The Weavings are Here!

Welcome to the first annual Hello Mr. Anderson Awards post, also to be known as “The Weavings!”

Before we get started, I just wanted to say “Thank You.” When I began this writing exercise back in December of 2009 (with a DVD review of the defunct television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), I never expected that my continued efforts in reviewing movies (and occasionally TV shows and video games) would bring me to this point. I mean, I never thought I would be hosting my own awards post on what was once a stalled comic book review site, The Latest Issue. And I honestly couldn’t have done it without your help. Without the support of friends, family, and a loyal reader base, I would have likely given up this venture months if not years ago. I owe you guys everything, and while I’ve stolen the spotlight from the celebrities climbing over one another to collect their Weavings, I just wanted to make some dedications of my own, and express thanks to friends and family who made this possible. Thank you “Southland” Dan, Addy, Megan “The Opinioness“, Kawana, “Moving Picture Trash” cohort Brian, Steve, Elmo, Dan S., “Formerly Loyal Sidekick” Anne, Brooke, Ryan & Stephanie (who won the technical award for “Best Wedding of 2011”), Jen ("Fassy was Robbed!"), Peter, Carole, Shannon and everyone who has helped me spread the Gospel of Mr. Anderson through either words or deeds. Your kindness and support has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. Also, I’d like to thank my wonderful parents, who succeeded in raising a talented (and handsome!) young man who really enjoys what he does. And I would be remiss not to thank my sister Catherine and a purportedly blood-related family of wacky supporters who ask me at every opportunity what they should see (or suggest things I haven’t) at the theater. You are what keeps me going, and I hope you realize that.

Secondly, I’d just like to say “Damn, this was DIFFICULT!” I’m not complaining, but I discovered far too late how complex this whole process was going to be, and by that time it was a mad scramble to figure out nominees and winners from what I had seen in 2011. On top of that, I’ll likely have to push 2012’s ceremony into next February to account for the few titles that get nominated for awards every year that come to my local theaters too late for me to include them. Sorry in advance to Glenn Close, Tilda Swinton, everyone involved with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Janet McTeer, Michelle Williams and Demian Bichir for being unable to see your films before I got this out. Even if you wouldn’t have been guaranteed a nomination or win, I feel you needed to be mentioned, as I can’t seem to escape the feeling that I’ve failed you by not supporting your performances more openly. I do hope to see them all in the near future, though by then it will be far too late for me to give them proper recognition. But without further ado, let’s look at our nominees and winner for 2011!


Best Supporting Actor

The nominees are...

Jim Broadbent - Iron Lady
Albert Brooks - Drive
Jared Harris - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Bill Nighy - Arthur Christmas
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Patton Oswalt - Young Adult

And the winner is...

It’s difficult to recapture lost glory, and especially so when you’re coming back from personal demons that have seemingly derailed your career. It can be done however; Mickey Rourke proved that in recent years, and now Nick Nolte might be vying to do the same with his outstanding return in Warrior. In perhaps a parallel to his own history with alcohol, Nolte is stellar in his role as a recovering alcoholic trying to regain a connection to his fractured children. Warrior’s failure at the box office might have staggered Nolte’s comeback, but hopefully he’ll have gained some recognition and respect along the way.

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees are...

Jessica Chastain (twice) - The Help, Tree of Life
Angelica Huston - 50/50
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
Chloe Moretz - Hugo
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shelaine Woodley - The Descendants
And the winner is...

This was a tough one. While I want to celebrate McCarthy’s role in making Bridesmaids the comedic juggernaut it was, every argument I tried to make had me coming back to Spencer. Even in the trailers for The Help, it was obvious Octavia Spencer was something special, and while I thought on the whole The Help was a wonderful film, it would have been less so had anyone but Spencer been cast in the role of scrupled, smart-mouthed Minnie Jackson. Spencer has had a long career, and is probably overdue for this kind of attention. Hopefully it will translate into an even better career for her in the near future.

Best Musical Score
The nominees are...

Drive - Cliff Martinez
Hanna - The Chemical Brothers
Midnight in Paris - Stephane Wrembel
The Artist - Ludovic Bource
The Descendants - Dondi Bastone, Richard Ford, Eugene Kulikov
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
The Muppets - Christophe Beck

And the winner is...

Sometimes the best film scoring is not such that it’s a brazen assault on the eardrums to express discord and chaos, or even something so familiar and friendly as to evoke a response from every nostalgic bone in your body. Sometimes, the best film scoring is so perfectly set that you barely notice it’s there until the final credits roll, and you realize how excellent the music was at laying the foundation for the story you just witnessed. That’s the case with The Descendants, which perfectly melded classic Hawaiian music into a perfect mix that helped the film become one of the year’s best.

