A Rundown of the Best Picture Academy Awards 2011

This year’s Oscars ceremony is shaping up to be one of the most exciting yet with an excellent choice of films up for Best Picture Award, but there will only be one winner on February 27^th. So ahead of the imminent 83^rd Academy Awards, here’s a quick run through of this year’s Best Picture nominations.

Black Swan

Black Swan is almost a companion piece to Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 Oscar nominated The Wrestler. Similarly, this elegant feature plays out mostly in grungy backstage areas and focuses on specific rituals of the specialist profession. The fashion in which Aronofsky pulls off astonishing visual embellishments is extraordinary, transiting the audience from the dingy off stage areas to the dazzling glory of the stage. Petite dancer Nina (Portman) lives a sheltered life that revolves around ballet. When she is elevated to prima to replace the older Beth (Ryder) for a new production of Swan Lake, director Thomas (Cassel) urges her to explore her darker side to help her with her new dual role of the Swan Queen and the Black Swan. But when ambitious new arrival Lily (Kunis) joins the company Nina is pushed to her limits mentally and physically. And also like The Wrestle, Black Swan demonstrates Aronofsky’s ability to procure career-best turns from his lead actors, this time with Natalie Portman.

True Grit

The Coen Brothers have done it again, producing yet another masterpiece in the form of an honest-to goodness, rootin’ tootin western True Grit. Hired hand Tom Chaney (Brolin) kills her farmer father and flees, prompting resolute 14 year-old Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) to hire tough, one-eyed heavy-drinking reprobate Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to bring him in. Joined by Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Damon), the threesome head into Indian territory to hunt down their man. Of course it isn’t Joel and Ethan’s first shot at a Western, albeit No Country For Old Men has a contemporary setting. Like Cormac McCarthy’s story, the brothers remain remarkably true to the novel, lifting much of the dialogue straight from the page. However, the razor-sharp syncopation of this movie is all Coen ingenuity.  This isn’t just a western classic, it’s an epic quest with Biblical and mythical undertones.

The Fighter

David O. Russell’s rousing rags-to-riches boxing movie cliché treads the same route as most other sport movies, but what elevates it from the norm is its combination of two powerful performances. A true story of big-time boxer ‘Irish’ Micky Ward (Wahlberg) who triumphed over a ‘complex’ family situation, including a crack-addict brother/trainer Dicky (Bale),  to become welterweight champion of the world. Bale’s thespian showstopper is more likely to land him the Academy Award, but you’ve got to sympathise with Mark Wahlberg, whom, with a quieter role, manages to humanise the narrative with an assured performance. This thrilling fight-flick possesses a certain charm amidst all the blood and sweat. The Fighter languished in development for years, but like its hero the film emerges triumphant.

127 Hours

Danny Boyle embraces a constricted task with uninhibited style and resourcefulness in the macabre tale of Aaron Ralston (Franco), a professional adventurer, who in 2003 went canyoning alone in Utah withot telling anyone where he was going. The film’s kineticism turns drastically when Ralston falls into a crevice where his right arm becomes trapped by a boulder. Faced with impending death, the film builds up to that ultimate decision of whether, and how, he will sever his trapped limb. This potentially restrictive tale is injected with a heavy dose of vivacious camera work which spans half the globe in what is a wonderfully layered film.

Winter’s Bone

Granik’s story telling is immaculate. Her pace is slow and major events are intermittent but her eye for meaning in the smallest of details is outstanding. Ree (Lawrence) sets out to find her missing father, a meth dealer, who apparently has jumped bail after he uses the family home to secure his bond. As the only sentient adult in her household, her search will mean her mother and siblings will have to fend for themselves in the gloomy Ozark woods. Overcoming threats of retribution and violence, Ree slowly uncovers the truth behind her father’s disappearance. In a narrative that initially resembles a thriller, this movie eventually emerges as a naturalistic drama set in a harsh amoral world where the consequences of trespassing upon the past can be fatal. The stoicism and brutality of this tale may have been too much had it not been for the rich emotional hook supplied by Lawrence who exquisitely emphasises Ree’s love for her siblings whilst displaying a tenacity and courage to survive her surroundings.

