The Snubby Awards: 2012 Oscars

It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if one was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award!

This time we'll be looking at the 2012 Oscars, which had a very weak field in my opinion.  Two of the nominees I hated to the point that they are my two least favorite Best Picture nominees I have seen.  Several others I was underwhelmed by.  The nominees were: The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and War Horse, with the winner being The Artist.  Did The Artist deserve to win or did somebody else get snubbed?  Let's take a look!

#9. The Tree of Life

Coming in dead last is my least favorite nominee I've seen so far.  The Tree of Life is the story of a dysfunctional family in 1950's Texas, but it also connects these events to the creation of the universe and the evolution of life of Earth.  While Brad Pitt is solid, the visuals are interesting, and the cinematography is stellar, I found this film to be extremely boring and incredibly pretentious.  The first 40 or so minutes is some of the most painfully boring storytelling I have ever sat through.  This story could have been told in a compelling manner, but all of the soft voice-over and irritatingly philosophical dialogue just came off as pretentious.  Basically from when the movie began, I just wanted it to end.

 3/10: Really Bad 

#8. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 

My second least favorite Best Picture nominee of all time follows a young boy who's father is killed in 9/11.  He becomes convinced his father left him one last puzzle to solve and he journeys around New York City to find the answer.  On paper, this movie should be a shoo-in for a Best Picture nomination, but with the final result, it's utterly baffling that enough people liked this film.  Thomas Horn plays our main protagonist and he is completely insufferable to the point it makes this film difficult to sit through.  Most of the supporting actors do a fine job, but I hated Horn's character so much that I didn't care about the story in the slightest.  This is another case of me just wanting the movie to end as quickly as possible.

 3/10: Really Bad 

#7. Hugo

From Hugo and up, I at least liked all of the movies, but I still found Hugo to be underwhelming.  This film follows the story of a young boy who lives in a train station and becomes involved in finding out the true identity of one of the shop owners at the station.  The film looks great and I loved Sacha Baron Cohen's performance, but I didn't really like any of the central characters.  I found both of the kids annoying and Ben Kingsley's character was pretty insufferable.  Because I didn't care about the characters, it took me a long time to become interested in the story.  I found most of the first half to be boring, but once we got into looking at Kingsley's backstory and saw recreations of classic films being made, I become much more interested.  I love the film A Trip to the Moon, so it was very cool to see a reimagining of how it was made.

 6/10: Okay 

#6. War Horse

War Horse follows a young man, Albert, who has a strong bond with his horse.  The horse ends up involved in World War I and becomes a war horse.  I really liked this film.  The performances are solid and the film looks fantastic, particular the battle scenes.  I do think Spielberg played it a bit to safe with this film.  Some of the scenes involving the horse felt a little silly in the larger of scope of what is happening with the film.  The other problem is it's a little hard to get invested in the characters.  This film almost feels like a series of short films as the horse bounces from one owner to another.  Plus Albert is absent for much of the middle of the film.  I get what Spielberg was going for, but this still made it difficult to get invested in the plot.

 8/10: Really Good 

#5. The Help

The Help is the story of an aspiring writer who wants to write about the maids of Jackson, Mississippi and what life is really like for them in the segregated south.  The film is very well acted all around, funny, and very engaging.  Octavia Spencer is particularly great.  All that said, I think this film does gloss over some of the more uncomfortable racial topics and I don't think Emma Stone's character should have been the lens of this story.  In seems more appropriate to have Viola Davis' character be the person we see the story though.  I like the film, but it definitely could have been handled better.

 8/10: Really Good 

#4. Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris follows a writer who is visiting Paris and is madly in love with the city.  At night, he finds himself time-traveling to early 20th century Paris and meeting many famous literary figures.    The story of this film is very engaging with some excellent writing.  The film has lot to say about nostalgia and the message is poignant.  I also loved Corey Stoll's performance as Ernest Hemingway, but I did find the film to be pretentious at times and I never really liked Owen Wilson's character.

 8/10: Really Good 

#3. Moneyball

The story of how the general manager of the Oakland Athletics innovated a brand new way of managing a baseball team, Moneyball is a movie that I was surprised I enjoyed so much.  I don't care for baseball or sports movies very often, but Moneyball isn't so much about baseball, but the strategy behind managing a team and choosing players.  This strategic aspect of the film made it incredibly interesting and I really enjoyed watching Brad Pitt's character take on the old-school world of baseball.  Pitt is extremely likable and some of the moves he makes are incredibly satisfying.  While it doesn't quite hit the emotional moments like the top 2 movies do, Moneyball left an impression and it is one of my favorite sports movies.

 9/10: Great 

And now we have our top two films!  The Best Picture winner is still among them.  Did The Artist deserve to win, or did The Descendants get snubbed?!  In no particular order, here are the top 2 films.

The Artist

The story of movie star and his fall from grace and his relationship with an actress on the rise to stardom.  The Artist is a wonderfully entertaining film and a technical marvel.  Even though it's a silent film, it still manages to say a lot.  It's completely engrossing and I don't have anything negative to say about it.

 10/10: Amazing 

The Descendants

The Descendants follows George Clooney's character, who's wife is in a coma.  The movie is about what he does after he learns his wife was cheating on him.  One of the writers of this film is Jim Rash, who played the Dean on Community, one of my favorite characters on one of my favorite shows.  The writing in this film is fantastic as is the action.  The story is an effectively emotional one.  Apart from a few minor nitpicks (Sid either needed a larger or a smaller role in the film), I don't have anything to criticize.

 9/10: Great 

And the Snubby Award goes to...!

Nobody!  That's right, The Artist rightfully won Best Picture for the 2012 Oscars.  It really wasn't close.  The Academy got it right this time around!

Next time I'll be looking at the 2011 Oscars.  Did The King's Speech deserve to win or did somebody get snubbed!?  Stay tuned!