Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Seasons 1-2

Xander: See, what I should do is I should just start with talking about the dance. 'Ya know, Buffy, Spring Fling just isn't a time for students to choose, um...a mate and then we can...observe their...mating rituals and tag them before they migrate.' Just kill me!

Buffy: Giles, care? I'm putting my life on the line battling the undead. Look, I broke a nail, okay? I'm wearing an press-on. The least you could do is exhibit some casual interest. You could go, 'hmm.'

Giles: Hmm? Oh, sorry. Um, yes, I'm very glad that you're alright. Uh, I need to verify, um...I just can't really talk right now.

Buffy: Fine. That's okay. I can't put it off any longer. I have to meet my terrible fate.

Giles: What!?

Buffy: Biology.

-exchange in Prophecy Girl

The Master: You're dead!

Buffy: I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you.

-exchange in Prophecy Girl

The Master: Did you really think you could best me here when you couldn't below?

Buffy: You have fruit punch mouth.

The Master: What?

-exchange in Prophecy Girl

Season 1: The first season, picked up as a replacement for a failed fall series, is just 12 episodes long, so it shouldn’t take too long. The season isn’t really as much about great episodes as much it is about establishing the personalities of the great characters and chemistry the rest of the show’s duration relied on. The season also introduces a few characters who will either be important in the season or in both the season and future ones. It features David Boreanaz as Angel, a 242-year-old vampire cursed by gypsies with a soul who tries to help everyone he can to try to repay his debts for all of the terrible murders he committed; Kristine Sutherland as Buffy’s mom, Joyce Summers; Mark Metcalf as the “Big Bad” of the season, The Master, a ridiculously old vampire trying to take over the world; Julie Benz as Angel’s sire (or person who made someone a vampire) Darla, who will be incredibly important in the spin-off series Angel; Robia LaMorte as high school teacher Jenny Calendar; Mercedes McNab as Cordelia Chase’s top groupie, Harmony Kendall; and Armin Shimerman as Principal Snyder, a bossy man with a largely unjustified grudge against Buffy as well as a short temper and an even shorter stature.

Best Season 1 Episodes:

-Welcome to the Hellmouth—The pilot episode, while not fantastic, does a brilliant job at explaining the entire basic premise of the show without feeling like an info-dump. It quite effectively establishes and fleshes out the main characters as well.
-The Harvest—The second part of the pilot is great for all of the same reasons as Welcome to the Hellmouth.
-Angel—Probably my favorite episode of the season, it discusses the background of Angel and features the first real signals of the perfect love found between Buffy and a certain someone.
-Nightmares—A boy in a coma is responsible for everyone’s worst nightmares coming true and the gang must wake the boy and help him face his fears.
-Out of Mind, Out of Sight—A girl named Marcie, unnoticed by everyone, literally turns invisible because she seemed to be so to everyone around her. This, for me, is really an underrated gem.
-Prophecy Girl—Arguably the best episode of the season, it features the end-of-the-world prophecies that come quite often throughout both Buffy and Angel and that almost always end up being untrue.

Overall Season 1 Review: As I mentioned above, season 1 really is all above the series finding its place. Something that far too many movies and TV series struggle with nowadays is finding that sense of place. For movies, at least, some of them don’t need it because they are entertaining enough, but the truly great movies all have at least a basic sense of place. For a TV series, unless carried entirely by its lead actors, a sense of place, focused episode tone, and strong narrative direction are immensely important, especially for a successful “genre” show. The first season really explores all of the show’s potential storytelling methods and dialogue motifs, allowing Whedon to really fine tune his vision and perfect them for the coming seasons. As far as prominent series writers are concerned, the first season features episodes penned by Whedon (27 total episodes) and by David Greenwalt (9 total episodes before becoming the showrunner on Angel). No other first season writer pens an episode after season 2. Same with directors, where Whedon (20 total episodes) is the only director to lead the filming of an episode after season 2.
Season Score: 7/10

You're a vampire. Oh, I'm sorry. Was that an offensive term? Should I say 'undead American'? - Buffy to Angel in When She Was Bad

Cordelia: So, does looking at guns really make girls wanna have sex? That's scary.
Xander: Yeah, I guess.
Cordelia: Well, does looking at guns make you wanna have sex?
Xander: I'm seventeen. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna have sex.
-exchange in Innocence

Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping...waiting. And though unwanted...unbidden...it will stir...open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us...guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have?...Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love...the clarity of hatred...and the ecstasy of grief...If we could live without passion, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow,...empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we'd be truly dead. -Angel in Passion

Season 2: In a truly excellent season, all of the main cast returns and David Boreanaz joins the main cast. The Big Bads, my favorites of the entire series, are vampire couple Drusilla and Spike, Angel’s vampire daughter and grandson (I don’t really know what to call them because, since vampire grandfather/mother is grandsire, that term doesn’t really work here), and are portrayed by Juliet Landau and James Marsters. They are incredibly entertaining and menacing and will play large both in this season and later ones. Kristine Sutherland returns, as does Robia LaMorte in a position of increased importance. Shimerman also returns. Seth Green is introduced as Oz Osbourne; Danny Strong, Emmy-winner for his screenplay for Game Change this past year, appears in a small role in a handful of episodes as Jonathan Levinson, a role that will become far more important in a few seasons; and Bianca Lawson appears as Kendra, a role that, if I revealed it’s true nature, would completely ruin parts of the series.

