Non-Oscars: Best Supporting Actress

The Oscar nominees were: Amy Adams, Sally Field, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt and Jacki Weaver.  Hunt is the only one I haven't seen and Weaver was a big surprise.  The award is Hathaway's to lose, but Adams and Field are ideal contenders.  Here are my picks for Best Supporting Actress Not Nominated for an Academy Award.

Samantha Barks, Les Miserables

I fell in love with Samantha Barks as Eponine in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert.  I had watched that version so much and I was surprised how her performance as the same character differed on screen.  Samantha Barks takes advantage of being on screen to be much more personal and less grand.  Her character is allowed to be fleshed out a bit more too as we get why she is so obsessed with Marius.  She is neglected and has nothing in her life and just needs something.  Barks portrays the ultimate in unrequited love.  You can't help but want to save her and make everything right, but her life just gets more and more tragic.  Barks leaves a big impact in an impressive ensemble and has an incredible singing voice.

Anne Hathaway, Dark Knight Rises

I did not care for Dark Knight Rises, I was really let down by it.  However I liked everything about Anne Hathaway's Catwoman.  She was exciting and stole the show.  Hathaway was a brilliant bit of casting as she can embody the physicality and slyness.  It is a layered performance as she is a very smart character playing much dumber and helpless.  There is always a lot going on with the character and I can't think of anyone else who can convey that better.  Hathaway will win for Les Miserables, and deservedly so, but this performance is just as good and demonstrates Hathaway's versatility as a performer.

Michelle Pfeiffer, People Like Us

It has been far too long since Michelle Pfeiffer was in a good movie.  I was relieved to see her in a decent role for a change.  Her beauty is definitely toned down here as she plays normal and broken very believably.  She is captivating without having to be likable.  Her performance provides the audience into a look at Chris Pine's childhood as you can tell she was not the easiest mother to grow up with.  She has some very tender scenes.  The script does have some well placed contrivances, but the veteran actress never relies on them.  A stand-out in a terrific ensemble.

Olivia Thirlby, Dredd

A lot of movies seemed to try and incorporate a strong action female this year.  Some succeeded with characters like Katniss and Selina Kyle and others failed with Princess Merida and Kristen Stewart's Snow White. But Olivia Thirlby in Dredd is the most one of the most progressive action movie female characters ever.  Thirbly is not there as a love interest, she has a role to play on a mission.  She is believable  and competent while being naturally sympathetic and questioning.  She has the depth that Karl Urban's stoic lead doesn't and Thirlby definitely holds her own against the towering figure.  She has a fascinating character arc and leaves an impact.  You completely forget that you are watching Juno's best friend.  A very underrated performance from an unfortunately forgotten movie.

Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect

I have never witnessed an audience respond to a performance as much as Rebel Wilson's show stealing role as Fat Amy.  This is a fairly one joke character with a actress who elevates it to memorable and entertaining.  Wilson just has an energy to her and such perfect comedic timing.  She can sing and her personality is always being showcased.  There is a reason all of the marketing for Pitch Perfect features her, she owns this movie and is a stand out among other great performances.  I hope she starts getting lead roles, because supporting roles like these don't seem to be able to contain her anymore.

Other Great Supporting Performances:

Helena Bonham Carter (Les Miserables), Tabu (Life of Pi), Anna Hutchison (Cabin in the Woods), Kelly Reilly (Flight), Olivia Wilde (People Like Us), Emily Blunt (Looper), America Ferrera (End of Watch), Susan Sarandon (Arbitrage), Judi Dench (Skyfall), Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Alison Brie (Five-Year Engagement), Charlize Theron (Prometheus)

Non-Oscars: Best Actress

The Oscar nominees for best actress were Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Emmanuelle Riva, Quvenzhane Wallis and Naomi Watts.  I was a fan of Lawrence and am ecstatic that voters had the courage to vote for Wallis.  Seeing Zero Dark Thirty tomorrow finally, so will finally be able to talk about Chastain and Bigelow's newest movie.  So here are my picks for Best Actress Not Nominated for an Academy Award:

