BEST PICTURE

Primary:

1. Argo
2. The Master
3. Life of Pi
4. The Silver Linings Playbook
5. Les Miserables
6. Lincoln

In the primary category, I listed six as opposed to my usual five. The Academy is keeping their change from last year, in that Best Picture nominees must receive at least 5% of voters’ number one slots for Best Picture in the ballots- the least being five and the capper being nine. This prevented the mainstream from breaking into the infrastructure, which worked well in the last few years (Avatar, Inception, and Toy Story 3 all receiving nominations because of the ten slots). That’s why it’s surprising the Academy governors kept the system, as they try so hard to incorporate popular culture into the stuffy, white, 70-something conglomerate of voters (and that’s not even stereotyping- a study last year by the LA Times showed that most Academy members fit into these categories).

It seems that the Oscars themselves are getting smaller and smaller. Look at 2008, where the films included Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Gran Torino and Doubt- The Dark Knight couldn’t even fit in the year’s nominees it was so packed. In 2010 we had Inception, The Social Network, Black Swan and Winter’s Bone- all great films although not all of comparison to 2008. We look at last year again- Hugo, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Artist- all great movies. But you have to think- we consider The Artist the best picture of 2011, when in fact all of the nominees in 2008 could be considered better movies. And that’s not even for lack of better movies. Last year we had Drive, Harry Potter and Bridesmaids- all of which I liked better than Frost/Nixon.

Perhaps my point will be clearer this year. We can expect anywhere from five to ten nominees, which is why I emended my structure this time around. If there are only to be five nominees, I predict Argo, The Master, Life of Pi, The Silver Linings Playbook, and Les Miserables. If there is to be a sixth, I predict Lincoln. I didn’t push Lincoln into the secondary category because I felt it was such a surefire nominee that it couldn’t possibly be below primary. Back to my point- in a year with The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, Moonrise Kingdom and The Hobbit, we don’t even send them to frontrunner spots like we might’ve done a while back. Moonrise Kingdom is my favorite movie of the year, but we have to account for the fact that the Academy doesn’t like Wes Anderson. The Avengers was the highest-grossing movie of the year and already a cult-favorite, but it probably won’t receive love because it’s a superhero movie. The Hobbit will probably be almost as good, if not good as The Lord of the Rings trilogy- but we can’t consider that a real contender because apparently, the Academy already “paid their dues” to the franchise. Just something to think about come February.

Back in September, The Master was the talk of the town. Not only did it manage to crack the top ten at the Box Office despite a limited release (only two theaters in all of New York), but i demolished the per-theater average record, previously set by Moonrise Kingdom in May. The Master bares resemblance to Scientology, rumored to be quite a force in the strange workings of Hollywood. At the Venice Film Festival, films are only allowed to receive two awards- max, but the audience loved the film so much that they split the Best Actor award between Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman- they also gave Best Director to Paul Thomas Anderson. The film would’ve surely gone on to receive Best Picture, but they bestowed the honor instead to Argo. Films released earlier in the year always have a lot of trouble come awards season (although we have seen surprising comebacks from The Hurt Locker, Winter’s Bone, The Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris), which could account for Master‘s being drowned in a sea of Oscar bait. But what really hurt its chances was the interview Joaquin Phoenix recently gave with Interview Magazine, in which he said, “I think it’s [the Oscars] bulls–t.” The Oscars, unfortunately, are very political, and aren’t likely to look past that statement when voting. Bottom line, we’ll probably see them in February, but don’t get your hopes up for a win.

Right now, Argo is the biggest contender of the films already released, and WarnerBros. couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s making Box Office money, and is the best-reviewed movie in theaters right now. They’re probably also excited to add Ben Affleck to their small repertoire of directors, even though he turned down the Justice League gig. Affleck has been a successful director so far, with The Town and Gone Baby Gone preceding, but has had no dice when it came to Oscar nods. Now, however, it looks like he may get some love or at least face a sizable outcry for the snub, if it happens. Argo has a safe amount of political controversy and enough solid buzz that it should ride the wavelength of the Oscar circuit comfortably in a few weeks.

Life of Pi premiered at the New York Film Festival at the end of September to positive reviews, although we won’t see more of them until November comes around. It’s sensory overstatement and pedigree looks like it’ll be the first to pull a Hugo (and there’s a long line of hopefuls, with Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina and Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby following the trend). The budget isn’t as jaw-dropping (lack of commercial interest is rumored to have caused GK Studios to file for bankruptcy), and Life of Pi has a bigger fan-base than Hugo did, so it’ll likely be a moderate success, with it’s real legs showing come Oscar season. Similarly, Silver Linings Playbook premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to great reviews, but it won’t make its real smash until the November release. It benefits from its later release date, as well as the presence of Jennifer Lawrence (whom the Academy looks to be gearing up to add to their collection of favorites) and Jacki Weaver. David O. Rusell made a surprising splash in 2010 for The Fighter, so it definitely looks like it’ll receive an inclusion.

