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Steve Reinhardt’s 2013 Movie Web
Page
This
year dedicated to the late Andrew Sarris
My Picks for the Academy Awards
A
Tribute to Andrew Sarris
Hi everybody,
It’s Oscar time again. As
my tradition continues, I will present my annual movie page with my Ten Best
List and my predictions for the Oscars.
This webpage is
dedicated to the memory of Andrew Sarris, who passed away in June of last year.
Over the years, you might have been aware of my admiration and respect for this
great American film critic. I was privileged to attend a memorial service for
him in New York City last October. For those who may not be familiar with Mr.
Sarris, here is a link to his biography supplied by Turner Classic Movies.
Over the years I’ve
come to see Andrew Sarris as the guiding light in my film life. More than any
other critic, he most closely aligned with my own tastes and appreciation of
films. I was fortunate to actually meet him and spend an afternoon at his class
at Columbia University. This is documented in a letter that I wrote to his
widow, Molly Haskell. You can read the text of this letter as another webpage
by clicking on the autograph below.
I am going to miss
his criticism and understanding of the movies, and I don’t think I’ll ever find
anyone who has as much knowledge of cinema history as he did. One more link
will take you to the official Andrew Sarris site: andrewsarris.com
Now, on to my choice
for the best picture of the year. It may seem a little strange that “Jeff Who Lives At Home”, a movie that was on
no critic’s Ten Best List, ends up at the top of mine. You might write it off
as a “guilty pleasure,” but it was more than that to me. Simply put, it’s the
story of Jeff, who lives in the basement of his mother’s house. It chronicles
one day of his life, the day when he finds his destiny. It is the day he finds
out that “Today is the greatest day in the history of the world.” I don’t what
to reveal anymore, just recommend it and hope you have a chance to see it for
yourself.
By the numbers, I saw
40 movies released in 2012. I managed to see every one of the nine Academy
Award “Best Picture” nominated films. It’s surprising that only four of them
made it onto my Ten Best List. Many of them were very good but other movies
seemed to resonate more with me.
Here is my Ten Best List for 2012:
1.
Jeff
Who Lives At Home
Directed
by Mark and Jay Duplass
2.
Bernie
Directed
by Richard Linklater
3.
Lincoln
Directed
by Steven Spielberg
4.
Searching
for Sugar Man
Directed
by Malik Bendjelloul
5.
Amour
Directed
by Michael Haneke
6.
The
Sessions
Directed
by Ben Lewin
7.
Moonrise
Kingdom
Directed
by Wes Anderson
8.
Argo
Directed
by Ben Affleck
9.
Silver
Linings Playbook
Directed
by David O. Russell
10. Safety Not Guaranteed
Directed
by Colin Trevorrow
Jack Kleinman’s Ten Best for 2012
My good friend Jack Kleinman has sent over his own list of 10. What’s nice is
he’s given a short description of each one, a mini review. A true film buff, Jack goes to many more
movies than I do. I think he has a wide range of quality films represented in
his list. I hope you enjoy his selections as well.
For what it's
worth.... here's my favorite films of 2012.
1. Amour, Michael Haneke
An
uncompromising work of art.
2. The
Kid with a Bike Jean-Pierre and Luc
Dardenne
Impeccably
realized tale of fate and rebirth.
3. The
Master Paul Thomas Anderson
Stunningly shot
esoteric study of human duality
4. Bernie
Richard Linklater
Hilarious blend of
reality and fiction
with a moral question.
5. In Darkness Agnieszka
Holland
Literally
dark, but ultimately inspirational.
6. Marina
Abramowicz: The Artist is Present
Matthew Akers, Jeff Dupre
Eye opening look at
the great performance artist
7. Moonrise
Kingdom Wes Anderson
Anderson's best film
has you smiling the whole way
8. Lincoln
Steven Spielberg
Intelligent,
humorous, perfectly acted and designed
9. Oslo,
August 31 Joachim Trier
Exhilarating remake
of Louis Malle's
The Fire Within from
a director to watch
10. Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino
Outrageous? Yes!
Runners up:
Holy Motors; Life of
Pi; Searching for Sugar Man;
Being Flynn; Goon;
Game Change; I Wish; Farewell,
My Queen; Rust and
Bone, Mr. Lazhar; Footnote;
Not Fade Away; The Sessions; Compliance;
Argo; Killer Joe; The Loneliest Planet;
Goodbye, First Love.
People sometimes ask me
for my ten best lists from other years. So I’ve decided to create some links
here to the previous pages that I still have hosted on my website.
I want to thank Phil McNamara
for hosting my site for over 10 years. Phil and his company, Power Services of
New England, have provided me with free web hosting and I truly appreciate his
gift. He’s been a great “go to” guy when I needed some technical support to keep
my site up and running. Though he’s not
really a film buff, Phil makes it possible for us all to enjoy these pages.
The Academy Awards Picks for 2013
Now it’s time for my
picks to win the Academy Awards on
February 24, 2013. These picks were
made on February 17, 2013, so I can’t change them at the last minute. I’ve added
a column for those I think Should Win
(not that they ever do) and Did Win
so that you can keep score.
Although I’ve seen
all nine of the best picture nominees, there are many tight races this year and
very few easy picks to win. Right now I
haven’t got a clue! I’ve got a lot
riding on “Lincoln” so I will be in trouble if “Argo” starts a streak.
