Achievements of 2011
Awards seem more and more silly every year. This year, I’m thinking of skipping the Oscars and maybe watching the Independent Spirit Awards instead (though I don’t agree with all of their nominations either). That being said, recognition for outstanding artistry always seems appropriate and satisfying, if not mandatory. Here are my choices, in approximate order. Pictured are my clear favorites.
Achievement in a Female Leading Role
Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Juliette Binoche is amazing. Her performance in Certified Copy is far and away the most impressive of the year, especially considering the extremely trickiness of the role. Comedians never get the acclaim they deserve, and Kristen Wiig will surely be no different, but she was awesome. Kirsten Dunst has garnered buzz with her role in Lars von Trier’s picture, but playing manic depressive doesn’t seem too hard; maybe she just makes it look easy. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many great roles for women in 2012…
Achievement in a Male Leading Role
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ewan McGregor, Beginners
Paul Rudd, Our Idiot Brother
George Clooney, The Descendants
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Steve Coogan, The Trip
Ryan Gosling, Drive
Bradley Cooper, Limitless
Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life
Michael Fassbender’s portrayal as a sex addict is clearly the stand-out here. The role is so complex and interesting in his hands. Terrific. Paul Rudd does a great job with a winning comedic performance, as does Steve Coogan, playing (a version of) himself, no less. George Clooney does very well in The Descendants - better than he does in his more typical role in The Ides of March, in which he directs himself. Brad Pitt had two great roles in 2011, but it’s hard to praise acting in The Tree of Life when the direction and photography outshine the performances so wildly. Maybe it’s surprising to Bradley Cooper on this list, but Limitless is incessantly watchable, and it’s hard to give credit to anyone else - the premise is great but the screenplay sucks.
Achievement in a Female Supporting Role
Mélenie Laurent, Beginners
Carey Mulligan, Shame
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Elena Anaya, The Skin I Live In
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Elizabeth Banks, Our Idiot Brother
How can you not fall in love with Mélanie Laurent in Beginners?! I have such a crush. She is simply luminous. Carey Mulligan brings the perfect amount of charm, fearlessness and complexity to her character in Shame - a far more compelling role than she has in Drive. Melissa McCarthy is a scene-stealer in Bridesmaids. Doesn’t Elizabeth Banks look like Parkey Posey? She’s as good in this one.
Achievement in a Male Supporting Role
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
John C. Reilly, Terri
Vincent Cassell, A Dangerous Method
Zack Galifianakis, The Hangover II
Rob Brydon, The Trip
Matt Damon, Contagion
Kevin Spacey, Margin Call
I fear watching any award show specifically because I cannot stand the thought of Christopher Plummer losing this award. I swell up with tears just thinking about him in this movie (and this still pictured above gets me every time). I have a great relationship with my father, but even so, I feel like Christopher Plummer provides a certain paternal fulfillment that is unparalleled in any film I can think of. Overwhelmingly good. These others are good too.
Achievement in Directing
Mike Mills, Beginners
Lars Von Trier, Melancholia
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Steve McQueen, Shame
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy
David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method
JJ Abrams, Super 8
This is a very hard category to consider because a director’s role is so vast. Technically, it is the director’s job to direct the actors, as well as oversee each and every department on a film set. Many directors also oversee pre-production and post-production, especially if the work is auteur and of a singular vision. David Fincher directs as well as anyone, but I can’t ignore the fact that he is handling someone else’s material here, in addition to the fact that I don’t really care about said material. Ultimately, a detective thriller isn’t going to match up in my book to a poetic and visionary passion project, which the top spots go to.
Achievement in Writing
Mike Mills, Beginners
Lars von Trier, Melancholia
Pedro Almodovar, The Skin I Live In
Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Jesse Peretz/Evgenia Peretz/David Schisgall, Our Idiot Brother
Kristen Wiig/Annie Mumolo, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Writing and directing are such weird categories because, when done really well, they feel the same. I know that Beginners is a great screenplay and is well-directed, but I’d rather just acknowledge Mike Mills for making a terrific film. The two tasks seem so intwined as to be inseparable. But of course, we do separate them. Some movies owe more to their screenplays than others. Woody Allen, for instance, writes better than he directs (especially lately), in my opinion. So even though Midnight in Paris was just a good movie, it’s a great, fun script.
Achievement in Photography
The Tree of Life
Melancholia
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Contagion
Beginners
I have omitted writing the names beside the titles because I figure that no one cares that Emmanuel Lubezki was the cinematographer for The Tree of Life, and he’s the most famous person in this category! Except, interestingly, Steven Soderbergh, who serves as director of photography for Contagion and all of his other films as well, and he’s damn good. Suffice to say, these are the best-looking movies from the year.
Achievement in Editing
Melancholia
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Page One: Inside the New York Times
The Skin I Live In
The Artist
Super 8
Drive
Beginners
In the case of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the editing is too good. It should be longer! But it’s cut from scene to scene so expertly that I’ve recognized it here. Generally, great editing goes unnoticed, except with a film like Requiem for a Dream, where the editing is such a major part of it. Flow might be a better term for this category…
Achievement in Music
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Artist
Contagion
Midnight in Paris
Beginners
These movies, especially Drive, have great music in them. Cliff Martinez scored Drive and Contagion both. There are other songs in these films that make them great soundtracks, so I’m not sure how to best award that, since the composer obviously didn’t write those songs. Anyway, whatever. I guess this is why people generally don’t care about technical categories. I’ll stop with this one, though I’m tempted to do Art Direction. It’s hard for me to care beyond that as well. Sound mixing vs sound editing? Please.
