Detroit Film Critics Society Best of 2012

Written by Kirk Baird

The Detroit Film Critics Society announced Friday its Best of 2012 winners in 10 categories, with writer-director David O. Russell’s romantic-comedy Silver Linings Playbook leading the way.

The dramatic and funny story of two emotionally crippled people who find love and coping mechanisms, Silver Linings Playbook received nods for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Russell), Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), and Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro).

The film stars The Hangover’s Bradley Cooper as Pat, a schoolteacher who suffers a mental breakdown after he discovers his wife is having an affair, and Lawrence as Tiffany, a neighbourhood woman who helps Pat rebuild his life by offering to reconnect him with his estranged wife.

De Niro and Jacki Weaver play Pat’s parents, who have issues of their own, including his father’s obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s a wonderfully honest film, anchored with a terrific cast from top down, though Silver Linings Playbook did not win for Best Ensemble. Steven Spielberg's Civil War epic Lincoln took that category, along with Daniel Day-Lewis as Best Actor for his towering performance as the 16th U.S. President.

Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for her haunting turn as the tragic Fantine in Les Miserables.

Breakthrough was awarded to Zoe Kazan for her lively fresh script and funny-turned-heartbreaking performance in Ruby Sparks, the story of a woman literally written into being, and Best Documentary went to Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the enchanting appreciation of an 85-year-old culinary artist who has devoted his life to making sushi.

The Detroit Film Critics Society was founded in 2007, and consists of 17 film critics who write or broadcast in the Detroit area, as well as other major cities throughout Michigan and northwest Ohio. Each critic submitted his top five picks in the 10 categories.

Here’s the full listing of nominees:

1.  BEST PICTURE

• ARGO
• THE IMPOSSIBLE
• SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
• TAKE THIS WALTZ
• ZERO DARK THIRTY

2.  BEST DIRECTOR

• BEN AFFLECK - ARGO
• JUAN ANTONIO BAYONA – THE IMPOSSIBLE
• KATHERINE BIGELOW – ZERO DARK THIRTY
• SARAH POLLEY – TAKE THIS WALTZ
• DAVID O. RUSSELL – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

3.  BEST ACTOR

• BRADLEY COOPER – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
• JOHN HAWKES – THE SESSIONS
• DANIEL DAY-LEWIS - LINCOLN
• BILL MURRAY – HYDE PARK ON HUDSON
• JOAQUIN PHOENIX – THE MASTER

4.  BEST ACTRESS

• JESSICA CHASTAIN – ZERO DARK THIRTY
• GRETA GERWIG – DAMSELS IN DISTRESS
• JENNIFER LAWRENCE – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
• NAOMI WATTS – THE IMPOSSIBLE
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS – TAKE THIS WALTZ

5.  BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• ROBERT DENIRO – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – THE MASTER
• TOMMY LEE JONES – LINCOLN
• MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY – MAGIC MIKE
• EWAN MCGREGOR – THE IMPOSSIBLE
• EZRA  MILLER – THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

6.  BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• AMY ADAMS – THE MASTER
• ANN DOWD – COMPLIANCE
• SALLY FIELD – LINCOLN
• ANNE HATHAWAY – LES MISERABLES
• HELEN HUNT – THE SESSIONS
   

7.  BEST ENSEMBLE

• ARGO
• MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS
• LINCOLN
• MOONRISE KINGDOM
• SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

8.  BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

• STEPHEN CHBOSKY – THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
• ZOE KAZAN – RUBY SPARKS
• REBEL WILSON – PITCH PERFECT
• BENH ZEITLIN – BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
• CRAIG ZOBEL - COMPLIANCE

9.  BEST SCREENPLAY

• STEPHEN CHBOSKY – THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
• DREW GODDARD & JOSS WHEDON – THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
• TONY KUSHNER - LINCOLN
• SARAH POLLEY – TAKE THIS WALTZ
• DAVID O. RUSSELL – SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

10.  BEST DOCUMENTARY

• THE HOUSE I LIVE IN
• THE IMPOSTER
• JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI
• THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES 
• SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

2012 a Good Year for Documentaries

Written by Kirk Baird

By mid-2012 it was looking like this was to be at best a so-so year for documentaries. Other than the beautiful and thoughtful Jiro Dreams of Sushi, there simply wasn’t much in the way of documentaries to elicit excitement.

But that’s often the case with Hollywood films in general through much of the year. The studios save most of their prestige titles for the big holiday sprint at the end of the years so that these films remain fresh in the minds of awards voters.

