Cesar

Oscar Predictions

Predictions are as follows:

Let me just start by saying this has been a year with amazing films in theaters with so much variety in the genre and subject matter.  Some of them taking on multiple genres--Secret Life of Walter Mitty. So I don't expect to be right on.  Especially with the Academy creating their ballots before the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild announce their winners.  The Guilds will have no influence over nominees.  So here is my stab at the predictions.

Best Picture

The best picture nominees will have at the most 10 nominees. With their complicated nominations process, there will likely only be eight or nine.  I'm going to just list ten of my pics and go with the number being at 9 Best Picture nominations.

That said, predicting the Best Picture category right will be a difficult feat that few will accomplish.

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave

Gravity

American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Philomena
Nebraska
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Inside Llewyn Davis

alternates: Saving Mr. Banks, August: Osage County, All is Lost, The Butler.

I have a feeling Wolf of Wall Street will be left out this year because of the Academy controversy at the screening and because of a more conservative Academy branch of voters.  Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine will likely get left off the list too.

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Robert Redford, All is Lost
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

This was a tough year for actors wanting to make the cut.  I predict Leonardo DiCaprio will barely miss the list as he usually does.

alternates:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Christian Bale, American Hustle

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench, Philomena
Amy Adams, American Hustle

alternate:

I predict Meryl Streep will miss the mark this year because she previously won and probably because of some outspoken comments she made about Disney.  I'm going to leave Amy Adams on the short list.

Meryl Streep, August: Osage County


Supporting Actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Barkhad Abdi Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

alternates:

James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Will Forte, Nebraksa
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks


Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Oprah Winfrey, The Butler
June Squibb, Nebraska
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

alternates:

Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johansson, Her


Director
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

David O. Russell, American Hustle
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne, Nebraska

It is going to be difficult to choose a fourth director here.  They've only given Marty one Oscar, and that's probably all he will get save for a lifetime achievement award before he dies.  But they like to nominate him a lot.  And his editor who he's worked with for a long time.  Choosing the Cohen brothers seems redundant and the film hasn't really done well with the guilds or box office (Llewyn Davis).  I decided to go with Alexander Payne for Nebraska because of the lack of controversy or redundancy.  He's been given an nod twice and Nebraska has been well recieved, plus its going to get that actor's nod.

alternates:

Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Spike Jonze, Her
 Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club
Stephen Frears, Philomena
JC Chandor, All is Lost
Lee Daniels, The Butler
John Lee Hancock, Saving Mr. Banks

Original Screenplay
Spike Jonze, Her
Eric Singer, David O. Russell, American Hustle
Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine

I have a feeling Cuaron's Gravity will be left off this list unfortunately, not because it's not good, but because of all the other rich content that was penned this year.

alternates:

Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron, Gravity
Craig Borten, Dallas Buyers Club
Kelly Marcel, Saving Mr. Banks
Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said


Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Tracy Letts, August: Osage County
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater, Before Midnight

Steve Coogan, Philomena
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips

This is a category that drives me nuts right now.  Not usually. Here is why: Tracy Letts wrote the play that August: Osage County is based on, so it should be in the Original Screenplay category because it is originally penned by the same play/screen writer.  

I'm going to be crazy and predict Before Midnight in this category.  I'll leave Terrence Winter off for Wolf of Wall Street yet again.  It was a three hour orgy, so it's not really writing.  

Alternates:

Terrence Winter, Wolf of Wall Street


Editing
Alfonso Cuarón Mark Sanger, Gravity
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers,American Hustle
Joe Walker, 12 Years a Slave
Christopher Rouse, Captain Phillips
Jeff Buchanan, Eric Zumbrunnen, Her 

Again the fourth one is difficult to predict here.

Alternates:

Daniel P Hanley, Rush
Thelma Schoonmaker, The Wolf of Wall Street

Kevin Tent, Nebraska
Pete Beaudreau, All is Lost
Roderick Jaynes, Inside Llewyn Davis

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Sean Bobbit, 12 Years a Slave
Phedon Papamichael, Nebraska
Frank G. DeMarco, Peter Zuccarini, All is Lost 

I don't want to throw Captain Phillips in this category because I hate the style of cinematography.  Just becuase it's in the Best Picture category does not because it is going to be nominated.  I wish the Hobbit was a genuine contender here because they did some great work on that.  

