Ranking Oscar Nominations – BEST DIRECTOR

The last of my series ranking the Oscar nominated films. – DIRECTING NOMINEES Nominees ranked in my order of preference:

1. ROMA Alfonso Cuarón
2. THE FAVOURITE  Yorgos Lanthimos
3. COLD WAR Paweł Pawlikowski
4. BLACKKKLANSMAN Spike Lee
5. VICE Adam McKay

And the omissions that I think deserved a nomination:

1. LEAVE NO TRACE Debra Granik
2. A QUIET PLACE John Krasinski
3. WIDOWS Steve McQueen

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Ranking Oscar Nominations – WRITING: ADAPTED & ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Original Screenplay Nominees ranked in my order of preference:

1. ROMA written by Alfonso Cuarón
2. THE FAVOURITE written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
3. FIRST REFORMED written by Paul Schrader
4. GREEN BOOK written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly (yes, that Peter Farrelly!)
5. VICE written by Adam McKay

Adapted Screenplay Nominees ranked in my order of preference:

1. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
2. BLACKKKLANSMAN written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
3. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
4. THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
5. A STAR IS BORN screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

The omissions that I think deserved a nomination (both original and adapted):

1. THE DEATH OF STALIN written by Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin, and Peter Fellows
2. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE screenplay by Phil Lord, and Rodney Rothman
3. LEAVE NO TRACE screenplay by Debra Granik, and Anne Rosellini
4. WIDOWS screenplay by Gillian Flynn, and Steve McQueen

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Coming Soon – January 2012

With just two more movies to see this year: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (making a total of 108 movies seen at the cinema this year) I am already looking forward to the new year. I am led to believe the early part of the year can be a bit of a barren time for American cinema goers but here in the UK the new year is often the time to see the Oscar bait movies that week get a few months later.

With two academy awards from sixteen nominations, nothing says Oscar like Meryl Streep. The Iron Lady tells the story of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. From the clips and trailers I have seen, it looks interesting, the only doubt, the directors, Phyllida Lloyd’s only other feature appears to be Mamma Mia!

I have heard nothing but good things about Shame despite the unusual and controversial subject matter, sex addiction. After the excellent Hunger (2008), the re-teaming of director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender must be a good thing. The addition of co star Carey Mulligan and I am really looking forward to this one.

Clearly Ralph Fiennes’ doesn’t believe in making life easy for himself, making his directorial debut with an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. The updated setting is reminiscent of Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995), looks interesting.

I understand J,Edgar has had mixed reviews on the other side of the Atlantic but with Clint Eastwood in the directors chair and Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role it has to be worth seeing.

There is already Oscar talk about George Clooney in The Descendants, directed by Alexander Payne (Election 1999 & Sideways 2004). I don’t know much about it but Clooney on good form remains a watchable movie star reminiscent of the stars from the golden age of cinema, I’m in!

Bizarrely, the two films I am most looking forward to aren’t going to feature at the Oscars, they are more what is (condescendingly) referred to as “genre movies”. As one of the few people who liked The Girlfriend Experience I am always interested in Steven Soderbergh’s more experimental ideas. Like with The Girlfriend Experience Soderbergh has gone for an unexpected lead actress for the action movie Haywire, former Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano. He has surrounded her with an impressive supporting cast including: Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton. As I said it won’t win Oscars but it looks like its going to be fun.

There are two real guilty pleasure franchises around at the moment, we have to wait until later in the year for the next Resident Evil movie, but Underworld Awakening is out in January. Nearly a decade after the first Underworld movie Kate Beckinsale is back in her most iconic role (and costume). From the trailer it looks as dumb as the previous movies, but I really don’t care, I can’t wait!

Other movies coming out in January include: War Horse. Thanks to a really cheesy trailer, I can honestly say I have never been less excited by a new Steven Spielberg movie. I know nothing about The Darkest Hour other than what I have seen in the trailer but with director Chris Gorak who impressed with his debut Right at Your Door (2006) and Timur Bekmambetov credited as a produce I will give it a go. Another movie I now nothing about other than the trailer is Man on Ledge. The trailer makes it look a lot like Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006), that isn’t a bad thing.

Check back on the 1st of February to find out what I actually saw and what I thought of them.

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