2012 Academy Awards

[Matchbox225]

The Master gets zilch again. Not even in the Top Ten films list. If the Los Angeles critics don't award it anything, then I'm gonna say it's out.

It indeed looks like Zero Dark Thirty is the one to beat right now. Even if Lez Miz gets great reviews, they still probably wouldn't be as good as ZDT is getting now.

These wins also are great news for Jessica Chastain. She could become the frontrunner for Best Actress and not Jennifer Lawrence.

It wouldn't surprise me if the battle for Best Director was between Bigelow and Hooper.

I still need to see Lincoln, but it just looks like the other two are more impressive directorial feats.

Dicaprio's win was sort of random. So was Dowd's.

[Tkeyjw]

Nah, I still don't buy that Zero Dark Thirty is the frontrunner just because it won the first two critics' prizes out of the gate. It may even continue to dominate through the critic phase of precursor season, but once the guilds, the Golden Globes, and BAFTA's start to pour in with their nominations, I suspect Les Miserables and Lincoln will regain the spotlight pretty easily. I do think Zero Dark Thirty is now an absolute lock for Picture and Director nominations, but as far as it winning, I'm still unconvinced. Les Miz is still the frontrunner to me, and I'll believe that until it loses the PGA and SAG Best Ensemble awards (both of which I think it will win).

If all of this early love for Zero Dark Thirty has done anything for my perceptions of the race, it's to convince me that Jessica Chastain is a serious threat for Best Actress.

[P1NSTR1PEZ]

Originally Posted by Matchbox225

Dicaprio's win was sort of random. So was Dowd's.

word is he is the best or second best in the film next to Waltz.

And Compliance was a movie no one saw, but it looked to be really interesting and great.I was instantly drawn to it when I saw the trailer - waiting to get my hands on the film.

[Hucksta G]

Originally Posted by Matchbox225

Dicaprio's win was sort of random. So was Dowd's.

Dowd deserves it.

I can't remember where but I read some Django thoughts and it sounds like Dicaprio's performance is one of the acting highlights in it.

[Matchbox225]

Originally Posted by Tkeyjw

Nah, I still don't buy that Zero Dark Thirty is the frontrunner just because it won the first two critics' prizes out of the gate. It may even continue to dominate through the critic phase of precursor season, but once the guilds, the Golden Globes, and BAFTA's start to pour in with their nominations, I suspect Les Miserables and Lincoln will regain the spotlight pretty easily. I do think Zero Dark Thirty is now an absolute lock for Picture and Director nominations, but as far as it winning, I'm still unconvinced. Les Miz is still the frontrunner to me, and I'll believe that until it loses the PGA and SAG Best Ensemble awards (both of which I think it will win).

If all of this early love for Zero Dark Thirty has done anything for my perceptions of the race, it's to convince me that Jessica Chastain is a serious threat for Best Actress.

Zero Dark Thirty can win the Golden Globe for Best Drama. It will either be it or Lincoln. Lez Miz would take Musical, so the Globes wouldn't really change anything there.

As for SAG, Argo could still win there, otherwise I agree with you. We could have a repeat of 2010, where the eventual winner was ... ... a film directed by Tom Hooper.

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by Matchbox225

Dicaprio's win was sort of random.

I've been predicting him since the start, so I wasn't totally surprised. However, I'm starting to think he won't win because it sounds like there are other performances in the film that are almost or equally as good. I think Jackson and DiCaprio might end up cancelling each other out, which would leave us with Tommy Lee Jones. Jones was good, but the way the character was written didn't give him a lot more to do than deliver some witty insults. I'm hoping the momentum starts to move elsewhere. Some are saying Hoffman is the frontrunner, and that would be great, but that movie just seems to be losing a ton of steam, unfortunately.

[Matchbox225]

Originally Posted by Bourne101

I've been predicting him since the start, so I wasn't totally surprised. However, I'm starting to think he won't win because it sounds like there are other performances in the film that are almost or equally as good. I think Jackson and DiCaprio might end up cancelling each other out, which would leave us with Tommy Lee Jones. Jones was good, but the way the character was written didn't give him a lot more to do than deliver some witty insults. I'm hoping the momentum starts to move elsewhere.

