Film Feature: Our 10 Favorite 2011 Oscar Nominations

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5. Best Art Direction: Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Photo credit: WB

Veteran production designer Stuart Craig may be a three-time Oscar winner, but he’s never been awarded for the extraordinary vision and meticulous detail he’s brought to every single installment of the “Harry Potter” franchise. Along with screenwriter Steve Kloves, Craig is truly the unsung hero of the most financially and artistically successful film series of our time, and his work has deepened with each successive picture. Along with his longtime collaborator, set decorator Stephenie McMillan, Craig created an atmosphere in “Deathly Hallows” more menacing and hypnotic than the darkest moments in previous offerings. Without the reliably sprawling structure of a school year, Craig was able to work on smaller scale, allowing the audience to feel as confined as the beloved characters. Certain sequences—such as Harry and Hermione’s ill-advised visit to Godric’s Hollow, and the agonizing cliffhanger set in Dumbledore’s tomb—are so fresh and vivid they they look as if they were ripped directly from reader’s imaginations. Here’s hoping that Craig and McMillan’s towering achievement won’t go unrewarded. Of course, there’s always “Part 2”…

4. Best Picture: “127 Hours”

127 Hours
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight

Danny Boyle’s kinetic masterwork was even better than his celebrated Oscar-winner “Slumdog Millionaire,” and deserved to be in the top five of the ten Best Picture nominees (the top five are clearly determined by the Best Director nominees). I have no clue why “127 Hours” wasn’t ever given the wide release enjoyed by lesser pictures such as “The Fighter” and “True Grit.” Exaggerated claims of fainting and vomiting during screenings gave this film the wrong kind of buzz, suggesting that it was exploitative torture porn, rather than a triumphant tale of the human spirit defying bone-crunching odds. It’s the sort of film all audiences would surely have embraced if the studios gave them the opportunity (hopefully viewers will flock to its limited re-release Friday). James Franco delivers an astonishing performance as Aron Ralston, a mountain climber whose right forearm became pinned between a boulder and the wall of a Utah canyon for nearly five days. Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and cinematographers Anthony Dod Mantle and Enrique Chediak do a wonderful job of opening up the story without ever allowing the tension to dissipate. The decision to choose life over certain death has rarely appeared to be more challenging, vital and ultimately soul-cleansing. Boyle’s most intimate and fully realized character study is easily one of the year’s very best pictures.

3. Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, “Inception”

Christopher Nolan
Photo credit: WB

First of all, it’s impossible to imagine anyone winning the Best Editing Oscar over Lee Smith, who had the gargantuan task of navigating audiences through the astonishing cinematic Rubix cube known as “Inception.” Second of all, it’s impossible to find a directorial feat more staggering in its audacity and more triumphant in its execution than that of Christopher Nolan, who reached a new peak in his brilliant career by allowing this epic dream to be fully realized. It’s a flat-out crime that Smith and Nolan were both summarily snubbed. It’s a small yet potent consolation that Nolan’s script was nominated, especially considering the fact that it took ten years to fully evolve. The film’s mind-boggling, multi-layered plot structure was its main attraction. When dreams start colliding into each other in the film’s final act, with key actions reverberating through levels of consciousness like a metaphysical butterfly effect, the film achieved artistic transcendence much like Portman’s ballerina at the end of “Black Swan.” The exposition-heavy first half may cause voters to ignore this one in favor of “The King’s Speech,” which is a wonderful, heartfelt script, but far from anything resembling genius. Does the Academy really consider Nolan too commercial or popular to be worthy of Best Director nod? If voters relegate their acknowledgement of his work to a lifetime achievement award somewhere down the line, I suggest that Nolan steal Hitchcock’s two-word acceptance speech: “Thank you.”

2. Best Actress: Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”

Michelle Williams
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

Just as Colin Firth is only as good as Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech,” Michelle Williams is only as good as Ryan Gosling in “Blue Valentine.” That’s because they each form one half of the film’s heart. It’s a tragedy to see Gosling’s fierce and heartbreaking work fail to be nominated (he’s certainly more worthy than Bridges in “True Grit”). Yet it sure is wonderful to see Williams among the five nominated actresses. Portman is certainly deserving of her expected win, but frankly, her lead role in “Black Swan” is naggingly one-note. In “Valentine,” Williams must portray the entire arc of a relationship, from blushing first love to agonizing disillusionment. It may be the best performance thus far from one of the most gifted actresses in Hollywood. Few films have ever captured the complexity of relationships with more razor-sharp perception than “Valentine,” my personal favorite film of 2010. Director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance, along with editors Jim Helton and Ron Patane, did a remarkable job of juxtaposing the early days of romance with its eventual derailment, illuminating moments of truth through deceptively simple cuts. A win for Williams in this category would be every bit as much a win for Gosling. You won’t see two better performances anywhere else this year.

1. Best Documentary: “Exit Through the Gift Shop”

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Photo credit: Oscilloscope

“I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art. I don’t do that so much anymore.” So says the faceless, evasive, yet darkly hilarious graffiti artist Banksy, who serves as director and host of “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” one of the year’s most surprising and entertaining masterpieces. It’s so rare for a film this funny and clever to be nominated in the Best Documentary category, which is so often populated with important yet resoundingly bleak tales of human despair and corruption. After “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” and “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” failed to snag a nomination, it’s mighty encouraging to see “Gift Shop” make the cut, despite the fact that it’s debatable whether the entire film is actually a documentary and not a brilliant bit of performance art. Either way, the film is an all-out stunner. Amateur filmmaker Thierry Guetta interviews and befriends various legendary street artists before turning the camera on himself to chronicle his own attempt at becoming the next anonymous, spray painting visionary. The film unforgettably illustrates the toll of consumerism on even the most underground of art forms, as Guetta’s exhibition turns out to be a lucrative success, despite the fact that his work often resembles a sly parody of hipster art. I applaud the Academy for nominating a picture that is the very essence of a true original.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com