Best Season 2 Episodes:

-When She Was Bad—Buffy, suffering visions, is forced to revisit the end of the previous season and finish what she started.
-School Hard—In a fantastic episode, Spike and Drusilla are introduced and an impatient Spike, having already killed two Slayers in his lifetime, attempts to kill Buffy at Sunnydale High on Parent Teacher Night.
-Halloween—In a really fun episode, Ethan Rayne, an unwelcome memory from Giles’ darker past, comes to Sunnydale and turns everyone into their Halloween costumes.
-Lie to Me-Buffy has a mutual attraction to a guy, but he isn't at all what he seems to be.
-What’s My Line, Parts 1 and 2—Kendra arrives unannounced and helps Buffy defeat the Order of Taraka
-Ted—Guest starring John Ritter, the episode explores the difficulties faced by the child when a divorced parent starts dating again and the only person who sees the prospective family member’s huge flaws is the “ungrateful, bratty” kid.
-Surprise—On Buffy’s 17^th birthday, Spike and Dru assemble a long incapacitated, previously indestructible, demon called the Judge to kill Buffy. Buffy and Angel get it on, and perfect happiness ensues.
-Innocence—In my second-favorite episode of the season, Angel becomes Angelus and teams up with Spike and Dru. Buffy uses her birthday present from Xander to defeat the Judge.
-Phases—Oz becomes important when it’s discovered that he’s a werewolf. The episode examines the idea that what’s on the inside is what really counts.
-Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered—After a short-lived relationship, Cordelia breaks up with Xander, who tries to magically force her to fall in love with him, instead making everyone but Cordy fall in love with him.
-Passion—In my favorite episode of the season and one of the best written episodes I’ve seen anywhere, Angelus kicks his revenge campaign into overdrive. Jenny Calendar, revealed to be more than she says, attempts to restore Angel’s soul and the gang tries to bar Angel from their various homes. Angelus takes revenge on Jenny with catastrophic consequences.
-Killed by Death—Not as brilliant as some of the others I’ve listed, this episode still deserves real attention. Buffy’s in the hospital with bad case of the flu, where she discovers and investigates a nightmare demon invisible to healthy people called Der Kindestod. After being cured, Buffy reinfects herself to save the other children, curing herself of her longheld hospital phobia.
-I Only Have Eyes for You—What could have been a boring episode turns into an incredibly rewarding, absolutely riveting 45 minutes of TV. In this criminally underrated episode, the ghost of a love-tortured former student continuously reenacts a murder-suicide he committed, a murder-suicide Buffy and Angelus eventually have to reenact, raising the issue of forgiveness.
-Becoming, Parts 1 and 2—Two excellent episodes close out what is either the first or second best season of the series. Kendra returns to help Buffy take down a demon called Acathla that Spike and Dru are resurrecting, which will suck every living thing into hell. After some unexpected twists, Buffy and Angelus engage in a climactic sword fight.

Overall Season 2 Review: This is my favorite season of Buffy for several reasons. The biggest reason for that is the introduction of Spike and Dru, but mostly Spike. As a team, they’re simultaneously incredibly entertaining and menacing. Dru’s insanity is written and acted brilliantly, which adds quite a bit to the couple’s chemistry. Spike, though, adds this whole new dimension to what a supernatural/fantasy/sci-fi/horror villain could be. He is both menacing and hysterical. In my opinion, one of the best decisions Whedon & Co. ever made was eventually bringing him back (I’ll talk about that over the next few days). He just adds this fantastic quality to the show that I feel can’t really be explained and must be experienced. I had seen James Marsters in a 3-episode arc on Torchwood and enjoyed him, but wasn’t really blown away by him. That’s probably because, looking back on the Torchwood episodes, his character was more used as a plot device to develop the show’s male protagonist. Regardless, I came to absolutely love him. He is incredibly gifted at creating incredibly memorable and menacing villains. I would really love to see him do some film work before he gets too old. Also, he is often cast a villains, but, when examining the later Spike, I could picture him turning in some great work in well-written Woody Allen movie (which are, unfortunately, getting harder and harder to come by). He seems like he would just have a knack for playing neurotic characters if given the chance. The introduction of Angelus is also fantastic and really gives David Boreanaz the opportunity to show off his acting chops (which are frankly tragically underutilized in Bones, save for the fast-paced, flirtatious dialogue that appears about once every episode). He isn't the greatest actor ever, and frankly is pretty bad in the first half of the first season, but he develops Angel perfectly through his 8 season run. After portraying this quiet, brooding, albeit hunky, vamp with a soul, Boreanaz equally convincingly pulls off this monumental character tonal and behavioral shift with amazing ease and naturalness. He seemingly so effortlessly creates two personalities for Angel/Angelus that are always separate, and yet, whichever personality he is at any given moment, you can always see the other one struggling to get free.

