1. Copy the ballot, and erase all nominees except your choice. Send it to my email address no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on February 26. You are all welcome to invite any friends or loved ones you can vouch for, as long as they understand there’s no real prize up for grabs here. I figure by only including those of you who have my email address and/or those whose answers you are willing to forward, we can prevent weird surfers from crashing our party.  We have a acquired a couple of Twitter friends this year who appear to be very legit, so if they are interested I might create an email address just for them. If any of you regulars want to invite anybody like that, just let me know and I’ll set up a place for them to send their ballots.

2. Each correct vote counts as one point – in other words, “Best Sound Mixing” is as heavily weighted as “Best Direction.” The tech people work hard, too.

3. No pestering me for results – I’ll do my best to tabulate the answers by the end of that week.

4. In the event of a tie, well – there’ll be a tie. Both winners will receive bragging rights until we all get tired of hearing about it, along with my choice of whatever I may have lying around the next time I see you.

But of course, speaking of ballots, you’re going to need your list of 2012 Academy Award nominees:

Best Picture

“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer

“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer

“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined

“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”

George Clooney in “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”

Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”

Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”

Nick Nolte in “Warrior”

Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”

Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis in “The Help”

Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”

Jessica Chastain in “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”

Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson

“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller

“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth

“Hugo” Robert Richardson

“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki

“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

“Anonymous” Lisy Christl

“The Artist” Mark Bridges

“Hugo” Sandy Powell

“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor

“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Alexander Payne

“Hugo” Martin Scorsese

“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen

“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

“Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione

“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Kevin Tent

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

“Bullhead” Belgium

“Footnote”

“In Darkness” Poland

“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada

“A Separation” Iran

Makeup

“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

“The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource

“Hugo” Howard Shore

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias

“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)

“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa

“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane

“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George

“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce

“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

“Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

“Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

“War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan

“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius

“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor

“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen

“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

and of course, don’t forget to vote for this year’s MJB Exclusive Categories – these “extra credit” points can really help boost your score, and besides, they’re fun!  You can increase your chances of winning in these categories by provding an entertaining answer – as always, your bloghostess is the final arbiter of what answers are the most entertaining, i.e. most “correct”

Most Prestigious Film that Nobody Has Seen – every year, I invite a couple of people who are hesitant to participate b/c they haven’t seen any of the films – if that’s you, jump on into the pool – your honesty has already qualified you as an honored guest around here, and besides, you’re not picking the best in every category: you’re picking the person or film you think the Academy will choose. And THOSE people are full of crap – I’m convinced that half of them have already nominated films they have not seen, just to boost their cred as “artistes.” So go on, call them out!

Most Unlikely/Surprising Nomination – this could be a film, a performance, or if you’re feeling particularly geeky, and technical achievement. It can be something you’re slapping your forhead over, the way I still haven’t gotten over Julia Roberts’ even being NOMINATED for Best Actress, or a happy surprise, like the year Marissa Tomei got the nomination and the award for My Cousin Vinny

Most Annoying Celebrity  – This can be any actor, director, producer, involved with a film released this year. Go ahead, bare your claws and explain your answer: I can’t wait!

Most Overlooked Performance in a Film Released This Year – This is where we get to show our love for the actors who were not nominated but should have been. Every blogster is permitted to choose one male and one female performance.

Oddest Casting in a Film Released This Year - For example, I’m pretty sure that in 2013 the right answer in this category will be Michael Douglass as Liberace http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1291580/ .  Sometimes these performances work (anybody remember Cate Blanchett as “Bob Dylan”  in I’m Not There ?) ;  sometimes, not so much – think of Anthony Hopkins, who ought to be the right choice for pretty much ANY character in ANY film – except, of course, as an African American college professor passing for white in the terribly disappointing film adaptation of The Human Stain - but they make it interesting for us, and isn’t that the whole point?

I might come up with some post-telecast awards, also, but there’s plenty of time for that. This should be plenty enough to get us started, no?

Where u been?

