Awards Season: Oscars debrief

Senior Screen Reporter Emily Leahy offers her perspective on the curtain closer to the cinematic awards season, the Oscars…

Image Credit: LA Times

The 85th Academy awards was a musical spectacular; reflected in both the award winners and the night’s entertainment. Peppered with dramatic accidents onstage (Jennifer Lawrence’s fall) and outrageous gags from the host Seth Macfarlane, clearly the highlight of the night was the show’s musical theme and its show stopping performances.

 

The biggest winners of the night included Daniel Day-Lewis for his leading male role in Lincoln, Jennifer Lawrence for her leading female performance in Silver Linings Playbook, Christoph Waltz for his supporting role in Django Unchained and not forgetting Anne Hathaway’s win for her supporting female role in Les Miserables. None of these were particularly surprising wins, however; it was always apparent that the academy would choose to favour Lawrence over Jessica Chastain’s fierce character pursuing Bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty.

 

More unexpected was the Best Motion Picture award going to Ben Affleck’s Argo, both because the director was so clearly snubbed in the Best Director category of the awards and because fellow pro-American film Lincoln was firm favourite early on. Ang Lee won the title in the end, which wasn’t undeserved. Life of Pi was in fact the overwhelming winner of the night, taking home four awards for Cinematography, Music: Original Score, Visual Effects and Best Director. Lincoln, the initial favourite ahead of the ceremonies, actually performed fairly averagely, winning only two of the twelve gongs it was nominated for. It was a welcome change for the academy to acknowledge the achievements of films outside the traditional ‘Hollywood’ choice, even if Argo is a film about Hollywood saving the day.

 

This year the awards uniquely carried a theme, celebrating the musical film genre. There was an abundance of musical talent on display, most notably the medley performed by the Les Miserables cast. Additionally, Jennifer Hudson gave a breathtaking performance of ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from the film she won her Oscar for, Dreamgirls. In contrast, it has been disputed whether Catherine Zeta Jones’ performance was live during her rendition of ‘All That Jazz’ from , nonetheless, she successfully resurrected the character for which she won her Oscar in 2002. In addition Barbara Streisand also took to the stage, performing ‘The Way We Were’ from the Oscar winning film of the same title during the ‘In Memoriam’ section of the ceremony.

 

In extension of this, the British institution of James Bond films was celebrated through its musical contributions. Dame Shirley Bassey performed, in her usual fashion, the classic ‘Goldfinger’, whilst Adele represented the modern Bond with an outstanding performance of ‘Skyfall’. She more than justified her later triumph in winning the award for the Best Original Song, and her pure shock ensured her acceptance speech carried her spontaneous London charm.

 

Conversely, Seth Macfarlane was an underwhelming host, with a mix of average to frankly offensive jokes rather than boundary-breaking humour. Stand out moments included likening the violent Django Unchained to Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship and referring to the unoriginal topic of Mel Gibson’s apparent racism. Perhaps his most original moments came in the form of the pre-recorded segments: such as the brief appearance of Captain Kirk pointing out the lack of success in his hosting skills and the subsequent ‘Boob Song’ which documented all the occasions various female celebrities had shown their breasts on screen (or not, in the case of Jennifer Lawrence).

 

Overall, the awards were successful but more due to the musical interludes than the host himself. This was probably for the best, as it focused the attention on the talented nominees rather than the funny man role which has overshadowed the real talent at so many ceremonies before. The most successful films of the year were recognised and although it was disappointing Affleck didn’t even receive a nomination for the Best Director award, for the most part the winners were deserving and gracious.

 

Emily Leahy, Senior Screen Reporter

Awards Season Review: Lincoln

So it is awards season, that time of the year when directors and actors have been biding their time just waiting to unleash their most prestigious ‘Oscar Gold’. Lincoln is just that. The criteria is all there: a famous figure played by an imperious lead actor, an experienced and established director pulling all the strings and a crucial social issue that glues it all together.

Image Credit: BBC

Unsurprisingly, it is the most nominated film at the Academy Awards and it is set to pretty much clean up. Does it deserve all this praise and credit? Yeah, again, pretty much.

Spielberg has not made it easy on himself. To take on a biopic of Lincoln’s life is no easy feat. If it were to be from start to finish of his life it could not be done. Too much happens that would require so much devotion, even in an entertaining film. Instead, Spielberg focuses on one of the most important times in Lincoln’s life, passing the Thirteenth Amendment. This period of about two months is perfect for the screen as it creates a tense political atmosphere, with the backdrop of the American Civil War. It’s a historical filmmaker’s paradise and hell.

Anyway, enough history. The performances are astounding. In the acting world you can’t really say Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) without everyone in the room going weak at the knees, and I apologise to both Hugh and Denzel but when you come up against Day-Lewis you are in for some heavy competition. He is truly astounding. The amount of work that he put into the role is obvious as he mimics meticulously as many aspects of Lincoln’s personality as possible. His oratory skills in huge speeches and small conversations, his domineering height and stride and his dogged determination to end the institution of slavery are all portrayed to the smallest detail.

Day-Lewis is a complete tour de force and every scene he is in has the audience glued to his every word. Despite Day-Lewis’ stand-out performance, it is the more subtle work of the supporting cast that bolster the film’s success. Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) is charismatic as the abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. I found that some of my favourite scenes did not involve Lincoln but were actually the moments when Lee Jones was having a political ‘yo mama so fat’ contest with the pro-slavers in the House of Representatives. Sally Field (Forrest Gump) as Mary Todd Lincoln is tragic as a grieving mother and a frustrated wife in the shadow of America’s most loved president. She adds the personal drama of Lincoln’s life outside the cabinet meetings.

The result is that the story goes along quite nicely, balancing out the internal and external drama of Lincoln’s life. The audience is given an entertaining portrait of a charismatic figure and a detailed look at the Civil War era that is fascinating. Yet at the same time, for a non-American audience, there are moments that can be hard to swallow. It is of course very self-serving and often overly aware of its powerful performances. Historically speaking not all is there, Lincoln did free the slaves but it makes no mention of the fact that he advocated sending freed slaves back to Africa after they were free, nor does it really highlight how cruel and devious Lincoln could often be when he wanted something.

These are small things but they can annoy people, especially those enthusiastic in history. Overall, Spielberg has done a top notch job, creating an inspiring and vastly entertaining biopic of an undoubtedly important and great historical figure.

My Rating: 4  Stars

Alex Phelps, Online Games Editor

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