The 2012 RyMickey Awards - Best Supporting Actor

As is the trend this year, I wasn't really blown away by any Supporting Actor nominations.  While I like everyone on this list, this list was screaming for a stand-out bravura performance and it didn't quite achieve that this year.  In fact, I think this category (despite eleven men listed below) is actually the most disappointing overall this year.

Once again, you'll notice only two Oscar nominees below with winner Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Alan Arkin (Argo), and Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) not finding placement here, however, I found Waltz and Hoffman's performances to be more lead than supporting anyway.

Best Supporting Actor of 2012

Also in the running...
Jim Broadbent - Cloud Atlas
Rob Corddry - Butter

Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook

Honorable Mentions

#8 - Eddie Redmayne - Les Miserables

"...a standout in the ensemble who has a lovely voice and is also granted a Hathaway/Fantine-like moment at the film's conclusion with the song "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables..."

#7 - William H. Macy - The Sessions

"...[Macy] provides simple, yet thoughtful work as Mark's priest/friend..."

#6 - Michael Fassbender - Prometheus

"...Fassbender continues on with his excellent string of work with the robotic David.  Even  lacking the ability to show emotions, [he] still manages to draw your eye to him...thanks to the underlying (and sometimes not so underlying) menace his character exudes."

And the Top Five...

#5 - James Badge Dale - Flight

James Badge Dale is on screen in Flight for less than ten minutes.  Yet, as a cancer patient who stumbles across Whip who was recently injured in a plane crash and Nicole who recently overdosed (played by Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly respectively) in a hospital stairwell, he's part of one of the most emotional moments of the film as the trio speaks openly about life, death, faith, love, and fear. We never even learn the name of this character, but his screen time is incredibly memorable.

#4 - Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Jones' role as conservative senator Thaddeus Stevens is understated, yet strong.  With his more "down home" qualities compared to the eloquence of Lincoln's speeches, it provides a nice counterpart for the film.

#3 - Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike

In my review of Magic Mike, I said McConaughey was a strong presence, but I wasn't sold on his awards-worthiness.  The fact that he shows up here gives credence to my statement above that this category really failed to blow me away.  The fact of the matter is, comedic roles are a bit more difficult to garner any awards traction and while my awards fare a bit better than the Oscars, they still don't quite garner the respect they deserve.  McConaughey was a fun presence and in a weaker year, that's all that it takes to get a top five placement.

#2 - Javier Bardem - Skyfall

Javier Bardem doesn't make an appearance in Skyfall until about ninety minutes in, but when he pops up he reinvigorates the film.  He capitalizes on the humor that sometimes comes with an over-the-top Machiavellian supervillain and his Raoul Silva is dripping with slimy gusto.

#1 - Ewan McGregor - The Impossible

With The Impossible, Ewan McGregor gives the best performance I've seen from him.  Faced with the pain of being separated from his eldest son and his wife, there's a scene where McGregor breaks down that won him this top spot.  A fantastic performance that becomes even richer upon repeated viewings.

Previous RyMickey Award Winners

2011

2010

2009

The 2012 RyMickey Awards - Breakthrough Award

The Breakthrough Award is always the category most open to "cheating."  Some of the nominees/winners may have been around for years, but this just happened to be the year they really came into their own.

Breakthrough Award 2012

Honorable Mentions

#7 - Dane DeHaan - Chronicle, Lawless, Lincoln

#6 - Samantha Barks - Les Miserables

And the Top Five are...

#5 - Zoe Kazan

Ruby Sparks

A very nice actor/writer turn in Ruby Sparks shows Ms. Kazan's not only someone to watch in front of but also behind the camera.

#4 - Tom Holland

The Impossible

Carrying an effects heavy film on his shoulders that also required him to show his dramatic chops, Tom Holland made a fantastic feature film debut.  I imagine they'll be more to come from this young kid.

#3 - Logan Lerman

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Here's hoping Logan Lerman can use Perks as a bouncing off point to sink his teeth into some more dramatic roles.

#2 - Rebel Wilson

Pitch Perfect, Bachelorette

This pains me a bit because I'm not a fan of Rebel Wilson, but 2012 was certainly the year that put her on the map.  I worry that her shtick will run old quickly.  (I'm looking at you, Melissa McCarthy, who landed on last year's list and has already worn out her welcome.)

