descendants. I thought it was a tremendous story and brilliantly acted. It's the only movie this year of all the nominations that I loved. Now I liked several of the nominations but I didn't love any of them with the exception of The Descendants. It's a great great story. I'm not a George Clooney fan, but I adored him in this movie. And I think what makes this movie so good is what Alexander Payne does - he swings your emotions back and forth throughout the entire film. One minute you are laughing hysterically and then the next near tears; then laughing hysterically, then near tears. And then right before you're ready to start crying like a baby, he swings you back and you can't help but just start roaring again at a scene. And the entire movie is like that - back and forth, back and forth. It is tremendously written and splendidly acted and I loved it. I think without question it should win best picture of the year. But The Artist will probably win because most of the time the movie that is nominated for the most Oscars wins best picture. Even though Hugo is nominated the most with 11, The Artist is noteworthy because it's the only other film that has double digit nominations. By the way there is the possibility that this year there might be a split - Descendants could win best picture without Alexander Payne winning best director. It's unusual and here's why. If you look at the history of the Oscars, about once every 8-10 years on average, a movie will win best picture without its director winning best director. Ironically in the last decade it happened several times. In 2000, Gladiator -starring Russell Crowe won best picture but its director Ridley Scott did not win and lost to Steven Soderbergh for Traffic. In 2002, Chicago deservedly won best picture but Rob Marshall did not win for best director and lost to Roman Polanski for the Pianist. And then again in 2005, Crash won best picture but its director, Paul Haggis lost to Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain. Now in my opinion, Alexander Payne deserves to win best director, but the director of the Artist – Michel Hazanavicius - will probably win best director even though I believe Payne should win. Martin Scorsese is of course nominated for Hugo and Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris and Terrence Malick for Tree of Life (he directed 1998 war film Thin Red Line). Now let me go back to the best picture category. I mentioned it is a 2 movie race between the Artist and the Descendants, the Artist will probably win, but I hope not. Hugo is a cinematic achievement for Scorsese and it's the first time he's done a movie like this and it garnered the most nominations with 11. Surprisingly I liked Moneyball more than I thought I would - because obviously knowing the behind the scenes workings of the sports world, that's what I do for a living, I went into it prejudiced. But I thought it captured it quite well and Pitt did a splendid job portraying Billy Bean, GM of Oakland A's. I really liked War Horse from a cinematic stand point. I thought Spielberg really captured the emotion of the story of the horse and its rightful owner and the epics surrounding WWI. To tell you the truth, overall this year I did not think it was a great year for movies. Again giving you an example of 1998 - the 5 nominations were all great movies making for a very difficult choice. Shakespeare in Love ended up winning it even though I thought Saving Private Ryan deserved it. But Thin Red Line by Terrence Malick; Roberto Benini's Life is Beautiful was a great story, splendidly directed and acted. Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett was a tremendous movie. So that was a GREAT year for movies. This year I don't think it was such a great year. Again I loved the Descendants and thought it was the only great movie of the year. I liked some of the others but I didn't love them or think they were great movies.

Best actor category - I think George Clooney should win and I will predict he will win; even though there's a lot of sentiment for this French actor in the Artist, Jean Dujardin. He's new on the Hollywood scene and he may win if indeed the Artist is destined to sweep the Oscars this year and the momentum of the voters' going for that movie - I pray not - but he could win that way. It's ironic that I think Clooney is most deserving of the best actor award because I am not a Clooney fan but loved him in this movie. I even liked the other movie that he starred and directed this year- the Ides of March, the political drama. But I'll say that Clooney will win and without question should win. And this is assuming that the Academy is going to go for the Artist. But they have to acknowledge the Descendants somewhere, at least a couple of times of the 5 nominations that the movie received, it's just too good to be totally ignored and not win anything. The surprise nomination in the best acting category is Demian Bichir for A Better Life. Gary Oldman is nominated for the first time in his career - which is surprising for the illustrious career he has had - for Tinker Tailor Soldier and Spy. And my last blog I mentioned to you that I don't get this film even though I'm an Oldman fan. I didn't care for this movie at all. And then Pitt is nominated for Moneyball... but Clooney should take this category.

