Thoughts on the 2013 Best Picture Nominees

So although I haven't viewed all of the 2013 Best Picture nominees (for various reasons), I just want to discuss the five that I have seen: Django Unchained, Life Of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Argo. I still desperately want to see Amour but haven't got the chance to yet (when flying on Austrian Airlines this summer, they offered the film on their in-flight entertainment service, but it didn't have English subtitles). I have little interest in seeing Les Miserables, mainly because of a poor Metascore and the fact that I have heard much about its cheesiness and poor singing from some lead roles. I also am not particularly interested in seeing Lincoln, as I really am not much of a Spielberg fan. I find his films quite overrated (or at least the ones I've seen). Finally, I'd like to see Zero Dark Thirty at some point, but I am afraid if it is shot in a manner similar to Hurt Locker (director Kathryn Bigelow's last film) I wouldn't be able to stomach it - the extreme shaky camera of the latter film actually made me physically nauseous. Without further adieu, here's the lowdown on these five fine films:

Argo 
Director: Ben Affleck
Country: United States
IMDB: 7.9
Metacritic: 86
RT: 96%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: B+

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• Excellent writing, acting, direction
• Phenomenal film editing
• Tense chases and lots of suspense
• 'Murica

Avoid this film if you dislike:

• Historical inaccuracies ("Hollywoodization")
• Ben Affleck 

Django Unchained 
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Country: United States
IMDB: 8.5
Metacritic: 81
RT: 88%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: B+

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• Dynamite acting performances
• Incredibly witty, funny, and intelligent dialogue
• Tarantino's unique method of storytelling and visual style
• Over-the-top action and violence
• Westerns

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• Brutal depictions of slavery
• Lots of profanity and extreme violence/gore/torture
• Quentin Tarantino films
• Westerns

Silver Linings Playbook 
Director: David O. Russell
Country: United States
IMDB: 7.9
Metacritic: 81
RT: 92%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: B+

Watch this movie if you enjoy: 

• Unconventional protagonists
• Witty, funny, yet serious screenplays
• Excellent acting
• Robert DeNiro and/or Jennifer Lawrence

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• [Literally] insane protagonists
• Lots of profanity
• Unconventional characters/storytelling

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Country: United States
IMDB: 7.3
Metacritic: 86
RT: 86%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: B+

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• Incredibly natural acting
• Breathtaking scenery
• Mature fantasy films
• Gorgeous soundtracks

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• Shaky-cam cinematography
• Abusive characters
• Extreme poverty and hardship
• Occasionally nonsensical plot points

Life of Pi

Director: Ang Lee

Country: United States, Taiwan, United Kingdom

IMDB: 8.1

Metacritic: 79

RT: 87%

CinemaChagrin's Rating: A-

Watch this movie if you enjoy:

• Breathtaking and groundbreaking visual effects
• Gorgeous and sweeping cinematography
• Insightful philosophical and religious questions
• Epic adventure films
• The actual novel

Avoid this movie if you dislike:

• Oftentimes minimal dialogue
• Occasionally excessive use of CGI
• Potentially inconclusive film endings
• Animals dying

So as you can see from my ratings, my favorite of the bunch is the breathtakingly beautiful epic film, Life of Pi. I heartily agreed with the Academy's decision to award Ang Lee an Oscar for Best Direction. The cinematography and visual effects were absolutely incredible. The film features an extraordinarily rich range of colors and textures as well. In fact,  Life of Pi oftentimes seems like a series of increasingly breathtaking visual spectacles interspersed with solemn pontificating on the meaning of life. The film also raises interesting religious and philosophical questions and features excellent acting from all of the leads, especially newcomer Suraj Sharma. After seeing the eventual Best Picture winner, Argo, I must say I think Life of Pi deserved it more.

One of many breathtaking stills from Life of Pi

That is taking away absolutely nothing from Argo. In fact, I think the Academy may have awarded the top prize to Affleck's exciting movie simply because of its pure technical proficiency. Argo has no weaknesses across the board - it features strong acting, writing, and editing especially. Yet despite Argo's technical strengths, I couldn't shake feeling that there really isn't much substance behind the film's glossy surface . Story-wise, it plays out like a run-of-the-mill Hollywood thriller, albeit with outstanding production values.

Quentin Tarantino's latest film, Django Unchained, represented a much stronger effort than 2009's Inglorious Basterds. The film's strong point is Tarantino's trademark (and Oscar-winning) dialogue, along with dynamite performances from the entire cast (especially Jackson, DiCaprio, and Waltz). Tarantino's excellent visual style and an awesome soundtrack also contribute to the overall quality of the film. However, Django Unchained does suffer some inconsistent pacing and sloppy editing at times.

I enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook - it's a wonderful little film but I don't think it's in the same category as any of the other Best Picture nominees I've seen. Well made, written, and acted, but nothing really standout (at least to me). Way above average mix of a quirky-family comedy and rom-com. 

Finally, that brings me to Beasts of the Southern Wild, an absolutely outstanding debut effort by rookie director Benh Zeitlin. A rich and engrossing fairy tale taking place in a quasi-post-apocalyptic floodplain in the Louisiana Bayou, the film features wonderfully natural acting, gorgeous scenery, and an earthy and heartwarming soundtrack. Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry as daughter and father are absolutely incredible given their non-acting backgrounds. The film takes a good hard look at how poverty affects the way people live and interact, and highlights the inherent strength of familial and community ties. The film's plot is a bit of a mess at times, but as a whole, Beasts of the Southern Wild is a phenomenal film. I will definitely be looking out for Mr. Zeitlin's films in the future.

Hushpuppy (Wallis) afloat on a makeshift raft in Beasts of the Southern Wild

So there are my (hopefully coherent) musings on the 2013 Best Picture nominees I've seen. My next post will probably be a more straight-up review, but this was a fun exercise in comparing films!

-CC