Road to Oscar 4/ BAFTA Awards: Argo keeps momentum, Riva upsets Lawrence/Chastain
Two weeks to go to Oscar. The last big Oscar precursor, the BAFTA awards, have released its verdicts, with some surprises. Here the list of the winners in top categories.
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck-Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis-Lincoln
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva-Amour
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour (Austria)
Best Animated Feature: Brave
Best Original Screenplay: Django Unchained
Best Adapted Screenplay: Silver Linings Playbook
So, as we see “Argo” keeps the momentum and wins both Best Picture and Best Director, confirming its front-runner status. Now “Argo” has won all the leading Oscar predictor. Despite the Academy seems to love “Lincoln” now “Argo” seems the clear frontrunner for the top category.
Daniel Day Lewis, Anne Hathaway and “Amour” confirmed their “sure bets” status for Best Actor; Best Supporting Actress and Best Foreign Language Film.
The “surprise” came from the “Best Actress” category. Last weeks I always said to “keep an eye” on Emmanuelle Riva and I was right. French veteran score the upset, defeating the Hollywood superstars Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain. Lawrence and Chastain have divided Oscar precursors, with Lawrence winning the Comdey/Musical Golden Globe and the SAG, while Chastain swept the Dramatic Golden Globe and the Critics Choice. However the BAFTA victory and the Academy supposed love for “Amour” now leads to think that french veteran Emmanuelle Riva might have a chance. Bookies show a late surge for french actress, as we will see in the average.
The race for “Best Supporting Actor” continues to be wide open. Tommy Lee Jones victory at the SAG seemed to be the “Game change” he needed, however Christoph Waltz victory re-open the battle, while Philipp Seymour Hoffman seems now a big underdog.
The “Adapted Screenplay” award to “Silver Linings Playbook” may lead towards a victory for the David O. Russell comedy in this category. Screenplay awards often are given as consolation prize and since Jennifer Lawrence now appears to be not so sure about her chances of victory…
However let’s look how BAFTA affected the races
BEST PICTURE
Argo 1.19 (1.19)
Lincoln 4.89 (4.01)
Silver Linings Playbook 44.43 (43.23)
Les Misérables 49.00 (37.20)
Life of Pi 49.01 (47.53)
Zero Dark Thirty 85.80 (66.87)
Amour 98.55 (94.30)
Django Unchained 102.33 (134.60)
Beasts of the Southern Wild 165.87 (139.60)
Oscar Precursors
Golden Globe Drama: Argo
Golden Globe Musical/Comedy: Les Misérables
BAFTA: Argo
PGA: Argo
Critics Choice: Argo
As we said above the spread between “Argo” and “Lincoln” continues to grow. A “Lincoln” comeback now seems highly unlikely.
BEST DIRECTOR
Steven Spielberg (2/7)-Lincoln 1.21 (1.18)
Ang Lee (1/3)-Life of Pi 5.69 (6.03)
Michael Haneke (0/1)-Amour 14.75 (14.36)
David O. Russell (0/2)-Silver Linings Playbook 18.96 (24.89)
Benh Zeitlin (0/1)-Beasts of the Southern Wild 53.62 (55.46)
Precursors
Golden Globe: Ben Affleck-Argo
BAFTA: Ben Affleck-Argo
DGA: Ben Affleck-Argo
Critics Choice: Ben Affleck-Argo
Thanks to Spielberg string of defeats Ang Lee starts closing the gap, but seems to be too little, too late.
BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day Lewis (2/5)-Lincoln 1.03 (1.03)
Hugh Jackman (0/1)-Les Misérables 15.48 (16.33)
Joaquin Phoenix (0/3)-The Master 47.14 (33.53)
Denzel Washington (2/6)- The Flight 60.07 (54.53)
Bradley Cooper (0/1)-Silver Linings Playbook 60.21 (54.67)
Precursors
Golden Globe Drama: Daniel Day Lewis-Lincoln
Golden Globe Musical/Comedy: Hugh Jackman-Les Misérables
BAFTA: Daniel Day Lewis-Lincoln
SAG: Daniel Day Lewis-Lincoln
Critics Choice: Daniel Day Lewis-Lincoln
Tied with the Best Supporting Actress and Best Foreign Language for the most boring category. No chance for DDL rivals.
BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence (0/2)-Silver Lingins Playbook 1.57 (1.55)
Jessica Chastain (0/2)-Zero Dark Thirty 3.76 (2.82)
Emmanuelle Riva (0/1)-Amour 5.20 (9.87)
Naomi Watts (0/2)-The Impossible 33.60 (29.47)
Quvenzhanè Wallis (0/1)-Beasts of the Southern Wild 53.40 (43.73)
Precursors
Golden Globe Drama: Jessica Chastain-Zero Dark Thirty
Golden Globe Musical/Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence-Silver Lingins Playbook
BAFTA: Emmanuelle Riva-Amour
SAG: Jennifer Lawrence-Silver Linings Playbook
Critics Choice: Jessica Chastain-Zero Dark Thirty
The most interesting category of the year. Everything seemed to lead towards a showdown between Hollywood princesses, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, but Riva victory at the BAFTA led french veteran to close the gap she had with Hollywood princesses. And remember, Riva is 85 years old…
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tommy Lee Jones (1/4)-Lincoln 1.69 (1.73)
Christoph Waltz (1/2)-Django Unchained 2.66 (4.13)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (1/4)-The Master 6.71 (4.74)
Robert De Niro (2/7)-Silver Linings Playbook 10.60 (10.16)
Alan Arkin (1/4)-Argo 37.36 (33.29)
Precursors
Golden Globe: Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained
BAFTA: Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained
SAG: Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln
Critics Choice: Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Master
If there wasn’t the “Ben Affleck snub” this race will be the weirdest of the year. Christoph Waltz started the race as an underdog without a nomination to both SAG and Critics Choice. However austro/german Tarantino darling is now running neck and neck to Tommy Lee Jones for his second Oscar. SAG victory gave the momentum to TLJ, but thanks to BAFTA victory Christoph Waltz is coming back quickly. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, initially thought to be TLJ main rival is now running distant third. Probabily the reason is because “The Master” was loved by critics, but not so by moviegoers. If you look at both “Metacritic” and “Rotten Tomatoes” you’ll see an almost unanimous critical acclaim, but in the meantime, a sharp division among moviegoers. So the tepid reaction from moviegoers is probabily the reason why PHS is constantly losing ground.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway (0/2)-Les Misérables 1.02 (1.03)
Sally Field (2/3)-Lincoln 26.53 (21.57)
Amy Adams (0/4)-The Master 33.77 (33.71)
Helen Hunt (1/2)-The Sessions 35.23 (27.82)
Jacki Weaver (0/2)-Silver Linings Playbook 86.08 (50.79)
Precursors
Golden Globe: Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables
BAFTA: Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables
SAG: Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables
Critics Choice: Anne Hathaway-Les Misérables
The safest bet of the night. Hathaway’s hands are yet around uncle Oscar.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE MOVIE
Amour (Austria) 1.04 (1.05)
A Royal Affair (Denmark) 14.94 (14.33)
Kon Tiki (Norway) 21.12 (22.17)
No (Chile) 37.62 (39.17)
War Witch (Canada) 40.37 (42.33)
Precursors
Golden Globe: Amour (Austria)
BAFTA: Amour (Austria)
Critics Choice: Amour (Austria)
Another boring race, with Haneke’s “Amour” running far ahead of his rivals.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave 1.26 (2.35)
Wreck-it-Ralph 2.65 (2.51)
Frankenweenie 4.07 (3.38)
Paranorman 29.12 (27.29)
Pirates! Band of Misfits 47.12 (48.14)
Precursors
Golden Globe: Brave
BAFTA: Brave
PGA: Wreck-it-Ralph
Critics Choice: Brave
Brave cements the front-runner status, but Wreck-it-Ralph is still around, while Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie appears to have little chance.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Django Unchained 1.96 (2.36)
Zero Dark Thirty 2.64 (2.99)
Amour 3.68 (3.02)
Moonrise Kingdom 18.93 (15.71)
Flight 30.29 (27.71)
Precursors
Golden Globe*: Django Unchained
BAFTA: Django Unchained
Critics Choice: Django Unchained
Despite the clean sweeps of precursors “Django” seems unable to build a substantial lead over his main opponents. Maybe the reason is that “Zero Dark Thirty” will probabily need a consolation prize, and since screenplay awards are often the consolation prize…
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Lincoln 1.71 (1.48)
Argo 2.76 (2.91)
Silver Linings Playbook 6.49 (11.06)
Life of Pi 22.19 (22.62)
Beasts of the Southern Wild 33.12 (36.37)
Precursors
BAFTA: Silver Linings Playbook
Critics Choice: Lincoln
BAFTA victory has propelled a powerful “Silver Linings Playbook” comeback. Maybe a sign that also David O. Russell’s comedy will need a consolation prize?
* The Golden Globe gives a sole screenplay award without distinguish between original and adapted screenplay
Posted on February 12, 2013, in Awards, Movies and tagged Academy Award, Amour, Ang Lee, Anne Hathaway, Argo, BAFTA, Ben Affleck, brave, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Day Lewis, Django Unchained, Emmanuelle Riva, Jennifer Lawrence, Jessica Chastain, Lincoln, Oscar, Silver Linings Playbook, Steven Spielberg, Tommy Lee Jones, wreck it ralph, Zero Dark Thirty. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Reading your recent “Road to Oscar” articles has taken me twenty years back to when Michelle Pfeiffer nailed the role of Catwoman winning rave reviews, a massive army of new fans, her biggest box office hit, and an Oscar nomination for the year (albeit not as Catwoman). Leap forward a couple of decades and history repeats itself four times over…. Well three times over for now but we all know Anne Hathaway will make it four-for-four if as expected she wins for Les Miserables.