As of late afternoon on Sunday the 28th, the most he had done by way of the Oscar ballot was to browse the Times‘ “Carpetbagger” column, demand arrogantly to know what his prize would be if he won, and then go to the A&P for snacks to eat during the telecast. I honestly thought it was just going to be Didge, Rosie, TAFKATA and The Planner this year, and then just before dinner, my husband went online, did some kind of mysterious research, the sources of which are known only to him, and came downstairs with the winning ballot. Even before I tallied up the MJB Exclusive categories, he nailed 18 out of the 24 conventional categories, plus extra points for correctly identifying Michelle Williams as Best Celebrity, Female. She is a tidy little actress and I’m sure she did solid work in Blue Valentine, but aren’t we all just a little tired of the REAL reason she has stayed famous: that Grieving Widow routine she’s been perfecting ever since poor Heath Ledger died, even though they were never married, and she had in fact dumped him shortly before he OD’d. He got one more point for choosing James Franco in Marilyn drag as one of the two correct answers to Most Extraneous Joke, Anecdote or Production Number.  (The other correct answer, as identified by TAFKATA, was Anne Hathaway singing “On My Own,” because, as TAFTKA put it “Well done, but WHY??????”)

It was a tight competition, though, and everyone did respectably. TAFKATA was solidly in second place with 12 correct conventional picks and 3 MJB Exclusives (see how they can raise your score? Plus they are the real reason I continue to host the pool: the combination of your delightful submissions, and the power rush I get from declaring the right answers singlehandedly is too much to pass up.)  Rosie, The Planner and Digital Dame tied at 14 – Rosie got 13 conventional picks, plus a point for choosing Justin Timberlake as Best Male Celebrity - Rosie understood that although Justin’s acting in The Social Network was suprisingly good, the reason we are talking about him is because, as she put it, “Boy can sing and bring sexy nerds back. Wears clothes well and dodged the Britney Spears bullet… nuff said.” (There are so many things to love about Justin – for example the way he kept making fun of the name of film director Banksy. I mean really, did Banksy’s mother name him that?!) My girl also gets props for her appraisal of The Black Swan – although incorrectly identifying it as Most Overrated Film (that honor went to The Social Network. Your Hostess, TAFKATA, and The Planner all agreed that Justin T was the only truly compelling thing about it,) her reasoning was nearly irresistable: “The Wrestler in a tutu…throw in some girl-on-girl action to get the boyfriends to stay awake in the theater.”

TAFKATA and The Planner, like true partners, tied at 12 conventionals, but TAFTKATA squeaked ahead, raising his score to 15, not just for identifying Cate Blanchett’s weirdly constructed dress as Most Ridiculous Outfit, for  getting one of 2 correct answers (Anne Hathaway) to Hottest Celebrity in a Tuxedo (the other was Kirk Douglass. How charming was he, flirting with Melissa Leo? More charming than Melissa, really – more of a pro, disability notwithstanding,) BUT, best of all, for having the stones to admit to a truly strange Guilty Pleasure:

“I didn’t see this …  but I wanted to sneak off some afternoon and see ‘MacGruber’.  I can’t really explain why.  Maybe it’s because I was strangely fascinated by Will Forte’s turn as Jane Krakowski’s  cross-dressing lover on ’30 Rock’. “  Next year, if you win, dear, your prize is going to be a DVD of MacGruber.

A special prize for Most Improved goes to Digital Dame, who scored a completely respectable 13 this year: 11 correct conventionals, plus an extra two points for her impressively comprehensive review of nearly all the crappy films that got greenlit in the past year:

 ”Oh dear god, there’s too many to choose from. I’m gonna have to go with the J-Lo travesty, “The Backup Plan” because I hate her so much. Steve Carrell’s “Date Night” and “Despicable Me” “Dinner for Schmucks” deserve honorable mentions here, as well. I hate that guy. A couple of Jennifer Aniston movies are close behind: “Bounty Hunter” or something, and “The Switch”. She really needs to move on from the fluffy cutesy airhead rom-coms.”

