LET'S DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN

Now that the 2011 Oscar season is over I am going to take a few weeks to redesign MattAwards. I tried a few different things this year, but none of them really worked. There are a million Oscar blogs so I am going to work on making MattAwards a more go to place for Oscar predictions, must see movies and reviews. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or feedback for me. I really appreciate Joe Burns and Tom for taking time to add comments.

We have a lot to look forward this coming year and I already see a few contenders. Some of the most anticipated movies of the year are could also be Best Picture candidates:

The Dark Knight Rises (July 20)
Promethius (June 8)
The Hobbit (December 14)
Django Unchained (December 25)
Lincoln (TBD)
The Great Gatsby (December 25)

I have already seen a few people predicting Lincoln as the Best Picture winner next year.

ACADEMY AWARD RATINGS UP

The ratings for The 84th Academy awards were up 4% from last year. 39.3 million people watched the Oscars ceremony, up from the 37.6 million in 2011.  ABC said it was the second largest TV audience for the Academy Awards since 2007. Not bad considering most Americans have not seen or are interested in seeing The Artist.

BEST PICTURE PROFANITY REEL

Look at all of the cursing and insults in the Best Picture nominees. NSFW.

OSCAR TELECAST REVIEW

Last nights Oscar telecast was certainly geared toward an older audience. It had all of the ingredients; Billy Crystal, old people movie nominees, old actor nominees and and old fashioned musical opening number. If the AMPAS is trying to get a younger audience this year did not work out. Except for a 20 second shot of Justin Bieber. Which my 18 year old son said ruined the whole show. But the theme of the night was to honor old Hollywood most likely due to the above average amount of nominated films that honor original film making. I am 43 years old, so I do fall into the older demographic. The Academy voters themselves are at the average age of 62. That is probably the reason that I enjoyed the show for the most part. I have read other reviews written by younger writers who tore it apart. It was as safe as it could possibly be. Which I think is better than trying bits that usually fall flat. Last year was a great example of how trying new things doesn't always work. If they want a younger audience they need to start by voting in a more diverse group of voters. Not only that but, some of them have been Oscar voters most of their lives and this point are just voting for their friends.

Billy Crystal was comfortable he moved the show along nicely avoiding any awkwardness. His usual opening montage of the movies was just alright. They avoided Extremely Loud and Incredibly close like the plague. You can't mock a movie about 9/11. Even in Crystal's singing montage he only mentioned Tom Hanks and not the movie. The singing number fell flat. I didn't recognize most of the songs and couldn't understand some of the lyrics. The sound for the entire show was bad. Many people on twitter were asking if it was just them. There was a weird noise heard in the background. The cirque du soleil performance was good, but probably better in person. One of the first winners was Octavia Spencer who was truly moved and could have had a great speech, but they cut her off. They never seem to cut off the boring acceptance speeches.

All in all it moved quickly and while Crystal did a fine job after Chris Rock presenting for animated feature, I realized what a great host he would be and would appeal to a younger audience.

MY GRADE: B-

MY RESULTS

Last year I picked 17 correct out of the 24 nominees for 71% correct.

This year I predicted 18 out of the 24 nominees for 75%.  I thought I would do better with such a predictable year, but there are always a few upsets.


Best Picture
The Artist

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Actress
Viola Davis, The Help (actual: Meryl Streep)

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist


Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris


Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, The Descendants


Best Animated Feature
Rango


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
A Separation (Iran)


Original Score
The Artist, Ludovic Bource


Best Original Song
Man or Muppet, The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie


Best Achievement in Art Direction
Hugo

Best Achievement in Cinematography
The Tree of Life (actual: Hugo)

Best Achievement in Costume Design
The Artist


Best Documentary Feature
Undefeated

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (actual: Saving Face)

Best Achievement in Film Editing
The Artist (actual: Hugo)

Best Achievement in Makeup
The Iron Lady


Best Animated Short Film
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Best Live Action Short Film
Raju (actual: The Shore)

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Hugo


Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Hugo


Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (actual: Hugo)

2012 OSCAR WINNERS

Best Picture: The Artist-Everyone knew this was going to win Best Picture this year. It may not be the best film of 2011, but it really is amazing that a silent black and white movie can maintain enough support to get the votes. Making this movie was huge risk and could have been a disaster. The important people bought into it and rewarded it all season. The general public was not that interested and many complained about it's front runner status. So when you step back and stop comparing it to the other nominees, you have a pretty good piece of art.