I kept reading that DiCaprio's character wasn't the strongest in the film, that it was Jackson's character, so I assumed if anyone from the film had a shot, it would be him.

Originally Posted by Bourne101

I'm hoping the momentum starts to move elsewhere. Some are saying Hoffman is the frontrunner, and that would be great, but that movie just seems to be losing a ton of steam, unfortunately.

I think Hoffman is hurt by the fact that critics probably aren't buying him as a supporting player, otherwise we probably would see him pick up some steam.

[magjournal]

Originally Posted by Matchbox225

Zero Dark Thirty can win the Golden Globe for Best Drama. It will either be it or Lincoln. Lez Miz would take Musical, so the Globes wouldn't really change anything there.

What I've always found weird is that the Golden Globes groups comedies and musicals together. I've never actually seen the play of Les Misérables or any of the film adaptations, but it seems like a very bleak movie. Not a comedy in the slightest. Am I correct in that assumption?

[Matchbox225]

Originally Posted by magjournal

What I've always found weird is that the Golden Globes groups comedies and musicals together. I've never actually seen the play of Les Misérables or any of the film adaptations, but it seems like a very bleak movie. Not a comedy in the slightest. Am I correct in that assumption?

I don't know a lot about the musical either, but I'm assuming that's true.

It's definitely weird how the Globes do that category. You have people like Jamie Foxx and Reese Witherspoon winning that category, but those movies weren't comedies or musicals. The movies were about musicians, but they weren't musicals like Dreamgirls or Sweeney Todd.

[Reckoner]

I'm pretty optimistic about DiCaprio's chances. His role as the juicy scene-stealing villain is something the Academy is hugely attracted to and we're seeing a drastically different side of him that we've never seen before, but as Bourne said, it's only a matter of him not being cancelled out by Jackson (Waltz is apparently being campaigned for Lead). But I think if Leo does end up being the only actor in the film nominated for Supporting, he'll more than likely be going up against previous winners (Hoffman, Jones, Arkin, De Niro, Crowe among the contenders), so voters will possibly go for the overdue actor.

I think McConaughey also has a good chance of receiving his first nomination if he campaigns hard enough. It's been a great year for him.

And a couple of stray thoughts:

- I think Zero Dark Thirty will play out as the critics' darling this season (a la The Social Network back in 2010) but once the Guilds come around they'll likely go towards Argo, Les Mis, or Lincoln.

- I'm not scratching off Ang Lee for a directing nom just yet. I think his work in Life of Pi is too big of an accomplishment to ignore. If he does score a nomination I'm thinking he'll take O. Russel's predicted spot.

[DaMovieMan]

Originally Posted by P1NSTR1PEZ

Zero Dark Thirty has to be the leader in the clubhouse for all major awards.

Seeing it tomorrow. Super excited.

LUCKY!

Don't think it's a leader, like others have said, the guilds will decide who the leader is and Les Miz/Lincoln still look strong to me.

[Gordon]

Oh shit, I read an article in German where they claim that in an Oscars roundtable Haneke called Zero Dark Thirty "widerlich und dumm" which you could translate as obnoxious/disgusting/stupid. Let the games begin. This is why I want Haneke to be part of the circuit -- he's just going to call out everybody. This process could get interesting.

[ilovemovies]

Just saw The Odd Life of Timothy Green and while I don't expect it to get anything, there is one exception. I hope it gets a best song nomination. This Gift from Glen Hansard, who won this category in 2007 for "Falling Slowly" the song from Once, is another phenomenal song. Not quite as great as Falling Slowly, but pretty close.

[DaMovieMan]

Richard Carliss' Top Ten of the year (TIME magazine)

01. Amour
02. Beasts of the Southern Wild
03. Life of Pi
04. Anna Karenina
05. The Dark Knight Rises
06. Zero Dark Thirty
07. Dark Horse
08. Dragon
09. Frankenweenie
10. Invisible War

Top Ten performances:

10. Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
09. Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
08.Vanessa Paradis. Cafe de Flore
07. Denzel Washington, Flight
06. Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
05. Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe
04. Rachel Weisz, Deep Blue Sea
03. Clarke Peters, Red Hook Summer
02. Quvenzhané Wallis
01. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva as Georges and Anne in Amour

Originally Posted by Gordon

Oh shit, I read an article in German where they claim that in an Oscars roundtable Haneke called Zero Dark Thirty "widerlich und dumm" which you could translate as obnoxious/disgusting/stupid. Let the games begin. This is why I want Haneke to be part of the circuit -- he's just going to call out everybody. This process could get interesting.