Didge also gets kind of an Honorable Mention for her cheerfully ruthless summation of 127 Hours:

“Seriously?? Dipshit goes off on irresponsible trek in desert, gets in trouble and does one more dumbshit move to save himself, and it gets an Oscar nod? PUH-LEEEZE.”  G’wan, baby, tell us how you really feel

OK, it’s March now, so the Academy Awards are wrapped up and over for another year. Counting down, as always, to The Tonys!

OK, here’s the info, if you want to check back on how you did. I’ll tally up the scores sometime this week;

http://oscar.go.com/
in the meantime you all have until noon today to submit your answers in the post-show, extra-credit MJB Exclusive categories, which are, in case you’ve forgotten:

Hottest Actor in a Tuxedo, Male or Female (BTW, where was G.Clooney?)

Most Ridiculous Outfit, Male or Female: “outfit” can mean accessories – headgear, weird bling, idiotic neckwear – OR the whole ensemble (the all time Gold Standards for this category are Bjork’s Swan Dress and pretty much anything Cher wore in the entire 20th century.)

Most Extraneous Joke, Anecdote, or Production Number: Explain your answer. Seriously, I’m dying to read it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

OK everybody, we’re here at the red carpet -

well, not really. I’m parked on the sofa, having plowed thru a whole pile of student essays so I can enjoy the awards in comfort, without guilt or distraction. I’d love to crack open a beer but I have 3 classes tomorrow and I’ll never make it in time if I start drinking AND try to stay up for Best Picture. Fang/Walter Monheit is tightening up his last-minute picks as we speak, and I have ballots from Rosie, Digital Dame, The Artist Formerly Known as The Actor,  and The Planner ( an old friend but a newcomer to the Oscarblogfest). There are still a few minutes to deadline, if anybody wants to join the pool. McCaustic – are you pissed that I still haven’t sent you a prize for last year, or did you just get a better invite? Rosie – is the Baby Genius still interested? Gypsy Scarlett – are you out there?  Everybody get ready!

UPDATE:

I just heard Justin Timberlake say that he does not participate on Facebook, so I’m more impressed w/him than ever. Justin, if you’re out there, you can join the MJB family whenever you want – we’re the sensible alternative to FB!

It’s a fabulous alternative, I tell you. I’ll admit that Fang and I are actually going to a Superbowl Party, b/c our delightful next door neighbors take it as an opportunity to invite friends over and feed us delicious cajun food (they’re both from Louisiana, and this fest originated last year, to celebrate the Saints’ participation.) But there’s no question that I’m going for the food (we’re donating a wheel of brie cheese baked in phyllo dough) and the good company; my heart will be over at the Animal Planet Channel, where they’ll be televising Puppy Bowl VII in a continuous loop (it’s 3 hours long, but I could watch it all damn day) from 3 p.m. this afternoon till 3 a.m. tomorrow. Check it out: it’s nothing but adorable puppies frolicking around on a miniature football field, with “chicken cheerleaders” walking around, pecking the sidlines, and the ever-popular Kitty Halftime Show (they turn down the lights, drop streamers and stuff from the ceiling, and let a bunch of kittens run around.) I honestly think if there were more entertainment like this, people would be more relaxed and nicer to one another.

Above: perennial icon Staten Island Chuck, apparently feelling the love despite the bitter, sleety February weather. Chuck failed to see his shadow, thereby predicting an early spring (he didn’t bite anyone, either:  maybe the chocolate put him in a good mood?)  I’m clinging, like faithful acolytes everywhere, to the possibility that Chuck might be correct. Just remember, everybody – only 46 days til spring!

http://a.oscar.go.com/media/2011/pdf/full_list_2011.pdf

plus this year’s MJB EXCLUSIVE CATEGORIES:

write in your own answers. Winners are determined solely upon the discretion of the Blogmistress:

Most Unlikely Nomination  of a Major Motion Picture
Let’s face it, ten nominated films is way too many. Which one(s) would YOU have eliminated?