#1 - Channing Tatum

21 Jump Street, Magic Mike, Haywire

Channing Tatum's been around in film for nearly a decade, but 2012 was the year of the Tatum.  Also appearing in the romance The Vow (which I avoided), Tatum excelled at comedy (21 Jump Street), drama (Magic Mike), and action (Haywire) and turned from just a pretty face to a decent actor.  A note: it took quite a bit to find an image of Tatum with his shirt and/or pants on to post above.

Previous RyMickey Award Winners

2011

2010

2009

Movie Review - Killer Joe

Killer Joe (2012)

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, June Temple, Thomas Haden Church, and Gina Gershon

Directed by William Friedkin

My experience with Tracy Letts's screenplays and plays has been mixed so far.  I was one of the few people I know who found the Ashley Judd-Michael Shannon 2006 flick Bug a frightening psychological horror flick (it's streaming on Netflix for those interested).  However, when I saw his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning August: Osage County onstage (soon to be a movie with Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts), I found the whole thing to be a bloated soap opera.  [I also recently saw Mr. Letts act in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and he was quite good.]  I'd heard good things about Killer Joe and was eagerly looking forward to checking out the film and I'm pleased to say I wasn't disappointed in the twisted trailer park crime tale.

When Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) runs into a bit of trouble with his drug dealer, he figures that an easy way out of his predicament is to kill his own mother for her life insurance policy.  Seeing as how she just recently kicked him out of her house, Chris figures offing her might not be a bad idea.  When he discovers that his younger sister Dottie (Juno Temple) is the sole beneficiary of his mother's policy (despite the fact that Dottie hasn't had anything to do with her mother for years), Chris manages to get both Dottie and his father Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) onboard with the plan.  However, seeing as how neither Chris nor Ansel has any experience killing someone, they decide to hire a hitman named Killer Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a somewhat sleazy cop who performs decidedly criminal work on the side.  When Joe demands $25,000 up front for the deed, Chris and Ansel are unable to come up with the money, so, as collateral, Joe decides that if young virginal Dottie agrees to date him, he'll commit the murder prior to getting paid.  This twisted tale spirals out of control and all the parties may regret their actions sooner then they ever expected.

The inhabitants of Killer Joe are as white trash as they come.  Sleazy, dumb, alcoholic slobs who spend as much time downing liquor or snorting coke in their trailer homes as they do working.  But what Tracy Letts manages to do with these characters is make them surprisingly enjoyable to watch despite their inherent sliminess.  The darkly comic tone that permeates throughout the whole film is certainly a reason why the audience is able to accept these unlikeable characters because the film almost feels as if it's slyly poking fun at them while telling their sordid tale.

This is director William Friedkin's second time around with a Tracy Letts script after Bug and Friedkin (perhaps best known for his one-two punch of The French Connection followed by The Exorcist in the early 1970s) proves he's got the eye to work these twisted plays into equally uncomfortable films.  Knowing that the film is based on a play, it's certainly obvious when watching how easily this would play out on a stage, but that doesn't make film any less viable an option for telling this tale.  Killer Joe is certainly much more "opened up" then Bug which essentially took place in the confines of a hotel room.

Perhaps the best thing Friedkin achieves here is some very nice performances from his main cast of five.  Matthew McConaughey had a high profile turn in Magic Mike this past summer, but I'd sooner watch his sordid take on the title character in this film again.  Despite Joe's secret job as a hitman, he presents himself as a rather moral character, but both the audience and the characters in the film soon begin to realize that despite his somewhat uppity and "well-mannered" charming appearance, he's quite the slimeball.  The sleaziness comes into play most often when Joe is paired up with the much younger (and perhaps underage, although that's never really fully detailed) Dottie played by Juno Temple.  I've seen Temple in a few minor roles, but she manages to really shine here playing a naive young girl who is nothing but a pawn in her family's twisted games.  Kudos also to Gina Gershon who takes on the role of Chris and Dottie's new stepmom Sharla, the epitome of trailer trash.  A seemingly minor character, her role takes on a greater importance towards the film's conclusion and she's front and center in some of film's more disturbing scenes.