The next category is the toughest of this year without question - best actress. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I think this year is the toughest and the best year EVER in the history of the Academy Awards in the best actress category. Obviously, Tilda Swinton - who won a few years ago in Michael Clayton, did not get nominated for best actress - for her role in We've Got to Talk About Kevin. And what a great performance to not get nominated. Also Charlize Theron I thought was phenomenal in Young Adult - and I knew someone was destined to get snubbed with only 5 nominees. But it's so tough to choose between these 5. The nominees are Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn, Rooney Mara for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Glen Close for Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis for The Help, and Meryl Streep for the Iron Lady. I think the Academy is going to acknowledge the movie The Help in the acting categories. Certainly Octavia Spencer in the supporting actress category will be a way that they can acknowledge this movie and also here in best actress. Viola Davis had a cameo role in Doubt a few years ago- and may indeed win. I personally would not vote for her. I don't think that it was much of a stretch for her to portray this character. Unlike the others - like Michelle Williams who played the iconic Marilyn Monroe; Mara playing this bizarre investigator in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Glen Close for portraying a man in the turn of the century waiter role in Albert Nobbs; and certainly Meryl Streep as the legendary Margaret Thatcher in the Iron Lady. Davis may win; I wouldn't vote for her, she doesn't deserve it in my opinion. I personally would vote for Glen Close. She has never won an Oscar, but has been nominated 5 times. She deserves it in this movie - the stretch of being so convincing in playing this man in order to stay employed won me over big time. You watch this performance and you are convinced she is a man. I don't think she'll win because not many people saw this movie. If Davis doesn't win, Streep probably will. She's been nominated 17 times now, but only won twice for Sophie's Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer. She's very deserving in this role; you are convinced she is Thatcher. But I didn't really care for the movie; I don't think they did justice to the history and the magnitude of Margaret Thatcher who was such an important historical figure in British politics. It won't surprise me if they give the Oscar to Davis, but Glen Close should win. However, if Davis doesn't win I predict Meryl Streep will.

Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer will win for Beginners. I mentioned in my previous blog, I love Plummer - going back to Sound of Music with Julie Andrews. He did Somewhere in Time with Jane Seymour, the Battle of Britain - his filmography is tremendous. He's also in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in a supporting role. To me his performance was good but not great - I wasn't blown away saying oh wow what a performance. This is a lifetime achievement award like they gave John Wayne for True Grit; like they gave Paul Newman for the Color of Money and I just don't buy it. He will win, but he doesn't deserve to win. The actor who deserves to win is Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn. He portrays Sir Lawrence Olivier and absolutely nailed it. If you are old enough to remember Olivier or even if you're not and have seen some of Olivier's performances you will just open your mouth and go man what a performance. He is hilarious and gets so upset with Michelle Williams portrayal of Marilyn Monroe that I think he steals the scenes with her. And Branagh has been around the block several times as a director, actor, writer and he deserves to win. I thought Jonah Hill did a nice job in Moneyball and deserves to be acknowledged. Nick Nolte is a surprise nominee here for Warrior and a lot of people are really caught off guard that he got the nod. Max von Sydow is nominated in this category and is someone who's work I've always admired; he's done a great job over the years in numerous roles- Hannah and Her Sisters, Woody Allen's comedy. I remember when he did Hawaii with Julie Andrews and Richard Harris. He doesn't even have any dialogue - he doesn't speak in this movie. His acting/ emotions come out with his facial expressions. But Plummer will win even though my vote is Branagh

Supporting Actress - I mention Bejo from the Artist and she is very good; Jessica Chastain from the Help; Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids, Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs and Octavia Spencer for the Help. Now Spencer has been winning everything in sight with the precursor awards leading up to the Oscars Ceremony. And I again, because of acknowledging this movie - even though I don't think it has a chance for best movie because its director did not get nominated for best director - I think that she will win. In my mind she doesn't deserve it. To me this is clearly CLEARLY a category in which Janet McTeer deserves it for her role opposite Glen Close in Albert Nobbs. She was so convincing and I really appreciated what she did in this movie. In my opinion she is just as convincing as Close is portraying the man. Now she was nominated several years ago for Tumble Weeds but did not win. She would get my vote even though I think the Oscar will go to Spencer. Now there was one big snub here - Shailene Woodley from Descendants - she sets up Clooney for some of his best lines and scenes in the movie - my guess is that she's so young so they didn't nominate her, but in my opinion she deserves it no question.