On to Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s third film in two years. War Horse wasn’t as big as a contender as it was anticipated to be last year- Steven Spielberg didn’t even get a Best Director nomination. It did, however, float comfortably along the circuit, receiving all of the expected Best Picture nominations. If War Horse can do it Lincoln certainly can, featuring, if possible, an even higher- caliber crew than the aforementioned. Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones are getting great reviews- a first look at the trailer made it look like another fluff piece, but reviews are better than expected, shaping it up to be both Oscar bait and commercial contender.

Secondary:

7. The Sessions
8. Inside Llewyn Davis
9. Moonrise Kingdom
10. Django Unchained
11. The Impossible

The Sessions took home the Special Jury Prize back at the Sundance Film Festival, the festival’s equivalent for Best Ensemble. If the film can keep up the trend and take home the Screen Actor’s Guild’s top prize, then it will be a part of serious Oscar discussion. John Hawkes has kept himself on the Academy’s radar for a few years and his role is being touted as some serious bait- if he can get some early circuit leverage, he may very well win. Moonrise Kingdom received a surprising amount of acclaim earlier this year, the highest rated of Wes Anderson’s career- it’s also the most mainstream work under the quirky director’s belt. Anderson hasn’t had much luck with the Academy, and the early release may hurt his film, but the system could work in the same way it worked for The Tree of Life, The Help, and Midnight in Paris last year.

Django Unchained is Quentin Tarantino’s first work since his hit Inglorious Bastards- Bastards did well at the Oscars, although the Nazi-hunting Jews plot may have won them over. Only 6% of Academy members aren’t white, and while we recognize that people of all nationalities should enjoy a good film we wouldn’t put it passed the Academy to be more sentiment-inclined. It is Quentin Tarantino, though- the Academy usually ignores violent, stylized, and controversial movies (see Drive) but they have an obvious soft spot for him (see Pulp Fiction).

Also of note is The Impossible- it premiered at TIFF to an incredible reaction from its audience- the film offers a fictionalized account of one family’s real-life experience of being caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed almost 300,000 people. It starts Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, and its trailer promise a fresh depiction of disaster- if it can manage the tightrope that maintains the balance between maudlin and realism. This film has stayed completely off the radar until now, and if the studio campaigns well it could pull a nomination much in the fashion of The Blind Side in 2010.

Can we talk about Inside Llewyn Davis now? You probably haven’t heard of it, and there’s a good reason for that. No one’s said anything about it. It’s the Coens’ brothers’ latest film, and by now they’ve become Oscar darlings, all of their last few films receiving Best Picture and Best Director nominations, even True Grit, which stayed silent along the entire circuit. The entire productions has remained silent- according to IMDB the film’s due for a limited release in December, but no one has even seen a poster or trailer for it yet. It is slated for wide release in February, which follows the usual Oscar routine. If the film isn’t moved up (which has a good chance of happening), then it is a certain Oscar film.

Tertiary:

12. Flight
13. Anna Karenina
14. Beasts of the Southern Wild
15. Zero Dark Thirty
16. Amour

Flight has been receiving a surprising amount of attention, and a lot of it has been directed towards star Denzel Washington, who looks like he could be up for his third Oscar in what is described by some as his best performance to date. Director Robert Zemeckis is also getting a lot of the discussion, as Flight is his first live-action film in more than ten years. The opening scene is certain to get a lot of exposure in the technical categories, also giving the Forrest Gump director a lot of creative license.

Anna Karenina was considered one of the biggest contenders earlier in the year, as director Joe Wright directed Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, the first of which took home the Golden Globe for Best Picture and the latter which garnered Keira Knightley her first Oscar nomination. He returns for his third outing with star Knightley, playing the titular character in the umpteenth adaption of Leo Tolstoy’s celebrated novel. As I said before, it was one of the first to follow the trend of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, being a visually dazzling period piece. There were high hopes for it, but right about now it looks to be more like last year’s Jane Eyre than anything else. It still looks like Knightley could get an Oscar nomination out of it, though.

Zero Dark Thirty hasn’t been getting much circulation, but it’s sure to make some headlines come December. It’s material is more controversial than The Hurt Locker, which could sway it either way. Columbia Pictures has the film listed as its only contender on their For Your Consideration site, so if they focus their attention on this it could make it to the final round. Amour was the big winner at this year’s Cannes festival, and it may just pull out in the fashion of Tree of Life and A Separation.

