2011 was a surprisingly good year for film. In a day and age filled with crudely thrown together superhero movies and unnecessary sequels, 2011 delivered a bounty of surprises. Several of the best directors in the business had releases this year, and some relatively new directors burst onto the scene. From mainstream box-office smashes like ‘The Help’ and the dazzling ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2’ to low-budget unheard-ofs like ‘The Artist’ and ‘The Tree of Life’, 2011 was the strongest year for movies in five-plus years.
The Oscar race is going to be close this year. Here are my predictions for this year’s biggest awards. I will put the nominees in order from first to last in the order I believe they are in as contenders for winning the award. I will put an asterisk by my personal favorite in each category.
Best Picture: This year’s Best Picture competition was between two movies: ‘The Descendants’ and ‘Hugo’. Was. Then came ‘The Artist’. ‘The Artist’ is going to win Best Picture this year, no contest. And here is the remarkable thing about that fact: it’s a silent film. The movie is filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius’ ode to silent film, and from the sound of things is a true masterpiece.
- ‘The Artist’
- ‘Hugo’*
- ‘The Descendants’
- ‘Moneyball’
- ‘Midnight in Paris’
- ‘War Horse’
- ‘The Help’
- ‘The Tree of Life’
- ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’
Best Actor In a Leading Role: This race was between two career peaks: Brad Pitt in ‘Moneyball’ and George Clooney in ‘The Descendants’. Possibly two of the world’s most famous men had the best year of their careers in 2011. As in the Best Picture race, ‘The Artist’ sort of disrupted everything. Jean Dujardin starred in the film and, because it was silent, his facial expressions had to carry the film. The award will still go to George Clooney, but Dujardin knocked Pitt out of runner-up. I haven’t gotten a chance to drive to a theater to see ‘The Descendants’ or ‘The Artist’, so I’m not going to pick a personal favorite for this category.
- George Clooney, ‘The Descendants’
- George Dujardin, ‘The Artist’
- Brad Pitt, ‘Moneyball’
- Demian Bechir, ‘A Better Life’
- Gary Oldman, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’
Best Actress In a Leading Role: Best Actress is a two-woman race this year. It comes down to Meryl Streep’s iconic role as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’ and Viola Davis’ powerhouse performance in ‘The Help’ as a maid in segregated Jackson, Missouri. Streep has won two Oscars (‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ and ‘Sophie’s Choice’) and been nominated for fifteen others. Because this is Davis’ first nomination, the award will no doubt go to her.
- Viola Davis, ‘The Help’*
- Meryl Streep, ‘The Iron Lady’
- Michelle Williams, ‘My Week With Marilyn’
- Rooney Mara, ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’
- Glen Close, ‘Albert Nobbs’
Best Actor and Actress In Supporting Roles: The two supporting role categories are perhaps the most solid. Christopher Plummer is going to win for his career high in ‘The Beginners’. Octavia Spencer is going to win for her work in ‘The Help’. If I am wrong on everything else, I won’t be for these two.
Supporting Actor:
- Chrisopher Plummer, ‘The Beginners’
- Max von Sydow, ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’
- Nick Nolte, ‘Warrior’*
- Kenneth Branagh, ‘My Week With Marilyn’
- Jonah Hill, ‘Moneyball’
Supporting Actress:
- Octavia Spencer, ‘The Help’*
- Melissa McCarthy, ‘Bridesmaids’
- Berenice Bejo, ‘The Artist’
- Jessica Chastain, ‘The Help’
- Janet McTeer, ‘Albert Nobbs’
Best Director: Two directors this year made work as an ode to the birth of film. The Best Director race is between only two: Martin Scorsese and Michel Hazanavicius. Their films ‘Hugo’ and ‘The Artist’, respectively, are the two frontrunners for Best Picture because of the dedication of these two masters of film. Scorsese will take this award because of his ability to tell the story visually. Dialogue almost takes back seat and makes way for the magic of the visual story.
- Martin Scorsese, ‘Hugo’*
- Michel Hazanavicius, ‘The Artist’
- Woody Allen, ‘Midnight in Paris’
- Terrence Malick, ‘The Tree of Life’
- Alexander Payne, ‘The Descendants’
Best Screenplays: I once heard, “You can make a bad movie out of a good screenplay, but you can’t make a good movie out of a bad screenplay.” 2011 saw many great screenplays, both original and adapted. It was an especially good year for comedies such as ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘The Descendants’, and ‘Midnight in Paris’. Original Screenplay will go to ‘Midnight in Paris’, Woody Allen’s magical look at nostalgia. Adapted Screenplay is a close race. Either ‘The Descendants’ or ‘Hugo’ could take it. For my money, it will be ‘Hugo’. It was adapted from a half-sketch, half-text young adult novel. I’ve read the book and the film captured the essence of it well. Both were great tributes to early filmmakers, making this an Academy favorite.
Original Screenplay:
- ‘Midnight in Paris’*
- ‘The Artist’
- ‘Bridesmaids’
- ‘A Separation’
- ‘Margin Call’
Adapted Screenplay:
- ‘Hugo’*
- ‘The Descendants’
- ‘The Ides of March’
- ‘Moneyball’
- ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’
The oldest and most watched award show in history is sometimes starved for worthy films. Last year was not one of those years. A wide variety of incredible films were released in 2011. This year has been one of the closest Oscar races in recent years. When the statuettes are handed out on February 26 you will have read it here first. I’ll try not to say, “I told you so”.