Best “Celebrity, ” Female:

Let me explain: almost every year, some performers get nominated, not b/c their acting is that great, but because they are too famous to overlook (IMO this explains how Sandra Bullock won last year.) I think this problem could be solved by creating new categories for Best Celebs, thereby creating room for the excellent performances given by less famous, less glamorous, or less youthful performers, which so often go overlooked. Any actress nominated for anything this year is eligible.

Best “Celebrity, ” Male: see above – any actor nominated for anything this year is eligible.

Most Overlooked Performance that failed to receve a nomination, in any film released this year:

Most Overrated Film, nominated or not:  returning voters know that you score points by explaining why you think it was overrated.

Best Guilty Pleasure:   Go on, it was crap, but you enjoyed it.  Go ahead and tell us about it: we’re among friends here.  Any film released this year is eligible.

“Who Greenlighted THIS Piece o’ Crap??!” do I need to explain? Any film released this year.  In this category you are welcomed – I daresay encouraged – to nominate films for which you only saw the trailer, or some interminably repeated TV commerical, or films so lousy you walked out/turned them off partway thru.  I mean really, do you need to sit through an entire Rob Schneider movie to know it’s bad?

and finally:

POST TELECAST AWARDS
The schoolteacher in me is inspired to offer extra-credit this year – everyone has the option of voting for these categories until 6 a.m. EST, on Monday February 28. Each correct answer counts as one point, same as the others:

Hottest Actor in a Tuxedo, Male or Female

Most Ridiculous Outfit, Male or Female: “outfit” can mean accessories – headgear, weird bling, idiotic neckwear – OR the whole ensemble (the all time Gold Standards for this category are Bjork’s Swan Dress and pretty much anything Cher wore in the entire 20th century.)

Most Extraneous Joke, Anecdote, or Production Number: Explain your answer. Seriously, I’m dying to read it.

The rules are the same as last time:

1. Copy the ballot, and erase all nominees except your choice. Send it to my email address no later than 5:00 p.m. EST on February 28. You are all welcome to invite any friends or loved ones you can vouch for, as long as they understand there’s no real prize up for grabs here. I figure by only including those of you who have my email address and/or those whose answers you are willing to forward, we can prevent weird surfers from crashing our party.

2. Each correct vote counts as one point – in other words, “Best Sound Mixing” is as heavily weighted as “Best Direction.” The tech people work hard, too.

3. No pestering me for results – I’ll do my best to tabulate the answers by the end of that week.

4. In the event of a tie, well – there’ll be a tie. Both winners will receive bragging rights until we all get tired of hearing about it, along with my choice of whatever I may have lying around the next time I see you.

The ABC oscar.go site also has a clever version that allows you to click on your vote, but you have to join them as a member, choose a password,  and link the whole megillah to some social networking site that does not include WordPress or maryjblog, and none of this effort makes OUR pool any easier. So enjoy the new technology if you like, but here we are rocking it somewhat old school.

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
• Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
• Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
• Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
• Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
• Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
• Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”

Animated Feature Film

• “How to Train Your Dragon” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• “The Illusionist” Sylvain Chomet
• “Toy Story 3” Lee Unkrich

Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland”
  Production Design: Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
  Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• “Inception”
  Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “The King’s Speech”
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• “True Grit”
  Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Cinematography

• “Black Swan” Matthew Libatique
• “Inception” Wally Pfister
• “The King’s Speech” Danny Cohen
• “The Social Network” Jeff Cronenweth
• “True Grit” Roger Deakins

Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” Jenny Beavan
• “The Tempest” Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” Mary Zophres

Directing

• “Black Swan” Darren Aronofsky
• “The Fighter” David O. Russell
• “The King’s Speech” Tom Hooper
• “The Social Network” David Fincher
• “True Grit” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Documentary (Feature)

• “Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
• “Gasland” Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• “Inside Job” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• “Waste Land” Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “Killing in the Name” Nominees to be determined
• “Poster Girl” Nominees to be determined
• “Strangers No More” Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• “Sun Come Up” Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• “The Warriors of Qiugang” Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Film Editing

• “Black Swan” Andrew Weisblum
• “The Fighter” Pamela Martin
• “The King’s Speech” Tariq Anwar
• “127 Hours” Jon Harris
• “The Social Network” Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Foreign Language Film