Beasts of the Southern Wild took home the top prize at Sundance this year and received an overwhelmingly positive critical response. However, director Benh Zeitlin wanted to keep the movie authentic and so he hired a local cast in New Orleans, and so the actors aren’t register with the SAG. As a result, the cast won’t be eligible for any awards at the Screen Actor’s Guild this year. This doesn’t necessarily damn its Oscar chances, but as the SAG is composed of the same actors who make up a portion of Academy members, it isn’t likely to get too many votes. This is where having 70-year old Academy members comes in handy, as they are the film’s chance at a surprise gold this year. And with Beasts and Moonrise Kingdom, I throw my wild card into the hat, as I successfully did last year with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Tree of Life- both of which received Best Picture nominations last year despite the contradictions from other pundits.

Other Possibilities: The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Smashed, Hitchcock, Rust & Bone

Long Shots: This is 40, The Hunger Games, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Safety Not Guaranteed, Cosmopolis, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Cloud Atlas, Skyfall, To Rome with Love, The Avengers

A lot of people think that The Dark Knight Rises deserves compensation for The Dark Knight back in 2008, but Academy members may feel that they already paid their dues to Nolan in 2010 with Inception. By any account, (while fantastic) Rises isn’t nearly as good its predecessor. The Avengers also doesn’t have much of a chance at the Oscars (except in technical categories), because despite being the highest grossing film of the year and a cult favorite, it is still a comic book movie. Fox Searchlight is pulling out its stops for both The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Hitchcock, but they only really stand a chance in acting categories.We’ll have those up- as well as all the others- soon.

What do you think are this year’s biggest contenders?

The excitement of the London Film Festival is over. The latest Bond is out and dominating the box office but there are still loads of smaller British films to see this month. Rust and Bone might have won the best film prize at the LFF but there was no shortage of British talent representing at this year’s festival and many of the films will get a wider release this month.

Beginning where I left off last month then, you can expect My Brother the Devil to hit cinemas on 9th November. Egyptian Welsh director Sally El Hosaini was named best British newcomer at the LFF this year and received her award only hours after being released from hospital where she was being operated on for a stomach abscess. The film deals with issues of being a British teenage Arab on the mean streets of Hackney and looks set to confront issues of drugs, prejudice, race and sexuality in a well-acted and hopefully hard-hitting drama. El Hosaini lives in Hackney and realism looks set to be a key to the film’s success.

Also out on 9th November is a collection of short films called The Joy of Six. Created to showcase the best of British up-and-coming talent, the stars in front of the camera might be well known but the directors behind it need the spotlight on their careers. Judi Dench, Peter Mullan, Tom Hiddleston and Luke Treadaway all pop up in shorts that range from mature users of social networking dating sites to a bleeding man who is being threatened by artists. The award-winning shorts have already been successful at festivals and will now be getting a limited release in British cinemas this month. If you are in to short films or just want to check out new British talent working with some of Britain’s finest, then be sure to check out this selection.

One more released on November 9th and sounding spookily similar to the 2000 slasher film Cherry Falls is Love Bite. When horny teens find out that there may a werewolf on the loose in their sleepy seaside town, they also learn that the monster might feed on virgin flesh. It turns out that Jamie (Ed Speleers) and his friends have all yet to pop their cherries and now have even more motivation to do so. Set in a dead-end town called
Rainmouth that features pot-smoking mums, Timothy Spall and Gossip Girl’s Jessica Szohr as sexy American traveller Juliana, it could be a cheeky fun horror or it might be more Ginger Snaps sexual tension and terror. Either way it’s bound to be much more entertaining than any number of pathetic werewolves in the Twilight films.

Up There looks like it might have the potential to be a morbid but moving and quite funny tragi-comedy. It’s about deceased Martin (Burn Gorman) whose job it is to welcome the newly dead to the afterlife. When he loses a new arrival, he is forced to team up with a chirpy individual named Rash and a mysterious woman called Liz in order to find and save the lost soul. It looks to be the kind of film that Britain does best; grim and depressing but with a completely inappropriate sense of fun thrown into the mix. It is billed as a comedy so the cast and script will hopefully deliver on the interesting, if a little weird heavenly set up. It’s out 16th November.

Another film mentioned last month that has been taking festivals by storm is the return of horror director Ben Wheatley with his new black-as-death comedy Sightseers. A couple of odd campers turn natural born killers in the Yorkshire Dales with hilarious results. After Kill List, Wheatley looks like he is on a roll and the film finally hits cinemas 30th November. Expect lovers on the run, a dog eating sick, brutal murders and plenty of laughs in this intriguing genre hybrid.