This season wouldn’t have been possible, however, without the tremendous writing of the characters, done not only by Whedon, but by the likes of Marti Noxon, David Greenwalt, and Ty King, as well. Until School Hard, Buffy hadn’t really hit its stride, but with the introduction of Spike and Dru, the show took off, and it only got better after Surprise/Innocence. In other words, it finally figured out what it really wanted to be and set to work doing an amazing job of being just that.

The season introduces Marti Noxon (23 total episodes) and David Fury (17 total episodes) as prominent writers and establishes James A. Contner (20 total episodes) and Michael Gershman (10 total episodes) as prominent series directors. One interesting side-note is that the episode What's My Line, Part 1 was co-written by Howard Gordon and Marti Noxon. Gordon would go on the co-create/develop the critically acclaimed, 6-time Emmy Award-winning series Homeland and produce the critically acclaimed, though short-lived, series Awake starring Jason Isaacs, or Lucius Malfoy.

Season Score: 10/10

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Introduction

In every generation, there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. – opening narration present in the first few seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

There has always been an, I feel, unfair stigma surrounding sci-fi and fantasy television shows, at least some of them. That is, some sci-fi/fantasy shows transcend genre limitations, utilizing their non-drama aspects in order to tell quite dramatic storylines filled with meaningful allegory and social commentary. Battlestar Galactica, probably my second-favorite TV show ever and one of the best reviewed show of last decade, brilliantly uses its space setting and the issues it creates to craft a masterful drama that is simultaneously a great political thriller, an excellent display of science fiction storytelling, and a magnificent examination of humanity and how that humanity is molded by what we know, what we think, what we suspect, what others tell us, and possibly most importantly what others do.

I will be the first to admit that the first few times I heard about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I was completely unwilling to make the leap to watching it, even after having watched all of Battlestar Galactica, the rebooted Doctor Who, Torchwood, and bits and pieces of other science-fiction/fantasy-oriented TV series. Then, at the beginning of Christmas break a little over a month ago, I gave in and pressed the play button on Netflix, and I’m so glad I did.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is like every other drama about being a teenager in today’s world in absolutely zero ways. Created by Joss Whedon in the aftermath of the debacle that was the 1992 campy rendition of his truly brilliant Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie script, Buffy was formed on one goal set by Whedon, to invert the Hollywood horror movie cliché in which “pretty blonde walks into a dark alley and gets killed every time” and to explore the idea of high school as hell. It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, best known by housewives as mini-bitch Kendall Hart in All My Children and by everybody else as Daphne from the unfortunate live-action Scooby-Doo movies, as Buffy Summers, a 16-year-old high school sophomore at series beginning, who has just moved to the fictional California town of Sunnydale after burning down the gym at her previous high school in Los Angeles. And oh yeah, she’s the vampire slayer: a distinction meaning that she was “chosen” to defend the world against vampires and demons and other bad stuff. Plus, Sunnydale is smack-dab on top of a Hellmouth, a center of mystical activity. Soon after arriving, she meets and becomes best friends with two nerds, rather one nerd and her thoroughly uncool friend, Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris, portrayed wonderfully by Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon. She also becomes friends with the school librarian, Rupert Giles, likewise portrayed wonderfully by Anthony Stewart Head. Giles is a Watcher, or a member of the Britain-based Watchers’ Council, a council charged solely with training and supervising slayers. She also becomes acquainted with ultra-popular, pretty Cordelia Chase, played by Charisma Carpenter. There are some incredibly important recurring characters in every season, but I’ll get into those when I reach each season.

Before we begin the nitty-gritty, I’ll briefly talk about why the atmosphere of the show is so great. Good comedy-dramas are hard to find, but Buffy is not just a good comedy-drama, but a fantastic one. Instead of trying to make a situation funny, the writers understand that oftentimes the best comedy can be found in characters’ reactions to the situation. Xander’s one-liners about potentially fatal situations are pretty much always hysterical, and Willow’s nervous antics are incredibly endearing and oftentimes funny as well. Also, just like what I said I loved about Battlestar Galactica, Buffy takes its supernatural, fantasy themes and uses the situations it presents to tell stories that discuss powerful and important metaphorical and allegorical issues about adolescence, high school, young adulthood, college, and growing up in general.

I ended up writing quite a few pages about the seasons, so I’ll release those in two season increments every day, starting tomorrow. That should give me enough time to finish up Angel and get to work writing those episode reviews, which I hope will be shorter.

