Jessica's Top Ten Movies of 2012!

Yes, my friends, the time has come again. The year of the 2 hour and 45 minute movie has come to a close (I am not even going to touch the math on how many hours were spent watching movies), and it's time for you to benefit from our hard work. You're welcome, world.

(be sure to check out Kim's and Nancy's lists as well!!)

The List:


1. Silver Linings Playbook
What can I say? I just really loved this movie. Part intense drama, part romantic comedy, part dance competition, and part sports movie- what's not to like? Honestly, there are so many different ways this movie should not work, yet David O. Russell beautifully weaves it all together. Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are both fantastic, and the supporting cast of Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker and Anupam Kher shines. Through this web of genres, the movie explores mental health, love, family, and friendship. An unlikely candidate for a feel-good movie, it takes my top spot for 2012.
(Special Friend Commendation awarded to Cole Rottweiler for taking me to an advanced screening of SLP at SIFF)

2. (tie) Argo and Les Miserables
You've heard plenty about Argo- the Oscar snub of Ben Affleck was followed by the movie winning pretty much everything in sight, and knocking Lincoln's seemingly unstoppable awards show train down to the level of long-shot. And it's all well deserved. In one of the best recent career comeback stories Ben Affleck proves once again that he's a phenomenal story teller. It takes a great script with a talented director to have you on the edge of your seat for a story to which you already know the ending, but Affleck does that and more. Argo is funny, suspenseful, and multi-layered, giving you a deeper story without caricatured bad guys. It's simply great filmmaking.

As for Les Mis, for full disclosure, I was either going to love or hate this movie. There was no in between for me. I have loved the musical since before I was old enough to have any clue what it was actually about. So the movie was either going to destroy my childhood or reduce me to a weepy mess (guess which happened?). Hugh Jackman is amazing as Valjean (in any year when Daniel Day Lewis did not make a movie he would be an Oscar frontrunner), and Anne Hathaway steals the show while being on screen for less than 1/6 of the movie. Director Tom Hooper changed the way movie musicals are made by having the actors sing live during filming, and the result is an emotional triumph. No, it's not perfect, and yes, Russell Crowe should stick to roles that don't require him to sing, but the end result reminded me why I fell in love with this story and music in the first place.

3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Sometimes a movie just resonates with you (and your 15-year-old self). That's what Perks of Being a Wallflower did for me. I love the book, and one way to ensure that a movie adaptation doesn't ruin a book is by having it written, directed, and produced by the author. Stephen Chbosky did all that, plus contributed a song for the soundtrack (overachiever). This movie just warmed my heart with nostalgia (I miss you, Rocky Horror Picture Show). It's the most believable portrayal of high school I've ever seen. Ezra Miller steals the show, and is good enough to make me forget about We Need to Talk About Kevin (no small feat).

4. Zero Dark Thirty
People can argue all they want about the supposed controversial portrayal of torture in this movie. Frankly, if someone believes that Zero Dark Thirty advocates for torture I'm not sure we watched the same film. Like Argo, this movie manages to build an incredible amount of tension around a story in which we all know what happens (like Argo it also makes the very smart move of casting Kyle Chandler). And, like Argo (and Les Mis), the director was absolutely snubbed by not being nominated for an Oscar. Kathryn Bigelow makes this movie what it is, a suspenseful and procedural docu-drama. We can all debate how accurate pieces of it are, but in the end it gives us the untold story of one of the biggest events in recent history.

5. Undefeated
This one has to go back to the bylaws, because it won the Oscar for Best Documentary at last year's ceremony. But it was impossible to find in Seattle until just a few weeks ago, making it eligible for this year's list (so there :) ). And anyone who knows me knows that an inspirational sports documentary is almost guaranteed a spot on my top ten list (my two favorite genres had a baby??). Following the underfunded, intercity Manassas Tigers football team, it's essentially a real-life Friday Night Lights. Coach Bill Courtney, in one of his Coach Taylor-est quotes, gives the testament of the movie: "Football doesn't build character. Football reveals character." This film shows us how true that statement is for these kids.

6. How to Survive a Plague
A truly incredible documentary based mostly on archival footage following the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic in the mid-80's through the early 90's. Angry over the lack of government action on this literal life-or-death issue, the movie follows activists who rose up to take matters into their own hands. Engrossing and informative, this movie will cause both tears of sadness and inspiration. It's also an incredibly powerful reminder of how far we have come on this issue (and how far we still have to go).