Elizabeth Banks, People Like Us

We take Elizabeth Banks for granted.  We are so used to her as a dependable character actress that we forget her leading actress potential.  Banks is an actress that will give a good performance no matter the quality of the production or the size of the role that when she finally gets a substantial character in a good movie she does not squander a second of screen time.  Elizabeth Banks plays the role of struggling, frustrated mother trying to get by perfectly.  She is able to be in terrible circumstances without losing the audiences respect.  Her likability and intelligence are showcased really well here.  She has great chemistry with Chris Pine and helps to bring a great performance out of him.  I am very happy that they took a chance on Banks in this movie.  They easily could have casted someone more popular or younger (not that she is old by any stretch of the imagination), but this movie would not have worked as well without her.  I am sad to see this movie bomb so hard, because I really want to see more of her.

Kristen Connolly, Cabin in the Woods

How do you make the scream queen role seem fresh?  Kristen Connolly really carries Cabin in the Woods on her shoulders as the viewpoint character.  She balances naive and innocent along with intelligent and respectable.  Her transition into action star is also natural and believable.  She was clearly cast for her acting ability and the movie is better for it.  I am surprised that she does not have any movies coming up.  Seems like people would want to cast her and her enviable range.

Anna Kendrick, Pitch Perfect

After being a reliable supporting player in Up in the Air, Scott Pilgrim and End of Watch this is Kendrick's transition to leading roles.  Her maturity and likability help to elevate Pitch Perfect above the average coming of age movie.  She puts her own personality into the role of troubled college student and makes the ideal stand-in for the audience.  She is a terrific singer and plays off of her enviable cast well.  This is not a role with a lot of meat to it, but she gives it her all.  She is also able to have fun and it shows and the fun bleeds into the audience.

Jennifer Lawrence, Hunger Games

I can't imagine Hunger Games without Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, they really lucked out in getting a  proper actress for this teen action movie.  Lawrence has a youthful enough look to be believable in this setting, but has the necessary maturity.  Despite being voted several times as one of the most beautiful people alive she looks fairly toned down and is able to look like a normal person instead of a movie star.  Jennifer Lawrence carries this movie with the physicality of an action star, but her more personal scenes are what keep you invested.  I actually cared about this character and will be returning to see more of her, can't say that about most leads in these types of movies.  Also in comparing this role to her Oscar nominated adult role in Silver Linings Playbook she demonstrates a range that not many actresses are allowed to utilize.

Aubrey Plaza, Safety Not Guaranteed

Aubrey Plaza in Safety Not Guaranteed delivers one of the best performances I have ever seen in a very specific scene.  There is so much honesty and vulnerability in the scenes when she is talking to Mark Duplass about her mother.  The scene begins with her clearly lying to him and it naturally transitions to her opening up to him in a way that she has obviously never opened up to anyone else before.  It is one of the most heartbreaking things I've seen on screen all year.

As for the rest of the movie, she makes a great anchor for the movie.  She is able to be the more normal character without losing the tragedy that is unique to her.  I have heard a lot of criticism of Plaza for always playing the same character.  And yes you can certainly draw similarities to April Ludgate, but she reaches depths I have seen few other actors reach.  It is definitely one of my favorite performances of the year.

Other Great Leading Performances:

Emily Blunt (Five-Year Engagement), Anna Faris (The Dictator), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Leslie Mann (This is 40), Jennifer Aniston (Wanderlust), Razzie Nominated Barbara Streisand (The Guilt Trip)

2012 Movies I Didn't Expect to Like

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
I never saw the first Journey movie and I didn't even see this one in 3D, but to my pleasant surprise I had a blast.  No it isn't great cinema, but this was clearly never intended to be.  As an action movie for kids it is a great adventure.  Dwayne Johnson elevates the movie with his movie star charm, Josh Hutcherson is better than almost any other actor his age and Michael Caine is having the time of his life.  This is a movie I really wish that I could have seen when I was in its target demographic, because I would have enjoyed it.

