It’s the same thing every year when the award shows start airing on TV: “Who are you wearing?,” “I’d like to thank the Academy,” “It’s an honor to be nominated.”
For a set of ceremonies so subjective and self-involved, it is interesting how we tune in to watch what happens and see who wins. Why do we care what a group of people decide is their choice for Best Motion Picture or Best Actor and Actress? Maybe because, just like movies themselves, it is a break away from our everyday lives and a chance to escape into something less stressful and amusing for three hours to see who will be the predictable and the unpredictable.
Take Jennifer Lawrence, who won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes for American Hustle. She already has one Oscar down, is the lead of the most successful movie franchise presently and has that best-friend quality everyone seems to love about her. As she’s shown in a few acceptance speeches, she’s still surprised at her own success at age 23. Her win this year is even more surprising than last, as many people have been praising and applauding her co-nominees Julia Roberts and Lupita Nyong’o for their career changing work in “August: Osage County” and “12 Years a Slave.” These are two eye-grabbing and soul-wrenching dramatic performances passed aside for a hilarious, scene-stealing performance.
Things took a halt for Lawrence’s accolades last week though, when Nyong’o snagged the award from the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Just when we thought Lawrence might have an easy route to the Oscars, a new talent in town earned herself a crown. It begs the question: Is all the decision making favoritism? Or is this just another example of how unfair it is to group of five completely different performances together and call one the best?
It’s no surprise Cate Blanchett won Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice and SAGs for “Blue Jasmine,” because she is one of the most acclaimed and talented actresses of her generation. Same for Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor for “Dallas Buyers Club” who received universal praise for his portrayal. The most pleasant surprises of the Globes were Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor in a Comedy for “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and Amy Adams for Best Actress in a Comedy for “American Hustle.” The voters threw a bone to the latter for always being a nominee year after year, but never a winner. While Adams is a delight on screen, one does wonder for a second if this was a make-up win. Though Adams managed to sneak into Emma Thompson’s predicted spot at the Oscars, it will be hard for her to beat Blanchett for the big award.
Best Actor has been the heaviest and most unpredictable of categories this year, with DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey and Bruce Dern all giving brilliant performances. McConaughey has taken home the award at the Globes (for Actor in a Drama), Critics’ Choice Awards and SAGs so far, but DiCaprio has won two surprising wins at the Globes and Critics’ Choice in the Comedy category. But, they both could lose to Ejiofor who has received wide critical praise for “12 Years,” as has Dern for “Nebraska.” This is definitely one of the most wide-open competitions at the Academy Awards in years for acting.
While “12 Years a Slave” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity” were worthy winners of Best Drama and Best Director at the Globes, respectively, “American Hustle” winning Best Comedy over “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the most puzzling. Though “American Hustle” makes us chuckle in a number of scenes, “Wolf of Wall Street” is the most unexpected but laugh-out-loud romps of all 2013, and it deserves the title. Despite this movie reviewer’s opinion, the “Hustle” reign still won’t let up, as it also won Best Comedy and Best Ensemble at the Critics’ Choice and SAGs. The Producer’s Guild, however, did make film history this week choosing a tie between “Gravity” and “12 Years” as the Best Picture(s) of 2013.
The large variety of impressive contenders this season just goes to prove that 2013 is one of the better and more memorable years in film. With Best Actor, Director and Picture up in the air and Best Supporting Actress between Lawrence and Nyong’o, the Academy Awards are going to be the most interesting they’ve been in almost a decade.
Unfortunately with the Super Bowl and Olympics overlapping next month, we won’t be able to see the Awards until March 2. For now, fans and general viewers can catch up on any nominees they haven’t checked out yet.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and a graduate of Cal State University, Northridge, where she studied film criticism and screenwriting.
