MELANCHOLIA: MY REVIEW

This weekend I rented MELANCHOLIA on-demand. I like this new way that some studios are releasing their movies. MARGIN CALL is being rolled out the same way. While these movies are in theaters they are also available on-demand for a few extra dollars than other new releases. A film like MELANCHOLIA is not showing anywhere near me, so having the option to rent it on-demand is great.

Wow what a movie. Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress in Cannes this year and now I know why. She plays Justine a new bride who suffers from debilitating depression. The movie is split into two parts. First we see Justine's wedding and start to get a feel for how her illness manifests itself. With the help of her sister Justine works on her recovery. Then the movie changes when they follow her sister and oh yeah a planet is heading on a crash course with earth. Dunst is fantastic playing it very low key, yet undeniably believable.  Director Lars Van Trier is able to create such a feeling of dread toward the end, I felt like I needed to run and hide from this Apocalypse. It probably could have been a little shorter, but trimming it could have rushed the suspense. I no doubt will have nightmares tonight and that is good!

Just tonight it was announced that MELANCHOLIA won Best Picture as well as awards for cinematography and production design at the European Film Awards. I am not sure if it has enough legs for many Oscar wins, but it is sure to get some production nominations. Lars Van Trier's comments at Cannes claiming to be a Nazi sympathizer probably won't make him a favorite with the Academy.  The Best Actress category is unfortunately way too competitive for Dunst this year. Maybe a Golden Globe??

MY GRADE: A-

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW WINNERS

Yesterday the National Board of Review announced their winners.  This is where we start to see the movies that have Oscar potential.

Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy
Breakthrough Performance: Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Best Ensemble: The Help
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)
NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime
NBR Freedom of Expression: Pariah
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise – A Distinguished Translation from Book
to Film

Top Films
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
Tree of Life
War Horse

 
Top 5 Foreign Language Films
13 Assassins
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Footnote
Le Havre
Point Blank

Top 5 Documentaries
Born to be Wild
Buck
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Top 10 Independent Films
50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win

INDIE SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

The Indie Spirit Awards nominations were also announced today:


BEST FEATURE
50/50
 Beginners
 Drive
 Take Shelter
 The Artist
 The Descendants

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Mike Mills (Beginners)
Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me)
Rachael Harris (Natural Selection)
Adepero Oduye (Pariah)
Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

BEST MALE LEAD
Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Ryan Gosling (Drive)
Woody Harrelson (Rampart)
Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter)
Anjelica Huston (50/50)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road)
Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Albert Brooks (Drive)
John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
John C. Reilly (Cedar Rapids)
Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar (Footnote)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Tom McCarthy (Win Win)
Mike Mills (Beginners)
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (The Descendants)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joel Hodge (Bellflower)
Benjamin Kasulke (The Off Hours)
Darius Khondji (Midnight in Paris)
Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)
Jeffrey Waldron (The Dynamiter)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Another Earth
 In the Family
 Margin Call
 Martha Marcy May Marlene
 Natural Selection

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Mike Cahill (Brit Marling Another Earth)
J.C. Chandor (Margin Call)
Patrick deWitt (Terri)
Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids)
Will Reiser (50/50)

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best feature under $500,000)
 Bellflower
 Circumstance
 Hello Lonesome"
 Pariah
 The Dynamiter Writer

BEST DOCUMENTARY 
  An African Election
 Bill Cunningham New York
 The Interrupters
 The Redemption of General Butt Naked
 We Were Here

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
 A Separation
 Melancholia
 Shame
 The Kid With a Bike
 Tyrannosaur


It is good to see some of the better movies from the first of the year in the list like, WIN WIN and CEDAR RAPIDS. How quickly these get forgotten.

BEGINNERS is getting a lot of attention the last few days.

More nominations for THE ARTIST.

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE WINNERS

Today the New York Film Critic Circle winners were announced via Twitter. They changed the date as early as they could to be the first ones out of the gate. It was delayed a day so that THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO could be screened., which didn't make a difference in the end. It is a shame that EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE was not finished in time to be considered. How about we wait until Christmas to start awarding movies for the year? That way nobody needs to rush a final cut or be left out all together. They are supposed to be the best critically acclaimed movies of the YEAR, not of the first 10 months. But, enough about that. Here is the list of today's winners:

Best Picture: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for Moneyball, and Tree of Life
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for Drive
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain for Tree of Life, The Help and Take Shelter
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Tree of Life
Best First Feature: Margin Call
Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Critics everywhere love THE ARTIST. It is well on it's way to a Best Picture nomination and maybe even a win. It could also be this years THE SOCIAL NETWORK where it won every major critic award and not Best Picture.

This also keeps MONEYBALL and TREE OF LIFE in the game. I seemed like both were fizzling out, but this win will keep the momentum.

I am disappointed that THE DESCENDANTS was shut out, but it is still way early in the game.

GOTHAM AWARD WINNERS

The Gotham Award winners were announced last night. This is the first of many movie awards to come in the next few month. There were plenty of surprises which furthermore confirms a crazy award season ahead.

For the first time in Gotham Award History there was a tie for Best Feature between THE TREE OF LIFE AND BEGINNERS. BEGINNERS had a little bit of Oscar buzz, but it's win for Best Feature and Best Ensemble (over the Descendants?) gives it more legs.

I thought for sure Elizabeth Olsen would win Breakthrough Actor. Felicity Jones is a surprise considering the mixed reviews from LIKE CRAZY.

Best Documentary was not THE INTERRUPTERS and not in the running for a Best Doc. Oscar. This is a surprise to many. 

Last years winner for Best Feature was WINTER'S BONE which went on to be nominated for Best Picture.

Here is a list of the winners:


BEST FEATURE
**The Tree of Life
**Beginners
The Descendants
Meek's Cutoff
Take Shelter

BEST ENSEMBLE
**Beginners
The Descendants
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Margin Call
Take Shelter

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
**Felicity Jones (Like Crazy)
Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road)
Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
Jacob Wysocki (Terri)

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
Mike Cahill (Another Earth)
Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
Vera Farmiga (Higher Ground)
Evan Glodell (Bellflower)
**Dee Rees (Pariah)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Bill Cunningham New York
 *Better This World
 Hell and Back Again
 The Interrupters
 The Woodmans

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU
 Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same
 Green
 The Redemption of General Butt Naked
 *Scenes of a Crime
 Without

Later today the Independent Spirit Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle announce their nominations.