Les Misérables

This film is something special. It really is something. It’s incredibly difficult to take a musical containing fewer than ten spoken words and mold a coherent and involving narrative presence. Filming musicals is a long tradition, and few have done it as well as is done here. The film runs a hefty 152 minutes, but I found myself enthralled in every minute and fully able to understand the events within the story, an issue I have always found with the musical. Out of those 152 minutes, probably 151.5 include some sort of music, be it interlude or song, posing an immense challenge of telling this monstrous story understandably. Director Tom Hooper completely succeeds, however.

              

Opinions vary on the film, making it probably the most divisive film that will be nominated for Best Picture this year. Hooper’s direction has been equally lauded and maligned, as has Danny Cohen’s cinematography. Personally, I thought both succeeded quite well. Cohen’s cinematography is gorgeous. His work on The King’s Speech was underrated in its inventiveness. Placing his subjects at the edges of his frames had pretty much never been so fully utilized as there. Here, though, he takes the exact opposite approach, centering completely on his subjects. In fact, he zeros in on them, completely shutting out the massive narrative scope to create touching scenes (many of which are single-takes and 2-3 minutes long). He also uses unusual filming angles askew from the norm occasionally, but they always worked for me (the beauty of the art direction and stark contrasts in color palettes can’t hurt, either). Hooper’s direction is likewise great. He masterfully crafts this complicated, overlapping narrative into a brilliantly understandable and cohesive story.

The adaptation is nothing special. There really is more work for the director in adaptation than on the screenwriter. With so many songs and so few words, the staging is far more important, and Hooper stages wonderfully. Some things I have read have maligned his staging of various scenes, especially Marius’ Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. Frankly I had always imagined it being sung at tables, but Hooper doesn’t stage it like that, instead opting for a less heartstring-pulling locale and filmmaking technique, a much-appreciated decision given the highly emotional state of the song and musical. The thing that makes the emotion of the musical translate so well is Hooper’s decision to record everything live. Musicals have always previously been recorded 2-3 months prior to filming, forcing actors to make their acting decisions oftentimes before they meet many of their costars and definitely before they every get on set. Recording live allowed actual acting.

The performances are what really make the film work. Hugh Jackman gives by far his career-best work, an honor which was previously held by his work in The Prestige. He endows Jean Valjean with such true emotion, such passionate hatred, honest appreciation, and deep love. Not only that but his renditions of Valjean’s Soliloquy, Suddenly (a new song some found lackluster, but that I quite enjoyed), and Bring Him Home (especially this one) are absolute brilliance.

Russell Crowe plays Javert and gives his best performance in a several years, but he hasn’t really done anything in recent years. Honestly, he’s the weak link here, mostly because his voice just isn’t nearly as good or as fine-tuned as everybody else’s. His less-fluid, more regimented syllabic word break-up is appropriate for his character, but his untrained voice is simply unable to evoke the kind of emotion required of his part. I wasn’t actually averse to his performance as some were, but I did feel a better voice could have pulled off a heart-breaking suicide scene, whereas Crowe’s simply is just there.

 

Anne Hathaway, of course, is magnificent as Fantine as has been said in so many ways by so many others. Her show-stopping rendition of I Dreamed a Dream is astonishing and will almost undoubtedly win her the Supporting Actress Oscar.

The best supporting male performance, surprisingly, is given by Eddie Redmayne as Marius. The part is emotional to begin with, and Redmayne, his absolutely gorgeous voice included, makes the absolute most of every moment. His has pretty much earned a spot on my personal Oscar ballot, though he will almost undoubtedly be left off of the final Oscar ballot.

Samantha Barks, the current West End Éponine, reprises her role her and gives a great performance that trumpets her arrival on the film stage. Her work has earned her a spot on my personal Oscar ballot for the time being.

As the Thénardiers, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter try their very best to steal the movie, and they nearly succeed, or rather, Cohen nearly succeeds. He steals every scene from Carter and almost steals the whole film, but not quite. He is absolutely priceless.

Amanda Seyfried is fine as Cosette, but never really becomes anything all that special. It’s not really that much of a character to begin with, but I also found Seyfried’s voice to be far too immature. I know she’s supposed to be young, but she sounded like she was ten, not seventeen or eighteen.

Even the smaller roles are well-filled. Aaron Tveit, best known to Broadway followers for his roles in Next to Normal and Catch Me If You Can, he fulfills his role as Enjolras well. Isabelle Allen is good as the young Cosette and Daniel Huttlestone gives a great performance as Gavroche.

As I hope is clear, I loved every minute of this movie. It is storytelling at its most difficult and finest as a result. ★★★★★ out of ★★★★★.

Update

I know I said that I would have a Les Misérables review up at least 3 weeks ago, but I haven't got it posted yet. I have it written, I just haven't didn't get the chance to post it within the first week or so after I saw it, so I decided it was probably too late. If you want me to post it, though, let me know and I'll get it up.