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist-He should be commended on telling a good story without words.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady-Like most I was surprised at Streeps win. Even she was surprised. But when you consider that Meryl Streep carries the entire film herself  and Viola Davis is technically in more of a supporting role, it makes sense.

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist-No surprise. He was great in the role and the movie would not have worked without him. He played the character at just the right pace without over acting as the tendency might be in a silent role.

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help-No surprise and well deserved.

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners-No surprise and well deserved. Oldest actor to ever win an Academy Award.

Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris-No surprise. Funny how Woody has no desire to show up for awards shows.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne & Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants-Great movie, great Screenplay. 

Best Foreign Language Film: Iran, A Separation-No surprise and a well deserved win. I think we all learned a little more about Iran after seeing this movie.

Best Documentary Feature: TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay & Richard Middlemas, Undefeated-This was a tough category, but everyone who has seen Undefeated loved it.

Best Animated Feature: Gore Verbinski, Rango-No surprise, not much competition this year.

Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, Hugo-Big surprise and I think Tree of Life should have won this one. Every frame in the first 20 minutes in Tree of Life could stand alone as a still shot and tell a story.

Best Film Editing: Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-Huge surprise that came out of nowhere.

Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo, Hugo


Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, The Artist


Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, The Artist


Best Sound Editing: Philip Stockton & Eugene Gearty, Hugo


Best Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman  &  John Midgley, Hugo

Best Visual Effects: Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman & Alex Henning, Hugo-This is the one place that they could have awarded Planet of the Apes, but you really can't beat Hugo's 3D.

Best Makeup: Mark Coulier  &  J. Roy Helland, The Iron Lady


Best Documentary Short: Daniel Junge & Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Saving Face 


Best Animated Short: William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


Best Live Action Short: Terry George & Oorlagh George, The Shore

Best Original Song: Bret McKenzie, Man or Muppet-They had a 50/50 chance.

THE YEAR THAT WAS

As we are hours away from knowing who is going to win this years Oscars, it is a good time to look back on this crazy year.
After The Cannes Film Festival I asked if a black and white silent movie could win an Academy Award. I thought that it was a cool thought, but would not happen. Back then we thought Warhorse was a sure thing for a Best Picture nomination and the winner. How could Spielberg direct an Epic with so much anticipation and not win Best Picture or get a Directing nomination? Well it happened. We Bought a Zoo was greatly anticipated and fell flat. Everyone assumed J.Edgar would get a Best Picture nomination as well as Best Actor for Leonardo Dicaprio. How could he not? Well he didn't. We also predicted The Iron Lady as a Best Picture nominee but, the poor reviews pretty much counted it out. As usual, Meryl Streep stood the test of time and was rewarded with another nomination, but I don't think that she will win. Many predicted Nicolas Winding Refn as Best Director for Drive as well as a Best Picture nomination. That didn't happen. Remember when Micheal Fassbender was a shoe for a Best Actor nomination and nobody even knew who Demian Bichir was? We all were convinced that Tilda Swintion for We Need to Talk About Kevin was going get a nomination as well as Elizabeth Olsen and Kirstin Dunst. James Brooks was certainly going to win Best Supporting Actor. Best Supporting Actress was going to be Shailene Woodley or Cary Mulligan for Shame. Then surprise Summer hit The Help washed all of those away. Then Eddie Murphy was going to host and acted like he could care less. Brett Ratner was brought on to produce the show and said "rehearsal was for fags". Well the Oscar bosses don't really like that, so Ratner decided to quit. In a desperate attempt to save the show, Billy Crystal was brought back as an already successful Host.
So it goes to show that I never really know what is going to happen. As I looked back I was frustrated at how many things I was convinced would happen and never did. I had to remind myself that it is not about getting things right, but about following a race that can change on a dime. Just enjoy the ride and hope that some day your favorite movie will win.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS 2012

