Menken at the Top

Posted today at The Film Experience is my rundown on a great overlooked story lost in all the Social Network vs. King's Speech hoopla. Living musical legend Alan Menken has a great chance of tying the all time win record with his nominated song from Tangled representing a ninth potential Oscar. 

Head over there to for a rundown of the record in question including a list of the precious few people who have reached the Oscar heights Menken has, plus the dicey topic of whether or not he should get credit for the record or if a certain Oscar-hogging family entertainment icon should be #1.

Mandy Moore and Alan Menken collaborate on his Oscar nominated "I See the Light"

Notes From Film School: The Passion of Joan of Arc

An inevitable part of being a film lover is getting accused of being a snob. One day you can't stifle a groan when family pops Date Night into the DVD player when you really wanted to watch  The White Ribbon and you're done for. Snob for life.

You get used to it. You steer conversation to common ground. Recommend your parents go see The King's Speech because you don't want to catch grief for recommending Black Swan. That's fine. You don't hold it against non-film folks. But when you get hit with it from a supposed fellow cinephile - that's disheartening.

You would think, for example, that a film studies course would be a safe haven to celebrate the great masterpieces of early cinema history without folks turning up their noses at movies for having the gall to not be in color. As our intrepid film school correspondent discovered, film school is just as likely as the local Mega-plex to be a safe haven for Philistines:

The Passion of Joan of Arc got some interesting comments this week. We were unfortunate enough to have only had the pleasure of seeing the last 20 minutes of this film (We watched several different films and film segments including Dali’s Un Chien Andalou, Disney’s Steamboat Willie and two clips from Ganz’s Napoleon). Still, within those 20 minutes there was more griping and bellyaching than I would've though possible from a group of college students. Possibly the most annoyed (and annoying) of the group was an animator sitting behind me, huffing and puffing as if his sighs could quicken the flames consuming our tragic hero.

Hard not to get depressed when you encounter this kind of childish impatience in the presence of absolute greatness. Carl Dreyer's Joan of Arc is a film so far ahead of its time that the rest of cinema still hasn't caught up. It is the rare work that exists apart from film history, above it. No other film has ever managed to imitate its other-worldly style, its unique deployment of the language of cinema. It also features, in Falconetti's Joan, one of the great monuments of screen acting. Reading about people, film students no less, rolling their eyes through Joan's execution is like hearing of aspiring painters responding to the Sistine Chapel with "Pfft. If he was so great why didn't he put the picture where I wouldn't have to turn my neck?

Our correspondent continues:

Apart from the complainers were several people who could appreciate the incredibly composed portraits that make up the film. As my professor said, "[he] could take any still from this film, frame it, and be completely content having it sit on a wall in [his] home." Aside from maybe the pyre scenes, I completely agree. In fact, the imagery in this film has invigorated my photographic eye and inspired me to strive for compositions within my work as compelling as what Dreyer achieves. 

There is no one test for aspiring artists where you can say, "You must love this or you are not an artist." I know countless people with fine taste who have claimed that Citizen Kane did nothing for them. For me that film has always been Godard's Breathless. I can appreciate its innovations and I can recognize why others would have such a emotional reaction (I had such a reaction to Godard's My Life to Live) but try as I might it just never get it to provoke such a response in me.

But, at the risk of going full-tilt snob, one doesn't have to love Dreyer, but if you are a film student who feels nothing when presented with The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) then in my book that's a big red flag next to your name. You can't call yourself a cinephile while slouching in your chair with hipster detachment, waiting impatiently through the likes of Lang and Wilder and Murnau for film history to catch up with Tarantino. I could sugarcoat it, but that's the way it is.

Previous Notes From Film School
Pandora's Box

The Anti-Streep

Yesterday in the wake of the inexcusable snubbing of Tilda Swinton's performance in I Am Love I suggested that she is becoming the Anti-Streep, and the more I think about it the more sense it makes.

This goes beyond the annual post-nomination bitch n' moan. Swinton has in the last two years put up performances in Julia and Love that were arguably the best of their years. They go on a list with such recent landmarks in screen acting as Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood and Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. Yet these two works were barely in the conversation for the top five.