Otherwise, I've decided that, since I'm unlikely to see a whole lot of celluloid this spring (meaning all the way until the last week in May), I might as well start posting about TV shows. The only show I currently watch religiously is Downton Abbey, so I'm going to try to get a short two-to-three-paragraph review of the last Sunday's episode by about Tuesday or Wednesday. I also watch older shows on Netflix, so I'll be posting about whatever show I'm watching at the time either at the end of every season or at the end of every series, depending on which makes the most sense.

Currently I'm finishing up the final season of Angel (1999-2004), so I'll be doing a double-length post about my experience watching the Buffyverse, which I'm proud to say I enjoyed immensely and would recommend to anybody wanting great television, but more on that in somewhere between 3-10 days from now.

After Angel, I'll be finishing up The West Wing Seasons 6-7 (I've already seen 1-5), and then I'll post a huge blog about what is probably my favorite series ever (it's either West Wing or Battlestar Galactica).

I'll also begin watching the Netflix original series House of Cards soon after it's released on February 1st.

I think Pushing Daisies will follow West Wing and then I'll start trading off comedies and dramas. At some point I can guarantee I will also be watching Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog as Joss Whedon is, by my reckoning, brilliant. I welcome series suggestions, but I can't do anything that is unavailable to stream on Netflix, so don't be offended if I shoot down a suggestion. Some of the shows I was considering, in addition to West Wing and Pushing Daisies, are:

Arrested Development
The Walking Dead
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Freaks and Geeks
Dexter
Supernatural
Lost
Weeds
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
30 Rock
Star Trek: Voyager
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Frasier (seasons 2-8 or 9, I've already seen 1)
Magnum, P.I.
Louie
Quantum Leap
The X-Files (first 5-6 seasons)
Alias
Monk
Columbo
Upstairs, Downstairs
The Twilight Zone
Murder, She Wrote
Dollhouse
Friday Night Lights
Heroes (first season or two)
24
Malcolm in the Middle
Law & Order (first 5-10 seasons)
Felicity
Miami Vice (first season or two)
The Rockford Files
and tons more...

Also, off the top of my head, I've seen either every episode of, or every episode that I'll ever want to see or the following:
Battlestar Galactica
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Grey's Anatomy
Twin Peaks
NCIS
Sports Night
Doctor Who (re-boot)
Sherlock
Psych
The Killing
there may be others, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Oscars 2012: Oscar Predictions and Results

I know I didn’t publish any predictions for nominations, but I made them nonetheless, and now I’ll go over how I did. Also, that Les Mis review is in the works.

Best Picture:

How I predicted (in order of likelihood):

1.      Les Misérables

2.      Zero Dark Thirty

3.      Lincoln

4.      Argo

5.      Life of Pi

6.      Silver Linings Playbook

7.      Django Unchained

8.      Beasts of the Southern Wild

9.      Amour

10.  Moonrise Kingdom

How they nominated:

1.      Amour

2.      Argo

3.      Beasts of the Southern Wild

4.      Django Unchained

5.      Life of Pi

6.      Lincoln

7.      Les Misérables

8.      Silver Linings Playbook

9.      Zero Dark Thirty

Result: 9/9

Thoughts:

Like last year, they only ended up with 9 nominees, so the fact that my top 9 were what was eventually nominated is a successful day, I think. I’m disappointed Moonrise didn’t make it, but I’m elated The Master failed to make the ballot.

Projected Winner: Lincoln

Best Director:

How I predicted:

1.      Ben Affleck for Argo

2.      Ang Lee for Life of Pi

3.      Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty

4.      Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

5.      Tom Hooper for Les Misérables

How they nominated:

1.      Michael Haneke for Amour

2.      Ang Lee for Life of Pi

3.      David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

4.      Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

5.      Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

Result: 2/5

Thoughts:

I’m extremely surprised and immensely disappointed here. Bigelow not getting nominated here essentially precludes Zero Dark from taking Picture and all but guarantees Lincoln’s victory. That’s the major surprise. Affleck not getting nominated is both a surprise and a huge disappointment for me. He wholly deserved a nomination for his tremendous, win-worthy work. I am, however, overjoyed to see the inclusions of both Russell and Zeitlin. Russell received praise, but not nearly enough, for his understated, heartfelt direction and Zeitlin received praise, though not nearly enough, for his amazing recreation of the complex feel and vibe of the bayou region. Tom Hooper’s omission is also annoying. This is Spielberg’s 7^th nomination, Ang Lee’s 3^rd, Russell’s 2^nd, and Haneke’s and Zeitlin’s 1^st.

