Look Who's Coming to The Weavings

It's (well past) time for Hello, Mr. Anderson's second annual awards post! 2012 was a very unique year for movies. We had the first ever superhero super group release in Joss Whedon's Marvel's The Avengers, the finale to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, the story of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and the return of the Wachowski siblings to the big screen. Much anticipated titles included an Alien prequel, Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth, James Bond's 50'th anniversary, a look inside the characters of video games, and Steven Spielberg's presidential biopic.

But while there were many reasons to turn up at the theaters on several weekends last year, much of what was released felt very... status quo. There was little different on either side of the quality barrier, with many decent movies looking sadly akin to their negatively-received counterparts. The Weavings are meant to recognize the best of the best, those who surpassed the malaise that filled much of 2012, and identify the most fun, entertaining and informative releases you should have sat down for last year. And if you missed them? That's why the good lord created home media. Sit back and enjoy.

Best Supporting Actor

The nominees are...

Javier Bardem - Skyfall
Leonardo DiCaprio - Django Unchained
Dwight Henry - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Christopher Walken - Seven Psychopaths
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

And the winner is...

Much respect to Christoph Waltz, but as good as you were in Django I couldn't quite give you this reward for your performance in the wake of this one by Jones, which single-handedly rejuvinated the aging actor's resume with a performance the likes of which we haven't seen in years. As unrepentant abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens, Jones showed an energy that may not be repeated anytime soon, and this was at a time when many thought his best years might be behind him.

Best Supporting Actress

The nominees are...



Amy Adams - The Master
Carmen Ejogo - Sparkle
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Helen Mirren - Hitchcock
Maggie Smith - Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Emma Watson - The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Kristen Wiig - Friends with Kids 

And the winner is...

How does a woman take the best advantage of such limited screen time? By packing the most heart-breaking, emotionally-devastating performance you can into what time you have. There's a reason Hathaway's Fantine was the centerpiece of the marketing for Les Miserables, and she delivered with a spectacle that left nary a dry eye in theaters across the world. It was to the film's credit and detriment that she was cast in this overly important role; the credit being how wonderfully amazing she was, the detriment being how just about everyone else paled in direct comparison.

Best Soundtrack/Musical Score

The nominees are...

Django Unchained - Elayna Boynton
Les Miserables - Claude-Michael Schoenberg
The Man with the Iron Fists - RZA and Howard Drossin
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Michael Brook
Pitch Perfect - Christophe Beck and Mark Kilian
Rock of Ages - Adam Anders and Peer Astrom
Sparkle - R. Kelly, Curtis Mayfield, Kier Lehman and Andre DeJuan

And the winner is...

These all were good musicals and/or had great soundtracks, don't get me wrong. What puts Pitch Perfect above the likes of Django or Les Mis is not the originality of the music (we've heard it all before), but the energy and system in which it's delivered. Pitch Perfect made a capella COOL, and that fact alone is not to be understated. Without that hook this is just a funny college comedy, but the music lends the story credence. Including all-vocal renditions of such modern classics as "Right Round", "Let it Whip" and "Don't You (Forget About Me)", listening to the soundreack is almost more fun than watching the whole movie again. And that final performance! Pitch Perfect was one of last year's unsung heroes, thanks chiefly to the music it showcased.

Best Special Effects

The nominees are...

The Amazing Spider-Man
Battleship
Dredd
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus

And the winner is...

This was yet another tough decision. Every single one of the movies listed above had outstanding effects, crisp sound, and visuals aplenty. So how did I go with box office flop Dredd over the likes of the more successful The Avengers and Life of Pi? While everybody else was spending through the nose to make their effects so darned lovely (and in the case of one company, filed for bankruptcy afterward), Dredd was making things just as pretty for about half the cost. It's spectacle of violence and gritty realism was impossible to ignore for those who actually bothered to see this on the big screen, and if you're a fan of classic sci-fi flicks like Robocop or Alien, this instantly becomes a must-rent.

Best Leading Actor in a Comedy

The nominees are...


Mike Birbiglia - Sleepwalk with Me
Jack Black - Bernie
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Mark Duplass - Safety Not Guaranteed
Anthony Hopkins - Hitchcock
Frank Langella - Robot & Frank
Bill Murray - Hyde Park on Hudson

And the winner is...