Usually the Spirit Awards Best Picture does not translate to the the Oscars Best Picture.  This year will be the exception. The Artist's strength continues to be proven by winning 4 Spirit Awards. It was good to see a few Oscar snubs get some recognition like, Shailene Woodley, 50/50 and Margin Call. Still nothing for Melancholia, but I will get over it.


Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best First Feature: Margin Call
John Cassavetes Award: Pariah
Best Female Lead: Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Best Male Lead Award: Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Supporting Female Award: Shailene Woodley,  The Descendants
Best Supporting Male Award: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Screenplay: The Descendants
Best First Screenplay: 50/50
Best Cinematography : The Artist
Best Documentary: The Interruptors
Best International Film: A Separation
Piaget Producers Award: Sophia Linn, Take Shelter
Someone to Watch Award:  Mark Jackson, Without
Truer Than Fiction Award: Heather Courtney, Where Soldiers Come From
Robert Altman Awards: Margin Call

OSCAR DOES NOT EQUAL CASH

Here is an interesting article from David Germain regarding Oscar nominees and their box office performance.


LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's a common complaint among movie fans — that the Academy Awards honors films no one has seen.
Not quite right, but closer to the mark this year than most.
For the first time in the three years since Oscar organizers expanded the best-picture category to more than five films, there's not a single blockbuster in the running. Billion-dollar worldwide hits such as "Avatar" and "Toy Story 3" have been in the best-picture mix the last two years, along with such huge smashes as "Up," ''Inception" and "The Blind Side."


The only contender this time that has made it to the $100 million mark domestically is the Deep South tale "The Help" at $169.7 million — big business for a drama with a heavily female audience.


But the rest of the best-picture lineup ranges from a slim $13.3 million domestically for the family drama "The Tree of Life" to a modest $78.8 million for the World War I saga "War Horse" — one of the smallest audiences ever for a film from blockbuster maestro Steven Spielberg.


It's not just studio bottom lines that are affected when Oscar films fail to catch fire at the box office. The Oscar show itself can suffer, since bigger TV audiences tend to tune in when enormous hits such as "Titanic" or "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" are in the thick of the awards race.


As of last weekend, the domestic haul for this season's nine best-picture nominees totaled $595.6 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. That's less than half the business done by the 10 nominees a year ago and about a third of the revenues for the 10 contenders two years ago (the Oscars have only nine nominees this time because of a rule change requiring that films receive a certain percentage of first-place votes).


The big hits of 2011 — "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," ''Transformers: Dark of the Moon," ''The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1," ''The Hangover Part II" — just were not best-picture material.


"I think there is a disconnect, but then I think there's supposed to be a disconnect. It's not about what are the most popular films. It's the films deemed by the voting body to be the best pictures of the year," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "Often times, what the academy thinks is a great movie isn't a movie a general audience wants to see."


Only four times in the last 30 years has the year's top-grossing film won best picture at the Oscars — 1988's "Rain Man," 1994's "Forrest Gump," 1997's "Titanic" and 2003's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."


"The Hurt Locker" — domestic gross just $17 million — won best picture two years ago over "Avatar," which pulled in $760 million domestically and $2.8 billion worldwide.


Critical acclaim and commercial success merged last year as "The King's Speech" was crowned best picture, the Oscar attention helping it to a domestic take of $138.8 million, a fortune for an old-fashioned period drama.