Projected Winner: Spielberg

Best Actor:

How I predicted:

1.      Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

2.      Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

3.      Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables

4.      Denzel Washington in Flight

5.      John Hawkes in The Sessions

How they nominated:

1.      Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

2.      Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

3.      Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables

4.      Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

5.      Denzel Washington in Flight

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

I did quite well here too, though, as I didn’t really like Phoenix’s work, I can’t really agree. I was hoping that I’d be wrong and that Gere or Trintingant would surprise upset, but alas. This is Washington’s 6^th nomination, Day-Lewis’ 5^th, 3^rd for Phoenix, and the first for both Cooper and Jackman.

Projected Winner: Day-Lewis

Best Actress:

How I predicted:

1.      Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

2.      Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty

3.      Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone

4.      Emmanuelle Riva in Amour

5.      Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild

How they voted:

1.      Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty

2.      Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

3.      Emmanuelle Riva in Amour

4.      Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild

5.      Naomi Watts in The Impossible

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

Hallelujah! I was fearful the Academy had forgotten all about the terrific work by 9 year old Quvenzhané Wallis, but they didn’t, making her they youngest Best Actress nominee in history. I’m also happy to see Naomi Watts there since The Impossible deserved some recognition. This marks the 2^nd nomination for Chastain, Lawrence, and Watts and the 1^st for Riva and Wallis.

Projected Winner: Chastain or Lawrence

Best Supporting Actor:

How I predicted:

1.      Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln

2.      Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master

3.      Alan Arkin in Argo

4.      Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook

5.      Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained

How they voted:

1.      Alan Arkin in Argo

2.      Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook

3.      Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master

4.      Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln

5.      Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

I’m disappointed not to see Leo here, but Waltz is a fabulous replacement and was better in the film, actually. Nevertheless, a double-nomination for Django and an omission of Arkin would have been awesome, but life goes on. Even better, I would’ve loved to have seen Javier Bardem get nominated for his work in Skyfall, the best supporting work by an actor I’ve seen all year. Eddie Redmayne getting on for his tremendous work in Les Misérables would have also been great. On an interesting note, this is the first time in history that the Best Supporting Actor category has been filled wholly by previous nominees. This is the 7^th nomination for De Niro, the 4^th for Arkin, Hoffman, and Jones, and the 2^nd for Waltz.

Projected Winner: No idea. Probably Jones at this point. If best performance wins, though, which they rarely do at things like this, watch Waltz waltz away in an easy victory.

Best Supporting Actress:

How I predicted:

1.      Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables

2.      Sally Field in Lincoln

3.      Helen Hunt in The Sessions

4.      Amy Adams in The Master

5.      Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

How they nominated:

1.      Amy Adams in The Master

2.      Sally Field in Lincoln

3.      Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables

4.      Helen Hunt in The Sessions

5.      Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

This really was an absolutely dreadful category this year, but I still don’t see why they had to go out and select such a middling candidate as their 5^th nominee. Yes, I like Jacki Weaver. Her work in Animal Kingdom is fabulous and I loved Silver Linings Playbook, but she didn’t really deserve a nomination. Nominations-wise, this is the 4^th for Adams, the 3^rd for Field, and the 2^nd for Hathaway, Hunt, and Weaver.

Projected Winner: Hathaway, duh!

Original Screenplay:

How I predicted:

1.      Django Unchained-Quentin Tarantino

2.      Moonrise Kingdom-Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

3.      Amour-Michael Haneke

4.      Zero Dark Thirty-Mark Boal

5.      The Master-Paul Thomas Anderson

How they voted:

1.      Amour-Michael Haneke

2.      Django Unchained-Quentin Tarantino

3.      Flight-John Gatins

4.      Moonrise Kingdom-Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

5.      Zero Dark Thirty-Mark Boal

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

Not a single surprise here. It was going to either be Flight or The Master and they successfully chose the better screenplay. As far as nominations go, this is the first for Haneke, Gatins, and Coppola, the second for Anderson and Boal, and the third by Tarantino.

Projected Winner: No idea. Probably Django, unless Zero Dark starts winning a ton and looks like it’ll surprise for Picture.

Adapted Screenplay

How I predicted:

1.      Silver Linings Playbook-David O. Russell

2.      Argo-Chris Terrio

3.      Lincoln-Tony Kushner

4.      Beasts of the Southern Wild-Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

5.      The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky

How they voted:

1.      Argo-Chris Terrio

2.      Beasts of the Southern Wild-Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin

3.      Life of Pi-David Magee

4.      Lincoln-Tony Kushner

5.      Silver Linings Playbook-David O. Russell

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

I though Perks could surprise, but they went with the trusty Life of Pi, which I can’t really argue with. It’s not a technically great script, but the novel was always deemed unadaptable and Magee adapted it into quite a successful movie, so that’s that. I’m also very happy not to see Les Misérables here as the direction really is what did the adaptation here, which is why I’m so disappointed not to see Tom Hooper for Best Director. There’s simply no dialogue, so adapting wasn’t an issue. As far as nominations, this is the first for Terrio, Alibar, Zeitlin, and Russell, and the second for Magee and Kushner.