“It’s worth thinking about Hathaway and Oscar through the prism of Pfeiffer. It’s not a perfect identical twin situation but the similarities don’t end with “What Happened with Catwoman!” At the time of Batman Returns/Love Field Michelle was a 34 year old previous Oscar nominee who had been famous for 10 years and had already co-starred in one very major also-ran Best Picture nominee (Dangerous Liaisons). At the time of The Dark Knight Rises/Les Miserables Anne is a 30 year old previous Oscar nominee who has been famous for 11 years and has already co-starred in one extremely major also-ran Best Picture nominee (Brokeback Mountain). Both actresses played Catwoman in the summer and followed it up at Christmas time by starring in something more typically Oscar-friendly, Pfeiffer in a civil rights drama and Hathaway in an epic musical.
But here’s where the similarities end and Hathaway’s Oscar story may have a much happier ending. For one, Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman arrived in a culture that has moved past viewing superhero films as “fluff” and is therefore less shy about recognizing acting achievements inside of them. For another, the eventually nominated performance by Hathaway is likely to be “the right one of the two” whereas Michelle was chosen for the wrong performance — not that she isn’t very good in Love Field, but it’s not the inspired no one else could do this work that her Selina Kyle was. Finally and most obviously Les Miserables is no Love Field, a film that was barely released and was largely only acknowledged — if it was acknowledged as all — as a vehicle for a Michelle Pfeiffer nomination. If you want to stick to the Pfeiffer narrative Les Miserables is far more likely to be Hathaway’s own Fabulous Baker Boys… only this time there’s no Jessica Tandy in sight to steal the statue away from a glorious actress in the full bloom of her star power.”
Thanks for great comment. Well I think that the big difference is that overall the quality of superhero movies today is great. The quality of the current Batman and Spider-Man franchises is extremely high, while the same cannot be said for the 90′s Batman franchise. I personally didn’t enjoy the Batman franchise in my childhood (90s) and I haven’t change my mind nowadays.
In the 90′s the Batman franchise were even able tu ruin some carreer. Just think about Chris O’ Donnell, who recovered only recently, or Alicia Silverstone. But now the Batman and Spiderman franchise have been able to lunch carreers. Christian Bale has won an Oscar; the late Heath Ledger was even awarded for his Joker performance; James Franco has become a star and so are becoming Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Tobey Maguire got interesting roles and will star in the “Great Gatsby” this year. (I’m mixing Batman and Spiderman but they’re useful for all the discourse)
While in the 90′s this didn’t happen. Michael Keaton soon disappeared; Kim Basinger bounced back with LA Confidential but did so despite Batman and not because of Batman; Arnold Schwarzennegger abandoned acting for politics; Chris O’ Donnell and Alicia Silverstone disappeared; George Clooney incredibly was able to recover but he recovered despite Batman and not because of Batman.
I was just a child when Pfeiffer was nominated for “Love Field” and personally I haven’t seen the film, bu I think i will someday. I think Pfeiffer is a charming and great actress, few other actress got such a carreer and even now she’s able to have supporting roles in high profile movies. But personally I think that Catwoman hurt her more than help her in her Oscar run. But is just my opinion
While now for Hathaway is completely different. Catwoman may only help her status as front-runner since the Nolan’s Batman franchise is known for is extremely high quality and in the past took top nomination, it had even a Best Picture nod.
Personally I like Hathaway because her evolution surprise me really. She started as a Disney princess with nobody thinking she would have a carreer. She starred in “The Devil Wear’s Prada” as the main character but nobody cared about her, everyone cared about Meryl Streep. In “Devil” not only she wasn’t really able to compete with Meryl Streep, she wasn’t even able to compete with Emily Blunt. So exactly when I was trashing her as another Disney princess “Rachel Getting Married” came out and it stunned me! Really I wasn’t able to think that the same wish-wash of “The Devil Wears Prada” was doing such a role in such a movie. And now she’s challenging Susan Boyle! I ususally don’t like musicals but her Fantin performance is something that screams “Oscar!”. Really Hathaway is surprising me.
The big difference between Pfeiffer and Hathaway is that Pfeiffer soon caught critical attention. While struggling to find box-office success at the beginning soon critics were captured by her. While Hathaway found early box-office success but critics got mixed feelings towards her, while now they vastly acclaim her.
However while I love Pfeiffer I personally think that she wasn’t robbed by Jessica Tendy. Jessica Tandy’s “Driving Miss Daisy” performance was superior than her. If I have to gave her an Oscar I would have gave her one for “Dangerous Liasons”