Crazy! I'm surprised he saw it already while he hasn't seen The Master and he's a big fan of Hoffman (read Thompson's interview).

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

Crazy! I'm surprised he saw it already

I don't think he's seen it (no one had at that point). In context, the question was about whether it was right to dramatize actual historical events/individuals for entertainment, which Mark Boal (who was in the rountable) did for Zero Dark. I think he was just slamming the notion that Boal had dramatized the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. He then went on to slam Downfall and Schindler's List.

[DaMovieMan]

Originally Posted by Bourne101

I don't think he's seen it (no one had at that point). In context, the question was about whether it was right to dramatize actual historical events/individuals for entertainment, which Mark Boal (who was in the rountable) did for Zero Dark. I think he was just slamming the notion that Boal had dramatized the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. He then went on to slam Downfall and Schindler's List.

Ah ok, yeah that makes sense. My initial reactions were mixed when I first heard ZD30 getting made because of that. Guess Haneke must hate Argo too. An American friend of mine who saw Argo with me, said how pissed he is that ZD30 is coming out and revealing information that shouldn't be open to the public when it took years and years for Clinton to finally disclose the Argo case. There's definitely a debate somewhere in there..

[ilovemovies]

I'm SO happy that both Life of Pi and The Dark Knight Rises made Richard Carliss's top 10! They are currently my favorite movies of the year as well.

Kind of surprised Lincoln didn't make the top 10 though as I thought that got a rave review from Time Magazine.

[DaMovieMan]

It is pretty weird that Lincoln isn't there. Neither DDL, but he's got Jones. Strange.

official reviews for Les Miz are popping up now.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948874/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mov.../review/398662

Not really glorifying reviews.

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

Neither DDL, but he's got Jones. Strange.

Jones has a showier performance. I thought DDL was better, but it's more of a quiet, restrained performance. DDL plays him a bit like a guy you'd want to smoke a few doobs with. He'll win, but I don't think that many see his performance up there with Plainview or Bill the Butcher.

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

official reviews for Les Miz are popping up now.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117948874/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mov.../review/398662

Not really glorifying reviews.

It was never going to be a critics movie, but it's definitely slipping a bit. Zero Dark looks like the one with the most momentum right now, and it has the advantage that it's going to carry that momentum into January when it gets a wide release. People seem more excited about that one than anything else.

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Bourne101

I don't think he's seen it (no one had at that point). In context, the question was about whether it was right to dramatize actual historical events/individuals for entertainment, which Mark Boal (who was in the rountable) did for Zero Dark. I think he was just slamming the notion that Boal had dramatized the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. He then went on to slam Downfall and Schindler's List.

Do you have a link to the actual video? I read an article that made it sound like it happened a day or two ago, and that pretty much chalked it up to "told the American media to go fuck themselves..." I'm enormously curious about the context.

[Bourne101]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/vid...terview-390250

The directors roundtable is particularly good as well.

[echo_bravo]

Damn, this year was pretty loaded.

Which I guess is a good thing but it looks like Phoenix will probably miss out on getting the Oscar.

[Tkeyjw]

Originally Posted by echo_bravo

Damn, this year was pretty loaded.

Which I guess is a good thing but it looks like Phoenix will probably miss out on getting the Oscar.

Joaquin Phoenix has no chance of winning. There are some people who think he might not even be nominated. That movie is pretty much on life support now. If it doesn't start winning some critics' awards soon, it could end up only getting a single nomination (for Hoffman). It really would be a shame if it didn't even get in for Best Cinematography, though.