Animated Feature:

How I predicted

1.      Wreck-It Ralph

2.      Brave

3.      Frankenweenie

4.      ParaNorman

5.      Rise of the Guardians

How they nominated:

1.      Brave

2.      Frankenweenie

3.      ParaNorman

4.      The Pirates! Band of Misfits

5.      Wreck-It Ralph

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

Oh my goodness, I’m so happy! I love Aardman movies and Pirates! was no exception. I had been saying for a long time that it would surprise, and then I went against my own better judgment, but I’m quite happy.

Best Foreign Language Film:

How I predicted:

1.      Amour-Austria

2.      The Intouchables-France

3.      A Royal Affair-Denmark

4.      No-Chile

5.      Beyond the Hills-Romania

How they voted:

1.      Amour-Austria

2.      Kon-Tiki-Norway

3.      No-Chile

4.      A Royal Affair-Denmark

5.      War Witch-Canada

Result: 3/5

Thoughts: 60% ain’t bad in a category like this. Amour was a lock, but I’m immensely surprised not to see the crowd-pleaser The Intouchables here, but I can’t dwell on it too much. Also, I thought the Academy would’ve learned its lesson after snubbing Mungiu’s last film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but they still snubbed Beyond the Hills. Oh well. This is Austria’s 4^th nomination, Norway’s 5^th, Chile’s 1^st, Denmark’s 9^th, and Canada’s 7^th.

Best Documentary Feature:

How I predicted:

1.      Bully

2.      The Invisible War

3.      This Is Not a Film

4.      How to Survive a Plague

5.      The Imposter

How they nominated:

1.      5 Broken Cameras

2.      The Gatekeepers

3.      How to Survive a Plague

4.      The Invisible Man

5.      Searching for Sugar Man

Result: 2/5

Thoughts:

I hate these categories. They’re so damn unpredictable. The five I predicted, plus Sugar Man, were concensus best of the year, so naturally I get 2 correct.

Best Production Design (formerly Art Direction):

How I predicted:

1.      Les Misérables

2.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

3.      Anna Karenina

4.      Lincoln

5.      Django Unchained

How they nominated:

1.      Anna Karenina

2.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

3.      Les Misérables

4.      Life of Pi

5.      Lincoln

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

No surprises here. I was just hoping for Django.

Best Cinematography:

How I predicted

1.      The Master

2.      Life of Pi

3.      Lincoln

4.      Les Misérables

5.      Beasts of the Southern Wild

How they nominated:

1.      Anna Karenina

2.      Django Unchained

3.      Life of Pi

4.      Lincoln

5.      Skyfall

Result: 2/5

Thoughts:

There is a god! Skyfall wholly deserved this nomination and I just didn’t think it would ever happen. I’m devastated that Master and Beasts didn’t receive the nominations they so richly deserved, however. You can chalk up Deakins for another loss, though.

Best Costume Design:

How I predicted:

1.      Anna Karenina

2.      Les Misérables

3.      Lincoln

4.      Django Unchained

5.      Cloud Atlas

How they nominated:

1.      Anna Karenina

2.      Les Misérables

3.      Lincoln

4.      Mirror Mirror

5.      Snow White and the Huntsman

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

Seriously!?!?!? Two crappy fantasy movies. At least give me Cloud Atlas.

Best Editing:

How I predicted:

1.      Argo

2.      Zero Dark Thirty

3.      Lincoln

4.      Les Misérables

5.      Life of Pi

How they nominated:

1.      Argo

2.      Life of Pi

3.      Lincoln

4.      Silver Linings Playbook

5.      Zero Dark Thirty

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

They finally succeed and get Argo on where it deserves.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

How I predicted:

1.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2.      Lincoln

3.      Les Misérables

How they voted:

1.      Hitchcock

2.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

3.      Les Misérables

Result: 2/3

Thoughts:

I guess they thought Anthony Hopkins looked more like Alfred Hitchcock than did Daniel Day-Lewis like Abraham Lincoln. Huh! Amateur hour much?

Best Original Score:

How I predicted:

1.      Lincoln-John Williams

2.      Anna Karenina-Dario Marianelli

3.      Life of Pi-Mychael Danna

4.      The Master-Jonny Greenwood

5.      Beasts of the Southern Wild-Benh Zeitlin and Dan Romer

How they nominated:

1.      Anna Karenina-Dario Marianelli

2.      Argo-Alexandre Desplat

3.      Life of Pi-Mychael Hanna

4.      Lincoln-John Williams

5.      Skyfall-Thomas Newman

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

I’m very disappointed they didn’t get on the wholly deserving Beasts and that Jonny Greenwood was snubbed…again, but I’m immensely happy that Thomas Newman’s fantastic work on Skyfall was recognized. This is, I believe, John Williams’ 42^nd nomination for Original Score and his 47^th nomination overall. He has 7 wins already. Thomas Newman is also the most nominated living person to never win an Oscar for Original Score with 10 nominations. He’s also the second-most nominated person ever in the category without a win, behind 14-time nominees Alex North. Desplat has been nominated 5 times now, Marianelli 3 times, and this is Danna’s first.