If that doesn’t float your boat, there’s always the umpteenth adaptation of some guy called Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations from occasionally great director Mike Newell. After dipping his toes in blockbuster wizards (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and video game adaptations (Prince of Persia: The Sand of Time), Newell promises more emotion and humanity from his Dickens adaptation. It closed the LFF and features a brilliant British cast from Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes to TV’s David Walliams. The big question is can it improve on the David Lean version
and what does this reinvention of the classic tale have to offer? Expect more modern sexiness to go with the increased emotions and humanity when it arrives in cinemas on 30th November.

Let us know what British films you will be watching this month in the comments below and watch out for December’s Best of British at the end of November.

After an intense chase through some Eastern European rooftops and ally ways, the iconic abstract introduction commences. As British singer Adele belts out the passionate soundtrack, we experience the traditional silhouetted figures and 007 being overwhelmed by unworthy henchman. Much like the past introduction credits, pictures and objects signify locations and reflections to what will happen without fully giving away plot details. I can’t say it was my favourite Bond credit sequence yet looking back on it after the film had ended allowed me to fully appreciate everything that went into the creation.

James Bond’s loyalty to Mi6 and ‘M’ is at the center of this story. After coming back from the dead (not a spoiler by the way), James must work with familiar allies and fresh faces in the attempt to discover where and how the spy agencies computers have been compromised. New supporting cast members include Ralph Fiennes working as a high-ranking employee beside ‘M’; Naomie Harris as a suspended field agent acting as a love interest and helper; Bérénice Marlohe playing the seductive damsel in distress, Severine, and last of all the impressive Ben Whishaw as Q, keeping Bond up to date with all the latest gadgets.

Aside from the marvellous support cast, Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Javier Bardem all play an incredible main part. The trio are at this film’s core and rightly so. Judi Dench graces our screen yet again as the head of Mi6, persisting in a strong and serious manner. Craig as James Bond manages to hit the tone correct although his character feels less vulnerable as in previous films, as if he is an untouchable figure saving the world day by day. The main attraction, and the character that fascinates me most, is Javier Bardem’s Silva. Silva is Skyfall’s antagonist and an ex-agent. There were similarities between Silva and Heath Ledger’s Joker at times, which for any actor is an accomplishment. His quirky persona and unexpected undertakings really enables you to delve into such a well portrayed Bond villain. 

With so many positives, sometimes the negatives are unintentionally forgotten. Skyfall does have few negatives. Still, they are worth mentioning. The main problem I found is that video effects are relied upon far too often. There are times of excruciating green screens during chases and some horribly rendered helicopters. Surely they could afford real ones? This is James Bond, not Call of Duty! Trying to blank these blunders during the two hours is difficult, but the severity of the problem is hardly compromises the overall quality. To further cause dismay to those of you whom have yet to see this, the structure of the movie is very linear. By this I mean there aren’t times where you’ll be thinking about what one character is up to off screen. It’s very straight forward and up front. Some may prefer this style, I felt it was too safe.

Skyfall proves that 007 is back and fighting fit. Sam Mendes has added another masterpiece under his belt along with one of my favourites, American Beauty. Bond 24 is already in pre-pre production with a suspected release date of late 2014. I see no possibility of it topping Skyfall but I’m certain the standards aren’t likely to slip and the franchise will remain on top form.

To this day I struggle to get my head around how The Avengers became so successful. It certainly wasn’t because of a long string of good films that led up to a grand finale. Iron Man 1 got things rolling and in fact was such a refreshing take on superheroes. A charismatic Robert Downey Jr boasted comedic values and serious tones allowing it to become enjoyable by a wide range of audience types. Although this was something perhaps nobody expected from Marvel, they soon dropped the ball when it came to the release of the next three films.

First came The Incredible Hulk. Yet another reboot of a franchise that never really worked in cinema. Starring Edward Norton, this take just provided us with yet another dull and uninteresting version of the big green giant smashing things up. Shortly after, Iron Man was set for a sequel. Expectations were high and Marvel had officially got the hype-wagon cruising through various countries with the announcement of The Avengers to be released in July 2011 (which of course was delayed to April 2012). Is it a film starring many A-listers all being famous superheroes that made The Avengers $1.5 billion since its release? It begin to think so…

Marvel had cleverly brought lesser known comic heroes onto the silver screen thus making them famous to the mainstream market. This then inevitably meant bringing all these, now hugely famous, characters into one film the right thing to do. Although these characters are now loved by millions, will The Avengers 2 have the same impact?

Realistically, releasing a second Thor film (which is currently in production) or a second Captain America film (please spare us…) and so forth is going to be a shallow experience. Indeed, Marvel will have to throw us off course with a few new faces. Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man film has been slated for December 2015, perhaps leaving a chance for his debut in the second Avengers, but is this a character non comic lovers care for? As a non comic book reader, Ant-Man could just be another Hawkeye; Hawkeye being a character I cared little for, but on the odd occasion thought he was relatively stylish.

