The Suspense! The Drama! The Finalists!

The Golden Globes are done and gone, and the BAFTAs announce tomorrow. One week after that, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announces its nominees for the 83rd Oscars. Before we get too influenced by other awards shows, we ought to share some feelings of our own. Namely, which movies are being considered in what categories.

It's a tradition here to do as BAFTA does and provide a longlist: eighteen categories, fifteen finalists in each, selected from the 70+ films I've screened this year. Does it kill some of the suspense? Maybe, but so does a Top Ten when you think about it (and you shouldn't, not too hard). Besides, you're just itching to narrow it down, aren't you? The suspense is killing you, isn't it? Maybe not, but if you're into that sort of thing (that is, my opinion), then continue reading, dear friends. Presenting the Hollmann Longlist:

BEST PICTURE

Black Swan

Blue Valentine

Easy A

The Fighter

For Colored Girls

Get Low

I Am Love

The Kids Are All Right

The King's Speech

Mother

Never Let Me Go

The Runaways

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

The Social Network

Winter's Bone

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right

Derek Cianfrance, Blue Valentine

Anton Corbijn, The American

David Fincher, The Social Network

Debra Granik, Winter's Bone

Luca Guadagnino, I Am Love

Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

Bong Joon-ho, Mother

John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole

David O. Russell, The Fighter

Aaron Schneider, Get Low

Floria Sigismondi, The Runaways

Edgar Wright, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Patricia Clarkson, Cairo Time

Rebecca Hall, Please Give

Kim Hye-ja, Mother

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right

Carey Mulligan, Never Let Me Go

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Kristen Stewart, The Runaways

Emma Stone, Easy A

Tilda Swinton, I Am Love

Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, The Fighter

Patricia Clarkson, Easy A

Loretta Devine, For Colored Girls

Dale Dickey, Winter's Bone

Whoopi Goldberg, For Colored Girls

Barbara Hershey, Black Swan

Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go

Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Rooney Mara, The Social Network

Maria Paiato, I Am Love

Winona Ryder, Black Swan

Sissy Spacek, Get Low

Dianne Wiest, Rabbit Hole

Ellen Wong, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

BEST ACTOR

Russell Brand, Get Him to the Greek

Michael Caine, Harry Brown

Michael Cera, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

George Clooney, The American

Rob Corddry, Hot Tub Time Machine

Robert Duvall, Get Low

Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole

Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network

Patrick Fabian, The Last Exorcism

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

James Franco, 127 Hours

Andrew Garfield, Never Let Me Go

Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, The Fighter

Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost Writer

Vincent Cassel, Black Swan
Jackie Chan, The Karate Kid

Andrew Garfield, The Social Network

Josh Hutcherson, The Kids Are All Right

Michael Keaton, Toy Story 3

Bill Murray, Get Low

Jerry O'Connell, Piranha 3D

Guy Pearce, Animal Kingdom

Brandon Routh, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

Jason Schwartzman, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Michael Shannon, The Runaways

Stanley Tucci, Easy A

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Black Swan - Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin, story by Heinz

Blue Valentine - Derek Cianfrance & Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis

Burlesque - Steve Antin

Cairo Time - Ruba Nadda

Easy A - Bert V. Royal

The Fighter - Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, story by Keith Dorrington & Tamasy & Johnson

Get Low - Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, story by Provenzano & Scott Seeke

Hot Tub Time Machine - Josh Heald and Sean Anders & John Morris, story by Heald

I Am Love - Barbara Alberti, Ivan Cotroneo, Walter Fasano & Luca Guadagnino, story by Guadagnino

Inception - Christopher Nolan

The Kids Are All Right - Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg

The King's Speech - David Seidler

The Last Exorcism - Huck Botko & Andrew Garland

Mother - Bong Joon-ho & Park Won-kyo, story by Joon-ho

Tangled - Dan Fogelman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

127 Hours - Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy

The American - Rowan Joffe

For Colored Girls - Tyler Perry

The Ghost Writer - Roman Polanski & Robert Harris
How to Train Your Dragon - Will Davies and Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders

Never Let Me Go - Alex Garland

Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire

The Runaways - Floria Sigismondi

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall

Shutter Island - Laeta Kalogridis

The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin

Toy Story 3 - Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich

True Grit - The Coen Brothers

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - Stephen Schiff and Allan Loeb

Winter's Bone - Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The American - Martin Ruhe