As for Haneke's comments about Zero Dark Thirty, having read other interviews with him, I'm not surprised. He always makes bold, dismissive comments about other movies. He once said that all American blockbusters were just war-glorifying Bush propaganda (he said this during the Bush era, of course, and that's not the exact quote). I initially thought his criticism of ZDT had to do with the fact that it allegedly (I haven't seen it) portrays torture techniques in interrogation as having positive effects, but further reading has led me to believe he hasn't seen the movie either and is just making a prejudgment. Strangely enough, ZDT seems like it could be politicized from either side of the spectrum, since it supposedly has both the aforementioned pro-torture sentiment but has also been said to portray Obama in a positive light. Frankly, however, I wonder if there's any political objective at all, or if people are just reading their own politics into its depiction of events.

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by echo_bravo

Which I guess is a good thing but it looks like Phoenix will probably miss out on getting the Oscar.

Yeah, he may get nominated, but unfortunately he won't win. It's a shame, because no one is even in the same ballpark as him this year.

[Reckoner]

Unfortunately I'm gonna have to agree with you guys on Phoenix. After his remarks, the Weinsteins have been (successfully) pushing hard for Cooper and Jackman to receive their first nominations. And while I still think there's a strong chance Phoenix will be nominated based on the brilliance of his performance alone, he's definitely at risk of being pushed aside by actors who are actively striving to get awards recognition (plus favorites like Day-Lewis and Washington who already have their nominations locked and secured). It's a tricky, crowded year indeed.

[Reckoner]

Also may as well do my first set of predictions...

Ranked in order of what/who I think is most likely to get nominated at this point:

BEST PICTURE

The sure bets:

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Argo
4. Les Miserables
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. Life of Pi
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Other serious contenders: The Master, Django Unchained, The Impossible, The Sessions, Promised Land, Amour, Flight, Moonrise Kingdom

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
2. Ben Affleck - Argo
3. Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
4. Tom Hooper - Les Miserables
5. Ang Lee - Life of Pi

One of the most crowded years in this category in a long time. Right now my gut is telling me that Lee will be nominated over O. Russell, but it's anything goes.

Other serious contenders: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook), Michael Haneke (Amour), Quentin Tarintino (Django Unchained), Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)

BEST ACTOR

1. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
2. Denzel Washington - Flight
3. John Hawkes - The Sessions
4. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
5. Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

Other serious contenders: Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

If Phoenix does get nominated (I think he will), the fifth spot will be a toss-up between Jackman and Cooper. It's tough to tell right now, but Jackman is already a really well-liked guy in the Academy and they're bound to go gaga over Les Mes. But whoever picks up the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor in Musical/Comedy will certainly have the upper hand and momentum. We'll wait and see then.

BEST ACTRESS

1. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
2. Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
3. Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
5. Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Other serious contenders: Emmanuelle Riva, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
2. Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
3. Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
4. Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
5. Russell Crowe - Les Miserables

Other serious contenders: Alan Arkin, Eddie Redmayne, Mathew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Anne Hatheway - Les Miserables
2. Sally Field - Lincoln
3. Helen Hunt - The Sessions
4. Amy Adams - The Master
5. Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Other serious contenders: Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Ann Dowd, Jackie Weaver

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Amour
4. Django Unchained
5. The Master

Other serious contenders: Flight, Looper

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Argo
2. Silver Linings Playbook
3. Lincoln
4. Les Miserables
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Other serious contenders: Life of Pi, The Sessions

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by Bourne101

Yeah, he may get nominated, but unfortunately he won't win. It's a shame, because no one is even in the same ballpark as him this year.

Yup. Phoenix gave the best performance of the year (probably a top five performance on the decade, which still lands him at only the second best PTA performance of the last five years), which is precisely why he won't win. In this sense it's exactly like politics: the best guy for the job can almost never win because very rarely is he also the best campaigner.

[ilovemovies]

IMO, DDL gives the performance of the year. So I'm very happy that he's the frontrunner to win.

Pheonix was great, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand how anyone can say that nobody comes close. There are actually a ton of great performances this year IMO.

