2011 Diva Cup Awards: The Oscar Categories

Best Picture

Beginners

☆Bridesmaids

Drive

Hanna

Young Adult

Best Actor

Dominic Cooper, The Devil's Double

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Mel Gibson, The Beaver

Ryan Gosling, Drive

☆Ewan McGregor, Beginners

An extremely tough decision between two star-making performances from Fassbender and Gosling, a dynamic duet of good and evil from Cooper and what should have been Gibson's return to the top. But McGregor sneaks past them all with his carefully constructed performance, delicately and intricately balanced between comedy and drama.

Best Actress

Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy

Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

☆Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

Can you think of another performance where we are supposed to be simultaneously disgusted by a character's self-delusion and narcissism, yet, against all odds, find tiny bits of ourselves among the acid-tongue barbs and Diet Coke chugging? Oscar-winner Theron "slumming" it in a comedy is anything but.

Best Supporting Actor

Armie Hammer, J. Edgar

Jeremy Irons, Margin Call

Nick Nolte, Warrior

Chris O'Dowd, Bridesmaids

☆Christopher Plummer, Beginners 

For years and years, people have been going on about Plummer getting a career Oscar. I'm just glad that he won for something so well deserved as his work in Beginners. Like McGregor, he does a masterful job juggling the sly comedy of the script with the profound sadness that hangs over all the characters.

Best Supporting Actress

Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids

Mary Page Keller, Beginners

Mélanie Laurent, Beginners

☆Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Amy Ryan, Win Win

You don't even notice until long after the credits roll that Melissa McCarthy has indeed stolen Bridesmaids from everyone around her. McCarthy's balls-out, take-no-prisoners style of comedy is used to full effect and certainly grabs everyone's attention (Let us never forget that her Oscar clip is the "steamy undercarriage" moment!). But I suspect what really seals the deal for her is her final one-on-one moment with Wiig's Annie, a could-have-been schmaltz fest turned on its head by McCarthy's energy and heart.

Best Director

☆Mike Mills, Beginners

Asif Kapadia, Senna

Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy

Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Joe Wright, Hanna 

Best Original Screenplay

☆Diablo Cody, Young Adult

Abbas Kiarostami, Certified Copy

Leon Ford, Griff the Invisible

Mike Mills, Beginners

Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

I've already gone on and on about Young Adult's ending--still a marvel--but there is so much to be appreciated in Cody's script. From its economy (a compact 95 minutes), to the way it captures chronic unhappiness and dissatisfaction without making Mavis a caricature, to the way it makes even minor characters in The Mavis Gary Show human and interesting (a Cody specialty), Young Adult is another huge step forward for Diablo Cody as the premiere screenwriter of her time. She is a voice of a generation.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Austín Almodóvar & Pedro Almodóvar, The Skin I Live In

☆Hossein Amini, Drive

Dustin Lance Black, J. Edgar

Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Bryan Singer & Sheldon Turner (Story); Jane Goldman, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz & Matthew Vaughn (Screenplay), X-Men: First Class 

Best Cinematography

☆Drive

Hanna

Melancholia

The Skin I Live In

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Best Editing

Certified Copy

Drive

Hanna

Shame

☆Senna 

Best Costume Design

Jane Eyre

Immortals

The Skin I Live In

☆X-Men: First Class

Young Adult 

Best Art Direction

The Artist

☆Hanna

Immortals

The Skin I Live In

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Best Score

The Artist

Drive

☆Hanna

Rio

Winnie the Pooh 

Best Song

The Muppets: "Pictures in My Head"

Winnie the Pooh: "The Backson Song"

☆X-Men: First Class: "Love Love"

Best Sound

Drive

☆Hanna

Jane Eyre

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Shame 

Best Makeup

☆Contagion

The Iron Lady

The Skin I Live In 

Best Visual Effects

Hugo

☆Rise of the Planet of the Apes

X-Men: First Class 

2011 Diva Cup Awards: The Extra Categories

Best Ensemble

Beginners

[Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Mary Page Keller, Goran Visnjic]

 

☆Bridesmaids

[Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Jill Clayburgh, Jon Hamm]

 

Win Win

[Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor, Burt Young, Melanie Lynskey]

 

X-Men: First Class

[Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, January Jones, Caleb Landry Jones, Edi Gathegi]

 

Young Adult

[Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Collette Wolfe, Jill Eikenberry, Richard Bekins]

As good as these nominees are, none of them hold a candle to the ladies of Bridesmaids.