Barry Ackroyd, Captain Phillips

Roger Deakins Prisoners
Philippe Le Sourd, The Grandmaster
Anthony Dod Mantle, Rush
John Schwartzman, Saving Mr. Banks
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Her
Adriano Goldman, August: Osage County

Production Design
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
The Great Gatsby
Her
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Alternates:

Inside llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks

Sound Mixing
Gravity
Lone Survivor
All is Lost
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Alternates:

Rush
Captain Phillips

Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
Oz Great and Powerful
Fast and Furious 6
World War Z

Sound Editing
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

alternates:

Oz Great and Powerful
Fast and Furious 6
World War Z

Costume Design
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Saving Mr. Banks
The Great Gatsby
The Hunger Games

Unfortunately I think The Hobbit might be left out of this category.

alternates:

Oz
The Invisible Woman
The Desolation of Smaug


Original Score
Gravity
All is Lost
12 Years a Slave
Frozen

Saving Mr. Banks

alternates:

Captain Phillips

Her

Animated Feature
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
The Croods

alternate:

Epic


Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek Into Darkness

others:

The Lone Ranger
Oblivion
Elysium
Thor: The Dark World
World War Z

Makeup
American Hustle**
Dallas Buyers Club
The Great Gatsby*
Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger

Song
[Full List]
"My Lord Sunshine (Sunrise)" from "12 Years a Slave"
Atlas (Hunger Games Catching Fire)**
Let It Go (Frozen)**
Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)**
Happy (Despicable Me2) **
Sweeter Than Fiction (One Chance) *
Amen (All Is Lost)
Young and Beautiful (Great Gatsby)
Sweeter Than Fiction (One Chance)
Shine Your Way (The Croods)
The Moon Song (Her)
I See Fire The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
Last Mile Home (August: Osage County)

Top 10 Films of 2013 Preview

Making a Top Ten

This movie watcher is almost ready to make a Top Ten list.  There are a few I need to watch by either renting or attending inexpensive showings.  That said, the list might not be out until February, but I hope to compile what a normal critic would.

Making a Top Ten is tricky.  You want to leave room for your favorites while acknowledging that there are others that were technically more solid films.  Plus there are multiple genres that need mentioning.  At the end of it all, you have to enjoy the films you put on this list.

For now, let's analyze the year and take a look at what worked and what did not work in the world of cinema.  Some of the movies I discuss will likely make my top ten.  Since I cannot attend every film, because I'd be broke, I can come up with a solid list and go to movies and rent them based on word of mouth and personal interest.  For instance, I was anticipating Gravity for a long time, because of its solid marketing campaign, and upon seeing it and tracking its box office and reviews, I'm super happy with that film.

And in another case, I will NOT be seeing Wolf of Wall Street after hearing nasty reviews and looking at the running time, basically 3 hours.  Lots of top critics said it was boring.  Unless some trusty sources say different, I'll leave that off my "to see" list, it definitely DID NOT make the "to-see-in-theaters" list.  Too many comments about bordom, its "C" rating on Cinemascore, Academy Members walking out in the middle, and word of orgies and pornographic scenes are just a few reasons not to see it.  I've really appreciated Leonardo's work lately, but this seems a lot like Gatsby, and even Django.  His characters are starting to carry a motif of gluttony that is getting old.

Enough of that, here are some of my favorites so far:

The Year in Cinema

Unless there are an exceptional amount of animated films, I will usually only include my favorite one in the top ten list.  This year I'm guessing Frozen and The Wind Rises will duke it out.

I Have not Seen The Wind Rises yet but I'm looking forward to it. I've enjoyed all of Miyazaki's work.

Expect The Hobbit to be somewhere on there.  I loved this second outing to Middle Earth regardless of what people are saying about it.