Black Swan - Matthew Libatique

Blue Valentine - Andrij Parekh

The Fighter - Hoyt von Hoytema
Get Low - David Boyd

Greenberg - Harris Savides

I Am Love - Yorick la Saux

Inception - Wally Pfister

The King's Speech - Danny Cohen

The Runaways - Benoit Debie

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Bill Pope

Shutter Island - Robert Richardson

The Social Network - Jeff Cronenweth

TRON: Legacy - Claudio Miranda
Winter's Bone - Michael McDonough

BEST EDITING

127 Hours - Jon Harris
The American - Andrew Hulm
Black Swan - Kristina Boden/Andrew Wiesblum
Blue Valentine - Jim Helton/Ron Patane
Easy A - Susan Littenberg
The Fighter - Pamela Martin
How to Train Your Dragon - Darren Holmes/MaryAnn Brandon
I Am Love - Walter Fasano
Inception - Lee Smith
The Last Exorcism - Shilpa Sahi
The Runaways - Richard Chew

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Jonathan Amos/Paul Machliss

The Social Network - Kirk Baxter/Angus Wall

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - David Brenner/Julie Monroe
Winter's Bone - Affonso Goncalves

BEST SCORE

127 Hours - A.R. Rahman

Black Swan - Clint Mansell
Cairo Time - Niall Byrne

The Ghost Writer - Alexandre Desplat

How to Train Your Dragon - John Powell
Inception - Hans Zimmer

The King's Speech - Alexandre Desplat

Let Me In - Michael Giacchino

Mother - Lee Byeong-woo 

Never Let Me Go - Rachel Portman 

Rabbit Hole - Anton Sanko

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Nigel Godrich

The Social Network - Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross

Toy Story 3 - Randy Newman

TRON: Legacy - Daft Punk

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Burlesque - Bound to You

Burlesque - But I Am a Good Girl

Burlesque - You Haven't Seen the Last of Me

How to Train Your Dragon - Sticks 'n' Stones

The Other Guys - Pimps Don't Cry

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Ramona

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Slick

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Summertime

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Threshold

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - We Are Sex Bob-Omb

Tangled - I Have a Dream

Tangled - I See the Light

Tangled - Mother Knows Best

Toy Story 3 - We Belong Together

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The American - Suttirat Larlarb

Black Swan - Amy Westcott

Burlesque - Michael Kaplan

Easy A - Mynka Draper
The Fighter - Mark Bridges

For Colored Girls - Johnetta Boone

Get Low - Julie Weiss

I Am Love - Antonella Cannarozzi
Inception - Jeffrey Kurland

The King's Speech - Jenny Beavan

Mother

The Runaways - Carol Beadle

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Laura Jean Shannon

The Social Network - Jacqueline West

True Grit - Mary Zophres

BEST MAKEUP

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I

Inception
Kick-Ass

Let Me In
Nanny McPhee Returns

Piranha 3D

The Runaways

Saw 3D

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Shutter Island

True Grit
The Wolfman

BEST ART DIRECTION

127 Hours

Black Swan

Burlesque

For Colored Girls

Get Low
The Ghost Writer

I Am Love

Inception

The Last Exorcism

Nanny McPhee Returns

The Runaways

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy

True Grit

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

127 Hours

The A-Team

Black Swan

The Ghost Writer

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I

Inception

Iron Man 2

Kick-Ass

The Other Guys

Piranha 3D

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Shutter Island

The Social Network

TRON: Legacy
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

BEST SOUND

127 Hours
The A-Team
The American
Black Swan
The Fighter
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The Last Exorcism
Machete
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Town
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit

BEST ENSEMBLE

Black Swan
Easy A
The Fighter
For Colored Girls
Get Low
I Am Love
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Last Exorcism
Mother
Rabbit Hole 
The Runaways
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Social Network
Winter's Bone

Ten for '10: The Best of the Year

The Year-End Top Ten is rightfully revered. It's more than just a list of films that you liked: it's a reflection of who you were in a given year. What was it about 2009 that led me to Public Enemies, Fantastic Mr. Fox and (500) Days of Summer? Certainly it was pure love with the first, but what I was going through that year certainly informed my opinions on the other two.

I always think it's interesting to go back and see what one was into the year before, and why that might have been. Take last year for instance:

Public Enemies

Fantastic Mr. Fox

(500) Days of Summer

Bright Star

A Serious Man

Julie & Julia

The Princess and the Frog

Up in the Air

Easy Virtue

Jennifer's Body

I've always been into human relationships, of course, but love stories absolutely dominated last year, whether unrequited (Jennifer's Body), committed (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Bright Star, Julie & Julia), broken ((500) Days of Summer, Up in the Air, Easy Virtue) or Disney (The Princess and the Frog). I didn't realize it at the time, of course, but looking at it now, it's obvious. 

This year, I have no idea what trends, if any, appear. I don't know what they say about my state of mind in 2010. All I know is this: these are the films that touched and tickled me, appropriately and sometimes naughtily, in 2010. In alphabetical order:

Black Swan

(Number Four on 25 Most Anticipated) 

Sexy, psychotic, operatic, horrifying. Natalie Portman and Darren Aronofsky create a literal danse macabre together, and it is beautiful.

Easy A

Emma Stone is hilarious in a star-making turn as Olive Penderghast. The genuinely witty screenplay helps, of course, as does the great supporting cast. I can honestly say this was the most fun I had in a theater all year.

The Fighter

(Number Ten on 25 Most Anticipated) 

How can a movie give us such frustrating characters like Alice and Dickie and still get us to sympathize with them? How can it get career-best work from an ensemble of already strong performers? How can it keep me on the edge of my seat even when I already know the ending? Impressive.

For Colored Girls

Tyler Perry finally dials it down and makes a genuinely great film, though with a few caveats. But as I said yesterday, there's a beauty to some imperfections. Perry's film delivers on cinematography, production design, costumes and directing (!!). Oh, and of course, there's the strong ensemble of actresses, including formerly dull Thandie Newton not only turning in a good performance, but delivering one of the best of the film.

I Am Love

Poetic. Operatic. Sheer beauty.

The King's Speech

(Number Six on 25 Most Anticipated) 

Yeah, yeah, it's another movie about the royals, but it's more than that: it's a fish-out-of-water/buddy flick, with Geoffrey Rush's Australian commoner helping Colin Firth's British king overcome his crippling stammer. Inventively-shot, wittily-written, subtly-acted, The King's Speech is a genuine crowdpleaser.

Mother

Kim Hye-ja's lead performance alone is a wonder. Add Lee Byeong-woo's playful score and Bong Joon-ho's tight direction and script, and you've got a witty and suspenseful Hitchcockian thriller that surprises.

Never Let Me Go

I saw something profound and haunting. That last shot... That scene with Keira Knightley in the bedroom... Charlotte Rampling's last scene... The boat... The score...

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

(Number Eleven on 25 Most Anticipated) 

I like it more and more every time I see it, and that's going on four times now. Not just a great sense of fun, but a poignancy is there. I tear up every time those opening chords to "Ramona" play. And I'm sorry, anyone who says this is the same old Michael Cera isn't watching the movie.

The Social Network

(Number Sixteen on 25 Most Anticipated)

Seriously, who knew a movie about Facebook would be this interesting, this masterfully-made? It's the story of my generation, of friendship betrayed, love lost, the cost of the American Dream. And the main cast are all under 30. Ha! Awesome!

Not Just For Colored Girls

I know Rotten Tomatoes is imperfect system, but it still seems absurd to me that For Colored Girls is at a 33% "Rotten" rating. Tyler Perry turns in his most mature, subtle, courageous, beautiful work to date, and people are going to smack it with a one-star rating? Surely there's some bias and denial at work here, for I went to see For Colored Girls this evening with a Tyler Perry hater -- I mean teeth-gnashing, head-smacking HATER -- who loved what he saw. Me, I don't hate Tyler Perry, so perhaps I have a different bias, but I also loved what I saw.

For Colored Girls is, of course, based on Ntozake Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, a collection of 20 choreopoems to be performed by seven women, all identified by a color. Tyler Perry writes much of his own material for the film, but incorporates the poems sometimes powerfully, sometimes out-of-place. Tessa Thompson's "graduation nite", for example, comes out of nowhere, with no one reacting to it. It's a long monologue set beautifully to some dance exercises, but the overall feel of the scene is off; it's a recitation. Compare that to her later "abortion cycle #1": her performance is natural, unforced, beautiful. The transition between Perry's dialogue and Shange's is fluid here, whereas in "graduation nite" the leap from one to the other is alarming.

That was always going to be the challenge. Shange's masterpiece is an abstract theatre piece, relying on dance and poetry, with the Ladies sometimes interrupting each other, taking over a verse, finishing a thought. Her poems are not always direct, but they are consistently moving. Perry, known primarily for his Madea films, is generally unsubtle and inconsistent, his broad comedy usually peppered with alarmingly melodramatic treatment of serious issues (the incest/rape dialogue in Madea's Family Reunion is a perfect example of this).

That he makes it work as well as he does is impressive. This isn't faint praise either, for Perry has upped his game considerably. Most of the poems do work with the rest of the film, and exposure to such complicated material has clearly done some good. In a typical Tyler Perry film, morality is black and white, the villains twisting their wicked mustaches as the damsel in distress waits for a man to save her from her plight. In For Colored Girls, there are no such clear divisions. One need look no further than the powerhouse scene between Thandie Newton and Whoopi Goldberg for evidence. Even Janet Jackson's two-timing husband is sympathetically, almost tragically, portrayed by Omari Hardwick. Jackson is fine, too, and her performance of "sorry" is layered and heartfelt. It's too bad she and Hardwick are saddled with the weakest  and least interesting storyline.