Most of "The King's Speech" riches came after Oscar nominations were announced, the film packing in audiences in the wake of all the awards buzz.


That's often been the great value of Oscar nominations for films that lack big marketing budgets. But this season, that usual bump at the box office has lost much of its bounce.


George Clooney's family drama "The Descendants" fared the best, pulling in $24.3 million domestically since the nominations Jan. 24 to raise its total through last weekend to $75.6 million.


"We still have a movie out there that's in release, and we want to get people to see it," ''Descendants" producer Jim Burke said on nominations morning. "Frankly, these nominations help in that cause. We make what we call human films, and it requires word of mouth and people telling others to see it and critical response and audience reaction. It all helps. It all helps a lot."


The silent film "The Artist," which has 10 nominations and is favored to win best picture, would be one of the lowest-grossing winners ever, with $28.1 million through last weekend. The Oscar attention certainly has helped, though. A bit more than half of its box-office cash has come in since the nominations.


Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo," which leads with 11 nominations, has had a so-so commercial run, padding its domestic dollars to $67.3 million, up $11.4 million since nominations day. Yet it has a timeless appeal that could keep it alive on video for the long haul.


"It seems to be a picture that plays to the entire family and plays for different ages," Scorsese said. "It might have a life more than a year or two. Maybe in the future people will still see it and get more out of it as they grow older."


That's a key purpose of the Oscars — calling attention to films that deserve to live on for years to come, rather than those that put up big numbers over opening weekend.


Oscar attention can make all the difference for tiny films such as the Irish drama "Albert Nobbs," which went into general release the weekend after the nominations and has pulled in $2.4 million since, largely on the strength of acting honors for Glenn Close and Janet McTeer.


"We did this little film for love and almost no money, and now we're here walking up red carpets," McTeer said. "It means that more people are likely to see the film. When you've done a film for the love of the beast, it's very, very exciting. It's wonderful that more people might go and see it. That's why we do it, isn't it?"


___


Associated Press Entertainment Writers Derrik J. Lang and Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

AWARDS DAILY POSTS MattAwards

Thanks to AwardsDaily. com for including my predictions on their website. My picks are not any different than the others, but I appreciate them including me.

AWARDS DAILY READER PREDICTIONS

MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2011

Even though we are well into 2012, I have finally seen most of the big movies of 2011. Many say that it was a lousy year in movies, but when you start to create a list of your favorites you realize that it wasn't that bad. The problem is that some of best were not nominated. We all know that it is subjective, but I have yet to hear anyone say that The Artist was their FAVORITE movie of the year. None the less, The Artist will forever be the Best Picture of 2011.

My Top 10:
1. MELANCHOLIA
2. HUGO
3. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
4. DRIVE
5. A SEPARATION
6. THE DESCENDANTS
7. MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
8. 50/50
9. THE HELP
10. BRIDESMAIDS

OSCARS WILL NOT BE AT KODAK THEATER

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Academy Awards will be coming to you live from the same place — but with a different name.
Oscar organizers have agreed to drop mentions of the Kodak Theatre from Sunday's broadcast. The move follows bankruptcy proceedings for Eastman Kodak Co., which has received court approval to end its expensive naming-rights deal for the venue that's been home to the awards show for a decade.
In an interview aired Wednesday on KABC-TV in Los Angeles, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak said the show will refer to the venue as the Hollywood & Highland Center — after the retail and entertainment complex where the theater is located.
Sherak says the complex's landlord had asked that Oscar organizers drop the Kodak Theatre name from the ceremony.

1ST ANNUAL MattAwards OSCAR POOL

It is not too late to join the MattAwards Oscar Pool. See how well you match up with other readers!