The usual the "films are too small" excuse for missing work like this doesn't hold water this time. The Academy has become very indie savvy in recent years and the size of films didn't prevent them from nominating the likes of Precious, Maria Full of Grace, or Frozen River to name but a few.

With Swinton, an established star, headlining these projects they should have demanded voters at least give them a fair hearing. Yet it's hard to imagine these films being seen and still missing out. No, voters ignored her with the same zeal in which they will seek out an excuse to nominate Streep's performances no matter what the source (Music of the Heart? Good enough for us!) She has a resume of unnominated work over the past two decades that can go toe-to-toe with Streeps nominated roll call, and in some instances surpass it.

"But wait!" I can hear people saying. "She won in '08 for Michael Clayton!"

You would think this contradicts my point but actually it proves it. Just as Streep is occasionally and inexplicably ignored, as she was for The Hours, so too did the Academy wake up for one ceremony and realize the world class actress that had been staring them in the face all this time. Then it was right back to overlooking her.

Meryl is currently gearing up to play Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady followed by a performance in the lead role of the film adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winning play August: Osage County. Casting Streep in these roles is a degree or two shy of just showing up to the ceremony with a gun and taking the Oscars.

Swinton is following up her two epic performances with a role that certainly has the potential to be a third: playing the lead in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay's first feature since her fantastic Morvern Callar provided Samantha Morton with once-in-a-career showcase nine years ago.

No doubt the Oscars will be sent out to the engravers in the late Summer to save time getting Streep's name attached, while at the same time film writers everywhere are typing their fingers bloody begging voters to consider Swinton's work. No matter. I suppose the Universe has to balance itself out somehow and if that means Swinton is going to be the darker overlooked Yin to Streep's gold-plated Yang then that's fine with me. Just as long as I keep getting performances from Tilda of this amazing caliber.

Views Askew

Growing up watching and enjoying the films of Kevin Smith in high school and college I never would have guessed what a figure of controversy he would become. Smith was something of a local hero for me and friends growing up in New Jersey not far from Smith's home base of Red Bank. It seemed then like the would just go on indefinitely making his modestly scaled comedies for his appreciative fans and laughing off internet criticism.

But after ten years of failed attempts at mainstream crossover success Smith is one of the most polarizing figures in movies.  He draws some vitriol out of all proportion from his detractors while at the same time hitting back on the record the way few in the business are willing to do.

Now he has caused a big stir at the current Sundance Film Festival, pulling a publicity stunt that stepped on a lot of toes and rejecting the entire independent movie business to strike out on his own with his new film Red State personally shepherding from town like the road company production of Wicked.

I give my take on the whole thing over at The Film Experience check it out and chime in with your own thoughts. I'm having trouble sorting through the whole mess. On the one hand, I've always found it hard to be to tough on a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve as guilelessly as he does in Jersey Girl. On the other, Smith was all over the place in his speech. I'm curious what everybody thinks.

Oscar Nominations: The Good, The Bad, The Trivial

The Good

First and foremost kudos to the Academy for a best picture line up free of terrible choices. Sure this ten is far from my ideal. Another Year is to my mind a far superior film to The Kids Are All Right, and Luca Guadagnino's I Am Love blows about half this list away for sheer cinematic sweep, but honestly, it's ten respectable choices. No Blind Side to completely call their judgement into question. No Chocolat to embarrass voters with their susceptibility to ad campaigns. Even their weakest choice in my book, The King's Speech, is a far richer effort to previous feel-good fluff like Finding Neverland or Seabiscuit. So it's ten good to great films I would have no hesitation recommending to a friend. Bravo.

Special pat on the back to Academy voters for digging deep for worthy choices that could have easily been overlooked. John Hawkes' and Jackie Weaver's chilling supporting work in Winter's Bone and Animal Kingdom respectively. The deeply moving The Illusionist over popular and fun Tangled. Hereafter's briefly employed but utterly convincing special effects work.

It's about time - Mark Ruffalo and Christian Bale finally grabbed first Oscar nominations although they should each be on their third or fourth. Better late than never I suppose.

I called it! -  I nailed the complete best picture line up. Not all that impressive, but The Town did have a good run with the precursors and many went for it. I went 5/5 with Score, spotted the Tangled snub in Animated Feature, The Coens for Best Director, John Hawkes making it in,  The Tempest for costumes, Hereafter for effects. Then there's this call which I believe I was the first to make last July.