Let it not be assumed that this is merely a good movie for Tyler Perry; it's a great movie, period. Flawed, but fantastic. Perry never loses sight of the connection and sisterhood between these women. He even remembers to bring them together, as the play so often did, in dance: the film opens with Anika Noni Rose's ballet and closes with a party. The final shot of the ladies in their "layin' on of hands" is effective, and it is not clear that everyone will be okay. The layers each actress puts into this final moment is incredible.

Indeed, if one is to commend the film for anything, it is the performances: Phylicia Rashad, Whoopi Goldberg, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Macy Gray, Anika Noni Rose and Loretta Devine are unforgettable. Rashad and Devine have several poems apiece, and they are the most natural and entertaining of the actresses to watch. Certainly, every time Devine showed up, my entire theater was overjoyed. Goldberg is unhinged, delivering her most un-Whoopi'd performance in ages. She's frightening and pitiful, but the aforementioned scene with Newton adds so much to both characters. Newton, an actress I usually cannot stand, is sexy and angry, and though she just about straddles the line between camp and believable hysteria...she maintains a balance. Gray's cameo as a back-alley abortionist is creepy and genuine; her "i used to live in the world" is one of the stand-outs. Rose is beautiful, as always, but also vulnerable as the dance teacher raped by a man she trusts. And Kimberly Elise? Astonishing. She will break your heart and uplift it.

But again, it's not perfect. The journey to the back-alley abortionist is almost silly: gamblers, junkies, drug dealers, and a pit bull all congregate outside, played to the rafters by pantomiming actors in close-up. Truly a bizarre moment. The decision to intercut a rape scene with an opera is interesting, but the staging of the latter takes away the impact of the former; it also goes on for way too long. Jackson's character is underwritten, Thompson is inconsistent (though promising), and Kerry Washington is both. The editing is sometimes too abrupt. And while I usually commend a director for holding on a performance, Jackson's "sorry" monologue goes on for about three minutes without so much as a push-in. I admit, I started zoning out in the middle of it. Where utilized, the special effects are, shall we say, unpolished. This is no small matter, as it very nearly kills "a nite with beau willie brown", arguably the most important sequence in the film.

But then I come back to the score by Aaron Zigman, the costumes by Johnetta Boone, the production design and art direction of Ina Mayhew and Roswell Hamrick, the performances by Rashad and Goldberg, Devine and Elise. I come back to it all and think, "Damn!" It may not be completely successful in its attempt to bring Ntozake Shange's work to the screen, it certainly does the play justice.

"For Colored Girls" Trailer

Sorry, I am awful at embedding things. 'Til I figure it out, do follow the link:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810076902/video/21894591http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810076902/video/21894591

For Colored Girls May Be For Me

Since it's announcement, I've been following whatever news I could find on the film adaptation of For Colored Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf. I keep silent here because I don't want to blow the proverbial load prematurely, but so much about it has me chomping at the bit. I'm familiar with the show from my days in high school theatre, and have recently re-read the original play by Ntozake Shange, who also wrote the screenplay. If anyone can bring this choreo-poem to the big screen, surely it would be the original author!

Oh, sure, there was the initial thought of "uh-oh" at the idea of Tyler Perry directing...but then I realized how unfair that was. I've never seen a Perry film, my only exposure to his work being the cliche-ridden trailers, his two awful and unfunny TV shows, and his performance in Star Trek. But I've never seen Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Meet the Browns, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, etc., etc., so to have a knee-jerk reaction against Perry just because the majority of the other cinephiles do is dishonest. Having decided this, I could continue on with my excitment.

Which, of course, is all about the cast. I love me some strong female performances, ever since I was in third grade and fell for Dianne Wiest in Edward Scissorhands (her performance, that is; I actually fell for Winona Ryder). To be able to see an actress-dominated film with strong roles is catnip enough, but to have those roles embodied by this legion of actresses?! What did I do to reap this reward? There's deserved Oscar Winner Whoopi Goldberg, Hollmann Award Nominee Anika Noni Rose, old favorite Loretta Devine, legendary MILF Phylicia Rashad, undervalued chanteuse Macy Gray (who was great fun in Idlewild), jaw-droppingly beautiful Kerry Washington...and, fine, there's Thandie Newton, who I've never seen deliver a good performance, and Janet Jackson, who I've never seen act. And, truth be told, I don't know who Kimberly Elise is. But look at the rest of that cast list! Amazing!

I was willing to wait until January to catch it, but when it was announced that For Colored Girls... would be released this year on November 5th? You better believe I texted my friends, e-mailed my professor (we're reading the play in her class soon), cleared my calendar! And there it was. Two months. I had to sit on this for two months, but I could do it. I could always read my copy of the play if the anticipation got to be too much, just to calm me down. I was excited, but able to keep it in check.

Then the posters came out. Lord, I want this movie now:

How excited are all y'all right now? Because I am PUMPED.