LINK TO MATTAWARDS OSCAR POOL

MattAwards FINAL OSCAR PREDICTIONS

There are several ways to predict The Academy Awards. You can choose the movies that you wish would win, you can choose movies that will upset their categories or you can choose what the consensus agrees has the best shot at winning. Since my goal is to predict the most categories correctly, I am going with the consensus. My picks are what the majority of Oscar predictors, critics and my own opinion on how The Academy members will vote.
Last year I predicted 17 out of the 24 categories for 71% correct. I am hoping to do a little better this year, but there are always a few upsets waiting in the wings. Feel free to comments on your own predictions!


Best Picture
The Artist


Best Actor
Jean Dujardin, The Artist


Best Actress
Viola Davis, The Help


Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer, Beginners


Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer, The Help


Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist


Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris


Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, The Descendants


Best Animated Feature
Rango


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
A Separation (Iran)


Original Score
The Artist, Ludovic Bource


Best Original Song
Man or Muppet, The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie


Best Achievement in Art Direction
Hugo


Best Achievement in Cinematography
The Tree of Life


Best Achievement in Costume Design
The Artist


Best Documentary Feature
Undefeated


Best Documentary Short Subject
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom


Best Achievement in Film Editing
The Artist


Best Achievement in Makeup
The Iron Lady


Best Animated Short Film
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore


Best Live Action Short Film
Raju


Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Hugo


Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Hugo


Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

WGA AWARD WINNERS

The Writers Guild of America announced their winners on Sunday.  Both of the wins for Adapted and Original Screenplay give Midnight in Paris and The Descendants a little bump closer to an Oscar win in those categories.


Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants

Documentary Screenplay: Better This World,

Paul Selvin Award*: The Help, Written by Tate Taylor
Presented to that member whose script best embodies the spirit of the constitutional and civil rights and liberties which are indispensable to the survival of free writers everywhere

BEST PICTURE MASH 2012

Here is a great mash-up of the 9 Best Picture nominee:

MY PREDICTIONS

I have been working on my final Oscar predictions. I will post them on Sunday night.

BEST DOG IN A MOVIE

When The Artist was first screened many of the critics asked if a dong could win an Academy Award. Uggie plays, believe it or not, a dog in The Artist that saves the day. Much like Lassie would. Uggie also starred in last years Water for Elephants. There was also the Doberman Pincer is Hugo, the Pomeranian in Young Adult, Skeletor in 50/50 and Arthur in Beginners. All of these dogs played roles that were pivotal to their films. So rather than try to get The Academy to honor these animals The Dog News Daily had their First Annual Golden Collar Awards.

This year Uggie in The Artist won Best Dog in a Theatrical Film. 

Here are the rest of the Golden Collar Winners:

Best Dog in a Foreign Film: Koko from the Australian film "Red Dog,"

The Best Dog in a Television Series:  Brigitte from  Modern Family.

Best Dog in a Reality Television Series was a tie: Hercules from Pit Boss and Giggy from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. 

Can't wait to predict next years winners.

MOVIES SAY I LOVE YOU!

Here is a great montage of "I love you" in the movies....HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

BAFTA

The British Academy Film Awards were held on Sunday. It pretty much told us what we already know. The Artist is the one to beat. It won 7 BAFTA's in all. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which had much more success overseas won Best British Film, but still could not compete with The Artist.

Here is a look at my copy and paste skills....


Best Film: The Artist
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Best Leading Actress – Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best Leading Actor – Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan)
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
Best British Film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Academy Fellowship: Martin Scorsese
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Documentary: Senna
Best Film not in the English Language: The Skin I Live In
Production Design – Hugo (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo)
Best Cinematography: The Artist (Guillaume Schiffman)
Best Editing: Senna (Gregers Sall, Chris King)
Best Original Music: The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
Best Costume Design: The Artist (Mark Bridges)
Best Sound: Hugo (Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley)
Outstanding Debut:  Tyrannosaur
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 2
Best Make Up & Hair – The Iron Lady (Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland, Marese Langan)
Best Short Film: Pitch Black Heist
Best Short Animation: A Morning Stroll
Outstanding Contribution To British Cinema: John Hurt