I missed it - I was this close to picking Bardem over Duvall, but chickened out at the last minute. That will teach me to underestimate the star of Eat, Pray, Love. I also wrongly thought Kids Are All Right would grab the rare double lead nomination.

Let's enjoy Pixar's amazing run of quality before it drives off a cliff with Cars 2. Pixar got its second consecutive Best Picture nomination, only the third ever for an animated film. If there were ten nominations earlier is there any doubt that they would now be on their fourth nomination with WALL-E and Ratatouille surely making the ten of those years. They also nabbed their 7th nomination for best original screenplay. 

Wildly entertaining Exit Through the Gift Shop nominated for Best Documentary over "important" but sloppy and quesitonable Waiting for Superman. I didn't even dare to hope for it.

Apparentally Julia Roberts is to Oscars what Oprah is to book stores. Whatever you say, Your Majesty. Roberts was a vocal advocate for Javier Bardem's work in Biutiful and lo, the sure to be overlooked performance sideswipes Robert Duvall out of the top five. Mind you I'm not criticizing. I think it would be nice if more celebrities were outspoken about worthy work floating under the radar. You could have contenders collecting endorsements the way presidential contenders collect governors and senators. So, good for Pretty Woman, but would it have killed her to tell everyone to go see I Am Love

The Bad

I'll spare everyone the griping about snubs except to note that Tilda Swinton has now delivered back to back performances which I think could each arguably be called the best of their year and they have both been roundly ignored. She's becoming the Anti-Streep.

Category fraud wins again with Steinfeld and Rush muscling out two slots in the supporting category for what are undeniably lead performances.

Alice in Wonderland wins nominations for its sets and costumes despite the fact that said sets and costumes are hideous. I guess if every second of screen time screams "Look at these sets and costumes!" then that gets a nomination even if they are creative disasters. Meanwhile the clever and original art direction of, say, Scott Pilgrim is ignored. It's hard to believe one category can hold both the brilliantly subtle costumes of I Am Love and the nightmare laundry piles of Alice.

Not so much a snub as the most mishandled Oscar campaign in recent memory. A nomination for Lesley Manville's heartbreaking work in Another Year was totally doable. It had the critical acclaim and Mike Leigh's actor have often had good luck with Oscar, egregious Sally Hawkins snub notwithstanding. Then she was inexplicably pushed for lead when supporting was the obvious place to go. Result: category confusion and actresses with bigger roles lead to one of the year's best having her name go unread this morning.

This practice of nominating Best Picture frontrunners in editing just because has to stop. Can someone explain to me what was exceptional about the completely ordinary editing of The King's Speech? Nothing against it, the editing does exactly what it needs to do. But did voters really compare the accomplishment of Speech versus the multi-tiered assembly of Inception or the scrambled chronology of Blue Valentine or even the long languorous sighs of Somewhere?

Trivia

3 out of 5 of last year's best actor nominees are back - Firth, Renner, and Bridges. Bridges will be the first man to attempt back-to-back Oscar wins since Russell Crowe just missed in '01 with A Beautiful Mind.

Toy Story 3 is the first sequel nominated for picture when its predecessors were not.

Mark Wahlberg actually landed his second nomination today, as a producer on The Fighter.

2nd time Bardem has been nominated for a mostly or entirely subtitled performances. The only other people to achieve this feat are Marcello Mastroianni (3 times), Liv Ulmann, Isabelle Adjani, and Sophia Loren

This is Aaron Sorkin's first Oscar nomination despite 4 Golden Globe nominations for screenwriting and 6 Emmy nominations.

After Gangs of New York put the whole "Scorsese must be honored!" idea in the Academy's head it looks like the voters have that out of their system. After finally awarding Scorsese for The Departed,  Shutter Island is the first Scorsese film to get totally shut out since Bringing Out the Dead in '99.

True Grit is the first western nominated for Best Picture since Unforgiven in '92, although some people count Brokeback Mountain for reasons I don't understand.

In addition to being the highest grossing Coen brothers film to date, True Grit is now their most nominated, it's ten nominations besting their previous record of eight for No Country for Old Men. Bridges and Steinfeld became the fifth and sixth actors nominated for a Coen film.