Other categories - writing - original screen play, the Artist, Bridesmaids, Margin Call, Midnight in Paris, and A Separation. I don't think there's any question that the Artist is going to win original screenplay. But you know I'm not a fan of this movie. My vote would be Margin Call -which is the very thrilling Wall Street drama starring Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons. I liked this movie and thought it was very underrated. I think it should win even though I think the Artist will win.

In the adapted screen play category - the Descendants, Hugo, Ides of March, Moneyball, Tinker Tailor. This is where the Descendants will win and should win. Even if Clooney is upset for best actor, this is the one area where the Descendants will get acknowledged. I can see where; for instance 1996 - Fargo in my opinion should have won best picture, it lost to the English Patient. But they acknowledged that they loved Fargo with Francis McDormand winning best actress and the Coen brothers winning best screen play. So they acknowledged it by giving it 2 Oscars for writing and best actress. Very similar situation with the Descendants this year. They may be so enthralled with this throw back to silent movies with the Artist that it may get best picture and best director but they acknowledge the Descendants with Clooney winning his 2nd Oscar for best actor (Syriana previously) and in this screen play category. So I think Descendants will and should win

Other - cinematography - Artist, Tree of Life, War Horse, Girl with Dragon Tattoo. I don't think there's any question Artist is going to win. In my opinion War Horse should win.

Makeup - the Iron Lady will win; Albert Nobbs should win for what the makeup Artist did with Glen Close and Janet McTeer. Although Meryl Streep portraying Thatcher did a great job.

Art Direction - Artist, Harry Potter, war horse, Hugo - I don't think there's any question the Artist will win and in this case should win.

 Visual effects - Hugo will win and should win

Costume design - Hugo will win and should win

Film editing - the Artist probably will win but in my opinion the Descendants should win

Sound mixing - Hugo will win, War Horse should win

Sound editing - Hugo will win, War Horse should win

Original score- the Artist will win, in my opinion War Horse should win

There's only 2 songs nominated for best song this year – I haven't heard either one so I won't render a prediction.

That's about it. I hope I'm wrong, but the biggest point I want to make is that the Descendants is best picture of the year. And throughout the history of the Academy, most of the time - I have agreed with them. But there's been years where I have not - 1960 the Apartment won best picture; in my opinion Elmer Gantry should have won. In 1963 Tom Jones won best picture; my opinion Lilies of the Field should have won. 1976 Rocky won best picture; Network should have won. 1994 Forrest Gump won best picture, Shawshank Redemption should have won; 1996 the English Patient won; Fargo should have won. 1997 I can't deny Titanic was monumental, but my vote would have gone to LA Confidential. 1998 Shakespeare in Love won, but without question Saving Private Ryan should have won. 2005 Crash won best picture, the 2 best movies of the year that year were not even nominated - and I would have voted for both over Crash and Brokeback Mountain - and those were Cinderella Man and King Kong. 2009 Hurt Locker won; I thought Inglorious Bastards deserved it. So you can see I agree most of the years but there are some where I don't - but that makes it FUN. So we shall see what happens this year.

Enjoy the Oscars and enjoy the Show! Talk to you next time!

Love ya!

Bruce

Golden Globe Nominations can be found here: http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/
SAG nominations are here: http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/18th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards

Let me begin by saying I believe that 2011 will mark historically the greatest and toughest competition EVER...EVER... in the best actress category. There are so many tremendous, unbelievable acting performances. And remember even though the Academy Awards has expanded the best picture category to 10 nominations, all the acting categories are still only 5 nominees. That means that there is going to be some actresses who get snubbed - unfortunately. There are 7 performances that incredibly stand out to me. Let me begin with Viola Davis in The Help. She may be remembered for her cameo role in Doubt with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, a very underrated movie in my opinion. ( it was also Amy Adams who's in that movie was nominated for supporting actress) Even though Davis only had one significant scene opposite Meryl Streep, she stole that scene from Streep which is obviously not easy. Davis is the lead in The Help and I think some of her best scenes in the movie are when she is silent and absorbing the racial prejudice against her and African Americans. This movie was staged backed in the 50s -early 60s in the deep South. It was a very signficant performance. She certainly deserves serious recognition.

