Through Her Lens: 2012 (The 85th Oscars)

A series by Juan Carlos Ojano. Introduction / Explanation

Come Oscar nominations announcement, the Best Director category was one of the most discussed among Oscar fans and predictors. Perceived frontrunners Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), and Tom Hooper (Les Misérables) missed out on nominations while two legitimate shockers came in their place:  Michael Haneke for the arthouse drama Amour and Behn Zeitlin for the fantasy drama Beasts of the Southern Wild. This led to one of the most chaotic Oscar races of the decade, leading to Argo winning Best Picture even without its director Affleck nominated.

While she was a strong force in that category leading to nominations, previous winner Kathryn Bigelow was the only female director given considerable awards attention that season...

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Almost There: Nicole Kidman in "The Paperboy"

The Almost There series is back after a brief hiatus. It's about performances that came close to an Oscar nomination but ultimately failed to secure the honor.

by Cláudio Alves

Robert Eggers's The Northman has many elements worthy of applause, from its sense of narrative anti-modernity to Claes Bang's hunky presence. However, for us, actressexuals, the main attraction is Nicole Kidman. Playing Prince Amleth's mother, the Australian actress delivers a powerhouse monologue late in the film, devouring the scenery whole as she drives her son and the audience into stupefied shock. It's one of those delightfully weird tour de forces Kidman's known for among her fans. Such inspired work is often rooted in an auteur's bold vision and represents a facet of the thespian's career that's seldom recognized by awards.

If one were to judge her based only on the actress's five Academy Award nominations, her filmography would look much less adventurous than the truth. One of the only times Kidman came close to Oscar glory for a go-for-broke gonzo performance happened in 2012 when she starred in Lee Daniel's The Paperboy…

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Almost There: Maggie Smith in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

by Cláudio Alves

It's time to wish a happy anniversary to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. John Madden's unlikely box-office juggernaut was first screened ten years ago on the Sorrento Incontro Internazionale del Cinema. Truth be told, it's not a fantastic flick, adapting a Deborah Moggach novel into a toothless feel-good comedy that reeks of good intentions corroded by colonialist condescension. Where it triumphs, however, is in casting. Madden managed to gather a remarkable ensemble, made up of charismatic British thespians who could deliver great performances with their eyes closed and a hand tied behind their back: Judi Dench! Maggie Smith! Bill Nighy! Penelope Wilton! Tom Wilkinson! And more. 

Indeed, their collective work singlehandedly makes the movie into a middlebrow delight. From that collection of beloved British entertainers, Maggie Smith probably came closest to an Oscar nomination…

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Almost There: Ann Dowd in "Compliance"

by Cláudio Alves

Here, at The Film Experience, there's a lot of love for Ann Dowd. The actress has been celebrated numerous times, interviewed, and she even took over the blog for a day in 2015. With Fran Kranz's Mass in theaters, Dowd may finally be poised to receive her first Oscar nomination after decades doing superb work on stage and on screens of all sizes. For years, despite the consistent quality of her performances, Dowd went unrecognized. In 2012, however, it all changed when Craig Zobel's Compliance generated widespread critical acclaim for the thespian, inspiring her to start a self-funded awards campaign. Making formidable use of this career momentum, Dowd quickly became a recognizable character actress powerhouse and an Emmy winner. Even so, all these years later, Compliance remains one of her greatest achievements…

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The New Classics: Lincoln

By Michael Cusumano 

Abraham Lincoln abilities as a writer probably would have earned him a place in history even without his accomplishments as a statesman. He is surely the best writer that has ever occupied the Oval Office. Capable of expressing complex ideas with remarkable economy, he had a deft hand with allusions and was responsible for many evocative turns of phrase that resonate far outside the political context of their time, “The better angels of our nature” or “The dogmas of the quiet past”.  Hell, simply opting for “Four score and seven” over “eighty-seven” reveals a writer’s ear for the musical potential of language.

It's a fitting tribute then, that the most prominent film about the sixteenth president, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, with a screenplay by Pulitzer prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, exudes that same love of language. There’s scarcely a scene without some memorable linguistic spin. There's much to admire in Spielberg’s film from the beautifully worn production design to the momentous performances, but the real reason I’ve returned to it repeatedly since 2012 is simply because the characters are such fun to listen to. All of the film’s dramatic peaks involve the spectacle of verbal fireworks, particularly my favorite scene, where Tommy Lee Jones blasts his way out of a political trap firing off ornately worded insults like cannonballs... 

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