Another favorite is Gravity, almost a short film, it is very tightly montaged into 1 hour and 1/2 running time with plenty of stuff that will blow you away. I looked forward to it all year when I learned who was in it and who the filmmakers were.  It was amazing.










Pacific Rim was the best summer movie in my opinion. Best monsters, and action scenes in a long time.  The story was deeper than a 2 dimensional action flick too which was nice.  People had feelings and crap.












12 Years a Slave will also likely make the list, Solomon Northrop's journey is unmissable, everyone needs to see this film.  It is crazy to think that this happened not too long ago.

Another one of my favorites was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, it is really an inspiring piece by Ben Stiller--people criticized it for having multiple genres, but I believe that is what made it stand out and that is where it drew its strength.

 I loved Catching Fire, but somehow it is not as memorable to me as other films this year and even the first Hunger Games. It was still solid and better than the first film, it had an ending like Empire Strikes Back.















There are a few films I have yet to see.

Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewin Davis
Mud
American Hustle
Philomena
Fruitvale Station
MAndela
Prisoners
Enough Said
All is Lost
Saving Mr. Banks
Nebraska
Don Jon
The Wind Rises


Have Seen That are worth leaving on a Top Ten List:
The Butler****
Gravity *****
12 Years a Slave*****
Frozen****
The Great Gatsby***
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty****1/2
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug****1/2
Captain Phillips***1/2
The Croods****
Catching Fire****1/2
The Wolverine***1/2
Pacific Rim****
Elysium ***1/2
Philomena ****
(5 Stars is the most)


Probably Will NOT see unless more good word of mouth circulates:
August: Osage County
Wolf of Wall Street

Other Movies I've seen:
Monsters University ***
Iron Man 3 ***
Man of Steel ***
Lone Ranger ***
Oz the Great and Powerful ***
Thor 2 ***
Despicable Me 2 ***
The Heat ***
Ender's Game ***
The Internship **
Anchorman 2 ***



Boxoffice

It was a year where a lot of unexpected things happened as far as box office returns go. Unpredictable gems showed up, there were lots of risks taken by studios, and there were huge flops. The summer blockbusters were underwhelming save for Iron Man 3 and Pacific Rim.

Box Office Success

A few animated films rocked it.
Frozen, The Croods, Monsters Univeristy, and Despicable Me 2 were solid, almost all of them closing north of $200 million, with the exception of Croods.  Frozen will pass $300 million soon, and Despicable Me 2 closed at $367 million.  Most notable is Frozen's ability to stay at the top of the box office 7 weeks after it was opened.  A rarity in movies today.

Marvel and Disney are good to go.
Their recipe for success is still working and DC comics from Warner Bros. is taking notes by planning a Batman Vs. Superman for 2015. Thor 2 made an improvement over its predecessor and will close at a little over $200 million.  Iron Man 3 is sitting comfortably at the top of 2013's highest grossing films.  Soon to be surpassed by...

Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The success of this franchise is not slowing down.  With a very strong opening of $158 million.  It is one of the highest openings for a 2D film.  It will soon surpass Iron Man's box office in the next few days.

Gravity
This film did really solid business domestically and internationally considering it had no previously written source material, it was not a sequel, and not a major franchise.  It opened very solidly at $55 million and stayed number 1 at the box office for 3 weekeneds consecutively in October with no other competition. A smart move for Warner Bros. It closed at around $255 million.

The Desolation of the Box Office
The Hobbit 2. With general audiences not appreciating the first film as much, the second Hobbit opened to around  $73 million ($10 million dollars lower than its predecessor).  A solid opener for a December film. It has a chance at reaching $280- $300 million domestically (in my opinon) and it will likely reach around $1 billion worldwide, being only the second film this year to do so behind Iron Man.  The Hobbit also stayed number 1 at the box office for 3 weekends in a row like Gravity and Fast and Furious earlier in the year. It did not do the same sort of business as Unexpeced Journay a year ago but it did solid business nonetheless. It helped close the year off as one of the biggest box office years in history for Hollywood.