7. Cabin in the Woods
I pretty much love everything Joss Whedon touches. So it's no surprise that I would love this movie, with one exception- I hate horror movies. You will never catch me at a Paranormal Activity/Blair Witch/Saw/Nightmare on any kind of street movie. As such, I'm sure I only appreciated Cabin in the Woods half as much as I could have, because it's a brilliant homage to/commentary on/spoof of the genre (clearly half was good enough for me, because it made it on this list). Funny, scary, thought-provoking, and original. It's just so damn entertaining.

8. The Invisible War
Another light-hearted romp (right...). If you are unaware of the military's epidemic of sexual assault, go watch this movie right now. Scratch that, go watch this movie even if you know all about it. The stories from servicewomen in every branch of the United States military need to be heard, and this documentary gives them voice. And power- two days after watching this documentary, the Secretary of Defense made major changes in how sexual assault is handled by the military (though not nearly enough). This movie will piss you off- which is good, because we all should be that and more.

9. Your Sister's Sister
The last movie I saw before making this list, I just fell in love. This movie rides on the back of great writing, and having actors that can actually pull it off. It's extremely charming and enjoyable to watch. Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, and Rosemarie Dewitt are all fantastic and completely believable. Extra points for the local love (it's filmed in Washington and was supported by both the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and 4Culture).

10. The Avengers
In the year of the big budget action movie (more on that below), at least one had to make my top ten, right? And you saw what I said up there about Joss Whedon, so... it's an inevitable conclusion. The Avengers was exactly what I want in a summer blockbuster- characters I can get behind, a villain worthy of challenging them, explosions, witty one-liners, eye candy, and, oh yeah, a Hulk. Whedon wrote and directed a movie that had the challenge of weaving together multiple superhero storylines- most of them with their own franchises- with enough background to catch up newbies while not boring those familiar with the story, and he pulled it off beautifully. What's not to like?

If only there was a Top 15...
21 Jump Street, Amour, Bernie, Lincoln, Safety Not Guaranteed

Honorable Mentions:
Adam and Dog, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Bourne Legacy, Brave, The Campaign, Damsels in Distress, The Dark Knight Rises, Django Unchained, End of Watch, Flight, Fresh Guacamole, Head Over Heels, The Impossible, The Loneliest Planet, Looper, Magic Mike, Moonrise Kingdom, Paperman, Robot & Frank, The Sessions, Seven Psychopaths, Skyfall, Sleepwalk With Me, Ted, Wreck-It Ralph

Movie I think would have made my top ten if I'd been able to see it: The Gatekeepers

Eligible Movies Seen: 63

The Actors

Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis- Lincoln
Runner Up: Hugh Jackman- Les Miserables

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva- Amour
Runner Up: Jennifer Lawrence- Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz- Django Unchained
Runner Up: Robert DeNiro- Silver Linings Playbook

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway- Les Miserables
Runner Up: Helen Hunt- The Sessions

The Extras

Dude I fell in love with this year: Mark Duplass. He had me at Safety Not Guaranteed and secured the victory with Your Sister's Sister. Not to mention that this is the year I finally started watching The League. So, yeah, it was a landslide.

Best movie adaptation of a book I love: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, for all the glorious reasons described above.

Worst movie adaptation of a book I love: The Hunger Games. Look I know it made like a bajillion dollars, but MAN was I disappointed. You've got two more tries, Hunger Games movies, don't let me down.

Genre of the Year:  This could almost always go to documentaries, so I'm going to be different and give it to the blockbuster sequel/reboot. It was a good year for the popcorn movies! The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Ultimatum, Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-man? All super entertaining, and some just plain great movies. Prometheus and I still need to have some words, though. Speaking of Prometheus...

Most awesome trailer for a movie that ultimately sucked: (tie) Prometheus and Snow White and the Huntsman. Man, those trailers ruled. Ah well.

What's that, Prometheus? You think you deserve one more mention? Ok:

Best movie-related thing on the internet: A series of e-mails from Prometheus' new tech guy.

Special award for awfulness: Savages. I wanted to give this movie "The 'Up in the Air' Award for critically acclaimed movie that can suck it", because, even at only 51% positive reviews, that movie is about 50% too highly rated (and I didn't have another strong contender). You can decide for yourself if that is critically acclaimed enough- all that matters is that you don't see this movie. Seriously, consider this one of those occasions where we saw this movie so you don't have to. Keep those 2+ hours of your life. You'll never get them back. You're welcome.