Historically speaking,
I’m only about 50% correct so as I’ve warned in the past, don’t make any bets
based on my predictions. We will be having an Academy Award party on the 24th
and I will see if I am the big winner that night. Usually I’m not!
|
Best Picture |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild |
|
|
|
|
Silver Linings Playbook |
|
|
|
|
Zero Dark Thirty |
|
|
|
|
Lincoln |
R |
|
|
|
Les Miserables
|
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Amour |
|
R |
|
|
Django Unchained |
|
|
|
|
Argo |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Supporting Actor: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Christoph Waltz, "Django
Unchained" |
|
R |
|
|
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The
Master" |
|
|
|
|
Robert De Niro,
"Silver Linings Playbook" |
|
|
|
|
Alan Arkin,
"Argo" |
|
|
|
|
Tommy Lee Jones,
"Lincoln" |
R |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Supporting Actress: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Sally Field, "Lincoln" |
|
|
|
|
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables" |
R |
|
|
|
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook" |
|
|
|
|
Helen Hunt, "The
Sessions" |
|
R |
|
|
Amy Adams, "The Master" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Director: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
David O. Russell, "Silver
Linings Playbook" |
|
|
|
|
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi" |
|
|
|
|
Steven Spielberg,
"Lincoln" |
R |
R |
|
|
Michael Haneke,
"Amour" |
|
|
|
|
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the
Southern Wild" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Actor: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Daniel Day Lewis,
"Lincoln" |
R |
R |
|
|
Denzel Washington,
"Flight" |
|
|
|
|
Hugh Jackman,
"Les Miserables" |
|
|
|
|
Bradley Cooper, "Silver
Linings Playbook" |
|
|
|
|
Joaquin Phoenix, "The
Master" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Actress: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Naomi Watts, "The
Impossible" |
|
|
|
|
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark
Thirty" |
R |
|
|
|
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver
Linings Playbook" |
|
|
|
|
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
|
|
R |
|
|
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Original Screenplay: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Zero Dark Thirty |
R |
|
|
|
Django Unchained |
|
|
|
|
Moonrise Kingdom |
|
R |
|
|
Amour |
|
|
|
|
Flight |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Adapted Screenplay: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Lincoln |
R |
R |
|
|
Silver Linings Playbook |
|
|
|
|
Argo |
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Beasts of the Southern Wild |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Animated Feature: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Frankenweenie |
|
|
|
|
The Pirates! Band of Misfits |
|
|
|
|
Wreck-It Ralph |
R |
|
|
|
Paranorman |
|
|
|
|
Brave |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Foreign Feature: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Amour |
R |
R |
|
|
A Royal Affair |
|
|
|
|
Kon-Tiki |
|
|
|
|
No |
|
|
|
|
War Witch |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Visual Effects: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Life of Pi |
R |
|
|
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
|
|
|
|
The Avengers |
|
|
|
|
Prometheus |
|
|
|
|
Snow White and the Huntsman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Cinematography: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Skyfall |
|
|
|
|
Anna Karenina |
|
|
|
|
Django Unchained |
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
R |
|
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
Best Costume Design: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Anna Karenina |
R |
|
|
|
Les Miserables
|
|
|
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
Mirror Mirror
|
|
|
|
|
Snow White and the Huntsman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Documentary Feature: |
Will Win |
Should Win |
Did Win |
|
Searching for Sugar Man |
|
R |
|
|
How to Survive a Plague |
R |
|
|
|
The Gatekeepers |
|
|
|
|
5 Broken Cameras |
|
|
|
|
The Invisible War |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Documentary Short: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Open Heart |
R |
|
|
|
Inocente |
|
|
|
|
Redemption |
|
|
|
|
Kings Point |
|
|
|
|
Mondays at Racine |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Film Editing: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
Silver Linings Playbook |
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Argo |
R |
|
|
|
Zero Dark Thirty |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Hitchcock |
|
|
|
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
R |
|
|
|
Les Miserables
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Music (Original Score): |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Anna Karenina |
|
|
|
|
Argo |
R |
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
Skyfall |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Music (Original Song): |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Before My Time from "Chasing
Ice" |
|
|
|
|
Everybody Needs A Best Friend from
"Ted" |
|
|
|
|
Pi's Lullaby from "Life of
Pi" |
|
|
|
|
Skyfall from "Skyfall" |
R |
|
|
|
Suddenly from "Les Misérables" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Production Design: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Anna Karenina |
|
|
|
|
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey |
|
|
|
|
Les Misérables
|
R |
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Short Film, Animated: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Adam and Dog |
|
|
|
|
Fresh Guacamole |
|
|
|
|
Head over Heels |
|
|
|
|
Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest
Daycare' |
|
|
|
|
Paperman |
R |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Short Film, Live Action: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Asad |
|
|
|
|
Buzkashi Boys |
R |
|
|
|
Curfew |
|
|
|
|
Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw) |
|
|
|
|
Henry |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Sound Editing: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Argo |
R |
|
|
|
Django Unchained |
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Skyfall |
|
|
|
|
Zero Dark Thirty |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Best Sound Mixing: |
Will Win |
Did Win |
|
|
Argo |
R |
|
|
|
Les Misérables
|
|
|
|
|
Life of Pi |
|
|
|
|
Lincoln |
|
|
|
|
Skyfall |
|
|
|
Copyright 2013 Steve
Reinhardt,
Organization
Man.