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Thursday, January 3, 2013
2012 Denver Film Critics Society Awards Nominations – “Argo,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Django Unchained,” “The Master,” and more!
As a member of the
Denver Film Critics Society,
I had the chance to participate in something very exciting this year: Voting in our third annual DFCS Awards. Earlier this week, members were asked to send in ballots in each of the 12 categories, providing five ranked nominations for each. Today, the official nominations for the DFCS Awards have been released, and I am proud to provide them here, with a bit of my own commentary as well as my official vote for each.
The winners will be announced next week, on January 8
th
, and I will publish another article then. For now, take a look at our nominations. I think they are a pretty healthy set of nominees, and I am surprised to see how many of my own picks got nods.
Read more after the jump…
Best Film
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Django Unchained
I honestly did not think
Django Unchained
would show up here, but as it is my favorite film of the year, I am overjoyed it made the cut. Also very happy to have
Silver Linings Playbook,
a movie I like more and more each time I watch it. I do not like
Argo
nearly as much as my colleagues, but it is a good film, and I have no major objections to its presence. I just hope one of the other nominees is the eventual winner.
My vote:
Django Unchained
Best Achievement in Directing
Ben Affleck,
Argo
Kathryn Bigelow,
Zero Dark Thirty
Paul Thomas Anderson,
The Master
None of these directors were on my personal ballot, but I had a tough time leaving Kathryn Bigelow’s marvelous work on
Zero Dark Thirty
off, so I am perfectly happy to see her here. I feel both
Argo
and
The Master
are vastly overrated movies, but both are very well directed, so I have no major objections to this category, even if it would have been nice to see David O. Russell or Quentin Tarantino make the cut.
Best Lead Performance by an Actor, Male
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Lincoln
John Hawkes,
The Sessions
Denzel Washington, Flight
The only person here who was not on my ballot is John Hawkes, but I have no qualms with his inclusion. His work in
The Sessions
is phenomenal, and absolutely stands as one of the best performances of the year. Day-Lewis was probably a given, but I am glad to see Denzel Washington represented for his career-best work in
Flight.
My vote:
Daniel Day-Lewis,
Lincoln
Best Lead Performance by an Actor, Female
Jennifer Lawrence,
Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain,
Zero Dark Thirty
Quvenzhane Wallis,
Beasts of the Southern Wild
A great category, and I am not just saying that because all three of these leading ladies were on my personal ballot. All three are prospective Oscar nominees, and justifiably so. These are three tremendous performances, and whoever we ultimately give our award to will be completely deserving.
My vote:
Jennifer Lawrence,
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Performance by an Actor, Male
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
The Master
Tommy Lee Jones,
Lincoln
Robert De Niro,
Silver Linings Playbook
Another strong field, and another where two of my favorites – De Niro and Jones – made the cut. I did not personally vote for Hoffman, but he is certainly a worthy inclusion, whatever my reservations about
The Master
may be.
My vote:
Robert De Niro,
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Performance by an Actor, Female
Anne Hathaway
, Les Miserables
Amy Adams,
The Master
Sally Field,
Lincoln
I am one of the very few who felt a bit underwhelmed by Sally Field’s work in
Lincoln –
I found her to be a bit too over-the-top in contrast to her more subtle fellow performers – but Adams and Hathaway were at the top of my ballot, and I like this category a lot overall.
My vote:
Anne Hathaway
, Les Miserables
Best Animated Feature
ParaNorman
Frankenweenie
Wreck-It Ralph
All three were on my ballot, and each are very good to great movies in their own right. All would be deserving winners, but I would like to see
Wreck-It Ralph
get the win. It is one of Disney’s very best films.
My vote:
Wreck-It Ralph
Best Original Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino,
Django Unchained
Paul Thomas Anderson
, The Master
Wes Anderson,
Moonrise Kingdom
A field of three genuine auteurs. I am very glad that my personal favorite,
Django Unchained,
has a shot at the win, and though I did not vote for it,
Moonrise Kingdom
is a wonderful screenplay worthy of recognition. I would argue with the inclusion of
The Master –
the screenplay is the source of all the film’s problems – but the other two scripts would make great winners.
My vote:
Quentin Tarantino,
Django Unchained
Best Adapted Screenplay
David O. Russell,
Silver Linings Playbook
Chris Terrio,
Argo
Stephen Chbosky,
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I am surprised and happy to see
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
here, a tremendous script that has been overlooked by other groups. I would love for either it or
Silver Linings Playbook
to win, though I personally favor the latte a tad more. I know I am in the minority in being underwhelmed by
Argo,
so I will not quibble with its inclusion. It is a well-written film as well, though I do not believe it stacks up to the other two choices.
My vote:
David O. Russell,
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Documentary Feature
Bully
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Samsara
This category is a pleasant surprise, as these were my exact top three picks on my nomination ballot. All are worthy of a win, but I like
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
the most, as it is the most unique, creative, and thematically resonant of the lot.
My vote:
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Best Original Song
“Skyfall” from
Skyfall
“Suddenly” from
Les Miserables
“When Can I See You Again?” from
Wreck-It Ralph
The inclusion of the decidedly mediocre “When Can I See You Again?” at the cost of any of the original songs from
Django Unchained
is a real head-scratcher, but I cannot argue with the other two picks. “Skyfall” made by ballot with ease, and “Suddenly” missed by just a hair. I would love to see Adele win this one.
My vote:
“Skyfall” from
Skyfall
Best Original Score
Hans Zimmer,
The Dark Knight Rises
John Williams,
Lincoln
Alexandre Desplat,
Argo
There are some conspicuous omissions here – Howard Shore and
The Hobbit
should have been an obvious choice – but Williams, Desplat, and Zimmer are all perfectly deserving, even if
Argo
was probably only Desplat’s fourth or fifth best score of the year (
Moonrise Kingdom
and
Zero Dark Thirty
were better Desplat scores, just to name a few). I give Zimmer the edge here.
My vote:
Hans Zimmer,
The Dark Knight Rises
Best Non-English Language Feature
Amour
The Intouchables
Holy Motors
This is a category I am, I regret to say, less than qualified to vote in, as I was unable to see many foreign films this year.
The Intouchables
slipped under my radar over the summer, and I never had the chance to see
Amour,
so the only title here I watched is
Holy Motors.
I still give it my vote, though, as it is a truly singular, brilliant motion picture deserving of recognition. In any case, from what I know about
Amour
and
The Intouchables,
this is a strong category with three more than viable winners.
My vote:
Holy Motors
Winners for the 2013 Denver Film Critics Society Awards will be announced January 8
th
, and I will have an article with those winners published both here and at We Got This Covered.
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