Let’s forget the controversy surrounding “Django Unchained” for a moment and look at it from a purely artistic perspective: “Django,” despite its flaws, is a wonderful piece of imagination, dialogue, and is truly at its heart, a love story. And Quentin Tarantino’s never really done one of those before (unless you count “Kill Bill,” but that was parental love, not romantic love). It was unlike any Spaghetti Western, slavery movie, or revenge story ever put to film. When you’re the guy who wrote “Pulp Fiction,” originality is job 1, and Tarantino delivered the goods.
This column generally concerns itself with pop culture, technology, and art world, so several Oscar nominees jumped out immediately: “Django,” “The Avengers,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and “Argo” (yes, “Argo”). Here’s my take:
Christoph Waltz is truly deserving of his “Best Supporting Actor” nod with his performance as Django’s partner, Dr. Shultz (he won the award in 2009 in Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds”). As much as I would have enjoyed seeing Jamie Foxx’s name for “Best Actor,” the part wasn’t tailor-made for the award, and given the Oscar snob factor involved, Foxx would have needed a meatier role in a movie less “B-movie” leaning. Great performance, no doubt, but not Oscar worthy. Even if he did grab a nomination, Daniel Day-Lewis’s portrayal of Lincoln is kind of a mirror reversal of Foxx’s performance of Ray Charles…an uncanny transformation with plenty of buzz, and almost a sense of inevitability (“Lincoln” is the film to beat). Of course, the nomination isn’t without color, as it were: Denzel Washington is up for the nomination for “Flight.” Could it happen? Sure. But will it?
Tarantino’s “Django” puts the word “original” back in “original screenplay.” He’s got a good chance, but he’s going up against the very popular (and less controversial) film, “Zero Dark Thirty.” This one could go either way.
Tim Burton went back to his stop motion animation roots with the film “Frankenweenie,” and that might be enough to beat Disney-Pixar’s “Brave.”
The best superhero movie of 2012 (“The Avengers”) is up for a visual effects award and should claim it easily.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is going up against “Anna Karenina,” “Les Miserables,” and “Life of Pi” for “Production Design.” “The Hobbit” is also up for “Makeup and Hairstyling.” I’d put my faith in the little hobbit for at least one of those awards.
Neither “Argo” nor “Django” made the best director categories. You can see why “Django” didn’t make the cut (“Django’s” about the writing and performances), but all everyone was talking about last year was how great a director Ben Affleck had become. It was on a slew of critic’s best-of lists, and seemed locked in. Yeah, it got a nod for “Best Picture” nod and “Film Editing,” but most critics expected this to be Affleck’s breakout year as a director. Affleck is still fondly remembered for his team-ups with geek film director Kevin Smith, and perhaps less fondly as the star of 2003’s “Daredevil,” so most of us were hoping for the best. Clearly, Affleck has found his calling, and we’re sure to see more outstanding work from him.
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