Box office failures

Lone Ranger was unfortunately NOT a success financially. I say unfortunately because it was a film that was largely shot in the region I'm from, New Mexico.  I am a huge fan of Johnny Depp and his work, I think of him as a modern day Charlie Chaplin and his comedic timing was perfect on Lone Ranger and in all his movies. This was a film on a huge budget, likely north of $200 million and it flopped. Only making $29 million its opening weekend and then staggering to a $89 million halt, it was forgotten by filmgoers despite large marketing campaigns by Disney.  Disney will take a huge right-off for this project somewhere around $200 million when considering the addition of its marketing budget.  I personally enjoyed it thoroughly, perhaps it was because I'm a fan of the southwest, westerns and Johnny. Or maybe because I just decide to let go of my suspension of disbelief sometimes to enjoy a movie.  I thought it had remarkable cinematography, stunts, special effects, and comedic timing.  Moviegoers missed out by skipping Lone Ranger.  


47 Ronin
The moment I saw a trailer for this picture, I thought to myself, this looks interesting, but I need a good reason to go watch it.  The martial arts was not selling it to me, the special effects looked ok, they revealed a cool looking dragon, and some interesting looking action scenes.  But what made the movie flop from the start was the decision to keep the title 47 Ronin.  Who is going to remember that and what makes it unique and special?  It would have been more interesting to call this thing Dragon Killers, Samurai Vs. Cowboy, or Keanu Reeves Tries to Make a Comeback. No one is going to remember that title. In fact, when I first wrote down the name of the film just now, I wrote 49 Ronin and struggled to remember the second word.  It only made $10 million in its first weekend, which is very bad for a $150+ million film.  It will only get worse from here, it has a bad Cinema Score and no word of mouth.  Plus a very low Rotten Tomatoes Rating. Below 20%.


Ender's Game was pretty good! I think the reasons why the masses decided to avoid Ender's Game was surrounding some of the Orson Scott Card's positions on Gay Marriage.  The film started at number one at the box office and did not hold well as Hunger Games: Catching Fire hit theaters the very next weekend. Closing at a low $61 million.


After Earth looked promising.  Good cast, (Father and son Smiths) and directed by M. Night Shyamalon.  He has not made good stuff ever since his last critical (though not financial) bomb Avatar: the Last Airbender.  There was just no attendance or solid word-of-mouth, and a poor Rotten Tomatoes Score.  It closed at a low $60 million.

On Being Single and Potentially Marrying

I really appreciated Mark Driscoll's sermon this week on being married and NOT being married.  I appreciated that he said that Jesus was NOT married.  I love marriage and all those that are participating in the beautiful union. However, I feel like people often feel rushed into it and they feel like being single is being secondary in society and in the church.

I was asked once, "Were you the third wheel?" when I was hanging out with some friends who were a couple.  To which my thought process wanted to rudely reply, "No I was the first wheel and they were the 2nd and 3rd wheel."

Someone who was engaged asked me if I was seeing anyone and upon my "no" response she could only say "oooh" in a high pitched voice feeling sorry for me.  In my confusion I said, "There is nothing wrong with me, I'm just not in a relationship. I'm fine." It was a shame that I had to explain to someone that because I was single I was in fact quite alright.

I do want to get married someday, but frankly there is a lot in my life I need to get together right now. I'm not about to go into detail on all of it.

For now, I am happy that the pastor of my church preached a sermon that spoke to single men and women alike and relieved the pressure of being married.  I'm still not sure that being married is the "Second most important decision you'll ever have to make." As Mark Driscoll so often states.  This is not criticism of his sermons, this is just me publicly wondering.

If you consider the first and 2nd Commandments that Jesus of Nazareth gives.  The first is to love God, the 2nd is to Love your neighbor as you would love yourself.  I would argue the 2nd most important decision you have to make in your life is how you ought to love your neighbor.  Not to diminish the importance or marriage or the beauty of the union that is a reflection of the trinity.  It is quite a wonderful sharpening journey I'm told.  Some would group loving neighbor into loving your spouse, which seems different to me since after marriage you are considered one flesh.

