Oscar Watch: National Board of Review Awards

Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Foreign Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Ensemble Cast: The Help
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy; Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class
Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: The Harry Potter franchise, for "a distinguished translation from Book to Film"
NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime, Pariah

Top 10 Films:

    Hugo
    The Artist
    The Descendants
    Drive
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
    The Ides of March
    J. Edgar
    The Tree of Life
    War Horse

Top 5 Foreign Films

    13 Assassins
    Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
    Footnote
    Le Havre
    Point Blank

Top Documentaries

    Born to Be Wild
    Buck
    George Harrison: Living in the Material World
    Project Nim
    Senna

Top Independent Films

    50/50
    Another Earth
    Beginners
    A Better Life
    Cedar Rapids
    Margin Call
    Shame
    Take Shelter
    We Need To Talk About Kevin
    Win Win

The National Board of Review Awards have been in effect since 1929. They are often considered one of the less legitimate awards groups due to a random, unknown roster of members. Despite that reputation, they are annually acknowledged as one of the major awards season announcements. They have a very good track record at predicting nominees with an 81.8% success rate over the last 10 years.

The good news for Scorsese and Hugo is that the NBR Best Film has been nominated in each of the last 10 years. With the incredibly strong reviews and word of mouth, there's no reason to think Hugo won't continue that trend. Clooney is pretty a guaranteed lock for a nomination any year he gives a lauded performance, so you can already pencil him in for his work in The Descendants. Previous nominee Plummer seems like a good bet with a film that received great reviews. I'm less certain about Swinton (film hasn't opened yet) and Woodley (age).

Unlike many other groups, the NBR also hands out top 10 lists for best of the year. There are some surprises in this list. J. Edgar has received very poor reviews, while The Ides of March reviews have been good, but not great. I do not expect either of them to be a factor in the Best Picture race.  Nor would I expect to see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo or Drive. Deathly Hallows Part 2 might get in due to incredibly strong reviews and as a way to reward the overall accomplishment of the series, but I'm not counting on it just yet.

Oscar Watch: New York Film Critics Circle Awards

The New York Film Critics circle announced their 2011 award winners on Tuesday:

Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Best Actor: Brad Pitt – Moneyball and The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks – Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki – The Tree of Life
Best First Film: J.C. Chandor – Margin Call
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation - Iran
Best Non-Fiction Film: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian – Moneyball

The awards season is officially under way. The New York Film Critics have been an excellent predictor for the Oscars as 79% of their winners have gone on to an Oscar nomination over the last 10 years. They've had an even better track record recently, as in 3 of the last 4 years every single winner has gone on to an Oscar nomination. However, while they are good at predicting nominations, their track record is not quite so good at predicting the winner. The NYFCC Best Picture has only matched up with the Oscars 3 out of the last 17 years.

Since the awards season begins with the New York film critics, they get to set the early tone for the Oscar race. The Artist definitely jumps to the front of the Best Picture race, but the unique film will need more support to stay there. Pitt's win is a bit of a surprise because his performance in Moneyball isn't showy (although it is excellent), but if he continues to get momentum in awards circles, he has an excellent shot at a nomination. I haven't seen The Iron Lady, but Streep playing Margaret Thatcher has got to be a lock for the Oscars. Albert Brooks was unexpected, but it's the kind of change of pace role that could generate lots of buzz. I wouldn't put too much stock in Chastain's win yet, as these multiple film wins are often misleading as the voters are rewarding for body of work instead of individual performance, which is much different than how the Oscars will be looking at it.

The Ides of March (George Clooney, 2011) **1/2

Dir. George Clooney
Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood

Given the current political climate, it is perhaps a perfect time for Hollywood to produce a solid, top notch political drama. And if there was anyone in Hollywood who would be perfect to pull that off, George Clooney would seem to be a good bet. His political activism combined with his consummate skill as a filmmaker (see: Good Night, Good Luck or Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) puts him in the perfect position to deliver the goods in this genre. Unfortunately, Clooney's film is adapted from a play and despite some admittedly powerful moments, the film never escapes the confining theatrical structure and melodrama of its source material.

Ides of March is based on a play by Beau Willimon about idealistic media consultant Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), who works for the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney). Morris in the midst of a tough battle in the pivotal Ohio Democratic primary and tensions are high on the campaign. He's trying to secure an important endorsement from a popular Senator that suddenly seems to be going for his opponent. A  persistent reporter (Marisa Tomei) and rival campaign manager (Paul Giamatti) cause considerable problems for Meyers and his boss (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

A major problem with this film is that none of it feels very new. Meyers' journey from idealism to cynicism is awfully similar to that of Henry Burton in the superior political film Primary Colors, and at least that one had loads of humor to go along with the political insight, whereas Ides of March is deadly serious. While a serious political film about the realities of modern day politics would certainly be welcome, the plot here sadly forsakes realism for overwrought melodrama. The way the film handles the relationship between Meyers and a young intern (Evan Rachel Wood) is particularly bothersome.