Fun Size
So the main teen part of this movie is fairly paint by the numbers, it is elevated slightly by Victoria Justice's likability.  However the most consistently "fun" part of Fun Size was was the subplot of the younger silent brother and his adventures with a gas station clerk.  Thomas Middleditch as Fuzzy the gas station attendant was one of my favorite characters in movies this year and wish he had his own spin off.  Had perfect delivery on lines such as, "see I don't hang around with lame eight-year-olds," and he built a great rapport with the kid.

Five-Year Engagement
This movie was a box-office bomb, but I enjoyed it way more than Judd Apatow's last overrated wedding movie and Jason Segel's last overrated vehicle.  Segel and Blunt have great chemistry, with Blunt being a particularly solid romantic lead.  This is one of the few romantic comedies to portray relationships fairly realistically.  The couple actually broke up when I thought they should and spent a fair amount of time apart.  Both Segel and Blunt get to be on the receiving end of joke, rare for a comedy to have bad things happen to both the male and female.  This is a little long, but it gives an accurate look at the ups and downs of relationships.  Also it is great to see David Paymer doing great work again.

End of Watch
This was looking like just a low budget September movie but I was pleasantly surprised.  Jake Gyllenhaal usually choses good work and gives one of his better performances here.  He has natural chemistry with Michael Pena who is the real star.  Pena has been a great character actor for a long time giving the best in show performances in Crash and Tower Heist.  Great to see him in a starring role and I hope he gets more.  The found footage gets a little distracting, but I got over it pretty quickly.  This movie balances some horrific realism with the stars chemistry.  The movie knows when to be heavy and when to lighten the mood.

Dredd
Okay, who thought this was going to be one of the best action films ever?  Maybe I'm overselling it, but as a pure action movie it doesn't get much better than this.  After so many action movies about old men questioning their mortality and action stars wondering what they've become it is a relief to watch a morally static character like Dredd.  Dredd does not question his harsh lifestyle, there is a consistency that is unique to see in the character.  Huge props to Karl Urban for carrying this movie, because that giant helmet never comes off and he can still emote.  Olivia Thirlby plays one of the most progressive women in any action film.  The movie never attempts to make her a love interest or even highlight her gender.  She is a character with a job to do and she does it perfectly.  Judging by the box office most of you probably missed this in 3D, which is a shame because this is one of the best uses of the technology ever.  However if you want appealing, violent action this is one you need to rent.

Pitch Perfect
Infectious is the best word to use to describe this movie.  The singing, the dancing, the laughter is all infectious.  A great coming of age movie and one of the year's best escapist films.  The script is sharp and the singing is full of energy.  Anna Kendrick is an ideal movie star, her maturity and likability elevates the film.  Skylar Astin as her love interest is just as likable and his sense of humor makes the role more than just a plot device.  The breakout in this is definitely Rebel Wilson with her brash comic relief.  The audience I saw this with could not get enough of her and I hope to see her in a leading role soon.  This is a great movie musical, memorable musical numbers and a lot of fun.

Chronicle
The thing that surprised me the most about Chronicle is that I am used to superhero movies that try to be like a comic book.  Chronicle is a superhero movie that tries to be a movie.  Chronicle would never work as a comic, but the gradual origin of a supervillain is completely enthralling on film.  This is a very tragic story that keeps escalating.  I was not in high school too long ago and this is one of the few movies where the teenage characters actually feel like teenagers.  This is another found footage film, but I accepted that fairly quickly and was able to be enveloped in the story.  This was extremely low budget and it uses its special effects very wisely.  This is a great analysis of the supervillain character.

People Like Us
I am so upset that nobody saw this movie.  It is one of the best movies of the year.  Certainly one of the best casts.  Michelle Pfeiffer has her best role in far too long.  Chris Pine is a full-blown movie star and is electrifying in the lead role.  And it is Elizabeth Banks' best performance to date.  Banks will always give you a good performance, no matter how small or how terrible the movie.  As the lead in this good movie she never squanders a moment.  The family dynamics are so honest and lifelike in People Like Us and it has an uplifting story arc.  You probably missed it the first time, but this is one you need to seek out.