[ilovemovies]

Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) Top 10 Films Of 2012

1. The Master
2. Zero Dark Thirty
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild
4. Lincoln
5. Argo
6. Silver Linings Playbook
7. Les Miserables
8. Life of Pi
9. Moonrise Kingdom
10. The Dark Knight Rises


David Edelstein (New York Magazine) Top 10 Films Of 2012

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Amour
4. The Gatekeepers
5. The Deep Blue Sea
6. Life Of Pi
7. How To Survive A Plague/Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
8. Pitch Perfect
9. Oslo, August 31st
10. Friends With Kids

Huffington Post Top 10 Films Of 2012

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Beasts Of The Southern Wild
4. Argo
5. Django Unchained
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. Silver Linings Playbook
8. Skyfall
9. Les Miserables
10. Looper

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

I don't understand how anyone can say that nobody comes close.

I dunno, Phoenix's performance is the kind of thing that I rarely see. Through his line delivery, mannerisms, and physical contortions, I really felt like he just came back from war. There's also a mysterious, dark quality that he brings to the role that reminded me a bit of De Niro in his prime.

[ilovemovies]

I loved Time magazine's top 10 list of the year, but I HATE their worst list.

It is:

10. One For The Money (review)
9. The Odd Life Of Timothy Green
8. What To Expect When You're Expecting
7. Alex Cross (review)
6. The Lorax (review)
5. This Means War (review)
4. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (review)
3. Hyde Park On Hudson (review)
2. John Carter (review)
1. Cloud Atlas (review)


Haven't seen Cloud Atlas, but I think it looks amazing and can't wait to see it next week.

I love John Carter and The Odd Life of Timothy Green.

[Tkeyjw]

The Entertainment Weekly critics just released their best and worst of the year.

OWEN GLEIBERMAN'S TOP 10
1. Lincoln
2. Amour
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Room 237
5. Zero Dark Thirty
6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
7. Killing Them Softly
8. Argo
9. Flight
10. Bernie

LISA SCHWARZBAUM'S TOP 10
1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. The Master
4. Amour
5. Argo
6. The Gatekeepers
7. Beasts of the Southern Wild
8. Skyfall
9. The Loneliest Planet
10. How to Survive a Plague

OWEN GLEIBERMAN'S BOTTOM 5
1. John Carter
2. 2016: Obama's America
3. House at the End of the Street
4. Rust and Bone
5. Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection

LISA SCHWARZBAUM'S BOTTOM 5
1. Hitchcock
2. That's What She Said
3. Hyde Park on Hudson
4. Butter
5. Trouble with the Curve

[silentasylum]

wondering if Zero Dark Thirty is going to be nominated for best documentary lol

[DaMovieMan]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

IMO, DDL gives the performance of the year. So I'm very happy that he's the frontrunner to win.

Pheonix was great, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand how anyone can say that nobody comes close. There are actually a ton of great performances this year IMO.

Yeah I thought that nobody would be able to top Phoenix' visceral turn, which is still one of the best performances of the whole year male or female, but after seeing some more films, I can't agree with anyone who says no one comes close.

Daniel Day-Lewis is the frontrunner and I'm happy about that too, because what he did was, IMO, much tougher to pull off than what Phoenix does in The Master. To portray one of the most prominent historical figures ever and make him simultaneously his own interpretation and not betray everyone's own version of the man is an incredible feat. How he changes his voice (TIME says it the best; while other actors can do different accents, DDL seems to have the ability to change his vocal chords) is only half of it. A performance that will be talked about for ages, and definitely among the top 3 of his career. If he gets a record third Best Actor Oscar, justice will be served.

Denis Lavant in Holy Motors, and his six "appointments", and Trintignant in Amour also come very very close.

My Top Ten performances of the year so far are;

1. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
2. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
3. Denis Lavant - Holy Motors
4. Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
5. Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour
6. James Gandolfini - Killing Them Softly
7. Marion Cotillard - Rust & Bone
8. Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
9. Keira Knightley - Anna Karenina
10. Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe

Originally Posted by Tkeyjw

The Entertainment Weekly critics just released their best and worst of the year.

OWEN GLEIBERMAN'S TOP 10
...
4. Room 237
...

OWEN GLEIBERMAN'S BOTTOM 5
...
4. Rust and Bone
...

He deserves a high five for his #4 TOP 10 choice, and a slap for his #4 BOTTOM 5.

