My take on the Oscars 2012

I wanted to watch as many films as I could this past week. Unfortunately, I failed trying to catch up on nominated films and watched mostly movies that were not nominated and... I don't know why. Of the Best Picture category, I have seen Moneyball and The Help. That's it.

These are all of the Oscar worthy films I've seen this year:

- 50/50
- Contaigon
- Drive
- The Help
- The Ides of March
- J. Edgar
- Our Idiot Brother
- Margin Call
- Moneyball
- Take Shelter
- Warrior
- Win Win

I'm basing all my personal nominations on the films I have seen.

Best Actor
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50
- Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
- Brad Pitt, Moneyball
- Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
- Tom Hardy, Warrior

Best Actress
- Viola Davis, The Help
- Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help
- Evan Rachel Wood, The Ides of March
- Amy Ryan, Win Win

Best Supporting Actor
- Laurence Fishburne, Contaigon
- Albert Brooks, Drive
- George Clooney, The Ides of March
- Jeremy Irons, Margin Call
- Nick Nolte, Warrior

Best Supporting Actress
- Kate Winslet, Contaigon
- Octavia Spencer, The Help
- Allison Janney, The Help
- Jessica Chastain, The Help
- Emily Mortimer, Our Idiot Brother

Of the leading actors nominated, I have only seen Brad Pitt in Moneyball and as much as I liked him in the role and know he deserves the nomination, I would have voted for Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50.



Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Of the leading actresses nominated, once again I have only seen Viola Davis in The Help. If I were voting, I would have nominated Evan Rachel Wood in The Ides of March. Unfortunately, she will never be nominated until she breaks up with Marilyn Manson.



Evan Rachel Wood, The Ides of March

Of the supporting actors nominated, I have seen two of the films; Moneyball and Warrior. As much as I love the guy, I do not think Jonah Hill deserved the nomination. I would have rather seen Albert Brooks nominated for Drive. The person I would like to see win is Nick Nolte in Warrior.



Nick Nolte, Warrior

Of the supporting actresses nominated, I have seen two films; The Help and Bridesmaids. I do not get why Bridesmaids is so popular. It's a phenomenon that so many people agree it's great when it's really not. Yes it was funny, but the last 40 minutes was excruciating. Jessica Chastain gave the best performance in The Help, she deserves to win. Although everyone in that movie gave stellar performances, especially Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Allison Janney.



Jessica Chastain, The Help

Of the films I've seen this year, I would say 50/50 would have gotten my vote for Best Picture.

The Ides of March

This was the third Ryan Gosling film I saw in the past year and as much as I love all of his movies, it almost seems as though he's been phoning it in, in these last couple. I can't deny his onscreen presence, I mean, the man is magnetic and really fun to watch, but with the scope, talent and emotions playing in The Ides of March, I think I was expecting a little more from him. That said, I saw this with no idea of what the movie was going to be about and came away from it with a loathsome respect for the game of politics.

Evan Rachel Wood is one of my top 5 favourite actresses in Hollywood and I didn't even realize she was in the movie until I popped it in. The way she was introduced, I saw potential for her to be detrimental to the story, when she actually became an extraordinary character. In my opinion, she was definitely robbed of an Oscar nomination for best actress.

For the first time, you see George Clooney's acting range. He shifts from a idealistic public figure into a cut-throat politician. I was very happy to see this since I figured this movie would be another one of his charming, nice guy-type of roles. He's not in the film as much as the trailers would lead you to believe, but he really gives a great performance.



The rest of the supporting cast were great as well; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei! The Ides of March surprised the hell out of me and I would recommend it to anyone who is enthusiastic about film and appreciates a good drama.

George Clooney has definitely been one of my favourite directors since Confessions of A Dangerous Mind and The Ides of March doesn't disappoint.