The main concern is the Superhero cycle wearing thin. Cycles often go on for around four years, most recent examples include the vampire phenomenon (in other words ‘The Twilight Craze’) and the obsession with Zombies. Superheroes have been in the limelight for 2-3 years and with the end of Nolan’s Batman franchise hitting us this past Summer, a core foundation for this trend, will Marvel still have enough support in 2015? We have Snyder’s The Man of Steel to look forward to and most likely a second Spiderman (a character confirmed not to be in The Avengers 2 line-up), but if these fall short of audience’s hopes, Marvel’s attempt at pumping hype through our veins may not work.

Marvel have a hell of a job if it wants to maintain its target demographic. If their films aren’t good enough in the next two years, it would be hard to imagine people flocking for the second Avengers. Does anyone want another Avengers film? I’m certainly not interested.

Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet plays Adrien. I felt his performance was chilling and remarkably confined for a character who clearly has so many thoughts and complications. It’s difficult to decide whether to be against a man playing blind for his own profits or not. Can you see it as an effective marketing move? That’s probably a little insensitive to see it as so, however when the final events occur you soon sympathise with Adrien’s horrific circumstance, neglecting all previous judgement.

Along with a greatly directed and shot piece of short cinema, it’s worth mentioning all the sound that’s going on. Clearly we hear a lot of piano playing, which in itself is a delight and something I, personally, could listen to throughout a feature film, but underneath are clear and loud ambient sounds which cleverly ties into the notion of having an enhanced sense due to the loss of another. These layers set apart the film from your standard short and overall enhances the viewing experience.

The Piano Tuner is one of my favourite shorts I have seen this year and I look forward to see what Olivier Treiner has in store for the future.

Watch The Piano Tuner below – (Slight NSFW)

TO WIN simply comment/tweet/facebook us and let us know your favourite Johnny Depp film. Entries will be randomly drawn on the 29th of October and one lucky winner will receive Dark Shadows on Blu-Ray Triple Play right to their door. Good luck!

“From the incredible mind of Tim Burton comes the hit film Dark Shadows, based on the classic US television series!  Barnabas Collins has been trapped for two centuries by an evil witch (Eva Green) who just happens to be an ex lover.  Barnabas now has to struggle with the ever changing 1970s and save his family’s business!  With an all star cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jonny Lee Miller and more, Dark Shadows will be sure to whet your appetite for fun.”

The main issue surrounding Paranormal Activity 4 is the lack of disturbances which defined the franchise. In the previous encounters,chairs flying about and cupboards bursting open was a common experience. An audience who has devoted their time to reach a third sequel would surely expect the scare-o-meter to be notched up to a much more refined and higher standard. Nevertheless, if you have the patience to stay until the last 20 minutes, you’ll experience the height of Horror tension and certainly won’t catch any sleep for the next few nights.

The film was clearly produced to appeal to the youth. With constant references to the Xbox and its Kinect system, you get the sense that they are trying just a little too hard to be “with it”. Most of the found footage are through laptops placed in ideal locations around a classic American household which raises a high amount of questions regarding believability and continuity. Furthermore, the characters are fairly bland with hardly any development, leaving the viewing audience only caring for the two cute children tormented by the demonic presence.

Paranormal Activity 4 fails to live up to the high standards shown in 1 and 2. Partly because so much familiar ground is covered that the audience knows exactly what to anticipate. The ending yet again opens up a box full of unanswered questions, similar to the third in the series, ultimately leaving you with a complete confusion daze and apalm in your face.

15.  Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Cast: Will Ferrell, Christina Appelgate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Coechnerm Fred Willard

Anchorman combines some of the funniest contemporary comedians, Will Ferrell (The Other Guys, The Campaign), Steve Carrell (The Office, Crazy, Stupid, Love) and Paul Rudd (Superbad, This is 40)- the last of whom isn’t the funniest comedian, but has been in some pretty funny movies. Anchorman doesn’t only rely on the chops of its cast but gets its juice from them, the film’s exaggerated humor even more outrageous because of the typical hilarity offered by Ferrell and his cohorts. The unadulterated energy feels like charged atoms in a containment unit, the film one scene of gut-busting comedy after the other. The cast’s inane humor and great chemistry make for an ensemble so ready-made that you forget that there’s a movie holding them all.