Best thing about the movies this year: Nothing new here- Nancy, Kim, comfy pants and frozen jr. mints!!!

Until next year!

Movie: The Movie

Help shoo those post-Oscar blues away (even though the show was crap, more on that to come) with every card-carrying member of SAG in one film! Seriously, Jimmy Kimmel either has a whole lot of friends, or a whole lot of compromising photos:

happy oscar weekend, errbody!!

the lovely jean dujardin (the artist) & the stunning george clooney (the descendants). sigh.

My favorite Oscar nomination reaction (snubs edition)

So, the amazing Patton Oswalt was snubbed for his performance in Young Adult. While I'm still most angry about the Fassbender snub, his definitely stands out for supporting actor (along with Albert Brooks). So how did Oswalt respond? By taking to Twitter the day the nominations were announced and creating my dream world of all the snubbees having a bit of a bender...

"Join me for a drink at The Drawing Room, @AlbertBrooks? Me and Serkis have been here since 6am," it started. The posts have since been taken down, but the rest of the story, all addressed to Albert Brooks, is as follows:

See you later tonight. Might be out of booze -- Serkis has Pogues on the jukebox & Fassbender just showed up in a pirate hat.

Oh shit -- we're DEFINITELY going to run out of booze. Charlize & Tilda just pulled up in a stolen police car.

Dude, GET DOWN HERE. Gosling is doing keg stands and Olsen & Dunst LITERALLY just emerged from a shower of rose petals.

Nolte & Plummer just drove past, mooning us. Serkis & Tilda are signing "Is There Life on Mars?"

Oops -- Von Trier just pulled up in a pass van dressed as Goering. "Let's go to Legoland!" With a boozy hurrah, we're out!

Oh. My. God. Just pulled up to Legoland. DiCaprio's rented the park for the day. Dibs on the Duplo Gardens! #andscene

(thanks for the tip, bruns!!!)

how incredibly badly do you want to be at this table?

My favorite Oscar nomination reaction (thus far)

Martin Scorcese:

"I am deeply honored to have been nominated by the Academy for my work on Hugo. Every picture is a challenge, and this one – where I was working with 3D, HD and Sacha Baron Cohen for the first time – was no exception. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you’ve been recognized by the people in your industry. I congratulate my fellow nominees. It’s an impressive list, and I’m in excellent company."

REALLY strong point about Borat, sir.

Oscar Nominations!

Raise your hand if you were up at 5:30 this morning to see the live announcement of the Oscar nominations! (why am I always the only one with my hand raised?)

The field is now set for our favorite holiday of the year. The official countdown can now begin! Just a little over a month until Oscar Day. So what happened this morning? Let's get into it...

How about we start with the awesome: Melissa McCarthy got nominated for Bridesmaids! That seemed like a surefire Golden Globe nomination, and then she was snubbed so I was a little worried. While Oscar almost always goes serious in the lead actor categories, it does have a bit of a soft spot for comedic performances in the supporting categories (see Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny). If nothing else, it's just nice to see her actually get the attention of a nomination. Let's go ahead and pull out that picture again, shall we?

In other awesome news, one of my favorite movies of the year (and thus far pretty overlooked in awards season) got some love in the form of a Supporting Actor nod for Nick Nolte for Warrior. Seriously, if you haven't seen that movie yet, take the time to do so. It's not just for inspirational sports movie lovers, I promise. Of course, it doesn't really matter, because Christopher Plummer is as close to a sure thing as you can get (and rightfully so), but I'm glad that movie got some appreciation.

Now, of course, there were some terrible things too, most notably the snubbing of Michael Fassbender. The man turned in 4 strong performances (in 3 of my favorite movies of the year), and is just stupid good in Shame. There's no other way to describe it. Leaving him off is just wrong. I love Gary Oldman about 10x more than the next girl, and I hate that he's never been nominated for an Oscar, but Fassbender deserves it way more. I can't speak to the other surprise nominee, Demian Bichir, having not yet seen his movie, but I would also throw out Pitt in a second for Fassbender to be nominated. One thing's for sure, this category will not approach the heretofore unseen levels of hotness of its corresponding Golden Globes category (Clooney, Pitt, DiCaprio, Fassbender, and Gosling. just wow.)

I did not create this assortment, that picture of Pitt would definitely be the last one I would choose to enlarge, but oh well.