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

Daniel Day-Lewis is the frontrunner and I'm happy about that too, because what he did was, IMO, much tougher to pull off than what Phoenix does in The Master. To portray one of the most prominent historical figures ever and make him simultaneously his own interpretation and not betray everyone's own version of the man is an incredible feat. How he changes his voice (TIME says it the best; while other actors can do different accents, DDL seems to have the ability to change his vocal chords) is only half of it. A performance that will be talked about for ages, and definitely among the top 3 of his career. If he gets a record third Best Actor Oscar, justice will be served.

We're just on a totally different page here, but anyway...

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

My Top Ten performances of the year so far are

1. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
3. Matthias Schoenaerts - Rust and Bone
4. John Hawkes - The Sessions
5. Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
6. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
7. Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
8. Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
9. Denzel Washington - Flight
10. Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour

[DaMovieMan]

Originally Posted by Bourne101

1. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
2. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
3. Matthias Schoenaerts - Rust and Bone
4. John Hawkes - The Sessions
5. Marion Cotillard - Rust and Bone
6. Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
7. Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook
8. Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
9. Denzel Washington - Flight
10. Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour

Yeah we seem to be disagreeing a lot lately hehe. Gotta love subjectivity! At least you have Cotillard before Lawrence, and the criminally untalked about Shoenaerts is probably No. 11 or 12 for me. Glad to see that you seemed to have enjoyed Rust & Bone

[Bourne101]

Originally Posted by DaMovieMan

Yeah we seem to be disagreeing a lot lately hehe. Gotta love subjectivity!

Yeah, maybe I'm just taking Day-Lewis for granted, but I just wasn't blown away by the performance like some of you seem to be. It was great, and will certainly remain in my top 10 for the year, but I just didn't feel like it was on the level of some of his past work.

And yeah, Rust and Bone was very good. I had some pretty big problems with A Prophet, but Audiard really impressed me with this outing.

[Matchbox225]

I'm not as high on Daniel Day-Lewis as most here. I thought his Gangs Of New York performance was very overrated. He's great in There Will Be Blood, but I certainly don't think it was the best performance that year, like most people say.

I'm sure he's great in Lincoln, but I get really annoyed with these articles coming out going on and on about how he's the greatest actor that ever lived. Every time he has a movie out, this happens.

If people think he deserves the Oscar, then that's fine, but I think he's massively overpraised.

The thing that comforts me is that he probably won't be in another movie for another 5 years.

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by Matchbox225

He's great in There Will Be Blood, but I certainly don't think it was the best performance that year, like most people say.

I agree. I was actually rooting for Tommy Lee Jones to win that year for his incredible performance in In the Valley of Elah. I would also rank Emile Hirsch's work in Into the Wild slightly a head of DDL's performance as well. As great as DDL is in There Will Be Blood, I do think he's better in Lincoln. I think it's the best performance of his career although there are a few of his movies I haven't seen (My Left Foot, Age of Innocence, etc).


Since a few people have posted their list of their favorite performances of the year:

1. Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln
2. Suraj Sharma in Life of Pi
3. Liam Neeson in The Grey
4. Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises
5. Frank Grillo in The Grey
6. Judi Dench in Skyfall
7. Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve
8. John Hawkes and Helen Hunt in The Sessions
9. Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook
10. Jeremy Irons in The Words

Honorable mentions: Aubrey Plaza in Safety Not Guaranteed, Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook, Tom Wilkinson in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Josh Brolin in Men in Black III, Eugene Levy in American Reunion, Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook, Kelly Reilly in Flight, Denzel Washington in Flight and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master.


Lots of great performances although more great male performances than female though I have yet to see obviously movies like Zero Dark Thirty, Les Miserables, The Impossible among others.

[Gordon]

Holy shit, Joaquin Phoenix performance in The Master doesn't even qualify until after Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, Liam Neeson & Frank Grillo in The Grey, Judi Dench in Skyfall, Amy Adams in Trouble with the Curve, and is on equivalent ground with Aubrey Plaza in Safety Not Guaranteed, Josh Brolin in Men in Black III, and Eugene Levy in American Reunion? This just strikes me as, if not objectively untrue, then at least a blatant disregard for any theory of acting.