rikumovie

So the last year worth of movie viewing comes down to this, the release of the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (CCMA). I’m a member so I’m part of the group that selected these nominations. I will say there are some omissions here from what I would have liked, but overall it’s not a bad list.



The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

George Clooney – “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio – “J. Edgar”
Jean Dujardin – “The Artist”
Michael Fassbender – “Shame”
Ryan Gosling – “Drive”
Brad Pitt – “Moneyball”

Viola Davis – “The Help”
Elizabeth Olsen – “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Charlize Theron – “Young Adult”
Michelle Williams – “My Week With Marilyn”

Kenneth Branagh – “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks – “Drive”
Nick Nolte – “Warrior”
Patton Oswalt – “Young Adult”
Christopher Plummer – “Beginners”
Andy Serkis – “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”

Bérénice Bejo – “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain – “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy – “Bridesmaids”
Carey Mulligan – “Shame”
Octavia Spencer – “The Help”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”

Asa Butterfield – “Hugo”
Elle Fanning – “Super 8”
Thomas Horn – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Ezra Miller – “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Saoirse Ronan – “Hanna”
Shailene Woodley – “The Descendants”

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March

Stephen Daldry – “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Steven Spielberg – “War Horse”

“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
“50/50” – Will Reiser
“Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
“Win Win” – Screenplay by Tom McCarthy, Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
“Young Adult” – Diablo Cody

“The Descendants” – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” – Eric Roth
“The Help” – Tate Taylor
“Hugo” – John Logan
“Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Story by Stan Chervin

“The Artist” – Guillaume Schiffman
“Drive” – Newton Thomas Sigel
“Hugo” – Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” – Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” – Janusz Kaminski

“The Artist” – Production Designer: Laurence Bennett, Art Director: Gregory S. Hooper “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” – Production Designer: Stuart Craig, Set Decorator: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” – Production Designer: Dante Ferretti, Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“The Tree of Life” – Production Designer: Jack Fisk, Art Director: David Crank
“War Horse” – Production Designer: Rick Carter, Set Decorator: Lee Sandales

“The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius and Anne-Sophie Bion
“Drive” – Matthew Newman
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“War Horse” – Michael Kahn

“The Artist” – Mark Bridges
“The Help” – Sharen Davis
“Hugo” – Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” – Michael O’Connor
“My Week With Marilyn” – Jill Taylor

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
My Week With Marilyn

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Tree of Life

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Super 8
The Tree of Life
War Horse

The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8

Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets

In Darkness
Le Havre
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Where Do We Go Now?

Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated

“Hello Hello” – performed by Elton John and Lady Gaga/written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin – Gnomeo & Juliet
“Life’s a Happy Song” – performed by Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“The Living Proof” – performed by Mary J. Blige/written by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman and Harvey Mason, Jr. – The Help
“Man or Muppet” – performed by Jason Segel and Walter/written by Bret McKenzie – The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” – performed by Kermit and the Muppets/written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman – The Muppets

“The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
“Drive” – Cliff Martinez
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
“Hugo” – Howard Shore
“War Horse” – John Williams

Did you miss the 17th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards??? Well courtesy of VH1 -- you can watch it below...Enjoy!

Ok…so it’s time to look at the acting categories for this year’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. Let me tell you, this is a fun batch of nominees.
One of the cool categories that the CCMA hands out is for Best Young Actor/Actress. Basically the nominees need to be under 18 for this category and it is a truly cool category to vote for. It’s great to get a chance to honor some of the stars of tomorrow performing at a high level today. Saoirse Ronan has been nominated for this category multiple times and while her Hannacharacter was solid, it’s not the best here. Ezra Miller performs in the still new to many, We Need to Talk About Kevin. And Elle Fanning is the girl everyone wants to be around in Super 8, which is great..but not this year. The winner will come from the performances of Asa Butterfield in Hugo (Our group tends to love him), Thomas Horn in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (not everyone likes his portrayal, but those who do LOVE IT), and Shailene Woodley in The Descendants (an actress I was actually talking about the second the film was over).

WILL WIN:  Asa Butterfield, Hugo


Look, this is a talented group of men. Top to bottom it is solid. But the one performance that really blew me away this year was Albert Brooks in Drive. I felt equally afraid of his character as well as confident that he was the trustworthy father figure. Nolte back in the saddle with Warrior is a crowd favorite. Patton Oswalt was truly one of my favorites, if not for Brooks. It is a solid change with Serkis getting a nomination for his performance in Rise of Planet of the Apes; nice to see him alongside veterans Branagh and Plummer in this category.

WILL WIN:  Albert Brooks, Drive

I would not be disappointed by any winner here. Carey Mulligan is always good and Berenice Bejo could ride a tidal wave for The Artist. Chastain, if you could cover her roles in all her films might walk away the winner here (I liked her in Take Shelter more than in this film). Octavia Spencer was fantastic in The Help as well, but with two actresses here, that’s never an easy road to take to a win. McCarthy is loved here, and it may be the way for our group to award the fresh and funny Bridesmaids. For me…Woodley should win but it is truly WIDE OPEN.

WILL WIN:  ??? Maybe…Melissa McCarthy?

All five of these movies made my “Top 25” for the year. I’m not sure what everyone uses as their criteria for voting in this category. Myself, I look for the whole of the cast. Not what is necessarily the best film, but which needed the whole “team” of actors to make the film go. With that in mind, this is a pretty good list. In this group, I think it’s the place where the whole of the cast for The Help gets awarded. Just about everyone loved this film and it took all characters here to bring together their varied roles and experiences to bubble your emotions to the surface. While the rest are all pretty darned good, some will have their day in other categories.

WILL WIN:  The Help

An interesting category here and it will be a look at where the rest of the night may go. If Jean Dujardin takes home the award, it might be a big night for The Artist. However, I think there were better performances here. I would lean towards our group going toward Gosling, Pitt or Clooney. Gosling with the pure number of nominations for Drive, he has a lot of support, and could walk away with the top award. Clooney is a favorite for my favorite film of the year. And as of this writing, I STILL haven’t chosen between him and the amazing performance of Brad Pitt in Moneyball. Yes I know Leo is nominated here too, but sorry Leo, not with this group. And…lest I leave him out…Michael Fassbender is really, really good in Shame so much so that I wouldn’t be ashamed of him as the winner here. Oh and by the way…I think the rule was we had to nominate actors from films with no more than two word titles…now that is some DEEP analysis!

WILL WIN:  Brad Pitt

And finally for this list, the ladies and I have to admit, I know not where our group will go. Heck, I know not where my vote will fall – so I naturally assume that people are having the same feelings as I am. (As an aside, it’s nice to have some races that truly could go any way right now..but back to the analysis.) Viola Davis is the heart and soul of The Help. Elizabeth Olsen was a revelation in Martha Marcy May Marlene (though it’s a mouthful of a title). Meryl, well, she is Meryl and becomes Maragaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Tilda Swinton walks through the aftermath of pure horror in both the before and after in We Need to Talk About Kevin. Charlize Theron was fun and depressing all in one film (Young Adult) and they let her look good again. And I know some who were in love with Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn. Who should I vote for??? I’m leaning toward Elizabeth Olsen, but I could change my mind any way before the ballot is in. This would be an EASY category for me if….Rooney Mara was nominated for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo…my favorite performance by a female this year…but….

WILL WIN:  Meryl Streep or Viola Davis (Our group loves Meryl, doesn’t everyone?)