Documentaries, though, are typically on a different roll-out schedule, which is to say the films don’t really have one. They first appear at Sundance and other buzz-worthy festivals, and gradually play to word-of-mouth and limited release dates, hoping to build enough notice that mainstream audiences will seek them out once they’re on DVD.

And so it went with the documentaries this year, and what appeared to be a rather unremarkable year for these films proved to be anything but.

Here’s a list of the best of the crop I’ve seen so far this year. Many of these are not yet out on DVD, but should be available soon.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi: A fascinating and occasionally moving documentary of the life of 85-year-old sushi master Jiro Ono, this rather quiet film explores Ono’s near lifelong dedication to his culinary craft, and the impact he’s had on those around him — especially his two sons, who followed the same career path, but in different directions. Director David Gelb’s first documentary is wisely understated in its unbiased dissection of Japanese culture and traditions — particularly with Jiro and his family — while offering a feast for the eyes in its celebration of the beauty of this world-class cuisine. Jiro Dreams of Sushi lingers in the mind long after the movie has ended.

Searching for Sugar Man: Rodriguez was a promising folk singer in the late 1960s and early ’70s, with a knack for channeling the dark side of urban life into his music. He was supposed to be Detroit’s answer to Bob Dylan, but after two records failed to generate audience support, Rodriguez was quickly and quietly dropped by his label and instead became yet another voice of a generation cast aside and forgotten. At least, that’s the way it was in the United States. In South Africa, though, Rodriguez became a musical phenomenon in the 1970s, a superstar bigger than Elvis, Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. Naturally, there were questions about Rodriguez from his biggest fans in South Africa, who had long exchanged rumours of the singer’s suicide on stage. And by the mid-1990s, two of Rodriguez’s fans decided to learn the truth. And that is only part of this amazing story as captured by director Malik Bendjelloul. And the less you know about his film going in, the better.

The House I Live In: Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) offers a searing rebuke of the war on the drugs, and how the U.S. government’s decades-long battle created a cottage industry of businesses and individuals dependent on this costly fight, from the construction crews needed to build new prisons to those employees needed to run them. Even more sobering, though, is the decimating impact this war has had on young black males, who are being imprisoned at an alarmingly higher rate compared to whites and Latinos. Jarecki offers up the opinions of many caught up in this never-ending war — cops, federal judges, wardens and prison guards, inmates, journalists, a Lincoln historian, and even David Simon, a former newspaper crime reporter who later created HBO’s acclaimed The Wire. And they all point to a system made not to succeed, but to control.

The Imposter: If Bart Layton’s documentary were a fictional movie, it would be laughed at as ridiculous — even by Hollywood’s standards. His film is about the incredible deception pulled off by a Frenchmen named Frederic Bourdin who fools a grieving Texas mother and her family that he’s her missing teenage son. But one FBI agent and later a private detective are not convinced, and their doubts and investigations lead to several dramatic twists and revelations. Layton keeps the film moving at an effective pace and audiences continually guessing what will happen next. He blends the dramatic reenactments surprisingly well with the rather candid interviews he had with the real-life subjects. The Imposter is a well-crafted and engaging documentary that, even if you remember this true story from the late 1990s, proves you don’t know the full story.

The Queen of Versailles: The Great Recession hasn’t only affected the poor and the middle class. Billionaires have also been hit hard by the crippled economy, especially David Siegel, founder of the world’s largest time-share company, Westgate Resorts. Siegel and his third wife, Jacqueline Siegel, a former Miss Florida, had it all, including eight children and a 26,000 square-foot mansion. But they wanted more, and set out to build the largest home in the United States, Versailles, an Orlando mansion modeled after the French palace. And that’s the documentary Lauren Greenfield set out to make — until the real estate bubble burst, and the bank’s cheap money that drove Siegel’s business was cut off. As the family’s financial empire begins to crumble, Versailles sits unfinished, abandoned, and for sale, and the once-happy Siegel marriage begins to wither under stress, Greenfield wisely turns her focus from a Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous film to an economically cautionary and relatable tale of a family in crisis.

Room 237: Some filmmakers simply lend themselves to grand interpretation more than others, but few, if any, more so than the secretive and brilliant writer-director Stanley Kubrick. Room 237 takes that theme to crazy new and unexpected places as a funny, quirky, and utterly fascinating look at a handful of Kubrick fans who say there’s some serious subtext and hidden messages — from the Native American genocide to the Holocaust — lurking in his 1980 horror masterpiece The Shining. Room 237, incidentally, is the hotel’s haunted room. Whether Kubrick intended any of these meanings — or none of them — doesn’t matter; Rodney Ascher, in his first full-length documentary, offers plenty of ideas to ponder and more than a few moments in which you’ll want to pause and rewind the film. At the very least, when you’re finished with Room 237, you’ll want to reach for Kubrick’s The Shining and judge for yourself.