There was a bit of buzz surrounding this film upon its release thanks to its NC-17 rating and perhaps it deserves it -- I, for one, will never look at a chicken drumstick in the same way again.  There are certainly disturbing sexual moments that probably earned it that rating, but the film surprisingly never felt too over-the-top thanks in part to that aforementioned darkly comic tone that runs throughout the piece.  While Killer Joe may not be for all tastes, I found it an all-around unique film that makes me want to explore the repertoire of its screenwriter-playwright Tracy Letts even more.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

2013 Academy Awards Predictions

Oscar nominations are due Thursday morning and here's a few predictions.  We'll see how I fare come 9am on Thursday.  All categories have the nominees listed from most likely to least likely to be nominated.  I'll be back for "analysis" after the announcement.

Best Picture

1. Argo

2. Lincoln

3. Zero Dark Thirty

4. Les Miserables

5. Life of Pi

6. Silver Linings Playbook

7. Django Unchained

There could be as few as five or as many as ten nominees.  I'm going to go with seven, with slots 8-10 being taken up by the movies below.

8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. Amour
10. Moonrise Kingdom
POST NOMINATION THOUGHTS:  9/9 -- Essentially I was right on, however, I only predicted seven nominees as opposed to nine.  I thought this was maybe going to be a difficult race to predict, but as the Best Director nominees will show, I'm thinking this may be Lincoln's all the way now.

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis - "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman - "Les Miserables"
John Hawkes - "The Sessions"
Denzel Washington - "Flight"
Joaquin Phoenix - "The Master"
alt: Bradley Cooper - "Silver Linings Playbook"
POST NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 4/5 -- I should've guessed that The Sessions was fading, but I liked it so darn much that I couldn't keep John Hawkes off my list.   


Best Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Jessica Chastain - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Naomi Watts - "The Impossible"
Marion Cotillard - "Rust and Bone"
Emanuelle Riva - "Amour"
alt: Quvenzhané Wallis - "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Longshot: Helen Mirren - "Hitchcock"
POST NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 4/5 -- Once again, my alternate makes it in with the overrated performance of Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild instead of Marion Cotillard.  Before I went to bed last night, I thought I was asking for trouble with two foreign language nominees in the same category, but I stuck with it thinking the Academy wouldn't be swayed by "cute" and instead go for substance.  Then again, I'm one of the few "critics" who didn't like Beasts.

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones - "Lincoln"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"
Alan Arkin - "Argo"
Robert De Niro - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Leonardo DiCaprio - "Django Unchained"
alt: Christoph Waltz - "Django Unchained"
Long Shots: Javier Bardem - "Skyfall"; Matthew McConaughey - "Magic Mike"
POST NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 4/5 -- Leo was my "no guts/no glory" pick as his only precursor award was a Golden Globe nomination and we all know they love naming the biggest stars they can name.  Leo's costar Christoph Waltz takes the last slot instead.

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway - "Les Miserables"
Sally Field - "Lincoln"
Helen Hunt - "The Sessions"
Nicole Kidman - "The Paperboy"
Maggie Smith - "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
alt: Amy Adams - "The Master"
Long Shot: Ann Dowd - "Compliance"
POST-NOMINATION THOUGHTS:  3/5 -- The top three were givens and the bottom two were complete toss-ups.  While I haven't seen The Paperboy, I'm thrilled Maggie Smith didn't make it in as I thought her role was completely one-note.  Amy Adams was always the closest to making it in from the outside, but Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook comes out of nowhere with no precursor nominations anywhere (I think) to take the slot.  There's usually always one of them in the acting categories, but I just didn't think it was going to be her for what isn't a very deep role in the slightest.

Best Director
Steven Spielberg - "Lincoln"
Kathryn Bigelow - "Zero Dark Thirty"
Ben Affleck - "Argo"
Ang Lee - "Life of Pi"
Michael Haneke - "Amour"
alt: Tom Hooper - "Les Miserables"
Long Shots: David O. Russell - "Silver Linings Playbook"; Quentin Tarantino - "Django Unchained"
POST-NOMINATION THOUGHTS:  3/5 -- Holy crap.  What a shocking category.  Spielberg was a lock, but I don't think there was a single person out there who didn't think Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck weren't going to get nominated for Zero Dark Thirty and Argo respectively.  I can't speak for Zero Dark Thirty yet, but I think Argo is one of the best directed films of the year, so Affleck's diss here shocking.  What I thought were wild cards in Ang Lee and Michael Haneke are in along with David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook and an out-of-nowhere Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Quite honestly, I'm not quite sure what the director's branch was smoking.  To nominate those two over the likes of Affleck (and presumably Bigelow) is kind of a travesty.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Lincoln
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Life of Pi
alt: Perks of Being a Wallflower
POST-NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 5/5

Best Original Screenplay
Zero Dark Thirty
Django Unchained
Moonrise Kingdom
The Master
Amour
Long Shots: Looper, Flight
POST-NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 4/5 -- I thought there might be a tiny bit of more love for The Master (they did give it three acting nominations), but I'm thrilled that Flight made it into the final cut.