Best Scene

Abduction: Dr. Bennett's Plan

The Artist: Peppy's Dance

Bridesmaids: The Engagement Party Toast(s)

Bridesmaids: Wedding Shower Meltdown

Drive: Motel Massacre

☆Young Adult: Mavis' New Life

Whether they provoked laughter, unintentional (Abduction) or not (Bridesmaids), perfectly encapsulated the tiny joys of cinema (The Artist), raised the stakes of their film (Drive) or dared to defy genre conventions (Young Adult), these six nominees practically summed up 2011 for me. How could I narrow them down any further? While both Bridesmaids scenes managed the near impossible task of developing character and the dramatic undertones of the entire film amidst hilarious-beyond-belief comedic set pieces, Young Adult's controversial ending dared us to root on an awful character who didn't change for the better and is probably in the same place she was at the beginning of the film. In a film that opened with a wide release, that takes some massive balls, my friend.

Best Quote/Line Reading

Abduction: "There'll be time for you to emotionally deal with all this, but right now you've got to get your shit together."

☆Bridesmaids: "Help me, I'm poor."

Bridesmaids: "I swear to God that dolphin looked, not at me, but into my soul. Into my Goddamn soul, Annie."

Midnight in Paris: "I hear the songs he writes, and I realize I'll never write a real lyric and my talent really lies in drinking."

Scream 4: "Don't fuck with the original."

Was there a more relatable line in 2011 than Annie's drunken, pity-seeking admission?

Breakthrough Performance

Bérénice Bejo, The Artist

☆Jessica Chastain, The Help

Charlie Day, Horrible Bosses

Jasper Newell, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

An admittedly difficult choice between Bejo and Chastain, both of whom brought vast amounts of charm, energy and pizazz to their films with the effortless ease of the best old school movie stars. Chastain wins out mainly because she saves her film from near unwatchability, but I can't wait for what both of these ladies come up with for their next offerings.

Best Diva

 

 Rose Byrne, Bridesmaids

Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher

Miss Piggy, The Muppets

Allison Pill, Midnight in Paris

☆Charlize Theron, Young Adult

As if anyone could compete with Charlize's eye-rolling, Diet-Coke-swilling, man-stealing Mavis Gary in this category. The bitch was the diva from head to toe.

Best Sexpot

Henry Cavill, Immortals

Dominic Cooper, The Devil's Double

☆Michael Fassbender, Jane Eyre, Shame &  X-Men: First Class

Eva Green, Cracks

Christina Hendricks, Drive

Cavill and Cooper did their best to compete but come on. For the second year in a row, in three films as completely different from each other as possible, Fassy came out swinging (his massive penis). The Argentina outfit from X-Men: First Class and his bedclothes during the fire scene in Jane Eyre weren't overtly sexual, yet nearly had me succumbing to the vapors.

Best Cameo/Limited Performance

Jill Clayburgh, Bridesmaids

Tom Hiddelston & Allison Pill, Midnight in Paris

 ☆Jennifer Lawrence, Like Crazy

Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris

Like Crazy was absolute bollocks, but Jennifer Lawrence made the whole thing bearable whenever she graced the screen (and Anton Yelchin's life) with her presence. The fact that she got dumped for Felicity bloody Jones still makes me LOL, months after watching the film.

Best Poster

Cold Weather

☆Drive

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Shame

The Skin I Live In

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would probably win this if its promotional campaign to make the lame Swedish version edgy and controversial had been transferred into the actual film. That said, the poster for Drive, with its retro look and flashy neon colors, was easily the most memorable of the year.

10 Most Anticipated Performances This Fall

The fall season is upon this and with the changing leaves comes the Oscar season. So long, superheroes, hello, adults with problems! Needless to say, it's usually my favorite time of the year (although this spring and early summer will probably give the next few months a run for their money). To celebrate this season's commencement, I thought I would change things up a bit and share the performances I'm looking forward to the mos. Here they are in no particular order: 

Keira Knightley, A Dangerous Method

Since A Dangerous Method's premiere at Venice, the words "loud" and "in-your-face" have been used almost exclusively to describe Knightley's performance. Reaction has been mixed as to whether or not it works, but I absolutely love gutsy, go-for-broke performances. And Knightley has only grown in my esteem since Atonement.

Michael Fassbender, Shame

I could say that I'm mostly excited for this performance because Fassy is reteaming with his Hunger director Steve McQueen, but we all know I'd be lying. As soon as I heard the words "full frontal," my ticket was already bought. But Fassy is a great actor and he has been receiving rave reviews for this performance, so I'd be interested in this performance even if we didn't get a glimpse of the goods.

Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I don't care what anyone says, I'm still proudly a member of Team Sandy and her Oscar win back in 2009. This is why I'm curious to see if her first post-Oscar film will continue my fascination with this woman. Provided Stephen Daldry's adaptation of this acclaimed novel hits the right notes, I don't think Sandy will have a problem nailing this.

Armie Hammer, J. Edgar

The recent trailer left me cold, but if it did nothing else, it certainly raised my already considerable interest in Armie's performance in this film. The way I'm reading the trailer, he's playing the supportive wife role, which makes me smile because the thought of 6 foot 5 Aryan God Armie Hammer playing the docile supporting wife is hilarious in its own right. Plus he gets a shouting scene! Can you say "Oscar clip"? If we couldn't get Andy Garfield a nom last year, this should be an easier sell, right?

Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia

Lars von Trier has a way with actresses that is almost unparalleled (hello, Nicole Kidman in Dogville!). The fact that he decided to work with as unlikely of an actress as Dunst, whom will always be in my good graces for Bring It On alone, makes me think that he saw something truly special in her that will translate well in his apocalyptic film.

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Theron has never been a favorite actress of mine (my three favorite performances of her are Monster, the "Crossfire" music video and that Dior ad where she undresses as she walks through a long corridor), but I know a lot of people who love and trust her even when her filmography might not warrant such devotion. The real story here is screenwriter Diablo Cody, who made even the insufferable Megan Fox temporarily interesting in Jennifer's Body. If she can work that same magic with the much more tolerable Charlize Theron in this film about a divorced loser returning home to rekindle an old romance, the results will be golden.

Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

The fact that a member of the Olsen clan who is not one of the Olsen Twins is getting Oscar buzz is enough for me. What a delicious little story: sister of billionaire media moguls wows in low budget indie film.

Zac Efron, New Year's Eve

A bit of a silly choice, I know. But it has simply been far too long with out Efron on our movie screens (about 16 months by the time this comes out). On the plus side, New Year's Eve is a comedy, which is truly Efron's forte and Garry Marshall was able to get at least one interesting performance out of his last film in this vein, Valentine's Day.

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

I have to say I'm mostly curious about watching the introverted, cerebral Williams portray an actress like Monroe, who achieved stardom with charm, warmth and massive sex appeal. The result could either be a beautiful disaster or a triumph. I, for one, am intrigued either way.

Jason Segel & Amy Adams, The Muppets

I was going to pick Sterling Knight & Selena Gomez as the duo from this film I'm most excited about, but I realize that they are probably only cameo roles and I don't want to get overexcited for 90 seconds of screentime. I don't, however, want to make it sound like I'm not interested in the main romance between Segel & Adams. These two are adorable on their own, so I don't know if we can handle their combined adorableness. I'm certainly willing to try, though.

Sexual Harassment 101

I've somehow managed to go nearly three years without watching North Country (Niki Caro, 2005), the iron miner sexual harassment drama that somehow netted both Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand Oscar nods that year. I must say that I wish I never had to see this film, not just because it's fucking awful (more on that later), but it's seriously one of the most fucked up movies I've ever seen. I'm not denying that what happened to these women was horrific, because it was, but the way it was represented by Caro and screenwriter Michael Seitzman was alternatively hilarious and ridiculously over the top. Some of the scenarios they presented were straight out of an 8th grade health class "sexual harassment is bad, mmkay?" video (Bobby's dialogue when he traps Theron at the top of that iron chute, Theron's first day of work in the women's locker room) while others just left me disgusted at the stupidity. What kind of morons would possibly think it's okay to tip a portapotty while someone's in it so that all that shit and piss gets all over them? I don't care if the film presents these men as the most vile people since Hitler, that scene just doesn't make sense. And don't even get me started about the stupid scene where Pearson tells his lawyer that she was only hired because she was the smartest woman lawyer he knows and then proceeds to berate her for, just like the women in the mines, not having a sense of humor. Are you fucking kidding me? I highly doubt that a CEO executive would ever talk to rudely and disgustingly towards someone who's supposed to help save him from this class action lawsuit. North Country is so fucked up that it doesn't even present one decent man who stands up for these women. There's no way that there wouldn't be one guy who's like, "Wait a minute. This ain't right." Instead, in this fucked up alternate universe, every single man around is just waiting to write "cunt" in shit on the wall or molest every single woman who walks by and then tell her to take it like a man.

The rest of the movie doesn't fair much better. Charlize Theron is given absolutely nothing interesting or original to do with her character and is only given importance by the subject matter. Everything she is given to do has been done before and better in and Norma Rae, Silkwood and Erin Brockovich. Her praise for this film is only proving to Theron that deglamming is the only way people will respect her as an actress. She needs to find a film where she gets to play a sexy, confident woman with all the talent she showed in Monster and then I will be ready to love her. Frances McDormand had the best role in the film-- and also the baitiest-- but it's her other Minnesotian that we will all remember in 15 years (although I did love her line reading of "fuck you" through that voice box). The screenplay is one of the most atrocious pieces of crap I've ever heard (for all of the above reasons and more). I also hated Theron's son and the way he talks about his mother. I couldn't believe that he would call his mother a whore and say that she's only claiming that she was raped to win the lawsuit. I don't care how pissy you are as a teenager and how much you claim to hate the mother who's never done anything justifiably bad to him, you just don't say that to your mother. Just another stupid situation in a completely stupid film. D+