14.   Juno

Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jessica Garner, Allison Janney

Sure, Juno possesses one of the most intelligent screenplays of the decade and some of the most sensitive direction of Jason Reitman’s career, but it also introduced Ellen Page, one of the fresher young faces to emerge out of the indie scene recently. In Juno, she’s a total geek before it was even cool to be one. She plays indie music on her guitar with the dorky best friend she’s in love with (Michael Cera), spends time talking on her hamburger phone and loving rock but hating heavy metal. She’s compelling, her strength and self-assuredness so affirmed that when we see how vulnerable her character really is, it’s startling. But the whole movie is about how we can never really be sure when we’re ready to grow up, and the difficult choices we make to fit into the roles of age- that’s where the metaphor of a pregnant teenager is so profound. The whole cast does their jobs well, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, two normally B-List actors particularly affecting. Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons also suitably indie. The whole production is made-up of actors who are used to slipping into the background, and this is peculiar amalgamation works strangely well together.

13.   The Help

Cast: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek

The Help received higher acclaim than any other cast last year, taking home the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, the Screen Actors Guild’s equivalent of Best Picture. It received a surprisingly high critical response, considering it polished over a lot of its racial issues. That shows you just how powerful this cast is- the cast is fantastic all-around, breathing morality and believability into this story that constantly teeters on melodrama. Everyone’s in top-form- Emma Stone pulls her endearingly frumpy character, setting herself apart from the Gone With the Wind-esque type 1960’s southern society. The role could be construed as ‘white savior’ but her honesty is palpable and doesn’t feel forced.  Even Sissy Spacek and Bryce Dallas Howard are great, Howard as the town’s societal puppeteer, and Spacek as her senile mother.

Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis take center stage though.  I preferred Chastain last year in The Tree of Life, but she’s suitably bubbly as Celia Foote. Octavia Spencer won the Oscar here, and she deserves it, but it’s Viola Davis that rocks the film. Her performance is subtle but commands the viewer’s attention every moment she’s onscreen. Her facial expressions are full of careful nuances that convey a thousand emotions, but what’s truly riveting is the way she pulls off her character. Her obvious skill at internal conflict is what makes it so magnetic, and she’s strong enough to carry the movie on her own.

12.  Tropic Thunder

Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Jay Baruchel

The media loves to bash Hollywood, but Tropic Thunder is proof that the people best at making fun of Hollywood is…Hollywood itself. Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Night at the Museum) and co. team up to make an outrageous (yet accurate) satire of Hollywood mannerisms – Stiller’s character is an action hero desperately trying to win an Academy Award (with over-the-top sentimental films about mental illness), Black’s character is a drug-addicted comedian, and Downey’s character is an Australian actor who undergoes surgery to take on an African-American role. These characters are outrageous but there are amazing contrasts to Hollywood today. The actors all pull of their roles with not-so-surprising honesty (they’re actors themselves- it wasn’t that far of a stretch), Downey Jr. especially. He transforms into his character, and was acknowledged for it with nominations across the board, including an Academy Award nomination. It may not be definitive, but it’s definitely the most entertaining depiction of Hollywood we’ve seen in the last ten years.

11.  The Royal Tenenbaums

Cast: Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Gwenyth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Bill Murray, Anjelica Huston, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Alec Baldwin

Wes Anderson is something of a directorial icon in Hollywood-his handiwork is instantly recognizable within each frame of his films, his blunt camerawork startling yet understated. He’s always the odd note on his actors’ resumes, Adding an indie flare to even the most mainstream of actors.  The Royal Tenenbaums adds Gwenyth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love, Iron Man), Ben Stiller, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Color Purple), and Gene Hackman (Unforgiven, The Runaway Jury) to a cast composed of his usual team, Anjelica Huston (50/50, The Addams Family), Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Moonrise Kingdom), and Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris, Wedding Crashers). Hackman received the best acclaim of the cast, receiving awards from the AFI, CFA and Golden Globes, also getting an Academy Award nomination for the role in 2002.

10.   Ocean’s Eleven

Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Casey Affleck, Julia Roberts

Steven Soderbergh is no novice when it comes to ensembles, deft at balancing many different characters and giving his actors suitable camera time and action. He’s done Contagion, Magic Mike, and Haywire to name a few. Ocean’s Eleven is a prime example- lined up he has George Clooney (Syriana, The Descendants), Matt Damon (True Grit, The Informant!), Andy Garcia (The Lost City, The Godfather Part III), Brad Pitt (Fight Club, Moneyball), and Julia Roberts (Erin Brokovich, Eat, Pray, Love). Together, they formed one of the best heist movies of the 21^st centugry, which went on to gross over $450 million worldwide- and that was in 2001. Their work isn’t groundbreaking, but the actors have great chemistry and play off each other nicely.

9.      The Departed

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen

The Departed certainly isn’t Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, but obviously it was good enough for Academy, snatching up Best Picture in a non-competitive year before the Academy could face more criticism for not recognizing the famed director. The Departed is one of Scorsese’s more involving pieces, and starring are the usual suspects of Leonardo DiCaprio (Shutter Island, The Aviator), Jack Nicholson (Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest), Matt Damon, and Mark Whalberg (The Fighter, Three Kings). Martin Scorsese is known for his ability to make mob movies inventive and exciting, but the actors also deserve credit, staying away from role stereotypes and making their characters interesting. We actually care about the characters, something that’s usually hard to do in a plot-driven story.