Two other documentaries I haven’t seen, but which have received significant notice, are director Dror Moreh’s The Gatekeepers, an exploration of intelligence operations by Israel’s Sin Bet security agency, and director Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Ice, a chronicle of National Geographic photographer James Balong’s attempts to capture the shrinking Arctic glaciers through the years.

Zahn Expands Star Wars Universe

Written by Jon Williams

For a period of time following the 1983 release of Return of the Jedi, the Star Wars phenomenon went into hibernation. Fans who wanted more than the movies provided didn’t have many options.

That changed in June of 1991 with the publication of Heir to the Empire, the first in a trilogy of new Star Wars novels. Acclaimed sci-fi author Timothy Zahn picked up the story five years after the films left off, continuing the story of the familiar heroes and pitting them against a ruthless new enemy. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia are trying to form and maintain a new government system when a military genius takes over the remnants of the Galactic Empire and sets his sights on re-establishing its former glory.

Fans and critics alike raved about the new story, and the Star Wars Expanded Universe was born. Since then, hundreds of novels have been published. The story of Luke, Han, and Leia has been pushed decades into the future following the events of Return of the Jedi. With the release of the prequels, other books have explored the era of the Old Republic, before the fall of the Jedi. No matter your taste, there’s bound to be a Star Wars book or series to your liking; a couple of recent titles (Death Troopers and Red Harvest, both by Joe Schreiber) have even introduced zombies into the mix.

Timothy Zahn himself has published several Star Wars novels since his first trilogy reawakened the slumbering beast, and his tales are consistently among the best that the Expanded Universe has to offer. On January 1, he returns to a galaxy far, far away with Scoundrels, a tale of Han Solo and Chewbacca that falls in between the events of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

With the recent announcement that more Star Wars movies are on the horizon, interest in the series is as strong as ever. Make sure you have plenty of Star Wars titles in your audiobook collection for patrons to check out.

Edwin Drood and Famous Unfinished Novels

Written by Kyle Slagley

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is one of the most famous unfinished murder mysteries of all time. Charles Dickens died at age 58, leaving the novel close enough to completion that it would be a source of speculation for the next 150 years since Dickens didn’t live long enough to tell us all whodunit.

Other authors pounced on the opportunity to continue the Dickens story immediately, with the first continuation published less than a year after Dickens’s death. More recently, Leon Garfield and Charles Forsyte have each tried their hand at finishing the story, both publishing their works in 1980.

The story has regained attention this year as PBS released it on DVD as part of the Masterpiece Collection. Also, just last month on November 13, the revival of the Tony Award-winning production premiered on Broadway at Studio 54 – a show that takes full advantage of the cliffhanger ending.

Although popular, Edwin Drood is not the only unfinished novel to be published after the author’s death. Here are a few other prominent works left unfinished.

Lady Susan, The Watsons, and Sandition by Jane Austen – Austen died at age 41, leaving behind three novels. The most complete of the three is Lady Susan, but Sandition offers a glimpse into what would have likely been a wonderful satire at a seaside resort.

The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain – This novel was written at irregular intervals during Twain’s life and, at the time of his death in 1910, existed in at least three different forms. Twain was an ardent opponent of organized religion, which is evident in this book. Following the failed initial publishing six years after Twain’s death, the book lay dormant until 1982.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer – There are 27 pilgrims listed in the prologue of this collection of poems. Each pilgrim was supposed to share two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way home, yet Chaucer only got 24 tales finished. Having read the entirety of the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English, I can only imagine how long it would have taken to read had he reached his goal.

The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway – Hemingway started writing this one a full 15 years prior to his death in 1961, and yet even at 800 pages it was still unfinished. It wouldn’t be published until the mid ‘80s after heavy edits that angered devoted fans.

The Trial by Franz Kafka – This story of protagonist Josef K’s arrest, “trial,” conviction, and execution is rarely thought of as unfinished – considering the final chapter is arguably one of the most famous in classical fiction, that’s not exactly surprising. In fact, the book is a collection of manuscripts that were unfinished and that Kafka had ordered to be destroyed after he died.

Strong Performances Worth Checking Out

Written by Kirk Baird

While watching the comedy-drama Take This Waltz, I was reminded again of the importance of casting. The film by writer-director Sarah Polley is good if unexceptional as a whole, but it’s elevated into the must-see category based solely on the terrific lead performance by Michelle Williams as a happily married woman who falls for a tall, dark artist who lives on her street. Williams is funny, sad, tragic, and by film’s end what you remember most about Take This Waltz. It will hopefully be remembered come Oscar time.

