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| Best Ensemble? Best Assemble? |
Let's start with Moonrise
Kingdom. Like most of Wes
Anderson's films, it has a striking look that sets it apart – a
whimsical visual symmetry that amplifies its narrative themes. I
guess the Oscars would put this in the cinematography category, although it's more
than that.
I was
glad to see that the National Board of Review gave something to Ann
Dowd, who plays the restaurant manager in Compliance.
It's not a glamorous or showy performance, but it's
pitch-perfect. I found myself wondering if even our best A-List
actresses could do this particular role so well – so simply and
naturally. She got me to believe, or almost believe, in the story.
I
loved Argo:
Funny, suspenseful, smart, hip. But then I also really enjoyed Les
Miz, which seems like a
more complex, if more square, achievement. Lincoln,
which
certainly has its virtues,
isn't on this level,
mainly because Spielberg's direction is so old-fashioned. It takes,
like, 20 minutes for a character to stand up and cross the room. And
please don't get me started on The
Master, which is the
disappointment of the year, as far as I'm concerned.
Back
to Lincoln,
I love Daniel Day Lewis' performance. So understated. The character
of Lincoln seems almost ghostly, as if he'd died BEFORE the movie
began and had come back to earth to clear up some unfinished business
– like passing the 13th
amendment. I wonder if the film's screenwriter, Tony Kushner, thinks of him as an angel in America. (I also got a big kick out of James Spader's very funny
and fully imagined supporting performance in Lincoln.)
But then I have to say that Hugh Jackman is brilliant in Les
Miz.
Was there a more visually beautiful animated film than Brave this year? The characters are pretty stock, the story unsurprising (except for one major twist), but the look of the film just knocked me out. All that great red hair! Is there a category for hair? (I can't get behind Frankenweenie; I like the original short version better.)
I like
Silver Linings Playbook,
which
avoids most of the pitfalls of films about people with severe
emotional damage. But
I can't figure out a category to put it in. Screenplay maybe?
Similar problem with The
Avengers: It was, of
course, awesome, but how to honor it? Best ensemble? Best assemble?