Charlize Theron for a movie called Young Adult. The odds are against her getting an Oscar nomination for best actress simply beacuse as I said, I will challenge anybody to give me a year when the best actress category has been this difficult to pick. And I'm going to take a look back at what I consider 2 of the years that I think were the toughest - but you have to go way back. Going back to Theron - she has had great performances in Cider House Rules opposite Toby McGuire; everybody knows her for her gorgeous looks but this is a very serious dramatic actress who really proved it in transforming herself literally into a Monster in her Oscar winning role in Monster. And in this movie, she plays an alcoholic who tries to go back in her past to her teenage years and the small town that she's from to recapture that glory - she's a very troubled woman. I thought she showed a lot of range in this movie. Again, she showed an ugly side to her character that I think really exemplified her great range. Charlize Theron, even though I dont think she'll get nominated, a very very significant role. And by the way she was nominated in the best actress category for a comedy in the Golden Globe awards but she did not get nominated for the SAG Awards, but Viola Davis did in both Globes and SAG Awards.

Next in the best actress category, I want to talk about Meryl Streep who of course has the record already for the most nominations. She won for Sophie's Choice, and won supporting actress for Kramer vs. Kramer. I mean all she does is break record after record getting nominated. And again this year I will be flabergasted if she does not get nominated for best actress for portraying the former Prime Minister of Great Britain - Margaret Thatcher. Actually as youre watching the movie you truly believe it's Thatcher - those of us that are old enough to remember the Prime Minister. I mean Streep absolutely nails it. And the director shows us that Thatcher as a young woman, building her political career then getting to the political arena in parliament and being nominated by her party in Great Britain. Then winning the election for Prime Minister and then her relationship with Ronald Reagan and her handling of the Falkland Island crisis during her tenure. She was the longest running Prime Minister in Great Britain recent history and Streep absolutely nails it. She also portrays Thatcher as an older woman, after she had given up her position and dementia was starting to set in. Absolutely a brillant performance. She's nominated for best actress for both the Globes and SAG Awards.

Tilda Swinton is nominated for We Need to Talk about Kevin. It's a disturbing movie, a hard to watch movie. I am not crazy about the story, I dont think anybody; any descent person could be. However her performance as the mother of a sociopath is just incredibly moving. You may recall Swinton playing opposite George Clooney in Michael Clayton a few years ago. She is a mother who cares and tries EVERTHING with this son of hers to straigthen him out, to endear her to him and nothing seems to work. It's a frustrating look at this character's efforts. She was nominated for a SAG for best actress and also nominated for Golden Globe best actress in drama category. It was a very significant performance by Tilda Swinton

Next - Michelle Williams - portraying Marilyn Monroe in my Week with Marilyn. Again she nails it, she almost looks like Monroe. It's a week in the life of Monroe when she went to England to film a comedy with Sir. Lawrence Olivier who was directing the film. At that time she was much into taking pills and medication and really screwed up. A very interesting look at the tiny portion of the life of Marilyn Monroe. Now Michelle Williams, you may recall, first came onto the scene in Brokeback Mountain. She played the wife of one of the gay cowboys in the movie with Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Williams is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and is nominated for both a SAG Award and a best actress in comedy division for the Golden Globes.

Rooney Mara in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I was totally unaware of this actress, I have not seen this actress in any other movie. But she absolutely blows you away. She plays an investigator and she has a very troubled background, a very controversial background. She literally looks like the most freaked out person you'd ever see, yet she's absolutely a brilliant investigator and being hired as an assistant to Daniel Craig's character on investigating a murder of an extremely wealthy family. She rides a motorcycle; she's vindictive, she's vengeful, and she also is a pathetic victim. She shows a tremendous range in the movie, transforming herself physically in the movie. And without ruining it for anyone who hasnt seen it, but you'll know what I mean when you do see it. It was a tremendously significant performance that has a great chance of winning best actress this year. She's nominated for both SAG and Globes.