• “Biutiful” Mexico
• “Dogtooth” Greece
• “In a Better World” Denmark
• “Incendies” Canada
• “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” Algeria

Makeup

• “Barney’s Version” Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)

• “How to Train Your Dragon” John Powell
• “Inception” Hans Zimmer
• “The King’s Speech” Alexandre Desplat
• “127 Hours” A.R. Rahman
• “The Social Network” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)

• “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• “I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
• “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Picture

• “Black Swan” Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• “The Fighter” David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• “Inception” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• “The Kids Are All Right” Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• “The King’s Speech” Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• “127 Hours” Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• “The Social Network” Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Toy Story 3” Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• “True Grit” Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• “Winter’s Bone” Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “Day & Night” Teddy Newton
• “The Gruffalo” Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• “Let’s Pollute” Geefwee Boedoe
• “The Lost Thing” Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)” Bastien Dubois

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Confession” Tanel Toom
• “The Crush” Michael Creagh
• “God of Love” Luke Matheny
• “Na Wewe” Ivan Goldschmidt
• “Wish 143” Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Sound Editing

• “Inception” Richard King
• “Toy Story 3” Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” Mark P. Stoeckinger

Sound Mixing

• “Inception” Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King’s Speech” Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “127 Hours” Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• “The Social Network” Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• “Toy Story 3” Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• “True Grit” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Winter’s Bone” Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “Another Year” Written by Mike Leigh
• “The Fighter” Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson;
  Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• “Inception” Written by Christopher Nolan
• “The Kids Are All Right” Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• “The King’s Speech” Screenplay by David Seidler

Next, just in case I get some random lurkers from outside the usual MJB family, I want to stress that this was a PREVIEW performance of a play that is still a work in progress. I am not pretending to review the show before it opens, like certain sleazy people I could mention, most notably that guy at the New York Post  who appears to be getting a chubby from attending early, early preview performances and dogging everything out of context. Any writer who likes to do that sort of thing, I dare you to make available for public consideration, every early draft of everything you have ever written, and to let the reading public discuss your literary talents based thereon.  A lot of the really bad press this production has gotten has come from this guy and his ilk, so  consider the source. There are some real flaws in this show, but also some really interesting ideas, and wouldn’t you rather consider the REAL flaws instead of the ones made up to sell papers and puff up smallminded, pissy little critics who like to find fault with people who are literally sticking their necks out and achieving things the critics couldn’t pull off in their wildest dreams?

Now that being said, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark is, I repeat, a work in progress, and a very expensive one, at that. Here’s what’s good about it:

Reeve  Carney, who plays Peter Parker and the primary Spiderman (there are about 11 other stunt Spidermen, played by the fittest assortment of young men you’re ever likely to see in tights – I’m told they are mostly athletes, a lot of martial artists among them.  It’s not as strange as it sounds – or maybe it is, but in a good way,) deserves to be a big star. He plays the hell out of both parts without overplaying them, which is not easy because one of the problems with the show is that it can’t decide whether Peter/Spidey is a romantic leading man, a rocker in Broadway clothing, a cartoon character, or some kind of mythic operatic hero. Reeve (the grandson of Art Carney, who played Ed Norton on The Honeymooners, btw) somehow manages to synthesize elements of all these creatures – his Petey is every smart, sweetnatured dork you ever wanted to reward with a good haircut, a decent pair of glasses and a big hug, and when he discovers his superpowers, remember, there are no CGI effects to make his muscles bigger and his complexion more glowing – yet he somehow manages to project the aura of a guy who realizes “hey I am different – but not necessarily better, unless I find a context for all these amazing new abilities.” It’s not quite confidence that he radiates, but rather a mature understanding of a greater potential – and that is pretty intense because there’s not a whole lot of that written into the play – he just sort of seems to have figured it out, as an intelligent performer will. I also have it on good authority that he is a really nice guy without a diva bone in his cute skinny little body.