Best Special Effects

The nominees are...

Immortals
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
Thor
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

And the winner is...

It’s really no surprise. Spend the most money, create the best effects. Michael Bay is legendary for demanding things “to be awesome” and he doesn’t scrimp for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, that turned out to become the second largest grossing movie of his directorial career (third if you adjust for inflation). Say what you want about the Transformers film franchise under his guidance, but there’s little to argue with when you look at the results. THIS is why studios will continue to target the 18-49 male audience, despite cries against this business strategy.

Best Leading Actor in a Comedy

The nominees are...

Charlie Day - Horrible Bosses
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Paul Giamatti - Win Win
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (twice) - 50/50, Hesher
Ryan Gosling - Crazy Stupid Love
Owen Wilson - Midnight in Paris

And the winner is...

When you look at the nominees, there are quite a few proven talents competing for the prize. Yet even before he had uttered his two spoken words in The Artist, Jean Dujardin had captivated audiences across the country. Facing the difficulty of performing in the completely opposite style of the latest Transformers film is no easy task; Dujardin had to become one of the best all-time silent film actors to pull this off, and he does so in such spectacular fashion that you wonder what else French cinema has to offer. I don’t know if this superb talent will go the Hollywood route in coming years, but I’ll be very excited to see whatever he does to follow up his incredible work here.

Best Leading Actress in a Comedy

The nominees are...

Bernice Bejo - The Artist
Marion Cotillard - Midnight in Paris
Jodie Foster - Carnage
Anna Kendrick - 50/50
Charlize Theron - Young Adult
Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
Kate Winslett - Carnage

And the winner is...

It really takes something to rise above everything else a film has to offer. Though I thought Young Adult to be a misguided, pretentious slog, one of the few bright points proved to be Theron, who shone so brightly she might as well have been a second sun. Her performance helps create the character study that the film was going for, and anything less would have undoubtedly sunk the entire process into irredeemable territory. It doesn’t hurt that Theron’s role was at times funny, charming and honest, simple enough to get a feeling for at first glance but complex enough to really make you wonder at the sophistication present. Theron's one of those actresses who will pop up out of nowhere with a breathtaking performance before slinking into obscurity, but here's hoping she has a strong follow-up to what amounts to a great performance in an otherwise mediocre release.

Best Leading Actor in a Drama

The nominees are...

George Clooney - The Descendants
Leonardo Dicaprio - J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Ryan Gosling - Drive
Rhys Ifans - Anonymous
Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt - Moneyball

And the winner is...

It’s so good to be proven right. When I saw him leading in 2010’s small-market film Centurion, I knew Michael Fassbender was going to go places. One year later, and he has overnight become one of Hollywood’s biggest names, and has eclipsed even my wildest expectation. Shame is not your usual tale of addiction, and Fassbender’s performance is a major reason you won’t look at that world in the same way again. The truly scary thing is that we might just be seeing the edges of Fassbender’s abilities. Now that he’s done some particularly wild things in this disturbing film, who’s to say what his limits will be in anything he does in the future?

Best Leading Actress in a Drama

The nominees are...

Jessica Chastain - The Debt
Viola Davis - The Help
Rooney Mara - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Helen Mirren - The Debt
Elizabeth Olsen - Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep - Iron Lady
Mia Wasikowska - Jane Eyre

And the winner is...

Sadly, without Close and Swinton, this wasn’t much of a challenge. Let’s face facts: Meryl Streep has been in award-worthy performances almost every year of her career for over three decades now. Even when her films are not necessarily craze-worthy, she usually turns out to be the best thing you’ve seen at any given time. Iron Lady is more of this, as she tackles he challenge of divisive former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with the same determination, charm and strength she has approached every single one of her acting roles. Here, like in all others, she is by far the best thing you've likely seen. Free Meryl! Give her that third Oscar!


Actor of the Year

The Actor and Actress of the Year awards were designed to celebrate an actor’s body of work over the course of the year. If a performer has only one spectacular role, they are still eligible for nomination. However, if they have more than one, even better.

The nominees are...

George Clooney - Ides of March, The Descendants
Matt Damon - Contagion, The Adjustment Bureau, We Bought a Zoo
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Michael Fassbender - Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men First Class
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 50/50, Hesher
Ryan Gosling - Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Ides of March
Andy Serkis - Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Adventures of Tintin

And the winner is...

Okay, MAYBE I just wanted to post a pic of Fassbender in X-Duds. With this award, Michael Fassbender officially becomes the first ever person to win two Weavings for his hard work in cinema. It’s not just his performance strengths that earned him this award, but also the variety of his performances; in 2011, he starred in a classic period piece, a rousing superhero movie, and an emotional art house film, all of which were among the year’s best entries. It’s this versatility that has rightfully gained him so much attention, and will likely do so for years to come.