Best Animated Feature
Brave
Wreck-It Ralph
Frankenweenie
Paranorman
The Painting
alt: Rise of the Guardians
POST-NOMINATION THOUGHTS: 4/5 -- The Painting was my "out of left field" prediction for this category and The Pirates Band of Misfits admittedly wasn't anywhere on my radar.  While I didn't love it, kudos for it getting in.  I'm just more than thrilled that Paranorman made the final cut.

OTHER NOTES:

- I'm really happy that Paperman got a nomination for Best Animated Short since it was absolutely fantastic.  I certainly haven't seen all the others (although I have seen its fellow nominee Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'), but this has got to have a good chance of winning.
- Production Design nominees are all incredibly strong it seems.  I admit to not seeing all the nominees yet (and I won't see The Hobbit), but Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, and Lincoln form a great category.
- Similarly, Best Costume Design is quite strong as well -- Anna Karenina, Les Misérables, Lincoln, and the two Snow White movies Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.  
- Nice to see five Best Song nominees again since that category has been heinous over the past few years with last year's two nominee embarrassment.  I'm not sure the nominees are the right ones, but at least here's hoping we'll get to hear Scarlett Johansson and the eventual winner Adele perform at the Oscars.
- I just keep going back to the fact that Ben Affleck was robbed for Best Director.  Just shocking.

Movie Review - Magic Mike

Magic Mike (2012)

Starring Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, and Alex Pettyfer 

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Unexpectedly good reviews and throngs of horny women greeted Magic Mike upon arrival in theaters in Summer 2012.  Like most straight men, there was simply no reason for me to check this out despite the fact that Steven Soderbergh has proven a solid (or at least an interesting) director whom I've certainly appreciated in the past.  Somehow, what was sold as a female fantasy flick about male strippers has managed to already garner awards this season with Matthew McConaughey being named Best Supporting Actor by the New York Film Critics' Association.  Time had come to check it out, throw any uncomfortableness and awkwardness aside, and find out if this thing really was any good.  The answer to that, plain and simple, is that Magic Mike is okay.  It certainly isn't the unabashed raunchfest its trailers made it out to be, but it tells a story that's been told a hundred times before and, despite the addition of male posteriors on display, it doesn't bring a whole lot new to the table.

Supposedly somewhat autobiographical for star Channing Tatum, Magic Mike is the story of the title character (played by Tatum), a man of many trades -- construction worker and furniture designer by day, stripper by night -- who befriends the young nineteen year-old Adam (Alex Pettyfer) while on a roofing job together.  Adam eventually discovers the truth about Mike's late-night source of income and finds himself thrust on stage one evening gyrating his junk in front of a bunch of crazy ladies.  Unable to pass up the nice income, Adam begins to blossom into his own on the nightclub's stage much to his sister's (Cody Horn) chagrin who worries (perhaps rightly so) that this career choice may lead her brother down seedier paths.

The biggest problem with Magic Mike is that the story is far from original despite the fact that director Steven Soderbergh attempts to liven things up with what I can only assume is improvised dialog and creative lensing.  Soderbergh also gets a fun performance out of Matthew McConaughey as Dallas, the owner of the strip club where Mike and Adam work.  Over-the-top and certainly charismatic, McConaughey is a strong presence, but I'm not sold on the fact that he's awards-worthy.  Also of note, Mr. Tatum and Mr. Pettyfer offer up what is likely their best work yet, despite the fact that neither character goes on any semblance of an original arc.

Ultimately, though, Magic Mike suffers from blandness in the story department.  While the horny women may have been able to overlook that because of the chiseled abs and asses, this reviewer wasn't moved by such displays.  Color me surprised that this one was so lauded by the critics.  I think they were just surprised by the fact that Soderbergh had delivered something that wasn't as jokey and hokey as Showgirls.

The RyMickey Rating:  C