Me vs The Oscar nominations. Hint: they win, sort of.

I totally spaced on publishing this here when I wrote it, and shame on me for that. Me, ranting about the Oscar nominations for almost two thousand words.

Famous People talked to me: Michael Haneke.

Another of my exploitations of the press conferences an attendant hoopla at the NYFF. Michael Haneke, talking about Amour.

This is it. My 'Top Ten' for 2012.

Okay, y'all, this is it. The real real. The thing that, at least for the time being, has me mattering on a cosmic level. I hope you find something of value here. I'm not afraid of ties, when they're called for. If you're bothered by ties, well, that's your hierarchy and your problem.


01) CLOUD ATLAS (TYKWER/WACHOWSKI/WACHOWSKI)
       HOLY MOTORS (CARAX)

02) LINCOLN (SPIELBERG)

      ZERO DARK THIRTY (BIGELOW)

03) COSMOPOLIS (CRONENBERG)

04) FOOTNOTE (CEDAR)

      THE MASTER (ANDERSON)

05) BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (COSMATOS)

06) THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (GODDARD)

07) DJANGO UNCHAINED (TARANTINO)

      THE PAPERBOY (DANIELS)

08) TABU (GOMES)

09) CHRONICLE (TRANK)

      THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (CHBOSKY)

10) PROMETHEUS (SCOTT)

Honorable Mention: Bad 25, Barbara, Detention, Frankenweenie, Goon, Haywire, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, ParaNorman, Pina, The Tall Man, Ted, Wreck-It Ralph

Best in Film: 2012. The Awards.

BEST ANIMATED FILM: ParaNorman

BEST 3D:

(Native) Prometheus

(Conversion) Monsters, Inc.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "Who Were We," from Holy Motors

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Darius WOLSKI, Prometheus

BEST EDITING: Cloud Atlas

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Prometheus

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Broadcast, Berberian Sound Studio

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Prometheus

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Pina 3D

BEST FIRST FILM: Beyond The Black Rainbow

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Tom TYKWER/Andy WACHOWSKI/Lana WACHOWSKI,

Cloud Atlas

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Drew GODDARD/Joss WHEDON, The Cabin in The Woods

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Macy GRAY, The Paperboy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Scoot McNAIRY, Argo/Killing Them Softly

BEST ACTRESS: Nina HOSS, Barbara

BEST ACTOR: Joaquin PHOENIX, The Master

BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn BIGELOW, Zero Dark Thirty

SPECIAL AWARDS AS FOLLOWS:

To Matthew McCONAUGHEY for his exceptional body of work this year. Bernie, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, and The Paperboy. Four exceptional performances in four different tales of the South.

To The Awakening, for being the best film I saw this year that apparently nobody else has seen.

To Jessica BIEL in The Tall Man, because she's staggering in it and I never would have expected such a thing.

To Tyler ABRIZZI in ParaNorman, for being the best fat kid performance since Brett Kelly in Bad Santa, who is the Bjork of fat kid actors, which makes Bad Santa the Dancer in the Dark of fat kid movies.

SPECIAL FUCK YOU AWARDS AS FOLLOWS:

To the Village Voice 2012 poll for calling Cloud Atlas the worst film of the year.

To the AV Club 2012 poll for calling The Paperboy the worst film of the year.

The Year in Film: 2012 Nominees!

So, here we are. Coming up on the end of another year. In keeping with my college traditions, I've decided to try and add a tad more showmanship to my year-end film proceedings, and as such, I'd like to offer the nominees for the film awards I am giving via my annual summation of film and such. Were these an actual event with proper catering and exquisite decor, I've no doubt it would be a smash hit with cineastes, gorehounds, freaks, eggheads, scientists, libertines, and anybody who enjoys getting a diverse group of people together and celebrating art. Feel free to comment as you see fit.

I'll be posting the winners on Tuesday, January 1st.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Roger Deakins (Skyfall)

Andrew Dunn (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Norm Li (Beyond The Black Rainbow)

Mihai Malamaire, Jr (The Master)

Rui Pocas (Tabu)

Dariusz Wolski (Prometheus)

BEST 3D:

Frankenweenie

Life of Pi

Monsters, Inc.

Prometheus

Step Up: Revolution

BEST EDITING:

Cloud Atlas

Haywire

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

Anna Karenina

Beyond the Black Rainbow

Generation P

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Prometheus

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

Broadcast (Berberian Sound Studio)

Reinhold Heil/Johnny Klimek/Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas)

Howard Shore/Metric (Cosmopolis)

Sinoia Caves (Beyond The Black Rainbow)

BEST DIRECTOR:

Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Leos Carax (Holy Motors)

Panos Cosmatos (Beyond The Black Rainbow)

David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis)

Lee Daniels (The Paperboy)

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

Bad 25

Deceptive Practice

How to Survive a Plague

Leviathan

Pina 3D

Pink Ribbons, Inc.

Room 237

West of Memphis

SPECIAL AWARD for UNDERRATED GEM:

The Awakening

The Bay

Beyond The Black Rainbow

For a Good Time, Call...

Gone

Not Fade Away

The Paperboy

The Possession

The Tall Man

BEST FIRST FILM:

Beyond The Black Rainbow

Chronicle

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Steven Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis)

Lee Daniels/Pete Dexter (The Paperboy)

Tony Kushner (Lincoln)

Tom Tykwer/Andy Wachowski/Lana Wachowski (Cloud Atlas)

BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT:

Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

Leos Carax (Holy Motors)

Joseph Cedar (Footnote)

Josh Fell (ParaNorman)

Drew Goddard/Joss Whedon (The Cabin in The Woods)

Max Landis (Chronicle)

Seth MacFarlane/Alec Sulkin/Wellesley Wild (Ted)

Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg)

BEST FX:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

John Carter of Mars

Life of Pi

Prometheus

BEST ACTOR:

Lior Ashkenazi (Footnote)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Dane DeHaan (Chronicle)

Michael Fassbender (Prometheus)

Denis Lavant (Holy Motors)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Jason Segel (Jeff Who Lives at Home)

Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTRESS:

Jessica Biel (The Tall Man)

Gina Carano (Haywire)

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Lola Creton (Goodbye First Love)

Greta Gerwig (Damsels in Distress)

Nina Hoss (Barbara)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of The Southern Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Tyler Abrizzi (ParaNorman)

Russell Crowe (The Man with the Iron Fists)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Scoot McNairy (Argo/Killing Them Softly)

Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom)

Ronald Zehrfeld (Barbara)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Maude Apatow (This is 40)

Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty)

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Cecile de France (Kid with a Bike)

Gina Gershon (Killer Joe)

Macy Gray (The Paperboy)

Salma Hayek (Savages)

Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)

Samantha Morton (Cosmopolis)

The Worst Films of 2012.

WORST FILM OF 2012 (in order of ascending craptitude)

10) Silent Hill: Revelation

09) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

08) Our Children

07) American Reunion

06) The Moth Diaries

05) Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out

04) The Lorax

03) The Expendables 2

02) Don't go in the Woods

01) Wrath of the Titans

At the movies: Les Miserables.

One of the things about being a film critic that proves rewarding are the conversations you have with other critics. I'm fortunate to be able to call Jim Ridley both my editor and my friend, and long before this latest incarnation of the classic Victor Hugo story (and first adaptation of the Boublil/Schonberg/Kretzmer musical) surfaced, right after we'd done a dialogue review of The Raid, we said 'we should do this again.' Fortunately, he's as big of a fan of the Les Miz score as I am, so this seemed like a given. Have a read, let me know what you think...