It wasn't the heavy prosthetics, excessive makeup or excellent writing that created the perfect embodiment of Hollywood's most historically well-known director; you could have put those on anybody. But with Anthony Hopkins as the base, you have one of the greatest living actors perfectly masquerading as one of the all-time masters of horror. That Hitchcock was a great movie was due to several factors, including great casting and writing. But without Hopkins stealing his own show, it might have all been for naught.

Best Leading Actress in a Comedy

The nominees are...


Emily Blunt (Twice) - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Your Sister's Sister
Judi Dench - Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Ari Graynor - For a Good Time, Call...
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Aubrey Plaza - Safety Not Guaranteed
Jennifer Westfeldt - Friends with Kids

And the winner is...

I personally thought that Silver Linings Playbook was a quality, but VERY overrated romantic comedy. But if there was one thing good enough to fool you into thinking it was one of the year's best, it was Jennifer Lawrence, who immediately captured your attention and never, EVER let go. Emotional trauma is not something easily portrayed in movies, often manifesting itself in comedic, derogatory roles. Lawrence not only made it all feel REAL, but she outdid the talents of actresses twice her age and with a billion times the experience. This was easily one of the most impressive performances of the year, and that she made it appear so effortless makes you wonder what else she might eventually be capable of.

Best Leading Actor in a Drama

The nominees are...

Daniel Day-Lewis - Lincoln
Jamie Foxx - Django Unchained
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Suraj Sharma - Life of Pi
Jean-Louis Trintignant - Amour
Denzel Washington - Flight

And the winner is...

What else can I say at this point? In what was already the best recent movie for many of its contributors (director Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Tony Kushner) and featured dozens of excellent performances (from the likes of Weaving winner Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and David Strathairn), Daniel Day-Lewis - arguably the greatest actor of this age - stepped up and knocked it out of the ballpark. With the ability to easily embody any man living, dead, or other, there simply is no substitute for having this man as your main actor. That isn't to disparage any of the other worthy nominees, but if Day-Lewis made a movie every year instead of every few years, he'd have more than a dozen Oscars by now.

Best Leading Actress in a Drama

The nominees are...


Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games
Eva Mendes - Girl in Progress
Elizabeth Olsen - Silent House
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

And the winner is...

Even if this had been a stacked deck of nominations (I realize I was reaching a bit for Lawrence's nom here) I firmly believe that the award would still belong to Jessica Chastain. Not only has this woman come out of nowhere to become one of Hollywood's most darling contributors, but she does so by playing the field, with each character under her belt both fundamentally and obviously different from anything else she's done before. This was a woman who carried a film more by saying NOTHING for thirty minutes than many actresses have the ability to say in a full two-hour motion picture. There's greatness in Chastain's future, and I can't wait to see it realized.

Actor of the Year

The nominees are...


Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook, The Words
Mark Duplass - Safety Not Guaranteed, Your Sister's Sister, Zero Dark Thirty
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Premium Rush, Lincoln
Tom Hardy - The Dark Knight Rises, Lawless, This Means War
Bill Murray - Moonrise Kingdom, Hyde Park on Hudson
Channing Tatum - 21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Haywire 
Denzel Washington - Flight, Safe House


And the winner is...

I was sorely tempted to give this one to Duplass (if for no other reason than he also directs), but I don't think anyone could believe that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's rise to stardom was going to get overshadowed by Duplass' eager and excellent albeit understated contributions throughout 2012. Gordon-Levitt has been an excellent actor almost since his debut, and every blockbuster is matched by an obscure, indie performance in which he more than justifies his continued employment. The only other man who came close to Gordon-Levitt's year was Tatum, and the former has been a better actor for much, much longer, and is still far more versatile.

Actress of the Year

The nominees are...


Amy Adams - The Master, Trouble with the Curve
Emily Blunt - Looper, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Your Sister's Sister, The Five-Year Engagement 
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, Lawless
Judi Dench - Skyfall, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables, The Dark Knight Rises
Anna Kendrick - ParaNorman, Pitch Perfect, End of Watch
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games, House at the End of the Street

And the winner is...