Aronofsky has now had his third lead nominated after making only five films. Look out for Jackman as The Wolverine in '12. No, seriously.

Impressive Nomination Tallies










20th - Randy Newman
19th - Alan Menken
13th - The Coen Brothers - their 5th for writing, still 11 shy of Woody Allen's record of 14
9th - Hans Zimmer, Colleen Atwood, Sandy Powell, Roger Deakins (Still without a win)
7th - Mike Leigh, John Lasseter
6th - Jeff Bridges
4th - Geoffrey Rush, Annette Bening, Scott Rudin


The complete list of nominations can be seen here.

If I Had a Ballot

Best Picture

1. Black Swan
2. The Social Network
3. I Am Love
4. The Fighter
5. Toy Story 3
6. Four Lions
7. Somewhere
8. Blue Valentine
9. The Ghost Writer
10. Another Year

Full Ballot After the Break

Complete Oscar Predictions

Picture

Alternate: The Town
Potential Surprise: The Ghost Writer
Overlooked: Somewhere

Director

Alternate: David O. Russell for The Fighter

Potential Surprise: Debra Granik for Winter's Bone
Overlooked: Derek Cianfrance for Blue Valentine

Lead Actor

Alternate: Javier Bardem for Biutiful

Potential Surprise: Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter
Overlooked: Ben Stiller for Greenberg
Lead Actor: Close Up

Lead Actress

Alternate: Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine
Potential Surprise: Tilda Swinton for I Am Love
Overlooked: Greta Gerwig for Greenberg
Lead Actress: Close Up

Supporting Actor

Alternate: Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right
Potential Surprise: Justin Timberlake for The Social Network
Overlooked: Vincent Cassel for Black Swan
Supporting Actor: Close Up

Supporting Actress

Alternate: Mila Kunis for Black Swan
Potential Surprise: Olivia Williams for The Ghost Writer
Overlooked: Rooney Mara for The Social Network
Supporting Actress: Close Up

Original Screenplay

Alternate: Another Year

Potential Surprise: Please Give

Overlooked: I Am Love

Adapted Screenplay

Alternate: 127 Hours

Potential Surprise: Shutter Island

Overlooked Contender: I Love You Philip Morris 

Adapted Screenplay: Close Up

  Cinematography

Alternate: The King's Speech

Potential Surprise: Never Let Me Go 

Overlooked: I Am Love

Cinematography: Close Up

Art Direction

Alternate: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Potential Surprise: Robin Hood

Overlooked: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Art Direction: Close Up

Editing

Alternate: The Fighter

Potential Surprise: Salt

Overlooked: Exit Through the Gift Shop

Costume Design

Alternate: Burlesque

Potential Surprise: Tron: Legacy

Overlooked: Centurion

Sound Mixing

Alternate: 127 Hours

Potential Surprise: How To Train Your Dragon

Overlooked: I Am Love

Sound Effects Editing 

Alternate: Iron Man 2

Potential Surprise: Robin Hood

Overlooked: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Score

Alternate: Alice in Wonderland

Potential Surprise: Tron: Legacy

Overlooked: Let Me In

Score: Close Up

Best Song

Alternate: Coming Home from Country Strong

Potential Surprise: Never Say Never from The Karate Kid

Overlooked: Beans, Bangers and Mash from Get Him to the Greek

Make Up

Alternate: Barney's Version

Potential Surprise: Jonah Hex

Overlooked: Black Swan

Visual Effects

Alternate: Alice in Wonderland

Potential Surprise: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Overlooked: The Social Network

Animated Film

Alternate: Tangled

Potential Surprise: My Dog Tulip 

Category Close Up: Adapted Screenplay

PREDICTION

The Social Network - The easiest call of the night. As good as all the other elements of Social Network are, Sorkin's script is the star of the show. There is barely a scene that goes by without a classic line. Come Oscar night he will have an Oscar to go with his Golden Globe and 6 Emmy's.
Toy Story 3 - Pixar has a great track record in this category scoring nominations for 6 out of their last ten films. This massively popular film isn't going to break the streak, especially with the writing getting lots attention due to a number of widely discussed scenes.