On that note, there is so much to do and see and be in this life.  (Frodo tells that to Sam)  There are people to help, there are people who have not heard the gospel.  There are mountains to climb.  I suppose I can do that while married, yes. But it is much easier to do what I can now, as a single person, for the kingdom, then when I have a wife and a family to ALSO take care of.  I hope to be able to use my time wisely in this life wisely for Jesus and for the kingdom.  God knows I have failed.  But he has been there to pick me up every step of the way.  For that I am thankful.

These are my current frames of thought.

And to my Engaged friends: A heartfelt Congratulations! May God bless your marriages with adventure and unending growth and newness.

Coming soon to a Theater and Computer screen near you!

Coming soon to this page will be another great story, this time about my family fishing adventures! This post will be here next week with a guest artist/writer friend of mine featured as the illustrator.

In other personal news: A Place to Stand, the movie, is still up and running and I'm excited to gain support and see the movie's progress in the next couple of months. If you're interested in supporting, contact me directly, visit aplacetostandmovie.com, and like us on Facebook.  See my last post here.



Back to the fishing story...

The exciting thing is that a friend of mine who has inspired my writing and blogging habits: Clara, writer of an amazing comedy blog called Clarafication will be a guest illustrator for this public journal site.  Prepare yourselves for laughs.

Some of the terrible things you can look forward to: Certain death on a fishing boat, dramamine, lots of throwing up, reeling in some big catches, and a sketchy hotel room filled with instant brew coffee.

All of these are important to the beautiful true life story that is to come. I am a big advocate of collaborative work and I think some great things will come of it.

To view my Anchorage Adventure, it's called A City by the Sea, check it out. (it's related, you'll see)

A Place to Stand

Best Films of 2011

Top ten.  Here it goes!




10. Jane Eyre

This isn't some foreign film, just an international poster for Jane Eyre that I liked a lot.  After watching Jane Eyre and realizing the story was such a gimic in the end that she just gave up to easily (Charlotte Bronte) it seemed, I realized that this was somewhat of the Twilight of the time.  The only difference being that the characters were three dimensional, and the time was interesting. By "Twlilight of the time" I mean that it was the love story everyone was falling for.  Except it didn't suck. People during the time of Bronte were able to tell the difference between good and bad writing.

Jane Eyre was well acted, directed, and technically sound in all areas.


9. Rango

I had so much fun watching this animated western.  It came out at the beginning of 2011 when there were no other good films out.  It's entertaining to see animals acting like old western characters and interesting to see the divide between animal and human characteristics as portrayed by animation.  Sometimes animals can talk about issues like water in Las Vegas that humans can understand better.



8. 50/50

This film perhaps helped me feel every emotion possible.  It touched on so many things that humans go through, loss, worry, death, cancer, the possibility of death, suffering, humor in the midst of suffering.  There was some crass humor but this movie made me respect the one on the left a little more.  Also, I already like Jason Gordon Levitt from Angels in the Outfield--a movie that maybe he wants to forget--and "3rd Rock from the Sun" the TV show.



7.Sourcecode

I've already seen Sourcecode three times and have enjoyed it with each viewing.  I'm a firm believer in seeing a movie more than once and enjoying it again the second or more time.  I think that's the mark of a good film.  Films weren't meant to be seen just once I think.  Originally the same great movies would come out once a year and people would be able to have a repeat viewing.  Like Gone With the Wind and such.  Anyway, this film is repetative to begin with.  You'll see.

It's mind boggling though! Alternate realities, strange ideas, time travel etc.  See it.









6. The Muppets

So many comedians have my respect this year. Jason Segal for example, though I haven't seen him too much before this, wrote The Muppets and performed singing numbers.  Gone are the days where people can do more than stand in front of a camera and deliver a good line while looking just right.  I loved this and I love those to actors on the poster.  Amy Adams and Jason Segal.

5. The Help

There has been a lot of complaint about this film with some silly talk about how the "white woman solved racism."  It's not about a white person solving a problem.  It's about anybody, anybody seeing that this issue needed to be talked about and doing something about it.  These issues are universal, not just to do with race.  We are all victims of racism, everyone is.  Just because someone is more privileged does not mean they don't have the right to do something about a problem.  Same goes for the underprivileged.