8.      Midnight in Paris

Cast: Owen Wison, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Carla Brunt, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen, Corey Stoll, Tom Hiddleson

I love Annie Hall, but I personally feel that Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen’s best film to date. It’s a simple brilliance- we’ve all had a time when we thought our lives would be better if we’d lived in a different period, and 1920’s twilit Paris does magic for Allen’s usual mix of characters. Allen’s given us complex characters before, but giving humanity to famed figures like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway are feats on their own. Owen Wilson, surprisingly, works as the perfect Allen man, giving his finest performance yet. The background actors, like Kathy Bates and Adrien Brodey (making a brief cameo) are delightfully zany, but it’s the main players that make the film. We have three sets of characters, the 1920’s figures, the relationship between Gil and Adriana (Picasso’s alleged mistress), and then the relationship between Gil and his real life girlfriend and her parents. Rachel Adams and Wilson work great together, as do the rest. There’s not a flat note in the entire production, and the chemistry between the actors is as easy to digest as a soft French wine.

7.      Little Miss Sunshine

Cast: Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin

Part social satire, part dysfunctional family dramedy and part road-trip movie, Little Miss Sunshine is driven by its characters, between the mute teenager, the pageant girl, and the foul-mouthed grandfather. The film was purchased for a record $10.5 million after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006, and went on to win two Oscars, one for Alan Arkin’s performance and one for the screenplay. Abigail Breslin also received a nomination one of the youngest actresses to have ever done so. The film fits the very definition of ‘quirky,’ the actors breathing life and heart into this memorable indie- comedy.

6.      The Dark Knight

Cast: Chrisian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gullenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman

The Dark Knight set a precedent not only for the comic-book movie genre, but for film making itself. Christopher Nolan brought sophistication to the franchise, and the cast had the skill to pull it off. Heath Ledger’s virtuoso performance dominated the film, his layered, provocatively unhinged performance winning a posthumous Oscar. Nolan’s Joker really created a new standard for villains, and Ledger pulled it off. Now, I loved Ledger’s performance, but, understandably, it overshadowed the rest of the cast. Aaron Eckhart’s performance, for instance, was great as well- especially for Eckhart. The character’s foreshadowing lacks subtlety, but he pulls each hint throughout with finesse, his final transformation captivating- that is, when you’re not hoping for Joker to come back onscreen. Christian Bale is always great- the voice inspired a lot of jokes, but his onscreen intensity is riveting.  Gary Oldman, Maggie Gylenhaal (a step up from Katie Holmes), and the rest of the cast are also in top form.

5.      Doubt

Cast: Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis

I feel Doubt is a seriously underrated movie, although the excursion is excusable, considering it was released the same year as Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, The Dark Knight, Gran Torino, Wall-E, In Brujes, Changeling, and a lot of others. Doubt, based on the critically acclaimed play, rises on the potent strength of its cast, which included Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis- all of whom received Academy Award nominations for their roles in the film. Nominations for all of the cast members for a film is an extremely rare thing, but Doubt is one of the rare movies that deserve it. Even Viola Davis, who is only in the film for one scene.

The cast of the movie deserve praise for pulling it off. The central theme of the film is, as the title would reveal, the doubt of our human nature. How much do our biases affect our thinking? Do we crave suspicion for those who we disagree with? Do we step away from God by having doubts at all? These are ideas that require extreme skill to pull off. Why? Because for the movie to succeed, it is critical for the audience to feel the doubt as the characters do. I praise Meryl Streep in particular, in what I feel is her best role to date- subtle, but a masterful. Her acting tends to rely on her effective use of words, but in here, we can only guess what she is thinking. Hoffman is good as well- even in outburst, he never gives away too much. Adams is key and her internal conflict-whether she wants to see what her doubts tell her to, are perfectly executed. Davis is in the film for five minutes, but her role is unforgettable. A fantastic example of great ensemble acting, it’s the actors beyond anyone else that dare you to do what the film wants you to.

