Heroes & Villains: From Hiccup to Hailsham

More Film Bitch Awards coming at'cha. The Snow White casting news last week got me to thinking of heroics at the movies. Snow White isn't really an active heroine is she? She's more like a pretty pretty princess waiting to be rescued.

None of my choices for hero of the year waited for rescue -- not even Rapunzel in Tangled --  though a few of them did need to be cajoled into action.  I can relate. Hero, rescue thyself! But in the end, it doesn't matter how you get to your heroics, so long as you eventually get there. The top ten in no particular order. [Edited to add: TOP ELEVEN. I forgot to list one of my intended medalists. An excel error!]

• Sally Hawkins as "Rita O' Grady" in Made in Dagenham
• Dany Boon as "Bazil" in Mic-Macs
• Colin Firth as "King George VI" in The King's Speech
• Angelina Jolie as "Salt" in Salt
• "Hiccup" in How To Train Your Dragon
• Hilary Swank as "Betty Anne Waters" in Conviction
• Jennifer Lawrence as "Ree Dolly" in Winter's Bone
• "Rapunzel & Flynn" in Tangled
• Mark Wahlberg as "Mickey Ward" in The Fighter
• Hailee Steinfeld as "Mattie Ross" in True Grit
• Michael Cera as "Scott Pilgrim" in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

There was less to choose from as villains go even if you get creative. Do you cite the financial institutions in Inside Job. I mean, come on, they were SCARY... like scarier than Jason or Freddie.  But I decided that was too diffuse to be a single entity... Sometimes though, if you narrow the lens, system do work as symbolic primary villain:. Hailsham haunts in Never Let Me Go. 

Elsewhere in 2010 villains were just no match for the heroes. I normally love Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper but True Grit was totally unbalanced; the villains had no performative spark in comparison to the heroes. I didn't like Kick-Ass but even there the villains didn't measure up the heroes. It takes two to make beautiful battle. Is it too much to ask for great heroes and great villains simultaneously?  I think only Tangled managed that this year. Finally, I was about to cite Jacki Weaver's wicked "Smurf" in Animal Kingdom but in the end the villain of the piece is really the family. Smurf is but a henchwoman, to use superhero vernacular, who fills in when the bosses are on vacation (i.e. jail, six feet under, etcetera). The top ten:

• "Gru" in Despicable Me
• "The Cody Boys" in Animal Kingdom
• "7 Evil Exes" in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Helena Bonham Carter as "The Red Queen" in Alice in Wonderland
• "Mother Gothel" in Tangled 
• Hailsham in Never Let Me Go
• "Lotso Huggin' Bear" in Toy Story 3
• Niels Arestrup as "César Luciani" in A Prophet
• Mickey Rourke as "Whiplash" in Iron Man 2
• Justin Timberlake as "Sean Parker" in The Social Network

 HERE ARE THE NOMINEES & WRITEUPS

Which heroics thrilled you and which evil deeds made you grip your armrests last year?

"Certificate of Nomination For Award"

How oddly worded "Be it known that..."

But ain't it pretty? Toy Story 3's director Lee Unkrich posted it on Twitter.

Happy Groundhog Day

You wouldn't know it to look outside here in New York City where it's been a wintry wonderland (or horror show depending on your point of view) but we're supposedly due for an early spring. Which is to say that the groundhogs trotted out for this occassion each year are reportedly not seeing their shadows this morning.

Only Peter Pan has a more complicated relationship with his shadow. (Free Association so I went with it.) I love Peter Pan. This year I think I'm totally going to give animated films their due. They've gotten short shrift here at The Film Experience. A few moments with Pixar starting tomorrow.

"I Have a Link!" "Yes You Do."

The Pixar Blog Toy Story 3 gets a huge billboard in LA.
Basket of Kisses John Barry, oft-Oscared composer passed away at 77. RIP. True story: When I first became obsessed with the movies in the mid 80s, Out of Africa was one of the first LP film scores I ever bought.
The Telegraph Should you revisit beloved Disney films from childhood? Retrospectives have Tim Robey wondering. I've been contemplating revisiting the Disney oeuvre myself.
Your Movie Buddy plays an Oscar nominee name game. Love the finale.
The House Next Door 'The Conversations' takes on Coen Bros True Grit What's the hashtag for this? Oh yes, #longreads
Cinema Blend offers up a Sundance Sales Guide. I've been waiting for someone to compile this rather than report solely on them as they happen. Thank you!
Kenneth in the (212) lusts after Henry Cavill, our new Superman. Agreed that Cavill (of The Tudors fame) is a fine specimen but Brandon Routh was so perfect in Superman Returns. And his recent cameo in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was so funny that I longed ridiculously for him to take back up the cape.
Boy Culture I've been so consumed with awards season I keep missing other stuff. Like Geri from The Facts of Life coming out of the closet. She can't even walk straight!

It's Bertie's World. You're Just Living In It.
Playbill The King's Speech was conceived as a play and may head to the stage.
Gawker The Best Picture nominees in Legos. Figures that TKS is the most boring one (but I love the one for 127 Hours.)

"why should i waste my time listening to you?" "BECAUSE I HAVE A VOICE"

Finally, Tom Shone, a critic I personally love, has an unfortunate affection for The King's Speech. But his piece about the Oscar race upheaval and the falsity of projected versions of Oscar as either old fuddy duddies or young hepcats is fun.

The academy haven't lost their taste for Oscar bait. They just haven't been let near a healthy enough specimen. They're like drunks who've managed to stay dry for several years not because they have lost their taste for alcohol but because nobody has offered them a drink.

Though I warn you: this may be a depressing read if you've been convincing yourself that the Academy has changed due to the last few winners.

20:10 "all dragons have a limited number of shots"

Screen capture from the 20th minute and 10th second of How To Train Your Dragon
(or thereabouts. I'm not so sure this VLC time counter works properly grrrr)

"How many does a Gronkol have?"

It's less than 19 hours until Oscar nominations!!! Which animated feature do you think will place alongside How To Train Your Dragon and Toy Story 3? It seems like a coin toss doesn't it between Tangled (the commerce and corporate tradition votes), The Illusionist (the art and international votes) and Despicable Me (the scrappy upstarts, comedy votes)? Well, a coin toss if you have a... uh... three sided coin.

Here's my chart of final Oscar predictions and the post in which I ask the big questions about uncertainties tomorrow morning.