I felt similarly about Williams’s Oscar-nominated performance in last year’s My Week with Marilyn, which also featured an Oscar-nominated turn by Kenneth Branagh as a witty and exasperated Sir Laurence Olivier.

Williams, oddly enough, lost the Oscar to Meryl Streep and her tremendous performance in The Iron Lady, another flawed film that succeeds on the back of its two lead performers (Jim Broadbent as Thatcher’s husband Denis being the other). The Blind Side was a big hit, but it was an OK movie with a career-best performance by Sandra Bullock.

Richard Gere as a morally bankrupt hedge fund manager in this year’s the people vs. Wall Street drama Arbitrage leaps to mind as well. He takes a less interesting Gordon Gekko character and bends him into someone we may not like, but care enough to watch. And while Russell Crowe won his Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator, a better role comes as the troubled mathematics genius in A Beautiful Mind, a performance that transcends what is a rather unexceptional film.

The Master is brilliant and confounding at times, but no matter the response to Paul Thomas Anderson’s brave misfire, the lead performance of Joaquin Phoenix is stunning, as is Philip Seymour Hoffman in the supporting role. And check out Benicio Del Toro’s riveting and menacing enforcer for a Mexican drug cartel in Oliver Stone’s Savages.

Five Great Christmas Movies

Written by Kirk Baird

The Christmas season is all about traditions, especially when it comes to holiday films. In addition to those annual viewings of classics including It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story, here are five other holiday treats worth the time.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945): In this warm holiday tale, Barbara Stanwyck is a food writer sorely lacking culinary and housekeeping skills whose deception may be exposed when her boss and a returning World War II soldier invite themselves to her home for a Christmas Day feast.

Nutcracker with Rudolf Nureyev (1968): This filmed performance features perhaps the greatest male ballet dancer in peak form in a celebrated interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s ballet masterpiece and holiday mainstay.

The Ref (1994): Denis Leary plays a cat burglar who breaks into a home on Christmas Eve and then must play mediator to a warring couple (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis) and their family in this painfully funny R-rated dark comedy.

Un Conte de Noel (A Christmas Tale) (2008): Catherine Deneuve stars in this acerbic French comedy-drama about a highly dysfunctional and feuding family that gathers at the parents’ house for Christmas and learns the strong-willed matriarch has leukemia.

Arthur Christmas (2011): Santa’s clumsy son Arthur alternately ruins and then saves Christmas in this wondrous holiday classic. While audiences missed the film in theatres, Arthur Christmas deserves to be a staple of the season for years to come.

Arthur Christmas a Worthy Holiday Entry

Written by Kirk Baird

Arthur Christmas is a charming holiday film that deserves a place among the classics of the season. This animated tale is as joyous as the season it celebrates, with a warm message for Christmas about the spirit of giving.

The story concerns the silly and sometimes clumsy son of Santa, Arthur (voice of James McAvoy), a good-natured soul who spends time working in the letter department at his dad's North Pole facility. Arthur loves Christmas, but his taskmaster brother Steve (voice of Hugh Laurie), who runs Santa's workshop and the gift deliveries, treats the holiday as a business. He's transformed Santa's workshop into a high-tech business to ensure children worldwide receive their Christmas gifts on time.

But when a little girl is inadvertently passed over, Steve focuses on how well the operation went otherwise, with only a tiny percentage point of error, and convinces an old and rather worn down Santa (voice of Jim Broadbent) that he shouldn't worry about the happiness of a single child out of a billion. Arthur feels differently, and with the help of his Grandsanta (voice of Bill Nighy), who retired from the family business long ago, as well as a gift-wrapping elf, he sets out to make things right, leading to a rash of problems and important life lessons along the way.

Arthur Christmas eschews most of the conventions of today's animated films. There are no cute, talking animals, and only a few scattered pop culture references. In that respect, Arthur Christmas, like its message about losing some of the magic of Christmas with high-tech gadgetry, is a throwback. The computer animation is well done and the 3-D subtle but effective. The cast, led by McAvoy and Laurie, are spot on. McAvoy brings a quirky and fun sensibility to Arthur, and Laurie makes Steve stern but never overbearing. Steve is as close to an antagonist as the film provides, but he's really not that bad — just a bit misguided about the importance of Santa.

Arthur Christmas was directed by Sarah Smith in her feature-film debut. Smith also co-wrote the script with Peter Baynham (Borat and Bruno). Arthur Christmas was overlooked by audiences during its holiday run last year. Now out on DVD and Blu-ray, here's hoping holiday history won’t be repeated.