I been on hiatus, waiting for this day to come, so it's time to get right.
NY film critics, one of the most prestigious critics awards came out today, so let's break it down.
Best Picture went to The Artist, a silent, black and white film...
so imma drop some knowledge on you, the very first year the Oscars started was also the first year sound was heard in Hollywood films ("you ain't heard nothin' yet"? The Jazz Singer?? nm). However, the film, as racially degrading as it is perceived today, was a huge hit, but ineligible to contend with the silent films of the day. So that makes the only silent Best Picture winner, Wings (actually won Best Production), and the last silent film to be nominated was the next year, Ernst Lubitsch's The Patriot (1929), which was partially in sound (we think, the film has since been the only best picture nominee to be lost).
The Artist is a film about this era, an actor whose career is ended by the innovation of talkies, in the style of Emil Jannings, star of The Patriot and first ever winner of Best Actor.
The film is getting rave reviews, the actor Jean Dujardin ironically won the Best Actor award at Cannes without even speaking a line. Bringing it back to back in the days, when you didn't need words to impress people. The film is technically french even though it is silent, so the voters at Cannes might have been biased.
Best Actor went to Brad Pitt for Moneyball and The Tree of Life. Years ago, you would've laughed when I told you the pretty boy from Seven Years in Tibet was winning Best Actor, and to be honest the reason you're probably not laughing now is because you know that he has won for lack of a better contender.
Not to take anything away from him, he was entertaining in Moneyball (I have yet to see TOL), but to be honest, Brad Pitt not quite an actor, but a movie star. his main thing is eating every time the shot is cut to him. This award might have just been some TOL love, but there is generally not a lot of competition in Best Actor for the first time since I can remember...
Best Actress was Meryl Streep as Margret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. I can't say I'm in love with this... oh wait, YES I CAN. Look, I like Meryl as much as the next person, I don't deny she's fab, but I'm more excited to see an American playing a Brit!!! We usually give awards for the reverse, and this helps Meryl come on strong for the Oscars. She's been nominated a record 16 times and has only won twice, she was snubbed the last two times by some last minute surges from Kate Winslet and Sandra Bullock, so you know everybody's looking to give her another Oscar, and put her in the elite class of three or more acting awards.
Albert Brooks won Best Supporting Actor for Drive. I am a bit surprised by this, but he was definitely the most entertaining part of the film.
Jessica Chastain, the 30 year old actress out of NorCal who had a fantastic year, won Best Supporting Actress for The Tree Of Life, The Help and Take Shelter.
Best Director was The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius, and Screenplay went to Moneyball (two former Oscar winners Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillain
The full list is in the Awards section
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