Despite these problems, Clooney manages to coax outstanding performances from an amazing ensemble cast filled with the best performers in Hollywood. While the film doesn't come together as a whole, there are powerful moments where the cast shines. Several confrontation scenes really come to life, such as those between Gosling-Giamatti, Gosling-Hoffman, and Gosling-Clooney. But none of this flows together in a dramatically compelling way. It feels like a series of scenes strung together without any significant narrative rhythm, much like you would expect from a play that was not suitably adapted for the film medium.

While it is frustrating that this film did not come together as well as it should have given the people involved, I wouldn't want this to come off as an indictment against Clooney as a filmmaker. He still remains a rarity as an iconic star that chooses to do serious work that has important things to say. He may have failed here, but it is at least an effort worth appreciating from someone who could make much more money signing on to a brain dead big budget action film. And for those that want to see the fascinating political drama this film should've been, I recommend the documentary The War Room, which follows the behind the scenes drama of Clinton's 1992 campaign. There is a speech by James Carville near the end of that film that is more compelling than anything in The Ides of March.

We Bought a Zoo (Cameron Crowe, 2011) ****

Dir. Cameron Crowe
Starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Elle Fanning, Thomas Haden Church

Cameron Crowe has always been a patient filmmaker, often taking 3-4 years between projects. It was usually worth it, as in the past this resulted in several films that I consider to be modern classics, such as say Anything, Jerry Maguire, and Almost Famous. Crowe's latest period of absence is more frustrating than usual because it was 7 years ago and that was the highly disappointing Elizabethtown. Thus it is a great treat to finally see Crowe back to top form with this lovely family dramedy sprinkled with his usual brand of original and magical movie moments.

We Bought a Zoo is based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon). Tragedy strikes Benjamin's family when his wife dies and his young daughter (Maggie Eliabeth Jones) and teenage son (Colin Ford) have difficulty adjusting. He decides a change of scenery is in order, but the only property he likes happens to be a dilapidated zoo. After seeing how much his daughter takes to the animals, he decides this is the perfect place for a fresh start and sets about restoring this zoo so it can be reopened.

This film is a delicate balancing act between sentimentality and humor. In the hands of many other directors, the tone would be all wrong, it would feel manipulative and overly silly. But this is a balancing act that Cameron Crowe has mastered throughout his career and he is better at finding that tone than just about anybody else in Hollywood. Not a moment in this film feels fallse or manufactured. In fact much of it is underplayed, especially the relationship between Benjamin and head zookeeper Kelly (Scarlett Johansson), which would normally dominate the film but Crowe never lets it get in the way of the family drama that is the core of the story.

Part of what killed Elizabethtown was terrible casting in the lead role. After making a mistake with Ashton Kutcher, Crowe decided to try Orlando Bloom and he was pretty dreadful. Here Crowe has gone with Matt Damon, who is a perfect fit for the earnest, good natured, and tortured main character. As Benjamin repairs the zoo, he must also repair his relationship with his teenage son, who doesn't want to be there. The father-son relationship in this film is tremendously affecting thanks both to Crowe's honest approach to the material and the terrific performances from Matt Damon and Colin Ford.

What really sets Crowe's films apart are what I call "Crowe moments". These are unique, magical moments throughout his films that seemingly come out of nowhere. Examples include the boombox scene in Say Anything, "You had me at hello" in Jerry Maguire, and the Tiny Dancer singalong in Almost Famous. The Crowe moments are a testament to the effort he has done in studying his idol Billy Wilder, who came up with similarly original moments in his films. Even the great Wilder would attribute this to his own idol Ernst Lubitsch who perfected what was called the Lubitsch Touch. Very few directors seem to have studied these two men, so it is enormously refreshing to see Crowe applying their techniques so successfully once again, more than 80 years after Lubitsch first perfected them.

We Bought a Zoo is a terrific Crowe film that stands strongly with some of his best work. Not only does he come up with a wonderful ensemble cast and a very funny and honest script, but the former Rolling Stone writer once again delivers a marvelous soundtrack to the film, led by Jonsi's incredible score that lifts the film's emotional moments to greatness. The film also has a sublime ending, with Crowe finding a perfect last line to the film that would make both Lubitsch and Wilder proud. Thanks for coming back, Mr. Crowe. You have been missed.