True Grit - The Coens will very likely add a fifth career nomination for writing to their total. and if it weren't for Sorkin they'd have a better than decent chance of adding a third trophy now that they have their first box office smash. They have a ways to go to match Woody Allen's record of fourteen nominations but if anyone's going to get there it's these guys.
The Town - The shakiest of these five. The Town is a popular favorite but I doubt it's going to come in first on a lot of ballots. But Affleck is a former winner for writing, don't forget, and I'm betting this has enough juice to beat back the competition.
Winter's Bone - Over the Summer this was looking like an Indie Spirit contender at best, but word of mouth spread and the critics rallied at the end of the year to make sure this didn't get overlooked.

CONTENDERS

127 Hours - Here's where I think the decreasing excitement is going to cost Boyle's film. On first viewing I thought this would get in on the inventive ways Boyle makes the static situation exciting for two hours. But since it's mostly gotten talked up as an achievement of director and actor I think it's going to just miss out here.

The Ghost Writer - Supporters have been trying to push this one into contention all awards season with minimal success. It could still surprise here but if it couldn't pull a Writer's Guild nomination with Winter's Bone and Toy Story out of competition I can't see it pulling one out here.
How to Train Your Dragon - It was looking like a strong contender when it got surprising strong reviews but now Toy Story stole the animated film thunder and it got drowned out by the year end rush of competition. I still wouldn't call it out of the question, but it would be a stunner.
Shutter Island - Scorsese's psychological thriller didn't get the big support of his last few films but it does have a passionate fan base. With Social Network dominating the ballots that leaves room for a wild card to sneak in.
Rabbit Hole - If audiences hadn't been scared off by the heavy subject matter they might have found a script filled with unexpected humor and admirable restraint. I feel it would have been a sure bet if it managed to reach audiences but as it stands I don't see a way this breaks in.

WORTHY WITHOUT BUZZ

I Love You Philip Morris - Way, way too l casual with it's sexuality for Oscar's tastes, as well as being too small and comedic. Too bad since it attacks this complicated material with energy and clever construction.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Not perfect, but a well-judged adaption from its source material. Picks and chooses from the graphic novel to great effect and it hangs together well as a single story. Never feels simultaneously too rushed and not enough like a certain popular fantasy franchise I could name

IF I HAD A BALLOT

Other Category Close Ups

Lead Actor

Lead Actress

Supporting Actor

Supporting Actress

Art Direction

Cinematography

Score

Category Close Up: Lead Actor

PREDICTION

Jeff Bridges for True Grit - The Screen Actors Guild nomination confirmed it. Bridges is in. He will be the first man to attempt back to back Oscar wins since Russell Crowe just missed for A Beautiful Mind in 2001. The only lock in the category is Firth but runaway box office success helps The Dude look pretty secure. Bonus point for making an iconic role his own, but deduct points for noisy detractors of the film and for those who complain Bridges' Rooster crossed the line from gruff to indecipherable.

Robert Duvall for Get Low - I went back and forth between Duvall and Bardem for this slot but finally settled on Duvall due to his living legend status and the showiness of the part. Add to the fact that Get Low has had since last Summer to find an audience while Biutiful is presumably relying on screeners over the last month, and I think Mr. Duvall holds on to the last spot. Maybe not a major role in the scope of Duvall's career, but it's fun and who doesn't want to have Duvall back at the ceremony?

Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network - Eisenberg looked like a long shot upon the release of this flick. Sure he absolutely kills but the role is so much the opposite of what usually gets nominated for Lead Actor. Much like the story of the nerd who makes himself an unlikely celebrity, Eisenberg takes the traditionally supporting character - not heroic, cerebral, difficult - and reinvents him as a leading man. I would stop just short of calling him a lock, since I can still conceive of him suffering a Paul Giamatti in Sideways fate, but I think he had it in the bag as soon as the "Do I have your full attention?" scene ended.

Colin Firth for The King's Speech - If Firth wins the Oscar for his sensitive portrayal of King George VI as everyone expects him to, it will complete one of the smoothest runs to victory I've ever seen. Firth became the presumed frontrunner for Best Actor as soon as buzz about Speech first broke out and no one's been able to lay a glove on him yet. A combination of incredibly bait-y material, built up affection from last year's A Single Man, and Firth actually delivering on the hype with a masterful performance.