Lastly I want to talk about Glenn Close in a movie called Albert Nobbs. Which is to me just unbelievable. She plays a man, a waiter at a hotel. Here's an actress who you may recall in fatal attraction opposite Michael Douglas, very sexy and seductive, sicko that she played in that film. This movie you watch for a while portraying this man, and the reason she does it is so she can get work in that time period in Ireland, turn of the century. She just nails it and after a while you actually think that she is a man. The range that Close shows in this film is great and she also has never won an Academy Award, she's been nominated a few times. She's won Emmy's for made for TV movies but she's never won an Oscar. This may be her year, I mean this performance is good enough to win, no question about it.

Now not all of these actresses will get nominated. I stand by what I'm telling you about these performances marking, I think the greatest year, the toughest year to pick in this category. I actually did some research and even the 2 years that I'll give you do not stack up to these performances. I'm going to take you way back to 1951 where Vivian Leigh won best actress Oscar for Street Car Named Desire. That same year, Katharine Hepburn was nominated for the African Queen; Eleanor Parker opposity Kurt Douglas in the Detective Story; Shelly Winters opposity Montgomery Cliff co-starring Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun; and Jane Wyman, the first wife of Ronald Reagan, in the Blue Veil - tremendous year but not as tough as 2011. And then 1962, Anne Bancroft won for the Miracle Worker opposite Patty Duke; Bette Davis for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane; Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey into the Night; Geraldine Page opposite Paul Newman in the Sweet Bird of Youth, and Lee Remick opposite Jack Lemon in the Days of Wine and Roses - very difficult choices. Great year, but not as tough as the best actress category for 2011. It's exciting. It's the greatest year ever in that category.

Now just the opposite - best actor category is lean. I think it's an off year. George Clooney had 2 roles this year. One is the supporting role in the movie he directed, the Ides of March. Which I liked very much and I'm not a Clooney fan, but I did like that movie very much. And the Descendants, which he plays a lawyer in Hawaii with a disfunctional family and the movie is getting a lot of buzz for best picture, and did get nominated by for SAG and Globes.
Clooney had a great performance in the lead of the Descendants.

Leonardo DiCaprio as J Edgar Hoover - Clint Eastwood's film about the former head of and founder of the FBI. He plays Hoover both as the young J Edgar and the elderly J Edgar and the behind the scenes troubles of the man. Significant role and a great accomplishment for I think one of the top 3-5 actors of this generation - DiCaprio; I love his work.

Jean Dujardin - in the Artist. This is a silent movie that is getting a lot of buzz. His acting in the movie with no dialogue at all was a significant role. Not seen yet in the Greater Cleveland Area, but note worthy performance even though he doesnt have any lines.

Brad Pitt portraying the general manager of the Oakland A's Billy Beane in Moneyball, was a significnat role that is certainly getting a lot of Oscar Buzz.

And Ryan Gosling had 2 movies - one was Drive, which I thought he should be considered for. The other was the Ides of March, Clooney's film. I thought he gives a very subtle but great performance in the Ides of March.
BUT I dont think that the best actor category is that strong.

Lastly, Gary Oldman will probably get nominated for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I was not a big fan of this movie, I thought it dragged and was slow but could see Oldman getting the nomination.

Supporting Actors - Kenneth Branagh opposite Michelle WIlliams in my Week with Marilyn portrays Sir Lawrence Olivier. I've been a big Kenneth Branagh fan as an actor and a director for many years. He's never won, but has been nominated before. This indeed could be his year. Those of us that are old enough to remember Sir Lawurence Olivier - it's unbelievable how he nails this character. I believe that even as good as Williams is, in my opinion, he steals every single scene that he's in - that's how good he is portraying Olivier. I loved him. best supporting actor nominee is a shoe in.

Armie Hammer is also a possibility. He plays opposite DiCaprio in J Edgar as his assistant and alleged lover. So there's a noteworthy performance as well.

Jonah Hill who plays opposite Brad Pitt in Moneyball is a significant role. I think he does a real good job, but not good enough to win. But certainly a good job.

