Movies Ltd

by gaRis

Every Oscar Race has a Silver Lining

> It is what it is. So funny I am rewriting this after I had that brilliant idea to merge my nearly -completed piece with a blank document. I may use this as a metaphor, denoting my current state of intellectual affairs. Baffled, high and dry after our OFCS placed the gravestone on The Master s oscar grave. No abundant critical love=no shot at the Oscars. It was Argo that snatched the accolade. Seems like the movie waiting in the wings ready to scavenge Lincoln and Silver Linings Playbook (yes, yes) oscar- party leftovers. Since Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained were gunned down for endorsing CIA torture techniques and black slavery bloodbath extravaganza respectively, Silver Linings Playbook constitutes a legitimate threat for stealthy frontrunner Lincoln which while it has never been the Titanic or Slumdog Millionaire type of oscar movie, has consistently exhibited adequate steam to gallop until the end of maybe one of the more unpredictable races in a long while. Also noteworthy is the Life of Pi appearance in almost every top 10 list.

> Expect The Master out of the Best Picture and Best Director race. Likewise for arguably the best male performance of the year by Joaquin Phoenix. He scared’ em away man. I could see him and P.S. Hoffman win easily if only P.T. Anderson would play along the game by the(ir) rules and focus his story on Lancaster Todd and The Cause. Hoffman lead, Phoenix Supporting, end of story. Now D.D. Lewis can officially rehearse his acceptance speech, there’s no denying that for nobody else could really be a threat, just happy to be there too. Moving forward, there are films that have greatly benefitted from a series of industry/critics’ accolades; Amour, Moonrise kingdom and Beasts of the southern Wild enjoyed a galore of recognition, joined lately by Skyfall which could be the first Bond movie in 50 years to knock on oscar heaven’s door in the big categories.

> This time I had my first real opportunity to observe major below the radar oscar activity which enforce the condescending theory that it’s all about not if you deserve it but only about how much they like you in Hollywood. Sally Field, Helen Miren, Naomi Watts, Maggie Smith, mucho mucho likey. Quvenzhane Wallis, you little adorable genius, I see you standing on the ledge of oscar glory, ready to go down in history as a major SHOULD win. The shaky and far from bulletproof Academy voting system took a major blow this year, in an effort to move to e-voting with hilarious results. The voting deadline extension by a single day sowed apparent signs of panic which might be construed as source of unpredictable membership choices in a hyper-abbreviated consideration period.

Just a few hours away from that awkward moment when new host Seth MacFarlane (Ted/Family Guy) will unseal the magic envelop accompanied by adorable ingénue Emma Stone, I am going out on a limb omitting any alternative picks from my noms predictions’ final lists. We are playing this game for little too long to select otherwise. There are no real surprises anymore after months of knit-picking and spotting every possible Oscar candidate in every single movie released throughout the year. Oscar pundit is the latest film trend – almost a genre, in times that media outlets are digging for controversy where the real burden is to give films that they’ll stand the test of time their real due. So, here we go again: