Best Actress preview – 2015 Oscars

Moore please

The real story in this category is not who will win (it’s Julianne Moore), but the lack star power in these films. As of the time of writing and according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, these are the grosses for the films (rounded to nearest thousand, all in US Dollars and current as of Feb. 22nd):
Gone Girl: $368,057,000
Still Alice: 6,485,000
The Theory of Everything: $98,679,000
Two Days, One Night: $6,584,000
Wild: $45,258,000.
That is an average of $105,012,600, $43,261,400 less than the Best Actor category average. Consider that only Gone Girl and The Theory of Everything (which is also a Best Actor nominee film) have grossed more than $70million, while only Foxcatcher has fallen short of that on the other side of the fence. Does this indicate that the studios need to advertise and show their female-led films more? Absolutely. Does this mean that the audience is more interested in seeing a male-led film? Possibly. Perhaps it is neither, and it is just that the films in this category are weaker than the other. Perhaps it is the biopic. Of the Best Actor films, four of them were based on real people. Only The Theory of Everything (again, shared with Best Actor) and Wild are based on real people. Perhaps it is the lack of shared films? Last year, three out of five films in this category were nominated for Best Picture. The Theory of Everything again is alone in that regard this year. For some reason, the films in this category seems almost forgotten already. Gone Girl made a huge splash, Still Alice will forever be remembered as that movie Julianne Moore won an Oscar for and The Theory of Everything for Eddie Redmayne’s possible win. The other two may just fade away, particularly Two Days, One Night, which never really appeared off European shores. It doesn’t feel the same about the Best Actor race.
Anyway, somebody is going to win this award (again, it will be Moore), so let’s discuss that.
Full disclosure: I have let you down horribly. I haven’t seen Still Alice, Two Days, One Night or Wild. I apologise, you shouldn’t have trusted me. Those films will be treated for their awards racing, not for the performances. I’m sorry.

Who else could have been nominated

Jennifer Aniston seemed like a sure bet right up until the nominations were announced. Marion Cotillard came from nowhere really to swoop in and replace her. Hilary Swank couldn’t build up enough momentum for her performance in The Homesman, Emily Blunt seemed content with a Golden Globe nomination for Into The Woods and Amy Adams missed out despite her strong reputation and performance in Big Eyes.

Who was nominated

Marion Cotillard – as Sandra Bya in Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – as Jane Hawking in The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – as Dr. Alice Howland in Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – as Amy Elliot-Dunne in Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – as Cheryl Strayed in Wild

Marion Cotillard

Why she will win: Cotillard is an incredibly actress who has barely put a foot wrong on screen. She’s won this award before, showing the Academy thinks fondly of her.
Why she wont win: Two Days, One Night has a domestic US box office of about $1.5 million, it hasn’t been seen by many, and the promotional DVDs probably found themselves at the bottom of the pile. Cotillard snuck in to this category surprisingly and she isn’t really a contender.

Felicity Jones

Why she will win: The Theory of Everything is the only film in this category nominated for a major award, meaning it will be larger in the mind of voters than others in this category. Jones put in a solid performance in the film, playing an annoyed, brooding wife just well enough that she didn’t leave the audience annoyed and brooding.
Why she wont win: Jones is more of a supporting performance than a lead in her movie. That hasn’t always hurt in major categories, but it might hurt her here. The Theory of Everything has funneled all its resources into Redmayne’s race, leaving Jones a little out in the cold.

Julianne Moore

Why she will win: Ding, ding, ding! Moore is a greatly respected actress who has served above and beyond for two decades. She’s been nominated for five Oscars, and this year everything had fallen into place for her to win it, plus from all reports she does a mighty fine job in front of the screen.
Why she wont win: Neil Patrick Harris offends George Clooney in the wrong way, and Clooney calls off the ceremony citing his powers as overlord of the universe. That’s the only reason why she wont win.

Rosamund Pike

Why she will win: It’s hard to remember a performance from any actor that has shaped their identity like Pike’s in Gone Girl. Before Gone Girl, Pike was a journeywoman actress best known for being the fourth (behind Halle Berry, Judi Dench and Madonna) most memorable actress in Die Another Day. Now she is Amy Elliot-Dunne. Conniving, loving, cold, hot, beautiful, deadly Amy Elliot-Dunne. Pike controlled Gone Girl in a way that it is impossible to imagine anybody else in the role.
Why she wont win: The Academy didn’t reward Gone Girl as much as many expected. It failed to register in Best Directing and Best Adapted Screenplay and the Academy has a record for passing over thrillers.

Reese Witherspoon

Why she will win: Witherspoon put herself back on track with a strong 2014. After the whole police drama thing, Witherspoon produced Gone Girl and starred in Wild, putting her back up near the top of American sweethearts.
Why she wont win: That story is nice, and her performance in Wild is nice too (apparently, I’m still sorry) but Moore has her fingerprints on the statue already.

Who could win: Rosamund Pike
Who will win: Julianne Moore

For more coverage of the 87th Academy Awards, click here.

Film Review – Gone Girl

“You two are the most fucked up people I’ve ever met”

There are certain viewing experiences that stay with an audience. David Fincher and Gillian Flynn’s masterful thriller, Gone Girl is an experience. A sprawling, deep drama that explores the disintegration of marriage, the vast power of the media and the ever-present danger of pissing off your spouse. Built around an outstanding performance from Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl is an intense and unstoppable thriller, with one of the biggest twists in movie history.