James Franco for 127 Hours - Excitement for Danny Boyle's stylish survival tale has cooled off a lot since its release, but that shouldn't keep Franco from landing his first acting nod. Much like how Will Smith was able to grab a nomination even after the sinking of Michael Mann's Ali due to admiration of his achievement, I don't think Hour's deflating buzz has dimmed the respect voters have for Franco's deeply moving one man show. Count him in.

CONTENDERS

Javier Bardem for Biutiful - Bardem is indisputably one of the finest actors working today and all who have seen him here rave about it, including some very high profile supporters. Trouble is "all who have seen it" may be a very select group, indeed. The studio's barely there release of the film may have sunk Bardem's shot for a third nomination. This snub that may reflect pretty poorly on the Academy in years to come.

Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine - Another strong possibility for an upset that I fear is going to come up just shy of the top five. Gosling's fantastic performance in Half Nelson was good enough to grab an unexpected nomination in '06 but I think his equally searing work will miss out. Gosling is going to be punished for the twin sins of being unlikable in the future half of the film and because Valentine followed the same inexplicable "Let's not give people a chance to see the film" eleventh hour release pattern as Biutiful. Stop that, studios! That only works for one or two films a year. Okay if you've got True Grit by the Coens and everyone will make a point of seeing it. Otherwise you're just going to get glossed over. End of rant.

Leonardo DiCaprio for Shutter Island - Leo is definitely going to lose points because of Shutter's fevered over-the-top tone, but inside the swirl of melodrama DiCaprio is actually giving one his best performances to date. It will also suffer for playing better on a second viewing most voters won't get around to. Despite the great Oscar track record of the Leo/Marty collaborations that only ever extended to Leo once, with The Aviator. A real dark horse.

Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter - Can't count out the lead in a film this popular, but true to the film's story, Wahlberg can't grab the spotlight away from his attention-grabbing co-stars. Quiet and introspective already has a hard enough time getting nominated when it isn't mixed into an ensemble acting up a storm. Too bad since Wahlberg's quiet work rises to the occasion as the center of the storm.

Paul Giamatti for Barney's Version - Giamatti just won the Globe for this and it although I had a sharp dislike for the film I won't say it was undeserved. On the contrary, Giamatti puts in an heroic effort to make this scattershot story watchable and make his thoroughly unpleasant lead come off as lovable. I'd call it a noble failure on both fronts but it's through no fault of the Giamatti's. 1000 to 1 odds.

WORTHY WITHOUT BUZZ

Stephen Dorff for Somewhere - If Oscar prefers to nominate big and showy over subtle then work this minimalist doesn't have a shot in Hell. Too bad since Dorff is totally present as this guy in every moment of the film, and isn't the point that we're not supposed to be aware of the actor acting?

Ben Stiller for Greenberg - After showing everyone he had big time dramatic chops in Permanent Midnight twelve years ago, Stiller waited until 2010 to reminded everyone. His work in Greenberg is fearless playing one of the least likable characters in recent memory. Of course that abrasive misanthropy is going to keep him from getting within a mile of Oscar but it serves the role brilliantly. I'd go so far as to call it Stiller's finest, most complete performance to date.

Jim Carrey for I Love You Philip Morris - I think this inevitable snub puts Carrey on the list of the all time great un-nominated careers along with the likes of Maureen O'Hara and Edward G. Robinson. In fairness, this role would be a tough sell for any actor since the character is unapologetically cheerfully gay without being a saintly martyr like the Oscars prefers its gay characters. Carrey is a force in the role, big without being false, taking on a variety of surfaces without being inconsistent underneath. It's work worth honoring

Aaron Echkart for Rabbit Hole - Somehow Nicole Kidman has dominated praise for the film while Eckhart's equally moving work has become something of an afterthought. I am baffled by the workings of the Oscar Hive Mind. Maybe somebody can explain the logic of this to me in the comments.

IF I HAD A BALLOT

Full disclosure: Much to my aggravation I haven't managed to see Bardem's work in Biutiful prior to this post. I reserve the right to bump Leo off this ballot once I see the film when it opens in NYC on the 28th.

Other Category Close Ups

Lead Actress
Art Direction

Cinematography 

Score

Supporting Actress

Supporting Actor