4.      Bridesmaids

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon- Covey, Ellie Kemper, John Hamm

Bridesmaids is the latest provenance to the evolution of feminism- women can vote, women can dominate at the workplace, and now, according to Judd Apatow, women can poop in sinks. Bridesmaids isn’t a revolutionary film, but what makes it is the spectacular chemistry among its cast. Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live), Maya Rudolph (Anchorman), Rose Byrne (Insidious), Melissa McCarthy (Mike and Molly), and Wendi McLendon-Covey (Reno 911!), none of which were big names in the industry, made their splash by starring in this movie. It went on to receive a surprising amount of attention at the year’s circuit, which included Best Picture nominations at the Golden Globes and Producer’s Guild, as well as countless nominations for Melissa McCarthy, which included an Oscar nomination for her as well as Wiig for writing. That made it the first Apatow- produced film to be nominated for an Academy Award, setting a critical precedent for the genre. If it weren’t for the cast, the film probably wouldn’t have received nearly as much attention, showing us all just how much girl-power can be worth in Hollywood.

3.      Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Cast: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones

The classier, darker James Bond with a star-studded cast that works as Britain’s answer to Ocean’s Eleven, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy works as a showcase for true British talent. These are pretty much all of the Hogwarts gang you’ll find in Harry Potter, but what makes the casting so amazing is that this time, the old masters are the one taking center-stage. Gary Oldman (Prick Up Your Ears, The Dark Knight), after being an industry headliner for nearly three decades, finally garnered his first Oscar nomination  for playing John LeCarre’s famed literary character George Smiley. Also in the cast are Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man), Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Warrior), John Hurt (Alien, Spaceballs), Toby Jones (Frost/Nixon, Les Miserables), Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes, The Young Victoria), and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse). Under the searing direction of Tomas Alfredson, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy may have been a bit too complex for casual moviegoers, but there’s no doubt about the sheer talent being displayed onscreen.

2.      Harry Potter

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Timothy Spall, Bill Nighy, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, David Thewlis, Warick Davis, Ciarin Hinds, Jim Broadbent, Kelly Macdonald- and that’s not even counting the child actors including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

The Harry Potter series gets points just because it is a living conglomerate of every distinguished actor in the British film industry, a powerhouse of the old masters of cinema to create Harry Potter, one of few blockbusters to come from them. They are downplayed, mostly playing the eccentric professors at Hogwarts School, the entire cast staying on for all eight movies with the exception of Richard Harris, who passed away after the second film, replaced by Michael Gambon. The franchise is defined by its critical consistency, with the earlier installments owing their power to the older actors. For the sheer enormity of this cast of all casts, Harry Potter couldn’t have been any lower than number two.

1.      Inception

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine

Inception’s risks may be a lot more prominent in its storytelling, but it’s the cast that carries the most weight in pulling off Christopher Nolan’s dimensional sci-fi actioneer. With the exception of Dom, the rest of the characters are simply built as plot devices to make Nolan’s world of dreams more comprehensible. I applaud the supporting actors- particularly Gordon-Levitt and Ellen Page, for not only accomplishing the task, but also making the whole thing believable. These characters are given no exposition or depth, but are so human that their characters are impossible not to like. Credit also goes to Tom Hardy, the film’s scene-stealer (“don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling”). The actors have easy chemistry and produce charm in addition to the calculating cool that composes Nolan’s script.

Honorable Mentions: Mamma Mia!, Lord of the Rungs, Moonrise Kingdom,  Hairspray, The Expendables, Inglorious Basterds, Red, Crash, and X-Men

Did you agree with our choices? What would you have added?

Maggie Grace (Bryan’s daughter) and Famke Janssen (Ex-wife) play a more prominent part in this sequel, creating a better sense of Bryan’s personal affairs. This adds to his already developed character.Although can anyone take a 60 year old man who is looking past it seriously? Managing to fight off and out run multiple henchmen is taking the “suspend your disbelief” idea too far. Not to mention the teen daughter managing to drive like she’s in the Italian Job…

With a 12A rating, opposed to Taken’s 15, Taken 2 feels a lot less gritty and a lot less substantial. The quick editing cutaways used to dodge any strong violence or blood shown simply takes away everything we loved from the first film. Taken 2 is simply a dull experience that deserved only to go straight to DvD.

Sci-Fi is hardly to everyones taste. However, Looper is such a finely tuned fim that no matter your genre preference you will almost certainly get a buzz. The tightly put together screenplay will not only raise your heart rate and pull emotional strings, it will consistently produce questions where there are endless answers.

Josepth Gordon-Levitt acting alongside Bruce Willis is an unexpected delight. The pair share a lot of chemistry and infuse this thriller with something special. Although Willis has been once again typecast into the all out shooting “badass”, you won’t feel like you’re watching another Die Hard wannabe.  Support cast include Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels and Paul Dano; all bringing this film to life.

Rian Johnson has certainly given something spectacular to 2012, which was much needed may I add. Looper raises the bar for sci-fi and is on par with the likes of Nolan’s Inception, which received endless praise. Will we be seeing this at the Academy Awards? It’s difficult to say seeing we have months of titles yet to be released, but one thing’sfor sure, Looper is an incredible experience.