This was almost a three-way tie between Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain and Emily Blunt. Each actress put out multiple movies, garnered a ton of attention and of course were wonderful every single time. But while Blunt never quite stood at center stage and Chastain's contributions paled in the face of her own 2011, Lawrence took huge strides as both a performer and as a star in the making. Sure, part of her success can be attributed to her starring role in the tentpole Hunger Games saga, but she was easily the best actress every time she appears on the screen, and should continue to do so for some time to come.

Best Film: Genre/Superhero

The nominees are...


The Amazing Spider-Man
Cabin in the Woods
Dredd
Looper
Marvel's The Avengers
The Raid: Redemption
Skyfall

And the winner is...

It's not just that The Avengers is the first genuine superhero "group" movie made up of Marvel's previously separated blockbuster pieces. It's not just that it was handled with care by Geek Guru and director extraordinaire Joss Whedon. It's not even that it was one of the most exciting feature films of 2012. What made The Avengers so special is that it had ALL those things, and a ton more besides. Too long have comic book fans been rebuffed by studios who didn't give a damn about them as long as they paid for their tickets and sat in their seats. When Marvel Comics developed their very own film business, the respect they had for their readers and potential viewers heralded a brand new era in comic book movies, one which ought to continue with some success in the years to come.

Best Film - Animated

The nominees are...


Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rise of the Guardians
The Secret World of Arrietty
Wreck-It Ralph

And the winner is...

It's actually kind of amazing: Pixar studios returns from an off year (in which Cars 2 became their least-liked motion picture) to produce Brave, only for that to turn into just another Disney Princess movie. Meanwhile, Disney Animation - which had suffered creatively since the rise of computer animation - manages to build a completely unique universe and an unbelievably great, almost Pixar-like wonder of a film in Wreck-It Ralph. There's no doubt that Disney has finally reached the next level in storytelling, and between Wreck-it Ralph, Frankenweenie and Tangled, their output the next few years on the animated front once again deserves our collective attention.

Best Director

The nominees are...

Ben Affleck - Argo
Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper - Les Miserables
Martin McDonagh - Seven Psychopaths
Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained

And the winner is...

A few years ago, my then-girlfriend and I sat down with a rented copy of Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, a poignant war movie that refused to glorify conflict and put a new, much-needed spotlight on the so-called War on Terror. It earned a ton of attention, blew up the acting career of one Jeremy Renner, and eventually won the Best Picture Oscar in a year in which many thought the award would go to James Cameron's technically-brilliant Avatar. But as great as The Hurt Locker was, Bigelow managed to outdo herself with Zero Dark Thirty, a hodgepodge of several threads that not only doesn't implode under its own weight, but soars. Bigelow's masterful hand in this, from the cold torture opening to the largely-silent final twenty minutes is a masterpiece, is the only reason this movie even remotely works, let alone stands out as the best movie of the year.

Best Film - Comedy

The nominees are...

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Moonrise Kingdom
Pitch Perfect
Seven Psychopaths
Sleepwalk with Me
Ted
21 Jump Street

And the winner is...

Many of you might not have seen Seven Psychopaths when it came out back in October, but if you did then you know you have your favorite psychopathic moment. Was it the cold opening with the Jack of Diamonds killer? Sam Rockwell's irreverent nuttiness? The amazing Christopher Walken's comeback after years of second and third-tier status? The cemetery scene? Tom Waitts? There was very little wrong with this movie, which eschewed sensibility for hilarity and refused to censor itself, while never really taking itself too seriously. This is as must-see as comedies get, as long as you don't mind a little blood splatter.

Best Film - Drama

The nominees are...

Argo
Django Unchained
Flight
Les Miserables
Lincoln
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Zero Dark Thirty

And the winner is...

The extremely talented cast. A two-and-a-half hour experience that never feels long. And an inside look at how we hunted down one of the world's most notorious terrorists. This is what Zero Dark Thirty has to offer, along with the aforementioned deft hand of director Kathryn Bigelow. It's a masterful storytelling exercise, one which needed telling, and while there was some competition from some unlikely sources (Affleck? Lincoln?), Bigelow's masterpiece was not just the best drama of the year, but also the best picture overall.

This concludes the second annual, VERY long Hello Mr. Anderson award post, 'The Weavings'! Hope you enjoyed reading it! Any movies or performances you felt were snubbed? Comment below and let me know what your favorites were from 2012, or perhaps what your biggest hopefuls are for 2013!