See The Help.  

4. The Artist

A silent movie, they call it.  For all intensive purposes, yes it is.  It plays with all aspect of what the cinema is and was to people.  It's a journey of a the cinema through the life of a man.  As if the movies themselves were personified.  Beautiful black and white piece of work.

3. Tree of Life

I think this poster is so appropriate for the film because of all the many images the film expresses.  It was the kind of montage (we call it editing but he french call it montage) that Eisenstein used to create.  It was a mixture of images to come up with a larger image, that is a larger message.  Two stories colliding.  Montage is collision as Eisenstein wrote.  (I think it was him.)  And this film had beautiful cinematography and had so many images and two stories--I would say becoming one.  The story of time itself, and that of an American family.  Shot in a way you've never seen a film before.

2. Hugo

Good think Martin Scorsese liked the 3D medium and ran with it.  This is like one of those peices of work that seem like it's been in someone's head their whole life and now that they get the chance to finally make it, it is breathtaking.  Martin Scorsese had all of those other movies his whole life to practice making this, what seems like, most autobiographical piece.  The movie that says the most about himself as a filmmaker.  Like The Artist it is a journey through the cinema.  Except this one is about a kid discovering what the magic of cinema is all about.  The BEST PICTURE of the year in my opinion.

My favorite though....

It All Comes Back to Harry

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Finale

The reason I picked Harry this year is because it brought back to me what the movies have always been about.  A social community experience.  I got to go experience the movies the way they used to be.  I went to the theater at midnight, all my friends were there, all excited to see this feature film.  It was a movie event, and that doesn't happen all that often.  I will hopefully talk about it more.  Plus it's amazing--simply the best of the year.

People were cheering, crying, laughing out loud.  People were dressed like wizards.  This was a huge mark in a cultural phenomenon.  Though not the end I think.  Harry Potter's magic will live on and we will understand it differently and more appropriately throughout our lives.  

BELOW ARE SOME MENTIONS



Honorable Mentions:
Tintin, WarHorse, Bridesmades, Crazy Stupid Love, Arther Christmas. Moneyball.

Best movie that takes place in both New Mexico and outerspace
THOR


Best movie of the year that was not released this year but was shown in theaters:
Lord of the Rings
It was remastered and had three intros by director Peter Jackson.
(There were a number of rereleases Lion King included)

Worst Movie possibly ever made:
Three Musketeers

Most Dissapointing Movie: War Horse
It used all the right tactics to get me to like the characters, I was supposed to like them because the film told me to, that's why I had a hard time.  Also the Horse had a best friend who was a horse.  It was an American Story Civil War tale like Gone with the Wind set in WWI Europe.  So many things just didn't belong there.  I thought it looked great--kudos to the cinematographer and art direction.  It just wasn't what it could have been--good.

Best Scene:
In The Artist where he has the dream and it is all in vibrant sound.  You must see it.

Best Movie going experience of all time:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There were people dressed like wizards, brooms, goblins, house elves etc.  All there to enjoy, talk about, and wait for a wonderful movie that they all loved so dearly.  The audience I was with reacted to every expression, every moment with such appreciation.  The energy in the room was so high. That's what you go to the movies for--to laugh, cry, shout, and be in the moment.  I loved every minute of it.

Best Musical Number:
"Am I a man or a Muppet?" from The Muppets
Also the Opening number is pretty great.


Worst Best Visual Effects:
Planet of the Apes
It looked so real, the apes were expressing so much that I couldn't believe it.  No I literally didn't believe it.

Best 3D movie to date:
HUGO. See it, and see it in 3D.  It's absolutely stunning, it is beyond anything you've ever seen.  Haha beyond... whatever.

Most Montage:
Tree of Life


Best Acting:
The Ladies in The Help


Best Ensemble Cast:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
This is the best cast ever.  I'm pretty sure it's missing like 5 British Actors that I can think of, and that's it.


Best Summer Movies not released in the Summer
Sherlock Holmes and Mission Impossible 4