On the day of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) gets a call from his neighbour saying his front door is open. Nick returns home to find his living room upended and his wife, Amy (Pike), is missing. Nick is immediately under suspicion for her disappearance, and Detective Boney (Kim Dickens) begins to investigate him. With the help of his sister Margo (Carrie Coon), Nick sets out to figure out what happened to his wife and his marriage.

Gone Girl will hook you from the moment it begins. The subtle calm Fincher provides in the early scenes raises intrigue and the sense of dread surrounding Nick is ever present. There is so much tension around Nick and even the seemingly rudimentary flashback scenes are clouded with an incredible feeling of importance. With a brilliant score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the film feels like it never stops building, and the building pays off with some phenominal scenes.

The film contains an absolute dream role as Amy, and Pike puts in a career turn. It’s infathomable to think Pike could ever have another role that will outshine this one. This is on the top of her “known for” section of IMDb forever.
At times Pike carries four different tones, and keeps another three simmering below the surface. The menace she keeps in the background is excellent.

As her husband, Affleck is perfectly cast. His Affleck-style untrustworthiness is suited to the character to a tee early on as the suspicions seems well placed due to his unreliability. He genuinely looks swept up in something beyond his control for most of the film, especially after the big reveal at the halfway point. The reveal is probably the biggest jaw-dropping moment in cinema for 2014, when Fincher wheels the camera around and the narration breaks in entire cinemas gasped as one. It’s perfectly handled and afterwards the foreshadowing creeps up into the back of your mind. Flynn’s screenplay handles it as well as her novel did, breaking the story in half and oozing out the answers.

The rest of the cast is mostly excellent, particularly Coon, in a smartly handled performance. Tyler Perry gets the best lines and his comedic moments are much needed in the darkness of the plot. Dickens is solid as Boney, while Neil Patrick Harris is actually quite forgettable. But Gone Girl is all about the girl and Pike is the star of the show. The show is in itself a marvel that will remain memorable for years to come.

Gone Girl

9.2 out of 10 – Amazing

With a stand-out performance from Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl slots right in among David Fincher’s collection of cinema masterpieces. It is an experience not easily forgotten.

Gone Girl is not about marriage, it is about the media

If for some reason you have found yourself here and you haven’t read or seen Gone Girl, go away. Seriously. You will only ruin the experience, there are too many spoilers here. Thank you, come again.

David Fincher and Gillian Flynn’s sprawling modern American thriller, Gone Girl, has already cemented its place as one of the best films of the year. It is surely impossible to sit through the 149 minutes of Gone Girl and not be engrossed and entertained by the twisting film. The film and book have both garnered rave reviews for being a strong critique/parody of marriage, but the film is not about marriage. Gone Girl is about the continuously overpowering monster on our backs; the media.

While the first half of the film plays out like an above-average thriller – alternating timelines between Nick Dunne’s (Ben Affleck) search for his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike), and her detailed diary of their burgeoning love – the second half takes a remarkably different tact. This is obvious in the basic twist (seriously, stop reading this if you don’t want to see irreparable spoilers) that Amy was behind her own disappearance. The movie shifts dramatically and the audience’s growing hatred for Nick flies out the window just like a fluffy-ended pink pen. The attention of the films theme turns completely from marriage and love, to the swirling media circus Nick has to deal with.

Fincher sets the media in a conflicting light. It seems all powerful – even Nick’s sister, Margo is influenced by Missy Pyle’s excellent TV host Ellen Abbot – yet cant help the country find its most wanted face. Amy planned on killing herself to send Nick to the electric chair before even she fell for the spell of current affairs television. The satirical statement of Amy being a beautiful, rich, white, pregnant female in a loving marriage, living in America’s heartland drawing such attention is spot on. Yet only one person semi-recognises Amy, and it isn’t for being Amy. Even had the audience not been privy to Amy’s average ‘transformation’, we would have known it was her on that casino boat. Heck, Barney Stinson recognised her straight away.
When star lawyer Tanner Bolt (played with straight-faced excellence by Tyler Perry) shows up to rescue Nick, the movie becomes a full blown media relations mission. Nick’s hiding from the media, sudden determination on Sharon Schieber’s (Sela Ward) television program to win over the public and Amy, and Amy’s media plan when she returns showcase the importance of public perception to a couple of unknown former journalists. Nick doesn’t dare leave when he should because he is convinced the public backlash would be too much.

As always the media leaves quicker than expected but by then Nick can’t run from the oncoming baby, and perhaps he has built up too much begrudging respect for Amy and the process to want out. Through the surprisingly hilarious back half of the film, the story is not about marriage. It’s less about misogyny too. There is no denying it is still all about the Benis, but above all Fincher positions this as a cautionary tale about the power of the media in modern life. There is no escape from opinion and speculation in 21st century life, as Nick finds out and Fincher reminds us constantly.
Fincher has never focused on marriage anyway. He has been too busy with homoerotic man-children (Fight Club, The Social Network), erratic people who can’t comfortably fit in the basic confines of marriage (Zodiac, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), or people who are aging backwards (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Madonna music videos). Heck, probably his previously most fleshed out relationship ended up boxed in anyway. Fincher is more concerned about periphery problems like the traps of consumerism (Fight Club again – tangent: was Desi Collings (NPH) doomed because he was basically living in the consumer paradise that Tyler Durdan blew up?) and how to make Justin Timberlake even cooler.
Gone Girl probably doesn’t require the kind of in-depth analysis these kind of article pretend to deliver, it is amongst Fincher’s most basic films. The film knows it has twists coming, it shows the audience and it is happy to display those twists prominently, because like the media, Nick Dunne deals in the aftermath of what has just happened without foresight for what is ahead.