Best Original Song:

How I predicted:

1.      Suddenly-Les Misérables

2.      Skyfall-Skyfall

3.      Learn Me Right-Brave

4.      Still Alive-Paul Williams: Still Alive

5.      Touch the Sky-Brave

How they nominated:

1.      Before My Time-Chasing Ice

2.      Everybody Needs a Best Friend-Ted

3.      Pi’s Lullaby-Life of Pi

4.      Skyfall-Skyfall

5.      Suddenly-Les Misérables

Result: 2/5

Thoughts:

Even after the rule change, it’s still a dreadful category to try to predict. The two locks got on, so that’s good, but that’s about it. The song from Ted is also a pleasant surprise.

Best Sound Editing:

How I predicted:

1.      The Dark Knight Rises

2.      The Avengers

3.      Skyfall

4.      Zero Dark Thirty

5.      Life of Pi

How they nominated:

1.      Argo

2.      Django Unchained

3.      Life of Pi

4.      Skyfall

5.      Zero Dark Thirty

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

No idea.

Best Sound Mixing (formerly Best Sound):

How I predicted:

1.      The Avengers

2.      Zero Dark Thirty

3.      Argo

4.      Les Misérables

5.      Skyfall

How they nominated:

1.      Argo

2.      Les Miséralbes

3.      Life of Pi

4.      Lincoln

5.      Skyfall

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

No idea

Best Visual Effects:

How I predicted:

1.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2.      Life of Pi

3.      Cloud Atlas

4.      The Avengers

5.      Prometheus

How they nominated:

1.      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2.      Life of Pi

3.      The Avengers

4.      Prometheus

5.      Snow White and the Huntsman

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

Snow White and the Huntsman?!?!? Kill me now.

Best Animated Short:

How I predicted:

1.      Paperman

2.      Adam and Dog

3.      Maggie Simpson and the Longest Daycare

4.      The Eagleman Stag

5.      Dripped

How they nominated:

1.      Adam and Dog

2.      Fresh Guacamole

3.      Head over Heels

4.      Maggie Simpson and the Longest Daycare

5.      Paperman

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

I don’t give a rat’s ass.

Best Documentary Short:

How I predicted:

1.      Education of Mohammad Hussein

2.      Open Heart

3.      Mondays at Racine

4.      Inocente

5.      Redemption

How they nominated:

1.      Inocente

2.      Kings Point

3.      Mondays at Racine

4.      Open Heart

5.      Redemption

Result: 4/5

Thoughts:

Does anybody truthfully care.

Best Live Action Short:

How I predicted:

1.      Curfew

2.      Death of a Shadow

3.      when you find me

4.      9meter

5.      Asad

How they nominated:

1.      Asad

2.      Buzkashi Boys

3.      Curfew

4.      Death of a Shadow

5.      Henry

Result: 3/5

Thoughts:

Nobody gives a crap.

Final Results: 84/122, or 68.8%, which seems pretty good to me, though I have no way of comparing that to anybody else's predictions.

My Predicted Nominees (not including shorts):

12 Nominations:

Lincoln

11 Nominations:

Les Misérables

7 Nominations:

Life of Pi

Zero Dark Thirty

6 Nominations:

Argo

5 Nominations:

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

The Master

Silver Linings Playbook

4 Nominations:

Amour

3 Nominations:

Anna Karenina

The Avengers

Brave

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Skyfall

2 Nominations:

Cloud Atlas

Moonrise Kingdom

The Sessions

1 Nomination:

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Beyond the Hills

Bully

The Dark Knight Rises

Flight

Frankenweenie

How to Survive a Plague

The Imposter

The Intouchables

The Invisible War

No

ParaNorman

Paul Williams: Still Alive

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Prometheus

Rise of the Guardians

A Royal Affair

Rust and Bone

This Is Not a Film

Wreck-It Ralph

Actual Nominations (not including shorts):

12 Nominations:

Lincoln

11 Nominations:

Life of Pi

8 Nominations:

Les Misérables

Silver Linings Playbook

7 Nominations:

Argo

5 Nominations:

Amour

Django Unchained

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

4 Nominations:

Anna Karenina

Beasts of the Southern Wild

3 Nominations:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Master

2 Nominations:

Flight

Snow White and the Huntsman

1 Nomination:

The Avengers

Brave

Chasing Ice

5 Broken Cameras

Frankenweenie

The Gatekeepers

Hitchcock

How to Survive a Plague

The Impossible

The Invisible War

Kon-Tiki

Moonrise Kingdom

No

ParaNorman

Prometheus

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

A Royal Affair

Searching for Sugar Man

The Sessions

Ted

War Witch

Wreck-It Ralph