Christopher Plummer in a movie callled the Beginners - is an overrated role. I've always enjoyed his work. He's also in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But in the Beginners he plays an elderly gay man who has a son. It's the story of both he and his advance years and his son. It's a good performance but I think he'll get nominated because I dont think this category is the strongest either that we've seen in past years.

Albert Brooks for Drive is probably going to get nominated, a significant performance here for playing opposite Ryan Gosling.

Best supporting Actress - where the Help is a movie we could see 2 nominations - 1 is Octavia Spencer who plays one of the maids along with Viola Davis in the biggoted households in wealthy Southern Mississippi. To me the best performance was Jessica Chastain in the Help - I think she could get nominated too. She is nominated for the Golden Globes and she's also nominated for a SAG award. I thought she was tremendous. She also was in Debt which was earlier this year. And she plays one of the wives of these households that employ African American maids.  A great performance by Chastain, I think she's a shoe in for a nomination and could win.

Berenice Bejo in the Artist - she is the opposite of the lead in the silent movie. I liked her performance a lot too. This movie is getting a lot of buzz but I think it's very overrated, I didnt connect with it. It's in black and white. I did think that her performance is noteworthy enough to perhaps get acknowledge in the best supporting actress category.

Janet McTeer in Albet Nobbsis  nominated for both Golden Globes and SAG. I dont think there's any question, she's going to get nominated for an Oscar, she's absolutely tremendous in the movie opposite Glen Close. It's hard for me to describe her character because I might spoil the movie for you before you see it. But you may recall she got nominated once before for an Oscar for her performance in Tumbleweeds, she was nominated for best actress. This would be a supporting role but nonetheless very very signficant.

Lastly let me go to best picture category where there's a lot of good movies this year, but I dont think there's any great great movies like Gone with the Wind or Casablanca or Ben Hur or Lawrence of Arabia. I dont think it's a year like the Godfather movies. There's not a movie like that but there's a lot of good entries this year. Now here's a movie that you havent heard me mention yet - and that's War Horse. It's directed by Steven Spielberg and is the story of a horse named Joey in Ireland right before WWI. The horse is then drafted into the English Army and it's the story of the horse during WWI and you follow the horse's path so to speak with the English and then the Germans. The horse is the star of the movie. The musical score and the cinematography is of epic value. It's a great production by Speilberg. But I think what will hurt this movie as far as possible best picture Oscar, it could get nominated, but very very rarely in the history of the Academy Awards has a movie won best picture without at least one of the actors being nominated in an acting category. And there isnt going to be an acting nominee from this movie. There's been a few exceptions - Lord of the Rings Return of the King in 2003 - Brave Heart in 1995 - although both Mel Gibson and Patrick McGoohan should have been nominated and I think should have won quite frankly. But then you have to go back to the Sting - Redford nor Newman were nominated for an Oscar. Before that I believe you have to go back to 1956 with Around the World in 80 Days. So it's extremely rare for a movie to win best picture without getting at least 1 actor nominated. The Artist is a movie that will get a lot of sentiment. Midnight in Paris is a movie I havent mentioned yet - Woody Allen's comedy staged in Paris - it's a little different for Allen. I dont think it's one of this best efforts. It's nominated in the comedy division for Golden Globes but not for a SAG Award. I dont see it getting the Oscar nomination although it's possible. Certainly the Descendants is a very very strong possibility to get best picture and a threat to win. The Help is a shoe- in to get nominated for best picture and a possible win. Ides of March is a possibility, Moneyball is probably going to get nominated. And a movie called Bridesmaids, which I thought was very overrated is likely to get nominated as well. Hugo - Martin Scorsese film - based in Paris of a young boy who grows up in a train station. I didnt care for the film myself, the special effects in the very beginning were very very well done. I thought the movie dragged, although because it's Scorsese's first endeavor into a film like this, so I think he may get the nod for a nomination just beacuse of his reputation.

But there you have it. We'll have a better gage after the Awards are announced for Golden Globes and SAG  - then when I return from Mexico the Oscar nominations will have been announced and I'll take a closer look at all of these movies and tell you I think will win and who I think should win. Enjoy the Movies and I'll talk to you soon!