In smaller disappointments, Melancholia continued to be completely snubbed, Drive was absolutely ignored (most notably Albert Brooks), Jessica Chastain got a nod for her least interesting performance of the year (and there were a lot to choose from), and we probably don't get to see what Tilda Swinton would wear to the Oscars. Sigh.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was all the love for a movie currently sitting with 48% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. We here at 3pies4rolls haven't seen it yet, but it seems like a bit of an "F you" from Oscar to critics. We'll let you know what we think once we've seen it, it's hard to get up in arms about an unknown (unless its name is War Horse). With the new nominating rules, most people were expecting 7 nominees (there are now between 5 and 10 best picture nominees and a movie has to pass a certain threshold of number one votes in order to get nominated), so having 9 make it in was a surprise. And while I kind of want to give Tree of Life the middle finger, I know there were enough people who loved it that its inclusion doesn't really surprise me.

Now just keep your fingers crossed in the hopes that with only two nominees for Best Song, we'll get a chance to see Jason Segel perform "Man or Muppet" live, and that The Artist continues its quest to charm the socks off every single person in the world. And if you're still bummed about the Michael Fassbender snub (as I am) I find it really helps to just look at pictures of Michael Fassbender:

feeling better...

almost there...

and we're good!

oscar nominations announced TOMORROW!!

wait, is that megan fox & josh duhamel?

hello, peeps. i'm back! and so is our pal, billy crystal, as the host of the 84th academy awards. that's cool and all, but i think the new oscar trailer, "off the grid," is kinda dumb. i mean, seriously? transformers stars and bloody robin williams?



friendly postscript: i'm still bummed about eddie murphy's exit as host. sorry, just sayin'. thanks a lot, brett ratner, you homophobic asshat.

Countdown to Oscar Day!

Big week in Oscar Day news- first Brett Ratner is out as the producer of the show for making some truly idiotic offensive statements, then his good friend Eddie Murphy drops out of hosting duties. Now, you may remember I was a bit on the fence about Murphy hosting (oh wait, that's right, no I wasn't) but I gotta give him credit for a classy exit statement:

"First and foremost I want to say that I completely understand and support each party's decision with regard to a change of producers for this year's Academy Awards ceremony," Murphy said in a statement sent out by the academy. "I was truly looking forward to being a part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I'm sure that the new production team and host will do an equally great job."

So what happens now? While we at 3pies4rolls once again fired up our NPH/Jackman 2012 campaign (seriously, who DOESN'T want to see this happen?), Brian Grazer stepped in as producer and pulled out his version of the big guns: Billy Crystal.

Now, I love Billy Crystal. And I love him as an Oscar host. And apparently he sticks with you, because for some reason I can still remember several verses from his opening song this year:


(on a side note, remember when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were married? Weird.)

So there's nothing really to complain about. Except for it's a little safe. And not NPH and Jackman. And actually, rewatching that video, I gotta say it's nothing to Jackman's opening a few years ago (what's that? we haven't linked to that in at least a few posts? you're right, better fix that).

Ah, well, what are you gonna do?

oh dear god

In what is officially the worst news of my day, the Oscars have announced the host for next year's show, and it's the star of such Oscar classics* as these:

(note that his name is featured 5 times despite there only being 3 movies. How does he do that?)

Those long-time readers of 3pies4rolls know that we kinda sorta love the Oscars. It might actually be our favorite holiday of the year. It's possible this blog was started completely as a place to share that love (and our Top Ten Lists that go hand-in-hand with it). So why the Oscars don't just listen to us and have NPH and Hugh Jackman host, I will never know.

And, yes, I know this is the same man who gave us Coming to America, Trading Places, and even Dreamgirls more recently. But seriously, go up and look at that Norbit poster again. I dare you.

By the way, a tradition at the 3pies4rolls Oscar Day Celebration (it's very exclusive) is prizes for 1st, 2nd, and last place in the Oscar pool. Last place is always your very own copy of a truly terrible movie that has come out in the past year. Where do we always look first? What did Eddie Murphy make this year? Thanks for trying to ruin my Oscar Day, jerks.

*No, seriously, Norbit was nominated for an Oscar. You can now go cry.

hey, remember this?

yeah, me too, it's rad...



Oscars 2012!!

It's so haaaard to say goodbyeeee to Oscar Day!

Still trying to recover from the Oscar Day blues? We feel you. A week later it's a little easier, though, now there's only 358 days until the next Oscar Day!