Actress of the Year

The nominees are...

Rose Byrne - Bridesmaids, Insidious, X-Men First Class
Jessica Chastain - The Debt, The Help, Tree of Life
Rooney Mara - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Helen Mirren - Arthur, The Debt
Emma Stone - Crazy Stupid Love, The Help
Meryl Streep - Iron Lady
Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids, Paul

And the winner is...

Where did SHE come from?? Unknown to casual audiences a year ago, Jessica Chastain appeared in seven (SEVEN!) films in 2011, and for nearly all of them, she has received rave reviews for her performances. I can’t speak for all of them, but in the three films I watched her blossom, she has earned every accolade twice over. It’s difficult to imagine her keeping up so hectic a pace in future years, but I’ll still be happy to watch anything she does in the meanwhile. I’ve never seen a young actress with such potential in my life, and can't help but feel that she's destined for big things.

Best Film - Genre/Superhero
With the influx of quality superhero films this year and the general lack of support from the awards industry for action, sci-fi and horror films, I just HAD to create a category to celebrate the best films that a certain segment of the movie-going public automatically discounts.

The nominees are...

Insidious
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8
The Adjustment Bureau
Thor
X-Men First Class

And the winner is...

What was the best part of Hanna? Was it the action, which made sure nobody was safe around a certain sixteen-year-old girl? Was it the liberal addition of humor that softened its often razor-sharp edges? Was it the excellent soundtrack by the electronic duo The Chemical Brothers? Sporting a strong cast, believable action and more than enough excitement, Hanna proves that you don’t need to be part of an established franchise to not only aspire to greatness, but achieve it.

Best Film - Animated

The nominees are...

Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

And the winner is...

Every year you expect that the Pixar film is going to run away with the prize, and most years they’d be right to do so. But with Cars 2 falling short and the other major animation studios firing blanks, it’s nice to see British animation studio Aardman come through with this unlikely gem. Christmas films tend to get more attention after they’ve been playing over the holiday season for a few years, but Arthur Christmas is the perfect mix of honesty, faith and amusement that has made Aardman a successful if not particularly well known animation studio. Even though the holiday season has passed, if you haven’t seen it yet it’s worth a look.

Best Director

The nominees are...

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
Michael Hazanavicius - The Artist
Tom McCarthy - Win Win
Steve McQueen - Shame
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive
Martin Scorcese - Hugo

And the winner is...

With it’s sweeping scenes, amazing cinematography and casting brilliance, Drive became one of the most talked about films before its release, and with good reason. Nicolas Winding Refn’s eye for quality would have made him a household name this past fall had Drive not fallen victim to the 3D re-release of The Lion King the same weekend. Still, Refn seems to have come out of the situation unscathed, and his expert eye is already hard at work on the remake of Logan’s Run, due out in 2014.

Best Film - Comedy

The nominees are...

50/50
Bridesmaids
Crazy Stupid Love
Midnight in Paris
The Artist
The Muppets
Win Win

And the winner is...

This should come as a shock to no one, as I’ve stated outright since its release that The Artist was the best movie of 2011. Even if you discount the idea that a silent picture about the end of the silent picture industry is purely a gimmick, that idea is trounced by the superb level of performances by actors Dujardin and Bejo, an exceptionally talented canine, and a tender, bittersweet tale that dashed hopes right before raising them to brand new heights. It hasn't been universally accepted yet, but I challenge any who have not seen this wonderful film to not be moved by its beauty.


Best Film - Drama

The nominees are...

Anonymous
Drive
Hugo
Moneyball
Shame
The Descendants
The Help

And the winner is...

It was a pretty good year for dramas, with several easily exceeding my early modest expectations. But only one was had enormously high expectations thrust upon it, and not only came away unscathed but managed to soar above that level. Drive is probably the best film you didn’t see in 2011. It’s okay, a lot of people missed this gem. To be fair, the gratuitous violence isn’t for everybody, and the story is much more mature than most releases you’ve witnessed in the past decade. That said, anybody who claims to be a fan of modern film as a medium really should have this on their radars, and you should put it on your “Must See” lists when it arrives on DVD this Tuesday.

This concludes the first annual Hello, Mr. Anderson Awards! Congratulations to all the winners! Hello, Mr. Anderson will return Monday to its regular thrice-weekly reviews of new movies, and occasionally glimpses into other pop culture items that might catch my interest. Thank you again for tuning in, I hope you keep reading, and good night!

... you know, because this probably took all day for you to read.