The King’s Speech

What initially appears to be your conventional British period drama of grandiose pretensions is actually a film brimming with originality, intelligence and sheer fortitude. This surprisingly funny film is a modern tale, a new perspective on the abdication crisis and the dysfunctional palpitation at the very heart of the Windsor’s in pre-war Britain. Colin Firth gives the performance of a lifetime in a sympathetic role as King George VI, the king afflicted by an incapacitating stammer. The pain in his eyes as he struggles to speak is simply heart-rending, and made all the more poignant by the teary-eyed gazes of his beloved wife Queen Elizabeth played to perfection by Helen Bonham Carter. Cue Geoffrey Rush as Aussie speech therapist Lionel Logue whose controversial and unconventional methods initially perturb the introverted King but then get results. Crammed with exquisite performances and an equally brilliant script, this is more than just a high-end period drama it possesses sharp wit that makes it a solid honest-to-goodness crowd-pleaser.

Inception

Christopher Nolan intricate sci-fi action movie is one of the most original pieces of work in recent years. What’s innovative here is how Nolan allows his characters to chase and shoot across multiple levels of reality incorporated with all the other main ingredients of an action-thriller: cliff-hangers, skulduggery and last-minute rescues. But the action takes place entirely within the characters’ minds while they dream. Corporate spy-for-hire Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) steals ideas in dreams, but then he’s hired to achieve the impossible by planting an idea in the mind of a target, otherwise known as “inception”. Cobb’s future happiness depends on the mission. If he succeeds, he can see his estranged children whilst failure would mean he’ll be trapped forever. Sound complicated? Strangely, the convoluted narrative is almost the attraction of this movie; the audience remain emotionally engaged even if the plot is difficult to follow. So not only do you have a film that embraces intellect but also emotion and sheer entertainment.

The Social Network

This mischievous, spine-tingling tale about the origins of Facebook combines Aaron Sorkin’s sharp and cleaver script with the fascinatingly freshness imagery of David Fincher’s. Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg (Eisenberg) gets dumped by his girlfriend, so, in revenge, he writes a vicious blog about her and hacks into all the local college computers to construct a slanderous website to taunt her and her friends. Unexpectedly, the site proves to be a hit so Zuckerberg develops a plan for a social network site called The Facebook; it becomes a near-overnight success. As The Facebook grows in popularity, Zuckerberg distances himself from his best friend and business partner while infuriating a couple of jock brothers who claim he has stolen their idea. The talky rigour of Sorkin’s writing gleefully exposes the petty playground politics surrounding one of the internet’s most embittered court cases.

Toy Story 3

Pixar’s effortlessly superior family franchise has made its long awaited return. However, its poignant themes of death and love make this a brutally adult movie. Andy, now all grown up, is poised to leave for college. He decides to take Woody (Hanks) with him, but what future lies ahead for Buzz (Allen) Jessie (Joan Cusack) and the rest of the crew? Unfortunately, he puts them in a bin bag, which Mum takes to be rubbish and leaves out for the binmen. But the toys escape and climb into a box for the daycare centre and Woody catches up to join them. There are several elements in Toy Story 3 that echo its predecessors: the escape plot, Buzz reverting to factory-setting naivety and rejection undertones. But there is enough new humour and the drama to suggest the film is targeted more at the parents than the children.

The Kids Are All Right

Julianne Moore and Annete Bening are an instantly convincing couple in this comedy-drama that would work almost as well without the gender twist. Teenagers Joni (Wasikowska) and Laser (Hutcherson) live with their two mothers, Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore), who both used the same sperm donor. The lesbian life partners have raised two smart children but there life is disrupted when Laser cajoles Joni to contact the donor, Paul (Ruffalo), who bonds with Joni and Jules, much to Nic’s disapproval. This is humorous exploration of unconventional family life in which the script and the casting seem to gel together almost effortlessly. The subtlety in the smallest of observations renders the biggest laughs.