Apparently, we watched a different Oscars than all the critics and reviewers did, because we actually really enjoyed the show. Sure, James Franco looked half asleep, and Anne Hathaway had to overcompensate as a result, but compared to last year's show it was a freaking entertain-a-thon. And Roger Ebert, who called it "the worst Oscar telecast I've ever endured" needs to get a job, because he clearly didn't watch last year's horrible mess.

The opening pre-recorded section was really entertaining (and allowed Alec Baldwin to be funny at the Oscars, something that didn't happen last year)



and Anne Hathaway's "On My Own" spoof was a short little reminder of how awesome the year Hugh Jackman hosted was:



(by the way, rewatch that Hugh Jackman opening number again (yes, for the 38th time) and note James Franco among those giving a standing ovation- which was more effort than he put into this year's show)

And, remember, last year they did a weird 4 minute horror movie tribute as their veiled attempt to put something related to Twilight in the show (I still maintain that Twilight does not count as a horror movie). This year's pandering to the masses was far more entertaining with the auto-tuning of the year in film:



What this year was lacking was any level of suspense or surprise- everyone you thought was going to win ended up winning. And we didn't even get to find out what would happen if Banksy won an Oscar. le sigh. Overall, I was pretty happy with the awards- Christian Bale won a well-earned statue and was appropriately self-deprecating, Natalie Portman was classy and charming (which she hadn't quite pulled off at previous awards shows), and Colin Firth continued his string of humble and incredibly likable speeches. Of course, I didn't get the upset I was hoping for- Hailee Steinfeld over Melissa Leo- so I had to put up with another Melissa Leo speech, but at least I got to look at Hailee- she won my best dressed of the night:



and, on that note, the fashion was significantly better than it had been at past awards shows this year. We'll get favorites up soon!

Post Oscar Day blues...

The Oscars are over. We have to wait another 364 days until Oscar Day 2012. Sigh...

We'll be blogging some thoughts about the show and the fashion later in the day, but for now I hope this recap of the year in film musicals helps you get over your case of the Oscar Day blues:

Today's the day!!!

Happy Oscar Day!!!

venn diagrams and the oscars

If you answered "What are two things Jessica loves?" (why would you answer that? it was simply a statement) then you win!

(though, as a person who loved The King's Speech, I have to disagree with its classification)

Oscar nominees luncheon!

one of our favorite fashion events of the awards show season! All of the nominees hanging out together (often awkwardly) in their last big outfit choice before the oscars. As has been the theme this year, not all that much to blow me away (though the men do look rather dashing), but some nice looks.

but first, oh melissa leo, why did you have to buy a one-way ticket to crazytown?


Amy Adams looks adorable (as per usual)


I heart Helena Bonham-Carter, and somehow she totally pulls off all the crazy shit she wears...


BFFs Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth lead the dashing gentlemen...


a clean shaven Franco has far more work to do than these other nominees as he prepares to host...


Is it just me, or does Jesse Eisenberg always look exactly like this?

Annette Bening looks great with her arm candy, Warren Beatty

One of the newer faces at the luncheon, Jennifer Lawrence looks charming

After the Golden Globes mess, which I pretty much hated, Portman has come through with this and her great SAG dress

Michelle Williams almost always looks fabulous (exception: this year's Golden Globes)

Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld look adorable (I think hers might be my favorite look)

Aaaaaaaand the awkward. Everyone but Jennifer Lawrence looks super unhappy to be in this picture.

also, check out the panoramic shot of the whole group here! (non-famous people to the back)

this is both awesome and makes me a little sad

when did Wayne get so old (and Canadian)? and how does Garth look exactly the same?

any surprise on which of the movies gets their pick for the 2011 Oscars? hint: only one of the nominees has "Bone" in the name.

another amazing version of the best picture nominees

Yesterday we gave you the incredible re-interpretations of 5 of the best pic nominees by adorable children. Today your present is all ten in lego format...

127 hours


Inception


Black Swan


check out the rest of them here!

tip of the hat to bruns for the link!!

Best possible use of your time today

Haven't seen the Best Picture nominees? It's cool, AOL has you covered. Prepare for Oscar night by watching as adorable kids re-enact 5 of the top films of 2010. Who knew they could be summed up so well by such statements as "I think I'm going crazy" or "this is gonna be gross"??

Black Swan


127 Hours


The Social Network


The Fighter


The King's Speech


Thanks to hot tipper Karyn!!!