Jennifer Damiano, who plays MaryJane (isn’t that a swell name for a romantic heroine?!) is just wonderful, but don’t take my word for it, look at the facts: girlfriend was nominated for a Tony (for Next to Normal) when she was just 17 years old, and prior to that was in the original cast of Spring Awakening. A nice little resume for someone barely out of her teens, doncha think? Her MJ is an ingenue with a backbone and a heart – at once old-skool and completely contemporary. She’s lovely.

T.V. Carpio, who just took over the role of Arachne, is so compelling to watch that she really deserves her own show.  In fact, that’s another major problem: S: Toff tD is kind of a mashup of 2 or 3 different kind of stories: the myth of Arachne, the first spider, “who was cursed to immortality in the shadows … doomed to live and weave alone,” the good old-fashioned fanboy action-adventure story of Spiderman – which is the basis for all the truly amazing gymnastics and gravity- (and safety-) defying stagecraft, and a superloud, only partially successful rock musical (rock and roll is great means by which to tell a story, but the story needs to hang together better than this one does.) To complicate things further, before Arachne drops out of the astral plane to stop by J.  Jonah Jameson’s office and menace him, she appears to Peter in a sexy dream sequence that appears to have been influenced by Angels in America, after which she  and her Furies (a bunch of hot-looking spiderwomen villainesses-in-training) do a big production number in which each of them prances around wearing eight brightly colored stolen shoes on various real and prosthetic feet.  I mean, it is visually very arresting, but WTF? 

Arachne’s story is interesting, and “Behold and Wonder,” the number that introduces her, is quite something, but  the play is almost over before it’s clear what she has to do with Pete & MaryJane & Spidey & Green Goblin. Until then, there’s a conflicting attempt at another  narrative framework: these four kids called “The Geek Chorus” – a bunch of young fanboys (and one fangirl) who appear to be spinning their own fan fiction as a means of moving the plot along (barely) and creating some marginally necessary bad guys, who are weighed down in ridiculous looking, overdone costumes that really do look as though they were designed by an overenthused high school kid with a huge budget. The costumes make it impossible for the performers inside to do any actual acting, and they are too gaudy, in a cross between Vegas and a late-twentieth-century-action-film- turned-video game sort of way, to convey any real sense of threat or menace, even though they are called the “Sinister Six.”   The gaudy Six are in addition to some comic book thugs dressed in Dick- Tracy-meets-Comedia-del-Arte-looking puppet-heads, and some mean high school bullies – fairly naturalistically presented –  whom Peter vanquishes in slow motion, accompanied by big colorful cartoon-bubble-style placards saying “POW!” “BAM!” and the like, which was cool when the Batman TV show did it back in the 1960′s. 

 The conflicting visual styles and time frames didn’t work for me: the high school kids are sort of early 21st century although influenced by the Krush-Groove style break-dancing choreography of the mid-1980′s, while the Daily Bugle office can’t decide if it exists in the 1940′s, with all those cute colorfully dressed secretary-typists scooting around on rolling office chairs and reporters running in and out wearing zoot suits and fedoras, or in the current day, with repeated references to the World Wide Web (get the double meaning: Web?!?!?! Don’t worry, they’ll hit you over the head with it until you do.)Too many important plot points are underexplained, kind of relying on the fact that you’re familiar with the earlier source material: unless you’ve seen the first movie, it’s not really clear how Uncle Ben dies, or why Peter feels responsible, and Uncle Ben and Aunt May have so little to do that there’s really no point in including them at all. Mary Jane learning that Pete is actually her celebrity crush Spiderman  – an important little dramatic point in every prior version of the tale – is just sort of assumed here: there’s no dialogue, no song, nothing to really clarify when or how she finds out, although a source close to the production tells me that they are adding a scene soon that includes the famous Upside-Down Kiss, which might clear things up a little. 

I’m not sure if this show will capture the popular imagination and run forever, or go down in history as an ambitious casualty, but I admire everyone involved for having the nerve to give it a go. Overall, a good time was had by all, and I really did feel that I got my money’s worth – at the discount price, in any event. I guess I would tell everyone that it is worth seeing in order to decide for yourself. If you do, please weigh in and tell us what you thought!