Magic Mike
Yes I am a man and I saw Magic Mike twice.  I feel like most straight men see this movie as a joke, but it is among the year's best films.  Steven Soderbergh helms a movie that feels more like a boxing movie than anything.  The stripping scenes are of course cinematic and sexy, but Mike's personal life makes it a modern masterpiece.  Channing Tatum is now comfortable as a leading man.  He picks up the slack in the romantic scenes with the dead weight Cody Horn and gives a performance that is much more personal than showy.  This movie also featured some of the more interesting uses of sound in its bar scenes and beach club scene.  It never turns male stripping into a joke, instead it found a movie that someone should have told a long time before now.

21 Jump Street
I must have seen this movie at least five or six times already.  There have been great raunchy comedies in recent years such as Horrible Bosses and The Hangover, but this one is destined to be a classic.  The movie never misses a joke and none of the jokes ever miss.  It is nonstop laughs, but the story and characterizations are present too.  Hill and Tatum have perfect chemistry and the movie uses their strengths well.  This is a well thought out script that is full of surprises and I can't wait to watch it again!

Overrated/Underrated Movie Musicals

The Most Overrated Movie Musical- Grease (1978)

Grease is enjoyable.  It has some fun, catchy songs and the fifties settings is a lot of fun.  But it is definitely a movie that only needs to be seen once or twice.  The characters are stereotypical, there's not much to the story, it enforcers some uncomfortable gender roles.  Again I enjoy Grease, or at least I did when I first saw it.  Watch Lady and the Tramp instead, same story that is done way better.

The Most Underrated Movie Musical- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)

Several ways I could go with underrated.  I love Mary Martin's Peter Pan and Hunchback of Notre Dame, despite its flaws as a Disney animated feature is a great movie musical.  But this version of Cinderella doesn't get enough credit.  It was the first in a long line of musicals on The Wonderful World of Disney and I think it is the best.  It is a well staged and costumed production which adds some new songs and arrangements to the musical.  This is definitely the most progressive version of Cinderella, with main actors of various races.  And race is never acknowledged, they are all just inhabiting a fairy tale setting together.  Brandi, Whitney Houston, Bernadette Peters and the rest clearly had a lot of fun in this and I always enjoy it.

The Most Disappointing Movie Musical- Rock of Ages (2012)

A very well cut, energetic trailer but the movie unfortunately left little impact.  I think that part of the problem is that it uses popular songs that people know, but they don't tell a story.  The only positive is Tom Cruise's rock star which is a performance more in line with Frank TJ Mackie in Magnolia than a movie star.

The Most Surprising Movie Musical- Pitch Perfect (2012)

One of the most surprising delights of the year.  The a cappella covers are infectious and very well done.  Anna Kendrick brings a lot of likability and maturity to a fairly standard college girl role.  And Rebel Wilson absolutely steals the show.  One of the better coming of age movies I've seen in a while and it features some of the best references to The Breakfast Club that I've seen.

My Guilty Pleasure Movie Musical- Annie (1982)

I know I'm not the only one who loves this movie, it does have a following.  But it was nominated for a Razzie and can be the subject of some jokes.  But I always enjoy it, musicals can light fair like this.  It also has a great cast with Albert Finney, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters and of course Carol Burnett.  Including the racial stereotypes from the comic strip that were absent in the stage musical was ill-advised however.

My Favorite Movie Musical- The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Maybe this deserves the status of the best, I don't know it definitely deserves to be mentioned somewhere.  Movies just don't get better or more iconic than this.  Great musical, great fantasy, great all-time family movie.

The Worst Movie Musical- High School Musical (2006)

I was in junior high and heavily involved in theatre and choir when this came out and everyone bought into it.  The phenomenon certainly seems to have died down, but Disney certainly got as much mileage as they could out of this poorly written musical.  The jokes are standards, songs are dull and characters even duller.  I do like that it got people interested in musicals again, probably introduced a generation of children to musicals.  But those children deserved a much better introduction.

The Best Movie Musical- Beauty and the Beast (1991)

This is the best original musical to ever come out of Hollywood.  The songs all benefit the stories and characters.  It is one of the most accessible movies ever.  Kids respond to it, adults respond it, the critics and Oscar voters even took it seriously.  You love the songs, it is emotional, funny, this is truly one of the greatest movies of all time.